Weekly Update 4/18/13

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013

Congratulations to Mrs. Hatch, Mrs. Jenny Watson, and the FCCLA students!  They competed in Greensboro earlier this week against other FCCLA clubs and several students earned a spot at the national competition this summer in Nashville, TN!  Thanks to Mrs. Hatch and Mrs. Watson for their hard work this school year with these students.

1. The Spring Arts Festival will take place on Thursday from 6-8pm.  This is a wonderful community event that is free of charge.  We will have the Book Fair family night, an arts and crafts show, student music performances, a performance by the Winston-Salem reggae band Liontracks, a possible performance from the UNCG Spartones, balloon animals, and much more. If you would like to set up a booth/table at the arts and crafts show, please see Susie to register. There is still plenty of time to sign up! We'd love to see you there!

2. All NJHS packets/applications are due to the NJHS sponsors (Maxcy, Santoro, Miller) by Friday, April 19.  This is a strict deadline. 

3. Testing Code of Ethics - All staff members are expected to review the Testing Code of Ethics provided by Deb Neal at the staff meeting last week. The sign-off sheets are on Deb Neal's office door.  All sign-offs were to be completed by last Friday. Please sign off on the sheet as soon as possible if you have not done so already. 

4. Last week, all staff received information from John Downs regarding several things: Powerschool workshop registration (optional for staff at this time), a new anti-virus program, and teacher laptop use. Please review this information so that you are aware of the technology updates this month. 

5. We are now receiving information on this year's summer school program. The program is intended for two groups of students: those who have a history of low state test scores and those who the administration assigns to summer school to avoid retention.  Over the next week, homebase teachers will receive flyers to hand out to specific students who may benefit from this program.  Please make sure that this information makes it into these students' Wednesday folders. We will also receive application packets for these same students. Those will be sent out to homebase teachers next week. I will be sending an email with specifics of the program in case you get any questions regarding summer school. 

6. Last week, all staff received an email regarding the updated master calendar from the district.  It is imperative that all staff review that information, as it contains new information about teacher workdays, classified staff working days, etc.  The last  teacher workday at the end of the school year will be Tuesday, June 18.  

7. Some staff have been asking about our annual "Stuffing Party" that we have at the end of the school year involving all staff members on the first teacher workday.  At this point, we are unsure how we will prepare report cards and cumulative folders after the school year. I will confirm all details once we know the process needed to make this happen.8. There seems to be some confusion when staff refer to the "master calendar." So to clarify, the master calendar is the online calendar that is accessed through your email system. When you log on to your email, click the calendar tab on the lower left menu and then check the box next to the SEMS master calendar. There you can view all meetings, field trips, and events scheduled. This calendar is specifically for staff.  Many of you consider the SEMS Student Activities Blog (facilitated by Mr. Downs) as the master calendar, but this is not the case.  The activities blog only contains the schedule of student activities and events. So please be sure to visit the true master calendar to ensure that you are up to date on all scheduled events. 

9. Schools in North Carolina will now begin receiving school performance grades.  There is much dispute as to how these grades will be computed.  The NC House is proposing a bill which takes several factors into account when assigning a school a grade, including proficiency and growth (which is a good thing).  However, the NC Senate is proposing a simple 10-point scale to assign grades (i.e. 90-100 is an A, etc.) by proficiency.  What would this mean if the Senate's plan was approved? If a school's proficiency was 65% but they exceeded growth in EVAAS for that year, that school would still end up with a grade of D (doesn't sound right, does it?).  Looking at the status of SEMS, our score was 78.6% and we met growth, but we would still receive a C.  SEMS is not a 'C' school!  It is very important that we touch base with our NC Senate to let them know how this would affect our school.  An email with NC Senate contact information was forwarded to all staff last week if you wish to contact them. 

10. The state has still not voted on how to compute Standard 6 on the teacher evaluation instrument.  Up to this point, we have been told that it is computed by a combination of the teacher's EVAAS score and the school's overall EVAAS score. This year all teachers can view their Standard 6 status, but this is not official. It is the "base" number, like a practice round.  One proposal now being considered is that 100% of the teacher's EVAAS score will be the Standard 6 rating as opposed to a combination score. Those teachers not teaching a tested subject would have 100% of the school score. We will keep you posted on the status of this vote, which may not be finalized until the summer. 


UPCOMING DATES
April 19 - 7th Grade Pharoahs to Raven Knob
April 20 - Music Trip to Carowinds
April 23 - 7th Grade Dragons to Raven Knob
April 24 - 7th Grade Outbacks to Raven Knob
April 25 - GYRLS Night at McDonald's (on Rte. 66) - 5-8pm
April 26 - 6th Grade Social (2-4pm), Parent Surveys Due
April 29 - 8th Grade Field Trip to Grandfather Mtn., 7th Grade Tsunamis to Raven Knob
April 29 - Conference Track Meet @ Mt. Tabor 
May 1 - Core and Encore Progress Reports
May 3 - NJHS Induction (8:00am)
May 3 - 7th Grade Social (2-4pm)
May 4 - GYRLS Pancake Breakfast (8-10am)

IMPORTANT FUTURE DATES
June 6 - Yearbook Distribution for all students
June 6,7,10 - 8th Grade Ceremonies (8:00am)
June 7 - PTSA Celebration activities for 8th grade (2-5pm)