Monday, October 1, 2012

Happy October Birthdays to Amanda Gordon on October 3rd, Stephanie Dulin on October 7th, Jaymie Almaguer on October 13th and Ann Farthing on October 21st!! We send warm birthday wishes their way.

Dixie Classic Fair-Amanda worked very hard to choose, set up and display student artwork at the fair so I hope you are able to get out to see it:)  The kids are so very proud.  Thanks Mrs. Gordon!

Curriculum Night- Thursday-I sent you an email with information concerning Curriculum Night.  This is our chance to showcase strategies and reading curriculum.  An Alert Now message has gone out and we will send a flier home Tuesday.  All specialists should plan on helping to direct parents to their classrooms and answer questions.  Classified employees are not expected to attend.

Mid-Term Reports go home on October 2nd.  Ms. Pullen will send out an email concerning a ClassScape training for those who need it.  Contact her for more information.

Phone Calls Home-Mrs. Bostian gave me the name of 8 students who were showing great character, behavior and academic progress on Friday. With the help of Mrs. Martinez, in some cases, we called all of these parents and they were thrilled.  A positive phone call from you or me goes a long way.  I encourage you to call home when you can to reward students.  Each phone call only took a minute or so but meant so very much to the student and parent.  I would be happy to call any parents of students that are showing great Tiger Pride in their work and behavior.  Just give me names and phone numbers.  It warmed my heart to make these calls.  Be sure to add any calls you make to your communication log.

PTA-Ms. Robinson will be sending in a t-shirt order this week.  Please do your best to join the PTA and Hospitality.  We have a very motivated PTA Board this year. They will meet 15 minutes before Curriculum Night in the gym to approve the budget.  It should only take a few minutes.

Monitoring-We have been in school for a month now and I am very impressed with your attitudes in motivating your students.  You know their strengths and weaknesses and this will truly help you in planning for their academic achievement.  Specific targeting and focused interventions in planning is key to their success.  Way to go!

Book Fair-We will hold our Book Fair to coincide with Fall Festival Week.  The children always look forward to this.  Mrs. Uhrig and Mrs. Piper work very hard to get this set up.  I am sure they can use a lot of volunteers.

Faculty Meeting-Tuesday, October 9th-We will have a representative for Flexible Benefits, the United Way Kickoff and Connie will present on Differentiation, and if we have time, we will discuss our Teacher Working Conditions Survey. If you need to be on the agenda, please email me.

Hospitality-Thank you Mrs. Hayes and the hospitality committee for all your great work.

Fall Pictures-Just an early reminder that Fall Pictures will be taken on October 18th.  We will have a faculty picture taken in the gym at 7:30 sharp.  Everyone, please plan to be in the gym on stage, ready to go at 7:30.

Chair Massage-Massage-Mrs. Jackson will provide discounted $8 chair massages for those interested.

Some Great Family News!

Congratulations to Maria Nail who will be getting married this weekend!!!!  We all wish her a beautiful day filled with sunshine and love.  Just a reminder that her wedding shower will be on the 8th of October in the Media Center after school.


I am so excited and I know you will be too. CONGRATULATIONS to Brook Hough and her husband who are expecting a baby this spring.  Now I am going to get to be a Principal Nana twice this year as both Brooke and Kate are expecting...so far:) Congratulations to both of these families:)

Have a terrific Friday!!!!!!!!

Friday, September 28, 2012

LOCK DOWN DRILL-Remember that this morning at 9:30, we will practice the lock-down drill. Everyone was required to view the video and sign-off that they had seen it.  We will make an announcement that we are under lock-down.  Please follow lock-down procedures immediately.  Remind the children that this is a very serious drill. 

WAKE FOREST DRAMA AND EDUCATION STUDENTS:  I have only heard from Grade 3 and Grade 4 concerning interest in being part of this great program in which students from Wake differentiate instruction based on your curriculum for 30-40 minutes a week from January to April.  Both Diggs and Latham have been a part of this program in the past and it has been very successful.  If your grade level is interested, let me know this morning by email.  Thank you.

Have a great day!!!!  Happy Friday!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Good Morning!  Thank you to Mrs. Jacobs, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Martinez and Ms. Frazier for all their hard work with LEP Parent Night last night.  It was very successful and the turnout was great.  Mrs. Jacobs and Mrs. Knight disseminated a lot of very important information.

Remember that we will have a lock-down drill tomorrow morning at 9:30.  Please be sure to go over the procedures with the children.  Keep them out of sight.   Be sure to tell them that someone will jiggle their door knob so thay do not get frightened.  Review procedures that Mrs. Frazier sent out earlier.

I need to know this morning who would be interested in working for 40 minutes a week from Jan. to April with the Wake Forest Drama and Education Students. They will work with you and your curriculum to bring a subject like social studies or science to life.  They have worked with both Diggs and Latham in the past and would like to do so again. Please email me today if your grade level would like to participate. I also need the 30-40 minute block of time you wish to use.  Probably, your social studies or science time would be a great time for this.  This is differentiation!  Let me know.

Have an absolutely wonderful day!!!

We Are A Family!

September 26, 2012

BackPack Program RibbonCutting-Diggs-Latham Media Center was the site of the Media Launch for the BackPack Program on Tuesday afternoon.  There were special guests from First Presbyterian Church, the City Council, and Second Harvest Food Bank.  As I was speaking to the audience about our wonderful children, I am reminded how hard we all work together to make sure our children are given every opportunity possible to help them be the best students they can be.  Those opportunities include hugs, kind words, respect, rigor and sometimes backpacks full of blessings, food!  I thank you for all you do everyday.  I am also grateful for the partnerships we have developed within our community.  We are truly a family.

LEP Parent Meeting at 5:30

A Chilly Tuesday, September 25th,2012

Good Morning!  Welcome to a brand new day.  It will be a busy one.  We have a SIT meeting this afternoon to specifically work on our plan and there is a Media Blitz at 4:00 to cover the backpack program and the food bank. We will hold that inthe media center.

Please sign up for Candle Tea.  We really need everyone to participate as everyone benefits from our partnership with Home Moravian.  Mallie is coming to pick up the sign-up sheet today.  It is posted in the lounge.  Please try to help. We need you. 

Don't forget to send us your schedules.  Have a great day and  enjoy your children!

A Couple More Notes for Monday...

Differentiation Resource-This is a great website that you might find helpful for differentiating in your classrooms.  www.diffcentral.com

Committee Meetings-The Administrative Interns in the building have decided to tackle the Committee Meetings by coming up with a sort of an A/B schedule so that we can minimize conflicts on committee meeting days.  Hope this helps.  You make suggestions and we try to listen and collaboratively come up with a solution.  I would expect the Admin. Interns to have something out to you by the end of this week:) 

Schedules-Mrs. Frazier and I along with Mrs. Kennedy need a copy of your schedules.  Remember to also post one outside your rooms.  Thank you:)

Happy Autumn! Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

Good Morning! I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend.
There will be a Volunteer Orientation this morning at 8:30.  Dr. Madison will review all of the guidelines for being the best volunteer you can be.  We hope to have a large crowd.

IMPORTANT-Please sign up first thing this morning to take a small shift at Home Moravian's Candle Tea.  Everyone should try their best to participate.  It is a leadership opportunity and a giveback to Home Moravian who does so much for us.  I have high expectations that everyone will participate for a 2 hour shift. It is the right thing to do. It is also fun! Thank you to everyone who has already signed up.  Even if you sent me an email, still sign up on paper. I need to give the sign up sheet to Mallie today.

Zumba will start the first week in October.  More details to come.

There will be a Media Launch here on Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 to publicize the Back Pack Kick-Off  and the Second Harvest Food Bank. You may see TV reporters or film crews.

PDPs and Self-Assessments-
I have already been reviewing PDPs and signing off on them.  We have also been scheduling first observations, so see me today if I am your evaluator and see Cheryl otherwise.

LEP Parent Night-5:30-6:30-9/26
United Way Training for our United Way Reps 9/26
STC Training at North Hills Grades 1-5 for new employees or those who want a refresher 4:00-6:00.

LOCK DOWN DRILL- 9:30 on 9/28 Please practice and stress the importance of the seriousness of this.  ALL of you should have seen the Critical Incident Video and have signed off on it by Thursday.

The FAIR-Amanda has worked hard to put together art work and artifacts for the upcoming Dixie Classic Fair.  I am sure Diggs-Latham's Art will be ooohed and ahhhed by all!  Thanks Amanda for your hard work.

Thank you so much to Mrs. Sumner, Mrs. Friel and Ms. Wynns for working so hard to get the book rooms organized. What a lot of work.  Please thank them when you see them because they have made your jobs easier by providing us with organized user-friendly rooms. We are appreciative.

Toyota Literacy starts this week.  HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Self-Assessments and PDPs:
We are scheduling meetings with all certified staff to discuss PDPs.  Come prepared to spend at least 15 minutes with us.

• Open McRel and log into your account/Bring your number and Observation Notebook I have asked you to keep.
• We will need to see that you have completed Self-Assessment.
• Open your PDP and be able to explain both of your goals and why you chose them.
• How will you self-monitor to make sure you meet your goals?
• Complete Electronic Signature
• Schedule first pre-conference for Observation one and schedule Observation 1.
• See Me or Mrs. Frazier as we would like all of these conferences finished in the next week and a half.

Great Star Strategies for Teachers and Schools

• Develop Quality Meaningful relationships with children
• Provide health related support services as needed
• Cultivate family and community partnerships
• Align classroom instruction and assessment
• Motivate the unmotivated!
• Build Academic Background Knowledge
• Design and deliver purposeful instruction
• Benefit from strong and supportive school and community leaders.

Star 3 Jobs and descriptions will be sent out today as discussed at SIT Meeting. Please return them by Monday.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!!

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

Ident-A-Kid today at 1:00.
Family Affairs:  Diggs-Latham Family: Please keep our wonderful cafeteria colleague, Terri Byers in your thoughts and prayers as she is going through some difficult times.  As you know, she fills our days, everyday, with kind words and gigantic, caring smiles.  Just let her know that you are thinking about her and give her one of those great big smiles right back!

Congratulations to Amanda Gordon, Artist Extraordinaire!  She entered several art pieces in the Stokes County Fair and won 7 out of 8 entries.  She won 7 ribbons and $33.  Photos of the entries are on her blog. 

 http://mandolinartist.blogspot.com/2012/09/stokes-county-fair-2012.html

Kudos also to Miss Stevenson who had a major part in preparing students for the Summer Enrichment Program that was such a huge success.  Mrs. Uhrig's son participated as well in that production.  He is a talented young man.

Continue to keep Jane Bullin in your prayers as well as all of our employees who are dealing with difficult issues.  Mrs. Brown, Miss Frazier, Ms. Reece, Mrs. Gilliam and Mrs. Lewis are all dealing with leg and foot issues.  We wish them a speedy recovery.  I would also like to give you an update on Mr. Crookshank. He continues to collect fluid in his abdomen. He is trying to keep his spirits up.  Please send warm wishes and prayers to their family.

HAPPY NOTES: Miss Nail will be getting married in a few weeks and Mrs. McGregor's baby will be here in a blink!  Please be sure to add your apple to the tree and encourage your student teachers to do the same.

My interview for Principal of the Year will be this morning.  Send lots of luck my way!!!

Have a wonderful Day.

Good Morning!!!

Today is September 19, 2012.  Hopefully, we will not have a tornado drill today but don't be surprised if there is a fire drill! 

Thank you so much to my incredible staff and faculty for nominating me for Principal of the Year.  I am very honored. I found out yesterday that I am a finalist!  I will have an interview tomorrow (9:30) at Truliant and the winner will be recognized on October 2nd.  Thank you all, you make my job easy:)

I would love to have the minutes from each committee that met yesterday.  If you have your self-assessment done and ready to check off, please see Mrs. Cannon or Ms. Frazier toset up a date so we can meet with you and get that accomplished. Meeting should take no longer that 15 minutes.

SIT will meet this afternoon.  We will start off in the gym on the stage as we are going to pack the grocery bags with food for tomorrow's title I Annual Parent Meeting and PTA.  All certified staff expected to attend.

Our Instructional Coordinator's Meeting went very well yesterday.  Thank you Data Team!  You did an awesome job preparing.

Monday September 17, 2012

Good Morning! Hope that everyone had an great weekend.  I was fortunate to volunteer at a very successful golf tournament in which $25,000 proceeds were given to Victory Junction.  It was a wet but great day!

Today we begin working with the Open Dream Ensemble.  It is an exciting event for the children!  They will learn a lot this week.  The Open Dream Performance is from 8:40-9:25.  3-5 teachers received a schedule for push ins from the group and instructions on getting classrooms ready.

I will be contacting you this week to go over your PDPs. Please have your PDP and Self-Assessments done.  Our meeting will be very quick:)  If you still need help, please contact me or Mrs. Frazier.

The NCAEYCC workshop was incredible and we all really learned a lot.

It was brought to my attention that many of you completed the application to nominate me for Principal of the Year.  I am very humbly honored. Thank you.

Finally Friday!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  I hope that everyone has a terrific day.  Please be super kind to Ms. Frazier who will have her hands full as well as the entire office staff.  As you know, there will be many subs in the building today.  The K and Pre-K teams are geared up for 2 days of learning and inspiration.  Remember that there will be no
lock-down drill today.  Have a great weekend.

Thursday, September 13th

Good Morning!  As you know the "Y" Program will be starting on Monday.  We are in need of classrooms.  If you would like to volunteer your room, please let Cheryl know this morning so she can contact Ms. Patton.  We do have a very good partnership with them so please consider lending your room out:)  Thank you!

Please be sure to have your Star 3 Leadership Applications to us no later than FRIDAY.  We have not received very many.  We need you to step up and take a role. There are some excellent perks besides the financial benefit.  Leaders will get to travel to Ron Clark's Academy in Atlanta!  We especially need strong candidates to take over for the tutoring program.

Heads up that Star 3 Observations will be starting very soon.  They will observe all returning core teachers first and then observe new teachers in 3 weeks or so.  I just received this information at my Star 3 Principal's Meeting today.  (The rubric is on line, go to district webpage, departments, Star 3)

I will be at a Principal's Meeting today and the NCAEYC Conference in Raleigh until Saturday.  You may reach me by email or cell.  Please be on alert Friday and help out in any way you can as we will have many substitutes in the building.  I know you will.  I appreciate you all so much!

Have a great day!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Good Morning!  Thank you for a very productive faculty meeting yesterday.  I wanted to let you know that I have contacted Ms. Chandlar at the Teacher Warehouse and voiced our concerns about vehicles driving in the back during school hours.  We hope to remedy this problem.

After reflecting last night on our communication plan, I have decided that having each grade level complete 2 addition curriculum nights might not be necessary.  Therefore,  I am revising it so that we will have school-wide curriculum nights on Reading and Math and each grade level will do ONE additional.  I hope this helps.  Please know that it is a district wide mission to increase parental involvement. I will amend our plan to reflect the one grade level night.
Lock Down Drill for Friday is rescheduled.  The new date is September 28th at 9:30.  Ident-A-Kid has also been rescheduled for Thursday, the 20th at 1:00.  They are supposed to get new forms to us to send out to our children. Any money you have should be sent to Ms. Kennedy immediately.

Remember that on Monday, we will have an Arts in Residence performance at 8:45 for all grade levels.

If you are on the Data Committee and are able, I would like to meet with you Monday after school at 3:00. Reminder that all other committees will be meeting at 3:10 on the 18th.  Please keep minutes to be turned in.

There is Beginner Promethean Board Training this afternoon at 3:15.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Good Morning!  I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend.  Thank you to everyone for turning in your focused learning math lesson plan.  I know this first one was a learning curve but you did an excellent job.

Literacy Engagement-Fueling Academic Growth for English Learners-I have placed a professional article in all certified employees boxes with the above title.  I hope you both enjoy and learn from it. It is an excellent article that offers insights into how to assist ESL learners.  Please read the article and bring it with you to Tuesday's faculty meeting.  Also, list 3 things you gleaned from the article and how they can help you in your own classroom. You can write the information on the back blank page of the article. Be prepared and ready to discuss article.

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Happy Birthday to Linda Studevent who celebrated a birthday on Sunday and to Kimberly Hall who will celebrate a birthday on the 13th.
Welcome Back Ms. Almaguer and Mr. Holmes. Mr. Franco is no longer with us, we have a substitute until a permanent replacement is found.

The funeral for Jane Bullin's dad will be today, September 10th at 2:00. Visitation will begin at 1:00.  It will be held at Winston-Salem Friends Meeting at 3151 Reynolda Road.  Once again, please keep her family in your prayers as this is a very difficult time.

Nohora's father also continues to be very ill and fighting for his life.  Her family has been staying at the hospital almost around the clock.  Her family needs your prayers as well. We are not sure when she will be back as of yet.

Home Moravian will be honored for their partnership with us and their Benevolence Contribution to our school at Tuesday's Board Meeting.

There will be a quick Evaluation Meeting for all classified employees this afternoon at 3:00ish.

Please make sure that you are on time in the mornings.  Also, please make sure you are at your duty posts on time.  I appreciate your effort in these areas.
Please consider joining Hospitality and PTA.

It's Friday

Family Affairs-Sad News.  Mrs. Bullin's father passed away unexpectantly.  Please, please keep Mrs. Bullin's family close to your heart and in your prayers. We will update you as we are informed.

Ident-A-Kid today at 1:00
4th and 5th grade presentation with Friends of Diggs-Latham has been cancelled for today. It will be rescheduled for next Friday.

Bell Summer School will be here testing tomorrow.  They will utilize grades 1 and 2.

Please turn your Math Lesson Plan in to your administrator today.  A paper copy is requested at this time.  Do not worry about putting on a shared drive as of yet.  Thank you.

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Good Morning!  We have had an eventful morning already!  Thanks to all the mentors and Mentees who met with me this morning.  Your job as a mentor is a very important one and we thank you for your service.  Also, thank you to everyone who attended the evaluations training.  I hope you found it beneficial,  The puppet show for 3rd grade is this morning. Be on stage and ready to go at 9:40.  Have a great day.

Wednesday, September 5th

Good Morning! 

Mr. Holmes had his surgery today and is doing well:)  He has a follow-up appointment tomorrow.  Keep him in your prayers.  Please keep Mrs. Martinez and her family in your prayers as well as she has flown to be with her father during his illness.  He is in Intensive Care.
I received information today from Connie Rogers concerning Star 3 Teacher Leader Positions and Application.  I will email you that information this week.

Walk-Throughs will continue today.  I have a Joint Principal's Meeting today so I will be out of the building.

Celebrate!!!  Home Moravian Benevolence Fund has approved $7000. in Funding for the Diggs-Latham Partnership. The funds will be used for Reading Incentives/Books, Fourth grade Trip to Raleigh on Amtrack, Parental Involvement, Teacher Wish-List Gift Cards and a Fifth Grade Celebration Trip TBD.  Hooray.

A Few More Items of Interest......

This is poor BOLT! Our students left him in the dust.  Fear not though, because I did pick him up! I took this picture last weekend at the Trinity Center's Dash for Cash Event.  We will be receiving our  check for winning first place this week.  We can discuss how to spend it at our next SIT Meeting.  I was also given a check for $50.00 in my honor made out to Diggs-Latham ES for speaking at First Presbyterian's Stop Hunger Event last week. We will put that money to good use as well.

The Flexible BENEFITS REPRESENTATIVE will be here to speak with you at our October Faculty Meeting for those interested.

Happy Birthday in September to Stephen Friel 9/4 TODAY!
Melissa Baccari-September 6th
Linda Studevent-September 9th
Kim Hall-September -13th
Dr. Madison-September 17th

I sent out updated events email so please add these items to your calendar.   As part of the School Boards Contract with Bell Summer Programs, we are required to have our building open for their Testing 3 Saturdays in September.  The rooms used will be all of the first and second grade rooms, and the cafeteria. Bell will be testing from 7:00-2:00 on Saturday, September 8,15, and 22nd.  There will be no need for us to cover walls.  Thank you for your patience.

There will be a quick Mentor Meeting this Thursday at 7:30am.  All mentors and Mentees, please attend.  If you have a conflict, please let me know.

Oh, what a busy week it will be!  Please read post below since I did two for today.