December 14th, 2015

High Point News

Week of: December 14th, 2015

*****************NEWS****************

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Ugly Sweater Contest Winners!

Congratulations to Marty Sanchez for being the overall winner of the "Ugly Holiday Sweater" Contest! Marty will have the Professional Employee of the Year parking space January 4th - 8th!

Congratulations also to the following people in the following categories: 

1st Place Winter Theme:  Megan Eigel

1st Place Originality: Jennifer Silverman

1st Place Creativity:  Mary Katherine Stahura

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Report Card Levels

The end of our 2^nd 9 weeks is quickly approaching. Please see the chart below for identifying(on the report card only) advanced students in reading:

Grade Level	Advanced Level at 18 weeks
K	Not Applicable
1	Level J+
2	Level M+
3	Level P+
4	Level S+
5	Level V+

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Revamping our Restrooms
We have decided to not send out the school holiday cards this year to other Fulton County schools and departments. Instead, we are going to use the money that would have been spent on the cards to revamp our adult restrooms. We would like to add small tables, air fresheners, lotions, pictures, etc... to make them nicer and more updated. 
We will be sending out an electronic holiday card to everyone instead! We hope you all enjoy the revamping!!! 


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STAR Testing Schedule
Below is the tentative schedule for STAR testing beginning in January. Please see Brian for any questions. 

·        The schedule is tight, please arrive a few minutes early and pick up any needed students.

·        Students will need paper and pencil when taking the math assessment, please bring these supplies

·        If you have a support teacher during this time, please have her join us. We need all hands on deck.

·        Please review the testing procedures with your class before coming to the lab. Please make sure you are aware of your student’s accommodations. If they need small group, you may need to test them in your room. Let me know if you have questions.

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Computer Lab and Carts
Please be advised that the computer as well as all three mobile lab carts will need to be used for ACCESS and STAR testing beginning January 11th until February 9th. We know this impacts Redbird as well as your RTI sessions. 
After February 9th, we will have flexibility with the mobile lab carts but not the computer lab. 

Some suggestions to do in place of the Redbird: 

• Utilize your ipads along with classroom desktops for Redbird if possible
• Utilize partner games or manipulatives
• Allow students to deepen their inquiry in regards to your IB units
• Use Math Exemplars on the G-drive or access them using the following link: 

G:\RTIBlock Tier 1 enrichment\RTI Block Tier 1 Math enrichment 2-5\mathexemplars\DIFF MATH I\pdfs

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REMINDER: January 4th and 5th 

Teachers: 

• January 4th is a teacher workday. This day is solely for YOU. There will not be any scheduled meetings. 

• January 5th is FC professional development day. This day will require some teachers to be out of the building at trainings. Staff will get a list of the trainings in an Excel spreadsheet today. 

Unless there is a mandated training you have to attend, homeroom teachers in 1st - 5th grade will meet in the computer lab from 12:00-3:00 for a presentation on iReady; a personalized reading program for our students to participate in during their independent reading block. 

Paraprofessionals/classified staff: 

• Do not have to work on the 4th or 5th of January.

************MATH CORNER*************

How to Access Parent Letters in Upraised Math

1.   Go to Upraised Learning at http://go.upraised.org/

2.   Enter our school access code: high point

3. Click on the grade level and semester you are working in.

4.  Next, click on the standard you want the letter for.

      5.   When the standard comes up, go to the upper right corner of the web page and click on Printable Version.

   At this point, the letter will come up.  Simply print the page.  If you want the letter in Spanish, click on ESPANOL at the upper right of the Upraised home page. 

For the step-by-step version with pictures please go to the T-drive, Upraised Math, and click on the "How to Access Parent Letters" document. 

******VISUALS OF BEST PRACTICE*******

Kelly Lassiter used yarn as a visual and kinesthetic way for students to discuss and make connections to what they have been learning and what they will learn in their new unit and even connections to current news events!  It was a great way to involve students in purposeful conversation with each other and to begin the understanding of a central idea!

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Clara Spears posts her students' wonderings on her blog and enlists parent help and involvement in student learning!

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Sarah Griffin took her reading groups to the leveled library for a lesson on choosing books by examining genre and literary elements.  The students were able to investigate all the fiction books on their level and have a conversation with each other about which books were of interest and then decided on the next book for their group!  Great example of student ownership and involvement.

*******WRITERS' GALLERY**********

The pledge and writers' gallery is hosted by Ms. Rhoades' class this week.

The pledge and writers' gallery will be hosted by Ms. Bradshaw's class the week of January 11th. 

******CALENDAR OF EVENTS*******

Monday, December 14th

9:30 - Prospective Parent Tour

Tuesday, December 15th

8:15 - 9:00 - Holiday Sing-a-Long for PreK-2nd 
9:15 - 10:00 - Holiday Sing-a-Long for 3rd - 5th 
2:50 - Faculty Meeting 

Wednesday, December 16th

8:00 - Title I Parent Meeting
Data Digs with Hess - 1st and 3rd Grade
2nd Grade Holiday Celebrations
2:30 - PBIS Committee Meeting

Thursday, December 17th 

K, 1st, 3rd, and 4th Grade Holiday Parties
3:00 pm - SCC Holiday Party @ Pour

Friday, December 18th 
Last Day Before Holiday Break!
Student of the Week Certificate

******BIRTHDAYS! ****************

Happy birthday to Soladin Bell today, Amy Bradshaw on the 15th, Brian Madej on the 20th, Michael Hunter on the 22nd, and Vickie Reeves on the 28th! We hope you all have a wonderful birthday!!! 

December 7th, 2015

High Point News

Week of: December 7th, 2015

*****************NEWS****************

Happy Holidays from the Admin Team and PTA!

2^nd ANNUAL "AFTERNOON OF INDULGENCE!!"

Thursday, December 10^th
3:00-4:30 pm
Cafeteria

Pampering:

·        10 minute Chair Massages

·        Manicures

·        Eyebrow Waxing/Threading

Shopping:

·        Thirty-One totes and accessories

·        Tucker House- décor and gift items

·        Jewelry by Renee Rowe

·        Karen Wasserman - purses, scarves, ponchos, jewelry and other accessories

·        And several other jewelry and note card vendors

 Food:

  Veggies

  Fruits

  Cheeses

  Sweets

  Salty snacks

  Punch and hot cider

**PTA will be providing gift wrapping for any purchases that you make.**

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Congratulations! 
Congratulations to Haley Rattray and her husband Rajiv who will be expecting their second child at the end of May!! We are very happy for Haley and her family!!! 

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Welcome Back!!!!
We would like to welcome back Staci Arnold who will be returning from maternity leave tomorrow. We are excited she is back and also appreciate Leslie Jacot-Guillarmod for everything she did for the class while Staci was gone. 

Leslie will be taking over Amanda Reich's maternity leave in January so we will be seeing her again soon!!! Yeah for us!!

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SCC Committee's Ugly Sweater Contest

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FOUNTAS and PINNELL

Fountas and Pinnell data is due in your google doc on Friday, January 22^nd. Please use the next two weeks with your students to get started on assessing them. It’s best to not wait until after January break to get started.  Homeroom teachers should be completing this reading assessment unless an EIP teacher or SPED teacher sees them for a significant amount of their reading block.

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 REMINDER!!!!  Retention Letters

County retention letters will be going home December 17th. In order to prepare for this, we are asking that each grade level chair turn in their grade level list of "possible" retention candidates (students who will be receiving a letter) by December 11th to Brian Madej. 

The criteria for retention candidates is as follows: 

• RTI Tier III OR RTI Tier II+6-8 Weeks of Data
• SGP on STAR < 50% in Reading or Math
• Parents have been previously contacted regarding students' lack of progress
• Report cards show low grades OR comments reflect supportive programs
• Not new to the country within a year
• Not previously retained
• Enrolled in a supportive program - EIP, ESOL, SPED, or RTI Tier groups

For questions or concerns, please see Sheri Hess or Brian Madej. 

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Contract Cleaners and Custodians
Teachers and staff,please make sure to communicate with Derick immediately if it seems as if your classroom floors are not being swept or if there are concerns about the cleanliness of our building. We are working hard with the contract cleaners to make sure their work is up to our high expectations for our building. 

Reminders: 

• Contract cleaners should SWEEP classrooms every day!
• Contract cleaners will MOP once a week! 
• Contract cleaners nor building custodians are allowed to vacuum personal rugs because they can mess up their machines. They are only allowed to vacuum Fulton County purchased rugs. 
• Please help us check the bathrooms to make sure they are clean for our students. 
• You will get an email from Pitchford or Derick letting you know when your room will be waxed. It will happen twice a year. Once during the 1st semester and once over the summer. 

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iReady for 1st-5th Grade
A few months ago we wrote a grant to purchase iReady Reading for general education students in grades 1st-5th. As we move more towards personalized learning, one way to make learning more personalized is through specific computer programs. While we have Redbird for math, we do not have an updated, research-based program that is personalized for each child in reading. 

We will be trained on this program in January and students who do NOT already do Imagine Learning will participate in this program. If a child uses Imagine Learning, they will NOT use iReady. 

The purpose of this program is to give students an interactive personalized reading program that they participate in approximately 15 minutes each day during their reading block. We are hoping this will help replace some of the "independent centers" that teachers are having to create. This program is a little similar to SuccessMaker in that it moves with the child however the teacher does not have to "assign" the courses or activities like Study Island. 

More information regarding this program will come on the 5th of January. 

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January 4th and 5th 

Teachers: 

• January 4th is a teacher workday. This day is solely for YOU. There will not be any scheduled meetings. 

• January 5th is FC professional development day. This day will require some teachers to be out of the building at trainings. Staff will get a list of the trainings in an Excel spreadsheet today. 

Unless there is a mandated training you have to attend, homeroom teachers in 1st - 5th grade will meet in the computer lab from 12:00-3:00 for a presentation on iReady; a personalized reading program for our students to participate in during their independent reading block. 

Paraprofessionals/classified staff: 

• Do not have to work on the 4th or 5th of January.

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Winter Star Screening

The window for STAR screening is January 11^th to February 9^th. All K-5 students will take STAR Reading or Early Literacy and STAR Math. The computer lab as well as the 2^nd grade and 3^rd grade computer carts will be unavailable during most of these days. I will publish a schedule early next week stating the specific days and times. Progress monitoring using any STAR product cannot be done during this window.

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RTI Plans in EASY IEP

There are a couple of new routines that need to be followed from this point on when entering RTI plans in EASY IEP. 

When choosing a STAR product for progress monitoring, it must be “associated” not “added”, otherwise the data will not populate into EASY. 

Also, before you change an intervention or Tier level in EASY, a summary report needs to be generated and saved in EASY to make sure that all past information is saved.

 Please see Mr. Madej’s email for more specific details. You can contact him for any needed assistance as well.

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What I've been thinking about...

True student engagement. 

This is a great article about how we might think our students are engaged but in reality, we might be doing all the talking and asking. 
The author asked..... What does engagement look like? If you were to witness true engagement in action, what specific things would you see, hear, or even feel?

Here’s my initial take. What Might You Add?

•     Students are doing most of the (academic) talking
•     Students are asking the majority of the questions
•     Teacher moving in and around students rather than rooted at the ‘front’
•     Students physically leaning into their work
•     Happy buzz of discussion/conversation distributed among all students
•     Students groaning when it’s time to conclude

https://inquiryblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/looking-at-but-not-seeing-the-same-things/

******VISUALS OF BEST PRACTICE*******

In Ms. Woods’ Kindergarten class, students take ownership for their behavior. Ms. Woods’ utilizes Class Dojo as part of her classroom management system. Students give themselves their Dojo points and physically go up to the Promethean white board to get the points.  Students in this Kindergarten class are taking ownership of their behavior and take extra pride when they get a Dojo point. Student ownership is important to student success and is part of our strategic plan! 

*******WRITERS' GALLERY**********

The pledge and writers' gallery is hosted by Ms. Arnold's class this week.

The pledge and writers' gallery will be hosted by Ms. Rhoades's class the last week before break. 

******CALENDAR OF EVENTS*******

Monday, December 7th

High Point's Book Fair Begins

Tuesday, December 8th

1:45 pm - Leadership Meeting 

Wednesday, December 9th

Math PLC During Specials
6:00 pm - Holiday Chorus Concert

Thursday, December 10th 

8:00 am - Spelling Bee for 4th and 5th Grade
1:30 pm - ETT for Kindergarten 
3:00 pm - Afternoon of Indulgence

Friday, December 11th 
Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest
7:45 - PTA Board Meeting
Student of the Week Certificate

******BIRTHDAYS! ****************

Happy birthday to Lori Hicks on the 12th and Janet lee on the 13th! We hope you both have a wonderful birthday!!!