March 12 Monday Letter
"Effort Creates Ability"
MARCH 12 - MARCH 16
Contact Administration
- Thomas @ (208) 881-4437
- Justin @ (208) 516-0278
- Scott @ (208) 270-7785
Principal Principles
"He that loves reading has everything within his reach." -- William Godwin
Important Upcoming Dates for the Week
If you see something that should be here but isn't, make sure to contact us to get it updated! For focus teams, please plan on being to the meeting prior to the start time so that the meeting can start on time. Your time is valuable and so is that of the other people on your team. If for some reason, you are unable to attend due to extenuating circumstances, please inform your focus team leader prior to the meeting.
Monday, March 12:
- No scheduled events.
Tuesday, March 13:
- D93 Middle School Bond Election
- Interdisciplinary Team Meeting in the Morning
- Collaboration Meetings in the Afternoon
- No scheduled events.
- No scheduled events.
Important Things After This Week
If you see something that should be here but isn't, make sure to contact us to get it updated!
- Monday, March 19 - Friday, March 23 - Spring Break - No School
- Monday, March 26 - HOPE Squad Community/Parent Meeting at 7:00 pm in the RMMS Auditorium
Bus Duty Assignments This Week
TO BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE POLICY REGARDING LOADING AND UNLOADING OUR STUDENTS FROM THE BUSES, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ONE PERSON IS IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING ZONES DURING YOUR BUS DUTY.
Morning (8:15 am - 8:35 am) - Cafeteria, Commons Area, and Outside.
Afternoon (Please come outside as soon as the bell rings.) - South end of the building, Right out front where you can see toward the south end and north end of the building, and in front of the pavilion near the bus loading. This allows all assigned for bus duty to see all of the major areas where students congregate to wait. The essential area to be monitored is the south end (side) of the building. The first few minutes are critical as far as the need for supervision. If there are four people assigned, the fourth person can help where needed.
- Joy Gleave (by the buses in the center near the main entrance)
- Mark Ashment (by the buses near the pavilion)
- Todd Johnson (by the buses on the south end of the building)
The Following Week's Bus Duty Assignment:
- Stephanie Thompson (by the buses in the center near the main entrance)
- Eve Navarro (by the buses near the pavilion)
- Lauren Hill (by the buses on the south end of the building)
Upcoming IEP/504 Meetings
These meetings are on your Outlook calendar, but this is a reminder of what you have this week. If for some reason, you are unable to attend due to extenuating circumstances, please contact the person whose room the meeting is in prior to the meeting. Unless identified, meetings start as soon as possible after school.
- Monday, March 12 - 3:50 pm - Rm. 32 - Shackett, Kenly, Egbert, A. McLing, Haws
- Tuesday, March 13 - 8:00 am - Conference Room - Pedersen-Murri, P. Dahlke, Thompson
- Tuesday, March 13 - 3:50 pm - Rm. 32 - E. Navarro, Hansen, Nuckols, Durfee, Shackett, Jubitz
- Wednesday, March 14 - 8:00 am - Conference Room - P. Dahlke, Shackett, Farnam
- Wednesday, March 14 - 9:00 am - Rm. 7 - P. Dahlke
- Thursday, March 15 - 3:45 pm - Conference Room - Rothwell, Butikofer, Ashment, Skoien, Jessen, Williams
- Thursday, March 15 - 3:50 pm - Rm. 32 - Hansen
- Thursday, March 15 - 3:50 pm - Rm. 31 - Thompson, Brown, Pedersen-Murri
- Friday, March 16 - None
Great Things!
- Congratulations to Rona and Jami for all of their hard work in putting together the Regional History Day competition. This is a major undertaking, so thank you! The following students qualified to go to state in Boise on April 14: Alexis Donahoo, McKynlee Loftus, Eliza Hobbs, Micaela Loera, Aubrey Long, Caisha Wells, Trey Beard, Ellie Campbell, Cody Hammer, Dani McLing, Nathan Reynolds, and David Weekes. If you see them, make sure to congratulate them as well! Good work Panthers!
- With our faculty meeting being consumed by other important things, we still wanted to recognize those faculty members who were highlighted by their colleagues for the amazing things you all are doing every day! Please stop by my office anytime and grab a small giveaway prize.
- Jessen, Desiree - I love collaborating with Des! She has the greatest ideas for making learning fun and engaging. And she helps me with technology.
- Johnson, Rona - Rona puts in a lot of work for honor society and I really appreciate it. I also love how she has the kids crocheting - it is so cute!
- Belnap, Kalli - Kalli has a lot to deal with every teacher’s needs, students, and parents financial problems. She works very hard and gets her job done. She has a great laugh and she is my friend.
- Magana, Kaitlin - Kaitlin works really hard to have a safe place where all students can come and truly be themselves. There are students in her room all day. Students range from ones she teaches to students that just need a safe place to hang out in.
- Magana, Kaitlin - Kaitlin takes the time to get to know her students and what they need. She gives positive support to student and staff and it is appreciated.
- Nichols, Tawnya - Tawnya goes out of her way to make sure kids are keeping up in their general education courses, as well as being challenged in her classroom. This is all done through mutual respect and kindness.
- Dahlke, Pepper - Pepper goes out of her way to accommodate for all students, regardless if they have an IEP or 504. She meets the needs of all students so they can feel and be successful in her classroom.
- Dahlke, Pepper - Pepper clearly sets her expectations for students and then is constantly looking for ways new ways to help her students reach their potential. She is a great art teacher!
- Ashment, Mark - Mark comes to IEP meetings with a positive attitude. He takes time to share accomplishments and the positive things students are able to complete in his class.
- Cope, Rachael - Rachael has been amazing with creating and providing accommodations to students working through the Summit program.
- Seedall, Janelle - Janelle is always helping monitor the hallways and is willing to step in and help other teachers as needed.
- Hickman, Amber - Great Teacher, Teammate, and Mentor!!!
- McLing, Jami - Jami goes above and beyond helping with Regional History Day. It would not be successful without all the work she does. Thank you
- Navarrro, Juan - Juan's positive attitude is infectious. He makes me want to be a better teacher each time I talk to him.
- Jubitz, Brooke - She is very organized, has great management, and clearly explains concepts. The students love her!
New Items to Be Aware of:
- There is a national student walkout planned for this Wednesday, March 14 at 10:00 am lasting for 17 minutes. We have not heard any buzz from students planning to do so, but we wanted you to be aware if students were to walk out of your classrooms on that day at that time. We are not letting students know or informing them of this "planned" walkout. If students do walk out, they should return within 17 minutes. If they do not, please refer them to the office.
- As a follow up to the training that we had during the faculty meeting, we wanted to take a minute to cover some other important points to realize: We will only have two forms of closing the school for safety -- Hall Check and Lockdown. In the past, there have been more and it only added to the confusion on what expectations to follow. Please be familiar with these two procedures. During Hall Check, check the hall, lock your door, and continue teaching. No one should go in or out. Communicate to the office if you have any additional students that might have been out in the hallway. Do not lift the Hall Check until notified (the intercom systems are allowed to be used during a Hall Check). All exterior doors are locked and secured at this point. For a Lockdown, all of the procedures are the same, except now you will turn off lights, stop teaching, and follow training you received yesterday. Remember, you have options, but unless you see/hear/recognize a direct threat, remain where you are and secure your location. Do not open the door for anyone -- when the lockdown is ended, a member of administration or police will unlock the door, identify themselves, and notify you that the lockdown has ended. Remind students to remain OFF of their phones to keep airwaves open and to reduce panic from parents and guardians who may want to come to the school to then get their child. No one will be allowed to enter or be released, so this would only serve as a distraction as we assess the situation and handle it. Because of the options-based approach, if we were to go into a lock-down DRILL, we will notify you beforehand so no one is taking dramatic measures when everyone is recognizably safe. Fire drills will still be unannounced, occurring once a month. For a fire drill, remember that the teacher leads the class, not follows. This is different from the traditional mentality of checking to ensure no one is left behind. Teachers should be at the front of the class leading them out to where your classes need to meet. Stay tightly together so that attendance can quickly be taken once at the meeting point and move away from the building. Also, don't just let kids leave the classroom to meet at the designated point. As the teacher, make sure that everything is safe and clear before leaving a safe space. As we have learned from recent and past events, something could be occurring on a larger scale with the fire alarm serving as a diversion. There is no need to rush out. Unless the fire is specifically in your room or area near your room (at which point you should smell, see, or feel smoke and heat), the likelihood that the building will be consumed and destroyed by fire with your class in it by the time you exit is incredibly small.
- Please complete your IPLPs and SLOs if you have not already done so. As we approach the end of the school year already, we need to make sure that everything is in order. If you have any questions or concerns on how to complete those, please let us know right away. Thanks!
You all should have received a training module of sexual misconduct for staff to student. Our district is required to show that each of our staff members participated in training of this nature. It will take about 30 minutes, but it is good training with regard to not putting yourself in an uncomfortable position as well as providing direction as far as what to do if you believe someone else is demonstrating inappropriate behaviors with a student. Please try to complete this as soon as you can.
Old Items to Be Aware of:
- We have received the annual car raffle tickets that clubs, groups, and classes can use as a fundraiser. These are really awesome because the group keeps 100% of their ticket sales! If you need some or are interested, contact Thomas in the office.
- Here is the link to the fire drill procedural map and the evacuation procedural map. Here is also an updated roster for who is in which zones as well.
- With many transitions happening this year and in coming years, the district would like all teachers to know that they can view all available job openings at www.d93jobs.com. Also for your information, they are updating the district hiring procedures so that jobs will only be posted for 7 calendar days.
- Click here for information about the Idaho Master Teacher Premium if you are interested in working toward that. Since our district will be following the state model, nothing is actually done through the school or district.
- Please use the following links to assist in any preparation you may need for JPAS: JPAS Annual Orientation, Color Coded Domains IV and V, Professional Development Materials by Indicator (JPAS). In addition, anyone who appears on this spreadsheet must complete Domains IV and V (the portfolio/interview portion).
HOPE Squad Training
Professional Development
Grants and Other Opportunities
The Idaho Humanities Council is opening applications for major and mini-grants, research fellowships, and teacher incentive grants for projects and programs exploring literature, history, law, cultural anthropology, and other humanities disciplines. Please find more information here and here.
If you are interested in starting an after-school program to help enrich our students' lives during non-school hours, the Idaho State Department of Education is accepting grant applications for next year. Click on the grant application for more information.
CenturyLink Teachers and Technology Grant Site- Through this program, pre-K through 12th-grade teachers in public, private and/or charter schools in CenturyLink local service areas are eligible to apply for a grant of up to $5,000 to implement innovative technology solutions in their classrooms.
- Go to CapEdFoundation.org for instructions on how to apply for a Teacher Grant. The deadlines are the 1st of each month from September until March.