December 7th, 2012

December 7, 2012

Dear Parents/Guardians:

I have some exciting news to share with you. I was contacted this week by the director of curriculum

and instruction from Academy School District in Colorado Springs. This is a high achieving school

district that performs very well. The director explained to me that their superintendent has charged

her with researching math performance across the state to look at schools that are performing high in

achievement and academic growth.

Academy School District is contacting those schools that are high performing in math in order to glean information from them as to how they are teaching math in their schools in order to find best practices to implement in their own district to improve their math scores. The director told me that we are a model school and that they would like to learn more about our practices and even do a visit or two to Newton as through their research of math scores of the past three years we have been one of the highest achieving schools in the state along with high growth.

We will continue to share information with District 20 and we may schedule a visit or two with some

of their district representatives for some time second semester. It is always nice to be recognized for

achievement, especially by another district in the state. I think this speaks volumes for our school, our

teachers, students and community. What an honor to be recognized by another district for the work

we’ve done!

Switching gears it is the end of the semester and I want to remind you that it is concert season. Here is the concert schedule for next week; all concerts begin at 7:00 pm:

• December 10th: Orchestra and 6th grade band
• December 11th: 7th and 8th grade band
• December 12th: Guitar
• December 13th: Choir

I would like to invite everyone to attend our concerts to listen to our performing arts students. The

concerts are always enjoyable and the students do a great job.

With the end of the semester grades will be due upon our return from winter break. We have two

weeks of school left and I encourage you to check your students’ grades on parent portal and contact

teachers with any questions you might have.

Have a great weekend.

Respectfully,

James O’Tremba

Principal, Newton Middle School