Principal Update
Week of September 19th
Thank you to our Leadership Team for your guidance and input in continuous improvement for our school. Our Leadership team reviewed our school MAP data from Spring 2016 and Fall 2016. We will review our findings with staff at our meeting on Tuesday. We will also finalize our School Improvement Plan on Tuesday. I encourage you to review our Climate Report that was e-mailed this past Tuesday and submit any suggestions for improvement to the Leadership Team.
Shout-Outs
Thank you Kimenya for coordinating MAP testing! Thank you Beth and Mrs. Daniel for assisting with MAP testing! Thanks Dy for promoting PBIS!
SafeSchools Update
I am proud to announce that 14 staff members have completed 100% of the SafeSchools training as of Sept. 12th. Hats off to the following individuals for blazing the trail: Thomasina Curenton, Seberina Myles, Brianna Barnette, Hope Brazil, Meghan Caldwell, Rose Cavagnaro, Sanya Dozier, Dy English, Karen Kilburn, Brittney Linn, Kaitlyn Marr, Trey McDaniel, Melissa Olney and Freda Roseborough.
Remember, everyone who has completed all of the trainings by September 30th will have lunch provided from a local restaurant. Everyone who has completed all of the trainings by October 19th will have their names entered into a drawing for gift cards.
Staff Expectations
Please make sure that you are reporting to work on time. It is imperative that you are at your duty area prior to students arriving. Since school began, several staff members have reported to school and duty after the designated reporting time. We are putting a reminder in our newsletter to parents about the importance of getting students to school on time. We need to model this trait.
Dress Code
Please make sure that you have read and are adhering to the district dress code policy.
PTO/SIC
Please attend our first PTO/SIC meeting on Tuesday, September 20th at 6:00 p.m. It is an expectation that staff attend at least one PTO meeting per year. It really means a great deal to our parents to see you at the meetings. A special thank you to those staff members who always support our PTO!
Grant Opportunities
Since 1992, the Foundation Grants program has awarded over $700,000 to educators for new, creative and innovative classroom projects. Grant applications are accepted and awarded three times each year. October 1, 2016 is the next grant application deadline. Please take advantage of this opportunity to increase classroom libraries, try innovative strategies that require additional resources etc. We are very fortunate to have such a supportive foundation whose goal is to support education in our district.
Family Trust Grant
The deadline for applying for a Family Trust Grant is November 14th. The grant amount has increased from $250.00 to $500.00. Family Trust has offered grants to educators for more than 10 years to help teachers create exciting lessons for their students. The grants have helped students learn about everything from feeding the hungry to tracking the weather and just about everything in between. You must be a member of Family Trust to apply. We have several staff members who are members at Family Trust. You may collaborate to write a grant for a joint project.
Teaching Strategy #4 from The Master Teacher
Pay attention, pause, and paraphrase. This strategy is vital for a very practical reason: Young people often find it hard to stop talking. In fact, may students need structured opportunities to restrain themselves from talking. One strategy is easy to employ. first, when students talk in pairs or small groups, assign one speaker to talk at a time. In larger groups, studens can count off for the speaker role. Second, ask students to listen fully to whomever is speaking. This habit must be taught and practiced. It's a skill that helps understnaidn, comprehension, and clarity. In addition, advise students not to interrupt or think about thier answre while a classmat talks. Telll the to simply listen, focus, and absorb--that's all. Few students will develop,t his habit without the teaching and practice time. Third, when the speaking student stops talking, insist that all students take a breath before speaking and do ont thing: paraphrase what they believe the speaker just said. In the process, teach students how to paraphrase silently to themselves! Paraphrasing out loud could become tme-consuming and distracting. Fourth, after paraphrasing, ask the student to follow with an "I" statement, such as "I see what you mean..." or "I am not sure I agree..." Remember, discussion sentence starters are a great tool for students as they practice this way of listening and having meaningful conversations. It's also incredibly helpful for students to see this activity in action and experience how well it works. Paraphrasing and meaningful communications are vital to student learning but are skills that must be taught and practiced.
Reminders
Progress Reports go home - September 20th
Watch Dog Dads Kick Off - September 20th -5:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.
PTO/SIC Meeting - September 20th - 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Running Record Proficiency - September 30th
Terrific Kids Program - October 7th - 8:15 a.m.
Fall Festival - October 8th- 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Parent Conference Day/Work day - October 10th
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
—B.B. King
"Our school values learning, achievement, collaboration, and responsibility as cornerstones of our learning community."