Dear PRMS Parents and Community,
We are off to a great start this year! I have enjoyed getting to know the students and families at Pine Ridge. This is a great community and I am dedicated to making sure our students are successful
I want to take this opportunity to fill you in on my three main focuses for this year: 1- Academic Achievement; 2- Attendance; 3- Student Celebrations.
Our faculty and staff have been focused on looking at our data from last year and what we have already gathered from the beginning of this school year. Our School Leadership Team met to set Achievement Goals for the school as a whole and for individual grades. Grade level teams and content area teachers are meeting in Achievement Teams to drill down to individual student data to help form our STING groups and drive instruction in the classroom based on student needs.
As we are coming out of the severity of COVID we also plan to see our attendance improve at Pine Ridge. Last year the chronic absenteeism rate was 32%. COVID did play a huge role in that number so we are certain we can make big improvements this year. Attendance is a key factor in students being able to learn and access the curriculum. Unless your child is sick, please make sure they attend school every day.
Another area we are looking to improve is in providing opportunities to celebrate our awesome students. We have added Half-Time and Game Day Celebration Days. The criteria for being able to attend these events may change for each nine-weeks depending on needs we are seeing. The first nine-weeks was focused on discipline. Any student not receiving more than two B-Notes and no D-Notes before the interim got to attend Half-Time. In the time between the interim and end of the nine-weeks, students are able to attend the Game Day Celebration as long as they meet the above requirements OR did not receive any additional B or D-Notes since the interim. We will continue to communicate our criteria to attend these in the bi-monthly newsletter. We will also be starting a Student of the Week celebration. More information will be coming out soon about this!
We know that we have a lot of growth to make in academic achievement. Our staff is working hard to meet individual learning needs and use our data to provide targeted instruction. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me. I will also be bringing specific data to our School Improvement Council as they also have an integral role in the improvement and success of our school.
Thank you for your support,
Karen Holloman
Principal
