CENTRAL SCOOP
A Newsletter for Central Elementary School Staff
For the Week of September 21 through 27, 2014
Announcements
- Happy Birthday to Gina Atkins (September 15th) and Krista Turner (September 28th)!
- Open Checkout in the library is from 8:50-10:25 on Day 3. During this time, teachers may send up to two students at a time to the library to turn in or check out a book.
Acuity Testing Change - The state has moved the testing window back. Acuity testing for grades 3-5 starts on Monday, September 29th. The Room 3 Computer Lab will be open for regular use this week and will be closed starting next week.
Technology - I cannot thank all of you enough for your patience as the district continues to work through the technology problems with our virtual machines. Please continue to place help tickets as you encounter any technology problems. These tickets are critical in making sure that the Technology Department knows that you are having a problem. I do want you to know that Shonda and I speak daily about any problems that are occurring and if there is something that we can do at the building level to solve the problem. We then share those needs with the Technology Department. A special thank you goes out to Shonda and Samantha for keeping our technology up and running when possible. Ladies, you have both done an exceptional job and we cannot thank you enough!
Convocations - Boomer will come to our school to do a convocation on one of the following topics: NO TO DRUGS, NO TO BULLYING , READING, and PROMOTING HEALTH & FITNESS. With our requirements on bullying education, the No to Bullying program sounds like a great fit. If you have a preference, please let me know by Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 4:00 pm.
Teacher SLO's - SLO's will be due Friday, October 10, 2014 at 4:00 pm. You will need to upload your SLO's on PIVOT. I will provide you with a sample SLO to get you started. All four elementary school will be following a similar format this year.
Teacher Observations - Last year I was unhappy with the observation process through PIVOT. I was unhappy because the process did not give you an opportunity to make improvements to your practices as well as it could have. To address this need, I will be doing observations differently this year. For some of the observations I give you, I will not assign at number/category (4/highly effective, 3/effective, 2/ needs improvement, or a 1/ineffective). Instead, I will ask you to share with me what rating you desire and why. This will give you an opportunity to reflect on your practices, and it will give me an opportunity to share with you why I agree or disagree with your analysis and how you can improve to move to the next level. It may feel uncomfortable at first, however it will help you to move toward that goal that you want. That is a rating of highly effective.
Teacher Evaluations - Evaluations will start October 1, 2014 for the first semester. Like last year, you will need to contact me to schedule a 40 minute+ evaluation. Second semester evaluations will be unscheduled.
Upcoming PD - We will be offering optional training on October 2nd on writing SLO’s and again on October 9th on Domains 1 and 2. These trainings will take place in teh LGI Room from 3:50-4:30 pm.
Room Parents - This year our PTO would like to try something new to support teachers in the classroom. Each class will have one or two room parents. These parents will coordinate parties and other PTO activities for your class. They are also a resource for you to contact if you need volunteers, chaperones for field trips, and so on. Some room parents may have already contacted you to share information about their role. Please contact these individuals if you need volunteers or chaperones. I know they want to help if they can. I will also take some work off of your shoulders.
Sharing Parent Contact Information - Last week, some of you shared that your room parent(s) asked you for contact information for parents in your classroom. This was brought up as a need by room parents at the last PTO meeting. Since then, I have been in contact with an attorney who specializes in school law and FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974). We legally can release this information. So, as a school, here is how we handle this. We will give room parents the contact information of the parents in a classroom however their child's name will not be included.
I do have one concern which you may also have that we can easily overcome. If we give out this information, I do not want room parents calling class parents and the class parents being upset with room parents or with you because they have their phone number or email address. All that will do is cause hurt feeling.
To solve this issue, on Monday teachers will send a letter home with students explaining the room parent concept, and how we will be releasing classroom parent contact information to room parents only. This letter will be in your mailbox already prepared for you. The letter will share that if a parent does not want this information released to room parents, they must let us know by Thursday, September 25, 2014. Then, on Friday, September 26, 2014, our office will email out contact information to room parents. This will allow all room parents to receive this information at the same time using the same formatted document. All you will have to do is to collect any returned forms and place them in my mailbox. Our office will do the rest. If you have any questions about this information just let me know.
Grandparents/Special Someone Night - Last year we discussed having a grandparents activity during the day, however we never finalized any plans. I must say this is a good thing. Here is why. As you know our PTO provides use with a huge donation yearly thanks to Walkathon. The catch is that these funds can only be spent in very specific ways on students only. Our PTO wants to provide lunches for our staff and money to buy supplies for your class. To do this, they have to raise money in other ways. This year, the PTO is facilitating our Scholastic Book Fair to raise funds. You know that grandparents love spending money on their grandchildren, and last year they spent a lot during our Grandparent's Night. By having it at night, to PTO can sponsor this activity and use it as a fundraiser, raising money that will help each of us directly. Please be at our Grandparents/Special Someone Night on October 2, 2014 from 5:00-6:30 pm. All you have to do is be in your room and greet families as they visit. You do not have to plan anything special. This is great PR for our school and I know our PTO appreciates it. If you have any questions about this, just let me know.
This year we will schedule conferences using SignUp Genius. I will send you more information about how to do this soon.
It is that time of the year when School Board member will be visiting Central. We will have our first visit on October 6th.
The copier in the office can now make booklets.
Have a great week!
Calendar
All meetings, events, trainings, assessment windows, the related arts day, and field trips are now on the Central Elementary website calendar.
- Go to the Central Elementary homepage at www.plainfield.k12.in.us/cn.
- You will need to sign in at the top of the webpage using the same username and password that you do to log in on your computer.
- Then, you can click on the "View Calendar" option at the bottom left of the screen. This will allow you to see upcoming events.
Forms You Need
Click on the form below that you need. Fill it out, save it, and email it to the person who needs it.
Room Usage
Conference Room
1. September 24, 2014 from 1:55-2:55 pm (Amanda Pinkerton)
LGI Room
1. September 25, 2014 from 10:15-12:15 pm (4th Grade Science Presentation)
Things to Do
- ____October Value Student of the Month - Nomination forms are due to me by Friday, October 17, 2014. Click HERE to access the nomination form.
- ____November field trip requests are due to me by Monday, October 20, 2014. Click HERE to access a field trip form.
- ____Make sure to log in to the Central Elementary website at www.plainfield.k12.in.us/cn to check out the calendar of activities for the upcoming weeks.
Contact Us
Email: jhopper@plainfield.k12.in.us
Website: www.plainfield.k12.in.us/cn
Location: 110 Wabash Street, Plainfield, IN, United States
Phone: 317-839-7707
Twitter: @cnquakers