Monday AM Teacher Notes

School-wide theme: Belonging!

Hello Team!
We survived the Halloween and Jammie Jam craziness and I hope you caught up on rest and fun over the wet, Fall weekend.

As you know this will be my last few days until January 2. If there is ANYTHING you need to connect with me about before I leave please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Last week I asked the question about how we will know if your students are being positively impacted by our focus on school wide themes. Things like the photo below, written on the quote of the day board by Lexi (5th grade) last week, are the kind of evidence that let us know!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Staff Meeting on Tuesday at 2:45. Ray’s room. Please add items to the Agenda.

2) Cafe Amity on Wednesday hosted by Grade 3

3) SIW on Wednesday can be used to work on activities and plans for our new theme of belonging, and to get caught up on things.

4) Secure Drill on Thursday. Secure Drills are to practice to lock all external doors and elevate our “situational awareness”–essentially becoming acutely aware of what may be going on around our school. This could be related to a police stop in the neighborhood or some unusual activity around the school. An announcement will be made that we are in a Secure Drill and then 5 minutes later another announcement will be made to end the drill. It’s business as usual in the classroom.

5) No School on Friday–Veteran’s day!

6) Brad will be here starting Wednesday. At our Staff Meeting on Tuesday I’ll share more information.

7) I’ll continue to send weekly AM Notes on Sundays while I am away. (The first one will be fairly generic as I will probably write it before I have surgery and schedule it to be sent next Sunday.)

8) I’ll be sharing this at the Staff Meeting on Tuesday but I’m putting it here for reference:



Inside Choice Time and Lunch Recess Plan
When it’s raining or below 20 degrees outside, we have to shift to inside recess.  

For AM recess:
*Students can be in a classroom, in the hallway, or in the gym 
*One EA will offer an activity in the gym (Everyone is it tag, 4 Corners, other tag games)
*2 EAs are checking in with teachers to see if they need a break.

Lunch recess:
*Lunch tables will be set up for quick cleaning (or not set up at all—“Picnic style”) so we can use the gym soon after lunch is over.
*Once lunch is over (11:20) student return to classrooms while gym is cleaned up
*Once excused, students must be in their classroom (or in the gym once it’s ready) 
*Activity will be offered in the gym by Brad or EA (when Robi is here) after the gym is cleaned
*EAs (or Robi) will each be responsible for 2 classrooms: K/5, 1/2, 3/4
*Teachers should be clear about what can/cannot happen in the classroom during these times

For afternoon recess:
*Students can be in their classroom, another classroom, or in the hall (no physical games)
*Brad or Robi will walk around and see if teachers need a break
*Brad or Robi can offer an activity in the gym

Upcoming this week
November 7: Staff Meeting (Add to the Agenda). Andy’s last day for a while…
November 8: School based SIW-work on activities for Belonging, get caught up
November 10: No School, Veteran’s Day

Upcoming through Winter Break
November 14: Team Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
November 15: Teacher work day SIW
November 16: Amity Eats, MOD Pizza (by Market of Choice)
November 20-24: No School, Thanksgiving Break
November 28: Staff Meeting (add to the agenda when I share it later)
November 29: School based SIW
December 6: Teacher work day SIW
December 12: Team Collaboration Time
December 13: Teacher work day SIW
December 18-January 1: No School, Winter Break!

*Cafe Amity dates: November 8 (Grade 3 hosts), November 29 (Grade 2 hosts), December 13 (Grade 1 hosts)
*Bread and Jam dates: November 3, November 17, December 8

Here’s to a great week and 4 day week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning Y’all,
I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the very well deserved 3 day weekend! And, I’m hoping that Conversations went really well!

A few notes to get you rolling:
1) I’ll be a little late this morning as my flight from LA does not arrive until 9:15am. I should be at school by 10am. I can be reached until 7am and then again after 9:15am (assuming that all goes well).

2) Following up after Conversations: Just a reminder to follow up with that handful of families that you made support plans with during Conversations. This can be a simple email capturing what you spoke about and what each of you committed to doing. Having it in writing can be super helpful and serves as a great reminder.

3) We’ll be Trick or Treating with masks on at the Ed Center on Tuesday starting at 1pm. Let’s stagger our departure from school:
K/1 leave at 12:50
2/3 leave at 12:55
4/5 leave at 1

When we get back let’s have some play time on the playground. After, Grade 4 can get to PE.

4) Jammie Jam on Wednesday! Pledge sheets are due today–please be sure you include a reminder in your weekly notes. Here’s the plan:
*Parents will set up the course starting around 9am. Depending on the weather we will either be inside or outside.
*K-2 will be on the course from 10-10:30am. We’ll need help from EAs to count laps
*3-5 will be on the course from 10:30-11am. Please help with lap counting!

5) If you’re planning to show a movie on Wednesday please be sure you check out Common Sense media to get some intel on the movie before you commit to it: Common Sense. Also, you might want to check to see if the movie is working on your projector system the day before because Ray recently ran into an issue trying to show a movie. Let me know if it’s not working and we’ll problem solve.

6) I sent you an email related to Goal Setting meetings. If you haven’t signed up for a meeting time yet please do! Thanks to those of you who have already done so!

7) Christine Bachtel, Emory’s mom, will be our visiting artist in November–she’ll be doing ceramics with the kids! All sessions are planned to happen during your Enrichment times and will be supported by Gina. There may be a little time here and there that Chris may need to work with kids in your class outside of Enrichment time and she will coordinate that with each of you.

Upcoming this week
October 31: Trick or Treat at the Education Center, 1pm
October 31: Team Collaboration Time, 2:45pm-3:30pm
November 1: Jammie Jam! K-2: 10-10:30am, 3-5: 10:30-11am
November 1: School based SIW–lots of good stuff to talk about!

Upcoming through Winter Break
November 7: Staff Meeting (Add to the Agenda). Andy’s last day for a while…
November 8: School based SIW
November 10: No School, Veteran’s Day
November 14: Team Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
November 15: Teacher work day SIW
November 16: Amity Eats, MOD Pizza (by Market of Choice)
November 20-24: No School, Thanksgiving Break
November 28: Staff Meeting (add to the agenda)
November 29: School based SIW
December 6: Teacher work day SIW
December 12: Team Collaboration Time
December 13: Teacher work day SIW
December 18-January 1: No School, Winter Break!

*Cafe Amity dates: November 8 (Grade 3 hosts), November 29 (Grade 2 hosts), December 13 (Grade 1 hosts)
*Bread and Jam dates: November 3, November 17, December 8

Here’s to a great week and fun filled week ahead!
Andy

Greetings all!
I hope the weekend was good to you and you’re looking forward to Conversations this week! (Please remember to reach out to families who have yet to sign up.)

A big thanks to those of you who made it to Harvest Festival. The evening was a big success on all levels!

Just a few notes for this short week:
1) First, a big safety concern. It is imperative that the door leading out to the playground be shut and locked (locks automatically if shut) at all times other than Choice Time, lunch recess, or Invitations–essentially any time we have large groups of children on the playground. If you are the last adult coming off the playground you MUST be sure that you are shutting the door. This has to be a priority for all of us at all times.

2) A big thanks to all of you for the Student Success Meetings last week. I’ll be sending some follow up emails this week.

3) Mask making is moving along really well and the kids have made some amazing masks! A reminder that we will Trick or Trick with masks on at the Ed Center on Halloween. We’ll plan to arrive at 1pm, with one class leaving every few minutes to spread us out a little.

4) A quick reminder that we are hosting the Jammie Jam the day after Halloween. Pledge sheets were sent home last week and it would be great if you could mention something in your weekly note this week–all encouragement is appreciated! Thanks for supporting the effort, last year we raised some needed funds! Pledge sheets are due by October 30th.

5) Like last year, I want to meet with each of you to do some individual goal setting. I’d like to do this the week of October 30-November 3. I’ll send out a sign up link soon.

Upcoming meetings:
*October 31-Team Collaboration Time
*November 1-School based SIW

Upcoming
October 24: NO Staff meeting
October 25-26: Conversations (no work on 27th)
October 31: Trick or Treat at the Education Center, 1pm
October 31: Team Collaboration Time, 2:45pm
November 1: Jammie Jam! K-2: 10-10:30am, 3-5: 10:30-11am
November 1: School based SIW–lots of good stuff to talk about!
November 7: Staff Meeting (Andy’s last day for a while…)

Here’s to a great 4 day week ahead!
Andy

Hello Amazing Team!
Well, last week was quite a week–a big thanks to all for keeping it positive and helping out when needed. Hoping to have the team back together this week…

A few notes to get you going:
1) Mask making begins this week. I sent the schedule out last week. Should be fun! As we did previously for some years the kids will be wearing masks to go trick or treating over at the Ed Center on the 31st (afternoon). The staff there love getting dressed up and hosting the kids.

2) Student Success Meetings on Wednesday. Please be sure you have the SSM Prep form ready to go (sent you a link last week). Here’s the schedule, Brad will be here to cover your classes:
8:30-9:00-Lindsey
9:00-9:30-Sara/Lauren
10:00-10:30-Brian
10:30-11:00-Frans
12:00-12:30-Grade 1

3) SIW this week (and next) is Teacher Work Day!

4) Dental Screenings on Monday and Tuesday. I know–SO MANY disruptions! These medical screenings are really important and every year multiple kiddos greatly benefit. We’ll be pulling students throughout both days and we’ll try and work around the various things going on in your classrooms!

5) Speaking of disruptions, Earthquake/Fire Drill on Friday at 10:45am. Then off to lunch…

6) Harvest Festival is this weekend, Saturday fro 4-7pm. As always you are not required to be there but it’s always great to see you there!

7) Grade 5 is off to Tamarack Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!

8) We will hosting the Jammie Jam once again this year the day after Halloween. We’re sending home pledge sheets this week. Tentatively the event will take place on November 1 between Choice Time and lunch. Thanks for supporting the effort, last year we raised some needed funds!

9) Note about upcoming Tuesday meetings: No Team Collaboration Time this week and no Staff Meeting on October 24. Please use the time to prep for Student Success Meetings this week and to get a jump on Conversations or Conversations prep next week.

Upcoming Dates
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 17: Teacher Collaboration Time–CANCELED
October 18: Teacher work day SIW
October 18: Student Success meetings
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival, 4-7pm
October 24: NO Staff meeting
October 25-27: Conversations (no work on 27th)
October 31: Trick or Treat at the Education Center, 1pm

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

School wide theme: Problem Solving!

Team,
I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed the amazing weekend–Fall at it’s very best! My family had a little surprise Friday night, the early arrival of the latest member of our family–Kahwai Ezekiel. He was born in the back of their Honda Odyssey van in the parking lot of the birthing center! True story! Here he is with his older sister, and below that with Raya.

A few notes to get you rolling:
1) We continue with the Problem Solving roll out this week. Last week I dropped off your slice of the wheel and a small poster to hang in your class.

*Jigsaw Problem Solving Wheel
Starting last week each grade was supposed to introduce the entire wheel to their class but do a deep dive on just one of the strategies and create a skit demonstrating their strategy to share-out to the rest of the school. Skits this week and next:
-Tue 10: 2nd
-Wed 11th: 1st
-Thur 12th: 2nd
-Fri 13th: 5th
-Tue 17th: 4th
-Wed 18th: Kinder

*Skits:
*should be relatively short
*should demonstrate a real-life situation and model an appropriate way of using the strategy
*could be organized into either small groups or presented as a whole class
*could consider collaborating with buddies on this.
*Your class can either tell the audience what the strategy is first and then model it OR they tell them to watch carefully and guess which strategy was used.

*Which grade has which strategy?
Tell them to please stop – Kinder
Compromise – 1st Grade
Feel it and Move on OR Ignore it – 2nd Grade
Find another: space, group, activity – 3rd Grade
Have a conversation + Talk it Out – 4th Grade
Create your own solution – 5th Grade

2) Picture Day on Tuesday. We’ll pull students throughout the morning.

3) Staff Meeting on Tuesday at 2:45pm. We’ll meet in Grade 3. Please remember that this is a collaborative agenda–you can add to the agenda items here: Staff Meetings 23-24

4) SIW this week is Educator Network–good news is we get to stay here to do it! Sara, Brian, and I received some training last week to help us prepare to facilitate this Wednesday. 1:30 in Brian’s room.

5) Bus Evacuation Drill on Thursday at 9am. We need to be at the Ed Center at 9am.

6) Conversations are coming up in two short weeks! We’ll be offering meeting times on Wednesday, October 25 and Thursday October 26 (off on 27th). Please get information out to parents soon so they know the plan and get that Google doc ready to go for sign ups. We know that many families make plans for those 3 extra days off so the sooner you get info out the better!

7) How are Community jobs going?
Kinder/Grade 1: Playground clean-up
Grade 2: Library caretakers
Grade 3: Hallway waste patrol
Grade 4: Green Team waste station
Grade 5: Office and cafeteria support

8) Student Success Meetings are next week–we need to switch from the 19th to the 18th. More info coming soon.

9) Grade 4 hosts Cafe Amity this Wednesday.

Upcoming Dates
October 10: School pictures
October 10: Staff meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
October 11: Educator Network SIW
October 11: Cafe Amity, Grade 4 hosts
October 12: Bus Evacuation Drill, 9am at the Ed Center
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 17: Teacher Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
October 18: Teacher work day SIW
October 18:Student Success Meetings, schedule coming soon
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival, 4-7pm
October 25-27: Conversations (no work on 27th)
October 31: Trick or Treat at the Education Center, 1pm

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Greetings All!
First, a HUGE thank you for making these first few weeks so amazing! The vibe at Pancake Breakfast was amazing and that’s because you’ve done an incredible job building community these first few weeks!

I hope the weekend treated you well. It’s been busy around school so I’m hoping your weekends are restful or playful, or both! I’m hopeful that this is a calmer week for us all!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Vision Screening on Tuesday. We’ll pull small groups.

2) DIBELS on Wednesday AM

3) PE and water bottles: Please be sure your students have their water bottles for PE. It’s essential for them to have access to water and not have to leave the gym and wait in line at the water fountain. This is an easy way to support the smooth running of PE classes. Thanks!

4) No meeting on Tuesday. Brian, Sara, and I will be at an ICCL meeting in the afternoon.

5) For our Wednesday SIW Grades 3/4/5 will meet with Lori for HD word. K/1/2 can work on finalizing your assessments and consulting with Haley and Sara.

6) Please push out these links to Harvest Festival and the School Directory in your communications with parents the next few weeks–your help is greatly appreciated!
Harvest Festival
School Directory

7) Bread and Jam on Friday after school

8) I’ll be leaving a little early on Friday to catch a flight to LA to see my folks. Call or text if you need anything. I’ll be leaving around 1 and will be available until 2:45pm.

Upcoming Dates (just keeping all this on your radar)
October 3: Vision Screening
October 4: DIBELS
October 4: School based SIW
October 6: Bread and Jam
October 10: Picture Day
October 10: Staff meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
October 11: Educator Network SIW
October 12: Bus Evacuation Drill, 9am at the Ed Center
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 17: Teacher Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
October 18: Teacher work day SIW
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival, 4-7pm
October 25-27: Conversations (likely 25^th and 26^th, no work on 27th)

Hello All!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend! It was a HUGE weekend for Michelle and I as we dropped our youngest, Kaila, off at college (go Beavers!). We are officially empty nesters. Now what? I read a funny quote: Behind every great kid is a couple of parents who are sure they screwed the whole thing up. Here’s hoping we didn’t!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Camp Amity today and tomorrow! You all know my biggest concern: Remember that we always need one adult on the dock and that adult should stay on the dock until another adult comes to trade out. And, remember to take your turn on the dock. Thanks!

2) We’ll just have Invitations on Thursday of this week (Camp Amity on Monday). Invitations 23-24

3) Lockdown Drill on Thursday–look for an email with some good info on Monday.

4) At SIW this week we’ll dive into our roll out of next month’s theme: Problem Solving. 1:30pm in Grade 5.

5) Tuesday is Team Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm. This will be a good time to talk about what you want to work together on as a team this year.

6) Buddies through the end of October: K/5, 1/4, 2/3 on Fridays.

7) Our first Cafe Amity of the year is this week on Wednesday hosted by Grade 5.

8) Our annual Pancake Breakfast is on Friday starting at 7am. All hands on deck.

9) Mark your calendar. We’ll be doing the Jammie Jam again this year on November 1. We got lots of volunteers for the event signed up at Back to School Night! We’ll be sending home pledge sheets in a few weeks.

10) Deb Fisher, Rebel’s aunt, will be our Visiting Artists in October. I’ll be working with you on dates soon. Deb will be doing a mask making project with your classes and I will be sending you an email soon so you can give some input on the mask making options for your class. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Dates (just keeping all this on your radar)
September 25/26: Camp Amity at Shevlin Park!  9:30am-1pm
September 26: Team Collaboration Meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
September 27: School based SIW
September 27: Cafe Amity, Grade 5 hosts
September 28: Lockdown Drill, 9:20am
September 29: Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
October 4: DIBELS
October 4: School based SIW
October 6: Bread and Jam
October 10: Picture Day
October 10: Staff meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
October 11: Educator Network SIW
October 12: Bus Evacuation Drill, 9am at the Ed Center
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 17: Teacher Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
October 18: Teacher work day SIW
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival, 4-7pm
October 25-27: Conversations (likely 25^th and 26^th, no work on 27th)

Greetings All!
I hope you had an amazing weekend and got out and enjoyed the Fall weather! We are officially launched, and the 2023 school year is underway-thanks for a great start!

A few notes to get you going:
*School wide theme: Community!

1) Get a jump on signing up for Invitations: Invitations 23-24.
Note: We won’t have Invitations next Monday (25th) because we’ll just be getting back from camp.

2) Staff Meeting Tuesday, 2:45-3:30 in Grade 2. If you have something you’d like to add to the agenda please put it here: Staff Meeting Agendas 23-24. Who’s got a warm up activity for us?? Please bring your computers.

3) Book Fair this week, please refer to the email I sent last week with the schedule. I’ll give you Monday:
8:30-8:50    Kindergarten
8:50-9:10    First Grade
9:10-9:30    Second Grade
10:00-10:20 Third Grade
10:20-10:40   Fourth Grade
10:40-11:00    Fifth Grade

4) SIW this week is a teacher work day. I’ll be leaving school around 1:45 to get to an admin meeting.

5) Back to School Night is this Thursday starting with the Book Fair at 5pm. Parents will report to your room at 5:30pm. Plan to be back in the gym by 6:15–I’ll make an announcement over the PA.

6) Security note: If you are the last adult in off the playground after Choice Time or lunch recess please make sure the back door is shut. We simply cannot leave the door open. Thanks!

7) Just an FYI: Rose City Chess Club begins Wednesday after school in the staff room. This is parent funded chess instruction. We have about 15 kiddos signed up.

8) Camp Amity next week–yahoo!!! Be sure to have all permission slips in.

9) Buddies–let’s talk at the staff meeting about the first pairings.

Upcoming Dates (just keeping all this on your radar)
September 18-22: Scholastic Book Fair
September 19: Staff Meeting, 2:45-3:30pm in Grade 2
September 20: Teacher work day SIW
September 21: Back to School Night, 5-6:30pm
September 25/26: Camp Amity at Shevlin Park!  9:30am-1pm
September 26: Team Collaboration Meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
September 27: School based SIW
September 27: Cafe Amity, Grade 5 hosts
September 28: Lockdown Drill, 9:20am
September 29: Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
October 4: DIBELS
October 4: School based SIW
October 6: Bread and Jam
October 10: Picture Day
October 10: Staff meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
October 11: Educator Network SIW
October 12: Bus Evacuation Drill, 9am at the Ed Center
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 17: Teacher Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
October 18: Teacher work day SIW
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival (tentative, pending parent volunteers)
October 25-27: Conversations (likely 25^th and 26^th, no work on 27th)

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

School-wide theme: Community

What a great first week we had! Thanks for making the first week so special and helping students make and re-establish connections! I really loved popping from classroom to classroom and seeing all the joy! I hope you’re feeling really good about last week, too. I’m excited for our first full week!

A few notes to get you going:
1) We have Community Time Tuesday-Friday from here on! As a reminder, here’s the line-up:
Tues: Grades 2 and 4
Weds: Kinder and Grade 1
Thurs: Grade 3
Fri: Grade 5

2) Invitations start this week–Monday and Thursday. Here’s the link: Invitations 23-24.

PE and Enrichment also start this week. Be sure you know your days/times (Master Schedule)

3) Let’s get all the Community Jobs up and running this week:
Kinder/Grade 1: Playground clean-up
Grade 2: Library caretakers
Grade 3: Hallway waste patrol
Grade 4: Green Team waste station*
Grade 5: Office and cafeteria support*
*Brian and Ray: Wondering about Sensory Supporters. This year’s Grade 5 students were trained last year. Should this be a Grade 5 or Grade 4 job this year?

4) SIW this week is our whole team. We’ll have time to check in, talk about some of our kiddos, chat about Back to School Night, and get our eyes on the assessment binders (if you haven’t already).

5) Back to School Night is Thursday, September 21. As noted, we’ll chat about this at our SIW on Wednesday.

6) Fire Drill on Thursday at 9:20am. Please review procedures with your kiddos before the drill. And be sure you have the Green/Red folder with a class list.

7) Scholastic Book Fair is next week, Monday-Friday, and will include an opportunity for parents to shop at Back to School Night, too. Look for some communication coming out soon about times your class will visit the fair.

8) FOA is sponsoring a teacher lunch on Thursday–El Sancho!

9) Rose City Chess Club at Amity will run every Wednesday after school in the staff room starting September 20th. We have about 15 Amity kiddos involved in this activity, paid for by individual families. The Amity Chess Club will also continue this year.

Lastly, but certainly not least, supervision on the playground. This is my annual reminder about the importance of good, vigilant, and safety-minded supervision on the playground. As I always say, supervision is 90% prevention, 10% response (disclaimer: not scientifically proven). If we do a good job supervising on the playground then 90% of the time we can avoid serious injury. Good supervision requires awareness, which requires that you are focussing on what the kiddos are doing. Please remember that there are 3 key areas that we must be covering at all times: the field, the blacktop/gaga pit area, and the playground. Please position yourself in one of these 3 key areas and be sure not to leave the area without passing the duty on to someone else. When we walk away from an area of supervision we leave children at risk.
Reminder: K-2 (including Lauren) on Mondays/Thursdays, 3-5 on Tuesdays/Fridays

Upcoming Dates (just keeping all this on your radar)
September 13: First SIW and Early Release (1pm)
September 14: Fire Drill, 9:20am
September 14: El Sancho for lunch courtesy of FOA!
September 18-22: Scholastic Book Fair (available to families at Back to School Night!)
September 19: Staff Meeting, 3-3:30pm
September 20: Teacher work day SIW
September 21: Back to School Night, 5-6:30pm
September 25/26: Camp Amity at Shevlin Park!  9:30am-1pm
September 26: Team Collaboration Meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
September 27: School based SIW
September 28: Lockdown Drill, 9:20am
September 29: Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
October 4: DIBELS
October 4: School based SIW
October 10: Picture Day
October 10: Staff meeting, 2:45-3:30pm
October 11: Educator Network SIW
October 12: Bus Evacuation Drill, 9am at the Ed Center
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 17: Teacher Collaboration Time, 2:45-3:30pm
October 18: Teacher work day SIW
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival (tentative, pending parent volunteers)
October 25-27: Conversations (likely 25^th and 26^th, no work on 27th)

Here’s to a great first full week ahead!
Andy

School-wide Theme for September: Community!!!

First, thanks for an amazing retreat last week-as always, it was so good to spend the day with you sharing our hopes and dreams for our students, and thinking deeply about the ways in which we can impact their lives. I feel genuinely inspired and I look forward to all the great things we will accomplish this year! Here’s to a new year, all fresh and sparkly!

A few notes for this first week:
1) Be sure you have are up to date on the First Two Weeks

2) We will have Community Time on the first day at 9am. Prior to bringing your students down please spend a few minutes (if you can!) setting expectations. Let’s start with the following traits of good audience members (this can also easily transfer to outside performers/experts who come to school). Asking your class what makes a good audience member would be a great way to start the conversation, and they will likely nail every one of these!

Good audience members:
*Sit next to people they feel will also be good audience members
*Quietly listen when the hosts/performers are speaking, singing, or performing
*Let the hosts/performers know they appreciate their efforts by clapping and cheering when they are finished
*Politely ask their neighbors to be quiet if needed
*Leave their snacks and any toys in their classrooms

3) Remember that parents are allowed to walk their child to class in the morning. Here is the after school in-class pick up rotation (all other days you will walk students out to the grass area along the fence):
Mondays: Kinder and Grade 1 families 
Tuesdays: Grades 2 and 4 families
Thursdays: Grade 3 families
Friday: Grade 5 families

4) Here’s the Master Schedule! Master Schedule 23-24

5) Attendance: EAs will take care of this each morning. Karima will do Kinder and Grade 5, Diane will do Grades 1 and 4, and Debi will do Grades 2 and 3. Please help them provide reasons for absences if you are in the know. Thanks!

6) As a reminder, Specials (Enrichment, PE) start next week.

7) Afternoon duty help needed first day! Normally we don’t have afternoon Choice Time on Wednesdays, but we do on the first day. Since no one is assigned to duty on Wednesdays I kindly request that everyone try to be out on duty the first day. As a reminder, here’s the duty rotation–be sure to grab a vest and fanny pack, and have your keys and phone:
K-2 Teachers (including Lauren): Monday and Thursday
3-5 Teachers and Haley: Tuesday and Friday

8) You will be provided with some paper work for each student to take home on the first day (including a Camp Amity permission slip). Please be sure it goes home and that you let parents know to expect it and to sign and return forms ASAP. Please collect and track the Camp Amity permission slips as they come in, and keep them in the folder. Please also collect all other forms and pass them along to Patti and she will track them.

9) Please start communicating with parents about your Community Time day. Given that we’ve changed days, the sooner the info goes out the better!

10) Want to get a jump on Invitations next week? Invitations 23-24

11) Meetings this week: No meetings this week!

12) A message about birthday treats went home to parents today (Tuesday). It’s long so I’m sending it to your email.

Upcoming Dates
September 6: First Day of School!  Full day, out at 2:30pm
September 13: First SIW and Early Release (1pm)
September 14: Fire Drill, 9:20am
September 14: El Sancho for lunch courtesy of FOA!
September 18-22: Scholastic Book Fair (available to families at Back to School Night!)
September 19: Staff Meeting, 3-3:30pm
September 20: Teacher work day SIW
September 21: Back to School Night, 5-6:30pm
September 25/26: Camp Amity at Shevlin Park!  9:30am-1pm
September 26: Team Collaboration Meeting 
September 27: School based SIW
September 28: Lockdown Drill, 9:20am
September 29: Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
October 4: DIBELS
October 10: Picture Day
October 12: Bus Evacuation Drill, 9am at the Ed Center
October 16-17: Dental Screening
October 20: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 21: Harvest Festival (tentative, pending parent volunteers)
October 25-27 (likely 25^th and 26^th, no work 27^th): Conversations, No School

Here’s to an amazing first week!
Andy