Weekly Update 10/3/13

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2013

1. Congratulations to Nathan Sprinkle, Jacob Glover, and Alvin Carlisle.  All three made NC Honors Chorus and will attend the state competition in November. Please congratulate these students on their accomplishments!

2. Thank you for all of your cooperation in the evaluation process.  Your evaluators should be in the process of contacting you to set up your pre-conference and first observation. Mentors, please note that 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.  

3. We will have a staff meeting on Monday, October 7.  Topics include:  EXPLORE testing details, Rachel's Challenge events, United Way kickoff, and Turnitin.com. 

4. We still have afterschool vacancies for Dance, 7th grade Girls Basketball, and afterschool tutors. Please let me know if you are interested in any of these.

5. 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. 

6. Please be sure to review the schedule for the October 8 EXPLORE test.  Even though 8th graders are the only group testing, the test schedule will also affect other grade levels. Please review the information forwarded by Deb Neal/Leah Gardner.  

On Monday, October 7, 8th grade students will return back to homebase at 9:00am in order to start the EXPLORE interest inventory. 

7. Earlier this week, the Hospitality Committee sent out an email reminder to request dues from staff members. Please consider paying your dues in order to get the benefits of the committee.  The Hospitality Committee works very hard to provide special events for staff members. But more importantly, the committee acknowledges and supports staff members who have had an illness, death in the family, or crisis. Please see your earlier email from the committee to pay your dues by October 4. Staff members who pay their dues will be able to have a casual day and wear jeans on Wednesday, October 9.  This is Unity Day, where we are requesting all staff members to wear orange in support of anti-bullying efforts. 

8. Flu shots will be offered to all staff members here at SEMS on October 4. Staff members must sign up and fill out a required document in order to participate. Please see Susie Hook for the paperwork and requirements. This is a great opportunity to get your flu shot taken care of!

9. Please join us by wearing orange on Wednesday, October 9.  This is Unity Day, which is a day to stand up for anti-bullying efforts. Please encourage your students to do the same. Staff members who pay their hospitality dues may wear jeans on this day.

10. 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 we will forward more details to share with your students beforehand so that they understand what they will experience. We will also send some information home for parents and forward the schedule to you soon. 

The Rachel's Challenge Committee has been working hard to prepare some events throughout the month of October. They will be providing teachers with a lesson on bullying as a preview for the October 17 assemblies. We would like for teachers to use this lesson on Unity Day, October 9.  We will discuss all of the events at Monday's staff meeting. 

11. 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.  Please see earlier quarter testing email for more information.  8th grade Science, please let us know your plans to complete your testing.  

12. 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. 

13. 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. 

14. 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. 


UPCOMING DATES
Oct. 4 - Staff flu shots
Oct. 4 - Student Council videos and voting!
Oct. 4 - Encore meeting (11:25, Hatch's room, EXPLORE training)
Oct. 4 - 7th Grade Pharoahs to Raven Knob
Oct. 7 - Staff Mtg. (2:20pm, MP Room)
Oct. 7 - 7th Grade Tsunamis to Raven Knob
Oct. 7 - 8th Grade EXPLORE Interest Inventory
Oct. 8 - 8th Grade EXPLORE Testing (modified daily schedule)
Oct. 8 - Boys Soccer vs. Walkertown (3pm)
Oct. 9 - Cross Country Meet
Oct. 9 - WSFCS Unity Day (wear orange!)
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 - 10:00)
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)