Weekly Notes
The Staff Connection at Kurtz!
Our Week at a Glance
Weekly Notes ( 2-26-18 -- 3-2-18 )
Monday:
- John and Dawn Cruz will be here to meet with me to discuss our evolving technology focus at 9:00.
- They will be borrowing our STEM Lab for a meeting after from 10:00 - 12:00.
- Grade level PLC time will take place in Kathy Rupp's room at 8:15. We will start together as a team and work together in her room after. Please make sure you have (at least) one Chromebook with your team to share. We will be focused on Atlas. As always, being on time and ready to go at 8:15 is expected and appreciated.
Wednesday:
Thursday:
- School Improvement Leadership (planning) meeting in the conference room at 8:15.
- I am meeting Officer Lipari and fireman/parent Mr. Chappelle at the Milford Methodist Church at 9:30 to to begin a discussion leading to scheduling an evacuation drill.
Friday:
- CAT Program Evaluation meeting will take place in the conference room.
Traffic Circle: Phillips & Rupp
Morning Loop and afternoon Dismissal (Students): Wilson & Zimmerman
Parent Pick Up: Evans
Walker Duty (cafeteria door in the afternoon and outside in the morning): M: Kaczor, T: Vialard, W: Mauller, TH: Sheffield, F: Gitre
Notes:
- I can't believe it, but it is almost baby time. Amanda and Megan are about to be EVEN BUSIER than they normally are!! Linda Busen will be in for Amanda and Gina Hockstad will be in for Megan. Needless to say, we will be broadcasting baby news as soon as it becomes available!!! Welcome Linda and Gina!
- Tara Sheffield is our new social worker! She starts this week. Help me to welcome Tara and get her acclimated to our amazing staff. As we get ourselves back up and running in this department, please make sure all social work needs are going through BEST. Any emergencies should be going through me or Rachel. I want Tara focused on a list of needs and getting to know our staff and students.
- Trash on the playground is an issue. Please make sure you are responsible for the garbage left when you are taking your students out for snack time.
- Staff, it has never been more important to be visible and engaged in the mornings. As always, I expect all staff to be receiving their students at the door. If you have door duty, remember you are expected to be working the car loop in the morning. Keep those cars moving and engage with parents. Your presence and a smile go a long way!
- If you have cafeteria walker dismissal, remember, you should be the last one in the building in the morning.
- Thanks to Carol for the great potato lunch on Friday! It was fun and tasty!
- LIM Parent Night is coming, make sure your team is informed and ready for the event!
Weekly Notes ( 2-21-18 -- 2-23-18 )
Monday:
- No School
- No School
Wednesday:
- I will be leaving at 4:00 to attend a cohort planning session.
Thursday:
- The Lighthouse Leadership Team will meet at 8:15 in the conference room to prep for Leadership Night.
- BEST #11 in the conference room.
Friday:
- CAT Program Evaluation in the conference room.
Traffic Circle: Phillips & Rupp
Morning Loop and afternoon Dismissal (Students): Stewart & Hornyak
Parent Pick Up: Thom
Walker Duty (cafeteria door in the afternoon and outside in the morning): M: Kaczor, T: Vialard, W: Mauller, TH: Rollier, F: Gitre
Notes:
- Next Tuesday morning will be spent meeting together in order to spend some time discussing content standards in ELA. Please make sure each team has spent some time reviewing your most recent unit and the content standards that are listed for you in Atlas.
- I am back to 5D round 2 this week! I will likely be "rolling" through a classroom near you on Wednesday.
- Please make sure to respond to your 31A At Risk email from me ASAP. I would like to have any/all responses by end of day Thursday.
- Discipline forms must be completed and sent to the office with a student if support is being sought out.
Last Week:
- BIT Meetings last week were great examples of the great work being done in the classrooms and during WIN time. Kudos to everyone for playing such important roles in supporting all of our students.
- Last week we met as a group and refocused on creating a Culture of Thinking at Kurtz. We renewed our commitment to seeking out more time to talk and share. Each member of each grade level team has refreshed their focus on implementing a minimum of 3 thinking routines and digging deeper into them as a team. Staff are on their own to complete the books provided them for deeper work in the fall.
- Melissa and I attended a PTA meeting last week. See notes from Melissa and/or posted meeting minutes on the Kurtz web page.
Weekly Notes ( 2-12-18 -- 2-16-18 )
Monday:
- School Improvement with a focus on Cultures of Thinking at 8:15 in Wilson's room. Staff should be prepared to share the progress with the 3 thinking routines each team has designated to dig deeper with this year.
- I will be leaving to attend a district AIM meeting at MHS LGI at 2:00.
Wednesday:
- Pupil Count Day
- Valentines Day
- Melissa and I will be attending a PTA meeting in the cafeteria at 9:30.
Thursday:
- BIT #5
Friday:
- Shelter in place (Lock down) drill at 3:00.
Traffic Circle: Phillips & Rupp
Morning Loop and afternoon Dismissal (Students): Boyd & Evans
Parent Pick Up: Stuart
Walker Duty (cafeteria door in the afternoon and outside in the morning): M: Kaczor, T: Vialard, W: Mauller, TH: Rollier, F: Gitre
Notes:
- All data must be uploaded into Illuminate for BIT this week. Thanks for getting it in on time!
- HVEA meeting: Linda and I met last week to continue our commitment to collaboration. We will meet monthly in order to collaborate and discuss issues, share feedback and staff perspectives/perceptions. Our goal is to analyze issues and obstacles in order to create positive solutions and practices that benefit our entire team.
- BEST #10 was held.
- Remember to Tweet your Leadership: One Word
- Thanks to staff members that participated in my little impromptu #SnowyCougar project last week!
- Please turn in your staff heart for the windows in the main hallway. They look great already!
Weekly Notes ( 2-5-18 -- 2-9-18 )
Monday:
- I will be attending a district ITAC meeting at he board office and returning around 11:30.
- Staff meeting at 8:15 in the STEM Lab. We will be focused on breaking down the MSTEP writing rubric.
- I will begin sharing your classroom mission statements each morning as a feature on morning announcements.
Wednesday:
- I will be attending a district LMT meeting at MHS at 2:30.
Thursday:
- BEST #10 in the conference room in the morning.
Friday:
- I will be attending an elementary principal's meeting at the board office.
- The School store will be open during.
Traffic Circle: Phillips & Rupp
Morning Loop and afternoon Dismissal (Students): Vezina & Dinnan
Parent Pick Up: Wilson
Walker Duty (cafeteria door in the afternoon and outside in the morning): M: Kaczor, T: Vialard, W: Mauller, TH: Rollier, F: Gitre
Notes:
- Thank you to each staff member who was able to attend Jump Rope for Heart this weekend.
- Thank you to the Kurtz Leadership team for the Twitter challenge that was launched last week! Keep the Tweets coming! The board in the main hall looks great!
- The technology committee's multi-year STEM Lab plan has officially been completed in the (PIE IN THE SKY) original 2 year timeline. Thank you to each member of that team that met to create the plan. Your hard work and commitment to student learning has been realized!
- All grade levels should schedule their meeting with me this week. All meetings must be scheduled to occur in February and will take place in the conference room.
- Dena, Kathy, Megan and I attended a district school improvement session last week. Your leadership team was able to spend some much needed time reviewing our progress and discussing our direction for the rest of the school year and into the new year.
- Your Cultures of Thinking leadership team met last week to plan for the meeting coming up on the 13th. We spent the session reviewing our progress and developing some plans for ensuring further support for staff and our continuing growth as a team. Our main focus as a staff continues to be the integration of the 3 Thinking Routines each grade level has chosen to utilize and dig deeper on throughout the school year.
- Commitment to Collaboration: Linda and I met to discuss some concerns and to establish a structure for monthly meetings to share ideas, plans and perspectives. As your HVEA rep, Linda will be scheduling an HVEA meeting to follow up with staff. Linda will also be scheduling monthly meetings with me to continue our dialogue in the future.
Weekly Notes ( 1-29-18 -- 2-2-18 )
Monday:
- I have a meeting with Jennifer scheduled to discuss this great team here at 2:30.
Wednesday:
- Megan, Dena, Kathy and I will be attending a district SIT meeting all day today.
Thursday:
- COT Leadership meeting in the conference room at 8:15.
- World Reading Day! I will do an all call for a building-wide DEAR time at 3:00.
Friday:
- Wear Red to support the American Heart Association! Tweet pics!!
- I will be attending the principal's network at OISD all day.
- CAT BEST in the conference room in the morning.
- Please consider attending Jump Rope for Heart from 9:30 - 11:00.
Traffic Circle: Phillips & Rupp
Morning Loop and afternoon Dismissal (Students): Stuart & Hess
Parent Pick Up: Peterman
Walker Duty (cafeteria door in the afternoon and outside in the morning): M: Kaczor, T: Vialard, W: Mauller, TH: Rollier, F: Gitre
Notes:
- Staff, your attention to the mess left outside after snack must be improved. Also, please consider encouraging kids to pick up the wrappers and trash that seems to be all over.
- Kurtz Expectations posters were hand delivered and hung all around the building. If you have not yet started reviewing them with your students, start setting goals and working toward improving adhesion to those expectations. The posters are just the start. I need each and every one of you to implement these expectations if we are going to expect change.
- Remember, as the weather improves exterior doors must ALWAYS be closed and locked. This is a non-negotiable safety expectation.