It is hard to believe, but the first semester of school is just about to be over. December 17

th will be the last day of the first semester for the Armadillos. The first eighty-one (81) days of school were packed with many events and much progress. The second semester of school will begin on January 3, 2011 after a two week break to observe the Christmas Holidays. The second semester consists of 99 (ninety-nine) instructional days. Although we have eighteen (18) more instructional days in the second semester than in the first semester, we can not waste a minute as TAKS testing dates will roll around quickly.

By Friday, December 17

th each of the campuses and grades 3 – 11 will have taken a benchmark test to measure each students progress toward their performance on the Spring TAKS test. After principals and teachers analyze the results of these benchmarks, tutorials will begin and daily instruction will be re-sequenced to fill any gaps that may exist and continue teaching the content measured on the assessment. Teachers use a scope and sequence for their daily instruction that is called CSCOPE. San Saba ISD is in its second year of CSCOPE implementation. We have talked about CSCOPE numerous times, but I like to remind parents about this curriculum product so that they too will become familiar with it. More can be learned about CSCOPE by visiting with campus principals, our assistant superintendent, Michael Bohensky, from teachers, or by going to the CSCOPE parent portal located at http://www.cscope.us/parentportal/ or at the state CSCOPE website at http://www5.esc13.net/cscope/ . CSCOPE provides the teachers with a framework to make certain that they are teaching to the rigor of the state assessment and covering the information that will be assessed on this state mandated test and on other tests such as the ACT and SAT. In the future a viable and comprehensive curriculum such as CSCOPE will become even more necessary as state testing requirements are changing dramatically. After Christmas break, parents please contact your campus principal to speak to them about your child’s success! The benchmark data will be analyzed and principals will be able to tell you what your child will need to focus on in the spring and what they have mastered to this point. As well, we ask your support in any tutorial plan that is set up for your child!

We hope that your Christmas Holiday will be extra special and will be safe! Please help your kiddos to come back to school on January 3, 2011 ready to tackle the second semester of school. The central office and the campuses will be closed from Monday, December 20 – Friday, December 31.

Please visit www.san-saba.net to view events and find information you need to know about SSISD. As well, don’t forget to sign up for the "alerts" available from the website, and don’t miss the opportunity to sign up for the Parent Portal giving parents access to grades and attendance. Parents, let us know how we can help you the first day of school all the way until the last day of school!! If you have any question about this article or any other question about school happenings please contact me at 325/372-3144 or email me at lglaze@san-saba.net . We are San Saba! We are together!