October 24, 2014

Changes in Standardized Testing

You may have heard that the annual measures by which schools are judged are changing. Since the inception of No Child Left Behind, our juniors have participated in the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which consisted of the ACT (Day 1) and WorkKeys (Day 2). These test dates were held in late April, and all students were dismissed around noon on these days.

With Illinois’ adoption of the Common Core, we are participating in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). As a result, the testing structure will have a look and feel that more closely resembles the ISAT tests your student(s) took in middle school where testing is held over multiple days. There are two main tests that will be given this year, Junior English and Algebra II. All students taking these courses must participate in testing.

There are five total tests for English and four tests for Algebra II. These tests are divided into two testing windows for the Performance-Based Assessments (PBA) and End-Of-Year (EOY) Assessments. Because this structure has been released only recently, our district is still working on the testing protocols and school-day schedules that will have minimal impact/disruption to the educational process. I will provide you with applicable information as it becomes available.

Although the ACT is not part of PARCC, we will offer a free ACT to every junior on March 3 during the school day. The school calendar does not list this as an early dismissal date yet, but you will be receiving information from our District Office about this calendar update. Likely, only sophomores and juniors will attend in the morning for testing, and all students will have the afternoon off.

For more information about the PARCC Testing Windows for PBAs and EOYs, click here.

Highlights and Successes

• Congratulations to Coach Joe Marcin and the Girls Cross Country Team on placing 3rd at the Conference Meet.  All-Conference runners were Ayako Higuchi - 2nd place, Katie Escobar - 9th place, and Anita Grudzien - 17 place.
• Congratulations to Coach Martin Zacharia and the following Varsity Debaters who won awards at the Schaumburg Pulic Forum/Lincoln-Douglas Debate Invitational:  Matthew Carlines & John Komoll - 1st place; and Zachary Jordan & Ishan Tapara - 2nd place.
• Congratulations to the following music students that were selected for the ILMEA District 7 Honors ensembles:  Honors Orchestra:  Alexandra Baumgart, Julia Cai, Roy Cho and Nathan Cornwell, Sarah Akutsu, Andres Carrero, Justine Chee, Karisa Chiu, Krystian Chiu, Nathan Du, Andrew Hwang, Brian Lin, Nathan Mo, Angie Peng, Jennie Yang, and Emily Yin; Honors Band:  Melinda Coleman, Mateo Diaz, Nick Liotti, Grace, Liu, Hazuki Okuda, Eden Schultz, Melanie Shaffer; Jazz Band:  Nick Liotti, and Alex VanRoon; Honors Choir:  Chloe Cho, Quinn Jackson, Emilie Kouatchou, Vance Lehman, Ben Mathew, Gina Pfister, Kaitlin Popvich, Amy Sedlak, and Annie Zheng.
• Congratulations to Coach Steve Keller and the Boys Soccer Team on winning the MSL Conference Championship.
• Congratulations to Coach Curt Pinley and the Girls Volleyball Team on winning 2nd place in the MSL West.
• Congratulations to Boys Cross Country MSL All Conference runner Danny Peterson.
• Congratulations to Coach Andrew Kittrell and the Girls Swim Team on winning the Stevenson Invite.  Top finishers were:  Medley Relay 1st place: Grace Grzybek, Loretta Steinicki, Saki Takumiua and Grace Kneller; 200 free, Erica King, 3rd place; 200 IM, Grace Grzybek, 3rd place; 100 free, Grace Kneller, 1st place; 500 free, Erica King, 3rd place; 100 back, Grace Grzybek, 2nd place; 100 breast, Loretta Steinicki, 2nd place; 200 Free Relay Team: Grace Kneller, Loretta Steinicki, Grace Gzybek, Erica King, 2nd place; 400 Free Relay Team: Grace Kneller, Erica King, Julia Portmann, and Loretta Steinicki.
• Congratulations to Coach Curt Pinley and the Girls Varsity Volleyball Team on winning the Grayslake North Invite.  Lane Hindenburg and Carly Roberts were named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Congratulations to this week’s Viking Pride winners:Jack Buban, Aarsh Desai, Gillian Gould, Emily Grewe, Julia Kazmierczak, Sophie Kish, Natalia Lastowiecka, Gina Rowlett, Anastasia Sotos, and Julia Wacker.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

October 24	Boys Soccer Regional Finals vs. Lake Zurich @ LZ (5:00 p.m.)
October 24	Viking Football vs. Barrington (7:30 p.m.)
October 25	Varsity Boys and Girls Cross Country Regionals
October 28	Halloween Fest (4:30-6:00 p.m.)
October 30-Nov. 1,6,7	Musical (7:00 p.m.)
October 31	Varsity Diving MSL Conference @ BHS
November 1	Varsity Swimming MSL Conference @ BHS
November 3	Teacher Institute Day (no school)

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page.

Staff Spotlight

Name:               Beth Grossman (aka Mrs. G)

Position:     Tutoring Center Supervisor

Years at Fremd:     7 years

Life before Fremd:   After graduation from college, I worked as a marketing assistant for a publishing company until I had my children.  I was a stay at home mom and then homeschooled my son and daughter for 10 years.  Once they entered the public school system, so did I, as a substitute teacher.  I worked in D211 for two years before I was offered the job at Fremd.  I love high school students!

Hobbies/Interests: I am active in jazzercise and enjoy watching various sports.  My husband and I lead a small group of newly married couples from our church. I enjoy mentoring young women and encouraging wives and mothers. HGTV and Food network are my down time options.

Insider Tip for Parents:  Encourage your student to come to the tutoring center! The tutoring center offers content help for our students starting at 7:00 am each morning.  We offer assistance in math, science and English, during the school day, periods 1-8 and after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:00-5:00pm. We have peer tutors in addition to teachers throughout the day.  

Ask the Principal

Q:  Is there a class where my daughter/son can shoot a rocket 175 feet into the air?

A:  What a coincidence that a parent would ask this question! (wink, wink) Mr. Aiken’s Astronomy class experimented with rockets today!

Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the next blog post.