Monday Memo
August 22nd -26th
YOU HAVE SEEDS OF GREATNESS INSIDE YOU. TODAY CAN BE YOUR NEW BEGINNING. TODAY COULD BE THE START OF SOMETHING AMAZING. -JOEL OSTEEN
I want to thank you for a great first week of school. I appreciate your effort to build strong, positive relationships with both your students and their parents. I also appreciate those of you who reached out for help when you needed it. Strong communication will allow all of us to perform at our best.
I also want to thank you for your patience with FastLane. I think it is safe to say that while we knew there would be a few challenges with changing our system, we did not expect to encounter all that we have. Please know that we are working to resolve them and have made great strides in reducing the length of time it has taken to dismiss all of our students. Even when we were using the old system, it took us a few weeks before we were able to finish carpool by 3:15. With that being said, please do not bring students to the office at 3:15pm who have not been picked up. Once we finish with either the WPPU line, the carpool line or bus/day care dismissal, we will make an all call to send any remaining students to the office (Bus riders will not go to the office, they will line up outside of the gym). We will continue to work to resolve ongoing issues. Please email Donna, Stacie and myself each time you experience a problem. Be sure to include the name of the student. We send this information to SDM for them to investigate on their end and resolve. Next week I will include a Google Form in the newsletter for you to provide feedback about your experience with this system.
In effort to allow you the time to teach lunch procedures and routines to your students as well as to have consistency across the campus, we have asked that parent refrain from eating lunch with their students until Tuesday, September 6th. If you have not already communicated this to your parents, please do so asap. If you have, you may want to remind parents again. It never feels good for Stacie or Barbara to have to send parents away at the front desk. While we make every effort to communicate this to parents in our campus communications, we recognize that communication from you is far more likely to be read than campus wide information. Your help with reminding your parents is greatly appreciated.
Sadly, I spent most of the first day of school working on School Dismissal Manager and was unable to post all of the fabulous first day pictures you sent. I am so sorry about that, but I've included them today and hope you enjoy them. Thanks to all of you who sent them!
Make today count,
JL
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Shoparoo
Did you know that each week I give out jeans passes to those who are one of the top three participants on Shoparoo? I know that many of you have already joined, but if you haven't, it is not too late. Simply go to www.shoparoo.com to create your account. If you use veft4467 as a referral code, McGowen will earn money for you just signing up. Please feel free to push this information out to your parents as well. Once you sign up, Shoparoo will give you a referral code for your parents to use when they sign up. Schools with just 40 supporters are earning an average of $1,000 every year.
Congratulations to Barbara Peebles for being in this week's top three on Shoparoo!
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Focus for 2016 - 2017
In order to help every child their personal best, McGowen teachers and staff will:
- Knowledgeably speak about our current practices that contribute to McGowen becoming a Level 1 Certified High Reliability School.
- Actively participate in grade level and content Professional Learning Communities.
- Engage in collaborative team planning and lesson design that addresses the four essential questions of a PLC.
- Present lessons in such a way that students understand and can speak knowledgeably about posted learning and language targets.
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Remind for Staff
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Happy Birthday!
August
Sharon Butler - 7th
Laura Sifferman - 9th
Michelle Haas - 10th
Jen McCartney - 13th
Maria Elwood - 24th
Marley Goodwin - 30th
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Appreciations
- Jesse’s Girls – Thank you for an awesome first week of school! Love you all, JD
- Cab – Thanks for your help sweet friend! I could not have done it without you :) -JD
- Prugh – Thank you for all the awesome math ideas you have shared with me! I’m beyond excited to be working and collaborating with you this year. You are a true rock star! -JD
- Hoye – Your science knowledge and ideas have been amazing and the students are loving them! It is going to be a great year and I’m blessed to be able to collaborate with you. Keep rocking it out Nikki! -JD
- Breazeale – Thank you for taking on our long-term sub position on such short notice! It is great having you back on the team and I love knowing the students are in great hands. Love ya friend! -JD
- Thank you to the office staff and administrators who always greet me with a smile and who made my transition easy into the McGowen family! - Deanna Harris
- Thank you to my team for answering all of my many questions. Whether they were small, big, or didn't make sense to anyone but me, I appreciate you! Thank you so much!! - Deanna Harris
- Thank you to Kristi Ward for being the best mentor anyone could ever have! I couldn't have made it without you! - Deanna Harris
- Thank you to Melanie for helping so much with "The Big Mac", that has probably been my most challenging task! She has been so patient and helpful! - Deanna Harris
- Thank you so much Michelle C. for all the help you've given me since I have been here! You're the best! - Deanna Harris
- A Big Thank You to JD for pulling awesome resources for us for math!!! I was looking for resources and she heard me and took it upon herself to go and pull some things for me!!! You are greatly appreciated, because I know that you didn't have to do it! - Deanna Harris
- Thanks to Rico for being a great math planning partner! - Deanna Harris
- I am so thankful to be part of a welcoming community of educators who strive to do what's best for our kiddos! - Deanna Harris
- Angie and Lori THANK YOU for all your help at dismissal this week! LP
- Jamie Hardy – Thank you for taking time to meet with parents on Friday! I appreciate you and your support! - Trisha
- Second Grade Team – Thank you for welcoming me to 2nd grade and for surviving week one with me! You all rock! - Trisha
- Barbara, Stacie and all others who have been dealing with School Dismissal Manager – Thank you for working so hard to reduce wait time…I know it hasn’t been easy but you all are amazing! - Trisha
- Melanie-Thanks for taking so much of your time to try and help first grade fix their planner.-Laura G.
- First Grade Team-Love you guys! Thanks for all your efforts in making our first week back a great one!-Laura G.
- JL-Thank you for always being supportive!-Laura G.
- Stacie and Barbara-Thank you for always having the answers to my questions or finding the answer for me! I don't know how you do what you do!-Laura G.
- Stacie - Thank you so much for being my Sonic Fairy this week! Your timing was perfect! -JL
- SL and SdL - I cannot express my gratitude for you and your ability to endure extremely challenging situations. I'm still disinfecting my toes. -JL
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Bad Dude
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McKinney ISD's Vision, Mission and Beliefs
Any time we have an idea, concern, solution and/or comment, this is the filter through which we should speak. Let's help each other live up to our vision, mission, and beliefs.
Vision:
We are a cohesive, diverse community providing engaging learning experiences for all.
We will provide engaging learning experiences so students can become effective communicators, quality contributors and socially responsible citizens.
Beliefs:
- Partnerships between students, parents, community members and staff are foundational to educational success.
- Positive school culture and a safe environment foster growth.
- Everyone has inherent value and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
- Learning is an active process requiring engaging tasks and engaging minds.
- Relevant and authentic experiences ignite continuous, deeper learning.
- Meaningful relationships enrich learning.
- Confidence fuels risk taking and higher achievement.
- Financial stewardship ensures a tomorrow for education.