Hey Panda Family,
We hope everyone stayed safe today in the wet and windy weather! Our Fall Festival is still on for tomorrow and we hope you will come out to enjoy some good food, vendors, and fun activities. Bring your family and friends! Our new picnic shelter is complete! We will send out a schedule and directions in the next few weeks for any classes that want to eat lunch outside. Thanks for being a CHAMPION and I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 🐼
Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:
New Updates
New Pandas: We have two new staff members that will be joining our Panda family in the upcoming weeks!
- Mrs. Julie Landis will be joining our EC team as a new EC Resource Teacher. Mrs. Landis is a veteran EC Teacher with many years of experience teaching in Florida. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that I know will benefit our students and our EC team. Her children, Artie and Gracie, are students with us. Mrs. Landis will start on Monday, October 7. Welcome to the Panda family, Mrs. Landis!
- Mrs. Lora Tiano will be joining our Admin team as our substitute AP while Mrs. Gardner is out on leave. Mrs. Tiano recently retired as the Principal at Kernersville Elementary. She is a dear colleague of mine and was a great mentor to me as a young Principal. We will greatly miss Mrs. Gardner while she is out, but Mrs. Tiano will be a wonderful asset to our school while she is recovering. Mrs. Tiano's first day with us will be Tuesday, October 15. Welcome to the Panda family, Mrs. Tiano!
Information about Mrs. Gardner's leave of absence:
- Off campus from October 11 to November 24. (return November 25)
- We will tell parents in the Parent WW on October 4 - just basic information
- We will tell students via morning announcements on October 4
- If you get questions from parents and students, please keep the information basic
Flu Shots: Kernersville Pharmacy is coming Tuesday, October 1 for flu shots. They will be here from 7:00 - 9:00 am. Paperwork is in your box. This is optional.
MTSS Updates: Please see the MTSS updates below.
October Drills: Fire, Earthquake, & Tornado (see dates below for Tornado and Earthquake)
Student Pictures: Thank you to those homeroom teachers who have already turned in their student pictures to me. We have started hanging them up in our PLT Conference room 😊 As a reminder, we would like all homeroom teachers to take individual photos of your students and make two sets of copies. You will keep one set and decorate your door, hang their photos above their bookbag hook, etc. You will turn in the other set to me for the PLT Conference room. Photos of our students throughout the building make it feel more like home and a welcoming environment. We will reimburse you for your photos. Please just turn in the receipt to Mrs. Owens. Thanks so much for your help with this!
Couple Reminders: If you could, here are a few friendly reminders that I need your help with.
- During morning arrival I am noticing more and more students that are going to visit former teachers instead of heading straight to class. It makes my heart happy that they want to do this, but it also interrupts arrival procedures. If a former student comes to see you each morning before heading to class, please remind them that they are supposed to head straight to class in the mornings. This will greatly help us out each day as we strive to get all students to class on time so you can get your day started.
- If you have an emergency, or get sick, and need to leave campus suddenly please make sure you let both me and Mrs. Owens know. By letting both of us know we are able to get you classroom coverage as quickly as possible before you leave. This also applies to situations overnight where you wake up sick or have an emergency. The sooner we know the sooner we can work on coverage. Thanks so much for your help with this!
Fostering Diverse Schools Survey (from district): We are asking all staff to complete the Fostering Diverse Schools survey. It should only take 7-10 minutes. You can access the survey here: Survey – Click Here. Thank you for your participation.
School Improvement Plan Vote: Our School Improvement Team has worked hard to create intentional and meaningful goals for this year to help our students grow and excel. Here are the goals:
- Goal 1: To increase overall school attendance to 95% as measured by Unified Insights.
- Goal 2: To increase school-wide grades 3-5, EOG reading and math proficiency by 3% by 2025.
- Goal 3: Students across grades K-3 will be at least 82% proficient based on the composite score at Mclass EOY.
- Goal 4: Teachers will input monthly Paw Form data into the Educator's Handbook with 100% participation.
- Goal 5: Increase parent and staff participation at PTA activities.
All staff should review and vote on the approval of these goals. Please vote using the link below by Monday, September 23. There is also a space for comments if you have any. Thank you so much to our SIT team for all their hard work on forming these goals!
Parent Communication Log: When you have completed your Parent Communication Log please turn it in to Mr. Elkins. Here are the bullet point reminders:
Here is a copy of the log - Parent Communication Log
By the end of September, teachers should have contacted all parents with a positive Dojo message or phone call
If parent does not respond, try another form of communication (phone call, email)
All students should receive a Pandagram home during the 1st quarter
Turn in log by 9/27/2024
Instructional Updates: Please see the Professional Development opportunity below.
Title: Using Technology Tools to Increase Lesson Engagement
Dates: October 17 and October 24 from 4:00 – 5:30
Location: Virtual on Teams
Participants will learn and use digital tools that can be used to enhance their lessons for students. Some tools will help with resources for lessons and some will be tools for students to use in learning or creating end products. Participants will be expected to create a lesson using a tool discussed and share with other participants.
Session One: Participants will be introduced to lesson creation and resource tools such as: Sora, Britannica School, Various AI tools, Discovery Education, Wonderopolis, and other sources. They will explore and share all of these tools. There will be question and answer sessions and will have time to work on lesson creation.
Session Two: Participants will be introduced to tools to be used by learners such as: Canva, Adobe Express, Hotspots, iCivics, and other sources. They will explore and share the resources. There will be Q&A and they will have time to work on lesson creation.
Here is the link for them to register: https://pulse.kickup.co/events/collection/d7eDnqxCNKMoyFuVNQsH8J/all-opportunities?eventType=session&pastEvents=false®istrationWindow=open_and_future&timeRange=00:00_23:59
Updates from Last Week
State Health Plan (from district): Open Enrollment in the State Health Plan will be conducted September 30th through October 25th. The State Health Plan is transitioning from Blue Cross NC to Aetna beginning January 1, 2025. Aetna State Health Plan Information Flyer
During Open Enrollment, all active State Health Plan members will automatically be enrolled in the Base PPO Plan (70/30) unless they take action to enroll into the Enhanced PPO Plan (80/20). Members will need to complete the tobacco attestation online during Open Enrollment to reduce premiums . With the transition to Aetna, members will need to select a new Primary Care Provider (PCP) during Open Enrollment.
Help sessions are available this year and will be held in the Administrative Center's Computer Lab on the first floor at 475 Corporate Square Drive in Winston-Salem. Times and dates are listed below:
WEDNESDAY 10/02/2024 10:00 AM TO 1:00 PM
WEDNESDAY 10/09/2024 1:00 PM TO 4:00 PM
FRIDAY 10/11/2024 9:00 AM TO 12:00 PM
MONDAY 10/14/2024 9:00 AM TO 12:00 PM
FRIDAY 10/18/2024 1:00 PM TO 4:00 PM
MONDAY 10/21/24 9:00 AM TO 12:00 PM
FRIDAY 10/25/24 9:00 AM TO 12:00 PM
Pumpkin Book Character Competition (from Ms. Lloyd): This year, same as last year, we are asking each homeroom class to decorate a pumpkin as a book character! We have had some great entries in the past and are looking forward to seeing them all! During Fall Festival on Saturday, 9/28, visitors to the book fair will be voting on their favorite pumpkin! There will be a PreK - 2nd & 3rd - 5th grade winner. The two winning classes will be awarded $100 each by Mr. Elkins to spend on their classroom!
Pumpkins are available by the front entrance. Please feel free to come and pick out the perfect pumpkin to decorate. Deadline to turn pumpkin in is by Friday September 27th. Bring it to the Media center and let either Mrs. Epperley or me know so we can assign a number and know who it belongs to!
Mclass Progress Monitoring: I am beginning to check that all K-5 teachers have started progress monitoring their students in Mclass. Please make sure this is part of your weekly routine. Here is the progress monitoring schedule so you know which students to focus on each week - Mclass/Dibels Progress Monitoring Schedule
Absence Notes: If a parent sends you an absent note via Dojo please screenshot it and text it to Ms. True. Ms. True's cell phone number is 336-403-0458.
Blood Drive: Our annual Fall Festival is coming up on September 28 🍂 The American Red Cross is holding a blood drive at the festival. If you would like to donate blood that day please sign up here:
Committee Minutes (from SIT): In an effort to make sure everyone is receiving the same information from committees, we are going to post the minutes from each committee meeting in the Weekly Wrap. That cuts out the middle man for departments/grade levels. One less thing for the rep to do and everyone hears the same info.
To make this even easier for everyone, we made copies of the minutes form we use at SIT. We use the same document for the entire year and add the newest meeting to the top, like we do PLT agendas. All the minutes will be accessible to everyone whenever they are needed. Please have whoever takes minutes for your committee use your form for 2024-2025. We added the committee chairs as editors so you can then share with whoever is your notetaker.
We're hoping this helps with communication throughout the building and takes one thing away from committee reps. Please let Ms. Gant know if you have any questions or trouble with the forms. Thanks!
PTA Dues & Hospitality Dues: We hope everyone will pay their PTA & Hospitality dues. We are shooting for 100% participation. Here are the links:
WS/FCS Interpreter Services: If you need a district interpreter, here is the link to request one. REQUEST FOR INTERPRETATION SERVICES LINK
IEP Minutes Document: Teachers will continue to take minutes during IEP meetings.
- Please delete verbs and suggested phrases from the document at the end of the meeting.
- Here is a link to the document: IEP Minutes Template
Upcoming Dates:
Sept. 28 - Fall Festival from 10:00-2:00
Oct. 1 - Kernersville Pharmacy flu shots 7:00-9:00
Oct. 1 - 3rd grade field trip- Edwards, Mabe, Vaden- Gbs. History Museum - 8:45-12:30
Oct. 1 - Tornado Drill @ 2:30
Oct. 1 - PTA Meeting @ 6:00
Oct. 2 - 3rd grade field trip- Gant, Lomax- Gbs. History Museum - 8:45-12:30
Oct. 3 - 4th grade field trip- Trex movies- 9:30-12:00
Oct. 3 - Gardner off campus @ 1:45
Oct. 3 - Baby shower @ 3:30 for Mrs. Peickert
Oct. 4 - 2nd grade field trip - Butterfly Farm 9:45-12:30
Oct. 4 - Earthquake Drill @ 10:30
Oct. 4 - 4th grade Pirate Day
Oct. 8 - EC Inclusive meetings (during planning in the Media Center)
Oct. 8 - SIT @ 3:30
Oct. 9 - Elkins @ Principal meeting (all day)
Oct. 10 - End of 1st quarter
Oct. 11 - Teacher Workday
Oct. 14 - Teacher Workday
Oct. 14 - Report Cards due to Ms. True
