All In

You have heard Mrs. Lowrey talk a lot about STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) over the last year as we moved into our newly designed STEM labs and introduced a STEM curriculum to CKS students – providing our students the opportunity to communicate, collaborate and problem solve in new interactive, innovative ways.  Today, I’m happy to introduce Mrs. Lowrey as my guest blogger:

CKS STEM

Last week, I had the opportunity to go on a “field trip” and brought some teachers along for the ride.  Mrs. Cusmano, Mrs. Lefler, Mrs. Slavik and I were invited to attend the 1st Annual STEM in Innovation Luncheon hosted by the USF David C. Anchin Center.  (Many thanks to Dr. Stacy Hahn for the invite!)

We chatted with staff from the USF School of Engineering and two entrepreneurs who are in the final stages of developing educational STEM tools.  We also heard from the keynote speaker who expressed the importance of STEM education in our schools from a very early age.

The best part of the afternoon for me was the realization that CKS is ahead of the curve when it comes to STEM education and here’s why:

1. We provide professional development opportunities for our staff outside of school to keep their proficiency updated and relevant
2. Amazing learning activities are occurring in our classrooms – from EC4-4th grade STEM with Mrs. Slavik, to 5th-8th grade STEM with Mrs. Cusmano and EC 4-4th grade Computer classes with Mrs. Lefler
3. ALL of our students receive STEM education during the school day, in addition to many after school opportunities.  In fact, we are one of very few schools in Hillsborough County that has an embedded STEM class – and may be the only one that provides this to all of our students!

It gives me great pride to be a part of the awesome curriculum opportunities CKS provides our families.  If you haven’t already heard the exciting things happening in STEM lab from your child, I’ll be sharing more with you in the future!

Be sure to visit the STEM labs (located in the same building as Music and EC4) during classroom visitation this Thursday before the PTC meeting! 

Mrs. Lowrey

4th Quarter

Welcome back from Spring Break!  Here we are, three quarters down and one to go! I know most of us have contracted Madness this March and have basketball on the brain, but this morning I had football on my mind.

If you have attended a football game--at almost any level--you know that when the 4th quarter arrives players on the sideline hold up four fingers. Many colleges claim this tradition's origination as their university, but most agree--especially Alabama fans--that it began with Bear Bryant's Alabama teams in the 60's and 70's. Regardless of the origin, the gesture stands for teams claiming, "the fourth quarter is ours!" In sports this is important because no matter how you played in the previous three quarters, you can lose the game by playing poorly in the final quarter. The reverse is also true.

As we start the 4th quarter at CKS, I explained to our students how this can apply to them at school: it is important to have a strong finish to the school year.  The way they spend this fourth quarter will leave a lasting impression as they remember this entire school year. Three quarters of hard work, good grades and a great attitude can be over-shadowed by a lackluster final quarter of slacking off and no motivation.

Consider a goal set at the beginning of the year that hasn't been met; the fourth quarter is the time to reach it! There are many days of school left this year and the fourth quarter has just begun, through the intercession of St. John Bosco and Mary, Help of Christians, let's make it the best quarter yet, Lions!

Surprise Visitor

We had a special visitor at CKS recently:  Sister Karen Dunn visited campus Friday afternoon, was here for mass on Sunday and met with me on Monday. Below, you can see a picture of Sr. Karen and me visiting our Kindergarten students this morning. Sr. Karen served as the CKS principal from 2001 to 2005--the last Salesian sister to serve in that role for our school.  She now leads the Salesian Sisters in the Eastern Province as the Salesian Provincial in New Jersey.

For those of you who don't know the history, the Salesian Sisters (or more formally, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) served at CKS for almost 30 years and gave us our deep devotion to Saint John Bosco.  Find more information here about Salesian Sisters and you'll know why we continue to dedicate ourselves to being a Salesian school!

I was filled with Joy this morning when I met with Sr. Karen, and she mentioned that, although the buildings had changed since her time at CKS, the presence of Don Bosco remains alive. She felt it near the statue in the courtyard outside the cafeteria, she felt it among the various art pieces inside the building, but she said she felt it most in the warm smiles and welcoming words from our students and parents as they greeted her.

It is important to me, as a former CKS student and current principal, that we preserve that Salesian spirit and treat each other with loving kindness, the hallmark of the Salesians. I realize that we are imperfect people, living in an imperfect world corrupted by sin. We will face adversity, we will face unkindness and we will get hurt. What matters most is how our community responds to adversity -- that we continue to find Joy in God, and celebrate and demonstrate our Salesian spirit!

As we prepare for a much needed Spring Break, I wish you a joyful, restful time with your families and hope you make time to be with God.

I Heard It Through the Grapevine...

I am sure most of you know that last Friday we celebrated our Grandparents and Special Friends at CKS. This event highlights, for me, the biggest strength of our school community, family--and it is quite a large family! We received RSVPs for just over 400 guests and were happy to entertain over 550 guests who came for the event. An event of that size cannot happen without help, and 45 volunteers showed up to make this happen under the direction of our Advancement Office--Danielle Welsh and Ali Campbell, along with our Chairpersons--Cheri Morales and Carolina Curran. If the smiles of our guests were any indication, our volunteers created a memorable event for our visiting grandparents and special friends.

Here are the top three things I overheard from our guests on Friday:

"The Food was Amazing"

From my own experience with my grandparents, if you keep them fed you keep them happy! We certainly did that. I am not sure how many schools can list a professionally trained chef as an employee, but we are so lucky to have one at CKS. Wendy Hartmann prepared all of the food for the event and the rest of our amazing staff--Sheila DeLoach, Ann Mosher and cafeteria manager, Carol Laratta--came in on their day off to help. 

"I Loved the Program"

If you have somehow managed NOT to see our admissions video, take a quick moment and view it here. We showed this to our grandparents to give them a glimpse of a day in the life of a CKS student. Mrs. LeFloch also worked with our Kindergarten and 1st Grade students to perform a few songs from their performances--who can resist those precious faces and voices. We also gave our guests a preview of our upcoming middle school musical, Godspell Jr, which impressed everyone with passionate singing. 

"You Know, I Went to School Here" 

More than just a school family, we are a multi-generational school family. Events like this remind me how intertwined our school is within the lives of our families. Some of our grandparents attended CKS as students, sent their children to CKS and now have grandchildren attending here--one family has been involved with the school in one way or another for over 40 years. However, I found most impressive a man who rushed over to me during the event to tell me that he was an altar boy at the first ever mass at Christ the King (which was actually held at the Academy). 

I feel blessed to be a part of this school community.

Why-a, Why-a, Why-a, Do We Even Take the Iowa

Next week is Iowa week--or as my children like to call it, No Homework Week. This is when our students in 2nd through 8th grade take the Iowa Assessment--a norm referenced standardized test which provides a percentile ranking for our students in reading, math, science, and social studies. For more information about the test, please look at the "Featured Post" on the left. You can also check-out the newsletter for some good preparation tips for your students.

The most common question I hear from parents is "Why do we take the Iowas?" Here are my top three reasons:

1) Tracking Student Progress

Although the test measures what a student knows compared to what other students know rather than measuring what a students knows against content taught, taking the same type of standardized each year allows us to track individual student progress. Each administration of the test provides a data point--that taken over time--can show a trend. Teachers then use this information for grouping within the classroom.

2) Evaluating Our School Programs

It is important to remember that we teach to a set of standards and NOT to a standardized test. Effective teaching of the standards, however, should prepare students for any standardized tests. The score reports provided to teachers indicate how students scored within subcategories for each major subject. In small groups, at the end of the school year, teachers analyze this data. They look at data for their current students to find possible areas where they need to improve teaching for next year. They also look at data for their incoming students to see if there are any areas in which they need to spend more time based on their needs. 

3) Course Placement

In middle school, the Iowa scores, along with teacher recommendation and placement score results are used to help determine whether or not students should take an accelerated math track, allowing them to take high school algebra as a 7th grader. Our local public high schools use Iowa scores to place students into ability grouped classes and for determining acceptance to magnet and IB programs. While our private high schools use scores on their entrance exams for placement in ability grouped classes, our students Iowa scores are used when the student is on the cusp. 

Comparisons

I purposefully left this off the list. The tendency when looking at scores is to compare our scores to those of other schools.  We must be cautious, however, in making these comparisons. Just as students are not a sum total of their test scores, schools are not a sum total of their assessment results. For example, is it helpful to compare the results of a school with less than 5% of its students qualifying for financial aid to a school where 75% of its students do qualify? Also, is it fair to compare the total grade level average for a school with 50 students in the grade to a school that only has 10? 

At Christ the King, we are blessed to have students that should perform well on standardized tests: basic needs met, parents are college educated, access to books is provided, and opportunities for cultural enrichment occur. Instead of comparing ourselves to other schools we compare our results from year to year. I like the golf analogy, we are not competing against other players, we are competing against the test. Given the support they have at home and the education they received from their teachers, out students are a group I am happy to compete with any day!

Stay Healthy, CKS!

As we enter pollen season and the peak of flu season, I wanted to give you some information on allergies, colds and the flu so that we can work together to keep our students healthy.

Lori Ossi, RN

CKS Minute Clinic

Three things to remember before sending your child to school with any symptoms:

1 - A thermometer is a good investment.  As much as we like to think that a mother’s touch can accurately take a temperature, it is not a definitive indicator.  If you think your child may have a fever, please use a thermometer to find out.

2 - The CKS Minute Clinic does not stock over the counter medications. If you would like any over the counter or prescription medication dispensed to your child, you must provide the medicine with a signed medication authorization form. This includes medication taken to treat cold or allergies, including antihistamines.

3 - Students must be fever-free (temp < 100.5) for 24 hours before returning to school.  

Please read below for some helpful information from the CDC:

Signs and Symptoms of Allergies

• Sneezing
• Itchy, red watery eyes
• Runny nose
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Nasal congestion
• Sore throat 

Signs and Symptoms of Flu 

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches
• Fatigue (very tired)
• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea; this is more common in children than adults

How Flu Spreads

Most experts believe that flu viruses spread mainly by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby. Less often, a person might also get flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth, eyes or possibly their nose.

Preventing Flu

The first and most important step in preventing flu is to get a flu vaccination each year. CDC also recommends everyday preventive actions (like staying away from people who are sick, covering coughs and sneezes and frequent handwashing) to help slow the spread of germs that cause respiratory (nose, throat, and lungs) illnesses, like flu.

What is the difference between a cold and the flu?

The flu and the common cold are both respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses. Because these two types of illnesses have similar symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose.

How can you tell the difference between a cold and the flu?

Because colds and flu share many symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Special tests that usually must be done within the first few days of illness can tell if a person has the flu.

Useful links and apps:

AllergyAlert for iphones

American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology http://www.aaaai.org/

www.cdc.gov