Monday Memo
September 9-13
Things that Make Us Laugh
Laughter is Good for the Soul
Here is a video that really hit home (and is Monday Memo approved). Last week, I heard from some first grade teachers about how their students did not know how to use a mouse to take an online assessment. I also always hear from our Lunch Superheroes about sending out messages to parents reminding them to practice opening items that they are going to send in for lunches. I think the most popular item sent in the first two weeks of school was the mini pizza Lunchable kit. AND let me tell you, there are so many little packages to open! Our younger students struggle opening every single one, and then they take about 10 minutes to put their pizzas together that lunch is almost over by the time they take one bite. Thank you to our Lunch Superheroes that help everyday with opening Lunchables, GoGurts, Tupperware, CapriSuns, and any other item that our kiddos cannot open YET. We are working on a growth mindset in the cafeteria, too!
Have a great week and remember to laugh!
Nuts and Bolts for the Week
Welcome and Welcome Back
- Please help me in welcoming Kristin (Kristi) Sheneman to the Alward family. She will be joining our wonderful interventionist team as a 31A instructional para. Kristin comes to us with many years experience working with general and special education students and has recently gone back to renew her teaching license. She is very excited to join the Alward team and help champion for students everyday!
- Welcome back Mr. Matt! We are so excited to see you tomorrow! Remember we are all here for you and to help support however you need!
Shout Outs
- Thank you to all of our amazing paras for going above and beyond to help with morning supervision and car line, covering classrooms during testing, responding when students are having big emotions or simply need a break, and all the other areas that I might have missed. You play such a big role in making our school the "greatest school on earth." Thank you for championing for our students everyday!
- Thank you to our Lunch Superheroes for all that you do day in and day out with our students in the lunch room to supervising recess! You do not have an easy job, but you are appreciated more thank you know! Keep up the wonderful work and continue bringing those smiles! You are a fantastic group!
- Thank you to our bus drivers for keeping our students safe on the way to and from school! You do not have an easy job between keeping your eyes on the road and the numerous students that fill your seats daily. Thank you for partnering with our teachers to go over SOAR expectations so students know what to do on the bus.
- Finally, thank you to our teachers for doing a great job with our first bus PBIS lesson for the year! Thank you for going with the flow and trying out the new system. And, thank you to Ross for all of his work to get the bus schedule arranged for our school to participate in these lessons. This is meaningful work!
Tasks, Updates, and Reminders
- Pledge Schedule-Patti's class will be kicking off the year by saying the pledge. When you class is done saying the pledge, pass the torch onto the next class listed. Thank you!
- Medical Alerts: Please pay close attention to the medical alerts for your class and grade level! We have a lot of different food allergies and severe medical needs in some classes this year.
2. 5D+ Updates from Anne Armstrong
3. 5D+ Timeline: Please refer to 19-20 evaluation updates above for timeline and more details.
- Self-assessments were due on Friday, September 6! If you haven't submitted them, please do so by the end of Monday, September 9th.
- Goal Writing: I will meet with all grade level teams on Thursday, September 12th during your planning to help write goals for this school year.
4. Walk-a-thon: Please make sure that you have emailed your families the link for the online donations site-https://www.getmovinfundhub.com/register?school_uuid=5d2e05bfcd92b
Mrs. Hawks is leading right now with the most money and kids signed up online, with Mrs. Wert, Mrs Snyder, and DeCarlo all close behind. There’s a $100 gift card of your choice for your classroom for 1st place! We are excited to see who wins this year!
5. Benchmark Tests Window Thru Friday, September 13th
- PK and KDG: KRA and MLPP+
- 1st Grade: Early Star Literacy (all students-will need headphones), Star Math, and F&P
- 2nd-5th: Star Reader, Star Math, and F&P
6. Benchmark Data Dialogues Begin Wednesday, September 18th
- Data must be entered into our Reading and Math Data Spreadsheets by Wednesday, September 18th.
- Reading Data Spreadsheet
- Math Data Spreadsheet
7. #aesreads: As we embark on this new school year, please help me spread the love of reading by sending me or posting pictures of reading to our Facebook page. Include the hashtag #aesreads. These pictures can include:
- students reading
- teachers reading
- staff members reading
- students or a class sharing a favorite book (book review)
These pictures can also be in or out of school. Spread the word with your families as well!
8. Reading Goals: As you walk around the school, you may have noticed the bulletin board with reading goals for this year. Our "main event" goal this year is to reach 100 million words read! As we reach 25 million words read, the whole school will earn an "event" incentive for their reading efforts that ties into our "Greatest School on Earth" theme. Let's start the year off strong and show the community our "reading strength."
Reminders:
1. Drill Procedures : Review the drill procedures as we will be starting drills this week!
2. Peanut and Nut Free Classrooms Update: This year, all classrooms will be peanut and nut free.
- Grades/teachers with peanut/tree nut allergies include: PKB, KD, 1D, 1T, 30, 4L, 4H, 5B, 5C
- PK, KDG, and Grade 1 will have a food-free birthday treat policy.
- First grade needs to pay attention to products made in a peanut/tree nut factories. These items are not allowed for snacks. Be safe by having students wash their hands after snack with soap and water.
- Cafeteria-peanut/nut items are allowed for all grades except Ms. Terpstra's class. Students that consume peanut butter or nut products will wash their hands with soap and water or baby wipes after they eat lunch in the cafeteria. We will continue to have peanut/nut free tables.
3. HR Newsletter: Anne has been sending out HR newsletters. This past newsletter had some important to do items listed.
GCN Tutorials: All HPS staff is required to view and sign-off on GCN training videos for the 2019-20 school year. You can find the directions to login to the GCN system HERE. Staff has until September 30, 2019, to complete the videos. You must use your Hudsonville Public Schools google account to view the directions. Reminder to use "Hudsonville" as your organization ID when logging into GCN.
Many staff that were on-boarded this summer and did the trainings do not need to do them again. All employees must complete the videos if you have completed them since last year. These are annual trainings that are required by labor law. We appreciate everyone getting these done in a timely manner. If you need additional support, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
4. Recess: Please make sure that you know your morning and afternoon recess supervision schedule.
- PK: Exit and enter door K
- KDG: Exit and enter door H
- 1st Grade: Exit and enter door K
- 2nd-5th Grades: Exit and enter door M (5th until we get further clarification.)
5. Attendance and Lunch Count: Please submit attendance and lunch count by 9:15 a.m. This will help us stay on top of absences and ensure that our students get what they need for lunch! You do not need to send lunch cards down to the office. Please keep them in your classrooms and make sure to carefully count and enter lunch counts. Thank you!
6. Blogs:
- Please make sure to update your classroom blogs at least twice a month!
- If you would like to utilize ClassDojo as your main line of communication with your parents, please make sure to include a link on the main page of your blog.
- Email me when your blog is about to expire. I will upgrade it with school funds so that you do not have to do this!
7. Jean Fund Fridays
- $1/Friday
- $20/Semester
- $40/year
Benchmark Testing
1st Grade-Star Early Literacy, Star Math, and F&P
2nd-5th Grades-Star Reading, Star Math, and F&P
Monday, Aug 26, 2019, 08:45 AM
AES
PTC Mtg
Wednesday, Sep 11, 2019, 07:00 PM
AES Library
Tornado Drill-9:55 a.m.
Wednesday, Sep 11, 2019, 10:00 AM
AES
5D+ Goal Setting
10:00-4th Grade & Burmeister
10:45-3rd Grade & Sarah/Kara
11:45-Specials
1:15-KDG
2:00-1st Grade & Jodie
2:50-2nd Grade & Brooke
*Alyssa and Ashley- come during a time that works best for your schedule
Thursday, Sep 12, 2019, 09:00 AM
AES
School Pictures
Friday, Sep 13, 2019, 08:45 AM
AES Library
Constitution Day
Just a polite reminder about Constitution Day, September 17th. Please keep track of constitution day plans by grade level/department in your buildings.
Constitution Day -Public Law 108-447 requires all educational institutions receiving federal funds to hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17, 2019, for the students served by the educational institution.
Here are some resources if your teams need them!
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2019, 09:00 AM
AES
5D+ Goals Due in Pivot
Friday, Sep 27, 2019, 04:00 PM
AES
GCN Tutorials Completed By September 30th
GCN Tutorials: All HPS staff is required to view and sign-off on GCN training videos for the 2019-20 school year. You can find the directions to login to the GCN system HERE. Staff has until September 30, 2019, to complete the videos. You must use your Hudsonville Public Schools google account to view the directions. Reminder to use "Hudsonville" as your organization ID when logging into GCN.
Many staff that were on-boarded this summer and did the trainings do not need to do them again. All employees must complete the videos if you have completed them since last year. These are annual trainings that are required by labor law. We appreciate everyone getting these done in a timely manner. If you need additional support, please do not hesitate to contact our office.