The MAPs are coming, the MAPs are coming!!

Next week, all students in grades 1 - 8 will be participating in the NWEA Mapping Academic Progress (MAPs) testing. This will be the first year that St Francis Xavier students are taking these standardized-based tests. Test Taker, NWEA's web based test-taking application, allows us to test our students on Minnesota standards for each grade level, compile the data, review the data, and better serve our students.

Grades 6 - 8 will take 3, 1 hour tests on math, reading, and science. Grades 2 - 5 will take 2, 1 hour tests on math and reading. After the results are sent to the company, they compile the data and send it back to us. We print the results and send them home to you. Interpreting new data is sometimes difficult and scary, we as a staff want to make understanding the results easy for you. No time is set yet, but we would like to be able to teach you how to read your child's scores and understand what they mean.

Testing takes A LOT of concentration and energy. Please make sure that your child gets a good nights rest, a filling and brain-happy breakfast, and send a healthy snack to school ; almonds, trail-mix, or fruit to keep their brain full of energy. They will most likely miss some time with their other specialist teachers, therefore their classroom teacher will make sure that they are able to move their bodies during the day, another way to keep their brain happy.

Thank you for your partnership in your child's learning journey.