Welcome to Oz!
EPMS Staff Training Aug. 1 @ 1 PM in Media Center
IMPORTANT: Please Sign-In & Give Your Feedback!!
AGENDA FOR BUILDING CAPACITY TRAINING
Parents are Excited for the Journey Together! These are ACTUAL comments FROM OUR PARENTS to teachers & staff!
- Thank you, in advance for ALL you will do for our students this year. Your investment in our future through these students is noticed and appreciated!
- “Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me.” – Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers). To our EPMS Heroes - welcome back!
- You Rock!
- Wishing our teachers and staff a great school year. Thanks for all you do and bless your hearts! ❤️❤️
- Yes, continue doing what you are doing. You are the reason Elkins Pointe MS is the best middle school in the whole world. Love you.
- You’ve got this!! Have an amazing year!!
- Welcome Back hope you have had a wonderful summer!!! We are excited for another great year!
- We look forward to getting to know you this year!
Teachers! You Really Do Make Dreams Come True!
Nothing But the Best for Our Kids...You are the Best!
2) Title I School means our parents have more HEART than money!
3) We are special because of our DIVERSITY and because we have a CULTURE where kindness matters!
Title I
- 40% poverty - Free & Reduced Lunch
- 220K funds to even the playing field
What is a Title I Parent Liaison?
- School-Family Compacts and Parent and Family Engagement Plan
- Parent Univesity
- Family Engagement is our goal!
Who is Lisa O'Hanlon Cowles?
Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs
- Mother of the Voluntolds - Kassie, Rebecca, and Jonathan
- 2012-2013 VOTY/ 2018-2019 POTY
- Bridge to parents, the community, and to teachers/staff
- The person behind the curtain of Facebook & Twitter
- Titan Talk Newsletter
- Master Calendar
- Executive Producer of the Titan Morning News
- Champion to our great teachers/staff, parents, and students!
- Title I Parent Liaison - Family Engagement
Email: Lisa O'Hanlon Cowles
The Parent Resource Center is in the Media Center.
Media Specialists
Tech Support
- Vani Jacob, Tech Support - Click HERE to put in a "ticket" for tech problems
- Trent Stapleton - Tech Applications, i.e. Office365
Our Bilingual Liaison has her own office up at the front of the school.
- Koritza Rodrigues, Title III Bilingual Liaison
The Scarecrow...The Biggest Support to Dorothy!
- Volunteer in the classroom
- Keeping kids on track with assignments
PARENT COMMENT:
This may be middle school but there is an army of parents willing to support you in whatever way you need. Just ask.
PARENT COMMENT:
Let parents know how they can support you at home. I’ve got an 8th graded and I know you want them to be independent but if there’s anything I can do at home to help, let me know. If you need parent volunteers in your classroom, let parents know via email. I don’t know if all teachers send out a ‘here’s what is coming up next week’ email, but those are helpful especially to know about upcoming tests that our kids may not tell us about.
ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT TOO...FROM DISTRACTIONS, ETC
- Cellphones are a problem for them too
- They are battling the same things you are...let's figure ways to partner
PARENT COMMENT:
If there is a way to check-in, their phones at the teacher's desk at the beginning of the class, it would help tremendously!
Note: At Elkins Pointe teachers can ask students to leave their cell phones in the lockers, but SHOULD NOT collect phones for liability reasons.
Tick, Tock, Tick Tick...Win the Hearts of Your Parents!
COMMUNICATION ABOUT HOMEWORK AND PROJECTS IS IMPORTANT TO PARENTS!
- Weekly or regular emails
- Link to a website
- Parents want to help stay on top of the tests, projects, and workload.
PARENT COMMENT:
As much as it’s just more work for the teacher, please have regular communication with parents. Emails are great, about upcoming tests or projects.
PARENT COMMENT:
We love getting a note Sunday night or Monday letting us know what’s coming up for the week. Please don’t send emails to the kids without copying parents; they are still too young for that kind of accountability. Our kids really hate silent lunch. Can you imagine going to lunch with your work colleagues and not being allowed to talk?? Please let kids use the bathroom when they say they need to go. They are in middle school now. And please come up with s consistent cell phone policy..can they bring them to class or not? It has to be the same across the board.
PARENTS WANT YOU TO PUT GRADE INTO HAC (Home Access Center) QUICKLY!
- Digital Native Kids - They worked hard and they should get rewarded!
- Parents are always connected - The have push notifications.
- Put your grades in HAC quickly! It benefits the teacher too!
PARENT COMMENT:
Please grade papers quickly and post them to Home Access. Parents and students are very anxious about seeing the grades. Communication is the key. Please please pretty please communicate with students and parents. Stay cool and enjoy the year. Summer will be here before you know it.
The Courage to Be Kind!
PARENTS WANT YOU TO KNOW...TEACHERS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THEIR CHILDS SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING!
- You are a really important part of their child's day...You spend more time with their child than they do!
- Consider the Whole-Child...Treat your students as individuals...ask questions, get to know them...develop relationships.
PARENT COMMENT:
I have an incoming 7th grader who is new to the school. Please be mindful of new students in grades other than 6th. They will have special needs, fears, emotions, etc next week and in the coming school year. Please don’t forget to remember them and take a little extra time to help them get up to speed with the school routines, procedures, etc.
PARENT COMMENT:
Just remember all of our kids are different and learn differently and if you see something that might not be going right we as parents want to be involved. Reach out to us because there may be a reason for the struggle or we may not know there is a problem. However, we would like to help. Never fell like you are bothering us and hopefully likewise if we see a struggle that our kids may be having you are ok with us letting you know if the situation. Other than that we hope each and everyone has a great school year!
KINDNESS MATTERS
- We have a reputation for being a kind school...Our teachers are the reason why!
- PBIS
- Client focused because we care about Smart, Happy, Connected students, teachers, and parents!
PARENT COMMENT:
Kindness matters to these kids! Kids like and respond well to kind teachers. The tough shell that gets put on when a kid starts going through puberty is simply protection and the best method for getting to them is being kind. Sensei Johnson gets a lot of kids in her class and there isn't a kinder more soft-spoken person in the school. Kids appreciate it and feel respected and will give it in return.
Students, Teachers, and Parents...Oh My!
How to Build Capacity
I. Building Staff Capacity with Parents Objectives
- Work with Parents as Equal Partners in their child's education
- Foster parent engagement in the classroom and the school
- Parents are stakeholders in their child's academic success
II. Building Capacity with Parents
- Value and utility of contributions of parents
- Reach out to communicate and work with parents as stakeholders
- Implement and coordinate parent programs to build ties between home and the school
III. Value and Utility of Building Capacity with Parents
- Partnering with parents builds relationships because it opens up 2-way communication, builds trust, and supports student success
- Because parents were their child’s first teacher, partnering with them indicates that teachers/staff value the contributions parents make towards their child's academic achievement
- Strategies are identified by teachers to further support student success both in school and through family involvement
IV. Communication is the Key!
- Connect with your parent Liaison on Twitter
- Create a window into your classroom
- Communication is the key to Initiating and maintaining ties between home and school
- Create Trust by being responsive, timely, relevant, and clear in purpose