EAGLE SIGHTING
A Letter from Eastgate Administrators, Mr. Lesco and Ms. Naish
March 1, 2016
Please remember to regularly visit the Eastgate website and the PTA website for the most current information.
Eastgate: PTA:
Family Engineering Night
When: Thursday, March 3, 2016
Time: 6:00-8:00pm
Where: Eastgate Elementary
RSVP: Please click on the link for Sign-Up Genius let us know you’re coming. (We want to make sure we have enough materials!)
Discover the fun of engineering through hands-on activities with your whole family!
*engineering designs *coding *robotics *art innovation
Traffic Pattern Changes
Changes were implemented on Monday, February 29th to the traffic patterns during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. The changes were made to enhance the safety around the school campus, improve the flow of traffic, and reduce stopped traffic on Newport Way. Please click HERE to see the detailed post regarding the changes.
Kindergarten Information Night
Eastgate Kindergarten Information/Registration Night
March 1, 2016
6:00pm
Eastgate Elementary Library
Kindergarten registration for the fall of 2016 is underway. If you have a child, or know of one in your neighborhood, who will be 5 years old on or before August 31, 2016, please let them know. Items you will need to register your child include:
Immunizations – Although more shots are typically required before school entrance, an immunization card must be on file and complete before the first day of Kindergarten.
Birth Certificate or Passport for age verification
Residency Verification Affidavit Form (with supporting documentation)
Bellevue School District registration form (includes emergency contacts)
School Nurse Health Information form
Additional registration forms are needed for registering your child for Full Day Kindergarten.
Copy of parent/guardian ID
All Day Kindergarten for 2016-2017 School Year
Beginning in the Fall of 2016, all BSD Kindergarten classes will be free All Day Kindergarten classes
The budget recently passed by the state legislature includes full funding for all-day kindergarten in all public schools in the 2016-17 school year.
The state of Washington gradually has been increasing the number of schools in the state that are funded for all-day kindergarten since 2007-08. They began with funding for schools with the highest level of poverty. The state is moving toward all-day kindergarten because research shows it offers opportunities for long-term educational gains, especially in the areas of reading and mathematics.
To read the August 12, 2015 press release, please click the link below:
PTA Auction Information – March 19th
Attention all Superheroes of Eastgate! Have you got your ticket to the Eastgate Biannual Auction yet? This adult only event will be held on March 19th, at 6 pm at the Embassy Suites hotel in Bellevue. There will be cocktails, dinner, a dessert dash, dancing, a photo booth, a silent auction, and a live auction!
Tickets - Click HERE to buy tickets
Catalog – Click HERE to view the catalog
More Information – Click HERE for more information on the PTA website auction page
Why attend the auction? To help fund two years of 30+ Eastgate Elementary School PTA programs including the PACE (PTA Academic Curriculum Enhancement) Program, Discover Dance with Pacific Northwest Ballet, the annual Young Author’s Day, and many more!
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS! Volunteers for Eastgate Biennial Auction needed! This event takes many volunteers to make successful! Please consider volunteering for this important school funding event. Please sign up HERE:
Virtue of the Month:Determination
Determination means focusing your energy and efforts on a task or goal and sticking with it until it is finished. Use your will power to do something when it isn't easy, understand that achieving the result is well worth the effort. Be determined to meet your goals even when it is hard or you are being tested. With determination we make our dreams come true!
On the path to awareness:
- Set goals for yourself - achieve them!!!
- Understand what you are doing is important.
- Stick with it - even when it is hard.
Our Virtue recognition assembly for March will be Friday, March 4 at 2:30.We will focus on recognizing the virtue of Self-Discipline (February) and introducing the virtue of Determination (March).
Literacy Tip from our LAP Reading Specialist: Vocabulary
In light of our upcoming Family Engineering Night on 3/3, our March literacy tip will highlight VOCABULARY as it relates to SCIENCE. Focusing on root words, prefixes and suffixes can help your child learn new science words more quickly and become a word detective! Click HERE to learn more about fostering your child’s science vocabulary at home.
A Note from Coach Barnes: Jump Rope for Heart
Hello Eastgate Families!
The week of March 21st – 25th, Eastgate PE classes will be participating in our Jump Rope for Heart event! This event is a long standing fundraiser for the American Heart Association, and we are excited to be able to both participate and lend a hand to help out this great organization in the battle against heart disease! I’m sure many parents have participated in this event when you were in elementary school. I know I did!
Over the coming weeks, we will be learning about heart disease and ways to prevent it. This will be culminated by a fun jump rope event during your child’s PE class during that week of the 21st – 25th.
While this is a fundraiser, that portion is completely optional. I will be delivering fundraising packets to each student, with no pressure to participate in that aspect. However, we will all participate in the fun jump rope day in PE class.
Look for more details to emerge as we get into March. A letter will be coming home that will shed light on this event for those that are unfamiliar with it!
Pumped to jump,
Mr. Barnes, Eastgate Physical Education Teacher
State Assessment Calendar
All 3-5 students will take the Smarter Balanced Assessment for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics online during the spring of this school year. 5th grade students will also take the MSP for Science. The Smarter Balanced is a national assessment consortium that has developed new next generation assessments to measure the demands of the Common Core State Standards.
The schedule below outlines when testing will occur. Please avoid scheduling vacations or time away from school during these important assessment windows. Vacation requests will not be granted if they conflict with state standardized testing. All testing must be complete by Friday, June 10th.
Week of May 9th: 4th Grade SBA ELA
5th Grade MSP Science (Thursday, May 12th)
Week of May 16th: 4th Grade SBA Mathematics
Week of May 23rd: 3rd Grade SBA ELA
5th Grade SBA ELA
Week of May 30th: (*No School on Monday for Memorial Day)
3rd Grade SBA Mathematics
5th Grade SBA Mathematics
Below is a resource for students to familiarize and practice the Smarter Balanced Assessments.
Student Interface Practice and Training Tests – Clicking this will launch the practice tests; user can select any grade level, subject.
Panorama Student Survey
This spring we will be doing a student perception survey for all students in grades 3-12, to collect information on school climate and to provide teachers with feedback from students. The survey is run through an organization called Panorama Education. This is the second year we are doing the survey.
The purpose of the survey is to help increase student voice in our district. We hope that it will help show us where our strengths are and where we can do better. Here is some additional information about the survey:
- The survey is confidential. Staff will not see how an individual student answers a survey.
- It takes about 20-30 minutes to complete.
- The survey will be given in April.
- Spanish and Chinese versions are available.
- Students will fill out the teacher section of the survey on two of their teachers. (It would take too long and be too tiring to have secondary students fill out a survey for every one of their teachers.) Elementary students will fill out the survey on their main classroom teacher and on one of their special subjects teachers (art, music, PE, library), chosen randomly. Secondary students will fill out the survey on two of their teachers, chosen randomly.
- Results will be out in June. Teacher-level reports will only be available to the individual teachers themselves. Teachers will receive these directly from Panorama Education. Principals and district staff will receive summary data for schools and the district as a whole. Summary data will be available on the district website.
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Naomi Calvo, Director of Research, Evaluation & Assessment, at or 425-456-4274.
From the BSD Curriculum Department –Math Acceleration for Parents of 5th Grade Students
Information regarding math acceleration options for students entering 6th grade will be e-blasted to parents of 5th graders by Friday, March 4. Information will also be posted on the BSD website on March 4, 2016.
End of Trimester and Progress Reports
The second trimester ends of Thursday, March 10th. Progress reports will be distributed to families on Monday, March 21st. This is a change from the original March 18th distribution date.
Vacation Dates for the 2016-2017 School Year
The Bellevue Education Association and Bellevue School District have reached agreement on the following vacation dates for the 2016-2017 school year. All other calendar details will be agreed upon as negotiations proceed.
Winter Break: December 19, 2016 - January 2, 2017. School resumes on January 3rd.
Mid-Winter Break including Presidents Day: February 20 - 24, 2017
Spring Break: April 10 - 14, 2017
IMPORTANT DATES
March 1Kindergarten Information Night
March 3Family Engineering Night
March 4Virtue Assembly
March 10End of 2nd Trimester
March 11No School – Professional Day
March 19PTA Auction
March 21 Progress Reports go Home (Changed from March 18)
April 1PTA sponsored Donuts with Dad – Gym @ 8:00-8:30 am
Week of March 21Jump Rope for Heart in PE Classes
Sincerely,
Steve Lesco and Brenda Naish
Eastgate Mission
Together, we will provide a safe environment where we will prepare each and every student with the foundational social, emotional and academic skills to be confident and successful lifelong learners.