Our Family Matters
CPES Staff E Newsletter September 14
Five Focus Areas
Safety and Security
Fall is a favorite time of year for Fire Marshal and Building Codes inspections. These are three of the most common violations:
1. Blocking panels and equipment. Rooms marked “mechanical” or “electrical” should not be used for storage. Storage rooms that have electrical panels mounted on the wall or transformers on the floor should have 3 feet of clearance around them. This zone should be marked with brightly colored tape or paint.
2. “Daisy chaining” surge protector/power bars. Plugging one power bar (multi-plug extension cord) into another is a fire code violation and an unsafe practice.
3. Storing items too high on shelves. The top shelf should always be the last one to be used, and nothing should ever be stored within 18 inches of the ceiling, especially a drop ceiling.
Recruitment and Retention
2. Meisha Williams--Is a district sponsored Mental Health Service Provider. She will be with us on Thursdays. She can provide small group and individual therapy sessions with parent permission. Mrs. Williams is in addition to our Catawba Family School Based therapist (Lesly Stover) who comes on Monday to see students who have signed up through Catawba Family.
3. Joy Aldridge and Lynn Morgan--Will be our tutors. Joy is working with first and second graders (like she did last year) and Lynn will be working with fourth and fifth graders. Joy started this week and Lynn starts on September 23. Lynn would like to come by to meet teachers some time this week. Lynn will work Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays this fall. (Melanie Hornsby will be back with us in January.)
Crime Scene in Aida Castro's Class
Kids Processing the Scene
Large Group Discussion about Observations of Crime Scene
Student Achievement
Progress Reports--Need to go home by the end of this week.
Grant Opportunity--This is through the Lutz Foundation and we would need to coordinate this with PTO. They award grants in the $5000 range. The deadline for submitting is Sept. 30. If you'd like to apply through PTO, let me know on Monday. Here is the website...http://lutzfoundation.org/index.html
Read Your Way to the Big Game--(Please tell your kids about this. Mr. Bartless, please reinforce in your classes.) USC and Clemson University, in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Education, are again sponsoring the Read Your Way to the Big Game Contest. All PK through 8th grade students who read 6 books will qualify to win tickets to the Palmetto Bowl on November 30. Once students have completed their readings, they should turn in the list of books read to their teacher. Winners will receive four tickets and pre-game sideline passes to the Clemson vs. South Carolina game. Teachers have to input the students by November 1, 2019 deadline. (It's pretty easy to enter the students' names and info.) Click on the link below. I will send out this info to parents. If we have 70% of our school to participate, we could win a $2000 grant for library books as well.
Data Meetings--We will meet in the Guidance Conference room. Resource/Support folks are welcome to join us at any of the sessions. We will take a look at our schoolwide, grade level and individual data. As we do this, we want to remember that tension between a focus on relationships and a focus on results and our two "knots." (It is not about us, it is about our kids and it's not about us and we must not take things personal.) We will look at SC READY, SC PASS, MAP, and STAMP data. These data sources will help you determine areas of focus for your SLO this year as well. 4th Grade will be Sept. 18 in PM. 3rd and 1st will be Monday, Sept. 23 in the AM and PM respectively. Try to come as soon as you can so we can get everything done. We want to celebrate our success and determine areas of growth and improvement in this process.
New! ELA Professional Learning Opportunities provided by Dr. Susan Green, Liz Bridges and Barbara Fewell[Click here for more information]
Math Newsletter August/September 2019 [Click Here]
Professional Development --Click Here for an overview of 2019-20 the Professional Learning Opportunities.
***September/October 2019 Professional Learning Newsletter (Be Sure to Check This List for PD Opportunities to Consider. Be sure you get approval from me if it requires you to be out of the building and that you'll need a sub.) Read HERE
Culture
Foundation GRANT APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN! District employees may apply through October 1. Please be sure to email your principal recommendation fro submitted grants to rhsdedfoundation@gmail.com. Follow this link to apply RHSE Foundation Grant Application or visit rhsdfoundation.org.
Open Enrollment for Benefits
Open enrollment is September 16th-October 31st. Please remind your employees to go online to schedule an appointment with a benefits counselor. All staff members need to schedule an appointment. Go to http://wardservices.com/rockhillschools to sign up for dates and times at CPES for September 30-October 4.
Communication
Grade Chairs--Lisa Smith (K), Erin Webb (1st), Bonnie Jean Avilez (2nd), Meriam Polanco (3rd), Michelle Preston (4th), Melinda Reid (5th), Christi Beard (Related Arts), Kristina Marshall (Resource/Support)
Safety--Lisa Smith, Maggie Pezzello, Kathy Guarino, Tracy Mitchell, Javier Marin, Amy Giles, Melinda Reid, Martha Miller
Recruitment and Retention--Manon Lopes, Yahaira Reddy Sindgedi, Lucia Hoyle, Missy Wright, Enrique Saavedra, Alberto Leon, Chana Sanders
Student Achievement--Stacy Doyle, Joseph McFadden, Merisam Polanco, Sharon Crocker, Ninfa Leon, Robbie Bartless, Susan Dixon, Emily Anderson
School Culture--Claudia Notaro, Rocio Kiker, Sonia Garces, Bonnie Jean Avilez, Aida Garcia, Heather McNay, Kristina Marshall, Cara Rezzai
Communication--Jordan Pope, Sara Brenton, Tanjie Woods, Emily Parrish, Michelle Preston, Jenn Fant, Molly Garrard, Zulmarie Allison
We will plan for committees to meet on the first Tuesday of each month.
Calendar of Events
Saturday--Susan Dixon's Birthday
This Week--MAP Testing for 1st and 2nd Grades in AM; Progress Reports Go Home
Tuesday--8:00-4:00 NWEA Train the Trainer for the District (In Media Center); 3:00 ADEPT Orientation (All Certified Staff must attend) (Location TBD)
Wednesday--11:00 Fourth Grade Data Meeting (Guidance Conference Room)
Friday--Progress Reports should be sent home by then.
Monday, September 23--7:45 Third Grade Data Meeting (Guidance Conference Room); 11:00 First Grade Data Meeting (Guidance Conference Room)
Tuesday, September 24--Emily Parrish's Birthday
Tuesday, October 1--Foundation Grants Due for Submission
District Dates (See Below)
Assessment Calendar for 2019-2020 [Click Here]
Elementary Meeting Dates for 2019-2020
Please view/access the Google Doc here