Week of 5/25 - 5/29

Hey Panda Family,

Week 37 & Week 10 Online. We did it! 🙌 Whew, what an interesting end to the year. Only a few more tasks left for this school year, and then we want everyone to rest up so we can tackle whatever the start of next school year has in store. We got this! 

Staff Meeting: We will have a staff meeting this Friday, June 5 @ 2:00 via MS Teams. 

Phase 2/EOY Plan: Please refer to the following document linked below for our Phase 2/End-of-Year Plan. It has important dates and instructions. Phase 2/EOY Plan - Piney Grove Elementary

Yearbooks: In case you have any parents that may ask, our Yearbooks have been delayed because the production company has been working reduced hours with reduced staff. When they are delivered to us we will let all families know. 

Canvas Training: There will be “Get Started In Canvas” sessions offered everyday for the next 3 weeks at 8am, 10am, 12pm and 2pm.  These overview sessions will last 2 hours and will give teachers the information they need to get started with virtual training in Canvas and how to export/import their PSL classes into Canvas.  There is a signup for teachers in the link with a capacity of 200 in each session. Please make sure you attend at least one of these sessions. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PtADKcNTC-sMqFu89oaELP60dvNfsXXfgPqNKcL9TCw/edit?usp=sharing

PGE Senior Panda Walk: If you are interested in helping plan the Senior Walk for former PGE students who are graduating from high school, please join the MS Teams planning meeting on Monday @ 11:30. See email from Ashley Pollard. 

Staff Spotlight: Ms. Crews, Kolby Nelson and Zayden Atkins' grandmother, asked to tell the staff many thanks for the cards.  She and the boys feel grateful to be part of the Piney Grove family. The boys' grandfather (primary caregiver) has an aggressive form of cancer and we let all their current and former teachers know. Even if you didn't teach the boys but you would like to send them something, please let us know and we will share their address with you. 

Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Wise. Check it out! 

IF Updates

Daily Updates: Please make sure to review Ms. Grubbs' daily update emails. They have important information regarding end of year tasks, CEU credits, and instructional information. 

Heggerty materials: All K-2 teachers, please let me know where your Heggerty materials are.  Refer to the email Jayne sent for specific directions about how to pack them up. 

Upcoming Dates:

June 1 - 5th Grade Stuffing Party for Graduation Gifts @ 10:00

June 1 - Senior Walk Planning Meeting @ 11:30 via MS Teams

June 5 - Staff Meeting @ 2:00 via MS Teams

June 5 - Last day for students to turn in missing eLearning work
June 5 - Virtual Field Day & Virtual Awards Celebrations posted
June 5 - All Certified & Classified Evaluations must be completed by this date
June 8 - Report cards are due to Ms. True by 5:00

June 8-18 - Window for parents to return eLearning technology items & pick-up student personal items

June 9 - 5th Grade Students Pick-up Graduation Goodies and take pictures

June 11 - Scheduling Team Meeting @ 9:00
June 12 - Report cards are mailed home

June 12 - Instructional Assistants last day of Employment for this school year
June 15 - Last day to complete "Preparing to Launch" Canvas training

June 15 - Certified Teachers last day of Employment for this school year
June 30 - Last day to access your PowerSchool Learning page
July 20-23 - Tentative dates for Math and Reading Textbook training
August 14 - Last day to complete "K12 First Day Ready" Canvas training
August 17 - First day of school for 2020-2021

In honor of Virtual Field Day that is approaching - watch below! This video is not Ms. Fox approved 🤣

https://youtu.be/Fpz1xBVbXeE

Week of 5/18 - 5/22

Hey Panda Family,

Week 36 & Week 9 Online. We are almost at the finish line! 🏁 Y'all have been rockstars navigating this pandemic while providing support for your students. We are so proud of your hard work and we are excited to think about the future where we will be back in the building with our students next year (whatever that looks like 😊)! 

Canvas Training: There will be “Get Started In Canvas” sessions offered everyday for the next 3 weeks at 8am, 10am, 12pm and 2pm.  These overview sessions will last 2 hours and will give teachers the information they need to get started with virtual training in Canvas and how to export/import their PSL classes into Canvas.  There is a signup for teachers in the link with a capacity of 200 in each session. Please make sure you attend at least one of these sessions. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PtADKcNTC-sMqFu89oaELP60dvNfsXXfgPqNKcL9TCw/edit?usp=sharing

Final Evaluation & PDP Sign off (Certified Staff): Please make sure you sign up for a time slot on the Google form linked below to review your final PDP and sign off on your final evaluation performance. 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11acoAPk_mQIeTYj8l5DjuYcGxw2MH6W5k6dPV9w2GWQ/edit?usp=sharing

Updates from District Office:

• The transfer window is now open for certified teachers. You are only able to transfer if you marked it on your Teacher Intent form. The transfer window is open until June 30. 

• The Summer School/Jump Start 2020 applications are now available.  Please use this link to visit the web page for details regarding the employment opportunity, and this link to apply.

• Schools may begin working on end of year plans now that we have entered Phase 2. More information to come.

STC Inventory (from Ms. Adams): Grade Chairs, we need your assistance in inventorying the WS/FCS Science Department supported materials. This helps the Science Department order and ship the materials that will be needed for the next school year.   

The inventorying process will look very different this year since many classrooms still have materials that were not able to be returned to the Science Lab, and the physical inventory of kits had not started.

Please do the best of your ability to identify how many kits your grade level has and what they used during the year. You may want to meet digitally to discuss.

Grade level inventory sheets will be shared with you to use, fill in, and then send back to Bonnie Adams. Once she has received all of the information from grade chairs, a school inventory will be sent to the Science Department so they can hopefully fill and ship orders to the school by the end of July.

Please complete and return grade level inventories to Bonnie by Friday, June 5th, 2020.

PGE Senior Panda Walk: If you are interested in helping plan the Senior Walk for former PGE students who are graduating from high school, please contact Ashley Pollard. 

Priority Standards: The district wants all grade levels to focus solely on "Priority Standards" for 4th Quarter eLearning. These standards have been selected by the district as the most important standards for instruction as we prepare students for their next grade. Here is a list of the "Priority Standards" for each grade level in this document.

Morning Announcement Links:
Monday (5/25): None/Holiday
Tuesday (5/26): https://youtu.be/bB7tiMpoefY
Wednesday (5/27): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmkh9Ygg8AU
Thursday (5/28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pjc1j7AEt8
Friday (5/22): None/eLearning is over
Summer Birthdays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLrSax_k8u0

Daily Assignments: As discussed, please make sure your PSL page Elearning assignments are broken down into daily requirements (Monday do..., Tuesday do..., etc.). 

FLEX Fridays: Reminder, there will be “FLEX” Friday each week. During the remainder of this school closure, students will only be assigned academic work Mondays-Thursdays, allowing Fridays to be used as a flexible day to engage in fun, leisure, building/strengthening social-emotional connections, and catching up on previously assigned work and/or connecting with teachers for additional support. See the eLearning Instructional Guidance document for FLEX Friday resource to attach to your PSL page.

Staff Spotlight: This week's shout-out goes to Ms. Rinfrette and Ms. Fox. Ms. Rinfrette had a terrible leak in her classroom ceiling from all the rain this past week. By the time we caught it the water had already destroyed a lot of her read aloud picture books. She handled the news so gracefully and we worked together (with Jose, Leslie, and Pam's help) to salvage the ones that had little damage. I was extremely proud of how she handled this situation. As we worked to get creative to help Ms. Rinfrette replace her damaged books, Ms. Fox graciously donated the remaining money in her PTA allotment so Kendall can buy some new books for her class to replace the ones she lost. This was a true act of kindness and how family helps each other out. I was extremely proud of Ms. Fox in this moment as well. Thank you to you both!  

Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Pereda. Check it out! 

IF Updates

Heggerty materials: All K-2 teachers, please let me know where your Heggerty materials are.  Refer to the email Jayne sent for specific directions about how to pack them up. 

Upcoming Dates:

May 25 - Memorial Day (no eLearning)
May 28 - Last day to assign eLearning assignments
May 29 - Virtual Awards Day Videos due to Ms. Epperley
June 5 - Last day for students to turn in missing eLearning work
June 5 - Virtual Field Day
June 5 - All Certified & Classified Evaluations must be completed by this date
June 8 - Report cards are due to Ms. True
June 12 - Report cards are mailed home
June 15 - Last day to complete "Preparing to Launch" Canvas training
June 30 - Last day to access your PowerSchool Learning page
July 20-23 - Tentative dates for Math and Reading Textbook training
August 14 - Last day to complete "K12 First Day Ready" Canvas training
August 17 - First day of school for 2020-2021

Here is a little funny for your day! 

Week of 5/11 - 5/15

Hey Panda Family,

Week 35 & Week 8 Online. Thank you so much for all your hard work this week to get your classrooms ready for summer cleaning so we can stay on schedule for our construction project, and be ready to enter the building for next school year! You rock!

Staff Meeting: We will have a staff meeting this Friday, May 22 @ 2:00 via MS Teams. 

Working in Classroom: If any staff member still needs to finish working in their classroom, please make sure you reach out to myself or Ms. Gardner before coming to the building. We will need you to complete the health screening before entering the building. 

Student Placement Cards (K-4 teachers): See the email from Ms. Grubbs regarding the directions for completing the new student placement cards. Please have your cards completed by Friday, May 22. If you did not pick up your cards this past week they are located in the front office. You do not need to turn them in at this time, but as we transition into Phase 2 we would like to have them ready to work on class placements for next year. We are hoping that work can begin the last week of May. 

Virtual Book Fair: Here is the link to our Virtual Book Fair. Please share it on your PSL pages. https://www.scholastic.com/bf/pineygroveelementaryschool2

Updates from District Office:

On Monday, May 18th, Debbie Harman and her team will lead PowerSchool Grading Sessions for your teachers.  Entering and completing both Q4 and final grades will be explained.  Our target audience for these sessions are teachers and Instructional Facilitators.  We want to make sure that these groups can access the live sessions and ask questions.  The sessions will be recorded and added to our Shared Communication folder for teachers to review as needed.  They will also be shared with principals, assistant principals and counselors.

Elementary School (May 18)

9:00- 9:30 am-  Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
Learn more about Teams | Meeting options

2:00- 2:30 pm- Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
Learn more about Teams | Meeting options

Priority Standards: The district wants all grade levels to focus solely on "Priority Standards" for 4th Quarter eLearning. These standards have been selected by the district as the most important standards for instruction as we prepare students for their next grade. Here is a list of the "Priority Standards" for each grade level in this document.

Morning Announcement Links:
Monday (5/18): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JR9rNrDLjc&t=14s
Tuesday (5/19): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EieO8prOBhk
Wednesday (5/20): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM4p60zOYJY
Thursday (5/21): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLIcrPWEKTk
Friday (5/22): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkHubpYTaQw

Field Trips 2020-2021: As we look ahead to next school year, start talking to your team about field trips. Reach out to organizations to get dates and then let Ms. Gardner know so she can request buses.  Remember, October is a popular month and dates get blocked quickly. Reach out to Ms. Gardner if you have questions. 

Daily Assignments: As discussed, please make sure your PSL page Elearning assignments are broken down into daily requirements (Monday do..., Tuesday do..., etc.). 

FLEX Fridays: Reminder, there will be “FLEX” Friday each week. During the remainder of this school closure, students will only be assigned academic work Mondays-Thursdays, allowing Fridays to be used as a flexible day to engage in fun, leisure, building/strengthening social-emotional connections, and catching up on previously assigned work and/or connecting with teachers for additional support. See the eLearning Instructional Guidance document for FLEX Friday resource to attach to your PSL page.

Staff Spotlight: Thank you to Ms. True, Ms. Owens, and Ms. Adams for taking on the role of our sign fairies this past week! We hope you liked your yard decoration :)

Thank you so much to Ms. Mason for painting two beautiful murals in our front lobby! I can't wait for everyone to see them in person! 

Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Owens. Check it out! 

IF Updates

PLT Schedule: Here is the PLT Schedule for this week. Please use the MS Teams invitation to access the meeting. 

Monday 12:00 3rd 

Monday 2:00 1st 

Tuesday 12:00 2nd 

Wednesday 11:00 K 

Wednesday 2:00 4th

Thursday 10:00 5th 

Important Updates: Make sure you read Jayne's email from Thursday for lots of important updates and documents for you to review.  You will have a chance to ask questions about this information during your PLT, so make sure you look over it before hand.  Also, agendas are posted to your grade level's PSL PLT page if you want to check them out.  

Heggerty materials: All K-2 teachers, please let me know where your Heggerty materials are.  Refer to the email Jayne sent for specific directions about how to pack them up. 

Upcoming Dates:

May 18 - May 22 - PLTs this week for each grade level (see schedule)
May 18 - PowerSchool Grading Webinar (9:00 & 2:00) - only need to attend one session
May 22 - Staff Meeting @ 2:00 via MS Teams
May 22 - Student Placement Cards completed
May 25 - Memorial Day (no eLearning)
May 28 - Last day to assign eLearning assignments
May 29 - Virtual Awards Day Videos due to Ms. Epperley
June 5 - Virtual Field Day
July 20-23 - Tentative dates for Math and Reading Textbook training
August 17 - First day of school for 2020-2021

Here is your funny for the week! Enjoy 🤣

Week of 5/4 - 5/8

Hey Panda Family,

Week 34 & Week 7 Online. We hope everyone had a wonderful week and felt very appreciated! We even have a few more surprises for you this week 😊  

  

Entering Building Procedures/Protocols: Please make sure you read the email that was sent yesterday titled "Entering Building Procedures/Protocols". This is necessary before you come to school this week to work in your room. 

Updates from District Office:

• Grading FAQ
  Below is the link to the FAQs generated from the May 4 grading sessions. Hopefully, this provides a little more clarity as we navigate through Q4 and final grading. Our May 18 sessions will focus on entering and finalizing grades in PowerSchool.

  
  

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ezmK_c6Os7Gfs9SBfvh_GpaP93Z6LeFn/view?usp=sharing

  
  

  Jump Start Summer Program

  As we work on our virtual summer school plan for approximate 8,500 students, we will need to solicit support from our teachers.

  
  

  Our summer program will focus on reading and math for grades 1-8, with Credit Recovery offerings for high school.  Please forward this one-question survey to your teachers to see who would be interested in working this summer. 

  
  

  Staff Survey-  Follow up with Cheryl Wright (cwright@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), if you have questions.

Priority Standards: The district wants all grade levels to focus solely on "Priority Standards" for 4th Quarter eLearning. These standards have been selected by the district as the most important standards for instruction as we prepare students for their next grade. Here is a list of the "Priority Standards" for each grade level in this document.

Morning Announcement Links:
Monday (5/11): https://youtu.be/39b8OmBJik4
Tuesday (5/12): https://youtu.be/0Y7nzDudLwE
Wednesday (5/13): https://youtu.be/7nk1fQc1OQ8
Thursday (5/14): https://youtu.be/fsYek6zytok
Friday (5/15): https://youtu.be/E59ishk3kQw

Field Trips 2020-2021: As we look ahead to next school year, start talking to your team about field trips. Reach out to organizations to get dates and then let Ms. Gardner know so she can request buses.  Remember, October is a popular month and dates get blocked quickly. Reach out to Ms. Gardner if you have questions. 

Daily Assignments: As discussed, please make sure your PSL page Elearning assignments are broken down into daily requirements (Monday do..., Tuesday do..., etc.). 

FLEX Fridays: Reminder, there will be “FLEX” Friday each week. During the remainder of this school closure, students will only be assigned academic work Mondays-Thursdays, allowing Fridays to be used as a flexible day to engage in fun, leisure, building/strengthening social-emotional connections, and catching up on previously assigned work and/or connecting with teachers for additional support. See the eLearning Instructional Guidance document for FLEX Friday resource to attach to your PSL page.

Staff Spotlight: Ms. Mason is painting a mural for the front entry of the school! We are so excited to see the finished product and we know it will be a beautiful masterpiece. Thank you, Carol!
Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Ashburn. Check it out! 

IF Updates

PLT: We will have PLTs the week of May 18. Stay tuned for further details! 

SIT Tasks: Please make sure your grade level continues to work on your SIT tasks (Math Fact Fluency levels, Grade Levels at a Glance, Vertical Alignment Slides, etc.). We will be discussing these in our upcoming PLTs. 

Upcoming Dates:

May 11-15 - Staff follow schedule for preparing rooms for Summer Cleaning
May 28 - Last day to assign eLearning assignments

Be a Mr. Jensen. Check out this awesome story from Clint Pulver - founder of the UVU Drumline known as the Green Man Group, which he directed for six years and then went on to direct the Drumline for the NBA’s Utah Jazz until 2015.