Ram Nation News
Week of October 7, 2019
Vision
#EXCELLENCE, Back At It Again
As we continue to work very diligently on analyzing the various assessment results, students' progress in our classrooms, and see their work, it is crucial for us to reflect on their learning and our teaching practices. Refer to the quote above as you continue to have discussions with our students.
- For many people on the outside, they just see the SUCCESS that students may be accomplishing.
- We know that any success accomplished, it is the fruit of the efforts, sacrifices, hard work, and dedication. Success does not happen overnight.
- We all have worked hard the last few weeks in this new school year; however, we know that our students have had different experiences in the past few years and many of them have many gaps not only academically, but also emotionally and socially. Therefore, it is critical for our students to know and for us to keep in mind, we must continue to stay focused, set goals, and be committed to our practices to make the necessary progress.
Our mission is to empower our students to become college and career ready! We want to ensure that our students have a life of opportunities. I am proud of your hard work and the results accomplished so far! Let's stay the course and continue to make a difference in the lives of our kids.
Attendance
- 6th Grade - 95.67%
- 7th Grade - 95.08%
- 8th Grade - 95.94%
Way to go 8th grade team!!!! Nice way to come back and take the lead.
Let's continue to encourage our students to be present and on time on a daily basis. It really makes a huge difference when our students are present learning
Thank You
- Our staff was challenged once again by our volleyball team!!! We all had a great time. Thank you so much to Ms. Lewis for setting up this challenge. Shout out to Ms. Perez, Mr. Andres Garcia, Mr. Orlando Garcia, Ms. Vasquez, Ms. Miller, Mr. Salazar, Ms. Michael, Ms. Guerra, Coach Bey, Ms. Cagle, Ms. Melchiorre, Ms. Winton, Mr. Maymi, Mr. Alarcon, Ms. Scott, Ms. Ford, and Mr. Hernandez for either being a part of the audience cheering or a part of the team. Our students enjoyed seeing each one of you there!
- Ms. Michael and Ms. Gray for your leadership and commitment to our cheerleaders. We appreciate everyone who contributed to the Sponsor a Cheerleader Fund. Thanks to you, our cheerleaders have new uniforms and they look awesome. Our girls were very excited about their uniforms!!!
- Mr. Geiger and Ms. Rendon for their leadership as they worked with some of our new teachers to the profession and district on learning more about TEI and how to interpret the rubric.
Instructional Practices
In the examples below, we are able to see teachers providing friendly academic competitions to boost engagement, providing students with exciting hands-on activities, and collaboration opportunities.
High Expectations
Peer Tutoring
SMART in action
Transitions
Climate and Culture
Pink Out
Volleyball Team
Professional Learning Community
DTR Collaboration
Coaching
Accountability Training
REMINDERS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK
- Be prepared for parent conferences. Please, see our Staff section of our website to access parent conference forms and other parent conference resources and tips.
- During transitions, let's make sure to have 100% participation and hold each other accountable to be present in the hallway supporting students. Our goal is to narrate the positive and have at least 10 positive interactions each transition. APs, CICs, and counselors will be working with each one of you to provide individual support. (TEI 3.3 and 3R Positive Attitude/Enthusiasm).
- As we work on documenting the progress our students are making, remember our policy regarding failure rates and the various opportunities needed to ensure our students are successful. EIA (Regulation) (TEI 2.2, 4.2, 4.5)
- Be very consistent in the effective implementation of various practices discussed during our TEI orientation and lesson alignment conversations. With regards to Alignment (learning objective), the proficient rating states: Focuses students at the beginning and throughout the lesson, by clearly stating (TEI 2.1)
- What they are learning
- Why it is important
- What mastery looks like
- How to connect it to prior knowledge and their own lives and explaining to students
- Submit lesson plans by Thursday at 8:00 a.m. (TEI 4.2)
DAILY EVENTS
- A Day
- 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Book Fair open - Ms. Garcia
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 4:45 - 6:00 p.m. - Monthly Staff Meeting - Library
- Football Game Vs. Spence @ LOOS 7:30 p.m.
- B Day.
- 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Book Fair open - Ms. Garcia
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Parent Conference Night - Dinner is provided by SMART at 4:40 p.m. in the cafeteria.
- After School Program is cancelled on this day due to parent conferences.
- Remember to clock out at or after 8:00 p.m.
- A Day
- 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Book Fair open - Ms. Garcia
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- 4:45 p.m. Soccer informational meeting for students - Mr. Salazar, Ms. Winton, and Mr. Alarcon.
Thursday, October 10-
- B Day
- Principal for a Day - Ernestine Key of Communities Foundation of Texas.
- 8:00 a.m. - Lesson Plans Due
- 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Book Fair open - Ms. Garcia
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Department Collaboration PLC - AP and CIC/ILT.
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- 4:50 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. CILT Meeting - Room 115
- 6:00/7:00 Volleyball Game at Loss Vs. Marsh MS. (Pink Out)
Friday, October 11-
- PD day for teachers and staff
Upcoming Events
October 14 -
- Athletics will be hosting a Parent Meeting for ALL winter sports, from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. (Soccer/Basketball).
October 17 -
- North Dallas High School - Middle School Night
- Deadline Compliance Video Deadline and Annual Policies Acknowledgement
October 18-
- Fair Day - No school
October 21-
- 8th Grade PSAT Testing
Character Counts Week -Week of October 21, 2019 - email and flyer from our counselors is forthcoming for details about activities.
October 24 -
- 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. SWAG Network Collaboration at Rusk MS. All STAAR Tested subjects will need to make plans to attend including Special Education teachers who support these subjects.
October 28 - November 1-
- 2nd Common Assessment Testing Window
Red Ribbon Week -Week of October 28, 2019 - email and flyer from our counselors is forthcoming for details about activities.
November 5 or 7 Tentative
- 8th grade field trip to Townview - We will confirm the date assigned.
November 7-
- 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Fall Preview Night - Hispanic Heritage celebration. Club, After School Programs, and Sports highlights
November 13 -
- 8th Grade Field Trip to North Dallas HS
Welcome to the Team!!!
- Mr. Eddie Jordan joins our electives team as our Technology Applications Teacher. We are very excited to have him on board. We want to thank Dr. Bradford for her commitment and support with this particular class; she will continue to serve as one of our substitutes throughout the building. Please, take some time to greet Mr. Jordan and make him feel welcome.
- Ms. Karina Miranda joins us as our Financial Clerk and will begin on Wednesday, October 9th. We are very excited to have her on board as she joins us from Uplift Charter Schools. Please, take some time to make her feel welcome.
Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers
As a Ram Nation family, it is good to support each other in times of difficulty. Please, keep the following staff members in your thoughts and prayers,
Ms. Cato - for a successful recovery from surgery. We are excited she is back with our students.
Ms. Melchiorre - as she grieves the loss of her grandmother.
Happy Birthday -
We want to wish you the best and many blessings for the years to come.
- Ms. Herrera - 10/1
- Ms. Alanis - 10/2
- Ms. Vasquez - 10/8
Rusk Middle School
Email: jcordoba@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/rusk
Location: 2929 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972-925-2000
Twitter: @RuskAllTheWayUp