MCDOWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Garden Club donates informative book

McDowell Elementary School received a donation from the Taylor Garden Club to celebrate Earth Day!

The Garden Club gave the library a great book written and illustrated by educators and members of National Garden Clubs to draw attention to the rapidly disappearing habitats of amphibians worldwide. Included is a set of easy to use lesson plans.

Did you know these “Fun Frog Facts”?

• Albino frogs are a fairly common occurrence
• In Japan, frogs are symbols of Good Luck!
• Frogs in the environment are sign of a well-balanced ecosystem
• Frogs completely shed their skin about once a week and they usually eat it!

The staff would like to thank all the members of the garden club for being so generous to us! 

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL holds Book Swap

Randall Elementary School recently held its Book Swap.

Every year during March is Reading Month, students bring in slightly used books to exchange. Students receive a coupon for up to five books to "swap" for other books brought in.

At the end of the month they come into the library and choose the books they want from the tables. What a great way to recycle books

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL attracted plenty of special readers

Randall Elementary School had numerous guest readers during March is Reading Month. 

Retired teacher Patti Larson; a grandmother of a third grade student; Superintendent Diane Allen; Andy the Armadillo from Texas Roadhouse; State Representative Erica Geiss; Taylor Mayor Sollars; City Clerk Cindy Bower; Councilman Alex Garza; and Councilwoman Angela Croft.

The Randall Mustangs enjoyed every one of them.

MYERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL pupils enjoy trip to Schoolcraft

HOOVER MIDDLE SCHOOL student of the month for April

MCDOWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Here comes M-Step

The M-Step has come to McDowell Elementary School for fifth-, fourth- and third- graders.

Beginning in mid-April, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) will administer for the second year the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) at McDowell. Like last year, the M-STEP will be given online and will measure current student knowledge on Michigan’s standards in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, and social studies.

This year, based on feedback from students, parents, and educators, there are several enhancements to M-STEP:

The test is now shorter for most students

M-STEP will begin after most spring breaks are over and end before Memorial Day.

Our school has flexibility in scheduling the amount of time students spend in a single test session.

Final test results should be available to schools prior to the beginning of the next school year. This will include M-STEP parent reports to be distributed by districts.

Everyone wants your child’s experience to be relaxed, healthy, enjoyable, and stress-free. A positive outlook and supportive manner going into these assessments will also influence your child’s experience.

Here are some of fifth graders readying themselves to go to the computer room to test.

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Wall-to-wall, it was about reading

At Randall Elementary School they had a door/wall-decorating contest during March is Reading Month.

The theme was "Dino-rific Reading" so doors were decorated with all kinds of ideas about dinosaurs. The book that was read by the whole school was “The Enormous Egg” by Oliver Butterworth, which is about an egg that hatches into a dinosaur.

There was a door-decorating contest and Mrs. Heidenreich won a Barnes and Noble gift card to use for her class.