Summer Blog Beginnings

Welcome to the Brownell Blog!

This school year I will be publishing information every week or so to keep our families informed of events, meetings, presentations and other important information that you and your student will need to know. 

 

So, let’s inaugurate our Blog with a bit of information.

We will be sending home packets of information, calendar’s etc..  to you within the next couple of weeks.  These packets can sometimes be confusing with all the different pieces of information, so here are a few important dates for the new school year you can remember…

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SCHEDULES AND BOOKS AND MORE!

August 12^th 

7^th Grade

Show up between 9:00 to 12:00pm or 1:00 to 3:00pm.

Learning Center--Library

All 7^th grade students can come in and pick up their schedule and their text books.  If you have a book that is overdue from the library or a text book you found buried under your bed this summer, bring them in!  If you do not have the books and all owed monies turned in before August 12^th you will not receive your new books or your schedule until school begins.  But we will work with you!

August  13^th  

6^th grade Orientation Night  6:00 pm starting in the Gym.   We will have your student’s schedule as well as other information and a treat or two for you while you visit our 6^th Grade Village and meet some of our 6^th grade teachers.  PE clothing will also be available.  Donation prices will be announced later this summer.  Textbooks will be handed out the first day of school as well as the “Famous Binder!”  Lanyards and ID will be obtained on Picture day,  September 3rd.   

August 14^th

8^th Grade

Show up between 9:00 to 12:00pm or 1:00 to 3:00pm.

Learning Center--Library

All 8^th grade students can come in and pick up their schedule and their text books.  If you have a book that is overdue from the library or a text book you found buried under your bed this summer, bring them in!  If you do not have the books and all owed monies turned in before August 14^th you will not receive your new books or your schedule until school begins… AND if there are any monies owed  by the end of the school year, you will not be able to participate in any of the promotion events.  But we will work with you!

August 19^th

First Day of School!   If you have your schedule already, you are good to go!  If you weren't able to go to Brownell on the assigned days of your grade level and name or you can’t remember where you placed it… we’ll have a table for you to go to  on the first day of school to pick up a new schedule. Tables will be placed:  6th grade go to the 6th grade Village, 7th grade in 7th Quad area, 8th grade next to Rm 25.

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Rumor Control, Rumor Control….

There was a lot of consternation at the end of last school year concerning our GATE program.  The rumor was that there were to be some major changes.  But as is the habit of rumors--they were wrong!  The GATE program remains as is and it is still an “opt out” program.    Unless you do not want your student in the GATE program, they are in!  What has changed is the number of accelerated classes.  Because testing data is not as clear as it has been in the past and then placement not as exacting either, we have raised the bar, so to speak, to get into the accelerated classes. And regardless of data cut offs we still need to have 34 students in each classroom.  

Common Core Standards

With most of the emphasis on the shifts in how we teach and how students learn, we are all learning much more than data and facts this next school year—no matter what level we find ourselves.    It will be different for most of our students as not only will the standards change, but so will a lot of our pedagogy—the way we teach.   What we found out last year, in the classrooms that completely switched to common core, is it can be more difficult for our accelerated students to make the switch than our grade level or transitional students.  Accelerated students have been well trained to give the answer and give it as fast as they can.  But now the emphasis is on process. What is the process, the operations, the actual facts as presented in the piece of literature?  What can we infer? Support it!  Where can I use this knowledge elsewhere?   How can I state a hypothesis and prove it?

State Testing 

The new school year will also begin our first complete year of teaching Common Core Standards and the new shifts in pedagogy.   We have been readying ourselves for this year for the last 3 years.    At the end of the school year we will be taking the first complete Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium Test (SBAC) which is the new State common core standards test.   Last year’s test was practice…  This year, it counts!

To help us complete the test (all online) and also to support our teaching throughout the year, we will have three new Chromebook mobile labs for our classrooms. 

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I hope this  first of many blogs informed as intended and my hope is that you will check in regularly for more. And if you have questions about what I have stated and/or other information you may need, don't be shy! email me at gregory.camacholight@gilroyunified.org or through School Loop.

That is all for now… more to come!   As we get closer to the new school year, don't forget to check in on School Loop around the first of each week so you can not only see how your student is progressing but you can keep up on the latest happenings at Brownell Middle School on the Blog.  This way I can also answer some of the many questions that families ask me and we can all be informed together!    I look forward to a great school year for everyone!  

Greg Camacho-Light

Principal,

Brownell Middle School