Founders Weekly
April 7th to April 12th
Shout out!
So many great things happened last week! I want to recognize a few:
- Ms. Baffoni for all her help with RICAS prep
- The Special Ed team (Ms. W, Mrs. Holmes, Mrs. Medeiros, Ms. O'Donnell) for celebrating Autism Awareness and showing team spirit!
- Ms. Placido for encouraging and guiding our students in charitable act!
Grade Level Meetings-IMPORTANT
We are restructuring grade level meetings effective immediately:
- Grade 6 & 7 meetings will take place in 3006. This location is not negotiable.
- Lunch breaks for grade level meetings will be 11:20 to 11:45, Team meetings will start at 11:50.
- Karen, Mike, or I will attend weekly grade level meetings
- Grade 8 meetings must be scheduled weekly.
- If they are occurring before or after school include Karen and I on the calendar invites for these meetings and one of us will attend
Mornings
Before 8am students have the freedom to talk with friends, have breakfast, play on electronics. If you witness someone breaking the code of conduct please redirect them. They are allowed in the main office, cafeteria and the fourth floor foyer and Mrs. Karas' room during this time. The front area is busy with kids in and out of 6th and 7th grade locker rooms but we do try to move them along to one of the spaces that are out of the way. Keep in mind that Nurse Mary, Mrs. Karas, and I are trying to cover kids on 2 floors, serve breakfast, collect forms & money, hand out meds, cover the phones and door and help families during this time which is a lot to juggle and we are doing our best to meet everyone's needs.
Behavior Challenges
As we approach Spring Break coupled with RICAS testing, I am anticipating we may have higher than normal behavior issues. Let's work together to redirect and support students and one another during the final countdown to vacation.
Event Attendance
We all know the challenges of work-life balance. Working at any school has additional responsibilities that fall outside the school day which can feel overwhelming. That being said, I would love to see more attendance at special events such as Open Houses, Arts nights, The Hunger Banquet, NJHS ceremony, the Gala, dances. The students and their families love to see you there. While we cannot compensate you financially, I promise that the students and their families appreciate your time. Bringing your families to some of these events is welcome and encouraged!
ELA LTS
We are still on the hunt for one more English LTS to cover Mrs. Gemma. We will continue to interview this week.
Coverage
Our faculty and staff have had multiple situations and emergencies arise that has caused them to be absent. Many of our day to day subs have ended up in long term positions at Beacon, Founders or elsewhere. This has led to high rates of in-house coverage. We are doing our best to manage this. I am extremely grateful for the wonderful faculty members that have stepped in through the end of the year including Ms. Wardwell, Mr. David, Chef Park, Mrs. Hauk and Mr. Ramirez. Thank you for your continued cooperation to keep school moving smoothly as we close out the year.
8th Grade Lockerroom
Please redirect students trying to get into the 8th grade locker room to the office unless you have time to stay and supervise their visit. 8th graders are reluctant to leave their items due to potential theft.
Bathroom
There is a leak somewhere in the plumbing. The plumber will be in on Saturday to fix it.
Projects
If students are working on a long term project for your class please find a place for them to store them that is labeled as ongoing work. Students are leaving projects in office and elsewhere and they have a tendency to vanish or be thrown out.
Exams
As we plan the many end of year events and field trips it would be helpful to know your plans for final exams. Please email me and let me know if you are planning a project or if students will be sitting for an exam during exam week which is tentatively scheduled for 6/10, 6/11, 6/12.
8th Grade Recognition Ceremony
I have heard comments of concern about this year's 8th Grade Recognition Ceremony. Please understand that the change was a product of a Beacon student initiative because they were concerned about the limited number of guests that could attend their special day. This resulted in the change of venue and a Saturday date. We felt that it was important to keep the middle school and high school ceremonies linked to foster the community and connections we are trying to build between the schools. We hope you will be able to join us and celebrate the 8th grade on this special day. The 8th grade ceremony will be on Saturday, June 8th at 11am (time is subject to adjustment).
Powerschool
Please ensure that grades are updated in Powerschool on a regular basis. Students and families become very frustrated when there is a long delay and what they thought were the grades change. District policy is that grades are kept current within 2 weeks.
Workorders
The proper procedure for workorders is to email Mr. Rea brea@beaconart.org and cc Ms. Fitzgerald afitzgerald@beaconart.org and me khinson@beaconart.org. Once this is done the workorder is logged and the tasks are completed in order of priority. If you have been waiting you can send a followup email to inquire about status. If this procedure is not followed things will not be done.
Town Meeting
Please remember to actively supervise and engage with students at Town Meeting. It is essential that we have all hands on deck during these times to ensure maximum student safety and engagement. We had 2 major safety concerns at our last town meeting.
Office Hours
Please remind students of your office hours especially those students who are struggling heading into the 4th quarter.
School Day
Please note that teacher schedules run from 7:45 to 2:45 daily. This includes being available to students at 7:45am and working dismissal until 2:45. I start sending kids to class between 7:55 to 7:57. Block 1 is scheduled to begin promptly at 8. Block 6 was supposed to be run until 2:35 somehow it moved up on this year's schedule. We will be adjusting the schedule next year so that students are not dismissed until 2:35.
RICAS
Thanks to all for helping RICAS testing run smoothly. Math will take place on Tuesday and Thursday this week. This test is a little shorter and the schedule is different. Please be sure to be in your testing locations at 7:45 both days to ensure we start on time. Makeups are scheduled for when we return from break.
Spring Fling
The Spring Fling is Friday, April 12th from 6pm to 8pm. Please consider attending this exciting event!
Groden Center Trainings
Please make time to join us for the Groden Center training series. The 4 1.5 hour presentations are being specifically designed to support us in creating toolboxes to better understand and manage the needs of our current population. This is meant to empower our faculty and staff and decrease the amount of stress on all of us. All sessions are from 2:45 to 4:15. The last dates are, 5/1 and 5/15. You are welcome even if you missed the first session! These can be used for PLUs for your certificate!
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences are Thursday, April 11th 4 to 6:30. Signups have been sent out.
Student Shout Outs!
Please let us know if you have any student shout outs for town meeting this week!
Upcoming dates:
RICAS 4/9, 4/11
NPIN Tuesday 4/9 3:30 to 6:30
Chef and select students out for Capstone lunches at Beacon Wednesday 4/10 & Friday 4/12
Founders Spring Fling Friday, 4/12 6pm to 8pm