Weekly Update 5/24/12

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012

1. Congratulations to Mrs. Lawson.  She is now engaged!

2. We will celebrate Jeanne Hobson's retirement on Monday, June 4.  We will have a brief faculty meeting and will then celebrate with Jeanne and her family. 

3. As mentioned earlier, John Vestal, Jared Vestal's father, passed away last weekend.  In addition, we have confirmation that Dalton Powers' mother, Kristi Idol, passed away on Monday.  Both students are 6th graders on the Super Novas team.  Please keep these students and their families in your thoughts and prayers. 

4. We are looking for some volunteers to help out with the PTSA 8th grade dance on Friday, June 1, from  6:30 - 8:30pm. The PTSA will provide some volunteers, but we would love to have some staff members to be there and enjoy the event with us.  If you can help out at all, please let me know as soon as possible.  Last year's event was a lot of fun with some great kids - hope you can join us.  

5. 8th grade and encore teachers: Please be sure to notify your students if they received any awards from you for awards day.  You are not required to call their parents, but it is important that they know they will be recognized on that day.  

6. We are finalizing the retesting schedule and will get that out to all staff members as it is completed.  Please note that we will have an announced dismissal, just like EOG test week.

7. P.M. Dismissal - We will continue the announced dismissal from Friday, June 1 - Thursday, June 7.  Movement will be by announcement only.  We will structure all movement, especially 8th grade.  We plan to dismiss 8th grade a few homebases at a time.  More information will be coming to you on this prior to     June 1.  We feel that this is the safest way to dismiss, especially during the last week of school.  

8. Please do not forget to get your PTSA SEMS vest from Susie.  Many staff members have not signed for theirs yet.

9. The Athletic Department was originally going to provide $10 physicals for students on June5.  However, due to a change in guidelines, we are no longer allowed to provide that service.  If any students ask, please let them know that the event has been cancelled. 

10. The Bell Summer School deadline has been extended only for 6th and 7th grade students.  They are accepting applications through May 30.  Applications can be picked up in the Guidance Office. 

11. 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 June 11, 12, or 13 off, you may do so. 

12. 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.

13. Parent surveys went out in this 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. Please encourage your students to turn them in for our feedback.   

14. 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. 

15. 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!

16. 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