Friday, March 30, 2012

Friday, March 30th

Happy First Day of Spring Break for most of you!!!  I want to congratulate Miss Stevenson and the Third Grade students for a wonderful performance last night.  It was Awesome!!!! Parents were coming up to hug me last night in appreciation for our staff giving the children this opportunity.  Please wish Amanda Gordon well as she has an Art Show on display now in which she has worked very hard. She has spent many hours mounting the art work for display. The art is gorgeous. Check out Kendra's LTM Room.  She has spent a lot of time creating an incredible Data Board that really displays our academic data quarter to quarter. We appreciate her taking the time to create this important and informative display. Hooray for Pre-K! They did an awesome job preparing for their audit.  They have had a lot of visitors. It was a piece of cake because they are wonderful everyday of the week all year long.  Kudos to Cassandra and Cheryl for all of the work they put into our Title I Audit. We had everything we needed. Dr. Madison has done a fabulous job with the Family Involvement notebook. Way to Go! Family Affairs-Kristy's son had his tonsils out yesterday and is doing well:)  Mrs. Crookshank's husband Dan is doing well after his procedure. FYI...The Multi-Cultural Parade for Fifth Graders will still be happening. Any volunteers willing to help students with costumes and artifacts,  please see Mrs. Uhrig.  We need you. She will send out a list of kids and their countries. Thank you all for your hard work. Please take these few precious days to have fun with your families and recharge your batteries. You deserve it. We are all a great team and I appreciate each and everyone of you. See you soon.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

EOQ Make-ups today.  Thank you everyone for making the testing sessions go so smoothly.  I know schedules had to be changed and staff sent here and there.  I can't thank you enough for your flexibility.  We are a great team.

The Teacher Working Conditions Surveys are here complete with your very own access code.  We will pass them out to all certified staff at the April 10th Faculty Meeting.  We would like to have 100% participation.  Karin Binkley will explain the directions to you at the meeting.

Ms. Reese's son will have his tonsils out this morning.  Send happy thoughts and prayers their way.

Best Practice-Never keep money in your classroom, even pennies!  Mrs. Studevent will come around to collect what you have so far.  After that, turn your money in daily so it can be put in the safe.  I am just looking out for you all. We don't want to lose any money as it is for a great cause:)

Program Tonite-It is so exciting.  I can't wait to see what magic Miss Stevenson will deliver through her students. Dress Rehearsal today at 1:15.  We will start calling around 1:00.

I will be off campus for a Principal's Meeting on AG. 9-12:30 or so.  I will be here in the morning.
I have a parent conference at 2:15.

Mrs. Kennedy is putting the finishing touches on the April Calendar.  If you have an event, no matter how big or small that needs to be added, the deadline is today at 3. Thank you!

Family Affairs

Remember to keep Ms. Farthing in your prayers.  She had her elbow surgery yesterday.  It went well and she is recovering.  Also, continie to keep Stephanie and Tim in your prayers as they prepare for his surgery in early April.

Wednesday, February 28, 2012

Good Morning!  Testing continues today with Math-Calculator In-Active.
Pre-k is being audited this morning, I know they will do great! They are awesome teachers and assistants!
Please be sure to get your Unit Plans turned in as well as Teacher Surveys and Possible Retention Lists and PDP verifications.  Thank you.

If you work with a classified employee in any capacity, please print out the evaluation I sent you and fill it out and/or send me a bulleted list on their performance to be utilized in their final eval.  If you are the classified employee, please send me a list of all the great things you do everyday!

Mrs. Jackson came to our SIT Mtg. and each grade chair volunteered to plant a row of vegetables with their grade level. The assignments are below:
Pre-k-Tomatos and Okra
Grade 1-Cucumbers and Radishes
Grade 1-Squash
Grade 2 Cabbage and Peas
Grade 3-Cilantro and Butternut Squash
Grade 4-Butter Peas and eggplant
Grade 5-Watermelon and marigolds
Friends of Diggs-Latham-Lettuce
Specialists-Sunflowers
Office Staff will help plant flowers.

Let Ms. Wynns know if you are interesting in participating in a Saturday Clean-up DL Event sponsored by Clean and Greeen.  Lunch will be provided.

The Journal would like to come out and do a story on the Japanese Garden and the Solar panel we will install.  We are getting ourselves on the map for great things you are doing.  Keep it up.  I am so proud of you!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Additional Notes

FYI...Our Pre-K classes will be federally audited tomorrow and/or possibly Thursday.  This is an intense process.  They will do great because they are great.  It is just a little nerve-wracking!  I have invited Dr. Martin to DL to see all of the great things that are happening here, so don't be surprised if you see him or our Asst. Superintendent, Steve Oates meandering around:) in the next week or so.

Again, remind students about the importance of being at school on time.  They should also be reminded about not wearing short shorts, spaghetti straps and sandals.

Keep Stephanie Hess in your prayers as she and her fiance face his upcoming heart surgery.

Keep Smiling, remember the kids depend on you and need you.  They also care about you:) Have a wonderful day.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

A Message From Gloria: EOQ Math Active Today
This is a reminder that quarter tests for Grades 3-5 will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Most of our staff is being utilized as proctors, test administrators, or editing answer sheets.  There will be no instructional support classes, specials,  or ESL classes until testing has concluded.  Also, there will be no duty free lunch.  Thank you for your understancing.
 
Title I Audit Today at 10:00 (Nancy Martin)
SIT Meeting at 3:15-Bring your SIT Plan-Room 200
 
The Dress Rehearsal for the 3rd grade performance will be on Thursday at 1:15.  I know the upper grades are busily trying to finish last minute quarter objectives so this rehearsal will be optional.  I hope this helps you.  If you do plan on not attending, let me know. Thank you.
 
 
 

Monday, March 26th, 2012

Hope Everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Quarter Tests Continue This Week...
Monday-Reading
Tuesday-Math Active
Wednesday-Math In-Active
Thursday-EOQ Make-ups

Diggs-Latham Goes Cross Country Musical Performance will be this Thursday at 7:00. There will be a dress rehearsal at 1:15. Ms. Stevenson and all the children have been working very hard.

Mark your Calendars-Transfer Fair will be held at North Forsyth HS on May 3rd from 4-5:30 for those interested.

It will also be time soon to make your intentions for next year clear.  I will keep you posted as to when the district opens that site.

As you know, we will have a faculty mtg. April 10th. If you need to be on the agenda, please let me know.
Report Cards due to administrators on April 11th.
k-1 Frazier
2-3 Dobson
4-5 Cannon

We only have had 8 Teacher Surveys turned in.  They are due by the end of the week.  We need to compile them for Title I.  Thank you:) We also need all  5th grade surveys turned in.  I believe 4th grade has turned theirs in.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Friday, March 23, 2012

Fifth Grade Science Quarter Testing Today.  Thank you to Gloria and all proctors and test administrators for doing such a great job with the implementation.  Also, Kudos to Mrs. Wynns and Ms. Magness for being flexible today and taking on additional responsibilities.

  Thank you to K-3 teachers for providing us a list of students who would benefit from BELL Services Summer School Program. 4th and 5th grade recommendations will be compiled by WSFCS based on assessment data. It is being run by a private company and will look much different this year as a FIVE week program with morning academics and afternoon enrichment.  Students will also take field trips each Friday.  Thank you to Audrey for compiling the list so we could get it turned in on Tuesday.   Space is not guaranteed, and will be decided upon yet to be determined eligibility rules, It is my understanding that there will be a lottery.  More info. to follow.

Below is some additional info from our state DPI.


Teacher Working Conditions:  School information Packet Delivery - NCAE representatives will receive information regarding the Teacher Working Conditions Survey within the next two weeks. Every school will receive a package and, for schools without an NCAE representative, packages will be addressed to the principal. Principals, please give the packets to a teacher leader in your school for dissemination. Posters, access code information, help desk information and resource guides are included in the packets. More information may be found online at www.ncteachingconditions.org . 
 
Next Generation Assessments: Why online? - North Carolina has provided online assessments since 2005 when the administration of the computer skills test was completely online. The goal is that by 2014-15, all assessments will be administered online; this includes a new generation of assessments for grades 3-8 and high school subjects, as well as the SMARTER Balanced Assessments that will be online in 2014-15. Moving to an online delivery of assessments aligns with efforts already underway to provide online instructional resources, online formative and benchmark assessments, and online training and professional development for teachers. One other important reason that North Carolina plans to transition to online assessments is to take advantage of computer adaptive testing. As a governing member in the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, North Carolina plans to adopt the common assessments developed by the consortium, which are being designed in a computer adaptive format. A brief overview of the latest information on North Carolina’s online assessments can be found at www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/acre/assessment/assess1pageroct11.pdf . For more information on the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, please visit www.smarterbalanced.org/ . Questions on online assessments may also be directed to Kayla Siler at Kayla.siler@dpi.nc.gov.


  
Next Generation Assessments: Benefits of Online Assessments - There are several benefits to administering assessments online versus paper and pencil. By moving to online assessments, we can offer assessments that are increasingly multi-part, media-enhanced, performance-based, and better representative of the depth intended in the new standards. Another benefit is the availability of Computer Reads Test Aloud – Student Controlled accommodation for eligible students. The online assessments also offer several universal design features such as larger font sizes, and adjustable background colors. Additional benefits include: universal design, virtual highlighter and calculator, flexible scheduling/staffing, storage space, test security, reporting and cost effectiveness. To learn more about the benefits and timeline for transitioning to online assessments, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/assessment/online or contact  Kayla.siler@dpi.nc.gov.
 
EOQs all next week M-W with make-ups on Thursday.  Friday is an RS Day. Remember it is also a no workday for PRTs, TAs,Assistants.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Thursday-May 22nd

Good Morning.  Just a few important notes for today.  Mrs. Studevent will kick off the Pennies for Pasta campaign to raise money for leukemia today at 1:30.  This will be very brief and last 15-20 minutes only. Children will sit on the floor.  We will start calling classes about 1:20. Cassandra is at a PTLA Conference in Pennsylvania.  She will be back Monday.  Many of you asked for training in assessments so Sarah Huddleston will be here after school from 3:15-4:00 or so.  This is your opportunity to really learn about assessments.  We planned this wkshp. because you conveyed to us that you needed more training so I am hoping to see everyone there.  Reminder that if you are taking an annual day next Friday, get your slips in.  The 30th is one of the No Work Days for TAs/Assts./PRTs.  Please make sure you have your unit plan turned in to me by next Friday.  Also, I still have a few PEP documentation verification forms I have not received.  If you have an asst. and you have filled out your portion of the evaluation, please turn those in.  Send any family surveys and/or teacher surveys in to the office.  Home Moravian worked all day yesterday to beautify our school.  The new landscaping is just beautiful!  All of the labor, materials and plants were donated.  They are just awesome.

Upcoming Events:

3/23-EOQ Science
3/26-EOQ Reading
3/27-EOQ-MAth Active and Title I Audit
3/28-EOQ-Math In-Active
3/29 EOQ Make-ups
3/29 Performance DL goes Cross Country
3/30 Kntg. Training and RS Day
April 2-6 Spring Break
April 9-13th-Spirit Week
Saturday Academy April 14th and 28th

April 10th-FACULTY MEETING 3:15
April 11th-Report Cards due to Administrators Frazier k/1 Dobson2/3 Cannon4/5

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Monday, March 19th

Good Morning!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I did.  Remember that I am in Raleigh at a Reading Conference.  Just wanted to let you know that we have renewed our subscription to Brain Pop.  Please check it out and maximize our use of subscription time.  Make sure you have turned in your teacher survey and 4th and 5th grade surveys along with your retention lists and PEP verifications.  All due this week. Also, if you have spent your Home Moravian gift card, you can put receipts and thank you cards in the envelope outside my office.  There is also an envelope for Star 3 Unit Plans.  I will be turning in summer school lists tomorrow.  The students will be chosen by lottery. Please remind students about dress codes, no flip flops or spaghetti straps or short shorts:)  Thank you for being such a dedicated and hard working staff.  You all are incredible.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Friday, March 16th

Happy Friday!  Family Fitness Night was well attended last night and all of the families had a wonderful time.  There were many staff members in attendance.  Thank you Amanda Gordon, Mr. Stover, Mrs. Uhrig, Dusty Uhrig, Mrs. Washburn and her wonderful children, Mrs. Faqih, Ms. Wynns, Mrs. Green and Mohammed, Ms. Hess, and   Coach  McCutcheon,  Thanks Coach for organizing such a fun event for all of our students!  If I left anyone out, please let me know, I apologize.  Teachers, please remember to turn your surveys in.  There is an envelope outside my door, along with envelopes for Home Moravian, and 4th and 5th grade surveys.  I am sending out an important email this morning concerning our AG Program.   It is time sensitive.  There will also be an important message about summer school as well.  Don't be surprised if there is a Fire Drill today:)  Congratulations to Mrs. Moran's class who had a very successful skyping session yesterday.  Ask her all about it!!!!!   I'd love to see skyping all over the building.  Tere are voting booths set up in the library.  DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE FOR?  I do, Ask Judy!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Thursday, March 15th

I had a wonderful birthday!  Thank you so much for all the flowers, cards and kind sentiments.  You all are the best.  I received an email that had the following words of advice for being the best person you can.  Read through them, they are great ideas. 

Be humble. Understand you are a (small) part of the world. Service and patience should be your top priorities.
Be teachable. Focus on what you can learn, rather than what you know. Remember that almost everything you learn comes from the work of someone else.
Listen more. Make every effort to truly understand what others are saying (beyond just words). Allow a gap of silence before responding. Ask questions (and listen, again).
Appreciate people. Enjoy others' contributions. Don't squelch ideas or defend territory. Encourage more.
Relax. Let go of the need to be right or win every time.

We will have visitors in the building this morning. Dr. Fonseca, Asst. Superintendent of Instructional Services and David Sisk will be here between 9 and 11. I know we will put our best foot forward as usual.  He will be visiting classrooms.  I will be at a Principal's PLC and Elementary Principal's Meeting so email me if you need me. Have a wonderful day!!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Wednesday, March 14th

A note from Gloria: Reminder to turn in attendance sheets for Common Core Math Training if you would like credit:)  Thank you Third Grade for responding so quickly! You are awesome.  Jennifer will be attending a Financial Secretary's Meeting from 12:30-4:30. Don't forget that we will have a film crew here  filming Pre-K.  I have already received some Classified Employee Evaluations. Thank you.  Thank you! You all are amazing!  While we are mentioning due dates, don't forget teacher and student surveys:)  I believe I have almot everybodys PEP verifications.  If not, get those to me asap. HAVE A GREAT DAY!  Family Fitness Night is 6-8 on Thursday.  It is optional that you attend but I hope you do, as a support for our students and their families.  There is frozen yogurt involved:)

Monday, March 12, 2012

Top of the Morning To You! Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Welcome to a brand new day to enrich and inspire students. Today is the day you can make a difference in a child's life.  Smile and be happy because we have the best job ever!  Thank you to all our instructional support team for attending Juliet's workshop.  It was a great learning experience.  We  learned a lot about sounding out words, chanting and summarizing.  Remember to sign up for reading credit!  Great News...A film crew from channel 2 will be here with former news anchor Chris Runge to videotape Mrs. Hough's Pre-K Class.  How exciting! She will be teaching a unit in literacy with a focus on Eric Carle.  Reminder that this afternoon, we will have two assemblies from Duke Energy at 1:00 (pre-K/1/2) and 1:45 (3-5).  We will call you to the gym.  Have a glorious day.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Happy Monday!  I am off campus this morning for a Joint Principal's Meeting. Today will be the first full day for Cheryl!!! Reminder that tomorrow we will have 2 performances from Duke Energy.  Pre-k, 1 and 2 will be at 1:00 and 3,4,5 will be at 1:45.  The performance takes about 30 minutes.  Be sure to get your PEP verifications in to me today.  Have a wonderful day! Also, don't forget to turn gift card receipts in for Home Moravian Gift Cards:)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Happy Friday, March 9, 2012

Happy Friday Everyone!  Thank you for such a wonderful week of sharing and learning.  I am so proud to be your principal.  The level of rigor has really increased and the children are actively engaged everywhere you look!  Our students are really showing a lot of growth, thanks to all of your efforts.  Our Instructional Coaches Meeting will be at 7:30 am this morning and it is Hospitality Lunch Day.  Remember to turn your surveys in as well as your PDP documentation.

Our Third Graders had a great time learning last night with their families.  The teachers planned a great enrichment night.  The turn-out was terrific. A lot of hard work went into the evening.  Way to go Third Grade!

Good-Bye MR. GALE.  We will really miss you.  You have taught us a lot and have had such a positive impact on our school.  We appreciate all your hard work, smiles and stories.  You are now part of our family, come back anytime.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

What a glorious day already!  Our first graders are headed to the zoo.  Dr. Madison will chaperone, thank you Dr. Madison.  Tonite is Family Math Night for the third graders.  Dinner will be provided for the students and their parents compliments of Home Moravian Church.  They are so supportive. This is an excellent opportunity for our students and their parents to "practice" math! Way to go third grade team for increasing our parent involvement. Tomorrow morning, we will have our monthly Instructional Coaches Meeting.  Our Asst. Superintendents will be here. Tomorrow will be Hospitality Lunch and Mr. Gale's last day.  We are sad to see him go but he has a new grandaughter in his future and will be extremely busy and happy!!!  Teachers, don't forget to complete your student surveys (4-5) with your students and turn them in.  Also, complete your teacher survey.  They are very important.  In planning for next week, we will have another short picture day for those students that wish to purchase individual pictures.  We will send out an Alert Now Message for parents and Cheryl will get a schedule to you.  Thank you for all who have turned in your PEP Documentation Form.  Everyone else, don't forget to get yours to me:)

Today is International Women's Day.  We honor and respect all of our incredible women.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Wednesday, March 7th

Important: We have had a water leak outside my office between the two buildings.  There is no water in bldg. B this morning.  Ther workman have been here since 6:30.  We hope to have this resolved today.  In the meantime, use bathrooms by media and art centers.  Thank you for your understanding.  Please reiterate to the students that they need to be very frugal with soap, paper towels and toilet tissue.  I have just placed an order and we are very low.  Our budget has already been spent.  Please supervise.

TORNADO DRILL this morning at 9:30. Review directions again with students.

As part of our TITLE I Needs Assessment, we are sending out surveys to 4th and 5th grade students.  Please take some time to explain survey to students and let them fill them out in class.  You might want to do them together. Collect them and when completed, put your name on them and then put them in my box outside of my door.  The parent surveys will go home next Tuesday. Collect them as they come in.  Please fill out the teacher surveys as honestly as you possibly can and return those to my box as well. They can be anonymous:)  Thank you for all you do.  You are the best!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Good Morning!  Thank you to all grade levels who have turned in their CWT-Action Plans.  I appreciate you.  If your grade level has not turned that in, I would like them asap.  Last call. 5th graders will be going to the Mary Starling Concert this morning. Mrs. Dobson will also go along.  Please practice tornado drills with your students today in preparation for tomorrow's state wide drill at 9:30.  Please remind them that they should be on a zero talking level during  the drill for safety sake.  As you know, there have been tornados all around us and we need to be prepared to keep everyone safe. Cheryl will begin half days (am) this week beginning tomorrow.  Third Grade will have a Family Math night this Thursday night from 5:30-7:00.  Several of you have asked about taking an annual day on the 30th.  Kindergarten does have a 1/2 day common core training but barring "no snow", beforehand, it will be a RS day and you can take leave if you have it. Yeah! MRS. KENNEDY will have a sign up sheet for you to state your intentions for that day. I attended the AIG Steering committee yesterday.  No real news as of yet.  We are still working on details. Have a wonderful day and thanks for all you do.

Monday, March 5, 2012

PEP Information

Above, I mentioned that an attestation about DL completing PEPs was to be sent to Steve.  I will do that part.  If for some reason there are some you have that are not complete, get that info. to me asap.  Thanks:)

Monday, March 5th, 2012

Good Morning and Happy Monday.  I wanted to pass along some information to from our Assistant Superintendent. In order to fulfill DPI requirements I need an email from each of you stating that all students requiring PEPs indeed have a PEP.  Please send the email to the attention of Sarah as she will document all have been received. This document will stay on file in my office.  This documentation is to support a similar verification that is required of the Superintendent. Please make sure that ALL of your PDPs have been done and are complete to this point.  We will be checking. If you are having trouble getting a parent in to sign one, arrange with Mr. Madison to get an appointment set up so that he may try to contact them or provide transportation.  It is your responsibility to make sure the PEP is a working document. I know many of you have already completed these and have written one for everyone who needs one.  Please stay on top of this.  If there are problems, please see me at once.

Also, from Steve:
Please review with your staffs the proper protocol for children getting physically hurt at school. My basic rule of thumb is that at a minimum, if a child is in enough physical discomfort to complain to the teacher the parent needs to be notified. Not necessarily to come pick up the child but as an alert for the parents.
I believe we at DL do a pretty good job at this so let's continue to do so.  Document injury or illness, send child to the office, if it is an accident, be sure to fill out accident report. Call parent.

I have LEA training/ refresher at the end of the day.
Welcome Back Mrs. Crookshank!  Danielle will work with her during reading workshop and math to ease the transition this week.
Mrs. Frazier will be back 1/2 days starting Wednesday morning, and full time on Monday.  Friday will be Mr. Gale's last day.  He has been an incredible asset to our team and will be missed very much.

The program on Friday afternoon was outstanding!  Thank you all for your dedication and hard work.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Friday, March 2, 2012

Happy Friday! It will be a very busy day.  You will see workers out by the playground today working on the flood plain area. We will have our faculty picture at 7:30 am sharp along with class pictures today.  Our photographer has let us know that students can take individual pictures but we were not sent the order forms for this.  A few parents did pre-pay this morning for individual pictures when they were informed.  Thank you so much to Amanda Gordon and her wonderful committee for all of their hard work in planning for today's Black History Celebration.  We will have many special guests including the Diggs sisters:).  I would also like to thank Judy and everyone that assisted her with Read Across America Day.  You all amaze me, you continuously go above and beyond.  Reminder that Juliette will be here on Monday, March 5th and the 12th for Imagine It Training with a focus on routines, etc...  You all had asked for extra training in this area. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Good Morning Faculty and Staff!  Happy Thursday.  We would like to welcome Cassandra's cohort and administration to our school today.  We will be giving them a brief overview of our program.  They will be here until 11:30 or so in room 200.  Thank you SIT Members for your hard work and dedication during yesterday's SIT meeting.  Reviewing the feedback from the Star 3 team was very informative.  I am impressed that you have taken such ownership of our school plan.  Working together as a team is crucial to our success.  If your grade level has not turned in your CWT Action Plan yet, please do so asap. Have a great day!