Families,

Parent conferences are a foundational part of the partnership between our staff and all of you, our families. Conferences provide a wonderful opportunity to support student learning and success academically, socially, and emotionally. It is crucial all families participate in parent conferences. As teachers share current levels of achievement, we also believe each student should be celebrated and recognized for the exceptional assets they possess. Even when there are challenges to discuss and work through, we enjoy the incredible opportunity to work with families and their children.

Each grade level has specific state standards that classroom teachers will explain and review. We want parents to know in advance of the topics and content area covered during conferences, which are consistent kindergarten through 5^th grade.  The outline shown is what families can expect to be covered during conferences, but please understand that teachers will cover different grade level specific details within each topic and/or content area.

The allotted time for a parent conference is 20 minutes. Having question for teachers prepared in advance will help with making the conference feel more efficient and productive. If any questions or concerns are pressing, please do not wait until parent conferences to communicate with your child’s teacher. Also, in reflecting on your child’s parent conference, families can always contact the teacher and schedule additional time if needed.

Thank you for your hard work as parents, and for the continual support of your child learning and growing both at school and at home.

PARENT CONFERENCE INFORMATION

BUILDING-WIDE TOPICS COVERED – FALL 2022

Kindergarten ~ 5^th Grade

• Student Recognition & Parent Voice
  • Celebrations
  • Questions/concerns

• Reading
  • Assessments ~ LSA, FastBridge, iReady, & IRLA
  • Teacher/student conferencing & formal/informal observation notes
  • Next steps/goals in the classroom
  • Next steps with supporting at home

• Writing
  • Rubrics
  • Student work samples and progress

• Math
  • Assessments/unit tests
  • Teacher/student conferencing & formal/informal observation notes
  • Next steps/goals in the classroom
  • Next steps with supporting at home

• Social & Emotional Progress

• Science & Social Studies
  • Past/current/& upcoming units

• Closing questions

* The depth of the details covered in relation to the standards will vary between grade levels, and the topics listed may not be covered in the order listed. Also, due to the limited time frame of conferences and the needs of each individual student, some content areas might be covered in more time and depth, while other content areas are minimally covered or possibly not covered at all.

READING:

1. FastBridge is a universal screening assessment that is given in the fall, winter and spring. It is used to determine if universal instruction is working or if the student may need something additional to access grade level content. 
2. IRLA is an individualized formative assessment tool that identifies baseline reading levels and determines skills and standards for each reader in an order that helps the student accelerate within their own growth trajectory. Teachers use this information to target learning needs in small group instruction and reading conferences. Teachers monitor individual student progress towards their skills and standards every two weeks. 
3. IReady is a diagnostic tool that shows which components of reading students may need extra support in i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. This assessment is used when a student is needing something additional for their reading journey based on the results of their FastBridge. test. Teachers can then make targeted instructional decisions based on IReady results.
4. Letter name/sounds is given by kindergarten to determine what letters and sounds a student knows throughout the school year.  This is given at the beginning of the school year and periodically throughout the school year to monitor progress.
5. Fundations unit assessments are given for K-3 students at the end of each unit to measure the success of phonics skills taught within the unit. Teachers use this information to measure student success and reteaching skills when necessary.

WRITING:

1. Writing samples that are scored using a standards-based rubric.

MATH:

1. FastBridge is a universal screening assessment that is given in the fall, winter and spring. It is used to determine if universal instruction is working or if the student may need something additional to access grade level content. Kindergarten is not required to take this assessment in the fall.