BESTeam Tidbits
May 14, 2016
PTA's Final Meeting
Celebrations
- Thank you to each of you for your flexibility, positive attitudes, and love for our Texans during STAAR week!
- Great job Tonya organizing STAAR for our staff and students!
- Thank you for joining us at Zoe's for a delicious spirit night!
- A to Z Challenge underway!
Congratulations Dee!
Dee Vaugt was named the GCISD Nutrition Services Employee of the Year on Thursday!
Bransford Elementary Cafeteria Manager Dee Vaught is the Nutrition Services Employee of the year. Dee began her service to GCISD as a Nutrition Specialist in 2010, she quickly moved up the ranks and was promoted to manager at Bransford Elementary School in August 2012. Since then she has consistently improved the quality of food and service at Bransford Elementary, while building solid relationships with the students and staff.
Director Julie Telesca states “Dee is a joyous, positive life force, who embraces her job, her school and her students with a smile and enthusiasm. Dee is an essential piece to the Child Nutrition Department and has been instrumental in our success this school year. Dee has truly shown a level of dedication and commitment that is above and beyond the scope of her job and is well deserving of this award”.
Her principal, Jamie Halliburton is excited for Dee to be awarded this honor. “Dee fills our bellies with nutritious food and our hearts with smiles! Dee's positive attitude and love for our campus is evident in all she does. She takes pride in the food she prepares and the students she serves. In addition to taking care of the students, Dee takes extra care of our staff, from ensuring tea is made each morning and ice is ready for their day to preparing classes for field trips. The little details Dee attends to daily make her stand out in food and nutrition, GCISD, and Bransford!”
The Child Nutrition Department has a significant role within the district and Dee does her part to make the cafeteria an inviting and fun place for students and staff. Dee keeps the kids laughing with her variety of holiday hats, decorations and friendly service. On any given day you will find a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for the students to choose from. Dee takes pride in the food quality and presentation. She is always looking for ways to get the students excited about eating in the cafeteria. Dee’s strong leadership and friendly approach is clearly demonstrated each day as she serves the students and staff of Bransford Elementary. She is committed to doing her very best and has been a great example for others to follow. Dee is amazing and all of her efforts are greatly appreciated.
Congratulations Dee!
To do...
- Get pink and blue cards ready for class placement meetings. Thank you for taking time to meet with your team before we get together.
- Take a few minutes to give feedback on the employee survey (see below).
- Please take a moment to take the Learning Commons' survey: http://goo.gl/forms/Uo5IKO1wYd
- Sign official summative forms in your boxes on Monday afternoon. Please return to Denise.
Professional Learning Opportunities
- GCISD: For a list of GCISD summer learning opportunities, click here.
- Science: Each campus is encouraged to send one teacher per grade-level to Inquiry and one to CIE refreshers. Please click here for more information.
- GCISD Innovative Teaching with Technology Conference: If you are attending the GCISD Innovative Teaching with Technology Conference on June 14, please let us know by placing your name on this list.
- Math Book Study: As we grow in our capacity to serve GCISD students, we invite you to be a part of an exciting book study hosted by the GCISD math department!
- Humanities Learning Opportunity: Check our the link for LOTS of learning opportunities.
- GT Update for 2016-2017: June 21 GT 6 hour update featuring Ian Byrd. He will be presenting differentiation strategies and the training is close by at the PDEC.
- GCISD Summer Learning Opportunities: Click here for a list of district offerings.
- Summer 2016 Instructional Technology & PBL Learning Opportunities:https://docs.google.com/a/gcisd.net/document/d/161Xh5FpUcruprr06QGmWZoQ-kVEC2_sAg4I_slKP_Pw/edit?usp=sharing
Mindset Minute
From Carol Dweck: In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities. Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships.
Gratitude
Tweet of the Week
Best way to make sure students do not act like the school year is over is to make sure the teachers do not act like the school year is over.
Employee Survey Next Steps...
FYI
- Cafeteria: Remember, no more charging in the cafeteria.
- Math: Click here for the latest edition of the Math Minute!
- Summer Programs: This summer we will offer courses for students completing K-6th grades. Our program brochure is available online on the Summer Enrichment page and a limited amount of printed brochures will be sent out to all elementary campuses the week of March 28th. If parents need assistance with the online registration or have questions, you can direct them to the Summer Programs Office which is located in the GCISD Tax Office this year. The number is (817) 251-5206 and the office will open Monday, March 28th.
SBRC: After this spring, we will no longer be using Google for SBRCs. In the fall, we will begin using Skyward for reporting purposes. The same standards and time frames that we now have in Google will be built into our Skyward customized report card. We will have information sessions in the early fall to be sure everyone knows how to use this new format, but we are optimistic that this will solve many of the problems we've experienced.
Summer Learning for Students
- CK-12: Last year the CK-12 Foundation introduced the CK-12 Brainflex Summer Challenge. The challenge is a free program that students can use to keep their math and science skills sharp through the summer while also learning some new knowledge and gaining new skills. Students register for the program then track their skills review through the CK-12 Brainflex website. The CK-12 Summer Challenge is self-paced and students choose the subjects that they want to review.Applications for Education:Teachers can send invitations to students to participate in the CK-12 Summer Challenge. With those invitations teachers can include suggestions for subjects to review. CK-12 also provides a template for a letter to send home to parents with suggestions on subjects for their children to review over the summer. That letter could be sent to the parents of the students moving on from your classroom this summer or to the parents of the students you're expecting to see in the fall.
- Xtra Math: Did you know that students can lose almost 3 months of grade-level equivalency in math over the summer?XtraMath can help! Our summer flyers encourage parents to have their kids use XtraMath over the long break. Sign in to your XtraMath teacher account on the web and click on Summer Flyers in the left column of the class report. Flyers are customized to each student, so ensure each student gets the correct flyer.What happens to my students' accounts after the school year ends? Each class in your XtraMath account has an expiration date, typically July 1. After that date the class is cleared out of your account to make room for next year's classes. (In your teacher account you can you can change the expiration date of a class that hasn't expired yet.) Students may continue to use their accounts after the expiration date as long as their account is associated with a parent account. The summer flyer instructs parents to create an associated parent account if they do not already have one via the “enrollment” process.
- Istation:
Did you know that you can use Istation throughout the summer months to combat Summer Slide?
Istation believes a break from school needn’t be a break from learning. These printable brochures for teachers and parents explain how to access Istation at home. Think a video might work better to help inspire summer reading? Our Istation characters Justin Time and Paige Turner put together a short video about using Istation Home during the summer. Please share this video with students and their families:Watch Paige and Justin discuss Istation Home.
We hope schools with subscriptions to Istation will encourage families to log in and keep learning all summer long!
Please help your students start the summer months at the place that is right for them! Have them take the ISIP assessment at school in May, so that when they begin home use during the summer months they are placed correctly into the adaptive curriculum in Istation Home.
Spirit Nights
- 5/17: Chop House Burger
- 5/31: Menchie's
Address Verification: CHANGE for 2016
PLCs
May 17: Tech PLC
May 23 (special Monday meeting): Student class placements
May 24: RtI
May 31: No PLCs 5th grade softball game
Counselor's Corner
Career Day: 4th and 5th Career Day is . We will be switching 4th and 2nd grade specials times.
Feed Our Kids Food Drive: KC Club is organizing one last food drive for the GRACE Feed Our Kids program. We are collecting nonperishable foods like jars of Peanut Butter, Jelly, Individual packs of chips, crackers, cookies, fruit cups, water, and juice boxes. We will be collecting from . The WINNING grade level that collects the most items will get a 30 minute extra recess monitored by myself and the 5th grade KC Club. (If 5th grade wins I will figure something else out) I will send each grade level a blurb to put in their newsletters.
2016-2017 Information
Service Opportunities: Please let Jamie or Tonya know if you are interested
- Website: One staff member from BES to manage and update the BES website.
Staffing Updates
Kinder
Hendry, Romo, & Ryan
First
Harness, Hill, & Kaufmann
Second
Engle, Gribbin, Hy, & Vise
Third
Marino, Ritter, & Singletary
Fourth
Chapman, Eccleston, & Kaufmann
Fifth
Duke, Floyd, & Hockenbrough
At this time, we have the following openings:
- One teaching position
- Learning liaison
- Pre-K
Dates to Know
- August 2: Enrollment completion
- August 6: GCISD Back to School Fair
- August 15: Welcome back staff!
- August 16: Convocation at GHS
- August 17: Workshop
- August 18: Staff workday & meet the teacher
- August 19: T-TESS in the morning & staff work time in the afternoon
- August 22: First day of school!
- August 26: Welcome back & Rachel's Challenge kick-off assembly 2:00 p.m.
- September 2: Dad's Club Breakfast
- September 5: Labor Day Holiday
Week at a Glance
Monday
- KC Club Feed Our Kids Food Drive
Tuesday
- A to Z Challenge: Favorite Sport's Team Shirt Day
- KC Club Feed Our Kids Food Drive
- Technology PLCs
- CEC at 3:10 p.m. in the Learning Commons
- Chop House Burgers Spirit Night
- Happy Birthday Ally!
Wednesday
- KC Club Feed Our Kids Food Drive
- Jamie Principals' Meeting
- PALS Last Vist 12:00 - 1:00
Thursday
- A to Z Challenge: Wear a College Shirt Day
- KC Club Feed Our Kids Food Drive
- Abbey Counseling Meeting
- 5th Grade Choir to NRH2O
- PTA Meeting 6:30 p.m.
- KC Club Feed Our Kids Food Drive
- Field Day: Thank you everyone for being ready for field day! Please see Sue if you have any questions.
Jamie Halliburton
Email: jamie.halliburton@gcisd.net
Phone: 806-441-6518
Twitter: @BESHalliburton