Mrs. McWhorter's Monthly Message

Class placements for 2008-2009

Dear Readers,

Can you believe that this school year is almost over and we are in preparation for 2008-2009?   One of the most important things we do each year is class placement.  It is our desire to provide each child with excellent instruction in a safe, inviting, and engaging atmosphere. For this reason, we carefully consider that placement for each and every child.

My purpose for telling you that is to review our procedures for student placement.  Much time and effort is given to creating a heterogeneous blend of boys and girls with consideration for learning styles, academic and study habits. While our highly qualified teachers subscribe to consistent standards, they have a variety of methods.  To the best of our ability, we try to match teacher with student.  Current teachers, administrators, counselors, and specialists thoughtfully review each class list.  This is a lengthy process which is not really finalized until late in the summer.

Parents may submit letters or e-mails to administrators by Friday, April 18^th.  Please do not include a request for a specific teacher.  A description of your child’s learning style and needs, an unusual family issue, or a special learning environment is all that will be needed and only if we are not already aware of them.  Please know that a letter is not necessary for your child to receive our attention.

Individual conferences with administration are not necessary.  With or without a letter, each Nicholson student will be placed with great care.  Your child’s success is our goal and we appreciate your partnership with us on that!

Thanks for reading and as usual if you have questions, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Lynn McWhorter

Your Principal

Dear Parents,

March is an exciting month that brings many changes from weather extremes to budding trees to windy days.  Our landscape awakens from its winter sleep as we begin to see signs of spring around us.  That renewal gives us hopes of new beginnings.

Our academic year is much like that as we begin to see real signs of progress.  Children are growing in their understandings.  They are maturing and catching on almost as if those hibernating dendrites are awakening.  We love it when they “get it”.  We continue to work towards our academic goal of becoming better writers and are beginning to see some progress with students exceeding standards in that area.  Our students are spending much of their day writing in all curriculum areas.

The students are not the only ones learning.   Developing our staff into a professional learning community is our school performance goal.  We are continuously collecting data, analyzing and responding to it through improved practices.  Team collaboration and cohesiveness are strengths.  The staff is a dedicated one that practices life-long learning, and I am proud of their professionalism.

            One of the things I love about Nicholson is that along with all this work we know how to have fun.  March is filled with family activities: book fair, dancing with the stars,   reading round up, 2^nd grade musical, and family dance night.    Our boys and girls always look forward to celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday and spirit day.  Aren’t you glad that you are part of the Nicholson community?  I am!  Looking forward to seeing you this month.

Sincerely,

Lynn McWhorter

Your Principal

Dear Parents,

March is an exciting month that brings many changes from weather extremes to budding trees to windy days.  Our landscape awakens from its winter sleep as we begin to see signs of spring around us.  That renewal gives us hopes of new beginnings.

Our academic year is much like that as we begin to see real signs of progress.  Children are growing in their understandings.  They are maturing and catching on almost as if those hibernating dendrites are awakening.  We love it when they “get it”.  We continue to work towards our academic goal of becoming better writers and are beginning to see some progress with students exceeding standards in that area.  Our students are spending much of their day writing in all curriculum areas.

The students are not the only ones learning.   Developing our staff into a professional learning community is our school performance goal.  We are continuously collecting data, analyzing and responding to it through improved practices.  Team collaboration and cohesiveness are strengths.  The staff is a dedicated one that practices life-long learning, and I am proud of their professionalism.

            One of the things I love about Nicholson is that along with all this work we know how to have fun.  March is filled with family activities: book fair, dancing with the stars,   reading round up, 2^nd grade musical, and family dance night.    Our boys and girls always look forward to celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday and spirit day.  Aren’t you glad that you are part of the Nicholson community?  I am!  Looking forward to seeing you this month.

Sincerely,

Lynn McWhorter

Your Principal

Making Student Achievement a Priority

Dear Readers,

I want to personally thank you for your attendance at parent-teacher conferences.  We know that your child’s academic success is very important to you, and we hope that you received clear communication on his progress towards meeting the new Georgia Performance Standards. We will be measuring that progress in April when the CRCT is administered to all students in grades one through five.  As you know, that is an achievement test required by the state of

Georgia

.

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is a nationally normed test that compares achievement of children across the nation.  Each fall we test our third and fifth graders and use the results as one of the benchmarks that guides us in our school improvement efforts.  The results are reported several ways, but I want to share the percentiles from major subject areas.  The percentile gives us a ranking of sorts.  For example, if our students scored 72% that means that they scored better than 72% of all the students their age in the

US

.  If you would like to see the complete results visit www.cobbk12.org and click on “Cobb ITBS scores…..” under “Also In The News”.  Here’s a quick summary for Nicholson:

           Third Grade                                                      Fifth Grade

                                                                                                                                    

          72%   Reading                                                      71%   Reading

          83%   Language                                                    73%   Language

          77%   Math                                                           68%   Math

          72%   Social Studies                                             70%   Social Studies

          78%   Science                                                       76%   Science

We are proud of our Nicholson teachers for preparing our boys and girls so well.  We are proud of our children for their accomplishments.  Thank you for sending us such wonderful students and for joining us in our efforts to help them become their best.

Your Principal,

Lynn McWhorter

Happy New Year

Dear Readers,

Happy New Year!  That phrase conjures up promises of new beginnings, resolutions, and reflections on the year gone by.  With half the school year behind us, we, as a staff, are reflecting on our accomplishments of the past 90 days with an acute focus on the goals that lie before us. 

We resolve to continue responding to the needs of our students through frequent, authentic assessments and data driven instruction.

We resolve to apply the best research- based practices in our instructional approach.

We resolve to keep children at the center of all our decisions and make student learning the primary focus of our school.

We resolve to provide a safe environment where learners gain knowledge, confidence, and respect for people and property.

Our academic area of focus is on writing. Our school performance goal centers on growing as a professional learning community.  At the mid-year we are examining benchmarks that will let us know if we are on target with our goals.

Within two weeks of making a resolution, 75% of all Americans have broken it.  We do not want to be in that majority.   Having high expectations for our students and for ourselves will support our commitment to excellence.  Please join us in challenging your child to shine his brightest because that is what Nicholson stars do best.

Happy New Year and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2008.

Sincerely,

Lynn McWhorter

Your Principal

December Happenings

Hello Parents and Friends,

It is the perfect time of year for traditions, and I wanted to remind you of several we have here at our school.

The Star Tree is located in the lobby and on it is hanging the wishes of some of our children.  If you would be so kind to take a star, purchase the gift and return it unwrapped to our counselors by December 7th,  we would appreciate it.  Thank you for your generosity in  contributing to the happiness of  our Nicholson stars.

The Recorder Concert is tonight at 7:00.  I am so proud of our 4th and 5th graders and all they are learning about music under the direction of Ms. Kneuer.  Your next opportunity for an outstanding performance is the Chorus Holiday Concert at 7:00 pm on Thursday, December 13th.

We thank all of our generous parents for making our Teacher Holiday Luncheon such a festive and delicious celebration.  We look forward to that each year, and I thank you in advance for treating us so special.

Our second annual PJ day is Friday, December 21st.  For only a $1.00 donation, everyone can wear their pajamas to school.  The proceeds benefit our Relay for Life Team.  We have set a $6,000 goal and are already past $1,000.  Thanks for joining in the fun-raising.  Holiday parties are a much anticipated event on this day.  Children will end the day with an all school sing-along of the traditional holiday music that is covered in their curriculum.  Oh what fun!

While we are having lots of fun at school, just know that we are working hard too!  Hope to see you at the festivities.

Winter Break is December 24 - January 7th.  Students return on the 8th.  Hope everyone has a happy holiday.

Your Principal,

Lynn McWhorter

Thankful for Nicholson

Dear Parents:

Fall is my favorite time of year.  Each year Grady and I take a leaf trip just to soak in the majesty of the mountains, the beautiful blue sky,  the crisp air, and the brilliant color of the leaves.   Add college football to the mix, and life is good.  November also reminds me of a tradition in the McWhorter household.  As our family encircles the Thanksgiving table, we take turns telling those things for which we were thankful while spelling “Thanksgiving”. When they were younger our children asked more than once if we could ever have a meal without a spelling lesson, but I explained that when your mom is a teacher, that is what you do.  I am not sure they ever fell for that, but the tradition continues.   Allow me to tell you what makes me thankful as your principal at Nicholson.

T-     Traditions:  VIP days, Fall carnival, movie night 

H-  Homes that provide stability and support for students.

A-  A safe school:  survey says that students and staff feel safe at Nicholson

N-  Nicholson Foundation

K-  Kindness- We have a caring community that loves Nicholson.

S-  Staff members who are dedicated to children.

G- Girls and Boys-  Our students are working hard at shining the brightest.

I-   Involvement of PTA and its many committee members and volunteers

V- Volunteers-  We could not do without those who give tirelessly to our school.

I-   Improved achievement as recognized by the Governor’s Office of Accountability

N- Noisy classrooms- the sounds of children engaged in learning

      G- Generous businesses that partner with our school

If you spell around the Thanksgiving table this November, I hope Nicholson is your “N”.  Enjoy the season.

Sincerely,

Lynn McWhorter

Your Principal

Improving our school: one letter at a time

Hello Readers:

It is so rewarding to see our boys and girls enjoying school and being engaged in their learning.  The favorite part of my job is being in classrooms and talking to kids about what they are learning.  The reward is to hear them verbalize that and to be enthused about it.  Our teachers are experts in engaging students and guiding them towards success.  Our goal is to ensure that for all boys and girls.

Each year we write school improvement goals that guide our work.  For the 2007-2008 year our student learning priority is to increase achievement in written communication.  Research tells us that writing in all areas is beneficial for comprehension and retention of the content. We are using the work of author and researcher Ruth Culham to support our efforts.  Her book,  6+1 Traits of Writing,  guides students and teachers in building a foundation through:  ideas, sentence fluency, organization, word choice, voice, conventions, and presentation.

Our school performance priority focuses on building a professional learning community for our staff.  The best way to do this is to designate times for teachers to collaborate on student learning, assessments, and best practices.  We find times during team meetings, and early release to share. Book studies guide us: Results Now by Mike Schmoker and Differentiation in Practice by Carol Tomlinson.     Words spoken by Helen Keller summarize our beliefs.  “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”   

I am proud of our school and proud to be your principal.  I look forward to seeing you at the PTA Carnival on October 12^th.

Your Principal,

Lynn McWhorter

Happy New School Year!

Dear Parents,

Happy New School Year! It is with sincere enthusiasm that I welcome you to the 2007-2008 year.  We are off to a fantastic start with all 515 students and 83 staff members.  It must have been a great summer as our boys and girls have come back ready to learn and to embrace the many opportunities that await them.

I am pleased to announce that our school met and exceeded the Adequate Yearly Progress for the last school year.   In mathematics, 92.8% of our students met or exceeded standards on Georgia’s CRCT. In Reading/ Language Arts it was 94.8%.  As you know these tests measure how well our boys and girls are learning the curriculum prescribed by the state. Our curriculum comes with a guarantee which means that every child in every classroom will be taught the same standards designated for their grade.   This intense focus combined with high yield strategies,  higher order thinking skills, and high expectations creates a rigorous atmosphere for our learners. We want those percentages to be even higher.

The Nicholson Foundation under the leadership of Lindsay Stewart and Colleen Bolton is excited about reaching goals that were set for the foundation when it began just over a year ago.  Additional technology and Enrichment Clubs are just two of the ways your contributions have been used to enhance the educational experience for all Nicholson children. That is the mission of this ambitious and dedicated board, and I look forward to all that will be accomplished this year.

The Parent Teacher Association has been an integral part of our success through the years and is committed to continuing that.  Derain Roper and Shelley Morris have assembled an excellent group of talented workers who are enthusiastic about the year ahead. The PTA is an advocacy group for our children and is focused on making each year a successful one.   Look for ways to volunteer.  It is lots of fun, and we need you!

I am proud to be associated with a fine staff of professionals and a community that cares about its children.  Thank you for sending us such great kids and for being our partners.  Together “we reach for the stars to become more than we dreamed”.  See you at school.

Sincerely,

Lynn McWhorter

Your Principal