Pioneer Pride
Staff Newsletter September 26th-September 30th, 2016
Principal's Post
I don't know about you guys, but these weeks have been flying! We have so much going on and so much to look forward to. I cannot thank you all enough for the hard work you put in every day. As I and our visitors have been doing walkthroughs, we notice the same things. Our students are engaged, they are learning, and everyone is so positive! The school looks awesome. I thought our first PC Pals school families' meeting was great. The kids seemed to have a good time and I hope you all did as well. I wanted to send a special thank you and shout out to our Autism team. They are doing an amazing job with the transition this year and our kids are so lucky to have them. If you see anyone in that classroom, be sure to tell them what a great job they are doing.
Chris
Leader in Me September Trait
You’re in charge of yourself
• I have a “can do” attitude and always try my best at everything I do.
• I follow directions and do the right things without being asked, even when nobody is looking.
• I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods and don’t blame others for my wrongdoing.
Be sure to review this throughout the week with your students. Bring it up during situations where you can relate it to what you are already doing in class. This is something you could easily connect with Depth of Knowledge levels.
Sub Information
Heads up from Sub Services - October has two very busy personal days, October 3rd and October 28th. Please submit ASAP if you need a sub on either one of these days.
Upcoming Dates
Tues. Sep. 27th: District Site Council Meeting @ Olathe East HS 7:00pm
Wed. Sep. 28th: Staff Meeting 3:45pm
Thurs. Sep. 29th: KG to KC Pumpkin Patch
Thurs. Sep. 29th: ONW Naturalists here for 1st grade @ 2:30pm
Thurs. Sep. 29th: 2nd Grade to the Zoo
Fri. Sep. 30th: AM/PM District PD No Students
Sat. Oct. 1st: Jared Coones Pumpkin Run
Mon. Oct. 3rd: Custodian's Day, Chris out AM
Tues. Oct. 4th: Leader in Me Assembly @ 8:30am
Tues. Oct. 4th: KG Music/PE Program @ 6:30pm
Wed. Oct. 5th: Walk to School Day
Fri. Oct. 7th: PC Movie Night @ 6:30pm in the gym - ZooTopia!
Assessments
MAP and KAP reporting
Just a reminder that we will distribute MAP and Kansas Assessment reports to students and families at Parent Teacher Conferences in October. The assessment office will provide letters for both of those assessments, as well as printed copies of the Kansas Assessment results.
Individual Student Improvement Plans (ISIP)
Attached is the ISIP form to be completed for any 3rd – 8th grade student who receives a different TEST Type on the KS Assessment. The ISIP is due to the assessment office on or before Nov. 4th.
2nd Grade QRI
2nd Grade QRI window is now open through Oct. 13th. Results are due NO LATER than Oct. 17th.
ASSESSMENT UPDATES
MAP Assessment
The window closes on Friday, Sept. 23 and after I deactivate the test, buildings will have access to district and national means/medians. I anticipate you having this access by Friday, Sept 30. Buildings have access to classroom and student data within 24 hours of testing.
A reminder that Sept. 30th at 1:00, there will be a webinar offered by NWEA/MAP on the Learning Continuum. Eric Merchant will give insight into using the Learning Continuum in the most efficient, useful way for teacher classroom decisions.
Kansas Assessment Results
The assessment office has sent building results to each building principal.
Individual student reports will be delivered to schools the first week of October (with a parent letter and speaking points) so teachers can use them at PTC.
Elementary BOY
2nd Grade reading assessments are underway. There have been a few scheduled assessment days that have had to change due to an increased need for subs in the buildings, and Nicole is working with those buildings as changes occur.
District Writing Assessment
Teachers may begin to administer the District Synthesis Writing assessment Oct. 17th. Prompts and instructions will be sent to schools in early October.
Reading A-Z
We have had a challenge with access to Reading A-Z. We have worked through it with the sales and technology reps from Reading A-Z and have resolved the problem. Teachers can access Reading A-Z through the Ozone as they had done before but will have to use the password: abc123.
Reading A-Z can also be accessed through http://www.readinga-z.com
inputting this username/password combo in the member login box:
Username: olathe233
Password: abc123
If a name appears in the “username” box, teachers should highlight it and type the username above over it. Users can checkmark the “Remember me” box so they will not have to login to the account every time it is used. If anyone has any questions, please contact Lori Franklin or Mary Jo Fox.
Istation
Istation is an on-line reading program. In Olathe the use of Istation is optional and should be used only if it meets the teacher’s and students’ instructional need. While the program is marketed to be used with all students, in Olathe we are recommending it only be used with students who are experiencing a challenge with reading. It can be used with “bubble” students as well as students with more severe needs during their independent work time or at home for additional support. Istation does NOT replace an MTSS intervention, Shared Reading, or daily Guided/Small Group Reading instruction.
Student & Teacher Names Uploaded into Istation
All K-5 students and teachers have now been uploaded into Istation and are available for Istation if the teacher chooses to use it. Teachers should be receiving an email from Istation with their information. The email may have gone to Clutter or Junk Mail so please have teachers be on the lookout for it. Teachers who are interested can get started with it at any time during the school year.
If a student isn’t on the teacher’s list, the teacher must manually add the student following the directions in Istation. ELL, Resource, and Title 1 teachers who would like to use Istation or view their students’ data, will need to add their student manually since the student was uploaded with the student’s classroom teacher.
Teacher Training
To use Istation, teachers must view the Istation training webinar available from the link below. The webinar has been recorded but the recording must been downloaded from this link to be able to view it. An “Istation Getting Started” document and “Istation Teacher Resources and Reports” document have been attached and should be printed out to have while viewing the webinar. Once the webinar has been viewed the teacher can get started using Istation.
The link for the training webinar: https://www.hightail.com/download/ZWJYQ1ZsSWhveE1sYzhUQw
There is also an Istation informational session available for Olathe teachers in Eudora from 4:30-6:30. To sign up for this see the attached document titled “Istation Information Session Eudora Sept. 27 4:30-6:30pm”.
Please contact Mary Jo Fox if you have any questions.
Conferences
Tuesday, September 20th
Wednesday, October 5th
Friday, September 30th
Friday, October 14th
Wednesday, October 19th
Thursday, October 20th
Friday, October 21st
Recycled Information
Staff Lounge Duty for September: Office Staff
Spelling Bee
The Spelling Bee will on Friday, December 2nd at 2:00pm. The Olathe District Spelling Bee is on February 9th, 2017.
District Site Council Meeting
School Bus Evacuations
Dates:
First Semester: September 28th, October 5th (Rain Out Date)
Second Semester: April 4th, April 11th (Rain Out Date)
Click on the links below for more information!
Additional Information
District Guest Speaker (Optional, because this is your day off)
Friday, October 21st 8:30 to 9:30 AM Jennie Magiera - Overland Park Sheraton Hotel – The Leatherwood Room – No R.S.V.P.
Jennie Magiera is the Chief Technology Officer for Des Plaines School District 62, and the author of the upcoming book, Courageous Edventures. A White House Champion for Change, Apple Distinguished Educator, Google for Education Certified Innovator and TED Speaker, Jennie works to redefine teaching and learning through innovative new practices. Jennie is also passionate about redefining professional learning, having served on the Technical Working Group for the US Department of Education’s National Educational Technology Plan and co-founding PLAYDATE and other conference concepts.
You can find Jennie on Twitter at @MsMagiera or through her blog Teaching Like It’s 2999. You can follow Jennie at @MsMagiera and learn more about her at bit.ly/magierabook.
Twitter Bio: CTO @62schools, PLAYDATE cofounder, White House Champion of Change, Google Certified Innovator,
Apple Distinguished Educator, TEDx speaker #CourageousEdventures
Prairie Center Elementary
Email: crlucas@olatheschools.org
Website: http://schools.olatheschools.com/buildings/prairiecenter/
Location: 629 North Persimmon Drive, Olathe, KS, United States
Phone: 913-780-7610
Twitter: @PCPioneers