In the Know
An Internal Newsletter from the SISD Communications Dept.
Sherman ISD Staff Members of the Month!
Elementary Teacher of the Month
Diana Gillum is a Bilingual Head Start teacher at Fred Douglass Early Childhood Center. She works extremely hard to make sure all of her students are successful and celebrates all accomplishments with her students, so they feel good about what they are learning and accomplishing on a daily basis. Each day inside of her classroom, she makes it a point to ensure that her students’ learning experiences are filled with positivity as she lays the foundation for their learning journey. She is the community ambassador for the campus and often goes out into the community to make connections with local businesses that, in turn, support campus events. She is an all-around gem on the campus that puts students first.
Secondary Teacher of the Month
Barbara Ragan is Life Skills teacher at Piner Middle School. Her classroom is a nurturing learning environment and she creates lessons that incorporate interactive learning, group discussions, and one on one skill support. Ms. Ragan has a 100 percent passing rate on the STAAR due to her differentiating lessons to each student’s individual needs and holding them to the high standards they need to be successful. Ms. Ragan has a special way to connect with all students on her campus and reaches out to them if she thinks they are having a bad day. For example, she started taking in students that needed additional behavioral support in her classroom and assigned them as aides to provide support for her life skill students. That gesture has now turned into a waiting list of students that want to be student aides in her classroom. She is a wonderful person and will do anything to help.
Employee of the Month
Team of the Month
The Neblett Elementary Third Grade team has been working hard for student success. The members of this team are focused on continual growth and instruction for their students and collaborate daily on lesson plans, dissecting the curriculum, and designing their instruction to maximize learning for their students. They run their weekly PLC meetings like a well-oiled machine, unpacking the TEKS to understand what the students need to know. They review assessments and set SMART goals to fill in the gaps for individual students. Under the leadership of this team, students are making significant gains in academics and self-confidence. Neblett Third Grade team members are Sarah Morgan, Ashley Woods, Cortni Turner, Fatima Garcia, and Danielle Baca on being the Team of the Month.
2020 Retirement Reminder
SISD pays you for a portion of unused local leave at retirement. This is in accordance with Board Policy DEC (Local). We want to make sure you are all aware of the timelines set out in this policy. The intent of this information is not to encourage anyone to retire, we simply do not want any employee to miss out on this opportunity.
If a professional contracted employee intends to retire at the end of 2020, he or she must submit a letter of resignation to Human Resources no later than 4:00 pm on the date listed below:
187 Day Contract Employee- Thursday, February 27, 2020
207 Day Contract Employee- Tuesday, March 3, 2020
226 Day Contract Employee- Thursday, March 26, 2020
If a non-contracted employee intends to retire and desires payment for local sick leave, then he or she must submit a letter of resignation to Human Resources no later than two weeks prior to the last day of employment. If a retiring SISD employee does not meet this requirement, he or she will not be paid for any local sick leave upon retirement as determined by SISD Board Policy. If you have any questions about this, please call the SISD Human Resources Department.
The Sherman Education Foundation Circle of Success grant application is now open. All grants are designed to be innovative enrichment projects that enhance instructional approaches to fulfill SEF's vision statement. We welcome and encourage your submission of a grant application today!
Action Items
· Read the Guidelines BEFORE completing the application.
· Technology-related grant applications should be submitted by January 17, 2020.
· All other grant applications should be submitted by January 31, 2020
· Send all grant applications to Kathy Bickerstaff at the Sherman ISD Service Center.
· Click HERE to access the Circle of Success Grant application.
Our district is proud to participate in the American Heart Association’s Go Red District Heart Challenge! We want to inspire staff to get their blood pressure checked, be active and learn about how to keep our hearts healthy. By partnering with the American Heart Association, we will raise awareness and help fight heart disease and stroke, the No. 1 killer and No. 5 killers of Americans.
On Friday, February 7th, our district will GO RED to support the mission of the American Heart Association – building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. T-Shirts must be ordered by Wednesday, January 15th to receive them in time for National Wear RED Day. The campus with the highest percentage of donations will receive a healthy snack basket for your breakroom!
HOW TO ORDER: Simply text DHCSHERMAN to 41444. You will immediately receive a link to a quick donation form. You can also CLICK HERE or the image below to order online!
sign up for Camp Gladiator Now!
New-Year’s resolutions are upon us! If fitness goals are somewhere on your list for 2020, this one’s for you. For those looking to re-ignite the momentum of their fitness journey, or if you are just getting started, our team has been chosen by Camp Gladiator to take part in a
Corporate CG FIT Challenge.
With this challenge you’ll get:
- Unlimited Workouts
- Enjoy four weeks of unlimited access to CG’s 4,000+ locations nationwide to find the time, Trainer and location that fits your lifestyle
- Trainer Accountability
- Certified Personal CG Trainers will be there every step of the way to motivate you and ensure your long-term fitness goals become a reality
- InBody Testing
- Access to two body composition tests on the revolutionary InBody machine to measure your baseline, set realistic goals and track your success.
All of this is available for SISD employees not currently registered with CG for FREE.
Already a CG Camper? They’ve got a special offer just for you! All current CG BOLD Campers automatically receive a $20 (40%) discount on CG FIT.
New or Returning Campers - Go to this website: promos.campgladiator.com/?cid=92/
code: CGSHERMANISD2020 at the end of the registration process.
Current BOLD Campers - Go to this website: account.campGladiator.com and automatically get $20 (40%) off during registration.
Upcoming District Events
Jan. 16-19 - SHS Theatre Production “Into the Woods”
Jan. 17 - SHS Girls & Boys Basketball vs Lovejoy @ 6:15pm and 7:30pm
Jan. 18 - Martin Luther King Jr. Parade @ 12pm
Jan. 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day (All district offices and campuses closed.)
Jan. 21 - SHS Girls & Boys Basketball vs McKinney North @ 6:15pm and 7:30