Monday Morning Motivation
Central Elementary Staff News----March 21--March 25
Less is more
Dear Staff,
There are so many reminders and announcements this week, so my message is short, understanding that sometimes less is more! Take some time to read through the information in the newsletter.
Have a great week and a restful spring break! You deserve it!
Julie
A Week at a Glance
Central Calendar
MONDAY, March 21
- Building Discussions Meeting
- PTO meeting in the cafeteria 7:00 p.m.
TUESDAY, March 22
- Grade-Level Data Team Meetings in the conference room
- Staff Appreciation Luncheon
- Library books being moved to the basement
WEDNESDAY, March 23
- Library books being moved to the basement
THURSDAY, March 24
- 8:50-9:20 Central Celebration (Indy Bears Cancelled)
FRIDAY, March 25
- No School
Announcements and Reminders
The Indy Air Bears can't come on Thursday to Central. They have students on their team that are in school or on spring break. This was an oversight that wasn't originally an issue. Niki Glover the coach shared she would like to reschedule still this year if possible. Please let me know if you are still interested.
Please make sure you increase your supervision outside of your classrooms, in the hallways, during restroom breaks, and recess. Spring is in the air and we want to have as smooth and as academic of a week as possible.
Continue to look at storage rooms for items to throw away and mark larger items for custodians. Mark items for removal!
Email Guy if you want him to remove a printer from your classroom.
Unplanned Classroom Observations are underway. Please remember to have your lesson plans out on your desk.
The staff will have a packing party April 15th from 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. The only grade who would like PTO to get volunteers is Kindergarten. The other grades will reach out to parents. It sounds like for future packing grade-levels want to gather their own volunteers. Please let me know if you feel differently as this was the opinion from the leaders at the Big Idea Committee Meeting.
Talk with each other about data cards. As the receiving teacher, is there information which you would like on the card that is not currently there. If so, please email me and let me know.
5th grade teachers: APRIL 5th Please plan to give the math assessment/placement test.
Math placement test for all students except geometry track (45 minutes)
Algebra 1 prognosis test is for geometry track only (45 minutes)
5th grade teachers: On APRIL 6th Please give a writing prompt (30 minutes) to ALL students.
5th grade teachers on April 20th at 4:00 p.m. plan to meet with the middle school assistant principal, a math teacher, and a language arts teacher regarding student placement for next year.
High Ability placement will take place by grade levels. We will meet together and go over student data from a spreadsheet. This will happen towards the end of April. More information to follow. You will all have a voice.
- Walk A Thon convocation April 22 at 2:45-3:20
- May 6th Walk A Thon Principal Minute To Win It competition at Clarks Creek for winning classroom beginning at 1:30 p.m.
- Central Field Day May 20th
- Central 5th Grade Honor Breakfast May 23 at 7:45 a.m.
- Karen is ordering food and sending invitations
If you are planning to have any summer camps, teams, leagues you need approval forms, which are due to the Central office no later than April 4, 2016. Also, if you plan to have a camp, you need to remember to turn in the financial information from each of the camps to the Central Office once the camp is over.
Culver's 4/12 5-8 pm. No flyer needed and 10%. Student Council will assist us that evening.
Dickey's 4/26 4-9 pm. No flyer needed and 15%
In July a New District and School Website will go live for the public. The goal is to create a user friendly, clean web page, highlighting all the wonderful things happening in Plainfield.
Tornado Drill Debriefing
Remember:
- In the event of a real tornado, students should face an interior wall, with knees and elbows on the ground, and hands over the back of their head.
- Here is a link to the image if students are unsure. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/hun/media/tornadosafety_schools.pdf
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
Restricted You Tube
In order to appropriately filter YouTube for students we have been forced to enable Restricted Mode. This change will provide limited access to YouTube for all users. Please see the attached document for additional information.
YouTube’s Restricted mode has now been enabled on our network. This change is necessary due to YouTube/Google retiring the YouTube for Schools program that we previously used to limit access to YouTube Video’s.
All staff members now have a YouTube/Google account. Logging into YouTube with this account will give you unrestricted access to YouTube and allow you to approve restricted videos for students. To activate your account, you will need to change your AD (computer) password. To do this, press control + alt + delete, all at the same time. Choose "change password" and follow directions. As soon as you change your password it will sync with YouTube/Google. Your username is your full email address (staff@plainfield.k12.in.us) and the password you just created.
After logging into YouTube with your Plainfield account you will have unrestricted access to YouTube. Additionally, you will be able to approve restricted videos you believe should be available for students in grades 6-12. As shown in the picture below it is as simple as clicking the approve button.
Here Comes the Bus
The message below was sent to all parents via School Messenger on March 17th. Just keeping you in the loop.
March 17, 2016
We are happy to introduce a program known as Here Comes the Bus®.
Here Comes the Bus allows you to view the real-time location of your child’s school bus on a smartphone, tablet or computer. You will have the information you need to get your children to the bus stop at just the right time, reducing time spent outside in inclement weather and wondering, “did we miss the bus?”
Here Comes the Bus allows you to:
· See the location of your child’s bus both before and after school
· Confirm that your child’s bus has arrived at the bus stop and at school
· Receive a push notification* or email message when the bus is a certain distance from your stop
A few of our neighboring school corporations have begun using Here Comes the Bus over the past year or two, and many of you have asked that we do the same. After doing our research and due diligence, we think you will be pleased with this service. In fact, we’ve tested it over the last several weeks, thanks to some parents who participated in our learning process!
Indianapolis-based Synovia Solutions™, makers of the GPS-tracking technology that we began using earlier this year, developed Here Comes the Bus. With it, we’ve been able to improve safety and cost savings as they relate to our transportation services.
Available in three languages (English, Spanish and French), the Here Comes the Bus app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play for $18.50 a year, or $3.50 a month. The web version is a no-cost option.
To learn more about Here Comes the Bus, visit www.synoviasolutions.com/here-comes-the-bus.
Should you have any questions, please contact Dean Shepard via email (dshepard@plainfield.k12.in.us) or by phone at 317-838-3632.
*Push notifications only available on iPhone & Android devices.
Here Comes the Bus is a registered trademark of Synovia Solutions™, LLC.
©2015 Synovia Solutions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Spring Assessments!
- ISTEP Part 2 Window April 18-May 6, 2016 (all students grades 3-5). We will begin on the 19th and it will be online.
Celebrate Staff
Awesome work in cleaning the middle basement classroom! Thanks for all who have helped Kathy.
Wonderful participation in the Poverty Simulation.
Central Elementary Attendance--97.53 percent! We continue to have the highest attendance percentages in the district. Great job!!
Krista and Lexy for continuing to manage our flower fund. Thanks for taking care of our many staff members.
First grade had a wonderful field trip to the Children's Museum.