Author Archives: Gary Defrang

Below are some updates from Teaching and Learning (TLC) Mary Ehrenworth (Columbia University, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project) is advising us to avoid giving running records this fall to assess student reading levels.  She suggests spending as little time … Continue reading →

Thank you for reminding the families of your students that Wednesday is the first School Improvement Wednesday (SIW) early dismissal. Each Wednesday for the remainder of the school year, students will be dismissed at 12:40 (K-2nd @ 12:35). As a … Continue reading →

Please do something fun this weekend! Fun = Refilling our buckets. The weather looks great, enjoy! During the month of September while Matthew is on leave, our substitute will be teaching SEL and regulation strategies to students.  During the first … Continue reading →

Effective and professional communication is important to me. Last week I shared some of my beliefs about communication and this week will expand with some additional information about what you can anticipate in terms of decision making this year at … Continue reading →

Setting up your classroom? Here is an abbreviated list of the Ready Schools Safe Learners (RSSL) guidelines. In general, we need to space students 3 feet apart to the extent possible (italicized as this is a change from last school … Continue reading →

Greetings! I hope your summer has been wonderful. The DeFrang’s had a good one. We stayed close to home for the most part, did some camping and spent some time at the coast. It was nice to have extra time … Continue reading →

Have a great summer! Many thanks to those of you who have helped with interviewing the last several weeks. We have hired some great teachers! Below are some updates: -Jennie Willis will be teaching 1st grade next year. Jennie has … Continue reading →

A reminder that Wednesday, June 16th is a regular school day (3:00 dismissal) and Thursday, June 17th a SIW schedule day (1:30 dismissal). For Specials, we are planning to use the Thursday schedule on the 16th and the Wednesday schedule … Continue reading →

With the celebration on Wednesday at 2:30, we are not planning to have a Staff Meeting this month. Time is extra precious in June and we will leverage email for important communication. Thank you for paying extra close attention to … Continue reading →

We received updates this week that have helped us solidify most of our staffing plan. Below are some notes: -Jean Larraneta will be rejoining our staff next year and teaching 1st grade. Rejoining, in that while she is actually being … Continue reading →