Ram Nation News
Week of November 11, 2019
Vision
#EXCELLENCE, Back At It Again
We are making tremendous progress and I believe, without a doubt, that it is because of our people. It's November and traditionally it's the time of year when we reflect on what we're thankful for.
I know that we have many wonderful things for which to be thankful.
- I am grateful for each one of you who is a dedicated staff member to our children here at Rusk; the support you provide our scholars continues to make a positive impact in each one of them believing, achieving, and succeeding.
- I am grateful to be a part of this remarkable school filled with hard-working staff striving to provide quality learning and a safe environment for our Rusk Rams.
The last few weeks have been busy ensuring academic readiness for our students and we continue to witness great things taking place at Rusk. We are seeing an improvement in effective staff/teacher collaboration, and there is evidence of a strong culture and climate. I am very proud of your work and the dedication you exemplify. Let's keep our heads up, stay focused on providing the best for our students and support each other. It's less than 5 weeks until our District's ACPs and our kiddos continue to need the very best from us.
Attendance
- 6th Grade - 95.54%
- 7th Grade - 96.52% - an improvement of 0.49%
- 8th Grade - 97.24% - an improvement of 2.39%
Way to go 8th grade team taking the lead!!
Let's continue to encourage our students to be present and on time on a daily basis. It really makes a huge difference when our students are present learning
Thank You
- Happy Veteran's Day - Mr. Geiger, Ms. Scott, and all others who have served our country as part of the United States Armed Forces. We appreciate your service and dedication.
- Ms. Winton, Mr. Alarcon, and Mr. Salazar for their dedication and support as they led our soccer teams during practice and Saturday games. Our students continue to work hard and grow as a team.
- Coach Bey, Coach Clark and Mr. Thornton for their leadership and commitment to building the whole child. Last week, they led the basketball teams in their first game of the season. Our students played hard against a very strong Long teams.
Aggressively Monitoring
Showcasing our Work
Exemplar
Student Work
PLC and Collaboration
Climate and Culture
I appreciate the hard work, dedication, and commitment as we continue to engage in various activities that supports building climate and culture. We had our Hispanic Heritage Fall Preview Night with fun and informational activities for our families as well as showcasing the various opportunities that our students have to get involved in the after school clubs. It was great to see how staff and students participated in this event and to see our students leading conversations with adults explaining their clubs. Shout out to Ms. Reeves for her leadership and support as she led the efforts for this event. Kudos to Ms. Perez for being the MC for the evening and for her support during the event. Thank you so much to Mr. McCann and Mr. Alarcon for the band performance as well as Ms. Michael and Ms. Gray for showcasing our cheerleaders.
Bowling
Ms. McGee
College Going Culture
REMINDERS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK
- During 8:00 a.m. - 8:20 a.m., students must be engaged in meaningful activities: homework support, Grade checks, organizing binder, CNN news with reflection sheet.
- It is critical to be prepared with lessons and materials to avoid having issues with students. When we are not prepared, our students can tell and will find their own way of entertainment.
- As we work on documenting the progress our students are making, remember our policy regarding failure rates and the various opportunities needed to ensure our students are successful. EIA (Regulation) (TEI 2.2, 4.2, 4.5)
- During transitions, let's make sure to have 100% participation and hold each other accountable to be present in the hallway supporting students. Our goal is to narrate the positive and have at least 10 positive interactions each transition. APs, CICs, and counselors will be working with each one of you to provide individual support. (TEI 3.3 and 3R Positive Attitude/Enthusiasm).
- Be very consistent in the effective implementation of various practices discussed during our TEI orientation and lesson alignment conversations. With regards to Alignment (learning objective), the proficient rating states: Focuses students at the beginning and throughout the lesson, by clearly stating (TEI 2.1)
- What they are learning
- Why it is important
- What mastery looks like
- How to connect it to prior knowledge and their own lives and explaining to students
- Submit lesson plans by Thursday at 8:00 a.m. (TEI 4.2)
DAILY EVENTS
Anti-Bullying Week - See below for the rest of the activities.
Monday, November 11-
- B Day
- Be a Buddy NOT a Bully! – Dress in matching outfits
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 4:45 - 6:00 p.m. - Grade Level Meeting - GL Chair Room.
- A Day.
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 1:40 - 4:30 p.m - RLA Visit from Network Schools and Big Rocks visit during 7th Grade LF PLC.
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. Let's make the best out of this time being very purposeful in the material covered with students and the students who must attend your sessions. We need to work on the recruitment of students for our after school program since it impacts student growth, our school performance, progress, and, ultimately, part of our stipends are tied to the attendance of our students to our tutoring/enrichment sessions. As a reminder, students do not have the option to opt out; if you need assistance with parents, please let anyone from the leadership team know.
- Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- 5:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m. Parent Attendance Success Initiative (PASI) - District Meeting at Rusk (no requirement of attendance on your behalf)
- B Day
- 9:00 a.m.- 12:40 p.m. 8th Grade Field Trip to North Dallas HS. - Ms. Woods
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. As a reminder, students do not have the option to opt out; if you need assistance with parents, please let anyone from the leadership team know.
- Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- 4:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 8th grade Field Trip to SMG to see Harriet - Ms. Lewis
- Girls Basketball Game at Cobb Vs. Franklin - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 14-
- A Day
- 8:00 a.m. - Lesson Plans Due
- 10:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. School Leadership Visit Follow Up - Mr. Kastl.
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Department Collaboration PLC
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- Boys Basketball Game at Cobb Vs. Franklin - 6:30/7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 15-
- B Day
Saturday, November 16 -
- Soccer Game at Loos Vs. Marsh - 10:00 a.m. Girls. 11:00 a.m. Boys.
Upcoming Events
November 19-21
- After School Programs are cancelled. Plan to stay on these two days after school from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. for PD and planning in preparation for our last stretch of ACP preparation.
November 22 -
- High School Fair - 8th Grade
December 5
- Bandsgiving
December 10
- Winter Concert and Performance - Band and Cheerleaders
December 13 - 19
- ACP Week
- Dec. 13 and Dec. 16 full days
- Dec. 17 - 19 Early Release
December 19
- 4:00 p.m. Staff Holiday Party at Big Al's
December 20
- Teacher Work Day
January 6
- Staff Development
Complete all 3 Modules.
Anti-Bullying Week Activities
Happy Birthday -
We want to wish you the best and many blessings for the years to come.
- Ms. Reyes - 11/4
- Ms. Robinson - 11/7
- Mr. Hernandez - 11/29
Rusk Middle School
Email: jcordoba@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/rusk
Location: 2929 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972-925-2000
Twitter: @RuskAllTheWayUp