Walls's Monkey Memo
September 02, 2014
Weekly Happenings
Greetings Students and Families,
Welcome back from a long weekend, I hope everyone is well rested!
This week we will be beginning our Math and Literacy Stations. I will be reviewing station expectations with students for the next two weeks. During these learning stations students will be working either independently, with a partner, in a small group or with the teacher directly. This week students will practice station routines in a whole group setting then move towards small group work next week.
Math focus: Place Value and reviewing skills from 2nd grade.
Literacy focus: Problem and Solution with the book A New Coat for Anna.
Reading Challenges and Spelling will begin next week!
AIMSweb CBM testing is this week! I will share testing results at the first parent conference.
Ms. Walls's Supply List
We are still in need of the following items for many students.
Please send them in as soon as possible.
$10.00 Magazine/Activity/Craft Fee
Gym shoes to keep indoors - with name
Headphones - with name
Clorox/Lysol Wipes
These are important items for every student to have of their own.
Dates to Remember
Sept. 01 – NO SCHOOL Labor day
Sept. 03 - Discipline Program Presentation
for Parents 6:30 pm
Sept. 17 - Constitution Day Assembly 1:00 pm
Sept. 17 - Early Release Day 1:45 pm
Sept. 19 – Picture Day
Sept. 26 - Duct Tape Day
Volunteering Opportunities
However, in order to volunteer a background check must be complete. All volunteers will need to complete the online background check each year.
Directions for the Online Background Check:
1. Go to the district website at www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us
2. At the homepage click the "Volunteer" tab.
3. Click on "Volunteer Openings"
4. Scroll down then click on the "Apply" button next to West Homer Elementary.
5. Click on the "Start" arrow and fill in the information needed and move on as instructed.
As soon as your background check has been processed our school secretary, Jean Calhoun, will let me know and we can meet to discuss your volunteering interests.
If you have difficulties completing the background check, please let me know so I can help you through the process. We can work on it right here in the classroom after school together.
I am looking to sharing in our children's growth again this year!
Early Release
KPBSD announces early release dates
Six times in the new school year, KPBSD school days will end ninety minutes early in order for teachers and instructional support staff to collaborate.
An ongoing challenge in our schools is to find time to adequately review data and then plan improvement efforts. While our negotiated agreement does give teachers a small amount of time to work after school, all teachers and instructional support staff will benefit from more collaboration time to support their instructional practices. This additional time supports our five year strategic plan goals in the areas of Academic Success and Organizational Excellence.
Six times throughout the academic year, on a Wednesday, schools will meet the minimum day, leaving teachers with approximately ninety minutes of additional time to work on improvement strategies. The length of the school day on the following six days will be reduced by ninety minutes, for a total of nine hours during the 2014-2015 school year. On these early release dates, school will end ninety minutes (1.5 hours) earlier. Bus transportation will be adjusted by ninety minutes.
September 17
October 29
November 26
February 04
March 27
May 01
We recognize families may need to make arrangements on the early release dates, and thank everyone for the willingness to help our KPBSD schools improve through these six early-release dates.
Additional information:
1) Schools will have further details based on school schedules.
2) Transportation: our transportation contract is by the day and allows us to modify the time and number of routes. Thus, the change for the one day per month will not cause an increase in transportation costs, and time is simply adjusted by the 1.5 hours.
3) The school calendar clearly notes the minimum days so you can plan accordingly. 4) The school district will review the efficiency and effectiveness of the early release opportunities mid-year and at the end of year.