Student of the Month

As we live out our Core Values, it’s important that we Behave With Care. One way we do this is by recognizing and celebrating our students during Friday assemblies. A certificate may seem like a small gesture, but being recognized for demonstrating one of our Moral Focus virtues can have a lasting impact on a student. It lets them know that their efforts matter and that the adults in our building notice the good they do.

I want to make sure we are creating opportunities for as many students as possible to experience that feeling of being recognized and celebrated. We never know how much a simple acknowledgment might mean to a student, and every child deserves the opportunity to feel seen, valued, and appreciated for the positive contributions they make to our school community.

To help us do this, please consistently update this form each month. This allows our specials teachers to check which students have already been recognized by their homeroom teachers and select students who have not yet received a certificate.

Achievement Boards Due Date

 

It’s time to refresh your bulletin boards! All Achievement Boards must be updated by November 16.

I recognize the time and effort that goes into creating Achievement Boards and I appreciate the thought you put into showcasing your students’ work. The purpose of these boards is to highlight current student learning and growth rather than serve as permanent displays. As students progress through standards and learning objectives, their work should reflect that growth.

Please take a few minutes to review your board and make any necessary updates to ensure it reflects what students are learning now. The goal is to create a culture that celebrates student progress and makes learning visible to all who enter our building.

Make sure to include the following when posting your Achievement Board:

     ·      Title

     ·      Objective written as an I Can Statement

     ·      Standard (Common Core, NGSS, etc.)

     ·      Student work

     ·      Specific feedback for each student. Please write more than “Good job!”

Please note: if the student work has a score on it, take off the student's name before displaying it. If the student’s work does not have a score on it, it is acceptable to post the student's name.

P/T Conference Reminder

 

As a reminder, all parent-teacher conferences communication must be sent this Tuesday at 8 AM. It’s imperative that you schedule it to avoid not sending this on time. Please click here for directions.

ABCDE Goal-Behavior

We set a goal of entering one positive behavior per student every trimester. With only two weeks left in the trimester, I hope that you have majority entered.

This ongoing recognition not only reinforces positive behaviors, but also helps build trust and partnership with families, showing them that we notice and value their children’s efforts every day.

This goal can only have an impact if the positive behaviors are genuine and timely. Entering them all at the last minute takes away from the authenticity and meaning behind the recognition. If you haven’t started yet, I strongly encourage you to begin on Monday.

Affirmations

 

Robyn for helping me prepare for a meeting by revising letters and gathering signatures to ensure everything was ready.

Joelle, Taylor, Heidi, Jennifer H, Taliyah, Jennifer R, Jessica S, Stephanie, Stacey Ramirez, Emma, Kim J, Jennifer D, Laurie, Tameka, Stacey Reed, Sally, and Robyn M for stepping up and taking on additional responsibilities to help make our Sunrise Social a success. Thank you for not hesitating to answer the call.

Stacey Ramirez and Stefanie for arriving extra early to ensure everything was set up and ready for our Sunrise Social. Without you, this event would not have been a success.

Stephanie for cleaning the lounge in preparation for a meeting. Thank you for consistently taking the initiative to keep the space welcoming and meeting-ready, even though it falls outside your responsibilities.

Stacey, Robyn, Steve, Tracy, Hanna, Kim J, Taliyah, and Emily for giving up your personal time to attend a difficult parent meeting and coming prepared with evidence to support our decision.

Stacey Ramirez for preparing the forms that allowed our families to pass and share the sunshine. I appreciate you printing and cutting them so our families could participate and spread kindness.

Ja’Rayl for all the work that you do as our Athletic Director to ensure we are treated fairly regarding all things including financial responsibility.

Heidi and Kim B. for capturing special moments (Sunrise Social and Lunch with the Principal) this week and helping me share the wonderful things happening at Keystone with our families! Your efforts help our families feel connected to our school community.

Jessica S for offering another month of Crochet Club. Thank you for spending your personal time sharing your passion with our students.

Andria and Cindy for volunteering your time both mornings to help set up for Sunrise Social. Your willingness to jump in and help made a difference in creating a welcoming experience for our families!

Jen R. and Aimee for the organization, communication, and planning that went into making Anti-Bullying Month a success. Your efforts helped bring meaningful activities to our students and made the month engaging and impactful.

Ja’Rayl for working hard with our boys’ basketball team and offering multiple open gym sessions to develop their skills even before the season starts.

This Week

 

Tuesday, November 3:

     ·      Picture Retake Day

     ·      SLT Meeting

     ·      P/T Conference Sign Up Sent @ 8 AM

Wednesday, November 4:

     ·      Perfect Attendance

Thursday, November 5:

     ·      Purple Club

     ·      Staff vs. Student Volleyball Game 4:30 PM

Important Dates

 

November 10: Tri 1 New Student Lunch

November 10: Staff Meeting

November 10: Staff Meeting Snacks-Specials  

November 11: Veterans Day Assembly 8:30 AM

November 12: Trimester 1 School Store

November 12: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (American Indian Heritage Month-Who and How)-Jeng

November 13: No School-Regional PD

November 13: End of Trimester 1

November 16: Payday Breakfast-6^th Grade

November 16: Trimester1 School Store Rewards

November 16: Change Bulletin Boards

November 17: PLC (Team) Meeting

November 17: All Grades Entered

November 19: Report Cards Go Home

November 20: Appropriate Top w/Jeans $1 and Hat $1

November 20: Social Media Post Due to Jorvonna-2^nd Grade

November 23: Parent-Teacher Conferences (in-person)4-8 PM

November 23: Steve’s Birthday

November 23: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (Thanksgiving)Bernstein

November 23: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (National Human Rights Month)-M. Higgins

November 24: ½ Day of School

November 24: Parent-Teacher Conferences (in-person)12-4 PM

November 25-27: Thanksgiving Break

November 30-December 4: Canned Food Drive

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

Fall Conferences

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. Please click here for our expectations pertaining to discussing students’ academic performance, attendance, retention, and scheduling.

As a reminder, salary staff are expected to stay until 8:00 pm on Monday and 4:00 pm on Tuesday. The PTO will be providing a meal on both days.

DON’T FORGET:

During conferences, teachers must review our Parent-School Compact 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 Reed will send 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 Reed after your last conference is held.

Extra, Extra Prep

We would love to offer you an extra hour of prep this trimester! Extra, Extra Prep will be available the week of November 2-6. We hope this will either help you finalize grades, prepare for conferences, change your bulletin board, and/or complete other tasks.

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.

       ·       It’s our desire to do this at least once a trimester as long as subs are available.

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

     1.     Click on this sign-up sheet by 3:45 on Tuesday, October 27.

     2.     Pick one time slot.

     3.     Prepare lesson plans for a sub.

Finalized schedule will be emailed Friday, October 30.

ABCDE Goal-Attendance

 

Congratulations to Mrs. Reaume’s classroom for spelling the word PRESENT.

Affirmations

 

Jen R., Ellen, Andria, Jane, Stacey Reed, Cindy, Monique, Kathleen, Danielle, Allycia, and Heidi for giving their time to support Career Night and help make the event a success.

Ellen for spreading the word about Career Night by creating an engaging social media blurb.

Jane for designing a flyer to promote Career Night and build excitement for the event.

Andria, Cindy, Jane, and Ellen for working together to plan and bring Career Night to life.

Robyn for coordinating the many moving pieces of School Safety Week and making sure we were prepared for the week’s activities.

Tracy for treating the staff to not one day, but two days of homemade apple cakes. Talk about going above and beyond to make our day a little sweeter.

Steve for putting together the Pie the Deans video and allowing our families to see the fun to our fundraiser.

Jen H., Amanda, and Lynne for stepping in to supervise additional students during dismissal so our eighth-grade teachers could meet with the leadership team. Your flexibility made that meeting possible!

Leslie for supporting our Green School efforts by organizing an electronics collections to help advance our sustainability initiatives.

Ellen for catching an important reminder and ensuring a time-sensitive email didn't slip through the cracks. Sometimes, the little reminders make a big difference.

Tameka, Stacey Ramirez, and Sandy for jumping in to help set up our cheesy snacks. Thank you for helping make the staff treat a success.

Taylor for making a quick store run to ensure we had enough snacks for everyone. You saved us from a snack shortage, and that is serious business.

Stacey Reed for taking on an additional task by helping me number and complete the cover page. You saw I was drowning and threw me a lifeline. Your willingness to jump in and help is always appreciated.

Robyn, Stacey Reed, Steve, Tracy, Hanna, Yasmeen, Amanda, and Emily for gathering extensive information to help us prepare for a parent meeting. Your time and attention to detail are helping ensure we are ready for what lies ahead.

Kim J. for helping me navigate a parent communication by sharing important information and considerations I hadn't even thought of. Your insight helped me feel prepared and approach the conversation with ease.

Kim J, Amanda, Diane, Robyn, and Lynne for spending the evening with our students at the middle school dance. Thank you for providing them an opportunity to have some fun outside of school hours.

Tameka for staying late to support one of her direct reports! Thank you for going above and beyond and sacrificing your personal time to ensure your team member felt supported. Your leadership and commitment to your team is amazing.

Jessica S. for creating all the sign-up forms for auxiliary staff parent-teacher conferences! Thank you for making this process easier for ME and our families and staff.

Stacey Ramirez for working hard to secure substitutes for extra prep time. Your efforts make this possible for our teachers, and we couldn’t offer this support without you. Thank you for going the extra mile for our team.

This Week

Sunday, October 25:

     ·      Kim J’s Birthday

Monday, October 26:

     ·      Somewhere Over the Rainbow—Students may wear their favorite color shirt with jeans for $1.00.

     ·      David’s Birthday

     ·      3-8 ELA & Math Interim 1 (October 26-30)

     ·      3-4 & 6-8 Science Interim 1 (October 26-30)

Tuesday, October 27:

     ·      PLC (Team) Meeting

     ·      Sunrise Social (Last Name A-J)

Wednesday, October 28:

     ·      Sunrise Social (Last Name K-Z)

Friday, October 23:

     ·      Spirit Day & Popcorn $1.00 each

     ·      Payday Friday Breakfast-Specials

     ·      Social Media Post Due to Jorvonna-1^st Grade

Happy Birthday

Important Dates

 

November 3: Picture Retake Day

November 3: SLT Meeting

November 4: Perfect Attendance

November 5: Purple Club

November 10: Tri 1 New Student Lunch

November 10: Staff Meeting

November 10: Staff Meeting Snacks-Specials  

November 11: Veteran’s Day Assembly 8:30 AM

November 12: Trimester 1 School Store

November 12: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (American Indian Heritage Month-Who and How)-Jeng

November 13: No School-Regional PD

November 13: End of Trimester 1

November 16: Payday Breakfast-6^th Grade

November 16: Trimester1 School Store Rewards

November 16: Change Bulletin Boards

November 17: PLC (Team) Meeting

November 17: All Grades Entered

November 19: Report Cards Go Home

November 20: Appropriate Top w/Jeans $1 and Hat $1

November 20: Social Media Post Due to Jorvonna-2^nd Grade

November 23: Parent-Teacher Conferences (in-person)4-8 PM

November 23: Steve’s Birthday

November 23: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (Thanksgiving)Bernstein

November 23: Morning Assembly Presentation Due (National Human Rights Month)-M. Higgins

November 24: ½ Day of School

November 24: Parent-Teacher Conferences (in-person)12-4 PM

November 25-27: Thanksgiving Break

November 30-December 4: Canned Food Drive

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

Schoolwide Game-Guess Who

It’s almost time to kick off our schoolwide game: Guess Who!

Please complete this questionnaire by 4 PM on Monday to share some fun details about yourself. Your answers will help me select our mystery staff member and create the clues everyone will use to ‘guess who’. I need every staff member to complete the form to ensure fairness.  

ABCDE Goal-Behavior

Compared to this time last year, our total behavior events have increased by 87—Level 5 behaviors by 32, and suspensions by 15. While these are not the trends we want to see, they give us an opportunity to reflect, strengthen our practices, and recommit to the systems we have built over the past two years.

Our goal is to prevent misbehavior whenever possible, not simply respond to it. Let’s refocus on these key practices that we agreed upon as a team:

• Reinforce our social contracts and Keystone values through explicit teaching, modeling, and consistent reminders.
• Use proximity, quiet reminders, and nonverbal signals. Avoid power struggles and offer appropriate choices when students struggle to comply.
• Use Classroom Rewards coupons and specific positive feedback to celebrate students meeting expectations and making progress toward their goals.
• Look for patterns, identify underlying needs, and adjust support when students are not making progress (ABCD form).
• Maintain predictable expectations across the building while responding to individual student needs.

Moving Forward

We cannot change the numbers already recorded, but we can influence the trends ahead. Every interaction is an opportunity to build relationships, reinforce expectations, and help students succeed.

As you head into next week, consider: What is one proactive strategy you can use more consistently to prevent misbehavior and reinforce positive choices?

Please take a few minutes to review the Top 3 Misbehavior Support Document for specific strategies you can use before you give a student a Level 2 behavior report.

We have invested time in building these practices together. Let’s recommit to using them consistently and holding ourselves accountable. Small, consistent actions can lead to meaningful change. Let’s make our next chapter a better one!

Core Values-BWC

One of our Core Values is Behave With Care. As we approach the holiday season, I wanted to remind you of our expectations. As we show respect and care for all our students and families, please refrain from having Halloween and/or Christmas themed activities/décor/parties. These are probably the two holidays that cause the most discomfort for families who do not celebrate.

Instead, focus on the seasons by having fall and winter themed activities. I follow this guidance when I decorate the front office. I’m very conscience about only using pumpkins that aren’t jack ‘o lanterns and trees that don’t contain ornaments. When we do recognize these holidays with “trunk or treat” or decorate a tree ornament, it is always optional and not completed during school hours.

Please let me know if you have any questions as we respect our diverse population of students.

Affirmations

 

Taliyah for sharing valuable information with our team about foster care and homelessness during our staff meeting. Thank you for bringing awareness to the unique challenges some of our students and families experience, as this helps us to better understand their needs and reminds us of the importance of leading with compassion and ensuring every student feels supported.

Cayla for sharing a best practice for increasing parental involvement. Inviting parents to join their child’s classroom on Spirit Days and participate in activities across each of the third-grade classrooms is a creative way to strengthen family connections and create meaningful opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’s school experience. Thank you for sharing an idea that others can learn from and adapt.

Robyn for all the time, thought, and preparation you put into getting our staff ready for the reunification PD! Your behind-the-scenes work and attention to detail helped everything run smoothly and efficiently, allowing our team to focus on learning and preparing for an important safety procedure. Your organization and preparation made a difference.

Stacey Reed for the tremendous amount of time and effort you have dedicated to preparing for the MDR. Your organization, attention to detail, and commitment to ensuring everything is in place do not go unnoticed. Thank you for taking such care with this process and helping ensure we are prepared to navigate it thoughtfully and effectively.

Yasmeen, Amanda, Heidi and Cindy for stepping in to supervise all 8th graders while their teachers attended a parent meeting. When the meeting ran over, you didn’t hesitate to jump in and help. Thank you for being flexible and supportive.

Andria, Lynne, and Mark for stopping by for no other reason than to encourage me and remind me that I’m cared for. You truly have no idea how much that means to me. As leaders, we often spend so much time pouring into others that we forget how much we need that same encouragement ourselves.

Robyn, Sally, Tameka, and Stacey for the excessive number of parent emails and phone calls you have had to manage over the past two weeks. I know these conversations require time, patience, and emotional energy, often on top of everything else on your plates. Thank you for continuing to show up, navigate difficult conversations, and support our families while balancing the many other responsibilities of your roles. I see your efforts and don’t take them for granted.

Lynne for creating an additional social media post! I appreciate you showcasing the wonderful things happening in your classroom and giving our families and school community a glimpse into Keystone.

Monique for returning kindness with kindness. Your thoughtfulness and willingness to pay kindness forward are a beautiful reminder that even small gestures can make someone’s day.

Cindy for taking the time to review and edit my communications. I appreciate your extra set of eyes and your willingness to help me ensure my message is clear. Thank you for having my back.

This Week

 

Monday, October 19:

     ·      Glow Like Glenda—Students may wear a sequin, sparkle, or neon top with jeans for $1.00.

     ·      Coat Drive (October 19-23:)

Wednesday, October 21:

     ·      Robyn P’s Birthday

     ·      Fundraiser Dress Down (staff can participate)

Thursday, October 22:

     ·      Jeans w/School Appropriate Top and Hat $1.00 each

     ·      Morning Assembly Presentation Due (American Indian Heritage Month-What and Why)-Phetteplace

Friday, October 23:

     ·      Trunk or Treat

     ·      MTSS/IAT Meetings