CSHS Weekly Bulletin
March 27-April 1, 2017
What makes a Cougar teacher great?
Dear Cougar Family,
This is my favorite time of year! (Please keep in mind that I like to use the word "favorite" liberally. When I was a teacher, I am pretty sure I began each unit saying it was my favorite one!) The world is made anew and the verdant countryside, warmer temperatures, and blue skies are invigorating (even though my allergies are currently prohibiting regular breathing). I love the numerous opportunities to celebrate our students' successes while also working to solve the puzzle for planning for next year! This is the best time of year for afternoon duty. I even snapped the picture featured above when I returned from an off-campus meeting last week--the light refracting off the building, the leaves on the tree, and the rare occasion to catch a midday picture without cars in it caught my attention. I paused for a moment, took the picture, and I thought to myself, "Man, I love this place, not because of the building itself, but because of the amazing people in it."
An inevitable part of the yearly school cycle is change. Right now, a lot of what we will be able to do for next year, including staffing requests, budgeting, and so forth hinges on what is happening in the Texas legislature right now. With the current school funding system, CSISD will go into recapture for next year, which means more than $5 million dollars will be taken from the CSISD property tax revenue and fed back into the state. Keep in mind that this "Robin Hood" system does not actually add to the total money spent by the state of Texas on education. This money replaces money allotted to education and allows it to be spent somewhere else by the state. Right now, the best funding scenario presented by the legislature is in House Bill 21. If you are interested in learning more about it, read this article. As the article notes, the Texas Senate is focused on passing their "school choice" funding, so getting the two chambers to come to agreement may get interesting before all is said and done. May they come to consensus during the regular session, so CSISD will have a clear picture of school funding for next year (and may the consensus add funding to our coffers rather than take it away)!
I am sharing the finance information to provide context to letting you know that I will not hear anything regarding staffing requests until late April, and even then the outlook could change even throughout the summer. This will inevitably make it more complicated as we create the master schedule. Your patience and understanding are appreciated.
We will, however, proceed throughout the spring planning for best case and worst case scenarios, and it won't be long before we will start interviewing for potential teachers to join the Cougar family. Please take a moment to think about what makes a Cougar teacher great. I would like to provide an opportunity for staff to offer feedback to help create a profile of a Cougar teacher to guide us as we make staffing decisions. I also wanted to give everyone an opportunity to provide questions for a pool that department chairs and administrators could pull from as we start the interview process. If you would like to provide input into what makes a Cougar teacher great and provide questions, please take a moment to complete this survey.
Also, thank you to those of you who mentioned that you missed not having a bulletin last week. Since I didn't get back from the band trip until Monday afternoon, I decided to wait until this week to put another one out. It is nice to know so many of you are counting on the information!
Have a fabulous first week of testing this spring!
As always, COUGAR PRIDE!
Tiffany
English I & II EOCs are THIS WEEK!
Please include this schedule if you are sending a parent email this week. Thanks!
All necessary information may be found here.
60 Second Staff Development: Learning Zone Follow-up!
Instead of introducing a new tool, I wanted to take a minute this week to remind everyone to be implementing a strategy/tool from the Learning Zone faculty meeting you attended in March. Take time to reflect on how the strategy/tool impacted student learning in your classroom.
We will share these reflections and continue to learn from one another during our April Learning Zone faculty meeting follow-up sessions.
Spring is in the Air!
Please remember that our common expectations are the key part of creating an environment at CSHS in which students can strive for success. Take a moment to make sure you are helping communicate these common expectations to our students (and to your sub via your sub notes):
1) IDs: Students must where them from when they enter the building to when they exit after school.
2) Tardies: Please do not let students in without a pass after the tardy bell.
3) Hall Passes: When a student leaves your classroom, he/she needs either a bathroom pass that clearly indicates the student is from your classroom and has permission to use the restroom nearest your room OR a blue hall pass that is completely filled out. More hall passes are available in the attendance office.
4) Hall Duty: Students should be met by lots of smiling faces as they make their way to the next class.
5) Dress Code: Short shorts, leggings without a fingertip-length shirt, and hats are the most consistent issues administrators are seeing. Please check students as they enter your classroom. Often, we do not see a student out of dress code until lunch, which means they've gone by at least 4 teachers before we see them.
504, SPED, ESL: Your Feedback is REQUIRED!
It is IMPERATIVE that teachers complete AND return the student information sheets for students served under 504, SPED, and ESL. The accommodations each student receives are based on this input and the feedback is invaluable to help those in attendance make good decisions with the student and his/her family.
There is a DUE DATE on the top of the form and the information gets entered into the computer system prior to the meeting to help expedite the process. Make sure you are upholding your teacher responsibilities by taking care of this important task.
ARD/504 Invitations--Be Sure to Click YES!
The spring is certainly a busy time of year, and we know that any time away from your classroom is hard for both you and your students; however, another important part of our jobs is to attend ARD and 504 meetings. If you are on campus the date you are asked to attend an ARD or 504 meeting, our expectation is that you accept that invitation.
If you are getting multiple invitations for the same day or are feeling overwhelmed about the scheduling, please contact the assistant principal for the your department.
Spring 2017 Final Exam Schedule
Student Recognition
We'd like to recognize the success of our students on the announcements and social media. Please email Tiffany and Victoria or place an announcement in the box on Tiffany's desk. In order to be included on social media, please either send a picture of students or your organization's logo. Thanks!
Duty Schedule
If you have not had duty in the fall, you have duty this spring. Check the full schedule here and mark the dates in your calendar.