Staff Weekly Update
October 22nd - 26th, 2018
And just like that . . . we're back! I hope you've all returned recharged and ready to go. For those of you that traveled, I hope the travels were safe but that the actual vacation was exactly the type of adventure your soul needed. Mine was filled with peace and calm.
If you can believe it, between now and Thanksgiving break, there are 21 fast-filled school days. In between these 21 days, we have a potpourri of events happening at SGE that I am so proud to be hosting. Further details are below but for now, welcome back!
With much respect,
Connie
Calendar Items
Mon. Oct. 22nd
- Janelle Drisko at SGE all day
- 8:30 - 10:30 - Melanie Bowlin at SGE
- 9:30 - International Fair Mtg - Largent/Farley - conf. room
- 10:55 - Staffing for 1st grader - Largent, Wetzel, Andries, Westin - Jessica's office
- 11:40 - HS Peers
- 2:00 - ACR for KDGr - Largent, Luchenbill, Andries - conf. room
- 2:30 - Bi-Weekly Grade Level Mtgs.
- 6:00 - School Board Mtg - ESC
Tues. Oct. 23rd
- Q1 grades due by 8 AM!
- 8:30 - ACR for 3rd grader - Watson, Farley, Frobig, Wetzel - conf. room
- 9:30 - Leadership Team mtg - Largent/Farley - ESC
- 11:35 - ZeekSquad w/ Kyle Beimfohr - MC Lab
- 1:00 - USS Team mtg w/ Dr. Slonaker - conf. room
- 1:30 - ACRs x 2 for 2nd gr. twins - Largent, Andries, Bourff, Munz - conf. room
- 1:45 - Parent Phone Call w/ Dr. Slonaker - TBD
- 2:40 - Gr. Level Collaboration Mtg. w/ Kyle - 3rd & 4th - TBD
- 2:45 - ACR for 3rd grader - Watson, Farley, Brizzolara - conf. room
- 2:45 - Mtg. re: 2nd grader - Wetzel/Bourff - TBD
Wed. Oct. 24th
- 8:15 - 12:30 - Randee Kleeman at SGE
- 8:30 - Mtg w/ Marquis Custodial Services - Largent/Farley - conf. room
- 10:10 - Pre-Observation Mtg - Largent
- 11:00 - Pre-Observation Mtg - Largent
- 11:30 - 2:20 - NVCI Training - Largent, Farley, Spillman, Wetzel, Evans, Andries, Watson, Skura, Patten, Torrance, Mastin, Morlan - Location TBD
- 1:30 - 3:00 - Flu Vaccines at SGE
- 4:00 - District School Safety Specialist Mtg. - ESC - Largent, Farley, Spillman
- 6:00 - 7:30 - 2nd Annual International Fair
Thurs. Oct. 25th
- 8:20 - Pre-Observation Mtg - Largent
- 9:00 - ACR for 3rd grader - Watson, Farley, Frobig - conf. room
- 9:10 - Long Observation - Largent
- 10:15 - 2:00 - Randee Kleeman at SGE
- 11:45 - Long Observation - Largent
- 1:30 - ACR for 1st Grader - Andries, Westin, Largent, Wetzel - conf. room
Fri. Oct. 26th
- Payday & Jeans
- PTO Spirit Day - Dress Up Like Your Favorite Book Character
- KDG-4th Gr. RtI PLC Mtgs all day - Largent/Farley - conf. room
- 2:45 - ACR for 1st Grader - Andries, Benefiel, Largent, Wetzel, Fure
2nd Annual International Fair on Wed. 10/24/18, 6:00-7:30 PM
ZEF Family Book Club Night Information
- Last year, ZEF wrote a grant to Duke Energy with the goal of using books as a vehicle for bringing families closer together.
- Duke Energy provided hundreds of copies of four books, authored by Eve Bunting. The books are shown below.
- THIS week, families will be getting information about the ZEF Family Book Club and a short book summary about each book.
- IF they are interested in participating, they will be asked to please select one book title they would like to read as a family. They will select the book through a Google Form link.
- The books will then get sent home (1 book per family) and the family will be asked to read this book together.
- Then, the families will be asked to come to SGE the evening of Wed. 11/14 to participate in our ZEF Family Book Club Night! (see timeline below)
- So far, PVE, UE, and EE have all had this evening and their families enjoyed coming together and talking about their book. Our evening will also be the same time Boone Meadow has their ZEF Family Book Club night, too!
TIMELINE:
- Mon. 10/22 - Send out an evening Smore Newsletter about the ZEF Family Book Club Night. Families that are interested will be asked to fill out a Google Form.
- Fri. 10/26 - Last day for families to fill out the Google Form (form will be closed by Saturday morning)
- Mon. 10/29 - Get books organized
- Wed. 10/31 - Pass out the books to each participating family
- Wed. 10/31 - Wed. 11/14 - Two weeks to read the book at home
- Wed. 11/14 - 6:00-7:00 PM - ZEF Family Book Club Event
YOUR HELP NEEDED!
For those of you that volunteer, we will provide dinner before the event, a light training session, discussion questions will be provided, too! If you're able to help, please click this link! THANK YOU!!
Upcoming Events . . .
October:
- 31st - Nov. 2nd - Scholastic Book Fair
November:
- 2nd - Dads & Donuts
- 5th - 9th - PTO Food Drive
- 6th - Picture Re-Take Day
- 9th - Veterans Day Program - NO RtI PLC meetings on this date + wear RED, WHITE, AND BLUE!
- 9th - PTO Mother/Son Event
- 14th - ZEF Family Book Club Night
- 16th - KDG's Thanksgiving Sing
- 20th - Largent out - Personal Day (celebrating Kendrick's 50th birthday!!)
- 21st - 23rd - Thanksgiving Break
December:
- 3rd - Coaching Day w/ Jim McMillan from C.L.A.S.S. (click here to sign up!)
- 13th - Staff Meeting
- 14th - PTO Dessert Dive
- 21st - End of Quarter 2
- 21st - PTO Winter Parties
- 24th - Jan. 4th - WINTER BREAK
Standards-Based Report Cards - Friendly Reminders!
- First Quarter ends October 9th
- Teacher deadline to update all grades October 23rd by 8:00 a.m.
- Elementary report cards will be posted to PowerSchool on October 24th
While it is true that our SBRC gives parents much more information than the traditional A, B, C, etc., it is very important to also add a personal touch. Student-specific comments can help clarify questions, reiterate important points, and expand understanding for students, parents, and possible future schools. Some instances where comments are most crucial:
The student has regressed in a standard (mastery to progressing; progressing to beginning).
- Why did they go down? Did the expectation increase? Did student progress stagnate so that they are no longer on track to meet the expectation for end of year?
- What skills is the student working on? How is the student progressing in terms of these skills? If the student has an IEP, this would be a place to reference the progress note for an explanation of how student is developing in terms of his/her specific goals.
- We know that this is not going to be the first time that you have mentioned that (fill in the blank- attention, work completion,etc.) is a concern. This has likely happened in various emails, phone conversations, and meetings during the course of the past 3 quarters. However, a brief explanation of the concern and the students' progress/lack thereof regarding it ensures that those who work with the student in the future know that these conversations have taken place. This information has come in handy particularly when we are looking at patterns over time for a student in order to determine supports or interventions needed.
- Everyone likes to hear something positive about their child. As we continue to focus on the student as a whole person, what is something you have noticed that makes them unique?
A narrative of dissertation proportions for each student is unnecessary and unrealistic. The box for comments is small and we know that you don't have time for long comments.
However, a few brief sentences that are specific to the student CAN SAVE TIME later in responding to emails asking for clarification, further develop your relationship with the parent, and provide colleagues/future schools with pertinent information regarding the student's time with you.
If you need any assistance with comments, please reach out to me or Martha. We are happy to help! A good rule of them is to always sandwich an area to improve with positives!
SBRC Reminders From Rhonda Fox
TWO important SBRC emails were sent by Rhonda Fox. They are dated below with a summary of the details.
***EMAIL FROM OCTOBER 19TH***
- Q1 ended on 10/9/18. If you are using assignments to calculate standards grades, you will want to make sure that any assignments you enter are dated on or prior to 10/9/2018. If you are working within Final Grades, please make sure that you are in the correct quarter when updating grades. Grades are due to be finalized by 8 AM on Tuesday, October 23.
- Report cards will be stored to the PowerSchool Parent Portal on Wednesday, October 24th, and we will email parents instructions on how to view them that afternoon.
- Click here for instructions on how to run report cards for review. It also includes important notes about comments, NA’s, and parent access to report cards. It is important to note that the process is different this year. Instead of clicking on Reports, you will click on Report Cards.
- If you have any questions about your gradebooks, please submit a tech work order or contact Kyle Beimfohr or Carly Havlik. Amanda and Rhonda will be at a PowerSchool User Group conference Monday/Tuesday so we will not be readily available.
***EMAIL FROM OCTOBER 1ST***
A few notes regarding the new report card format (not the current KG one):
- Standards will only show on this report if there is a grade or it is a rollup for a standard with a grade. Because of this, it is extremely important that you mark EACH standard. Those not assessed should be marked NA.
- There is no longer a need for a separate report card for HA Math students or an addendum for HA Lang Arts. The report card will pick up any standards that apply to a particular student if there is a grade for it.
- Some of the special sections or notes of the 1st and 2nd-grade report cards (e.g., Writing Stages. Legend for Work Habits grades and Reading Grade Levels) are not complete yet either. We will continue to work on these to make sure they are ready for 10/24.
- On Oct. 24th, we will generate the report cards and then archive them. This will cause the report cards to appear in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. We will not be emailing report cards to parents this year, but instead will be providing parents directions on how they can access report cards themselves.
Important Announcements & Reminders
Principal's Office Has Started!
- For those of you new to SGE, "Principal's Office" is a way to dispell the stigma that going to see the principal (Mrs. Largent or Mrs. Farley) is bad. Instead, we *want* students to come to the principal's office for great behaviors and/or any great success (no matter how small or big) that your students have achieved.
- Principal's Office Forms can be found in our Stonegate Staff Drive. It's on the main page of our Stonegate Staff files and it's titled: PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE FORM
- Send these forms down anytime and as soon as Martha or I am available, we will call your students to come to see one or both of us. Thanks!
Professional Development Requests
- If you would like to attend any type of professional development, please click here. Next week, this message will be moved to the "Links to Work Orders and *NEW* Google Form Links" section below and it will remain there for the rest of this year for easy access.
Please Join Our REMIND Group
- SGE (staff only) has an all-staff Remind text messaging group called: 18-19 SGE (all staff).
- To simply *receive-only* the text messages, please text the number 81010 and in your "message line" type in the code: @k29hfe.
- If you'd like to be able to text back and forth w/ me via REMIND, please download the app or create an online account.
- As a friendly reminder, please do not share this code with non-SGE staff members.
Above & Beyond Nomination Form
- On our ZCS website, any ZCS staff and/or community member can nominate the work of any ZCS employee that has done extraordinary work. If you've experienced professional support that is above & beyond, feel free to recognize them through this nomination! Please click here to nominate.
Leaving EARLY afterschool and you've gotten permission from Connie/Martha . . .
- If this is the case for you, please help us by always emailing the entire office team to let them know you've gotten permission and also leave your cell # in the email message, in case we need to contact you.
- Who is the "office team?" Connie, Martha, Angie, Jen, Jessica, Hailey
LINKS TO WORK ORDERS & *NEW* GOOGLE FORM LINKS
Technology Work Orders - Reminder from Dan Layton:
- Click here to access this link.
- It is always extremely helpful if you can submit actual technology work orders for any help you need. Please refrain from picking up the phone or emailing a question.
Marquis Work Orders:
Did your trash not get picked up? Does it seem the carpet didn't get vacuumed? Please help Angie & Jen out by filling out the Marquis work order on your own. Thanks!
1. Go to the Zionsville web site
2. Click on Teachers/Staff tab
3. Scroll down about halfway
4. Look for: Custodial Work Orders by Building
5. Click on Stonegate
Click here to access the Teachers/Staff tab
18-19 PTO Wish List - NEW GOOGLE FORM LINK!
- Click the NEW LINK HERE to access this Office 365 Form
Personal Business Leave Request - NEW GOOGLE FORM LINK!
- Please click the NEW LINK HERE to access this form and then don't forget to SAVE this page under your "favorites."
- Finally, as a friendly reminder of our ZCS Personal Business Leave + good information to know for our newest staff, I have copied/pasted the email about personal days sent by Becky Coffman on 5/8/16. This is per our CBA - Collective Bargaining Agreement
- A. Amount – Each employee shall be entitled to be absent from work three (3) days each school year for the transaction of personal business or the conduct of personal or civic affairs. Such leaves may be used in whole or half day increments. Requests for personal business leave should be made 48 hours in advance in writing to the building principal. In cases of emergency or other similar unforeseen circumstance, requests may be made orally to both the substitute coordinator and the building principal.
- B. Employees are discouraged from using personal business leave on staff development days or to extend a school vacation. If used on a staff development day then the employee remains totally responsible for securing the learning lost from their being absent during that activity.
- C. Accumulation – If an employee does not use all of the personal business leave in a given school year, the remaining personal business leave shall be accumulated for use in later school year, except that no more than a total of two (2) days may be accumulated from earlier school years for use as personal business leave, so that the maximum total personal business leave available in any one school year is three (3) days earned during the school year and up to two (2) days accumulated from earlier school years or a total of five (5) days.
- D. Conversion to Sick Leave – Any unused personal business leave not accumulated for use in later years as personal business leave shall be added to the employee’s accumulated sick leave.