Panther Updates
NEWS, RESOURCES AND LEARNING FOR PANTHER STAFF, 9/4/17
Ever wonder what some of our staff looked like as youngsters. See if you can guess who these staff members are.
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Announcements for the week of September 5-September 8, 2017
Leadership Team/Read-a-Thon Orientation Meeting:
Please review the Teacher Orientation Slides from PTA President Heather Wilson and post any questions that you have on this Read-a-Thon Google Form prior to this Thursday's orientation meeting. This will make our meeting with Heather Wilson more meaningful.
Bathroom Use:
Please remind all students that no one should be in student bathrooms before the 9:15 bell WITHOUT TEACHER PERMISSION. IF A STUDENT IS SEEN ON CAMERA IN AN AREA NOT AUTHORIZED OR IN A BATHROOM WITHOUT PERMISSION AND VANDALISM OCCURS, THE STUDENT MAY BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. In addition, there have been issues in the 4/5 bathroom with graffiti, water, and misuse of fixtures. IF A STUDENT NOTICES AN ISSUE (TOILET PAPER IN WRONG PLACE, WATER ON THE FLOOR, ETC..) PLEASE HAVE THE STUDENT REPORT IT TO THE OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.
As stated last week and as a reminder, to ease crowding, some grade levels have chosen to use bathrooms on other hallways. If you choose to use bathrooms on another hall, please follow the following best practices-
- Make every effort to use classroom bathrooms if you have one.
- When you are at any hallway bathroom, be mindful of classes that are in session and the noise level of your class.
- Teachers should monitor the bathrooms at all times and send a few students at a time.
- Teachers should check bathrooms before and after use.
- Teachers should not intermingle classes (more than one class using the bathroom at a time.)
- Avoid sending individual students to the bathroom from classrooms without supervision. (We have had several incident involving younger and older students in the bathrooms by themselves since school started- all of which dealt with students going to the bathroom from class alone.)
- If individual students come to use the bathroom when a class is already in the bathroom, the student should be required to wait. The teacher on duty should ask the student to do so.
BUS LOOP USE FOR RECESS:
The bus loop should be used as a last resort for recess. If necessary, please encourage students to stay out of the middle of the circle (there is poison oak there) and not to go past the flag pole. For safety, please place three cones from the front hallway at the top of the loop when the class goes out to play AND bring in the cones when coming in. This will alert drivers to avoid the area while in use. Field trip buses and parents often drive into the bus loop during the day. Do not use the area past 3:00, as some buses arrive early.
NEW FURNITURE:
We have new furniture for the front hallway and front office reception area! Come on down a sit a spell! A spell is a short period of time- just spelling this out for those of you not from around here.
We will be also looking to purchase more flexible furniture throughout the school to help with tracking in and out and the use of areas such as the media center. It is probable that all grade levels will need to transition next year due to our need to accommodate teacher/student ratios legislated by the NC General Assembly. More discussions on this will are forthcoming as we know more.
CALLING BUSES:
We would like to call two buses at a time in the afternoon. However, we are checking tags on students three times (once in the hallway, once on the way to the bus, and once when boarding the bus.) We aren't able to check tags and send in students to get temporary bus passes with that many students at one time. To call two buses would require extra personnel on duty. We have worked to call them as quickly as possible. Thank you for understanding.
ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING:
Please make sure to stay on campus until after the last bus is called and you hear the announcement. If you must leave early, please let Ms. Person or Ms. Britt know in the front office. This helps avoid issues when there are transportation questions, parents contact the office with questions for staff members, or we need to find you for some other reason. Communication is key to our success.
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Mark Your Calendars
Monday, September 5
- Labor Day Holiday--No School
Thursday, September 7
- 2:45 Read-a-Thon Pep Rally for Tracks 1 and 3 in Gym
Thursday, September 7
- 7:45 Leadership Team Meeting (Media Center)
- 8:15 Read-a-Thon Teacher Orientation (All teachers). This will follow an abbreviated Leadership Team Meeting.
- 2:45 Read-a-Thon Pep Rally Tracks 1/3
- 6:00 pm 5th Grade Human Growth & Development Info Session
- 6:30 pm 5th Grade Washington, DC Trip Orientation
Thursday, Sept. 14
- 2:45 Read-a-Thon Pep Rally Tracks 2/4
Monday, Sept. 9/18-Fri. 9/29 Read-a-Thon Tracks 2/4
Monday, Oct. 2-Fri. 10/13 Read-a-Thon Tracks 1/3
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Duties for the Week of September 4-8, 2017
AM Hallway: Shipley/Blocker (Help greet parents/students, check with Ms. Person to see what is needed at the visitor sign-in tables or the carpool tag/ transportation table.)
AM Carpool: Fitzgerald (Help Safety Patrol, call for more help if needed, monitor carpool lane)
AM Breakfast: McEwen (Work with students regarding lunch numbers, encourage students to eat and get directly to class.)
AM Bus: Renfrow (Write down arrival times of buses. Work with Fricke to disembark students, trouble-shoot issues.)
Lunch Duty: Johnson, Fitzgerald, Lavin, McEwen, Newman, Bednar, Brown, Renfrow
(Work with one another to use the "warning" behavior system, train students to pick up trash/sweep, and inform teachers of issues. Update the seating charts in the notebook as needed.) Garrett assist Lavin/others for coverage as needed. The office will contact you if necessary. Blocker and Shipley are out this week. Let the office staff know if help is needed, as well.
PM Hallway: Andrews (Check all students for tags in the bus line. If a student does not have a tag, inform Fricke and Ms. Britt ASAP. )
PM Carpool: Newman, Perry (outside) McEwen, Cooper/Garrett, (inside) Hopper (Hymel fill in) (Call carpool numbers. If a parent doesn't have a carpool tag, They are required to park and come into the building to get a tag. This includes all grade-levels.)
PM Bus: McNeeley (Call one bus at a time. Write down arrival times. CHECK FOR BUS TAGS ON EACH CHILD'S BOOKBAG. Work with Britt and Andrews to trouble-shoot, solve issues.)
**If someone is not available, staff members that are available may be called to assist.*