Mr. Elkins' Weekly Wrap: December 2021

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Week of 12/13 - 12/17

Hey Panda Family,

Winter break is just around the corner! I want to thank each of you for the joy, love, and passion you bring to school each day. It has been a busy first half of the year, but we are making tremendous growth and strides with our students. I hope each of you have a wonderful break filled with rest, fun, and time with friends & family. Happy Holidays! ❄

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:

Ms. Pereda: We have some great news to share! Due to some allotment adjustments, Ms. Pereda will be coming back to us full-time after Winter break! We will be making some adjustments in her schedule to accommodate the additional hours she will be with us. When we have her new schedule finalized we will share it with the teachers who share EL students with her. So glad to have you back full-time, Ms. Pereda!

Testing Windows & Dates for PGE: Below are the testing windows for MOY and Q2 Check-Ins. Here are some specifics though for PGE.

We will begin iReady Reading MOY testing the week of January 17, not when the window opens. We will turn off the diagnostic until this date. This will allow all students to have a full week of iReady practice before taking their MOY assessment.

You may begin mClass testing when the window opens on January 10 if you so choose.

January 13th - ELA Check-In (4th, 5th)

January 14th - Math Check-In (3rd, 4th, 5th)

January 18th - 20th - Makeup testing

February 1st - 5th grade Life Science

Elementary MOY/EOQ2 Assessments

	Kinder	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5
Check-In 2: Reading					January 10 - 20	January 10 - 20
Check-In 2: Math				January 10 - 20	January 10 - 20	January 10 - 20
K-2 Math MOY (DPI)	January 10 - 20	January 10 - 20	January 10 - 20
iReady Reading MOY	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1
mCLASS/ DIBELS MOY	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1	January 10 - February 1
iReady Math MOY	January 24 - February 4	January 24 - February 4	January 24 - February 4	January 24 - February 4	January 24 - February 4	January 24 - February 4
Check-In 2: Life Science						January 31 - February 4

Core Awards (from Ms. Epperley - SIT Chair): It is time to nominate some of our amazing Pandas for the district Core Awards! Please complete the forms below to nominate a staff member or volunteer. After we collect nominations, we will select winners at the school level who will then go on to represent PGE at the district Core Awards! You may nominate anyone between now and January 7. We look forward to celebrating our amazing staff members and volunteers!

TOY Nomination

Classified Employee of the Year Nomination

Volunteer of the Year Nomination

Certified Instructional Support Personnel of the Year Nomination

Lesson Plan & iReady Updates: Please refer to the following updates for next week and when we return from Winter break.

You do not have to post your plans on Canvas next week (December 20-21)

We will not track your iReady usage next week (December 20-21)

We do expect you to post plans for the short week when we return (January 5-7)
We will not track your iReady usage the week we return (Jan. 5-7), but we highly encourage you to have your students practice & complete lessons

January 4 RC Day: The January 4 Workday is Reserved for Central Office, which means certified staff will have PD sessions. Most of you have signed up for LETRS, but here are some of the other sessions that have been shared with me - January 4 RC Workday Sessions. As more are shared with me I will add them to this document.

Thoughtful Message: Please see the thoughtful message below from Mr. Levstek, our Child Nutrition Supervisor, who has been helping out in the cafeteria. Don't ever underestimate the impact your positive attitude and welcoming approach has on people :)

Good morning,

I wanted to take a moment and extend a huge thank you to you and your staff at Piney Grove. Over the past three weeks I have had the opportunity to work in the kitchen and interact with the students and staff of Piney Grove. It is very humbling to see such a caring staff when every day during this pandemic demands so much of each one of us.

Your staff have been acceptant to change, understanding when things are running a little behind and committed to making our staff feel like part of the Piney Grove family.

It has been a pleasure working with you and your staff and I would like to wish them all a staff and Joyous holiday season and thanks again for leading such a wonderful team.

Dan Levstek

Reindeer Hunt: Thanks to everyone who helped Santa find his reindeer! They have all been found and are safely back at the North Pole 🦌

Amalfi’s Lunch: Mark your calendar! On Tuesday, December 21 the Office Staff would like to treat everyone with lunch from Amalfi's. We hope you will enjoy this holiday treat!

PBIS Updates: Two more Spirit Days left!

Spirit Week

Dec 20 - Book Character Day

Dec 21 - Pajama Day

Lions Club Eye Exam: On Tuesday, December 21 starting at 8:35 a.m., the Lions Club will conduct eye exams with grades PK EC, 1st, 3rd, and 5th. Schedule is linked above.

Morning Announcements: Morning Announcements will be old school over the intercom for Monday, December 20 & Tuesday, December 21.

Staff Spotlight: From Ms. Medley - Shoutout to Ms. Epperley & Ms. Secrest for helping me with a mini laptop crisis this past week. They dropped everything they were doing to help! Thank you so much!

Instructional Technology Updates

💻 Lost Internet Connection: A few of you have reached out to me about losing Internet connectivity throughout the day. Currently, I do not have answers as to why this happening, but according to my fellow ITFs, they recommend submitting tickets so that the technology department can keep track of how often it is occurring. Just know that you are not alone given it is happening to others throughout the district, including yours truly. In the meantime, attempt to reconnect and submit a ticket until this issue is resolved.

IF Updates

Need assistance while I am out? Contact one of these wonderful folks:

ELA- Kathy Wilheit kwilheit@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

Math- Adrienne Egerton abegerton@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

Early Learning- Anna Crisp amcrisp@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

MTSS- Robyn Varga rmvarga@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

PLT- Mollie Jenkins mbjenkins@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

AIG/CogAt/ITBS school-based questions- Teresa Sweeney tsweeney@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

Items from Previous Weeks

Morning Arrival Adjustments: Starting January 5th, students will stay in the gym until the 8:05 bell, and students will eat breakfast in the cafeteria. We are returning to how we handled arrival before Covid. The first few days will take some time to retrain our students, but we hope this will help alleviate the excess trash in the halls during morning arrival while also giving you back some planning time at the beginning of the day. Please see Master schedule (linked) for adjustments to AM duties.

LETRS Support: In an effort to provide certified teachers some time during their work hours to complete their LETRS coursework, we are going to creatively utilize Ms. Lloyd. All certified teachers that have to complete LETRS may sign up for one 1/2 day on Ms. Lloyd's schedule to work on their LETRS coursework. This is how it will work:

Pull up Ms. Lloyd's schedule here - Ms. Lloyd's Schedule
Pick one 1/2 day that is available between now and Winter Break
Write your name and LETRS in the box - i.e. "Cox LETRS"
Ms. Lloyd will cover your class for the 1/2 day that you sign up
On your day, you will stay on campus and find a quiet space to work on your LETRS coursework

Teacher workroom, Teacher lounge, etc.

If a Covid situation occurs and Ms. Lloyd must cancel, you will be able to pick another date and time
This is optional, and is not required

We plan to see how this goes between now and Winter Break. If it goes smoothly, then we will consider offering it again for the spring semester. We hope this helps some!

Field Trips: All field trips for this school year must be submitted by Tuesday, December 21. There are fewer activity bus drivers. Dates are filling up fast. Reach out to Mrs. Gardner if you have questions.

Upcoming Dates:

December 21 - Lions Club Eye Exam (1st, 3rd, & 5th grade)

December 21 - Amalfi's Lunch provided by the Office Staff

December 22 - January 3 - Winter Break

January 4 - RC Workday

January 5 - School Resumes

January 7 - Jayne @ IF Meeting

January 7 - Younts @ ITF Meeting

January 10 - mClass/Dibels window opens

January 10 - K-2 Math MOY Assessment window opens

January 10 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30

January 11 - SIT @ 3:30

January 12 - Elkins @ Principal's Meeting

January 13 - ELA Check-In

January 14 - Math Check-In

January 17 - MLK Jr. Day (No School)

January 17 - iReady Reading MOY Assessment Window opens for PGE

January 18 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30

January 20 - End of 2nd Quarter

January 20 - Leslie @ AP Meeting (8:30 - 11:30)

January 21 - RS Workday

PGES 2021-2022 Master Staff Calendar

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Week of 12/6 - 12/10

Hey Panda Family,

What a fun week! We had a beautiful high school holiday performance, a fun-filled Winter Wonderland, a successful spelling bee, and a fun staff social event. Thank you so much to our School Culture Committee for organizing and hosting the staff social on Friday night - delicious food, fun environment, and great fellowship! Only seven days left before winter break! ⛄

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:

Perfect Attendance: Congratulations to these staff members who had perfect attendance for 1st Quarter! Awesome job! We have a prize for each of you 😊 Please stop by Ms. Owens' office this week to get your prize. *Hopefully I didn't leave anyone off that was deserving. If I missed anyone please let me know.*

Terri Youtz

Jessica Bowman

Stephanie Epperley

Angela Garcia

Vickie Howell

Kristie Idol

DeAnna Mabe

Tina McCracken

Jessica Medley

Lana Panico

Liz Postle

Natalie Rempe

Kendall Rinfrette

Nicole Seely

Kellie Sloan

Deseree Smallwood

Denette Staley

Teresa Sweeney

Connie Trujillo

Kayla Vaden

Reindeer Hunt: Over the weekend Santa made a pit stop at Piney Grove to drop off some presents and his reindeer got loose! Help Santa find his nine reindeer around the building. If you find one, Santa is willing to give you a prize for your efforts! Rudolph will bring home the biggest prize! If you find a reindeer please turn in to Mr. Elkins and he will give you a prize from Santa :) One rule - we will have nine winners. You can’t turn in more than one reindeer. Happy hunting!

Interest Survey for Social Outings (from SCC): The SCC committee is looking to organize some outings outside of school for those who are interested in getting to know their coworkers a little better or interested in some casual fun activities.

Here is the survey link - https://forms.gle/WR6pUSUBf5t6qzwg8

Please look through the list and indicate those you may be interested in so we pursue events that may interest a group of people. Please know that none of these activities will be "sponsored" or "paid" for with SCC funds. We have simply heard the desire for some opportunities to get to know one another better and are trying to facilitate that. At times these events will be just for adults due to the nature of the activities. Some events may also include family members (including children).

Amalfi’s Lunch: Mark your calendar! On Tuesday, December 21 the Office Staff would like to treat everyone with lunch from Amalfi's. We hope you will enjoy this holiday treat!

Green Notebook (Certified Staff): Please make sure you are updating your green growth binders. This is where you should store your PDP, observation notes and action steps, and any artifacts that go towards your evaluation. If you are new to PGE and need a green binder, please see Mr. Elkins or Ms. Gardner.

PBIS Updates: PBIS has created a fun spirit week to lead us in to Winter Break! We hope you will join in on the fun with our students. Begins Monday, December 13.

Spirit Week

Dec 13 - Wacky Tacky Day

Dec 14 - Beach Day **NO BATHING SUITS

Dec 15 - Superhero Day

Dec 16 - Winter Cookie/Treat Day

Dec 17 - Panda Pride Day

Dec 20 - Book Character Day

Dec 21 - Pajama Day

Bowling Schedule (December 17)

Grade Level	Pickup	Dropoff
K/1 (52) 9:30-10:30	9:15	10:45
3 (42) 10:00-11:00	9:45	11:15
2 (58) 10:30-11:30	10:15	11:45
4/5 (55) 11:00-12:00	10:45	12:15

Bowling Virtual Permission Slip - ENGLISH

Bowling Virtual Permission Slip - SPANISH

Students Going Bowling

Lions Club Eye Exam: On Tuesday, December 21 starting at 8:35 a.m., the Lions Club will conduct eye exams with grades PK EC, 1st, 3rd, and 5th. Schedule is linked above.

Morning Announcements: Ms. Ceglowski will email out the links for the Morning Announcements.

Staff Spotlight: From Ms. Lindley - I want to give a shout out to Angela. She has taken out the trash in the pod more times than I can count but this week. I believe she has done it every single day. She has also mopped the floors at least once a week for the past month. She goes above and beyond to make sure our room is clean for our students. I just want her to know she is appreciated!

From Ms. Secrest - Shoutout to Ms. Ceglowski for helping covering my classes while I was out! And thank you to the teachers I serve for their patience and understanding.

Instructional Technology Updates

Instructional Technology Updates: Check out the December edition of Timothy's Technology Corner. There is something for everyone this month, so happy reading!

Headlines for this month includes:

Crash Course in PHONICS: Reading Reminders for K-2
Lights, Camera, Action: Paper Slides
Design Thinking
PowerTeacher TechNote: Viewing Activity on Parent/Guardian & Student Portal Access
Christmas Trivia

Timothy's Schedule for Week of December 13th:

Monday, December 13th: Piney Grove (morning), Sedge Garden (afternoon)
Tuesday, December 14th: Piney Grove (morning), Sedge Garden (afternoon)
Wednesday, December 15th: Sedge Garden (all day)
Thursday, December 16th: Sedge Garden (all day)
Friday, December 17th: Piney Grove (all day) to assist with PBIS bowling trips

Mr. Younts and fellow ITF, Erin Eberle from Wiley Middle School submitted a proposal to present at NCTIES in March which was accepted. They will be co-facilitating a session titled "Hidden Treasures: Tech Tools Off the Beaten Path" on March 3, 2022, in Raleigh.

IF Updates

MOY testing dates:

mClass/DIBELS January 10-February 1

iReady MOY

K-5 Reading January 10-February 1
K-5 Math January 24-February 4

K-2 Math MOY (DPI) January 10-20

(All testing dates are available on the district testing calendar.)