Principal's Newsletter
September 28th, 2018
WOWs
WOW to Carrie & Megan for being so diligent everyday to update the para schedules to make sure our days run smoothly and always being willing to step in & assist us when help is needed. Linda C
WOW to all the Sped paras in room 51/53 who are trying so hard to adjust to our ever changing schedules and supporting each other when there are mess ups. Linda C
WOW to Mrs. Thornhill & Mrs. Appelbaum for coming up with creative & engaging ideas to motivate & support our students to learn. Linda C
WOW Mrs. Bradley who is so kind & understanding and allow our students to come to the Learning Commons anytime our students need to be in there for work or as a refuge, we really appreciate your understanding & patience. Linda C
WOW to nurse Deb who is always so kind, patient & caring with staff & students whenever she is needed. You are an angel!! Linda C
WOW to Ms.Highfill thanks for having your students organize and clean out their desks to help keep your classroom so neat! And thank you also for all the cupcakes you’ve supplied us “to give us energy to get through the night”! -Jordan Fruit
WOW to Ms. Reagan thanks for having your kiddos do a little sweeping at the end of the day! Helps out the custodians and we are so grateful! Thanks to your classroom friends also. --Jordan Fruit
WOW to the custodial crew of Harvest Ridge, I’m so happy to be apart of this team. You guys go above and beyond each day to help make this school shine. At the lead meeting I heard a lot of schools have only buffed once since school has even started and we continue to make strides with getting more and more done each night and day. Thanks guys, couldn’t do this without such positive and hard workers. You rock! --Jordan Fruit
WOW to Nurse Deb, The first time I’ve walked into the nurses office at the end of the school day and oh man I was impressed nurse Deb! You handle it like a pro! Wow to you nurse Deb! --Jordan Fruit
WOW to Nathan Mackiewicz. I know I and the rest of the 4th grade team are so grateful to have you as our DC. Thank you for all the work you do for us and for helping our team work so well together. I truly appreciate it. -Drew Moersch
WOW to Cassie Baughn. There have been several times that I have and a problem involving students and she has dropped everything to help me with them. You are a great addition to the Ridge family and you are doing great things for our kids. - Drew Moersch
WOW To Dr. OH for helping me get the school store form made. -Drew Moersch
WOW and thank you to Makenzie, Dione, Jodi and Christina P. for being so kind and supportive as I prepared to be out for the next couple weeks. The goodie bags were very appreciated and put to good use. Thank you for your friendship. -Christina Rosenow
WOW to Jodi for always taking the time to write WOWs! Your heart for people and your laugh are amazing.--Christina Rosenow
WOW to everyone for welcoming Christina and Shelly into your classrooms for CITW data collection. They were able to experience so many wonderful things about The Ridge that often go unseen.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to the entire staff for your active engagement in our 4E training. Special thanks to the teachers who allowed us to use your classrooms for the scenarios.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Shanna Bradley for covering a kindergarten classroom! You ROCK!--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to the 2nd grade team for taking on a few extra students at the last minute last week. It is appreciated.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Jane Helpler. Thanks for always setting aside all your other work to make sure our classrooms are covered.--Dr. DeWeese
WOWs to the following who helped with an especially difficult support call: Angeline, Tony, and Natalie. Also, to Kerri and Angeline for helping to clean up and for checking up on Cassie and I later. -Sherry
WOW to Jodi for finding time to teach a writing lesson and Christina for setting up the swivel to record. Even with the fire drill right as you got started, it was a great learning opportunity. Kimberley
WOW to Jodi and Christina for taking the time to come in and helping me brainstorm for ways to make reading and writing lessons most efficient. Kimberley
WOW to Christina P for coming down and making a video of my writing lesson. I’m looking forward to reviewing it together and setting goals. I especially appreciate the fact that you gave me positive, specific, feedback right away. You have left me with a sense of, “I can do this!” Kimberley
Thank you to Katelyn for making our Team shirts! They are perfect! Kimberley
Thank you to 2nd grade team for taking on my students last week when my position failed to fill. I cannot express how thankful I am to work with such amazing ladies! Kimberley
WOW to Natalie, Angeline, and Kerri for a YUMMY 1st Day of Fall treat last week! Angie Regan
WOW! Thank you to Mr. Mack for planning Prayer at the Pole. It’s heartwarming to know how much we care and pray for each other.--Tessa
WOW to my Office Squad and Principal Squad. I really appreciate you ladies being a huge support during a time that is not so amazing for my Family. #OurSquadsRock--Tessa
WOW to Nikki, Brandy and Heather thanks ladies for always having a shoulder to lean on and checking on me! #LoveMyRidgeFamily--Tessa
WOW to Janice- your weekly reminder template and information has been so helpful to keep our team and ME on trackJ Thank you!
WOW to the counseling team- you all are doing great work with the student care team meetings, and helping with dysregulated students. Thank you for always having my back. -OH
WOW to Dione Anderson, Nikki Lovelace, and Stacey Schuette have all helped me with dysregulated students in the hallway. I so appreciate you stopping to ask if I needed help and stepping in to help with students. -OH
WOW to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teams, who are using very rigorous materials to monitor the SMART Goals rather than the district benchmarks. We have seen outstanding growth with so many of our kids! -OH
WOW to 2nd grade for getting all their math pre and post enhanced math tests into MC. This is really helping math data team to identify students for enrichment and intervention. -OH
WOW to Cheryl Gerloff. You are a great resource for teachers and for me. I love that we are getting to collaborate more about all students as well as the Spectra students. I appreciate your input to help guide my conversations with teams around enrichment and goal setting. THANK YOU! -OH
WOW to the specials teachers and counselors who are killing it at parent pickup at the end of the day! You all are getting those kids in the cars much faster than we ever had and you have your system down! -OH
WOW to Natalie, Kerri, Christina, and Jodi for having great data conversations with me. I love that we are getting to dive deeper this year to really dig into math interventions and enrichments. These data convos really make my heart singJ -OH
Thanks to the reading team and Jaime for leading out our training – you all did a great job-OH
So a first grader came up to me this week and said after staring everywhere he could in the lobby, “Our school is really getting more beautiful.” I agree and want to send a wow out to everyone who made it look so pretty. Thanks-Sherry Reagan
WOW to Greg Vest! Your support is the dabomb.com! Thanks for being so caring!--Tessa
WOW to Tracy A. from the cafe! You know how to make a girl feel good!--Tessa
WOW to Ms. V! Girl you are strong!! #benchbuddies--Tessa
WOW to Christina Pliske for ROCKING it as a music teacher for Mr. Button!--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Jaime Little for all that you are doing to work with students who need a little social skills help. Thanks for all your time with a special kindergarten friend the other day too.------Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Susan Gorris for meeting at parent right where they are to keep the lines of communication open and to do what is best for a student.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Jennifer Barry. Your window of tolerance is appreciated and you are amazing with our students.--Dr. DeWeese
WOW to Cheri, Kelley, Courtney for taking a group of my students so I could get to an appointment.~Janice
A belated wow to Drew for watching my class during his plan time a couple of weeks ago so I could take care of a situation.-Janice
WOW to Cheri for helping with one of my kiddos~Janice
WOW to Courtney-for making such amazing team shirts for us—Cheri, Kelley, and Janice
WOW to Kelley~for her willingness to try new things and being such a great addition to our team~Janice, Courtney, and Cheri
WOW to Nurse Deb~for being so involved with the care of one my students~Janice
WOW to Natalie~for helping me with one of my kiddos so we can find the best way to help him~Janice
WOW to Angeline for all of your support! I appreciate all that you do! -- Cassie
WOW to Kerri for helping and reminding me of my safety plan! -- Cassie
WOW to Natalie, Angeline, and Kerri for all of your hard work with care team and supporting student plans. – Cassie
Thank you to Sherry, Greg, Sandra and Tracy! I love being able to collaborate and work with all of you! -- Cassie
WOW to Betsy for having AMAZING sub plans!! You rock! -- Cassie
Meeting Minutes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cx5kR-81I7oxhML7_lOl-C1hkw4UJ8RLkfQ82KpSGjw/edit?usp=sharing
PBIS
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RJRZgapme7oTUfzwp3NMBTXkY__IfaTdDyckydQ1hgI/edit?usp=sharing
EDC
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M9LgmPaSCVogQK1W_Xe7a_BeQXWU_O3r8pzZNxhDP8Y/edit?usp=sharing
FHEA
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BMSXboOKAv33j3SXoCCnotharf6394jmMOYK4jUNW7k/edit?usp=sharing
Conferences
Dinner will be provide both nights of conferences and will be served right after school.
Classroom Set Up
We have spent some time the last year talking about classroom environment. This is just a quick article that was shared with me and I thought it was pretty spot on. Enjoy!
Staff Updates
Alison (Ali) Dethrow will be joining Nurse Deb as our part time nurse. She has been working in the Orchard Farm School District as a sub nurse.
Kelly Harris has extended her leave of absence as she is still ill. She is planning to return on November 1st.
4E Training Follow Up
Back in August the office provide everyone who has a phone with a small sticker. On the sticker should be *1 01#. The purpose of the sticker is for staff use if you should ever need to make an "all call" announcement from that phone. This should only be used in the case of an emergency and in particular an intruder or active shooter. The safety team will discuss this feature of our new phone system later this year as we anticipate practicing a drill being initiated from a different location rather than the office this year.
Directions:
- Pick up the handset and listen for the dial tone.
- Slowly press *1 01#
- Wait for the bell- it sounds just like the one you hear every morning for announcements.
- Pause for just a few seconds and begin to speak clearly.
Per the safety binder the following statement is used during Active Shooter Drills.
"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! THIS IS AN ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILL! TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION! LOCK DOWN! LOCK DOWN!"
If it was an actual active shooter situation you would want to be extremely clear that it is not a drill and if you know the location of the active shooter you would want to announce that. Please let me know if you have any questions about how to use the "All Call" feature on the phone system or if you have any other questions about 4E Training.
Staff Potluck
Faculty Meeting
Favorite Things Binder
Calm Room
Why a Calm Room?
- To keep kids IN school!
- Give kids the opportunity to be taught self-regulation.
- Support the Trauma-Informed approach.
- Safe place for students who are dysregulated and who may be impacting the learning environment.
- Support teachers with a behavior support plan for students who need extra support.
What is it?
- Focuses on helping students to regulate within the context of the relationship.
- A space to provide calming activities to help students regulate their emotions and return to the learning environment.
- A space to TEACH self-regulation intervention groups.
- A space to provide "scheduled breaks" for students who have breaks included as a proactive strategy in their support plan.
- A space to TEACH students how to identify their emotional triggers and tools to calm.
Who is it for?
- Students who are not able to self-regulate and who exhibit emotional upsets that are disruptive to the learning environment.
- Students who have a need for scheduled breaks beyond what can be provided in the classroom through the use of the Calming Corner.
- Students who need social/emotional small group intervention.
- Students who benefit from check ins/check outs during the school day.
How is it used?
- The calming room is a need not a REWARD. It is not a place where kids come to play. Students are actively working on using strategies to regulate themselves so they can be successful in the classroom environment.
- A student is coached through the de-escalation process.
- When regulated, students have conversations/teaching around the event that took place.
- When regulated, problem solving strategies are discussed and a plan is developed for moving forward.
- When regulated, a child will return to class and welcomed back by the teacher.
- When students come for a proactive break they will choose a brain break activity. All of this is accompanied by the adult while the student and adult review self -regulation strategies/expectations. These breaks will be scheduled with the teacher/team input on appropriate time during the day to avoid large amounts of work being missed.
The Calm Room is NOT......
- Used for minor/major referrals
- A time out room
- A play room
- A place to escape from classwork without having to be accountable for the work
- A place to get treats and prizes
- A place to host in school suspension
Link for a Calm Room Example
https://drive.google.com/open?id=19O9mbqhAvX3lftCfPKXtETDQdy-D1eGs
The team is still working on getting the room set up and organized. Aeysha will also be attending a week of training with all of the other Behavior Specialist in the district. More will be shared with staff as we complete the plan and start to implement the room with our students. Thanks for your support as we transition this new role and support for our students.