Friday, December 16, 2011

December 22, 2011

December At Bat Songs score sheets due!!! Turn them in ASAP. :-)


Benchmark data much be entered on the shared Google.doc form by January 9th.


iPads should be turned in to Carrie before the end of the school day tomorrow so she can lock them up over break. 


We have a number of new students joining us after the first of the year and two new recess associates (Please welcome Trina Rudicil and Michelle Miller)! This is a great reminder that all students may need a refresher with expectations in the hallway, playground, lunchroom and other locations around the building. It would be a good investment with your time early in January!


Math Activity Ideas for your classroom can be found at NRich.org (enrich math). During the month of December, they are providing a new activity each day you can try in your classroom. All are still available to view.


Nicole sent out a great site, 100 Free or Inexpensive Rewards, for all staff to view and use. There are some great ideas on there so make sure you take time to look at it over break. If I could grow my hair, I'd do #12 for your classroom. ;-) Thanks Nicole!


I love LiveBinders as it equates to someone else doing all the research and looking around the web for me. :-) One I ran across over the weekend that is worth bookmarking - maybe even making your home page. It was put together by a social studies teacher, Angela Cunningham: Welcome to the Digital Toolbox. I added part of a message I sent to staff a while back about LiveBinders on the Technology tab. Maybe a summer project for one of your teams would be putting one together...or just keep stealing ones put together by other educators makes more sense. :-)


Toys are needed! If you have old toddler or baby toys that has parts that can be manipulated and moved (gross motor activities), please let Ashley Coulter know as her room could use some soon!!

The Iowa Green Renewable Electrical Energy Network Learning Center (I-GREEN) based in Newton, Iowa is proud to offer five educational, short videos on renewable energy focused on the following topics: BioFuels, Smart Grid Technology, Solar, Wind, and Energy Conservation. They can be used as introductions to classes and as part of the everyday student web learning experience.
The I-GREEN Learning Center


Early January Dates
Jan 2: No School (Ducks vs Badgers!!)
Jan 5: BLT (7:30am-8:30am)
Jan 5: District Admin Mtg (Marron/Barry AM)
Jan 6: Staff Holiday Happy Hours (4-7pm)
Jan 9: No School (PD 8-10am; Work day 10am-4pm)





...back by no demand what-so-ever, my 2nd annual...
The Week Before Christmas Poem

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the school
Not a pupil was silent, no matter what rule.
The children were pretending with books and with reading;
The knowledge that they learned would it soon be fleeting?


The teachers half frantic and almost in tears,
Had just settled down to work with their dears,
When out in the hall there arose such a clatter
up sprang the kids to see what was the matter!


Away to the door they all flew like a flash;
The one who was leading went down with a crash.
Then what to their wondering eyes did appear
But a crazy principal! (To have us cover a duty I fear!)


When the teachers saw this, they tried to close doors.
To no avail as Barry had nailed them to the floors.
He ran to each door (trying to have others join him in song)
And he shouted, and stamped, and he yelled hard and long;


"Cover Meggan! Cover Carrie, Now Missy and Kris!
Now Baugh! Now Mefford! You’re on duty; its now; don't miss!
Now get to your places, get out to the bus
Don’t get away! Or run away! Just stop, don't fuss!


As snow that before the wild winds let fly
The pupils, pell mell, started scurrying by.
They ran to the doors and sprinted down the aisle;
Their faces were red and each had a smile.


First came Kara over speaker with her call.
She began to call out buses to us all.
As Barry was running around, there arose a great shout;
The students were all running “just let us out!!”


The state they were in could lead to a riot;
The teachers were sure, if allowed, they would try it.
Barry’s nerves how they jangled! His temples were throbbing!
The rush of his breath sounded almost like sobbing!


The ears on his head were shaking and throbbing;
It was plain that he didn't appreciate teachers hobnobbing.
The look in his eye would have tamed a wild steer,
But Paula ignored it; she just always did with no fear.


A tear from his eye and a shake of his head
Soon led those to think that he wished he were dead.
He spoke not a word but went straight to his phone,
Called the sup and let out a terrible moan.


But at last Kara was finished and she called her last bus with glee;
Then came the teachers and associates since they were free.
The shrill little voices soon faded away
And peace was restored at the end of the day.


As Barry looked at the up and down the completely empty hall,
He smiled as he walked out of sight,


"Merry Christmas to All and to all a good night!"
He who laughs, lasts
DB

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

December 16, 2011

Dress Up Days Next Week

Monday - Crazy Socks/Ugly Sweater Day
(Wear some crazy socks or Great-Aunt Betty's 'lovely' sweater!)

Tuesday - Soup Bowl Mania 
(Sport your favorite sports team)

Wednesday - Pajama Day
(Kindergarten Polar Express Day, we can't beat them 
so why not join them!)

Thursday - Winter Colors & Party Day
(Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Rosh Hashanah
New Years, Yom Kippur or other holiday, wear your favorite holiday colors)




Attendance reminder - take it twice a day. Not an option and important to student safety and our sanity in the office.


Please enter assessment data onto the Google.doc for your grade level. This would include 3rd grade MAP scores. Questions - let me know.


Toys are needed! If you have old toddler or baby toys that has parts that can be manipulated and moved (no noise, or batteries), please let Ashley Coulter know as her room could use some


Student Move-In's have been occurring often lately. Sometimes we know days in advance, other times minutes. We get the information to the classroom teacher as soon as we know so we appreciate your flexibility and understanding when it is a last minute add. FYI - we are just short of 700 students! Wow.


Every Minute Counts -  An "old-school" thought about the last few days prior to Christmas break may have been cutting, coloring and cookies, but I explain parents that everyday we have with each child is an opportunity for learning and growing. We value and appreciate every minute we are given at Maple Grove! I appreciate you mixing in some fun and engaging activities with meaningful and purposeful learning next week.


Reminder - Holiday Luncheon Celebration - Lyndsay and I would like to invite all staff members who are a part of the Maple Grove Family to a Holiday Luncheon Celebration on Tuesday December 20th!   Soup bowls and chips will be provided for everyone that day to celebrate your hard work put in so far and as a thank you to everyone during the holiday season. Lunch will start at 10:30 am and continue on through 1:30 pm. 


Next Week:
Monday - Tech Integration PLC @ 8am
Tuesday - Associate mtg @7:45; Staff lunch; 1st grade rehearsal and program (6pm & 7pm)!
Thursday - Winter Parties begin at 2:30 pm
Friday - Sleep in and begin to enjoy your break!!!












At-Bat Song Contest - Group D (December)!
LAST THREE SONGS THIS MONTH!
TURN IN YOUR SCORE SHEETS BY WEDNESDAY!
A Little Less Conversation - Elvis
Firework - Katy Perry
The Climb - Miley Cyrus











December's Group Includes:
Sarah Allison, Nancy Anderson
Nicole Baugh, Patrick Garland
Melissa Grimm, Alice Hahn
Kris Hoeppner, Kjersten Koenigs
RaeAnn Strack, Kelly White



Holiday Fun :-)

Friday, December 9, 2011

December 9, 2011

Professional Development will take place next Wednesday, December 14th. An agenda was discussed this morning during BLT meeting and will be out early next week.

Winter Assessment begins on Monday. The sub for each grade level will be sent to the BLT member each morning. If you need additional support or have questions, let Leslie or I know.

Please welcome Ashley Roulet and Morgan Phillips to our associate staff! Ashley will start on Monday and Morgan will start the following Monday. We are excited for them to join our Maple Grove Family! Thank you to Cherie Rau, our recess associate. Today is her last day as she is transferring to Waukee elementary to be closer to her son and daughter. Good luck, Cherie - we will miss you!

Thank you to our related arts staff and teachers for making some adjustments next Friday in order to avoid two early out schedules in one week. Friday will be as normal of a related arts schedule as we can make it - adjustments needed to accommodate for our 2:30 pm band and chorus assembly will be communicated by the RA teacher. Remaining early out schedules for the 2011 will be December 14 (PD) and 22 (parties).


Student who need to come to the office during recess for medical reasons will not be able to bring friends anymore but should instead bring books and/or something to draw or write in while in the office. It has become quite a distraction and management issue for the office. If two students from the same grade both have to stay inside for medical reasons, games students bring with them should not make noise - i.e. include bells, whistles or batteries. If you want the child to have a friend with them during the lunch recess, students will need to be with the teacher in the classroom. Thank you for following these guidelines.

Attendance - Every classroom needs to do attendance twice a day. This is a safety procedure. 

Holiday Celebration! The office would like to invite every Maple Grove staff member to a celebration lunch for the staff on Thursday, December 22nd! It has been a very successful 2011 and it takes each and every one of you in order to raise this village of 700 little people. :-) We can never say how much we appreciate how hard each of you work and hope it's a good way to kick off your holiday break! More details to come!

At-Bat Winning Team from November was 1st grade. They won with the tie-breaker (first sheet turned in this month) over the office and 2nd grade. It was a tough month on matching, but every team selected Ms. Schoene's song correctly! :-) Way to go!


iPad Site - Abby shared an additional iPad site with me that is worth taking a look at and bookmarking: https://sites.google.com/site/schrockipad/

Website of the Week
The Reading Lady has many direct ties to The Daily Five and one link on 
the site offers tons of tools, rubrics, resources and lesson plans that I found
helpful! Check this one out and bookmark it today!



At-Bat Song Contest - Group D (December)!
I'm guessing these three bands don't hang out! Good luck guessing!
Free - Zac Brown Band
Party Rock - LMFAO
Centerfield - John Fogerty


December's Group Includes:
Sarah Allison, Nancy Anderson
Nicole Baugh, Patrick Garland
Melissa Grimm, Alice Hahn
Kris Hoeppner, Kjersten Koenigs
RaeAnn Strack, Kelly White


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

December 2, 2011

Email at 4:31 pm



1. Weekly PLC Meetings - Starting this coming week, we are going to have K, 2 & 4 PLC teams meet on Tuesdays and 1, 3 & 5 meet on Wednesdays. This will allow for some additional co-teaching planning time each week and we appreciate everyone being flexible in making some changes that may ripple from moving those two teams. This change stemmed from a lot of discussion after our team of teachers spent the day observing and discussing co-teaching. Questions - let me know.

2. Bus Procedures - Starting MONDAY, 5th grade will keep the bus students in their own pod after school and dismiss students from there. Students will walk by the 2nd grade classrooms and out the 1st grade pod doors to go to the buses after their bus is called. 5th grade teachers will prep students Monday and stress the role modeling they can do as they pass by the younger students each day! They can also more easily watch the students walk down the hallway to exit. We feel this will ease the numbers and the noise in the 3rd grade pod.  

Another great week at MGE!! Last night, the parents at our district SIAC meeting told Kelly White and I how much they appreciate what each and everyone one of you do each day to ensure you know their child as a learner! They know you work hard to keep the focus on our students and their learning and growth. I continue to be very proud to call myself your colleague and look forward to a successful and joyous December!




Early Out Schedule today due to PBIS Assemblies this afternoon!

Turn in your November "At-Bat" score cards today!! 
I only have 3 in my box.


BoxTop Contest begins on Monday, December 5th! Remind your students today to bring in their Boxtops next week. Our PTO will announce a winner the following week. PTO is also sponsoring our Panera Night next Tuesday, December 6th. There are still spots available to sign up!

Winter MAP will start next week. This year, our 3rd grade is the only grade involved in mid-year MAP assessment. Benchmarking and DIBELS begins the following week (12/12). Please make sure you and your team have recorded the data on our Google.doc's (i.e. "Class of 2021") as your team should be using these data spreadsheets to analyze current grade level data in early January.


Reminder - The WDSM Fire Department will be out again unannounced to conduct an inspection. Please ensure the 18 inch clearance between the ceiling and any object/box continues to be followed.

iPad Info - A few updates for you! (1) Carrie and I will be ordering additonal iPads in the very near future. Before they arrive, we will roll out our immediate and intermediate plans for the iPads in hand so stay tuned. (2) The AEA will be offering an iPad training and we hope to get more details about the training soon. It would be great to have 1-2 staff members attend. (3) A site I found yesterday via Twitter is Mom's with Apps. It looks like a great source for educational apps (could easily be called Parent's with Apps or Teacher's with Apps) so check it out. There is also an app you can download for free called: Mom's with Apps. :-)

Our Building Leadership Team is meeting next Friday morning (12/9) at 8:00 am. They have been asked to get any building wide "Nuts-and-Bolts" items to me prior to then so please share any you have with your BLT member.

Thank you for the many birthday well wishes via email, notes and words on Tuesday. I don't get any younger age wise, but you, the students and parents keep me young at heart and mind. ;-)





At-Bat Song Contest - Group D (December)!
Another month begins! This month brings quite a diversity of music so enjoy!
Born to Fly - Sara Evans
Run the World - Beyonce
Ready Yourselves - Casting Crowns
Dynamite - Taio Cruz
December's Group Includes:
Sarah Allison, Nancy Anderson
Nicole Baugh, Patrick Garland
Melissa Grimm, Alice Hahn
Kris Hoeppner, Kjersten Koenigs
RaeAnn Strack, Kelly White

Monday, November 21, 2011

November 22, 2011 Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

November 30 PD plans were emailed out this week. Grade level and related art teams will be together across the district. Please refer to the schedule. December 14 PD will be a building PD and is being developed. It will include share out information from October Instructional Rounds.


Winter Assessment - Lyndsay emailed out the changes in Winter Assessment schedule to BLT on Thursday. The benchmarking and DIBELS assessments will take place between December 12 and 19. Third grade students will be involved in winter MAP assessment and Carrie will be getting a schedule out to K-3 as it will affect lab use during one week in December.


Winter DIBELS Protocol - a reminder for primary staff...
K: All students - First Sound Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency,  Phoneme Segmentation, Nonsense Word Fluency.
1: Administering only the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) to students reading E or below.
2: Administering only the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) to students reading I or below.

Holiday Reminder - Personal orders need to be shipped to your home address and not the school address or central receiving.  Also note you should not be making personal orders through the Maple Grove Elementary or Waukee "name" even if you are paying for it yourself.  


The 2011 Home-Stretch - It is hard to believe we are entering December next week!  As we approach the last few weeks of school prior to winter break, please take time to review progress your team has made toward team SMART goals and celebrate!  Continue consistency by holding students accountable (behaviors and academics) and support your team as much as possible.  Personally, we know the holiday season can be stressful so we also need to understand that many of our students are involved in similar stressors too. This year, we have seen a large increase in the number of students who may not have the same joyous experiences with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as we did growing up and do now. Be cognizant of that fact and also let Nicole, Shanlyn, Lyndsay or I know if we can be supportive to students, families and staff members if needed.

From The Diversity Leadership Team - Dear Waukee Teachers, Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete the Diversity Survey. Your input is invaluable! If you have not had an opportunity to complete, the survey you still have time! Please take a few minutes to fill out the Diversity Survey:


This survey is open until 10:00 PM on Tuesday, November 22. Your responses will remain anonymous, and individual responses will not be singled out.  Thank you for your participation! 



At-Bat Song Contest - Group C (November)!
November 11th's Eye of the Tiger actually is the At-Bat song for two of
this month's staff members! I didn't notice that until this week. :-) Below are
the next five songs so teams can turn their November cards in by December 1st!
Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw
Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
Corn Fed - Shannon Brown
Tubthumping - Chumbawanba
You Can't Stop the Beat - Cast of Hairspray


November's Group Includes...
Adamson, De Mouth
Foster, Latcham
Meyer, Norton
Perrigo, Richer
Schoene, Umphress

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

November 18, 2011

Before the 2010-11 school year, I made the comparison of what we are expected to do in education to building a plane in midair.  We are not able to build the perfect airplane and then load it up with passengers. We don't have the luxury of landing and unloading our passengers to undergo a complete overhaul or tweak a few mechanical malfunctions. We even have to refuel and reload in mid-flight! 

Each of you constantly work with kids, plan with colleagues, investigate and research new learning, implement and then assess...and then do it all over again without touching the ground. This week, you were able to celebrate students' progress as we continue to move through the friendly skies toward increased student learning and achievement. We may not be able to land the plane, but we have arranged for a couple flight attendants to offer some in-flight snacks and refreshments to our crew on Friday! Friday, be on the look-out for some appreciative flight attendants who represent all the people on the ground (parents) who have passengers in your seats (students). They (and I) appreciate all you do.


Conferences - If you do not get 100% attendance at your conferences prior to Thanksgiving break and are having a hard time rescheduling a parent-conference, please check in with Lyndsay or I to help problem solve. Our expectations of parents is that every student is able to have a fall and spring conference one-way-or-another.


Next week - Lyndsay will be here on Monday instead of Tuesday. Shanlyn will not be here either day but will be "on call" Tuesday. Please contact Nicole or I if she is needed. 


Fundraiser Nights - Please talk as a team about volunteering a night for the restaurant fundraisers PTO has set up for us. The money earned from those nights will go directly toward an iPad for your classroom/grade level! Our current plan is to have an iPad available for every classroom and be able to pull those iPads together for a classroom set if needed. We believe that if all teachers have the option of incorporating them into their classroom instruction/routines, then (1) more ideas will be generated as to how to effectively use iPads; and, (2) comfort level of for every teacher will increase!  The first fundraiser night is sneaking up on us...December 6th at Panera! Sign up soon by clicking here!!!


iPad Website - Beau Barrett at Eason has created a great site for iPad users. Check it out!


Input Needed - If you have not done so already, all certified staff should take time to complete the district wide survey from our Diversity Leadership Team. Thank you!


Walk Throughs - FYI for certified staff - If I do a walk through in your classroom, I am emailing the form directly from the e-Walk website.  If you do not receive that form via e-mail immediately, it is likely stuck in cyber-space so just let me know and I will get you an e-copy.


NEXT WEEK
Monday - Associate interviews (Barry & Marron)
Monday - 3rd Gr PLC (AM), 5th Gr PLC (PM)
Tuesday - Five At-Bat Songs will be on the blog!
Wednesday - Happy Thanksgiving Break!
Nov 29 - 3rd Grade Music Program

Thursday, November 10, 2011

November 11, 2011 or 11/11/11

Welcome to 11/11/11
A somewhat interesting MSNBC article about the human tendency to find meaning or patterns
in randomly occurring data. If you read it on Friday at 11:11, I'm sure it would be even more inspiring.


Please Welcome Nichole Foxhoven to Maple Grove and our preschool room! Nichole started on Monday so take time this week or next to wander down to introduce yourself.  Also, please welcome back Lyndsay next week!!! We (most importantly, me) are very happy to have her back with us, starting on Tuesday!


Conferences - If you have a conference you wish for me to attend, please talk to me this week so I can get it on my calendar. Conference snacks/drinks will be available Wednesday afternoon and the meals will be coming by 3pm on Thursday. If you have booked yourself straight through on Thursday, please select a time (<-click here) that you could come down to eat prior to 4pm. I will try to find coverage.


Artifact Collection and Conferences Follow-Up: Conferences are approaching and we understand the stress level is at it's highest point. We hope the email sent out this week eases some anxiety. Please continue to send any questions or stop in to visit. Reviewing the presentations on our Wiki may be helpful too.

Book Fair Open House is Friday morning. Please stop in and enjoy some treats and take a look around!

Student Absences - If you don't see Paula's name in an email from parents about an upcoming absence, please let her know ASAP. This would include phone calls too. Please do not assume the office was notified.

Fundraising Opportunities - PTO has set up several restaurant fundraising opportunities for our staff to get involved with this year. The money raised from these events will go directly toward additional iPads for the classroom.  As an individual or team (great team bonding!), sign up on the Google.doc sheet I've created. Reminders will be sent out to teachers from PTO or myself.  If your team signs up and you'd like to extend your evening to enjoy some additional 'bonding time' together, let me know and I'll get those "excuses" sent to your spouse/significant other. :-) Sorry - I don't babysit though.

Contest Winners!  Our "First Snow" winner is Melissa Grimm as she picked the correct day! Prize to come. Our October At-Bat winning team is the 2nd grade team (won the tie breaker with RA)! Related arts still has a commanding lead, but several teams are within striking distance. Our 3rd grade team should begin warming up their voices... :-)

Final Thoughts for the Week
Where I keep typing/talking and you
don't necessarily have to keep reading/listening.

In an article from the Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa Director of Education, Jason Glass, references Iowa's desire to be a world class educational system. As I've told parents, teachers and anyone else who will listen, Waukee/MGE has many of the pieces outlined in the proposed blueprint already in place. That doesn't mean we can be satisfied and wait for others to "catch up" nor be happy with being ahead of the game in Iowa. I truly believe all of you constantly and consistently look for ways to improve and push yourself and your colleagues! Jason Glass states this about high-performing organizations: 

"They don't stand still," he said. "All high-performing organizations
are constantly trying to improve and adapt."

Our BLT spent time reviewing data, feedback and information from our October Instructional Rounds. Most of the information shared, highlights the wonderful things that are going on at MGE. There was a lot of great things going on at MGE we were able to share with the district team and they noted many of these through their observations and data collection. The feedback also indicates areas of growth and possible next steps. When given this type of feedback, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable but I was recently reminded by a colleague that sometimes in order to grow we need to feel a bit uncomfortable. AFTER CONFERENCES, we will begin to look at feedback from rounds and discuss where BLT sees us now and where they identified we need to go. Until then, I'll leave you with Colleen Canney's great analogy I found this morning:
If you feel too comfortable in life it probably means you are not growing as an individual. By nature growth is uncomfortable. As a child I experienced Charley Horses, otherwise known as growing pains, in my legs. I would wake-up in the middle night because I was uncomfortable. This is part of growing. Whether it is physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental growth, if you want to evolve and develop as an individual, be prepared to experience a certain level of discomfort.
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At-Bat Song Contest - Group C (November)!
Two months down and November kicks off with a couple "old school" hits
and some more modern picks. This months separates the contenders from the pretenders!
Good luck!  Third grade, you can phone a friend this month.
Hold Me - Jamie Grace
It It's Love - Train
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Manic Monday - Bangles

November's Group Includes...
Adamson, De Mouth
Foster, Latcham
Meyer, Norton
Perrigo, Richer
Schoene, Umphress

Thursday, November 3, 2011

November 4, 2011

Friday - I am out of the district on Friday so please contact Paula or Shanyln if you need assistance. Thank you! I'm missing two "At-Bat" team forms so please turn those in so I can declare a September winner! The November songs will begin next week.

Conference Reminders and the Conference Brochures should be sent home with students on Friday. There was an email sent with the same information for you to forward to parents. Please take the time to read The Branch too - especially the information regarding conferences.  As mentioned, teams/classroom teachers need to communicate with parents as to how you want parents and students to engage in the student-led portion of the conference that takes place outside your room.

Progress Reports - Related arts will have progress reports completed by Thursday morning and I will have classroom teachers print completed progress reports on Friday, November 11, for parents who do not have internet or have requested hard copies of information. There will be an email sent to parents next Friday after school that the PS Portal has been reopened and steps for them to access their child's progress reports prior to conferences.  Questions - run those through BLT members and then to me if needed.

BLT went through some post-Instructional Rounds learning and sharing this morning. We hope to have some information to you soon as there are great celebrations to share and a solid foundation to build upon and continue our work toward moving from good to great! Thank you for their time this morning and leadership in this process.


Emergency Reference Guide - If you do not have a red ER Guide, notify me ASAP so we can get you one.

Internet Connection - An IT request was completed to hopefully address the internet connection issues many of you are having in the building. Thank you for being patient and continuing to turn on and off your airport several times a day. :-)

Robotics Club begins next week and will take place the first Tuesday and Thursday of the month. It will be held in the library and computer lab from 3:50 to 5:00 pm. There will be parent and 4-H volunteers leading these clubs and we have nearly 40 third-fifth graders signed up to participate! Should be a lot of fun to watch so stop in anytime!

Thank you to the third grade team for bringing in our special visitor today! I heard the students had great questions for our governor and represented Waukee and Maple Grove very well. Fun stuff! Thank you also to Natalie Shay for filling in for Kristin during her maternity leave. We are excited to have Kristin back but truly appreciate Natalie's job she did over the past 7 weeks!!

Items from District Admin Meeting - There were items to note from our Thursday admin meeting to share. If you have questions, let me know.

  • Certified enrollment will show Waukee at 7,112 students. This is an increase of 431 students and is the largest growth in the state of Iowa this year.
  • If you are purchasing items from a store and hope to be reimbursed, please find out if the store takes purchase orders first. If so - go that route! 
  • Technology purchases/requests/inquiries should go through me until Carrie returns. After she returns, requisitions go through Carrie first and then me. 
  • If you have an idea for a Community Education course you'd like to teach, Jeff Longman is collecting ideas for winter and spring course. Please contact him.
  • Blogs - Please review your blog to ensure the required items are included. Just looking through them this week, there are several incomplete blogs sites. If you need support, let me know. Also, please review and/or have others edit your posts on a regular basis. The editing would apply to your newsletters too. Both are public forms of communication that represent us as a building and district!
No snow was spotted this week so the contest continues.  I'll post the guesses soon. :-)