Welcome Back

I am thrilled to officially welcome you all to the 2016-2017 school year. I trust that everyone enjoyed a relaxing summer in which you took time to be with those you love. My wife and I enjoyed vacation complete with a ceremony renewing our marriage vows for our tenth wedding anniversary! No matter what you did or where you traveled, I certainly hope you are rested, rejuvenated, and recharged for the new year. This blog replaces the "welcome back" letter that has been traditionally sent to employees each summer. Also, we will begin to house important documents in our 2016-2017 PVES folder that Mrs. Tollison has shared with everyone. Enjoy the blog and please read carefully!

New Additions:

Let's start off by recognizing some wonderful additions to our PVES family! Make sure you take the time to introduce yourself to these wonderful people and make them feel at home. More importantly, help them with questions and concerns they may have. I have every confidence that hiring these individuals has made our team and our school better.

1.) Mr. Josh White - 4th grade math/science/social studies and is teamed with Ms. Ginny Jordan.

2.) Mrs. Bethany Crosby - 3rd grade teacher.

3.) Mrs. Jennifer Woody - 3rd grade teacher.

4.) Mrs. Amy Keel - Resource teacher.

5.) Mrs. Mary O'Shields - TMD assistant.

Orientation Nights:

4th and 5th grade orientation night is scheduled for Monday, August 8th from 6-8 PM. This is a "drop-in" style event. We will wait until just a few minutes before 6 to open doors. Those of you who have done this before know we will have a massive crowd. I would suggest you be in this building an hour before we open doors. We will make an announcement at 8:00 P.M. when it is time to conclude the event.

3rd grade orientation night is scheduled for Tuesday, August 9th beginning at 6 PM with a general meeting in our multi-purpose room. We will open doors around 5:40 P.M. to get everyone in the gym on time. 3rd grade teachers will be introduced and then allowed to slip out so they can get to their rooms to make final preparations. I will again suggest that you arrive an hour before we open doors. Again, we will make an announcement at 8:00 P.M. when the event has concluded.

For our non-homeroom teachers, please refer to this document to know where you will be serving during orientation events. If you are taking up money, you will want to arrive an hour early so Patty can discuss with you how fees will be taken and entered in PowerSchool.

Remember that this is our only attempt at making a great first impression. Be ready to establish positive relationships with our school community! Let's show our Powdersville PRIDE.

First Days of School:

I know we are all preparing for those first days of school. Many of you have been here to work in your rooms. Some of you have served our students through summer school and summer tutoring. Our hallways are being stripped and waxed as I type this blog. It will be a busy few days when you return  to work on August 10th. Please refer to this "Opening of School Calendar" for more details. This calendar will assist you and your team as you plan meetings and opportunities to work in your rooms. 

As many of you know, our "theme" for this year is college and career ready. For this reason, we are excited to announce that our first faculty meeting of the year is scheduled for Wednesday, August 10th at 8:30 A.M. on the campus of Furman University. We have secured the Garden Room at the rear of the Daniel Chapel. Parking will be available on the South side (football stadium side) of the chapel nearby.  Entry should be through the back gate (Duncan Chapel Rd) or the Timmons Arena gate. Please refer to/print the map of Furman's campus for more details. They requested that we carpool as much as possible so please consider doing so. Lunch will be provided for you on this day. After you return to Furman, from 11:30 AM-12:30 PM, lunch will be served in the PD Room (102) and tables/chairs will be set up for you to enjoy lunch there as well. 

This year, our opening meeting will focus more on our vision for the upcoming school year and beyond as well as building relationships with our teams. Much of the information concerning first of school procedures, forms, etc. will be provided to you in a flipped faculty meeting video that will be emailed to you on Thursday, August 4th. It is imperative that you take the time to watch this flipped faculty meeting prior to your orientation night. 

Now, let's update on you some great things happening at PVES over the summer...

Thanks to Mrs. Hughes, the front entrance of our school received a face-lift before students left for the summer. Students had a great time serving our school while learning some science. Thanks, Mrs. Hughes!

Ms. Lockaby, Mrs. Kallin, Ms. Wilkie, Mrs. Tollison and Mr. Moore presented at the Upstate Technology Conference at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville. I can tell you that we are way ahead in terms of technology integration compared to many schools. 

One of the reasons we continue to improve is because we have a tremendous faculty that puts in a great deal of work "after hours". Mrs. Tollison and I were so impressed to see teachers planning hard over the summer. This will pay huge dividends for our students this school year!

Our custodial staff works hard each summer waxing floors. I am intentionally not showing you the finished product because I want you to be amazed when you walk in your rooms in a few days!

Mrs. Tollison and I worked hard getting referrals and bus referrals entered in PowerSchool. Summer provides a great opportunity for us to check these sorts of things off of our "to do" list. 

Thank you to the many of you emailed colleges and universities requesting pennants. We have received many of them and those will make our building look fun and welcoming as we engage our students in discussions about college readiness! 

 Thanks to Mrs. Melton, Mrs. Wayne, and Mrs. Garrett for cleaning out our storage closet at the end of the 5th grade hallway. After purchasing some much-needed shelving, this will serve as a science/math materials storage area.

Mrs. Clary has worked hard this summer preparing for the unveiling of our new STEM lab. She even enlisted the help of her father to build our Lego wall. We also sent a team to Tri-County Technical College to take part in STEM training over the summer. It is also very appropriate to recognize Patty Ellison here. She worked many more days than expected to purchase items for the STEM lab. Her leadership in terms of the financial side of things has been tremendous. 

Thanks to Mrs. Thomas for once again ordering our school t-shirts. I think you will enjoy this year's shirt as it focuses on our connection with Powdersville and path beyond elementary school. Here is Mr. White modeling the shirt for us.

Moore's Musings:

• We have worked hard to prepare textbooks, materials, and iPads for your arrival. Our hope/plan is to have all these items in your classrooms by the time you start on August 10th.
• Speaking of iPads, we will plan to keep student iPads here at school for a couple of weeks so students can work on digital citizenship lessons, organize apps, etc. We will not have a paper student agenda this year as we will continue to use the My Homework app school-wide.
• Get ready for SeeSaw. We will use SeeSaw, the online learning journal/app this year in all grades. 

Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

• School Decorating Day on Tuesday, August 2nd from 10 AM-12 PM. We will have several projects that need to be completed to make our school look great for our parents and students!
• 4th/5th grade orientation night - Monday, August 8th from 6-8 PM.
• 3rd grade orientation night - Tuesday, August 9th beginning at 6 PM. 
• First Day for Teachers - Wednesday, August 10th at 8:30 at Furman University 
• District Opening Meeting - Friday, August 12th at 8:15 P.M. at Palmetto High School (wear your PVES school shirt). 
• Dyslexia training for teachers - Friday, August 12th at 1:00 P.M. in the PD Room (102). 
• 3rd grade textbook training - Monday, August 15th at 10:30 AM in the PD Room (102).
• First day for students - Tuesday, August 16th.  
• Math PD Half Days on Thursday, August 25th. 

Video of the Week:

Chaos

We have reached that point and time in the school year where chaos reigns supreme. Our calendar is heavy is not burdensome. Our bodies ache; finally feeling the weight and pressure we have carried on our backs since August. And our minds yearn for peace amidst the constant storms we encounter when "over-tested" students and overworked educators search in earnest for the silver lining in every cloud. Now is the time where we must work together; not against one another. Now is the time we must dig deep to connect with the most difficult students in an effort to make those final, but crucial connections before the summer. PVES teachers find opportunity among the chaos. They know the task at hand. They are well aware of the many expectations placed upon them. And, together, we will make it work. We will persevere. And we will ultimately do what is right and make a difference. That's what we do. 

There is no way I can cover everything that has occurred in the past few weeks. However, let's take a look at a few highlights!

Thanks to Ms. Lockaby for sharing this on Twitter. Words cannot begin to describe the sense of pride I feel when I think back on how our teachers and students handled a very stressful testing environment. We were flexible, we were patient, and we were focused. There is no doubt our students were prepared to do their best. We will take our scores and work together to develop a plan to continuously improve. I am excited about that opportunity. 

Thanks to the office staff for the delicious desserts that were provided to teachers a couple of weeks ago. We hope you enjoyed a few moments of well-deserved peace and quiet. We have been intentional about providing opportunities such as these this year. We want you to know your hard work and dedication is appreciated! 

The case of the Iraqi money was an interesting one this week. Several teachers reported seeing currency strewn about near the blacktop of our school. Sure enough, we collected around 22,000 dinars (Iraqi currency). We worked with Mark Booth to establish that there was no threat to our school. It's not every day that you find money from Iraq with Saddam Hussein's picture on each bill. I guess it's been that kind of week. 

Ms. Marino's class celebrated Cinco de Mayo in style last week. Mr. Moore was invited, but could not make it so class representative Noah came to him and brought his sombrero with him. Ms. Marino and her faithful aids have done such an excellent job this year. They love on those kids even when it may be difficult to do so. Thanks for letting me be a part of your class this year! 

Thanks to Mrs. Fowler for hosting the Book Fair this late in the year. Our students always enjoy the Book Fair. Mrs. Fowler had help from several parent volunteers this year. A huge "thank you" to Mrs. Young who stayed past 5:00 P.M. to help take the Book Fair down in preparation for pick-up. 

How could you not take notice of the covered wagons making their way into the building the past few weeks? 4th grade students created covered wagons as part of their Westward Expansion unit. This is such a great way to make learning come to life. Great job, 4th grade team! 

Mrs. Garrett's class has for many weeks taken it upon themselves to clean up in the cafeteria after all classes have left. Their hard work and dedication to keeping the cafeteria clean and taking pride in their school was rewarded by the cafeteria staff with ice cream sundaes. Having spoken to many of you, it is evident our school needs to refocus our efforts on hallway and lunchroom behavior. We we tackle this next year!  

I heard a great deal of positive feedback about our final instructional technology meeting of the year. The #breakoutedu craze has reached PVES. I am proud to say my team didn't have the worst time, but we could not hold a candle to a certain team (see above). This is a wonderful idea for previewing and reviewing content. I was impressed to see our students participating in breakoutedu sessions the last few days! 

And boy were those students engaged. Our students are competitive and were learning to work together and under pressure to reach a goal. Sounds like learning to me! 

The Glitterators dominated the PVES "Battle of the Books" competition. They will move on the represent our school in the district competition on Thursday, May 26th. We expect them to bring the trophy back home where it belongs. It was amazing to watch the teams go back and forth. The event lasted over 2 hours and only a handful of questions were actually missed. We certainly have reason to be proud of all the students who participated. 

I had the pleasure of attending the final induction class of the year with these ladies. I am so impressed with this group. I shared with them in an email that I have high expectations for them going forward. I mean every word of this and look forward to observing how they will make us better. Way to go, ladies! #pvespride 

Bee Day:

On Monday, May 16th we will be joined by community members, district office staff, and news media as our third graders will be presenting discoveries from their PBL as part of "Bee Day". We are so proud of our students and just as proud of the third grade team for stepping out of their comfort zone to make learning "real world" through a PBL unit of study. Our goal for next year is that each grade level will complete at least one PBL. Please follow the schedule below on Monday and make sure your students bring a pencil!

8:30-8:50

Moore to Kallin

Fulbright to Jennings

Thompson to Ashmore

Barnhill to Wilcox

Wilkie to Lockaby

Hughes to Powell

Jordan to Putnam

Tate to Carey

9:50-10:10

Golden to Kallin

Odom to Jennings

Gibson to Ashmore

Wayne to Wilcox

Thomas to Lockaby

Melton to Powell

½ Garrett to Putnam

½ Garrett to Carey

iPad Collection:

Don't forget that iPad Collection Day will be held on Wednesday, May 18th for 5th grade and Thursday, May 19th for 3rd and 4th grades. We will send out a schedule early next week. You will bring your classes to Room 102 on this day to turn in iPads. Remember that iPads should remain at school beginning on Monday, May 16th next week. Go ahead and make sure you send notification home of any charges for lost or damaged items. Also, don't forget to help students complete the Google Form so we can remember passwords next year! Finally, please take note of the presentations that you will need to walk through with your class prior to collection. See below:

• iPad Back-Up Instructions
• Collection Day Instructions

Field Day, Etc.:

Field Day is scheduled for Friday, May 20th. Don't forget that Coach Thompson needs plenty of parent volunteers to make Field Day a success. Get the word out to parents. Coach shared the Field Day Bingo information with us this week. make sure you work on getting groups together who can work successfully as a team during the events. The schedule is listed below. 

• 3rd grade will go out from 8:30-10:45
• 4th grade will go out from 8:45-11
• 5th grade will go out from 9-11:15

Also on May 20th, teachers are invited to a luncheon provided by our PTSO from 11:30-12:30. Parent volunteers will be in your classrooms to cover for you. We will release a schedule next week for lunch. Remember, your class will simply go through the lunch line and take trays back to the classroom to eat lunch there. We will broadcast a movie for all to watch as well. Classes should NOT go outside as we want our students well supervised during this event.

Yearbooks will be placed in your box on Thursday, May 19th in preparation for Yearbook Day to be held after the teacher luncheon on the 20th. Around 40 extra copies of the yearbook are on sale for $15 so get the word out to parents soon! Thanks to Mrs. Nix once again for creating, what I believe to be, the best yearbook in PVES history.

Moore's Musings:

• On Monday, May 16th Concrete 2nd graders will be visiting our school from 8:30-10:00 A.M.
• Our faculty meeting on Tuesday (5/17) next week will focus heavily on end of year information including, but not limited to, Awards Days, end-of-year checklists, supply lists, etc.
• Some of our 5th grade Chorus students are singing the National Anthem at the Greenville Drive game on Monday, May 16th. I know Mrs. Turner is proud!
• Thanks to the office staff for holding down the fort during testing. Those ladies do not get the credit they are due.

Mark Your Calendar (MYC): 

Please view our shared calendar. If you do not check this daily, chances are you are going to miss something important. Thank you! 

Video of the Week:

Whatever It Takes

I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for the way you welcomed me back from maternity leave. You all have been so kind and thoughtful. My first day back as many of you can imagine was filled with mixed emotions as I left my sweet baby. Some folks have asked if I am glad to be back. My response is yes! Working with such a wonderful group of people who love and care for one another is such a blessing. It was so special to see students' smiling faces as they greeted me with "Mrs. Tollison, you're back!" All of this makes my job so great and it is why I love coming to work every day. Yes, it is difficult to leave my precious baby girl and I do not put her down once I get home. However, I am blessed to work with such a special group of people. So thank you for being you! 

The theme this week is whatever it takes. Mr. Moore and I would like to thank you for stepping up and going above and beyond. This time of testing can be full of stress and anxiety for both teachers and students. There is also a great need for flexibility. You all have handled all of this very well. No matter how much preparation or planning we do as an office staff things still come up and adjustments must be made. You have embraced those adjustments and made this week a success by doing whatever it takes. Below are some people we wanted to recognize.  

Doing Whatever It Takes During Duty

Friday's car duty included a lightening strike and torrential down pour. All of our folks outside were soaked from head to toe. This included Mrs. Putnam who was willing to cover for Mrs. Martin, Ms. Rita, Mr. Moore, and Mrs. Clary. Thank you all for doing whatever it takes including withstanding the terrible weather to ensure that our students remained safe during dismissal. (Note: Mrs. Clary was calling numbers and was completely soaked due to a hole in her umbrella. She is not pictured below but definitely left Friday afternoon drenched.)   

Mrs. Putnam doing chain duty for Mrs. Martin

Mr. Moore walks a student to the car

Mrs. Rita bundled in her raincoat and doing chain duty 

As most of you know that Coach Thompson's mother has been in the hospital. Many of you have asked about her and sent messages of encouragement to him. On Tuesday he needed someone to cover his morning duty at the crosswalk and Mrs. Fulbright answered the call. She was willing to cover his duty, but Mrs. Clary decided to help Mrs. Fulbright. Mrs. Clary realized that Mrs. Fulbright needed to prepare for homeroom on a testing day and volunteered to do duty instead. 

It is this kind of care and concern for one another that makes PVES such a special place to work. We all care about one another and are willing to do whatever it takes to help our colleagues. 

Mrs. Clary smiles and greets our students at the crosswalk

PVES Students' Perfect Performance

Annie was a hit for sure! The students did an excellent job and we had a packed crowd for the performance. Thank you to so many of our teachers for coming out to support Mrs. Turner and our talented students. A special thank you to Mrs. Turner for all her hard work and planning to make this night such a huge success. We also wanted to thank Mrs. Golden and her student teacher for stepping up to assist Mrs. Turner as well. Below are a few pictures from the evening. 

Early Act First Knight
Ms. Lee sent out an email about EAFK for the fourth nine weeks. The words for this nine weeks include friendliness and service. Due to testing Ms. Lee will work on recording a lesson for you to share with your students. Please continue to go over these words with your students. Our final EAFK ceremony will be held on May 17th.

Testing Update
Thank you to everyone for doing such a great job during testing. Things have been very smooth with check in and check out. We had to adjust lunch times and you all handled it beautifully. We will be wrapping up our final SC Ready testing session with Math for third and fourth grade on Thursday. Fifth grade will finish SC Ready ELA Session 2 on Friday. They will finish with math next week. Thank you for continuing to closely monitor and supervise your students in the hallways for the remainder of this week and the next. Remember that PASS Testing will be two days (May 11th-12th) for fourth and fifth graders. Look for a related arts schedule and more details in the upcoming blogs. 

Sweet Treats for a Great Week

As a way to celebrate our awesome teachers, we would like to offer you an opportunity to eat lunch in the PD Room on Friday and wear your blue jeans. You will adhere to your regular lunch time, but enjoy the peace and quiet away from the cafeteria. Someone will meet your class in the hallway near the computer lab and escort them to the cafeteria. We will then deliver your class to you from the cafeteria at the same location when your lunch is over. 

While you are responsible for providing your own lunch this day, the office is providing some sweet treats. We will have a variety of desserts ready for you in the PD Room to enjoy. Included in this assortment of goodies are a few treats from Brick Street Cafe. 

We have the best faculty and staff! We want you to know how proud we are of you and our school!

Tollison Tidings:

• Remember we have the Bookfair with us this week and next. Students will be able to visit when they go to related arts in the library instead of computer lab. 
• Jessica Preisig will be holding her Tech PD on May 3rd in the PD Room. Bring your iPad and come ready to have FUN! 
• We will have a faculty meeting on Tuesday, May 17th.

Mark Your Calendar:

There are too many events and activities to list. Please, please check our shared calendar for events. Ask Mr. Moore or Mrs. Tollison if you need clarification.

This time of year most of us make the endless "to-do lists." Instead of a video this week I am leaving you with this....

PVES Staff: You are awesome and doing great work! Thank you for doing whatever it takes.

Perspective

I am guilty as charged. Many of you have heard me count down the days until the end of the year. It's hard not to be excited about it. I don't blame you if you are counting down as well. Still, as I reflected on my ongoing countdown, I was challenged with a simple (but powerful) thought: What if we approached these last few weeks with a different perspective? What if we considered that these last few weeks are our last opportunities to make a difference in the lives of our special students? Maybe we wouldn't wish our lives away. Maybe we wouldn't be in a hurry to get things accomplished on our "to do" lists. Maybe, instead, we would slow down and focus on those remaining precious moments we have with our students. Our challenge is to do just that. Let's be patient with our students and with one another. Let's make a difference while others are simply making excuses. Perspective is a powerful tool in the hands of a caring and willing educator.

Next Wednesday, April 27th is Administrative Professional's Day. We are BLESSED with two wonderful administrative professionals in our front office. Patty Ellison has been at PVES since day one. Her ability to work through the financial/budget issues that arise each week has saved us on many an occasion. She handles report cards, a myriad of reports and many more tasks that are too numerous to list. Lisa Booth is the first face many of our visitors see when they walk through the front doors of PVES. She greets everyone with a smile and creates a favorable first impression of our school. They both answer hundreds of phone calls each week; some of a serious nature and some that are very entertaining. Simply put, these ladies make sure this school runs smoothly and can experience success. I am truly indebted to them for their hard work and dedication. We love you both!

Congratulations to our 5th grade olympians for their wonderful showing at the ASD1 Olympic Games held at Spearman Elementary School last week. Our students brought home 6 gold medals and 2 silver medals. I know Coach Thompson is proud of his kids. We certainly are too, Coach!

It's been awesome to see the creative and fun ways in which our students have been preparing for testing. 4th grade students were working hard to "Crack the Code" while 3rd and 5th grade students enjoyed some review time. Let's remember to find additional creative ways to keep our students engaged throughout the last nine weeks of school! Great job, everyone!

Testing Update:
I have been thoroughly impressed by our fifth grade teachers and students who began online testing this week. Testing has gone smoothly and it is obvious our students were well prepared. Thanks to Tammy Lee for fighting through a serious sinus infection to get testing materials organized and ready for all of you. Please look over your TAM and testing materials provided to you during training this week. Also, please make sure you have reviewed the related arts schedule as there has been some confusion/questions related to this schedule. Do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or concerns going forward. It is better to be safe than sorry. We will have peppermints for each classroom. Take advantage of our final few days to engage your students in well planned and engaging review.

IEP Meetings:
It's IEP season! A huge "thank you" to Ms. Marino, Mrs. Redmon, Mrs. Merritt and Mrs. Freeman for the MANY hours they spend developing IEPs and then holding meetings. Teachers, please remember that you are an important member of the IEP team. Listen carefully to classroom and testing accommodations for your student(s). Be an active and valuable member of the team to help develop the most impactful IEP possible for those students. Please make sure you are on time for these meetings. Thanks!

Supervision:
I have stressed supervision lately and for good reason. This is typically the time of year where schedules are different incidents can occur if we are not careful. Please make sure you stress the following of classroom and school rules with your students. Please make sure you can lay eyes on your students at all times. This includes hallway travel, recess time, and lunch. Be proactive in handling issues before they get out of hand. We simply cannot let our collective guard down this time of year.


Moore's Musings:

• Awards Day thoughts. It is my humble opinion that our Awards Day programs are in need of some change. Simply put, I would like to suggest that we focus on fewer awards during the ceremony in the MP Room. Then, after the ceremony we dismiss parents back to the rooms for a small, more intimate classroom ceremony before parents have the ability to sign their student out from the classroom. Perhaps we recognize all our A/B honor roll students in the classroom while recognizing the "All As, All Year" students in the actual ceremony. There are several other awards that we could give out in the classroom as well to help with this. Obviously, we would want grade levels to be consistent. Please feel free to share thoughts, ideas, and comments with me at your earliest convenience. 
• Take a glance at the calendar for May. Things get busy. Thank you in advance for your patience and willingness to be flexible. 
• Finally, 5th grade already has a field trip planned and on the calendar for next year. Thanks, ladies! 3rd and 4th grade teams, please have some ideas in mind for next year. We do not need to wait until the school year gets started before making some decisions about field trips. Please let me know if you want to discuss options! 

Mark Your Calendars (MYC):

• Annie Kids Performance - Thursday, April 21st at 6:30 P.M.
• Yellow student placement cards are due to the office by 4:00 P.M. on Friday, April 22nd. Please make sure you followed the directions provided. Thanks!
• You can wear blue jeans on Friday, April 22nd.
• Contracts are due signed to the office by Monday, April 25th.
• SC READY ELA Day 1 - Tuesday, April 26th
• Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday, April 27th.
• SC READY ELA Day 2 - Wednesday, April 27th.
• SC READY Math - Thursday, April 28th.
• Book Fair Begins - Friday, April 29th.
• 4th/5th grade PASS Training - Monday, May 2nd in PD Room. 
• Technology PD During Planning with Preisig - Tuesday, May 3rd in PD Room.

Video of the Week:

Pressure

It's that time of year. You can feel it. There are two months left of school. Those two months will be filled with a whirlwind of successes and failures. And pressure. Pressure to prepare our students for standardized testing. Pressure complete a lengthy list of end-of-year tasks. Pressure to make the most of these final 8 weeks with our students. 

Pressure is a funny thing. As we endure moments of pressure, the potential for greatness increases. A proverbial lump of coal can turn into a precious diamond. That is the expectation for educators this time of year. Our teachers are up to the challenge! Do not let the negativity creep in and ruin those moments. Fight the urge to let pressure whittle your emotions to the point where you feel defeated. Lean on one another and YOUR abilities and expertise to turn pressure into greatness. 

Two months will fly by for us. The countdown is on. For our students, we have arrived at a most crucial juncture. Make the most of this time for them. Enjoy what you get to do for a living. Use the pressure to your advantage and create diamonds that shine brighter than the sun. I can't wait to see what you can accomplish! 

On Friday, March 18th our wonderful fifth grade teachers and a group of hard-working parents put on a "glow dance" as a fundraiser for 5th grade. We had a huge crowd as you can see from the pictures above. If you have never attended a 5th grade dance, do yourself a favor and attend next year's adventure. I honestly enjoy it every year. It's great to see the interaction among our teachers and students. 

Also on Friday, Mach 18th we enjoyed our 3rd 9 Weeks EAFK ceremonies. It certainly is incredible to hear the beautifully-written tributes by our teachers. These are moments that our students being recognized will forever remember. It's a great opportunity to paint our school in a positive light as well. Thanks to Tammy Lee for visiting classrooms to discuss the virtues. Thanks to Lindsay Nix for creating our EAFK program. And thanks to Randy, Stacey,  Lindsay, Michelle, Kelle, Deb, and Tammy for helping us with set-up for the event! 

Kelle Martin and Mr. Moore worked with 5th grade students in the computer lab in an effort to familiarize them with online testing tools and procedures. It is incredible when you think about the possibility of testing 600 plus students online next school year. Thanks to Kelle for preparing our students to do their best!

Mrs. Leftwich organized a wonderful learning experience for her 5th grade Launch students. They visited Charleston and enjoyed wonderful weather and exceptional learning opportunities.

4th grade teachers ventured to Atlanta with their students. They visited the aquarium and loved every minute. Students enjoyed the dolphin show and many educational sessions. Field trips are wonderful opportunities for our students to venture out beyond the walls of our school and experience things they may never again have an opportunity to see or hear again.

How cool was I Heart Arts Day on March 25th? A huge "thank you" to Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Nix for working tirelessly to prepare for this event. Our students benefit from experiences such as these. Many students, while performing adequately in the academic arena, also excel in the arts. Teachers enjoyed being able to eat lunch outside. Also, we are so thankful for the many artists who visited our school and worked with our students. I can't wait to see what we have in store for next year's #IHeartArts Day!

Our honey bees have arrived! Thanks to Bee Well Honey & Natural Marketfor getting us started. As part of a problem based learning (PBL) unit of study, ‪#‎PVES‬ third graders have been discovering the impact of our declining honey bee population. This is real-world learning and our students have loved every minute. Great job third grade teachers and students! May 16th is "Bee Day' at PVES and we will have many visitors in our building to celebrate the hard work that has been accomplished. 

There is something special about the Special Olympics. For the first time, I was able to attend the event held this year at Southern Weslyan University.  It leaves quite the impression and holds a special place in your heart. I was proud of our teachers and our students for participating. The creed for the Special Olympics is one to commit to memory: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."

Yellow Cards:
On Monday, April 11th all home room teachers will receive yellow cards (formally known as green cards). Attached to the cards will be specific directions for completion of the class placement process to be completed as a grade-level collaborative effort for 3rd and 4th grade teachers. They will be due on Friday, April 22nd. We are starting this process early in hopes of being able to spend quality time making sure special education/resource needs are considered and that the best possible placements are made for classes and teachers for next year. Please let me know if you have any questions.

SC READY or Not:
Parent letters regarding testing will be placed in teacher boxes on Monday next week. These need to be sent home on Monday. SC READY is slated to begin for grade 5 on Tuesday, April 19th. For three weeks, we will have 5th grade classes in our two computer labs taking SC READY online. Obviously, grades 3 and 4 join in on the fun on April 26th-April 28th. SC READY training has been scheduled. Please refer to our shared calendar for the training you are required to attend. Ms. Lee will also email everyone with a reminder for training.  Speaking of Ms. Lee, she is working hard to make sense of all this and present valuable information to us. Keep in mind that due to changes in schedule and a new test, we will experience some changes in the way we schedule related arts/planning. I will address this in more detail when we meet for training, but I wanted to provide you with a sneak peek of our proposed schedules for testing. Please see below:

• Copy of 5th Grade Schedule for Online Testing
• Copy of 5th Grade Related Arts Schedule During Testing
• Copy of Related Arts Schedule for All During Testing

Moore's Musings:

It's IEP season. Please be patient and flexible as Mrs. Redmon, Mrs. Merritt, Mrs. Freeman schedule and hold IEP meetings. Their plates are full, to say the least, but they are working hard to make sure the needs of special education students are met and that we develop a good plan for all students. I am so appreciative for these ladies and the challenges that meet head on day in and day out. When you are a part of an IEP meeting, please come prepared with valuable information and observations to share with team. (Friday is a blue jean day - thanks for reading) Be an active participant so we can develop the most appropriate plan for students for next year. Speaking of resource, I have offered our open resource position to Mrs. Amy Keel. Amy has completed her student teaching and worked as a long-term sub at Hunt Meadows Elementary School. She goes before the board this month. She will visit our school in May and spend some time with Mrs. Freeman. 

Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

There are too many events and activities to list. Please, please check our shared calendar for events. Ask me if you need clarification. Take note of testing meetings/trainings. We are also excited about our Annie Kids production to be held on Thursday, April 21st.

"In The Know" Video:

Don't Crack Under Pressure: Motivational