Good Monday Morning and Happy Fall,
As we step into the beauty of autumn, let’s take a moment to enjoy the season’s fresh start and cozy warmth. I’m excited for what this new season brings for our students, families, and our school community. Let’s continue to support one another and make the most of the opportunities ahead! Here’s to a fantastic fall and an inspiring week ahead!
The K-5 team did a great job scheduling the fall parent-teacher conferences on Friday. Copies have been made of your schedules so that middle school can schedule their conferences, too. The original copy will be returned today.
As you prepare your weekly memo, I encourage you to highlight the upcoming parent-teacher conferences on October 2 and 3rd. This is a great opportunity to strengthen our partnership with families! Don’t forget to send out conference letters, ensuring parents have all the information they need. To make these meetings even more impactful, below is a list of some creative ideas for engaging parents during conferences. Together, we can create meaningful connections that support our students' growth!
Start with Positives: Begin by sharing the student's strengths and recent successes to set a positive tone.
Encourage Two-Way Dialogue: Ask open-ended questions like, "What goals do you have for your child?" or "How can we support you at home?"
Provide Student Work Samples: Share examples of the student’s work to illustrate progress and areas for growth.
Focus on Solutions: When discussing challenges, collaborate on strategies for improvement, offering specific ways parents can help at home.
Set Clear Goals: Work together to set realistic, measurable goals for the student, and provide a timeline for follow-up.
Share Classroom Strategies: Explain how certain teaching methods are helping their child and suggest similar approaches for home.
Incorporate Student Voice: If appropriate, share student reflections or goals to give parents insight into their child’s thoughts and experiences.
Offer Resources: Share materials, websites, or tools parents can use to support their child’s learning outside of school.
Invite Feedback: Give parents time to share their perspectives or concerns about their child's education and be open to their suggestions.
End on a Positive Note: Conclude the conference by reiterating the student’s strengths and expressing confidence in their continued progress.
This past week, we had two situations where students faced medical concerns when Nurse Sherri was off. Several staff members stepped up with incredible care and support.
Summer and Jewelle made a keen observation regarding one student’s condition and thoughtfully encouraged the family to seek medical attention. Thanks to her quick thinking and guidance, the student received the necessary treatment, and the family was deeply grateful for their help. Thank you, Summer and Jewelle, for your attentiveness and care!
Additionally, Bailey closely monitored another student who developed a fever. As the temperature rose to over 103 degrees, she provided compassionate care and support while the family arranged transportation. The student felt comforted and cared for during the entire process, and we’re happy to report both students are on the mend!
The families of both students were sincerely appreciative of the love and dedication of our staff. Thank you, Summer, Jewelle, Bailey and Nurse Sherri, for always going above and beyond for our students!
Charger Assembly
Our Charger Assemblies will be on Thursday this week. This school year, we will be meeting in the gym for the assemblies. As your class comes to the gym, please have them sit by the cone with their teacher’s name on it.
PLC Time - Para Cover breakfast transition.
To ensure a full 45 minutes of uninterrupted PLC time, our Para team will be covering breakfast duty on Tuesday morning. Here’s the plan:
The K-2 team will head outside for morning recess.
The 3-5 team will line up and go directly to the cafeteria for breakfast.
At 8:15, K-2 teachers will pick up their students from the blacktop, while 3-5 teachers will pick up their students from the cafeteria.
Middle school students will enjoy an extra 10 minutes in the morning and will be allowed into the building at 8:10.
Thank you for your flexibility and teamwork as we prioritize this important PLC time!
After School Athletics
Please help spread the word to students and parents that all students younger than high school age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who is responsible for their behavior and well-being at all times during after-school athletic events. On school athletic days,, please help ensure that your students are going where they need to go.
Homecoming Week Dress-up Days
Monday, 9/23 - PJ Day
Tuesday, 9/24 - Twin Day
Wednesday, 9/25 -Tye dye/Neon Day
Thursday, 9/2 6 - Charger Blow Out Day!
Friday, 9/27 - Black out night at the football game! Wear all black.
We are off to a great start with using the SWIS system for managing behavior incidents. It has also been showing us some interesting trends and hot spots that we need to address. Looking below, we find most behaviors, both those that are classroom-managed and those that require administration’s involvement do center around the areas of Defiance/Insubordination/Non-compliance. We will look at ways we can rally around promoting replacement behaviors that may stem some of these undesired behaviors.
Also, I hope we can appreciate the trend that shows most behaviors occur on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We might want to explore what is unique about these days and how they affect student behaviors. See below:
It’s Week 5 for our Character Strong and PurposeFull People lessons! You are doing a great job!
K-5 are going into our Week 4 lesson for RESPECT.
Grade 6 is working on the Week 5 lesson titled Understanding the CharacterDare Process
Grades 7 and 8 are also working on their Week 5 lessons titled The CharacterDare
I am beginning the process of forming groups. I have three on the board for October.
Circle of Control (what is inside and outside of our control)
New Student Group who are still having a difficult time adjusting to the school year
Art Therapy for Worry and Anxiety
If you have a student who would benefit from a group, please let me know. I’d like to meet with them before automatically adding them.
Counseling Referrals: If you think a student needs to see me, but it isn’t an emergency, please use the Counseling Referral Form I sent out earlier. These have been very helpful so far. Thank you!
PBIS Update:
We will focus on behavior-specific praise for students who are meeting our schoolwide expectations.
Please complete the form on PBIS for our committee to use a launching pad for this year.
The first Data day for K-5 for the year is in the books! I felt like we had some great conversations about grouping students and giving them that dose of what they need to make gains in reading and I’m looking forward to supporting Tier 2 and 3 Interventions in math. There is still a bit to discuss with the K-1 Team, but we will get it ironed out soon. 2nd, 4th and 5th Walk to Interventions are ready to start as well as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Math support! I just want to thank you all for your grace as I wrap my head around this program. I feel a bit like I’m building the plane as it flies, so thank you! And I know it will continue to change and grow as I learn through the LETRS program!
Be sure to get any new students tested near the end of this week or next. I will be working on their log-ins as they come in! Also, keep working on the SAEBRs piece!
Have a great week everyone!
Monday, 09.23
K8 Stand-up Weekly, 9:15
Bailey and Brett Office Meeting, 1 PM
EP&O Levy Community Meeting 3:45 PM to 5:15 PM at the Springdale Community Church
Tuesday - 09.24
PLC Time @ 7:15 - Committee Meeting
Student Support Team- K8 Conference Room, 10 AM
BLT Meeting, 3:45 PM
Brett at ESD101 for OSSI Meeting
Wednesday - 09.25
Cross Country @ St. George’s
MS Volleyball @ Home 4 PM
Thursday - 09.26
MS Charger Assembly @ Elementary Charger Assembly
MS Football @ Wellpinit 3:30 PM
Friday - 09.27
Student Access Day
Homecoming Football Game @ 7 PM
Saturday - 9/26
Home Volleyball 10 AM vs Columbia
UP and Coming Events:
Parent Conferences, Oct 2 and 3rd 12:30 PM to 7:00 PM
LID Day, Oct 18
