Setting a Trajectory for Success

Thank you for a great start to the school year.  Our students have entered ready to learn and our mission is ...to provide rigorous instruction and remove barriers to learning so students believe in their own ability to achieve success. We will ground our work in this mission and ensure our students are learning each day.

There are some day-to-day consistencies that we must guarantee to ensure strong communication among staff, across classrooms, and with families.

• Positive Contact Log -- all homeroom teachers much reach out to parents and turn in a parent contact log to me demonstrating your attempts to reach out to parents, introduce yourself, and establish a positive rapport with families.  Shout out to Mr. Wilkerson for completing his positive contact log.  These are due to Dr. White by Friday, August 24th.  You can click on the link and print the log sheet.

• Class schedules -- All homeroom teachers and special area teachers should have posted class schedules outside their doors and all teaching staff should provide White with a copy of their schedule.  There was talk of creating a folder on Google to house and share schedules, we will work to get this up and working, but in the meantime, please comply with the above schedule requests.

• Agenda use -- Each student has been provided with an agenda for their use.  The expectation is for all students to write the daily learning targets in their agendas per subjects (K can use printed labels for parents) and for this to be used as a communication tool between school and home.  Nightly signatures are expected from parents.

• Daily attendance emails from Courtney Edmerson -- each day Ms. Edmerson sends the daily absence summary.  All are asked to review the list for discrepancies and if any are found to report that to her so that we have accurate daily attendance.  

From Sheldon Nance (plant operator) -- We all must break down boxes before placing them in the outside recycling bin.  Our school received a fine for not doing so in the last pickup.

Faculty Meeting Agenda (Tuesday)

• School culture/celebrations
• Learning discussion  (article is linked)
• Strategy
• The Evaluation Process (E2 signature)

Double check the duty schedule, it will fully begin Tuesday, feel free to make changes or add yourself to an area.

Please be sure to check the daily updates and living calendar each day.  Have a great week!

Welcome Back Team King!

I'm so excited for our new school year and new team members.  Please join me in welcoming the following new teachers:

Brenda Adamson       3rd grade
Jennifer Moore          4th grade
Hayley Miller            4th grade
Jessalyn Stivers         4th grade
Courtney Green         5th grade

I want to give a huge shout out to our custodial team for ensuring the building is ready for all to return:  Sheldon Nance, Angie Hopkins, and Michael Jenkins.  Thank you for making our building beautiful, we accept the shared responsibility for keeping it that way.

Thank you to all teachers and instructional assistants for teaching during the YMCA Summer Learning Loss Program:  Elizabeth Buckley, Felicia Duncan, Rachel Fields, Carolyn Flener, Amber Williams, Tara Johnson, Lonnetta Martin, Edward Newton, Jessica Schmidt, and Stacy McClain.

Last, thank you all for participating with professional development over the summer to improve your knowledge and skills in preparation for our students.  The most effective tool for student learning is an effective teacher.

We had an awesome turn out for Kindergarten Kickoff and Back to School Orientation.  Thank you for your participation.  Ms. Jones created a slide show to show the highlights for Kindergarten Kickoff.


Please keep Teri Nichols (cafeteria manager) in your thoughts and prayers, her grandmother passed away last week.

Tomorrow, we will start in the cafeteria at 9:05 AM, breakfast will be available beginning at 8:45.  The agenda is available here.  Please bring your laptops.

Duty Schedule 

Relax, Reflect, and Recharge

Team,

Thank you for being an employee at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary.  This year we have met challenges head on, embarked on new practices, and nurtured our environment so that it is conducive to learning.  I appreciate your dedication to our students and your willingness to be the change.  WE are on the way to great things and I thank those of you who will continue our journey next year.

Thank you to teachers who are working the YMCA Summer Learning Loss Program and other district programs you may participate in over the summer.  Learning cannot continue without you, thanks for your commitment.

Over the break, please take time to relax, reflect, and recharge your superhero abilities.  We are tremendous contributors to the lives of our students.  We have the power and influence to challenge our students to greatness and support their growth daily in our classrooms and school building.  Our attitudes are contagious and we want our students to catch the positives they need to be successful.

During the break, I will send out information as it becomes available regarding district news and information pertaining to King.  Please take advantage of district professional development opportunities throughout the summer (everyone needs a minimum 24 hours). We will have PD sessions at King on August 1st, 2nd, and 7th. (more info to come). 

As a reminder, I will send out the staff handbook and compliance items prior to your return to school so that we can have more time to collaborate on the first two teacher days.

Enjoy your summer break.

Finish Strong

The Next Three Days

We made it!! We have three instructional days and celebrations to share with students, families, and one another.  Thank you for staying focused, holding students to high expectations for learning and behavior, and taking time to celebrate the hard work of students this year.

The grading window is open in Infinite Campus, please remember student report cards go home on the last day of school.  Kindergarten teachers may put the report card in the envelope with promotion materials. If you have students absent on the last day, please bring their report cards to the office with you when you check out.  Fifth grade report cards should go into the envelope with promotion certificates.

Awards Ceremonies

I sent you all an email reminder about award ceremonies this week.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will have awards ceremonies for grades 1-4 in the gym.  Chairs and the podium will be set up and parents are invited to attend.  All parents will sign in to the office, attend ceremonies, and exit from the gym.  Parents will not be permitted to walk through the building, but we will have staff on hand in the gym in case parents wish to sign out their student early.  Teachers will run the show, an administrator will be present to greet students and families at the start of each ceremony.  If you need additional certificates, they are available in the conference room.  The schedule is here.  Wednesday we will have kindergarten promotion starting at 10 AM.  Thursday, we will have fifth grade promotion starting at 10 AM.

Fifth Grade Luncheon

Tomorrow, all fifth grade students will have a catered lunch in the cafeteria beginning at 12:45.  The food should be delivered by 12:30.  We will have an area of the cafeteria set up, students do not have to sit by class.

Preparing to Check Out

Last week, I put a furniture inventory and check out sheet in your mailboxes.  Certified teachers, please note, one of your requirements is an E-2 with your reflection and results from your professional growth plan.

Lesson Plans -- If you complete lesson plans electronically, you can submit it to me printed, on a flash drive, or share via Google Docs. 

Staff Meetings

We will NOT have a faculty meeting tomorrow 5/29 after school.

• June 1, 2018 -- We will meet in the library at 9:05 -- we will be engaged until lunchtime.  Lunch will be provided.  Agenda is attached, click on the date.

• June 4, 2018 -- We will meet in the library at 9:05.  We will celebrate retirees on this day.

Please be sure to check the living calendar and daily updates.  Have a great week!

Sprint through the finish line

The Next 8 Days

Over the next eight days, student engagement and meaningful instruction should still be at the forefront.  Students are excited, but the year is not over.  Student engagement in learning activities will create and maintain normalcy that supports a productive environment.  

This week we will have our last MTSS meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to look at end of year academic and behavior data and make note of students who we are still concerned about.  We will also check on the status of students who were referred this year for Special Education Services.  Please make sure your data charts are updated before this meeting.

SRT Calls

Please review expectations for learning and behavior with students.  We have had a drastic increase in SRT calls over the past two weeks.  Remember to utilize your teammates and buddy rooms to give students and yourself a break.

Backpack Series - Video #8 -- Student Exhibitions 

These videos are meant to provide information as we embark on a backpack of skills for every student in JCPS.  As we work to define what King students will know and be able to demonstrate, we can use the videos as a reference and to support our work with students.

Student Awards and Recognition

Tuesday, May 29th will be awards day for students in grades 1-4.  The times for each grade level are available here.

Updates and Reminders

Be sure to check the living calendar and daily updates

Twelve Days of Instruction

Team,

Thank you for your preparedness and diligence during our state assessments.  You have been supportive, efficient, and compliant with testing procedures while encouraging our students.  Please keep up the momentum, we have have three more days until testing is complete.  That said, our KDE observers will be with us until Wednesday.

As we move closer to the end of the school year, please keep instruction in the forefront of your classroom routines and procedures.  Twelve instructional days are twelve days to improve student achievement and prepare students for the next school year.  I always say the way we end is how we begin, so be sure to hold students accountable to expectations for learning and behavior.

Site-Based Decision Making

Congratulations to our new teacher representatives for SBDM:  Alyson Lamb, Mark Mina, and Amber Williams.  I also want to thank Ms. Vedula for running for an SBDM position.  I am excited by your leadership and willingness to support our planning processes for the next two school years.

We will NOT have faculty meeting this week.

During PLCs this week, we will begin the process of reviewing feeder cards and referring to our rubric to cluster students in classrooms for next school year.

Reminders:

• Check the daily updates and living calendar
• May 22nd is a professional development day, be sure you have your 24 hours of required professional development.  Check PD Central to be sure.
• May 29th will be awards day for grades 1-4, award certificates will be available to teams next Wednesday.
• Homeroom teachers, please see Ms. Edmerson for writing folders if you have not already.

Have a great week!

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