The Cherry Street Connection

Attention 5th Grade Parents! If you are interested in chaperoning our field trip to the Grand Rapids Public Museum and Planetarium, please let your student's classroom teacher now ASAP!  We must have written interest by Friday, May 8th.   We will be randomly selecting parents from each classroom to attend this field trip with free admission.   Date of Field Trip: Thursday, May 28th. 

Basketball Camp for Girl Grades 4-12 May 9 and 10, there will be a basketball camp for girls in grades 4-12. If you are interested, please see the form below: Schuba Camp (You can download and print the form by clicking the download button.)

CSI Family Night is May 7! Please join us at Cherry Street Intermediate on May 7 for our Family Night. There will be games and fun for the whole family. Please see the poster for more details. We hope to see you there!

4th Grade Begins MSTEP This Week! This week, the 4th grade have begun taking the MSTEP. So far, things seem to be going well. As a reminder, if your child has his/her own headphones that they would like to use, they may use them for the testing. Please have the child talk to the teacher about storage options if you are nervous about leaving them in their bags.  Spring Concert is Near! The spring concert is getting closer and closer. The concert dates will be May 11 and 12.  May 11 is for grades K-2 May 12 is for grades 3-5 Shown below is a screenshot of the schedule for those dates:

5th Graders Going to the Middle School... There will be an orientation for all 5th graders going to the Kalkaska Middle School on May 14th. This is a great way for the students, and parents, to get to know the Middle School staff and programs that will be offered. Please see the flyer below. (Copies of this flyer and an informational note will be sent home today.)

Check Those Backpacks! Greetings Parents, It has been a very busy week. We appreciate all of the flexibility that the students have shown throughout this week's MSTEP testing. Next week, the 5th grade will be completing the Mathematics portion of the MSTEP.  Today we sent home a lot of information. In your child's backpack, you should have, but are not limited to, the following informational fliers: Read Box - Information on our new book lending program. 5th Grade Field Trip Information Information on the Spring Music Concert Information on the upcoming Technology Bond. If by some chance, you child has mysteriously misplaced any of these flyers, please let the office know and we will provide another copy. It is really nice outside, and I hope everyone can enjoy the weekend. Thank you for a great week! -Ryan Moore

Here are a couple of pictures from tonight's Lego Robotics session: Looks like Mr. Schumann may be stumped. 4th and 5th grade robots get ready to battle. Friendly Competition

Thoughts to Ponder The first day of MSTEP testing is completed, and we have learned a few things. Last week, 5th grade teachers sent home schedules of when teachers will be giving the MSTEP to their students. In order to meet the deadlines put forth by the State, we are going to adjust when the test is given (to 5th grade students) so students will have enough time to complete the assessment.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, both Mrs. Krause's and Mr. Schumann's classes will begin the morning with the MSTEP (using both computer labs at once). Also,  Mrs. Liverance will begin her classroom's Performance Task in the afternoon.  If you are wondering about what the MSTEP entails, this article:  http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2015/04/11/mstep-common-core-testing-standards/25644955/ may help. 

This was a very busy week. We are preparing for the MSTEP testing by creating a second lab in the Art room with computers from around the building. A big thank you goes out to our I.T. Staff, the teachers for "lending" their student computers, and to Mr. Morley for "donating" his Art room to house the lab. When 5th grade arrives Monday, they will begin the MSTEP testing. If students would like to bring their own headphones to use for the testing, we welcome them to do so. We have plenty to cover everyone, but using your own may be more comfortable. Students may leave the headphones with the teachers when they are not testing if they do not want to leave them in their bags or lockers. Friday, our students were treated to our Thailand exchange student's presented about her homeland. This is an ongoing experience for the students to learn about the world through the eyes of our exchange students. The exchange students use slideshows to introduce the students to

Headphones, If You Have Them... MSTEP (the MEAP replacement) is completed through online testing. Along with this, a lot of the testing has an audio piece to it. Cherry Street has headphones for this, but if you would like your child to bring their own headphones...they may be a little more comfortable than ours. If you have any questions feel free to contact the office. 

MSTEP Starts Next Week! Next week, the MSTEP (the successor to the MEAP) will begin testing the 5th grade students. This is the first time that an online test has been used for a statewide assessment of this type. We are working hard to make this as seamless a transition as possible for the students. If you would like to see a preview of what the students will be working on, you can go to this link: https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi/ott1 If you click on the Spring 2015 Preview , and follow the prompts, you can enter the preview test. The login information is provided for you on the login screen.  Once in, you will be given a practice test for the subject that you choose. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you. Sincerely, Ryan Moore