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Principal Blog -
Dr. Meg Brooks

5/18/2012

Brooks' View 5-18-2012

Hello!

The excitement continues as we near the end of the school year. The Chesterfield Elementary Chargers team won the Track Meet this past week. Our fourth and fifth grade students competed against 6 other Rockwood schools and won with an overall score of 235 points; 27 points more than the next school. in line. In addition to this accomplishment, our students showed great sportsmanship and support for each other. Thank you to Mrs. Hartin and Mr. Fine for your leadership!

This morning, we celebrated the achievement of our students in an all-school assembly in a variety of areas, including reading, ,Ambassadors, Character Counts, media club, Music awards, and many more. If your child was awarded a CES pennant, help him/her to keep it safe so that we can add “pins” for future accomplishments. We took many pictures that we will display next year in our hallways.

Field Day is this Monday, with a rain date for Wednesday. We hope we can make this event wonderful for our students – thank you to so parents who have volunteered to help. Kindergarten Promotion is on Wednesday at 9:30 and the Fifth Grade Promotion is Thursday, May 24^th at 9:30 – the last day of school.

Finally, I would like to share our 2012-2013 staff class placements:

Full Day Kdg: Julie Schoemehl

Full Day Kdg: TO BE HIRED

½ Day Kdg: Jennifer Cochran

1^st Grade: Kathy Glenn, Peggy Staufenbiel , and Mindy White

2^nd Grade: Elizabeth Hlavaty, Cara VanCamp, and Dana Varnadore

3^rd Grade: Dawn Armstrong, Lori Mathys, Kelly Voran *, and Lisa Wierzba

4^th Grade: Christine Castelli, Joni Corcoran, Melissa Fehr, and Sandy Schmucker

5^th Grade**: Mitzi Cruzen, Brian Hultquist, Emily Pettersen, and Heather Vitale

*Mrs. Voran will start the year and take a leave of absence after the birth of her child for the remainder of the year – Jennifer Blanke will complete the school year.

**Fifth Grade will be departmentalized with Mrs. Cruzen and Mr. Hultquist teaching Language Arts; Mrs. Vitale teaching Science, and Ms. Pettersen teaching Math.

Posted at 4:52 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/11/2012

Brooks' View 5-11-2012

Dear Chestefield Families,

A special wish to all of our Chesterfield Moms, wishing them a Happy Mother's Day.

What a busy week! Thank you to all for recognizing our teachers in so many ways this past week, during Teacher Appreciation Week. On behalf of the staff, I would like to thank you for the wonderful lunch, breakfast treats, flowers, daily well wishes, and the very generous Target Gift Card. You are the Best! Our special week ends with the recognition of our own Nurse, Ann Ferguson, on National Nurse’s Day, thanking her for all she does for our students.

Congratulations are in order to one of our parents, Mrs. Janice Wenger, who was just recognized as the Rockwood District Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Wenger teaches at the Creative Learning Center and we are lucky to have her expertise as an educator and parent in our school community.

J.A. in a Day (Junior Achievement) was a success. For the most part, both, the parents (presenters) and the teachers liked this format better where all the lessons were taught on one day, rather than at 5 different times. If you haven’t had a chance to be part of this experience, please consider joining our JA parent team. A big thank-you goes out to Mrs. Marla Conn who spearheaded this event for us.

Our Strings students got to show off their skills this past week; they performed beautifully! Wednesday’s Special Chorus and Chimes concert was a wonderful way to culminate an evening. Parents of third and fourth grade students – be on the lookout for a form signing up your child for Strings for next year.

As we near the end of the year, please check the school calendar on our website for numerous events taking place between now and May 24^th – the last day for our students for this year.

Posted at 4:37 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/4/2012

Brooks' View 5-4-2012

As many of you, we will have to say our farewell to Mr. Fisher as he moves to an Assistant Principal position at Rockwood South. Replacing him will be difficult as he leaves behind many relationships that have made him such an integral part of our school community. He will be missed.

New situations create new opportunities … and to this end, I ask that you welcome Mrs. Theresa Rose, as our new Intern, to our Chesterfield family. Mrs. Rose comes to us with years of experience in the classroom and as a counselor in Rockwood. Please give her the opportunity to earn your trust and respect as she takes on her first administrative position. She will be visiting Chesterfield over the next few weeks several times to meet our students and parents. We will try to set up a specific time for her time to meet our school community before the official start of next year.

Our “Leader in Me” vision Day took place this past Early Release. Thank you to Northwest Mutual and Mr. and Mrs. Gross for sponsoring this wonderful program for our students. Based on the “Seven Principles of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey, the staff spent the entire day with a representative from Franklin Covey Enterprises, creating a vision for our building as we start building student and staff Leaders at Chesterfield. In July, almost every staff member will attend a three day training in Stephen Covey’s philosophy, ready to implement their new learning in August with our students. We will make every effort to have our parents on board with us through this process.

As we near the end of the school year, placement for next year has been completed. A welcome letter from each teacher to their student will be mailed home August 2^nd. Please know that we spent a lot of effort in making sure we have matched student learning style with instructor’s teaching style, paying close attention to the letters we received from parents.

We currently are planning for several “End of the Year” activities that you may want to place on your calendar:

May 16^th: Track Meet @ Lafayette High School

May 17^th: Kdg Field Trip to Transport Museum

1^st grade Poem Sharing at 1:30

May 18^th: All school achievement assembly: 9:30 – 10:00 (1^st and 2^nd Grades)

10:00 – 10:20 ( All School)

10:20 – 11:30 (3 – 5 Grades)

Transition Day 1:30 – 3:00

AR party outside for those students who met their AR goal for the 3^rd and 4^th quarter

May 21^st : Field Day (K-5)

May 22: 5^th Grade Trip to the Pointe

May 23^rd: Kindergarten Promotion 9:30

May 24^th: 5^th Grade Promotion 9:30

Last Day for Students

Posted at 1:01 PM by Amber Branson | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/30/2012

Brooks' View 4-30-2012

Hello!

Congratulations to so many of our students who participated in the Chesterfield Mile. The most wonderful part was to see the genuine enthusiasm among our students, encouraging and congratulating each other. Following the mile, we had some 20 parents stop by the cafeteria to share a light breakfast as a small recognition to our volunteers for all they do for our school. Three of our students, Maddie Williams, Leah Rubaie, and Samantha Bolourtchi shared an original rendition of a song they wrote for our volunteers. We hope that many more parents join us next year.

Also, congratulations to our 5^th Grade Chargers who sang the National Anthem at Busch Stadium Friday night under the direction of Mrs. Kathy Norvell, to a crowd of more than 42 thousand! They sounded great.

We are in the preliminary stages of planning to update a large piece of playground equipment that is need of extensive update and repair, providing a safer venue for our students, especially our primary students who use this structure frequently. The current structure is 22 years old and it was designed to last only 15 years. We looked at the possibility of repairing or updating it, and were informed that it may no longer be as safe as we would want it to be. New materials are now available to provide a much better and safer venue for our students. We have several parents who expressed an interest in working on this project; if you have an interest in working on the project, please let me know.

MAP Testing is over! Thank you for helping your children do their best. We will get the results back in August – to help everyone understand what the scores mean for Chesterfield and our District, I will be sharing a detailed explanation in a video form on our website at the start of the next school year.

Finally, all the parents whose children took the Math Acceleration assessment last month will be receiving a letter this week with their child’s scores and a more detailed explanation of how these scores impact instruction for next year.

Posted at 10:36 AM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/20/2012

Brooks' View 4-20-2012

Dear Parents,

As you are aware, the process of identifying students for “acceleration” or “skipping a grade” in the area of math for next year is now almost complete. Students who were identified by their teachers and/or parents were given the opportunity to take the next year’s curriculum assessment to determine if “skipping the grade in math” was appropriate.

Around 200 students, in grades K-5 took this assessment. The students who performed above 80% on this assessment will be bringing home a letter asking the parent to agree or disagree that their child skip a whole grade in math next year and receive math instruction from teachers one grade level higher. Students who performed below 80% on this assessment will receive a letter stating that they will receive their math instruction in their current level, differentiated, and based on their ability. All the letters are coming home on Friday, April 20th.

For our fifth grade students, performance on the assessment below 80% will place the student in “6^th Grade Math”; above 80% allowed the students to take an additional assessment to determine if placement should be in PreAlgebra or Foundations of Algebra in Middle School. Please review the letter your child brings home carefully and let me know if you have any questions.

As MAP testing comes to an end, thank you to so many of you who helped us get our students at their best to take this test. In the coming weeks, I will be sharing some information with our parent community what this test mean to our school.

Please join us for our Volunteer Breakfast on Friday, April 27^th , from 9 to 10:30 a.m. as a big Thank You for all our volunteers who help us out throughout the school year. The Chesterfield Mile will take place at 9:15.

Posted at 3:00 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/13/2012

Brooks' View 4-13-2012

Please check the Child Nutrition Services procedures for negative meal account balances on our website as students will not be allowed to charge a meal after Monday, April 30, 2012 if the balance in the meal account is negative.

The closing date for our school climate survey has been extended from April 13^th to April 15^th. Please make sure you have made your voice heard.

Please welcome a new member to our Chesterfield family, Mr. Brian Wieher, who will be starting Monday as our new cafeteria manager. Mr. Wieher has been working in Rockwood, at Selvidge, a father of two Rockwood students, and will be making the transition to a managerial position, being an owner of a successful restaurant in the Chesterfield area.

The interviews for our Administrative Intern position are scheduled for April 24^th. We have 7 staff and 5 parent volunteers who will be part of our interview committee. We will share our final choice before the end of the year.

We are completing our MAP testing for our third, fourth, and fifth grade students. Thank you parents for helping us make sure our students are getting plenty of rest during these weeks and that they are at school on time. Our theme “ Get in the Game: Test Your Best” is shared throughout the biding with some very loud, vivacious cheers taking place each morning before a testing session.

We are scheduled for another PTO Coffee Chat, scheduled for Thursday, April 19^th at 9:30. We will be sharing news about what the failure of the Bond Issue means to us. Also, we will be presenting our playground equipment update and the Community Ed partnership created between Rockwood and Parkway.

Posted at 2:05 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/5/2012

Brooks' View 4/5/2012

We are all disappointed about the failure of the Bond Issue as we were only 351 votes short of it passing. In terms of our school needs, we lose a lot: the installment of a sprinkler system, the expansion of our library, the replacement of obsolete computers, and finally, the replacement of our flooring that is approaching a critical state. As we face these needs in the near future, the District is asking for feedback from our school community as to how we can address these needs; please go on the district website and offer some of your suggestions at www.rockwood.k12.mo.us. Thank you to all who voted. We will continue to strive to provide the best learning environment for our students possible.

Our third, fourth, and fifth grade students are getting ready to take the MAP Test. Please help us make this experience a successful one for our students by making sure they get enough rest during the next two weeks and that they arrive to school on time. Our theme is “Get in the Game: Test Your Best”. Come see the wonderful decorations we have put up throughout the building, encouraging our students to set their goals to do their best.

Due to the MAP test, we have moved the Chesterfield Mile event and the Volunteer Breakfast from April 25^th to April 27^th. Please join us on the 27^th at 9:15 a.m. for a wonderful morning.

Finally, have you completed the climate survey as yet? We appreciate your input. Please click here access.

A note from one of our own…. One of our Chesterfield families will be adding a new member to the CES family very soon. Mrs. Cochran, half-day kindergarten teacher, and mom to Jared (5th grade) and Grace (2nd grade) and her husband Scott are adopting a son from the Philippines. Khomer will be in the 4th grade next year at CES. The Cochran’s hope to travel over the summer to bring him home. They are accepting monetary donations and goods to help support the children in the orphanage where Khomer lives. They are collecting flip flops for children aged 4-10, toothpaste, infant liquid vitamins, and children's cold and fever medication. If you are interested in making a donation, please contact Mrs. Cochran at cochranjennifer@rockwood.12.mo.us. Thank you!

To see the whole story click here.

Posted at 4:38 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/30/2012

Brooks' View 03-30-2012

As we near Election Day on Tuesday, April 3rd, please make sure you visit our website to see how this bond issue will impact Chesterfield Elementary.

Since April 2^nd is the start of yet another month for us, we encourage all the students and staff to wear their “Blue Shirts” symbolizing our commitment to “You Matter”. As we have shared the videos of every “group” of people exhibited on our shirts that impacts our school throughout the year, April was reserved for our wonderful parents that help make it possible for our students to do well in our school. Mark your calendar for Wednesday, April 25^th, as we celebrate our volunteers. Please join us for the “Chesterfield Mile” at 9:15, followed by a light continental breakfast for all of our volunteers.

April is a busy month for us: our third, fourth and fifth grade students are getting ready to take the MAP test, starting on April 10^th. We will have a Kick-Off whole school assembly on Monday, April 9^th with a sports theme. We are looking for parents who could help out on Thursday, April 5^th, after Early Release, to help us “decorate” the hallways. Please let your child’s teacher know if you can help us out for about an hour or so.

Our “Leader in Me” program is growing stronger each day; we will be ready to fully implement it with our students at the start of next year. We thank Mr. Steve Gross, on behalf of Northwestern Mutual Life insurance and Financial Services, for the financial support in making this wonderful program available to Chesterfield students.

Finally, it is time to start thinking about next year. Attached is a document that is OPTIONAL to complete on behalf of your child. If you feel you need to share your thoughts with us, please complete this form (you can access this form by clicking here) and either email it to me or you may place it in an envelope and send it to school with your child. These forms will be used by the staff as we complete our class placement for the next year.

Posted at 4:30 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/15/2012

Brooks' View 3-15-2012

Hello!

On behalf of our staff, we would like to wish you a relaxing Spring Break and we look forward to returning to school for the final quarter of the year.

A few things to share… thank you to our PTO who helped us put on a very successful Book Fair. During this past week, we hosted our parents for Parent-Teacher conferences. If you were unable to attend, our teachers will be contacting you as our goal is to have 100% participation. I hope you had the opportunity to complete the school climate survey we had available in the library; if not, please go on our website and complete it as we really want to hear your opinion as to how we are doing and what we can do to improve.

The next time you are in the building, please stop by the “copy room” where we are setting up a Teacher’s Resource Center; once again, thank you to the PTO. This will allow our teachers to easily access critical materials that they need for effective instruction.

On April 2^nd, a form will be sent home asking for parent input for next year’s student placement. You DO NOT have to complete this form unless you would like to highlight your child’s learning style. Letters that ask for specific teachers will not be honored as we will share this information openly during student placement at the end of April.

Posted at 4:00 PM by Meg Brooks | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/9/2012

Brooks' View 3-9-2012

Hello,

We celebrated the end of the 3rd quarter with recognizing the students who met their AR goal. Thank you to Mrs. Tvrdik who was able to help us set up and monitor recreational activities for our students this morning and to Mrs. White, Mrs. Sainz, and Mrs. Castelli, who were instrumental in organizing the activities. I think the kids had a great time. We plan to celebrate those who make their AR goal for the fourth quarter with some fun activities, hopefully outside. Speaking of AR, we are posting the guidelines we follow in the implementation of this program on the school’s website. As we all learn together to make this program the most effective for our students, please help us promote recreational reading with your child at home.

Mr. Fisher and I were honored by our students in recognition of Principals’ Day. We received lots of cards and posters from the students; come by and see some of them if you wish – they are wonderful!

Don’t Forget PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES THIS WEEK! We are expecting 100% participation once again. Also, please remember that the Book Fair will be up and running as well.

Meg Brooks

Posted at 3:40 PM by Amber Branson | Category: Brooks' View | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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