Week 15 was short, but sweet! I hope everyone had two good days of Remote Learning and then was able to relax and enjoy Thanksgiving with their family. Let's finish strong before winter break 💪🐼💚 We got this, Pandas!
PGE Covid Update: This evening the PGE community (parents & staff) will be receiving communication regarding a positive Covid-19 test that has occurred from one of our staff members. Please know, that if you were in contact with the individual you have already been informed. We will be following all cleaning protocols and communication expectations provided to us by the district.
Unfortunately, I have also been exposed from a family member over the break. I will be quarantined until my return on December 11. I will continue to work from home and will be in close contact with Ms. Gardner throughout each day. Please don't hesitate to call me if you need anything. I am sorry for this inconvenience.
Progress Reports: Progress Reports are due to your families this week. Please make sure your PowerSchool grades are updated in the system. Please follow the same Progress Report expectations from 1st Quarter. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to reach out to Jayne, Leslie, or myself.
Bus Attestation Forms (PreK - 5th): Please work on getting 3rd quarter bus attestation forms returned prior to winter break. If you need copies, please ask Mrs. Landreth or Mrs. Gardner.
December Drills:We will have a community lockdown and a fire drill this month. Please review lockdown procedures. We will let you know ahead of time when these drills will occur.
PBIS Spirit Week:We will have spirit week December 14th- 18th. The team will send out details next week. (Spoiler Alert... 80's day)
Lend a Hand!: Our PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade staff are doing an amazing job with our in-person students. Managing a concurrent classroom, the cleaning protocols, and the added instruction is no small task. If you are willing, sign up below to lend a hand to one of these classrooms! Cover their recess for a day or two, watch their kids during lunch, or just drop in for 5 minutes so they can use the bathroom :) Any little bit goes a long way!
Instructions: If you are willing to help, click this link, and place your name beside one of the classrooms. Then reach out to that teacher to compare schedules to see when you could help them out. Multiple people can sign up for the same class. More hands make it easier to help!
Tech Tip from Tim: Canvas Training Portal
Do you want to learn about Canvas rubrics, assignments, speed grader, Google LTI 1.3, etc.? Take advantage of the Canvas Training portal! All you must do is type your desired topic in the search bar for videos and trainings.
To access the Canvas Training Portal, follow the steps in the image shown below:
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tim!
COVID Protocols: Due to the increased number in positive Covid cases across the county, the school district is requiring some additional safety steps. If you have been exposed to someone that tests positive you must let me know and quarantine for 14 days (these individuals will work remotely). Remember, exposure is defined by:
You were within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more
You provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19
You had direct physical contact with the person (hugged or kissed them)
You shared eating or drinking utensils
They sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on you
Exposure has to be reported to Human Resources for contact tracing in case you should test positive. As a school, we are only required to communicate if we have a positive test from a staff member or student. At this time, we have not had any positive tests from staff members or from students that have been in-person. Remember the 3 W's - Wear your mask, Wash your hands, and Wait 6 feet. This will help us stay safe and healthy!
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
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
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.
Staff Spotlight: Thank you to SCC for providing such a delicious lunch for everyone from Bill's Pizza before break! It was such a nice treat and pick me up!
IF Updates
iReady Data Analysis PD: Don’t forget to register for the iReady session that your grade level decided to attend.(The date you chose is in your PLT notes.) Here is a list of the offered sessions.
For progress reports: Here is a link to all the report card comments and their powerschool codes.This will come in handy as you prepare your progress reports and when you are completing report cards.
Upcoming Dates:
December 1 - PBIS & MTAC Committees @ 3:30
December 2 - Progress Reports Due (by the end of the week)
December 3 - PreK, K, and 1st Grade School Pictures
December 8 - SIT @ 3:30
December 15 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
December 21 - Teacher Workday
I think this is how we are all feeling right now :) Thanks for providing this comic relief, Ms. Epperley!
I hope you had an amazing Week 14! A much needed break for all of us is right around the corner. Take time this week to rest, relax, do some holiday shopping, spend time with family, and recharge your physical and mental battery. I am extremely thankful for each of you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving 🦃
School Improvement Plan Vote: Please vote on the School Improvement Plan if you haven't done so already. Here is the link to vote: https://forms.gle/p6TYoTQ21tvSTdqEA
iReady on RL Days: You may assign iReady work for your students to complete this week if you choose. However, since it is a short week we will not be checking your iReady completion time for 11/23 & 11/24.
Remote Learning Days Update (11/23 & 11/24): Our next Remote Learning days are scheduled for November 23 & 24. All staff have the option to work from home or from school on these days. Instruction is still expected to occur on these days. See the updates in red that changed from last week's Weekly Wrap. Please see the expectations below for your grade level regarding instruction on these remote learning days:
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st Grade - Please prepare packet work that can go home and be completed by your Option 1 (in-person) students. Please schedule small group, or 1-on-1, sessions with your Option 2 students to deliver live instruction on the remote learning days.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Grade - follow live synchronous instruction just like every other day. I am fine if you focus your live instruction on ELA/Reading & Math for the RL Days (I suggest recording the lessons for those that may miss due to the holiday week). Please still have work for SS & Science posted. You may choose to do live instruction for all 4 subjects if you choose, but you need to at least do ELA/Reading & Math.
Specialists - Please work on recording your emergency substitute lessons. Remember, we would like for you to have at least two recorded lessons prepared for each grade level in case you have to be absent.
EC & ESL - Please meet your live service requirements on these days with your 2-5 students, and prepare asynchronous work for K-1 students.
Instructional Assistants - Please work with your corresponding teacher to prepare for the upcoming weeks, and/or help deliver live small group instruction to your Option 2 students.
Lend a Hand!: Our PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade staff are doing an amazing job with our in-person students. Managing a concurrent classroom, the cleaning protocols, and the added instruction is no small task. If you are willing, sign up below to lend a hand to one of these classrooms! Cover their recess for a day or two, watch their kids during lunch, or just drop in for 5 minutes so they can use the bathroom :) Any little bit goes a long way!
Instructions: If you are willing to help, click this link, and place your name beside one of the classrooms. Then reach out to that teacher to compare schedules to see when you could help them out. Multiple people can sign up for the same class. More hands make it easier to help!
Tech Tip from Tim: Undoing a Mistake in Canvas - Have you ever been typing information in the Rich Content Editor and accidently deleted something? Or you made a mistake and thought, "Ugh, I wish I could undo that!"? Well, thanks to keyboard shortcuts, you can!
Clicking CTRL-Z (Windows) or COMMAND-Z (Mac) while in the Rich Content Editor will undo the last action completed.
You can also undelete Assignments, Discussions, Modules, Files, etc. by clicking on the Home button of your course and typing/undeleteat the end of the course URL in the address bar. As a result of doing this, you will be given a list of recently deleted items by clicking theRestorebutton next to any item which you want to restore to your course.
Jump in the Sun (from district): Jump at the Sun, a community partnership between WS/FCS Social Studies department, Action4Equity, Bookmarks, Triad Cultural Arts, and Read Write Spell, is working to cultivate a spirit of multicultural education and understanding for students in our school system. One of the partnership’s ongoing projects is to provide text connected to the African American and Hispanic Infusion lessons provided for teachers and students in K-5. The first set of texts purchased through this initiative will begin to arrive at your schools in the next few weeks. Each school will receive a set of books that should be entered into the Textbook Manager System by your school’s Media Coordinator. They will receive instructions about how to do this. This is an on-going project that we plan to expand into all grade bands.www.JumpAtTheSun.org
Verbal De-Escalation (from district):Verbal De-escalation is a professional development designed to assist educators in gaining the skills necessary to identify behavior levels, set limits and appropriately respond to escalating situations in the classroom. These sessions are optional.
Elementary and Middle School sessions on December 2nd & 9th and HS sessions will occur on December 4th & 11th (all from 11-12 pm). See flyer.
No Charge Time: When a staff member asks for incremental leave (0-1.5 hours) I always mark it as "No Charge" on your white sheet. Ms. Willis keeps track of the "No Charge" time and we don't charge you for it until you accumulate 8 hours of "No Charge" time in a school year. When you accumulate 8 hours of "No Charge" time it counts as one sick day. If you don't accumulate 8 hours in one school year, then this is "free" time that is not charged against you. So far this school year, we have decided to not track "No Charge" time since everyone was not working in the building. Now that everyone is back working in the building we will begin tracking "No Charge" time effective Monday, November 16. Reach out to Pam or myself if you have any questions.
District Grading Expectations (from district):As part of our Remote Learning Plan, all students should be provided a one-week grace period to submit assignments without penalty or deduction of points.
Elementary- When assigning grades, pay attention to Section II, item #4 of AR5124 as it relates to the overall assessment of grades.
Grades K-2 follow the Standards Based Grading guidance. Standards that have not or cannot be assessed should be left blank on the report cards.
For students in grades 3-12, failing quarter grades should be manually changed to a 50/F before finalizing the gradebook and issuing report cards.
COVID Protocols: Due to the increased number in positive Covid cases across the county, the school district is requiring some additional safety steps. If you have been exposed to someone that tests positive you must let me know and quarantine for 14 days (these individuals will work remotely). Remember, exposure is defined by:
You were within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more
You provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19
You had direct physical contact with the person (hugged or kissed them)
You shared eating or drinking utensils
They sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on you
Exposure has to be reported to Human Resources for contact tracing in case you should test positive. As a school, we are only required to communicate if we have a positive test from a staff member or student. At this time, we have not had any positive tests from staff members or from students that have been in-person. Remember the 3 W's - Wear your mask, Wash your hands, and Wait 6 feet. This will help us stay safe and healthy!
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
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
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.
Staff Spotlight: From Kindergarten Team - Thank you to Catherine Gant for the extra love and help with our Kinders! Love the Kinder Team!
From Ms. Bolchalk - I would love to give Mathis, Ballou, Pereda, Ceglowski and Gardner a shout out for putting their training to good use with the twins. They showed great skill and patience with them. I learned a few new things just watching them in action.
Also, I would like to shout out to the teachers that have been so helpful getting me set up to work with the kids. My computer skills are not my strong suit. Medley, Brookshire, Gant, Tall, Harman, Owens and Epperley for being patient and helpful during this time.
IF Updates
None for this week
Upcoming Dates:
November 23 - Remote Learning Day (no in-person instruction)
November 24 - Remote Learning Day (no in-person instruction)
November 24 - Online Book Fair Ends
November 24 - SCC & Wellness Committees @ 3:30
November 25, 26, 27 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
December 1 - PBIS & MTAC Committees @ 3:30
December 2 - Progress Reports Due
December 3 - PreK, K, and 1st Grade School Pictures
December 8 - SIT @ 3:30
We have a lot to be Thankful for :) I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your loved ones!
We made it through Week 13 and a Friday the 13th! It was so much fun welcoming our Kindergartners this week 😊 Can't wait for our 1st graders to come back tomorrow! One more full week before some much needed days off for the Thanksgiving holidays. We can make it! Here are the updates from this week.
Staff Picture & Meeting: We will take our staff picture @ 3:30 this Tuesday, November 17 out at the playground. Please wear your favorite PGE shirt! Our staff meeting will follow immediately afterwards @ 3:45. Please use the Zoom link on the PGE Staff Canvas page to access the meeting. Here are the agenda items for our meeting - Staff Acrostic Poems, Remote Learning days discussion, Visual Vocabulary presentation by Ms. Pereda, and School Improvement Plan vote.
School Improvement Plan: Our School Improvement Team has worked hard to update our School Improvement Plan for this school year. All staff members will vote on the approval of the plan at the upcoming staff meeting. Before voting, please review the updated plan. Here is how you access it:
You can find a quick snapshot of our school goals by clicking on the "Mission/Goals/Selected Indicators" tab.
You will find the most recent detailed version of our plan by clicking on the "Reports/WiseWays/Indicators & Rubrics" tab and then clicking on "Comprehensive Plan".
Remote Learning Days (11/23 & 11/24): Our next Remote Learning days are scheduled for November 23 & 24. All staff have the option to work from home or from school on these days. Instruction is still expected to occur on these days, but we understand families will be traveling this week so we are offering some flexibility to how you deliver your instruction. Please see the expectations below for your grade level regarding instruction on these remote learning days:
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st Grade - Please prepare packet work that can go home and be completed by your Option 1 (in-person) students. Please schedule small group, or 1-on-1, sessions with your Option 2 students to deliver live instruction on the remote learning days.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Grade - You have the option to teach live sessions like normal and record them for any students that may miss class, or you can cancel your live classes for these remote learning days and post recorded lessons for your students to view. I am only requiring this for ELA and Math instruction. You may post full asynchronous work for Science and SS.
Specialists - Please work on recording your emergency substitute lessons. Remember, we would like for you to have at least two recorded lessons prepared for each grade level in case you have to be absent. These lessons should be 40 minutes in length.
EC & ESL - Please meet your live service requirements on these days with your students, and/or prepare asynchronous work for these students beforehand.
Instructional Assistants - Please work with your corresponding teacher to prepare for the upcoming weeks, and/or help deliver live small group instruction to your Option 2 students.
No Charge Time: When a staff member asks for incremental leave (0-1.5 hours) I always mark it as "No Charge" on your white sheet. Ms. Willis keeps track of the "No Charge" time and we don't charge you for it until you accumulate 8 hours of "No Charge" time in a school year. When you accumulate 8 hours of "No Charge" time it counts as one sick day. If you don't accumulate 8 hours in one school year, then this is "free" time that is not charged against you. So far this school year, we have decided to not track "No Charge" time since everyone was not working in the building. Now that everyone is back working in the building we will begin tracking "No Charge" time effective Monday, November 16. Reach out to Pam or myself if you have any questions.
AM/PM Duty Roster:With first grade coming into the building, we will need all hands-on deck both AM and PM this week. See Mrs. Gardner if you are unsure of how best to help.
Fire Drill:We will have our November fire drill onTuesday, November 17 @ 2:30.
Practice procedures with all in-person students Monday or Tuesday AM
Masks must be worn
Social distance must be kept
All other students and adults must exit the building
Pizza Lunch provided by SCC: This Friday, November 20, SCC is treating the entire staff to lunch!
Office staff will serve lunch starting at 11:30
Lunch will be served from the media center to allow for social distancing
Masks must be worn
PreK/Kindergarten/1st Grade Glow Stick Party: PBIS has organized a Glow-in-the-Dark Party for our PreK, K, and 1st grade students for this Friday. Here are the details. Please come down and join in on the fun!
Glow sticks can be picked up Monday, 11/16 from Mrs. Gardner
For those students that are remote, parents can pick go glow sticks from the front of the school where packets are located
Party will begin at 2:30 on Friday.
Music will play over the intercom
Masks must be worn
Social distance must be kept
District Grading Expectations (from district):As part of our Remote Learning Plan, all students should be provided a one-week grace period to submit assignments without penalty or deduction of points.
Elementary- When assigning grades, pay attention to Section II, item #4 of AR5124 as it relates to the overall assessment of grades.
Grades K-2 follow the Standards Based Grading guidance. Standards that have not or cannot be assessed should be left blank on the report cards.
For students in grades 3-12, failing quarter grades should be manually changed to a 50/F before finalizing the gradebook and issuing report cards.
COVID Protocols: Due to the increased number in positive Covid cases across the county, the school district is requiring some additional safety steps. If you have been exposed to someone that tests positive you must let me know and quarantine for 14 days (these individuals will work remotely). Remember, exposure is defined by:
You were within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more
You provided care at home to someone who is sick with COVID-19
You had direct physical contact with the person (hugged or kissed them)
You shared eating or drinking utensils
They sneezed, coughed, or somehow got respiratory droplets on you
Exposure has to be reported to Human Resources for contact tracing in case you should test positive. As a school, we are only required to communicate if we have a positive test from a staff member or student. At this time, we have not had any positive tests from staff members or from students that have been in-person. Remember the 3 W's - Wear your mask, Wash your hands, and Wait 6 feet. This will help us stay safe and healthy!
United Way:As of today, Piney Grove has pledged $1,280.00. Our goal is $1335.
Our participation is 28.4%. Our goal is 25%. Our next incentive is for a $20 Giadas' gift card. Anyone who has pledged since our last incentive will be put in the drawing. We will pick a winner on Friday, 11/20/20.
2 breakfast stations - in the lobby area (buses) and in the doorway of the cafeteria (cars)
Breakfast is free for all students
Large trash cans will be placed in the hallways
Students should empty their milk cartons in the classroom sinks
Place all trash in the hallway trash cans
The cafeteria staff will empty the garbage cans and replace them for lunch
Lunch Procedures for In-Person Learning:
Students will go through the cafeteria line for lunch
Large trash cans will be placed in the hallways
Students should empty their milk cartons in the classroom sinks
Place all trash in the hallway trash cans
Jose and Mr. Kincaid will empty the garbage cans and replace them for breakfast
CARES Team Update (from Ms. Ceglowski):
The CARES team went full-on detective mode this week and with the help of KPD located one of our "lost" pandas. There are just a few more who are a bit evasive but we will never stop trying to locate our pandas and get them connected to all of you dedicated teachers.
Please refer folks with broken Chromebooks to East Forsyth Middle to get them traded out. We have a limited capacity to do this here at our school.
Never underestimate the power of the phone call. Dojo is awesome but if it's not working, try to reach out by phone.
We are happy to deliver packets to those who have transportation issues. I see a lot of packets piling up so please encourage families to make arrangements to pick them up. If there is no way for them to retrieve the packets, let me know.
Thank you for completing the follow-up engagement survey. Please do so if you haven't already. It seems like we will be able to drill down on the specific pockets of our population and try to get creative about helping those students engage. Here is the link to the survey: https://forms.gle/fB8iBgxxu14qT6xU6
The CARES team wants to remind you all to take care of yourselves as well! You can't help someone who fell into a ditch by falling in with them. We have to stay healthy and strong so we can pull them out :)
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
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
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.
Staff Spotlight: From Ms. Medley - Shout out to Sweeney for introducing me to the XtraMath App on Clever. With no First in Math, I was looking for a fast facts App and this one is great! Thanks Teresa!
From PGE - Shout out to KMS for sending staff to help us with arrival screening and walking students to class! What an amazing show of community support.
IF Updates
WAPT Testing:WAPT Testingwill continue next week.Just like always, please make sure you pay attention to the testing signs in the hall when you see them.
iReady Data Analysis PD: iReady trainers are facilitating these workshops which will be offered on Flex Wednesday. Here is a list of the offered sessions. "Educators will analyze their data to prioritize needs to address unfinished learning. Using enhanced placement levels and/or the Prerequisites report, educators will have a more detailed picture of student needs to intervene and scaffold grade-level instruction. They will utilize i-Ready resources to plan whole class and small group differentiated instruction that supports progress to proficiency."
Upcoming Dates:
November 16 - 1st Grade students return
November 16 - Online Book Fair begins
November 16 - WAPT Kindergarten Testing
November 17 - Fire Drill @ 2:30
November 17 - Staff Meeting @ 3:45 (Staff Picture @ 3:30 on playground)
November 18 - Flex Wednesday
November 20 - Pizza Lunch provided by SCC
November 20 - Glow Stick Party @ 2:30 for PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade
November 23 - Remote Learning Day (no in-person instruction)
November 24 - Remote Learning Day (no in-person instruction)
November 24 - Online Book Fair Ends
November 24 - SCC & Wellness Committees @ 3:30
November 25, 26, 27 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
December 1 - PBIS & MTAC Committees @ 3:30
December 2 - Progress Reports Due
December 8 - SIT @ 3:30
Check out this cool Zoom Tip shared by 3rd grade! Enlarge a portion of your screen on Zoom. Thanks for finding this video, Ms. Laws :)
