Monday Morning Motivation
Central Elementary News-April 2-April 6
Welcome Back!
Dear Staff,
Happy Easter and welcome back to school! Regardless of the weather, spring break was wonderful and much needed. As we prepare for the flurry of tasks ahead, you are encouraged to focus not on the upcoming stress, but on the students and some of the more enjoyable assignments ahead. Focus on a story/novel, a skill you are looking forward to teach, a field trip you are preparing to take, or a project you will walk your students through. Put your focus on those things that keep you passionate and engaged in teaching. Students will follow your lead and there are many things to look forward to in this spring season.
I came across the article below regarding ways to be more present in our daily lives and plan to apply some ideas as we hit the ground running on Monday.
Have a great week!
Julie
Central Calendar
Monday, April 2
- PPEA Denim Day for Mr. Underwood
Tuesday, April 3
Wednesday, April 4
- Kindergarten Registration (10-2, 4:30-7:30)
- Building Level Discussion 4:00
Thursday, April 5
- Team Leader Meeting 7:30 am
Friday, April 6
Monday, April 9
- District Discussions
Tuesday, April 10
- WIDA/SIOP Teacher meeting 7:15 Admin Office
- 5th to 6th grade High Ability Meeting 4:00 Conference Room
Wednesday, April 11
- Professional Development Day!
- Elementary TOY Meeting
Thursday, April 12
- Faculty Meeting 7:30 am
- School Board Meeting 7 pm
Friday, April 13
- Brag Tags-during specials
Announcements and Reminders
- Field Trips-Please remember to let Debbie B. and Linda F. know when you are going on a field trip so they can prepare. Thank you.
- IREAD Good Cause Exemption--Information being sent by director to special education teachers
- ISTEP Part Two--April 16-May 4--As always, Teachers in grades 3, 4, and 5 please limit homework. Also, rather than send the whole schedule to parents, I am relying on you to share your specific testing dates and times with them through your communications. Thank you!
- Running Club-We are planning to start the spring season of running club on Tuesdays from April 3rd-30th. This will take place from 4-5 pm each Tuesday.
- Per Nicole Crum-Days Off Please ask ALL staff who require a sub to check their calendars and get a hold of me asap to schedule days off these last 9 weeks. These are some of the busiest because the weather is getting nicer. If not pre-planned, Fridays in May are almost impossible to get a sub for. Remember, all schools share subs so it is important to pre-plan. The 8th grade breakfast this year will be held on May 11th. If you have an 8th grader, please get your request into me. This is a BIG morning and many people take off.
Postcards – Please make sure every student receives a positive postcard before the end of the school year. They are located in the office. We have ordered more cards. Thank you for sending these out!
Please remember to do a radio check if you have recess duty.
- This helps the office know you are outside for recess.
- Also, this verifies that the radio is working.
If you stay indoors, please have one of you on recess duty call the office to let our secretaries know.
Emails--Pay attention to links in emails and do not open those you do not recognize
- Opening Minds-- Plan to finish chapters 7 and 8 the book before April Faculty meeting. We will wrap up the book at the May meeting.
- Domains 1 and 3--As you UPLOAD, please LABEL the evidence! There is not a set number of pieces of evidence.
April 11th Professional Development Day Agenda
ISTEP Part 2 Practice Testing Schedule--All teachers need to read the document because computer lab use is impacted. Thank you for your flexibility!
Grades 3rd-5th--ISTEP Practice Window Beginning April 10th
- Since the tests are not timed, I built in about 90 minutes for each class to go through all of the practice tests. You will take the tests with your homeroom.
- Please read the document below and let me know if you have questions or concerns.
- (Proctor name in parenthesis)
updated ISTEP+ test schedule beginning April 16th
High Ability Placement Preview--This will happen in April!
- K-1
- 1-2--We are not pulling any students out of the program. Although we will review data, I do not anticipate any major changes for those students currently identified
- 2-3--Group ELA/Math
- 3-4--Will look closely at the Geometry Bound students
- 4-5--Will look at Mrs. Speck's class carefully
- 5-6--For ELA, in addition to data, students will complete a writing sample (5 paragraph essay, persuasive or argumentative, quality).
We will use the same criteria as last year, which I will send to you through Google. Karla B. is putting together our spreadsheet. We will not use common assessments.
Google and Gmail
At our April and May faculty meetings, we will walk you through the process of accessing your gmail account. Additionally, there will be directions for moving documents over as well a simple tasks you could work on over the summer if you choose to do so. Please know you will have support with Google. :)
Julie
From John Crum:
Gmail and Google Calendar Migration
The staff email and calendar platform will change from Office 365 to Google Apps for Education on Saturday, May 5th. Staff email addresses will remain the same.
As of March 19th, Gmail and Google Calendar services have been enabled for all staff. By enabling the services, you will be able to log in and start exploring both platforms. Outgoing email messages will send from Gmail but any responses and all new email will still be delivered to Outlook. Beginning the week of April 16th, we will start migrating (copying) email from Outlook to Gmail. This will expedite the final migration beginning May 5th.
Everyone will be able to access email by visiting https://mail.google.com from any workstation. If you are logged into the Chrome browser you can simply click “Mail” (upper right-hand corner) when you open a new browser tab.
Staff email, calendars, and contacts will be migrated as part of this transition. Please submit a helpdesk ticket if you are unable to log into your Google account.
Random Fact-Indiana Now Has a State Insect!
Staff Celebrations!
- Carrie Hackleman
- Courtney Carmichael
- Megan Johnson
- Annie Pagels
- Curt Pickard
-
Katy Riester
Shelly Weaver
Amy Stultz
- Attendance 96.96%
April Birthdays!!!
Happy Birthday to you!
April
- Heidi Schwettman 3
- Janice Zummach 23
- Mandi Klinger 25
- Sarah Tobey 29
Central Celebration
Dr. Seuss Activities
Wishing you a Great Month!
Our Mission
Providing engaging academic experiences, the Central Elementary Community will inspire and support students to become caring, confident, lifelong learners.