Hello Catlin Families and Friends,

Welcome to another great school year at Catlin! For those who are new to Catlin, we extend a special welcome. You are joining a group of educators and families who have a history of working together to help children learn --- even when the lessons may be a challenge for all of us.

It is paramount to us that Catlin students have every opportunity and support to learn to their fullest capacity. As we learn more about how brains learn and comprehend new information, we find new and better strategies to help students learn. This process of changing and improving schools has been compared with building an airplane WHILE it is flying!

It is a pleasure to work with the staff at Catlin. They model the learning they expect in their students. They work collaboratively to answer these questions:
• What do we want children to know?
• How do we know if they know it?
• What do we do if they don’t?

Teachers plan, teach, assess, and review the results to determine who is “getting it”, who is not. They revise their instruction as needed to meet the needs of their students. The district provides math instructional support with math consultant Janis Heigl. The teachers participate in group book studies to determine research-based strategies.

Even though the building looks the same, schools today are not like the ones we attended! We like to use every incident to help a child learn. Staff and students alike refer often to the Catlin four Bs: Be respectful, Be responsible, Be kind, and Be safe. We also have a phrase all students know: “hands and words are not for hurting”.

I look forward to seeing many of you as the school year progresses: September and June Open House, literacy and math family nights, PTO meetings, and volunteering in our classrooms. Thanks for all you do to help support our staff and school.

Always make time to play with your children and read before bedtime!

Mrs. Gill