The Cove Connection 

Sunday, September 19th, 2021

Issue #6

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Principal's Message

Reading Assessments This Week

Our teachers are our lead learners- meaning they model continuous learning for our students. On Friday, we spent the day diving deep into the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System (F&P assessments). These are the one on one reading assessments that teachers will be giving to your children this week.

These assessments look at fluency (how smooth is the reading), accuracy (how many errors does the child make) and comprehension (do they understand what they are reading). Teachers use these results to plan differentiated instruction and set personalized goals for your child.

The assessments also produce an independent reading level (A-Z) that can help guide your child to “just right” books at home. When we send the assessment results home, you will see more information about how to choose “just right” books for your child to read independently at home.

It is important to note that the reading level that comes home this year should not necessarily be directly compared to last year’s February (or spring) level. There are 2 reasons for this. First, our 3rd-5th grade used a different assessment system last year and is transitioning to F&P assessments this year. Different systems use different leveling metrics. Second, the training last week emphasized the significance of detailed, calibrated comprehension scoring. Teachers had a chance to practice scoring again and discuss/ calibrate results with common sample students. In short, we expect scores will be more accurate and scoring protocols will be more helpful for teachers to determine next steps for their students.

Thank you for rearranging your schedules to give our teachers this invaluable time with their students to learn about them as readers!

Sincerely,

Michelle

School News

Library Birthday Book Program A special way to celebrate your child’s birthday. Each month, students with birthdays that month will receive a Birthday Book flier. To participate, fill out the form, donate (suggested donation = $20), and return the form to the library or your child’s teacher. Then your child may come to the library to choose their book, and receive a commemorative bookplate in the book they choose with their name on it! August and September birthday forms will be sent home this week. You may also pick up a copy at the library. Through the Library Birthday Book Program, hundreds of new books are donated in celebration of our Cove students. Thank you for your support in this fun program! Kim Oliver & Melissa Scheeline

PTO News

​​Won’t you join our Cove Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)? Thank you to all of the parents, teachers, and administrators that have already joined the Cove PTO via our Actionaly notification. We are so grateful for your generosity as we approach our membership goal. Joining the PTO demonstrates your commitment to quality education at Cove by providing site-specific financial support for our teachers, students, and school. The suggested annual membership fee is $50 per family, but no amount is too small! Can we count on you to become a member today?

Save the Date! Our Annual Fall Family Get-together event returns! Please mark your calendars for Thursday October 14th, 4:30pm to 6:30pm at The Cove. Halloween costumes are encouraged and more information to come!

2nd Annual Drive-In Movies! Yes, that’s right - we are featuring two movies on two different nights this year! Join us on October 16th for Sing! or October 17th for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - or join us for both nights! Parking lot opens at 6pm, movies start at 7:15 at The Village at Corte Madera. Tickets are available for purchase now. If you plan to attend both nights, be sure to select both nights. To-go meals are also available for purchase. For more information visit here. Purchase tickets here 

Nicolette x SPARK Sip & Shop Join us Wednesday, September 22nd anytime from 12-7pm for bubbly, appetizers, and shopping the latest fall fashions. District parent owned SPARK Biz Partner Nicolette will donate 10% of your purchases directly to SPARK!

What does Community-funded mean? Today’s reality is that public schools in California can no longer rely on state and local funding to provide a well-rounded education. As the primary fundraising organization for the entire LCMSD, SPARK raises over $1.5M per year for our three schools: Neil Cummins, Hall and The Cove through Annual Giving, business partnerships and fundraising events. In order to reach our $1.5M goal, we need participation from every family. Every donation, at any amount, makes a difference for every LCMSD student. Make your tax-deductible Annual Giving donation today.

Become a Biz Partner Increase your exposure to our school community through event sponsorships, social media promotions and signage all while supporting our schools! Sign up today. Check out our 2021-2022 Biz partners and don’t forget to tell them SPARK sent you!

Are you getting our emails? Stay in the know on happenings and important SPARK related announcements. If you have not been receiving any emails from SPARK via MailChimp, check your spam/junk/promotion filters and then contact us at info@SPARKschools.org if you want to be added.

Follow SPARK on Social Media Follow us on instagram or like us on Facebook.

SPARK Volunteer Openings We’d like to create a gratitude committee. Would you like to help?  Email info@SPARKschools.org if interested and learn more here.

Community News

Please click link to view Community News that includes updates from:

• Corte Madera Parks and Rec - 15+ New classes Starting within the next 2 weeks!

• Applications for Christmas Holiday Gift Drive

• Crossing Guards Needed 

• St. Pat's CYO Basketball

Follow Us! #CoveSchool  #WeAreLCMSD

ABOUT THE COVE CONNECTION The Cove Connection is a digital bulletin published by the CovePTO and distributed to The Cove School community each Sunday via email. To submit content to the Cove Connection, please email info@covepto.org. To receive a subscription to The Cove Connection, or to change your email address, send a note to  covesecretaries@lcmschools.org.