Birdneck Briefing
Weeks of January 2 and January 7
Week of Dec. 17
Jan. 3 - Grades 2-5 Parent Gifted Workshop 9:00 am
Jan. 3 - Grades 2-5 Parent Gifted Workshop 6:00 pm
Jan 7 - Begin to discuss What Great Teachers Do Differently in Collabs.
Jan. 8 - Grade 1 Parent Gifted Workshop 9:00 am
Jan. 8 - Grade 1 Parent Gifted Workshop 6:00 pm
Jan 10 - Meredith Alwine, student athlete visits grades 4 and 5 in PE
This is your Captain Speaking!
Hello Birdneck Family,
Welcome back and Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that we are already in 2019. I hope you truly took time to relax and enjoy your families over the break. We had an awesome time adjusting to the arrival of Mason, the newest addition to the Yoshida family. Our kids are gaining a ton of responsibility and it is unbelievable.
I been reviewing all of our professional goals that we set in the beginning of the year and look forward to the reflection process. As we begin the new year this is also a great time for you to work with students on their goals to review progress and set new academic, behavioral or social/emotional targets.
Our character focus for the month will be "Fairness." Please talk with students about fairness in your family meetings this month.
fairness
[fair-nis]
ExamplesWord Origin
See more synonyms for fairness on Thesaurus.com
noun
- the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice; evenhandedness:I have to admit, in all fairness, that she would only be paid for part of the work.
Captain Out,
RV
BIRDNECK MISSION
Mission: We build relationships to encourage, inspire and empower students and each other to meet the challenges of today and to foster the love of learning.
BIRDNECK VISION
Vision: We are dedicated to nurturing an inclusive environment to ensure engaging, student-centered learning resulting in confident independent learners.
Annual Mandatory Employee Traning: AMET
Training is now open and the February 15, 2019 deadline for training is quickly approaching.
Check your email for the attachment of information on how to use and access the VBCPS Annual Mandatory Employee Training Program. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Steve LePock in the Office of Risk Management (263-2460). Thank you.
Shout Outs!
If you would like to give a SHOUT OUT to a colleague, it is as simple as sending an email to RV to be added to our Shout Outs each week!
5th grade would like to give our night custodian, Grace, a huge shout out for working so hard to make our rooms sparkle. We appreciate her going above and beyond each day at Birdneck. Keep up the great work, Grace!
You Make a Difference Ms. Harrison!
The you Make a difference award goes to someone who has been here for many years. I’ve learned three important lessons from my interactions with this person over the years. The first lesson I’ve learned is not to judge someone based on first impressions or on one or two interactions. Sometimes people are truly not aware of how they come across to others. The second thing is if you take the time to listen to others you might find out that they really care as much as you do. Which leads to the third lesson just because someone’s approach is different from yours doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
This person is very involved in the community through the rec sports that practice and play here at Birdneck. She also spends every Friday afternoon for three months volunteering her time to make sure that Voices of tomorrow goes smoothly and that the students get to the buses or to their parents safely.
I’m giving the You Make a difference award to Rhonda Harrison because she really cares about the students here at Birdneck. I had the opportunity to see an interaction she had with a middle school student who had been to Birdneck. Ms. Harrison asked her how middle school was and the girl told her you were right it is a lot harder than we thought and they don’t accept excuses. Ms. Harrison said we were trying to prepare you. I realized in that brief interaction and in some subsequent conversations that Ms. Harrison genuinely loves these students that come through Birdneck and her goal is to prepare them for Middle school. Ms. Harrison thank you for caring about our students and trying to help them have a better future.
Chromebook passwords
What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 things that matter most
Mathnasium
Our 1st math night will be Jan 17th from 6 – 7:30. Mathnasium will be putting this event on – all we need is to provide volunteers. We will need about 20 volunteers to arrive at 5:30 to get directions for your game station. Please let me know if you can volunteer for this event. Thank you in advance for your support.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
Multiple staff have family members, who have been struggling with health concerns recently. Please keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
It was shared that Raymarie Sarsfield, one of our previous teachers and Birdneck Family members has passed away. Please keep her loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.
Join our PTA
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Join the PTA! Our goal is to have 100% Staff participation!!!!!!!!!
Support Birdneck Elementary students by joining the PTA. Don't miss out on the benefits from joining the PTA. Receive over $300 in savings... all for just $5 for a membership. Check out the PTA website at http://birdneckpta.weebly.com/
Beach Employee Wellness (BEWell) support services
To ensure all staff are knowledgeable of available Beach Employee Wellness (BEWell) support services, the Office of Consolidated Benefits requests education on Critical Incident Response services and Employee Assistance Program and Work-Life services.
Critical Incident Response (CIR) services are a highly specialized individual and group session services designed to minimize the negative emotional and psychological impact of traumatic events. A CIR can begin as soon as two hours after the initial request and are available to all school sites with approval by appropriate CIR contact list personnel. The goal of the CIR is to enhance participants’ ability to transcend workplace trauma and resume focused and productive work activities. Utilizing CIR services make an immense difference to employees’ recovery process in the face of a crisis. Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Work-Life Services (WL) through Humana, are available to provide FREE and CONFIDENTIAL support to ALL School employees (full-time, part-time and temporary). Services are available, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Employees are happier and more productive when personal needs are being met, and when work and personal lives are in balance.
-EAP offers short-term in-person and telephonic-based counseling with a licensed counselor. Up to five in-person sessions per concern per year. Referrals are issued for longer-term concerns and additional benefits as appropriate.-WL offers services and resources that help with everyday needs. Humana assess the employee’s needs and then researches to provide referrals and resources that meet budget and requests.
Senior Staff, All Principals/Assistant Principals, All Executive Directors
-Supervisor Referral – In addition to offering assistance to employees and members oftheir households, Humana offer services and resources that are specifically designed toaid directors, supervisors, and human resource professionals with employee-related andpersonal concerns. Please note: In the case of a referral, Humana will only report backto the referring supervisor that the employee attended the session(s). Please seeattachment for more information.
-Humana professionals are bound by confidentiality laws and professional ethics. They donot report to BEWell and/or Virginia Beach City Public Schools on individual cases.Personal information about employee and household members remains confidentialaccording to all applicable state and federal laws.
If further information and/or clarification is needed, please contact, Matt Herman, consolidated benefits office, BEWell program, 757-263-6918 or matthew.herman@vbschools.com. Many thanks for your assistance.
BIRDNECK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BIRDNECK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Twitter@BNESeagles
BIRDNECK MISSION
Mission: We build relationships to encourage, inspire and empower others to meet the challenges of today and to foster the love of learning.
BIRDNECK VISION
Vision: We are dedicated to nurturing an inclusive environment to ensure engaging, student-centered learning resulting in confident independent learners.
BIRDNECK BELIEFS
We believe in a collaborative community in which teachers, administrators, students, and parents work together for student success.
We believe in creating a safe, nurturing, and positive environment in which all students can strive for excellence and achieve their individual potential.
We believe we will prepare our students for success by providing 21st century learning and developing within our students critical thinking, effective communications and problem solving skills.
Website: http://www.birdneckes.vbschools.com/
Location: 957 South Birdneck Road, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Phone: 757-648-2120