Mark's Monday Morning Memo
December 5, 2016
Zero the Hero
Zero the Hero made another appearance last Thursday, December 1, 2016, for the kindergartners' 60th day of school. Some of the kindergartners think Zero the Hero looks a lot like Mr. French! Zero will be back on day 70!
#EduFreeze
The Mannequin Challenge that has swept the nation is hitting our schools. Some principals I am connected with across the country put out an #EduFreeze challenge for us to videotape this fad. Here is a link to the #EduFreeze challenge I conducted with Mr. Ike's class last week. Enjoy!
Monument Sign
Gatewood is getting a new monument sign like the other Hopkins district schools. The base has been installed with the main part of the sign coming this week. Our sign will have the ability to display changeable messages. Besides the monument sign, there is also supposed to be new signage installed over the main entrance to our school. I'm not sure of the timeline for that.
Visitor
A principal friend and colleague is visiting tomorrow morning. Her name is Jessica Cabeen and she is the principal of Woodson Kindergarten Center in the Austin, MN, school district. She has 500 kindergartners in her school and she is visiting Gatewood and another school in our area for her professional learning. Please welcome her when you see her. Thank you!
#MNlead Twitter Chat
Please join Heidi Itman and me on Sunday, December 18, 2016, on Twitter for a Twitter chat at #mnlead. This is regular chat for educators and our topic for that chat is "change". We'll be facilitating the chat that anyone can participate in. It is scheduled from 7:00-8:00 pm. Join us if you are able!
Compliments
I received two unsolicited compliments last week about our school. The first was from the supervisor of Jenny Ulrich, the student teacher with Stacy MacBlane-Meyer. Paraphrasing her supervisor, she said that she visits a lot of schools and ranks Gatewood right at the top for our professional office staff, amazing teachers, and positive and welcoming climate. The second compliment came from a parent whose child is new to Gatewood this year. Paraphrasing that parent, she said our climate and culture and students and staff members are welcoming and kind and she is thrilled that they are part of the Gatewood community. Thank you to everyone for your part in creating such a positive and welcoming school climate and culture. I appreciate that.