Weekly Update 10/7/10

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010

1.  Congratulations to Cliff Prince.  He is the proud grandparent of a baby girl!

2.  Chris Hancock continues to get better.  I spoke with her yesterday and she is feeling really good.  Right now she is walking with a cane but will not need the cane much longer.  She is still with her son's family but believes that she will return home by this weekend.  If you'd like to make a donation or be involved in helping Chris out, please see Sandy Derrah.

3.  Sharon Pitt's husband, Ted, is still in the hospital.  We do not know how long he will be in there. We will be sure to keep you posted on these events.  Please keep Sharon and Ted in your thoughts.

4.  Thank you for a great staff meeting on Monday.  I know that the status of next year's master schedule has many of you worried about the future.  We're all in the same boat together.  Know that we will do everything possible to keep you aware of changes and protect the staff as much as we can.  We have a wonderful staff here - I couldn't imagine losing any of you!  That would be a devastating loss!  Remember that all we can do is come to work faithfully, do the best job that we possibly can each day, and rely on our co-workers, family, and friends to support us in the meantime. 

5.  Hospitality dues are due to the guidance office by October 18.  Certified staff are $25 and classified staff are $12.50.

6.  PDP's are due by October 8 to Gentry for all teachers not being evaluated this school year.  Please be sure to sign.  All teachers will receive a copy of their PDP for their records.

7.  All staff are encouraged to show their support and join the PTSA.  Membership is $5.00.  The PTSA will be placing a membership form in your mailboxes soon.

8.  With Becky Currin leaving and Sharon Pitt out for an undetermined period of time, please know that we are having to make quite a few adjustments in the main office to cover.  We do not know if/when we will have subs for one or both of them.  We are restructuring our schedules to make sure everything gets covered, especially at the busiest times of day.  Know that there will be a delay on some of your needs and regular things that get completed in the main office.  We will get to your requests and needs as quickly as we can.  Thanks for your understanding.

9.  You were sent an email earlier regarding an Educator Symposium on October 29, our teacher workday.  If you would like to attend, please follow the instructions in the email.

10.  Please be sure to send work down to the guidance office if a parent requests work for their child due to illness or suspension.  We will be sure to give you a 24-hour notice so that you have plenty of time to get work there.  It is important that we stick to this guideline so that we do not interrupt your class time to get student work.

11.  You are now able to log into the copiers and begin making copies!  You may use your code from last school year.  Each copier in the workroom will have a list of teacher names that are assigned to that particular copier.  Please look for your name.  If you are new, please see Susie for your copier code.  Each teacher has 500 copies per month alloted.  For this reason, I strongly encourage you once again to utilize the Print Shop services.  There is about a week and a half turnaround time for any copying needs that you may have there.  In addition, you may still use the copying service that the front office offers for any of your copying needs. If you get to your copier and it is not working properly, please let someone know so that it can be fixed when someone is free to do so. 

12.  Please be sure to update your grades in NCWISE regularly.  We have many parents who have just signed up and will be looking at grades as the quarter progresses. 

Great Ideas/Shout-Outs
* Denise Stephenson suggested a great idea at our staff meeting to help out our encore teachers.  She suggested that since we only hand out one encore progress report per quarter, it may be a good idea to print out a spreadsheet of grades for each class at regular intervals.  This will help to identify any students whose grades have dropped two letter grades or to an F, which both require a parent contact.  This is most important between the date of the progress report and the end of the quarter.

* Cynthia Hatch had a great idea for our tutoring plan.  She suggested that maybe we should have our tutoring on Wednesdays instead of Thursdays so that any student that gets pulled on a Wednesday would still be able to have that particular encore class twice that week. 

Upcoming Events

The staff calendar is up-to-date online. You can access it through the SEMS website under Teacher Resources. Many dates were just added, so please be sure to check it out. This calendar will be updated frequently.

Happy Birthday!

Allison Barnes - 9/30
Mara Lea Coston 10/3
Tonia Maxcy 10/14
Andy Suttles 10/14
Nancy Holmes 10/16
Bill Martin 10/26
John Watson 10/24
Teresa Hilbun 10/29