Date: Wednesday September 28, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM EDT

What does it mean to understand what one reads? How can instruction be designed to systematically teach the skills, strategies, and knowledge necessary for reading comprehension? In this presentation, we will examine two repertoires related to reading comprehension:

The intellectual skills and strategies necessary to comprehend text

Vocabulary knowledge

You will hear from Chad High, Principal, Cole Elementary School in Tennessee who will share his success story on boosting student literacy with effective reading comprehension. We'll then discuss how these can serve as a foundation for designing effective strategy-based instruction for four major types of comprehension--factual or literal, inferential, main idea, and derived meaning--as well as word meanings. Dr. Robbins and Dr. Leon are also presenters.

Sign up here!

We're holding a fundraising talent show/auction on March 23, 2012, to bring together our neighbors and friends of the academy in a fun event to raise money for our school and its programs. We'd love to have you attend and participate! Do you have musical talent? If you live or work in the local area or are affiliated with Morningside, please compete.

For more information, please visit our annual gala page

http://westseattleblog.com/2011/08/west-seattles-restita-dejesus-now-in-masters-hall-of-fame

Boosting Literacy with Effective Reading Comprehension
Wednesday, June 15, 3 p.m. EDT
Also available "on demand" any time 24 hours after the event.

Teaching students how to comprehend text remains a challenge in our nation's school systems. Many of the efforts directed toward teaching reading comprehension focus on providing practice at answering questions, while neglecting to teach learners how to reliably answer those questions. In this presentation, we will describe a program that systematically teaches the fundamental strategies for reading success: inferential comprehension, literal comprehension, main idea comprehension, and derived meaning comprehension. These fundamental strategies comprise the core of reading comprehension as it is assessed in standardized tests. More importantly, they provide learners with flexible tools that can be used to comprehend any text regardless of subject matter or reading level.

All Education Week webinars are archived and accessible "on demand" for up to six months after the original live-streaming date.

Doubletree Arctic Club Hotel
Northern Lights Dome Room

Here's your invitation to join us on Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 6:00-10:30 PM for for Seventh Annual Gala Dinner and Auction! Come join us at the legendary Northern Lights Dome Room at the Doubletree Arctic Club Hotel for an evening of food, entertainment, and fundraising to benefit Morningside Academy and the programs we offer our students.

Invitation to Celebrate Morningside 2011

The award was presented at the South Lake Union Chamber of Commerce Awards Breakfast held at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Dr. Kent Johnson accepted the award and was accompanied to the breakfast by Dr. Joanne Robbins, Principal/Associate Director and Dawn Oliver, Director of Development and Chamber Liaison.

The award is prominently displayed in the school's lobby.

Arctic Club Hotel
Northern Lights Dome Room

Enter the room that made the Arctic Club legendary and witness the breathtaking, filtered, natural light and original carved motifs. With two walls of stained glass showcasing exceptional beauty, this is the space for which you've been looking. The Northern Lights Dome Room is renowned for its Rococo gilding, original artistic frescos, ornamental cornices and stained glass dome.

Getting Donations

Interested in helping us get donations for the big event in 2011? Here's what you'll need:

(Forms in .PDF format)

• 2011 Letter to Repeat Sponsor-Donor
• 2011 Sponsorship Form
• 2011 Comments from parents and alumni about Morningside Academy
• 2010 Auction Fact Sheet
• 2011 Display Ads Form
• 2011 Procurement Form (This form can be filled out and printed, or saved and transmitted electronically)
• Letter to Potential Donors and Sponsors for 2011 Invitation to Celebrate Morningside 2011

Dear Parents, Guardians, Family Members and Friends,

This year's event marked the celebration of thirty years of this school's success in changing lives. The event incorporated all the magic of the ambience of the Dome Room at the Arctic Club Hotel with some new surprises selected especially for this evening. We found ourselves enthralled by the antics of auctioneer, John Curley, and his cohort, Jim Dever, King 5. We were thrilled to honor our administration and teachers for their service while being entertained by our very own parent, Ernie Bracco, and his jazz trio.

The team worked extremely hard in a "down time" to have an "upscale" experience. The results reflect this team effort. We raised $100,000 for our school and its scholarship fund. Alumni participated in an open microphone opportunity to give kudos for their experience here, and the surprise video produced by Evan Kline, videographer and alumni student, helped to boost our fund-a-need paddle raise.

John Curley made the evening lively and entertaining. Many of us moved downstairs to the hotel bar for an after party and all of us were aware of the powerful evening we had just shared. The success of the fundraising as well as the glorious evening of great food and wonderful company made all of us feel that the tireless hours of dedicated work on the part of the auction committee volunteers had been worth the effort.

Please read through this list of sponsors and donors and volunteers. Thank them, if you see them, and plan to join us next year on March 25 for our next Gala, and join us at our recognition party in May at Kent's house.

We love our school and are forever grateful for the changes it has made in the lives of the children it educates.

Thanks again,
Dawn Oliver
Director of Development

Special recognition of our 2010 Sponsors and Donors

The Wing Institute gave its 2009 Ernie Wing Award for Excellence in Evidence-based Education to two organizations and their founders in recognition of their work in developing, implementing, and sustaining a "data-based decision making organization and culture" designed to provide state-of-the-art educational services. The awards were given to:

Ken Traupmann Ph.D., Suzanne Fitch Ph.D., and The Institute for Effective Education
Kent Johnson Ph.D and Morningside Academy

The Institute for Effective Education is a world-class educational program, achieving unparalleled outcomes with student performance, staff development, and applied research. They have demonstrated that all students can learn, and that an educational culture can be built that is reinforcing, learner-centered, data based, and inclusive. They have continually exhibited a commitment to the community and dissemination of best practices through partnering with public schools, universities, and other community agencies. Their positive impact on student lives and their community has been dramatic.

Morningside Academy has an equally long list of achievements. They have gained international recognition for their work in researching, developing and implementing state-of-the-art reading curriculums: direct instruction and precision teaching. They have formal partnerships with schools and agencies throughout the United States, Canada, and South Africa, working in over 100 sites to implement instructional programs in reading, reasoning, math, writing, thinking, and study skills. The programs they operate in Seattle (Morningside Academy) produce extraordinary results for their students.

As much as this award recognizes the excellence of the Institute for Effective Education and Morningside Academy, it also highlights the sustainability of their efforts, outcomes and success over the past 25 years. "What is truly extraordinary is the length of time they both have maintained the highest levels of quality services, ethical standards, and community partnership," noted Randy Keyworth, Executive Director of the Wing Institute. "Their commitment to performance based outcomes, continuous improvement, and the advancement of the science of effective education has built a culture whose success will continue well into the future. They are truly a unique and exceptional organizations!"

The Ernie Wing Award, given annually by the Wing Institute, was named after Ernie Wing, an educator and special education advocate who championed the cause of evidence-based education in California. The award honors excellence in one or more of the critical areas necessary to build an evidence-based culture: efficacy research, effectiveness research, implementation, and progress monitoring. Nominations are accepted from the Wing Institute's knowledge network, an inter-disciplinary group of education stakeholders from across the nation.

The Wing Institute is a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting evidence-based education. Its goal is to be a "catalyst" supporting individuals and organizations engaged in evidence-based education across disciplines, geographic regions, and in "real world settings. It offers professional forums, an information clearinghouse, research, publications and a knowledge network.

Arctic Club Hotel
Northern Lights Dome Room

Enter the room that made the Arctic Club legendary and witness the breathtaking, filtered, natural light and original carved motifs. With two walls of stained glass showcasing exceptional beauty, this is the space for which you've been looking. The Northern Lights Dome Room is renowned for its Rococo gilding, original artistic frescos, ornamental cornices and stained glass dome.

Getting Donations

Interested in helping us get donations for the big event in 2020? Here's what you'll need:

(Forms in .PDF format)

• 2010 Letter for the potential sponsor
• 2010 Sponsorship Form
• 2010 Display Ads Form
• 2010 Comments from parents and alumni about Morningside Academy

• 2010 Procurement Form (This form can be filled out and printed, or saved and transmitted electronically)
  

To All Parents, Guardians, Family Members and Friends,

In the spirit of building a strong community, this year's event was signal in its effect of delivering an upscale social experience for all. We found ourselves enthralled by the beauty of the Dome Room at the Arctic Club Hotel, captivated by our engaging host, Adam Gehrke, and lulled into a state of comfort by our jazz musicians, The Josh Rawlings Trio and Ernie Bracco and The Gypsy Three.

Auctioneer, David Silverman, cajoled the crowd to bid on fabulous donated items from our great variety of local business partners and our own families. Our annual fundraising push has resulted in a net profit of $75,000 for our school!

We know that you, as supporters of our school, are a generous group of people.

This party is truly a Thank You Gift we usher up annually in order to provide much needed scholarship funds and to provide some additional funds to assist the school in its programs. You make a choice in giving when you select our school, and we appreciate the help you provide.

In return we want you to feel that your contributions have been honored so to show our appreciation the entire faculty, staff and families of the school are invited to an Appreciation Party at Kent's house each May. We were fortunate to have had great weather this year. The event was well attended and all enjoyed the chance to socialize and celebrate another successful year. Kent and Joanne addressed the crowd with words of thanks. Beth talked about the many volunteers who help through the Friends of Morningside, and I delivered awards to those who worked so hard on the Auction Committee and to those who became sponsors for this year's event.

Each year the event grows a bit larger, and we encourage you to help us with this huge annual undertaking. Blue Lazarou, Auction Chair, and Karen Voorhees, Procurement Chair, spoke about the sheer joy of working on the auction and the sense of community it has provided to them. They urged others to join in the effort.

Please take the time to read through this list of our many volunteers, sponsors and donors. With all of you and your generosity, we were once again able to give a gift to our school. Times may be tough, but we recognize the vital role Morningside provides to our community and the children and youth it educates.

Thank you,
Dawn Oliver, Director of Development

Special recognition of our 2009 Sponsors and Donors

Download the reply card and mail it in today.

You can reserve a table now. Invite your family, friends, business associates and anyone else who appreciates a wonderful meal, great company and a fun evening.

Download the form and reserve your table today!