Sibley third-graders have studied the following vertebrate groups: mammals, birds, fish and amphibians. They will study reptiles during the last week of school.

The students visited the Audubon Science Center at Skyline Plaza on May 31 to see some live vertebrates (some invertebrates too). Ann Bryson shared facts about the animals the group saw. SHARE, the parent group, funded the visit.

Pane-ful bird study

In the Sibley third-graders&8217; study of birds, they were lucky enough to have both a thrush and warbler hit the window and die.

This was unlucky for the birds, but the students got hands-on (plastic bags) experience and were able to identify them as a Swainson thrush and a Tennessee warbler. They also learned that warblers are very tiny and almost weightless birds due to their size, air bladders and hollow bones. Both thrushes and warblers are threatened as their habitats are shrinking here and in Central America. On Thursday, they walked across the street to the Audubon Center to experience more about birds and other vertebrates studied this spring.

Sibley success

Sibley School students increased the school&8217;s average reading test score on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test this spring. In the fall, in grades two through six, the average reading test score for Sibley was 195.42. This spring the average reading test score for Sibley School was 206.82 &8212; an average gain of 11.4 points per student. Teachers at Sibley have been working to identify student needs and then planning, implementing and evaluating student growth this year. The average gain of 11.4 points per student is clearly a result of this effort. The principal, David Craft, said he is quite proud of the students and staff at Sibley for having accomplished this milestone.

A magic carpet musical

On April 30, the fourth- through sixth-grade students from Sibley Elementary school performed the musical &8220;Aladdin.&8221; The play took place in the ALHS auditorium.

Link Crew offers more than help

Sixty-six sophomores and juniors recently participated in a two-hour Link Crew May Development session, which is the first in a series of training sessions for next year&8217;s Link Crew program&8212;a freshman transition program starting at ALHS next fall. These students will be running freshmen orientation and serving as &8220;Link Leaders&8221; (mentors) for incoming freshmen throughout the year.

Faculty members Mindy Kruger, Mary Williams, Cindy Fjermestad, Heather Harms and Jeremy Corey-Gruenes facilitated the training.

District 241 votes for citizenship

Every year the citizenship committee chooses a citizen of the year. The committee consists of a few fifth- graders from all four elementary schools and some adult staff from each building. Nancy Royce is the district chairwoman for the committee. The students vote on candidates nominated for the award. This year Bob Goldman was honored May 30.

More walks in the zoo

The high school Functional Skills class traveled to Como Zoo on Tuesday, May 22. Students saw the animals close up and had nice weather to go along with it. They also made a book to put pictures in to remember the memorable day.

Community question

Do you know what a third grader knows? (Based on the recent studies of Sibley&8217;s third-grade class)

Question: Name the five groups of animals classified as vertebrates. (HINT: The answer is somewhere in this week&8217;s School Matters news.)

Answer: Mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles.