Panther Updates
NEWS, RESOURCES AND LEARNING FOR PANTHER STAFF, 4/23/18
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ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 23-APRIL 27, 2018
THANK YOU: Thank you to all of the staff members and volunteers that came to Spring Fling on Sunday. We are very lucky to have a PTA that works so hard- for free- to help our school. A special thanks to those that were in the dunk tank so Ms. Fricke and Mr. Biles didn't need to do it!! Check out the pictures in the front hallway of our illustrious dunk tank volunteers.
COVERAGE ISSUES: Sometimes covering lunch or other areas for supervision is not possible due to absences and unforeseen problems that arise at the last minute. Please know that every effort is made to cover lunches without changing the schedule, and if lunch "in the room" is needed please know that it was unavoidable. Quite frankly, covering lunches only with TA support and pulling support personnel from essential tasks is not going to work next year, and as you can see, does not always work this year. We will discuss this at an upcoming leadership meeting in detail and the ramifications/needed changes for next year.
CHROMEBOOKS ARRIVE THIS WEEK: Annette will be working with the WCPSS Tech Support this Tuesday and Wednesday to bring in the new storage carts and Chromebooks. Please follow her lead when they are ready for receipt in the classroom and any follow up instructions. Thank you to Annette and the WCPSS team for making this as seamless as possible.
LEARNING ROUNDS GUESTS: Principals from Brassfield, Leadmine and York Road will join Mr. Biles in Learning Rounds this Wednesday between 9:30 and 12:00. Thank you in advance for opening your classrooms to these visitors. They have graciously hosted Learning Rounds over the past month at their schools and it is our turn to share the favor. So much is learned by our having the opportunity to observe Pleasant Union's best practices. Any time a Learning Round visits your class, whether it be our teachers or outside guests, we hope to learn from how you deliver instruction across the content areas, integrate technology, use accountable talk and provide innovative instruction.
STAFF APPRECIATION BREAKFAST: PTA is treating staff to breakfast this Friday, April 27th from 7:45-8:45. Come join your colleagues in the media center for breakfast and conversation. Thank you in advance for our superb PTA.
2018-19 GRADE LEVEL ASSIGNMENTS: Each year Mrs. Fricke, Mrs. Baginski and Mr. Biles have the challenging task to look at our student enrollment data, apply new class size formulas, consider where we are most likely to receive more students, reflect on staff input for student placement, balance incoming kindergarten classrooms, to help with subsequent school years, consolidate 3rd grade students in 4th grade, make track change assignments, call parents to hopefully soften the blow of a move and yes reflect on the information that staff has submitted as to their grade level preferences. As you can imagine, it is an annual challenge that must be done so that we can be ready for the new school year and to make sure that our staff is prepared such that students have the best learning environment. All of us have teaching licenses that at least range from K-6, and many staff have graduate school licenses so that we have the flexibility to teach at most grade levels. With that being said, Mrs. Fricke and I will be using all of the above in our considerations for staff placements and track changes for the upcoming year. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding if and when changes are made to your placement so that we can best serve our students. If we make a change in your grade level placement or make a track change we will communicate this via a face to face conversation.
END OF YEAR PDP and SUMMARY CONFERENCE INFORMATION - Thanks to all that have already met the deadline for PDPs and have sent in the Standards I-V artifacts sheet. The following Deadlines are necessary due to County Deadlines. As mentioned at the staff meeting WCPSS Contract structure has changed. Thus the need to get your PDP and Summary Evaluation info in ASAP. Another giant advantage is that you won't have to worry about this as we get busy with EOY assessments.
- End of Year PDPs were DUE for ALL TEACHERS (Track IV plan accordingly) on Monday, April 2nd, 2018. Please submit your artifacts ASAP
- The Summative Artifact Information for Standards I-V Data Collection Sheet (The artifacts sheet you submit before summary conferences) were due on Monday April 2, 2018 for Beginning Teachers and (**new**) Friday, April 6, 2018 for Continuing Teachers. We now have an earlier deadline due to contracts/regulations, so the sooner the better. Please email lfricke@wcpss.net with your summative information as soon as you can do so. Thanks to all that have already submitted this information.
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Mark Your Calendars
Sunday, April 22
- 2:00-5:00 Spring Fling
Tuesday, April 24
- PreK Afternoon Class Spring Pictures
- Chromebook carts arrive
Wednesday, April 25
- Chromebooks arrive
- 9:30-11:30ish Principal Learning Rounds
Friday, April 27
- 7:45-8:45 Staff Appreciation Breakfast
- Track 4 Report Cards Go Home
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DUTIES FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 23-APRIL 27, 2018 Track 3 OUT
AM Hallway: Shipley/Blocker (Help greet parents/students, check with Ms. Person to see what is needed at the visitor sign-in tables/help with Breakfast traffic)
AM Carpool: Bednar (Help Safety Patrol, call for more help if needed, monitor carpool lane)
AM Breakfast: Brown (Work with students regarding lunch numbers, encourage students to eat and get directly to class.)
AM Bus: Lavin (See office if you are unable to help as this is an extra duty. Write down arrival times of buses. Work with Fricke to disembark students, trouble-shoot issues.)
Lunch Duty: Lavin, Johnson, Bednar, Crum, Renfrow, McEwen, Brown, Narvaez
(Start the track in period with consistent behavior expectations. STUDENTS CAN BRING A BOOK TO READ, BUT NOT OTHER OBJECTS (RUBIC'S CUBE, ETC...)
Work with one another to use the "warning" behavior system, train students to pick up trash/sweep, and inform teachers of issues. Do not allow students to flip bottles/get up without permission. Do not hesitate to move a student to a separate seat or to inform the office of repeated issues. Update the seating charts in the notebook as needed. The office will contact you (support staff) if necessary for coverage. THANK YOU FOR DOING LUNCH DUTY.
PM Hallway: Barber (Check all students for tags in the bus line. If a student does not have a tag, inform Fricke and Ms. Britt ASAP. )
PM Carpool: Narvaez, Garrett (outside), Bednar, Perry/Cooper (inside), Freer (call car numbers.)(Specialists fill in- contact office is there is a change and to let us know who is covering) (Call carpool numbers. If a parent doesn't have a carpool tag, PLEASE INFORM THE PARENT that they should get one from the office.
PM Bus: Coleman (Call one bus at a time. Write down arrival times. CHECK FOR BUS TAGS ON EACH CHILD'S BOOK BAG. Work with Britt and Barber to trouble-shoot, solve issues. IF YOU HAVE CONFERENCES ETC... LET THE OFFICE KNOW ON MONDAY MORNING.)