Dear Parents and Guardians,
Greetings from Common Ground! After weathering Nemo and experiencing an earlier than anticipated February vacation, we now turn our attention to state mastery tests, which will be administered the first two weeks in March. Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors will be taking the CAPT. They have been working very hard in their classes to prepare for the test, and many have been participating in our after school CAPT Camp for intensive reading, writing, and science instruction as well. Seniors took the federal NAEP test in February, and, therefore, will not be taking the CAPT. Seniors do need to come to school during CAPT testing, however, and will use testing time to work on graduation requirements.
CAPT testing takes place Tuesday, March 5 through Friday, March 15. These tests are very challenging: a proficient score is required for graduation, and the combined test scores of all sophomores form the School Performance Index (SPI), which is the state’s new school accountability measure. As a whole, the school SPI must be more than proficient for Common Ground to avoid state sanctions. So, all in all, CAPT tests are high stakes exams.
Please help your students to be well-rested, well-fed, and motivated to do their best on these important tests. Special effort these weeks will pay off for individual students (keeping them on track for graduation) and the whole school, which faces intense pressure to show that all students are making progress in the key academic skills and concepts measured by CAPT tests.
The school dismisses early on CAPT testing days. Please read the summary schedule below carefully:
- Monday March: Regular school day 8:00-3:05 pm
- Tuesday March 5: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-1:20 pm
- Wednesday March 6: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-1:20 pm
- Thursday March 7: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-1:20 pm
- Friday March 8: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-1:00 pm
- Monday March 11: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-1:20 pm
- Tuesday March 12: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-12:25 pm
- Wednesday March 13: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-12:30 pm
- Thursday March 14: CAPT Testing and classes 8:00-1:30 pm
- Friday March 15: Regular school day 8:00-3:05 pm
Bus service runs as usual during test weeks, and the bus company has been notified of our early dismissal times. In addition, we offer many excellent after school programs during this test period.
Thank you for providing extra support for students during this important and challenging period. Please call or visit with any questions or concerns you have about CAPT testing or school in general.
Sincerely,
Lizanne Cox,
Director
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