The Key Notes : November 2024

Thanksgiving Unplug

Just like the past 3 years, 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 on Tuesday and refrain from checking emails until Sunday night (at the earliest).

Out of Office Message:

Thank you for your email. I am out of the building from Tuesday, November 26 at 4:00 pm until Monday, December 2. 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, December 2 Thank you for your understanding and partnership.

Set an Out of Office Message:

Open Outlook àSettingsà View all Outlook settings à Mail à Automatic replies. I copied the message in both boxes for “within the company” and “outside of the company.”

P/T Conferences Expectations

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 next week. Don’t forget to reference my email regarding our expectations for discussing students’ academic performance, attendance, retention, and scheduling.

As a reminder, all salary staff are expected to stay until 8:00 pm on Monday and 4 PM on Tuesday, even if your last conference ends before those times.

Staff may dress down on Monday with students, but you will need to bring professional attire to wear that evening. No dress down passes or comfy passes may be used when meeting with families on Monday nor Tuesday.

Conference Meals

We are so fortunate that next week for P/T conferences, our PTO has arranged for Sopranos Catering to provide us with a pasta buffet dinner on Monday and wraps from Good Lyfe with soups from our families on Tuesday. Please express your appreciation if you should see them.

Reunification PD

On Wednesday, December 11, we have a ½ day for our annual reunification training. All staff (hourly, salary, SFE, and Aramark) need to attend to learn/review our reunification plan and visit the reunification location. More information to come.

Board Lunch

Our wonderful Board will be providing the staff with lunch on Friday, January 10 as a part of our holiday gift. They always provide us with lunch in January to give us something to look forward to in the new year. This year they are seeking your input. Please fill out this survey if you have a recommendation for any restaurant in the Ann Arbor, Canton, Belleville, or Ypsilanti area.

ABCDE Goal-Behaviors

We set a goal of entering one positive behavior per student every trimester from your homeroom. EVERY STUDENT RECEIVED A POSITIVE BEHAVIOR IN TRIMESTER 1. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I look forward to even more positive entries in Trimester 2. Your efforts support our school-wide goals to decrease our attrition rate and behavior incidents.

A huge shout out to Andria, Teri, Amanda R, Cindy, and Ellen who entered over 100 positive behaviors into MyNHA for Trimester 1.

Retentions

If you are considering retention for any of your students, you must have a conversation with the family by December 11. Please make sure that you give your dean the completed retention packet with the parent signature by Friday, December 13. This will give me time to enter those students’ names into MyNHA as possible retention candidates.

Holiday Party

If you are having a holiday party, it must be on December 20 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.”

ABCDE Goal-Attendance

Congratulations to Mrs. Baker’s class for spelling the word, HERE

Affirmations

Keystone staff for entering in Tri 1 positive behaviors for EVERY student.

Keystone staff for constantly checking on me while I was sick. It truly means the world to me to know that I work with people who genuinely care about me.

Taylor for jumping in and contacting a lot of families regarding their child’s attendance. I am grateful for every phone call and email that you have sent.

Robyn, Lynne, Emily, Steve, and Cindy for staying really late to attend a parent meeting to support a student’s behavior.

Taylor, Stephanie, and Stacey Ramirez for assisting me with my Valentine’s day attire.

Flo for doing “extra” to ensure we have a successful staff holiday party.

Kim J for providing me extra underground spirit day ideas.

Emily for inviting guest speakers into your classroom that provided our students with real-life application of content taught. In addition, I am so appreciative for the extra social media post.

Robyn for being acting principal. I love how willing you are to take on the role in my absence.

Stacey Reed for providing me breakfast the last 2 days.

Stephanie for everything that you did to make sure our CLUE winners received their rewards.

This Week

Monday, November 25:

· Dress Down & Hat $1.00 each

· November 25: P/T Conferences 4-8PM (in-person)

Tuesday, November 26:

· ½ Day of School

· P/T Conferences 12-4 PM (in-person)

Wednesday, November 27-Friday, Thursday, November 29:

· No School-Thanksgiving Break

Happy Birthday

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

Important Dates

December 2-6: NJHS Holiday Food Drive

December 2: Payday Breakfast-EL/ABSS/Front Office

December 2: K-8 Winter NWEA (December 2-13)

December 3: SLT Meeting

December 4: Perfect Attendance Reward

December 4: SE Open House

December 5: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (National Human Rights Month)-Bulgarella

December 5: Purple Club

December 5: Band Concert 6:30 PM

December 8: Jen H’s Birthday

December 9: Winter Wonderland: Wear white, blue, silver, or gray-FREE

December 10: Staff Meeting

December 10: Staff Meeting Snacks-6^th Grade

December 11: ½ Day of School

December 11: Reunification PD

December 11-13: Holiday Shoppe

December 12: Ugly Holiday Sweater: Wear a holiday sweater or just an ugly sweater-FREE

December 12: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (Bill of Rights)-Turner

December 13: Payday Breakfast-Leadership Team

December 13: IAT Meetings (K-8)

December 14: Jen D’s Birthday

December 17: PLC Meeting

December 19: Snowed In: Wear your snow day attire—pajamas or comfy clothes-FREE

December 20: Spirit Day $1.00

December 20: 3^rd Grade Social Media Post Due

December 23-January 3: No School-Winter Break

December 28: John’s Birthday

December 30: Emma’s Birthday

January 6: School Resumes (Welcome Back)

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

Meeting Cancelled

We are cancelling our upcoming PLC. This is just another way for the leadership team to show you that we care about you! We know this is a busy time of year for everyone professionally (preparing to meet with all our families at conferences) and personally (preparing/hosting for the holidays). Take this time for you!

Unground Spirit Week

Our “underground spirit week” for staff is next week. Remember it’s a secret spirit week where only the teachers participate and know about it. So do not confirm or deny allegations from students or parents when asked. This will drive the students crazy (which will make this even better). I strongly encourage you to be as obnoxious as possible with your attire interpretations.

Monday, November 18: different shoe day. Wear two different shoes and dress down.
Tuesday, November 19: anything but a cup day. Use anything out of the norm to drink from and pretend it's totally normal.
Wednesday, November 20: dress as your favorite holiday
Thursday, November 21: monochromatic day. Wear your favorite color from head to toe.
Friday, November 22: camouflage day

If you choose not to participate on a particular day, then you will need to wear your normal business professional attire.

New Lunch Procedure

As we discussed at our staff meeting, we heard your concerns regarding the timeliness of lunch. As a solution to your feedback, we have a new lunch procedure starting this Monday, November 18 that will provide a double serving line which will hopefully expediate the process.

It’s imperative that you follow the schedule below as we navigate 3^rd-5^th grade students exiting the gym at the same time that K-2 is entering. Thank you in advance for being flexible the first two weeks of this new process as we already anticipate that adjustments will have to be made.

K-5 Schedule

1. 12:00 Kinder enters the gym

2. 12:03 5^th grade begins cleaning up

3. 12:05 3^rd grade will begin lining up

4. 12:07 4th grade will begin lining up

5. 12:07 2nd graders enter the gym through the single door

6. 12:10 3-5 exit the gym

(5th grade will go out of Door #5 to recess and 3rd & 4th will exit using the single door).

7. 12:12 1st grade will enter through the single door