AM Announcements - November 24

AM Announcements
November 24, 2009

1. Today is Day 62.

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:

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. Because of early release for classified employees, the building closes at 5:00 today.

7. Today is a Dollar Dress Down Day!

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

9. Regarding my discussion of instructional times with Dr. Sheehan, she realizes that the reality of a schedule includes transition times, bathroom issues, arrival and departure preparedness, bus departures and many other intangibles. We were shown a schedule that provided 90-90-60-30-30 at the Equity+ meeting yesterday. When I asked the school about transitions they said they probably lost 20 minutes or more of instructional time due to these issues. They were not written into the schedule however.

10. Today is an early release day for classified staff. Teacher assistants, please leave at 2:45. All other classified staff members should leave an hour earlier than their normal time.

11.When I meet a man I ask myself, 'Is this the man I want my children to spend their weekends with?'
Rita Rudner

There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science.
Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895)

There's no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn't tell you about it?
Kin Hubbard (1868 - 1930)

Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults.
Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin (1973) "Emotions"