Sunday Shakedown
Weekly Memo for Washington Elementary
Thank yous, appreciations, and celebrations:
- Thanks to all for a great breakfast and expo. I had many compliments from parents on their way out of the building. Dr. Moorhouse also stopped by on Thursday and really enjoyed the event. I know it changed schedules and was extra work, but you made a special day for our families.
- Thanks to Kristian and the fourth and fifth grade teams for a wonderful Veteran's Day performance. One parent told me that her father was a veteran, but he died when she was 18. She looked around the room at all of these children talking to and interacting with men from his generation and she was able to feel what it might have been like had her father been there. She felt it was a gift that day to feel connected with him. What a wonderful remark and support for our program.
- Congrats to our First Lego League team of 4th and 5th graders. At a practice competition the other night, their progress earned them the highest points of all the groups present! Way to go. Thanks to Erik for your work with them.
- YAY we have made a recommendation to replace Reagan as a floater, I hope to hear soon if she has accepted
- As we think about who we are grateful for this week, I have to say our assistants simply must be thanked, over and over again. We simply can't function without you and your positivity and flexibility are a gift to all of us. THANK YOU
- Cherie and Joseph have two more new children...positive thoughts for easy transitions and scheduling that can provide as much support as possible.
- Thanks to our PTA for the wonderful nourishment of our hearts and tummies!
- Thanks to Vicki and Lauren for setting up the warm and fuzzy tree-details below
- Thanks to our school visit team, it was a fun day of learning-and affirming the work we do!
- Thanks for being patient with evaluations, we are getting to you as fast as we can! We will not finish by this week, so know we will continue through December. There will not be any this week.
Idea for Tuesday
Week of Nov 19-20
Shower for baby Gemma Grace Ervin at 3:30
SST meetings all day
Tuesday:
LCC Celebration of Learning 9:00
GWES POP Rally at 2:30
Thank you gram day if participating
Wednesday:
No School
Thursday:
Thanksgiving
Friday:
No School
Monday, Nov 26 Faculty meeting
Warm and Fuzzy
FYI and Reminders:
Please remember to sign your 2017-2018 evaluation before the 30th.
As we work to improve student attendance and research and share the impact to students when there are gaps in instruction, we must also consider teacher absenteeism. As a district we want to make sure we are not expecting more from families then we are of our own staff. However, it is also understood that teachers are also the caregivers for their families and your needs surpass those of just yourself. Over the coming months, we will be researching our own attendance patterns to ensure that we do not neglect to keep this in mind as a piece of the attendance puzzle.
As a reminder, time off directly before or after a school break must have superintendent approval. This should go through the principal. In addition, time off for personal reasons may be declined if more than 10% of staff is already scheduled to be off that day. Also remember, you have 1 hour or under of time during a day in which you can be out of the building without taking leave. This is a courtesy and should only be taken if you have coverage for your class by an assistant. You should not double up classes or request another teacher take your class. You should also notify and sign out in the office when this is a necessity. Calling Candice to record it for you is sufficient. Lastly, please remember to save personal time for your children's awards days, graduations,etc. You cannot attend these and get back to school within an hour. Although we want to be family friendly, in order to be equitable, you should adhere to these policies.
In addition, please understand that we are allotted 4 weeks of time off from school (fall break, winter break, spring break). In addition you have personal time. Any requests for leave beyond your days will be declined when selecting leave without pay. We do not permit employees to request time off when they do not have the time to take. If you have a critical or emergency situation please see me so I can explain how this request may impact you.