Global Gazette
Week of September 3 - September 7
Growing into our Greatness...Not a Moment to Waste!
Back to School Night 2018
Reminders and Expectations
This Wednesday, September 5th, 2018 we will host our annual Back to School Night Celebration. I am even more excited about what our parents will see when they walk into our communities and what they will feel as they hear from teachers and staff.
AGENDA FOR THE EVENING:
- 6:00 PM
- Parents will enter through the front doors and go directly to classrooms
- 6:00-6:10 PM
- Mix, Mingle, Chat and Chew
- Parents can indulge in the light refreshments that will be in each classroom, mix and mingle, and tour the classrooms
- 6:10-6:15 PM
- Principal Tyler will come over the loudspeaker to welcome parents and direct teachers to play the Back to School Night welcome video.
- 6:15-7:00 PM
Cultural Arts Teachers will have a table in the community in which they serve
ATTENDANCE:
- All staff members are expected to be in attendance for Back to School Night
ATTIRE:
- All Staff are required to be in business attire wearing the blue GLA button-up shirt and solid colored dress pants or skirtS.
- Remember that we are wearing Professional Dress on Tuesday and making Wednesday our School Spirit Day this week.
TEACHERS:
- We are encouraging parents to come without their scholars that evening. Please remind your scholars about Back to School Night and that it is a PARENT ONLY EVENT.
- We will have a movie set up for scholars that come with parents but this will not be something we advertise to parents.
- Please place reminders in your scholar's homework, and encourage your parents to attend. Please also inform them that the class with the most parents from each academy will participate in a skating party incentive in October.
- All classrooms are expected to meet all requirements of the classroom environment checklist by Back to School Night.
- All bulletin boards inside and outside of classrooms should be complete and aesthetically pleasing.
- Scholar Work should be visible in all classrooms
- Each scholar should have something on their desks to welcome their parents. This could be a letter to their parents, art work, etc. Please be creative as we show our parents what their scholars are learning on a daily basis.
- Each classroom should have a display sample of all instructional materials that will be used this year, including any supplemental books we can show parents. You can display the teacher guides and a sample of scholar books.This can be set up on a table in your classroom.
- Power Point/Prezi Presentation Please make sure that parents understand that Back to School Night is not an individual parent conference, but an opportunity to see what their child will be learning this year. This will be your opportunity to meet with the parents of your scholars and to introduce them to you and your classroom. Please use pictures of your scholars in your presentation. All Academy Leaders will provide feedback on presentations.
- SNACKS FOR PARENTS
- Ms. Tellis will provide a healthy snack for the parents of each classroom
CHEERS TO MAKING BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT 2018 OUR BEST ONE YET! LET'S SHOW OUR PARENTS HOW FORTUNATE WE ARE TO SERVE THEM. REMEMBER THAT IT IS LESS ABOUT WHAT WE SAY AND MORE ABOUT HOW WE MAKE PARENTS FEEL. MAKE THEM HAPPY THAT THEIR CHILD IS IN YOUR CLASS THIS YEAR!
This Week at GLA...
School Closed - Labor Day
Terrific Tuesday
Attire: Professional Dress
- Morning Huddle 7:45a
- Annotated LPs Due 8a
- Instructional Strategy Meetings
- Family-Style Dining Begins
Wonderful Wednesday
Attire: Blue Button Down GLA Shirt with Dark, Solid Bottoms
- 1p Dismissal
- NHS Meeting
- Professional Development 1:15p - 5:15p
- Back to School Night 6p - 7p
Thrilling Thursday
Attire: Professional Dress
- Staff Make-Your-Own Smoothies
Fantastic Friday
Attire: Fitness Friday Shirt, Jeans, Sneakers
- Fitness Friday
- Grandparent's Day (9-10:30a)
Attendance Policy
It is imperative that all homeroom teachers submit daily attendance via MMS no later than 9:00 am but not earlier than 8:30 am. Timely, consistent, and accurate attendance submissions are required to ensure safety of our scholars. An attendance code must be entered for every scholar in your homeroom an (A) absent or a (P) present. Be mindful absentee phone calls go out to parents at 10 am daily so we do not want to create frantic parents.
In the event that MMS is inoperable, immediately email glawhelpdesk@ga-schools.org and cc Mrs. Aviles. Submit a hard copy of your attendance to your Academy Leader to be forwarded to the Main Office.
Excuse notes are to be put in the plastic folders outside of classrooms. S3s for each academy will collect them during their uniform checks on Tuesday's and Thursday's. Do not hold on to any excuse note, as letters are sent home after a scholar's 3rd unexcused absence.
Thank you for your assistance in tightening up our attendance process. It is our professional responsibility to be GREAT!
Teaching and Learning Corner
This week help us beat a 72% on-time turn in rate for lesson plans. Help us beat this rate by ensuring your lessons are to your coach by 8am Tuesday!
Instructional Strategy Meetings: Tuesday we will host our first Instructional Strategy Meetings (ISMs). ISMs take place every Tuesday during Cultural Arts. All homeroom teachers are expected to attend their weekly ISM and to be timely. Remember that the goal of this year's ISMs is to build content knowledge collaboratively. This week's focus is math.
Planning Wednesdays: This week marks the first half-day Wednesday of the year. We are excited to use time to plan for both your regular education block and ASB this week. Please come prepared with your laptop to dig into iReady data and a math assessment.
Deadline Reminders:
Lesson Plans: Tuesday 8am
Student Work: Tuesday EOD
iReady Diagnostic Testing
iReady Testing is underway. Due to unforeseen challenges with MMS, we were unable to complete testing in upper school. This week we will be testing 1st grade Tuesday (Math) and Thursday (ELA) while doing make ups for 3-5.
Weekly Highlights!
ACTION ITEM
Golf Outing Donations Due September 10th!
RS – Spa Basket
LEG – Basket of Cheer
CA – Amazon Prime Basket
Cultural Arts/Special Services/Scholar Support – Date Night Basket
Operations - TBD
Kudos Corner
Kudos to the Rising Stars Instructional Assistants and Mr. Williams for stepping in and supporting teachers during instruction, transitions and support with challenging behaviors. We cannot say thank you enough!
A Special recognition goes out to the amazing Kindergarten Team and Ms. Conyon for your patience, diligence and perseverance, as you welcomed our new scholars to our GLA family!
- Kudos to Ms Sanchez for excellent Parent Communications.
- Kudos to Legendary instructional staff for submitting lesson plans on time
- Kudos to Ms Gray for holding high expectations and phenomenal hallway procedures
- Kudos to Mrs McKinley and Ms Thompson for classroom community building.
- Kudos to Mr. Fleming, Mr. Jackson, and Ms. Robinson for awesome visibility throughout the Collegiate Academy, jumping in and supporting teachers where needed.
- Kudos to Mr. Jackson for a Review360 and LiveSchool overview in the CA academy meeting.
- Kudos to Ms. Riley, Ms. Holiday and Mr. Roman for usage of stop watch and timed transitions within your instruction.
- Kudos to Mr. Simpson for reteaching the school song within your instruction this week.
- Kudos to Ms. Pritchett for your media footage support this week in preparation for Back to School Night.