WOH, Tuesday November 29, 2022
WOH November 29, 2022
Hope School MAP Scores: State-Wide Comparison by Kristen Okabayashi, Hope Principal
Hope K- students recently completed Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) standardized testing in math, reading and language (language is grades 3-8 only). MAP is online and is adaptive, so each student’s test will be slightly different from one another depending on how they answer each question. As a result, teachers and families are able to have a clear picture of what each student’s academic strengths and areas for improvement are. For this reason, it is important for each student to do their best work on each testing category, so teachers can know where to focus their instructional efforts.
Public schools in Washington take smarter balanced assessments; the state recently released results for these tests from last spring. If you are interested, you can read more about the state-wide results from this recent article in the Seattle Times.
Overall, the goal on smarter balanced tests is for students to be measured as “proficient” which would be testing at a level 3 or 4, while not proficient is a level 1 or 2 on the test. The cut off for the levels is static, so it is not a measure of percentile compared to other students. State-wide, in math 37.7% of students tested as proficient, and 50.7% of students tested proficient in language arts/reading, for the spring 2022 testing period.
After reading the article, I was curious to see how our own students compared with the state-wide results. MAP has a tool where the software can project each student’s test results into the smarter balanced assessment format, so we would be comparing like items. Looking at our K-8 population, 74% of our students are measured as proficient (level 3 or 4) in math, and 76% are proficient in language arts/reading. Out of all the school districts in Washington, only one district tested slightly higher than Hope students in language arts (Lake Washington School District, at 78.5% proficient) and none of the school districts tested higher than Hope students in math.
Standardized testing is just one method of evaluating how a student is performing, but it is one of the only actual specific data points we have for measuring learning mastery, so it is helpful to know this information. We will test again in late January/early February and then again in May.
Teachers at Hope are determined and relentless in helping each student reach their learning potential. Thank you to these wonderful and talented faculty for their commitment, which is apparent in the MAP results.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
12/2/22 Free Dress Day
12/3/22 Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting
12/6/22 Christmas Concert – Grades 1-4 at 6:30 pm
12/9/22 Christmas Concert – Preschool-Kindergarten at 6:30 pm
12/13/22 Sounds of Winter Concert – Grades 5-8 at 7:00 pm
12/16/22 Pizza Order Forms Due
SCHOOL NEWS
Inclement Weather Alert
The first possible snow of the year is possible this week, which means it is time to share Hope’s inclement weather notification process with our families. The safety of students and staff are our top priority in making decisions about weather closures or delays. We do not follow the direction of Seattle Public Schools because they tend to delay or close school more frequently than Hope because the district is so large and weather can be variable.
For late arrivals or school closure decisions, we make our best effort to communicate changes by 6:30 AM. School closures or late starts will be communicated/posted via the follow methods:
- School email to all families
- Social media (Facebook and Instagram)
- Website
- West Seattle Blog
If you do not feel it is safe to transport your child to school, please wait until it is safe to do so with our blessing. Please alert the school office and your child’s homeroom teacher.
Eagle Excellence Fund Support our Teachers Today: It’s Giving Tuesday!
We all agree: our teachers at Hope Lutheran School are the best to be found anywhere!
Between now and December 31, 2022 we aim to raise $60,000 for our Eagle Excellence Fund to invest in teacher compensation for our amazing teachers.
Today is Giving Tuesday and it’s a great time to give! Will you join us by making your best gift? It’s easy to give on our website or by submitting a check to the school office.
Thank you for your generosity!
LEST Brochure and Student Interest Form
The primary goal of the LEST (Lutheran Elementary Schools Tournament) is to provide an organized structure to promote fun, skill development, fair play, and fellowship among Lutheran elementary school youth through academic, athletic, and recreational activities. Last Tuesday, we sent home LEST brochures and interest forms to all students in Grades 5-8. Please complete and sign the interest form and turn into the office or your child’s homeroom teacher by this Friday, December 2, 2022.
PIP Hour Opportunity – Hometown Holiday Tree Lighting Dec 3rd
Hope Lutheran School will be serving hot chocolate at the Hometown Holiday Tree Lighting December 3 from 4 to 8:30 pm. We need the help of parents and students. Please click on the Signup Genius Link to see how you can help at this fun event. This is our 5th year participating and a fun way to give back to the community and start the Christmas season! Please email Sally Heit with any questions: sheit@hopeseattle.org.
Pip Opportunity – Daily Afternoon Recess – 1:40pm-2:10pm
Hope needs one volunteer each day during the afternoon recess to help supervise. There will be a staff member at recess also. Recess is for both the 3-5
Food Drive Recap: Thank you to everyone for contributing to the food drive! Hope School collected 390.6 lbs of food to restock the church food pantry that supports our local West Seattle Community! If you are looking for another way to help, check out the announcement below from 8th grade student Dominic Caudle on how to help during this season of giving.
3rd Annual Drive-Through Holiday Food/Coat Drive! Sat, 12/3/22; 10am-3pm
Where: Hope Lutheran lower parking lot (behind school off Oregon Street)
Hi, I’m Dominic, an 8th grader here at Hope. My brother, Atticus, and I are once again doing a food drive to benefit the West Seattle Food Bank during the holiday season.
Just drive up and pop your trunk! Monetary donations are also appreciated.
We are also collecting new or gently used coats of all sizes which will be placed by WIN (Westside Interfaith Network) at their welcome table, every Saturday in White Center.
Thank you once again for helping us support the members of our community!
EAST COAST TRIP FUNDRAISING
Pizza Fridays! — Final Orders due for the rest of the school year!
2nd half of the school year pizza order forms are going out today. Please fill out and turn these back into the school office as soon as possible. We must have all forms turned in before the Christmas Holiday Break on December 15, 2022.
This order form is for January 6, 2023 – June 2, 2023. This is for all Fridays where the full school is open. Continue to make Fridays easy and turn in your pizza order form. If you have any questions, please email ectfundraising@hopeseattle.org. We had a great PIZZA FRIDAY turn-out for the first session of orders. THANK YOU!!!! All proceeds from this fundraiser go to the Hope 7th and 8th Grade East Coast Trip! Eat some pizza and support our travelers!!!! Order forms are on the website.
Basketball TO-GO snack packs for all AWAY games!!! Order yours now for easy game day prep for games on the road. A quick snack ready for your player for before or after the game! Please fill out your form and turn into the office by January 4, 2023. ALL Home games at SLHS gym will have a concession stand. See you out on the court! Looking forward to a fun and competitive season! Lets GO EAGLES! All proceeds from this fundraiser go to the Hope 7th and 8th Grade East Coast Trip! Print Order forms from this website. If you have any questions please email ectfundraising@hopeseattle.org
PTH EVENTS
PTH Auction Meetings – Every Tuesday – 6:30-7:30pm
Come help us plan for the auction and earn your PIP Hours. Meeting in the Commons.
SIGN UP TO HELP WITH THE AUCTION- PIP Hours apply!
RaiseRight with Scrip this Holiday Season – Order by 12/2 or 12/9
Do you have a person difficult to buy for on your Christmas list? Looking for stocking stuffers? Or would like to participate in the Hope Church Giving Tree, but don’t know what to get? Want to treat a teacher? We have Scrip for that! Scrip are gift cards that you purchase at full value of what you paid that Hope Lutheran School purchases at a discount. Hope keeps the difference to help fund school extras. Look for flyers in your weekly yellow envelope or pick up an order form from the School Office. You may also place your order online at RaiseRight.com. Use enrollment code 1C27LC3812L43. If we don’t have what you would like in stock, orders for Christmas will be placed on 12/2 and 12/9 for arrival in time for Christmas Break. Contact Scrip Coordinator Pearl Chan at pearl.chan1@gmail.com with questions.
HOPE CHURCH EVENTS
Living Water International: Wednesday, 11/16/22, we had a special chapel led by Julie Hill from Living Water International. For the past ten years, our Hope community has raised $$’s every year to build fresh water wells all over the world. Our chapel offerings will be going to support Living Water for the rest of the calendar year. CLICK HERE to learn more about this awesome opportunity to change lives! CLICK HERE if you would like to donate through Hope and choose the “Joy to the World” fund.
Snow Team : As we transition from Fall, Hope is looking for a few more people to join the Snow Team. Volunteers would be responsible for shoveling sidewalks and walkways around Hope as needed. Please contact Jon Johnson. Snow shovel is not required. PIP Hours available.
Upcoming Church Services: