Staff Bulletin
July 28, 2018
Coming Events
Welcome Back to School!
August 27th - First Day for Teachers to Report - 3-5pm Welcome Back Event for Families
August 28th - First Day with Students!Please be sure to relax and recharge this summer!
Announcements
Additional Staffing Update for 2018-2019
Cindy Easter has accepted a position with Special Services! Please be sure to congratulate Cindy, who will certainly be missed! I will be sure to notify everyone once we have hired Cindy's replacement.
We are so fortunate to be welcoming three new staff members to the Keith family for the 2018-19 school year.
Please take a moment to welcome:
· Ranya Grimes to the Keith Elementary School Team! Ranya will be teaching in our new special education classroom this year. Ranya is joining us from Oakley Park Elementary School.
· Paige Myers and Vicki Vowell, paraeducators, who will be working in this new program, also coming to us from Oakley Park.
A very special thank you to Nashella Zarek and Debbie Faber, who selflessly offered to move their rooms this year so that both Kelly Power's students and our new students in Ranya's classroom have bathroom access within the classrooms that is more private to protect the dignity of students who need assistance. Thank you also to Abby Lewin-Ziegler for once again making a move, and making it work for our students!
This team spirit is amazing and I am in awe at everyone's willingness to help support this teacher decision. I want to thank our entire staff for taking a moment to welcome these new staff members via email and in the fall when you see them.
2018-2019 Placements - Go Live Aug. 17th in the evening!
Grant Opportunity for Literacy!
Through our partnership with Scholastic®, The Meemic Foundation is providing our Foundation Club Members the opportunity to apply for a $100 grant that can be used exclusively through the Scholastic online store. For details, go to:
Applications accepted through September 30, 2018.
NGSS Game - Legends of Learning - Pilot Opportunity
Legends of Learning is a game based learning platform with over 1,000 games and simulations currently focused on 3-8th grade science. Our NGSS aligned games engage students and have proven efficacy through published research with Vanderbilt University.
Please let me know if you might be interested in piloting this program next year!
Spice It Up!
There will be many fantastic sessions at this year’s mini Spice it Up. Please be sure to take a look at the conference catalog and sign up as soon as possible in KALPA for the sessions you'd like to attend.
Giving Garden Improvements!
We are very excited that the sunflowers are back this year! The beds have been prepped (in part thanks to the 5th grade girl scout troop!) and we plan to be out there tomorrow during lunch recess. We want to make sure that every student gets to plant a seed - please bring your students straight to the garden when they go out for lunch recess so they can plant their seed and then go play.
Also, on our work day, a couple of Cub Scout parents built us 2 beautiful benches large enough to fit a whole class. We invite all of you to take advantage of this beautiful space. We are also working on a teacher podium to enable you to teach a lesson in the garden.
Thank you so much for supporting all the enriching activities that we do in the Giving Garden.
Best,
Elizabeth Belcher and the Garden Committee
iReady Updates!
The note below is copied and pasted information received from i-Ready. I will likely watch the webinar on August 2nd so feel free to email me if you'd like to join me - I will be sure to provide the popcorn! If you would like to register for a webinar on a different date, feel free! Please let me know and I will work to join you!
I-Ready has made several updates including an all-new dashboard, simpler navigation, and redesigned, renamed student- and class-level reports. These changes include countless improvements, big and small, requested by educators from across the country. You asked, and we listened! We think you’ll find it simpler and more intuitive to get insights into the needs of your students and to take actions that will help you drive the greatest gains.
To prepare for these changes, we encourage you to:
- Watch the introductory videos available on our support site at www.i-ready.com/backtoschool2018.
- Learn about important changes coming for administrators by viewing this 2-minute video.
- Spread the word to your building leaders and teachers that their existing interface will be replaced with a redesigned educator experience in late July.
- Share the attached flyer that will help your teachers understand how to use their new navigation.
- Be on the lookout for our support materials on i-Ready Central coming later this summer.
- Use the materials provided in 2018–19 Professional Development trainings and our new support materials, particularly the 2018–2019 i-Ready Success Guides for Leaders and Teachers, for any information you share with your teams. Other materials may be based on today’s i-Ready interface, which is being replaced.
Also, please invite your building leaders and teachers to join us for a product training webinar to see the new i-Ready experience and get your questions answered. We’ll show you how to navigate your redesigned dashboard, use your new reports, and take top actions with our simpler navigation. These training webinars will be held on:
· Tuesday, July 31, from 4 to 5pm EST
· Thursday, August 2, from 2 to 3pm EST
· Tuesday, August 7th, from 4 to 5pm EST
· Wednesday, August 15, from 5 to 6pm EST
· Tuesday, August 28, from 12 to 1pm EST
· Monday, September 17, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm EST
A recording will be made available upon request to anyone who cannot attend. Please let your team know they can register for one of these sessions at the following link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/8427398577623095810
Additionally, I wanted to share a few notes on product functionality that may be helpful to keep in mind as you develop your plans for back to school.
- District- and school-level reports will temporarily be available only as downloadable PDFs. They will not be interactive or sortable until redesigned reports are released later in the school year.
- Batch printing of reports will be temporarily unavailable until later in the summer.
Keith Committee Work
School Improvement Team
The research between well executed PLCs and student learning is reinforced in the latest Hattie release on factors that positively impact student learning.
Collective Teacher Efficacy is the collective belief of teachers in their ability to positively affect students. With an effect size of d=1.57 Collective Teacher Efficacy is strongly correlated with student achievement.
Article https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-efficacy-hattie/
Professional Learning Corner
Literacy Committee Update
Parking Lot Duty Schedule - Will be available next Fall! Enjoy Road Trip Bingo this Summer!
Job Responsibilities for Parking Lot Duty
Gym Door - Taking dragon pick up cards from parents who walk up to the door
MC - Announces names in the gym
Supervisor in Gym - Helps keep kids quiet for MC to announce
Supervisor in Gym - Helps keep kids quiet for MC to announce
Hallway near gym doors and main entrance - helps flow of traffic between gym and students going to bus
Outside Dragon Pickup - Help Bob and supervise students and flow of traffic
Outside Dragon Pickup - Help Bob and supervise students and flow of traffic
Staff Birthdays!
Joanie Barbour - 6/24
Grazia Dickinson - 6/26
Stacey Pawlak - 7/2
Terri Mazer - 7/4
Cassidy Schoof - 7/11
Sally Chappell - 7/14
Bob Marijanovich - 7/15
Michelle Gasparotto - 8/4
Tina Czarnowski - 8/18
Krista Harmsworth - 8/19
Keith Elementary School
Email: MarciAugenstein@wlcsd.org
Website: http://wlcsd.org/schools/elementary/keith/
Location: West Bloomfield Township, MI, United States
Phone: 248-956-3700
Twitter: @KeithElementary