Your child’s progress reports will be loaded into The Source sometime on December 20. You will be able to access your child’s progress report in The Source on or after that date. If you have not yet set up a Source account, you can learn more about how to do this here: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/dots/support-training-forms/source/. This is a great resource as you can access report cards, standardized test scores, and more from this account. This is also where you can go to update your address and phone number. (You are always welcome to ask for a hard copy of your child’s report card too, by calling our office at 206-252-2800).
In talking to parents about report cards over the past few years, I have noticed that as hard as teachers work to be clear in assigning grades and comments, there can still be some confusion. You are always welcome to talk to your child’s teachers or to me about questions you have, and I thought I would also address our system of grading here.
We measure the academic benchmarks on our report cards by using a scale of 1-4. This reflects your child’s progress towards specific grade level standards. The scale is as follows:
Below performance expectations for this time
Approaching performance expectations for this time
Meeting performance expectations for this time
Exceeding performance expectations for this time
Standards based grading is different from traditional grades of “A”, “B”, “C”, etc. that most parents received growing up. The numbers 1-4 do not equate to traditional grades (i.e., a “4” does not equal an “A”). They are also not an average of work that a student has done over the first trimester, meaning that if a student really struggled with a concept at the beginning of the year and earned scores of mostly “1”s, but had demonstrated consistent grade level understanding by the end of the first trimester earning a “3”, that child would not receive an average of the “1”s and ‘”3”s equal to a “2.” She or he would receive a “3” because they were able to meet the standard. Likewise, a child who was able to meet the standard early in the trimester and continued to do grade level appropriate work by the end of the trimester would also receive a “3.” The purpose of standards-based grading is not to compare your child to other children, but rather to give you information about how your child is progressing towards the expected grade level skills.
You may also see an area marked “*” on your child’s report card. This is to indicate that a particular skill has not yet been addressed by the teacher. Because teachers cover a range of skills across grade levels, they do not address every standard in every trimester. During conferences, your child’s teacher discussed their progress with you, but if you have questions about what you see on the report card, please do reach out to your teacher.
The Learning Behaviors section of the report card gives you information about your child’s behaviors that promote learning, such as perseverance, organization, and self-control. This section is scored in the following way:
S: Strength (consistently uses skill across subjects and settings)
D: Developing (applies skills in most subjects and settings)
E: Emerging (beginning to apply skills in some subjects and settings)
Attendance is also marked on your child’s report card. You will see the number of days your child has been absent or tardy. If your child has a bus that was consistently arriving late, you will see the tardies and also see that they are excused. If your child has missed more than 3-4 days of school so far, it may be helpful for you to set a goal for attendance with them. Missing more than 10 total days of school for the year (for any reason) can impact your child’s learning.
Thurgood Marshall Day
Each year, Thurgood Marshall Elementary celebrates the great man our school was named for: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. We want our students to understand the history of our school’s name and why Thurgood Marshall is important in our country’s history.
A little background about Justice Marshall, if you are not familiar with him:
Thurgood Marshall was the first African American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Before his time on the bench, he was a pioneering lawyer and civil rights activist who played a key role in ending racial segregation in America. He argued and won the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. His work helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Movement, ensuring that future generations, like our students, could learn in integrated and inclusive environments. Without his efforts, our school’s diversity and our students’ opportunity to learn together might not exist. Marshall's dedication to justice and equality resonates deeply in a school as diverse as ours, reminding us each year of the importance of his contributions.
On Friday, December 6, our students will have an assembly with judges and lawyers who will share how they have personally been inspired by the life of Thurgood Marshall. Families are welcome to join us for the assembly. The judges and lawyers who join us are people of color, some of whom grew up in our neighborhood and attended the high schools our students will go to. This assembly provides not only a lesson in history but also opens up our students’ minds to possible career paths in law and justice.
It is tradition for our 4th and 5th grade classes to be visited by a lawyer or judge following the assembly, giving our older students the opportunity to ask questions about careers in law. This celebration is thoughtfully planned and organized by 2nd grade teacher, Mr. Rob Long. We appreciate his hard work and dedication to making this annual event a success!
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