Head U Gator News
May 1, 2016
A grateful heart...
...Everyone who had to stay very late this week to interview. That would include most of ASPIRE, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades! Thank you for committing to the process that I believe is so important to obtain the highest quality applicants we possibly can. I so appreciate the input from a variety of people in evaluating new staff members.
...Lauri, who managed the front office without Molly for three days. Doing the front office with 2 people is hard enough, but it's crazy when there is just one person! Thanks to Kelly and Beth for backing her up as well.
...Jennifer Bisballe, for mentoring and coaching a brand new teacher during this crazy part of the year. That support is so important for new staff members who are "drinking from a fire hose" pretty much all the time!
...Nicole Marlow (who has been the sub in Kim Graham's room for 6 weeks) who is going to begin tomorrow in Whitley's room and stay for the next 3 weeks. Whitley was originally going to try and stay through next week, but it was really obvious that the stress was taking a huge toll on her physically. Thursday afternoon we convinced her to make Friday her last day and Nicole agreed to step in beginning Monday.
Summer enrichment video
Update on new staff
We interviewed strong 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade applicants and then we're asking them to come back for a demonstration lesson. The second grade teacher candidate taught her lesson Friday afternoon, and we're excited about her joining us. I still have to make reference calls Monday, but we assume she will be a new addition. Hopefully by the end of this week we will have 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the 2nd grade ASPIRE filled. That will leave 1st, 3rd, and 5th ASPIRE still to fill along with the additional 5th grade position. I will be screening this week again.
All of these new staff members mean that we will have to be very intentional about working on our culture next year. We will have lots of new people who will be working hard and trying to figure things out, so part of our focus will have to be on making sure they are getting the support they need while we still continue to make progress on LEAD 2021. It's a little mind-boggling, but also really exciting!
ATTIRE
We will celebrate the "Vote" day on Tuesday by wearing red/white/blue and jeans on Tuesday. If you need to leave early to vote, please try to do so Monday since we have a faculty meeting Tuesday with several things that we need to discuss.
Camp Carter opportunity...
small group minutes
This is based on 14 classrooms for this week, which is what I've received to date:
Reading: 87%
Math: 88%
PLEASE VOTE!!!
This week:
Monday, May 2
Art Club, 2:45
Tuesday, May 3
La Academia Spanish 2:45-3:45
Faculty meeting
Wednesday, May 4
choir 3/4/5
Thursday, May 5
Marimba Band
Friday, May 6
Pep Rally/Spirit Day
La Academia Spanish 2:45-3:45
Bowman Sports 2:45-3:45