We have reached our first midway point for communicating our students' progress.
TAILGATES
In honor of Homecoming Weekend and the annual Michigan/Michigan State Football game that will take place tomorrow, many buildings celebrated by holding their own tailgates today, dressed in THEIR favorite school colors. At Scotch, it was a great event as parents served hot dogs and lunches to students and kids participated in Punt, Pass & Kick and other activities. The proceeds from this tailgate fundraiser will all go to Our Children’s Fund, so thank you all for making it a great event!
HOMECOMING
Today marks the beginning of Homecoming Weekend. Today, the high school held their Pep Assembly, with all fall sports, the POMS Dance Team, Cheerleaders, the Marching Band and the Football Team participating in spirit activities. It was well attended by students and the staff, teachers and administration pulled off a surprise ending to the assembly! They all performed a Flash MOB Dance on the Gym Floor to a mix of popular teen favorites and choreographed by Ashleigh Ruggero and Sheri Horwitz. The kids were ecstatic!
The parade will take place on Green Road starting at Prince of Peace church at the corner of Walnut Lake Road, and end at the high school. Bring your little ones to cheer on the Marching Band and then cheer on our Lakers as we face Oak Park at 7:00 pm. The dance on Saturday takes place at 7 at West Bloomfield High School, and goes to 10 pm.
MEAP and MME “CUT SCORES”
This week and next our students in grades 3-9 will be taking MEAP tests. I‘ve been asked about the new “Cut Scores”for MEAP and MME recently approved by the Michigan State Board of Education.
5 THINGS PARENTS NEED TO KNOW
1. Each year, public school students in grades 3-9 take the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test and 11th graders take the Michigan Merit Exam (MME).
2. The Michigan State Board of Education recently approved new MEAP and MME “cut scores” for Mathematics, Reading, Science and Social Studies. A cut score is the score that separates test takers into various categories, such as advanced, proficient, partially proficient and not proficient.
3. The new cut scores are higher and “raise the bar” for our students. They are intended to be a better measure of student progress toward being career and college ready.
4. While we anticipate an initial decline in the number of students reported as “proficient,” we are confident this change will be temporary due to ongoing school improvement efforts and student support.
5. If your student is reported as “not proficient,” it does not mean that your student isn't gaining academic skills or is falling behind. It means that on the day of the test, your student was not yet proficient on the material being tested. Several other measures are used in our district throughout the year to insure that your student is making academic progress.
We maintain high standards for our students and their test scores are consistently among the highest in the state. We anticipate this trend will continue even with the new cut scores.
If you would like additional information about changes to the MEAP or MME, please contact your building principal, Dr. Robert Martin at 248-865-6478, or visit www.oaisd.org/statetests or http://1.usa.gov/statetests.
ON-SITE COLLEGE FAIR
Many colleges and universities consider November 1st the deadline for early consideration for admission. This year West Bloomfield High School will beat that deadline with an On-Site College Admissions Fair.
On October 19th, 2011 from 7:10 am to 11:30 am while 9th graders are taking the state Social Studies MEAP, 10th graders are taking the ACT Plan test and 11th graders are doing a Princeton Review Practice ACT, seniors will have the opportunity to meet with admissions counselors from seven universities, including Bowling Green State University, Grand Valley State University, Kettering University, University of Michigan-Flint, Oakland Community College, Eastern Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State University. Additionally, West
Bloomfield High School seniors will have the choice of taking an aptitude test offered by the Armed Services, or attending informational meetings on scholarship opportunities and getting ready for college. Students from West Bloomfield High School apply to colleges around the world, with the help of counselors and information from the career resource center, lead by staff member Mrs. Hanan Zawideh. All seniors must register on or before Monday, October 17th and space is limited. Every student must attend a senior seminar with guidance for choosing a college, application rules and essay writing tips. Following the seminar, students may choose to register to meet with college representatives. Recent visits included admissions counselors from Dartmouth, Brown, Michigan State University, University of Michigan and University of Chicago.
ALUMNI MIX & MINGLE
Last night was our first social event of the year for our West Bloomfield Educational Foundation. Many alumni from multiple graduation years attended this great social “Mix and Mingle” event at 7 Bar and Grill, who graciously hosted the evening. Thank you to the community who donated prizes to support our foundation’s effort to help our schools. The Foundation will benefit as we raised over $2000 at this event! Co-chairs Sara Ward and Sheryl Bienstock and this year’s great leader and Foundation Chairperson Liz Zubrzycki along with parents from Gretchko and Sheiko did a phenomenal job of providing a rich, wonderful experience for all who returned to their hometown school and friends. PRISM
NOTE THE DATE CHANGE: PRISM is TUESDAY OCTOBER 18, and NOT WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19 as previously listed.
Please try to attend our first event in our newly renovated auditorium next Tuesday, October 18 at West Bloomfield High School. The PRISM Concert gives you an opportunity to hear all high school music groups perform at one time. You will be surrounded by music non-stop for one hour straight! This is a concert you definitely DO NOT want to miss!
Please try to attend our first event in our newly renovated auditorium next Tuesday, October 18 at West Bloomfield High School. The PRISM Concert gives you an opportunity to hear all high school music groups perform at one time. You will be surrounded by music non-stop for one hour straight! This is a concert you definitely DO NOT want to miss!
Please know that I appreciate you and all that you do for our children and community.
Have a great weekend!
