Unwanted Items

 

On Monday, you may start to slowly take things down in your room.  As much as I appreciate our staff’s desire to share with each other, no unwanted items can be brought/left in the staff lounge. That includes food from your EOY celebrations.

If you have items that you no longer want, please keep them in your classroom, take a picture, and send an email to the staff. If no one wants your item(s), you will need to dispose of it.

I will be emptying the fridge in the staff lounge on Thursday afternoon. Any remaining items in the fridge will be thrown away.

8th Grade Clap Out

We will continue our clap out tradition on the last day of school for our 8th graders. Please have all your students lined up outside your classroom by 10:45 on Friday. All 8th graders and their parents will walk through the hallways of Keystone one last time as the entire school claps/cheers for them. 

Students can shout, say kind words, clap hands or use noisemakers to make our 8th graders feel special. Stephanie will be providing each grade level with a specific number of clappers and/or noise makers for your students to use. Please make sure to collect them at the conclusion of the clap out and return them to me. Upon completion of the clap out, all Y5s-7 students will immediately go back to their classroom and teachers will pull up Driveline.

Please make sure to end your classroom celebration in enough time to prepare for the end of the day and be in the hallway by 10:45.

Positive Behaviors

 

Please make sure you have entered a positive behavior for every student in your homeroom. This needs to be completed as part of your EOY tasks. I will be running my report on Monday morning. Thank you for your commitment to strengthening our partnership between home and school through positive acknowledgment of our students. 

Lunch in Classrooms

 

Lunch will be in classrooms on Monday and Thursday. Lunch is in classrooms on Monday for the school store and Thursday for setting up 8th grade graduation. There will be coverage coming around to give you an opportunity to warm up your food and use the restroom, if needed. 

Report Cards

 

All report cards go home on Friday. For those students who inform you that they will not be here on Friday, please do not give them their report cards early. They can pick up their report cards from the office during the summer along with all other remaining items.

Staff Meeting

 

We look forward to seeing everyone at Rusted Crow on Main St. on Tuesday for our final staff meeting. Please make sure to arrive promptly at 4 PM. Click HERE for the agenda.

ABCDE Goal-Attendance

 


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

This Week

 

Monday, June 1:

     ·      Tri 3 School Store

Tuesday, June 2:

     ·      Tri 3 School Store Rewards

     ·      Final Schoolwide Assembly

     ·      Move Up Day @ 9:00

     ·      Staff Meeting 

     ·      Staff Meeting Snacks-Leadership Team

Wednesday, June 3:

     ·      Perfect Attendance Rewards

     ·      8th Grade Picnic

     ·      All Grades Entered

Thursday, June 4:

     ·      Purple Club

     ·      8th Grade Promotion

Friday, June 5:

     ·      ½ Day-Dismissal at 11:20 AM

     ·      End of Tri 3-Last Day of School

     ·      Kinder Promotion

     ·      Report Cards Sent Home

     ·      8th Grade Clap Out

Important Dates


June 9 Ja’Rayl’s Birthday

June 11: Danielle D’s Birthday

June 12: Ann’s Birthday

June 13: Sandy’s Birthday

June 14: Cayla’s Birthday

June 15: Alex’s Birthday

June 28: Gloria’s Birthday

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

Staff Member of the Year

 

If you are nominating someone for staff member of the year, please click HERE by 3:15 today.

EOY Celebrations

 

To ensure that we make our daily attendance requirement (75%), EOY celebrations must take place on the last day of school, except kindergarten who will do it on Thursday. The time and activities are at your discretion, but all parties must be done by 10:40, so we can be prepared for our 8th grade clap out (more info to come).

Salary Letters

Starting on Thursday, you may stop by my office at any time to pick up your 2026-27 salary letter.

ABCDE Goals-Attendance

 

Congratulations to Ms. Thomas’ class for spelling the word, ATTENDANCE; and Mrs. Joye’s class for spelling the word, PRESENT.

Thank you to our classrooms that continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to our attendance initiatives, even as we approach the final weeks of the school year. I recognize that this time of year can be challenging, and I appreciate your continued focus on building habits that support student success.

Affirmations

 

Taylor for approaching difficult attendance conversations with parents both in person and through email with professionalism and care. These conversations are not always easy, but your ability to maintain calm and clear helps us to uphold our expectations.

Stacey Reed and Tameka for all the behind-the-scenes prework you have done to prepare for our upcoming meetings and event calendar.

Sarah M for your strong investigation skills that allowed us to make an informed decision.

Emily for providing our 8th grade students and school community with such a wonderful science fair experience. Your hard work, coordination, and commitment created an engaging opportunity for students to showcase their learning and celebrate science.

Emma for capturing great pictures during Kinder Camp. Your efforts helped document special moments for our incoming students and families and showcased the welcoming environment we strive to create at Keystone.

Stefanie, Flo, Mandy, Sally, Megan, and Jessica W for staying late to assess our incoming kindergarten students and thoughtfully recommend appropriate placements. Your dedication, teamwork, and willingness to give additional time and energy to support our newest students and families is truly appreciated.

Sally, Andria, Ellen, Jane, Jen D, and Cindy for attending MULTIPLE retention meetings. The data, student work samples, and insights you consistently prepared and shared were instrumental in helping guide informed and student-centered decisions.

Sally, Flo, Theresa, Stefanie, Jessica W, Sandy, Megan, Lisa, Mandy, Kim B, Emma, Ja’Rayl, Jessica S, and Joelle for your flexibility with Kinder Camp. Your willingness to adjust and assist wherever needed made a positive impact on our enrollment efforts and helped create a welcoming experience for incoming families.

This Week

 

Monday, May 25:

     ·      No School-Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 26:

     ·      Team PLC

     ·      8th Grade DC Trip (May 26-29)

Wednesday, May 27:

     ·      6th Grade Camp (May 27-29)

Thursday, May 28:

     ·      7th Grade Mackinac (May 28-29)

Friday, May 29:

     ·      Field Day   

     ·      Payday Breakfast-4TH Grade

     ·      Amy’s Birthday

     ·      Robyn’s Birthday

Happy Birthday

 





Important Dates


June 1: Tri 3 School Store

June 2: Tri 3 School Store Reward

June 2: Move Up Day

June 2: Staff Meeting 

June 2: Staff Meeting Snacks-Leadership Team

June 3: Perfect Attendance Rewards

June 3: 8th Grade Picnic

June 3: All Grades Entered

June 4: Purple Club

June 4: 8th Grade Promotion

June 5: ½ Day-Dismissal at 11:20 AM

June 5: End of Tri 3-Last Day of School

June 5: Kinder Promotion

June 5: Report Cards Sent Home

June 5: 8th Grade Clap Out

June 9 Ja’Rayl’s Birthday

June 11: Danielle D’s Birthday

June 12: Ann’s Birthday

June 13: Sandy’s Birthday

June 14: Cayla’s Birthday

June 15: Alex’s Birthday

June 28: Gloria’s Birthday

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

EOY Evaluations

All EOY evaluations will be finalized on Monday. With evaluations being in Oracle, it doesn’t provide an option for evaluations to be emailed. You can view and/or print your evaluation by following the directions below. Please click on the current school year (2025-26).




Last Staff Meeting

Our last staff meeting is June 2. As you know our tradition is to have our last staff meeting at a restaurant. We love wrapping up the school year in a fun way. We go over our agenda items, then the leadership team purchases appetizers and pop/soda for everyone. We are in the process of reserving a restaurant. I will have the specific location in the next blog post.

In the meantime, I wanted to give everyone time to prepare. All salaried employees are required to attend, and we strongly encourage our hourly staff to come out too!

As this is a staff meeting, students cannot attend. I am leaving my daughters at STARS and picking them up afterwards, so I can focus on the meeting and spend quality time with each of you!  

ABCDE Goal-Attendance

Ms. Thomas’ class for spelling the word, ATTENDANCE. 

Affirmations

 

Tracy for offering thoughtful advice and support to a colleague.
Stacey Reed, Kim B,
and Sandy for the care and kindness you showed me while I was sick.
Amanda
and Diane for an evening of excellence during the induction ceremony for our new NJHS members.
Robyn
for spending the evening supporting our families and NJHS students.

Stephanie for taking the initiative to organize all the SAW prizes. Your thoughtfulness and willingness to jump in and help are truly appreciated!

Leslie for all your assistance this week with my laptop issues.

Danielle D for stepping in and handling all the attendance tickets this week.

Amanda for spending her Saturday giving back to our community by purchasing the items for the Humane Society. Thank you for your generosity and for representing our school community with such kindness and compassion.

Steve for the incredible Wax Museum experience. Thank you for exposing our entire school community to so many amazing people and for creating such an engaging learning opportunity for our students.

Andria for attending all the aimsWeb training sessions on behalf of our school. Your willingness to sacrifice your time so that other staff members do not have to attend is selfless.

Amanda for surprising me with my favorite snack. Thank you for being so thoughtful.

Robyn M for presenting to our 5th graders and their families the amazing things that our middle school has to offer.

Ellen for stepping in to attend the field trip. Your willingness to be flexible and support our students, even when it is outside of your usual responsibilities, is truly appreciated. The relationships you’ve built with our students through your intervention work make a meaningful difference, and your presence helped ensure they were supported throughout the trip. Thank you for always putting students first and being such a dependable member of our team.

Amanda for the wonderful surprise that awaited me this morning. Your thoughtfulness knows no bounds.

This Week

Tuesday, May 19:

     ·      Band Concert @ Bethany Church 6:30 PM

     ·      8th Grade Science Fair

Wednesday, May 20:

     ·      NHA’s Reginal 3rd & 4th Grade Spelling Bee

Thursday, May 21:

     ·      Morning Assembly Presentation Due (Mental Health Awareness)-F. Higgins    

     ·     National Red Cross Founder's Day (Staff wear red and white)

Friday, May 22:

    ·      Spirit Day and Popcorn $1.00 each

Important Dates

 

May 25: No School-Memorial Day

May 26: Team PLC

May 26-29: 8th Grade DC Trip

May 27-29: 6th Grade Camp

May 28-29: 7th Grade Mackinaw

May 29: Field Day

May 29: Payday Breakfast-4TH Grade

May 29: Amy’s Birthday

May 29: Robyn’s Birthday

June 1: Tri 3 School Store

June 2: Tri 3 School Store Reward

June 2: Move Up Day

June 2: Staff Meeting 

June 2: Staff Meeting Snacks-Leadership Team

June 3: Perfect Attendance Rewards

June 3: 8th Grade Picnic

June 3: All Grades Entered

June 4: Purple Club

June 4: 8th Grade Promotion

June 5: ½ Day-Dismissal at 11:20 AM

June 5: End of Tri 3-Last Day of School

June 5: Kinder Promotion

June 5: Report Cards Sent Home

June 5: 8th Grade Clap Out

June 9 Ja’Rayl’s Birthday

June 11: Danielle D’s Birthday

June 12: Ann’s Birthday

June 13: Sandy’s Birthday

June 14: Cayla’s Birthday

June 15: Alex’s Birthday

June 28: Gloria’s Birthday

 

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

Extra, Extra Prep

We are excited to offer our final extra hour of prep this school year! Extra, Extra Prep will be available the week of May 18-22. We hope this will help you complete all your EOY tasks.

If you won “extra prep” as your casino prize, you may sign up for 2 hours of extra, extra prep!

Please note:

       ·        This is for salary staff, however, if an hourly staff needs additional time, please see your dean.

       ·        We will do our very best to make sure that you get your prep(s), however, if too many people call off on a particular day, we may need to reschedule your extra prep.

If you are a classroom teacher and would like to have an extra hour of prep, please follow the steps below.

     1.    Click HERE by 3:45 on Tuesday, May 12.

     2.    Pick one time slot.

     3.    Prepare lesson plans for a sub. 

Finalized schedule will be emailed Friday, May 15.


We love doing these EXTRA things for you

ABCDE Goal-Attendance

I want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible progress we are making with student attendance. Our MICIP attendance goal is to decrease our total number of student absences by 10% over three years, moving from 8,406 absences in the 2023-24 school year to 7,566 absences or fewer by 2027.

I am excited to share that we are currently exceeding our goal. At this point in the year, we have reduced total absences to 5,674.

This growth is not accidental. It is the result of your consistency, relationship-building, communication with families, and commitment to creating classrooms where students want to be each day. Every phone call, attendance conversation, morning greeting, and effort to engage students matters. However, because this is a three-year goal, it is important that we maintain this progress and continue building on the systems and practices that are helping us succeed.

As we head into the final four weeks of school, we must continue holding families accountable and reinforcing the importance of students being present every day through the end of the school year.







 

ABCDE Goal-Attendance

 

Congratulations to Mrs. Shroff’s class for spelling the word, PRESENT and Ms. Khafagi’s class for spelling the phrase, Show up strong, all year long!

Affirmations

 

Andria and Sally for going above and beyond to make sure I had a winner. Thank you for taking this off my list when I was drowning in deadlines.  

Robyn and Tameka for capturing photos at our after-school dances and allowing our parents to share in these special moments.

Emily for nominating us for a grant. Thank you for spotlighting Keystone and seeking opportunities to bring additional resources to our school community.

Monique for taking the initiative to wash the dishes in the sink. Even though this week is about celebrating staff, you still chose to step up and help where it was needed. That kind of selflessness doesn’t go unnoticed.

Tameka, Monique, Cayla, Kim J., Stefanie, and Kathleen for staying after school to attend the silent dance party. Your presence helped create a joyful experience for our students.

Cindy for submitting all documents to ensure we remain in compliance. Your attention to detail and consistency helps keep everything organized and on track.

Robyn M. for serving as acting principal in my absence. Thank you for keeping everything running smoothly.

Sally for scheduling all the retention meetings for the K-2 hallways.