Tiger Talk
Our Future is on the Horizon
Welcome Back to School!
...and welcome to Tiger Talk, your information source for all things Horizon! Please use the link provided to access this flyer throughout the year. Have a great first day of school!
August 2013
Kansas State Assessments
We have received official word that the 2014-2015 school year will be our baseline year for Kansas State Assessments.
Certified Staff License Renewal Reminder
In the state of Kansas you can renew your license six months prior to its expiration date. As you are aware, Kansas statutes (as well as your employment contract) require that you keep your license "active" and maintain the employer's copy of your "active" license on file with the HR Department. If your license is set to expire in the next six months, please start the renewal process now.
Given the number of semester graduates finishing their teacher education programs at semester's end, December and January are busy months for the state's licensing department. Not surprisingly, June and July are also quite busy. Typical processing time for renewal is generally 4-6 weeks, but can be longer during these periods. Renewing early protects you (terms of employment contract) and the district (compliance with Highly Qualified standards).
Thank you in advance for your attention to this important issue and please know I, as well as the HR department, are happy to assist you with this process.
You may check the expiration date of your license at: https://online.ksde.org/teal/cert_search.aspx or at mylearningplan.com.
Building Upkeep
As we all reported back for school, it was so wonderful to see our professional development room looking so clean and organized. Amy, Laura, and our custodial crew worked very hard to make it a room we can all be proud of! Please help us keep the room clean and organized by washing dishes and putting them away as well as keeping the recycling areas free of clutter.
The district highly discourages anyone to bring in additional furniture that is not purchased by the building/district. When items do not match the original furniture the building may begin to appear cluttered and unprofessional. Therefore, all furniture, including bookcases, etc. must be purchased by the building/district or otherwise approved by the building principal. Only building/district purchased furniture will be allowed in the Neighborhood areas. As for classrooms, there will be more leniency as long as your classroom does not look cluttered and additional furniture does not make it even more difficult to move around in these small classrooms. Please do not use bookcases in the Neighborhood areas for storage. We have purchased furniture for these purposes, plus additional cabinets are now at an apporpriate height for your use. Please clean storage rooms and anything that is not curriculum related or of great need. These types of things should be taken home or disposed of, giving you more storage space for the things you truly need and use.
Recess Coverage
Please continue to be vigilant while covering outdoor recess. We need to make sure that we are spread out among the students. For example, if there is a game going on the soccer field, we would need one teacher monitoring the game while the other monitors playground activity. Thank you for your continued efforts to make sure recess is a fun, safe time for our students!
Classroom Communication
As you send out parent information packets, please include a class list with your other class information. It might be helpful for parents to know who the other children are in their child's class. Also, please have your clasroom or grade level websites updated by Tuesday, September 3rd at the end of the day. If you need assistance or have questions, Steve will be more than happy to help!
Children at Work
Horizon "policy" is that only your own chlidren may be with you before or after school during your contract day.
Office Traffic
With the change in location of the principal's office, we are asking that you please enter and leave through the front doors as much as possible. We are anticipating the need to keep the office hallway area quiet and confidential for any student or parent visitors we may have.
PBIS
Kim and Steve are working to incorporate spinning the PBIS prize wheel during morning announcements rather than in the cafeteria this year. Tickets may be sold to students in class or during recess. There will be individual containers in the professional development room (one for each classroom and for JCPRD) to place tickets which have been sold. The cost of each ticket is once again one Tiger dollar. Please make sure the student includes their name and classroom information on the back of their tickets. Students who do not win at the prize wheel will have their name put in the hopper for an additional chance to win prizes. Thank you for helping to make PBIS a success!