The Academy Weekly Memo: November 6-10

 Dear Academy Friends, 

Together: "You have deeply impacted students, too. Some of them will tell you about your impact and many may never tell you, but you are leaving a legacy. You are giving others the strength to move forward, the strength to believe in themselves, the strength to try make this world a better place. Knowing this makes being an educator so meaningful."-Meghan Lawson

I. Praise and Thanks: 

• Thanks to Tomache' Jones for being such a positive and professional presence in our Main Office! I appreciate her customer service and can-do spirit for others. I appreciate Tomache' exemplifying the Portrait Element of "Committing to being punctual, present, resilient, and dependable."
• Thanks to Denise Gallimore, Carla Clayton, Barbara Lewis, and Jazz Brown for representing the Academy at the Kaleideum Trunk & Treat last weekend. It was a warm afternoon passing out candy, but they did it with joyful smiles. I appreciate them exemplifying the Portrait element of "being a team player who is committed to doing what is best for students."
• Thanks to Kim Britt and RaChelle Wood for facilitating a solid parent-teacher conference. i appreciate the professionalism, compassion, and collaboration they demonstrated. I appreciate them both exemplifying the Portrait Element of "working in collaborative teams and take collective responsibility for student learning."
• Thanks to Jessica Hill for her hard work in helping to organize the PTO Family Movie Night. It was a fun and pleasant event for our mini-Mountaineers. I appreciate Jessica exemplifying the Portrait element of "being a team player who is committed to doing what is best for students."

II. Hospitality Winners!

• Congratulations to Kori Trainor and Alexa McDonough! They each won a Sheetz Gift Card from the Hospitality Design Team for paying their dues! If you have not done so, there is still time to do so. Let's go for 100%! I will add $25 Amazon Gift Card for the next drawing. Pay your hospitality dues to Melanie Hicks-Lane or Jessica Hill. We will have our next drawing on Thursday! You have to pay your dues in order to qualify for the drawing.

III. This Week's Events:

Monday, November 6:

• Don't forget to pay your Hospitality Dues!

Tuesday, November 7: Make-Up Picture Day

• 7:15 a.m.-Faculty/Staff Group Re-Take Picture: Meet in Gym
• 3:00 p.m.-S.I.T. Meeting

Wednesday, November 8:

• Data Meetings: Part 1
• 8:30-9:15 a.m.-Grades 2-3
• 10:20-11:05 a.m.-Grades K-1
• 12:15-1:00 p.m.-Grades 4-5
• 9:30-10:30 a.m.-Care Team Meeting
• 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.-Second Harvest Food Bank Board Meeting-Media Center
• 12:00 p.m.-Hikers of the Week Names Due to Darron Daniels
• 3:00 p.m.-Curriculum Coaches' Meeting

Thursday, November 9:

• Report Cards Go Home with Students
• 8:00 a.m.-Schoolwide Morning Meeting via Zoom
• Data Meetings: Part 2
• 8:30-9:15 a.m.-Grades 2-3
• 10:20-11:05 a.m.-Grades K-1
• 12:15-1:00 p.m.-Grades 4-5

Friday, November 10: Veterans Day Observed-No School

IV. Reminders and Updates

A. Dismissal Procedure Update

• Staring on Monday, we will stagger dismissal in a more intentional way. 
• At 2:25 p.m., an announcement will be made for Car Riders to move to their regular, designated spots.
• At 2:30 p.m., an announcement will be made for Bus Riders to move to the gym. 
• We do need all hands on deck for dismissal, so please be active and vigilant in supervising our students. 

B. Schoolwide Recess:

• We begin new Schoolwide Recess steps for 2nd Quarter starting on Monday. 
• Information was shared in the Friday Morning Memo e-mail:
• Thanks to the feedback shared at the Solutions Summitt facilitated by Coach Phelps some changes and improvements have been made. We are opening a new zone for grade levels to interact together. I have shared this information with Curriculum Coaches and they will speak with their respective teams about the coverage rotation for this new zone. Click here for more information. 

C. Parent-Teacher Conferences:

• Report Cards go home on November 9. 
• Please be prepared to facilitate conversations with parents on your students' progress. 
• Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled on the school calendar to take place November 13-21. A Google Form will be sent to all teachers later this week which will serve as documentation that the parent-teacher conference took place.

D. H.I.K.E. Positive Office Referrals:

• We have begun our first positive phone calls home this past Friday! Thanks to Alix Denny for referring two of her students. 
• We want to celebrate our students in a special way using the H.I.K.E. Office Referral.
• All you need to do is complete the form when you catch a student doing H.I.K.E. in a very special way.
• Students receiving an office referral will be called to the office and receive a surprise celebration.
• I will call home to brag on the student demonstrating H.I.K.E. Students will also receive a special certificate. The goal is to uplift our mini-Mountaineers as we all hike up to the mountaintop together.
• Use the link here to make a H.I.K.E. Office Referral. The link is also available on the hub.

E. Data Meetings This Week

• Grade Span Teams are to plan to be in attendance for Data Meetings.
• We are planning to use the ATLAS data planning protocoal.
• These meetings will take place during planning periods on November 8th and 9th.
• Our purpose is to analyze assessment data and develop an intentional plan for next steps.
• Be on the lookout for some preliminary activities which will need completion prior to these data meetings.
• All Curriculum Coaches, Classroom Teachers, Interventionists, Teacher Assistants, and Academic Tutors must plan to be in attendance at these very important meetings. ML and EC Teachers can schedule accordingly to attend.
• We will follow a specific data protocol for analysis, reflection, and the implementation of next steps.
• These meetings will occur throughout the year. Our focus for these first meetings will be on Math. We will spend some time with reading data after these scheduled math-focused data.
• Stay tuned for information on data meeting locations.
• Here is the rundown for focus of each of these meetings:

• Kinder/1st Grade Span

  Day 1: November 8, 2023

  Math Pre/Post Assessment Data

  
  

  Day 2: November 9, 2023

  Math Instructional Plan and Pacing

  Discussion of Math Workshop Groups

  
  

  2nd/3rd Grade Span

  Day 1: November 8, 2023

  Math Pre/Post Assessment Data

  NC Check-In Data for 3rd Grade - Math

  
  

  Day 2: November 9, 2023

  Math Instructional Plan and Pacing

  Discussion of Math Workshop Groups

  
  

  4th/5th Grade Span

  Day 1: November 8, 2023

  Math Pre/Post Assessment Data

  NC Check-In Data for 4th and 5th Grade - Math

  NC Check-In Data for Science

  
  

  Day 2: November 9, 2023

  Discussion of Math Workshop Groups

  Math Pacing