Busy Bee Leader Board
See the Good. See the Need. See the Whole. See the Possible.
Collaboration is the key!
As this is our last newsletter for a couple of weeks, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for the exceptional collaboration that is happening on our campus. We have amazing things happening for our students because of the exceptional teamwork at Southern Pines Primary. Thank you so much for your dedication to doing whatever it takes to meet the needs of every child, every day. I hope you have a wonderful break and get the rest that is well deserved! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Leaders of Learning
This week's nominees:
Alicia Nazar: Thanks to Alicia's leadership, we have about 100 of our disadvantaged students who are receiving new clothes for Christmas. Our Belk shopping trip was a huge undertaking and one of the members of the United Methodist Church thanked me for how well organized the shopping trip was. I acknowledged Alicia's efforts and wanted to make sure everyone recognized her for her efforts on behalf of our disadvantaged students.
Shelli Boes: Thank you to Shelli for her tireless work in bringing the joy of music to others. Our kindergarten students performed at the Rotary on Friday and our 1st graders are eager to perform this coming Tuesday. We appreciate her leadership!
Thomas Tidbits
Referenced from Closing the Attitude Gap: How to Fire Up Your Students to Strive for Success By Baruti Kafele
Let’s work together to close the attitude gap……
Do you have a mission and vision for your students?
We have students who have many deficits in which affects their mindset. Have you ever asked yourself the question why?
Is it biological, mental, cultural, economic, or political? Or do you even want to know the answers?
There is a big push on closing the achievement gap, but first we must close the attitude gap. Attitude gap? Yes, the attitude gap!
Attitude Gap: the gap between those students who have the will to strive for academic excellence and those who do not. Will=Attitude.
Everyone wants to experience success, so what makes your students any different? So how can we unleash it?……more to come!
And remember, "Every kid needs a champion." --Rita Pierson
STEM Fellows and Discovery Place Studio
Partnership with Discovery Place Kids--Rockingham
Dress Rehearsal for 1st grade Program
January 26 Professional Development
We are very excited that Discovery Place Education Studio has agreed to offer us some Professional Development to support our efforts to build a culture of STEAM at Southern Pines Primary School. They will offer 2 sessions on January 26: 10:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00. The sessions will focus on using the "Engineering is Elementary" kits. SIT will be discussing these kits on Wednesday and providing us with feedback as to which kits we would like to explore during the PD. Unfortunately, the Education Studio is only able to offer these sessions to teachers at this time. We are hoping to have them back to work with our assistants on another day. Please use the following link to register for the session you would prefer. There are only 20 spots per session, so once a session is full I will move the remaining teachers to the other session.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TIe1AuZ2VlTK4RVu2vTYkbK6-288wAa0xPWyvO3c-y4/viewform
Walkthrough Focus
Upcoming Dates
December 16: First Grade Celebration of the Arts--dress rehearsal at 1:30; performance at 6:30.
December 17: Southern Middle School Orchestra to perform @ 10:30 followed by School-wide Sing-a-long
December 18: YR Break begins
December 19: TR Break begins
January 2: Optional Workday
January 5: All students return from Break
January 5-16: SRI MOY (Important information to come from Jennifer Beck regarding a new preliminary test that our students must take prior to the actual SRI test.)
January 5-14: Teachers complete Mid-Year Review of PDP
January 7: Marci off campus for Principals Meeting
January 8: Alvita off campus for Skill Observation & Coaching--8:30-11:30
January 12-February 3: mClass MOY
January 12-23: Math Benchmark for TR
January 14: School Improvement Site Visit
January 14: Staff Meeting
January 15: Last day for Mid-Year PDPs to be signed by Marci & Alvita--No data PLC team meeting on this day as it is in the middle of the mClass MOY assessment. PLC teams can use this team meeting for whatever is needed. Marci & Alvita will be available in the multipurpose room to sign PDPs for anyone who has not completed theirs prior to the 15th. All teachers PDPs must be signed by the end of the day.
January 16: Early Release day--Vertical Teams--same teams as previously--Lisa Neal to present PD to Science and Math teams on assessement probes in K-2 classrooms. ELA and SS will be digging further into the standards and planning with support from district or school leaders.
- SS: Culbertson, Michno, Bonner, Scales, Lee, Earhart
- Science: Kolean, Meadows, Hively, Nocton, Futral, Crabtree
- ELA: Blanchard: Davis, Myatt, O'Connor, Brown, Beadell, Osterman, Carrington
- Math: Bauer, Crosby, Lovett, Mumper, Dunn
January 19: No School
January 21: 1st and 2nd graders to Pinecrest @ 12:30 for Encore Kids! performance of the Carolina Philharmonic
January 21: Marci working with Dr. Rutherford--8:30-11:30
January 21-22: Marci at Friday Institute in Raleigh
January 21: SIT meeting
January 23: Volunteer Breakfast--Please make sure that Alicia has an accurate record of your volunteers
January 26: Required Teacher Workday--DreamBox Session 8:00-9:00 (optional) and "Engineering is Elementary" PD by Discovery Place Education Studio
January 28: Marci at Teaching Fellows Commission Meeting
January 30: Assistants at PD on Supporting the Literacy Framework--10:30-12:30
Contact Information for SPP
Email: mhouseman@ncmcs.org
Website: ncmcs.org
Location: 1250 West New York Avenue, Southern Pines, NC, United States
Phone: (910) 692-8659
Twitter: @soupinesprimary