Seventeen and Three

Happy Staff Appreciation Week!  Thank you so much for working at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School.  I say all the time, there is no substitute for you.  The administrative staff greatly appreciate your commitment to student achievement and creating a culture of learning and growth.  Thank you for being assertive, demanding, patient, and productive when working with students, families and one another.  I love our staff and appreciate all you do to support our students.



I read editorials in the Courier Journal today.  The first was written by a kindergarten teacher at Maupin Elementary, Jenna Fracasso, entitled Struggling Schools Can't Thrive if Experienced Teachers Bail.  She discussed the challenges of working in a priority school among students with great need and a transient teacher population.   She went on to say that her teacher prep program did not provide experiences to prepare her for her first two teaching jobs -- a charter school that closed at the end of her first year and now Maupin.  Jenna's point was that she loves the kids she works with and is committed to their learning.  She wants to spread the message that experienced teachers are needed at our toughest schools to support the achievement and development of our most vulnerable students.

A second editorial was written by Latascha Craig, We Must Help our Hurting Kids, Meet Their Needs to Fix Schools.  Craig is the family resource coordinator for Foster Traditional Academy.  In her article, she discusses childhood trauma, mental illness, and adverse conditions that affect student learning and growth.  She offered the following:

Because children are born with an instinct to survive, they often find ways to adapt to traumatic experiences in an effort to live.  However, the absence of parental guidance in the form of limitless love, support and structure is almost as damning as the effects of physical, sexual, emotional abuse and social and educational neglect.

The social nurturing that our children receive from us as adults is how we equip them for survival and achievement in all areas of development.  This is greater than one parent's responsibility can reach.  It will  always require a village to ensure that our children receive all that they need to become who they are purposed to be in this life.  Even in the midst of traumatic experiences, we can nurture them in a way that helps them to not only survive the effects, but negate their lasting impacts.

I offer these two articles as a testament to perseverance as all our students need the commitment, high expectations, and strong work ethic of effective school staff.  Secondly, as models for leading where you are.  The two articles are from JCPS employees who are dedicated to student success and show up daily to do the work.  We have a strong team at King and our commitment to continuous growth will drive our mission to provide rigorous, engaging instruction and remove barriers to learning, so students believe in their own ability to achieve success.

K-PREP Testing

• We begin testing on Thursday morning.  Schedules will be available to you at faculty meeting Tuesday.
• Please continue working with students, preparing them to do their best work.
• I will meet with classes this week to discuss testing with students on Monday and Tuesday
• Please do not mention anything to students regarding erasure marks.  We want their focus to be on doing their best work.  I will discuss with students that visitors will be in our building during the five days of testing.

Please congratulate Sheldon Nance who accepted the plant operator position at King!

Notes and Reminders

• Ms. Jones is unavailable moving forward as she coordinates K-PREP testing.  If you need anything, see me, Harlan, Mays, or Parks.

• Provide ACTIVE supervision in classrooms, common areas, and during arrival and dismissal.

• Monday during planning times, Sandy Yates (district PBIS lead) to provide information regarding Restorative Practices.  Our SBDM has submitted an application to receive training for implementing restorative practices for the 2019-20 school year.  Her overview is a step in our application process.  Your active participation is appreciated.  

• Be sure to check your PD hours for the upcoming flexible PD day 5/22 -- you need 24 hours to have the day off.

• Check the living calendar and daily updates