EAST PAULDING MIDDLE SCHOOL
January 6, 2020
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER
UPCOMING EVENTS
1/7/20 - Team Mid Year Conferences - Planning - Room 601
1/8 - 1/9/20 - Math Inventory Adminstration
1/9/20 - MTSS (RTI) Meetings - Planning - Room 601
1/10/20 - PCSD Spelling Bee
1/10/20 - House Celebration
1/13/20 - SBIT Meeting - 7:45am - Room 601
1/14/20 - RI Data Dig - Planning Room 601
1/16/20 - Learning Target Work Session - Planning - Room 601
1/20/20 - MLK Holiday
1/30/20 - The Power of a Positve Team PL - Planning - Room 601
2/5/20 - Two-Hour Early Release
2/7/20 - Progress Reports
2/17 - 2/21 - Winter Break
3/13 - End of 3rd 9-Weeks
3/16 - 3/20/20 - Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
3/20-20 - Grade Reports
Kicking Off 2nd Semester
Throughout the year, we have placed a lot of emphasis on how we are supporting our students, and to begin this second semester, we have increased that focus with smaller NBI groups for literacy, writing, and math. But we cannot solely rely on the supports implemented during NBI to increase student growth and achievement. Everyday instruction and the support you provide within your classrooms is essential to student success. Our pathway to success begins with planning and ends with communication.
- Intentional Planning for our students is non-negotiable and is the beginning of student success. If we aren't working together collaboratively to effectively plan, our students are the ones who experience the greatest potential negative impact.
- Learning Targets should be used daily to highlight the learning goal. Students should be aware of their learning target, and the standard, as well as your formal and informal assessments, should align to the target. When creating learning targets, make certain the Strategy is not the focus.
- Speaking of strategy... The Strategy that you choose to utilize in your classroom should directly support the learning target. A great strategy is not always effective if it does not support the intention of the learning.
- Vocabulary (fiction, non-fiction, academic) must be an intentional focus. Identified vocabulary must be referenced regularly by the teacher and used frequently by the student. Visual Vocabulary is necessary as a scaffolding tool for our below basic, basic, and even some proficient students.
- Anchor Charts can be a catalyst to successful application of the skills that students are being asked to learn. There are opportunities in each content area to provide this extra level of visual support. Again, our below basic, basic, and even proficient students can benefit from this level of support.
- Assessments (formal and informal) must be ongoing to truly give you a pulse on student progress. Here are some questions to reflect upon ...
- Should there be a time limit for when a student attains the knowledge?
- Am I providing multiple opportunities for students to show mastery?
- Once a student exhibits mastery, how do I reflect this within their grades?
- Am I assessing "a do" or am I assessing "a know".
- Am I completing and reporting grades in a timely manner to communicate progress and drive future instruction?
- Communication is vital to supporting our students. Completing the grading of assessments in a timely manner is crucial to communicating progress to students and parents. As we begin the 2nd semester, make it a point to communicate regularly with your students and their parents regarding student progress. If you are seeing that a student is struggling with the learning, the work you are asking them to complete, or their behavior and social interactions, make a point to communicate with their parents. If you need admin support with communication, we will be happy to help you.
Lexile Data Dig
Below are the questions you will be able to answer once you complete the data dig.
1. Who are the students scoring between 1 and 200 points below the midpoint for grade level?
2. Who are the students scoring greater than 200 points below the midpoint for grade level?
3. Who are the students identified as below basic readers?
4. Who are the students scoring 200+ points above the midpoint for grade level?
5. What supports (if any) am I providing students who fall into each category when accessing content through text?
6. Do those supports look different?
7. Which students am I growing? **It is important to note that we are all responsible for growing our students.**
EPMS Absence Analysis - December
Below is the absence analysis for the month of December. Please remember that this analysis includes sick and personal time for all staff members. During January of 18-19, we had over 70 absences, and a lot of those can be attributed to the flu. Please do your best to wash your hands frequently during this flu season!
I understand that life happens, but our attendance as a staff is extremely important to the success of our students.
Digital Learning Days
Several years ago, to combat "snow days", the district implemented Digital Learning Days. This provided students an opportunity to continue their learning over an unexpected, extended time off and allowed us to "make up" some of our missed days without losing any planned breaks.
To be prepared, our district is asking teachers to plan 3 days of digital assignments in advance of any potential weather, prepared and ready to be published within Canvas in the event of an unexpected school closure due to inclement weather. Most of you probably already have these prepared and within Canvas somewhere, you will just need to pull them in to your current year's Canvas.
If you do not have these lessons prepared, please move forward with that process and have 3 days of digital lessons planned. These lessons should be housed in Canvas, but not yet published. If you need support with this or if you have questions, please let a member of our admin team know.
School Climate Star Rating Survey
Students, school personnel, and parents have the opportunity to complete the Georgia School Climate Star Rating Survey. The surveys are anonymous and the results are used to help calculate our climate star rating alongside additional data. Since 2017, East Paulding Middle School has earned a 5-Star Climate rating from the Georgia Department of Education, and we hope to continue to demonstrate that consistency. For the 2018-2019 school year, we were the only secondary (MS/HS) to earn a 5 star rating in the Paulding County School District.
Please take a moment to complete the anonymous 31-question Georgia School Personnel Survey for our school for the 2019-2020 school year. As always, your feedback is appreciated.
The Georgia Personnel Survey is modeled after the student survey and contains 31 questions. School personnel may complete the survey using their computer, smartphone, or tablet, and all school personnel are encouraged to participate in the survey.
As a reminder, all survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. I appreciate your feedback as it is vital to our continued growth and success as a school.
To access the survey, click the button below.
Absence Reminders - 2nd Semester Update
Below are a couple of reminders regarding reporting absences and requesting time off.
Unplanned Sick Absence
1. As soon as you know that you need to be out, enter the absence into AESOP AND call Mr. Jacobs. His number is 678-779-9541.
2. If you are unable to enter the absence into AESOP, call Mr. Jacobs.
3. After 6am, you are no longer able to enter an absence in AESOP, please call Mr. Jacobs.
3. If a job fails to fill or if the sub cancels, there is a strong possibility that we will have to cover the absence from within that specific department or use other subs when they are on their planning.
Planned Sick Absences
1. As soon as you know that you need to be out, enter the absence into AESOP AND inform Mr. Jacobs and Mrs. Suttles of the upcoming absence.
2. If a job fails to fill or if the sub cancels, there is a strong possibility that we will have to cover the absence from within that specific department or use other subs when they are on their planning.
Personal Absences
1. All personal absences must be requested 5 days in advance. The request must be made to Mr. Alverson.
2. You can speak to Mr. Alverson in person or send him an email.
3. If you request an absence via email, please include Mrs. Suttles.
4. All personal absences will be entered by Mrs. Suttles.
5. If you have already arranged for one of our regular subs to work for you, please provide that information.
6. if a job fails to fill or if the sub cancels, there is a strong possibility that we will have to cover the absence from within that specific department or use other subs when they are on their planning.
It is important to remember that absences designated as sick days cannot be used for personal events or activities. If you have questions, please let me know.
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Contact Information for Tom Alverson
Email: talverson@paulding.k12.ga.us
Website: http://www.paulding.k12.ga.us/Domain/29
Phone: 678-350-8027