AM Announcements - November 23

AM Announcements
November 23, 2009

1. Today is Day 61.

2. It is the mission of Speas Elementary School to provide its students with the tools necessary to successfully meet the challenges they will face in a diverse world.

3. Calendar items for this week:

Monday: November 23
Marzano Staff-Development - 2:40-4:00
Equity+ Principals Meeting - Kimberly Park - 12:00-2:00 - Reichert off-campus
Powell off-campus - all day
Fletcher off-campus - all day
Early release day for classified staff - leave at 2:45
Samaritan Penny Drive begins

Tuesday: November 24
Samaritan Penny Drive Continues
Dollar Dress Down Day
Early release day for classified staff - leave at 2:45

4. Upcoming Calendar Items:
a. 12/01 - Winter Concert
b. 12/04 - Dollar Dress Down Day
c. 12/04 - Speas Spelling Bee
d. 12/05 - Holiday Open House - The Reicherts
e. 12/07 - Author/Illustrator David Biedrzycki at Speas - 1:15-2:15
f. 12/10 - PTA Meeting - 6:00 PM

5. North Carolina Teacher Academy is now offering on-line courses for professional development for public school teachers across the state. Registration will begin in mid-November with classes starting in January 2010. Classes will last 10 weeks and require 20 contact hours for a total of 2.0 CEU's. To find out more and to register, log on to: http://www.teacheracademy.org/

6. Remember that you do not need to turn in lesson plans today or send home a newsletter. There is no Bee Lines for this week since it is only two days long.

7. The holiday door contest is quickly approaching so don't forget to start working on your door ideas.

8. We are still collecting social dues for the 2009-2010 school year. If you have not paid, please see Ms. Johnson.

9. I had a long talk with Dr. Meg Sheehan, the assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and she realizes the difficulty of fitting everything in a 90-90-60-30-30 schedule into a day/week. It is obvious that a lot of things have to be integrated and therefore do not show up as discrete times in a schedule.

10. We have received an allocation of $32,621.00 of additional Title-1 funding. Our plan to use this money must be turned in by 12/7 and would be preferred by 12/01. We must propose 3-5 projects that will work to ensure that we will make AYP this year and exit from school improvement. This could be tutoring for all grade levels; supplies and/or equipment; special programs; staff-development for educators; programs to increase parental involvement; or other ideas that can be defended as research based methodologies with a proven history of improving student achievement. Please convey your ideas to your SIT representatives so we can formulate our plan in order to meet the deadlines established by Title-1.

11. Today and tomorrow are early release days for classified staff. Teacher assistants, please leave both days at 2:45. All other classified staff members should leave an hour earlier tomorrow. This means that the building will close tomorrow at 5:00 PM. I will remain with the magnet bus students and Mr. Hart until they leave around 5:30 PM.

12. I will be off-campus this afternoon at an Equity+ Principals' meeting at Kimberly Park. Ms. Powell and Ms. Fletcher are out today. Please keep this in mind when you need office assistance.

13. Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)

The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.
Bruce Cockburn

Never have children, only grandchildren.
Gore Vidal (1925 - )

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy