Thursday, December 9, 2010

Please be careful with the use of the District email system.  It is not supposed to be used for personal use or personal business.  It is designed for professional communication.  I will be happy to make a "bulletin board" section on the blog for other communication desires if you like.

Due to the creative counselor schedules we have this year I would ask that you please do not "refer" students directly to the counselors.  I would like you to send those referrals through me so that I can assign the need based upon skills and availability. 

The annual school Christmas sing-along will be scheduled for Thursday, December 16th.  The majority of votes were for the afternoon so we will schedule to begin filling the gym at 1:45.  Fourth and fifth grade can decide whether to take a short recess and whether to schedule it before or after the sing-a-long.  First grade may opt to send their students with instructors of specials so that they may still meet together.  Maybe Yvonne could oversee a group for Lise since she will be leading the entire school.  Plan to send the students that do not celebrate Christmas to the computer lab for an alternative activity.  They may bring a book or assignment if needed.  Otherwise they will have some interesting sites to "play" since they should not feel penalized or embarrassed.

Our favorite nurse, Morgan has been working with Middle School students who will present their anti-tobacco  information to fourth and fifth grade students through the TATU program December 15th 10:30-11:30.  The presentations are approximately 30 minutes in length and will be presented in three classes simultaneously before moving on to the final two.  The Middle School teachers will then eat lunch at the Heights before moving to Mill Creek to present.

Not much float building took place on Wednesday.  Therefore we need lots of hands on deck come Saturday.  Please plan to meet us @ 3 pm w/ judging @ 4pm in the high school parking lot to help with final construction.  We need additional candy to hand out and a staple gun that does not require air or power.

The feedback from the Leadership Team was positive for our Character Education assembly. Except of course with the late start, but not much we could have done about that.  We will continue to host these the first Friday of every month right at 8:15.  The idea is to have the student centered.  We need grade levels to sign up for a month to launch the character trait of the month.  I will also need to be notified of student achievements to be highlighted, especially those that may happen outside of regular school events. Is there a class, grade level or buddy group that will take January and cooperation?

Universal screeners need to be done a minimum of three times a year in order for them to be screeners rather than a pre/post test.  Please schedule with your grade level to conduct screenings in January.  You might check the district list of universal screeners linked to the RtI page of the blog. IRI winter testing will take place in January as in the past.  Although the State is not mandating or paying for the winter IRI we have chosen to collect and use the data within the building and district.