~ Spirit Week:
October 29^th: Dress for Success
October 30^th: Favorite Team Tuesday 
October 31^st: Favorite Character Day 
November 1^sT: Pajama Day 
November 2^nd: School Color Day: Wear Blue and Gold 

~Walk through Focus:
For the week of October  29th - November 2nd the focus will remain on Learning Targets and Morning Meeting.  Please ensure that your LT's are posted, you refer to them throughout your lesson, students can read, paraphrase and understand them.

~SOAR Posters and expectations:
Please ensure that the SOAR posters are posted and visible in your classroom (they were in the SOAR folder that was given to you on our first Supt. Conference Day)
Please refer to them as you correct inappropriate behavior and promote appropriate behavior.
Please take sometime during class meetings to review and provide models/examples of appropriate. 
Please continue to speak about SOAR bucks and find opportunities to give them to students.

~Important Dates:
Picture Day - October 29^th
Spirit Week - October 29th.  Please see the Spirit Week flyer and participate in this event with our students. 

Scholastic Book Fair  -  November 2^nd through 9^th 9 -11:30 AM and 1:30-3:00 PM

School No. 16 Basketball Program - November 5^th (Information was sent home with students in grades 4 - 6th)

Family Reading Night  -  November 8^th 5:30-7:00 PM 

Superintendent’s Conference Day - November 6^th (no school for students)
Veterans Day - November 12^th (all facilities are closed)

10.22.18

~Grade Level Meetings: On Oct. 22nd and Oct. 29th the coaches from ELA Dept. will facilitate our grade level meetings.  Please prepare for these meetings by taking some time to reflect on the following questions; What are the components of a high quality ELA block and how should the time be broken up? What does a high quality phonics lesson look like? ( what should it entail?) How do you set up for guided reading, and what does it look like? Please bring your laptops to the meeting and be on time. Below are the norms that were suggested by staff on the needs assessment survey.  Collaboratively we will work together to ensure we are following these norms and that are time together is productive. NORMS: ·     Put students first ·     Be on time/prepared ·     Be respectful ·     Be focused ·     Be sure to bring materials for the meeting that you were asked to bring ·     Come with an open mind ~Intervention/LLI: Our LLI block gives us another opportunity to focus on sharing a passion for Reading, Teaching and Learning with our students.   Here are some tips to help you maximize this time:    -Use the 30 (first grade) or 45 minute lesson framework to structure the time    -Be intentional in your focus—get the students engaged in reading and incorporate progress-Monitoring    -Get creative with resources; it’s OK to substitute materials as needed    -Do your best (and forget the rest)!!! ~ Ready Teacher Toolbox: We have an awesome resource for you to use. Please read the information attached from Our Math Department about the Ready Teacher ToolboxJ  We will dive deeper into this resource at our grade level meetings.  However, DON’T wait until then to explore and use it as a resource. The Math Department has made Ready Teacher Toolbox a central piece of their Math Intervention Guides (click HERE) Our  school has a unique code (see below) that teachers must use during their registration process.  While each teacher will have a unique registration, you will all use this school code to set up your account. They have purchased Math licenses only.  The Math Department  has bought enough licenses for all of our teachers in Grades 3-6. If you have any difficulties with registration, please call Ready Customer Service at 1-800-225-0248. Go to www.Teacher-Toolbox.com to register. Code: M1Q1F7DN9FHX

~Assemblies: On October 26th, we will have our first monthly assembly.  Please discuss assembly behavior with your students prior to coming.  The assembly will be held in the cafe. Grades K - 3 will be at 2 PM and grades 4 - 6 will be at 10 AM. ~Walk through Focus: Our walk through focus will continue to be on Learning Targets and Morning Meeting.  Administration is now using the electronic tool to provide you feedback from a walk through visit. ~Update from Superintendent Barbara Deane-Williams:  We often talk about our commitment to “Every student by face and name.” This is a promise to ensure our children have a safe and nurturing environment at school to learn and grow to their potential. You delivered on that promise by responding quickly and working with colleagues and city and county officials to ensure our students had a productive day and arrived home safely.  We can continue to help our students feel safe by establishing a strong sense of security, talking with them openly about their fears, and assuring them that schools are safe places. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) also recommends strategies, which are detailed in the resource “Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers.”  Thank you, again, for your calm and caring professionalism, and for your dedication to our students.   Sincerely, Barbara Deane-Williams ~Updates from the Office of Student Support Services and Social Emotional Learning: Restorative Times newsletter. Please contact Ruth Turner with any questions.  ~Upcoming Dates: Monthly Assembly - Friday, October 26th, 2018  Superintendents Conference Day  - Tuesday, November 6th, 2018 Veterans Day (all facilities closed) - November 12th, 2018 Thanksgiving Recess - Wednesday, November 21st - November 23rd, 2018

10.15.18










Instructional Updates:

~Assessments:
Please be sure you have completed all of your NWEA ELA and Math Assessments for each student, a DRA for each student and AIMSwebPlus Assessments (Oct. 19th). All data should be entered into the data logs in google by the dates below.

Data recording deadlines: 

DRA’s - October 3rd

NWEA - October 12^th 

AIMSwebPlus  - October 19th 

~Zearn:

Zearn is an instructional expectation.   

We are reviewing class reports and monitoring usage time per class every week.

Please take note of the following Zearn expectations;

·       Each class 1 - 5 should use the 50/50 model (30 minutes on Zearn and 30 minutes of small group instruction)

·       Zearn usage time of 120 minutes per week

·       Each student should have an average of 4 lessons a week

We have noticed that there are many classes that are significantly below the 120 minutes goal.

Please log into your Zearn account and review how many minutes your class is averaging a week.

Beginning this week, we ask that you aim to meet a goal of 100 minutes this week and work towards completing 120 minutes by the end of October 26^th, 2018.

By the end of this week aim for each student to have completed at least two lessons.

By the end of October 26^th, 2018 each student should complete 4 lessons a week.

Administration, Jeff Mikols and Jeff Good are willing to meet with you and support you with reaching these goals.

Administration will continue to review each class report for Zearn and monitor the completed goals and usage time consistently.

~Walk to Learn Intervention:

The instructional time for our Walk to Learn Intervention classes will increase to 45 minutes with the exception of first grade. First grade intervention block will remain 30 minutes.

WTL Intervention classes for grade 1 will begin on October 17^th, 2018

WTL Intervention classes for grades 2 – 6 will begin at a later date.  Information on when intervention classes for these grades levels is forth coming.

Please be sure to provide intervention to your students at this time by using www.interventioncentral.org

~Walk through focus:
The week of Oct 8- Nov. 2nd, 2018 our Walkthrough focus areas will be Morning meetings and Learning targets.  Please ensure you have kid friendly LT posted, you refer to them throughout your lesson and your students are aware of them and what they mean.  Also, be sure you are conducting your Morning Meeting each day and using all of the MM components.

~Upcoming Dates:
Superintendents Conference Day  - Tuesday, November 6th, 2018
Veterans Day (all facilities closed) - November 12th, 2018
Thanksgiving Recess - Wednesday, November 21st - November 23rd, 2018

~Upcoming School - Based Professional Development Opportunities:

 

     10.9.18


Principal's Message:
Greetings faculty, as the proud principal of John Walton Spencer school number 16 I would like to express how excited I am to be your school leader!
Nothing would make me any prouder, than having a dedicated, hard working team, who will go above and beyond to support what's best for our students.
To begin this journey, I must continue to reiterate the importance of being present and prepared to engage our children with positive experiences at school on a daily basis!
We can't afford to watch or talk about it!
Everyone must be apart of the work that needs to be done (Effective teaching and learning)!
I need a team that is willing to take our work seriously enough to serve as courageous, positive role models, plan relevant, engaging lessons for all students, have positive and supporting conversations with our children as well as do whatever it takes to make a difference, I need you to be the difference!

We all have a lot at stake, our students are the future! 

When we tell our story, yours and theirs, will be threaded throughout! 

Let's make sure it is a good story. A story that reflects resilience, growth, teamwork and that success is the end result! 

Lastly, I hope that  you gained some insight, knowledge and/or awareness about implicit bias, learning outcomes, the next generation learning standards, "Rochester Style".  This day gave us an opportunity to reflect, share and collaborate together. 

As a district and school, we will continue to plan and adjust learning around two key questions "what should students know & what should students be able to do & be like at the end of the year"?  

Principal Open Office Hours:

Tuesday  1:15-2:00  

Wednesday 11-12:30 

Thursday 12:15-1:15 

Friday 11:30-12:15  

Arrival and breakfast:
Arrival procedures have been much smoother the past couple weeks.  Most students are arriving and have entered the building by 9:05 with the exception of one or two late buses. Please take some time to reflect upon the arrival process, students entering the building and breakfast procedures and send L. Garrow and feedback that you have.  We are always looking at ways to work together as a team to improve our school - wide systems and processes.

Morning Meeting:
Please take some time to reflect on how Morning Meetings are going in your classroom and provide feedback to the team and administration.  Please send your feedback to L. Garrow and E. Cole via email.


Dismissal:
All walkers will be dismissed after the buses depart approx. 3:40.  All walkers will be picked up by the same adult who gets students who are picked up by their parents & taken to the gym.
In addition to the teacher who has been  students who get picked up to the gym, Ms. Michel will get the second graders and third grade walkers and Mrs. Agnitti will get the fourth and fifth grader walkers.  These students along with the students who get picked up by their parents will be picked up from your classroom approx. 3:20.


Station Rotations:
Each year we plan three station rotation events (fall, winter and spring) for our students to visit and learn/practice our school - wide expectations. The fall schedule has been sent out to you via email and also is posted under the PBIS/SOAR section of this blog.  The first set of rotations will begin tomorrow. It is our expectation that you follow the schedule and adhere to the times listed.  Please accompany your students to each rotation and be sure they are demonstrating appropriate behavior as our facilitators are teaching the expectations. If you have any questions, please see L. Garrow

Walk through focus:
The week of Oct 8- Nov. 2nd, 2018 our Walkthrough focus areas will be Morning meetings and Learning targets.  Please ensure you have kid friendly LT posted, you refer to them throughout your lesson and your students are aware of them and what they mean.  Also, be sure you are conducting your Morning Meeting each day and using all of the MM components.

Upcoming Dates:
Columbus Day (all facilities closed) - Monday, October 8th, 2018
Parent Teacher Conferences - Tuesday, October 9th, 2018
Superintendents Conference Day  - Tuesday, November 6th, 2018
Veterans Day (all facilities closed) - November 12th, 2018
Thanksgiving Recess - Wednesday, November 21st - November 23rd, 2018