Friday, September 20, 2019

The Buzzness!


THE REGAL 
Image result for bee dog
BEEGLE



CALENDAR
Sept
23 - 25  PTO / Honey Hive Change Challenge
25    Miller School Students TBD      
25 Bus Evacuations 1st Half 2:40pm
26 Bus Evacuations 2nd Half 2:40pm
26 Faculty Meeting - New Report Cards 2:45 pm
27 SPIRIT DAY: BES BEE-BOP
27 PALS 1-3 Window Closes
27   PTO Movie Night 6:30pm  (Rain Date Oct 11)
30   TPA Goal Setting Due - Evaluator List
30 Jason out for the week
30   School-Based Professional Development Day- No School for Students
              
Oct            
1 PALS K Window Opens
1 - 18    Coat Drive 
2    Team Leaders 2:45 pm
3    3rd Camp Friendship 9:15am -1:45pm Robinson, Pallante, Crotteau
3 Thursday Meetings 2:50 pm
4    3rd Camp Friendship 9:15am -1:45pm Chernauskas, Henry, Bowen
5    PTO Bee Healthy Color Run 8am



ALMOST COMPLETE PEER WALK SCHEDULE
Most of the walks schedules are complete and can be seen in this doc. 
Highlighted areas are awaiting schedules. Thank you for your help with 
all of this. 
Included on the doc is a link to the learnwalk record sheet you may use in 
conjunction with the rigor chart as you assess the cognitive engagement 
levels of the students you observe. 




BEE BOP SCHEDULE
Here is the BEE BOP - BES Spirit Day schedule
Ms. Wittkowski is working out an art class schedule and admin will have the 
TA lunch coverage schedule by Friday. 


8:15 – 8:45 All K in Specials  
8:45 – 9:55 All K back in class
9:00 - 9:40 K-1 BEE BOP 
9:45 – 10:15 All 1st in Specials- Pick up from BEE BOP
10:15 – 10:45 All 2nd in Specials
11:00 – 11:40  2nd-3rd BEE BOP
11:05 – 11:30  K Lunch
11:15 – 11:40  4th Lunch  
11:40 – 12:20 5th Lunch
11:45 – 12:15  All 3rd in Specials- Pick up from BEE BOP
11:50 – 12:20 2nd Lunch
12:20 – 12:50 1st Lunch
12:20 – 12:55  All 4th in Specials
12:30 – 1:00 3rd Lunch
1:00 – 1:40   4th- 5th BEE BOP

1:45 – 2:25  All 5th in Specials- Pick up from BEE BOP

Friday, September 13, 2019

The Buzzness!

Image result for hockey mask bee

CALENDAR
17    Fire Drill 10:15 am 
19    Lockdown Drill 1:25pm - after 4th grade Specials 
19 Thursday Meetings 2:45 pm (Grade 2 and 3 RTI meeting)
23 - 25  PTO / Honey Hive Change Challenge
24    Fire Drill (Make UP) 8:40am right before first K transition in Specials 
25    Miller School Students 10:30am - 12:15pm  
26 Faculty Meeting - Report Cards 2:45 pm
27 SPIRIT DAY: BES DAY AND BEE-BOP- Schedule TBD
27 PALS 1-3 Window Closes
27    PTO Movie Night 6:30pm  (Rain Date Oct 11)


Bus Evacuation Drill Date, Monday, October 21. Schedule TBD 


TPA/LEARNWALKS/ADMIN WATCHLIST/PEER WALKS
Teams, let admin know when you have fifteen minutes during planning next 
week for Jason, Brandi or Trish to discuss these items briefly. 


RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM 
School leaders will learnwalk next week, with an eye out for Responsive 
Classroom practices. Brownsville is a RC school and there are expectations 
for every classroom that we guarantee our community. 
1) Morning Message
2) Morning Meetings 
3) Learning Language
4) Modeling 


MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 SCHOOL -BASED PD - RIGOR FOR ALL!
We have a general plan for this PD day. 
All western feeder pattern elementary school teachers will meet at Brownsville 
beginning at 8am. 
8:00 - 8:25am Breakfast
Then you will break into 3 groups. 
8:30 - 11:30am Everyone who has NOT attended the Introduction to Culturally 
Responsive Teaching attend session A. 


8:30 - 11:30am - Those who have attended Intro to CRT can attend session B or 
C to learn more about the Powerful Task Rubric (Rigor Chart) through PLC or a 
deeper dive into the Rigor Chart itself. 


A google form will go out next week so you can select your options for the morning. 


Afternoon options will be: 
New Promethean Board training with Sandy, 12:30 - 1:30pm
3rd Grade Reading (possibly mandatory) more info to come. 
1st Grade Being a Reader
Team Time
More info to come.


PURCHASING RESUMES NEXT WEEK
Bee on the lookout for an email from Avis early in the week. She will let you know 

when you may resume submitting orders. Sorry for the hang-up.

Friday, September 6, 2019

September 6, 2019 Brownsville Buzzness

Image result for bee playing football
CALENDAR 
9 Classroom TA Meetings 10 am; SPED TA’s 2:45 pm
9 - Oct 3, PTO Fund Drive 
10   Lockdown Drill 8:10 am 
10   Back To School Night 3rd-5th,  6 - 6:40 1st session, 6:50 - 7:30 2nd session 
Gifted/Talent Development Parent info session 5:30-5:55
11    5th Field Trip to Monticello 9:15am - 2:00pm 
12 Thursday Meetings 2:50 pm
13    Fire Drill 8:20 am 
17    Fire Drill 10:15 am 
19    Lockdown Drill 9:10 am 
19 Thursday Meetings 2:45 pm


COLLABORATIVE LEARNING TEAM CYCLES
Next week is CLT’s will be working on Standards-Based Planning. 
Here are the questions CLT’s will tackle and document:
  • STEP 1: IDENTIFY KEY CONCEPTS & SKILLS (What do you want 
students to know and be able to do?)
  • STEP 2: IDENTIFY LEARNING TARGET (How will you know that 
they have and you have been successful?) 
  • STEP 3: DETERMINE BIG IDEAS/ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS
  • STEP 4: WHAT LEARNING EXPERIENCES WILL ALLOW ALL  
  • STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE AT HIGH LEVELS? 
  • STEP 5: BASED ON DATA HOW DO I REFINE THE LEARNING 
EXPERIENCES FOR NEXT TIME 

RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM 
The power of RC from Jason: 
Today, a young kindergarten student that we all have been working 
with, EXTENSIVELY, came up and gave me the biggest hug. If I had 
used language I was trained with as a secondary teacher, that probably 
would not have happened. By thinking about the long term effects of 
the language I use with kids, I do not sacrifice long term success for 
a quick fix. Using Learning Language has been one of the most important
strategies I have learned as an educator. 


Be sure to check out the Responsive Classroom website for some 
amazing resources to support your classroom roll-out this year!


Monday, July 29, 2019

The BUZZNESS!!




SCHEDULE FOR PRE-SCHOOL WEEK 19-20
Brandi and Jason are working hard to get this to you by this Friday 
afternoon. Bee on the lookout!!


ROOM ASSIGNMENTS UPDATE
These are the most up-to-date relocations: 
New first grade teacher (Lewis) Rm 315 into second grade hall 
Hyde to Rm 306 into third grade hall 
Simounet to Rm 302 third grade hall 
Hamblin to Rm 208  fourth grade hall 
Horridge art to Rm 205 fourth grade hall 
Weikle music to Rm 117 


The learning cottage, dubbed, “Crutchville” by Mr. Foreman is coming
along. Meaghan Gibson and Nancy Fiddner from the 4th grade team and 
Victoria Chernauskas and Kim Henry from the 3rd grade team have taken 
assignments on the frontier. I have attached some pics of the progress. 
Here is a link to some pics of the current condition of the cottage!!


FYI -WELCOME NEW TEACHERS AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL 


Ashley Lewis (1st Grade): Hi! I'm Ashley Lewis, and I am super excited 
to be joining the first grade team at Brownsville! I taught pre-k for 2 years 
in Georgia before moving to Colorado. I taught first grade there for 3 
years, and moved to Charlottesville last fall to start my master's degree 
in reading education at UVA. I graduated in May and am earning my 
reading specialist certification. I'm looking forward to using what I've 
learned back in the classroom! Looking forward to meeting everyone 
and getting started! anlewis1@gmail.com 

Andrew Croll (C-Base):  I was born and raised in western Albemarle County.  
I currently live with my wife Jennifer and two children Jack (8) and Evie(5) in 
Scottsville.  I received my Bachelor in Elementary Education at Appalachian 
State University and my endorsement in special education at Old Dominion 
University.  I have over 18 years of experience working with special education 
students.  I am transitioning from a wilderness school called, The Discovery 
School of Virginia where I was lead teacher for over 10 years.  My family and 
I love the outdoors.  We spend all of our free time hiking, swimming, and 
creating outside.  I look forward to coming back to the Crozet area and being 
a part of the progress of Brownsville Elementary School community. 


Paula Gately (4th grade): We would like to introduce Paula Gately as our 
newly hired 4th grade classroom teacher. Paula has taught 4th and 5th grade in 
Maryland. She is returning to the east coast from San Diego since her husband 
ended his military career to settle here in Charlottesville with their dog. She has 
a background in dance and is looking forward to using movement in the classroom 
and building strong relationships with her students, teachers, and families. 
Feel free to reach out and welcome her at : paula.gately07@gmail.com
  
Lauren Estes (1st grade): Lauren will be returning to us this year as a 
full-time first grade classroom teacher. She has been a dependable long term 
sub here for a couple of years and has 3 little bees of her own, Kaleb-5th,
Noah-4th and Reese-2nd. She still has her, lestes@k12albemarle.org 
address if you would like to re-welcome her. 

Elizabeth Weikle (Music): Elizabeth Weikle will bee joining us next year as 
our part-time music teacher.
She is a product of our western feeder pattern and attending JMU to complete 
her certification. emweikle@gmail.com

Trisha Moya (Assistant Principal Intern):  We also want to take this time 
to introduce Trish Moya, who has been assigned to Brownsville as the 
Assistant Principal Intern for the 2019-20 school year. For the past two 
years, Trish has been a Math specialist/STEAM teacher at Greer Elementary. 
Prior to that she was an instructional coach with our division. She has an 
extensive background in ESOL learning. She has an undergraduate degree 
in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska and received a 
Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. 
Recently she received an administrative endorsement through James Madison 
University. Trish is married to Gabe and has two kids Seth, 22 and Elise, 19 
(oh, and a cat named Miko).  She is so excited to join the rest of the Bees in 
the Hive!! Feel free to welcome her: tmoya@k12albemarle.org


BUDGET INCREASES
Another FYI - All grade level budgets have been increased by $2 per student. 
We will work with other departments for any other adjustments. Team leaders,
Please work with Avis if you need things ordered.  


SETTING UP CLASSROOMS
If you want to come into classrooms before Aug 12, you will be able to. Calling 
or emailing ahead is always a good idea just to make sure. Please be sure not 
to take any “stray” looking furniture from halls, classrooms and especially in the 
old and new gyms. Ask about any items you have an interest in; do not just take 
them. Although we are not promising any particular items, some furniture orders 
are being and have been placed based on the furniture requests you made in 
May/June.