Moorhead Faculty Weekly News
December 16, 2019
Farewell
We have a few folks leaving us this December. Kathy Stone and Suzi Hofer are retiring and Jennifer Guy has been promoted! Jennifer will be serving as a diagnostician in Willis ISD.
We wish you all the best! Thank you for serving the students of Moorhead Junior High.
Welcome!
Please help me welcome Stephanie Garcia, 7th grade science, Raygan Morris, 7th grade ELA and our new diag, Melissa O'Brien-Yu, who has been with CISD for three years. Stephanie, Raygan, and Melissa will start in January. Please give them a warm Panther welcome!
We will also have two student teachers this spring semester, Baldemar Nunez (Hist) and Madai Romero-Luna (Spanish).
Christmas for custodians and cafeteria workers
We are setting up Christmas gift bags in the mechanical room for our 19 custodial/cafetria workers to celebrate all they do to help us during the year.
Please drop items off with Rachel if you would like to give a little something to show that this year we are giving back to these hard working individuals. Don't feel like you need to bring 19 items. We will distribute the gifts we receive.
Gift ideas: small gifts, socks, candy, gift cards etc... whatever they would like to bring to fill the bags with. We will give them out as Christmas gifts this year.
Mrs. Heikell - THANKS for the idea!
“Twas the 12 Days of School”
Twas the 12 days before the holidays
and all through the school….
The dress code will deviate
Quite a bit from the rule!
On Monday, (Dec. 16th) It's almost finals
and we are insane with review.
A crazy Christmas sweater,
Would look great on you!
On Tuesday, (Dec 17th) we all like sweets,
And candy canes are best.
Look through your closet,
In red and white you should dress.
On Wednesday, (Dec. 18th) we’ve run out of ideas.
So along with your jeans,
Have a good day,
And pick out your favorite Christmas theme.
When Thursday (Dec. 19th) arrives
Anything goes.
Have a holly, jolly Christmas
From your head to your toes.
Wear your jeans everyday,
But there is one condition….
Follow the themes
Of our fun school tradition.
Have a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa!!!
Congratulations Door Prize Winners!
1st Place Mrs. Daniel!
2nd Place Mrs. Grati, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Rubitschun
3rd Place Mrs. Bracken
Honorable Mention - Mrs. Rojas
Honorable Mention - Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Bushart
Honorable Mention - Mrs. Barker and Mrs. Schaloff
What's up this week?
Monday
AP Meeting 7:30am
Tuesday
Pay Day (1/1/20 check)
1st, 2nd, 3rd exams
Canes Lunch for Teachers of the Month
Wednesday
Principal Meeting Central Office
5th, 6th, 7th Exams
FOOD TRUCK!
Thursday
4th Period Final
Early Release 1pm
Friday
Food Truck Schedule
12/18 HEOs Kitchen
1/15 ?
1/29 ?
A Word From Mr. Garcia
Have a nice weekend!
-Robert
REMINDERS
Next Week and January
Starting Tuesday of next week we will be eating lunch in classrooms. Teachers will walk students to the cafeteria to get lunch and walk them back to class.
On January 6th we will begin with Kagan Day 1 training at 8:30am. Lunch will be provided by our PTO!
Leaving Early or Late Arrival
I understand that there are days that you might need to arrive a little late or leave early for a doctor appointment, to pick up a sick child, or to run an important errand. I usually give folks an opportunity or two a year to do this sort of thing.
I ask that you please inform me if you need to leave early or if you are coming in late. You can email or come see me in person.
RG
December Super Staff!
Chad Perschbacher
Brooke Wilcox
Enjoy a Free Canes Box Lunch on 12/17
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Smith, Elvita 12/15
Pitre, Bryan 12/20
Employee Retention Stipend
A one-time $675 retention stipend was approved by the Board of Trustees in August as part of the 2019-2020 budget. To qualify for the one-time retention stipend, anemployee must have been employed on or before September 17, 2019. In addition, the employee must still be employed as of January 21, 2020 with the expectation of continued employment through May 29, 2020.Eligible employees will be paid a $675 Retention Stipend on February 14, 2020. This amount is not TRS eligible. Social Security, Medicare, Federal Income Tax, and other mandated deductions will be withheld.
Feb. 17 - Plan to work (TEAM PLANNING DAY)
Professional staff and administrators please before 8am ready to go for a planning day.
Paraprofessional staff do not need to report to work on Feb. 17.
The 4 PLC Questions
What do we want our students to learn?
How will we know if our students are learning?
How will we respond when students do not learn?
How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient?
Happy Holidays!
Moorhead Schedule Change Procedures
Teacher Initiated:
Step 1: Talk to all teachers that would be affected. Everyone must approve.
Step 2: Call and inform the parents
Step 3: Get approval from asst. principal or principal.
Step 4: Email changes to counselor
Parent Initiated:
Step 1: Parent/Teacher conference or phone call
Step 2: If both feel a change is needed, teacher will check with other teachers that will be affected. All teachers must approve.
Step 3: Get approval from asst. principal or principal
Step 4: Email changes to counselor
Student Initiated:
Step 1: Get schedule change form from grade level office.
Step 2: Fill out and get signatures needed (teachers, parent, APs)
Step 3: Turn in form to counselor
Team Lead / Instructional Leadership Team Meeting Notes
NOTES 8/19
-
Distinctions, comparison schools, and quadrants were discussed.
Dr. Tamika Taylor praised MJH teachers for the excellent job they are doing. She also gave her recommendations on the PLC process. Our homework is to:
- Set student goals and track them all year - "I can" statements are a great way to use kid friendly language - my challenge is for this to be a campus wide expectation!
- Teacher led PD as on ongoing cycle - based on instructional needs, admin walkthroughs, and data. This is going to be such an amazing asset to the 5 day PLC structure!
Discussed quadrants. Our lowest performers are ELL and SPED.
When planning think about what we want students to learn and how to reteach if needed.
Discussed what instruction should look like when moving students from meets to masters. Approaches to meets, etc.
Notes 8/26
- Discussed the importance of Bell to Bell instruction.
- Discussed Open House - Sept. 23rd (8th Grade) Sept. 24th (7th Grade)
- Discussed Federal Accountability (Reading/Math) Achieving "meets" levels
- Discussed "I can" trackers by team. Discussed Student tracking vs. Teacher tracking
- Discussed - Teacher Led PD - Look at data before hand - Have teacher who was most successful demonstrate the lesson prior to teaching the lesson.
Notes 9/6
Mrs. Fuller and Dr. Taylor talked STAAR structure. We will focus on student growth. We looked at data from May 2019 and we looked at individual student data. We now know where our students are now and we can start interventions early instead of waiting. We know that we need to focus on and target specific students (sub groups) to move up to the meets level. We looked at examples of "I Can" charts and student tracking. Math teams shared what their student trackers. The district math coaches were very impressed by what they developed.
No Meeting 9/9
Notes 9/16
- PSAT 8 and ELA 7 Benchmark are on Oct. 17 in the morning.
- Discussed the bond. Prop A (new schools) Prop B (Turf).
- Employees can provide factual information by phone, email, newsletter, or Professional social media account.
- As a private citizen, on your own off duty time, you can give your opinion or advocate for or against the bond on Personal social media, Personal email, your yard, etc.
- We will have sack lunches that day and a guest speaker in the afternoon. (Pep Rally Schedule)
- Professional Dress for Open House - Pick a jeans day later in the week.
- ROAR team needs a science and history representative
- Oct. 26 (Sat.) Please talk to your team lead if you would like to volunteer to hand out factual information on the bond to the CCHS community.
- Discussed courses eligible for UIL waiver. (All Pre AP courses and Alg. 1)
- Pantherpalooza (Formerly known as Community Night) is coming up on Nov. 9th. - Teams will each sponsor different games. Mohr will create a sign up for team leads.
- Nov. 20 - 50 of our students have been selected to take the NAEP test, a 90 minute reading and math exam.
Notes 9/23
Team leads discussed:
Discussion Questions for Team Meeting during staff development week.
- Curriculum alignment – What is the differentiation between level and Pre AP?
9/30 No Meeting
Notes 10/7
We discussed
- Grading policy for your PLC/Team.
- Re-test policy
- Curriculum alignment – Differentiation between level and Pre AP
- Kagan Day 1 vs. Day 4 in January
- Morning Late Bus Pass
- Upcoming events
10/14
No Meeting
Notes 10/21
Debbie McNeely discussed ways to differentiate between Pre AP and level in ELA.
Notes 10/28
Richard Woodruff and Amy Rogers discussed ways to differentiate between Pre AP and level in History.
Agenda 11/4
No Meeting
Notes 11/11
Discussed Schedule Change process
Discussed and planned Friendsgiving and tailgate party
Discussed NAEP test
Received input on Finals ScheduleDiscussed Team Christmas Parties
Homework:
TLs emailed BM data and assessment dates
Bray and Lucario will looking into No Place for Hate
Jan. 8 - Student presentation with APs and Principal
Notes 12/3
Moorhead has Assessment Calendar on Outlook
Finals Schedule discussed and finalized
Schedule Change Procedure discussed and finalized
Holiday Reminders (remain neutral)
12/10 Project Lit - reminder
Discussed retirement party on 12/11
Discussed dance on 12/12 (Pep Rally Schedule)
Discussed TELPAS
1. We must move kids. We had 14% growth. Target is 36%
2. Students are expected to Script response on speaking
3. How are we accommodating? How are we incorporating listening and speaking into lessons? A way to practice - Flipgrid
4. Change testing set up.
a) Separate boys and girls
b) no more than 15 kids per room
c) test over 2 days Day 1 Listening and Speaking Day 2 Reading
d) Turn off Bells
Moorhead Jr. High Decision Making
Decisions Made With Teacher Discretion
1. Classroom set up
2. Classroom rules and Procedures
3. Lesson Planning and Activities
4. Dates and Times to Meet with Teams
5. Classroom Management
6. Techniques including Rewards and Consequences
Decisions made with Teacher and Administration Collaboration
1. Campus and District Calendar
2. Curriculum Purchases
3. Classroom Maintenance
4. Scheduling
5. Student Placements
6. Personnel (Hiring Panels)
7. Materials and Major Purchases
8. Discipline
9. PLC Agenda Items
Decisions made with Administrator Discretion
1. Budget
2. Effect Campus as a whole
3. School Policies
4. Personnel Management
Looking Long Term
December 17 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd Final Exams
December 18 - 5th, 6th, 7th Final Exams
December 19 - 4th Period Exam / Early Release / Ben Franklin Visit
December 20 - January 5 Winter Break
January 6 - Staff Development - Kagan Cooperative Learning Day 1
January 7 - Team Planning Day
January 7 - Positive Coaching Alliance (9:30am - 11:30am) All Coaches
January 15 - Staff Development - Panther Short (During Conf. Period) led by Pawlik
February 7 - Valentine's Day 6pm - 9pm (hosted by STUCO)
February 19- Faculty Meeting 7:30am or 4:15pm
March 6 - Student vs. Staff Basketball game / Early release (hosted by The Dazzlers)
March 6 - End of 3rd 9 Weeks
March 18 - Faculty Meeting - 7:30am or 4:15pm
April 7 - STAAR 7 Writing / STAAR 8 Math
April 8 - STAAR 8 Reading
April 9 - Student vs. Staff Soccer game (hosted by PTO)
April 10 - Good Friday Holiday (No School)
May 5 - Algebra 1 EOC
May 7- STAAR 8 Science / 7 Science Benchmark
May 8 - STAAR 8 History/ 7 History Benchmark
May 12 - STAAR 7 Math / STAAR 8 Math (retest)
May 13 - STAAR 7 Reading / STAAR 8 Reading (retest)
May 15 - Choir End of Year Field Trip
May 15 - End of Year Dance 6pm - 9pm (hosted by school)
May 21 - 7th Grade Awards Ceremony 9:15am - 10:00am
May 21 - Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night
May 22 - 8th Grade Awards ceremony 9:15am - 10:15am and 8th Grade Field Day 11 -3pm
May 25 - No School - Memorial Day
May 26 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd period Finals
May 27 - 5th, 6th, 7th period Finals
May 28 - 4th Period Final / Early release
May 28 - THE CROSSING - 7pm @ CCHS
May 29 - Work Day