Parents,
We are just over 20 days into the 2014-2015 school year. If you are the parent of a middle school student you should be receiving a mid-term report in the mail.
Parents of elementary school students are always invited to check on the progress of their students with teachers.
I wanted to take some time to talk about some things that are happening in our school.
PTO is very active. They are working hard to increase how fun and safe our playground is. They will be attempting to raise funds through grants and donations to continue this project.
Curriculum at Council Grove Elementary is evolving as we align to the Kansas
College and Career Readiness Standards. The ELA curriculum is running smoothly!
We are using Journeys material that is aligned to the Kansas College and Career
Readiness Standards. For those that watched us implement Journeys last year you know that it was a challenging endeavor, but students continued learning and progressing. This year through practice, experience, and hard work by teachers, parents and students, our kids are progressing well with reading and the rest of the
ELA curriculum.
This year, we are implementing an updated math curriculum. It is called Engaged
NY. As with Journeys, it is aligned to the Kansas College and Career Readiness
Standards. Though teachers worked well over two weeks this summer preparing lessons and units, we are still having growing pains similar to those we had last year with Journeys, but students are continuing to learn and progress. We are examining our pacing guide, the amount of homework, and our parent resources. All three pieces will be adjusted. Teachers are sending out newsletters with parent resources and we are planning a parent night that we will supply parent materials. As we examine and upgrade our pacing guide students should see a decrease in the amount of homework being required.
Over at Council Grove Middle School we see that the math curriculum was updated last year to Connected Math Project 2. This year we have upgraded again to
Connected Math Project 3. This program is aligned to the Kansas College and Career
Readiness Standards. Our teachers spent weeks this summer becoming familiar with the program so they would be ready when students arrived.
The middle school ELA curriculum has not escaped enhancement. During the 2013-
14 school year teachers from Council Grove High School, Council Grove Middle
School and Prairie Heights Middle School worked to choose a new curriculum. This work consisted of hours looking at Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards and comparing many different textbooks and materials. Finally selecting the ELA series called Collections.

I would do a disservice to the music, physical education, science, social studies and computer teachers if I didn’t point out the number of hours they have spent preparing for this year. While most of the attention has been on ELA and math, the
State changed science standards. Our science teachers have examined these standards and adjusted pacing and topics to better meet these standards. The State has developed a new social studies assessment with added emphasis on the 5 social studies standards. We implemented K-FIT in physical education class and structured more health classes. We also wrote curriculum for music.
Curriculum isn’t the only upgrades that have been happening on the CGEMS campus.
We are into our second year of wearing name badges. While a little inconvenient, we are able to spot potential problems more quickly. We do continue to ask everyone that comes into the building to check in at the office to receive a visitor’s badge.
When you stop in you will notice that we have an added security feature. We continue to keep all doors locked. We know this is more inconvenient for parents, but we are keeping the students safer. Gaining access is possible by ringing our doorbell. We currently have two areas for parents to gain access, the front door of the elementary (on highway 56) and the West door of the middle school. Yes, there are a few programing bugs still to work out, but the system is up and running and helping to enhance our security.
In addition to the security doors, we have installed 21 security cameras. These cameras record what is happening in the halls and near the entrances to the building. As I demonstrated being able to look down the halls with my cell phone to a class of eighth graders, they said, “That’s creepy.” I must agree with them. But in an emergency situation, it will be an added feature that can secure more students in less time.
Finally, I would like to take the time to invite each of you to participate in PTO or
Site Council. If you are interested in participating in either group, call the office and we will get you signed up.
Thank you for sending us your best! We will do our best to ensure their success both academically and socially while keeping them as safe as we can.
Sincerely
Mike Estes
Principal
CGEMS