The Last Friday Focus of the Year

We have almost made it!  Three more days and we will wrap this year up.  

Just a reminder that student supervision is key these last few days.  We will spend a lot of time outside and doing fun activities.  Remember to circulate and know what students are doing.  Students need structured activities during this time too - not just free play.  Large amounts of unstructured time leads to behavior problems.

You are invited to the kindergarten and 5th grade graduations on Monday at 5 and Tuesday at 6.  We would like for all staff to be at the 5th grade graduation if they can be.  

Reminder to teachers to have students make posters for the Senior Walk on Tuesday.

Check with Valerie or myself on planning and PD hours.  

Retention Sheets - please fill this out for your grade level.  

Next Week at a Glance...
Monday - House Olympics Day
                                 SBDM Meeting at 4 pm
                Kindergarten Graduation - 5 pm
Tuesday -  8:00 Senior Walk
                 Schedule for the Day
                                   5th grade graduation - 6 pm
                 2 pm - Mr. Irby Dedication
Wednesday - Last Day of School
                      5th grade Picnic

Friday Focus - May 4, 2018

It's finally here.  The week ahead is draining on everyone - students and staff alike.  Us keeping a positive attitude makes all the difference for our students.  It is important that students don't feel pressured or worried about the test.  Emphasize that this is their opportunity for them to show what they know and let all their hard work finally pay off.

Kindergarten thru 2nd grade teachers - please be very conscious about noise levels in the hall during testing.  Several students will be testing on the first floor.  Also - the library will be closed during testing times.  

There will not be special class on Monday thru Thursday of next week.  I know this is not easy.  We will try to send people around to give you breaks.  You can also divide students up to take outside during recess time and give people a few minutes then as well.  

I will need each grade level to add their supply list to this form before the last day of school.  This needs to be a very specific and well thought out list about what each grade really needs and will use.  If it is an item that needs to be high quality, let us know.  I want you guys to have what you need.  But we also need to be careful of being items that we don't use.  

I am going go ahead and share the tentative PD plan for the coming school year.  There are still some PD's up in the air dealing with grant requirements.  I want to go ahead and share though so you can get some dates on your calendars.  

We are also changing both the name and charge of our Lighthouse Team next year.  We feel that changing it to the School Leadership Team is more suiting to what we want that team to do.  Being a LIM or Lighthouse School is no longer a separate thing that we do - it is part of who we are.  We also want this Leadership Team to not only make decisions about LIM activities but school activities overall. With all that being said - let me know if you are willing to serve on the Leadership Team for the 2018-19 school year! We try to only meet once per month but the work of this team is very important.  

Next Week at a Glance...

-Monday - 7:40 KPREP parade  
-Tuesday - 12:30  Girls Bathroom Challenge Movie & -Popcorn in gym
-Wednesday - Miss Kentucky speaks to all students at 1:30 in the gym
3:00 Staff meeting/Ms Rhonda's celebration
-Thursday 3:00 Secret Sailor Reveal in library - everyone bring a finger food to share
-Friday - 11 am I Survived the KPREP Party at the Park 

Friday Focus - April 27th

If you feel anything like I do, this picture describes it perfectly.  This time of year it feels like the wheels are moving faster than we can possibly go.  Our calendar is full and we only have a few more days to get it all done.  But - there is one thing I know - we will get it all accomplished.  Hang in there!

Use these last few days to dig in and cover the last bits of content that need to be covered.  Review material that you know students need to hit again.  And above all else - continue to give our students the love and encouragement that they need everyday.  

Several bus drivers have reported that students are bringing candy on the bus and making a mess with it.  I don't have any idea where they would be getting all the Mike and Ike's from - 😉.  It is probably a good idea to only give them candy that they can eat there in class or at snack and have them dispose of it before they leave of an afternoon.  I know firsthand the mess that those little candies can have in a vehicle - I sucked about 50 up in the vacuum the other night down at the car wash. 

Gretchen Bryant will be bring Pearl to CCES on Tuesday.  She will be parked at back all day and will be giving a discount to our staff.  Go out and shop on your planning!

Congrats to our teacher SBDM members for the 2018-19 school year - Andrea Parson, Candi Graves, Erika Murphy and Kara Wilbert.  Candi Graves will be serving as the minority representative.  

Look at the Living Calendar daily - lots of activities going on. Also - add info for your grade level.

No Panther Time for the rest of the year!

Be collecting old people outfits and things - we will explain more later.  It will be for our KPREP Kickoff on Friday afternoon.  We need ALL STAFF to participate!

WEAR HOUSE SHIRTS ON MONDAY - REMIND ALL PARENTS AND STUDENTS ON FRIDAY AND OVER THE WEEKEND!

Next Week at a Glance...
Monday - Sack lunches in homerooms at 11.  
Watching Wonder in Houses and discussing in pods. All info for this House meeting can be found here.  
Tuesday - Panther Lab trip
KPREP Kickoff Performance practice - 3 pm in gym
Wednesday - KPREP Kickoff Performance practice - 3 pm in gym
Thursday - 1:00 200 Vocab Word Party
Friday - No Special Class today - AMAZING RACE FOR 3RD - 5TH GRADE
2:00 KPREP Kickoff in the gym for all grade levels - more details to follow soon

Let's finish strong!!!!!!!

Friday Focus - April 20th

Eighteen days - EIGHTEEN DAYS!  That doesn't seem possible.  The next three and a half weeks are filled with lots of activity so keep checking the Living Calendar - it is filling up every day.

Come check out the Staff Bingo game in my office today!  Game begins today - the sooner you start the sooner you will get a prize.

Next Week at a Glance...

Monday - Classified Staff evaluations - please stop by my office sometime to go over your evaluation

Mid-term reports go home

Bluegrass Trip for 3rd thru 5th graders

Tuesday - 5th grade Social Studies PAS test

2nd grade Lexia Bash

Wednesday - 3pm  Staff meeting for all staff who will be helping with testing 

Kindergarten Field Trip

Thursday - 4th grade Field Trip

2nd grade Math Whizz Bash

***Reminder - no email beginning Thursday afternoon thru Friday

Friday Focus - April 13th

Culture is Key!

I saw a quote on Facebook yesterday something along the lines of "Don't worry about academics, instruction, assessments, etc. if your culture isn't what it should be!"  I am sure I didn't get that exactly right but that was the gist of it.  And the more I think about it - I agree.  Don't get me wrong - school can't be nor should it be all play and not work.  There has to be a balance.  But I do believe that students will only give us their best when this is a place they feel loved and accepted and that they enjoy being.  That does't mean they have to love every second of what we do here but they have to look forward to coming.  School has to be a good place for them and that's what I want every day.  Thank you for all you do to make CCES that place for our students!

We had a house meeting yesterday and I am linking the notes from that meeting here so you can see what we planned.  

Also here is the link to the Action Team notes from Wednesday. 

Next Week at a Glance...

CPA testing next week!

Monday - LOM breakfast and recognition

5th grade Visits CCMS from 1-2

****KDE Olweus Site visit - click for link to schedule***

Tuesday

Wednesday - 1st grade Field Trip to Dinosaur World

4th and 5th grade GT in cafeteria at 1:30

3:00 House Meeting

Thursday - 2nd grade Field Trip to Mammoth Cave

Annie Ruby's Day  *** Mid-term Ends

Friday - Grades need to be posted by the end of the day

4th grade ELA Live Scoring

Spring MAP Scores

I have spent quite a bit of time looking over the last round of MAP scores and are anxious to share them with you all.  We will dive into them more deeply this week at PLC's but here is some quick glances.

MATH

 READING

As you can see, the scores are really all over the place.  Our goal is to have above the 60% mark on proficient and distinguished and to have as few novice as possible.

This shows the increase or decrease compared to winter and this data is interesting.  The trend is that the lower grades did better now than compared to winter and vice versa for the upper grades.  They seemed to do better in the winter and have declined at least some now.  I am sure there are several factors that could have contributed to this.  Again...we will discuss at PLC's this week.

This last picture shows the difference between the number of proficient and distinguished this year compared to last.  Our number of reading have increased pretty dramatically will the number of math have decreased.  Again...what is the cause?

What does this data mean to us and what should it mean for the next few weeks?  I know that testing time and the end of the year is approaching.  Remember - STUDENT LEARNING IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE FOCUS.  The KPREP (or any other test) is just an assessment of what they know.  We don't ever work for the KPREP - that is not our motivation.  But it is nice for it to show what our hard work is doing!

Spend the next few weeks making the most of your time.  We only have 27 days to make an impact on these kids this year.  Don't waste a second of it!

Friday Focus - March 30, 2018

Spring Break is here!  Woohoo!  Enjoy your time off with your families and come back ready to finish out this school year.

Only four weeks of instruction left until KPREP and they will fly by.  

The last round of CPA testing will be the week of April 16th.  Make sure you have those ready to go.  The data you gather from those CPA's can greatly impact your instruction these last couple of weeks.  What content or skills need more time?  What have students still not got?

Next week at PLC we will be discussing MAP test scores from round 3 - come prepared to discuss those. Also, make sure you are using that data to make decisions these last few weeks.  Are there students that still need extra help?  How can we get them that extra help?

If you attended the Leadership Retreat last night, you got to participate in an Breakout EDU activity.  They are so much fun.  We have several kits down here and a subscription to the digital pack.  There are hundreds of games ready for your students to play.  Let me know when you want to get started with one in your classroom.

Next Week at a Glance...

Monday -  Deadline for reading Bluegrass Books!

SBDM meeting at 4

Tuesday - 4th grade Math Live Scoring

Wednesday - Action Team meetings at 3

Friday - BOGO Book Fair starts!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!