At A Glance
January 30th-February 3rd
Mark Your Calendar
http://summit.edmondschools.net/calendar/
January
31st-Chess Club Match (2pm at Monroney)
February
3rd-Friday Folders
Wrestling @ State Fair Grounds + Saturday
4th-JV Basketball Girls @SFHS Boys @North
Faces of FACS
Presidential Portraits
Ag in the Class
Copies, Copies, Copies
We are down to 7 boxes of paper for the remainder of the year, and I am requesting money from Parent Club for another order. That request is $1,500 for a re-order. Please remember to use the Print Shop when you are making large quantities of copies, but also be thoughtful in whether or not to make a copy at all for certain assignments or handouts.
Ask yourself:
"Is one class set sufficient?"
"Is it possible to get a product digitally?"
"Is it necessary to make copies at all for this assignment?"
As our Superintendent leads the vision to become more digital, the cost of printing being a site budget expectation, and additional tools being given to teachers to reduce copies, along with Higher Level Thinking and the increase in DOK Level, we must start making the adjustments and following behind the district's leadership. The district has made the commitment to purchase more devices, but also to provide training so that the devices are not simply digitized versions of worksheets.
I'm not asking you to cease making copies or worksheets, but reduce.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
BOND TALK INFORMATION
This is the link directly to the district webpage regarding the 2017 EPS Bond Election. Thank you for sharing with your parents and community.
KEEP, CHANGE, DELETE!
This is our 2nd week of addressing the responses from our Keep, Change, Delete Survey. Our administrative team will continue to provide feedback on the comments, suggestions, and concerns from the survey, until they are all covered. Again, thank you for your candid responses.
KEEP!Thank you for noticing the Administrative Support regarding Excessive Tardies. Mr. Keeton will be running another report starting with the second semester, we will be conferencing with with students, contacting parents, and assigning consequences, as well. It is easier for us to do when most of you have done the same as you have followed your team policy regarding tardiness. Nice to call and a parent says, "Yep, the teacher has already contacted me about it and I have already warned my child." Thank you, as well for doing your part!
Positive School Atmosphere and Culture, well, this is all of us! Climate is how we feel and Culture is what we do...So, you're feeling great because you're doing great! Taking ownership for our school climate is important, because it takes each and every one of us to create it. The Culture of Summit is totally outstanding, this year. It is so apparent that collectively and consistently we care about kids, we care about teaching and learning, and we are doing all the things to exhibit our feelings and holding one another accountable for it. As administrators, we see some friendly competition between the teachers and that is elevating the teacher effectiveness and the teacher efficacy! So, pat yourself on the back and take a bow.
CHANGE!
Duty teachers...Well, after looking at the comments from teachers, we decided to simply quote one. This was an issue at the end of the year that came up in last year's survey, but there was not an opportunity to respond. When I spoke with teachers individually who had this complaint, I reminded them that it isn't tattling, and there should be some accountability to one another...colleagues. So, we are glad that this was included in the comments of the survey under the change section from a teacher. This is quoted from the form.
"Many lunch duty teachers are physically but not mentally present, choosing to visit with fellow teachers in lieu of paying attention to the students. Sometimes they show up late or even not at all. The safety of the students is compromised when attention is being paid by adults only half, or less than half of the time."
Please be reminded, that the reason this district continues Paid Duty is for the purpose of safety for our students, yet it is not the spirit of the negotiated agreement for you to not talk to one another or engage with the students. We want you to be able to somewhat enjoy your duty, but while you are attentive to the students. Not showing up at all or late is a lack of supervision, so make sure you report, report on time, get your duty covered, and communicate with Joel and the teachers you are assigned duty with.
Thanks
DELETE!
Paid Duty for lunch 5 days a week for the semester should be reduced so that teachers have more time to get more accomplished in the classroom, especially for coaches and club leaders.
Our administrative team discussed this and it's one of those things we just don't have control over. It's a part of the negotiated agreement as a Paid Duty and that is the assigned duty by semester. Joel is looking into some alternative suggestions for the Negotiations Team who meet during the summer. I would recommend you document the frustration and any possible solution to this and send it to the EACT Site and District Rep. I promise you, it will be discussed if you forward the problem and the solution suggestions(s). It's not easy when it's paid, but will be discussed. You don't have to be a member to raise a concern or suggestion.
I had the opportunity to sit in on this team during this last summer and I was extremely pleased as to how well the administration and teachers worked together to come up with a solid document to follow. It was extremely amicable and I really enjoyed being a part of the process.
More Keep, Change, Delete next week! Thank you again for your input and the open communication.
EQUITY IN Pre-AP & AP
On Wednesday, the 8th grade teachers along with the administrative team met with SFHS teachers and administrators to discuss the expectations for opening the doors instead of being gatekeepers of Pre-AP & AP Courses.
The overarching goal is for there to be a reflection of our demographics walking our halls to be enrolled in our Advanced Courses.
If you are interested in more information, please read the article above. There is much out there about the Achievement Gap which persists, but this article is specific to AP Courses as discussed Wednesday.
Lisa Adams, Freshman Principal at SFHS, shared a story about the power of her words to a young man and his mother in the mall when he was in middle school. He saw her much later and close to graduation from OC and moving on to his Master's Degree and shared with her what her words meant to his life. We have the power to speak success or failure into the lives of children, and believe me, they will remember...WORD FOR WORD, what you were wearing, where you were standing, and especially how it made them feel. I hope we are all purposeful to speak success, light, life, hope, and a belief that they can and will succeed and one reason is because you believe in them and have the confidence they will!
Copy Reminder
She's Here!
Nothing Like I Expected
Thought it would be like this...
More Like This!
TEACHER REQUESTS & NEEDS
Word of the Week
Quotation of Implementation: "We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more." ~President Bill Clinton