Quarter Two Parent Meeting - reminder

The Quarter Two Parent Meeting will be held tomorrow from 10:00-11:15am in the auditorium. All parents are invited to this informal session, and are encouraged to ask RIS administrators any questions they may have.

Please inform Mr. Emin or Ms. Park by this afternoon if you plan on attending the meeting. We hope to see many of you tomorrow.

Quarter Two Parent Meeting - reminder

The Quarter Two Parent Meeting will be held next Tuesday, November 23rd, from 10:00-11:15am in the auditorium. All parents are invited to this informal session, and are encouraged to ask RIS administrators any questions they may have.

Please inform Mr. Emin or Ms. Park by Monday afternoon if you plan on attending the meeting on Tuesday. We hope to see many of you next week.

Quarter Two Parent Meeting

There will be an open and informal Parent Meeting on Tuesday, November 23rd, from 10:00-11:15am in the auditorium. Parents of students in all grades are invited to speak to school administrators about any issues or concerns you may have. We will use the forum to give more information about some current and ongoing initiatives.

We do request that if you wish to speak specifically about what your child is learning or how your child is progressing through this school year, that you contact your child's homeroom teacher directly and arrange a separate meeting time.

Please let Mr. Emin or Ms. Park know if you plan on attending the meeting. We look forward to seeing many of you next Tuesday.

Parent-Teacher Conferences on Saturday

We have collected most of the Parent-Teacher Conference sign-up forms that students took home to you on Monday. Ms. Park is currently working hard to create a timetable that ensures you get your first choice of meeting time. Parents of students who did not return the form will be assigned a meeting time.

Mr. Altay will email you tomorrow with your time to meet your child's homeroom teacher. As well, the homeroom teachers will let your child know Saturday's meeting time in class tomorrow, so that they can give you this information after school on Thursday. 

You may meet with the ESL and Specialist teachers either before or after the homeroom teacher meeting, depending on the times you are available to be at the school.

We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

This Saturday, RIS staff are excited to host Parent-Teacher Conferences. The following letter will be sent home with your child today. Please be sure to fill in the form and return the letter to school by Wednesday. We will try our best to accommodate your first choice of meeting times. You will be notified by email of your meeting time with your child's homeroom teacher by Thursday afternoon.


Parent-Teacher Conferences

What do the numbers mean?

In last Friday’s post, you read that a score of 6 on the report card indicates that a student is meeting the teacher’s expectations of achievement in meeting the prescribed learning outcomes.

If you see a 6 on your child’s report card, this indicates that your child was able to show understanding of the concept or skill with minimal teacher assistance. A score of 6 is a general indicator that things are going well for the student in that area. The descriptor for a score of 6 is SECURING.

Scores below 6 are reflective of the amount of teacher assistance necessary for a student to meet the learning objectives, and the ability for a student to express his or her understanding of an area in a variety of ways (projects, presentations, self-assessment, class work, homework, quizzes, and exams).

A score of 1 (ENTERING) or 2 (BEGINNING) does not necessarily indicate that there are major problems in an area. These scores may reflect a lack or gap in prior knowledge, a lack or gap in English-language competency which is preventing the student from being able to achieve at an expected level, a lack in student achievement based on effort, or any combination of these factors.

Scores above 6 represent a student’s capacity to extend beyond the learning objectives to express an enriched understanding of a concept or skill, with very minimal teacher assistance.

This eight-point scale more accurately measures not only the “results” of learning, but the process of learning too. Students who have entered the school are not penalized for any gaps in their social or academic language based on their English-language capacity. Rather, students are assessed both on their overall achievement and on the amount by which they have engaged their own learning in trying to meet the curricular objectives.

Scores above or below 6 should not be read like a traditional percentage-based or ten-point scale. In those scales, one can generally assume that a lower number equals poorer performance. Those kinds of scales do not tend to account for a wide range of factors which contribute to accurate assessment: students’ prior knowledge of a content area in their native language; their current English language competency and ability to articulate what they know in their non-native language; and content-area improvement concurrent to language development.

As a parent, you have the responsibility to understand what and how your child is learning. At Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 30th, you will have a chance to speak to your child’s teachers directly, so that you may clearly understand, and be proud of, what your child continues to achieve at RIS.

Student Assessment

As we near the end of Quarter One, the teachers are compiling grades for the report cards which will be issued to students on Wednesday, October 27th. The amount of work completed and progress made by so many students in their classes is fantastic.

When you see your child's report card, you will see grades reported on a scale from 1 to 8. As you can see from the Assessment Descriptors document below, a score of 6 indicates that your child has performed at the level expected and dictated by the teacher's course requirements. This score means that appropriate progress is being made, and that a student is achieving well relative to the learning objectives prescribed by the curriculum.

Scores of 7 or 8 indicate that your child has exceeded teacher expectations, while scores between 1 and 5 indicate the degree by which a student is still progressing toward the standards prescribed by the curriculum.

Many factors contribute to the numbers generated by teachers for your child's report card, such as performance on tests, projects, presentations, homework, and behaviour and effort in the class. The learning objectives for each grade and each class differ based on the subject taught and the understanding of appropriate age-level performance.

On Saturday, October 30th, RIS will host Parent-Teacher Conferences. This is your chance to come to the school and discuss your child's progress and achievement with the teachers. At that time, you will be able to ask specific questions to the teachers about the scores you see on your child's report card. As we draw closer to October 30th, more information will be sent to you about your meeting time with your child's teachers.

As always, do not hesitate to call or email both teachers and administrators if you have questions about how and what your child is learning.


RIS Assessment Descriptors

Parent Meetings

Our new principal, Mr. Emin, is hosting informal Parent Meetings over the next three Saturdays, as a way to introduce himself to you, solicit your input and suggestions, and to specifically discuss the creation and organization of the RIS PTA (Parent-Teacher Association).

Please note the following dates, and kindly email Mr. Emin or Ms. Park to indicate whether you intend to join the appropriate meeting. Parents with students in different grades need only attend one of these Parent meetings. All meetings will be held from 10:30am - 12:00pm, and refreshments will be served.

Saturday, October 9th - for parents of students in Grades One and Two
Saturday, October 16th - for parents of students in Grades Three, Four, and Five
Saturday, October 23rd - for parents of students in Grades Six, Seven, and Eight

Parent Meeting reminder

A reminder to all parents that we will hold a Parent Informational Meeting tomorrow from 9:30-11:00 in the RIS auditorium. This is your opportunity to learn about some new RIS policies and initiatives, become involved with the PTA, and to ask any general questions you may have to the school administrators.

We hope to see you all tomorrow!

Meeting for Parents

We will be hosting a Meeting for Parents on Wednesday, August 25th from 9:30 -11:00 in our auditorium. The meeting will serve as a brief orientation for new parents, an information session where we detail a few changes in our daily timetable, and an opportunity for you to ask questions to our administrators about student life at RIS. We do request that if you wish to speak specifically about what your child is learning or how your child is adjusting to the new school year, that you contact your child's homeroom teacher directly and arrange a separate meeting time.

We will also discuss the formation of this year's PTA (Parent-Teacher Association), and outline some activities and initiatives which we hope to put into your capable hands.