Newsletter 8: Report Cards, Conferences & Black History Month
January 28, 2021
End of First Semester & Report Cards
The last day of our first semester is Friday, January 29. Families of students in kindergarten through 8th grade will receive report cards for their children on February 3, and grades will also be available in PowerSchool for students in these grade levels. If you need help accessing PowerSchool, please email Andy Charrier at andy.charrier@creativemindspcs.org.
Families of students in preschool and prekindergarten will receive their child’s GOLD progress reports during family-teacher conferences on February 10. Read more about conferences below.
Fieldwork Education, the publisher of the International Primary Curriculum, has made a change to the IPC grading scale, with the addition of “Innovating”:
- B: Beginning
- D: Developing
- M: Mastering
- I: Innovating
We’ve implemented this new scale across all subject areas, in kindergarten through 4th grade. “Innovating” denotes student performance that is beyond the expectations of the grade level. At the Innovating level, a student demonstrates deep understanding, flexibility in thinking, and creativity when applying content knowledge.
Family-Teacher Conferences: February 10 & 11
We’re once again holding lower school family-teacher conferences over two days, as we did in October:
- February 10: all grade levels.
- February 11: kindergarten through 4th grade only; there will be no live classes for students in these grades, but offline lessons will be available.
Please look for sign-up information from your child’s teachers.
Middle school family-teacher conferences will be held on February 10, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and teachers will share sign-up information by February 1.
Family-Support Webinar: February 10
We invite Spanish-speaking families to save the date for a family-support webinar on February 10. Hosted by Abby Sheffer, director of lower school, and English-language teacher Ana Schcolnik, this webinar will provide families with tips for engagement and for supporting their students at home. Please stay tuned for information about registering.
Black History Month
We’re excited to kick off Black History Month by participating in the DC Area Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, from February 1 to February 5, when we’ll reflect deeply on issues of social justice.
We chose to participate in this campaign because the goals of the sponsoring organizations, DC Area Educators for Social Justice and Teaching for Change, align with the Creative Minds mission, values, and philosophy. Nayamka Long, our chief academic officer, believes the week of action, which promotes “a set of national demands based in the Black Lives Matter guiding principles,” is a strong framework for reflecting on our practices at school and centering our students of color in the classroom.
Please visit the Creative Minds social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to follow our week of action. We’ve planned additional events and activities for Black History Month and will share more information soon.
On the Calendar
January 29
End of First Semester
February 10
Family-Support Webinar for Spanish-Speaking Families
February 10
Family-Teacher Conferences: All Grade Levels
February 11
Family-Teacher Conferences: Kindergarten–4th Grade
February 15
Presidents’ Day: No School for Students & Staff
For more events, see our Academic Calendar and the calendar on our website.