At the Home School Association (HSA) meeting last night Principal Makey gave an in-depth report on the results of the TerraNova testing that was recently done for all the students in grades 3 through 7. This standardized test is done to assess reading, language, math, science, and social studies. He could immediately see that the effort put into reading the last few years has shown fruits in the scores.
After he displayed the scores grade by grade he showed his teaching roots by asking (rather than telling) if the parents saw any trends? They quickly spotted two. The first is that as the students get older the gap between their scores and the national averages get bigger each year. He said this is what he expected and wanted to see, as it should be in every good school. The second is that while all the scores were higher than the national average, math scores were relatively lower. He then addressed specific, implementable steps the school will undertake to make those scores even better in the future.
Perhaps the most exciting event of the meeting was hearing that the Not-A-Thon, as it came down to the wire brought in $31,500 exceeding the $30,000 goal. In comparison, in previous years selling candy or other items, the best the fundraiser ever netted was just over $15,000. This is due in a large part to a dedicated group of parents who create excitement in the kids to ask for help and in keeping the fundraiser in everyone's minds.
On Friday HSA has their next event: Turkey Bingo. A number of prizes have been collected including a signed Doug McDermott jersey. The food, bingo and fun will all be ready Friday starting at 6 p.m. in the Social Level of the church.
