The Roar
January 5, 2015
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.--African Proverb
News to Roar About
- Congratulations to Thomas Woolfolk on getting his Donors Choose grant! Way to go, Thomas!
- Congratulations to Amanda Acres who has been selected to participate in the Aspiring Leaders Program at the district level. We are proud of Amanda and know she will excel in the program!
- Kathy Schmidt for having her proposal to do a presentation at ISTE 2015 in Philadelphia was selected!
- To our 3rd grade leaders who raised over $1100 to be donated to Unicef. Look what can happen when kids read about problems/challenges with a leadership mindset. There is nothing better than seeing students take charge and want to make a difference in the world. Congratulations to our 3rd graders! Thank you to the 3rd grade teachers for their support of these students!
- To our outstanding paraprofessionals who provided support and coverage when we were very short-handed before the break due to sick staff members. We so appreciate all that you do and your incredible teamwork! We have THE BEST paraprofessionals anywhere!
Joan Tullis and her team for all of the extra you did due to so many visitors and winter parties! We appreciate your support of all of the events at Harbins!
Greatest of Thanks to all who were so reliable and trustworthy to keep my husband's secret! Apparently I have been in the dark for quit some time!! The surprise was very well received, we had an amazing time for our 15 year anniversary trip and it is greatly because of the many who kept it under wraps and helped to fill in the gaps in "my unplanned" absence. It is wonderful to know so many can be counted on both professionally and otherwise. I also appreciate the many who have inquired about my long awaited trip to the BIG APPLE! Magical, just as I thought it would be at Christmas! A bucket list item has been checked from a once Broadway bound Thespian. Thank You!--Shelly
Thank you to all of our wonderful staff members who reached out to support children in need this holiday season. Your holiday help made for brighter holidays for some children in our community.
Thanks to Action Teams for another great planning session for your work. We appreciate your collaborative planning to help us improve and grow!
Thank you to all of our teachers for your great communication to parents about the party schedule. We had a lot of visitors but things went much more smoothly due to your communication.
Mia, Jennifer, Montine and Jennifer for all you did to help things run so smoothly with so many visitors at Harbins in one day! You are an awesome team!
Terri Poffenberger for organizing the Relay for Life Candy Grams and to all who helped her to sell Candy Grams each morning. Now over $800 will go to Relay for Life!
Destiny Rodriguez and Tisha Spain for sharing your class with us during leadership academy. The kids did a super job!
Jennifer Samples for doing a great job in managing the clinic demands during the flu season! Your job is not easy and we appreciate your hard work!
Congratulations to Trisha Connor for being selected to receive a GCPS Innovation Grant to support the purchase of new robotics tools for STEM specials. We are proud of Trisha on her new grant opportunity. We appreciate the work she is doing in STEM specials with the students and cannot wait to see what is next!
Paula Thompson is wonderful....not only does she completely understand nervous breakdowns...she helps you see a perspective that gives hope and strength when you thought you had none!
To our wonderful teachers for the great mid-year conferences. We enjoyed talking with each of you and hearing about teaching and learning in your classrooms. Harbins is blessed!
Announcements
Happy New Year from Kid President (last year's but still the best)
CFGs in January
Personnel Updates
- Congratulations to Melissa McConkey on her new position as the Cafe Manager at Peachtree ES! This is a big promotion for Melissa since Peachtree is about 2xs the size of Harbins. We are so proud of her and wish her all the best as she leads the way to feeding about 2,000 students! Melissa will be at Harbins until the end of January so we still have a few weeks to enjoy some time with her!
Instructional Fair Updates
When: Thursday, January 29th 6:30 - 8:00
Theme: iBuild
This year's fair will focus around the areas of STEM. It's a great opportunity to showcase STEM learning to our community through the various classroom activities that will be featured. Right now, be thinking of who you would like to work alongside for an activity (partners) and what your activity plan will be. This information will be needed after winter break.
The planning team is also in need of empty wrapping paper rolls and rinsed gallon milk jugs for our foyer fair decor. You can drop off these materials in the designated bins located in the Book Room.
Each student will design a personalized brick to create our iBuild brick wall in the lobby. You will get materials and directions in the near future. Thanks for supporting!
Georgia Milestones End of Grade (EOG) Assessment Guides
The Assessment Guides for the Georgia Milestones End of Grade (EOG) measures are posted on the Georgia Milestones web page. You may access the current guides using the following link:
Report Card Timeline for 2nd 9 Weeks
DDA Reviews
Literacy Updates
Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition: Please select one piece of writing to submit to this competition. The selection can be any genre. Please place a post-it note on top of the piece with the student's name and teacher name. Pieces are due in no later than Thursday, January 8th to Jennifer Dalton.
Media Center News
Check out what is going on in the Media Center for the start of 2015.
Grade Level Professional Learning
- January 5- 8:00-11:00- STEM Professional Development- See Agenda via email from Cindy Truett
- January 7- Tool Time
- January 8 - All Day SIT Meeting- no grade level professional learning session
- January 12 - Kindergarten Collaborative Planning
- January 15- Grade Level Math Professional Learning
- January 14 - 3rd Grade Collaborative Planning
- January 15 - 4th Grade Collaborative Planning
- January 21 - RBES Mid-Year Implementation Update-ALL Certified Staff- Prof Dev Room during specials
- January 22 - Grade Level Staff Development - Literacy
- January 23 - 5th Grade Collaborative Planning
- January 28 - 2nd Grade Collaborative Planning
- January 30 - 1st Grade Collaborative Planning
Faculty Meeting
Our next faculty meeting will be on January 27th from 3:20-4:30. READ Chapter 4 of our staff book study, Putting the Practices Into Action by Susan O'Connell and John SanGiovanni. Bring your book to the meeting with you.
Classroom Spirit Award
ABCD Awards
Please send your nominations to Cindy Truett by January 20th for recognition of staff members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that teaching and learning at Harbins are at the highest levels.
School Improvement Team
The SIT Team meeting will be held on January 8 from 8:00 - 4:00. Location: Professional Development Room. Read Chapter 5 of Change Leader for our session.
Roar Deadline
If you want to add something to the Roar, it must be sent to Montine by noon on Thursday of each week. If not turned in by Thursday at noon, it will have to be entered into the following week’s Roar. Thanks for your help!
News to Roar About
We will place “News to Roar About” in the Roar each Monday. It is our hope that throughout the year that you will take time to send us a note to let us know about a colleague who deserves recognition for outstanding work. Please be sure to share your compliments with us so we can highlight those individuals in the Roar. You can email compliments to Cindy Truett or Montine Powell.
Leaders in Learning
A Chrome file will be shared with each teacher, please go in to list your Leader in Learning for August when Montine sends out the notification email.
Staff Birthdays
January
Sonam Patel 1/5
Linda Pulliam 1/6
Keith Brown 1/6
Nancy Porter 1/8
Leigh Rimpau 1/10