Back to School Staff News!
I know... I'm sad too!
Are You Super Heros Ready For School??
Seeing a spiral notebook and Elmer's glue puts me in panic mode! And did you hear, High School students get an extra week off... I'm all out of sorts with that news! I don't know about you, but I could definitely use an extra week! Wait... I DO know about you and we could all use another week!
As usual the summer has gone way to fast! It was fun living vicariously through several of you who traveled to far away and exotic places - Italy, Ireland, Paris, Mexico ...Oklahoma. (That last one was me).
While we were away on our vast travels, the district was very busy planning for the new school year. There is a lot of information to pass along, especially about curriculum. This newsletter will give you all the "detes" to get you through the first few days of school!
I am so excited about this school year and the laser focus we will have on the 5 themes of the Strategic Plan (see below). There will be a huge focus on establishing and adhering to a cohesive curriculum for all students and using common formative assessments to make instructional decisions for students. You will see collaboration time become more purposeful in reaching these goals by tighting up on the structure to help keep us focused on the 4 questions of a Professional Learning Community -
- What do we want students to know (Standards - essential questions and big ideas)
- How will we know they know it (Common Formative Assessments through-out units)
- How will we respond to when they don't learn it? (Regroup and reteach)
- How will we respond when they already know it? (Regroup and extend)
Another area of focus for Deerfield will be Redesign! I cannot wait to see the power of your forward-thinking leadership and creativity as we begin digging into the all the possiblities! As Dr. Lewis once said, "I'm tired of being good, let's be GREAT!"
Enjoy your last few days of Summah!
Joni
"There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader." - Mahatma Ghandi
P.S. And good news - the buiding exterior has been approved to be painted this year. It's been 13 years since the last paint job! I'd say it's time!
District Strategic Plan 5 Goal Areas - Know Them, Live Them!
Welcome New Team Members!
Miranda Renyer - 1st
Megan Freed - 3rd
Natalie Rabiola - Library Media
Michelle Hindman - ISA
Rachel Gardner - IRR Paraeducator
Samantha Hemphill - Head Custodian (starts August 15th)
Jackson Lockwood - Night Custodian
Andy Pelsma - PE
Sarah Whittier - Social Worker
Nick Burgoon - PE (if needed for an additional section of PE)
Julie Alley - 1 section Music
Shana Talley - 1 section of Art
Calendar of Events
Aug 1-2 New Teacher Orientation
Aug 5-6 New Teacher Orientation
Aug 7 Class Placements are sent to parents
Aug 1-13 Benefit Enrollment
Aug 8 Building Professional Development (sign up on MLP - Deerfield Beginning the Year Meeting)
Aug 9 District PD Day
Aug 12 District PD Day
Aug 13 Classroom Prep Day
Aug 13 5:45-6:30 pm Sneak Peek
6:30-7:30 pm Ice Cream Social - front lawn
Aug 14 1st Day of School!
Aug 14-Aug 26th Teach the Deerfield Expectations
Aug 20 7:00 pm 1st PTO Meeting - Cafeteria
Aug 26 Deerfield Fund Raiser Begins
Aug 25 BOY Assembly 8:15 - Gym
August 8th Building PD - Deerfield Library
8:00 PTO Breakfast in Library
8:20 Welcome Back
Strategic Plan
KESA Goals
CI3T Primary Plan / Curriculum Accountability
What's coming up - GEI Process (formerly SSP), PLC Collaboration Format
Redesign updates
Housekeeping / Organization / Committee reports
Time to review IEP / Student Improvment Plans
Time for mandatory training
Lunch on your own
August 9th District Professional Development Day
8:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m.
Southwest Middle School and Sunflower Elementary
2511 Inverness Dr.
August 12th District Professional Development Day
Click Here for the August 12th PD Schedule
(I do not see an activity on MLP yet)
Notes for August 12:
8:00-9:00 a.m. at the Lied Center of Kansas
1600 Stewart Drive
We will sit as a school and show our school spirit! Wear your Deerfield Shirt!
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at Sunflower/Southwest Middle School
We don't want you stuck in traffic! The district has partnered with First Student to provide shuttle buses.
GETTING TO THE LIED CENTER:
Park and catch a 7:15 a.m. shuttle to the Lied Center from one of three locations:
1. YSI/Clinton Lake Youth Sports Complex parking lot, 4911 W 27th St.
2. Southwest Middle School (and Sunflower) parking lot, 2511 Inverness Rd.
3. ESC north parking lot,110 McDonald Dr.
OR, Carpool to the Lied Center and leave your car there for the day. (Please allow plenty of time if you are carpooling to the Lied Center. Note one-lane traffic due to construction at 19th and Iowa.)
LEAVING THE LIED CENTER
Catch a 9:15 a.m. shuttle to Southwest Middle School for the District Professional Development Day. Food trucks will provide lunch!
LEAVING SOUTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOL
Catch a 3:45 p.m. shuttle back to where you parked:
1. YSI/Clinton Lake Youth Sports Complex, 4911 W 27th St.
2. ESC, 110 McDonald Dr.
3. Lied Center, 600 Stewart Dr.
August 13th - Classroom Prep, Sneak Peek and School Social
11:00 PTO Luncheon in the Library
5:45-6:30 Sneak Peek (students and parents invited to peek at their new classroom!)
6:30-7:30 PTO Social on front lawn (everyone makes their way outside for a popsicle social!)
Wear a Deerfield T-shirt! All certified staff are asked to be at school from 5:45 to 6:45 at minimum. (This hour of time will be comped out on a last day of school in December)
August 14th 1st Day of School for K-5 Students!
Benefits Enrollment August 1 to 5pm August 13
Benefits Open Enrollment for the 2019-2020 school year will be held August 1 to 5 p.m. August 13. Benefit elections/changes made during open enrollment take effect on September 1, 2019, and remain in effect through August 31, 2020. There are no changes to any benefit plans this year. Medical rates will increase. Dental and vision rates remain the same. Voluntary benefits rates will only change if you make changes to your plans or if your age band changes.
Benefits enrollment is passive for all plans, except medical and dependent day care flexible spending accounts. If you want to begin or continue either flexible spending account, you will need to log into Employee Online to elect those plans. Visit the Benefits SharePoint page for plan information and updated rates.
~Sarah Hamlin, Human Resources supervisor
Moving from Outlook to Gmail
Your USD 497 Gmail account is ready to use. All of your Outlook emails, contacts, and calendar events have been migrated for you. All you have to do is sign in, start using Gmail, and stop using Outlook. Your email address has not changed.
To access Gmail on a computer go to GO.USD497.ORG, sign in with your district credentials, and click Gmail.
To access on a mobile device, download the iOS or Android app, add your a new account (select Google), and enter your district credentials.
If you had added your Outlook account to your mobile device you will need to remove it.
If you have questions or need help, check out the G-Suite Training plugin inside of Chrome and our Google tutorials available here.
SharePoint Important Documents moved to Google Drive
Deerfield SharePoint Calendar moved to Gmail Calendar
Helpful Links Below! Click on the pictures.
School Website Minimum Expectations
The district expects all certified teachers to have an "About Teacher" welcome page on their school's website with basic contact information. The About Teacher page is an easy-to-complete template. Go to the Deerfield Website. Sign in with your district username and password. Click on Site Manager. You will see only those sections assigned to you on the left side of the screen. Here's how to complete the page.
For your information, below are the district’s minimum expectations for staff pages:
- “About Me” tab includes a prefix (Dr., Miss, Mr., Mrs., Ms. and/or preferred pronoun(s))
- Teacher’s name
- Brief professional biography
- Photo (photos should be a standard head shot, such as a school yearbook photo).
This space should be left blank if a teacher prefers not to display a photo of his/her/their likeness.
- “Details” tab includes
- school email address
- school main phone number (and/or teacher extension)
- (optional) degrees and certifications.
Required Mandatory Training - Due by September 13th
Watch Mandatory Training – sign off that you have watched this video on the link to the right.
Watch the Automated External Defibrillator Training Video sign off that you have watched this video on the link to the right.
Watch Emergency Safety Interventions PowerPoint- sign off that you have watched this video on the link to the right.
Watch Worn Out Welcome Math (homelessness) – sign off that you have watched this video on the link to the right.
REMIND Text for Deerfield Staff
Remind Text alerts for Staff Crisis Response - All staff are asked to subscribe to Remind for the purpose of crisis response. Remind will be one mode of communication during a crisis situation. Subscrip by texting the number 81010 with the message @deerali.
Deerfield School
Email: japplema@usd497.org
Website: https://www.usd497.org/Domain/10
Location: 101 Lawrence Avenue, Lawrence, KS, United States
Phone: 785-832-5660
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deerfieldPTOlawrence/?pnref=story