Week of 3/2 - 3/6

Hey Panda Family,

Week 26 sure was sticky and sweet 🍦🍨 Don't forget to adjust your clocks for daylight savings time! 

Food Lion Math Night: Food Lion would like to get an initial count of the number of folks coming to Math Night on Thursday, March 12.  Please enter all RSVPs that you have gotten by Tuesday at 3 on this Google Doc so we can send those numbers to them.  Also, if you would like to volunteer, we still have spots available!  Scroll down to see the spots that still need to be filled. 

Tutoring: After-school tutoring starts this week for select 3rd-5th grade students. Please hold any tutoring students until the last bus is called each day. When the last bus is called you may dismiss your students to their tutor.

Teacher Intent: This message was sent from HR - The Teacher Notification of Intent web site is now open.  The link is available to teachers via the “Employees” link of the WS/FCS home page. All full-time teachers and instructional/student services staff need to complete an intent form. The deadline is 4:30 on March 20^th. Employees MUST be logged into the WS/FCS network to access the intent site.

Good Citizens: Please list your Good Citizen for the month of February by this Friday. Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KUNc0dOyCxyDY4skRF5jWzvo_EXhPX4aY3Sqt3VOJ64/edit?usp=sharing

Trash on campus: From Jose - Occasionally trash bags, boxes, etc. will be discarded on school grounds over night and left for us to clean up. If you happen to see any such trash please let Jose know so he can properly dispose of it. 

Fire Marshal: The Fire Marshal will be here soon for the spring inspection. We appreciate you working to eliminate the violations from the October inspection. Please remember that exit doors in classrooms must stay clear (5-6 blocks) at all times.

Retention: Any considerations for retention need to be shared with me and Ms. Gardner by March 27. A student must have at least a Supplemental Support Plan (SSP) to even be considered for retention.

Staff Spotlight: Thank you to Ms. Phillips, Ms. Lam, and Ms. Grubbs for presenting a wonderful PD session on Touch Math this past week! What a wonderful tool and strategy! 

Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Billock. Check it out! 

Lesson Plans: Friendly reminder that Lesson Plans should be posted to the PowerSchool Wiki the first day of each week by 8:00am.

IF Updates

FREE Word Ladders from Tim Rasinski: Take a look at Tim’s blog to get some of his free word ladders! 

Touch Math Presentation and Resources: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12Al-1-xXcBLU5zFT5lbB3QRcFp0YWG7FJe9tJmM_bvs/edit?usp=sharing 

Upcoming Dates:

March 9 - 13 - Book Fair
March 9 - Elkins @ college recruitment fair
March 9 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
March 10 - SIT @ 3:30
March 11 - Cake 4 a Cure (7:30 - 8:30 in workroom)
March 12 - Elkins @ Allotment Meeting 8:00 - 11:00
March 12 - FCAE Meeting @ 3:30
March 12 - Food Lion Math Night 5:30 - 7:30
March 13 - PTA Spring Dance 6:00 - 8:00
March 17 - Elkins @ Principals' Meeting 1:00 - 4:30
March 17 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
March 18 - Early Release Day (PTA Providing Lunch)
March 19 - 20 - Kindergarten Screening
March 20 - Science EOQ test (5th only)
March 23 - Spring Pictures
March 24 - ELA EOQ test
March 24 - SCC & MTAC Committees @ 3:30
March 25 - Math EOQ test
March 26 - Gardner @ NCI Training 
March 27 - Talent Show @ 1:15 & 6:30
March 27 - End of 3rd Quarter
March 30 - Teacher Workday (RS)
March 31 - PBIS & Wellness Committee @ 3:30
April 1 - Report Cards due to Ms. True
April 2 - Teacher Read Aloud PD @ 3:30 (K-5 teachers)
April 4 - District Career/Transfer Fair 8:00 - 12:00 @ LJVM Coliseum 

Math Night & PTA Dance this week! I hope you will join us for these events. Your kids loving seeing you outside the classroom 😊

Week of 2/24 - 2/28

Hey Panda Family,

Week 25 was a fun and eventful week! Boosterthon, registering new pandas, and a yummy PBIS event 🏃🐼🍪

Touch Math PD: This Thursday, March 5 we will have PD after-school on Touch Math presented by Ms. Phillips, Ms. Lam, and Ms. Grubbs. This is for all K-5 teachers. The PD will be in the media center and last from 3:30 - 4:30.

Boosterthon Assembly: This Friday, March 6 at 2:20 we will have our Boosterthon Assembly to celebrate getting all 50 states and meeting our fundraising goal. Ms. Gardner and I will become human ice cream sundaes! More information to come. 

Teacher Intent: This message was sent from HR this past week - The Teacher Notification of Intent web site is now open.  The link is available to teachers via the “Employees” link of the WS/FCS home page. All full-time teachers and instructional/student services staff need to complete an intent form. The deadline is 4:30 on March 20^th. Employees MUST be logged into the WS/FCS network to access the intent site.

March Drills: We will have lockdown and tornado drills along with our fire drill this month.  Please practice with your students, especially the lock down drill.

PBIS expectations: We feel a need to review PBIS expectations as a gentle reminder for our students regarding their behavior in the hallway, lunch room, playground, etc. We will be reviewing these expectations over the announcements this week. We ask that you continue these conversations during your Morning Meetings as well. 

Voting: On Tuesday, March 3, we will be a voting site. This will take place in our media center. Please do not send any students for check-out on Tuesday. Ms. Epperley will be in touch with her classes that day for where you will meet. 

Fire Marshal: The Fire Marshal will be here soon for the spring inspection. We appreciate you working to eliminate the violations from the October inspection. Please remember that exit doors in classrooms must stay clear (5-6 blocks) at all times.

Retention: Any considerations for retention need to be shared with me and Ms. Gardner by March 27. A student must have at least a Supplemental Support Plan (SSP) to even be considered for retention. 

Arts Council: Help support the Arts Council by donating! Click on the following link - https://5934.thankyou4caring.org/WSFCS

Read Across America Bingo: RAA Week is this week! I wanted to let you know that we will be playing RAA Bingo again over the announcements this week and the winning class will get a donut party. All of the books for the Bingo game will come from my Friday night read alouds on the school Facebook page. So, feel free to watch them with your class during read aloud time if you want a competitive advantage :) 

Here are a list of the books that I have read - Be a King, The Quickest Kid in Clarksville, Ron's Big Mission, The Gruffalo, Bear Snores On, Can I Join Your Club?, The Relatives Came, The Gingerbread Bear, Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun, The Amazing Turkey Rescue, The Prince and the Witch and the Thief and the Bears, Beekle, Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand, How I Became a Pirate, Do Unto Otters, Giraffes Can't Dance, Rosco vs. The Baby, We Don't Eat Our Classmates, Thelma the Unicorn, Whatif Monster, Dem Bones

Staff Spotlight: A huge shout out to 2nd & 3rd grade for organizing such a fun and creative PBIS event this past week! The kids really seemed to enjoy it. 

Also, thank you to everyone that helped out with Kindergarten Registration Day! It was a huge success. 

Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Finley. Check it out! 

Lesson Plans: Friendly reminder that Lesson Plans should be posted to the PowerSchool Wiki the first day of each week by 8:00am.

IF Updates

Touchmath PD on 3/5: Please bring about 40 small "incentive" stickers to the workshop for you to create a manipulative for your classroom.  They can be whatever shape you would like!

Food Lion Math Night: Math Night promises to be tons of fun!  They are going to have lots of giveaways, including basketball goals, gift baskets, and gift cards.  We will need to know approximate numbers so they can have enough supplies (including cake, chips, and goodie bags). Here is a google doc for you put how many students you think will attend.  If students don't return the little slip on the bottom of the flyer, then just ask for a show of hands.  Also we need volunteers for the night of the event.  I have put a sign up on the same link that you will use to tell how many students will attend.  Feel free to sign up for more than one time slot.  Thank you for your help with this!  

NC Children’s Book Award nominees: Each grade level has gotten the 10 nominees for the NC Children’s Book Award nominees.  We hope that you will enjoy reading these to your class.  Each grade level has one copy of each book to share.  Please coordinate reading the books aloud to your class so that you can vote for your favorite (see Mrs. Epperley's email for more information).  Here is the due date for the books to be read in order to vote:

Because and Can I Be A Dog? By 3/5

Potato Pants! And The Crayon Man by 3/10

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates and The Very Important Caterpillar by 3/13

The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet and The Word Collector by 3/18

Misunderstood Shark: Starring Shark by 3/20

Mixed: A Colorful Story by 3/24

Math Textbook Review: We will be holding math textbook reviews on March 3 and March 6 from 3:30-4:00 in room 126.  Please drop in during those times to review the materials and let me know which one you prefer. 

Pebble Go Research Tool: Go to this username www.pebblego.com/resources the username is pineyg and the password is school.  We hope you enjoy it! 

Red bags: If you happened to get a red McGraw-Hill bag in the mail, please send it my way.  They addressed the textbook samples to random teachers in the building so I just need to gather the materials so we can continue to review them. Thank you!

Upcoming Dates:

March 2 - Baby Shower for Ms. Jones @ 3:30
March 3 - Voting Day (Media Center closed)
March 3 - Math Textbook Review @ 3:30 in Room 126
March 3 - PBIS & Wellness Committee @ 3:30
March 5 - Touch Math PD @ 3:30 (Kinder - 5th grade)
March 6 - Boosterthon Assembly @ 2:20
March 6 - Math Textbook Review @ 3:30 in Room 126
March 9 - 13 - Book Fair
March 9 - Elkins @ college recruitment fair
March 9 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
March 10 - SIT @ 3:30
March 12 - FCAE Meeting @ 3:30
March 12 - Food Lion Math Night 5:30 - 7:30
March 13 - PTA Spring Dance 6:00 - 8:00
March 17 - Elkins @ Principals' Meeting 8:00 - 3:00
March 17 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
March 18 - Early Release Day
March 19 - 20 - Kindergarten Screening
March 20 - Science EOQ test (5th only)
March 23 - Spring Pictures
March 24 - ELA EOQ test
March 24 - SCC & MTAC Committees @ 3:30
March 25 - Math EOQ test
March 27 - Talent Show @ 1:15 & 6:30
March 27 - End of 3rd Quarter

In honor of Read Across America Week, please share your favorite children's or young adult books 📚. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

Week of 2/17 - 2/21

Hey Panda Family,

Took until Week 24 for our first Snow Day! ❄❄❄ Hope everyone has enjoyed the long weekend.

Discretionary Funds: **This is the last week you can spend your Discretionary Funds! Any funds left over will go back into the school pot for instructional items** Don't forget about your discretionary funds for instructional materials that was allotted at the beginning of the year. Your discretionary funds need to be spent by the end of February. Send items to me, or Ms. Gardner, for approval and then complete a prior purchase approval form for Pam (yellow sheet). If you need to know how much is left in your grade level/individual account, please email Pam. 

Friday Folders: Please send Friday Folders home on Monday since we missed last Friday due to snow.  

Boosterthon Lunch: 5th grade will go to lunch starting at 11:00. (See email from Ms. Gardner). All classes eat in their classrooms.  Trash bags will be provided.

PBIS Panda Chef Challenge: Tuesday, February 25th (K-2nd) & Friday, February 28th (3rd-5th)
We will make an announcement when students are to report to the cafeteria.

Fire Marshal: The Fire Marshal will be here soon for the spring inspection. We appreciate you working to eliminate the violations from the October inspection. Please remember that exit doors in classrooms must stay clear (5-6 blocks) at all times.

Countdown to Kindergarten (rescheduled): The district-wide registration event will be this Thursday, February 27 at every school from 10:00 - 6:30. Please wear Piney Grove items this day as we welcome new Panda Families!

Istation usage (K-3rd): In the first semester, our new superintendent asked all principals to begin monitoring Iready usage. I have been doing this for a couple of months now. I began doing the same for Istation (K-3rd) this week. Iready is a district mandated program and Istation is state mandated. Please make sure your students are meeting their allotted practice time each week. Students who are in green (levels 3, 4, 5) should be working on the prescribed Istation lessons for 30 minutes a week.  The students who are red and yellow should be working in Istation for 40+ minutes per week.  

Jayne has gotten some good ideas about how to improve the way we monitor student progress in Istation and will be attending another Istation training this Friday.  If you have specific questions you want her to address, send them to her so she can be sure she asks the presenters at her training.

Retention: Any considerations for retention need to be shared with me and Ms. Gardner by March 27. A student must have at least a Supplemental Support Plan (SSP) to even be considered for retention. 

Arts Council: Help support the Arts Council by donating! Click on the following link - https://5934.thankyou4caring.org/WSFCS

Read Across America Bingo: RAA Week will be coming up in March. I wanted to let you know that we will be playing RAA Bingo again over the announcements that week and the winning class will get a donut party. All of the books for the Bingo game will come from my Friday night read alouds on the school Facebook page. So, feel free to watch them with your class during read aloud time if you want a competitive advantage :) 

Here are a list of the books that I have read - The Quickest Kid in Clarksville, Ron's Big Mission, The Gruffalo, Bear Snores On, Can I Join Your Club?, The Relatives Came, The Gingerbread Bear, Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun, The Amazing Turkey Rescue, The Prince and the Witch and the Thief and the Bears, Beekle, Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand, How I Became a Pirate, Do Unto Otters, Giraffes Can't Dance, Rosco vs. The Baby, We Don't Eat Our Classmates, Thelma the Unicorn, Whatif Monster, Dem Bones

Staff Spotlight: Thank you to SCC and 5th grade for providing such a yummy lunch at our Early Release Day training! 

Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Cox. Check it out! 

Lesson Plans: Friendly reminder that Lesson Plans should be posted to the PowerSchool Wiki the first day of each week by 8:00am.

IF Updates

Math Night will be March 12 from 5:30-7:30 at the Food Lion at 980 South Main Street (behind Cookout).  Please mark your calendar!  A sign up sheet will come out soon so you can indicate when we can expect to see you.  There will be a $25 Food Lion gift card for the teacher who has the highest percentage of students attend!  There will also be cake, goodies, and give aways! 

Peer Observations: We would love to help you observe a peer doing something awesome!  Fill out this form to make sure we know that you are interested and what you would like to see.  After you fill out this form, you should hear from me within 2 days.  If you don’t, please follow up with me to ensure I don’t miss your request. 

Register for PLT: Please remember to register for PLT for 3^rd quarter in the PD system.

Promethean trainer at PGE: We are very lucky to have a Promethean trainer coming to Piney Grove on February 26.  Mark your calendar!  Each grade level will meet with the trainer during their planning time.  Please send me any specific things you would like to learn about during this session.  I have discussed other topics with the trainer, but if you have specific topics, I would love to request them.

Upcoming Dates:

February 24 - Boosterthon Fun Run (9:00 K-1st, 10:05 2nd-3rd, 1:45 4th-5th)
February 24 - Baby Shower for Ms. Berrier @ 3:30
February 25 - Testing Team Meeting @ 7:30
February 25 - SCC & Media Committee @ 3:30
February 26 - Promethean Board Training (during grade level planning)
February 27 - Kindergarten Registration Day from 10:00 - 6:30
February 28 - Grade Level Discretionary Funds must be spent by this date
March 2 - Baby Shower for Ms. Jones @ 3:30
March 3 - PBIS & Wellness Committee @ 3:30
March 5 - Touch Math PD @ 3:30 (Kinder - 5th grade)
March 9 - 13 - Book Fair
March 9 - Elkins @ college recruitment fair
March 9 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
March 10 - SIT @ 3:30
March 12 - FCAE Meeting @ 3:30
March 12 - Food Lion Math Night 5:30 - 7:30
March 13 - PTA Spring Dance 6:00 - 8:00
March 17 - Elkins @ Principals' Meeting 8:00 - 3:00
March 17 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
March 18 - Early Release Day
March 19 - 20 - Kindergarten Screening
March 23 - Spring Pictures

I was given 3 free pass to Countryside Bowling Lanes in Kernersville. First three people to respond in the comments section below will get them! 🎳

Week of 2/10 - 2/14

Hey Panda Family,

Week 23 was full of chocolates and sweets! And a little Wild West fun :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day 💕💚🤠

SIT: Reminder that SIT will meet at 3:30 this Tuesday, February 18.

2/19 Early Release Day: We will begin at 1:15 with lunch provided by SCC (thank you SCC!)  Please plan to stay until 4:00.  We will be covering more information about types of differentiation and reviewing reading adoptions.  See you in the media center at 1:15!

Istation usage (K-3rd): In the first semester, our new superintendent asked all principals to begin monitoring Iready usage. I have been doing this for a couple of months now. I will also begin doing the same for Istation (K-3rd) beginning this week. Iready is a district mandated program and Istation is state mandated. Please make sure your students are meeting their allotted practice time each week. Students who are in green (levels 3, 4, 5) should be working on the prescribed Istation lessons for 30 minutes a week.  The students who are red and yellow should be working in Istation for 40+ minutes per week.  

Jayne has gotten some good ideas about how to improve the way we monitor student progress in Istation and will be attending another Istation training next Friday.  If you have specific questions you want her to address, send them to her so she can be sure she asks the presenters at her training.

IReady/Istation Motivation: Find fun ways to motivate your students on Iready or Istation. Incorporate sticker charts for completing their time usage, go to the prize box for growth or lessons completed, find ways to make it competitive. They are tons of ways to motivate. If you need help brainstorming come find us! Also, ask an upper teacher or Jayne about Iready Central - tons of great ideas on this website. 

Random Acts of Kindness: February 17-21 is Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week.  Student Council is encouraging each class to complete random acts of kindness to celebrate.  Your class should have received a yellow Random Acts of Kindness board with 16 different tasks.  (Let Ms. Vaden know if you need a copy.)  Please post this outside your room, ask your students to complete these tasks, and they should let you know so you can either have them sign the box or mark it off.  Once all acts of kindness have been marked, please email Ms. Vaden and she'll get you a certificate.  If you complete your board and want another, she can email you another copy or a blank board that you can customize with your class.  Be on the lookout for a RAK Week challenge for teachers!

Retention: Any considerations for retention need to be shared with me and Ms. Gardner by March 27. A student must have at least a Supplemental Support Plan (SSP) to even be considered for retention. 

Arts Council: Help support the Arts Council by donating! Click on the following link - https://5934.thankyou4caring.org/WSFCS

Read Across America Bingo: RAA Week will be coming up in March. I wanted to let you know that we will be playing RAA Bingo again over the announcements that week and the winning class will get a donut party. All of the books for the Bingo game will come from my Friday night read alouds on the school Facebook page. So, feel free to watch them with your class during read aloud time if you want a competitive advantage :) 

Discretionary Funds: Don't forget about your discretionary funds for instructional materials that was allotted at the beginning of the year. Your discretionary funds need to be spent by the end of February. Send items to me, or Ms. Gardner, for approval and then complete a prior purchase approval form for Pam (yellow sheet). If you need to know how much is left in your grade level/individual account, please email Pam.   

Staff Spotlight: Thank you to everyone for working so hard to complete your mid-year parent/teacher conferences! We continue to be impressed by your dedication to your students and families 😊



Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Mathis. Check it out! 

Lesson Plans: Friendly reminder that Lesson Plans should be posted to the PowerSchool Wiki the first day of each week by 8:00am.

IF Updates

Math and Reading Adoption Materials: We are starting to get samples of potential reading and math adoptions!  I can’t wait to show them to you.  If you see them sitting out, don’t peek!

iReady make up session: If you were not able to attend the iReady rescheduled after school PD session, please let me know.  I am finding out when other Kernersville schools are doing their PD sessions so you can attend one of those. 

Register for PLT: Please remember to register for PLT for 3^rd quarter in the PD system.

Promethean trainer at PGE: We are very lucky to have a Promethean trainer coming to Piney Grove on February 26.  Mark your calendar!  Each grade level will meet with the trainer during their planning time.  Please send me any specific things you would like to learn about during this session.  I have discussed other topics with the trainer, but if you have specific topics, I would love to request them.

Upcoming Dates:

February 18 - Elkins @ Principal's Meeting 8:00 - 3:00
February 18 - SIT @ 3:30

February 19 - Early Release Day

February 20 - Kindergarten Registration Day from 10:00 - 6:30
February 21 - Boosterthon Fun Run (9:00 K-1st, 10:05 2nd-3rd, 11:10 4th-5th)
February 21 - Baby Shower for Ms. Jones @ 3:30
February 24 - Baby Shower for Ms. Berrier @ 3:30
February 25 - Testing Team Meeting @ 7:30
February 25 - SCC & Media Committee @ 3:30
February 26 - Promethean Board Training (during grade level planning)
February 28 - Grade Level Discretionary Funds need to be spent by this date
March 3 - PBIS & Wellness Committee @ 3:30
March 5 - Touch Math PD @ 3:30 (Kinder - 5th grade)
March 9 - 13 - Book Fair
March 9 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
March 10 - SIT @ 3:30
March 12 - FCAE Meeting @ 3:30
March 12 - Food Lion Math Night (time TBD)
March 13 - PTA Spring Dance 6:00 - 8:00

In the comments section below, share an example of a Random Act of Kindness that someone has done for you in the past that you really appreciated - then pick one and go do it for someone on a different grade level or department! Share the Piney Grove family love this week 🐼