Dear GM Families:
This year is moving forward quickly! Spring testing will be here soon. Please be aware that our testing dates are different than listed in your PTA calendar. Our CRCT will be given on April 12-18 to all 3rd-5th graders. This is a 5 day assessment based on our Georgia Performance Standards for each grade level. Tests are given in Reading, English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. You can help your child prepare by accessing our OAS (Online Assessment System) from our GM Website- Links for Students- CRCT Practice or here: https://www.georgiaoas.org/servlet/a2l
Each child in 3rd-5th was given a login. We sent the student logins home again in January. If you can’t locate your login- please email me at [email protected] and we will be happy to send a new one home for you! We recently sent a required district letter describing our Maymester program. I wanted to take this opportunity to review and expand on what this program entails. According to Georgia state promotion guidelines, all third graders are required to pass the Reading CRCT in order to be promoted to fourth Grade. Fifth graders are required to pass both the Reading and Math CRCT in order to be promoted. All parents of third and fifth graders have been notified of this requirement. Students in 3rd and 5th who do not pass will be given the opportunity to retest on May 20th (Reading) and May 23rd (Math).
This year Cobb County will not have summer school for elementary students. However, we still wish to provide remediation for students who do not pass the CRCT prior to them being retested in late May.
In order to meet the potential academic needs of these students, we are providing a short remediation session called “Maymester”. Maymester will provide remediation in reading for 3rd and remediation in both reading and/or math for 5th. This Maymester remediation is ONLY for students who are at risk of not passing the CRCT. ALL 3rd and 5th grade parents were sent a letter explaining about Maymester. These letters were marked as to whether their child was identified as a potential candidate based on test scores and classroom performance. Maymester will begin in late April. If your child is participating, they will be a part of this remediation until the scores arrive in mid-May. Sessions generally last around two hours per day in each subject. Our current third and fifth grade staff will share responsibility for this remediation and classes will be covered by substitute teachers on a rotational basis for two hours if your child’s teacher is teaching Maymester on a particular day. We will give you a more complete schedule in April.
Scores from our April CRCT will hopefully come in by mid-May. If your child participates in Maymester and does pass the CRCT on the first try, then they will not need to continue and will return to their regular class for the entire school day. If they do not pass the CRCT, they will continue with their remedial instruction and retake the test in late May. You also have the option for your child not to participate in Maymester and can decline this opportunity if you so choose.
I do want to reassure you that NO student will miss fun end of the year activities such as Field Day, 5th
grade banquet or visit to Mabry. We will work our remediation schedule around these activities to make
sure all students can participate.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact either myself or your child’s teacher for more information. It is our hope that we can help all children be successful. We truly appreciate your help in makingthis happen.
Paula Huffman
Principal