Week 23: February 3, 2017

Happy Friday!!! 

Housekeeping: 

- Thank you for being flexible, patient and understanding with the logistics of the SOL Remediation Program. 

In doing any type of programming, you must have criteria and data to support the identification of students. Once that was made available, then student names were given for feedback. I truly thank Farrell, Harrington, Hulse and Palmer for "reining" it back in and using the MAP Linking Study and CSA data to further identify students in need of remediation. 

Thank you for not "reading into" the decisions that I decided to make...I trust each of you to provide input and feedback on our students. Time was the challenge considering that we needed to maximize our time to remediate our 3-5 students. 

I am super excited to create a baseline for the SOL Remediation Program, collect data and reflect so that we are able to strengthen the program every year. The ultimate goal is to minimize the number of students needing remediation and I believe that we will get there. 

- We do have an emergency staff meeting on Wednesday the 8th directly after school to discuss budget and personnel decisions for the 2017-18 school year.

Leadership Opportunities:

- We are preparing for Soccer for Success in the Spring and if you are interested in supporting the coaches and providing the supervision of our students, please contact Mrs. McCoy, as soon as possible. The times are 3:45-5:00 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thank you!

- I truly thank the following staff members for attending the MAP Continuum training session on Tuesday, Jan. 31st; Mrs. Hoover, Ms. Moore, Mr. Fain, Mrs. Hulse and Mrs. Farrell. We learned about new tools and are looking forward to grade level conversations to help remediate and enrich our students.

Teacher Leaders and Building Leadership Capacity - II

Instructional Specialist: An instructional specialist helps colleagues implement effective teaching strategies. This help might include ideas for differentiating instruction or planning lessons in partnership with fellow teachers. Instructional specialists might study research-based classroom strategies (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001); explore which instructional methodologies are appropriate for the school; and share findings with colleagues.

When his fellow science teachers share their frustration with students' poorly written lab reports, Jamal suggests that they invite several English teachers to recommend strategies for writing instruction. With two English teachers serving as instructional specialists, the science teachers examine a number of lab reports together and identify strengths and weaknesses. The English teachers share strategies they use in their classes to improve students' writing

Highlights of the Week: 

- Mrs. Kempf has earned her Masters Degree in ESOL from Concordia University. Congratulations Mrs. Kempf.

- Mrs. Hoover was recognized as a nominee for the Dale City Civic Association's 'Teacher of the Year' award. She is currently our 'PTA Teacher of the Month'. Congratulations!

- Mrs. Mayers has received a promotion through the Head Start Office as the Early Childhood Education and Disabilities Specialist.

Students as Learners: 

- Kindergarten students were observed strengthening their fluency using pointers while reading and attending to each word.

- 1st Graders worked on using adjectives to describe things in their writing.

- 5th Graders worked on distinguishing facts and opinions in 'What Really Happened?'

- Everyone is encouraged to read the walls around the school building. Our student displays are engaging, literacy rich, and saturated with vocabulary. It keeps us abreast of what our students are learning throughout the year. Great job! 

Important Dates: 

- February 6th: Core Extension Begins

                        Admin. Assembly @ 9:45-12:00 p.m.

                        Principal's Meeting @ 12:30 p.m. (Otterblad to cover)

- February 7th: Fire Drill 

                        Admin. Assembly @ 1:15-3:30 p.m.

- February 8th: Emergency Budget Meeting @ 4:00 p.m. 

- February 9th:

- February 10th: Open Job Fair @ 8-12:30 p.m. (Otterblad to cover)

My Current Re-Reading: