Parent Resources

Our school lunch program is serviced through CKC Good Food and features a choice of hot lunch, vegetarian, a sandwich, allergen free option and milk.   Your child is always welcome to bring a cold lunch from home, with a drink, or pre-order milk from school. 

Find the monthly lunch calendar and more details here.

Pricing – $5.00 for hot, vegetarian or sandwich lunch options.  Allergen free is $6.00. Milk is $0.50. 

Lunch Ordering – Families need to order one month in advance, which is done through Sycamore, our school management tool. There will be an ordering deadline each month about two weeks prior to the new month. All choices must be made by the deadline and students will be charged based on these orders. Daily milk is available for pre-order even if your child is bringing lunch from home.  Need help?  Click here for more instuctions.

*** Please note – lunch ordering is not compatible with the mobile app.  You must use a computer to order lunch in Sycamore.

Online payment is not available at this time, but we hope to roll out an online payment option later in the year. Please bring or mail checks to the school office and make sure “lunch” and your child’s full name is written in the memo line.

*** Please note: Your lunch account will be charged for all meals ordered, even if they were not eaten. A cold lunch & drink must be brought from home on field trip days, even if the field trip does not take place during the lunch period. Please review the school Google calendar prior to placing your order to check for field trips for your student(s).

PIZZA/SPIRIT DAYS: The last Friday of most months is pizza/spirit day. Students can be out of uniform as long as they are wearing an Annunciation branded spirit wear shirt. You can also order pizza for your child these days. You must order pizza for ALL Fridays at the same time at the beginning of the school year.

Click HERE to download the monthly order form.  

Questions may be directed to Anne Stickney, Lunch Program Director, ext 292 or astickney@annunciationmsp.org.

Students at Annunciation Catholic School participate in various assessments which give our teachers information regarding student’s developmental level, to identify areas of relative strength and weakness, and to monitor growth from year to year.  This testing program consists of the following assessments:  

• NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)  (grades 2 - 8)
• NWEA Primary Measures of Academic Progress (grades K & 1)
• AIMSWeb (grades K-2)
• OLSAT – Cognitive Abilities Test (grades 4-8)
• NWEA Measures of Academic Progress and Primary Measures of Academic Success  

MAP

The NWEA Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) test is a tool for students in grades K-8. The Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) creates a personalized assessment experience by adapting to each student’s learning level.

These assessments are administered three times per year.  They are used to measure growth, inform instruction and assess strategy.  This adaptive test asks students between 39 - 52 questions and on average, each part (math and reading) takes students 45 minutes to complete.  These tests adapt to the student's achievement level and are not timed.

We look forward to partnering with our parents to help each student achieve at their highest level. These tools, along with our conference time, will help us as we continue to strive to meet each student’s learning needs and help them reach their fullest potential.

OLSAT

The OLSAT assesses a student's cognitive (e.g., verbal, nonverbal and quantitative) abilities that relate to his or her academic success providing educators with information that enhances insights gained from achievement tests (such as MAP).
 

AIMSWEB

Aimsweb is used for universal screening and progress monitoring. This brief assessment measures overall performance of key foundational skills at each grade level.  The assessments provide an accurate prediction of reading and math achievement as well  as growth predictions.

GENERAL STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU ON THE MAP TESTS

1.  READ THE ENTIRE QUESTION

It is very important that you take the time to read the entire question. If you don’t, you may miss important information and misunderstand the question

2. READ ALL OF THE ANSWER CHOICES

Just as it is important to read the entire test question, it is also important to read and carefully consider all of the answer choices. Remember that for each question, you are looking for the BEST answer. If you do not read all of the answers, you may pick a possible answer, but not the BEST answer.

3. TRY EVERY ANSWER.

Try out every answer. By considering each answer, you can be more certain that you choose the BEST answer. The first answer may sound good, but another choice may be a better answer.

4. PROCESS OF ELIMINATION

If you don’t know the answer to a question, eliminate any answers that you know are incorrect. Doing this will help you narrow down your choices. The fewer choices left mean a better chance of answering the question correctly. Answering even two or three more questions correctly could mean the difference passing or not passing the test.

5. GUESSING

Guessing should not be the first strategy you try. You should only guess after you have tried other strategies. By reading the question carefully, you may be able to eliminate one or two of the choices. Make your best guess by choosing the answer that makes the most sense to you.

6. CHECK YOUR WORK

Make sure you have answered every question. Never leave an answer bubble blank. Make sure you have chosen only one answer for each question. Also, erase any stray marks on the page.

7. USE YOUR TOOLS

If your teacher has had you practice using a highlighter on regular tests, you may use one on the SOL tests. Some students also use an index card to mark their place while reading or keep their place on the answer document. Use whatever tools are available to you during the test.

DOWNLOADS & LINKS

• MAP Parent Toolkit
• MAP Testing Reading Practice
• MAP Testing Math Practice
• NWEA.org

MAP TO KHAN ACADEMY

Khan Academy Practice Exercises Correlated to RIT for Common Core Math MAP:

• Primary Grades
• Grades 2-5
• Grades 6+

ARTICLES

Scholastic.com Articles

• How to Beat Stress
• Standardized Tests: Prepare and Interpret Results

Our teachers are looking forward to connecting with parents during conferences!  Spring conferences will take place in person on Wednesday, March 6 and Thursday, March 7. There is no school on Friday, March 8. Wednesday, March 6 and Thursday, March 7 will be early release days with school ending at 1pm.

To complete the scheduling process, it is important that you sign up online by clicking on the link below. Please sign up by Monday, March 4.

A conference will not be scheduled unless you request one by signing up online.  

*** Please note that the conference scheduler will close on Monday, March 4 at 11:59pm. No conferences may be scheduled after that time.

http://ptcfast.com/schools/Annunciation

Please schedule one time slot per child, per teacher, if you have multiple children in middle school. 

Here is how to schedule for multiple children:

1. Select the teacher/s for the child you need to conference with.
2. Enter the child’s name, your name and email address.
3. PTCFast will send you an email confirmation with a link to your sign-up. Normally you should receive this email quickly, but email systems are complex and sometimes there are delays. If you have not received the follow-up or confirmation email within about an hour, we suggest you check your spam filter to see if it has put the email in a folder (typically called JUNK or SPAM).
4. Click on the link in the email to open your sign-up on the PTCFast website.
5. Select the teacher/s for child and click on Submit.
6. Select the time for the conference for child 1.
7. For additional children, click on the link on the left.
8. Enter the child’s information and click on Submit.
9. You will be able to select a time for child 2.
10. Repeat for additional children.

*You can navigate to a specific teacher by clicking on their name on the left.

We appreciate your time and look forward to sharing your child’s progress at our conferences.  Thank you!

In keeping with our commitment of building lifelong learners, we want to provide our students with the best tools to enable them to thrive in the digital world.

Guiding Principles:

• Digital literacy
• Creative collaboration
• Inventive thinking
• Moral compass

What does education look like today?  

The IB learner profile strives for global thinkers and international-mindedness, shifting the traditional focus from teaching to learning.  We think we can help prepare students to be inquirers, reflective thinkers, and better communicators through a 1-to-1 student laptop initiative.  

It's about connecting and collaborating in ways we didn't even know were possible.  It's providing equity of access, engagement and anytime, anyplace learning.  When you teach digital citizenship to your students, you help create a positive school culture that supports safe and responsible technology use.  Learning how to use media and technology wisely is an essential skill for life and learning in the 21st century.  We want our children to learn new skills, explore new worlds and build new ideas, yet every child has different needs.  Initiating a high-quality digital learning experience, where their online data and privacy is protected, will allow them to think critically, act responsibly, and interact positively in the digital world.

A great classroom invites exploration and discovery but also supports all the norms, routines, and procedures that make our day-to-day teaching and learning run smoothly. However, while we already do this for the physical spaces in our classrooms, it's also important to consider the need for digital spaces for our students.  Our commitment to 1-to-1 has a lot to do with academics and the need to support and sustain students’ work at school and at home, as well as the desire to integrate technology across all disciplines. A 1-to-1 program will lead to better integration and organization of curriculum across all content areas. Knowing technology gives kids an enormous advantage.

1-to-1 programs have been found to extend formal learning communities to include parents, siblings and other people important in students’ lives.  Students can extend their learning beyond the classroom by harnessing a digital world full of online and digital opportunities. Teachers are able to provide access to resources outside class time and incorporate engaging digital activities for their students. 

Together, we can empower students to embrace technology for learning and life.

CHROMEBOOK PROGRAM DOCUMENTS

• Chromebook Help Desk
• Chromebook FAQs
• Cloud-Ready Printers
• Classroom email summaries for guardians
• Guardian email summaries FAQ
   
• Acknowledgement Form
• Technology Assets & Services Policy
• Parent/Guardian Agreement

Math:

How to access your math online textbook:

1. Access an internet browser
2. Enter the URL – www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
3. The username is: annunciationmath!
4. The password is the same for all students. It is: MathRocks123!; there are no spaces and punctuation matters.
5. Congratulations! You should see your home page!

If you ever run into technical difficulties, there is a Pearson SuccessNet online help connection to serve you. You can reach them at http://support.pearsonschool.com.

Science:

McGraw Hill Online Textbook/ConnectEd

Access Codes for:

• 7th: GFDV-HSSE-B1SQ
• 8th: GZRR-GMDF-8D9O

Social Studies:

• 6th grade Minnesota Studies
  Textbook: Minnesota Historical Society's Northern Lights
  Username: amspstudent
  Password: Secede15!

• 7th grade United States Studies
  Textbook: Pearson's American History
  Same username and password with math online textbook

• 8th grade Global Studies 
  Textbook: National Geographic's World Cultures and Geography 
  Username: individual usernames assigned in class
  Password: globalstudies123

If you have any questions regarding assignments, please contact us.

Each list will open in a PDF document. Instead of shopping for school supplies you can use School Toolbox to deliver the supplies to you.

Kindergarten - 5th Grade

• Kindergarten
• Grade 1
• Grade 2
• Grade 3
• Grade 4  
• Grade 5

Middle School

• Grade 6
• Grade 7
• Grade 8

We are migrating to a new LMS to replace Educate. Sycamore syncs with Google suite and is a more user-friendly system. Middle School will still  use Google classroom for homework and information. Elementary classes will still use SeeSaw for student updates and sharing. Sycamore will be the new overall database. We hope this change will provide improved navigation and communication for families, along with easier access to grades and student updates. With a new system, there may be a few bumps so we appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this switch and learn the new system together. Please provide us feedback so we can continue to work on best communication with our families.

Link to our school Sycamore site (school ID is 2804): https://app.sycamoreschool.com/index.php?schoolid=2804

Support for Sycamore: sycamore@annunciationmsp.org

• Getting Started Guide
• Info Center
• Parent Notifications
• My Family Information
• My Family Contacts
• School Menu
• Ordering Lunch
• Students
• Parents

To View Your Lunch Orders:

Go to My Accounting | Cafeteria | Account, you will be able to see, by month, which lunch items you ordered and the cost of those lunch items.

This information can also be viewed on the app if you go to My Accounts | click on Cafeteria. This will then show the balances for each lunch item. The app will only show the last 10 lunch items, though, so you will need to use the desktop if they want an in-depth look at these cafeteria account line items.

Download the App:

Android device:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sycamoreschool.app&hl=en_US

Apple device:  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sycamore/id1251055565

You can’t use the app to order lunch but they can view the menu.