SMS Update!
April 25, 2016
Here's What's Happening...
The SMS Update is created to keep the staff of Strongsville Middle School up to date and in the loop as our school continues to evolve and take shape. It is important that we're all on the same page as we move forward to the 2016-2017 school year.
If you have questions, concerns, suggestions, or are looking for clarification to a rumor you may have heard, please feel free to contact: Steve Deitrick, Kelli Izzo, or Mike Vukovich. If we don't have the answer, we'll find it for you.
Master Schedule
The master schedule is still in the works as we continue to look at ways to best fit the needs of our students. Many of you have a good idea of what you will be teaching, while others still wait for the pieces to be put together. I will be finishing up my visits with staff, who recently found out they will joining the SMS Team, next week. Feel free to give me a call if you would like to discuss how next year will look.
Many have expressed how Team Time and Duty Periods will look for next year. While it is not etched in stone, this is the direction we are looking to take:
Duty Period: Teachers will have a period in which 3 days/week you will be assigned a duty (ex. Period Sub Coverage). These days may be flexible and not fixed. You will be called to cover a class, on an as-needed basis, not to exceed 3 days/week. The other 2 days/week will be your own time to work on SLOs, OTES, etc.
Team Time: Each grade, and various encores, will have a common Teaming Period. For example, all 6th grade teachers, (including Intervention Specialists if co-taught classes take place), will have 8th period free. 3 Days/week you will meet within your Interdisciplinary Teams and 2 Days/week with your content-area TBT.
This provides fixed times for grade level and content-area teams to collaborate, and it also provides flexibility for class coverages.
Staffing
We will meet at Center Middle School at 2:20, during Early Release on April 26, to work within our interdisciplinary teams. Encore teachers, please meet with your content area colleagues to develop a common game plan for next year. Below is the master staff list and April 26 room assignments. 6 Grade Interdisciplinary teams, please meet with your interdisciplinary teams at Kinsner at 3:00 to continue preparation for next year.
Current elementary encore teachers, please attempt to make arrangements with your building principals in order to be at CMS at 2:20 to meet with other encore teachers.
7th Grade:
Discoverers: 105
Globetrotters: 102
Pioneers: 132
Seekers: 129
8th Grade:
Crusaders: 130
Dragons: 204
Pirates: 131
Vanguard: 203
Encore:
Art: 128
ELA: 107
FCS: 211
Music: 121
PE: Upper Media
PLTW: 207
SFS: 111
Tech: 124
I/S:
MM: 208
MI: 210
Room Assignments
Upcoming Trainings
Packing For the Big Move
- "No Box" Challenge!- We have one MS teacher who needs Zero boxes for her move. Can you do the same? Aside from textbooks and supplemental materials, take as little as possible. Now is the time to downsize and purge- especially with the increased use of technology to store files, lesson plans, assessments and other pertinent information. .......Free yourself from clutter!!!!
- Teacher laptops- If you use a laptop in your classroom as your primary computer for daily operations, you may want to consider taking it home with you over the summer. The tech department will have a plan to move all technology over to SMS, however, it may be easier for you to know exactly where it is at all times.
- Access to the New Building: The target date for staff to be permitted into the building is Aug. 1. I will keep you posted as we get closer to the start of school. That date may change based on accessibility.
- Labels & Stickers: Moving supplies will be dropped off soon. Labels and stickers will be distributed by building secretaries in order to conserve supplies. Slap the label on the box (Name & Room Number) and the sticker to designate which floor your box will go (1st- Green, 2nd- Blue, 3rd- Orange)
- No Existing Furniture: Remember, there is to be no existing furniture brought to the new building.
Curriculum Matters
We will continue discussions on What Honors Level Work Looks Like at our May staff meeting. We will work within our interdisciplinary teams and a small portion of the meeting will be used to gather your input.
NewsELA: This is a differentiated reading comprehension program that uses currently events (daily) to engage students. It tailors the assessments to the various lexile levels of your students. This program will replace our current one, Achieve 3000, as our 2-year contract has expired. If you would be interested in piloting NewsELA during the last few months of school, let me know. Through conversations with staff ( i know some elementary teachers are currently using the free version) there are a couple of you who would already like to try it out before diving into it next year.
Makerspace: Joan Battle received a grant to help get our Makerspace off the ground at SMS. For those who are unaware what that is, it is simply a space designated for students to express creativity in a variety of ways. Materials and equipment usually seen in such a space include: Electronic Microscopes, Robotics, Art Supplies, Sewing Machines, 3-D Printers, Coding Materials.
Shout Outs!
- Tracy Britton, Tina Fike & Sarah Silvestri for meeting with HS Science teachers to discuss science class progression/sequencing. This marks the beginning stages of MS-HS Science collaboration!
- All the 7-8 ELA teachers who attended Tuesday's meeting. I was the slacker that wasn't there so, I do not have specific names to recognize. But, thank you, for your continued efforts in preparing for the changes that are taking place.
- 6th grade teachers for you continued work through the change process towards uncharted waters.
- Sabrina & Morgan for landing the grant to obtain the Tower Garden for students to use within their curriculum. Tower Garden
Important Dates
- April 26: Early Release- If the vast majority of teachers are able to finish entering SLO
- May 4: Combined Staff Meeting at Center @ 3:20 (Work in Interdisc. Teams)
- May 13: SMS Golf Outing @ Mallard Creek
- May 20: Last Day!!! Deep Breaths!!!