Thanksgiving Unplugged

 

We are asking all staff members to “unplug” from work over Thanksgiving break. We want you to use this as an opportunity to relax, unwind, and enjoy a well-deserved break with family and friends.

Please set an out of office message (included below) at 4:00 pm today and refrain from checking emails until Sunday night, November 28.

Here is your out of office message:

Thank you for your email. I am out of the building from Tuesday, November 23 at 4:00 pm until Monday, November 29. During this time, all Keystone staff members have been encouraged to unplug and prioritize their mental health and family by temporarily disconnecting from work. I will be more than happy to respond to your email and needs when I return to work on Monday, November 29. Thank you for your understanding and partnership.

How do you set an out of office message?

Open Outlook àFile à Click “Automatic replies”. I paste the message in both boxes for “within the company” and “outside of the company.”

12 Days Before Winter Break

 The admin team has planned some things for the 12 Days Before Winter Break.

Let's have some fun! 

12 Days Before Winter Break 2021 by embryjd on Scribd

Welcome Back

 

I am excited to announce that Nikki Hutcherson will be returning on Monday from medical leave. I have missed her bubbly personality and cannot wait to see her smile around the building again.

Parent-Teacher Conferences Follow-up

 

Please turn in your Conference Attendance Form to me by Friday, December 3.

Also, if you discussed retention at conferences, please make sure that you send me your list by Friday, December 17 so that I can enter those students’ names into MyNHA as possible retention candidates. 

Classroom Holiday Parties

 

If you are having a classroom holiday party, it must be on December 17 for the last hour of the day.

Please remind families of our policy regarding food items. In our handbook it states, “…only items that are bought directly from the store and with an ingredient list may be brought into school. No homemade treats may be brought in for sharing due to potential allergen exposure.”

Accelerated Reader

 

AR is being funded with ESSER funds this school year. I was just informed last week that our school can’t use our ESSER funds until January, at the earliest. Since our current AR license expires at the end of this month, I would recommend that you make alternative plans for Trimester 2 regarding AR until I can get a more definite date when ESSER funds are available.

Shout Outs

 

Keystone Staff for spending time with our families during parent-teacher conferences. Thank you for strengthening partnerships with our families.

Stacey for always thinking creatively with hiring.

Stacey, Tameka, Jamie, and Robyn for covering all areas in my absence. 

Keystone Staff for contributing to Friendsgiving and sacrificing your lunch for school store.

Sandy for making sure a staff member was able to enjoy the Friendsgiving food.

Jeanne for covering Julianne for “mom stuff.”

Angel, Jen H and Stephanie for cleaning up potluck

Stefanie for staying all day last Friday to help out in the office and anywhere else that was needed.

Kim J for supporting school store.

Kari and Cindy Chuang for organizing the coin drive. You ladies do amazing things for our community.

Jamie for always finding emails that save me a lot of time. 

This Week

 

Tuesday, November 30:

   ·    Jorvonna Out of the Building-Principal Meeting

Wednesday, December 1:

   ·    Jorvonna Out of the Building-Principal Meeting

Thursday, December 2:

   ·    On the 12^th Day Before Winter Break, my admin team gave to me…Tis the Season.

o  Holiday Colors Day-There are SO many holidays that we celebrate this time of year-Kwanza, Hanukkah, Diwali, and Christmas, just to name a few. Students and staff may dress in their favorite holiday/national/seasonal colors for free.

Friday, December 3:

   ·    On the 11^th Day Before Winter Break, my admin team gave to me…Don’t Be a Scrooge.

   ·    Morning Assembly Presentation Due-National Human Rights Month (Weber)

   ·    Attendance Conference Form Due to Jorvonna

·   

Important Dates

 

December 6-10: Can Food Drive

December 7: SLT Meeting 3:50-4:20 PM (Team Leads)

December 8: Jen H’s Birthday

December 9: Purple Club

December 10: “Flannel Friday” -Students may wear a flannel top with jeans for free.

December 10: Morning Assembly Presentation Due-National Human Rights Month (Chuang)

December 10: Pay Day Breakfast-SpEd

December 10: IAT Meetings

December 14: Jen D’s Birthday

December 14: Staff Meeting Snacks-Kinder

December 14: Staff Meeting 4-5 PM

December 15: “Ugly Sweater” with jeans for free

December 15: Facebook Post Due to Jorvonna-3^rd grade

December 17: Spirit Day

December 17: Morning Assembly Presentation Due-New Year’s Goal (Joye)

December 20-31: No School-Winter Break

December 29: Julianne’s Birthday

December 30: Emma’s Birthday

January 3: School Resumes

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

November 23 Schedules

 Due to the half-day on Tuesday, we will have AM specials and an abbreviated recess schedule (see below). Please note on the next half day, those who didn’t get specials and/or recess will.

Shout Outs

 

Teri, Monique, Falak and Angel for conducting a thorough investigation pertaining to a student behavior. You truly were detectives.

Sandy for subbing in kindergarten. I don’t know how we would have made it through the day without you.

Stefanie for helping with attendance grids, onboarding, new students, and missing documentation.

Stephanie for EVERYTHING that you are doing in the absence of a registrar.

Robyn, Jamie, Tameka, and Stacey for doing the impossible everyday with a smile on your face. The many roles that you take on each day so that our staff can have some normalcy is greatly appreciated.  

Tameka for making several parent phone calls to ensure positive communication.

Jessica for always helping with lunch tables. 

Emma for your amazing communication around school store.

Jen H for being a health inspector every morning. 

This Week

 

Monday, November 22:

   ·    P/T Conferences (In-Person) 4-8 PM

   ·    Trimester 1 School Store Rewards

Tuesday, November 23:

   ·    Steve’s Birthday

   ·    Morning Assembly Presentation Due-American Indian Heritage Month (Patton)

   ·    ½ Day-Dismissal 11:20 AM

   ·    P/T Conferences (Virtual) 12-4 PM

   ·    2^nd Grade Facebook Post Due

Wednesday, November 24-Friday, November 26:

   ·    Thanksgiving Break

Important Dates

 

December 2: “Holiday Colors Day”-There are SO many holidays that we celebrate this time of year-Kwanza, Hanukkah, Diwali and Christmas, just to name a few. Students may dress in their favorite holiday/national colors for free.

December 3: Morning Assembly Presentation Due-National Human Rights Month (Weber)

December 7: SLT Meeting 3:50-4:20 PM (Team Leads)

December 8: Jen H’s Birthday

December 9: Purple Club

December 10: “Flannel Friday” -Students may wear a flannel top with jeans for free.

December 10: Morning Assembly Presentation Due-National Human Rights Month (Chuang)

December 10: Pay Day Breakfast-SpEd

December 10: IAT Meetings

December 14: Jen D’s Birthday

December 14: Staff Meeting Snacks-Kinder

December 14: Staff Meeting 4-5 PM

December 15: “Ugly Sweater” with jeans for free

December 15: Facebook Post Due to Jorvonna-3^rd grade

December 17: Spirit Day

December 17: Morning Assembly Presentation Due-New Year’s Goal (Joye)

December 20-31: No School-Winter Break

December 29: Julianne’s Birthday

December 30: Emma’s Birthday

January 3: School Resumes

Workshop

 

It is our expectation that you are implementing your workshop lesson plans and meeting with differentiated groups every day during ELA and math workshop. Workshop groups should be based on data and flexible. Please reach out to a member of the admin team if you need support with workshop.

Don’t forget:

   1.  If students are on their computers in classes, teachers should have Go Guardian pulled up so they can monitor students’ computers.

   2. If students are on Lexia or Dreambox, they should be wearing headphones to ensure that teacher-led groups are not distracted. 

P/T Conferences

In preparation of P-T Conferences, please make sure to print report cards and send them home this Friday, November 19. With our switch from scale score to point-based grading, a lot of parents have been concerned about their child’s grades. Sending home report cards prior to conferences allows families an opportunity to process their emotions before meeting with you. This will help the conversation be informed and targeted.

On Monday, all salary staff are expected to stay until 8:00 pm. On Tuesday, staff may do their virtual conferences from home, so you may leave the building whenever your schedule allows, however, all conferences must be done by 4 pm. 

Shout Out

 

Robyn for improvising and finding us quality assembly content.

Kim J for covering technology, lunch, and the front office all in one day. You are appreciated.  

Flo for using her organizational skills with all the copier paper. I have noticed you putting it away several times.

Tameka, Robyn, and Stacey for the hours spent contact tracing.

Stephanie for handling two positions at the same time. You are doing a great job!

K-5 teachers for being transparent, receptive, and positive regarding math support. The C & I team had only great things to say about each of you.

Steve for another amazing Veterans Day presentation.

Steve and Diane for organizing Veterans Day.

Cindy, Ellen, and Andria for having a desire to support colleagues. Your commitment to others and Keystone knows no bounds.

Sandy for supporting our athletic program. 

Jessica G for taking on additional responsibilities with supervising the breakfast line every morning.

Emma for all your contest communication.

Steve, Jena, Jamie, and Kari for your understanding and patience as we dealt with students going home during the day.

This Week

 

Monday, November 15:

   ·    3^rd- 8^th Grade Math Interim (Nov 15-19)

Wednesday, November 17:

   ·    Crazy Hair Day for Free (Fall Fundraiser Reward)

Thursday, November 18:

   ·    All Grades Entered

Friday, November 19:

   ·    Report Cards Printed and Sent Home

   ·    End of Trimester 1

   ·    Trimester 1 School Store

   ·    Spirit Day $1

   ·    Morning Assembly Presentation Due-American Indian Heritage Month (Mood)

Important Dates

 

November 22: P/T Conferences (In-Person) 4-8 PM

November 22 Trimester 1 School Store Rewards

November 23: Steve’s Birthday

November 23: Morning Assembly Presentation Due-American Indian Heritage Month (Patton)

November 23: ½ Day-Dismissal 11:20 AM

November 23 P/T Conferences (Virtual) 12-4 PM

November 23: 2^nd Grade Facebook Post Due

November 24-26: Thanksgiving Break

 

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

Staff Meeting-Canceled

 The admin team has decided to cancel the staff meeting on Tuesday. Please feel free to use that time to prepare for conferences from the comfort of your home. 😊

Core Values

 

One of our Core Values is “Make our schools the best choice for parents and students.” Thank you for doing this EVERYDAY, especially as we prepare for P-T conferences on November 22 & 23. Don’t forget to reference my email regarding our expectations for discussing students’ academic performance, attendance, retention, and scheduling.

The PTO will be providing lunch/dinner both days that you can grab and go depending on your schedule. 

DON’T FORGET:

During conferences, teachers must review our Commitment to Excellence contract with each family as a requirement of our grants compliance.  Use the sign-in sheet to track each family you review the contract with. Stacey sent a copy of the contract and the sign-in sheet that should be used.  Please put your name on the sheet and submit completed sheets to Stacey after your last conference is held.

Show Some Gratitude-REMINDER

 

Don’t forget to show some gratitude this month.  I encourage you to find someone on the Google Doc and write a short explanation of why you are grateful for them. We will provide a jeans pass to any staff member who gets recognized.  If someone already was gifted a jeans pass, please choose someone else. It’s our desire to show gratitude to EVERYONE!

FLO #1

 

Full Lesson Observations (FLO) begin November 15! These observations are announced (scheduled) and are 30-45 minutes. Deans will be inputting ratings for all four competencies: Classroom Culture, Planning, Teaching, and Assessing (see below). The ratings from these observations will go into your Interactive Framework. Your dean will have a sign-up available soon and more information in their newsletters.

CF With Look Fors by embryjd on Scribd

Shout Outs

 

Jen D for covering my lunch duty while I was the music teacher. You didn’t hesitate when I asked for help. 

Stacey, Jen D, Mandy, Tracy, and Christina for giving the most High Fives this month. 

Tracy for always providing me with delicious treats. 

Ashley H for extending her last day to Friday so she could help out on Thursday. I am very grateful!

Tameka, Robyn, Jamie, and Stacey for being everywhere on Thursday in my absence.

Jeanne, Rebecca, Deb, and Kim J for always being willing to assist with lunch. You are invaluable to the admin team.

This Week

 

Monday, November 8:

   ·    Crystal’s Birthday

   ·    5^th Grade Science Interim (Nov 8-12)

   ·    Jamie’s Birthday

Tuesday, November 9:

   ·    Picture Retake

Thursday, November 11:

   ·    Veteran’s Day Spirit Day-wear red, blue, white, or camo top with jeans or sneakers for $1.00.

Friday, November 12:

   ·    PJ Day for Free (Fall Fundraiser Reward)

   ·    Change Bulletin Board

   ·    Payday Breakfast-7^th Grade

   ·    Morning Assembly Presentation Due-American Indian Heritage Month (Corbin)