Hey Panda Family,
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:
School Improvement Plan access: http://indistar.org/
Guest login: GuestS16215
Guest password: GuestS16215
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 on Tuesday, 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.
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.
- 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.
E-Pledge link: https://uwfc.upicsolutions.org/WSFCS
Breakfast Procedures for In-Person Learning:
- 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
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.
Monday (11/16) - https://youtu.be/ErLwCDYT6cs
Tuesday (11/17) - https://youtu.be/WBhNTdHYqXg
Wednesday (11/18) - https://youtu.be/sObV8UoRIDA
Thursday (11/19) - https://youtu.be/XDk45nGfgEA
Friday (11/20) - https://youtu.be/1pO0YvVxVh4
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 Testing will 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 :)
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