Welcome Back Pine Lane Crew!!!
We definitely hit the ground running this second quarter! 4th Grade did an amazing job highlighting our habit of character service. A big thank you to the the Dumb Friends League for joining and helping to convery this message! 6th Grade kicked off their Pie Selling Fundraiser to help offset the cost of PLUM in the Spring. If you need pies for Thanksgiving, you should find one of our 6th graders. We had the National Guard, DEA, Law Enforcement, and District Security come and encourage our Crew to live drug free as we wrap up Red Ribbon week. Our Room Parents led many Fall Parties. And, this evening we will wrap up with our annual Fall Festival.
This week you may have heard in the news many reports about our Nations Report Card and a decline in academic performance. I want you all to know this is not the case at Pine Lane. Our students have maintained their performance throughout the last 3 years and many of our sub populations have improved their performance, including a 10 point jump in our average performance for students with disabilities and our second language learners exceeding expectations for growth. Our teacher, students, and you all have rallied to make sure that our students stay on track with their learning and are set up for further success as we move forward. I am very proud that our work has improved our school performance framework from 56.5 points in 2019 to 71.2 points last year. Thank you all for your continued support of our mission to empower excellence in character, achievement, and contribution to a better world. This achievement is a great indicator that we are on the right track.
As we start through November we also have a number of exciting events planned. Our 2nd and 5th grade classes are working with Ms. Dameron on a Veteran’s Day concert. We are excited to honor those who have served our country to protect the liberty and freedoms that we enjoy each day. We are also looking forward to inviting families back into the school for our Thanksgiving Feast on November 16th. Please watch for more logistics around both of those events.
Lastly, we are 11 days from the election. As you are aware, DCSD has a bond and MLO measure on the ballot. I encourage you to review the following information highlighting our funding needs across the district and on how the funds will be used should the measures pass: Learn More About DCSD's MLO (5A) and Bond (5B) Initiatives A specific area of challenge is teacher pay. On average our teachers are paid $18,000 less than neighboring districts. Competitive pay is a significant challenge for our schools. You see this manifest in many ways including canceled bus routes and insufficient staffing. Thank you for your attention to this information.
Have an amazing weekend and please remember that there is no school on Monday, October 31st!
Chris Stairs
Principal
Pine Lane Elementary