Lock Down Drill Report

Great job with the lockdown drill.  Our building did an exceptional job securing classrooms and taking cover.  Sherri, Matt, and I swept through the building checking all the rooms.  We completed our drill in less than 3 minutes!

We found a few areas of improvement:

• Five doors were not properly latched closed, only two had students behind them.   Please be sure to always make sure your door is locked, closed, and properly latched.
• One middle school PE class was outside and was a little loud returning to the building. Always make sure that students in the hall or outside are quickly and quietly pulled into a room that can be properly secured.

Please let me know if you have any concerns.  

Remember, Lockdown drills are designed to help us prepare for any immediate or impeding situations that could cause physical harm to students, staff, or visitors.  All lockdowns are to be held in place until an admin or designee gives the all-clear message.  This includes ignoring a fire alarm unless the all-clear message is broadcast first.

I appreciate everyone doing a great job on our safety drills. 

~Brett

K8 Memo

Good First Fall Monday! I hope the Autumnal equinox on Saturday was enjoyed by all.  I certainly have been noticing the shorter days, as in the last three days, I have found myself completing projects in the dark. 

It looks like this first week of fall may be a bit rainy.  Please encourage students to wear jackets to school.  If we have a steady rain we will move recess inside. 

We need to have inside recess when we have steady rain or a temperature below 20 degrees.  

• For the morning recess, before school, we will be rotating the use of the gym between primary, intermediate, and middle school. Primary will have the gym first.  The rest of the students need to be sent to their classrooms/halls for inside recess. All staff needs to help supervise.

• Our prep recesses are small enough that we can use the covered play area on rainy days, but recess will need to be back in the classroom on cold days.

• For lunch recess, the elementary can use the gym. The middle school can use the covered play area on rainy days; however, the hallways will need to be used for cold days.  

I appreciate everyone's understanding and flexibility as we work to maintain safe and healthy recess' when we have incremental weather. 

Last Week Wins

• Interventions are underway and looking good.  The old saying that we 'go slow to go fast' couldn't be more true.  Diane is doing a fabulous job helping our Para Team and coordinating our interventions.  Thank you! 

• MS Sports had some great competitions this last week:  Football had a win in  Liberty, Volleyball played Selkirk and then Cusick on Saturday and the cross-country team ran in Kettle Falls! 

• Everyone responded appropriately to an unexpected fire drill.  We have one student staying home today due to their actions causing the fire drill.

• Our 7th-grade chargers were a standout at the Salish Culture Field Trip.  They were absolutely amazing and made all of us exceptionally proud.

• Middle School cross mentoring is going very well!   It is exciting to see our older students working with younger students. Thank you Ms. Abercrombie for all your hard work.

• The student support team is reaching out to students and families to offer support and care.

• The Para Team is doing a fabulous job supervising recesses and lunch!  Thank you!

• Thank you to everyone for making a difference in our student's lives.  All of you are lighthouses to our students. 

• First Friday Access Day was a great success.  Thank you, Mark Anderson, Toni, Mandy, and Heidi for your extra help!  Be sure to check out the new four squares under the cover play area…Mark did a great job leading students on this task.

Points of Interest

PLC@Work

This week is normal PLC's at 7:15 - 8:00 AM.  Below is our rotation schedule.

• 1st  – Committee Work for 2023-24

• 2nd – PLCs at Work

• 3rd – Staff Meeting

• 4th – PLCs at Work

• 5th – PLCs at Work 

• LID - PLC at Work

Safety Drill

We had a fire drill scheduled for this Wednesday; however, the admin team will be meeting to discuss making adjustments due to last weeks threat assessment and fire alarm pull.  More info to come.

Teaching and Learning

This week during my instructional rounds, I will be looking for direct instruction.  Please explore the Marzano table below for teacher and student evidence.  As always, please invite me into your room if you have a lesson you would like to share with me!

MTSS Updates

It has been an incredibly busy time getting our team ready with materials, finalizing groups, and working with data while simultaneously dealing with tech glitches, boxes of math curriculum, training Cameron, and being down staff.  Some interventions started up last week while most of the remaining groups will get going this week. I am joining in where I can and will be filling in some for the unfilled position.  Crystal and Mandy are gathering baselines scores for progress monitoring where needed.

As frustrated as I feel at the number of speedbumps in the road, it is great to remember that last year at this time we were just starting assessments and did not get to have data meetings until January.

FastBridge continues to be temperamental. Their tech support and I are new bff's. We completed all the steps required correctly and the roster is still off. Thanks for your patience as we try to get it fixed. 

Calendar

23-24 Calendar

Monday, 09.25

• Dr. Derby in the MS in the morning

• Office Standup Meeting, 9 AM

• Student Support Team Meeting, 10 AM 

• Office Meeting @ 1 PM

• BLT Meeting at 4 PM

Tuesday - 09.26

• PLC's @ 7:15 AM 

Wednesday - 09.27

• MTSS Round Table, 7:45 AM

• PBIS Team BoQ

• WSU School of Med. 7th Grade Launch
      w/Wellpinit, Valley, and Chewelah

• Safety Drill: Fire 

• MS Volleyball @ Home

• Brett off Campus at 3:30PM

Thursday - 09.28

• MS Charger Assembly @ 8:15

• MS Football Game @ Hunters 

Friday - 09.29

• Student Access Day, 8 AM - 11:30 AM

• Brett Off Campus

---

UP and Coming Events:

• SAEBRs Week, Oct. 16

• K8 Family Night Out, Oct. 26

K8 Staff Memo

Good Monday morning!  I hope that everyone enjoyed this last summer weekend. Elements of fall are certainly in the air as we can feel and see the great transformation of seasons! 

Charger Sports

Our high school teams have kicked off their season with some solid wins.  Middle school volleyball will have their first home game today and MS Football will have an away game on Thursday.  

Charger Spirit

Please help build our Charger Spirit by wearing your Charger colors on Thursday.  I am going to reach out to the PBIS team to see how we can make a challenge out of school spirit.

Referral Process

Please be sure to review and understand the Major vs Minor referrals. The Pathway to Success on the second page includes sound steps for addressing classroom issues…remember, a referral does not need to be completed for all classroom disruptions or behavioral issues.  You can address situations on your own. 

Minor referrals are the classroom-managed referrals.  When you decide to give a minor referral, please be sure to document it on the Minor Referral Form.  All minor referrals need to include a parent contact. Three minors will result in a major.

Major referrals are office-managed referrals.  These are completed on the blue referral form in the office or can be directly inputted into Skyward.  Please see the attached PDF for instructions on 'How to Enter a Discipline Referral in Skyward." 

When completing a referral, be sure to write a clear description of the incident. Use only the name of the student for whom the referral is being written for in the description.  All other students should be referred to as 'another student,' 'Student A,' or 'Student B,' etc. Describe the facts that you observed and report what others said, not necessarily as fact.  Be sure to include the specific location of the incidents. 

Mandatory Reporting

It was great to have Steven Bryant present to the certificated staff on Friday.  Please feel free to review his presentation as well as the DCYF's Mandated Report Booklet.  Remember, you fulfill your mandate by reporting situations to the counseling or admin team.  

Recess

Our students must be supervised at all times.  Please do not send your students out to recess by themself, and do not leave students outside by themself if there is no one on duty yet.  I need all classroom teachers to walk their class out to recess.  Secondly, if the recess supervisor is not on duty, please cover the supervision until they arrive. 

 Our recess supervisors know their individual schedules and will faithfully cover their duties; however, incidents in the school and absences can sometimes set us back.  All teachers will have 45 minutes of prep each day, I have worked to keep the specialist time and recess time together to make it an uninterrupted prep time.  Please be sure to report any supervision concerns to me and I will be sure to address the issue.

Finally, a few recess reminders:

• All recess equipment needs to be brought back into the classroom at the end of recess. 

• The pea gravels needs to stay in the toy areas.  

•  Students can help patrol the playground for litter…this is a great way to earn a charger card.

Diane's MTSS Updates 

Thank you for the hard work and great conversations as we reviewed data last week. I will be working to put our support plan in action this week. Some pieces cannot be started until a few staffing details are resolved. I am doing my best to get things rolling as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!

On Friday I worked with the paras on using effective teaching strategies in small groups. We also talked about ways to help our students when they encounter unknown words. Currently, their main strategies are skipping (and not coming back) and appealing to an adult.  We talked about previewing text and pictures before reading, then encouraging students to sound out, break the word in parts, use the first sound, and skipping (but coming back and rereading). Rebecca also took them through some bullying information in Character Strong. They have been updated on MTSS processes currently taking place.

Calendar

23-24 Calendar

Monday, 09.18

• Picture Day

• Interventions Start

• Office Standup Meeting, 9 AM

• Student Support Team Meeting, 10 AM 

• MS Volleyball Home @ 4 PM

Tuesday - 09.19

• PLC's @ 7:15 AM 

Wednesday - 09.20

• MTSS Round Table, 7:45 AM

• School Board Meeting, 6 PM

Thursday - 09.21

• 7th Grade Salish Culture Field Trip, Sept 21

• MS Football Away

Friday - 09.22

• Student Access Day, 8 AM - 11:30 AM

---

UP and Coming Events:

• 7th Grade Salish Culture Field Trip, Sept 21

• WSU 7th Grade Launch, Sept 27

• SAEBRs Week, Oct. 16

• K8 Family Night Out, Oct. 26

Weekly Staff Memo:

Great job last week!  It was sure exciting to have our kindergarten and pre-school classrooms filled with eager little learners. Here are some additional highlights from last week: 

• FastBridge testing went relatively well! 

• Middle school sports are off to a good start! 

• Ms. Hart's art lessons are connecting well with students 

• The breakfasts and lunches are running well and our meals are being eaten. 

• Middle school classroom mentors started helping in classrooms. 

Weekly Class Memo (ACTION NEEDED)

Each week, I send out a staff email memo and a community memo via the S'more app.  Please be sure to read both and feel free to add any of the items to your weekly classroom memos. 

As we kick off this new year, please be sure to share with me your weekly memo, newsletter, or family communication.   

Classroom Walkthroughs

Each week, I have added specific times to my calendar for classroom walkthroughs.  During this time in your classroom, I look forward to observing the teaching and learning.  I will often connect with students to review their work and ask them to explain what they are learning.  Additionally, I will look for observable evidence of your teaching practices.  Please be sure to invite me in to see special activities or lessons that you would like me to observe.  This week I will be looking specifically for posted learning targets and routines!  

Open House (ACTION NEEDED)

This Thursday will be our K12 open house from 5 PM to 6:30 PM.  Remember this is contracted time per our CBA for all certificated staff...this accounts for part of the last three days of the year.  I look forward to having our families in the building and am excited to see what you share with families in your classrooms.  

Pretend you are walking into your classroom for the very first time, after a long day spent either at home tending to young children or after spending eight hours at a job. What would you like to see and know about your teacher and classroom?  Please engage with our parents and give them a warm welcome! 

Also, help get the word out by including a notice in your weekly communication!  

Friday LID

Here is a brief agenda for Friday's Learning Improvement Day.  

7:15 - 7:45 Staff Breakfast

7:45 - 8:15 Welcome: Celebrations, Recognitions, and PLC Goals

8:15 - 8:25 Break & Transition Time

8:25 - 12:00 Team PLC Time 

12:00 - 12:40 Potluch Homecoming Theme Lunch

12:45 - 1:45 Steven Bryant, DCYF Mandatory Reporting Overview1:50 - 2:45 Building Level Time

2:45 - 3:00 Library- Team Reports & Updates

K8 Enrichment Opportunities 

Please contact me if you are interested in coordinating an after-school club or helping with Friday student access days. On Wednesday, I'll be hosting an enrichment meeting to start outlining some of our enrichment activities. Our first student access day will be next Friday, September 22nd. 

MTSS Updates

A huge thank you to EVERYONE! We are close to test completion with just a few hiccups. I have spent WAY too much time in front of my computer dealing with rostering FastBridge, Wonders set-up, scheduling, and data. It will be great to be back amongst people once we get past our data review meetings on the 14th. Dani, Crystal, Bea, and Mandy are doing a great job of taking care of business; please give them a shout out when you see them!

We continue to look at the schedule to make sure we have push-in support at the right times as well as tier 3 where needed.  It will also be important to use our data to identify classes that need the most support. 

I am working on gathering our intervention materials and planning training so staff know how to use them.

For our data review day, please bring your laptops. I will provide data cards, screening information, and intervention suggestions. Brett and I drafted a schedule but it will need to be tweaked based on the number of subs we end up with. I will let you know ASAP! ~Diane

Calendar

23-24 Calendar

Monday, 09.11

• Brett's off-campus w/Rural Alliance back at 3:30

• Student Support Team 10 AM - 11 AM

• BLT After School @ 4PM

Tuesday - 09.12

• PLC's 7:45 AM

Wednesday - 09.13

• MTSS Roundtable 7:45 AM to 8:30 AM

• MW Leadership Team Meeting 9 AM -10 AM

• Enrichment Planning

Thursday - 09.14

• Data Planning Meetings

• Charger Pride Day…wear your Charger Colors

• Open House 5 PM - 6:30 PM

Friday - 09.15

• LID Day

• Para Training 9 AM - 12 PM

---

UP and Coming Events:

• Picture Day, Sept 18

• Interventions Start, Sept 18

• 7th Grade Salish Culture Field Trip, Sept 21

• WSU 7th Grade Launch, Sept 27

• SAEBRs Week, Oct. 16

• K-1 Hidden Acers Field Trip, October 18

• K8 Family Night Out, Oct. 26