Monday Morning Motivation
Central Elementary Staff News----April 4--April 8
Welcome Back
Dear Staff,
Over spring break, I had the opportunity to take daily walks along the beach. There is nothing like the calm and the rhythm of the ocean to restore the soul. It is one of my favorite things to do!
While walking along the beach I could not help but think about the work we do and the students and families we serve. What you do every day is not easy and the results are often slow to be seen. However, you do make a difference in the lives of our children. The story below is one which came to mind one morning on a walk.
The Starfish Story
A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach on which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore. Further along he sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often, picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean.
“Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?,” he asks.
“Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don’t throw them further in they will die.”
“But, old man, don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it! You can’t possibly save them all, you can’t even save one-tenth of them. In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won’t make any difference at all.”
The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the sea. “It made a difference to that one.”
Sometimes it is good to be reminded that, one person at a time, we can have a positive, powerful impact on the lives of the people around us. You make a difference each and every day. Our students will be so happy to see you in the morning!
Additionally, I'm looking forward to seeing you and our students.
Have a great week!
Julie
A Week at a Glance
Central Calendar
MONDAY, April 4
- If you have library as a special, you will take your students to the upstairs computer lab.
TUESDAY, April 5
- If you have library as a special, you will take your students to the upstairs computer lab.
WEDNESDAY, April 6
- Library as a special resumes in the basement
- Kindergarten Roundup (9-2 and 5-8)
THURSDAY, April 7
- Kindergarten Roundup (5-8)
- Faculty Meeting in LGI
FRIDAY, April 8
- Data Card updates (if any) due
Announcements and Reminders
Monday and Tuesday library specials will be with Shonda in the upstairs computer lab.
Begin scheduling Domain 1 and 3 meetings with Karen. I would like to have these completed by Friday, May 13th. These meetings can be before school, during prep, or after school.
The staff will have a packing party April 15th from 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. The only grade who would like PTO to get volunteers is Kindergarten. The other grades will reach out to parents.
Talk with each other about data cards. As the receiving teacher, is there information which you would like on the card that is not currently there? Deadline for this is Friday, April 8th
Culver's 4/12 5-8 pm. No flyer needed. Student Council will assist PTO that evening.
Dickey's 4/26 4-9 pm. No flyer needed.
In July a New District and School Website will go live for the public. The goal is to create a user friendly, clean web page, highlighting all the wonderful things happening in Plainfield.
End of the Year
April and May Activities for Central Elementary
April 6 – Kindergarten Round up AM & PM @ Clarks Creek Elementary
April 7 – Kindergarten Round up PM @ Clarks Creek Elementary
April 15 – Central Staff Packing Party
April 18 – PTO Meeting
April 20 – Relay For Life Jeans Day
April 22 – Walkathon and Walkathon Celebration (2:45-3:20)
April 25 – 5th grade Flat Rock Parent Meeting
April 28 – 4th & 5th grade Growth and Development
April 18 – May 6 – ISTEP Testing for grades 3,4,5
May 6 – Walkathon Principals’ Minute to Win it @ Clarks Creek Elementary
May 9th and 10 preschool transition conferences here at Central
May 9 – Study Buddy Party
May 10th Kindergarten Screening in the afternoon
May 11th Pat Cooney from middle school to talk with 5th grade
May 12 & 13 – 5th grade Flat Rock Field Trip
May 16 – PTO Meeting
May 18 – 3rd grade field trip Jameson Camp
May 20 – Field Day
May 23 – 5th grade breakfast & celebration AM
KG – 4 grade Central Celebration PM
High Ability Process
High ability identification data team meeting with grade-levels for grades K-4 will be on April 26th
Things to do prior to the meeting in grade 5:
APRIL 5th Please plan to give a math test
· Math placement test for all students except geometry track (45 minutes)
· Algebra 1 prognosis test is for geometry track only (45 minutes)
APRIL 6th Please plan to give a writing prompt
· Please give a writing prompt (30 minutes) to ALL students, which I will get from Dr. Giesting
APRIL 20th
· Review the spreadsheet once I get it to you in preparation for our identification meeting on April 20th
· 4:00 p.m. meeting with the middle school assistant principal, a math teacher and a language arts teacher to discuss place
Things to do prior to the meeting grades 2-4:
· Please plan to give a writing prompt the week of April 11th
· Review the spreadsheet once I get it to you in preparation for our identification meeting on April 26th
Things to do prior to the meeting grades K-1:
· Review the spreadsheet once I get it to you in preparation for our identification meeting on April 26th
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
New from the DOE
NEW! Fluency FOCUS (April)
https://www.tes.com/lessons/qfQ2-FjSU6sYIw/fluency-focus
Comprehension FOCUS (March)
https://www.tes.com/lessons/yrEkPfM4tMPD-w/comprehension-focus
Writing Connected to Texts FOCUS (February)
https://www.tes.com/lessons/Vefp7IKC5OqYhA/writing-connected-to-texts-focus
Vocabulary FOCUS (January)
https://www.tes.com/lessons/KLk5SE8LrtXG0g/vocabulary-focus
The purpose the Literacy Focus of the Month is to provide guidance to administrators and teachers for supporting a monthly, school wide instructional focus based on best practices and research-based strategies in literacy. This "user-friendly" support tool will assist districts and schools in the implementation of reading instruction in classrooms across multiple grade levels, as well as different subjects/content areas. Although the monthly focus will highlight and supplement a specific procedure or skill, it is impossible to teach the components in isolation; therefore, the Literacy FOCUS of the Month should serve to present a school-wide shared commitment to literacy.
Spring Assessments!
- ISTEP Part 2 Window April 18-May 6, 2016 (all students grades 3-5). We will begin on the 18th and it will be online.
Celebrate Staff
Attendance before spring break was at 98%. We continue to do a great job with this!
Central Celebration went really well! Maybe the third time was a charm. Thank you Jennie for not being afraid to cheer and dance. We are going to continue to recruit more participants :)
Here Comes the Bus
The message below was sent to all parents via School Messenger on March 17th. Just keeping you in the loop.
March 17, 2016
We are happy to introduce a program known as Here Comes the Bus®.
Here Comes the Bus allows you to view the real-time location of your child’s school bus on a smartphone, tablet or computer. You will have the information you need to get your children to the bus stop at just the right time, reducing time spent outside in inclement weather and wondering, “did we miss the bus?”
Here Comes the Bus allows you to:
· See the location of your child’s bus both before and after school
· Confirm that your child’s bus has arrived at the bus stop and at school
· Receive a push notification* or email message when the bus is a certain distance from your stop
A few of our neighboring school corporations have begun using Here Comes the Bus over the past year or two, and many of you have asked that we do the same. After doing our research and due diligence, we think you will be pleased with this service. In fact, we’ve tested it over the last several weeks, thanks to some parents who participated in our learning process!
Indianapolis-based Synovia Solutions™, makers of the GPS-tracking technology that we began using earlier this year, developed Here Comes the Bus. With it, we’ve been able to improve safety and cost savings as they relate to our transportation services.
Available in three languages (English, Spanish and French), the Here Comes the Bus app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play for $18.50 a year, or $3.50 a month. The web version is a no-cost option.
To learn more about Here Comes the Bus, visit www.synoviasolutions.com/here-comes-the-bus.
Should you have any questions, please contact Dean Shepard via email (dshepard@plainfield.k12.in.us) or by phone at 317-838-3632.
*Push notifications only available on iPhone & Android devices.
Here Comes the Bus is a registered trademark of Synovia Solutions™, LLC.
©2015 Synovia Solutions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.