As the title of of our blog suggests, our faculty and staff theme this year is "Whatever It Takes". In previous years, you have done a remarkable job owning our themes and making them your rallying cry. Our themes have been echoed down the hallway and infiltrated collaborative meetings and conversations with parents and students. Two years ago you took it to "the next level" and truly "embraced the challenge" last school year. This year, we know what we are up against. Through uncertainty and anxiousness, we will do whatever it takes for our students, for one another, and for our community. Make no mistake about it; our culture will be tested. We will be stretched. We will be asked to do things that do not typically fall in our job description. And yes, we will fail. I would challenge you today to consider our themes. Will you rise to another level? Will you embrace the many challenges that lie ahead. Will you remember your purpose and passion, confront your fears and do whatever it takes to make this year successful? Mrs. Tollison and I are honored to work with and serve you as we embark upon this journey together. There is no place we would rather be.
This summer has been strange, but still productive...
Our last blog was sent on March 9th of last year. Since then, the world is a much different place. No matter the changes, one constant has remained. Our faculty and staff remain the best because they do whatever it takes. We were able to exchange items with parents as we concluded the school year. We even met under safe conditions to discuss planning for this year.
Our custodial staff worked for a long time stripping and waxing floors, every tile in the school, in preparation for our students and teachers. I cannot tell you how much planning and time goes into this process. When you see them, please make sure to thank them for the incredible job they did this summer. At one point, we were given 1.5 days to prepare the floors in the new addition and they got the job done. Whatever it takes indeed...
In the midst of a global pandemic, we were also trying to complete a building addition. Now, the furniture did arrive a day early and the fire alarm panel did explode during our inspection, but somehow, our teachers were able to get moved in. The new wing is beautiful, and I hope you will take a moment to take a walk around to enjoy this welcome addition to our school. Doing whatever it takes often times means taking it all in stride, one problem at a time, and simply making the best of it.
And when it is all said and done, flexibility remains the name of the game. Flexible people adapt. Adaptable people find success. Do whatever it takes because that's who we are as a faculty and staff. We are in this together!
Introduction of New Staff:
We work hard and we play hard. We have the second highest school report card score in the state of South Carolina. And, in fact, we are still getting better! We would like to welcome the following individuals to our PVES family. Please help me welcome them, support them and make them feel at home!
- Mrs. Katie Clouse - SPED/Resource
- Mrs. Hunter Walters - SPED/Resource
- Ms. Sarah Daniels - LD Self-Contained
- Mrs. Erica Peace - LD Self-Contained Assistant
- Mrs. Cameren Cothran - 5th Grade Teacher
- Mr. Joe Whitham - Physical Education Teacher
Virtual Learning Academy (VLA):
As you know, some of our students have opted to participate in the ASD1 Virtual Academy. I am so appreciative of our teachers who volunteered to serve in this very important role. They will still be working with PVES students, and I want them to remain as much of a part of our daily interactions and collaboration as possible. Thank to these ladies!
- Mrs. Layne Ezell - 3rd Grade VLA
- Ms. Elizabeth Ceballos - 4th Grade VLA
- Mrs. Nancy Hughes - 4th Grade VLA
- Mrs. Melissa Michael - 5th Grade VLA
LEAP Week:
I want to thank everyone who was able to be a part of LEAP week. Things went so well, and I am convinced these efforts to make a great first impression while building positive relationships will serve us throughout the school year. Remember, we want parents to get connected to SeeSaw and each teacher's virtual learning app. Don't forget to submit your payroll form to Patty by the end of the day on Friday, August 14th. Thanks to Mrs. Martin for keeping up with our attendance numbers for this week. And a special "thank you" to our non-homeroom folks who helped ensure things ran smoothly.
First Week Back:
As has been our practice for the last five years, we are providing a "first week back" calendar so you can determine when you have meetings that require your attendance and when you have time to meet collaboratively and work in your classrooms. Please review this information and let us know if you have any questions. Our first meeting will be held on Monday, August 17th at NewSpring Powdersville from 9:00-11:30 AM. Please arrive on time, with mask on, and be prepared to have your temperature checked upon arrival. It would be wonderful if you could bring your cell phone and/or iPad/laptop to this meeting. We will not be providing breakfast on this day due to safety protocol in place, but we will have a boxed Chic-Fil-A lunch ready for you (and a surprise) when you return to school after 11:30 AM.
School and Teacher Hours:
Doors will open at 7:20 AM each morning. The school day will end at 2:00 P.M. this year; giving buses a chance to run double routes as necessary. We will handle arrival and dismissal in the classroom (this will be discussed next week as well).
Official teacher hours this year are 7:30 AM - 3:15 PM. Please plan accordingly. Of course, certified teachers are required to attend to any duties/meetings that require their attendance outside of this time period. I hope you know Mrs. Tollison and I will work hard to keep these to a minimum. We will discuss duty schedules, etc. next week.
First Week for Students:
As you know, ASD1 adopted a staggered start model for the first week back for students. The dates are listed below. We are happy to be able to focus on one grade level at a time! On the day(s) in which you do not have students, we will be asking that you be available to support classrooms that do. We will also have our first collaborative team (PLC) meetings on these days as well. Stay tuned for more information.
- Tuesday, August 25th - 5th Grade
- Wednesday, August 26th - 4th Grade
- Thursday, August 27th - 3rd Grade
- Friday, August 28th - ALL
From Thomas McAuliff Re: SeeSaw:
It appears that the vast majority of the Seesaw sync has occurred! Please watch this video for how you should go about printing your classroom parent information and additional information. We need to get all of our families connected to SeeSaw as soon as possible.
A couple of other notes to make:
-SPED, Resource, ESOL, and Speech if you would like to be a CO-TEACHER in a class with students you are serving, please complete the form attached below.
-Launch, SPED, Speech, and ESOL if you would like a special section created for specific student that you serve (ie: 3rd Launch, 4th ESOL, etc.) please type up a document with the legal first and last names of those students and the name of the class you would like for them to drop in. Once you have that typed, share it with me and I will pass it along to TSS to have those classes created. Keep in mind this may take some time to be completed on the TSS end. If this applies to you, please complete the form below.
-Please know that it takes at a minimum of 24 hours to new students to enroll back into the Seesaw system and also a minimum of 24 hours for transfers/unenroll students to disappear from your Seesaw class. If you do not see those students in Powerschool yet, then they will not be in Seesaw yet!
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Thanks for all your work!
Helpful Information:
- Teacher HQ has been created to provide quick access to helpful links throughout the year. Bookmark this or pin this link!
- PVES Room Assignments
- Powdersville Progress Blog Link
- PVES Shared Teacher Folder
Moore's Musings:
Words cannot quite do justice to the thoughts and feelings we all experienced as we again welcomed people back into the building. I remember our final meeting together the day before we started the eLearning journey in March. I know there were many moments of helplessness and doubt. But please know I have never been more proud of our school during these moments. You all answered the call, time and time again. We were emotionally exhausted at the end. Tears flowed in every virtual awards ceremony I attended. And in the midst of complaints and negative comments directed toward eLearning in other areas, I fielded positive contact after positive contact. Your light pierced the darkness and created hope for our kids. Your hard working in developing relationships paid off in the end. And don't you forget it, the best is yet to come! #pvespride
Video of the Week: This is the Fight of Our Lives
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