AM Announcements - May 10

AM Announcements
May 10, 2010

1. Today is Day 157.

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: May 10
Field Day K-2 - 9:00-11:00 AM
Field Day 3-5 - 12:00-2:00 PM
Interim Reports go home

Tuesday: May 11
SIT Meeting 2:40-4:00
A's and Bees Tutoring - Last Night - 6:00-8:00 PM

Wednesday: May 12
Used Book Sale - 8:30-1:30 PM

Thursday: May 13
4th grade Field Trip to Hiddenite - 7:00-1:30 PM
Used Book Sale - 8:30-1:30 PM

Friday: May 14
Dollar Dress Down Day
EOG - Background information
Used Book Sale - 8:30-1:30 PM
Book Distribution - Dan Arial (Polo Park Recreation Center) - 9:00

Saturday: May 15
Student Council Yard and Used Book Sale - 7:30-1:00 PM

3. Upcoming Calendar Items:

a. 05/17-05/21 - EOG Testing
b. 05/24 - Interim Reports go home
c. 05/24-05/28 - Remediation Period for Level I/II students
d. 05/25 - Web Page migration session to School Wires
e. 05/26 - Web Page migration session to School Wires
f. 05/28 - Dollar Dress Down Day
g. 05/28 - Box Tops for Education due
h. 05/31 - Memorial Day - No School

4. I got a phone call late Friday from Toni Bigham. She had been reviewing our numbers and wanted to verify her figures. When we were done she allotted us additional teachers. The result of these additional positions is that the two surplus positions we had are no longer surplus. Our allotment for classroom teachers is the same as it is this year.

5. Ms. Childers sent around information about the Scholastic Book Fairs Warehouse Sale. Below is additional information :

Wednesday 05/12/2010 - Saturday 05/22/2010
*PO Day* Wednesday - May 12th - 9a-7p
Thursday & Friday May 13th-14th 9a-7p
Monday-Friday May17th-21st 9a-5p
Saturdays May 15th & May 22nd 9a-3p

6. Don't forget to turn in your pledge card for the UNCF drive. The current total is $740.00. Remember that the drive ends May 21, 2010.

7. "Thanks" to everyone who helped make last week's Teacher Appreciation activities such a success! Great job!.

8. Ms. Powell will be off campus all day today. Please keep this in mind when making requests from the office.

9. We received our Title-1 allotment on Thursday. The allotment is tied into a wide variety of different things. These include our Equity+ status and the two additional teachers we are allotted as a result of being Equity+; Equity+ bonuses; 10% staff-development set-aside; and a new reading program that will be used system-wide. Central office is requiring schools to pay for many things they have not been responsible for previously. These will be some of the issues on the SIT agenda for tomorrow.

10. A number of important issues will be on the SIT agenda for tomorrow. All staff members are invited to attend all SIT meetings. The one tomorrow would be a very good one to sit in on as SIT struggles to determine our structure for next year and how to allocate funding and personnel for 2010-11. As a result, this meeting may run longer than normal.

11. The following items are from Ms. Alston regarding Field Day.

A. Team Leaders need to report to the gym on Monday at 8:15.

B. Teachers in grades 3-5 should have their classes packed up prior to going to field day. (Field day ends at 2pm)

C. Field Day Maps are in classroom teacher mailboxes. If anyone else needs one, please email Ms. Dagenbach.

D. Ms. Alston needs the following people to help out with "crowd control" Monday morning when grades K-2 enter the gym. She will ask students to have a seat so she can go over Field Day procedures. She needs Ms. Clodfelter, Ms. laney, Ms. Thompson-Totten, Ms. C. Smith., Ms. Bushey and Ms. Childers to help  her remind students to be still, respectful and silent so they will understand their expectations today.

E. Teachers: please bring Ms. Alston any bean bags you may have in your rooms. She needs to borrow them today. Bring them ASAP to the gym. Please place an identifying mark on them so they can be easily returned.

F. She would like for Brandon (Preacher) that works with Ms. Clodfelter to walk with Mrs. Smutek's class in the afternoon.

G. She thanks all of you for your support and helping her develop a wonderful and safe day for our children.

12. Please keep Ms. Marston and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Her daughter Laura collapsed and was hospitalized in Norfolk, VA on Thursday. Ms. Marston has been there since Thursday as they ran tests and cared for her.

13. If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
Doug Larson

Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs.
Christopher Hampton

He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable.
Raymond Chandler (1888 - 1959)