The Roar
Staff Newsletter for Lynnhaven Elementary
February 3 - 7, 2020
Put Students First • Seek Growth • Be Open to Change
Do Great Work Together • Value Differences
https://sites.google.com/vbschools.com/lynnhavenes/home
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A Week at a Glance
**MATH COLLABORATION THIS WEEK**
February is. . .
National African American History Month
National Career and Technical Education Month
National Children's Dental Heath Month
National School Counseling Week
Strings (gr 5) Wednesday & Fridays - PE time
Art Club (gr 4) Wednesday - PE time
Art Club (gr 5) Friday - PE time
*No Chorus until further notice
Sunday, February 2
- Groundhog Day
- Superbowl Sunday
Monday, February 3rd
- Report Cards Issued
- Lions Pride Dance Practice 3:00
- PTA Board Meeting 5:30
Tuesday, February 4th
- End Q2 Division Testing Window
- Q2 Math/Science Closes
- Smarty Ants Training K-2
- gr 4 field trip - Plaza Planetarium
- STEM Robotics Club
- SCA Office Meeting
- SEL Committee Meeting 3:15
Wednesday, February 5th
- PreK out-reach - Air & Space - MPR
- Lion Pride Dance practice
- Faculty PD
Thursday, February 6th
- DRA Closes
Friday, February 7th
- PTA Bingo 5:30-7:30
Future Planning
- Feb. 17: No School; Presidents' Day
- Feb. 18: Alane Adams Author Visits Lynnhaven - 1:00-1:35 (K-3) and 1:45-2:35 (4-5)
- Mar. 3: Staff Day - Presidential Primary Elections will be in the gym
Thank you Cofield, Diaz, and Melone for all you do!
Happy Birthday!
February
7 - Tambre McClenny
7 - Sarah Melone
10 - Mia Blaine
11 - Nina Banks
11 - Leslie Umplette
16 - Marie Aronson
20 - Madison Hoffpauir
26 - Karen Frey
27 - Sylvia Diaz-Bowman
28 - Sprat Spratling
Shout Outs
Shout out to Cornell-Burdick & Pattie for all of the help at the breakfast cart!
Thank you Epps and Johnson for helping a Pre-K Student unzip their coat.
Thank you to Roth, Robinson, Cornell-Burdick, Bly, and Parker for jumping in to help this week for morning duty!
Elena Bohn, thank you for always being willing to help throughout the building, even when we take you away from your PCST responsibilities.
Thank you to Cofield for all the preparation for the Great Kindness Challenge. Spirit week was fun!
Thank you Roth for a great science collaboration this week. It was hands on and gave us time to unpack the curriculum and dig in to planning upcoming scientific investigations!
Big shout out to Johnson & Umphlette for organizing the dance! And to all of the wonderful staff who helped!
Shout out to P.E. for helping kindergarten teacher to get their children during the fire drill. We work together.
Thursday Communication Folders
Welcome to Lynnhaven
Reminder
Staff parking
Beginning February 3rd, please try to utilize the parking lots by the gym and in front of the school for parking, unless you are the current Teacher of the Year or Teacher Assistant of the Year, as you have spots by the cafeteria.
Below is a map to detail our plan. Thank you all for helping to make a safe plan for all.
Employee Input Survey
While this survey will be anonymous, a summary of the survey and any comments will be distributed to Mrs. Breaux, so she can continue to use feedback to enhance the school's culture and programs.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey and provide thoughtful information that is helpful in making VBCPS and Lynnhaven Elementary the best place to work and get an education!
Survey responses due by February 14th.
You Tube Approval Changes - UPDATED since last newsletter
UPDATE (and Geri Pattie may be sending more updates as they come in): After further discussion with the Dept. of Technology, we are modifying the information previously shared regarding the approval of YouTube videos, namely:
- the date for restricting YouTube approvers is being postponed by two weeks to Feb 10, 2020, to allow teachers and other instructional staff sufficient time to obtain approval of curriculum videos.
- the deletion of all previously approved videos has been limited to only those videos that were approved within the last year (i.e., any video that had been approved prior to Feb. 2019 will remain in the archive of approved videos but could be removed and require reapproval, on a case by case basis, if /when concerns arise with the appropriateness of the video.
- ITS staff have been provided additional direction in this area and should serve as the first line of support to school staff.
All teachers and other instructional staff are urged to confirm within the next two weeks, before the new approval restrictions take place, that all necessary video resources are available for viewing by students. As a reminder, YouTube categorizes videos as Generally Approved or Restricted. Generally Approved videos do not require any approval for viewing. However, videos that YouTube has categorized as Restricted will require approval for their viewing.
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- Superintendent
- All Chief Officers
- All Directors
- All Coordinators
- All Central Office Instructional Specialists
- All Principals
- All Assistant Principals
- All Instructional Technology Specialists (ITS)
- All Library Media Specialists (LMS)
- Grade Level Chairs/Department Chairs
Approvers have broader access to YouTube content and are able to view and approve videos that are restricted for the general audience. All other Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) staff and all students access YouTube in Restricted Mode. As a result, and according to YouTube’s policies, they are unable to view videos containing potentially mature content unless approved. This includes YouTube videos in one of the categories below. How a video is categorized is dependent upon the person who uploaded the video.
- Drugs and alcohol
- Sexual situations
- Violence
- Mature subjects
- Profane and mature language
- Incendiary and demeaning content
- Uncategorized
As part of this change, all restricted videos that are currently approved will be disapproved thus requiring reapproval if an instructional need for their use exists.
If you are an approver above, but do not have access, please submit a service desk ticket to resolve.
Approver Professional Learning The Office of Instructional Technology will provide guidance to the ITS and LMS who will in turn provide guidance to school staff identified as an approver.
It is important that an approver view the entire video and keep the following in mind while viewing (these are not intended to be a checklist but rather a guide as one views the video through the lens of an approver):
1. Support of the VBCPS curriculum or another instructional initiative
- What Standard of Learning or Virginia Beach Objective does this support?
- What instructional initiative does this support?
- What professional development does this support?
2. Appropriateness for students in all grade levels. It is important that approvers consider that all students will be able to view approved videos.
- Is this topic appropriate for our youngest students?
- Is there violence in the video?
- Is the language appropriate for all grade levels?
- Is the video culturally responsive for all students?
Testing Windows
A few dates to note:
February 4th - Q2 Math and Science completed
February 6th - DRA Closes
Please make sure ALL data is input into the teacher data spreadsheets as soon as students complete testing. This will ensure data to be analyzed quickly.
DRA Reporting
PTA Bingo!
See Fran Mongin's email to sign up and help.
BINGO Night - Friday, February 7th 5:30-7:30 p.m.
SEL Book Tasting - Sign up in Frontline!
Literature offers a gateway to social-emotional learning (SEL) in our classroom and a way to infuse SEL into the academic curriculum. Reading about characters, real and fictional, who experience the ups and downs of the human condition provides a natural entry point into student discussions about topics like listening, assertiveness, and celebrating differences.
Thoughtfully selected books also give students opportunities to learn about themselves as they feel along with the characters. The SEL Guild is partnering with VBCPS Library Media Specialists to share books from the VBCPS collection that support the development of SEL competencies for students PreK-12. There are two ways to learn at this event: browse and sample the menu on your own - buffet style - or sit down with our Literary Chefs to dine on delicious entrees. This event is open from 3 - 6 pm. Visit anytime between those hours.
This event is for any educator interested in using books to support the development of social-emotional learning competencies.
Transfer Meet and Greet
Eligible individuals for transfer:
- Teachers who have been designated as priority transfers and those who are eligible for consideration for voluntary transfers may attend.
- Classified employees who have been designated as priority transfers and those who are eligible for consideration for voluntary transfers or promotions may also attend the Meet and Greet.
- Only teachers who will be on continuing contract during 2020-2021 (currently P3, PC, or C) and who are not on Performance Improvement Plans are eligible for voluntary teacher transfers.
Note: A teacher who receives a voluntary transfer must spend three years in that assignment before being eligible for another voluntary transfer. (A teacher accepting a voluntary transfer for the 2020-2021 school year will be eligible for a transfer in fall 2023.)
Once allocations are received, any individuals who are designated as priority transfers will be notified.