Looking Ahead to 2018-19
Whitesville Elementary
A Letter from your Principal
Hello Whitesville Family,
I hope you are all enjoying an awesome summer making memories with your family and friends! I wanted tell you how excited that I am to soon fill our hallways once again and kick off the 2018-19 school year! I know some of you will be joining us for the first time and others will be returning to familiar territory, but either way, we hope you are so excited to be a part of this family!
I am honored to serve as your leader who is committed to upholding "The Whitesville Way!" We strive to guarantee a foundation built upon family, leadership, and excellence for every child who enters our doors. I am so proud to be a part of such a dedicated team who truly loves each and every one of our kids. I cannot imagine a better place for young children to learn and grow. As your principal, I am extremely passionate about the top-notch work of Daviess County Public Schools and am so proud to be a part of putting “Kids First!” The best is absolutely what you will get from us, because your little one deserves no less!
In my experience, I have learned that relationships are key to success. I ask for your partnership in your child’s education and believe that your support is vital to their growth and success. This year, as you work with our leadership team, get to know your child's new teacher, and interact with our entire staff, I hope you see the depths of our passion to make a difference in the lives of your child. I hope you see the determination we have to do whatever it takes to create success for them. I hope you get a glimpse of how much we all love our "jobs" and this Whitesville family. And finally, I hope you see the dedication with which I will lead to support our children, staff members, and families every step of the way. For no matter the situation, I will always put Whitesville kids first.
As one of Kentucky’s Distinguished, Schools of Distinction, a Leader in Me Lighthouse School, and a staple of our community, I know that leading your school comes with excellence and expectation. I look forward to the best year yet! The sky's the limit for our kids as they work to build their future. "If you can imagine it, it's possible!" So, look out world, because a Whitesville Kid is headed your way!
I hope this newsletter will provide some helpful information as we welcome the new school year ahead! Please let us know if you have any questions or need any assistance at all. I am available through email, and our office will officially open on July 18th. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer! We can’t wait to see you soon!
Sincerely,
Tricia A. Murphy, principal
Notes from our Leadership Team
Destiny Clark, Guidance Counselor
Living the “Whitesville Way”, treating others like family, fostering leadership, and striving for excellence to better the lives of our students are just a few reasons I am beyond excited to be your guidance counselor at Whitesville Elementary.
Over the past eleven years, I have added many tools to my “teacher tool belt” and furthered my education to reach my goal as a school guidance counselor. Through this time, I have developed a personal mission of serving with the talents God has given me, inspire others to be “fearless” and knowing that there is no glory without GRIT. Additionally, reflection through experience (trials and tribulations) has taught me, “You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.”
Whitesville Elementary School is where I began the blessed journey of my first year where I instantly fell in love with limitless possibilities of changing the lives of our little ones. These daily opportunities of making a child smile, showering them with love, and showing them safety from the crazy world in which we live is the reason I have a passion to reach all children. Furthermore, I believe building a rich relationship where students and families feel truly cared for promotes a partnership that is able to provide the best educational experience for our children. As a teacher, I synergized with the best teachers and staff around, right here at WES to create greater experiences for students to lead and learn.
As the guidance counselor my first goal will be to provide our students with career building and life skills to become a positive leader in our community. Joining with our community leaders will help increase this by a shared vision of striving toward excellence as leaders. I will also work endlessly to synergize with staff and administration by serving as a support to help teachers with students that need guidance to deal with life’s situations. I am an advocate for students with social and emotional issues. I want to provide students with tools to assist them with their needs through hands-on lessons and small group sessions. Finally, I plan to network with the leadership team to assist in data analysis and goal setting to support overall school wide success. I am always here to help, so please contact me at anytime destiny.clark@daviess.kyschools.us.
Jeremy Cole, Elementary Interventionist
We are unbelievably excited to see all of our students' smiling faces and begin our 2018-19 school year! I would like to introduce myself and tell you a little about my role here at Whitesville Elementary. After serving as the guidance counselor for the past 7 years, I will now enter a new role as your elementary interventionist. In this position, I will be focusing on leadership development within our growing students, supporting kids with leadership instruction, and assisting students with a positive approach to intervention as behavior struggles may arise.
Although my role may have changed, my mission to serve the Whitesville family remains the same. I strive to promote a safe and happy learning environment for every single student. I plan to work with students, families, staff, and administration to help our kids gain control of their behavior at school, as well as at home, as we strive to reach the whole child. Along with The Leader in Me, we will be implementing PBIS, which is a framework for behavior that focuses on Positive Behavior Intervention Supports. This system helps to identify needs and assist with behavior in a positive way, taking a very proactive approach to behavior. I will be sharing more information at our grade level orientations later this fall as well as in our weekly Whitesville Leader Links. I am so excited about this new, focused approach for our school. As a Leader in Me Lighthouse School, this is the perfect fit for our students!
I cannot wait to see all of our Whitesville students and families and welcome new students into our family this year! Please feel free to contact me anytime at jeremy.cole@daviess.kyschools.us.
Jessica Doughty, Instructional Coach
As I transition into my second year as the Instructional Coach at Whitesville Elementary, I continue to feel honored to serve on the leadership team in supporting teachers and students in this great community. The past 15 years seem to have flown by so quickly, but the pride in sharing my position, whether it be classroom teacher or instructional coach has never disappeared. My passion for instruction is strong, but even stronger is my love for our staff, students and families, which is the driving force behind what I do each day. As the Instructional Coach, I have the opportunity to collaborate with all grade-level teachers on a regular, consistent basis each week. From supporting the implementation of professional learning experiences for our teachers, to meeting regularly with grade level staff to plan lessons that are focused on our school-wide goals and student success; I see this as a valuable investment in growing teachers, who grow kids.
Beyond sharing professional development opportunities and collaborating with teachers during planning sessions, I always look forward to the learning walks I take each week to visit students and witness the amazing work taking place. I learn so much from these walks, which allows me to work closely with our leadership team to make instructional decisions throughout the year to support our most important investment - Whitesville students! I am dedicated to providing our school with quality instruction and feel so fortunate to share this task with our passionate teachers. Please know that I am available to discuss instruction and address questions that may arise throughout the school year, as it relates to this area. Enjoy your summer and please feel free to contact me through e-mail at jessica.doughty@daviess.kyschools.us