January 27, 2016 Buzzness

The Buzzness

Calendar January 1/27 - Reports cards due for admin review 3PM (notify your administrator when yours are ready) 1/27 - Teacher Letter of Intent letters due to admin 1/30 - 2/3 Watchlist Analysis Conversations during PLCs 1/30 - Spelling Bee Make-Up Day 1/31 - Intent Letters due to admin February 2/1   - Fire Drill 10:45AM          Global Play Day - See below 2/2   - Report card corrections completed  3PM 2/6   - Parent Portal re-opens 8 AM 2/7   - 100th Day of School 2/8   - Half buses evacuation drill 2/9   - Faculty Meeting - Mid-Year Review 2/10 - Half buses evacuation drill          Hive Jive BES Dance - Gym/Cafe 6:30-8:30

Global Play Day In the effort to raise awareness of the importance of unstructured play, this is the 3rd year for this event, occurring on Wednesday February 1. If you are interested you may follow this link: http://www.globalschoolplayday.com/

Check your “Phone Time”! Inevitably as we move on through the year, we kind of see where we can steal a moment here or there. It happens to us all. To add to that, our clocks around the school are and probably never will bee in sync. Please be sure that you are following master schedule times, especially for transitions. When in doubt, we are operating on “CELL PHONE TIME”.

Parent Reminders for Operating Parent Portal Please bee sure to share this information sheet and a video tutorial, with your parents, on how to access the report card. https://www2.k12albemarle.org/acps/parents/Pages/default.aspx

January 23, 2017

The Buzzness

 

Ayda Jones BES 2016-17 Spelling Bee Winner

 

Calendar January 23      Teacher Work Day - PTO is providing lunch  24      PTO Meeting 6pm Library - Reading Philosophy February              1         Fire Drill 10:45am 10       Hive Jive 6:30 - 8:30pm Gym 15       PTO meeting

Study Strategies from the Faculty Meeting http://cultofpedagogy.com/learning-strategies

Early Release FYI - Early release time for the last day of school, June 9. -All elementary schools—11:30 a.m. (If this is a Friday dismissal, all half-day Special Needs Pre-K will leave at 11:30 a.m. instead of 11 a.m.)

Snow Make-Up Days Both February 20th and March 31st are now make-up days. School will be in session.

HIVE JIVE Hive Jive  - A BES family dance Feb 10 6:30-8:30 Where: Gym What to wear? Come as you are: Casual to Cocktail Dress up, Dress Down, just come ready to dance. This is a free event open to all Brownsville families. Light refreshments will be available. All children must be accompanied by a parent or other chaperone. (This is NOT A DROP OFF EVENT)

January 13, 2017

The Buzzness!

FRIDAY the 13th...Duh Dunt... Our BEEs aren't scary!

Calendar 16           Schools and offices closed Martin Luther King Day                 MLK Walk Woodbrook Elementary 12-5pm 17          Fire drill 10am 18           Parent Night at Henley for rising 6th Graders   6:30 pm                TA Meeting 10am Cafeteria 19          Faculty Meeting Library 2:45pm               Jason out this day 20         End of 2nd qrtr marking period - Parent Portal closes 8am              Lockdown Drill 8:15 am              Spelling Bee in library  9:00-11:00 am              Jason out this day 23          Teacher Work Day - No Team Planning Records - PTO lunch                Furniture request forms due 24          PTO meeting 6:30 - 7:30 pm (rescheduled from Jan 10)                27          Report Cards Due to Administration

Mad Science Assembly Dates Teachers, Please provide feedback to your team leader on the prefered dates for the Mad Science Assembly. In one day, we will do 3 shows, two grade levels each show. I was thinking the last full week in April will have the best days to choose from.  Team leaders, by Thursday next week, please let Jason know which day(s) of the April 24th week will be best.

Golden Apple Nominations This link should get you the information you need to nominate a colleague. Nominations Forms are due to Jason by February, 2nd  2017 https://drive.google.com/a/k12albemarle.org/file/d/0B7kb87R5gp8Yc3VUaTIxbVpHQzA/view?usp=sharing

Recommendations for Report Card Comments -Communicate a positive outlook for student progress -If sharing scores, explain what they mean -Identify strengths and that you enjoy their student -Identify challenges and how you will address them -Give personal examples of the student’s performance-strengths and challenges -Communicate in parent friendly language -Be proactive in communicating challenges- report cards should not be the first time families are hearing about challenges Teachers and teams send out newsletters and updates about what’s going in their classes, so no need to repeat that on report card comments.

Furniture Request Link Use this form to make a request for cool, fun classroom furniture such as the wobble stools, rocker chairs or flip tables. No guarantees, but we will do our BESt! Due at the end of the day on Monday January 23rd. https://docs.google.com/a/k12albemarle.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfPSLTu4CRISDCGhUKliMPseS5ID1ovY5f11HbmiRQXPhJfPQ/viewform

Check Those Pay Records Recently Employee Action Request (EAR) documents were placed in your boxes, that may have generated earlier this year. Please be sure to check your pay records to be sure you are being paid correctly. If you have any questions, you can check with Jason or Nancy or contact Human Resources.

Grade Level Purchases Teams, Start looking at your team budget to make sure you are spending your money. You do not want to rush and make uncertain purchases at the end of the year. Marianne will be requesting mid-year purchases very soon.

Cool Video Hi….Just sharing – I watched this TED Talk for Mountain Climber inspiration….it’s an oldie, but I think is cool…thought you’d like :) Susan G. Every kid needs a champion

Reading Philosophy Video Here is our first BEE Treat winner for reciting our BES Reading Philosophy… https://drive.google.com/a/k12albemarle.org/file/d/0B7kb87R5gp8YWnF2cDhZOS1vMFU/view?usp=sharing

Report Card Timeline Portal closes Friday January 20th, 8a.m. Report Cards due to administration by Friday January 27th, 3p.m. Corrections done by Thursday February 2nd, 3p.m. Portal opens Monday February 6, 8a.m.

Buzzness January 6, 2017

The Buzzness 

Calendar 9            Winter BEE classes begin               5th-6th transition meeting @ HMS 3PM 12          Faculty Meeting Library 2:45 16          Schools and offices closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day             18          Parent Night at Henley for rising 6th Graders   6:30 pm              TA Meeting 10am 17          Fire drill 10am 19          4th and 5th grade RTI/SpEd meetings 2:45 20          End of the 2nd quarter marking period - Parent Portal closes 8am               Lockdown Drill 8:15 am               Spelling Bee in library  9:00-11:00 am 23           Teacher Work Day - No Team Planning Records - PTO lunch 24          PTO meeting 6:30 - 7:30 pm (rescheduled from Jan 10 meeting)

Woodbrook Elementary MLK Walk ACPS Team, I want to invite all of you to feel free to come on out to Woodbrook on Monday-January 16th for our 3rd Annual MLK Walk for a Cause. As a way of recognizing the sacrifices that Dr. King made in order to make our world a better and more peaceful place for all, we encourage our students and staff to sacrifice a little bit of their "free time" on their day off to walk for something important to them. It will take place from 12:00-5:00pm at the Woodbrook Track, behind the school. We love sharing this day with others, so we hope you and any of your staff can make it out. I have attached a link with the announcement that you can share with your staff. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EPk6bEHFHvGJlm0Q-5QJ3eAhxJ6AwpfNsyJW8t4zEkU/edit?usp=sharing Lisa Molinaro, Principal Woodbrook

Report Card Timeline Portal closes Friday January 20th, 8a.m. Report Cards due to administration by Friday January 27th, 3p.m. Corrections done by Thursday February 2nd, 3p.m. Portal opens Monday February 6, 8a.m.

P-Based Days for 3rd Quarter Reminder for teams to send admin your scheduled P-Based planning Thursday for the 3rd Quarter. Here is the document to make a copy of the Team Planning Record for your work. Bee sure to share it with Jason or Nancy once complete.

Zero Noise Proactivity This week, Team Leaders discussed ways for students to respond to the “Zero Noise” signal more quickly to support quiet transitions throughout school. Please practice and discuss this with your classes. Mr. Crutchfield and Mrs. McCullen will also use proactive reminding over our morning announcements.

BEE Treats… For the first 3 staff members that recite the BES Reading Philosophy to Jason next week! BES Reading Philosophy We believe that the meaningful interactions between students, texts, and teachers will lead to lifelong learning, empowerment, enjoyment, and success.

January 2, 2017

The Buzzness

Happy New Year!

Calendar January  2017!    3          Welcome Back! 4          Team Leaders Meeting 2:45pm 9          Winter BEE classes begin             5th-6th transition meeting @ HMS 3pm 10        PTO meeting 6:30 12        Faculty Meeting 2:45-4pm 16        Schools and offices closed  Martin Luther King Day

   

Report Card Timeline Portal closes Friday January 20th, 8a.m. Report Cards due to administration by Friday January 27th, 3p.m. Corrections done by Thursday February 2nd, 3p.m. Portal opens Monday February 6, 8a.m.

BEEs in the news Check out this cool article including our own Kris Elsie and Kassidy Keyton. http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/education/universal-broadband-internet-access-is-sought-for-albemarle-students/article_7db5bc12-c9d8-538f-9ec2-d8e316e9fe0f.html

School-wide Writing Goals Our Team Leaders had a great discussion in December’s meeting regarding each grade levels writing expectations and how our current instructional practices support our students in meeting those goals. If you have any observations or input toward this conversation, feel free to pass it on to Nancy, your Team Leader or I, as we will continue to discuss this topic in January’s TLC.

 

TPA Bee on the lookout for communications from Nancy and Jason about our TPA schedule. Nancy and I want to make sure you are fully supported in these processes, but please review the ACPS page with resources for Non Tenured teachers, teachers in their Full Evaluation year and teachers in a Non Evaluation year. Here is the link to access information about TPA: https://www2.k12albemarle.org/acps/staff/TPA/Pages/default.aspx Let us know if you have any questions.

Inspired by magic, over the break I learned how to conjure lasers from air. The catch, I have to bee wearing the bee costume! Thanks to Ahna See for the pic