April 30, 2018
A Communication Tool for the Seven Hills Staff
Night of Wonder!
Please mark your calendars for a Night of Wonder! Seven Hills, Prairie View, and Chisholm Trail are partnering for an exciting celebration of literacy. SHE students will be presenting, there will be awesome prize giveaways, bingo for books, and even a book fair! You won’t want to miss this exciting event. Staff attendance is highly encouraged. Please communicate this with your classroom parents as well. Thank you!!
Help Spread the Word...Kindergarten Round-Up is This Week!
NISD Professional Learning Expectations and Opportunities:
NISD offers teachers comprehensive and highly regarded professional learning opportunities. I have tried to capture the key components here, but if you would like to peruse a little on your own, the following links might be of interest:
- NISD Professional Learning Website: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pHjJQTJSTVIW9mAVNJu0fpm7ApbfroRshrP4-heeBg0/edit
- NISD Professional Learning Framework: https://www.nisdtx.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=232201&pageId=7912537
Staff Development Flex Days:
Each professional must accumulate a minimum of three flex days (18 learning hours) between July 1, 2018 and March 10, 2019 to be used for the November 21, 2018, December 21, 2018, and April 19, 2019 staff development days. Classes offered in June may be used with principal approval.
All professional development applicable to flex days must be taken during off-contract time.
Prior approval from the principal is required for all sessions and must be documented on the Flex Days for Staff Development form.
Any changes to the form must be approved by the campus principal.
Core content teachers are required to attend a 3 hour content institute as part of their 18 hours.
ALL Instructional Staff (Everyone except Paraprofessionals) will complete 6 hours of FLEX on August 10 during our Leader in Me Empowering Instruction learning.
9 of your required 18 hours will come from Leader in Me required PD in August and the Required Content Institutes offered this summer.
FLEX Approval Form: http://www.nisdtx.org/departments/professional_learning/flex_days
Required Annual Training Updates:
NISD has developed a series of annual updates that meet district, state, or federal guidelines for employees. Each campus shall provide expectations regarding timelines for completion and verify staff compliance. A complete list will be available in August 2018. You may begin completing these courses through Eduphoria on July 1st.
General Summer Dates:
August 1-3, 2018 ENGAGE Professional Learning Conference
August 13-15, 2018 New Teacher Professional Learning
August 16-24, 2018 All Staff Professional Learning
The chart pictured below outlines the All Staff Professional Learning Schedule. This schedule is subject to change based on campus needs or scheduling. Report to your home campus on August 16, 2018.
CONTENT INSTITUTES
Content Institutes are required for all Pre-K-5 teachers, Dual Language Teachers, Secondary ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies teachers, World Languages teachers and Special Education teachers. If you have questions, please verify with Kim Blackburn which Institute you should attend. DON'T WAIT TO SIGN UP! COURSES FILL UP FAST!! You can find the dates that these required courses are offered here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pHjJQTJSTVIW9mAVNJu0fpm7ApbfroRshrP4-heeBg0/edit#
ENGAGE
- Need a babysitter? Alphabest will be open for school-age children. If you are attending ENGAGE, Alphabest is FREE to you!!
- You will not want to miss the great sessions at ENGAGE this summer. We have fantastic featured presenters as well as over 150 other amazing sessions to choose from. The following sessions will be offered at ENGAGE as well as others.
- A final ENGAGE Schedule will be posted in June.
- Opportunities listed under all contents are geared to support teachers that teach all subjects. Courses are listed under one Domain, but most crossover and support many of the T-TESS Domains.
DO NOT WAIT TO REGISTER FOR COURSES YOU ARE INTERESTED IN!
COURSES FILL UP FAST!
Seven Hills is Managing the Whirlwind and Focusing on the Wildly Important!
SST & Curriculum Updates from Hayley:
Curriculum:
Kinder, First and Second grade! Meridith has been kind enough to volunteer to assist with what is being asked of you to upload. Please see her email below and let me know if you are interested. In order for her to help you Wednesday there are specific things you will need to have ready for her. Please make note of those and let me know if you would like her to come by Wednesday and help you.
From Meridith..
Here is what I can do for k-2 grade at Seven Hills next Wednesday… if your teachers would like assistance:
- I will come in and steal the teacher computer for about 5-10 minutes to add google folders for each of the students.
- I will then use the teacher ipad to take pictures of the 2 journal entries and upload them to their google folder.
- I would then share the folder with the NISD student e-mail so students have access when they are older.
Here is what I would need from you:
- A student roster
- Access to your computer/google drive for 5-10 minutes
- Your teacher ipad with google drive app
- Student journals (please have students select two entries that they would want uploaded and tab with a sticky note)
SST: I Wanted you to be aware of a few little changes in the last round of SST meetings. I have sent calendar invites to all teachers ( weeks ago) and checked the purple calendar. I wanted to make sure you had the dates as well.
SST D- April 30
SST E- May 3
Habit Focus for the Week: Habit 7
Please Share With Your Parents:
STAAR Updates From Your CTCs...Leslie and Hayley!
Our next round of STAAR will be here in 3 weeks! Mark your calendars for STAAR Testing Training on May 1st at 3:30. This training will be for all staff who will be administering STAAR tests in May.
All testing accommodation recommendations will need to be brought to an Accommodations Planning Meeting on Wednesday, May 2 at 3:30. Please be discussing with your team, 504-ELL-RTI-SPED program coordinators, and testing coordinators if you have questions about appropriate and allowable accommodations.
Please share the information about STAAR testing and closed campus pictured below with your parents.
Campus and District Announcements and Updates:
Morning Arrival and Duty Reminders: A gentle reminder that we receive students at 7:20 am. Teachers should be in their classrooms ready to monitor students and prepare students for the day at 7:20. This is an important part of the day, and has the potential to set students up for success for the rest of the day. What are students engaged in/with from 7:20 - 7:40 am? Staff who do not have homeroom class assignments do have morning duty assignments. It is very important that staff are on duty promptly at 7:20 am in order to support a safe arrival for everyone.
- Be informed...The Latest Edition of the C&I Newsletter: https://www.smore.com/nkpt1
- Save the Date for Campus Based PD in August: Seven Hills staff will complete The Leader in Me Empowering Instruction professional learning on August 10, 2018. All instructional staff are required to attend, and because this is a non-contract day, this will count toward FLEX credit. The location is TBD, as we may opt to have this off site for a more engaging PD.
Attendance Snapshot Time: Staff, it is imperative that attendance be completed DAILY at the 9:30 reporting time. Funding is connected to this reporting, and should the district/campus be audited, failure to report attendance at the snapshot time could result in loss of funding for all of the students in your classroom on each day that attendance was not completed at the reporting time. Please be advised that reporting attendance is connected to T-TESS discipline 4.
Help Spread The Word! And, All 7 Hills Students Need to Wear "Oh the Places I'll Lead" Shirts!
Save the Date:
Habit Focus: Habit 7
April 30:
- Leadership Teams Meeting, 3:30 - 4:30
- SST D
May 1:
- For guests on campus today, all staff wear black polo and pants or skirt of your choice - no jeans please.
- Grade Level PLCs - we will not begin class placement protocols this week. This will be the last PLC to really take a deep look at your learning cycles
- Leader in Me Visitors from Valley Ridge Elementary 8:30 am
- 7 Hills Curriculum Audit 1:00 - 2:30
- STAAR Training, 3:30
- Night of Wonder: a 7 Hills, PVE, and CTMS event 5:30 - 7:00 pm at CTMS
- Ukulele Performance at 6:00 pm
May 2:
- Math planning with coaches
- Kim Blackburn and Jen Morales off campus at The Leader in Me PD
- STAAR Accommodations Planning Meeting, 3:30
- Wear jeans with a 7 Hills shirt as part of the fundraising incentive
May 3:
- Leader Rally, 7:40 am
- SST E
- Staff Meeting, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
- Kindergarten Round -Up, 5:30 - 7:00
- End of StR Turn 4
May 4:
- Wear jeans and "World Changer" shirt. Students need to wear red, "Oh the Places I'll Lead" shirts for Senior Memory Walk
- Senior Memory Walk, 8:45 am (more details coming)
- StR Turn 4 results due
Save the Date:
- PTA Mother Son Event
Happy Birthday to You: