Principal's Post
ONE...Team. Vision. Goal.
Manchester Park Elementary
Home of the Timberwolves
7/23/2020
The 2020-2021 School Year is Almost Upon Us! No...Really...
March 12th.
I have yet to change this date on the calendar in my office. As I sit here and write this newsletter, I think back to this day. Excitement was in the air because Spring Break was close...and then BAM...An announcement that we need to take all of our belongings home with us. Who would have thought at that time that we would have been home for the next two months. Fast forward to today and so much has changed but yet but some things still seem the same.
In the next few weeks, we are going to get a ton of information that is going to guide us in what our school year is going to look like. I will do my best to communicate everything with you...but don't hesitate to ask if you have questions (or concerns).
I am in the middle of reading a book titled "Be the ONE for Kids". It is an easy read and has a lot of wonderful takeaways. One quote stood out to me though: "Kids deserve greatness. Be Great Today". Simple...but exactly what I needed to hear. Whether we are in person or online, the students need us to be there for them...to be GREAT...and that is what we will do because we are team of educators with the same vision and goals!
During the next few weeks, continue to find ways to prepare yourself for the school year of unknowns. Try out one of the district PD's online, read a new book, find a way to make a lesson that you taught even better, catch up with your colleagues, relax and rejuvenate.
What will I be doing? Some of the things above...but I have found two other things to keep me busy: 1. My kids and wife won and we got a dog recently. HOLY COW...I forgot how much work a puppy can be. 2. If that wasn't enough, my oldest now owns a car so that is scary in itself. BUT...both of these are keeping me grounded during so much of the unknown!
We will get through this year and it will be GREAT. Why? Because it starts with us and our perspective. Kids are resilient and filled with grit. They will follow the lead of their role model and that role model during the school year is YOU.
Take care of yourself and your family and I will see you soon!
Wondering What Is Coming?
Returning to the Building
Some of you have asked about coming into the building. As you know, our guidelines are changing regularly, but I also know that you want to get into your classroom.
I think that it is fine to come in as you need, but please remember to do the following:
- Please adhere to social distancing guidelines.
- When you anywhere other than your classroom, please mask up.
- Please do not congregate in common areas.
- At this time, we are asking that only you come into the building and not family members/outside visitors. If this changes and we can relax this, I will let you know.
Speaking of Masks
Synergy and Learning Management System
You might have read the email from Brent Yeager and Learning Service about Synergy and the LMS. You are going to have access to this starting on Monday. The purpose of the access is:
1. Each school has staff that are getting trained in this in order to train all teachers. A huge shoutout to Melissa Woolery and Taylor Miller for agreeing to do this.
2. Allow you to explore the site on your own. Please note that you will have training on this, so don't stress about adding content and figuring it all out on your own.
I want to also reiterate that teachers will have access to class lists at this time but these will be changing once we have enrollment. Consider them "rough drafts". Edits will occur so don't start making class lists and labels. :)
Please remember that this is not information that will be online for parents and families until closer to the start of school and should not be shared by teachers because of the possibility of changes occurring.
New Staff
Please welcome the following new staff members to our Manchester Park team:
- Yolanda Wright-Calderon - Kindergarten Immersion Teacher
- Sharon Milde - Kindergarten Immersion Aide
- Courtney Evans - Psychologist
- Lauren Niccum - 5th Grade Teacher
- Laura Harris - Traveling .2 Art Teacher (PR)
- Michelle Eickhoff - Traveling .2 Music Teacher (PR)
- KaCee Chambers - Traveling .2 PE Teacher (PR)
Please help me in welcoming all of our new staff to an already amazing group of people!
Changes for the '20-'21 School Year
The following changes have been made for the '20-'21 school year:
- Marisa Gallo will be teaching 2nd grade.
- Our resource room with Marie Williams will be located by the 3D lab in the 3rd grade hallway.
- Yolanda Wright-Calderon will be in the last room in the kindergarten hallway and Ally Hanson's class will be in the old resource room.
- Our traveling specialists will be teaching 4th grade this year at 8:30 - 9:30.
- .2 Music will be in the flex room.
- Band/Strings will be on the stage and in the flex room.
- We have shifted some spots in the front office. Andrea's office is in my former conference room and Lindsey Forsythe will be at Andrea's old desk.
Schedules
One to One iPads
Postive Ways to Thrive During Change
Deep Thoughts by Jon Gordon:
If you are facing a challenge and anxious about your situation, I know how you feel. I lost my job in 2001 during the dot.com bust. The company was losing money faster than we could raise it and eventually the company sank faster than the Titanic.
I thought it was the worst event of my life. I was two months away from being bankrupt. I had a wife, two young children, a mortgage, no health insurance, and very little savings. I was a paycheck away from losing it all.
It sounds bad. It felt bad. At the time it was bad. But one day I decided that I wasn't going to let this challenge take me down. And that's when I knew I had to change what I was thinking and doing.
I read a few books including Who Moved My Cheese and Rich Dad, Poor Dad which helped me make some important decisions through the change. Eventually these decisions would lead to the work I do now as a writer, consultant, and speaker.
My layoff led to my life's mission and purpose. What I thought was the worst event in my life actually lead to the best. I'm not alone. Gallup did a study and asked people to identify the worst and best event of their life. They found that there was an 80% correlation between the two events.
There was also a British study of 500 "charmed" people. They seemed to have it all; wealth, success, great relationships, etc. The researchers were surprised to discover that every one of these "charmed" people had bad things happen to them. They all experienced challenges and adversity, however, each one of them turned the bad into good and their misfortune into fortune.
The truth is that challenges and change are a part of life. The waves of change are always coming our way. But when the wave hits we have a choice. We can embrace it and ride it to a successful future or resist it and get crushed by the wave.
Embracing our waves of challenge and change is all about how we perceive and respond to the events we face. In The Shark and the Goldfish I share the positive success formula.
E + P = O
We can’t always control the (E)vents in our life but
we can control our (P)ositive response to these events
and this often determines the (O)utcome.
When the change hits, instead of focusing on the challenge we can choose to look for the opportunity. We can ask what this event is teaching us and identify how we can grow stronger and wiser from it. We can live in fear or move forward with faith and take positive action.
We can decide to be a Shark instead of a Goldfish! Goldfish become paralyzed by fear. They stay in their comfort zone and wait for someone to feed them. On the other hand Sharks (nice sharks) move forward with faith and take action. They trust that their best days are ahead of them, not behind them. Instead of waiting to be fed they venture out in the ocean of possibility in search of food. Their beliefs and actions create a self-fulfilling prophecy; because they expect to find food and take action to find it, they do.
Shark or a Goldfish? Which will you choose to be?