STAR Staff Newsletter
Week of Sept 22 - 26, 2014 - Volume 5
Parent Conferences
As we grow closer to the end of our first six weeks, please begin contacting the parent/guardian of every child to discuss progress thus far. This will help establish a positive working relationship with the family. Please make every attempt to schedule a face-to-face conference with the parent/guardian. Conferences can be documented in the journal tab on AWARE or in the parent conference form in AWARE.
Co-Curr teachers and specialists should join in on classroom conferences for students they have concerns about academically and/or behaviorally.
Parent-teacher conferences are an essential part of a child's total education. Effective communication is one of the most important tools for success in this area. ALWAYS start conferences with positive statements about the student. Put yourself in the parent’s shoes when pre-planning for a parent teacher conference. Have an agenda and set a timer.
Please see the WRE Staff Calendar. I have blocked off several dates after school for parent conferences. In addition, the afternoon of October 3rd is dedicated to meeting with parents and updating AWARE to reflect conferences.
Week at a Glance
9/22
Fundraiser Kick Off during Rise and Shine
K-2 (CPAA) Math and Reading Universal Screening Windows 1st and 2nd
9/23
CEIC Meeting
9/24
Data Meetings
4:30 - Grant Writing Workshop @ Ed Ctr
9/25
Parent Conferences
SIT Meetings
9/26
American Indian Heritage Day
According to EHBK (Legal):
- The last Friday in September is in recognition of the historic, cultural, and social contributions American Indian communities and leaders have made to Texas. American Indian Heritage Day shall be regularly observed by appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs in public schools to honor American Indians in Texas and to celebrate the rich traditional and contemporary American Indian culture. Gov't Code 662.056
SIT Meetings
Box Top Tally - as of 9/16
Top Classrooms by Grade Level -
- Perkins 573
- Gonzalez 595
- DeLoof 295
- Hernandez 310
- Blevins 431
Nurse's News:
- NuTrition (Sept. 22-26) – 5-a-Day Nutrition Challenge (sponsored by Sodexo)
- Five a Day contest begins!! Listen for news in the announcements!
- Hearing and Vision tests this week - see email last week from Valerie regarding schedule
District & Campus Assessment:
Library Lingo:
The library will be used for a “Learning Function” meeting on Monday from 8-12. There will be visitors from outside the building. I will be at the administration building all day and Elva Pipkin will be the library sub. She can help students with Reading Bingo and changing out books.
Students know that they are expected to take a minimum of two weeks to complete a Reading Bingo card. There is a date stamped in the top right hand corner. If students show up with a completed card and it has not reached that date, they will be turned away and told to come back on that date.
Please refrain from sending any Reading Bingo friends or individuals that need to check-out new books to the library between 7:50-8:05. Now that the announcements are being aired live, it gets a bit “hairy” making sure everything is hooked up and the anchors are ready to start at 8am.
As a courtesy to all of the classes that come to the library on the same day that you bring your class to the library, please remember to have student library books returned at the beginning of the day. The transition of classes will go a lot smoother.
I will be sending out several calendar invitations this week for you to join. They will be used this year in reserving iPods, iPads, and Nooks. Please do not make ongoing appointments, but schedule each day individually for check-out. The devices were reimaged over the summer and have been mostly stripped of apps. If you would please let me know what free apps you want on the devices I can make that happen. Occasionally, there will be an irregular Monday where I will need the devices to load apps that are being requested and they will be unavailable for check-out, but I will give you plenty of notice.
If you have technology checked out to you that you wish you didn’t have, you can gladly return it and I will redistribute it to others that have requested more.