Burris Laboratory School. Weekend Update. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. John Dewey

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1 Burris Laboratory School Weekend Update Burris Laboratory School fosters a culture of respect and trust where every student is challenged to pursue excellence by engaging in a well-rounded, technologically-enhanced, rigorous curriculum in a safe and secure environment. As a model school engaged in best practice research and the preparation of highly effective educators, we cultivate and collaborate with community partners to prepare students for success in an everchanging world. Here is what is happening at Burris this week: Tuesday: 3:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. Elementary basketball at Mitchell Elementary Girls high school basketball at Anderson Prep (conference game) Thursday: 3:30 p.m. Elementary basketball at Longfellow Elementary Wednesday: 8:00 a.m. Veterans Day Program 8:00 p.m. Senior Cap, Gown and Announcement order due Sophomore Class Ring order due Sadies Hawkins Dance Friday: Saturday: 6:00 p.m. Girls high school basketball at Tri High School (Blue Out game) Meetings are at 3:00 p.m. unless noted *Help with Dr. Comber must be prearranged so the door can be opened for students. Mondays: *HS English help with Dr. Comber at 7a. Middle School Homework Club Middle/High Math Help 4th/5th Homework Club High school science help with Mr. Dodrill Elementary Spell Bowl in room 111 Tuesdays: *HS English help with Dr. Comber at 7a. Daisies (K-2) in room 128 Middle School Homework Club Fitness Club (grades 2-5) until Nov. 23. Middle/High Math Help 4th/5th Homework Club Pep Band at 3:10 High school science help with Mr. Dodrill Future City Club in room 107 Wednesdays: K-12 Chess Club in room 120 Thursdays: *HS English help with Dr. Comber at 7a. Botniks (robotics) in room 120 Middle/High Math Help 4th/5th Homework Club Jazz Band at 3:15 High school science help with Mr. Dodrill STEAM club in room 108 Fridays: Future City Club in room 107 Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. John Dewey

2 As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we invite you to share your input by completing the following survey. The survey is comprised of a series of rating questions in addition to three open-ended questions. We read, with fidelity, the responses to each open-ended question. Please use this space to clarify any of your survey responses and, especially, to share anything you would like us to know regarding improvements already made to the school environment and ways we can continue to grow as a community. It should take about 10 minutes to complete the survey. Parent Survey Link: Each parent/guardian in the household is encouraged to respond. We have received 179 responses so far. Our goal is Thank you for investing your time and sharing your insight so that we can continue to grow. We will close the survey on Thursday at 3p. Art News Handmade Sun design printed cards are still available to purchase to raise money for Heifer International. Please purchase cards for your personal supply, as gifts, or holiday greeting cards. If interested, please stop by Mrs. Morton s room (124a) for purchase for a $5 suggested donation. 2

3 The Burris Band is selling organic lotion made by The Lotion Company. Band members in grades 4-12 will be selling the product until Friday, November 20. This is a great way to support the band program and get a head start on your holiday shopping. If you have further questions, please see a band student or Mrs. Mulcahy atklmulcahy@bsu.edu. To commemorate the success of the boys soccer team regional championship, the Athletic Department is selling regional champion t- shirts for only $10. Please see the attached order form if interested. Next Saturday, our Lady Owls will play Tri High in their home opener and any Owl Fan wearing blue to the game will receive admission for only $1. 3

4 Please see attached form to purchase spirit wear! To recognize the service of veterans from all branches of the United States military, Burris Laboratory School will have a program on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. in the auditorium. The children will hear from five to seven local men and women who served their country. Additionally, the children will sing patriotic songs at the beginning and end of the program. Thank you to Mrs. Confer and Mrs. Gluff for coordinating this program. 4

5 O Burris Laboratory School Orchestra students under the guidance of the past president of the American String Teachers Association in a clinic at Ball State University. 5

6 The University of Dayton is hosting an Explore Engineering event November 14 th from noon to 4pm. Students will participate in hands-on laboratories with other students while learning about engineering design with faculty. They will also have the opportunity to talk with admissions representatives, students, and faculty. There is a similar Women s Engineering Program Overnight for Junior and Senior girls interested in engineering. This program starts Friday, Nov. 13, at 7pm and ends Saturday, Nov 14 at noon. Interested students can RSVP for the program at go.udayton.edu/exploringengineering. The National Student Leadership Conference is a summer program for 9 th, 10 th, and 11 th grade students who have demonstrated academic excellence, extracurricular involvement, and leadership potential. At the NSLC, students will get to learn from prominent world leaders, experience a future career, and life on a college campus. Career areas for NSLC include biotechnology, business, engineering, journalism, media arts, nursing, psychology, and many more. Interested students should ask me for a nomination by November 16. We are happy to nominate any interested students. After being nominated, you will receive information about the conference, including tuition costs. For more information, please come to the counseling center. Juniors and seniors interested in adding college classes or internships or independent studies to their second semester schedules should begin planning now. Proposal forms for internships and independent studies are now available. They will be due no later than December 4th, so that they may be approved well before second semester. Talk to Mrs. Maugherman by December 4th if your plan includes online or on campus Ball State or Ivy Tech classes for second semester. The Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar is looking for intellectually curious and motivated 10 th graders for this year s summer seminar. TASS is a free, six-week program for high school sophomore, co-sponsored by Cornell University, Indiana University, and the University of Michigan. Each year the topics vary within the fields of critical Black and ethnic studies. Sophomores interested in applying for TASS should seek a recommendation from a counselor by November 13. 6

7 Beginning Monday, S.A. Boyce Company will repair mortar in the two Burris courtyards. The courtyards are located on the roof in the interior of the structure. My office, for example, sits under a courtyard. It is flat roof area so while I never see the sun (what I would do for a window), I can easily hear the rain! This work will necessitate the crew grinding out the cracked, aging mortar and replacing it with new mortar. We anticipate that Monday and Tuesday might be noisy days in the science areas. All teachers are aware, and they can request to meet in a different room if the noise is such that it interferes with the learning environment. Repairs are scheduled to last two to three weeks. We are so appreciative to Ball State University Facilities for recognizing the mortar issue and quickly addressing it. 7

8 Every year, school corporations eagerly anticipate the results of the ISTEP scores. We are no exception. Our teachers, parents and students have worked together for a school year to cover grade level standards and more. We have always subscribed to the belief that if we create a safe, secure and peaceful learning environment coupled with engaged students, master teachers and cooperative parents, our scores will reflect our intentional learning. ISTEP scores were released to schools on Friday. They were sent via a secure filesharing program. As happens most years, the system became bogged down with schools trying to download the information. Additionally, this year we have been told that using Macs will not allow for download of information (wow). The IDOE released scores this weekend to school corporations in a more easily obtained format. We still do not have our scores, but we are trying! Your child s ISTEP scores are to be made available to you today. If you have trouble accessing the scores, please remember how many parents are trying to see their child s results. You should have received a letter from Burris a week ago on how to access your student s score. The format of last year s ISTEP was new. The online version, which we took, was more complex than the paper version many corporations used. Two cut scores were to be set to offset the lower scores on the online version. Overall, the IDOE expects that scores will be lower in previous years. Here is how you can help! First of all, view your child s scores online. It is important. If your child s score is very close to passing, but he/she did not pass, YOU CAN REQUEST A RESCORE electronically. Schools ARE NOT allowed to initiate a rescoring request. Please take the time to request a rescore. It helps not only your child, but our school as well. 8

9 Through the support of the Ball Brothers Foundation, we have sent all our athletic coaches and assistant coaches to a weight-training workshop so our students are safe. We were also able to complete repair our grand piano in the auditorium. It has been tuned, a new cover with a lock has been installed and it has a new bench! We moved it to the auditorium stage as is common with most premier vocal programs. We also purchased two 60 monitors for the first floor and Ball Gym. We are excited to go paperless with our announcements and showcase our memorabilia in a digital format. We are so appreciative of the Ball Brothers Foundation s support! 9

10 We have received reports from parents and grandparents with handicapped stickers that other parents and community members are parking in the reserved parking spaces in the Dock lot. I have asked Parking Services to ticket any car (whether the driver is in it or not) that does not display a handicap sticker when parking in the designated spots. 10