January/February 2013 - Backman Elementary School - Salt Lake ...

Principals Message
Dahlia Cordova
Welcome to the February edition of the Backman
Times. We have been very busy at Backman preparing
our students for the upcoming tests that will test their
skills in reading, writing, oral and written language as
well as their skills in math and science. At Backman our
students take a number of tests throughout the year in
preparation of the upcoming CRT’s (Criterion Reference
Tests) scheduled to begin on April 15, to May 23, 2013.
Our second language learners will be taking the UALPA
test which is the Utah Academic Language Proficiency
Assessment that measures students’ oral and written
language development the week of February 11, 2013.
Fifth grade students are preparing for the upcoming on
line computer based DWA (District Writing Assessment)
scheduled on February 25, 2013.
It is imperative that you support your child’s learning by
encouraging him/her to complete homework
assignments daily and read a minimum of 20 to 30
minutes each night. Our goal is to have all of our
students reading on grade level by the time they exit 3 rd
grade. To accomplish this task we need your help by
reminding your child of the importance of reading every
day. You can help by listening to your child read,
providing a place for them to read without disruption
and asking them questions about what they read to
help improve their comprehension. These tests are
very important and give us information regarding your
child’s progress in the areas being tested. We need your
help in encouraging your student’s to take these tests
very seriously and do their very best.
The Utah State Legislature under Senate House Bill 150,
requires us to inform parents of first, second, and third
grade students if their child is not reading on grade level
January/February 2013
by mid-year. On February 15, 2013, the Salt Lake City
School District will mail these letters to parents. If you
receive a letter and have any questions or concerns,
please contact me at 801-578-8100 to schedule an
appointment to talk about what we are doing at school
to get your child reading on grade level, and what you
can do at home to support our efforts.
by mid-year. On February 15, 2013, the Salt Lake City
School District will mail these letters to parents. If you
receive a letter and have any questions or concerns,
please contact me at 801-578-8100 to schedule an
appointment to talk about what we are doing at school
to get your child reading on grade level, and what you
can do at home to support our efforts.
I want to extend a personal invitation to you to attend
our upcoming SEP conferences. They are scheduled on
February 6, and February 7, 2013. You will be receiving
a letter soon asking you to sign up for a time convenient
to you to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss your
child’s learning progress and to revisit goals that were
set in the fall. This is a very important meeting and we
look forward to you coming with your child. Please
respond to the letter as soon as you can to ensure you
get a time that will work with your schedule. We will
have translators available if needed. We want this
meeting to be informative and meaningful to you and
your child.
In closing, I would like to extend an invitation to you to
attend our next PTA/SCC meeting coming up on
February 21, beginning at 5:30 p. m. We will be taking
nominations and voting for the vacant President-Elect
position on our PTA. If you are interested in this
position, or want to nominate someone, please come to
the meeting. Other agenda items will include a
review/revision of our Parent Compact, an update on
our Focus and School Improvement Plan and an update
on school uniforms. Hope to see you there!
Family Math Night
I want to thank all of our parents who
attended Math Night on Thursday, February 17,
2013. It was a great success! In addition, I want
to thank Kathy Lambert, our Math Coach for all
the time and effort she put in to planning and

designing the activities. It was wonderful to
observe our students interacting with their
parents while playing the math games. I also
want to thank all the teachers who were there to
support the event by managing the math center
games.
I also want to thank and acknowledge our 6 th
grade students who participated in the Math
Counts competition that took place at Clayton
Middle school this month. They did a
FANTASTIC job representing our school. Special
thanks to Ms. Peterson and Ms. Lambert for their
support of our student participant’s. HOORAY!
Math Counts Club Awards
A group of our 6 th grade students participated
in an afterschool program called Math Counts.
Tymberly Clone, Alex Higuera, Austin Knight,
and Juliana Mendoza are the first team
Backman has sent to Mathcounts. These
students have studied after school since
September. They spent 45 minutes working
extra math problems. These problems are part
of a program designed to stretch their abilities
and thinking skills in math. The competition
for Mathcounts took place on January 11, 2013.
There were students from Clayton, Glendale,
School for Science Education, Hawthorne and
Backman. Each student took five individual
tests and competed in a team round. After the
students finished the testing, they had lunch
awaiting their scores. Austin Knighton placed
12 th in the district and competed in the Count
Down Round. Our students did very well.
Besides district placements, there were school
placements as well. In the school competition
1st place went to Austin Knighton. Tymberly
Clone took second while Alex Higuera and
Juliana Mendoza both tied for third place. We
are proud of these students for spending extra
time after school and representing Backman
well. Kathy Lambert, math coach and Jan
Peterson, 6 th grade teacher, were the team
sponsors.
January Calendar
24th PTA/SCC 5:30 p.m.
27th NEST Day
28 th Early Dismissal/No Extended
Day Program
February Calendar
6 th SEP Conferences 3-7p.m.
7 th SEP Conferences 1-7 p.m.
11 th UALPA Testing Begins
18 th President’s Day No School
21 st PTA/SCC 5:30 p.m.
21 st KUED Night 6:30-7:30p.m.
Press Release/Notice
For the coming school year, students
interested in enrolling in a Salt Lake City
school, who live outside the district or school
boundaries, may apply for an Open Enrollment
Application during the Early Enrollment period
from December 3, 2012 through February 15,
2013. Applications are taken in the Student
Services Department of the Salt Lake City
School District Administration East Building,
440 East 100 South, Salt Lake City, Utah
84111.

Students may apply for enrollment in
schools designated as “Open” to transfer.
Selected schools, programs and grades may be
at capacity for the upcoming 2013-2014
school year and not available as a choice for
out-of-resident students. A list of available
schools, grades, and programs or other
information pertaining to the open enrollment
policy may be obtained after November 30,
2012 from the Student Services office at the
above address or by calling 578-8206 or 578-
8475.
Students currently enrolled in (6 th ) grade
must apply for transfer to the middle school of
their choice and eighth (8 th ) grade students
must make application for the high school of
choice during the Open Enrollment period.
A $5.00 processing fee will be charged at
the time of application and may be waived for
qualified applicants.
Parents and students will be notified in
writing by March 31, 2013 of acceptance or
rejection of the request for an Open
Enrollment transfer to that school.
A currently enrolled nonresident student
shall be permitted to remain enrolled, subject
to the same rules and standards as resident
students, without renewed applications in
subsequent years unless any of the following
occurs:
The student graduates or is no
longer a Utah resident;
The student is suspended or expelled
from school;
The district determines that school
enrollment will exceed the open
enrollment threshold;
If the transfer of a currently enrolled
student is being rejected for the coming year,
parents will be notified in writing by March
15, 2013
Buy One Get One Free Book Fair!
Do not forget to come to the Book Fair
during SEPs.
Place: Backman Library Learning Center
Dates & Times: February 6 th 3-6pm
February 7 th 1-6pm
Grade Level Spotlight
Fifth Grade
This month, the fifth grade students
have begun learning to write five
paragraph persuasive essays in
preparation for the DWA writing test in
March. So, when your child asks you for
something they want, have them
persuade you with at least three reasons
before you give it to them. That will be
great practice!!
Counselor’s Corner
Wow! Where did December and
January go, it seems like it is all going by
so quickly. During the month of
December our students learned more
about respecting others and including
each other. December brought the much
needed winter break and just before I
was able to participate in the Holiday
Give Away during which several of our
families were provided with donated

clothing and/or food. It was unfortunate
that we didn’t serve all but I’m thankful
to the donors we have to help meet some
of our needs. January has been a great
reminder of the significance of
displaying care for others through
learning about empathy and the
importance of not teasing one another.
One item that I would like to
remind students and parents is that
school starts at 8:00 and it is very
important that we are here each and
every school day. I see so much learning
happening all the time and it is so hard
for all involved when someone is
missing. I would like to share a quote
from the No Empty Seats Today poster
“Missing 10% or more of
school “for any reason”… leads to
school disruption, lower test
scores, decrease in school funds,
increase in Juvenile Court
involvement, increase in drugs,
alcohol and crime”
Please send your student to school, we
are learning together more and more
each day.
Thanks for all the wonderful
support you parents provide to your
students!
Annual Assessment Approaches for the
Salt Lake City School District
Magnet Extended Learning Program
The Extended Learning Program (ELP) of
the Salt Lake City School District offers
educational opportunities for students who
show high academic abilities in grades
kindergarten (K) through eighth. One
component of ELP is a K through 6 th grade
magnet program. Currently, we are accepting
requests to assess students to determine
eligibility for possible placement into next
school year’s K-6 th ELP magnet and
International Pathways (IP) (a Spanish bilingual
magnet).
Students qualifying for an ELP placement
have shown that they need an academic
program which allows them to move more
quickly, work with more complex concepts,
and delve more deeply into academic content.
The elementary ELP magnets are housed at
Hawthorne, Whittier, and Emerson Elementary.
Students and their families must reside, and
continue to reside, within the Salt Lake City
School District to be assessed for or participate
in the Extended Learning Program.
If you are interested in requesting an
ELP assessment for your child entering grades
K-6 th please call 801-578-8573 as soon as
possible. Testing must be requested prior to
February 15 th , 2013. If you would like more
information, go to the website
http://www.slcschools.org/depts/exceptional/
elp/ or call.
Warm and Fuzzies
December 2012
Blanket recipients
Qherisma Paluso 216
Alfredo Landa 215
Jahiry Flores-Alcantara 184
Certificate recipients
Sharon Chavez office-working hard and doing a
good job with a smile
Jordan Gowen 166- worked hard to earn a
reward and then shared it with a friend
Jahiry Flores- Alcantara 184-Helped another
with homework
Adilene Brito 184-being a good, nice, and
helpful sister

Cypress Socha 184- being a welcoming friend
to a new student
Mariana Guzman 184- Helping her friends
Yahaira Diaz 184- helped another with
homework
Angel Elias Noble 184- being nice and helping a
friend
Vienna Preciado 191-stopped others that were
being mean
Esperanza Montoya 191-helped to support
another friend
Armando Gomez 218- showed compassion
towards another
Jose Guzman 218- (2) being a really nice friend
and being nice to others
Kevin Alvarez 218 being nice
Bryan Correa 218 being a good friend
Teresa Hernandez 216-being a really good
friend and a good person
Qherisma Paluso 216- for caring for a friend
and including others at recess
Ethan Wells 216-being nice and including
others
Leslie Sandoval 216- including others
Kevinn Elizalde 216- being a great friend
Edgar Brito 220 (2)- Being helpful and being a
good example
Jose Cabrera 220-nice to another, being a good
friend, and helping others
Miguel Campos 220-being a good friend, being
nice, and includes others
Cindy Cervantes 220 (3)-helping others, being
a good example, and being nice.
David Del Toro 220 (2)-helping others, being a
good sport, being a good friend, and trying
hard
Moises Garcia 220-being a good friend and
helping another
Emina Handaric 220 (3) helping another,
being nice, including another, and standing up
for a friend
Ah Ka 220- being a good friend
Anthony Jara 220 (2)- being a good friend,
helped another with homework, and being a
funny friend
Vivian Olvera 220- helped others with math
Eddy Prcic 220- being a good friend
Trenton Rittmiller 220 trying hard in class and
being a good friend
Michelle Lopez Medina 220 (2) -being nice,
being respectful, and being a good friend
Aldo Morales 220- helping a friend in class
Erick Rivera 220 (3)- being a good friend,
being nice, and being a good sport
Anastasia Salceda 220-being a good friend and
helping another with homework
Immonal Vieyra 220-being a nice friend
Rosalinda Valdez 220-being a nice friend and
being respectful
Andres Sanchez 220-standing up for his
friends and working hard
Joel Sanchez (2) 220-being a good example,
being nice, and being a good sport
Jonathan Vazquez-Ibarra 220- being nice,
being a good friend, being a good sport, and
being a good example
Heidi Valerio (2) 220- working hard in class
and being a good friend
Phillip Zanyanah 220-including others that
were left out
Alexandra Lopez 215- she helped another
student in class
Karen Ortiz (2) 215- provided comfort to
someone in need, and being a nice friend
Perfect Attendance
Class Awards for
December/January
Mr. Colvin’s Class
Ms. Crockett’s Class
Ms. Guzman’s Class