Category: Uncategorized

Greetings Team!
I hope the long weekend treats you well. I’m sending this out early as we have a short, but very busy week next week and wanted to be sure you had all the info you needed as soon as possible.

A few notes to get you going:
1) No School Monday! MLK Day. I hope everyone is planning to honor Dr King this coming week, and it’s such a great connection to many of our themes this year–integrity, kindness, community, and so much more! Here are a few website that may be helpful:
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/martin-luther-king-jr
http://www.ducksters.com/biography/martin_luther_king_jr.php
http://www.blackenterprise.com/the-best-online-resources-for-learning-about-mlk/

This from Kid President: Kid Prez

2) SIW this week is Teacher prep. I would appreciate a few minutes of your time that day to talk about preparing for the Variety show on March 1. Can we gather at 3:15?

3) BINGO on Wednesday night starting at 5:30pm. We’ll need help setting up around 5:15–tables, etc. Dinner from 5:30-6, then BINGO from 6-7pm.

4) DIBELS on Wednesday morning. You know the drill, we’ll be pulling kids all morning.

5) A big thanks to all who have already taken the YouthTruth survey! If you haven’t done so yet, please do:  ytsurvey.org/acestaff23

6) Thank you for your efforts to stay after community times with your classes to make sure the stage gets cleaned up. We’re still not 100% in this area and would appreciate everyone being mindful of this. Thanks!

7) Please remember to fill out your Eval/Goal setting document before we meet–thanks!

8) Trial run for inviting all parents to attend Community Time. During the week of January 23-27 we are going to do a trial run and see how things go. We will invite any and all parents to attend CT on any day they wish and we’ll see how we are able to accommodate this in the office with Raptor. It’s a trial run and we’re super hopeful it will go smoothly so we can include all parents, all the time. I will send out info to parents next week. Fingers crossed!

9) Haley returns next Tuesday, January 24 and will be here on Monday, January 23 in the afternoon to overlap with with Brad a little. Brad will also be here on Tuesday.

Upcoming
January 16: MLK Day, NO SCHOOL
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: SIW-teacher directed
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Please arrive by 5:15 to help set up
January 26: Student Success Meetings
February 2: Work day, no students. We’ll split this day–part team time, part your time
February 3: Work day, no students. Must be on campus this day.
February 22: Amity info meetings for lottery, 2:00 and 5:30pm
March 1: Variety Show!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning To Ya!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend and are ready for the first full week of 2023-it feels like we are off to a great start!

A few notes to get you rolling:
1) If you haven’t already done so, please remember to sign up for your eval/goal setting meeting: Eval/Goal Setting Mtg

Also, please be sure to fill out the document ahead of the meeting–I sent each of you a link to your document. Thanks!

2) SIW this week is Educator Network. The meetings are at Elk Meadow beginning at 2pm.

3) Short meeting with Anna regarding the new Language Arts adoption on Monday at 2:45pm. Ray’s room.

4) BINGO Night next Wednesday! Please include info in your communications with families this week and next. Here’s what I sent last week:
We’re excited for BINGO Night on Wednesday, January 18 starting at 5:30pm. Dinner will be from 5:30-6pm and you are encouraged to bring your own food or pre-order pizza from Friends of Amity. Here’s the link: https://www.friendsofamitycreek.com/product/game-night-pizza/. We will do BINGO from 6-7pm. This is always a really fun night, we hope you can join us!

5) I shared with you recently that we would be offering tours for families interested in applying to Amity Creek (as we have for eternity) but we have been instructed by the district office that we are not allowed to do tours during school hours. So, scratch the tour dates I recently shared, we will include a short tour as part of the info sessions on Feb 22.

6) Friday Community Time–possible change. For some time now there has been some interest expressed in moving CT on Fridays to the morning. I am very open to this idea but would like all of you to consider the option, how it will impact your schedule, and whether or not you are in support of the idea. I’ll check in with each of you by the end of the week and then make a final decision. If there is going to be a change we’ll inform Grade 5 parents to give then time to adjust. Thanks for considering the option.

Upcoming
January 11: SIW-Educator Network, at Elk Meadow 2-3:15pm
January 16: MLK Day, NO SCHOOL
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: SIW-teacher directed
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Details to follow…
January 26: Student Success Meetings
February 2: Work day, no students. We’ll split this day–part team time, part your time
February 3: Work day, no students. Must be on campus this day.
February 22: Amity info meetings for lottery, 2:00 and 5:30pm
March 1: Variety Show!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

A very Happy New Year to all! I hope you had an amazing break and I look forward to hearing what you’ve all been up to! And, I am really looking forward to a great 2023 with all you incredible people!

A few notes to get us rolling in 2023:
1) SIW this week: Roll our of our theme(s) for January–Integrity and Responsibility. 1:30pm in Brian’s room.

Resources for Integrity and Responsibility are on the shared drive (School Wide Themes and Community Events): Resources

2) BINGO Night on Wednesday, January 8 starting at 5:30pm. Dinner will be from 5:30-6pm and families will be bringing their own food or pre-ordering pizza from Friends of Amity (I will send info and link to families). We will do BINGO from 6-7pm. This is always a really fun, easy night!

3) Brian and I are putting the final touches on the evaluation and goal setting document and it will be shared with you soon. You will use the document to prepare for individual meetings this month–be on the look out for an email with more details.

4) After some super productive conversations with the football crew, we will be reinstating football this week–but only after one more meeting with the group to clarify the new agreements. If you are interested, here are the new agreements:

Amity Football Agreements
1) Games will be played at first Choice Time and Lunch recess only, except for Tuesday AM and Thursday Lunch (no football).
2) Friday Lunch will be a “Competitive” Game for advanced players
3) Skill practice will be available at afternoon Choice Time each day
4) Picking of teams
*Captains will be either 4^th or 5^th Graders (weekly rotation)
*Player selection will happen on a rotation (except Friday) starting with either 3^rd, 4^th, or 5^th grade—see rotation below:

	Mon	Tues	Weds.	Thurs	Fri
Morning Choice Time	3, 4, 5	NO Football	4, 5, 3	5, 3, 4	No rotation
Lunch	4, 5, 3	5, 3, 4	3, 4, 5	NO Football	Competitive

5) Safety is extremely important, so when there is play that is not safe it is the responsibility of those playing to notify an adult.  

6) When the bell rings and there is a play in progress, the play is allowed to finish and then the game is over.  If there is not a play in progress, then the game is over.

5) I assume this information is being communicated to you from the district but just in case–there has been a small adjustment to the last week of school. Here is the note I received:

June 20^th Teacher Work Day  The last day for students has been moved from Thursday, 6/15, to Friday, 6/16. The district needed to push back the teacher workday to Tuesday, June 20^th, because of Juneteenth. Certified staff who have completed check out do not need to report on the 20^th. This is consistent with past practice when we have had to extend the school year due to unexpected circumstances (i.e. snowmaggedon).

6) From the Bend Science Station for our k-5 teachers – Announcing an exciting professional development opportunity at the Science Station! Over the past few years, they realigned the Amplify curriculum for grades 2-5 to make it manageable and relevant for Bend-La Pine teachers. In addition, they designed POP Science, which includes a short sequence of NGSS-aligned, hands-on science lessons for each grade level. This January, they will conduct teacher “refresher” trainings on 2^nd-5^th grade modified Amplify units and on K-1 POP Science lessons. These HANDS-ON workshops combine interactive instruction and time to collaborate with grade-level peers. You will practice and walk away with specific lessons for your classroom. Even if you’ve done these workshops before, we encourage you to participate again.

Sessions run from 3-6 pm and will take place at the Bend Science Station on the OSU-C campus. You will be compensated by the district at the curriculum rate for your time. In addition, the Science Station will be offering food and drinks. Click here for a list of the sessions and dates then follow this link to up:  Bend Science Station Amplify + POP Science Training – Google Sheets

Upcoming
January 4: SIW-Integrity and Responsibility roll out
January 11: SIW-Educator Network (at Elk Meadow again)
January 16: MLK Day, NO SCHOOL
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: SIW-teacher directed
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Details to follow…
January 26: Student Success Meetings
February 2: Work day, no students. We’ll split this day–part team time, part your time
February 22: Amity info meetings for lottery, 2:00 and 5:30pm
February 28/March 2: Tours for perspective families
March 1: Variety Show!

Here’s to a great week, and YEAR, ahead!
Andy

Good Morning All!
I’m hoping you had a fantastic weekend! I’ve been in LA with my whole family celebrating my parent’s 60th wedding anniversary (married in 1962!)–what an incredible accomplishment. For perspective, any of you who have been married 20 years, it’s another 40 more!

My flight from LA does not arrive in Bend until 10am and I will be at school as soon after that as I can. Feel free to call or text before 8am or after 10am. See you soon.

A few notes to get you going:
1) As I have since arriving at Amity, in lieu of holiday gifts I made a donation to the Deschutes Children’s Foundation (https://deschuteschildrensfoundation.org) on behalf of the staff. The orgazingation does amazing work supporting many other local agencies that support children and families in our community.

2) We’ll be switching buddies in January–any thoughts about pairings? I’m open to input either via email or in person. I would like to hear your thoughts!

3) The gift collection for foster children in our community ends this Thursday. If you could push it our one last time to your classes it would be greatly appreciated! Here’s what I’ve been sharing with you over the last few weeks:
Between now and December 15 we are collecting unwrapped gifts for kiddos in foster care. Please encourage your students and their families to join in the giving. We’re doing this through Every Child Central Oregon: https://everychildcentraloregon.org/eccogiftdrive/. Gifts are being collected in the wrapped box in the hallway near the office.

4) SIW this week is teacher-directed. A great opportunity to collaborate with other teachers!

5) The rumor is true–football has been paused for a few days. Some issues simmered over last week that necessitate some time and consideration so we have paused football until we feel confident going forward. At issue are inclusivity and safety, but also looking to see how the Olders can take leadership roles as well as give a little back to aspiring ballers. Frans, Brian, and Ray will be (or have already) discussing this with their classes and then we will be pulling all the football players for a special meeting to help reboot Amity football. We’re aiming for the reboot on Wednesday is all goes well–stay tuned.

There is a Youngers game that will continue as there have not bee any issues with them. However, the Olders (other than Grade 4 Barrett who has been AMAZING with the Youngers) can not join this game for the time being.

6) I have an admin meeting on Tuesday and will be leaving at 2:45.

7) On Thursday a student of mine from my very first year of teaching, Heather, will be visiting Amity. Now in her late 30’s she is getting her teaching credential and lives with her family here in Bend. She was also a student of Ray’s! Crazy, eh?

8) I’d like to send a big thank you to all our volunteers from this first part of the year. If you have someone who regularly volunteers in your class, or who joined you for a field trip, please send their name to me. I’ll be sending out one email to the volunteer group. By the end of the week so I can send out the email Friday. ¡Muchas gracias!

9) No Bread and Jam this Friday-let’s all get out of hear early!

Upcoming
December 19-January 2: Winter Break
January 4-SIW-Integrity and Responsibility roll out
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Details to follow…
January 26: Student Success Meetings
March 1: Variety Show!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Happy Monday AM!
What a great party Saturday night! Another big thanks to Ray for hosting all of us, and to all of you for bringing such amazing food! This is truly such an incredible group of people and I always have so much fun with all of you!

Just a few notes to get you going:
1) Don’t forget to send me your FOA wish list–if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

2) SIW this Wednesday at 1:30 in Brian’s room. Look for an agenda tomorrow.

3) Reminder: Between now and December 15 we are collecting unwrapped gifts for kiddos in foster care. Please encourage your students and their families to join in the giving. We’re doing this through Every Child Central Oregon: https://everychildcentraloregon.org/eccogiftdrive/. Gifts are being collected in the wrapped box in the hallway near the office.

4) Reminder: New requirement for cleaning up after Community Time. I know that it’s hard to remember to return to the gym to clean up on your Community Time days. The difficulty with not remembering is that the stage is often left a mess, and it interferes with others who are trying to use the stage during the day. If you have used the stage during your CT and there are things to clean up it is now required that you stay with your class in the gym after your CT and clean up. This way you won’t forget, the kids are involved in taking care of our communal space, and it assures the cleaning gets done in a timely manner. Your support is greatly appreciated.

5) Please return any Kindness themed books you borrowed to the staff room.

Upcoming
December 19-January 2: Winter Break
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Details to follow…
January 26: Student Success Meetings
March 1: Variety Show!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Welcome Back Team!
I hope you had a fantastic break and that you feel fueled up for the next 3 weeks–yup, just 3 weeks until Winter Break!

Just an important reminder that our Staff Holiday Party is this Saturday starting at 4pm. There will be a food sign up sheet in the staff room, please take a moment to get yourself signed up to bring something tasty. Also, we’ll be having a Pirate Gift exchange (everyone draws a number, we go in order, things can get “stolen”, etc). If you want to participate, and we’re hoping everyone will, remember that the gift should be in the $20-25 range. Significant others are welcome to join! Ray will send out his address some time this week.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Fire Drill on Tuesday at 9:20am

2) I had asked that you stop by my office to sign your SLGG the week before break. If you haven’t done this yet, please stop by Monday to get it signed. Thanks!

3) Between now and December 15 we are collecting unwrapped gifts for kiddos in foster care. Please encourage your students and their families to join in the giving. We’re doing this through Every Child Central Oregon: https://everychildcentraloregon.org/eccogiftdrive/. Gifts are being collected in the wrapped box in the hallway near the office.

4) New request/requirement for cleaning up after Community Time. I know that it’s hard to remember to return to the gym to clean up on your Community Time days. The difficulty with not remembering is that the stage is often left a mess, and it interferes with others who are trying to use the stage during the day. Starting this week it is now required that you stay with your class in the gym after your CT and clean up. This way you won’t forget, the kids are involved in taking care of our communal space, and it assures the cleaning gets done in a timely manner. Please talk with your classes about this new protocol and explains the reasoning behind it. Your support is greatly appreciated.

5) El Sancho for lunch this Tuesday! This Tuesday is an Amity Creek fundraiser at El Sancho (west side only) where a portion of the profits for the day go to Friends of Amity. We’ll be encouraging families to eat at El Sancho (or get take out) on that day, but as side benefit all of you will get El Sancho for lunch on Tuesday compliments of Friends of Amity. Rob Cammilletti, Chela’s dad, works at El Sancho and is heading up this effort. He’ll be bringing fixings for tacos, along with rice and beans, so y’all can enjoy some good eats on Tuesday. In the meantime, please include info in your weekly note. Yes, we would have liked more time to get the word out, but it all happened kind of quickly. I sent out info on Sunday evening. Rob is hard at work lining up monthly events like this. Thanks for supporting the effort!

6) Picture retakes are this Tuesday. Info has gone home to parents already and I will send a reminder Monday afternoon.

7) SIW this week at 1:30 in Brian’s room. Look for an agenda tomorrow.

8) I have a meeting at the district office on Monday at 8:30am. Call or text if you need anything while I’m gone. I know, not a great time to be gone following a break but I’m just a call or text away!

Upcoming
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 29: Picture retakes (new date)
December 3: Holiday Party, 4pm-whenever
December 19-January 2: Winter Break
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Details to follow…

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Greetings Team,
I hope the long weekend was spectacular! I actually got out XC skiing twice over the weekend and it was amazing to be out in the woods on skis! We’re 5 days away from a nice week-long break and I’m looking forward to some time off–I am sure you are, too!

A big thanks to everyone for the discussion about mini observations/evaluations at our SIW last week–your input is greatly appreciated! Brian and I are working on incorporating your feedback and we will share the final version with you soon (I will be meeting with a student group this week to get their feedback as well). We will begin in January with the new format. I am excited to have something in place that is more meaningful and that supports our common goals, your professional growth and development, and the student experience.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Patti is out on Monday and Beth Thomas will be here to cover her duties. She will arrive around 8:45am.

2) Looks like we will all be together at Pine Ridge on Wednesday (you will each be with other teachers who teach the same grade) for the Educator Network from 2-3:15pm. We discussed the possibility of Happy Hour afterwards, and since we are going to be in the same place it makes it easier. For anyone who can make it, plan to meet for a drink immediately after the meeting. Location TBD.

3) We don’t formally have a staff meeting this week, but I’d love to meet on Tuesday with those of you interested in talking about School Themes. Specifically I’d like to take about how we can create a solid support system for rolling out the theme each month and the kinds of things we can do school wide, with buddies, with families, and individually. Just looking to take the next step forward! I know you are all super busy, but it seems like a good time to talk more deeply about this. 2:45pm in the Staff Room on Tuesday.

4) I have an admin meeting on Monday and will be leaving shortly before 3pm

5) I have the SLGGs ready to sign so put it on your list of things to do and find a time to stop by my office this week.

6) Save the Date: Staff Holiday Party on Saturday, December 3 at Ray’s house starting at 4pm. We will do a Pirate Gift exchange so if you want to play bring a gift with a value of no more than $25 ($20-$25 is best). This will be an adult only event and significant others are welcome (if you want to subject them to our brand of humor).

7) The canned food drive in support of the Giving Plate and Bend Food Project (who provide support for food insecure folks in our community) ends this Thursday. Please push this out to families in your class. Thanks!

8) I’ve tentatively set January 18 as our Family BINGO Night, and hoping it is a good night for all of you to be there. Please get this on your calendar.

Upcoming
November 15: Optional School Themes meeting, 2:45 in the Staff Room
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 29: Picture retakes (new date)
December 3: Holiday Party, 4pm-whenever
December 19-January 2: Winter Break
January 18: Winter DIBELS
January 18: Family BINGO Night! Details to follow…

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Happy Monday Team!
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the 4 day week (yes, Friday is a holiday!). Loved the visit from these masked wonders on Friday…

I will be out all day Monday on a personal day. I am available if there is an emergency, otherwise we can connect on Tuesday. Have a great Monday!

A few notes to get you going:
1) The school wide theme this month is Kindness. What have you done already or have planned to share this theme? I’d love to hear what’s going on, hoping you’ll share at SIW this week.

Also, please remember that we agreed at the last SIW that each class would create a Kindness Quilt (based on book that Lindsey has). Lauren and Ray, I know you were not at the SIW–did you get this info? If not, touch base with another teacher.

2) SIW on Wednesday this week starting at 1:30 in Brian’s room. Agenda coming on Tuesday. While you’re waiting for the agenda, start thinking of a song title that best describes you. “Highway to Hell”? “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?”, “I’d Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me (Than a Frontal Lobotomy)”. So many good titles, what will choose to describe yourself?

3) Secure Drill on Thursday at 9:20am. This is a simple one. We will announce that we are in a Secure Drill–this means we lock all exterior doors and it’s business as usual inside. This kind of protocol would be used if there was something going on adjacent to the school or in the neighborhood and we need to secure the building so no one comes in or out. An example would be that there has been a robbery in downtown and the police call us as a preventative measure to be sure our building is locked up.

4) Jammie Jam donations are rolling in and we could use your support in collecting envelopes as they arrive and then deliver them to Patti–envelopes are due back by Wednesday. If all the donations get collected we will have raised between $5,000 and $6,000. Not bad for the effort! Thanks for the support.

5) We are collecting canned foods between now and Thursday, November 17th. All food collected will be donated to the Giving Plate and shared with families in the Bend community. Please encourage students in your class and remind parents in your communications. I already shared with parents last week.

6) I want to remind you of one of our greatest resources–our instructional coach, Anna! If you have questions, want a thought partner, or need help in a particular academic area, don’t hesitate to reach out to her. She recently sent us all a very informative email full of great support.

7) Looking for a staff member or two to get re-certified (certified?) in CPR/first aid. We are under our needed quota and need at least one more staff member with an updated certification. This is a great opportunity to refresh your skills. Let me know if you are willing/interested. It’s an online and in-person hybrid (moistly on line at your pace).

8) After stopping by the kitchen on my way out of school last Thursday it seems to me we may need to institute a Kitchen Ninja (borrowed from REALMS) sign up. I think it’s time to get everyone signed up to take care of the kitchen each week. Will someone step up and be the Master Kitchen Ninja?

9) A big official welcome to Raquel who is our new night custodian! She’s been filling in for Vincent but he is moving on to Bend High.

Upcoming
November 8: Skip (my boss) will be visiting classroom
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Hello All!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend! It’s been a busy first 36 days of school (yes, only 36!), and we have lots more fun coming in November, starting this week! I know it can be hard sometimes to appreciate the fruits of our labor in the moment, but know that all the extra efforts you put in make a big difference–we are helping to raise really good humans, and nothing could be more important!

Grade 4 went on a field trip to the landfill last week, and Angela Spaid (Benji and Finn’s mom) captured this on the bus:

A few notes to get you going on this Fall Monday:
1) November is now officially Kindness Month. Please be sure you read the email I sent last week.

2) Tomorrow is the Jammie Jam! As a reminder K-2 will be on the course from 10 to 10:30, 3-5 from 10:30-11. Volunteers have it organized and ready, we just need you out there cheering the kids on! We will need to do Choice Time from 9-9:20 on Tuesday in order to give volunteers time to get the course set up.

Plan B due to weather will be to set up a course in the gym and hallway. Should be fun…

3) Tomorrow is also PJ and movie day. I am hoping you are all set with plans for the day. Please let me know what movies will be watched. Thanks!

4) Please, please make sure kiddos have everything they need for lunch recess when they leave for lunch (jackets, hats, gloves, stuffies, etc). We have lots of kiddos asking to be let into their classrooms to get jackets and we’d prefer to avoid this (it’s a pain!). Thanks!

5) We’ve had a Staff Meeting on the books for Tuesday but I’d like to give that time for people to finish prep for the Student Success Meetings.

6) SIW this week is teacher directed.

7) Student Success Meetings on Thursday–please take time to prep early this week: Student Success Prep

Schedule:
8:30-9:00am: Lauren
9:00-9:30am: Frans
10:00-10:30am: Amanda
10:30-11:00am: Brian
12:00-12:30pm: Lindsey
12:30-1:00pm: Ray

8) I’ll be out all day on Wednesday at an admin PD in La Pine. Call or text if you need anything!

9) As decided at SIW last week we will continue with current Buddies and will plan to switch it up in January.

The following was posted in the latest TLC update and I thought it might be useful for you in understanding the difference between Lexia and Reading Playground. I think it’s important that we consider how each of these can be used to support individual needs.

Lexia vs Reading Playgrounds – who wins? Both…they serve different purposes!
Lexia provides differentiated guided practice and feedback in both word recognition and language comprehension, which helps move learning forward.  Lexia is more comprehensive than Reading Playgrounds.  Lexia is meant to work on all reading and language standards, not just the word recognition subset.  

To increase students’ growth toward grade level standards, it is important for students to meet units gained. This is most important for students who are currently below grade level.  When thinking about the use of time, the best instruction for a student is when they are in a small group receiving direct, explicit instruction. The next best instructional method is to be working in a program like Lexia that provides guided practice feedback that moves learning forward.  Lexia should take priority over other independent tasks. 

Reading Playgrounds is a formative assessment that provides the teacher feedback on whether students learned what was taught that week in core instruction.  It is meant to be used to practice the current skills students are working on and also to assess mastery of skills.  The first three games assess content taught so far and the rest of the games are just practice.  Consider what is most important with the time you have. 

Upcoming
November 1: Jammie Jam! Also PJ and Movie day!
November 1: Staff Meeting, CANCELLED
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 8: Skip (my boss) will be visiting classroom
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to an amazing week ahead!
Andy

Hey Team!
I hope that Conversations went really well and that you had a fantastic, well deserved and frosty 3 day weekend. As you know, my plans got derailed by a sick kiddo at home so I got to spend some quality time here in town getting some projects done.

Quick note: I will be leaving school at 12:45pm today and will be gone for the rest of the day. I’ll be unreachable from 1:30 until 3pm, but available before and after that period of time.

A few notes for the week:
1) Jammie Jam sponsor sheets are due this Friday. Please encourage your students to get sponsors and be sure to include a reminder in any parent communications this week. We really need your support to make this successful. Thanks! More details of the event coming soon.

2) Conversations follow ups. As a reminder we agreed to send follow up emails to selected families to be sure that delicate (tricky, difficult) information shared was received. This provides written follow up and gives us assurance that the message has been received.

Also, please remember to reach out to families who missed their scheduled time or who have yet to reach out to make a time to meet.

3) For SIW this week we will have a look at a draft of Problem Solving wheel that’s been created and get some feedback from the whole group. Look for an email with more information. We’ll also talk about themes for the next few months–please come with ideas! Lastly, I’d like to have a few minutes to chat about number sense and how we can include more activities in our daily routine that could support development of stronger number sense. Bring your ideas!

Who’d like to do the warm up for the meeting? Let me know!

4) Earthquake/Fire drill on Wednesday at 10:45am. Duck and cover, wait for the fire alarm, and then head outside. Don’t forget your red/green folder and class list.

5) PJ and movie day will be next Tuesday, November 1. Please begin conversations about what movies you’d like to show. The last few times we did this prior to the pandemic, we split into 2 or 3 smaller groups in order to choose movies that were age appropriate–I think this is a good idea going forward, too. K/1, 2/3, 4/5. It’s a really good idea to use Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsensemedia.org) when selecting movies as they identify potential issues with movies (and it’d be great to avoid parental issues if we can!). Please let me know once you’ve settled on a movie. (Special note for Brian and Ray: You may show a PG movie but we need permission from parents, so if you plan to do this we need to get permission slips out quickly. Let me know if you want to do this).

6) Student Success Meetings (formally known as EBISS) will be next week, November 3. I’ll send out a schedule for that day soon, but in the meantime please do a little prep work here: SSM Prep. There is a folder for each class.

7) Field trips and activities this week: Grade 2 goes to Fall River (Thurs), Grade 4 to Knott Landfill (Thurs), and Grade 5 is gathering at the Hopservatory on Tuesday night.

8) Please get me your Opt-in email lists. I’ll pass them along to Class Leads to finish up. Thanks!

9) Happy Hour this Friday! I hope everyone can make it–3:30pm. Location TBD.

10) I have an admin meeting on Tuesday so I’ll be leaving right after school.

Upcoming
October 26: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 26: SIW, 1:30pm
October 28: Happy Hour, 3:30pm–location TBD
November 1: Jammie Jam, details coming soon. Also PJ and Movie day!
November 1: Staff Meeting, 245-3:30
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to an amazing week ahead!
Andy