WIZARD WEEKLY
Week of February 20th-24th
WORD FROM THE EMERALD CITY
~The countdown to spring break continues! We have a very busy next 2 weeks, so make sure to look at the dates carefully. We think we can...We think we can!! Hang in there!!!
~ We have both Macie Kerbs and Angela Kennedy here this week. Macie will be here on Thursday meeting with grade levels, and Angela is here on Friday at 10:00 on Friday to do curriculum walks. I know it's a half day...but school will still be going on as usual, and remind your students of this!
~ Speaking of Friday, we are having our Movie Night! Shout out to Tammie and her Elk Junior Council committee (Kelly Stowe, Kelly Taylor, Melisa Rushing) for working to get everything organized for the event! We have a slight change and will have the movie in the cafeteria, since YMCA has basketball practice already set for in the gym.
~ All nominations for Para, Aux, and Professional of the Year are due to me by tomorrow (Feb. 22nd). Also, teachers who were nominated for Teacher of the Year, please turn in your self reflections to me as well.
~ One thing we will be rolling out, as a district and campus, next year is the PDSA cycle. This IS something you already do (I promise), but it's making it more visible in your classrooms in order for students to take ownership of the learning. We will need to have a training on the basics and the "why" of this system with Shannon and Nicole. I know this is a busy time of year, but let's be honest...there's not a time that's not busy. I will be sending out a short survey (via Survey Monkey) to see who wants to have this training in May or if we want to wait until August. In my opinion, May would most efficient so that you can have the summer to research and make anything that you may want to incorporate into your design, but we will go with with the what the survey results show, so make sure to cast your vote when it comes across.
~We will be having a parent/student preview of Makerspace at our Family Math/Science Night. Christine will be in Makerspace as well as some PTA board members to help showcase the space to families and allow them to see the hard work and funds that the PTA fundraisers helped to create. Don't forget that we are collecting items for the Makerspace wish list! The list is posted outside Makerspace as well in the front office. Courtney and Patty are working to get everything together for this event, and a parent informational meeting about LiiNK will take place at 5:45, before the 6:00pm start time. Please make every effort to attend, as this is normally one of our most heavily attended events.
Campus News
~Make sure to remind students to return chocolate money and left over chocolate. All money was due Today (Tuesday 2/21).
~ We are on early dismissal schedule this Friday. All TELPAS Calibrations will take place on Friday afternoon. You will have lunch on your own, and plan to be back at campus at 1:00 to begin the calibrations!
~ Next week, we will have benchmarks in 3rd and 4th grade. Please be flexible with schedules, as we have a lot of small group testers that will be placed at various locations across the building. Kinder teachers will also be out on Monday and Tuesday to attend conferences, so they will have subs. Please help out as you see the need, if any of the subs need assistance and/or have problems getting the kinder kids in and out 4 times during the day AND keeping them extra quiet due to testing. I'm sure the kinder team would appreciate any assistance, just in case. :)
~ The anticipated production of Aladdin is right around the corner! Shout out to Vickie for ALL of her hard work getting our students ready for this event! The PTA meeting will begin at 5:30 on March 9th so that the election of officers can take place before the play begins at approximately 6:00. We hope you can all attend! It will be an AMAZING performance.
~ Just a reminder, I'm off campus on Thursday, March 9th and Friday, March 10th (I'm SO sad I have to miss Aladdin). If you need anything, don't hesitate to email me! I will get pictures sent of the performance and still plan to post on Facebook that Thursday night.
Be Vocabulous!
Continue to discuss the vocabulary with your students! It's making a big difference!
Here is the copy of the s'more newsletter about the vocabulary program. It has all the words listed for the year, so you can plan ahead! It has each word listed and the grade level responsible. The kids really enjoyed this last year, and I think this was something I had more comments from parents about than anything! They would comment about their students knowing the meanings of words that they didn't even know. The vocabulary parade was a big hit too. Even the older kids got into it and had fun being creative and participating.
Please turn in the "Word Up" Levels sheets when you have students who display the appropriate use of the words. Obviously, the younger they are, the more "adaptation" needs to occur in order to receive the levels, but the students who received the tags last year, LOVED it!! I will put the "Word Up Level" sheet on canvas!
As a reminder, the way the "Word Up Levels" work, goes like this...
All students will start as rookies and all students will have a chance to move up as many levels as they would like. Spirit Tags (that PTA is selling) will be used for levels 2 thru 5 and when a student reaches level 2 thru 5 they will receive a spirit tag for that level from the principal.
Teachers will nominate students to move up through the levels.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Tuesday, February 21st:
Kori out all day- Continuous Improvement Training
Nicole and Shannon out all day - Continuous Improvement Training
Wednesday, February 22nd:
ICLE Walks- 4th Grade @ 8:40
Thursday, February 23rd:
Macie Kerbs here for writing coaching during conferences
Friday, February 24th:
Angela Kennedy here for curriculum walks @ 10:00
Early Dismissal
TELPAS Training in PM (computer lab)- Begin at 1:00
Movie Night- Wizard of Oz (sponsored by Elk Junior Council) 6:00 pm
Monday, February 27th:
Grades due at 8:00
3rd Grade Math Benchmark
Tuesday, February 28th:
Progress Reports home today
3rd Grade Reading Benchmark
4th Grade Math Benchmark
Wednesday, March 1st:
4th Grade Reading Benchmark
Kori & Bobby off campus at 1:00 for STAAR Online Training
Thursday, March 2nd:
Kori off campus at training all day
Monday, March 6th:
CARE Team Meeting- 8:10- 2nd Grade
CARE Team Meeting- 8:40- 4th Grade
CARE Team Meeting- 9:30- 3rd Grade
Math & Science Night @ 6:00 pm (LiiNK parent meeting at 5:45 before)
Tuesday, March 7th:
Kori off campus- learning coaching training (AM)
Thursday, March 9th:
Kori off campus (personal day)
PTA meeting @ 6:00 pm
Friday, March 10th:
Kori off campus (personal day)
Spring Break
March 13th-17th
KORI WERTH - PRINCIPAL
Email: kwerth@ems-isd.net
Website: http://www.emsisd.com/site/Default.aspx?PageID=2336
Location: Fort Worth, TX, United States