Points of Pride
August 18, 2017
District Updates...
Good afternoon,
Today I was at our monthly elementary administrators meeting and I know this is going to be long, but this is my way of keeping you informed and avoiding staff meetings, so please read :)
- First of all, keep in mind our procedures regarding the eclipse. If you are planning on taking the students out, please send me an email.
- Dr. Zentner is encouraging people to go to one of the district's Student Loan Forgiveness sessions. She said that you no longer have to work at a Title I school for your debt to be forgiven and different programs are coming out all the time. You can find them in MLP.
- There were 26 applicants for our superintendent position. They are currently doing interviews with the intention of hiring someone at the September 26 board meeting.
- This year GPS is working with a group called "Total Rewards" that will be sending out an itemized PDF showing just how much your contract is worth when adding in employer matching in retirement, health care, etc.
- Gifted testing procedures are different this year. We are blanket testing all third and fifth grade students with a 30-40 minute screener. Any student that scores well on that one will qualify to take the entire test. Any student that requests testing, please refer to Sue or myself.
- When sending a message from Infinite Campus, please add your name at the bottom. The district is getting complaints from parents regarding messages and not knowing who they are from.
- New Toys for Sylvia: SPE will be getting all new copiers during Christmas Break. The district is "outsourcing" service and purchasing; we should get better products and save about $250,000 a year as a district.
- Teacher laptops instead of your desktop computer is on the agenda for the August 22 board meeting. Half of the elementary schools will be getting them in the winter, and the other half in the spring. These are going to be great devices that can be used as a laptop or tablet, while connecting to your projector via Bluetooth (yay, no more wires).
- Oh, and if you haven't heard, there is going to be an eclipse on Monday (Is it just me or is this thing everywhere right now?)
Sorry, I know that this is not the most exciting newsletter, but I try not to send many whole staff emails during the week, yet still want to keep you "in the know."
Robert
Change in Plans....
Next week is scheduled to be a Site PD and at this point in the year, I think we would benefit more by making it a PLC Day.
However, the 9/6 date that was supposed to be for your PLC, we are using as a Thinking Map, Response to Text, Write from the Beginning refresher.
Weekly Inspiration!!!
I don't know about you, but I LOVE all of the Kid President videos, hence the "Focus on the Awesome," sign in my office. This one is made for teachers and students. Watch and consider showing it to your students and discussing.