Week of May 30, 2016


May 30th, 2016

image

Hello Shining Stars,

I hope everyone has been enjoying the weekend. It was really nice on Monday at home.  I enjoyed working in the garden and spending time with family.

Here are the major items of note for the next few weeks:

• LIFT OFF- You have to watch this speech. It is by far to most inspirational educational oration I have heard in the last few years. Mr. Livingston gave me the energy to complete the final push of the year.

“Harvard Grad Delivers Powerfully Poetic Speech On Overcoming Injustice”- Huffington Post

The Full Transcript of Lift Off Speech

*************************************************************************************************

• Staffing Updates –I have set the Bilingual EA Interviews, Monday, June 6. The interviews will run from 3:00-6:00 PM.  Some of you have expressed interest in being on the interview team. I still need a classified employee to take part in the interview process.  Let me know if you want to take part. We have 2 positions to fill at 6 hours.  We will also be conducting interviews for the 4 hour position the following week.

*************************************************************************************************

• Report Card Grading Day Expectations – Not this Friday, but Friday next week is the elementary report card grading day. This is a regular work day for all staff, with the exception of the very few student-contact-days-only staff. HR has said it is allowable for licensed staff to work from home this day if they notify their administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to make plans ahead of time if you need to collaborate with colleagues for grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.

*************************************************************************************************

• SBAC Score Communication- Most of you have noticed that your students’ test scores are available to you within 2 to 3 weeks of the students finishing their Smarter Balanced Assessments. The question has come up around how and when to communicate these scores to parents. Individual student assessment scores will not be finalized in terms of accuracy until June 24. The state data is embargoed until September 15 when the state, district and school percentages will be made public.  Because of this, schools  are not to share testing results information with parents until September. The District will again generate a parent report for each student with the expectation that schools will distribute them to their families in September.  Please feel free to use the assessment results for planning for next year. The scores will not fluctuate dramatically so using them as one data point for class placement, creation of intervention groups, etc. would be fine.

The District is developing a long-term plan to distribute assessment data via ParentVUE. If your school is not currently using ParentVUE as a communication tool, please be thinking about ways you can incorporate it into your regular routine this coming year to help parents become familiar with it.
 *************************************************************************************************
• District Admin Updates – Steve Menachemson will return as the Technology Director in mid-June. Steve was recruited earlier this year for a private sector opportunity. And to clarify technology admin roles, this position is different from the Instructional Technology Administrator position that Kim Finch will start this summer when Kim Ketterer retires. This leaves only a half-time principal vacancy at Family School, which is paired with a half-time assistant principal position at ATA, and three other assistant principal jobs left to fill, so I’m thinking admin shuffling is now starting to settle.
 *************************************************************************************************
• Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program (Free Books for Kids!) – I’m sure this is a marketing ploy, but the Barnes & Noble’s Summer Reading Program only requires kids to fill out a Reading Journal (available in both Spanish and English) of what they read over the summer and who they would recommend those book to. They can then redeem their completed journal for one of the free books listed in the journal.
 *************************************************************************************************
• Fiesta Survey-It’s hard to believe that Fiesta was already 3 weeks ago! The end of the school year certainly is zooming by! The Parent Group Advisory Team has created a brief, anonymous survey to gain some feedback. Please take a a moment to click on the link below and complete the survey. Thank you for your time! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NBM56VB
 *************************************************************************************************
•Volunteer luncheon is June 15 , 11:00 AM – We need your help with the volunteer  potluck. The volunteer potluck will occur on June 15th after the field day. This is our chance to show thanks to all the families and community members who give hundreds of hours of support to our school. Please take time to make a small dish to show a small token of appreciation to them. Sign up in the staff lounge with a dish.
 *************************************************************************************************
• STAMP Testing and  Karen’s Sub available for support- We will have a sub for Karen the remainder of the year.  She will be supporting the completion of STAMP testing and Easy CBM stragglers. In addition,  once that is complete she can organize items for you, pack boxes, send packets to Insta-print for Fall testing and anything else you need.  For example, if you want to meet with someone for an hour to plan an end of the year event or item, the sub can come by to help you.

 

Here are the events for the remainder of the year:

May 30 (M)
Memorial Day – No School

May 31 (T)

Artist in Residence Continues (Room 17)
9:00-2:00, M. Brougher’s Dorris Ranch Field Trip (Dorris Ranch)
1:30-3:00, 4th Grade Garden Project- M. Brougher
8:00-11:30, Joel at ELL Coordinator Interviews (Mozart Room-Ed Center)

June 1 (W)

9:00-11:00, Joel at RRES – OAC Meeting (Old White House)
1:45-2:45, PBIS Meeting (Learning Center)
1:45-2:45, PLC Time  (Library)

June 2 (H)

8:00-2:30, Data Team- Final Meeting #6 (Room 17)
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting MOD SQUAD! (Room 7)
3:30-5:00,   Final 15-16 Immersion Principal Meeting (Parr Room)
7:00 4J Vision 20/20 Community Update and Feedback-Roosevelt

June 3 (F)
Last Day of BEST
9:00-11:00, Joel at Proyecto Juntos- Riverfront Research Park
1:30-3:00, Sara/Charis/Joel/Raquel re: School Improvement Grant

June 6 (M)

8:30-5:00 PM, Hatfield Marine Science Center Field Trip 4th Grade

3:00-6:00, Bilingual EA Interviews (Conference Room)

June 7 (T)

9:00-11:30, Proyecto Juntos in the Library and Family Resource Center, Joel, Alicia, Katie HP, AJ Hruby, Marcy, Erin B + others.
2:45-3:45, Final Staff Meeting
6:00-7:00, Grupo de Padres Potluck (Library)

June 8 (W)

Last Day for ELD
9:00-11:00, Joel at RRES – OAC Meeting (Old White House)
3:00-4:00, Crisis Safety Team (Library)

June 9 (H)

8:45, End of the Year Strings Assembly

June 10 (F)

No School-Elementary-Grading/Parent Conferences

June 13 (M)

5:30-8:00, Joel to Vision 20/20 Meeting

June 14 (T)

1:30-3:00, 4th Grade Garden Project- M. Murphy
3:00-4:00, Final PLT Meeting (Conference Room)
7:00, PM School Board meeting

June 15 (W)

9:00-11:00, Field Day
11:00-12:00, Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon
9:00-11:00, Joel at RRES – OAC Meeting (Old White House)
6:00 -7:00, 5th Grade Graduation (Gym)

June 16 (H)
Last Day of School
Last Day for 192-Day Classified Employees
11:40, Dismissal
12:00, Staff Last Day of School Root Beer Float & Ice Cream Sundae Celebration (Staff Lounge)
Check Out with Joel and office.

June 17 (F)

Last Day for Licensed Staff (4J Date)
All cumulative file folders due to Myka.
Do not forget to enter the permanent record information.
Check out with Joel and office until 2:00 PM.

June 24 (F)-

End of year for office manager. (Myka)

June 23 (H)

4:30-6:30, Joel at Equity Committee

June 30 (H)

Last Day of work for principals. Returning on July 28.

 

Thank you for all your hard work in the next few weeks.  You are inspirational.

Best,

Joel

 

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind