| Attention: The chorus event at Forest Park High School, scheduled for Friday, February 5th is cancelled due to the weather forecast. |
| Due to limitations in the way SchoolFusion processes the automated Recent Activity and Daily Digest email, homework, files, calendar events, etc. posted AFTER 1 p.m. will not be included in the Recent Activity and Event Digest email for the day. Therefore, if a teacher has told students that they have a homework assignment at the end of class but it isn’t posted until 3 p.m., then it will not show up in the email. To avoid missing critical and updated information to teacher sites, parents and students are encouraged to login to the system at any time to access the “My Family” (for parents) and “My Classrooms” (for students) links for current information, as well as to sign up for a personalized RSS feed. |
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Dear Benton Families, As we close the first semester we begin preparing for SOL testing. It is critical that students are present each and every day for instruction. We can not teach them if they are not here. Book work is never the same as the classroom experience. Please consider postponing any vacations until after the SOLs have been completed. While we are aware that many families like to extend the spring break, valuable learning is sacrificed. SOL testing will begin on May 17th and continue daily through June 11th. Not every student will test everyday, but some students will be testing each day both morning and afternoon. The vast majority of our testing is on-line. We can thus run different tests simultaneously. Last year, for our first year of on-line computer testing, we conducted testing in a large group setting in the Lecture Hall. Teachers felt this test atmosphere was daunting and asked that the test be given in smaller areas. This year we will be testing in classroom spaces. We try to stagger the tests, so that one grade level is not tested on consecutive days with the exception of the eighth grade. In order to more fully prepare our eighth graders for the high school experience, eighth graders will take some SOLs on successive days. A calendar of exact test days will soon be posted to our website. Second semester also brings about heightened parent anxiety about student achievement. Students at this age need to take responsibility for their own learning. As difficult as this may seem, it is important to question your child about his/her school day and progress beyond the “nothing happened” answer. Students can and should be able to articulate what particular topic (unit) was the focus in each class. The student should be the one to tell you if he/she handed in a paper, took a test, and/or had homework. By-passing the student, and asking the teacher to personally supply the parent with this information sends the message that it is not the child’s responsibility to be engaged in the learning process. Although, this is easier, it indicates to the student that he/she is not accountable for his/her own acquisition of knowledge. Each child has by virtue of the student number, access to School Fusion. It should be the student’s responsibility to check on homework assignments, not the parents. Your child was present in body in the classroom, demand that he/she also be present in spirit. Ask him/her about the class, the work, and refuse to take anything less than a reasonable synopsis of the day’s learning activities in explanation. Help your child help grow into a responsible learner by requiring accountability for time spent in the academic environment of Benton Middle School. Sincerely, Linda L. Leibert Principal “To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” Marilyn vosSavant |
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Last Updated: February 2010
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