Weekly Update 10/10/13

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013

1. Congratulations to Mara-Lea Coston! She was one of several teachers honored last night at a dinner hosted by the Winston-Salem Foundation. Last year, Mrs. Coston was awarded one of the Booke Trust grants for professional development in her field. 

2. Thank you to Lisa Turner, John Downs, and many more who are organizing and conducting our Wednesday swap meets.  This is a great opportunity for all staff members to learn about new tools for the classroom and inspire you to try new things! If you'd like to attend a session or have an idea for a swap meet topic that you'd like to conduct, please see Lisa or John. This is a renewal credit opportunity!

3. If any teams, clubs, or sponsors are interested in doing the Penny Campaign sponsored by WXII-12, please let me know. I have more information in my office. 

4. Mentors, we will have a brief meeting on October 14 in the computer lab at 2:20pm to review your requirements as a mentor. At that time, you will sign off on your mentee's initial PDP and learn how to fill out the required evaluation form.  

5. Homebase teachers: Please remember to complete your attendance each morning in the computer by 8:00am.  Powerschool does not function the same way as NCWISE, so Cindy Wilkes cannot go in and complete your attendance. She is only able to update individual students who sign in or out during the day. Powerschool will generate a daily list of those homebase teachers who do not complete their attendance in PS.  Administration will contact you via email to correct the issue immediately. If the attendance does not get completed, then it will get flagged by the district and our student attendance will be inaccurate.  Let us know if you need assistance. 

6. Please remember to check your email daily. You are expected to return parent/guardian emails within 24 hours. In addition, you are expected to respond to administration within 24 hours unless there is a unique circumstance.  This is important, as you can easily miss a deadline/requirement, or upcoming event. Because school consistently stays busy, you are encouraged to check the master school calendar regularly as well. 

7. The Powerschool parent portal is up and running. Please remember to keep your grades updated weekly, per the district requirement for all teachers.  If you are contacted by parents who are having difficulty logging in to the parent portal online, please direct them to Cindy Wilkes for assistance. 

We will continue to provide parents with paper progress reports through the middle of the second quarter. After that point, we plan to move to our normal schedule on one per quarter at the midpoint of the quarter. We will advertise this to parents and encourage them to join Powerschool. 

8. Please remember that it is the expectation of the school and the district that teachers make personal contact with parents for students whose grades drop to an F or if they drop two or more letter grades in between progress reports. To clarify:  1) Personal contact means an email transaction betweeen you and the parent, a phone call exchange with the parent, or a parent conference.  Furthermore, it is best practice to contact that parent well before the end of the quarter so that the student has an opportunity to take care of that F after you have had a conversation with the parent. Calling a parent to notify them that the child has an F on their report card is not considered a valid contact. That phone call should have taken place sooner. 

9. SEMS is starting up the Rachel's Challenge program this school year. As stated earlier this year, Rachel's Challenge promotes random acts of kindness and anti-bullying efforts. Our school will dedicate Thursday, October 17, to the Rachel's Challenge events. We will have a series of assemblies and even a community night event. We will have an altered schedule for this day, as we wish to focus all of our attention on this program.  It is important to note that these events can be very moving and emotional, so  please be prepared for that. All staff have received a copy of the day's schedule. I will forward another copy of the schedule and details via email prior to October 17. 

I would encourage all staff to bring their families for the 7pm community night event, where the same speaker will give another presentation for all in attendance. Come out and support our students!

10. For your calendar planning, we are going to do a  "shut down" testing schedule for first quarter tests at the end of the first quarter. This is necessary due to the many student pull-out groups required. Reading and Math quarter testing is scheduled for October 28 and 29. More details are on the way.

11. Teachers, please remember that you are required to check out books from your bookrooms. Even though these books are not housed in the Media Center, it is still necessary to check them out from Lisa and Collette. We must keep track of these book sets. If they aren't being checked out, we do not know their location/status and books can easily get lost.  In addition, this prevents us from being able to allot funds to purchase future book sets for your bookrooms. 

12. WSFCS will be offering a CPR training later this fall. We are looking for up to 8 staff members who wish to participate. The training will be held on a Monday afternoon (we are requesting a date in November).  Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested. You do not have to pay for this training. Signups will be on a first come-first serve basis. 

13. When submitting a field trip approval, please be sure to turn in a completed form with all required information as well as a copy of the student/parent permission slip. You will receive confirmation on the status of the field trip. We can use the permission slip copy to answer any questions in the main office. 

14. When submitting a video approval form, please be sure to turn in a completed form with all required information. This includes attaching a copy of the lesson plan/activity as well as a copy of the parent permission slip for our records.  Please remember that the video policy is summarized in your staff handbook.  PG-13 movies will either not be approved at all or they will be approved for minimal excerpts only. 

15. Don't forget to donate to the United Way! By donating a minimum of $3, you can earn the opportunity to wear jeans for the entire week of October 28.  I encourage all staff members to consider giving, as there are many wonderful programs that United Way sponsors. 

16. The school system AG plan is being reviewed this fall.  There may be changes coming to how students are identified as AG and how teachers must be licensed in order to teach them. In the past, students have been AG certified in Language Arts and those teachers have had to be AG certified.  There is discussion about students having the ability of being identified AG in Math and eventually Math teachers would have to be AG certified as well. Please know that this is not in effect right now, but it is a discussion happening at the Central Office level. I will forward any updates or changes as soon as I get them so that we are all prepared for the future of AG students on our campus. 


UPCOMING DATES
Oct. 10 - Boys Soccer @ Northwest (3pm)
Oct. 11 - Music Fundraiser Event
Oct. 11 - 8th grade team meeting (7:40am)
Oct. 12 - WSFCS LINK UP anti-bullying event (Dash Stadium)
Oct. 14 - Mentor evaluator training (2:20, Computer Lab)
Oct. 15 - Crosby Scholar Meetings (7:30 - 10:00am)
Oct. 15 - 18 - Cheerleading Tryouts (2-4pm)
Oct. 16 - Core and Encore Paper Progress Reports go home!
Oct. 16 - Cross Country Meet (Paisley MS, 4pm)
Oct. 17 - Rachel's Challenge Assemblies (modified daily schedule)
Oct. 17 - Rachel's Challenge Community Night Event (7pm, SEMS)
Oct. 17 - Boys Soccer vs. Kernersville (3pm)
Oct. 21 - Homebase Parent Contact Logs due to Gentry
Oct. 21 - EC Meetings (Staff TBD)
Oct. 22 - FCCLA Field Trip
Oct. 22 - 24 - Volleyball tryouts (2-4pm)
Oct. 23 - Music Dept. Cookie Dough Delivery/Pickup
Oct. 23 - Cross Country Championships (Ivey Redmon, 4pm)
Oct. 24 - 7th grade Dragons to Raven Knob
Oct. 25 - 8th Team Mtg. (7:40am)
Oct. 26 - WSFCS Robot Run!
Oct. 28 - SIT Meeting (2:20pm, Room #708)
Oct. 28 - 29 - Math & Reading Quarter Testing (modified schedule)
Oct. 29 - 8th Grade Orchestra w/GHS Orchestra (6pm, Glenn HS)
Oct. 30 - 8th Science online quarter testing
Oct. 30 - Powder Puff Games (2-4pm, SEMS)
Oct. 31 - End of First Quarter!
Nov. 1 - Teacher Workday!