School Improvement Plan

Thank you for your contribution towards our School Improvement Plan (SIP). The admin team is grateful for your hard work. As a thank you, you may wear jeans with tennis shoes on Monday.

In addition, I wanted to highlight some of the great data from our SIP. In the student attendance chart below, it shows that we have decreased the number of students who have 8 or more absences by 50% in comparison to the last two years. Great job!

The suspension chart below shows the decrease of in-school and out-of-school suspensions in comparison to the past two years. Thank you for the continuous effort that you put forth everyday to build relationships with your students, create engaging lesson plans, and enforce clear procedures in your classrooms.

2019-20 Master Schedule

The admin team will begin working on the master schedule for next school year and we would love your input. You can submit your input by clicking on the link below. I would recommend working with your grade level team to streamline the process. It will be easier to accommodate requests, if grade level teams don’t have opposing feedback. 

Please complete this questionnaire by Friday, March 1.

https://goo.gl/forms/VJVg9PbQaRiQPVVF2

Assemblies

We have three assemblies coming up. Please mark your calendars.

·       Next Wednesday, February 27 we have an all school assembly at 8:00 a.m. to kickoff Reading Month.

·       Next Thursday, February 28, we have an Anti-bullying assembly sponsored by our PTO. Grades Y5s-4^th will be from 1:00-1:45 p.m. and grades 5-8 will be from 2:00-2:45 p.m.

·       Keystone will be recognized on March 12 by people from NHA Service Center, including Todd McKee, our Chief Academic Officer. The all school assembly will be at 2:00 p.m.

Shout Out

Nicolle for always greeting students at morning assembly. That gesture goes a long way with not only students, but our parents who observe it as well.

Stacey, Sloane, Andria, Nicole, Jill, Lindsey, Sarah D., and Jamie for planning Reading Month. Thank you for making reading fun!

All staff for your hard work with SIP.  

This Week

Monday, February 25:

   ·      Lisa Heringhausen’s Birthday

Wednesday, February 27:

   ·      Reading Month Kickoff Assembly

Thursday, February 28:

   ·      Anti-bullying Assembly

Friday, March 1:

   ·      Student of the Month Assembly-Specials Teachers

   ·      Sarah Z’s Birthday (February 29)

   ·      Jaclynn B’s Birthday

   ·      Dress like a Dr. Seuss Character Day (free) and Schoolwide READ-IN. 

Happy Birthday

Lisa H.: February 25

Sarah Z.: February 29

Jaclynn Behrendt: March 1

Important Dates

Please view the right side of the blog for important dates in 

*If you have an event to add or something has been forgotten, please let me know!  

Core Values

Did you know that Stephanie orders about 10 cases of paper each week? Each case contains 5,000 sheets of paper. 

That means:

     ·       On average, we are going through about 50, 000 sheets of paper a week. 

     ·       We are using 10,000 sheets of paper a day!!!

     ·       Each student is given approximately 13 worksheets a day.

Another troubling fact is that I often see paper left in the copier room that no one claims. Please be cognizant before you press print.

We use our Core Values as a way to get us to our College Readiness Goal. One of our Core Values is act with discipline to sustain our academic success and financial viability. With this  Core Value in mind, I found some ideas online for alternative to worksheets. I would love to hear if anyone tries some of them out.

     ·       Write on something else: an iPad app (Doodle Lite), white boards, on the desk or table with Expo markers, etc

     ·       Blog response: use online tools to engage students in their learning. It not only saves paper, but you time when grading. It can be a simple as posting a prompt.

     ·       Group work only requires one sheet of paper for several students

     ·       Think-pair-share: Allow students to develop their understanding through conversations. It’s been proven that kids do learn from each other.  

    ·    Graphic Organizers: after a lesson, instead of a worksheet, place students in groups with a poster paper to create a graphic organizer about something they just learned. Give students poster paper and markers and watch their creativity!

Moral Focus-Courage

If you are looking for a new idea to implement during your moral focus instruction, give the activity below a try. You can use this for any of the virtues.

Courage Quotes Activity

1. Display your grade level definition of courage 

2. Give small groups 3-4 minutes to discuss the definition and how they have shown courage.  

3. Project a grade level appropriate quote about courage. Ask each student how the quote relates to them personally. Give each student 4 minutes to think and write their answers on whiteboards (saving paper). 

4. Have everyone stand and find a shoe twin. High five their partner.  

5. Partners take turns discussing what the quotes mean to them personally. Set a timer for each partner to ensure everyone gets a turn to speak. 

Thank You

Jena C. and Jeanne I. for creating the moral focus bulletin board outside the main office. Thank you for making my vision a reality. Your creation surpassed my expectations.   

All staff for the extra hours you spent this week with parent-teacher conferences.

Stacey R. for your help with editing many documents, the PET for SIP, and embracing constant change for the benefit of students. You are amazing!

This Week

Monday, February 18:

   ·      President’s Day-No School

Tuesday, February 19:

   ·      Staff meeting snacks provided by 8^th grade

   ·      Staff Meeting 4:00-5:00 in the Media Center

   ·      Cindy Chuang’s Birthday

   ·      Information Night (all grades) and Kinder Info Night 5:30-6:30

Wednesday, February 20:

   ·      Middle School teachers submit certificates to Jorvonna. Please check the Media Release Information list prior to submitting the certificates.

   ·      PTO Meeting at 4:00 in the Parent Room

   ·      Lindsay Franson’s Birthday

Friday, February 22:

   ·      Student of the Month Assembly (middle school)

   ·      Submit conference forms to Diann

   ·      Spirit Day: $1 jean with crazy socks and 50 cents popcorn

   ·      Pay Day Breakfast-Kinder

Happy Birthday

Cindy-February 19

Lindsay: February 20

Core Values

We use our Core Values as a way to get us to our College Readiness Goal. One of our Core Values is Behave With Care. One thing that we can do to live out this value is to build positive relationships with students and parents. How can you continue to foster positive relationships with your families?

Your colleagues will be sharing some ideas at our staff meeting during “Best Practice Share Out.”  

Thank You

Diann for all your hard work with enrollment. I appreciate your perseverance.

All staff for your commitment around attendance. Thank you for understanding that we can’t do our jobs effectively if students are not here.  

Jen H, Cari, Jamie, and Robyn for the HOURS you have spent with attendance. You are making a difference!  

Wellness Committee

We have a Wellness Planning meeting on Monday at 4:00 PM in the Parent Room. If you would like to be a part of the Wellness Committee, to help us plan our first annual Wellness Day, please join us.

Board Meeting

We have a Board Meeting on Thursday at 6 PM in the staff lounge. The Board would love for you to come out. They stated they have funding available for teachers. Let me know if you are planning on attending prior to the meeting and I will include you in the dinner order.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

The person with the most in-person parent-teacher conferences will receive a free lunch and a jean pass. Let the competition begin!

Please submit your attendance form to Diann by February 22.  

This Week

Monday, February 11:

   ·      Wellness Day Planning Meeting 4:00 in the Parent Room

Tuesday, February 12:

   ·      Staff meeting snacks provided by 8^th grade

   ·      Staff Meeting 4:00-5:00 in the Media Center

Wednesday, February 13:

   ·      3-5 teachers submit certificates to Jorvonna. Please check the Media Release Information list prior to submitting the certificates.

   ·      PTO Meeting at 4:00 in the Parent Room

   ·      Kinder Information Night 5:30-6:30

   ·      Supplemental Count Day

Thursday, February 14:

   ·      Nancy Kouba, DSQ, will be here from 8:30-11:30. We may be doing admin observations during this time.

   ·      Parent-teacher conferences 4:00-7:00 PM

   ·      Board Meeting 6:00-7:00 PM in staff lounge

Friday, February 15:

   ·      Student of the Month Assembly (3-5)

   ·      Half-day of school-PM Specials

   ·      Parent-teacher conferences 2:00-5:00