Upcoming & Notable

**Semester 2 official work samples to be collected during LP6 meeting**

• Sutter's Fort Environmental Living Program - Tuesday, February 20 & Wednesday, February 21
• Ski Day - Friday, February 23
• Crest Center - Pete the Cat - Thursday, February 22
• End of LP6 - Friday, February 23
• LP7 Begins - Monday, February 26
• Math Webinar - Monday, February 26 @ 1pm
• Mondavi Center – Cudamani: Gamelan and Dance of Bali - Monday, February 26
• Mondavi Center – Words Take Wing - Tuesday, February 27
• Alliance Redwoods Environmental Science Camp (5th & 6th Grades) - Monday, February 26 - Friday, March 2.

• Last Day to Add/Drop (High School Students) - Friday, March 2
• Rescue Project and Performance Fair - Wednesday, March 7
• Ski Day - Friday, March 9
• Daylight Saving Time Begins - Sunday, March 11
• Interim SBAC Test Prep & PFT - Jackson - Wednesday March 14 (PFT Testing from 11 to 2)
• Ski Make-Up Day - Friday, March 16
• Curriculum Vendor Fair in Carmichael - Tuesday March 20 - 11am to 1pm
• End of LP7 - Friday, March 23
• SPRING BREAK - Monday, March 26 - Friday, March 30

• High School Information Meeting - Wednesday, April 4 - 11am - 1pm - Grace Church in Jackson. Sign up here.
• Early Ordering Begins  - Monday, April 9

Testing Practice

Students who are familiar with the test interface and can navigate it comfortably have a definite advantage going into testing in April.

Please consider spending some time with the SBAC practice tests located here (answers and printable test questions here).

Practice sessions will be held at Grace Church in Jackson on Wednesday, March 14th. Info here.

Remember grades 5, 8, 11 & 12 will also be taking the CAST science field test. Info can be found here.

Let me know if you have questions!

Enrollment Deadlines

Visions has many new students waiting to get in, so they have modified the enrollment deadlines this year.

• Visions began taking Fall applications the first week of February.
• There will be a lottery for all new students in all areas - Lottery begins 3/20/18.
• Siblings are exempt from the lottery as long as the applications are complete by 4:30 pm on 3/16/18.
• Current student academy change request deadline is also 3/16/18.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/20
President's Day - No School

Tuesday
Office Day

Wednesday
Jackson
Charles & Ella - 11:00
Wyatt - 1:00

Thursday
Office Day

Friday

Office Day

Upcoming & Notable

**Semester 2 official work samples to be collected during LP6 meeting**

President's Day (No School) - Monday, February 19

Sutter's Fort Environmental Living Program - Tuesday, February 20 & Wednesday, February 21

Ski Day - Friday, February 23

Crest Center - Pete the Cat - Thursday, February 22

End of LP6 - Friday, February 23

LP7 Begins - Monday, February 26

Mondavi Center – Cudamani: Gamelan and Dance of Bali - Monday, February 26
Mondavi Center – Words Take Wing - Tuesday, February 27
Alliance Redwoods Environmental Science Camp (5th & 6th Grades) - Monday, February 26 - Friday, March 2.

Last Day to Add/Drop (HS Students) - Friday, March 2
Rescue Project and Performance Fair - Wednesday, March 7
Ski Day - Friday, March 9
Daylight Saving Time Begins - Sunday, March 11
Interim SBAC Test Prep & PFT - Jackson - Wednesday March 14 (More information coming!)
Ski Make-Up Day - Friday, March 16
End of LP7 - Friday, March 23
SPRING BREAK - Monday, March 26 - Friday, March 30

Olympics Resources

2018 Winter Olympics: A Complete Kids Guide and Activity Book for PyeongChang Winter Olympics Kindle Edition

3D Dinosaurs Free Winter Olympics Pack - some cute activities for ages 2 to 9

8 Ways to Celebrate the Winter Games in Your Classroom (most of these will work with home schooling too!)

Brave Writer Olympic Guide

Education World

Education.com

Flag Rocks

Olympic

Pyeongchang 2018

Scholastic

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collections/teaching-content/get-ready-olympics/

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/slideshow/parent-child/winter-olympic-activities-crafts-and-recipes-kids

Teacherstarter - most resources require a subscription, but some don't and you can get inspiration from what you can see online.

Have good ones to share? Just email me and I will update this page.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/12
Lincoln's Birthday - No School

Tuesday
Pollock Pines
Alex M. - 10:00
Somerset - Crossroads Cafe
Justin - 11:30
Maya - 12:30
Akira - 1:30

Wednesday
Jackson Library
Sterling - 11:00
Hunter - 12:15

Lilly - 1:20
Jezreel - 3:00

Thursday
Jackson Library
Billy - 10:30
Emma - 11:30
Connor- 12:30
Wyatt - 2:00

Friday

Somerset
Yarrow & Alder - 1:00

Sac State Summer Courses

Exciting Sac State Summer Courses: Take Academic Talent Search (ATS) Exam to Qualify
Interested in getting a taste of the college experience?

Offering of a host of exciting summer courses, Sacramento State’s Academic Talent Search (ATS) program gives current 4th-9th graders the opportunity to take challenging and engaging classes taught by college professors, area instructors, and industry professionals. Students can choose from classes that include LEGO Robotics, law, neuroscience, art, engineering, theater, broadcasting, photography, foreign language, writing and many more.

To join, students must take the ATS qualifying exam, which Visions will be administering on March 2, 2018 at 10 a.m. at the Visions In Education office in Carmichael. You must take the exam to apply for the classes. The test takes a little over one hour and costs $15, payable to ATS on the day of the test.

To sign up for the exam, contact Deanna Stevenson at dstevenson@viedu.org or (916) 971-5523. Additional details including course offerings and financial aid information for qualifying students can be found here.

High School Information Presentation

From the WIRE:

Incoming and current high school students in grades 8 through 11 are invited to attend a High School Informational Presentation to learn about academic planning to meet your student’s post-secondary goals and learn about the resources available to you.

Led by Visions’ Home School Counseling Department, the presentation will cover several topics that are focused on preparing students for high school graduation and beyond.
Topics include:
• High school graduation requirements
• 4-year university A-G admissions requirements
• Honors classes and grade point averages (GPA)
• PSAT, SAT, and ACT information/prep
• Community service
• Concurrent community college enrollment
• How to academically plan for high school and post-high school goals

Upcoming dates, locations, and times are:

• March 6 – 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Pleasant Hill Tutoring Center, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, 1601 Mary Dr., Pleasant Hill (RSVP by 3/2)
• March 7 – 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Lodi Tutoring Center, Century Assembly, 550 W. Century Blvd., Lodi (RSVP by 3/2)
• March 12 – 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Cameron Park Library, 2500 Country Club Dr., Cameron Park (RSVP by 3/8)
• March 13 – 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Carmichael Office, 5030 El Camino Ave., Carmichael (RSVP by 3/9)
• March 15 – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., St. Luke’s Tutoring Center, 7595 Center Parkway, Sacramento (RSVP by 3/13)
• March 19 – 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Carmichael Office, 5030 El Camino Ave., Carmichael (RSVP by 3/15)
• March 22 – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Vallejo Tutoring Center, Community Presbyterian, 2800 Georgia St. Vallejo (RSVP by 3/20)
• April 4 – 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Jackson Tutoring Center, Grace Fellowship, 8040 CA-49, Jackson (RSVP by 3/30)

To RSVP for this valuable presentation, please fill out the High School Informational Presentation Sign-Up Form.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/5
Office Day

Tuesday
Ione
Wesley - 12:00
Grace & Faith - 1:30

Wednesday
Jackson Library
Billy - 11:00
Isabeau & McKenna - 12:05

Emily - 2:30

Thursday
Jackson Library
Leila - 11:00
Lucas - 12:05
Charles & Ella - 1:30
David - 3:30

Friday

Office Day

Upcoming & Notable

**Semester 2 official work samples to be collected during LP6 meeting**

LP6 Begins - Monday, January 29
Mondavi Center - Circa's Carnival of Animals - Monday, January 29

Ski Day - Friday, February 9

Lincoln's Birthday (No School) - Monday, February 12

President's Day (No School) - Monday, February 19

Sutter's Fort Environmental Living Program - Tuesday, February 20 & Wednesday, February 21

Ski Day - Friday, February 23

Crest Center - Pete the Cat - Thursday, February 22

End of LP6 - Friday, February 23

LP7 Begins - Monday, February 26

Mondavi Center – Cudamani: Gamelan and Dance of Bali - Monday, February 26
Mondavi Center – Words Take Wing - Tuesday, February 27
Alliance Redwoods Environmental Science Camp (5th & 6th Grades) - Monday, February 26 - Friday, March 2.

Last Day to Add/Drop (HS Students) - Friday, March 2
Rescue Project and Performance Fair - Wednesday, March 7
Ski Day - Friday, March 9
Daylight Saving Time Begins - Sunday, March 11
Interim SBAC Test Prep - Jackson - Wednesday March 14 (waiting on more info)
Ski Make-Up Day - Friday, March 16
End of LP7 - Friday, March 23
SPRING BREAK - Monday, March 26 - Friday, March 30

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 1/29
Office Day

Tuesday
Ione
Joseph & Alex - 11:00
Tiffany, Madison & Logan - 1:00

Wednesday
Ione
Jaxon - 12
Charlotte - 1:30

Khloe & Sadie - 2:35

Thursday
Ione
Austin - 12:30
Jasmine & Roxy - 2:00

Friday
Office Day

Virtual Meeting Survey

Testing, Testing...

Now is a great time to start some no stress practicing for state testing.

CAASPP Practice and Training Tests
Scoring Rubrics (Answers) to CAASPP Practice Tests

Here is a refresher of the testing info I have so far...

*CAASPP - California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (Language Arts and Math)
*CAST - California Science Test
*PFT - Physical Fitness Test

Which Grades Take Which Tests?
PFT - Grades 5, 7 and 9
CAASPP - Grades 3 - 8 and 11
CAST (field test) - Grades 5, 8, 11 and 12

CAASPP Interim Test Prep - NEW THIS YEAR - More info in this should come soon!
Jackson - Grace Church - March 14
Rescue - Foothills Methodist Church - March 7

CAASPP/CAST* Testing
Jackson - Grace Church - April 10 - 13
Rescue - Foothills Methodist Church - April 17 - 20
Make-ups (Carmichael, Concord, Fair Oaks, Lodi, Rescue) - May 8 - 10

PFT*
Dates and Times - Working on a Jackson testing day - will keep you posted
El Dorado Hills - Promontory Comm Park - 3/13 @ 9:00 am
Lodi - Katzakian Park - 3/22 @ 9:00 am
Elk Grove - Derr-Okamoto - 3/22 @ 1:00 pm
Sacramento - Howe Park - 3/21 @ 9:00 am
Fair Oaks - Fair Oaks Park - 3/7 @ 1:00 pm

CAASPP Practice and Training Tests
Scoring Rubrics (Answers) to CAASPP Practice Tests
Info on CAASPP Score Reports
CAST Info
PFT Info

Rescue Area Project Fair

You are invited to participate in a homeschool Project Fair in Rescue.  It is open to Visions students of all grades.  This fair will be a wonderful opportunity for students to display their work and for families to connect with each other.   Please bring a completed project to display.  Projects may be from any subject area, not just science. For more information, see this link on The Wire.

When:  Wednesday, March 7th, 2018, 3:00 – 5:00

Where:  Foothills United Methodist Church
               3301 Green Valley Road, Rescue, CA 95672

Students will have table top space (or floor if needed) to display their results/ models/ diagrams/ photos.   There is no cost to participate!

Attendance Change

Pathways updated the attendance (Activity Log) page so there is one extra step to log your attendance.

To log attendance:

• Go to Launchpad
• Click on School Pathways
• Click on Activity Log

If you need to change the Learning Period, under Select Learning Periods, click the drop-down arrow and deselect the incorrect Learning period, then select the correct Learning Period.   



• Click Review Log. The Learning Log will then appear on the screen.
 Check boxes and click Save Screen. 

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 1/22
Virtual
Emily - 11:30
Yarrow & Alder - 1:00

Tuesday
Jackson Library
Isabeau & McKenna - 11:30
Ione
Leila - 2:00

Wednesday
Somerset
Maya - 9:30

Thursday - CT Work Day - No School

Friday - CT Work Day - No School

Spring Semester Work Samples

Here are the optional work sample folders for the official work sample collection at our LP6 meeting. Remember, you do not have to use these. You can also use a combination of your own samples and the provided samples.

Don't worry about the standards matching on your semester plan. Things have been changing with how assignments are being logged with the Visions system (see next post), so we will check that together at our LP6 meeting.

TK/K Samples
1st Grade Samples
2nd Grade Samples
3rd Grade Samples
4th Grade Samples
5th Grade Samples
6th Grade Samples
7th Grade Samples
8th Grade Samples
9-12th Grade Samples

If you have any issues with them, or suggestions on better options, please let me know. I am open.

More Changes

Previously, I was required to create a semester plan with you AND then copy that information into Launchpad (now Pathways).

This year, Visions administration has decided to allow CTs to share (with their admin) and upload (to Pathways) the semester plans instead of duplicating that work.

What this means...
Starting LP6 (spring semester), your semester plan will be an "official" school document that is shared with your Visions administrator and logged on School Pathways.


How this changes things...(for most people, not much at all)

• Semester Plan titles will include "Semester Plan & AWR" (I added that already)
• Semester plans will need to be updated regularly, and at the end of each LP they should accurately reflect the work completed that LP (already being done :)
• Grades and progress will need to be updated each LP (already being done :)
• For those using religious texts and materials, we will no longer be able to use the titles of those materials on the semester plan. (Example:"Bob Jones English 4" becomes "English 4")
• Students working above or below grade level will need to have "grade level" standards on the semester plan. (I was putting the standard of the grade level students were working at, but now I won't be able to. I'll be changing this over the next few weeks.)

Please let me know if you have any questions about this change. Thanks!

And remember, you can always make a copy of your semester plan for your own use if you like.

Math Webinar

Hi Visions Families,
Would you like to add more depth and creativity to your student's daily math lessons?  If so, then please join us for Math Webinar #4 on January 29th@ 1:00.  Our Math Instructional Coach, Melissa Meyer, will be hosting this webinar which will look at multidimensional math and how using diamond paper can engage students in higher level math thinking and reasoning.

To Register Please Click Here
To see a schedule of future Math Webinars or watch a recorded Math Webinars, Click Here.



Our goal is first and foremost to make math fun and engaging so that your student is not stressed by math but rather enjoys it and can apply it to real world situations. Remember, “textbooks don’t teach, teachers teach!”