October 29th, 2018

Monday Notes 10.29.18

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

CCRPI Score Released                                   

Our new CCRPI score will be released to the public at 10:00 am today. Until then, the information is embargoed and we can not share with the public but I wanted to be able to share it with you before it's released! 

Our new score is 72.4 which is a 5 point increase from last year and has gotten us off the Intensive School List for next school year. This is a big win for our entire staff who worked tirelessly to support students academically and emotionally in order for them to succeed! Congratulations to everyone!!!  

While this is a big win for us, we all know that our school's overall score should be even higher!!! We are not an average school. Our entire staff is amazing. Our students are amazing. We are doing amazing things and I know that we can keep growing our students and meeting our goals this year of 50% of 3rd-5th graders meeting or exceeding on the Reading and Math GA Milestones Assessment, ALL students moving 3 levels on F and P, and 90% of our 1st and 2nd graders showing mastering on the numeracy assessment. 

Thank you for all that you do for students!!

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November 1st                            

November 1st is an RFF day. ALL staff are on contract this day and should report to work no later than 7:10. If you are taking this day as a personal day, please make sure you have your absence approved by Pitchford. 

This day is for staff members to use as you choose and hope you take full advantage of this day to get caught up with lesson planning, grading, organizing your classroom, or your own personal growth. Students are missing a 7 hour instructional day so we want to make sure we take advantage of the time given to us. 

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IOWA Make-Ups                           

We have a few students who need to make-up certain sections of the IOWA assessment. We will put signs out notifying you of the locations but please make sure you are aware of where the small groups are testing and are quiet in the hallways. Thanks!!! 

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Thursday Folders                        

Please send Thursday Folders and all necessary papers home with students WEDNESDAY since we are off this Thursday. Thanks!!!

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Flu and Asthma Clinic                           

One goal at High Point is to increase our attendance. One way to do that is being proactive and keeping our students healthy! 

We have partnered with the Family Health Center of GA to offer a FREE Flu Clinic to staff and students on November 13th. The vaccines will be at no cost to the students but parent permission is required. Permission forms will be sent home this Wednesday. The flu shot is free for staff as well with insurance. This will replace the flu shot for staff on the 9th. 

We are also partnering with Not One More Life and Student Health Services to offer a free Asthma Screening at High Point for students. The screening will take place at the end of November and will only be for students who opt in to the screening. We will place permission forms in your boxes before the Thanksgiving break for parents. An exact date  and specific information will be communicated as soon as we have it. 

If you have any questions, please see Pitchford. 

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Device Redistribution

We will begin "Device Redistribution" on November 1st when students are not here. The list below shows how many devices each homeroom teacher will have after the 1st.  

An email will be sent to the people who need to turn in their devices to the media center for redistribution. We will be asking for the devices to be returned to the media center from 9:00-10:00 on November 1st.  The devices will be signed out and reassigned to the new staff member on this day as well. 

In order to give homeroom teachers more devices, they were taken from EIP, ESOL, and some special education teachers since they are not used consistently. With that said, these teachers still have to complete progress monitoring and get students on the personalized programs. If they are in need of devices on certain days, please do your best to accommodate them! 

If you have any questions, please see Pitchford. 

iPADS

Kindergarten - 8 each

1st - 10 each

2nd - 6 each

3rd - 5 each

4th - 5 each

5th - 3 each 

LAPTOPS

Kindergarten - 0

1st - 1-3 each

2nd - 11 each

3rd -13 each

4th - 18 each

5th - 18 each 

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Devices Needing Repair                            

Please remember the new procedure for devices that need to be repaired. If you have a broken device: 

1. Submit a Tech Ticket for the device that is not working
2. Print out your tech ticket and tape it to your device
3. Take your device (with the tech ticket) to the media center and give to Ms. Reeves
4. Ms. Reeves will issue you a new device (if it's available) 
5. Once the device is fixed, Ms. Reeves will return it to the teacher

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KSU Support

Schedule: Tuesday 10/30 and Thursday 11/1

Notes: I will be here on Thursday for the teacher work day! If you are planning with your grade level, please let me know. This could be a great time to collaborate together for...
• IB work samples, summative assessments and reflections
• Seesaw integration into your daily routine
• Options for student creation on Google Apps for Education

Highlights: Interested in using the tech tools in the Media Center? Review the video below sharing a walk through of the check out process. When you are ready to use the materials in your room, you can find the shared sign out calendar in the 2018-2019 Google Drive within the Media Center and Technology Files folder. Then open the schedules folder to find the 'Tech Tools Sign Out' sheet!

Video - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OvHXN5j97_4ImAjruvq1dz7aosnWp7Ws 

Tech Tools Sign Out - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mgRIzgtcFBfJGEJtmIZ7v8QWCVUmEdU3o5rmq2-9ajQ/edit?usp=sharing 

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Student Suggestions Lead to Action!

We will include this information on the Morning News Show for students but we wanted to let the staff know the recommendations students made and the actions that are being taken to make the suggestions become reality! 

1. Use plastic trays in the cafeteria so we have less trash - When our cafeteria staff is all present, we will now serve lunch on the plastic trays for students PreK-5th grade. Students will be asked 2 minutes before they are dismissed to throw away everything on their tray and put the tray in the dishwasher window. When the cafeteria is not fully staffed, we will have to use the Styrofoam trays. This is a great suggestion to save money and help the environment! 

2. Stop wasting food in the cafeteria - We are going to start small! A small desk with a basket will be placed outside the cafeteria leading to the 2nd grade stairwell. Students will be asked to put their non-perishables (bars, pretzels, chips, etc..) in the basket if they do not want them. No fruit for now please. 

We will collect the food at the end of each week and use it for students when needed. 

3. Chew gum on Fridays - Students are in luck! Our "Principal's Secret Book" adventure will end on the 31st so to celebrate, we will be giving teachers packets of gum to hand out on Friday. Students will be allowed to chew their gum on this day. Teachers can determine what time they give the gum to students on this day. 

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

Monday, October 29th
9:30 am - Prospective Parent Tour
2:00 pm - PBIS Social Incentive for Ocober

Tuesday, October 30th
1:40 - Leadership Team Meeting

Wednesday, October 31st
Guided Reading PD During Specials
Book Character Dress Up Day! Winner announced at 2:25!

Thursday, November 1st
RFF Day

Friday, November 2nd
First Grade Field Trip

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

Happy birthday to Amanda Shams on the 29th, Mochandra King on the 30th, Alicia Williams on the 2nd, Lindsey Hayes on the 3rd, and Ashlei Dixon on the 4th!!! We hope you all have amazing birthdays this week! 

October 22nd, 2018

Monday Notes 10.22.18

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

Pink Out Day!                                     

In celebration of all those courageous men and women who have fought against breast cancer, we will have a "Pink Out" day this Wednesday, the 24th! Please join me in wearing pink to honor them!  

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Bus Driver Appreciation Week!                             

Thank you to everyone for signing our posters for our bus drivers. Our PTO has treats for them this week and we are asking students to write a quick note of thanks to their bus driver. We appreciate all that they do to get our students to school and home from school safely! 

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IOWA Testing Reminders!                             

• Testing is for 3rd and 5th grade students and is from 7:50-11:15 this week

• Testing will be in the Computer Lab as well as various classrooms across the building. Teachers can have access to the Computer Lab after 11:15 each day. 

• Recess will be held until all grade levels are complete for the day OR an announcement is made by Mr. DiBartolo; this will hopefully be around 11:15. 

• Please remind your students to be quiet in the hallways during transitions and in the classrooms since there are testing groups throughout the building

• Third grade will switch specials with Fourth grade Monday-Thursday

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Pop Up PD - SMF Redelivery                                  

Pop Up PD has been canceled this Tuesday in order to redeliver the necessary Standards Mastery Framework Models to certified staff. ALL certified staff are required to attend the SMF training tomorrow. It will begin at 2:55 in the media center. Please make sure you bring a charged device. Thanks!!! 

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Staff Picture                                      

We will have our Staff Picture this Tuesday at 2:55 in the cafeteria! Please make sure you are on time and wearing your best! 

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Morning Meeting Celebration 

Ms. Churchwell and Ms. Cornibe's class typically get together each Friday to do their "Friday Morning Meeting." It's filled with energy, fun, and helps students connect with each other. This past Friday, Ms. Pereira's class was able to join in the fun!! Check out the fun 30 second video of the class! 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1uqx1S5huHo2V1He6

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Bert Show's Big Thank You                                    

Every year Q100’s The Bert Show collects letters to send to every United States military personnel serving overseas. Please have your students (and yourself) write a letter on 8.5 x 11 piece of paper (no construction paper!). Please do not use glue, tape, cardboard, staples, glitter, or otherwise attach anything to the paper. Letters can be decorated with crayons, markers, or colored pencils. Last year we wrote about 150 letters, this year I want us to go for 200!! Once you have written your letters, there will be a basket outside of Ms. Silverman’s classroom (rm 135) on the 5th grade hallway. If you have any questions please send Silverman an email at silvermanj@ultonschools.org. Please have all letters turned in by this Tuesday, October 23rd. 

For more information on the Big Thank You: http://thebertshow.com/articles/bigthankyou/ 

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Devices                            

We have just been able to get an accurate count of ipads and laptops in the classroom. There have been some discrepancies with the total number of devices in certain classes so we will be redistributing some of the devices to classrooms next week. 

We also have a new procedure for devices that need to be repaired. Please do the following if you have a broken device: 

• Submit a Tech Ticket for the device that is not working
• Print out your tech ticket and tape it to your device
• Take your device (with the tech ticket) to the media center and give to Ms. Reeves
• Ms. Reeves will issue you a new device (if it's available) 
• Once the device is fixed, Ms. Reeves will return it to the teacher

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Student Compacts

All Compact Cover Sheets are due back this Wednesday, Oct. 24th.   Any questions or if you don't receive all Compact cover sheets from your students, please e-mail Mariana Mendoza. 

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KSU Support

Schedule: Tuesday 10/23, Thursday 10/25 & Friday 10/26

Highlights: Classes have started implementing tech tools from the media center such as Osmo's! Check out pictures below of the set up and management of these hands-on materials!

Notes: We are currently working on a system for checking out Osmo's, Dash robots, Bloxel kits and StikBots - Stay tuned!

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IB in Action!

Ms. Watts uses the inquiry strategy,  "See, Think, Wonder" to challenge her students to think more critically about their unit 'Where We are in Place and Time!'  She said, "They love it!!!! They have noticed things that I didn’t even think of!"

In this picture she is using the "The Answer Is .....What is the Question?" strategy to assess the students' knowledge of the Constitution, Citizens Rights, and other topics. Then the students did a gallery walk and added additional information to the charts!  The students asked Ms. Watts, "Can we do this again to show what we know?"  A simple tweak away from a worksheet yields huge results!!

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Continuous Learning and Reflection

Thank you to everyone who submitted a "Glow or Grow" last week! We got a lot of great feedback that we can use for next quarter. We appreciate your honesty and helping us to do better! 

We also received great feedback from students as well!! For example, we should have a dance party EVERY Friday! Sounds good to me! :) 

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

Monday, October 22nd
IOWA Begins for 3rd and 5th Grade

Tuesday, October 23rd
2:55 - Staff Picture in Cafeteria
3:00 - SMF Redlivery in Media Center

Wednesday, October 24th
Guided Reading PD During Specials
Pink Out Day for Staff! 

Thursday, October 25th
Read for the Record K and PreK
PSC Go Home for 1st Grade
2:55 - PLCs

Friday, October 26th

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

   There are currently no birthdays this week.  

October 15th, 2018

Monday Notes 10.15.18

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

Congratulations!!                                      

Congratulations to Jennifer Silverman on her recent engagement!!!! We are thrilled for her and her fiance!!

Congratulations also to Margaret Abernethy who will be getting married this weekend!!! We are excited to welcome her back from her honeymoon as Ms. Conway even though her students will call her Ms. Abernethy the rest of the school year!  Congratulations!!! 

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CCRPI Update                                    

There are several areas which make up our overall CCRPI score. The state looks at our  Georgia Milestones scores and gives us a score for Content Mastery, Progress, Closing the Gap, School Climate, etc....

Below is a screen shot of the performance of our different subgroups. The "Closing Gaps" area sets the expectation that all students and all subgroups make improvements in achievement. 

We should be proud of our ESOL subgroup who not only met the target score but exceeded the target score!!!! This is shown by the green flags with stars. 

We will discuss the other subgroups as well and dig into what more we can do to help these subgroups of students succeed. 

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IOWA Testing                             

• Testing is for 3rd and 5th grade students and is from 7:50-11:15 

• Testing dates are October 22nd- October 25th 

• Testing will be in the Computer Lab as well as various classrooms across the building. Teachers can have access to the Computer Lab after 11:15 each day. 

• Recess will be held until all grade levels are complete for the day OR an announcement is made by Mr. DiBartolo; this will hopefully be around 11:15. 

• Please remind your students to be quiet in the hallways during transitions and in the classrooms since there are testing groups throughout the building

• Third grade will switch specials with Fourth grade Monday-Thursday only in order to give third graders enough time for testing 

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Computer Lab                                   

Due to Interim Assessment Testing for grades 3, 4, and 5 as well as IOWA which begins next week, the computer lab will not be available on the following days for the following times.....

Monday, 15th - 7:50 - 11:15

Tuesday, 16th - 7:50 - 11:15

Wednesday 17th - 7:50 - 11:15

Thursday 18th - 8:50 - 11:15

Friday, 19th - 7:50 - 8:50 and 10:00 - 11:00

The whole week during IOWA testing from 7:30-11:15. 

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Students' Advice for HPES                                       

I want advice from our students after each quarter regarding how we can make High Point even better than it already is. I will be set up in the front office this Friday from 7:15 - 9:15 taking advice from students. If your student can not come down during that block, they can write their advice on a piece of paper and place it in my box. Thanks!!! 

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Six Week Action Plans     

Be sure to include your Six Week Math Action Plan in your weekly lesson plans.  We will include the Six Week Action Plan for Math in our look fors in instructional planning. Any questions, ask Kerstin Long. 

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Bert Show's Big Thank You                                    

Every year Q100’s The Bert Show collects letters to send to every United States military personnel serving overseas. Please have your students (and yourself) write a letter on 8.5 x 11 piece of paper (no construction paper!). Please do not use glue, tape, cardboard, staples, glitter, or otherwise attach anything to the paper. Letters can be decorated with crayons, markers, or colored pencils. Last year we wrote about 150 letters, this year I want us to go for 200!! Once you have written your letters, there will be a basket outside of Ms. Silverman’s classroom (rm 135) on the 5th grade hallway. If you have any questions please send Silverman an email at silvermanj@ultonschools.org. Please have all letters turned in by Tuesday, October 23rd. 

For more information on the Big Thank You: http://thebertshow.com/articles/bigthankyou/ 

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Bus Driver Appreciation Week 22nd-26th                             

Five individual posters stating "WE LOVE OUR BUS DRIVERS" will be posted in the front lobby Wednesday. Please encourage your students to sign these posters as we will post them in the front office the following week. Thanks!!! 

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Art Grant for Farmers Insurance                              

Please take three minutes to vote for Mr. Hunter's Art Proposal!  Voting will be available till Nov 3rd.  If you have a personal email, you can use that as well to vote more than once!!!

In the link, the search form should let you find Mr. Hunter under his last name and Atlanta GA. Thanks for voting!!!! 

https://www.farmers.com/thank-americas-teachers/vote-for-a-teacher/vote-for-a-proposal-form/

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Student Compacts

All Compacts were sent home with students this past Thursday. All Compact Cover Sheets are due back by Wed. Oct. 24th.   The Compact cover sheet needs to be dated and signed by ALL students, parents and teachers (Except Pre-K). 

We have to have 100% of Compact cover sheets returned to be in compliance with Title I guidelines. 

Also, to be in compliance with Title I, the Compacts should be discussed at Parent/Teacher conferences.  Any questions or if you don't receive all Compact cover sheets from your students, please e-mail Mariana Mendoza. 

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KSU Support

Schedule:
I will be at High Point on Tuesday 10/16 and Thursday 10/18

Notes:
How do you probe curiosity in kids? Allow students to explore more by offering choice in how they show what they know. Give students projects that are authentic while still reviewing your standards. I've collaborated  with a few grade levels already on planning projects. Reach out to me (romeh@fultonschools.org) to explore ways that projects can engage students! Consider how you're launching IB summative assessments? Maybe we start project planning there! 

Highlights:
STEM Day is coming soon! Check out options here, https://docs.google.com/document/d/175cFNT-WuS810lJ5ebFGZSGh8CoCJ3xyTD9jqT_-FLk/edit?usp=sharing, for the 'T' - Technology - portion of STEM. 
Activities are suggested for both lower grades and upper grades - as well as ideas for using technology tools from the Media Center. 

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Girls on the Run

Our Girls on the Run team will be running their practice 5K TODAY!! We would love for you to join us! If you want to run meet us in the front office at 3 pm! - Girls on the Run Coaches,

Cole 

Negrin

Riendeau 

Silverman 

Watts 

Girls on the Run Roster 

Isabella Dumler

Katherine Eigel

Kacira Foster

Kiarha Hall

Amy Maleny 

Ibarra  Vasquez

Zarah Mkandawire

MaKinley  Porter

Milie  Quintana

Piper Ruby

Molly Schaffer

Tatum Smith

Valeria Soto Labrada

Everly Strickland

Vivienne Voltolin

Brooke    Walsh

Carter Wilson

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Fox Seen

As some of you are aware, there has been a fox visiting our school grounds this week. Typically the fox is only seen in the upper parking lot in the afternoon. We have contacted Fulton County and there is not a safety concern at this time. Clearly, even Sandy Springs has its share of wild animals! We appreciate you keeping us posted and will continue to monitor its whereabouts for the safety of our students and staff. 

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Google Expeditions                                

Many of you have asked how you can know what the various expeditions cover prior to showing one to your students!  I am glad you are wondering, here are the two ways to preview them:

1. Use the router and tablet assigned to Google Expeditions in the Media Center to explore the possibilities. ( Ask Lib or Hannah for help if you need it!)

2. Download the Google Expeditions App onto your phone or tablet and explore at your leisure! (Note FCS Wifi blocks the content from loading, so load it at home or use your cellular data to download)

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Continuous Learning and Reflection

The following article talks about the importance of laughter in the classroom and using improvisation during Morning Meetings to help achieve this. The article gives different improv exercises to get students "laughing together, taking risks, and modeling a listening, supportive environment." Check it out!!!! 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-classroom-culture-of-laughter-laura-davis?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

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

Monday, October 15th
Third Grade In-House Field Trip Rm#123

Tuesday, October 16th
Third Grade In-House Field Trip Rm#123
2:55 - Para PLCs and NKOB

Wednesday, October 17th
Math PD during specials

Thursday, October 18th
1:45 - 3rd Grade ETT
2:55 - PLCs

Friday, October 19th
7:15-9:15 - Principal's Stand for Students' Advice

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

   Happy birthday to Emily Swavely on the 20th!! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!