The Key Notes : March 2021

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jen who won our Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament! She defeated 6 opponents to walk away with the title of “CHAMPION!"

Staff fun didn’t stop in March. Robyn and Stacey will be continuing the fun in April using the themes of spring and poetry month to guide us! The first week back we will engage in a fun “bunny hop” dance break each day. You’ll hear us come on the speakers with some music and directions to enjoy some moves with your students. We will be popping into classrooms to record some of those moves to post on Facebook, so we hope you can bring it. 😊

More fun surprises to come throughout the entire month!

First Day of School

I have submitted the waiver to start school before Labor Day to the Michigan Department of Education. The next step is that I have to attend a hearing to explain and justify my waiver. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 7. I will continue to keep you updated on whether we get approved or not.

Shout Out

Kari for having all your attendance grids turned in on time and even early!

Monique for amazing parent communication.

Tab for showing care towards a student and helping her search for missing items.

Ashley H for assisting me with getting documents.

Stephanie for covering me at the last minute.

Robyn for spending her Spring Break onboarding our new hire.

Amelia and Sarah Z for providing valuable feedback regarding a team decision.

Jamie and Tameka for working so hard on M-STEP schedule and logistics.

Stacey for working on improving our master schedule.

Robyn, Tameka, Christina, and Jen H for attending a behavior support plan meeting and collaborating to provide a student with the appropriate support to set him up for success.

Sarah D for always being proactive and bring me good news.

Sarah Z for ensuring that we are proving our students with proper support.

This Week

Tuesday, April 6:

· Sarah M’s Birthday

Wednesday, April 7:

· PTO Meeting 4:30-5:30 PM

Friday, April 9:

· Professional Accountabilities Due

· Reading Month Rewards Day

· DUE: Morning Assembly Presentation-Draine-Dale (Autism Awareness Month)

Happy Birthday

Sarah M: April 6

There is a special gift in the mailboxes of all the people who celebrate their birthdays in April.

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!

Privacy Rights

When we have a positive COVID case, we cannot disclose the name of the person (staff or student) to anyone. It’s a violation of their HIPAA rights. If an impacted individual decides to share information in a private conversation that would be at their discretion. Thank you for respecting and protecting other’s privacy.

Inclement Weather Checklist

Hopefully, we will NOT need this for the remainder of the school year. But it’s Michigan so you never know. If we have a snow day, please use this checklist.

Remote Day for Inclement Weather by embryjd on Scribd

Ice Machine

Did you know that we have a fancy ice machine? We do and we need your help to maintain it. If you take ice out of the machine, please look in the top to see if the water level is low (or completely gone). If it is, use filtered water and refill it. All you have to do is pour it in the top.

Dreambox Winners

Congrats to Ms. Walzak’s class in the K-2 hallway for showing 40% growth since the beginning of the trimester!

Congrats to Ms. Cryder’s class in the 3-5 hallway for showing 40% growth since the beginning of the trimester!

Congrats to the following 6^th graders: Spencer Wilson, Hannah Fortune and David Mitchell

Congrats to the following 7^th graders: Joseph Harper, Ethan Sulea and Joshua Garcia

Congrats to the following 8^th graders: Kaden Warren, Hunter Stewart and Ester Floarea.

Don’t forget to discuss how/when you would like to use your rewards with your deans.

· K-2 and 3-5 winners (in person): Dress Down Day + 30 Minutes Movie OR Dress Down Day + 30 Minutes Outside

· K-2 and 3-5 winners (virtual): Crazy hat day + 30 minute movie

· 6-8 (in-person): 2 Dress Down Day Passes

· 6-8 (virtual): 2 HW passes

Shout Outs

Nikki for your positivity and encouragement. You are a ray of sunshine in my day.

Diane for making me feel special upon my return.

Stacey for being my wingman during the staff meeting. Having everything set up and anticipating my needs.

Jamie, Stacey, Tameka, and Robyn for making sure that everything went smoothly on Tuesday. It seems that we continue to have to deal with “new” situations constantly this year, but having each other makes things a little easier.

Jen H, Robyn, Stacey, and Tameka for collaborating after school to determine an action plan to best support a student’s behavior.

Tricia, Tab, Jeanne, and Theresa for stepping in and providing coverage so that staff can have their preps.

Robyn for making me collages every week so that our families can get a glimpse of the fun that we are having during Reading Month.

Monique for handling a delicate student issue with care.

Mandy for always dealing with my crazy.

Sloane, Tully, Tracy, and Nikki for inviting me into their classroom for Reading Month. I loved spending time with our students doing my favorite thing.

Sloane, Jena, and Kari for winning our staff meeting icebreaker.

This Week

Sunday, March 21:

· Sarah D’s Birthday

Monday, March 22:

· Tameka’s Birthday

Tuesday, March 23:

· Megan’s Birthday

· Team PLC Meetings 4-5

Wednesday, March 24:

· 80s Day for $1.00

Friday, March 25:

· Spirit Day $1.00

· DUE: Morning Assembly Presentation-Walczak (Women’s History Month)

Happy Birthday

Sarah D: March 21

Tameka: March 22

Megan: March 23

Staff Fun-Tournament Time

Can we have more staff fun…YES! The NBA's March Madness begins this week and we will be participating “Keystone style” with a Rock, Paper, Scissors Madness tournament. I’ve placed a tournament bracket in everyone’s mailboxes. Please make sure I haven’t overlooked anyone. In addition, you need to be mindful of staff that do not work full-time, so that you can compete before they leave.

· Liz works a full day on Tuesday and Wednesday. She leaves at noon on Friday.

· Kathy leaves every day at 1 PM.

· Eric leaves every day at 11 AM.

· Kim J leaves every day at 1:30 PM

· Crista leaves every day at 12:30 PM

Lastly, please adhere to the rules and let’s have some fun!

1. Find your partner on the bracket sheet. You will only compete once a day! This tournament will go for 5 days, March 15-19.

2. Play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" against each other. A player must win a best-of-three series in order to win. The first player to win two “games” wins the series for the day.

3. The winner will email Jorvonna by 4PM each day.

4. Jorvonna will update the bracket and post it by 8AM the next day.

5. The winner plays against the new opponent the next day and repeats Steps 1-3.

6. This will continue for 5 days until an ultimate champion has been determined.

7. Prizes will be given!

School Calendar Survey Results

Thank you for your valuable feedback regarding the 2021-22 school calendar. Majority of you voted to start school before Labor Day. So, if the opportunity presents itself, I will be completing the waiver. I will keep you posted as I get more information.

Lastly, it was a close call on parent-teacher conferences. You voted to continue to have parent-teacher conferences at the end of trimester 1 & 2 (November and March).

Summer School

Due to the academic loss our students have experienced due to the school closure, NHA has received additional funding for all their schools to offer summer school. We are in the initial stages of planning and wanted to gauge staff interest. With this grant, we are able to increase our normal hourly rate to $40-50 an hour for certified staff and $25 for noncertified staff. Tentatively, this program will be 4 days a week for 5 weeks from 8:30-12:00, with a 30 minute prep. We would be offering in-person and virtual options to our students. Please complete the survey: https://forms.gle/gkasFNLmmXn1G4ym9 by Wednesday, March 17 if you are interested in teaching summer school. This does not “lock” you in, but it provides us with a starting point. More information will be forthcoming to those who complete the survey.

Staff Meeting Agenda

March 16 Staff Meeting Agenda

1. Icebreaker

2. Good News

3. MI-CIP

4. 21-22 Virtual Select

5. 21-22 Master Schedule

6. M-STEP

7. Q & A

8. Launch

*You will be attending the meeting from your classroom using the Google Code: KeystoneStaffMeetings in the calendar invite. Starting at 3:45, please go to the staff lounge to sign in, gather the documents that we will be discussing, and grab some snacks.

*Meeting begins promptly at 4:00.

Hiring

We are now in the TIR (Teacher in Residence) hiring window. If you know someone that would love to be a part of the Keystone team next school year, please let me know as soon as possible. Our goal is to have our TIRs hired by the end of the month.

Shout Outs

Stacey, Tameka, Robyn, Jamie, Anne, Stephanie, Jen H, Angel, Tricia, Laquanda, Nikki, and Ashley H for my birthday gifts. Your generosity put the biggest smile on my face! You have no idea how you brightened my day.

Stacey for taking initiative to scheduling MICIP meetings to ensure we meet the deadline.

Jamie and Stacey for spending your Sunday afternoon assisting with contact tracing.

Sarah D, Brian, Emma, and Jessica G for a successful school store.

Teri and Jenaca for having your class sing happy birthday to me. It made me feel very special.

Tameka for lesson planning for two different grade levels. I don’t know how you are still standing.

Stacey for making sure we have sub coverage for EL, Special Ed, and anyone else that needed a sub.

Robyn for being unselfish and putting your own needs aside so that we can help someone else. You constantly amaze me with the care you show others.

Jen H for balancing your caseload and subbing! Thanks for setting those students up for a successful transition.

Jamie for being a mastermind in figuring out the win-win solution in an impossible situation.

Stacey for your support with the lunch schedule.

Jamie for volunteering to conduct parent-teacher conferences. Thank you for seeing a need and filling a need. You care regarding students and families shows in everything that you do.

Mechelle for taking on an additional class and a lot of responsibilities to support students. We don’t know what we would have done without you. Our school is better because of you!

Christina for making another change this school year but switching instructional models with a smile on your face and without hesitation! I’m excited that you will be able to provide those students with stability.

Jen H for stepping in to assist with a student behavior during your lunch.

This Week

Tuesday, March 16:

· Staff Meeting 4-5 PM

· Staff Meeting Snacks-Interventions

Jorvonna Out of the Building-Principal Meeting

Wednesday, March 17:

· 70s Day $1.00

Jorvonna Out of the Building-Principal Meeting

Friday, March 19:

· Payday Breakfast-4^th Grade

· 3-8 Math Interim Scan-by Date

· DUE: Morning Assembly Presentation-Reaume (Women’s History Month)

Staff Meeting Rescheduled

To give you time to finalize preparations for parent-teacher conferences, our staff meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, March 16.

Core Values

One of our Core Values is “Make our schools the best choice for parents and students.” Thank you for the hard work and time that you devote to this Core Value on a daily basis, especially during parent-teacher conferences. As a token of appreciation for the hard work and time that you will be spending this week with Keystone families, the PTO will be providing lunch next Thursday and Friday for parent-teacher conferences. Qdoba will be Thursday’s lunch and Which Wich on Friday. Please let me know by Monday if you have any dietary restrictions (vegetarian, etc.).