Essentials General Information
Welcome to Decatur Essentials classes! Your students will have Dance, Music, Visual Art, Spanish, and Physical Education! We are delighted to be a part of such a supportive Essentials Team here at Decatur. We know your student will have a fun and engaging time in our classes this year and look forward to the diverse education we will be able to provide to the students.
We use the National Core Arts Standards, World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, National SHAPE Standards to offer our students a well rounded and challenging curriculum! Linked below you will find more information about each Essential class your child will have. To stay current on what is happening in the classroom, please subscribe to each Essential teachers’ website by clicking the “Subscribe” button on our pages. We will also be sending out a regular essentials newsletter by email that will take a deeper dive into our spaces.
We really hope to see you at the Open House on Thursday, September 10th. Please reach out via e-mail if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Ms. Schmittle - Music: [email protected]
Ms. Formeck (Pitcher) - Visual Art: [email protected]
Mr. Cherry - Physical Education: [email protected]
Ms. Viquez- Spanish: [email protected]
Ms. Pries - Dance: [email protected]
Choice Arts @ Decatur FAQ (6th-8th)
Essentials Grading Scale
All classwork and assessments based on the class standards as listed above.
- 50% - Assignments
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- Actively engage in all activities with maximum effort
- Respect space, equipment, and others
- Come prepared (dance appropriate clothing or recorders/folders)
- Wear the appropriate shoes for physical activity (no opened toed shoes)
- Be prepared to be outdoors (come with jackets, hats, gloves, etc.)
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- 50% - Assessments
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- Performance-based assessments
- Written assessments
- Thematic Projects
Absence Policy
Absences : Classwork
When a student is absent, they will be marked “Excused (Exc.)” for any classwork and cannot make up the missed points. Classwork cannot be made up due to the specialized materials (clay, instruments, etc) or techniques (speaking, dancing, etc) taught in class. When absences occur, we will do our best to get them caught up with the project(s) during future classes but it is not possible for teachers to provide individual lessons for classes missed.
Absences : Assessments
- K - 5th: Students in grades K-5 will be contacted by the teacher to make-up any missed assessments or it will be made up the next time the child has their essentials class.
- If a student receives lower than a 70% on an assessment and they want to retake it, the teacher will contact them with next steps. The teacher will mark 50% into the gradebook with a comment for any missing assessments and the student will have two weeks from the missed class to make-up the assessment. After two weeks, if the assessment is not taken, the grade remains 50%. It is a student’s responsibility to seek a retake of an assessment.
- Field trips have an assessment component to show mastery of learning that can not be made up.
- There are no “opt out” options for field trips, assessments, or performances.