ENews 02.14.2016




Weekly Schedule

Monday 
Tuesday 
  • Judy Caskey Visits Scott Elementary 
  • 9:30am - Bright to Asst Principal Mtg @ Administration Building
Wednesday 
  • Jacobs to Region 10 Spring Leadership Symposium
  • 3:30pm - STAT Meeting
Thursday
  • Digital Fluency Academy 
  • ELAR Curriculum Meeting w/ Kristen Weichel
  • Pajama Day
  • 7:00am - All-Pro Dads
  • 12:30pm - Tooth Fairy Visits Grades PreK-2
  • 5:00-7:30pm - Chickfila Spirit Night (Kindergarten)
Friday
  • Happy Friday & see you at #EdcampAwesome Tomorrow (February 20, 2016)

    Important Reminders

    STAAR Testing Accommodations 
    It is countdown to the March test. I want to remind you all that all testing assignments and accommodations must be finalized by Friday, February 26th. This gives the Mr. Powley 3 weeks to plan and prepare. Decisions at this point are final.


    Last year we had quite a number of teachers come down with the panic and want to adjust these just a week before testing. Please let Mr. Powley and I know if any updates and changes you have in mind also for benchmark and the real test.

    Math/Reading Benchmark 
    3rd/4th Grade MOCK STAAR testing will be on Monday, February 29th & Tuesday, March 1st. Please remind parents we will not have visitors on campus those days.

    Other Important Documents:


    NEW Information


    Your VOTE Counts! (from Mr. Worthy's email)
    The political cartoon above continues to be one of my favorite. Given the fact early voting for the March 1 primary kicks off next week, it seemed like the perfect time to share it. While some may not give much credence to primary elections, this particular primary could be very significant to the future of Texas public education and in particular, public school finance.

    There are a number of reasons why you should make an effort to participate in the primary election. First and foremost, the majority of our elected officials for the 2017 legislative session will be determined by this primary election. Many of these primary election winners will be the same folks tasked to write and pass legislation related to the future of Texas' education when they take office in January 2017. And, depending on when the Supreme Court decision is released, these individuals may also be the same ladies and gentlemen who will be responsible for crafting legislation and finding a solution to make our public school finance system constitutional.

    Second, every vote counts and every vote matters. In the 2014 election, roughly 650,000 people determined who would be our next state leaders. This also happens to be roughly the same amount of people working in our public school system. As educators, our weapon to ensure the legislature has (1) the right priorities and then (2) is looking for the best answers to solve the problems, is VOTING. We get a vote in who runs the state, and who picks the conversations we have, and the laws that are drafted. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE to change the conversation to things that are crucial to our public school finance system, like equity and adequacy.
    Staff Development
    Tomorrow we'll be at the High School spending the day learning & completing the online TELPAS calibration assessments. Julia Robinson emailed a schedule of the events last week. Dr. Bright will be attending the K-2 sessions & I will be attending the 3-4 sessions. Here's the link to the schedule for tomorrow:
    February 15, 2016 

    Judy Caskey Visiting - Tuesday, February 16th
    She will be visiting again with some classroom walk-throughs. I would like to see great teacher attendance this day. I would like you to encourage you to talk with her has she's visiting your classrooms. Be sure to share with her some of the specific things you're doing with your students.

    #Edcampawesome is this Weekend!
    This is the BEST professional development where you have choice & make your own schedule! EdCamps are UNconference events organized by groups of educators, specifically designed to create a participant driven, fun-filled day of professional development. Educators can connect with like minded individuals, collaborate ideas, brainstorm solutions to common education problems, have group discussions, and receive information that can immediately be applied in the classroom.

    **Additionally this year, if you have school-aged children (Grades K-6)... you can bring them with you! They will be enjoying a MakerSpace Lab while you are attending sessions at Edcamp. So be sure to sign-up!**

    Be sure to register the Edcampawesome this Saturday, February 20th - you can get your FREE ticket with the link below.
    edcampawesome

    Revolutionizing Learning Conference (#RLChat)
    Save the dates for this conference which will be hosted at Royse City High School again this summer. The dates are now in July! More information will be shared has it becomes available.

    EduAllStars w/ Angela Maiers (#TeamKid)
    This is an episode of EduAllStars that Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd) co-hosted and interviewed Angela Maiers (@angelamaiers) our keynote speaker in August. This is a great interview with Angela who inspires me to be the BEST educator I can for our students.

    Take the time to watch this interview in chucks because it's a long one... but worth your time.

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