Eagle News
Building Blocks of Success Week of Oct. 12th to 16th, 2015
Dallas ISD Core Beliefs
- Our main purpose is to improve student academic achievement.
- Effective instruction makes the most difference in student academic performance.
- There is no excuse for poor quality instruction.
- With our help, at risk students will achieve at the same rate as non-at risk students.
- Staff members must have a commitment to children and a commitment to the pursuit of excellence.
Campus Action Plan
Key Actions
Allen Elementary will increase student achievement by providing purposeful instruction in Reading, Mathematics, Writing, and Science.
Improve the quality of instruction by increasing rigor and student engagement.
Allen Elementary will improve positive perception of school climate and culture by all stakeholders including students, staff, parents and community.
Why do we have to work with a Sense of Urgency?
Our school was identified as Improvement required by the Texas Education Agency. Gabe P. Allen Elementary didn't meet Index 1(Academic Achievement) and Index 4 (College Readiness). On Thursday, Ms. Cortez (PSP) conducted the Critical Success Factors Teacher Interviews. These interviews provided time to groups of teachers to reflect about their practices. We identified areas of strength and areas that we need to improve. Definitely, we must continue working with a sense of urgency. Why it is important to create a sense of urgency and how creating a sense of urgency will contribute to our campus success?
This article by Gary Ryan Blair explains it:
First of all, an atmosphere of urgency will create an atmosphere of achievement.
Have you noticed that the people who make things happen in this world value and share the same sense of urgency? High Achievers work best under a self-determined or externally fixed deadline for achieving objectives. Those who consciously choose not to "sleep at the wheel" realize that regardless of the goal being pursued, they must continually maintain a sense of urgency in order to compete and win.
True greatness is only achieved once we develop a sense of urgency and importance of what we are doing. I mean a sense of urgency to the extent that we feel getting results and achieving our goals is a matter of life and death. It's tragically un-hip to procrastinate. A deadline and strong sense of urgency generates energy toward getting results. In short, they drive people to perform. Purposely put yourself in a position where you have to perform! One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to achieve a goal is to plunge ahead without establishing a high enough sense of urgency in themselves and others. Communicating urgency is one of the hallmarks of personal and professional leadership.
In our school it is common to hear "Can I get an extension?" What is the importance of deadlines? Why do we have deadlines? The author of this article clearly communicates why: In an ideal world, behavior shouldn't depend on deadlines. Behavior should depend on our values, and one of the values of all high performing people is a sense of urgency.
- Deadlines Represent COMMITMENT
- Deadlines Enforce ACCOUNTABILITY
- Deadlines Create a SENSE OF URGENCY
A clearly understood deadline, that is shared, agreed upon and committed to is the silver bullet of proactive behavior. At Gabe P. Allen, we can't afford to delay our goals, dreams nor responsibilities any longer. We need to get things done.
What do we need to accomplish?
* 76% of the "all students" category will meet state standard in writing in the 2016 STAAR.
* 76% of the African American students will meet the state target in reading in 2016.
* Gabe P. Allen Elementary School will meet Index 4 in the 2016 STAAR assessment.
The author also mention seven ways to create a sense of urgency:
- Recognize the importance of establishing a sense of urgency.
- Select the causes of complacency.
- Identify the strategies for raising urgency levels.
- Discuss with all parties concerned and create buy-in.
- Take action and stay focused on the prize.
- Monitor progress and adjust where and when necessary.
- Repeat, reinforce and remind yourself and others of the deadline.
A Closing Thought
As we start our after school tutoring program this Tuesday; Let's Embrace a Do It Now Philosophy. Our students and our community deserves a quality education. We will take Gabe P. Allen to the prestigious position in which it was once. We are Building Blocks of Success and our school will be out of the Improvement Required status in one year.
ARK Parent Meeting
Building Blocks to Success!
On Thursday, we celebrated our first ARK parent meeting. We had 23 parents that attended the presentation that was led by Ms. Raquel Selsemeyer. Our parents always support our school. They were very enthusiastic about the new parent center that we have available for parents at Gabe P. Allen.
Why ARK?
Parents need practical, easy-to-use techniques and support in order to raise responsible, resilient, well-adjusted children. ARK for Parents teaches parents to relate to kids in caring, supportive ways that register a tremendous, life-changing impact upon children and their families. ARK provides an environment in which adults can learn new parenting skills and can increase their ability to give young people the love and the nurture that allows children to value themselves and become joy-filled, productive members of society. ARK helps parents to address the practical aspects of parenting—dealing with topics such as effective discipline, homework, family meetings, bully-proofing, and instilling responsibility.
At Gabe P. Allen we want our parents to feel welcomed and comfortable in their children's school.
Proud to be an Eagle!
Adults Relating to Kids
Some of our parents that attended the ARK meeting
Little ones with their parents
Week at a Glance...
Magnificent Monday, October 12, 2015
Professional Development
Girls Scouts-4th & 5th grade (4:00-5:30)
Students with Jean Passes (Prep- U) can wear jeans.
Terrific Tuesday, October 13, 2015
- Girls Scouts-Kinder-3rd grade (4:00-5:30)
- Attendance is due by 9:00 am
Wonderful Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Attendance is due by 9:00 am
Cowboy Appreciation Day
Grade Level Chair Meeting
Thrilling Thursday, October 15, 2015
Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00 pm
Lesson Plans are due electronically by 6:00 pm.
Fabulous Friday, October 16, 2015
Spirit Day
Looking Ahead:
October 19- Staff Development/Students Holiday
October 23- Coffee with the Principal
October 29- PTA Meeting, SBDM, Mentor Mentee Meeting
October 30- Fall Festival
Video of the Week: Watch this video in which students are asking themselves and other students appropriate higher order thinking questions that explain, analyze, classify, compare, evaluate, represent, synthesize the content, and evaluate diverse perspectives (Indicator 2.6 TEI Rubric)
Kudos
* To all teachers that came prepared to our PLC Meeting with the Common Assessment data.
* Thank you Specials Teachers for your support and understanding.
Gabe P. Allen Elementary
Sheila Ortiz Espinell- Principal
Franceslia Rodriguez- AP
Russell Sims-AP
Email: sortizespinell@dallasisd.org
Website: dallasisd.org/allen
Location: 5220 Nomas Street, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: (972) 794-5105
Twitter: @GPATeachers