SLO and Steady Wins the Race

Thanks to everyone for working hard through this first month of school. I especially want to thank you all for remaining positive in the face of some very challenging circumstances. The ability to take on a challenge and meet it head on is what separates our staff from others. Keep pushing forward in our pursuit to be the best!

Our Future Teachers:

Thanks to the MANY of you who are hosting students from Clemson University and Anderson University this semester and/or next. We will have a building full of future educators this year! I very much value an opportunity to host these students because I know that they are learning from the best. It also gives us a "heads up" in the event that we may want to hire one or more of them one day (for example: Ms. Ginny Jordan). Please let Mrs. Tollison and I know if you have a university student who needs to be on our "radar" ...

Student Discipline:

The student behavior referral is now online. Please do not fill out a "blue card" and send a student to the office. When you complete the referral, we receive an email and will call the student to our office as soon as available to do so. You can refer back to our teacher handbook for more information. We will dedicate some time in our next meeting to discuss parent communication and referrals. However, please make sure you are contacting parents consistently. If a student is nearing the referral level, you need to make a phone call or have the parent come in as a means to get the parent on "our side" and let them know the behavior has reached a significant level. The online referral can be found by clicking here. Please add this link to your favorites or make a book mark on your iPad. 

SLOs:

Don't worry. We have not forgotten! We will spend some time during our staff development day on Monday, September 28th discussing SLOs and offering assistance with each grade level and area. In the mean time, make sure you are collecting your data via MAP, F&P, and benchmark testing. It would be wise to review the documents in our shared Google Drive folder. Remember, this is a learning year so we have some flexibility. We want the data we collect to be accurate and useful for you to make wise instructional decisions more than anything. Update: MAP Testing has been suspended for the remainder of the week. Perhaps they will delay our SLO due dates as well. We will keep you posted. 

September 28th:

Speaking of September 28th, we will be meeting in the morning at 8:30 A.M. to discuss "flex" library schedule. As mentioned above, we will also work with groups on SLOs. The remainder of your day is for you to work in your rooms. We know this is valuable time for you and we will offer as much of the day for this as possible.

Great Things Going on at PVES:
I know we have great things happening in our building each and every day, but let's focus on a few areas today!

I want to take a moment and recognize Coach Thompson for his efforts. I appreciate his enthusiasm and positive attitude. I can tell he has gone above and beyond to make a difference at our school. He is the first person to help teachers handle a difficult student. He has been such a help with the car line in the afternoon. And more importantly, his students simply LOVE physical education. I had a chance to visit his class today and there is no doubt why students love his class. He obviously cares for his students and wants them to be successful. Today, students in PE were playing a game to teach spatial awareness and awareness of one's surroundings in relation to activity and competition. Thanks for your leadership, Coach!

Speaking of making a difference, let's recognize Ms. Marino in our TMD class. She has quite a challenging group with an extremely wide range of needs. She pours her heart and soul into her job and it shows. Her assistants, Rita and Carlie, do the same. If you have never spent some time in the TMD room, you really need to find a way to make that happen. Connect with Ms. Marino and find a way to get your class involved with hers. I appreciate their ability to struggle, persevere, and make the best of any situation. Great job, ladies!

Our first installment of Digital Playground was a huge success. Thanks to Mrs. Preisig for organizing these events. A special thanks to Mrs. Wayne, Mrs. Tollison, Ms. Wilkie, and Ms. Wilcox for leading us. It was fun to learn about creation apps and how to incorporate them in the classroom in a very informal setting. Adding food to the mix doesn't hurt! At one point, I looked up and saw over 20 of our teachers volunteering their precious time to get better at their craft. That's pretty special! I am already excited about our next playground event!

Our PTSO board continues to make a push to improve our membership numbers. We have also seen a rise in the number of parents who are assisting us in the work room. It's great to have an active and supportive PTSO. Two of our board members actually subbed in our building today! Also, make sure you have joined our PTSO. Many of you have plenty of PTSO and Boosterthon money left to spend. Check out who leads our class competition for membership in each grade level. I know you ladies are competitive so let's get our parents to join! 

3rd Grade PTSO

4th Grade PTSO

5th Grade PTSO

Moore's Musings:

• Next Friday, September 25th, staff and students can bring $1.00 (or more) and wear gold or yellow. Thats right...we will have a "gold out" next Friday. Why? To support Relay for Life and the Childhood Cancer Project. Check out the following website for additional information: http://goldinseptember.com/. 
• Remember that our EAFK program is still going strong. Ms. Lee is working with students and classes and using this program to guide some of her discussions. As a reminder, the virtues for this nine week period are respect, responsibility, and perseverance. Please make every effort to include these virtues in your newsletters/emails and in your conversations with students. 
• Congratulations to our new "elected" teacher representatives on our School Improvement Council (SIC). Thanks to Mrs. Fowler, Mrs. Carey, Mrs. Putnam, Mrs. Tate, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Wayne for being willing to serve our school in this important role. 
• Please make every effort to get absences in AESOP as soon as possible. The district has many subs tied up due to AdvancED meetings, trainings, etc. The sooner we can get an absence approved and in the computer to locate a sub, the better. It would also be wise to update your top 5/favorite subs. Mrs. Tollison will send out some names of suggested subs in the near future. 

Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

• Science "techbook" training is coming up on Monday, September 21st. 3rd grade science teachers will meet in the PD Room from 8:15-11:15 A.M. 4th and 5th grade science teachers will meet in the PD Room from 11:30 A.M.-2:30 P.M. Remember that we are providing a boxed Chic-Fil-A lunch for you that day. 
• Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, September 22nd at 3:15 P.M. in the PD Room. Topic: Guidance and RTI. 
• The Book Fair will be open from 9/25 - 10/6. Please get the word out to students and parents and support Mrs. Fowler and our media center. Mrs. Fowler will provide a book fair "sneak peek" on 9/24 after school. I am hopeful there will be pie in our future!
• "Gold/Yellow-out" on Friday, September 25th. Bring $1.00. 
• Professional Development Day - Monday, September 28th beginning at 8:30 A.M. 
• Curriculum Nights: 3rd - 9/24, 4th - 9/29, 5th -10/1. Times for each event are 6:30-8:00 P.M. Book Fair will be open at 6:00-6:30 P.M. and again from 8:00-8:30 P.M. 
• Fire Drill - Wednesday, September 30th. 

Have a great rest of the week and keep getting better. I am proud to work with you!