Principal's Newsletter
September 29th, 2017
WOWs
WOW to Sodexo ladies Mary and Amy. They have really been helpful this year in getting out Café information and not sending to the office to have us put it out. We in the office appreciate it so much!!!--Tessa
WOW to Jennifer and Jane! Thanks for being awesome teammates.--Tessa
WOW to Mr. Mack! You are a great Leader and it shows!! You rock Bus Duty as well!--Tessa
WOW to Mr. Rector. He does an awesome job building relationships with students and encouraging students who have special needs to participate in P E activities.--Linda Carr
WOW to Mr. Button for being patient & understanding with our students who have special needs. He lets our student explore activities in his classroom, even if that's not the activity he was doing.--Linda Carr
WOW to Ronna Thornhill. She is always willing to help others by intervening any time a student needs help.--Linda Carr
WOW to Miss McCauley for taking time out of her busy schedule to help students who have special needs. She tries to find activities that they can participate in.--Linda Carr
WOW to Katie Fazio for doing a great job leading our Friday assemblies. --Maggie McCarthy
WOW to Greg and Linda for leading a great session on “Taming Tigers” at TeachFest!
Dione and Makenzie
Huge WOW to Emilee Molitor for unexpectedly taking on a student who needed it the whole day. She not only made that student's day, but also mine. Thank you!!!!--Tracy Lloyd
WOW to Anne Barrens, Lindsay, and all the interventionists. They are so flexible and will always help out any way they can. What would we do without you?--Shelly Gotsch
WOW to Jodi Fitzgerald for the outstanding support and efforts to help us get an intervention program to maximize progress and is workable for classroom teachers.--Shelly Gotsch
WOW to Kelly Edwards for always being open to helping in any way she can – you were a lifesaver Thursday!--Shelly Gotsch
WOW to Laura Peterson and Marilyn Tate for stepping up to the plate when Room 53 was down both a teacher and a para last Thursday. Ladies, you are awesome, and we really, really appreciated your support. And, as always, Cyndy, Rita, Linda Carr, Ronna and Ayesha are an incredible team who always roll with the punches (sometimes literally!). Jamie and Carrie, you would have been proud of all of these ladies! Way! To! Go!--Linda Appelbaum
WOW to Carrie Alvernia for giving a 4th Grade student a new chance at succeeding. You’ve helped bring out the best in him. --Greg Vest
WOW to Sherry and LaTonya for leading a restorative circle meeting with my class on Monday. It was much needed and appreciated!--Angie Regan
WOW to Donna Baeten and her class for taking such good care of a special very lovable walker from my room. Thank you, Donna, for taking the time to foster some great relationship building between my kiddo and your older students. It has touched my heart to watch everyday! --Maggie McCarthy
WOW to Tracy Lloyd and Sherry Reagan for your sense of humor when a student needed to spend a lot of time burning some energy.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Kristen Schrameyer for your patience. Your calmness and patience was just what a student needed.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to the office ladies! I appreciate all you do for me! Thank you!!--Stacey Schuette
WOW to the para-educators, you ladies are always working so hard to make our students successful and independent! Thank you!!--Stacey Schuette
WOW to the 3rd grade team for the time you take to collaborate and plan together. You all are so reflective and insightful while thinking about what is working, what is not working, asking questions, and planning ahead as you take on Lucy Reading and Lucy Writing this year. I always learn or take away something new to share with others from our planning sessions. Hats off to you all! ---Jodi
WOW to the 4th grade team for the time you spend together digging into Lucy Writing. I know that the questions you ask allow me to further my learning around Lucy's Units of Study. I look forward to calibrating together as we score the on-demand narratives. It will be awesome to see how much your students have grown as writers already this year. Kudos to all of you! ---Jodi
WOW to Michele Kelly for helping me problem-solve some possible solutions for a student. You are so appreciated!!--Jodi
WOW to Joyce Highfill for taking the time to reflect with me about our summer learning together and our goals for this year (of course some laughter too!). --Jodi
WOW to 2nd grade for the great questions that are being asked and the reflection that is happening as we meet to plan and problem-solve. I am looking forward to our grade level planning session together. Way to go team! --Jodi
WOW to Bethany Miller and Mr. Mack for your willingness to try a collaborative writing intervention for your shared students. The time that you take to communicate with one anther and problem-solve along the way will pay off. Thanks so much for your efforts! --Jodi
Meeting Minutes
Character Committee
Safety Committee
EDC
FHEA
Oops Box
Oops
During the fire drill on Wednesday (9/20) many of us were frustrated that there is still NOT AN UPDATED LIST in the Emergency Binders since the beginning of school.
How can we accurately check off staff members when the list still has people on it that either don’t work here any longer or there are MANY staff members still missing.
School is now into the 7th week. You hold us to high standards for the completion of our work, seems as if you are not following your own expectations.
Response
We apologize for the frustration that this caused. It was an oversight and not intentional. We also apologize that you had to take valuable time to write the oops. If something like this happens again please feel free to stop by the debriefing meeting to let an administrator know or let someone on the safety committee know. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. An update list was provided on 9/21.
Oops
Can the after school bus situation of kids not getting on the bus and playing be looked at again? I see safety concerns. If I’m watching my kids get on a bus, or looking at a bus as it pulls in, kids running and throwing balls etc aren’t being watched by me. My bus has over 50 kids and I can’t do both. We need more admin./aides/helpers to do that. Or have teachers make sure their kids get on the bus and don’t play around. I’m worried we are setting ourselves up for someone getting hurt.
Response
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The safety committee discussed this issue at their last meeting and will be making a final decision at their meeting on October 3rd. We have been monitoring the situation over the past few weeks and there seem to be a number of issues for the committee to problem solve around bus dismissal. We will provide a reminder in this newsletter to teachers that they need to be making sure their kids have gotten on a bus. If students are waiting for a late bus they need to be sitting on the curb. We will also provide the final decision of the safety committee. We have already changed the time that we are dismissing which seems to be helping so far.
Dismissal Reminders
First Quarter District Benchmark Assessments
There are a few students from a few different grade levels who are currently missing data from the pre-test and it was not designated in their IEP. This data is used by the district for a variety of reasons, therefore it is imperative that you follow the protocols that Sherri and Carrie have provided. Please see their newsletters if you need that information.
The writing summatives will close after fall break. If you would like to grade your writing pieces over break make sure your team calibrates before the break. Yes, you need to calibrate every year, even if your team calibrated last year. Teams have changed and it is best practice to calibrate each time. Calibrating means to score some of the papers together to ensure consistency in grading. If you need help with calibrating let an administrator or Jodi know.
Bobos Pizza
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Dinner is provided both nights of conferences.
Assessment Wall and Report Cards
Aritcle
We often talk about students who are fake reading during independent reading. Below is a link to a great article with some helpful tips on how to make sure kids are engaged and lost in their books during independent reading. Enjoy!
Writing Conferences
Many times as teachers we pull students to the kidney table for their conference in an effort to have a private conversation with the student and to teach the writer. Lucy actually recommends that teachers go to the student. She shared that when teachers rotate through the students not only does the study who is having the conference benefit, but the students around get the opportunity to overhear the conversation and apply what they hear to their writing. It's a way for all students in the group or around the student having the conference to still get some tips and instruction about writing. It is also a great way to ensure students are engaged in their writing as it helps with classroom management to keep kids guessing on where the teacher will be moving next. When the teacher is stationary at table kids know they can disengage and we all know what happens when students disengage in their work.
Team Meetings
Field Trips
Way To Go
Thanks for all that you are doing to reflect and refine your instruction. It is making a difference and I am thrilled at the new things you are trying with your students.