Alpharetta High School
Week of December 19th
Sunny Wright - November Teacher of the Month
10th ELA team - November Team of the Month
Colin Renaldo - November Professional of the Month
Upcoming Dates
December 12 – 16 – Georgia Milestones EOC
December 12 - 16 - Recommendations for 2nd semester course changes
December 16 - Tacky Holiday Sweater
December 16 – Fire drill – end of day 3:45
December 20, 21, 22 – Final Exams for first semester (Early Release days)
December 20 - AHS Holiday Party - Invitation Attached to this week's email
December 22 – Last day of First Semester
January 5 - Teacher Work Day and faculty meeting
January 6 - Professional Learning day and AHS University
January 9 - First day of second semester
January 10 - School Governance Meeting
January 12 - Hard lock down, soft lock down, and fire drill - beginning of 5th period
January 12 - PSAT/Sophomore Night
January 16 - No school
January 17 - AHS PL Day - 1st IG group of second semester
January 17 - March 1 - ACCESS testing
January 19 - Special Programs Night
January 26 - HOPE Scholarship Night
January 27 - Winter Pep Rally
February 3 - Fire drill, time TBD
February 8 - Mr. AHS, auditorium, 7 PM
Jolly Grams
Student Council is selling Jolly Grams in the cafeteria during both lunches all week! They are 2 for $1 and will be delivered on Monday! This is one way to send a co-worker a sweet holiday message!
Help our Student Council
Please help out our amazing Student Council by “liking” the photo of their pirate ship can sculpture here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.693970024106487.1073741832.174529762717185&type=1&l=290372122a
Picture for newsletter attached!
January and March PD Dates:
Just a friendly reminder that Fulton County Professional Development Days are planned for January 6 and March 13.
Links to the spreadsheets for both Professional Development Days are below: January 6 Session Spreadsheet March 13 Session Spreadsheet
For each spreadsheet, the first worksheet has all of the required sessions. For the majority of required sessions, teachers do not need to register in Edivate. The second worksheet has all of the optional sessions. Teachers need to register for optional sessions. The catalog that the course can be found in is included on the spreadsheet. These sessions are available until they are full.
Please remember that teachers are expected to attend all required sessions. Teachers who do not have a required session may attend an optional session, school based PD or work at their home school.
Registration Instructions:
§ Log into the Employee Portal
§ Locate the Edivate icon in My Apps
§ Click on View All Catalogs (or Click here) in the Catalog card
§ Select the indicated catalog
§ Choose the course title (click on the word TITLE in the grey bar to sort alphabetically)
§ Click icon
§ The course will no longer show under Catalog. Instead, it will be under the Transcript tab
If you later decide not to attend, please return to Edivate and remove the class from your transcript so someone else may take that seat.
If you are at AHS on these district PD days, we will offer AHS University sessions for our learning.
Cafeteria News
There will be NO ice tea or ice the week of December 19th. The Cafeteria will be doing a thorough cleaning of the kitchen, café and serving areas—this includes the ice machines.
Allen's students participate in a "talk show" to discuss a text
Thank you to our PTSA for the dessert buffet
The AHS Poetry cafe was packed with students
Save the date - biometric screening
Biometric Screenings will be at Alpharetta High School again this year
Sign up info coming soon…
Screenings will be on the Teacher Workday
Monday March 13
8:00am-2:00pm
Cafeteria
TOTY/POTY--voting results
Please join in celebrating our semi-finalists for Teacher and Professional of the Year!
Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalists
David Boyd
Jaime Duran
Alex Henner
Kim Holliday
Sunny Wright
Professional of the Year Semi-Finalists
Tanoni Houston
Laura Smith
In January, these individuals will have the opportunity to meet with the Teacher/Professional of the Year Committee to showcase their contributions to AHS. Please take a moment before we leave for the winter break to congratulate each of them for all that they do!
Holiday photos from the past - Be sure to join this year's fun!
Documents to upload into the PL section of TKES
Before your mid-year conference, all teachers should have four documents uploaded to the PL section of TKES for recertification.
Please mark a place on your calendar to upload these documents:
Teachers will develop and implement processes and procedures to build community and positive relationships with students. (by mid-October)
Staff members will participate in the development of a school-wide definition of rigor and engagement that will be used in PLC meetings and lesson and assessment planning throughout the year. (by mid-October) This document is attached to this week's newsletter.
Teachers will design and implement lessons that incorporate researched based instructional strategies. (at least one example first semester by the end of November and at least one example second semester by the end of March)
Teachers will design formative assessments and use the data to create differentiated lessons that illustrate rigor and student engagement. (at least one example first semester by the end of November and at least one example second semester by the end of March)
Let Rebecca know if you need help.
Vacuum Cleaners Needed!
The Orchestra Concert was a tremendous success
Donations for The Drake House were collected
Orchestra Students represented AHS well
Yearbook needs pictures of you!
Our yearbook staff wants pictures of staff members outside of AHS AND a photo of you from when you were in high school. Please send them in to Rita Flowers - FlowersR1@fultonschools.org
AHS Percussion students engaged the audience at the WInter Concert
Senior Parents and DaVinci's Donuts treated our seniors to donuts and hot chocolate
So Fun - The AHS Jazz Band tore it up at the Winter Concert
Food discount
No Opt Out
Remember the challenge - Don't let students get away with "I don't know" - fully support their learning and circle back to them. Share how it's working so we can learn and grow professionally together as a school-wide PLC:
Final Exam Information
Final exams will be here before we know it and some of our students already know they will miss some or all exams. Students who will be absent on final exam days due to absences will be coming to you soon with PINK Pre-Approved Absence forms that should be signed by an administrator first.
If you sign one of these forms, please note the student’s name and then submit that student’s make-up exam (in addition to other students who are absent from your exam) to Carolyn Vezeau in 1220 by 2:00 on December 22nd. I have attached the cover sheet that should be attached to the front of each exam folder. Extra forms and folders are available with Carolyn.
No students can exempt finals fall semester.
As students complete their make-up exams, we will place them in your mailbox. Make up exams will take place on January 5th and January 6th in the Media Center.
If students or parents ask you directly about taking exams early, please tell them it is against policy and direct them to the AHS website or you may copy and paste the information below.
Here is the information about make-up exams that is now on our website:
Students who will be absent during Final Exams must obtain a PINK Pre-Approved Absence Form from the Attendance Office and attach a written request signed by the student’s parent/legal guardian to take make-up exams. The form along with the written request must be submitted for approval to the Attendance Office no later than 4:00 pm, Friday, December 16th, 2016.
Final Exam Make-up days will be January 5th and 6th in the Media Center from 9 am – 3:30 pm. Any student who is unable to make-up exams during these sessions will need to make arrangements directly with Ms. Decaminada, ASAP. Teachers will not be administering any make-up exams and no final exams may be taken early.
If a student is absent on the final exam days due to an illness, a doctor’s note must be provided upon his or her return in order to obtain permission to make up exams. If a student is absent from a final exam, the teacher will calculate the final grade counting the exam as a zero. Upon make-up of the exam, the teacher will re-calculate the grade and submit a revised grade. Incompletes will not be given.
Please let Whitney know if you have any questions!
IG (Inquiry Groups) for next semester - MUST complete survey
We have completed first semester IG sessions. Thank you to those who planned and facilitated and thank you to all who participated. Now it is time to look ahead to next semester. Because so many folks are away from the building on the Fulton County PD days, we have decided to hold AHS University sessions (shorter, specific PD sessions hosted by AHS teachers) on the county days for those of us who are here. We will host IG sessions on the AHS PD days.
The survey below asks for ideas for AHS University sessions - What do you want to learn about?
It also asks what you want to do next semester with your IG group. There are new IG groups to consider; some groups will begin fresh and host the same sessions for new people; other groups will continue for those who want to keep learning about the topic. You must complete the survey so we know where to place you for next semester.
December Birthdays
Flor Castillo 4
Jason Dasinger 4
Elizabeth Whitehurst 4
Rebecca Rhodes 7
Judy Brookshire 11
Asha Jassani 12
Michelle Waliaga 16
Pam Kelly 17
Deanna Velazquez 22
Ashley Passaglia 23
Addie Cooper 27
Meredith Drummond 27
Tracy Misner 27
Quote for the week
Raider "Balance Days" for 2017 - mark your calendars!
We want to create a community filled with more balanced lives. The School Governance Council proposed a solution, and the Instructional Leadership Team agreed; thus, we have declared two nights a semester during the 2016-17 school year as "Balance Days."
February 15th
March 15th
The nights above are Wednesday nights the week of the 17th (to celebrate the class of 2017), and on these nights there will not be any homework assigned, no assessments will occur the next day, and no AHS meetings will be scheduled.
The idea is that Raiders will go home right after school and work to create balance in their lives. Staff members and students alike will take a night off. Club sponsors and coaches and directors may hold meetings and practices and games as needed. We feel students release stress through these extracurricular activities.
Please plan to enjoy yourself and work your assessments around these dates this year.