Monday Memo
Week 26, Week of March 19-23
Mandatory STAAR Training this THURSDAY for all Staff
Reminders
- Another Spring Holiday (thanks to not having a bad weather day and the 7.5 hours of personal PD): March 30 - April 2
Grades are due to Monisha by 2:00 on Wednesday!
- One more Wednesday School left prior to this date to help students (March 7) -- please notify Jan of students needing to attend and remember to let parents know of students in danger of failing
TELPAS Testing:
- March 21 and March 22: Reading
STAAR Testing (mandatory training on Thursday, March 22):
- April 10: 8th Grade Math and 7th Grade Writing
- April 11: 8th Grade Reading
- May 14: 6/7th Grade Math and 8th Grade Math Retake
- May 15: 6/7th Grade Reading and 8th Grade Reading Retake
- May 16: 8th Grade Science
- May 17: 8th Grade Social Studies
Final Exam Week:
- May 29 - June 1
Ravenfest:
- April 27
8th Grade Celebration
- Saturday, May 19 at Carpenter Rec Center
Concerts, Meets, Events, PD, etc.:
- Check the calendar!
Principal Institute
SEL Committee
Required Professional Development-Teacher Pages
The district is going away from mypisd and using Teacher Pages on the website. We had 9 teachers attend a training at the beginning of this semester on how to get these pages setup and the minimal requirements. There will be four sessions offered, you will need to make sure you attend at least one session (campus PD or personal PD will be provided).
The final session will be in CPU Lab 407 beginning at 4:00 on April 24, hosted by Michelle Johnson and Lindsey Petropoulos.
Professional Development
Rice Middle School PD Calendar
None this week.
We don't have any PD scheduled for the rest of the month. If you are wanting to add something, please contact Sara or Kendyl.
The 7.5 hours of personal professional development are optional even though you are encouraged to pursue professional learning on an on-going basis. If you choose not to record these hours or accrue hours in this manner you may work the scheduled work day on June 4, 2018.
Golden Hashtag Award
CONGRATS to the RMS Counselors (@RMSCounselors) for winning the Golden Hashtag award this week!
It takes baby steps, but I appreciate you sharing your story and promoting the Rice Raven Brand! If you have an idea for a challenge, please put it out there. Or use some positive peer pressure and get someone else to tweet great things going on in his or her classroom daily!
Don't forget to include #RiceRavens in your tweets and respond/encourage others!!!
The Challenge:
Tweet out one post DAILY (tag @RiceMSRavens and #RiceRavens) about what learning took place in your classroom (add a picture if you want) and then scroll through the rest of the posts at #RiceRavens and respond as you see fit. That's it! Simple enough.
This is a time where sharing the story of public education is crucial and educators all over need to work together and make sure our communities are aware of how great public education is.
I would love to see MORE of the Rice Middle School staff participate and share what's going on at Rice. Several Monday Memos ago, I shared my thoughts on the need to share our story. This shouldn't be limited to admin or the few staff who have taken this on, this should be the responsibility of all of us. There are many great things going on at Rice Middle School and public education in general, but these can often be overshadowed by bad press or a small percentage of what is reported. We all need to be proud of where we are and what we do each day and SHARE that with the community. If there is no joy in where you are or what you are doing that you can share with others, then this should be a time to reevaluate what you are needing and go and find it.
This Twitter Challenge is a small task that can bring back some huge gains.
Misc. Items
Rice MS Google Classroom:
If you have not done so already, please join the Rice Google Classroom using the Class Code: iiw1vtp. All relevant and important campus information and announcements are housed here. And if you have suggestions on what should be in the stream (including new “Topics”) or in the “About” section, please send them Sara's way!
Student Assistants:
As a reminder, students should not be grading assignments, entering grades in the grade book, or anything that pertains to working with student information. This violates FERPA, please make sure you are not using student assistants in this manner. Let me know if you have any questions.
Spring Pictures:
Spring Pictures will be Tuesday, April 3 through Science classes. Students will only receive pictures if they order online or pre-pay.
A Look Ahead -Events for the Week
Tuesday:
Band Pre-UIL Concert-6:00 PWSH
Wednesday:
Principals Meeting-Kendyl and Sara out (see Coach Green or Coach Nelson for any administrative concerns)
Track Meet at Kimbrough-4:15
Thursday:
Mandatory STAAR Training after school
Beginning Choir Concert-6:00-RMS Cafeteria
Saturday:
Speech Tournament-all day-Schim MS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
March 23: Lisa Barrett
Those we missed over Spring Break:
Allison King: March 14
Nathan Cassidy: March 15
Kelly Gauger: March 17
Plano ISD Calendar
2017-18 School Calendar:
Rice Middle School
Email: chris.glasscock@pisd.edu
Website: https://www.pisd.edu/rice
Location: 8500 Gifford Drive, Plano, TX, United States
Phone: 469-752-6000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiceMSRavens
Twitter: @RiceMSRavens