Principal's Newsletter
October 13th, 2017
WOWs
Thanks to Tony, Michele, and Jodi for working with the reading team to set up MindPlay for our neediest students!
The Reading Team
WOW to the awesome kitchen staff who takes special care of a certain fourth grade boy's challenging dietary likes and dislikes! Your kindness is very much appreciated!--Linda Appelbaum
WOW to all you teachers! I am so thankful how you guys all try so hard everyday to keep so many balls in the air at once. You truly have a challenging job and I'm amazed at the dedication. From all the parents and students I want to say a HUGE thank you!--Julie Elder
WOW to Jaime Little for the suckers. They made my day.
-Katie
WOW to Jane, Tessa and Jennifer who answer so many questions and phone calls each day! Thanks for helping us keep on top of thingsJ
-Katie
WOW to Kim Whitworth for letting a student visit your room for the day! It was much appreciated!
-Katie
WOW to Special Area (Erica, Drew, Candy, Sarah, Todd and Chris) for your openness in learning about behaviors, your ability to collaborate and be problem solvers for your students.
-Katie
WOW to Tony Beer for taking time out of your day to attend the special area meeting to talk about behaviors.
-Katie
WOW to recess and cafeteria paras for your flexibility, patience and humor as we work through some issues.
-Katie
WOW to Jodi Fitzgerald for all the support you provide to staff- I appreciate everything you do and loved learning with you last week!
-Katie
WOW to Susan Adams and LaTonya Foster for a long but productive conference with a parent of a struggling student.
-Katie
WOW to Melissa Barth to being creative with your conferences-meeting the parent who was waiting in her car at parent pick up!
-Katie
Awesome job Kindergarten Team for a voice level zero during the fire drill. You should be very proud of your students. Please give them a hawk feather.
Kristen Schrameyer
Anne Behrens: Thank you for all you do for my class. You are always willing to help and find ways to help the students be successful. Plus thank you for the new book for the classroom. I can’t wait to read it to them.
Kristen Schrameyer
Kindergarten Team: We made it to the end of first quarter. You all have worked so hard in helping your students adjust to school and build relationships with them. I am so proud of all of you and I am glad to be a part of the kindergarten team. Enjoy your break you deserve it.
Kristen Schrameyer
WOW to Rita Lupo for sewing a few weighted animals for our students!--Stacey Schuette
WOW to Katie Fazio! You do an AMAZING job setting up the Friday meetings. They are interactive, productive and fun! Thank you for all you do! -Megan
WOW to Tony for spending EVERY plan time, EVERY DAY with dis-regulated students. And you NEVER complain about it. You rock at building relationships and putting kids first! - Megan
WOW to Maika for building relationship with our friend so that I could go to lunch. -Megan
WOW to Julie for juggling all of our friends and being so versatile with ALL students. -Megan
WOW to Julia for initiating a fundraiser for Penny! You are and Anne are awesome friends! -Megan
WOW to Joyce for spending extra time with extra students Tuesday! Thank you, you are appreciated! -Megan
WOW to Mr. Beer for going late to lunch on many days and giving up his plan time every day to work with students who need support. Tony is great at remaining calm in all of the stressful situations he deals with.-Julie Myers
WOW to Mrs. Kelly for allowing students to come into her room at any time of the day when they are having a difficult time in their class or at home. Michele has created a wonderful atmosphere for students and really connects with them.--Julie Myers
WOW to Ms. Brown and Ms. Durant for creating relationships with students that let them know they are safe and cared for. Megan and Maika also keep a level head and are very supportive when things are a bit out of control in Room 5.--Julie Myers
WOW to Jennifer, Tessa and Jane for always having wonder smiles when I walk into the office. You ladies have a ton of work and questions to answer all day long but you still laugh, smile and help everyone!--Julie Myers
Meeting Minutes
Safety and Security
Parent Engagement
Oops Box
There were no slips in the box.
October 23rd PD Day
Trunk or Treat
PTO provides an award for the best teacher car. They have decided that this year the winning car will get a break during the school day while the administrative team provides recess to the students. It is a jeans day for anyone that is planning to decorate their car at the event too!
Climate Survey Results
The climate committee and the EDCs have received the comments to review prior to their next meeting. Both groups will be using a protocol to problem solve any next steps. The next survey will go out after Thanksgiving. Thanks again for your feedback. Below are just a few of the comments that we received.
- I see changes happening at our school that makes me take pride in people trying to make it better.
- I love the positive changes that we have made.
- I believe we are moving in the right directions and great things are happening at our school.
- I enjoy my building, the teachers and the students with their families.
- Our school continues to make strides to learn, grown, and support each other and students. I am proud to participate in 'Everyone Learning, Every Day".
- I love working at Harvest Ridge! I think great things are happening here. I'm happy with all the work the principals have put in to improve climate.
- I love that our school is taking initiative to help all students and provide whatever level of support they need.
- The sense of belonging is good.
- I take pride in my work and the work that others are doing in the building.
- Harvest Ridge Elementary is a great school.
- We have made so many positive changes. It is exciting that our Admin team is looking and paying attention to the needs of our building.
- This is my first year at Harvest Ridge. I have felt so welcome and I am really enjoying being part of the team! Everyone has been helpful and I am so glad to be here!
- I am very proud to be at Harvest Ridge! There are so many great things happening and so many positive changes going on!
- We all want the best for our students.
- The data teams have been a huge success.
- We do work as a team to always focus on student learning and how to help our students succeed academically.
- Dr. OH has done a lot to make sure that we are using the data to focus on what our students need.
- I believe we have staff that really care about our children. I do believe that we are all still growing in our understanding of best practice both in the academic setting and in regards to behavior. Our leadership is working very hard to help provide the professional development needed and it is working.
There are many channels of communication in the building. It is up to the individual to take those opportunities and use them as needed.
I am not sure what else our administration could do to open lines of communication. Many additional channels of communication and information sharing has been implemented to cultivate an 'open door' policy. I feel like I can go to any of our administration team and speak honestly. I also feel that what I have to share is valued
Our building is offering many opportunities for teachers to be on a variety of committees.
Many committees work on the important decisions and projects in our school. All staff are invited to attend the meetings and communicate to the committee through a committee member
We work as a team and everyone is always up for new ideas!
I feel Natalie has made many positive changes in our school this year to improve all student's learning.
I feel like we are always working on making our school better.
We continue to be a work in progress; continuing to grow and develop strategies to improve student learning. I feel like my PLC participates in frequent conversations to support all students in our grade to reach their full potential. I think we will continue to grow and firm up interventions, instructional strategies, and curriculum.
The admin team has done a great job at helping teachers focus on what we need to do to help our students improve.
There seems to be a lot of thought and preparation that went into making this year better than the last.
I have noticed an improvement this year with student's behaviors.
The way teams come together in our building is incredible. Admin, counselors and SPED come in early and/or leave late to stay for BST and team meetings most days! Teachers with multiple students triggering into BST also have put in the hours and effort on top of the extra hours and effort required to just teach. I wish we gave each other more credit for the things we do above and beyond rather than just expecting it. It really is something that makes our building better!