To the Point
Prairie Point Staff Newsletter
Vol 3, Issue 9: Friday, December 21, 2016
As we head into the midway point of the year...and more importantly Winter Break...I wanted to take time to thank all of you for your dedication, compassion and work with our students.
The start of this year has been extremely rewarding and I have so enjoyed getting to know all of you, along with our students and school families. After having worked at a school that I loved for 8 years, it was hard to imagine that I would be lucky enough to stumble on the same type of community and school family a second time. However, in the short time that I have been here, I have come to think of Prairie Point as my school family.
Like any family, we have shared celebrations. The start of this school year brought us the newest member of the PT family, Dave Schumacher (who I was lucky enough to meet yesterday). We celebrated with Kate Mosher as she crossed the line of her first marathon back in October. Who can forget the day the world stopped and we blasted "Go Cubs Go" through the hallways as the students returned after an all-nighter Cubs World Series win! We had an amazing Veteran's Day celebration that humbled all of us as we reflected on those who so selflessly gave of themselves for our country. As a school we celebrated an amazingly successful author visit with Kate Messner! We also took time out to celebrate a few weeks ago at our Adult Field Trip :) There have been countless student celebrations that have more than once brought tears to our eyes...having a student graduating out of needing speech services, a student who stood up against tons of peer pressure to tell the truth, that student who finally got an A on a test, seeing the kindness in our students as they rally around a friend that is upset and witnessing the generosity as students donate to the district food drive and the toy drive. There are celebrations all around us.
Like any family, we have also supported each other when things haven't been so awesome. I was touched by the generosity, kindness, prayers and support that our faculty has shown to each other. Like any family, we rely on each other to pick us up when we fall down.
Thank you for all that each and every one of you do to make Prairie Point a special place. I hope that the next two and a half weeks prove to be restful, relaxing and rejuvenating! Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday and a healthy and safe New Year!
PS - Like any family...there's always a crazy old aunt...Just saying :)
A Celebration
Mr. Janis volunteers in Mrs. Niles's 4th grade classroom, helping spark excitement in science and social studies.
We are so fortunate to have wonderful volunteers who give their time to support our students and teachers.
Important Information
G Suite
The Electronic Communications Subcommittee consisting of elementary and secondary teachers has worked over the past two years to bring Google Apps for Education, now known as G Suite to SD308. Last Spring a group of elementary and secondary teachers piloted student google accounts with a lot of success.
It is with much excitement that we bring Google accounts to our students. A brief FAQ is attached, and we ask that you take some time to read it and be aware of the parameters around student accounts which will be available by January 9th.
Teachers are not required to utilize G Suite in their classroom. However, if you choose to use G Suite it is important that you are doing so with student district accounts.
The district is offering several PD opportunities for teachers.
While this information has already been emailed to you, I've included the links here for your convenience.
In Every Issue...
Wednesday Meetings
WEDNESDAY AM MEETING
TEAM
As we reviewed during the August Institute, we will be updating the process and paperwork a bit midyear. Please don't stress about this - there will be time and training that is given for this transition.
In the meantime, if you need to bring a student up to TEAM, please complete the same paperwork we've had in the past. You can find that at our building TEAM website. Link is below. If you're unsure about how to bring a student up for support, or have other questions about the problem-solving process, please don't hesitate to visit a member of TEAM.
One little adjustment, that will hopefully streamline the process, is that if you have a student who is on the TEAM calendar you will receive an invite to the meeting on your Google Calendar. Not everyone has full access to the weebly calendar, so you should rely on receiving those email invites through Google Calendar.
Wednesday Morning Meeting Schedule
PLCs and Agenda Options
Please know that any specialist, Jen, or I can join your meetings to discuss important topics or answer questions. If you'd like one of us to come to your meetings, don't hesitate to ask. I love to see all the great work that your teams are doing. Go Prairie Point!!!
- Please remember to share your agenda and notes with me and others who need the information.
- Before the meeting ends, decide what you will discuss and address at your next collaborative meeting which will take place next week.
- Enjoy this time with one another.
The video below shows you how to save the agenda templates to your own Google Drive.
News and Info
My Contact Information
I will be around during the second half of Winter Break, should you need to get a hold of me for some reason. I will be on vacation the week between Christmas and New Year's (December 26th - January 2nd) without access to phone or email. I'll be back in the office on January 3rd.
Enjoy the wonderful, long break!