February 12, 2009

Formal Observations - Please schedule your observation between now and Spring Break. It will be here before we know it! I have a few teachers on cycle who need their fourth observation and everyone not on cycle needs to schedule one. This is your responsibility to get it done so do it sooner than later! I have extended the deadline for portfolios to April 3rd. The sooner you get them to me, the better.

PD Credit - If you are taking the PD/PLC for credit this semester, you need not fill out a course approval sheet. The roster from the course will be given to Mr. Schmidt and he will do a 'mass approval' for this course.


Daily Recess Policy - Please note the following board policy (adopted June 26, 2006) we need to begin following on a regular basis. This may change the way you handle punishment for missing work and may require us to look at other possibilities as a team or building.
Daily Recess: Elementary schools should provide recess for students that:
* is at least 20 minutes a day;
* is preferably outdoors;
* encourages moderate to vigorous physical activity through the provision of space and equipment; and,
* discourages extended periods (i.e., periods of two or more hours) of inactivity.

Physical Activity and Discipline
Employees should not use physical activity for discipline during the regular school day nor withhold more than 50% of daily recess activities.

Spring Testing Change - This spring, we will have some changes in our mandatory 2nd assessment. We will be moving from the ICAM tests and Stanford 9 at the 4th, 8th and 11th grades to using the Northwest Educational Association's (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). These assessments are curriculum-aligned computerized adaptive tests that accurately reflect the instructional level of each student and measure growth over time. We will begin using them this spring at the 5th grade level and hope to expand from there. The change in assessment will not only save the district money, but the MAP assessments provide instant results and can be used four times a year to make the data more useful to teachers.

Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences - Thanks to those who have emailed or given Stephanie your conference results already. Information the office needs from PT week:
__________ Number of students in your classroom
__________ Number of conferences held
__________ Number of students who attended conferences
__________ Number of conferences with both parents attending

Dates to Note:
Monday - Pyramid of Interventions PD (7:45 am @ IPS)
Tuesday - PWIM ICN session (4:00 pm - Barry, Linn & Montgomery)
Thursday - SAT Meeting (3:15 pm)
Friday - 4th grade field trip to Holland's Performing Arts Center
Feb 23 - 2:55 pm Assembly - Bully Presentations
Feb 23 - PLC Meetings
Feb 24 - Iowa Core Curriculum meeting (Barry @ Shenandoah)
Feb 24 - After School Math (Bank Iowa sponsor)
Feb 25 - Early Out (Bldg PLC)

"No person was ever honored for what he received.

Honor has been the reward for what he gave."

Calvin Coolidge, 30th U.S. President