Galloping Gazette
A newsletter for the Faculty and Staff - Week of 9/30
Put Students First • Seek Growth • Be Open to Change . Do Great Work Together • Value Differences
This week flew! As many of you might have noticed, we are in full swing of our mini-observations and coaches learning walks. I want to take a moment to say thank you for all of your hard work. It is to clear to all that there has been very intentional and diligent work dedicated to clear routines and procedures. In addition, we have been very impressed with the consistent use of authentic anchor charts. We can tell that they are used daily and made with children as they are learning. Lastly, all of our classrooms have an overwhelming positive learning environment with clear learning targets that match the instruction that is occurring in the room. With all of this going on, one would think it is December. We have one of the most hard working staffs !
Learning Walks will be consistently occurring throughout the year as they guide our coaching conversations, PLC work and drive our professional development. With that said, now that you have lived your submitted schedule for a month, we are noticing that they might need some tweaking. Please reflect on your schedule, double check that it is current and that small group reading and small group math is noted. If any edits need to be made, please resubmit your schedule.
I hope you have a fantastic weekend and enjoy our first true fall weather! You deserve it.
Shout Outs...
- Shout out to Karen Ratner for making the labels for us without any hesitation. We love ❤️ you! May
- A big shout out to my amazing PE team ( Holloway, Pace, Virella & Perez) for all you do for the kiddos especially during the last few hot days. ❤️ May
- Francis for being my UBER when I lost my keys. Tina
- Shout out to Mrs. Witherow and team for being so patient and AWESOME!!!! Jill
- Jennifer Pleasant, Wende Phillips, and Karen Ratner: I do believe we have the BEST office staff in the entire system. You all are amazing in every way! Cindy
- Shout out to Mrs. Porter for getting us coverage to finish our DRAs. I have officially finished DRA testing thanks to you! Cindy
- Jennifer Morrick, You’re amazing. I can’t wait to work with you this year! Danielle
- Jenny, Thank you helping me out with a math lesson! Danielle
- Michelene, Thank you for your referee skills at bus duty. Danielle
- Shoutout to Travis for changing a sight word dvd to a digital file for me!! You rock! Also, thanks for your time and patience helping our kinders get logged on and ready to use chrome books. You rock! -Stacey
- HUGE thank you to Travis for helping this week getting my kinders used to logging into their Chromebooks and even BIGGER THANK YOU for also helping us get them to complete the Schoology survey.....which was no easy task! Tennys
- Shout out to Patti C. for letting me wear her flip flops when my new shoes gave me blisters. Jenny
- Shout out to Debbie for helping me through the DDIPP process during collaboration. Jenny
- Shout out to all the teachers that welcomed me into their classrooms during their small group math time for my learning walks this week. I really enjoyed being part of your classes! Jenny
- To Marrisa, Amanda, Anne B for all their support when I have been out taking care of John. Sharon
- Shout out to Deborah Melvin for keeping my floor sparkly clean! Thanks! ❤️Claire
- Shout outs to the following staff members who are always so positive and supportive to those they work with and others in the school: Fatima Dorbin; Alainya Kemper; Olivia Frierson; Donna Bagnall; Mr. Andrew; Stacy Witherow; and Claire Love. Many thanks for spreading your joy.
- Thank you to Heather for helping out me out during PE time to help our kinders log on to Schoology and complete the surveys!! Tennys
- Shoutout to Tennys Kane for being an awesome partner! I love working with you and our cool kinders! Heather
- Shoutout to whoever BOOED me!! What a fun way to get excited about Halloween! Heather Armstrong, AKA Halloween’s # 1 fan! Heather
- Jenny, Thank you for a great Go Math training! Danielle
- Huge kudos to Ann Featherston, Beth O'Brian and Mercy McBee for walking 2,149,921 steps in a month while achieving the rank of 6th with a four person team among all the schools and city participants!
- Shout out to Wende for doing a good deed for a family in need. Jennifer
- Travis, Thank you for making PD fun for my little guy! Danielle
Schedule for upcoming weeks
**National Bullying Awareness Prevention Month**
** VA Disability History and Awareness Month**
** PLC- LA this Week - please bring your writing sample**
** Fire Prevention Week **
Monday, October 7th
- #GetthatMondaymotivation
- Achieve 3000 Training in Tina's Room with Margie Smith
5th grade at 8:35-9:10
3rd grade at 9:25-10:00
4th grade at 1:40-2:15
- GOTR 3:00
Tuesday, October 8th
- 8:30 SCA installation
- 1/2 day Spanish Collaboration 11:30-3:00 Room 34B
- PBIS team Meeting 3:00 Library
- SCA Meeting 2:45
Wednesday, October 9th
- Progress Reports Quarter 1
- IPT Testing 4th Grade 8:30-10:30
- 11:00 2nd PLC
- 12:45 1st PLC
- 1:35 4th PLC
- 5th Grade Amusement Park Expo 1:30-2:15
- GOTR 3:00
Thursday, October 10th
- 5th Grade Gifted Screening
- 8:30 5th PLC
- 9:20 3rd PLC
- 10:10 PreK/K PLC
- PBIS team Training 12:30-4:30 - Plaza Annex
Friday, October 11th
- Navy Volunteers here
- School Support Meeting 9:00 - Rm 36
- PTA Fall Festival 6:00-8:00
** National School Lunch Week **
Monday, October 14th
- #GetthatMondaymotivation
- Remember to park in the bus area today. Trees being cut down out front.
- Virtual Learning Day for Students
- SPED Team Meeting 2:00
Tuesday, October 15th
- GOTR 3:00
Wednesday, October 16th
- Robyn out of the building 8 - 12
- 11:00 2nd PLC
- 12:45 1st PLC
- 1:35 4th PLC
- GOTR 3:00
Thursday, October 17th
- 5th Grade Aviation Challenge @ Aviation Museum
- Earthquake Drill (AM)
- 8:30 5th PLC
- 9:20 3rd PLC
- 10:10 PreK/K PLC
- PTA Meeting 3:00
- School Planning Council Meeting- Library 3:00
Friday, October 18th
- Spirit Day - Theme TBA
News and Notes....
- On Nov. 1st, we will be having a staffing change. October 31st will be Mrs. Garland's last day at CFES. She will be retiring. At that time, Ms. Doyle will be stepping into the role of the Library Media Assistant. We are excited for both of these deserving and dedicated farm family members.
- Don't forget your Mandatory Employee Training is due the beginning of February :)
Moriah Kowalzczyk is going to be taking over the responsibility of sending items to the poster printer. Starting Monday, please send these requests to her. Please keep in mind:
- Include the size you would like the poster to be if it is different from the template size.
- When creating your poster, please use Publisher on your HP laptop. I have attached a landscape and a portrait template to use.
- If you send a PDF, it will be used as is and will likely turn out blurry when enlarged to poster size.
- It is unrealistic to have Moriah custom make or edit everyone's posters. Please ensure it is how you want it before you send it.
- Be mindful of what you ask for as a poster. The resources for this printer are VERY expensive.
This month, the U.S. Navy will celebrate their 244th birthday - founded by John Paul Jones and John Barry on October 13, 1775, Philadelphia, PA.
On Friday, October 11, 2019, Naval Air Station Oceana will have volunteers at our school to participate in activities around the building that may include morning announcements, reading/talking to the students, and visiting the cafeteria as lunch buddies. (We will send out more information when we get confirmation about the time of their visit.)
This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize the sacrifices and contributions of our Navy Sailors, who are neighbors, volunteers and citizens, actively working to enhance the quality of life for the Hampton Roads area and Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Nominate Your Favorite Custodian for "Custodians Are Key" Contest
Morning Meeting Moment
- Remind myself that it is never okay to hurt others. It is important to set clear guidelines about what is acceptable and what is not. In our classroom, we are not allowed to hurt or be destructive to others or their property. That includes hurting others with our words.
- Take 3 deep breaths or count slowly to 10. Helping children to understand that these big feelings are completely normal but it is their reaction and actions as a result of those feelings that can hurt others (and ultimately, ourselves), is an important part of the calm down plan. Taking a few deep breaths or slowly counting to ten gives the child time to recognize their body’s warning signs – whether they be a tense body, clenched teeth or racing heart. When making a plan, talk with your child about how their body feels when they are angry or frustrated and then introduce the idea of taking a few breaths to compose themselves and to form a better course of action then striking out at another person.
- Use my words to say how I feel and what I wish would happen. Acknowledging the big feelings recognizes that these feelings are legitimate and important and saying what they wish would happen helps to open a problem solving conversation. Of course, what they wish would happen won’t always be an acceptable solution for all parties, and this can often be a difficult lesson for children to learn (and virtually impossible for very young children to learn) and they will often need support to work out a more peaceful solution, especially when they are used to striking out when they feel big emotions.
- Ask for help to solve the problem. As an adult I often find talking through a problem really helps me to process it, and children will often need support as they learn to problem solve and find solutions in social situations. Let your child know that it is okay to ask for help when they don’t feel that they can solve the problem and keep these important channels of communication open, so that one day when they are working on much bigger problems than a spat with a sibling or frustration with a friend, they feel that they can always come to you for help.
- Take the time I need to calm down. Let your child know that sometimes they just won’t feel that the solution proposed is enough and that they may still feel angry or upset even having worked through each of the above steps, and that in these situations it is often better to walk away or to find another safe way to diffuse those feelings. Next week I will share a range of cool down strategies that children can use to help work through these lingering emotions or to distract themselves from the situation. As an adult, it is important to remember that this step is not about isolating the child but about giving them space if they want it, or going to them and supporting them through this final step if they need it.
VIRGINIA BEACH READING COUNCIL (VBRC) - FALL READING CONFERENCE
Administrators and teachers can register using the attached registration form no later than Oct. 11. Administrators and teachers are invited to submit a proposal to present a breakout session via Google Form: https://forms.gle/GU2jR43s4eSrYsrJ7. Breakout session proposals are due no later than Oct. 11.
The school will pay for the first 10 people to that are interested to attend the conference. The school will not pay for guests to attend. Please let Wende know if you are interested, the first ten people will be free!
America's Safe Schools Week, Oct. 20-26.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools will observe these dates to again highlight and reinforce school safety. In appreciation of their important contributions to school safety, Wednesday, Oct. 23, is designated as School Resource Officer and Security Assistant Day. Let's celebrate Mrs. Fantano to show her appreciation for keeping us safe at CFES!
OPEN ENROLLMENT 2020
OPEN ENROLLMENT 2020
Wednesday, October 9 - Friday, October 25 at 5:00 p.m.
As a friendly reminder, the Consolidated Benefits Office (CBO) encourages you to review your benefits during Open Enrollment. This year’s Open Enrollment will be a passive enrollment for benefits eligible (full-time and full-time equivalent employees), meaning the following benefit(s) will continue as currently elected (roll-over) for January 1, 2020:
- Health
- Dental
- Legal
- Identity Theft Protection
Note: There are certain Optional Benefits, such as Optional Life Insurance and the BEWell Program, that you may enroll in at any time (Evidence of insurability may be required if you enroll in them outside of your New Hire Period), as well as Employer Paid Benefits, such as Basic Life Insurance, that you are offered upon your date of hire (enrollment in these are automatic and cannot be declined).
You are required to elect certain benefits on the BENEFITFOCUS platform to have coverage for the upcoming plan year. The following benefit(s) must be elected to have coverage during 2020:
- Health Savings Account (HSA)
- Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA)
- Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA)
Important dates to know:
- October 15: Last day to make changes to current election on VBCPS online enrollment platform through Benefitfocus
- November 2019: Transition education meetings begin
- Week of November 25, 2019: New account PIN mailed from VOYA
- Week of December 1, 2019 and after 8am: VOYA account access begins using new PIN available through website or 800 number
- Week of December 16: First contributions from December 15th pay cycle to new investments in your VOYA account
- January 2019: First quarterly statement issued by VOYA (paperless)