Weekly Update 5/17/12

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

1. Thanks to all of our staff members for a very successful week of EOG testing!  Your structure and flexibility helped to make it happen!  Also a HUGE thanks to Deb Neal for her incredible ability to implement a testing plan on this scale!

2. 8th grade teachers and Encore teachers:  I am still in the process of collecting your award sheets.  We will create certificates and make sure they are ready for the 8th grade ceremonies.  Please be sure to let those students know that they are receiving an award - you are their notification system.  It is important that they know so that their parents will be sure to attend on their particular awards day.  The Jaguar Pride award winners will not be named until the days of the ceremonies.  The administration will contact those two sets of parents.

3. All staff:  You received an 8th grade Jaguar Pride voting form in your mailboxes.  The 8th grade and encore teachers nominated students for this award.  All staff members may vote for one girl and one boy for this award.  All voting ballots are due to the main office by the end of the day on Monday.  We have some fantastic nominees!

4. We will be working on Monday and Tuesday to get out testing letters to all students as well as Red Zone notification.  We will assist Deb Neal in preparing Red Zone tutoring groups.  We plan to get that information out to all staff members as quickly as we can.  

5. The Athletic Department will be offering $10 physicals for our students on June 6 after school.  Information will go home in next week's Wednesday folders.  Please be sure that your students receive this. 

6. For those certified staff who did not complete all 18 hours of required Common Core/Essential Standards training this year: You must attend the Summer Institute that WSFCS is offered to get the remainder of your hours. They are planning for this training to take place during the week of July 16. Remember that this is a requirement for your contract - if you do not gain the 18 hours of credit, your contract will be denied for next school year.

7. For your calendar: June 7 is the last day of school. On June 8, we will hold our annual "Staff Stuffing Party" and we plan to have PTSA provide lunch for staff members on this day. June 8 will be a required RS workday. June 11,12, and 13 are also teacher workdays - if you have annual leave and wish to take any of those three days off, you may do so.

8. Parent surveys will go out in next week's Wednesday folders. We will collect any completed parent surveys in the main office to send back to WSFCS. Parents will also be given an option for an online survey. They have until the end of the school year to turn in.  

9. Teachers/Teams:  Please be sure to get your school website "summer ready."  This means information on your site should be updated to prepare for next school year.  It is helpful to leave contact info, etc. on there.  But before you leave at the end of the school year, you should remove homework assignments, calendar entries, etc. A great suggestion is to add the summer reading list to your page for student reference, especially if you are a LA teacher. 

10. For your planning purposes, the first day back for teachers next school year will be August 20. There will only be one open house day for all three grade levels and as of right now, there will only be on RC training day. The rest will be workdays here at school. This is good news!

11. Please remember to check the online calendar regularly as well as the daily May/June calendar. There are lots of activities coming up! There have been several additions (i.e. field trips) added to the online calendar since you have received your May/June calendars! To access, there is a Calendar tab on the lower left side of your email inbox. Click on Calendar, then on the left menu click on the SEMS Staff School Calendar to access. You can view this calendar daily, weekly, or monthly.

Happy Birthday!
Lesley Guffey    May 1
Irma Jones     May 6
Erin Smith     May 18
Denise Stepheson     May 18
Heath Benner     May 20
Kim Gregg     May 21
Bridgette Watson     May 23
Nick Pizzino     May 26
Kendra Mabry     May 28
Dustin Draughn     May 30