Monday Memo
October 30 - November 3, 2017
Schools that have the greatest impact on student learning establish clear and measurable goals focused on improving overall student achievement at the school level. “Data are analyzed, interpreted, and used to regularly monitor progress toward school achievement goals” -Marzano
I want to thank you in advance for the time, energy and effort you are putting into conferences this week. I know the time commitment is huge, but the investment is worth it. In this conference, parents will get to see how well you know their child, what plan you have to help them achieve their personal best and much you care for them. We will have people in the front office to answer the doors from 7:30am-4:00pm. You will need to greet parents at the door for any conference falling outside of that timeframe. While Sylvia and I will be attending conferences throughout the day, but please don't hesitate to let us know if you need support.
As you know, students will come to school on Tuesday with a level of excitement and energy that will no doubt lead to shennanigans and heartache if not properly engaged and supervised. Sadly, Wednesday is not likely to be much better when students trade excitement and energy for exhaustion and sugar comas. Stay alert, remain organized, maximize every learning moment, lean on each other for support and supervise like never before. If you do this, with any luck, we will all still be standing by the end of the week.
As a small token of our appreciation for all of your hard work and dedication to your students and our team, A-Team provides the staff with lunch once each quarter. Although a little late, we thought Tuesday would be the perfect day to appreciate you and help you get through a long week of meetings. Baked potatoes and salad will be set up for you in the teacher's lounge. We hope you enjoy it as well as not having to pack your lunch Tuesday morning.
On Friday, November 10th, we will be holding a Veterans Day Program. Last year, we were able to decorate the walls and tables with thank you letters from primary students and essays written by upper elementary students. If at all possible, we would like to do that again. If your team would be interested in working with your students to create these items, please let me know asap. We will select two upper elementary students to read their essays at the program.
Make today count!
JL
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Action Items
- Make sure you have parents sign in for parent conferences.
- Turn in your conference sign-in sheet to JL's box once you have met with all of your parents.
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Support 5th Grade Camp
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Shoparoo
Did you know that each week I give out jeans passes to the three highest scoring staff members on Shoparoo? I know that many of you have already joined, but if you haven't, it is not too late. Simply go to www.shoparoo.com to create your account. Please feel free to push this information out to your parents as well.
Congratulations to Krista Daniel, Barbara Peebles and Ashley O'Connor for being the highest three staff contributors to Shoparoo this week!
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Focus for 2017 - 2018
In order to help all children achieve their personal best, McGowen teachers and staff will:
- Knowledgeably speak about our current practices that contribute to McGowen becoming a Level 2 Certified High Reliability School.
- Engage in collaborative team planning and lesson design that addresses the four essential questions of a PLC.
- Present lessons in such a way that students understand and can speak knowledgeably about posted learning and language targets.
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Remind for Staff
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APPRECIATIONS
- JB – Thank you for being the best teaching partner ever! Your dedication to our students and always doing what is best for them is amazing. Love you Breazeale! Love, JD
- Donna & Cab – Thank you for always checking on me and my knee. I appreciate you both more than you know and your strength and compassion gets me through the day. Love you both! Love, JD
- Barbara – Thank you for all that you do to help with our new kiddos and for checking up on my knee. I would not be able to do my job without you! Love, JD
- Camp Captain – Thank you for taking care of all the little details when it comes to camp and my not being able to attend. You are the best and I appreciate your dedication to making camp an experience our 5th grade students will never forget. Love, JD
- Prugh & Hoye - Thank you for being the best planning partners a gal could ask for. Your flexibility and commitment to doing what is best for our students is evident in everything you do. Love you both! Love, JD
- SPED Team- Thank you to all of you for being so flexible these last 2 weeks. We have certainly been on a crazy roller coaster ride and I greatly appreciate everyone being so flexible and coming together to make sure everything has been covered. ~Krystal
- Jamie- Thank you for supporting all of our craziness! We are very thankful for your insight and help. Also, thank you for getting all of my kids set up on Lexia too :) ~Krystal
- Gaby- Thank you for cleaning up the biohazard mess for me on Thursday! ~Krystal
- Jen and Lisa- Thank you for your understanding with our constant switching of inclusion times and paras. We appreciate you being so flexible. ~Krystal
- 1st Grade Team thanks for helping me with my friend! Love you. LL
- Michelle C. thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to review MAP reports with the 1st grade team. Love you. LL
- 4th Grade – Thank you for the extended planning. I appreciate you all supporting one another during such a busy time of year. - Michelle C.
- Lyn – You are so incredibly kind and generous and I really appreciate your constant support. I adore you! - Michelle C.
- Lisa and Jen M. - Thank you for being my sounding board—often (even if you didn’t want to be:))! - Michelle C.
- Lori – I am very grateful for having the absolute best golden pass friend EVER! You are always one step ahead of me and keep me sane! - Michelle C.
- Nikki- Thank you for being so thoughtful to me all week! It was fun being your secret spook! Amy
- Tara J.~. Thank you for volunteering to switch duties with me last week! And for being the best planning partner ever :-) ~KT
- JL- Thanks for being such an incredible partner! I appreciate your constant guidance and support! SL
- Lynn & Barbara- Thanks for all that you do every single day! SL
- Shiela & Michelle- I appreciate all of the 1-1 time you spend with teachers to help support our students! SL
- Trisha- Thanks so much for your flexibility! SL
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Bad Dude
Please join us in congratulating Krystal Holguin as this week’s Bad Dude! In addition to all of the wonderful things Krystal does to help support the individual need of her students, she is always willing to jump in and help problem solve in any situation! She has helped tremendously with finding creative and flexible scheduling solutions for centralized staff when they are out!
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McKinney ISD's Vision, Mission and Beliefs
Any time we have an idea, concern, solution and/or comment, this is the filter through which we should speak. Let's help each other live up to our vision, mission, and beliefs.
Vision:
We are a cohesive, diverse community providing engaging learning experiences for all.
We will provide engaging learning experiences so students can become effective communicators, quality contributors and socially responsible citizens.
Beliefs:
- Partnerships between students, parents, community members and staff are foundational to educational success.
- Positive school culture and a safe environment foster growth.
- Everyone has inherent value and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
- Learning is an active process requiring engaging tasks and engaging minds.
- Relevant and authentic experiences ignite continuous, deeper learning.
- Meaningful relationships enrich learning.
- Confidence fuels risk taking and higher achievement.
- Financial stewardship ensures a tomorrow for education.