September 24, 2008

Dear Parents,

Our school year is off to a great start.  Although having our sixth grade at Sunset Ridge last year was a huge success, it is good to have all grade levels housed once again here at Oakcrest.

We have welcomed a number of new staff members this year.  Ms. Rebecca Bibo is serving as Assistant Principal.  We have also welcomed the following teachers: Kimberlie Peterson, Rupali Munot, Joseph Rees, Jan Brown, Sally Morris, and Gary Hansen.  Ben Springer is Oakcrest’s new Guidance Counselor.

Student safety continues to be our very top priority.  We appreciate the manner in which those of you who drive your children to school have observed the safety guidelines we have established for the drop-off lane and east parking lot.  Please remember that if students are dropped of in the east parking lot, an adult must escort them across the crosswalk. 

Each year, all Utah schools receive two “”report cards,” the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS), and the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report that is issued by the United States Office of Education.  We are pleased to inform you that Oakcrest’s end-of-level test scores have shown outstanding progress.  Oakcrest has met the State’s level of performance and has therefore passed the U-PASS.  The U-PASS standard recognized the academic progress that the school as a whole and all its subgroups have demonstrated.

With the exception of one subgroup (English Language Learners), Oakcrest’s student’s met the AYP benchmarks dictated by NCLB (No Child Left Behind).  Under NCLB, however, if even one subgroup does not meet its benchmarks, the school as a whole is deemed not to have made AYP.  As stated above, the following subgroups achieved the AYP standard in Language Arts and Mathematics:  Asian, African-American, American Indian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Economically Disadvantaged, and Students with Disabilities. Again, the only subgroup that did not achieve the AYP standard this year was Limited English Proficient. 

We congratulate Oakcrest teachers and students for their great work in accomplishing these great successes on year-end testing.  We appreciate your help in reading with your children each day and helping them continue to excel in their schoolwork. 

We are looking forward to a great year!!

Sincerely,

Norman Emerson