Nuts & Bolts
Week of April 9, 2018
Take Care of Yourself
It seems to me as if everyone is heightened and in a stressful state - students, parents, and our staff. Please take this week over spring break to reflect on spring and how much progress our school and you, and your students have made this year. Please, please take time to breathe, fill your bucket, and center yourself. I look forward to seeing you all after the break in a relaxed state. Have a wonderful and well deserved break!
April 20th Agenda
Construction Update
No news is good news.
High Five!
Mandatory Teacher Training
Personal Conduct and Expectations
I see/feel walls going up between groups and individual staff members. It feels like tension that has been building is now starting to explode out in unproductive ways. Whether we agree with our team members personally or professionally, please assume the best in every person and ask if you are unsure. We cannot do this work in isolation; we need our team members.
Let's remember the commitment we made to each other, as outlined in our Employee Handbook:
Living up to the mission of MMA entails that we work in trusting, open and consistent relationships. So it is reasonable to insist on a high degree of mutual professional and personal respect and a high level of mutual support. In a community of mutual respect and support, we are able to converse freely among ourselves; the result being that our individual growth is accelerated.
We value staff actively participating in discussions of decisions affecting them. We value diversity in perspectives leading to a deeper understanding of organizational reality and an enriched knowledge base for decision making. We value staff members resolving conflict in a healthy way that leads to stronger solutions for complex issues.
We value staff members reflecting on their own and others’ thinking in order to achieve better organizational decisions. We value all staff acknowledging mistakes and learning from them. Genuine community requires respect for individual rights. This means, among other things, a high degree of attention to confidentiality. We should share information about one another and our learners/parents on a judiciously defined need-to-know basis. If one needs to know something in order to carry out school responsibilities one should know it; otherwise one should not.
We believe that each of us is an educational leader and that each of us is equally responsible for creating the MMA community. To this end, we must be flexible and help out when needed. To continue to improve consistency in all areas of the school, staff may be asked to problem solve in other environments and to mentor new staff members.
We understand that many of us have additional jobs/hobbies/ services that are offered outside of MMA. It is not appropriate to send out emails, or other forms of communication, to families soliciting for your event/product. In the instance of a close, personal relationship with families at school — of course those communications are appropriate to those families. Please keep in mind that any social networking regarding students, and or staff, including photographs of students is strictly prohibited.
Being Good Neighbors
Peace Conference
If you are interested in joining the eConference for Peace through Education - the dialogue begins March 30th and continues through April 8th. Taking place over two weekends (and during the week), the intent of the new format is to allow more time for reading, absorbing others’ thoughts, and reflecting back. The gathering remains asynchronous. You can join anytime when it best suits your schedule.
The eConference is complimentary and open to the public. If you wish there will be CEUs on offer for a small fee.
Register here: http://peacethrougheducation.net/ If you have questions, please contact:
The TIES Community
800-457-5672
Do Not Set the Alarm
Teacher Only Events
Boys' Bathroom Issues
- Coming to a central location to "check-out" toilet paper
- Having an adult accompany boys to the bathroom, checking for mess before and after
- Having a sign-in sheet and a check box to rat out the previous visitor if there was a mess left
- Only going on whole-class, scheduled bathroom breaks with the bathrooms locked in between
Please strongly stress bathroom etiquette with your classes after spring break and let's try one more week. If the problem persists, we will have to employ one of the above strategies. Please email René if you additional ideas.
Upcoming Events
4-9 Staff Meeting
4-10 Assistant / Support Staff Meeting
4-12 4th Grade History Fair
Contact Info:
Email: rbaker@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Website: https://www.mariamontessoriacademy.org
Phone: 801-827-0150
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MMAofUT/
Twitter: @ReneBaker27