Cedar School News and Updates 1/17/23

Share our Story

This section of the message is intended to share our story at Cedar. We invite parents, guardians, and caregivers to share their stories too, by communicating with us and one another. 

We continue to prioritize the implementation of our new evidence-based Literacy Program, Wonders. The program encourages our kindergarten and first-grade students to be independent lifelong learners and critical thinkers. Cedar students are taking on an active role in their learning in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening each day. Classroom teachers have worked closely with the reading specialists around assessment, lesson pacing, the use of appropriate tools, and providing direct and explicit instruction around phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and handwriting. Upcoming themes in Kindergarten literacy include the “Wonders of Nature” and “Weather for All Seasons”. First-Grade themes will include “What Can Happen Over Time” and “Animals”. In math, students in Kindergarten will be focusing on classifying and sorting as well as addition. First-Grade students will be focused on interpreting and representing data, in addition to balancing equations. 

The "Super Friend" Jar in the main lobby is almost full, which suggests that we are close to a school-wide celebration! We appreciate the support from our parents in sending in the "Super Friend" certificates, and we know our students are working extremely hard to be "Super Friends" at home. We continue to celebrate these great moments that are captured during school over the morning announcements each week.

Important Cedar Information

We have a few fun curriculum incentives happening at Cedar over the next few weeks. Please read below:

Cedar School will participate in our first annual "Lexia Llama Challenge" from January 30^th through February 17^th. During this time, students will be encouraged to use LexiaCore5 either at home or during their designated instructional time at school. When a student completes 3 units, they will earn a ticket that will go towards their overall classroom total. The classroom that collects the most number of tickets each week will earn a special visit from the Lexia Llama (see picture below). Lexia usage at home should not exceed more than 10-15 minutes a day. LexiaCore5 Reading is an adaptive computer-based program that accelerates the development of literacy skills. The activities support and build on your child's classroom curriculum and focus on developing reading skills in six areas: phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

We encourage reading every day, however, we are certainly emphasizing this idea during our annual "Cedar Snowball Slam." During the weeks of February 27^th through March 17^th, kindergarten and first-grade students will be asked to read and record each book that they read at home in a log that will be provided for them. Any book that is read to a child will also count. Students will read books or chapters and they will earn a paper snowball from their classroom teacher which they will attach to their classroom door. Classrooms will compete to see which door can accumulate the most snowballs by the end of the event. We are looking forward to continuing this fun reading incentive and culminating this event with a big surprise for our students!

Important Links

Kindergarten and preschool registration for the 2023-2024 school year will open up on Monday, January 23, 2023. The link for registration can be found on the right side of the Cedar School website under Student Registration. Please share this information with any incoming Cedar families:

Please see the Cedar Music Newsletter that was created by Mrs. Thornton.

General Reminders

We will continue to send the students out as much as possible. Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. 

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Children should not bring in any candy/food treats for classmates. 

Shout Outs 

The Instructional Leadership Team at Cedar is a group that was established this year and is composed of the curriculum specialists, the math coach, the K-6 curriculum director, and Cedar administration. The group has worked towards fostering a culture of continuous and collaborative reflection, learning, and improvement. The group members have worked closely in planning and determining upcoming professional development opportunities for teachers, with a focus on student achievement and building teachers’ capacity through differentiated support. I would like to recognize Mrs. Dutton, Mrs. Burns, Mrs. Frank, Ms. McBride, and Ms. Clements for their effort and their commitment to the vision of the school and for keeping the focus of all work on student achievement and learning. 

Upcoming Dates/Events at Cedar

Best,

Jesse Craddock
Principal