Preparing for State Testing

April 8, 2010

Dear Families,

It’s time for Spring vacation and a little rest and fun for our students and staff. School will resume on Monday, April 19 and it will be a busy time, especially for our students in Grades 3-5. At the end of the month it will be time to start assessing those students in in fulfillment of the New York State assessment requirements for No Child Left Behind.

We will experience some substantial changes in the testing schedule this year. Last year our students took English Language Arts during two weeks in January and for a similar amount of time in early March they took the Math assessments. This year, all our students will test for two consecutive weeks just one week after we return from Spring vacation. All students will take assessments in English Language Arts from April 26-28 over 2 or 3 days. The following week they will take mathematics assessments from May 5-7 for the same number of days.

Since we will only have 1 full week of school after our vacation, many teachers will choose to send home practice materials during the April break. If they do send such exercises, please do your best to help you child practice needed skills during our few days off. We all recognize the need to rest and enjoy free time, but a little effort dedicated to practice would be helpful.

Thank you for the support you give us daily as we work together. Please contact me at school if you have any questions or concerns.