Mr. Elkins' Weekly Wrap: March 2025

Hey Panda Family,

Thank you to everyone for the great start to our Boosterthon fundraiser! We have already raised over $8,000 for our school and we still have a whole week to go. We couldn't do it without your help, support, and promotion. Keep it up! Fun Run details are below! Have a great weekend! Only 8 weeks to go! 🐼

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:

New Updates

Boosterthon Fun Run: The Boosterthon Fun Run will be next Friday, April 4. We will have the Fun Run outside. Please click on this document for the full details and schedule - Fun Run Schedule & Details

Fun Run Schedule

9:00 - 2nd & 3rd Grade
10:00 - Kinder & 1st Grade
11:00 - 4th & 5th Grade

Incident Reports: One of the problem areas from the Sedge Garden investigation deals with incident reports and lack of reporting. This is just a friendly reminder that when a student gets hurt here at school please make sure to apply care, contact the parents, and complete the yellow incident report form (these are located in the office). If you have any questions regarding incident reports please reach out to Mr. Elkins.

Infinite Campus Courses: If you have completed your registration for Infinite Campus you should have begun receiving some emails about webinars and trainings. I have checked with the IT department and you do need to start completing these. You can complete these lessons at your own pace.

April Drills: Fire drill. It will be unannounced.

Terms of Employment for 2025-2026 (from the district): The purpose of this communication is to provide you with the attached Terms of Employment and Staff Calendars for the 2025-2026 school year. Additionally, we are listing a few important updates and reminders below.

Pre-Service Days: All pre-service days (RS, PD, RT) are required for all employee staff who are under terms of employment. Annual Leave (AL) will not be approved on these days, as attendance is required to ensure we are prepared to welcome students on the first day of school.
RT Days after the first student day: On the other five RT days, employees may take AL days if the RT days are within their terms of employment. 10-month employees who positions permit remote work may telework on the RT days on December 22, 2025, and January 2, 2026
RS/PD Days on August 5 and 6: The professional development (PD) days on August 5 and 6 will be designated separately for elementary and secondary staff, with one day allocated for each group. The remaining day will serve as an RS (Reserved) day for schools.
RS Days after the first student day: Employees may be approved for Annual Leave on RS days with supervisor approval and if their job group does not have professional development.
Specific employee groups (such as Teacher Assistants and certain support staff) have designated mandatory R days, as detailed in the Terms of Employment document.
Inclement weather makeup days are noted by a snowflake symbol on April 6, and May 26-29. In the event of an inclement weather day, the day becomes an RT day for 215-day employees unless otherwise stated. The district is developing a clearer specific code structure for inclement weather days for next year which will be shared in August.
May 29 indicates the last paid employment date for the 215-day school year. Please note that this date may be adjusted due to inclement weather, which could result in changes to the calendar.

Please ensure you review the Terms of Employment and the attached 2025-2026 Staff Calendar to understand the expectations for your role. If you have any questions regarding your specific schedule, please reach out to your supervisor or the Human Resources department.

Thank you for your commitment to ensuring a successful start to the 2025-2026 school year. We appreciate your dedication and look forward to another great year ahead.

2025-26 Terms of Service Document

2025-26 Staff Calendar

SCC Baseball Game Event: Come join SCC for a fun family evening of baseball!! On April 2^nd The Dash is doing a special promotional game with tickets being just $0.52!!!! We are sending this out now so you can get a good seat. We plan on sitting in section 110, just to the left of behind home plate. We do NOT have a plan for exact seats, just a section of where we want to be. See the information below and click the link to purchase your tickets. Limited Time Offer - Grab your tickets to the Future Sox Showdown for just $0.52 when you use promo code SOX52! Celebrate the combined years the Dash and Cannon Ballers have been affiliates of the Chicago White Sox with this special limited time ticket deal, the regular ticket price for this event is $5.

Click the link below to view the tickets.

Baseball Ticket Link

Student Work: Please make sure to continue to post student work outside your classroom. I love seeing the beautiful work our students have completed!

PBIS Event: PBIS is hosting a new "event" this year - Panda Personalization (aka Make It Yours). Students will pay their classroom teacher 75 Paw Bucks to receive a personalized item. They will choose their item (clipboard, water bottle, hairbrush, beach ball, or sunglasses), font, and font color. (There is also an option for students to only get their name in vinyl to put on an item of their choosing. The price is still 75 Paw Bucks.)

Teachers, once your student pays you can either have them complete the Google Form to "order" or you can help them complete it. All orders are due by Thursday, April 10.

Items will be delivered to them sometime in May once personalization is complete.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your PBIS rep.

Shout-out 🎉: From Carol Mason - shout-out to the Specialist team! Always working together to support each other. I got sick last Friday and my team took my last class so I could go to the doctor. Thank you!

Updates from Last Week

PTA Reimbursements: All PTA reimbursements are due by April 30. Please make sure you keep your receipt. Here is the link to complete your reimbursement request - PTA Reimbursement Link

Updated Piney Grove Calendar: Please take time to review the PGE Event Calendar 2024-2025. We have added EOG Dates, adjusted Awards Day celebrations, and set a date for 5th grade graduation. Please review and mark your calendar accordingly. Here is a link to the calendar: PGE Event Calendar 2024-2025
Awards Celebrations
Kindergarten - May 16 @ 10:00
1st Grade - May 14 @ 12:00
2nd Grade - May 16 @ 12:00
3rd Grade - May 20 @ 10:00
4th Grade - May 20 @ 12:00
5th Grade - May 21 @ 10:00
EOG Dates
Reading EOG - May 13
Math EOG - May 15
Science EOG - May 19
Read to Achieve - May 19

PGE Substitute List: Here is the updated list - PGE Substitute List.

Committee Minutes: Please review the updated committee minutes.

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:

PGE Event Calendar 2024-2025

Mar. 31 - Gardner off campus

Apr. 1 - 3^rd grade field trip - 8:45-12:30

Apr. 1 - PBIS and MTAC meetings @ 3:30

Apr. 2 - 3^rd grade field trip - 8:45-12:30

Apr. 4 - Boosterthon Fun Run - Schedule here

Apr. 7 - 11 - Complete iReady Reading Diagnostic

Apr. 8 - Elkins off campus

Apr. 8 - Spring Pictures with Lifetouch- Media Center- Schedule here

Apr. 8 - SIT @ 3:30

Apr. 9 - Elkins @ Principal's meeting

Apr. 9 - 3-5 Math Check-In

Apr. 10 - Kindergarten field trip - Zoo - 8:30-2:30

Apr. 11 - Gardner @ AP meeting

Apr. 15 - Spring Music Program @ 8:45

Apr. 15 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30

Apr. 15 - Spring Music Program @ 6:30

Apr. 16 - 1st grade field trip

Apr. 16 - 4th grade field trip

Apr. 17 - Field Day

Hey Panda Family,

In just a few weeks we will begin end-of-year testing and it will continue through the month of May. A lot of factors will play into the success and growth of our students on these tests: have we taught all the standards, have the students had enough time to practice and prepare, did they get a good night sleep the night before. Some of these things we have control of and some of these things are out of our control. Of the things we can control the most important factor is the positive culture, positive climate, and positive relationships we have within our classroom and with our students during this final quarter. If they feel your love, your desire for them to be successful, and your authenticity then they will give their best effort when it matters most 💚🐼

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:

New Updates

Boosterthon: Please see the Boosterthon items for this week.

Boosterthon Kickoff (Gym)

Thursday, March 27
1:30 - 3rd, 4th, 5th grade
2:00 - PreK, K, 1st, 2nd

Boosterthon Teacher Meeting (Media Center)

Thursday, March 27
PreK - 5th grade teachers
3:30 - 4:00

Boosterthon Huddles (Gym)

Begin on Friday, March 28
First 15 minutes of each Specials
All Specialists and K-5 teachers will attend

Updates from Principal Meeting: This week I had my monthly District Principals' Meeting. Here are some important updates:

All new staff laptops will work immediately after you receive them. I spoke with several principals whose staff have already gotten new laptops and there have been no issues.

Please make sure you complete your Infinite Campus Registration. All staff received an email with instructions for creating your account. This is not spam. Infinite Campus is replacing PowerSchool state-wide. If you need any help please ask a colleague or come see me and I will be happy to help you.

In the next year, all Classified timesheets will transition to an electronic portal and will no longer be paper-based. More information to come!

Staff Laptop Deployment: Our school deployment date is: 03/28/2025 (this is next Friday)

All staff that are currently assigned a laptop will receive a new laptop. This includes all full time classified and certified staff and long term subs. Daily subs, custodial staff, and any part time staff (such as tutors and community coaches) do not receive a laptop.

Our official Staff Laptop Announcement was sent out last December to all staff. This announcement contains important information regarding the preparation and expectations for deployment day.

Along with devices, Technology will provide staff to support the deployment at your school. Click on the template link to see what time frame you will pick up your laptop on March 28: School Schedule Template

Panda Chef PBIS Reward: The Panda Chef PBIS reward will be Friday, March 28 for any of your students that have paid their paw bucks and signed up. It will be located in the cafeteria. Here are the times:

9:30 - 2nd & 3rd grade
10:15 - 1st & 5th grade
2:00 - Kinder & 4th grade

Please Help: Please monitor your students when they are clearing off their lunch trays in the trash cans. There's been extra food on the floor by the garbage cans recently which causes a mess. Thank you for your help with this!