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Winning 24/7--June 8-12, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 6/7/2015 8:15:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!
COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:June 8 2nd/3rd Grade Field DayJune 9 K/1st Grade Field DayJune 9 School Improvement Team Meeting-7amJune 9 PTA Culminating Meeting at Pizza Hut---5pmJune 10 3rd Grade Read-to-Achieve RetestJune 11 Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony--9amJune 11 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony--6pmJune 12 Last Day of School/End of 4th QuarterJune 12 Report Cards Sent Home with StudentsJune 12 End-of-Year Assembl--1st-2nd @ 9am;/ 3rd-5th@10:30amJune 15 Teacher Workday--Required--ProtectedJune 16 Teacher Workday--RequiredSchool Improvement Team Meeting--8-11:30amEnd-of-Year LuncheonJune 16-17 Class Placement Meetings in the PMJune 17 Teacher Workday--Required--Tentative Math PDJune 18-22 Teacher WorkdaysUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Special Thanks to Sam's Club on Stratford for their Sams Club Team and our Konnoak Cardinals Team of players and cheerleaders for a great game on Tuesday, June 2. It was a great game with a positive turnout and lots of fun. Thanks to the PTA for providing the hotdog dinner. We also want to say a Special Thank You to Sam's Club for contributing $1,000 to support Konnoak Elementary School's students and staff. We appreciate our community partners!!!!*Thank you to Konnoak Hills Moravian for their generous donation to Konnoak and Philo-Hill after their recent festival. We appreciate your ongoing support of our school community and your dedication to making Konnoak better day-by-day.*Congratulations to the DIBELS SWEEP Team (Guerin, Prout, Poplin, Reilly, Blanco, Sayles, Gravely, Kluttz, Dennis, Mitchell, Jacobs, Drake and Kincaid) and classroom teachers for reaching 99% completion of the DIBELS and TRC Assessment for K-3. Thanks, team, for a job well done!!CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year's worth annually and that:By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.It is now time to see how we did in reaching these goals with a data review.In order to grow all students with 10 days left of school, it is essential that instructional days continue with literacy, math, science, social studies and writing instruction and tasks. Videos should not be used to fill instructional time. Instructional videos (brainpop, i-ready, etc.) should only be used during direct instruction for less than 10 minutes of any instructional period. This is a great time to embed PBL activities or integrated tasks for enrichment for all students.This is our last chance to make a difference with our current students for this year!Let's maximize every day, every minute, every opportunity!!!COMMUNICATIONSpecials: Reminder that the last day of Specials class will be Thursday, June 4 (unless specifically arranged between teachers). Specials teachers will be taking part in the Field Day events and will not be able to conduct class. June 10 and 11 will be days when Specials teachers will be closing out their programs, distributing materials, finalizing their ASW processes, assisting in designated ways and working on other year-end responsibilities. We have heard a few questions concerns about not having specials that we will discuss at SIT on Tuesday.New School Update: We anticipate an update this week in a meeting that I have with the project manager and the school designer. I'll update you when I know more.PTA: Thanks to the staff members who participated in or came out to support the Cardinals vs Sam's Club Basketball Challenge. We appreciate your support and presence!!! Please remind your students that the t-shirt logo design contest will end on Tuesday. Anyone who wants to submit a logo should do so by 9am on Tuesday. Please encourage students to do this, even in their free time on Monday. The winner will have his/her name on the actual design and will be celebrated by PTA.COMMITMENTFor the Month of June, our commitment is on "Finishing Strong." What can we do to help make the last 10 days of school positive, enriching, valuable and preparatory for each student? Let's make it memorable!!COLLABORATIONLet's all rally behind "finishing strong" this week and celebrating the summer as a chance for our students to "Read for the Gold". We need every student encouraged to read 30-60 minutes a day over the summer. We are also working on providing summer reading lists for every student to encourage them to read with a goal in mind. Students should be challenged to keep a reading log and read as many books as they can this summer. The goal would be 30 books for K-1, 50 books for 2-3 and 25 Chapter books for 3-5 readers. We'll work on getting a reading log sheet and suggested book list for each child's report card folder to you. Those students who reach the goals will receive a recognition when they return their logs to the office in August!!Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--June 1-5, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 5/31/2015 11:55:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:May 29-June 3 EOG Make-up TestingJune 2 Konnoak vs. Sam's Club Basketball Game--5:30pmJune 3 2nd Grade Field TripJune 4 3rd Grade Read-to-Achieve TestJune 5 4th/5th Grade and MG Field DayJune 5 Kindergarten Field TripJune 8 2nd/3rd Grade Field DayJune 9 K/1st Grade Field DayJune 9 School Improvement Team Meeting-7amJune 10 3rd Grade Read-to-Achieve RetestJune 11 Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony--9amJune 11 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony--6pmJune 12 Last Day of School/End of 4th QuarterJune 12 End-of-Year Assembly (grades 1-4)June 15 Teacher Workday--Required--ProtectedJune 16 Teacher Workday--RequiredSchool Improvement Team Meeting--8-11:30amEnd-of-Year LuncheonJune 17 Teacher Workday--Required--Tentative Math PDJune 18-22 Teacher WorkdaysUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to our 2015-16 Classified Employee of the Year, Ms. Tia Parker, our Data Manager. Congratulations!!!!We also want to congratulate our nominees for CEOY --Mr. Brantley, Ms. Treadwell, Mrs. Hinshaw, Evelyn Elliott.*Congratulations to our 3rd-5th grade and Multi-grade students and teachers for their hard work last week in testing. We had 100% of third graders tested and are nearing 100% of 4th and 5th with make-ups being completed. This speaks volumes for your dedication to succeed and we are proud of you!!!!*Congratulations to the 3rd-5th grade teachers for a wonderful EOG session. Special Thanks to the Testing Team (Murphy,Sayles, Gravely), Test Administrators, Proctors and those who monitored the testing areas. We appreciate all of you!!!*Special Thanks to our Community Partners (Konnoak Moravian Church, Konnoak Hills Baptist, United Christian and Flowers, Inc) for their donations of testing snacks and materials, as well as the Principals' Lunch Club sponsorship.*Special thanks to Mrs. Worrell, Ms. Treadwell, Ms. Ingram and Ms. Brannan for being super troopers while the district is working to get the air conditioning unit fixed in the Media Center. We contact daily about the urgent need for repair or for portable air conditions, and we'll continue until the system is fixed.CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year's worth annually and that:By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.It is now time to see how we did in reaching these goals with a data review.In order to grow all students with 10 days left of school, it is essential that instructional days continue with literacy, math, science, social studies and writing instruction and tasks. Videos should not be used to fill instructional time. Instructional videos (brainpop, i-ready, etc.) should only be used during direct instruction for less than 10 minutes of any instructional period. This is a great time to embed PBL activities or integrated tasks for enrichment for all students.This is our last chance to make a difference with our current students for this year!Let's maximize every day, every minute, every opportunity!!!COMMUNICATIONSpecials: Everyone should follow the regular Specials Schedule for Monday-Thursday of this week. On Friday, Monday and Tuesday (June 5, 8, and 9), Specials teachers will be taking part in the Field Day events and will not be able to conduct class. June 10 and 11 will be days when Specials teachers will be closing out their programs, distributing materials, finalizing their ASW processes, assisting in designated ways and working on other year-end responsibilities. Therefore, the last day of Specials class will be Thursday, June 4 (unless specifically arranged between teachers).New School Update: Awaiting some preview information on the new schoolClassified Employee of the Year: Congratulations to our nominees for the CEOY for 2015-2016. If you did not do so on Friday, please turn your ballot in to the envelope in my door by Tuesday at 3:00pm.End of Year Checklist: This will be distributed by Email by Tuesday at 3pm.PTA: Please encourage your students to come to the Konnoak Cardinals Staff vs Sam's Club Employees Tuesday at 5:30pm for a battle on the court. We hope you and your family will come and support this event as well. Hotdogs, chips and drinks will be served with $1.00 admission.The PTA is also sponsoring a t-shirt design contest for 2015-2016. We expect the shirt to include a Konnoak Cardinal character and the theme of Reading. The rest is up to them. Please encourage students to send in an entry. The winning design will be made into school spirit shirts for next year. The goal is that every student would have a school shirt for field trips and spirit days.COMMITMENTFor the Month of June, our commitment is on "Finishing Strong." What can we do to help make the last 10 days of school positive, enriching, valuable and preparatory for each student? Let's make it memorable!!COLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--May 25-29, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 5/25/2015 8:45:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:May 25 Memorial Day Holiday--No SchoolMay 26 All-Star Faculty Meeting--7amMay 26 Retention Committee Meeting DayMay 27-29 EOG Testing (3rd-5th)May 27 PBIS Meeting at 3:15pmMay 28 Deadline for Mentor Logs (please submit ASAP)May 29 Principal's Lunch Club--11:00amMay 29-June 3 EOG Make-up TestingJune 2 Joint Principals' MeetingJune 3 2nd Grade Field TripJune 4 3rd Grade Read-to-Achieve TestJune 5 4th/5th Grade and MG Field DayJune 5 Kindergarten Field TripJune 8 2nd/3rd Grade Field DayJune 9 K/1st Grade Field DayJune 9 School Improvement Team Meeting-7amJune 10 3rd Grade Read-to-Achieve RetestJune 11 Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony--9amJune 11 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony--6pmJune 12 Last Day of School/End of 4th QuarterJune 12 End-of-Year Assembly (grades 1-4)June 15 Teacher Workday--Required--ProtectedJune 16 Teacher Workday--RequiredSchool Improvement Team Meeting--8-11:30amEnd-of-Year LuncheonJune 17 Teacher Workday--Required--Tentative Math PDJune 18-22 Teacher WorkdaysUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to our 5th graders and 5th grade teachers for having 100% ATTENDANCE for Friday's Science End-of-Grade Test. This speaks volumes for your dedication to succeed and we are proud of you!!!!*Congratulations to the following teachers for completing Module 4: Kindergarten Team and D. Tabor! Great job, Team!*Congratulations to the 3rd-5th grade teachers for a wonderful EOG Pep Rally on Thurdsay!! Great motivation from the Testing Team (Murphy, Sayles, Gravely), Mr. Gordon and the EOG dancers, the Konnoak Cheerleaders and the D-Unity dancers and special guests. We are ready to Strive for 5!!!*Congratulations to the Konnoak Soccer Team for finishing their season 8-1. We are proud of you!*Congratulations to our recent College Graduates: Ms. S. Dennis, Ms. S. Xing, Ms. C. Zhang and Ms. J. Martin!!! We are proud of you all!!!*Congratulations to the Single Gender Breakfast Club for completing year 2 of the professional development cohort. We are really proud of all that you accomplished in creating this community of learners and look forward to your many upcoming accomplishments (including, the plan for next year's cohort, your willingness to be a mentor for next year's cohort, and the upcoming presentations for many of you in the summer conference for WSFCS. Thanks to Dr. Willette Nash for her leadership and guidance in this professional journey.CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year's worth annually and that:By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.Which students have reached these goals and which ones need intervention/support?What do you/we have in place to ensure that every student grows academically in reading and math?What will you do in the last 14 days to maximize growth and proficiency?Are you in it to win it?This is our last chance to make a difference with our current students for this year.Let's maximize every day, every minute, every opportunity!!!!COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: Last week, all staff were asked to give input to be a part of the initial process by completing this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GK9YPX5 . A few people completed the survey and it is still open. Please take a few minutes to share your in put about small and large details, factors to consider, and ways to "scream the theme" of global awareness, technology, culture and the Cardinal Nation throughout the campus. On Thursday, we met with Mr. Powell and the designer to discuss information that will be shared at the Faculty Meeting. Thanks to the Design Committee Volunteers: Mr. Airo, Ms. Miller, Ms. Thomas and Mrs. Trivitte. We will schedule a first meeting when we get the go ahead from the district leadership.Classified Employee of the Year: Congratulations to our nominees for the CEOY for 2015-2016. If you did not do so on Friday, please turn your ballot in to the envelope in my door by Tuesday at 3:00pm.COMMITMENTFor the Month of May, we should remember that every child is counting on us. This year, we are the ones who make a difference in their academic, emotional and social growth by the opportunities that we provide to engage them in learning. They are waiting to EXCEL and the most important two people in that plan are you and the student. Here is a clip that we'd like you to watch this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkwCOLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--May 18-22, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 5/17/2015 4:25:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:May 4-22 End-of-year DIBELS/TRC Assessment (K-3)May 19 School Improvement Team Meeting--7amMay 19 PTA Meeting at 6pmMay 20 New Cardinals on the Block Meeting--3:15pm Science LabMay 21 Single Gender Breakfast Club--7am--Media CenterMay 21 EOG Pep Rally--1:30pmMay 22 5th Grade EOG Science TestMay 25 Memorial Day Holiday--No SchoolMay 26 Retention Committee Meeting DayMay 27-29 EOG Testing (3rd-5th)Upcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.**End of Grade Testing is May 22-29, with makeups and other tests occurring through June 4.***Principal's Lunch Club is scheduled for May 22. We are trying to see if our donors will allow us to move it to Thursday to avoid the testing date. Final decision to follow soon.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to the following teachers for completing Module 4: S. Xing, F. Brannan, and H. Ingram! Great job, Team!*Congratulations to Mr. Gordon and the D-Unity Dancers for a successful evening of talent, fun and entertainment, all nestled within a great message about anti-bullying. Great performance and special thanks to Mr. Gordon for sharing his choreography and writing skills!!!*Congratulations to Mrs. Tesha Green for being recognized as one of the district's finalist for Classified Employee of the Year, after being nominated by Sedge Garden. We are proud of you!*Congratulations to our recent College Graduates: Ms. S. Dennis, Ms. S. Xing, Ms. C. Zhang and Ms. J. Martin (this week)!!!We are proud of you all!!!CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year's worth annually and that:By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.Which students have reached these goals and which ones need intervention/support?What do you/we have in place to ensure that every student grows academically in reading and math?What will you do in the next 24 days to maximize growth and proficiency?Are you in it to win it?This is our last chance to make a difference with our current students for this year.Let's maximize every day, every minute, every opportunity!!!!COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: Hooray!!! We are now ready to begin the design process for our new school. We will first get some of the specifications and non-negotiable information. Then we will begin the process of planning. If you would like to be on the New School Planning Team, please email me by Wednesday at 3pm and let me know. All staff will give a chance to be a part of the initial process by completing this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GK9YPX5 . A few people completed the survey when it was first sent out for input and provided some awesome, specific and creative visions of what they would like to see in our new facility. Please take a few minutes to share your in put about small and large details, factors to consider, and ways to "scream the theme" of global awareness, technology, culture and the Cardinal Nation throughout the campus.EVAAS Re-rostering: Thanks to all teachers who worked so hard on verifying EVAAS Rosters. In checking our status, I found that we had 30 overclaimed students and 158 underclaimed students. However, thanks to the specialists providing requested information and your great job of letting me know about individual student situations, I was able to get us closer to completion with 6 overclaimed students and 130 underclaimed students. The good news is that all of those can be reconciled by having their previous schools or current schools (if transferred) to make their edits. Several of them involve situations where 2 teachers share responsibility and one may no longer be in the WSFCS system. So, we did a great job and will conceivably be totally finished by May 24th if the last four teachers submit their rosters (as they were emailed a reminder to do this week). Let me know if you have any questions. I will be reviewing lists and marking them as Approved when those four are complete.COMMITMENTFor the Month of May, we should remember that every child is counting on us. This year, we are the ones who make a difference in their academic, emotional and social growth by the opportunities that we provide to engage them in learning. They are waiting to EXCEL and the most important two people in that plan are you and the student. Here is a clip that we'd like you to watch this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkwCOLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--May 11-15, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 5/11/2015 8:00:00 AMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:May 4-22 End-of-year DIBELS/TRC Assessment (K-3)May 12 Mid-Term Report Sent HomeMay 12 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amMay 14 Elementary Principals' MeetingMay 14 D-Unity Performance NightMay 22 5th Grade EOG Science TestMay 22 EOG Pep Rally--1:30pmMay 25 Memorial Day Holiday--No SchoolMay 26-29 EOG TestingUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.**End of Grade Testing is May 22-29, with makeups and other tests occurring through June 4.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to the following teachers for completing Module 4: S. Dennis, M. Ervin, N. Reich, L. Novak, and L. Kluttz! Great job, Team!*Congratulations to Mr. Gordon and the D-Unity Dancers for spectacular performance at Konnoak Moravians' Music Festival. We are so proud of their demonstration of skill and school pride.*Special Thanks to the Konnoak PTA, PDQ Restaurant, and the students and parents of Konnoak for celebrating our staff last week for Teacher Appreciation. Our Staff is special and deserved every celebration (and more)!*Thanks to the Administrative Team for their support, organization and coverage of picture day and other school events in the past few weeks. We appreciate your flexibility!CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year's worth annually and that:By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.Which students have reached these goals and which ones need intervention/support?What do you/we have in place to ensure that every student grows academically in reading and math?What will you do in the next 24 days to maximize growth and proficiency?Are you in it to win it?This is our last chance to make a difference with our current students for this year.Let's maximize every day, every minute, every opportunity!!!!COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: County Commissioners voted to raise the debt ceiling and to eliminate the ???? We are still awaiting the decision on funding the Konnoak/Lowrance project. However, it is now time to start the architectural planning as we enter the summer/fall. We will send you a survey to find out your suggestions, recommendations and needs for the new facility. Just keep in mind, this will be an accumulated needs/wants list that will start the conversation about the design of the new facility. Your input is important as we formulate how this facility can help us motivate our students in a safe, inviting environment that meets our instructional needs.EVAAS Re-rostering: Thanks to the teachers who attended the EVAAS verification session and those who have verified their list All K-5 teachers are reminded to verify your list this week and then to click Submit All Rosters so they come to Mrs. Burnette. Also, please remember that the column on the left is only adjusted from 100% IF the teacher had a medical/maternal leave that needs to be factored in by number of days absent OR if the student moved into Konnoak or out of Konnoak within the school year. The column on the right is to represent that percent of time you, EC or ESL are responsible for teaching that subject area. Remember, this is the process where I review, edit and create rosters/student lists in the EVAAS database. Then I will verify that those lists are in and accurate. If you need help, please check with a colleague that attended one of the three sessions or email me with any questions that you have. Your window should be April 27-May 24th, but you will want to complete it early so there is time to make edits where necessary.COMMITMENTFor the Month of May, we should remember that every child is counting on us. This year, we are the ones who make a difference in their academic, emotional and social growth by the opportunities that we provide to engage them in learning. They are waiting to EXCEL and the most important two people in that plan are you and the student. Here is a clip that we'd like you to watch this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkwCOLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--May 4-8, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 5/3/2015 8:40:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:May 4-8 Teacher/Staff Appreciation WeekMay 4-8 Book Fair/Reading WeekMay 4-22 End-of-year DIBELS/TRC Assessment (K-3)May 5 Joint Principals' MeetingMay 5 Literacy Night/RTA "One World, Many Stories" 6-7pmMay 5 VIF Module 4 dueMay 6-7 Afterschool tutoringMay 7 5th Grade Celebration Pictures (9-11am)May 7 Single Gender Breakfast Club--7am Media CenterMay 10 Mothers' DayMay 12 Mid-Term Report Sent HomeMay 12 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amMay 14 Elementary Principals' MeetingMay 14 D-Unity Performance NightUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.**End of Grade Testing is May 22-29, with makeups and other tests occurring through June 4.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to the following teachers for completing Module 4: J. Martin, J. Williams, H. Hall, V. Blanco, H. Boutkhili, and J. Jacobs! Great job, Ladies!*Thanks to Mrs. Dobson, Ms. Gravely, Ms. Sayles, Mrs. Cotter and Mr. Airo for their presentations/participation in last week's Instructional Coordination Meeting. They represented the staff and our work with the School Improvement Plan, Vertical Teams and PLTs very well.*Happy Teachers'/Staff's Appreciation Week to you all. We appreciate you and all that you do to touch the lives of children every day. We are thankful for you! Please remember all of our staff this week as we celebrate one another for this week of appreciating everyone that impacts the work that we do at Konnoak!*Special THANKS to Mr. Gordon for his leadership in hosting the Health Fair last week and leading the exercise classes for our staff. Also, congrats for their performance this weekend and for pending performances in the next two weeks. We appreciate the dedication he shows to fitness, wellness and enjoying life. Keep modeling, Mr. Gordon--Be contagious!*Thanks to EVERYONE for the collaboration last week to support the PBIS field trips for over 400 of our students last week. Ms. Tabor, Mrs. Coe and the PBIS team planned a nice series of locations and made lots of pre-arrangements for the trips, the dance and for specials. We appreciate all specialists who took on various roles, teachers who oversaw the trips and events, staff who remained on campus to faciltitate PBIS lessons and Mrs. Dobson for her hard work in getting the buses arranged. Thanks to you all for being exquisite!!!!CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year's worth annually and that:By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.Which students have reached these goals and which ones need intervention/support?What do you/we have in place to ensure that every student grows academically in reading and math?What will you do in the next 17-20 days to maximize growth and proficiency?Are you in it to win it?This is our last chance to make a difference with our current students for this year.Let's maximize every day, every minute, every opportunity!!!!COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: County Commissioners voted to raise the debt ceiling and to eliminate the ???? We are still awaiting the decision on funding the Konnoak/Lowrance project. However, it is now time to start the architectural planning as we enter the summer/fall. We will send you a survey to find out your suggestions, recommendations and needs for the new facility. Just keep in mind, this will be an accumulated needs/wants list that will start the conversation about the design of the new facility. Your input is important as we formulate how this facility can help us motivate our students in a safe, inviting environment that meets our instructional needs.STAR3 Lesson Plans: STAR3 Lesson plans were due by April 28 at 3:30pm. We are still missing a few (teachers will be emailed) that must be turned in Monday. Nancy Scoggin will need to pick them up for the committee to review. Please make sure they include 2 consecutive lessons taught to students and that they reflect your components of Learning Focused Lesson Plans. Some even labeled those items on their format of lesson plans for clarity. Thanks.,EVAAS Re-rostering: All K-5 teachers, as well as others who teach math, reading or science to the students, will be receiving emails about the EVAAS Verification process. Remember, this is the process where I review, edit and create rosters/student lists in the EVAAS database. Then I will verify that those lists are in and accurate. The system will prompt you to review and make edits as well. At that point, you will need to enter in the percentage of time you teach the students the subjects of reading, math and/or science (based on if others have moved on) and to verify the percentage of time the child has been enrolled with you and accessed your teaching (based on transfer dates, teacher's medical leaves,etc.). Please look out for these emails from EVAAS with pending timelines. Your window should be April 27-May 24th.COMMITMENTFor the Month of May, we should remember that every child is counting on us. This year, we are the ones who make a difference in their academic, emotional and social growth by the opportunities that we provide to engage them in learning. They are waiting to EXCEL and the most important two people in that plan are you and the student. Here is a clip that we'd like you to watch this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkwCOLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--April 27-May 1, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 4/27/2015 7:00:00 AMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:April 27 Magnet Team Meeting in Science Lab--3:15pmApril 28 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 28 4th Grade Send Reading Progress ReportApril 29 PBIS Team Meeting in Computer Lab--3:15pmApril 30 Mentor Logs DueApril 30 Instructional Coordination Meeting at 3:30pmUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to Mrs. Smith, Mr, Lanier, Mr. Mitchell, the Specials and the ESL team who presented for hosting a fabulous Earth Day experience for students. We also appreciate our volunteers who helped to make it a success and our teachers/TAs who supported the plan for the day!*Thanks to Nurse Lott for all that she does in monitoring our students' health status and advising us on a daily basis.*Thanks to our Administrative Assistant Team: Mrs. Minor, Ms. Parker and Mrs. Blanco, for all hat they do on a daily basis to assist students, parents, teachers, administration and the community. We appreciate you!!!*Thanks to Mrs. Cassietta, our SMO supervisor, for always going the extra mile to look out for our school, even on weekends.*Thanks to Ms. Parker, Mrs. Minor, Mrs. Blanco, Mrs.Cassidy and Mr. Brantley who maintained the Parent Involvement Coordinator responsibilities over the past few months. We appreciate their teamwork and pitching in with administration. Tesha Green, our new Parent Involvement Coordinator, begins with us today. Welcome to Mrs. Green and we look forward to helping her get to know our staff/team and students.CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year’s worth annually, that:
By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.
By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.
By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.
By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.
in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.
What are you strategies that you will use to "do your part for your students?"What will your team do to help reach the schoolwide goals and to reach our vision sooner than later?COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: County Commissioners are continuing their conversations about the debt limit and the level of support for rebuilding Konnoak and Lowrance ahead of the 2016 bond issue. Feel free to write, call or email our commissioners to help them know of the needs of Konnoak in the hopes that our project won't get pushed back 2-3 years. We know that we have district support and several commissioners realize the urgency we face daily.STAR3 Lesson Plans: Please see the email regarding the STAR3 Lesson plans for all certified teachers. These are due by April 28 at 3:30pm.EVAAS Re-rostering: All K-5 teachers, as well as others who teach math, reading or science to the students, will be receiving emails about the EVAAS Verification process. Remember, this is the process where I review, edit and create rosters/student lists in the EVAAS database. Then I will verify that those lists are in and accurate. The system will prompt you to review and make edits as well. At that point, you will need to enter in the percentage of time you teach the students the subjects of reading, math and/or science (based on if others have moved on) and to verify the percentage of time the child has been enrolled with you and accessed your teaching (based on transfer dates, teacher's medical leaves,etc.). Please look out for these emails from EVAAS with pending timelines. Your window should be April 27-May 24th.PBIS field trips will be April 29 and 30. Please look out for emails from Ms. Tabor and please make sure forms are submitted each morning. Teams should identify who will remain on campus with the group and who will attend the trip based on the number of students remaining on campus. Safety is a priority, so please plan accordingly. Ms. Tabor will provide us your list of which teachers are doing what so we can approve it before Wednesday. We are also trying to determine if the lunch schedule should be adjusted if the bulk of grade levels are on the trip to allow the cafeteria staff to adjust hours to serve lunch to our two late returning groups, so we need your verified numbers to Ms. Tabor today.COMMITMENTFor the Month of April, we are excited to have everyone focus their energies on Celebrating Success. Whether it's a celebration of assessment data, progress monitoring, growth on a skill, improvement in a standard, or your pride in your class or colleagues, this is a month of celebration. Celebrate someone or something in your class/school everyday (or every class even). Make sure everyday before you leave work, you write down a celebration or positive for a student, group, your class, or you and your class. With so much success, growth, achievement and improvement have to be an "indirect result." We look forward to seeing great intervention work this semester.COLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--April 20-24, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 4/19/2015 11:00:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:April 20-22 ITBS Testing Make-ups for K-2April 20-24 Wells Fargo Financial Literacy Sessions20th--K; 21st--1st grade; 22nd--2nd grade;23rd--3rd grade; 24th--4th and 5th gradeApril 20 Third Grade Field Trip to Discovery PlaceApril 21 School Improvement Team Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 21 Single Gender Information Night/Performance--5:30pmApril 22 Earth Day (please wear green or earth tones today)April 23 Single Gender Breakfast ClubApril 24 Principals' Lunch Club (April)--11amApril 27 Magnet Team Meeting in Science Lab--3:15pmApril 28 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 28 4th Grade Send Reading Progress ReportApril 29 PBIS Team Meeting in Computer Lab--3:15pmApril 30 Mentor Logs DueApril 30 Instructional Coordination Meeting at 3:30pmUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to Mr. Gordon for hosting the weekly Fitness/Workout classes on Tuesdays for staff. Thank you!!!*Thanks to Mrs. Stephenson for being such a great Lead Secretary Substitute. She was a great team player and kept everything running so smoothly. We presented her a pink rose bush, called a "knock out rose" for her to plant and remember us when she is away. Welcome back, Mrs. Minor!Congratulations on the high rate of maintain our proficient students in green at BOY to green at MOY on their composite DIBELS scores. Also, congratulations to Kindergarten, first and third grade for the overall movement of students yellow in DIBELS at BOY moving to green/proficient at MOY.*CLEAR VISION.As a school, we share the following vision from our School Improvement Plan:
What will you do this quarter in order to help us reach these goals this week, in the near future, or by the end of the year.It is our vision that being educated at Konnoak means our students grow more than a year’s worth annually, that:
By 2020, 90% of third graders will be proficient.
By 2017, 100% of students will demonstrate academic growth.
By 2017, 100% of teachers will receive professional support to reach/exceed proficient on teacher evaluation standards.
By 2017, we will reduce the number of office discipline referrals by 50%.
in order to ensure that our students leave Konnoak with their career and college readiness skills.
What are you strategies that you will use to "do your part for your students?"What will your team do to help reach the schoolwide goals and to reach our vision sooner than later?COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: County Commissioners are continuing their conversations about the debt limit and the level of support for rebuilding Konnoak and Lowrance ahead of the 2016 bond issue. Feel free to write, call or email our commissioners to help them know of the needs of Konnoak in the hopes that our project won't get pushed back 2-3 years. We know that we have district support and several commissioners realize the urgency we face daily.EVAAS Lesson Plans: Please see the email regarding the EVAAS Lesson plans for all certified teachers. These are due by April 28 at 3:30pm.EVAAS Re-rostering: All K-5 teachers, as well as others who teach math, reading or science to the students, will be receiving emails about the EVAAS Verification process. Remember, this is the process where I review, edit and create rosters/student lists in the EVAAS database. Then I will verify that those lists are in and accurate. The system will prompt you to review and make edits as well. At that point, you will need to enter in the percentage of time you teach the students the subjects of reading, math and/or science (based on if others have moved on) and to verify the percentage of time the child has been enrolled with you and accessed your teaching (based on transfer dates, teacher's medical leaves,etc.). Please look out for these emails from EVAAS with pending timelines. Your window should be April 27-May 24th.Earth Day activities: will take place on April 22. We will have 10 stations that include: planting an herb garden, planting a butterfly garden, gardening vegetables, planting in the international garden, composting, recycling and campus clean. Each grade level will attend during your specials on April 22nd. You will receive an assigned area for your students to attend (so your class will be split into small groups in order to allow each class to have students that experience different things to come back and share). Stay tuned for more details. However, PLEASE donate or loan any gardening and planting tools, any seeds, any plants or funds towards purchasing plants for the community to use. Donations will also help us purchase soil, seeds for students to take home plants, etc. We also look forward to everyone making this a success and teaching our students the value of the Earth. We also ask that you wear green or "earth tones" on Wednesday to support Earth Day. Thanks,COMMITMENTFor the Month of April, we are excited to have everyone focus their energies on Celebrating Success. Whether it's a celebration of assessment data, progress monitoring, growth on a skill, improvement in a standard, or your pride in your class or colleagues, this is a month of celebration. Celebrate someone or something in your class/school everyday (or every class even). Make sure everyday before you leave work, you write down a celebration or positive for a student, group, your class, or you and your class. With so much success, growth, achievement and improvement have to be an "indirect result." We look forward to seeing great intervention work this semester.COLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--April 13-17, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 4/13/2015 5:00:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:April 13-17 ITBS Testing for K-2April 13 New Cardinals on the Block Meeting in Mrs. Snyder's RoomApril 14 Report Cards Sent HomeApril 14 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 14 STAR3 Team MeetingApril 15 Early Release Day at 12:50pmApril 16 Elementary Principals' MeetingApril 17 Academic Awards Assemblies2nd & 3rd 8:40-9:40amK & 1st 9:50-10:50am4th & 5th 11:00-12:00pmApril 20-24 Wells Fargo Financial Literacy Sessions20th--K; 21st--1st grade; 22nd--2nd grade;23rd--3rd grade; 24th--4th and 5th gradeApril 20 Third Grade Field Trip to Discovery PlaceApril 21 School Improvement Team Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 21 Single Gender Information Night/Performance--5:30pmApril 22 Earth DayApril 23 Single Gender Breakfast ClubApril 24 Principals' Lunch Club (April)--11amApril 27 Magnet Team Meeting in Science Lab--3:15pmApril 28 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 28 4th Grade Send Reading Progress ReportApril 29 PBIS Team Meeting in Computer Lab--3:15pmApril 30 Mentor Logs DueApril 30 Instructional Coordination Meeting at 3:30pmUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Congrats to Mr. Lanier and Mrs. Smith for helping to jumpstart the Earth Day Celebration. More details below.*Thanks to the staff members who helped with the Tutoring Progress Monitoring for 4th-5th grade (Ms. Gravely, Ms. Sayles, Ms. V. Blanco, Mrs. Jacobs, Mrs. Snyder, Ms. Drake, Mr. Airo and Mrs. Bongweni). If I missed someone, please let me now. Thanks for all of the dedication!*Early Release Day on Wednesday starting at 1:20pm. All K-5, ESL and Reading teachers (and anyone else who attended the fall training for Thinking Mas) will meet in the Media Center. All Specials Teachers, Teacher Assistants, and anyone else who hasn't been trained on Thinking Maps with us will Meet in the Science Room. The focus will be on Thinking Maps. Remember, all teachers were asked to use a Thinking Map with a frame of reference with your students and to bring that back to the next Early Release to share. So, we'll need you to bring those on Wednesday to your session. Thanks all!CLEAR VISION.While we will continue the implementation of Marzano's high yield strategies to help us reach our goals, I wanted to share something that resonated with me from my reading over break. This excerpt comes from Eric Jensen (Teaching With Poverty in Mind" and as I type it, I will replace the words "you" and "your" with "we" and "our" because this is relevant to every one of us that educates children. Please read and see what you can take away from his insight. This reminds us why what we do is so important for our students! I am thankful that we are focused on doing this work together!Let's assume we're implementing the SHARE (Support the whole child, Hard Data, Accountability, Relationship Building, Enrichment Mind-Set) factors in this chapter. Will implementation guarantee success? Passion comes from feeling responsible and accountable for results, which means it's the rigor, intensity, and duration of the enriching education we provide that matters. Let's do the math. Here's what our staff is up against:1. Every student in our school gets 168 hours each week (7 days x 24 hours).2. Subtract the time kids spend on sleeping, eating, grooming, dealing with medical and transportation issues, looking after siblings, moving, and dealing with family emergencies and a host of other disruptions (12-13 hours per day x 7 days-84-91 hours).3. That leaves each child with a maximum of 84 hours each week, or 4,368 hours each year. Out of that block, we get, about 30 school hours each week (6 hours x 5 days) for 36 to 42 weeks per year. At the high end, we get 1,260 hours each year (30 hours per week x 42 weeks) for changing student lives.4. Here's the key ratio: 1,260 hours out of a possible 4,368. We have 28 percent of a student's waking time. We are outnumbered by more than two to one.The significance of that number--28 percent--is profound. With the small proportion of their lives that we do have access to, we cannot afford to waste a single class or school day. We cannot afford to put a student down or treat him unfairly. We cannot afford to bore a student or fail to engage her in class. We cannot suspend a student for anything frivolous; in fact, the more days students spend out of school, the less chance we have of success. School needs to be a nonstop bobsled run full of activity, challenge, correction, support, and enrichment. We need to challenge students to their best every hour of every day they are in our charge. Unless our school is doing this month after month, year after year, we have no chance (to meet students' needs). To get the best from our students, we must expect and demand the best from ourselves. (page 82)COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: Monday night County Commissioners' Meeting at 6pm at the Government Building. Please come join us and show your support.Testing: This week, K-2 is taking the ITBS in the morning 9-10:30am and between 12:30 and 2:00pm. Please make sure that we do not use the playground as it will distract the groups testing in that area. Groups should use the blacktop (possibly for shorter outside time to prevent overcrowding) to reduce the noise level.Earth Day activities: will take place on April 22. We will have 10 stations that include: planting an herb garden, planting a butterfly garden, gardening vegetables, planing in the international garden, composting, recycling and campus clean. Each grade level will attend during your specials on April 22nd. You will receive an assigned area for your students to attend (so your class will be split into small groups in order to allow each class to have students that experience different things to come back and share). Stay tuned for more details. However, PLEASE donate or loan any gardening and planting tools, any seeds, any plants or funds towards purchasing plants for the community to use. Donations will also help us purchase soil, seeds for students to take home plants, etc. We also look forward to everyone making this a success and teaching our students the value of the Earth.COMMITMENTFor the Month of April, we are excited to have everyone focus their energies on Celebrating Success. Whether it's a celebration of assessment data, progress monitoring, growth on a skill, improvement in a standard, or your pride in your class or colleagues, this is a month of celebration. Celebrate someone or something in your class/school everyday (or every class even). Make sure everyday before you leave work, you write down a celebration or positive for a student, group, your class, or you and your class. With so much success, growth, achievement and improvement have to be an "indirect result." We look forward to seeing great intervention work this semester.COLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!! -
Winning 24/7--April 6-10, 2015
Posted by Shelia Burnette on 4/5/2015 9:35:00 PMWINNING 24/7!!!!
GO KONNOAK ALL-STARS!!!!COMMUNICATIONApril Dates:April 6 Return from Spring BreakApril 7 Joint Principals' MeetingApril 9 Single Gender Breakfast Club--7amApril 9 All Report Cards completed by 3:30pmApril 9 Principals' Lunch Club (March)--11amApril 10 Certificates submitted to Mrs. Burnette by 3:30pmApril 13 New Cardinals on the Block Meeting in Mrs. Snyder's RoomApril 14 Report Cards Sent HomeApril 14 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 14 STAR3 Team MeetingApril 15 Early Release Day at 12:50pmApril 16 Elementary Principals' MeetingApril 17 Academic Awards Assemblies2nd & 3rd 8:40-9:40amK & 1st 9:50-10:50am4th & 5th 11:00-12:00pmApril 20 Third Grade Field Trip to Discovery PlaceApril 21 School Improvement Team Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 21 Single Gender Information Night/Performance--5:30pmApril 22 Earth DayApril 23 Single Gender Breakfast ClubApril 24 Principals' Lunch Club (April)--11amApril 27 Magnet Team Meeting in Science Lab--3:15pmApril 28 All-Star Faculty Meeting in Media Center--7amApril 28 4th Grade Send Reading Progress ReportApril 29 PBIS Team Meeting in Computer Lab--3:15pmApril 30 Mentor Logs DueApril 30 Instructional Coordination Meeting at 3:30pmUpcoming Dates:*For more dates, please see the Cardinal Calendar.CELEBRATIONS*Congratulations to Everyone for your role in the Spring Festival Celebrations. Your activities were exciting and we could tell that the students were learning and enjoying all that you did with them. Thanks for the collaboration!!!*Congratulations on completing Module 3!!!! Everyone was required to complete it, so make sure that you submit your lesson and reflection so you can earn your badge. One more to go!!!!CLEAR VISION.While we will continue the implementation of Marzano's high yield strategies to help us reach our goals, I wanted to share something that resonated with me from my reading over break. This excerpt comes from Eric Jensen (Teaching With Poverty in Mind" and as I type it, I will replace the words "you" and "your" with "we" and "our" because this is relevant to every one of us that educates children. Please read and see what you can take away from his insight. This reminds us why what we do is so important for our students! I am thankful that we are focused on doing this work together!Let's assume we're implementing the SHARE (Support the whole child, Hard Data, Accountability, Relationship Building, Enrichment Mind-Set) factors in this chapter. Will implementation guarantee success? Passion comes from feeling responsible and accountable for results, which means it's the rigor, intensity, and duration of the enriching education we provide that matters. Let's do the math. Here's what our staff is up against:1. Every student in our school gets 168 hours each week (7 days x 24 hours).2. Subtract the time kids spend on sleeping, eating, grooming, dealing with medical and transportation issues, looking after siblings, moving, and dealing with family emergencies and a host of other disruptions (12-13 hours per day x 7 days-84-91 hours).3. That leaves each child with a maximum of 84 hours each week, or 4,368 hours each year. Out of that block, we get, about 30 school hours each week (6 hours x 5 days) for 36 to 42 weeks per year. At the high end, we get 1,260 hours each year (30 hours per week x 42 weeks) for changing student lives.4. Here's the key ratio: 1,260 hours out of a possible 4,368. We have 28 percent of a student's waking time. We are outnumbered by more than two to one.The significance of that number--28 percent--is profound. With the small proportion of their lives that we do have access to, we cannot afford to waste a single class or school day. We cannot afford to put a student down or treat him unfairly. We cannot afford to bore a student or fail to engage her in class. We cannot suspend a student for anything frivolous; in fact, the more days students spend out of school, the less chance we have of success. School needs to be a nonstop bobsled run full of activity, challenge, correction, support, and enrichment. We need to challenge students to their best every hour of every day they are in our charge. Unless our school is doing this month after month, year after year, we have no chance (to meet students' needs). To get the best from our students, we must expect and demand the best from ourselves. (page 82)COMMUNICATIONNew School Update: Please continue to show your support for helping Konnoak get a new school.Round 2 of Tutoring continues on Wednesday and Thursday for the continuing and newly invited students that have registered. Please help us ensure students attend to get this intervention. Thanks for supporting the work of our tutors to help these students reach or exceed their grade level expectation.Thanks to those who have already volunteered to help us assess the tutoring students' progress. If you would be available to help us assess the students on April 8 and 9 from 3:00-3:30pm, please email Ms. Gravely and Ms. Sayles to let them know that you will be a part of that team. Second-Fourth Grade Teachers are reminded to assess their students, as part of their progress monitoring schedule. We will be looking at the progress monitoring of students in tutoring at the end of this week after the team helps assess 5th graders on Wednesday & Thursday.COMMITMENTFor the Month of April, we are excited to have everyone focus their energies on Celebrating Success. Whether it's a celebration of assessment data, progress monitoring, growth on a skill, improvement in a standard, or your pride in your class or colleagues, this is a month of celebration. Celebrate someone or something in your class/school everyday (or every class even). Make sure everyday before you leave work, you write down a celebration or positive for a student, group, your class, or you and your class. With so much success, growth, achievement and improvement have to be an "indirect result." We look forward to seeing great intervention work this semester.COLLABORATIONThis month, please focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.Collaborate with the students--Goal set with them, give them explicit feedback and challenge them!Collaborate with the parents--Keep them informed (celebrations and corrections), send homework with expectations, and let them know what their child needs.Collaborate with colleagues--Share ideas, reach out across grade levels for vertical alignment, doing learning walks, and check on former or upcoming students.Collaborating as a team, we can Win 24/7. Anything less, is uncivilized.Thanks for all that you all do!!!!
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