Weekly Update 6/9/11

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, JUNE 9

1.  Don Fought is recovering very well from his knee surgery.  Keep it up! We miss you!  Also, if any of you know Trish Gainey, principal at East Forsyth High School - her mother passed away earlier this week. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

2.  Thanks to ALL of our long-term subs and part-time teachers who have done an OUTSTANDING job for us this quarter.  We thank you for your service to our students and we will miss you!  Thanks to.....Mr. Jotcham (Hoag), Mr. Rodriguez (6th Spanish), Mr. Perret (6th French), Mr. Long (PE), Mrs. Futrell (Speziale), Mrs. Hance (Furrer), Mrs. Pierce (Moore), Mrs. Faircloth (Smith), Mrs. Brieaddy (P. Lakey), Mrs. Rix (Fought).  If I left anyone out, please let me know.  Mr. Norwood is a long-term sub, but we are hoping to keep him for next year.  In addition, Mr. Munden will return with us next year.

3.  Thanks to everyone for their hard work these last couple of weeks.  This has been a very difficult schedule to maintain, but we appreciate all of you pitching in to make it work.  There's a reason why people love Southeast Middle!

4.  The room assignment list was emailed out on Thursday afternoon.  Please be sure to check your assignment.  As stated earlier, those who are moving do not have to move before leaving for the summer.  You may move when you return in August.  The building will be open a couple of days early so that those who wish are able to do so. 

5. Everyone has received the instructions for 4th quarter and final grades, including instructions on how to enter the EOG grades. Please remember that you ONLY put in the EOG letter grade under the Post category.  Do not enter the numerical grade at all (it will cause a grade issue if you do).

6. Everyone was sent an email over the past few weeks regarding the KEYS survey. This is the survey that FCAE is conducting. Your reponses are so vital in the improvement of our school, so please take the time to complete the survey. As of today, 42 people have already completed the survey. Thanks for taking the time to do this! Reminder of instructions: go to http://www.keysonline.org/, click the yellow "take the survey" tab, find Southeast Middle School (the school code is 516), then take the survey. You do NOT have to log into the system. The process is very simple.

7.  In addition, everyone was sent an email today regarding the Race to the Top survey.  Only teachers and administrators are to complete this.  It will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.  Please do so before you leave for the summer.  Dr. Martin's expectation is that both surveys are completed by this time at the latest.

8.  If you have not already done so, please indicate your intentions for June 16 on the staff sheet posted in the workroom.  We must put this into the payroll system quickly.

9.  Just a friendly reminder to remove your files off of the shared drive and your H drive before the summer.  These drives will be wiped out over the summer and you will no longer have access to them.

10. The stuffing party will take place in the cafeteria starting at 8:00am.  We will start with a brief overview of the instructions for the report cards and the cumulative folders.  Then teams will be split up to complete their "stuffing."  Each team will have a location in the cafeteria set aside to complete.  Guidance Department will be on hand to answer questions and oversee the process.  Please bring your homebase report card envelopes and your leftover debt slips to the stuffing party, as these items will need to be used/stuffed.  Lunch will be served at 11:00am in the cafeteria.

11. Insurance changes for next school year:  WSFCS will send out some information on the coverage changes for next year, including premium changes, deductible changes, etc.  It is important to point out that if you only have employee coverage, you will have to start paying a premium next school year.  If you are on the 80/20 plan, your monthly premium will be about $21 per month, and if you are on the 70/30 plan, yours will be about $10 per month.

12.  Budget updates:  The school board has a revised plan that they are considering for next year.  It does look better than it did!  All details are available on the website.  Several of the changes:  Teacher assistants - now they are looking at a permanent term reduction of 7 days total (instead of 10); Classified extended term employees (second secretary, guidance clerk) - now looking like about one day permanent term reduction; licensed extended term employees (APs, CC, Lead Guidance) - looking like one day permanent term reduction.  I will forward any additional information as I get it. 

13.  The SIT meeting is on Monday afternoon.  It will be brief - I know that some teachers need to get their grades completed. 

14.  Please be sure to stay on top of your supervision and have very structured activities for your students.  We will need everyone's help the last two days of school, especially on the bus ramp.  The more we can get out there, the better off we will be.  We will more than likely have a structured dismissal, where we will announce grade level dismissals. 

Happy Birthday!

Betsy Smith 6/2
Eugene Mabry 6/8
Phyllis Davis 6/10
Danny Bowman 6/11
Debi Kopchik 6/19
Cliff Prince 6/19
Cynthia Hatch 6/30
Rachel Holmes 6/30