Medulla Elementary -- Home of the Challengers

These industrious "Divas of Data" took to printing their own T-Shirts to show how commited they are to working on examining all of their student's data and planning to make strides in their achievement. Not only do our teachers work hard at Medulla, they look good too!

Have you seen the beautification going on around the school lately? If you are here every other Thursday each month you will see a small group of adults and lots of children with shovels, rakes, and wheelbarrows gladly traversing the campus pulling weeds, laying much, and planting flowers to help make Medulla a beautiful spot on Schoolhouse Road.

This handiwork is done by the Medulla Garden Club, which started in the spring of 2007 under the direction of one our teachers, Ginger Hansill. This club which meets twice a month have received excellent instruction from local nurserymen and landscape experts as well as going on a field trip to the STAR Nursery to learn about plant propagation.

In January they began the Backyard Nursery, a service learning project, where the children are taking care of seedlings to be donated later to schools and Polk County Parks for landscaping. This project along with others are planned for the remainder of the year and it is going to be a great opportunity for children to learn about the love of gardening first hand.

FAMILIES BUILDING BETTER READERS
2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR

News Events

Have you heard the sound of families reading? Since our Family Night it's all the buzz around Medulla! "Families Building Better Readers" is a program with presentations and a breakout session where reading comprehension tips were demonstrated. Parents learned how to use the "sharing hand", which encourages children to think out loud while relating to text-a powerful tool to build comprehension in an interactive way. On October 11th over 325 Medulla family members attended the K,1,2 Family Night and on September 27th
over 175 Medulla family members attended our third grade Family Night. Everyone also enjoyed a delicious B.B.Q dinner. Literacy prizes were given to student attendees from every classroom. A huge event was held on December 6th featuring the book "Polar Express" with over 450 parents, teachers and children attending. Our final Family Night on January 31st had K-3 parents and children back out in the evening to experience more information on teaching great reading skills at home and the children got to put on a play for their parents. What fun!

Take a look at some parent responses to the event.

"I thought it was informative and thorough. Loved it!"

"The involvement of the parents and children working together was wonderful! Supplying supper made it easier to be here on time for the event."

"The emphasis on reading techniques and the story time was awesome"

"Enthusiastic presentation/presenters. Good focus on the importance of working on learning at home"

"Learning about the sharing hand and watching the children enjoy the reading"

Here are some photos of the event

The Polar Express Night
Photos

The Polar Express


"Got Your Tickets Everyone"	Mother and Daughter Enjoy Doing a Craft Together

"All Aboard"	Teachers in the spirit of Polar Expres

"Look it's Snowing.....In Florida!"	Our Principal reads "Olive"

Kids Get a Hand Frosting Cookies After the Story	What a Wonderful Night This Has Been Smiles All Around

From the:

Principal's Desk


Mrs. Cheatham-Principal

Dear Families,

“Learning for All…Whatever it takes”-This statement is the heart of our mission statement at Medulla Elementary. This is more than a slogan. It is alive everyday in every classroom at Medulla. I would like to take this opportunity to describe to you how “Learning for All” takes place at Medulla Elementary.

Every year the students in our classrooms become more diverse. In every classroom instructional strategies are in place to reach our diverse learners-even within a “whole group” lesson. Kagan Cooperative Learning structures and partnering or “buddy-ing” for reading are examples of instructional strategies. Research shows this to be a “win-win” situation especially for the higher achieving partner. The old adage – “The best way to learn is to teach someone else” is still true!

Strategies for struggling students include the following:

ü     Extended Learning Program –third, fourth & fifth grade students will receive tutoring in school and after school in the areas of reading and math.

At the same time enrichment strategies are in place for those more able learners.

They include:

ü   Accelerated reader

ü Research projects on topics of interest

ü Learning centers focused on higher order thinking skills

We are continuing to serve each and every student at Medulla Elementary to insure that every student progresses every day. As always, my office is open to all parents. I welcome you to visit our school so we can discuss the progress of your child and the Educational goals at Medulla.

Sincerely,

Jill Cheatham, Principal

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