LAHAINA – Aloha, LIS families! By the time you receive this month’s newsletter, we will have begun the final quarter of this school year. Testing is in full swing. Before we went on Spring Break, our students took the second round of HSA-Reading and their first round in HSA-Math. There was a slight increase in the overall reading results. It wasn’t as significant as we would have liked, but it is still an improvement. ?

The teachers are now busy with data analyses for both reading and math results and are having discussions in their Department PLCs (Professional Learning Communities). The second round of the HSA-Math will take place in April. We will

begin to analyze that data for growth shortly after the testing is completed.

Earlier on, during the month of February and into the beginning of March, teacher training sessions have been rolling out through our restructuring consultants. At the end of February, I spent four days at Central Middle School in Honolulu, where I served on an Accreditation Visiting Committee. It was educational and refreshing to see the similarities of creative ideas this school is implementing as their plan toward meeting AYP. The make up of their demographic population is very much like our students at LIS. I came back with new information and resources for LIS. ?

Spring Break couldn’t have come at a better time. The ongoing hard work our staff commits to on behalf of the success of our students on a daily basis is exhausting. This was the last break before we put our noses to the grind to finish off the school year. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves with relaxing, fun activities.

Teachers have been busy participating in external professional development classes, too. Ms. Haley Van Weemen Van Noord attended a class recently and was able to bring back some impressive science equipment for LIS. How’s that? Thank you, Haley! She and Mr. Jun Wu are also taking a University of Hawaii course in which they develop interdisciplinary lessons for their science and math students. Students are able to experience the relevance of both subject areas and how they are related to each other. ?

The Kahua Program is ongoing for teachers to earn college credit. This course provides cultural information so that teachers may relate to and understand the community and culture in which they teach.

The month of April will bring LIS’ 27th annual PTSA-sponsored Volleyball Invitational Tournament. All middle schools in the district are invited to participate. If you are able to volunteer your time, please call 662-3965 and ask for Lori Koyama, our student activity coordinator (SAC). Let’s enjoy this annual event together.

Remember to check edline.net for your child’s ongoing progress. Call us if you have any questions, concerns or good news at 662-3965. IMUA!