K8 Memo

WINS FOR THE WEEK

 

• Short week…shorter with the Wednesday delayed start

• MS Wrestling had its first meet.

• Wonderful time off for Thanksgiving 

 

Thoughtful Reflection

The next three weeks are going to be exceptionally busy. We only have 12 days of school, so let's make each of them count. The following three points will help us maintain strong teaching throughout this holiday season.

 

BE HERE: Our students look forward to seeing you every morning. We know they show their love and appreciation in some unloving and odd ways at times, but your kindness and smiles make all the difference. Please do your best to be at school day. When you feel overwhelmed and stressed, pause to think back to why you became a teacher or reflect on the teachers who made a difference in your life.  

 

ROUTINE: The holidays often bring a lot of fun and festive activities that sometimes make things a little busy or crazy. Please strive to maintain your classroom routines. Remember, routines give us all a sense of peace. 

 

PLAN TO CELEBRATE: We certainly want to stay on task with student learning, but planning fun activities through those last few weeks before the holidays will help keep your students engaged and will also help spread holiday cheer! Our Christmas Concert is on December 16th at 1 PM, and classroom parties will follow. 

 

 

THE CHARGER PROMISE

"We, as a community, will develop confident, well rounded, and sought after graduates who are prepared for the future"

 

 

POINTS OF INTEREST

Weekly Memo Examples- ACTION NEEDED

Please share three examples of your weekly memos for the last few weeks. This will be used as TPEP artifacts and support criterion 7. [Component 7.1: Engaging in positive interactions with parents and the school community about courses, programs, and school events.]

2nd Quarter Progress Reports- ACTION NEEDED

At the end of next week, December 1st, please send home a classroom mid-quarter progress report to each student. I know we just had conferences; however, we are working hard to share the message that student learning is our top priority.  

CharacterStrong/Purposeful People

December's character trait is EMPATHY, which is understanding and connecting to other people's feelings.  Try this staff pursuit to build more empathy in your classroom.  Please let me know how your 4 days go! 

**There are great resources available for our students and families to practice gratitude(Nov) and Empathy(Dec) together this time of year. If you would like additional resources or activities to share with your students and families, please reach out to Ms. Abercrombie!**

Charger of the Month Assembly- ACTION NEEDED

Our K5 Charger of the Month assemblies will be on Thursday, December 1st.

K-2 @ 2:00 - 2:30

3-5 @ 2:30 - 3:00

Middle School Assemblies will be on Thursday, December 8th, during 6th Period. 

Online Referral Form

Some individuals have been submitting referrals on last year's referral form. I have now disenabled that form and need you to make sure you have this year's link. If you choose to submit referrals online, please bookmark the following link: tinyurl.com/sk822r

 

Christmas Festivities

K-5 Christmas Sing-A-long Concert

On Thursday, December 15th, we will host our concert for k-5 @ 1 PM. Cocoa and Cookies will follow in the classrooms, with classroom parties after the parent celebration.

 

MS Mentor Teacher Parties

MS students will celebrate their Christmas parties with their mentor teachers during 6th period. 

 

MTSS Updates

As the year goes on, we hope to build in time to look at data together and make decisions about interventions and progress monitoring. If you are providing tier 2 support in class, please let Diane know so she can set up progress monitoring.  We look forward to having a more systematic way of doing this in the near future!

 

 

CALENDAR

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 11.28

10:00 AM, Student Success Team

12:30 PM, Brett off Campus

 

Tuesday - 11.29 

10:00 AM, MTSS Check In

3:45 PM,  PBIS Meeting

Coach Debbie Here

 

Wednesday - 11.30

9:00 AM, Admin Team Meeting

3:00 PM, MTSS Team Staff Meeting

 

Thursday - 12.01

2:00 PM, Charger of the Month assembly, K-2

2:30 PM, Charger of the Month assembly, 3-5

Progress Reports Sent Home

Friday - 12.02

LID Day - Agenda to Come

 

UP and Coming Events:

• Dec. 8th, MS Charger of Month Assembly, 6th Period

• Dec. 8th  2nd Grade field trip

• Dec. 14th, Staff Christmas Lunch...come hungry!

• Dec. 15th, Christmas Sing-along Concert 1:00

• Dec. 15th, Classroom Christmas parties

• Dec 16th, Student Access Day

• Christmas Break: Dec 16 - Jan 2

• Return to School, Tuesday, January 3rd

K8 Weekly Memo

WINS FOR THE WEEK

 

• Girls Basketball Wrapped up with a season of growth.

• JOM Meetings with the Spokane Tribe of Indians

• Great turnout and lots of fun at the Family Night Out: Turkey Bingo

• Fantastic LID day and great PLC work! 

• Staff Charger of the Month: Rebecca Abercrombie

• MTSS Board Presentation 

 

 

Thoughtful Reflection

 

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to help students cultivate an "attitude of gratitude." And what's more, research shows that it's really good for both them and their teachers! 

 

Among other benefits, gratitude helps kids feel better about school and makes educators feel less emotionally exhausted.

 

Need some ideas on how to bring gratitude into the classroom? Here are some easy-to-implement activities, many of which can be adapted to fit any grade level.  The Gratitude Project: Greatergood.berkeley.edu

 

 

 

THE CHARGER PROMISE

"We, as a community, will develop confident, well rounded, and sought after graduates who are prepared for the future"

 

 

POINTS OF INTEREST

Report Card Mailing - ACTION NEEDED

We will be mailing home report cards, state testing results, and FastBridge Family Reports for the families that did not make conferences. Please collate each of the three documents by individual student names and turn them into Tammy so they can be mailed out. 

 

Outside Agencies / FERPA

Please be sure to consult with me prior to discussing any of our student's performances in school. This is particularly important in civil cases. A general rule is that all outside agencies will come through my office before students are pulled or you are asked to contribute anything. This includes CPS/DCFS, Attorneys, WISe Team, Guardian Ad litem (GAL), Law Enforcement, etc.

 

Online Referral Form

Some individuals have been submitting referrals on last year's referral form. I have now disenabled that form and need you to make sure you have this year's link. If you choose to submit referrals online, please bookmark the following link: tinyurl.com/sk822r

 

Christmas Festivities

K-5 Christmas Sing-A-long Concert

On Thursday, December 15th, we will host our concert for k-5 @ 1 PM. Cocoa and Cookies will follow in the classrooms, with classroom parties after the parent celebration.

 

MS Mentor Teacher Parties

MS students will celebrate their Christmas parties with their mentor teachers during 6th period.

 

Instructional Coach, Debbie Stewart

Good news, Debbie will be serving our school two days each week. She will be set up in the OT/PT office but will spend most of her time in classrooms. Please reach out to her with a friendly "hello."    

 

Weekly Memo Examples- ACTION NEEDED

Please share three examples of your weekly memos for the last few weeks. This will be used as TPEP artifacts and support criterion 7. [Component 7.1: Engaging in positive interactions with parents and the school community about courses, programs, and school events.]

 

2nd Quarter Progress Reports- ACTION NEEDED

At the end of next week, December 1st, please send home a classroom mid-quarter progress report to each student. I know we just had conferences; however, we are working hard to share the message that student learning is our top priority.  

 

Charger of the Month Assembly- ACTION NEEDED

Please turn in your Charger of the Month selection to Tammy by Wednesday and notify parents.  

Our K-5 assemblies will be on Thursday, December 1st.

K-2 @ 2:00 - 2:30

3-5 @ 2:30 - 3:00

Middle School Assemblies will be on Thursday, December 8th, during 6th Period. 

 

 

MTSS Updates

• I presented at the school board meeting on Thursday and advocated for staff to have more time to learn how to use FastBridge and examine data as teams.

• The FAQ's and FastBridge how-to cards have been updated in the documents I shared to include finding instructional materials and progress monitoring. Hard copies will be in your boxes soon so you can add them to the ring distributed earlier this fall!

• Winter FasBridge Testing is the week of Jan. 17.

 

 

CALENDAR

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 11.21

10:00 AM, Student Success Team

1:00 PM, K8 Office Meeting

 

Tuesday - 11.22

10:00 MTSS Check In

 

Wednesday - 11.23

9:00 AM, Admin Team Meeting

 

Thursday - 11.24

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday - 11.25

Enjoy your break!

 

UP and Coming Events:

• Dec. 1st Charger of the Month assemblies, K-2(2:00-2:30), 3-5 (2:30-3:00)

• Dec. 8th, MS Charger of Month Assembly, 6th Period

• Dec. 8th  2nd Grade field trip

• Dec. 15th, Christmas Sing-along Concert

• Dec. 15th Classroom Christmas parties

K8 Weekly Memo

WINS FOR THE WEEK

 

• High School Volleyball finished 4th in the State

• Coach Vince had several great connections with staff.

• Excellent breakfast with Coach Debbie and Team NEWB

• Successful Parent/Teacher Conferences

• MS Leadership Class 'Chargerzon' (In-Building Charger-Amazon) Store Started PBIS Deliveries

• We have a new Grandma!  Congrats, Diane!

• Engaging Veterans Day Assembly:  Thank you, Mrs. Hallenbeck!

• Great teamwork on Thursday, we had many staff out and everyone jumped in to help!  Thank youl 

 

 

Thoughtful Reflection

Our use of the Character Strong/Purposeful People lessons are helping us create a school that transforms people.  Please continue to promote our character trait of GRATITUDE every day this month.   As we continue to use CharacterStrong's social & emotional learning lessons will see a positive impact in our students lives.

 

Please explore the Character Strong website:

• Website: http://curriculum.characterstrong.com/

• Username: marywalkerdistrict

• Password: character2021 

Character Dare:

 

 

 

 

THE CHARGER PROMISE

"We, as a community, will develop confident, well rounded, and sought after graduates who are prepared for the future"

 

 

POINTS OF INTEREST

Report Card Mailing - ACTION NEEDED

We will be mailing home report cards, state testing results, and FastBridge Family Reports for the families that did not make conferences.  Please collate each of the three documents by individual student names and turn them into Tammy so they can be mailed out. 

 

Turkey Bingo

On Wednesday, we have our quarterly family engagement event: Turkey Bingo.  This is a fun, festive event with lots of great prizes…best of all, it is totally free.  We have many fabulous community donations and are looking forward to connecting with our families.  Please promote this event in your classroom.  Are you interested in helping set up or cleaning?  If so, please connect with Jamie Lovato, our Community in School Coordinator.  

 

Friday LID Day

This Friday, we have a monthly LID day.  We will be starting in the cafeteria at 8:45.  A full agenda will be shared out later this week.

 

K-5 Christmas Assembly- ACTION NEEDED

Rebecca Hallenbeck did a wonderful job with the Veterans Assembly and is moving ahead to plan and coordinate a Christmas Singing Along Assembly. She will be reaching out to you regarding two to three song choices for your class. Please join in the preparation by helping practice the songs in your classroom. This is a quick turnaround for an assembly, but one that will be filled with lots of joy and excitement.   More info will come…  

 

Instructional Coach, Debbie Stewart

Good news, Debbie will be serving our school two days each week.  She will be set up in the OT/PT office but will spend most of her time in classrooms.  Please reach out to her with a friendly "hello."    

 

JOM Meetings - ACTION NEEDED

Members of the Spokane Tribe of Indian's Educational Department will be on-site on Tuesday to connect with students.  Please have your students who have any tribal affiliation report to the Art Room for a short meeting.

MS @ 12:30 

K-5 @ 1PM

 

We will announce the JOM Meeting over the intercom, and please help by asking your students who have a tribal affiliation to head down to the art room.  This is for students who live on the reservation or have any connection with any Native American Tribe.  

 

MTSS Updates

• Our progress monitoring data is looking very strong.  Thank you to everyone who is helping give tier-two support.

• Diane is presenting at the school board meeting on Nov. 16

 

 

CALENDAR

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 11.14

10:00 AM, Student Success Team

1:00 PM, K8 Office Meeting

4:00 PM, MS Girls Basketball @ Home

 

Tuesday - 11.15

7:30 AM, MS PLC Meeting

10:00 AM, MTSS Check In

Wednesday - 11.16

9:00 AM, Admin Team Meeting

4:00 PM, MS Girls  Basketball @ Valley

5-7:00 PM, Family Night Out

 

Thursday - 11.17

7:30 AM, K-5 PLC meetings

6:00 AM, School Board meeting

4:30 PM, MS Girls' Basketball @ Cusick

Friday - 11.18

LID Day, Coach Vince here

 

UP and Coming Events:

• Nov. 23rd Normal Day before Thanksgiving

K8 Weekly Memo

WINS FOR THE WEEK

 

• Debbie Stewart joins MWSD team for Tech Tuesdays! 

• Halloween celebrations and fun

• Charger Assemblies

• Solution Room Team meeting on Friday…thank you, April and Maureen

• HS Volleyball on to State

 

 

Thoughtful Reflection

We have a paper shortage!! It's been a mad dash to locate paper for the copy machines in our building. We have used all the copy paper ordered for 1st semester. A second order has been placed to get more supplies in our building. Please be mindful of your coping.  

 

Are there worksheet alternatives? Notebooks, journal prompts, and basic hand copies can help reduce our copy count. Here are a few links discussing ways to turn worksheets into thinking activities.

• https://theowlteacher.com/preventing-overloaded-worksheets

• https://www.madlylearning.com/no-more-worksheets

 

THE CHARGER PROMISE

"We, as a community, will develop confident, well rounded, and sought after graduates who are prepared for the future"

 

 

POINTS OF INTEREST

 

ABC's of Parent/Teacher Conferences - ACTION NEEDED

Thank you for everyone taking the time to connect with families and schedule parent/teacher conferences.  Please invite me to conferences that may be challenging.      

 

As you meet with students and parents, please discuss the following four topics:  

A - Attendance (You can access this data on Skyward)

B - Behavior (Review general behaviors in the classroom.) 

C - Course Work

and

D - Data (Share and review the FastBridge Famly report and SBAC State Testing) 

 

—--------------------

Solution Room Visits

On Friday, the Solution Room team had a meeting to review our data and work to improve the room structure.  Students can only access the solution for Take A Breaks (10-Min), Lunch Detention, or for discipline-based off on a referral.

There has been an uptick of students being sent to the solution room.  Many of whom can't articulate why they were sent to the solution room.  

Take A Break (10 Min) Please use the TAB Out - Yellow Card to send students to the solution room for a ten-minute break.

Lunch detentions: Assigned by teachers when three classroom warnings have been given and when parent contact has been made. Paper lunch slips or referral forms can be used to issue lunch detentions. Only ten students can serve detention for each lunch.

Referral:  Complete on the blue sheet or online. Mr. Joachim will process all referrals. Each referral will be processed according to the situation.

As the classroom teacher, you have day-to-day contact with our students and are in the best position to influence students as they learn from their mistakes directly.  Please continue to invest time in your students by reviewing expectations and building a culture of belonging.   

 

TPEP Observation and Goal Setting

As we start working through formal observations and continue analyzing data to set our student growth goals, I will send out individual emails to schedule observations and mini-conferences. Please be sure you can access eVAL app on EDS. Connect with Mike if you need help logging onto EDS. 

 

 

MTSS Updates

• Please remember that we need to be tracking progress on additional instruction/intervention to see if it is working. Please let Diane know who is getting extra classroom support so she can provide assistance in setting up progress monitoring groups on FastBridge. The MTSS team can help gather the data!

• If you change interventions, please let Diane know so she can document it in our MTSS data.. We want to maintain the best fidelity in our MTSS system 

 

CALENDAR

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 11.07

10:00 AM, Student Success Team

1:00 PM, K8 Office Meeting

3:30-7:30 Parent/Teacher Conferences

 

Tuesday - 11.08

Election Day: Please get out and vote!

7:30 AM, NEWB Breakfast with Debbie

7:30 AM, MS PLC Meeting

8:00 AM, WSU School Medicine 8th Grade Zoonotic Lab 

10:00 AM, MTSS Check In

3:30-7:30 Parent/Teacher Conferences

Wednesday - 11.09

9:00 AM, Admin Team Meeting

 

Thursday - 11.10

7:30 K-5 PLC meetings

8:00-3:30 Coach Vince Here

Veterans Day assembly

Friday - 11.11

Veterans Day Holiday, no school

 

UP and Coming Events:

• Nov. 16th, Family Night Out - Turkey Bingo 5:00-7:00 PM 

• Nov. 17th School Board Meeting

• Nov. 18th LID Day; Coach Vince here

• Nov. 23rd Normal Day before Thanksgiving