AM Announcements - November 30

AM Announcements
November 30, 2009

1. Today is Day 63.

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 30
Samaritan Penny Drive Continues
Holiday Concert Practice
Box Tops for Education due
SIT Meeting - Media Center - 2:40-4:00

Tuesday: December 01
Samaritan Penny Drive Continues
Holiday Concert Practice
Holiday Concert
ON PAR Training - Ms. Marston off-campus - 9:30-11:30

Wednesday: December 02
Samaritan Penny Drive Continues

Thursday: December 03
Samaritan Penny Drive Continues
Joint Principals' meeting - 7:15-12:00 - Reichert off-campus
Construction Meeting - 9:00-10:00 AM - Powell represents Speas
Mid-year evaluation conference with Toni Bigham- Reichert - 1:00-3:00

Friday: December 04
Signature School Breakfast - UNCG - 8:00-10:00 Miller, Mincer and Reichert off campus
Dollar Dress Down Day
Speas Spelling Bee - 8:00-9:00 - Marston
Samartian Penny Drive ends
Second Grade Candle Tea Field Trip - 10:30-1:00
Holiday doors judged - 1:00

Saturday: December 05
Holiday Open House - Reicherts 4:00-10:00 PM

4. Upcoming Calendar Items:
a. 12/07-12/18 - ON PAR testing
b. 12/07 -Author/Illustrator David Biedrzycki at Speas - 1:15-2:15
c. 12/08-12/11 - Science Fair
d. 12/10 - PTA Meeting - 6:00 PM
e. 12/10 - Mass Vision Screening - 8:30
f. 12/11-12/16 - Spirit Week
g. 12/11-12/12 - Holiday Sleepover 7:00 PM-8:00 AM
h. 12/15 - PTA/Student Council Staff Breakfast
i. 12/17 - Holiday Parties - 1:00-2:00
J. 12/18 - Student Council Holiday trip

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. Last Wednesday, the construction fencing was installed to delineate the construction area for safety and security reasons. In its current form we will be able to maintain the same car rider dismissal pattern. We will do so until we are required to change. Access to the playground should be through the building using the gym doors and front doors. Once you exit the doors, please proceed along the construction fencing toward the tennis courts until your students can access the playground. All students and staff are to stay outside the construction fencing which means they will not be able to use the playground equipment. I realize this is an inconvenience but it is for the safety of the children. Please be vigilant, nothing attracts young boys like construction equipment in action. All construction workers have been directed not to talk with students or staff in order to prevent problems.

FIRE/EMERGENCY EXIT:
Those clsses that use the double doors by the Art room as their emergency exit should continue to do so. Exit the doors, turn right and follow the construction fencing toward Polo Rd. Enter back into the building at the double gym doors. Proceed to the double doors where we dismiss car riders and exit along the construction fence all the way to the playground. No other exits should be effected by the construction fencing.

7. If you would like me to read any of the versions of the Night Before Christmas, please schedule them now before the holidays fill up everything. Ms. Taylor gave me a new version last Monday, The Pirate Night Before Christmas.

8. Our Media Center is getting ready to switch to the Destiny program to catalog and circulate materials. The following information is from Ms. Childres regarding this transition:

No one is to use the OPAC after Tuesday, Nov. 24, as we begin to make the transition to Destiny. Accessing the library computer database (Online Public Access Catalog) after Nov. 24 could cause the data to become corrupt. Teachers/students should not use the OPAC icon either in the media center or from other computers.

Also, after Nov. 24, normal circulation will be down, and Mrs. Childers will be the only one able to check books in or out. Students or staff should not drop books off in the library if Mrs. Childers is not there, and Mrs. Childers must check books out herself. In order to check out a book, a student must have one to exchange during the transition time, which may be until after the December holidays. Please inform students of this policy. I attend Destiny training on Dec. 14. I will have a sub to teach classes that day, but we will NOT have check out that day, either with my classes or open checkout. Please do not send students to the media center to check out books that day, and do not let the students drop off books, as we will have no way of knowing who brought them. Thanks for your patience.

9. The following is an important message for all WS/FCS Employees. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
As we stated in our informational e-mail this past Friday, November 20th, we are requiring all employees to sign an updated Criminal Background Check Release Form. Here is the link to the on-line form:

http://intranet.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/Public.nsf/BGMenu?OpenForm

The deadline for completing the form is 4:30 PM, December 14, 2009. You will see two links on this web page. If you have a WS/FCS e-mail account, use the first link. The user ID and password to use are the ones you use to access Lotus I-notes when accessing e-mail from home. Employees without e-mail accounts but with access to a computer at work or home can use the second link on this web page.

Thank you for your understanding as we work to reassure our constituents that our schools are safe places for our students, staff and parents.

10. Ms. Bushey and the student council Holiday Door Committee will be judging doors on Friday, December 4th in the afternoon.

11. In case you missed this last Tuesday:

Congratulations to the Speas staff for reaching 110.22% of the school's United Way goal! Exceeding your goal is truly commendable. Hats off to you for your generous giving which will make a positive difference in addressing needs in our community ! - Toni Bigham

12. Now we being the anticipation and crush of the holidays. It is our job to keep our students interested and excited about school while everything else is swirling around them. There is much to do curriculum-wise during the next three weeks. Everyones' nerves get a little frazzled during the holiday season. Well-planned, exciting hands-on lessons help to reduce discipline issues and keep students engaged.

13. We have always posted our SIT minutes on the shared volume for staff to review. A new state law requires that all SIT Minutes be posted on the school's web site for parents and the general public to review. Beginning with today's meeting. The secretary will no longer post minutes on the shared volume. Instead, these minutes will be sent to our tech facilitator, Ms. C. Smith and she will post them on our school web site.

14. Since we are in the second quarter now, please remember that, at minimum, all teacher web-pages are to be updated on a quarterly basis.

15. In a mad world only the mad are sane.
Akira Kurosawa (1910 - 1998)

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.
Paul Valery (1871 - 1945), 1895

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.
Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Mansfield Park

There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)