Trantwood Times
"Captivating Every Student, Every Day!"
Week of March 27-31, 2017
Monday, March 27
- Citizen of the Month, cafeteria, 2 pm
- Cardinal Club
- IPT Testing for 4th Graders, 8:30-11;30 a.m.
- Gr. 4 Recorder Club, 2:40 - 4:00 pm
- Faculty Meeting, cafeteria, 3 - 4
Wednesday, March 29
- Ms. Shelly's Rocks, in house field trip, gr. 4
- Art PLC, Community Room, all day
- Lifetouch Pictures, gym, individuals and clubs,
- STEM Club, 2:20-4:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 30
- Gr. 5 Field Trip
- Digital Innovator's meeting, 3-4
Friday, March 31
- KL Out 11:30-3:10 p.m.
April is a good month to celebrate...
Month of the Military Child
National Autism Awareness Month
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
National Poetry Month
National Library Month
April 3 - 7, 2017
Tuesday, April 4
- Gr. 1& 2 Garden Club
- Fire Drill, 1:30
- SCA Officer Meeting, 2:40- 3:30
- ILT, 3 - 4 pm
- PTA Board Mtg, 6:30
Wednesday, April 5
- KL OTB pm, 8:30 - 11:30
- Stem Club, 2:40 - 4:00
- Art Club, 2:40 - 4:00
Thursday, April 6
- Nancy Lambert, OTB, 8:30 - 10:30
- Lisa Lee, OTB, 12:30 - 3:30
- Green Cardinals, 2:40 - 4:00
- Specialists report cards due by 5 pm
Friday, April 7
- Adjusted Dismissal for students
- Classroom report cards due by 5 pm
An Attitude of Gratitude Rocks!
~I inadvertently left out an integral part of the second grade team in my kudos last week about the Temples to Tombs production. Tracy Halman, thank you for your gracious forgiveness. KL
~Many thanks to all who helped keep our school moving forward for kids while I was away. You are such a special group - I really did miss each of you and can't thank you enough for the warm welcome home. LAM
~Thank you to all the staff who have trained to be IPT examiners and proctors, Karen Francis, Sue Jerasa, Nancy Lambert, Angela Haebler, Christina Corradi, Melinda Pezzella, Eleanor Richards, Persi Characambous, Julie Ruszala, Kathryne Dungan, Beth Wik and Nana Cole. I appreciate the time you took from your day to train and all of the support as we prepare for Tuesday. We are so appreciative of your efforts to prepare our students. KL
~A big hug to all the first grade teachers, Mrs. Schatti, Ms. Wernicke, Ms. Moore, and Senora Barreto for all of their hard work on the grandparent project this week. The students were so excited and it was amazing to see the incredible support from our school community. Great work! -KL
~To the SRT Team members, Lisa Lee, Beth Wik, and Jan Roewer, many thanks for all of your help with the paperwork and goal setting to support our students. You did an amazing job for the students and the AP ! KL
Reminders...
- Quarterly Assessment window: April 3 - May 5, 2017
- Turn off computers, promethean boards, and digital cameras nightly. This will increase the longevity of these devices and reduce our carbon footprint enormously!
VB EDUCATION FOUNDATION GRANTS—MAY 12 DEADLINE
For the 2017-2018 school year, more than $125,000 will be awarded to Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) in Virginia Beach Education Foundation grants. VBCPS staff members are encouraged to apply for these grants if they have ideas for innovative projects they wish to implement to engage students in hands-on learning activities not already funded by the school division.
Spring—applications due May 12, 2017 for:
•Schoolwide Grants—$2,000 to $5,000 offered for projects that impact at least 25 percent of the school’s student population or one grade level.•Innovative Learning Grants—up to $2,000 for innovative learning projects benefitting students.
Fall—applications due October 6, 2017 for:
Innovative Learning Grants—up to $2,000 for innovative learning projects benefittingstudents.
Thank you for taking advantage of these opportunities available through the Virginia Beach Education Foundation. For more information, contact Debbie Griffey at Debbie.Griffey@vbschools.com or 757.263.1069.
The link below will take you directly to the 2017-2018 Innovative Learning Grant Application (Spring):
Absence Reminders
A leave form is expected to be completed and signed for all absences. If you have an emergency absence, please put your absence in Absence Management (AESOP) prior to 6:30 a.m. If you don’t know your login and password, please contact Susan Cintron and ask her to please send you a new one. It is generally your telephone number and a numbered password.
For emergencies, you can text Nancy Kurz at 647-5407 prior to 6:30. By that time I am on my way to school and can only receive messages in my car. I cannot return them. You can leave me a message at 648-4038 and I will take care of it upon my arrival at school.
If you have any questions, please see Nancy Kurz or Karen Lewis. Thank you!
Report Card Deadlines
Specialists Grades = Due 4/6/17, 5:00 pm
Homeroom Teachers and School Grades = Due 4/7/17, 5:00 pm
This is the last day before we are off for Spring Break. Therefore, we will not be able to edit grades/comments for you as report cards go out Tuesday, April 18th. Please take your time to edit your own comments and then swap comments with a colleague to check before submitting them. If you finish them early, we are happy to review for you.
NOMINATIONS FOR THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOK REVIEW COMMITTEES
Action Required: March 30
Per Superintendent’s Memo #061-17, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is seeking nominations for K-12 mathematics teachers, mathematics specialists and curriculum supervisors to serve on the mathematics textbook review committees. Nominees must have expertise with mathematics and the Virginia Standards of Learning for mathematics.
The committees will review K-12 mathematics textbooks during the summer and will submit correlation worksheets to the VDOE for a final review of all submitted textbooks. Committee members may submit approval for recertification points by completing the license renewal form located on the Department of Human Resources website Licensure Form. Individuals would need to complete the educational project section of this form and should include the acceptance letter for this committee and a certificate of completion.
To apply for this committee individuals must complete an application through the web-based process, Instruction Committee Application Processing System (ICAPS). A professional reference and division approval is a requirement of the application process. Please complete the online application through ICAPS by Thursday, March 30. Members will be selected based on expertise, experience and balanced regional representation.
Please distribute this information to all mathematics teachers and specialists. Questions may be directed to Emmanuel Cenizal, secondary mathematics coordinator, at Emmanuel.Cenizal@vbschools.com or 263-1044; Dena McElligott, secondary mathematics coordinator, at Dena.McElligott@vbschools.com or 263-1044; or Johanna Ortiz, elementary mathematics coordinator, at Johanna.Ortiz@vbschools.com or 263-1461.
Division Giveaway
WAHOO! As part of the school division’s ongoing teacher appreciation campaign, “We Are VBSchools: Great Dreams Need Great Teachers,” campaign sponsor Jersey Mike’s has donated a free sandwich coupon for every staff member in each school.
Media and Communications staff received an employee count for each school from the Department of Human Resources. Through the pony, you will receive an envelope with your school’s coupons. Please distribute them among your staff before Spring Break.
If you have any questions about this distribution, please contact Mary Norton at mary.norton@vbschools.com.
*We will put the coupons in your mailbox when they arrive. :)
School Counseling Program Survey
The purpose of this memo is to inform you of upcoming data collection efforts for the evaluation of the school division’s School Counseling Program (K-12). As a reminder, the Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) School Board approved the 2016-2017 Program Evaluation Schedule, which included a recommendation to begin a three-year evaluation of the School Counseling Program. The evaluation during 2016-2017 will assess the implementation and effectiveness of the program’s academic component. The evaluation will include an assessment of operational components, including programs and activities offered; student characteristics; progress made toward meeting the program’s goals and objectives; and stakeholders’ perceptions. The evaluators will minimize the impact of data collection efforts on the schools by gathering data directly from the VBCPS data warehouse where possible.
As part of the evaluation, perception data will also be collected by surveying the following groups: students, parents/guardians, principals, assistant principals, teachers, school counselors and community partners. Schools will be responsible for administering the student survey to all students in grade 5 and a random sample of classes in grades 6 through 12. Because of the significantly larger number of students across secondary grade levels, random sampling can be utilized while maintaining acceptable sampling error rates. The Office of Research and Evaluation will send survey invitations directly to parents/guardians, staff members and community partners.
Student Survey: All fifth graders and students in grades 6 through 12 classes selected randomly by the Office of Research and Evaluation should complete the student survey. The list of randomly selected classes for middle and high schools will be emailed to you on Monday, Feb. 27. The student survey will be administered online. The window will extend from Monday, March 6, through Friday, March 31. This window will allow schools to select a time to administer the survey to the specified classes that is least disruptive to instruction. Students should be able to finish the survey in 20 minutes.
The student survey will be available at the following link and will open on March 6:
https://www.research.net/r/SchoolCounseling2017
Important: Schools may either post this survey link at a location that students can access or have students type the survey URL into the web browser address bar. Please share this information and the link with the teachers or other staff members assisting with the survey so that they may provide it to the students.
Parent Survey: The parent survey will be administered online. The Office of Research and Evaluation will send survey invitations directly to a random sample of parents of students in kindergarten through grade twelve through their email address during the week of March 6. The administration of the parent survey will remain open through Friday, March 31.
Staff Survey: The staff survey will be administered online. The Office of Research and Evaluation will send survey invitations directly to the VBCPS email address of principals, assistant principals, teachers, and school counselors on March 6. The administration of the staff survey will remain open through Friday, March 31.
Community Partner Survey: The community partner survey will be administered online. The Office of Research and Evaluation will send survey invitations directly to the partners during the week of March 6. The administration of the community partner survey will remain open through Friday, March 31.
If you have any questions, please contact Brian Matney 263-1143 or through email at Brian.Matney@vbschools.com. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this evaluation effort.
Saving for Retirement Survey
The Consolidated Benefits Office has created a survey for all school employees with the goal of identifying changes that may improve employees’ understanding of retirement plans and their ability to save. The survey opened on March 20, 2017 and will close on April 7, 2017.
Within the next few years, we will have an opportunity to update the current retirement plan options to account for the needs and feedback of all employees. In order to gather that feedback, we’ve deployed a survey designed to collect employees’ experiences with retirement savings accounts and our currently-approved investment companies.
This survey is confidential, takes around 10 minutes to complete and is incentivized with a drawing for Regal Cinema movie tickets. After compiling all responses, we will post a summary of the survey results on the Consolidated Benefits Office website.
Please participate in this important project by completing the survey found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Svng4Retirement. Thank you for your assistance in this endeavor.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Linda Matkins in the Consolidated Benefits Office (263-6917). Thank you.
K-12 HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE STATE TEXTBOOK REVIEW COMMITTEE
Action Required by Mar. 31
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is in the process of creating committees to review textbooks to place on the approved list for K-12 History and Social Sciences. As part of that process, they are asking for nominations of individuals who are qualified, available to review and have expertise with the content of the 2015 History and Social Science Standards of Learning.
Committee members reviewing the K-12 history and social science textbooks and instructional materials will be asked to review the submitted textbooks and submit correlation worksheets to the VDOE for a final review of all submitted materials. Committee members will receive recertification points upon approval of the local school division for their work.
All individuals who wish to serve on one of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning textbook committees must submit an application through the web-based process, Instruction Committee Application Processing System (ICAPS). The application will require a professional reference and division approval. Completed applications are due to the VDOE through the ICAPS process by March 31, 2017. Committee members will be notified of their acceptance on or before April 21, 2017. Committee members will be selected on the basis of expertise, experience and balanced regional representation.
Questions may be directed to Katie Niehoff, elementary social studies coordinator, at Kathleen.Niehoff@vbschools.com or 263-1020 or Kristine Troch, secondary social studies coordinator, at Kristine.Troch@vbschools.com or 263-1465. Thank you.
Welcome baby Rowan Hugh Ingalls! We can't wait to met you!
Submit your favorite caption for this picture to LA Metzger. The top three will win Cardinal Cash!
LouAnne Metzger, Principal
Email: louanne.metzger@vbschools.com
Website: http://www.trantwoodes.vbschools.com/
Location: 2344 Inlynnview Road, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Phone: 757-648-4000
Twitter: @LouAnneMetzger