ALB Monday Memo
Week of October 22-26
Anyway, here's what's going on:
Red Ribbon festivities are all week. It was a great first day--so much red in the building!
Tomorrow, Sophie Morton and I will go to the Cobb Chamber TOTY Pep Rally. I can't wait to celebrate her! A small team of students will also go and cheer her on--they'll be back on campus around lunch and we will feed them before sending back to class.
Tomorrow and Wednesday, grade levels will engage in Super Specials, focused on reading instruction. Grades K, 2, and 5 are tomorrow and Grades 1, 4, and 3 will be Wednesday.
On Thursday, I get to take Sherri Monger to the GEM Lunch with the Marietta Kiwanis. I look forward to celebrating her as our Fall Quarter GEM honoree!
On Friday, we have our October assembly. At the last minute, I was able to secure a performance for our assembly--an African Dance and Drum group from Senegal! I am thrilled to bring this experience to our school. We will still do our student recognition, and then the group will perform. Plan on a longer time together than has been the last two months.
Also on Friday is the annual PTA Fall Festival. The weather does not look promising, but we do have a contingency plan to move everything indoors if we need to. Students and families love seeing the teachers--please try to make an appearance if you can! And if you haven't offered a student experience for silent auction, consider donating your time. You can email me or Katie Waters with your idea.
Next week is busy with Walk to School Day and Book Character Costume Day on Wednesday, 10/31. Feel free to dress up with your team or by yourself! The students love seeing us all get festive!
TKES Walkthroughs have started. If you are on the full plan, you'll have one walkthrough and one formative (30-min) observation this semester. If you are on the flexible plan, you may only have one walkthrough this semester and you'll have a formative next semester. As you know, Celis and I are in your classes far more often than that, and believe in providing you meaningful feedback to improve your practice.
There is a specific note below detailing plans for the two Professional Learning Days on November 5 & 6. Please pay close attention!
I believe in the (heart) work we are doing!
I am so proud to be your principal.
Jillian
November 5 & 6
On November 6, the following groups are pulled by the district:
Kindergarten Teachers have Phonics training from 8-1pm at Sawyer Road
Special Education teachers have a training from 8-4 at MHS
ESOL has training in the afternoon from 12:30-3:30 at CO
Fine Arts teachers have training from 8-3:30 in the MHS Band Room
LMS Committee with Rob Pinto has a training from 8-4 in the MCAA Smart Lab
If you are not in those groups, consider attending the Childhood Trauma course on ACE scores and how traumatic experiences affect children's brains and bodies. You may also consider getting CPR trained. An email went out a couple of weeks ago with a link to sign up for CPR, and contact Darcey if you are interested in the Trauma course. Otherwise, you will not be pulled for meetings by me. Please leverage the day for true professional development and preparation for student learning.
Burruss Staff Birthdays
Ashley McDermid: November 1
Jay Walter: November 6
Angel Brooks: December 2
Jennifer Kloet: December 8
Sherri Monger: December 13
Chelsea Brady: December 18
Kourtney Clark: December 30
Bonnie Mako: December 31
#BurrussBrags
Carla Wallace and Tabitha Edmondson-Goodman helped me present to Rising 3rd Grade families about making a choice between MCAA and Burruss for next year. They made a beautiful presentation and provided incredible insight!
Kindergarten Team saw significant gains in the last round of phonics assessment--we scored second-highest in the district, just behind WS!
Candace Torrence and Melody Lady have planned two social events for the staff in just a couple of weeks with the new social committee. Consider joining us on November 7 from 4-6pm at Project Studio! I look forward to many more fun times with you all!
Serena King and Yolanda Williams have found their groove and are doing a fantastic job at the front desk!
Cheryl English will present at the family engagement expo for special needs families this week. Good luck, Cheryl! Thank you for being an advocate for students!
Jenny Brems is off and running with the Thanks for Giving campaign. I look forward to some do-good competition between teams! So many of our families rely on these donations.
What I'm Reading
Last Thursday and Friday, I took Kristen Green (Climate Lead) and Sophie Morton (reigning TOTY) to a Deep Equity Institute in Atlanta. We engaged in tough conversations and listened to inspiring and challenging presentations on the achievement gap for minority populations in our country. As you may already know, Burruss data is alarming for our black students, our students with disabilities, and our students from economically-disadvantaged homes. We will be having some tough conversations about this as we go through this year. We must all be willing to listen and act with a sense of urgency. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism." EVERY child, EVERY day.
I bought a couple of books at the conference that I'd love to share with anyone who wants to borrow them. I bought three copies of Bright Ribbons: A Guide for Culturally Responsive Teaching in Elementary. I also bought a copy of the White Woman's Guide to Teaching Black Boys and a copy of These Kids are out of Control: Why We Must Reimagine Classroom Management for Equity. I haven't gotten to read them yet, but if you want to borrow them, please let me know and I'll get my copy to you. We will discuss this concept more throughout the year, starting on November 5 during our professional learning day--agenda detailed above.