Intermediate Staff Newsletter
For the Week of May 21, 2018
Dear Staff,
Another week down, another week closer to the end of an amazing school year! This week was one for the books. It started with amazing choir concerts from our 5th and 6th grade choirs. The week included an awesome author visit by Cynthia Lord. 5th graders attended BizTown this week and 4th graders raised over $16,000 for charities! In the midst of all that Shark Tank reviewed many business proposals and included several all-star guest judges Somehow, thanks to our amazing staff we were able to pull all that off without a hitch. A HUGE thank you to the staff members who organized these experiences for our school. There are too many to thank in this space but please know, your efforts did not go unnoticed and are so appreciated!
This week we turn our attention to our last major event of the year, our Spring Fling: Field Day and End of Year Celebration! Please read through the Field Day section below to make sure that you are prepared for this next adventure. This all-day event will require a lot of support from our staff and parent volunteers. You are expected to actively supervise your students during this experience. It would be a great idea to review RISE expectations prior to leaving the building. The weather may or may not cooperate on Monday and Tuesday (30-40% chance of scattered thunderstorms) so be prepared for anything! We plan at this point to move forward with Field Day, but it would be a good idea to have an indoor activity or two as a possible back-up if needed.
In closing, while browsing through Facebook I came across a post by one of our HS colleagues, Tim Mathews. He has recently started a blog and had posted something titled, "The Curse of a High School Teacher". After reading it, I couldn't help but think back to all the students I have connected with this year. It's a very good reminder of how the end of a year is a celebration...and a time for hard goodbyes. We hope you enjoy it!
Let's make it a great week,
Katie, Kate and Barry
Remember your one word from this Fall? We encourage you to take time and remind yourself of your one word. #FinishStrong
Field Day
Field Day will take place for 4th grade on Monday, 5th grade on Tuesday and 6th grade on Thursday. It is really important that you read through this document to understand the schedule. Included at the bottom of the document is a map of where all activities are located. There are links to both the outdoor adventure portion and the wellness field day portion. You are encouraged to wear New Albany spirit wear and comfortable clothing with tennis shoes. At the conclusion of the morning session, please take your class inside to use the restroom and get their lunch. Please use the restroom closest to your classrooms to spread out. Volunteers will follow you in and bring your classes back out to enjoy their picnic lunch. This will be your lunch and plan for the day. Please join us back at the field by 12:40 to get to the first afternoon session at 12:45. Several PTO members will have sub badges and can run students in for restroom breaks if needed. There are also portajohns next to the MS football field. A reminder from health services that they will not be on-site at field day to provide basic first aid care. This means each teacher should take basic first aid supplies out with them from their classroom first aid kit. If a student needs to be seen, they will need to be brought in to the clinic by an adult or transported in the golf cart. If it is a serious injury, please call 911. For any students with bee sting allergies or asthma that require medications while on a field trip, please be sure to sign those medications out the day of your field day so you have them available while outside at the activities.
We've included an email that could be sent to families today or the night before your classes field day, reminding them of what they need to bring to enjoy this exciting day.
Dear Families,
Tomorrow our class will participate in Field Day. This all-day outdoor event requires some extra planning. Please be sure to send your child to school with the following items: a packed lunch, sunscreen, a beach towel, refillable water bottle, clothes and shoes that can get dirty, and their yearbook (if purchased). Students are permitted to wear a hat and/or sunglasses for this event. They will be outdoors for almost all of the school day. There are still opportunities to volunteer if you are interested! We would love to have your support since such a large event requires many helpful hands and watchful eyes.
Here are the links for signing up:
May 21 4th Grade - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084ea4ab29aaf58-4thgrade
May 22 5th Grade - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084ea4ab29aaf58-5thgrade1
May 24 6th Grade - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084ea4ab29aaf58-6thgrade1
If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.
News to Share
1. Grade cards for the Intermediate School will be mailed home on the same schedule with MS and HS on June 6th. That means all grades must be submitted by the conclusion of teacher's final workday. Our office staff will take care of printing and mailing them.
2. We will be hosting Tours at NAIS on Tuesday May 22 from 5-7pm for incoming 4th graders and their families. Information and a sign up link was sent out to families in a parent newsletter. If you are able and willing to assist in giving tours Tuesday evening, please let Katie and Kate know. We will provide dinner after school for anyone staying to help.
3. Some staff have asked if it is possible to move to three lunches next year. Based on the following information we will likely remain at 4 lunch periods in order to provide the amount of supervision required to keep our students safe, have adequate seating, and playground access.
We were able to make the S-Wing lunch work this year in working with the Primary and Middle School Lunch and Recess schedules. We do share the playground with the other two buildings, and also need to ensure we have adequate supervision for both upstairs and downstairs lunches, which splitting a lunch period into two groups causes some challenges in this regard. With 1140 students in the building dividing into 4 lunches is 285 students during a lunch and 3 lunches is 380 students in a lunch which there is not adequate seating for without splitting lunches in half- which also splits supervision in half (having to cover recess and cafe at the same time) and is likely not possible due to sharing the playground with the other buildings. Having a larger number of students per lunch period and less supervision with splitting the coverage is of concern.
4. This Tuesday we will have our final staff meeting of the year. Please join us in E Wing at 8:30 to hear about End of Year checklist/procedures and enjoy a look back at our awesome year.
5. Summer PD: There are several offerings on campus this summer for PD. Jess Mamais is offering PD on Performance Matters, Youth Mental Health First Aid on June 6 with Kelley Schubert, the ESC PBL Conference, as well as upcoming Apple Tech PD. Click here to see the Summer 2018 Professional Development Opportunities at NAPLS. There is a meeting this week with Apple Education, so we should have more information soon on Tech PD.
We are pleased to partner with the ESC of Central Ohio to offer the PBL Ohio Conference on our campus again this summer. Because of this arrangement, our staff can attend the conference free! (a $600 value) The 3-day conference is July 25, 26, and 27. In addition, there is an optional 1-day pre-conference called Project Slice, which anyone can attend. So you may choose to attend only the 1-day pre-conference, only the 3-day conference, or all 4 days.
To register, go to the conference homepage:
http://www.pblohio.com/registration-and-program-descriptions.html
Use the code NAPLSFREE to register for the conference without paying the registration fee.
6. Eagles Nest: The NAPLS Eagle Summer Day Camp will be held in the Intermediate School. The attached list is the list of rooms that will be used throughout the camp, June 4, 2018- August 3, 2018. Camp set-up will be on Friday, June 1 and Saturday June 2 . If you have any concerns please email Patty Parker or see Katie to discuss.
7. Moving boxes: Mike Hollis has been gathering moving boxes and will have them available this week for anyone in need that is changing rooms. We will also discuss this at the Tuesday Staff Meeting.
8. Sixth Grade is having a Sidewalk Send Off this week. Parents and families can decorate sidewalk squares with chalk to wish their student well and celebrate them finishing elementary school. This will take place after school on May 23. There will be chalk available in the office on Wednesday for 6th grade teachers that want to decorate a square for their class after 6th grade dismissal.
9. The Primary is planning to do a fun grade level recess in the afternoon on Friday, May 25th. Each grade level will be out for 25-30 minutes from 2-3:30 We will be getting popsicles for the kids and PTO is providing a DJ. Our students will be staying on our side of the sidewalk. If you go outside with your class during this time, please be respectful of their event and keep our students from the center sidewalk over to the MS cafe.
10. We have three drills left to complete the school year. We will do our best to avoid a time where parents are in the building...if we know of your event. We apologize in advance for the disruptions this will cause and appreciate your flexibility.
Week at a Glance
Due to all the schedule changes coming up, we've listed all events through the end of the year. Hopefully, this helps with your planning!
Announcements: Pledge Schedule
Monday, May 21st- Team Leader Meeting 8:30; 4th Grade Field Day
Tuesday, May 22nd- Staff Meeting 8:30 in E Wing; 5th Grade Field Day
Wednesday, May 23rd- 6th Grade Family Chalk Night
Thursday, May 24th- 6th Grade Field Day
Friday, May 25th- Field Day Rain Date
Tuesday, May 29th-Last day for students; Staff Party
Wednesday, May 30th- Teacher Work Day (Grades submitted by the time you leave)