Sunday, October 25, 2020

Week of 10/19 - 10/23

Hey Panda Family,


Week 10 and 1st Quarter is complete! It is amazing how fast it has flown by. The work has been hard and challenging at times, but it also has been very rewarding. You have risen to the occasion each and every day! We are so proud of each of you 😊🐼 Here are the updates for the week. 

Flex Fridays: Flex Fridays will remain in place and will operate as normal while we remain in Plan C. Flex Wednesdays will replace Flex Fridays when we move to in-person learning. 

Standards Based Report Card Guidance (from district): K-2 teachers, please see the attachment for guidance regarding the standards-based report card for first quarter. Please send home the parent letters in the document for any student that is missing assignments that have prevented you from fully grading a standard. The parent letter will go home with the report card. 

Remote Learning Guidance for First Quarter Standards-based Grading 


Jose: Please email Jose when you need something done.  Asking on the fly makes it difficult for him to remember. His email is: jrgomez@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

November 5 PD @ 3:30: Our afterschool PD training on November 5 will be for all staff. We will focus on Staff Self-Care for the first half, and then the teachers & IAs will break out in small groups for individualized Wonders training for the second half. Please make sure this date is marked on your calendar. 

Student Screening: Attached is the district presentation for student screening. We have asked select individuals to attend these trainings, but we wanted to share the presentation with everyone so you have it as a resource -  PowerPoint Student Screening Process 

Concurrent Classroom Technology: Please make sure to book a time with Mr. Younts so he can come by your room to ensure all your technology is set up correctly for your concurrent classroom (for remote students in Plan B). Remember, he is at Piney Grove on Tuesdays & Thursdays - Book a time with your “test student” Timothy.

Schedules: We are waiting to see what the school board decides at the meeting on Tuesday, October 27th in regards to reopening. Once we know our return dates, we will share a link to the schedules. 

Return to Work: 4th & 5th Grade Teachers are required to work from the building beginning November 2. Please make sure you fob in. 

PGE Health & Safety Cheat Sheet: It was asked if we would create a document that would highlight the important health and safety protocols for Plan B. We have created a two page "Health & Safety Cheat Sheet" for you to reference during Plan B for each part of the day. A hard copy of this cheat sheet will be placed in each staff member's box. Here is the link to the Google doc if you would like to have access to the electronic version https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H8p_0GlaX-5tZRfxsRD_fjBvQvf1b-Lf6KAwYig84ko/edit?usp=sharing

Benefit Open Enrollment (from Human Resources): Open Enrollment Announcement. Reminder & Important information to employees regarding annual enrollment for both State Health and local Dental and Flex Benefit Plan.
https://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=115758

Remote Learning Days on District Calendar: When RL days are designated on the calendar, teachers have the option of working from the classroom or at home (just like during remote learning now). November 3, 23, and 24 are the upcoming designated Remote Learning days. 

Reopening Q & A: We have created a Google doc for you to drop your questions. I have already started answering some of them. Here is the Google doc if you would like to add any questions or see the answers: Reopening Q & A

CARES Team Update (from Ms. Ceglowski):
  • We made a lot of deliveries this week!  Headphones seem to be helping many students in loud settings.
  • We reviewed students in IST to determine the best way to move forward for each individual.  If you have one of those students, I will be getting with you this week.
  • We discussed the particular challenges with our primarily Spanish-speaking students and families.  I am going to reach out to some local universities to see if there are any student tutors (bilingual ideally) who would be willing to mentor some of our students. Please let me know if you can think of anyone who might be interested.  Or, if you have any other outside of the box ideas, send them my way, I need someone less like me to help connect with these kids 😉  
  • I hope you are all taking care of yourselves!  This is tough on all of us!  You are doing an amazing job and our parents appreciate you!  Please do something kind for yourself this week!!  Love you, mean it!

Packet Materials: I encourage each of you to continue sending out tangible packet materials for your students as needed (novels, worksheets, manipulatives, etc.). Please coordinate the pickup with your families. Every parent that I have talked with mentions how helpful it is to have a combination of tangible and virtual assignments. If the office can support you with this please let us know. 

Morning Announcements: Here are the YouTube links for this week's Morning Announcements. Please include them on your Canvas page. 


Tuesday (10/27) - https://youtu.be/jmtKPNficI4

Wednesday (10/28) - https://youtu.be/Hn9hywT-xC0

Thursday (10/29) - https://youtu.be/T7D5QhIgWk4

Friday (10/30) - https://youtu.be/dIcXEYZ2D-A 


Staff Spotlight: Thank you to all the staff that has helped barcode the Wonders materials! There are so many of them, so every little bit helps! 

Thank you to Ms. Sue & Ms. Faith for their hard work assisting Mr. Jose in our building preparations for reopening. They have done a tremendous job in these temporary roles during Plan C! 

IF Updates

Social Studies rep needed!: If you are interested in being the point person with whom the SS department communicates, please let me know.   


Register for PD: Don’t forget to register for all 4 quarter PLTs and the after school sessions.  I will be giving credit for 1st quarter PLT by 10/30, so please register by this date to receive credit.  I want to make sure you get the credit you deserve, but we need to get it in by this deadline. Thanks! 😊


Upcoming Dates:
 
October 27 - SCC & Wellness Committees meet @ 3:30
October 28 - Report Cards due to Admin/Ms. True to review
October 30 - Register for 1st Quarter PLT PD to receive credit
October 30 - 1st & 3rd Grade Open House
November 2 - EC Separate setting & K-3 students return (TBD)
November 2 - 4-5 Teachers return to work in the building
November 3 - No In-Person School (Election Day) - Remote Learning Day
November 3 - 4th & 5th Grade Open House
November 3 - PBIS & MTAC Committees meet @ 3:30
November 4 - First Flex Wednesday (TBD)
November 5 - K-2 Students will be required to return Chromebooks (Option 1 students only)
November 5 - Instructional PD @ 3:30 (Teacher Self-Care & Wonders)
November 6 - Report Cards go home
November 10 - SIT @ 3:30
November 11 - No School (Veteran's Day)
November 16 - 4th & 5th Grade Students Return in Cohorts (TBD)

See the videos below with some fun virtual Fall & Halloween themed Morning Meeting ideas. Enjoy! 🎃🍂🍬






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Sunday, October 18, 2020

Week of 10/12 - 10/16

Hey Panda Family,

Week 9 was a small step towards returning to in-person learning! We had a successful open house for our PreK, Kindergarten, and 2nd Grade students. Everyone did an amazing job with the safety protocols. We can't wait to continue to open our doors to our students and families! Here are the updates from this week. 💚🐼🏫 


Arrangements for Mrs. Brookshire's Father: Mrs. Brookshire's family will greet friends at a small outdoor gathering at the Pine Knolls Pool Pavilion from 3-5 next Saturday, October 24th. Lots of you have reached out asking what you could do during this difficult time.  Due to Covid, please avoid homecooked meals.  Rather, consider sending a meal picked up from a restaurant, a gift card, a card expressing your sympathies, etc. would be perfect. For those of you wanting to send a card to Suzanne, her address is as follows:
1035 St. Andrews Rd.
Kernersville, NC 27284

Staff Meeting: We will have a Staff Meeting this Tuesday, October 20 @ 3:30. Please click on the button titled "Staff Meetings Info" on the PGE Canvas page to access the meeting. Here are the agenda items for the meeting: SECU Updates w/ Jeremiah Phillips, Flex Benefits Enrollment, 504B Plans, ESL & Crisis Response Updates, Ten Minute Tech w/ Timothy, Report Cards, Reopening Updates, Acrostic Poems. 

Return to Work: EC teachers, ESL, Specialists, K-3 Teachers and IAs return to work in the building beginning Monday, October 19. Please make sure you fob in. 

Staffing Updates: This upcoming Friday will be Ms. Heather Whicker's last day with us. We want to thank Ms. Whicker for everything she has contributed to our school and students during her time here! Ms. Liz Postle will be filling her position as the full-time Instructional Assistant with Ms. Sloan. We are excited to have her in a more permanent role. Ms. Owens will also be increasing her hours with us beginning November 2. We are thrilled to have her here more throughout each week. 

PGE Health & Safety Cheat Sheet: It was asked if we would create a document that would highlight the important health and safety protocols for Plan B. We have created a two page "Health & Safety Cheat Sheet" for you to reference during Plan B for each part of the day. A hard copy of this cheat sheet will be placed in each staff member's box. Here is the link to the Google doc if you would like to have access to the electronic version https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H8p_0GlaX-5tZRfxsRD_fjBvQvf1b-Lf6KAwYig84ko/edit?usp=sharing

Benefit Open Enrollment (from Human Resources): Open Enrollment Announcement. Reminder & Important information to employees regarding annual enrollment for both State Health and local Dental and Flex Benefit Plan.
https://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=115758

Timothy's Technology Corner: Tech Corner - October 12, 2020

Virtual Volunteers: Please consider recruiting some of your parents to be virtual volunteers. They could help in small groups or help with some of your Option 2 students. They would need still need to complete the volunteer approval form (Ms. Landreth can help with this). This was a great idea shared by Ms. Billock! 

Remote Learning Days on District Calendar: When RL days are designated on the calendar, teachers have the option of working from the classroom or at home (just like during remote learning now). November 3, 23, and 24 are the upcoming designated Remote Learning days. 

50 Days Zoom Link: Just an FYI, Zoom links are only active for 50 days. Please make sure to update your links on your Canvas page if you use the same live link everyday. Thanks for sharing this tip, Ms. Jones! 

PTA Reimbursements: If you have any reimbursements forms ready to go, please turn those in the white treasurer box in the office for Jamie Phillips. 

Reopening Q & A: We have created a Google doc for you to drop your questions. I have already started answering some of them. Here is the Google doc if you would like to add any questions or see the answers: Reopening Q & A

CARES Team Update (from Ms. Ceglowski): 
  • 6 visits were made this week and we delivered everything from headphones and school supplies to lectures about the importance of attending school!  
  • We also visited a virtual learning center at St. Paul's UMC and it was a great experience!  One of our students should start next week.  This visit along with other visits to daycare centers really reminds us that the care providers are working with several different students at different ages working on different subjects and navigating different pages.  If you get a chance to thank one of these folks this week, I know they will appreciate it!  
  • We have been working on the list of parents who have yet to complete the reopening attendance survey.  Our list gets shorter by the day. Thank you all so much for continuing to reach out to families to get that information!
  • I have had a number of conferences with the teacher/student/counselor on catching up and making a plan and those kinds of things.  I am also getting ready to do a few new 504s.  Different times sometimes require extra supports and I am more than willing to explore 504s where needed. Please know that I am available to help, just let me know!
  • I am now doing virtual check-ins with about 10 students and there is room for more.  If you have a student that could use a pep talk or just a little extra attention, please let me know! 
Packet Materials: I encourage each of you to continue sending out tangible packet materials for your students as needed (novels, worksheets, manipulatives, etc.). Please coordinate the pickup with your families. Every parent that I have talked with mentions how helpful it is to have a combination of tangible and virtual assignments. If the office can support you with this please let us know. 

Morning Announcements: Here are the YouTube links for this week's Morning Announcements. Please include them on your Canvas page. 


Tuesday (10/20) - https://youtu.be/nBy4RpgQFD0

Wednesday (10/21) - https://youtu.be/XNJXrlmlRY8

Thursday (10/22) - https://youtu.be/fOBjZ2Q7PbE

Friday (10/23) - No School (Teacher Workday)

Staff Spotlight: From Mr. Elkins & Ms. Gardner - Thank you so much for the staff card and gift for Boss's Day! It is easy to lead such an amazing group of people and educators. We appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity! 

From Ms. Ceglowski - To Erin Harman who is always texting and strategizing about her students even while receiving treatments.  She has a giant heart for her students. She’s a rockstar!  

From Ms. True - Shout out to Kinder and 2nd grade teachers for sending Open House visitors to the office to complete Parent Portal forms and turn in Health Assessments and Immunization records.
We got A LOT of paperwork completed in a short amount of time today!

From Ms. Corlett - Shout out to Bauer Medley for helping us with our Heat Energy Transfer, making smore's by way of Radiation! 

From Ms. Gardner - A big thank you to Mrs. Harman for making the stickers for the blue hand sanitizers.  

Shout out to Ms. Adams for making the Piney Grove Courtyards & Entrances look beautiful.  

Seeing all the Kindergarten and 2nd grade kids on Friday lifted our hearts and spirits. 
Our school felt whole again! 

IF Updates

Wonders materials: Mrs. Epperley and Mrs. Secrest are doing an amazing job of barcoding the Wonders materials so that we can distribute them to you.  I bet K-3 are wondering where you will put your new Wonders goodies!  In order to help you find space to put your new materials, I will come take your Imagine It and/or Scott Foresman materials.  If you want me to come take them, please let me know and I will be there to pick them up.  


Upcoming Dates:
 
October 19 - EC teachers, ESL, Specialists, K-3 Teachers and IAs return to work in the building
October 20 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
October 22 - End of 1st Quarter
October 23 - Teacher Workday
October 26 - PreK students return
October 27 - SCC & Wellness Committees meet @ 3:30
October 28 - Report Cards due to Admin/Ms. True to review
October 30 - 1st & 3rd Grade Open House
November 2 - EC Separate setting & K-3 students return
November 2 - 4-5 Teachers return to work in the building
November 3 - No In-Person School (Election Day) - Remote Learning Day
November 3 - 4th & 5th Grade Open House (more info to come)
November 3 - PBIS & MTAC Committees meet @ 3:30
November 4 - First Flex Wednesday
November 5 - K-2 Students will be required to return Chromebooks (Option 1 students only)
November 5 - Instructional PD @ 3:30 (topic TBD)
November 6 - Report Cards go home
November 10 - SIT @ 3:30

Let's work on hitting the reset button between home and school. Watch this teacher's video with some good ideas to help with the social and emotional well-being of your students and families :)




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Sunday, October 11, 2020

Week of 10/5 - 10

Hey Panda Family,

Week 8 was another success due to all your hard work! Keep up the wonderful "Can Do" attitude. We got this! 💪😊💚 Here are the updates from our week. 

Nurse Stacy: Please keep Nurse Stacy in your thoughts and prayers. She just recently found out that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is scheduled to have surgery soon. Please join me in supporting her through this difficult time. We love you, Nurse Stacy! 

Return to Work Dates: Please make sure to review the return to work dates that are listed in the calendar below. These are the dates that employees must return to work in the building according to Human Resources. 

Reopening Survey for Parents: At this time we have about 75-100 families who have still not completed the Reopening Survey to choose their child's attendance option for Plan B. On Monday, Ms. True will be sending out the final list of students to each teacher who still need to complete this. Please make a personal phone call to these families to help get this completed. We need to be at 100% completion so we can plan accordingly for our reopening. Thanks so much for your help with this! 

Reopening Survey Results: At this time 88% of our students have chosen Option 1 (return in-person), 11% of our students have chosen Option 2 (remote with their current teacher), and 1% have chosen Option 3 (unenroll and attend Virtual Academy). 

Reopening Q & A: We have created a Google doc for you to drop your questions. I have already started answering some of them. Here is the Google doc if you would like to add any questions or see the answers: Reopening Q & A

Panda Engagement Survey Results: You and your students are working so hard and it is showing! In the last two weeks, our engagement rate has risen from 82.3% to 88.7%! The engagement rate is students who are completing half or more of their assigned work. Way to go Pandas! 🐼

Remote Learning Teacher/Parent/Student Survey Trends: See the summary results from the teacher/parent/student survey that was completed. Please use these summary results to continue to tweak and improve your remote learning: Survey Trends



Social Stories for return to school: Linked below are some social stories that will help our students as they return to school. Thank you to our wonderful psychologist, Iris, for sharing! 


CARES Team Update (from Ms. Ceglowski): 
  • Based on the surveys completed by classroom teachers, engagement has increased from 82.3% to 88.7%!
  • We had one case marked "resolved" by the Community CARES team.  2 remain in progress.
  • We continue to work on cases as a school-based team as well. 8 visits were made this week. I spent more time this week addressing the "lack of motivation" issue. Please continue to bring those to my attention. That is less a CARES issue and more a counselor referral and I am very happy to be able to be a counselor!  
  • Our plans to return to the building should resolve a lot of engagement issues.
  • This has been particularly hard on students whose first language is not English and students who have learning differences.  Our school-based CARES team has discussed these issues at length.  We are confident that the return to the building will be a huge help in getting these students engaged.  Please continue to reach out to these students and remain encouraging.  
  • The CARES team will continue to meet after we return to the building.  We will keep working on engagement and resolving issues that create barriers to learning.  
  • Please see this policy on how to handle a crisis situation in remote learning.  Most of you will continue to teach at least a few children remoting so it is a good resource to have.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Gp4gDtp2Vx6Ci1JJBpCmYF0NBD_bFcUpWf2vSi1-_c/edit?usp=sharing  
  • The bottom line is to ensure that I know about the crisis through a phone call.  If you email me and I call you right away, that works too!!  The point is that just telling me is not the end, the student remains yours and you need to follow up and ensure safety.  At PGE we always do this but it's a good reminder.  🙂  
  • Shout out to Mrs. Sherrill for gracefully handling our first virtual mini-crisis!  

Fire Marshall Inspection: We passed our Fall Fire Marshall inspection with flying colors!  Thank you for all your help in keeping our room free of violations.

Flu Shot Clinics: Make sure to register for WS/FCS flu shot clinic here - Flu Shot Clinic. Here are the remaining locations and dates:

10/12 - Paisley MS
10/13 - Kimmel Farm ES
10/16 - North Forsyth HS

Packet Materials: I encourage each of you to continue sending out tangible packet materials for your students as needed (novels, worksheets, manipulatives, etc.). Please coordinate the pickup with your families. Every parent that I have talked with mentions how helpful it is to have a combination of tangible and virtual assignments. If the office can support you with this please let us know. 

Morning Announcements: Here are the YouTube links for this week's Morning Announcements. Please include them on your Canvas page. 


Tuesday (10/13) - https://youtu.be/o82H4OvAV4o

Wednesday (10/14) - https://youtu.be/8E8YrOTaNdU

Thursday (10/15) - https://youtu.be/dqWuiXpLz70


Staff Spotlight: From Mr. Younts - Thank you to the staff for their prayers and well wishes last week during my mom's recent illness. Mom is doing a lot better, but not totally out of the woods. She had a bad reaction to an antibiotic that they gave her in the ER which affected her liver enzymes; thus, the recovery process is taking a little longer than expected. So, keep the prayers coming!

From Ms. Ceglowski - Shout out to Ashley Owens for helping me make 8 home visits and a stop at the Ed building to get hot spots.  She was such a trooper and we laughed a lot!  We are so lucky we get to have her back!  

IF Updates

Old TRC materials: Mrs. Bolchalk has reorganized the old orange TRC box books so that each grade level will now have a set of common materials that are appropriate for your grade.  You are welcome to use these for progress monitoring, small groups, or anything else.  If you need more copies, please see your teammates and I am sure they will be happy to share!   

Wonders materials: Mrs. Epperley and Mrs. Secrest are doing an amazing job of barcoding the Wonders materials so that we can distribute them to you.  I bet K-3 are wondering where you will put your new Wonders goodies!  In order to help you find space to put your new materials, I will come take your Imagine It and/or Scott Foresman materials.  If you want me to come take them, please let me know and I will be there to pick them up.  


Upcoming Dates:
 
October 12 - PreK Teachers & PreK IAs return to work in the building
October 12 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30 via Zoom
October 13 - SIT @ 3:30
October 16 - PreK, Kindergarten, and 2nd Grade Open House
October 19 - EC teachers, ESL, Specialists, K-3 Teachers and IAs return to work in the building
October 20 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
October 22 - End of 1st Quarter
October 23 - Teacher Workday
October 26 - PreK students return
October 27 - SCC & Wellness Committees meet @ 3:30
October 28 - Report Cards due to Admin/Ms. True to review
October 30 - 1st & 3rd Grade Open House
November 2 - EC Separate setting & K-3 students return
November 2 - 4-5 Teachers return to work in the building
November 3 - No School (Election Day) - Remote Learning Day
November 3 - 4th & 5th Grade Open House (more info to come)
November 3 - PBIS & MTAC Committees meet @ 3:30
November 4 - Report Cards go home (district date)
November 5 - Instructional PD @ 3:30 (topic TBD)

Most of you know I am a huge Carolina Panthers fan. Check out the children's book series inspired by Teddy Bridgewater, the Carolina Panthers new quarterback. He had a horrific injury a few years ago that he overcame, and he is a true class act. Maybe Ms. Epperley will get it for us in the Media Center 😉






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