August 1, 2010
Dear Parents:
I am extremely proud of Round Lake Middle School and very pleased to be the principal here. I want to encourage parents to call me if they have questions or concerns on my personal cell phone at (815) 687-6834. My e-mail address is sgiless@rlas-116.org.
I’d like to share some recent good news about our school with parents.
During the last school year, RLMS improved Reading and Math scores. During the 2009 ISAT testing year, subgroups for African American, Hispanic, Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged, and Limited English Proficiency did not make AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) in Reading or Math. This year in 2010 all of the subgroups listed made AYP in Math and all subgroups with the exception of Students with Disabilities and Limited English Proficiency made AYP in Reading. Comparatively, our total math score increased by approximately 8%. African American students increased in Math by approximately 23%, Students with Disabilities increased by 10%, Limited English Proficiency increased by approximately 5%, and Hispanic and Economically Disadvantaged students increased by approximately 3%. Our total reading score improved almost 3% - however some subgroups improved immensely. Reading scores for African American students improved approximately 13%, Hispanic students and Economically Disadvantaged students improved by approximately 3%. These subgroups are important, because every subgroup must make AYP in order for the school to make AYP. Our Discipline data indicates that RLMS is a safe school and that discipline issues have dissipated greatly from2008- 2009 to 2009-2010. In 2008-2009 there were 435 Out-of-School Suspensions versus 145 this last year in 2009-2010. What I like most, is that 614 (64.43%) out of 950 students had no referrals to the office for discipline. 135 (14.17%) had 1 referral, 136 (14.27%) had 2-5 referrals, 68 (7.14%) of students had 6 or more referrals, and only 41 (4.3%) had 9 or more referrals. I like pictures, so below is our picture of what discipline looks like at RLMS. The students in the green (approximately 70-80%) are doing an excellent job with citizenship at our school.
Because we’ve had so much success, this year we will continue to use a new behavior program called PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports). Our goal is to provide students with the support they need to decrease discipline referrals and increase positive behavior. With this system we developed three rules for every area of our school throughout the day and hosted a boot camp in the beginning of our year to train students on the expectations. We have a daily incentive in the hall and at lunch each day and a weekly raffle for those students who get a “WOW ticket” for anyone on staff noticing their good behavior. Every month we host a celebration for all students with less than 2 referrals to the office. Last year, each team hosted a rotation of fun activities that included making Gingerbread Houses, action games, and Guitar Hero. We teach a Cool Tool that focuses on behavior each week in Homeroom. During the first week of school students will participate and be making decisions about our behavior program with the PBIS team of teachers and staff.
This year we are concentrating on “Core Standards for Reading” in all content areas. We have a new Academic Vocabulary and Writing Curriculum In addition, Language Arts and all content area teachers will continue to focus on a reading strategy per month from the Illinois Assessment Framework. Every teacher in the school concentrates on the skill and at the end of the month students take a test on the skill and we look at the data to find out who specifically needs more help and what information needs to be taught again so that students can do well. The tests help students prepare for the State tests coming up in March. We also have reading journals for students to reflect on the book they are reading three times a week in homeroom. Students will also be taking common assessments for every content area – and these will include reading strategies and skills as well as content material.
Some fact about RLMS:
RLMS is a highly diverse school of 950 students and the largest of the two middle schools in our District. I find RLMS to be an excellent school for a variety of reasons. Not only do we have an outstanding and dedicated staff that is willing to go above and beyond to help students be successful, but our students are hard workers who are rising to meet our new vision for behavior and academic expectations. Nobody could believe last year when I first came that the halls could be quiet and that students could come to lunch quietly, eat with quiet voices, and leave with barely a sound….but they did!!! There is a lot to be proud of at RLMS. Here are a few statistics to celebrate for this year: 55% of our students were on the Honor Roll for each quarter. The number of students that participated in extracurricular activities over the course of the year was 71%, which is an increase of 12% from the previous year.
Our students are highly active in organizations and activities. We work closely with Nicasa to develop an after school program and our school organized an event for our students and students from other schools to attend and help with the construction of the new Nicasa playground. Students are active in “Be the Change” and “Our American Voice” and are developing citizenship projects focused on a school/community wide problem. Students also attend lunch sessions to read novels and participate with Omni Youth Services to develop a life plan with goals for the future. Students serve as Mentors, participate in Junior National Honor Society, Pep Club, Yearbook/Newspaper, Drama Club, Environmental, Student Council, Scholastic Bowl, Chorus, Chess Club, Club, Cheerleading, and a variety of sports and intramurals.
While many schools can boast the majority of these accomplishments, what is unique to our school is the dedication of the staff. When students are not successful in class, our core teams hold a meeting and develop a behavior plan with incentives personally designed for students to assist them in making progress and being successful. Teachers donate many extra hours to come to our events and to work with students before and after school as a mentor. Our PTO parents work and volunteer in our building and plan special opportunities for students that we could not accomplish alone.
IMPORTANT DATES: We believe in parent involvement and this year we have planned many parent and family evenings. Some important dates you might want to know about coming up soon include: 6th Grade Orientation 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. on Friday August 13th, Meet and Greet for all families from 4:00-5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 17th, the first day of school on Wednesday, August 18th, and Curriculum Night on Wednesday September 1st from 6:00-8:15. Parents with last names A-L attend on this night from 6:00-7:00, and parents with last names beginning M-Z attend from 7:15-8:15.
I know that this will be another great year at RLMS and appreciate your support for your student to be successful during the upcoming year.
Sincerely,
Sharon M. Giless, Principal