PC Principal's Post
Every Student. Every Day. No Matter What.
Prairie Center Elementary
Home of the Pioneers
10/8/2021
Thank you!!!
I am looking forward to seeing all of our PC friends at the Jared Coones Run in the morning. If you are looking for something to do, feel free to join me at my post at 5:45am. :)
I hope that you enjoy the weekend with family and friends!
Tuesday - Pioneer Pride!
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences offer great opportunities to deepen your working relationship with parents. As you highlight their child's strengths, discuss academic or social concerns, and share information about child development, parents come to see you as an ally and themselves as true partners in their child's education. A little thinking and planning will help you make the most of these great opportunities.
Tips for Success
Make an outline and gather materials. A plan for how you'll divide up the time will help you stay on track. Here's a general outline for a 25-minute conference:
In addition to writing an outline, you'll want to make notes for topics you want to cover and have at hand student work, assessment results, information on child development, and anything else you want to share with parents.
Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?," "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"
Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.
Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.
Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.
Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.
Be Prepared for Surprises
Parents sometimes surprise us with negative or personal questions or comments: "My son's teacher bullied him all last year." "My daughter's lazy. She never tries at anything." "My husband doesn't care about Mark. He never comes to these conferences." "My wife's divorcing me. Things are falling apart."
What can you do in such an instance?
- Steer the conversation back to positives: "I'm sorry things didn't go well for Adam last year. But because our time is limited, I'd like to focus on what we can accomplish this year if we work together."
- Focus on the child: "You seem to be going through some tough stuff right now. I wonder if that's taking Jasmine's attention away from school. What do you think we might do to help her concentrate?"
- Listen with empathy: "That must be hard" or "You've been through a lot" can help parents feel heard without injecting your own opinion or advice.
- Offer to get help: "You seem to be wondering what to do next. Our school counselor may have some ideas for you."
Follow Up and Follow Through
After each parent-teacher conference, send a note thanking parents for sharing time with you. If you offered to find resources, gather information, and so forth, make sure you do so—and share the results with parents.
Each parent-teacher conference can be a powerful occasion for meaningful communication with families. Thinking ahead and following some simple guidelines will help ensure that conferences are positive and productive for everyone.
Parent-Teacher Conference Schedules
Zoom Ready?
With Parent-Teacher Conferences right around the corner, we want to remind staff to restart their devices and practice launching a Zoom meeting with peers to ensure that audio, video, microphone, and screen sharing are functioning properly. Doing so ahead of time will help ensure a successful event and allows the Help Desk time to troubleshoot any issues that might arise. New staff should review the recommended resources:
If you require assistance, please contact the Help Desk by email at helpdesk@olatheschools.org or by phone at (913) 780-8058.
Spelling Questions?
Wednesday Dismissal
Wednesday Half Day Specials and Recess Schedule
Please see the schedule that Sharon sent out yesterday in regards to the specials and recess schedule for Wednesday! Thank you for being on time to and from specials since it is a shorter time than normal.
Wednesday PM
Educators will collaborate with Building and/or District Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for focus on Data Analysis, Tiered Systems of Support (Reading/Math/BSEL), and other processes to meet student learning needs.
If you are planning on going to another school on this day, please let me know.
Paras are scheduled to work a full day on October 13th.
Thanks!
Fall Parties
I just wanted to let you know that we received some recommendations about the class parties since we are coming up on October. We will begin the fun at 2:15 on Friday, October 29th.
Here is an overview of the recommendations that I have shared with PTO:
- Limit the amount of parent volunteers in the classroom during the party. Suggestion was to have the room parent and at most couple of parents per room for the party.
- Instead of having food and trying to have students unmasked at different times to eat, the suggestion was to have a goodie bag instead to go home. If snacks are provided, we will have to adhere to the same procedures as we have during snack time.
- For the parade, the suggestion is to do it outside and parents are invited to watch. If weather was an issue, we would come inside and do the parade… but only be able to have the staff and students participate (and room parent/helpers).
- Siblings that don’t attend the school would not be allowed to limit the amount of people in the school.
Aim for Excellence
DRIVE-THRU TESTING NOW AVAILABLE
It is with pleasure that I want to announce an expansion of our partnership with MAWD Pathology to provide a drive-through COVID-19 testing service at our new Lindenwood Business & Technical Center in Olathe, located at 450 N. Rogers Road (West parking lot nearest the highway). This drive-through site will offer both nasal and saliva PCR COVID tests to symptomatic students and staff and those seeking testing on Day 6 for the early return on Day 8 option. Testing of families of affected students or staff is also available through this drive-through location. (Families may not receive tests through the school nurse.)
Appointments are available Monday – Friday, from 8 am to 3:30 pm, except when school is closed (e.g., holidays, Winter Break, inclement weather days). Testing is by appointment only. Call 913-780-7838 to make an appointment prior to arrival at the site. There is no cost for staff, students or family members to test, and you do not need to have insurance. Pull up to a designated parking space and stay in the car. Staff will come out to the car to test.
Please direct parents and staff to our new drive-through testing site. Testing of families of affected staff and students is only available through this site though nurses may still distribute a very limited number of tests for students (with signed consent) IF THEY ARE UNABLE TO ACCESS THIS RESOURCE. Staff should not seek the test from school nurses or through our buildings. They should utilize this free drive-through testing.
The Knight School
Interested? Please let me know ASAP as they are wanting to get started!
Calendar for the Upcoming Week
Monday, October 11th - C Day
Tuesday, October 12th - D Day
*LIM Assembly
**8:30 3rd-5th grade
**9:00 K-2nd grade
*SIT Day
** 8:30 Diltz
**9:30 Palmer
**10:00 Daniels
**11:30 Burkin
**1:00 Hager
**1:30 Templeton
Wednesday, October 13th - "Mock B Day" for Half Day
*Please check Sharon's email for specials schedule
*Dismissal at 11:15
*Job Embedded PD in PM
*Conferences from 4:30 - 8:30.
*Dinner will be available for in the lounge by 4:00
Thursday, October 14th - No School
*Parent Teacher Conferences
Friday, October 15th - No School