Principal’s Message
Hello Sierra Vista Families and Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year!
As we begin the new year we reflect on the many changes that have taken place over the last two years. We have seen some beloved faces leave us, either for retirement or the next great adventure in their lives, new faces join the Sierra Vista family, our classrooms become more "high tech" than ever before and our students continue to bring their enthusiasm, curiosity and thirst for knowledge with them each day.
This year we will continue to focus on improving student achievement by meeting the needs of each child through high levels of Student Engagement. Teachers have been trained on new techniques in student engagement and are using concepts such as “Learning with others” and “Personal Response” to increase the understanding and connections our students have with the content they are learning. Ask your child how they shared what they were learning with someone in their class during a lesson. They may tell you they have a “shoulder partner” or a “face partner” and that they participated in a “Think-Pair-Share” or “Round Robin” activity during the day. Our new technology also assists us in engaging the students using the online components of our core curriculum.
Professional Teacher Time (PTT) will remain in place each Wednesday with students being dismissed at 1:57. Teachers utilize this time for professional collaboration and curricular planning, focusing on the needs of each individual child with the goal being to improve achievement for every child on our campus.
We will continue to reinforce positive behavior through our Lifeskills program which focuses on eight characteristics: Respect, Responsibility, Cooperation, Common Sense, Effort, Patience, Perseverance and Problem Solving. Our teachers and staff “catch” kids who are living the Lifeskills and reward them in a variety of ways. Our goal is to develop and reinforce the behaviors which are crucial to success later on in life.
We will kick off the 2012 - 2013 school year with a fresh, new mission statement meant to inspire and encourage each of us every day:
At Sierra Vista we…
· Dream
· Believe
· Dare
· Achieve
We will leave footprints worth following!
Students, teachers and staff will begin each day with a daily pledge:
At Sierra Vista I am expected to give my best. Each day I will:
Dream of new possibilities
Achieve all that I can
I am a valued part of a community of life-long learners
where I respect others, I
take responsibility for my choices,
and I will leave a footprint worth following.
We are looking forward to a wonderful year full of new memories, new learning and many opportunities to "Leave footprints worth following!"
Mrs. Gruebel
Principal
