Hey Panda Family,
We had lots of fun this past week: DJ Glow party, taping Elkins and Gardner to the wall (love Ms. Gardner's face in the pic below 😂), PAW Store, eating lunch in the cafeteria, and so much more! Spring is here and we are on the home stretch. You and your students have worked so hard this year, and we have nine weeks left to finish strong and show off all the growth we have made. We can do it! Thanks for all you do! 🐼
Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:
LETRS Debrief/Implementation: K-5 teachers, please mark your calendar for Monday, March 28 during your planning time to have LETRS debrief/implementation discussion with Dr. Kear and Ms. Crisp in the PLT Room. They will meet with each grade level and have a dialogue that focuses on what you have learned in LETRS to this point and how you can best implement strategies into your classroom instruction. This will take the place of PLTs for the week of March 28th. You will still have coverage during your PLT time for planning purposes.
Certified Staff Preference Form: As we plan for next school year, if all Certified Staff could please complete the following form to share their job preferences. We will be sending out a similar survey for Classified Staff in the coming weeks. Here is the survey for Certified Staff - Certified Staff Preference Form 2022-23
mClass Progress Monitoring (K-3 & select 4th grade): Please make sure you are remembering to progress monitor your students in mClass. This data will let you know where your students are making gains and where they still need intervention/small group support. This is the guidance for how often to pm students based on instruction in interventions:
.png)
Yearbooks (from Ms. Owens): Yearbooks are on sale until 4/1 for $17.00. After that, the price goes up to $20.00 with no upgrades allowed. Can order online or pay by check/cash. Checks made payable to Piney Grove Elementary. Give all checks and cash to Ms. Owens and she will handle.
ybpay.com
Yearbook ID code: 13740122
Schedule: A concern was shared in SCC regarding teachers being on time for Specials drop-off and pick-up, as well as Specials classes ending on time. This was a focus earlier in the year with our initial Instructional Round. Let's all work together to stay on schedule as we maximize the time in our instructional day for our students. Thank you!
Step Challenge: Here are the Step Challenge details from Ms. Fox. We hope everyone will participate!
- Starts March 28 (Monday); Ends April 7 (Thursday)
- You will be logging your own step count each day (Be Honest 🙂)
- Click link to log your steps: STEP CHALLENGE LOG
- If you need a pedometer or need help downloading a step tracker app on your phone, come see me for help!
- Prizes for the TOP 5 highest step count at the end of the challenge. Shoutout to PTA for the prize baskets! Prizes will be given out April 9!
Media Center Updates (from Ms. Epperley): Please see the Media Center updates below.
Coming soon: April is Poetry Month!
2-5 classes bring Chromebooks to media next week.
Morning Announcements: We will have old school announcements over the intercom next week.
Shoutout: Shoutout to Ms. Epperley & Ms. Jones for coaching our EBOB team this year! We greatly appreciate the time and commitment you put forth to help make our students better readers while enjoying a little bit of competition. Thank you! 📚
Technology Updates
Here are my updates for this week:
📆 Schedule for Week of March 28th - April 1st: This week is rather crazy for me. I have several things that am doing within the district, as well as one day in which I am having a procedure done. Please see the schedule below for more details. You can reach me each day via email except for Thursday. Just keep in mind that I may not be able to respond immediately. If a technology issue arises, please see if Mrs. Epperley can assist you with it or submit a ticket.
- Monday, March 28th: Scorekeeping for Elementary Battle of the Books
- Tuesday, March 29th: NC Virtual Reality Adventures on the Road at WSFCS Education Building
- Wednesday, March 30th: Normal day (Piney Grove in the morning and Sedge Garden in the afternoon)
- Thursday, March 31st: Out to have basal cell removed from my forehead. Please keep everyone involved, including me in your thoughts and prayers.
- Friday, April 1st: Monthly ITF Meeting
Items From Previous Weeks
LETRS/Mental Health Trainings Coverage: In an effort to help provide certified staff with some extra time to complete the required district/state trainings we are going to offer Ms. Lloyd's assistance again for the spring semester. All certified teachers that have to complete LETRS/Mental Health Trainings may sign up for one 1/2 day on Ms. Lloyd's schedule to work on their 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 the end of school
- Write your name and Trainings in the box - i.e. "Cox Trainings"
- 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 coursework
- Teacher workroom, Teacher lounge, etc.
- If a Covid/Emergency Sub situation occurs and Ms. Lloyd must cancel, you will be able to pick another date and time
- This is optional, and is not required
Field Trip Fund: Please see below for information regarding field trip funds that have been provided to each school from the district.
- We have an ESSER Field Trips allocation available this school year and next to support learning recovery efforts. We have roughly $10,000 to spend between this year and next year.
- Each grade level has about $1,600 to spend.
- Certain field trips have already been approved by the district for these funds (see Gardner for specifics on if your field trip would meet requirements)
Please remember that on and off campus field trips must:
- be standards aligned that either build background knowledge and/or allow students to participate in culminating learning experiences,
- meet federal requirements of reasonable and necessary, and
- include all students (no exclusions for behavior, missing assignments, etc.)
- When you want to use this specific pot of money, please indicate it on your request.
IF Updates
Need assistance while I am out? Contact one of these wonderful folks:
ELA- Kathryn Kear kakear@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
Upcoming Dates:
March 28 - K-5 LETRS during planning times
March 30 - Report Cards due to Ms. True
April 5 - Spring Pictures with Lifetouch
April 5 - PBIS, SIT, & MTAC Committees @ 3:30
April 6 - Elkins @ Principal's Meeting
April 8 - Report Cards go home
April 11 - April 18 - Spring Break
April 19 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
April 19 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
Number 48 is our next duck winner! Come see Mr. Elkins to get your prize 🦆
