AM Announcements - April 26

AM Announcements
April 26, 2010

1. Today is Day 146.

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: April 26
No items at this time

Tuesday: April 27
Corporate Volunteers Breakfast - 7:45-9:00 - Reichert and Marston off-campus
U.S. Census on campus - 8:00-5:00 - gym
Field Trip - SBS class - Children's Museum - 9:00-1:30
EOG training - 1:00-2:00
Marzano Staff-development - 2:40-4:00
ESL Mind Workout - 5:30-7:30 (No A's and Bees tutoring)

Wednesday: April 28
U.S. Census on campus - 8:00-5:00 - gym
EOG training - 8:00-9:00
Field Trip - Grade 4 - YMCA

Thursday: April 29
U.S. Census on campus - 8:00-5:00 - gym
Extend2 training - 8:00-9:00
Field trip - Grade 2 - All a Flutter Flutterfly Farm
Reichert off-campus all day

Friday: April 30
U.S. Census on campus - 8:00-5:00 - gym
Dollar Dress Down Day
Spring Fling - 5:00-8:00 (Faculty) 5:30-7:30 (Students and parents)
Reichert off-campus all day

3. Upcoming Calendar Items:
a. 05/04 - SIT Meeting
b. 05/04-05/06 - DIBELS Testing
c. 05/07 - Second on-demand writing sample due in the Moodle
d. 05/10 - Field Day
e. 05/14 - EOG testing begins

4. Our allotment conference on Friday generated more questions than it answered. Since the Board has not finalized and adopted its budget no cuts are a reality however. Over the course of the next few days I will be speaking with individuals who may be most effected should the latest round of proposed cuts be adopted in May. Suffice it to say that no allotment of personnel is being made by the assistant superintendents until the actual number of students spelled out in the allotment formulas has been reached. Also some allotment formulas have been changed with their thresholds set at higher levels. This means that some positions which have been allotted to all schools may be cut at some smaller schools. Ms. Bigham has asked Ms. Powell and me to keep her continuously updated on enrollment changes since changes here effect not only Speas but the schools these students previously attended. We'll talk more about this and all its implications following the Marzano staff-development on Tuesday.

5. Starting tomorrow, the US Census will be here providing training to census takers who will be going out into the neighborhoods around Speas and taking census information from those houselhold which have not responded. They will be in the gym Tuesday, 4/27 through Friday, 4/30 from 8:00-5:00. PE classes will be held outside or in the classroom if it rains.

6. Don't forget to turn in your pledge card for the UNCF drive. The new total is $675.00. Remember that the drive ends May 21, 2010.

7. Review Conferences for today are: None
8. Student Council Items:
Teachers please allow a Student Council Rep out of your class speak to the class today about information from our meeting. The following items should be covered:

a.Thank everyone for coming to the American Idol and Hotdog Dinner we were able to raise $442.50 toward Classroom Playground Equipment.
b.Used Book Fair Sale: Encourage classmates to collect books and the last day to collect is May 10, 2010.
c. Papa John's Pizza Cards on sell for $5.00.
d. Box Tops: Last month to collect is May.
e. Dress Down Day - Thank you for participating all year and we have two more to go.

9. Continue to think and discuss quesitons about taking sick leave in hourly increments. We will try and answer your questions at our next faculty meeting.

10. Remember to review data in your PLC meetings as we work to complete our needs assessment for our Prioritized Title-1 Plan. With the budget in turmoil our decisions about which programs and personnel to fun with Title-1 money become even more critical.

11. There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a fool of himself.
John Ciardi (1916 - 1986)

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951)