Hello Lyon Elementary School family! I hope everyone had a fun but restful Mardi Gras holiday. And how about those SAINTS! SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS! How long we have waited for this dream come true!

It's only fitting that I explain to you, our "customers," the professional development our teachers are participating in to better educate your children. WOW, Working on the Work, is a framework for schoolwide reform that focuses on engaging students and staff to improve achievement. Last fall, three of our teachers spent three days learning this reform foundation. In early March, two more of our teachers went to learn about this framework, while two others went to begin learning about WOW design approaches. During the summer this team will work on design standards. We will continue our training of the more complex steps and present and teach them to the remainder of the faculty. It's an exciting venture, one that will continue to improve student achievement.

All of the teachers continue to be trained in technology. All certificated personnel in the district are learning Web Literacy, by Alan November. They use some of their time during Whole Faculty Study Groups to engage in the modules and discuss questions. Two of our teachers attended a workshop that focused on learning more student-centered technology and will share the knowledge at a later faculty meeting. So we continue to work on improving our technology to enhance student learning.

At this time we are also focusing on NNPS, the National Network for Partnership Schools. We developed a team and are in the process of creating our action plan to better partner our school with you, our children's families. We want to help make a difference for the better.....parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. This is very new, but I will keep you posted!

And before you know it, the last nine weeks of the school year will be upon us. It's simply amazing how time goes by quickly. As we move towards the home stretch, please continue working with your child on improving his skills, his reading, and his relationships with others. You are the most important person in your child's life. You help make our job a little easier. Thank you.