Leesville Rd. Elementary School From the Desk of the Principal

Leesville Rd. Elementary School
From the Desk of the Principal
December 7, 2012
8401 LEESVILLE ROAD
RALE IG H, NC 27613
PHONE: 919.870-4200
FAX: 919.870-4188
Dear Parents/Guardians:
You probably received your child’s interim by now. This serves as a mid-point average of your child’s academic
performance for quarter two. If you have any surprises, please let your child’s teacher know so they can share what
data they used to determine the grade.
We are busy with delving deeper into the Common Core. Students are involved with some of the best instructional
practices of the Common Core. They are participating in interactive read alouds by turning and talking to their
neighbor about vocabulary, short summaries, or predictions. Students are citing text to show where they found the
answer to the question. Students are explaining the how and why when asked higher level quality questions. The
integration of technology is observed in all classrooms. Writing is a major part of reading. Non – fiction texts are
used.
We have eight standards of mathematical practice. All students are problem–solving using:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. A good example of this is when the student
explains his/her answer and collaborates to understand the different approaches used by others in the
problem – solving process.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. A student uses math to represent real world situations and applies the
concepts they learned to the problem – solving process.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique reasoning of others. Students can justify their thinking using
words, objects, and drawings as they hear arguments of others and decide if they make sense.
4. Model with mathematics. Students use multiple representations to show their thinking and alter models as
needed throughout the process.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically. Students know the tools appropriate for their grade and make decisions
about which ones will be helpful. They compare estimates to actual answers to see if the tool was effective.
Some of the tools are technological.
6. Attend to precision. Students use mathematical vocabulary appropriately while calculating accurately and
efficiently.
7. Look for and make use of structure. Students use patterns to make rules about math and to gain conceptual
understanding of the procedures. Students use properties to solve problems and share ideas with others to
develop general methods for problem solving.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. Students apply mental math strategies and
continually evaluate whether their answer makes sense.
Using these eight standards has been a huge shift in the instruction of our students. They appear to be doing quite
well. As I said before, the biggest shift with the Common Core is to refine the thinking process of all students.
Thank you for your continued support.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
12/11 – LES Open House: Two sessions for interested parents – 10:30am and 6:30pm
12/13 – LES Practice Spelling Bee
12/14 – Red Herring Puppets Cultural Arts Program (funded by LES PTA!)
12/21 – Early Release Day 1:15pm
12/24 through 1/1/2013 – Holiday Break – no school
1/7/2013 – Kindergarten Registration – volunteers are needed. Contact Ellen Dupre at emdupre@wcpss.net
W E B S I T E : W W W . W C P S S . N E T

LES Open House – volunteer tour guides needed
Tuesday, December 11 - Two sessions: 10:30am and 6:30pm – LES Media Center
Contact Ellen Dupre, LES Data Manager, at emdupre@wcpss.net with questions.
LES will offer an Open House for prospective new families as an opportunity to tour our school. Tours will be led
by members of the LES Student Council and we are looking for about 6 parent volunteers to assist with tours at
each of the two sessions. If you are able to volunteer for an hour at either 10:30am or 6:30pm, please contact
PTA volunteer coordinator, Amy Brown at ncsuamy@nc.rr.com.
Want to see your PTA contributions in use? Join us for the Red Herring Puppet Show on 12/14/12!
The times for each grade level to attend the Red Herring Puppet show are 1:00pm - Kindergarten, 4th grade, and
2nd grade ; 2:15pm - 1st grade, 3rd grade, 5th grade. The show is about 40 minutes long with a Q&A session after.
Please join us!
Out to Eat Night Winners Announced! – from Golden Corral on Glenwood Avenue
Thank you for coming out on 11/29 for Out to Eat Night! Thank you to Kim Latta, Liz Taylor and Kim Ply and her
team for setting up the booth to sell spirit items as well! Each student in our top two classes will receive a coupon
for a free Kid’s Meal from Golden Corral AND our top class also wins a Popsicle party!! #1 in attendance: Mrs.
Lloyd’s 3 rd Grade class; #2 in attendance: Mrs. Wilson’s 2 nd Grade class.
Box Top Winners – we will combine November and December
Due the short weeks in November and a shorter month of school in December, we will combine these two and
announce a combined winner for Box Tops – keep saving and sending them in! Thank you!
Special Order Spirit Wear Update -
The Fall Special Order Spirit Wear orders are in! They were distributed to classrooms this week and should be
coming home with your child. Since these were special order printed shirts there are no returns/exchanges, but if
you have any other questions please feel free to contact Spirit Wear chairperson, Kim Ply at kimaply@yahoo.com.
The LES Silent Auction: To be held April 26 – We would love your help!
We are in the process of forming our committee for our Silent Auction that will take place in the spring. Preeti
Waas is the chairperson for this event (yay Preeti!). If you are interested in co-chairing or would like to participate
in any way please contact Holly Cruikshank (LES Fundraising Chair) at hollyw1214@yahoo.com. This event is a
GREAT way to get involved and meet other LES parents.
These parent volunteers are PAWsitively Awesome! Do you know these folks? You should!
Many thanks to Amy Crawford, Kim Ply, Carrie Alvis, and Emily Erickson for serving on the Carpool Board
Committee – they update the useful information posted in the front driveway! It is an important responsibility that
takes place weekly to keep everyone informed. Thank you!
You may contact the LES PTA board at startofthepride@gmail.com or by visiting the school website at
www.les.wcpss.net. Monthly events are posted on the school calendar.
Enjoy your weekend with your children.
With warmest regards,
Cecelia