Weekly Update 3/20/14

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2014

1. Please keep Sheree Raya in your thoughts and prayers.  Her grandmother passed away on Wednesday.  

2. We are required to have the lockdown drill and our monthly fire drill before Spring Break.  Please review this with your students. 

3. Upcoming Spirit Day: Friday, March 21 - Blue Out! Wear blue in honor of S.W. for March Madness.

4. Please remember to turn in your teacher laptops to John Downs by March 21.  You can refer back to his staff email for details. 

5. The March Madness event will take place on Friday, March 21, from 2-4pm. During this event, staff will play against students in a basketball game. If you are interested in participating in this event as a basketball player, cheerleader, or assist with supervision, please see Mr. Pizzino. In order for students to attend, they must turn in their money and permission slip by March 21.  

6. Copy codes are now installed on all workroom copiers.  Susie will be giving all groups their copy codes this week.  We will begin using them on Monday, March 24.

7. Quarter testing is still set for March 24 and 25 in Reading and Math. We will have a shutdown schedule for both days. The 8th grade Science benchmark will be on March 26. The altered schedule has been sent out to all staff. Please know that EC teachers will be testing our Extend 2 EC students from March 19-21, so they may be pulled for these test sessions. 

8. It is time for staff to complete the Teacher Working Conditions survey. We will have a brief staff meeting on Monday, March 24, for approximately 10 minutes. Nancy Holmes will instruct the staff on how to complete the online survey. It is the expectation that all staff members complete the survey by March 28. This is an opportunity for all of you to voice your opinions on school and district processes. We use these results to assist us in improving the processes, etc. with our School Improvement Team.

9. School Improvement Team is scheduled for Monday, March 24, right after the brief survey meeting. 

10. All 8th grade online surveys are due by March 28. A big thank you to the 8th grade Science department for taking this on.

11. All staff received information regarding the online letters of intent.  The link is now available for you to complete.  Please refer to my earlier emails regarding this process. In my 3/18/14 email, I also attached a flyer from HR about the process as well. The deadline to complete your intent is March 28. As a reminder, if you plan to put in for a transfer, please let me know ahead of time either in person or via email. You are not required to disclose your reasons, but I do need to be notified in that case. 

12. Many events and activities continue to be rescheduled due to the weather. Please take a look at the dates below as well as the master calendar. Where is the master calendar? It is accessible through your email system - click on the Calendar link and select the SEMS-Stephanie Gentry calendar. 

13. In order to help get our students back in their school routines, it is imperative that we all come together and step up our CHAMPs expectations for hallways, lunchroom, as well as in your classrooms. We are experiencing lots of issues recently especially in the hallways, so please review all expectations with your students.  With testing right around the corner, it is so important that students understand the potential impact of their behaviors in the hallways.  The most frequent issues observed are taking place during lunch transition and in between encore class periods.

14. The teacher workdays scheduled at the end of the school year will be a combination of RC and RS days. The difference is that RC days are required workdays and RS days are eligible for annual leave. Typically the district designates RC days earlier than RS in the calendar (meaning that if there are RC days, they will fall earlier in the string of workdays rather than later).  Again, I will forward any updates that I receive. 

15. The end of the quarter is scheduled for Friday, March 28. The report card distribution date has been pushed back from April 9 to April 16.  This means that quarter grades will NOT be due before Spring Break.  All 3rd quarter grades will due to Cindy Wilkes by Tuesday, April 8, at 4:00pm.  That will allow enough time for her to finalize and prepare report cards for homebase teachers to prepare to distribute.  Please adhere to this deadline. 

16. The last 10 school days are designated as our official testing window. We are now working with the district to draft our potential testing plans.  During this window, we must accomplish quite a few testing sessions - Reading and Math EOG, EOC Math I, Science and SS Final Exams, 8th Science EOG, Extend 2 test for EC students, CTE tests, and all make-up tests.  There will be many details to share with all of you, but here are a few tidbits...

- There may be multiple tests given in one day, both in the morning and afternoon sessions.
- Some students may end up taking more than one test during the day.
- The chances are very good that we will have altered schedules for most/all test days.
More information coming soon.

17. The legislature has made the decision to split EOG test scores into five achievement levels as opposed to the current four-level system. This will go into effect for this year's tests. We are not sure what impact this will have on our students (i.e. What is proficient now?), but we will continue to keep you updated on this topic. 

18. There is a scheduled EC Program Meeting on Tuesday, April 8, at 2:15pm. 

19. There have been some adjustments made to the April meeting calendar.  Please note the changes. The April staff meeting has been pushed from April 7 to April 14.  Please use the afternoon of April 7 to complete your 3rd quarter grades. 

20. The deadline for accepting a 25% teacher contract is April 22. Please let me know if you have any questions about the process. There have been many questions following our meeting last week. I will help to find answers to any further questions that you  may have. There has been much confusion over how much the total bonus is worth and how much you get each year by signing a contract.  We have asked for clarification on that.  Theo Helm from WSFCS is in the process of creating an FAQ for employees, so hopefully that will help. 

21. The PTSA Book Fair is set for the week of April 21-25.  We will work out a schedule for LA teachers to take their students to preview the fair and then designate days for open purchases.  The Spring Arts Festival is set for Thursday, April 24, from 6-8pm.  More details coming soon!

22.  The GYRLS Community Yard Sale has been postponed until May 3. 

23. The last scheduled day for students is now Tuesday, June 17. 


UPCOMING DATES
March 20 - All A's Celebrations
March 20 - Girls Soccer @ Flat Rock (FRMS, 3pm)
March 21 - Blue Out! Wear blue in honor of S.W.
March 21 - March Madness Event - Staff vs. Students (2-4pm)
March 24-25 - Reading and Math Quarter Testing (Shutdown schedule)
March 24 - Teacher Working Conditions Survey (2:20pm, MP Room)
March 24 - SIT Meeting (following the TWC survey)
March 25 - Girls Soccer vs. East Forsyth (Ivey Redmon, 3pm)
March 26 - 8th Science Quarter Testing
March 27 - Track meet (Glenn HS, 3pm)
March 28 - Hoops for Heart Competitions
March 28 - Student Snow Make-Up Day (B-day)! End of 3rd Quarter!
March 28 - Online letters of intent DUE!
March 28 - TWC Staff Survey DUE!
March 29 - April 6 - Spring Break!
April 8 - 3rd Quarter Grades DUE by 4pm!
April 8 - EC Program Meeting at 2:00pm
April 8 - Girls Soccer vs. East Forsyth (Ivey Redmon, 3pm)
April 9 - Track Meet @ Atkins HS (3:30pm)
April 10 - Girls Soccer @ Hanes (Sara Lee Fields, 3:45pm)
April 12 - Music Trip to Carowinds!
April 14 - Staff Meeting (2:20pm, MP room)
April 16 - Report Card Distribution
April 16 - Track Meet @ Glenn HS (3pm)
April 17 - Girls Soccer vs. Northwest (Ivey Redmon, 3pm)
April 18 - No school - Good Friday!
April 21 - Snow make-up day for students and staff! (A day)
April 21 - 25 - PTSA Book Fair
April 22 - 25% Teacher Contract deadline to accept!
April 24 - Spring Arts Festival (6-8pm)