Updates - 31 Oct.

Happy Seven-billionth Person Day!  Remember when we thought 5,000,000,000 was a lot of people?  I do.  It was 1987.  Oh, how time flies.  Today the head-counters tell us we're going to welcome human-being number 7,000,000,000 into the world.  For whatever it's worth, in 2011, more than 5,000,000,000 people have cell phones.  Yeesh.

Somewhere out there school enrollments aren't declining...

Let's start with the calendar, shall we?

Calendar

• Wednesday, 02 November
• Willow Bend Day @ Marshall
• Coe @ Elementary Admins meeting, 9:00-12:00
• Joint Councils meeting, 5:00-6:15
• PTO meeting, 6:30-7:30
• Thursday, 03 November
• Exploration Stations, 6:00-8:00
• Friday, 04 November
• PTO T-shirt sale
• Saturday 05 November
• Fifth-grade Taiko Drumming performance @ Heritage Square, 12:00

CIP
As Cara Slaughter mentioned at our meeting on Friday, the Continuous Improvement Plan has been revised and is available online for your perusal.

Tax Credit Stuff
All of the materials we've created to help you educate your families about Arizona's Public School Tax Credit program are available online.  Feel free to print and distribute them as you see fit.  Remember: all of our students benefit from each and every Tax Credit contribution made to our school.

• Family of four poster
• Single parent poster
• Older couple poster
• Marshall Magnet brochure
• Brochure insert postcard

Student Volunteer
Manny Rodriguez, former Marshall Mustang now a member of the Flagstaff High School National Honor Society would like to do his community service hours at our school.  If you're interested in having him volunteer as a reading/math/whatever tutor in your classroom, just let me know and I will put you in touch with him.

RTI at Marshall

I will be sharing this video, about how RTI looks and feels at Marshall, at the FUSD School Board meeting tonight. Wanted you all to see it first.



Thanks for being awesome!

Updates 24 October

Hello everyone,

A few updates for the coming week...

Halloween
Several concerns have been expressed about holiday parties which some teachers have scheduled to coincide with Halloween.  Here's what I think about that:

• Unless parties are aligned with standards and instruction, they're probably not the best use of instructional time. 
• If parties are aligned with standards and instruction, please make every effort to ensure they don't impact or interrupt other school programs, schedules, or special classes.
• For safety reasons, children should not wear Halloween costumes at school.

Two-hour Meeting

We will all meet together as a faculty once again on Friday.  Snacks will be served. Please make arrangements to eat lunch on your own prior to 1:00.  At this meeting we will review our Continuous Improvement Plan, our renewed Science Magnet emphasis, our ongoing Tax Credit campaign, and sundry other things related to identifying and encouraging effective instruction.  The official agenda is available online.

Updates -- 21 October

Hello everyone! Happy Friday.

Shared Discipline
One of the best things I've been able to observe recently is how closely so many of you are working together to provide supportive shared discipline for one another's students.  I think the fact that we, as a faculty and staff, seem to understand so well that we're all in this together is one of the things about our school that makes it so special .  One of the ways that this is demonstrated is when students are moved between rooms for a quick, quiet time-out to refocus in a new place.  It's so cool that so many of you have arranged to work together in this way.  I think it's good for students.  And I think it's good for Marshall.  Thanks!

New Duty Rotation
We begin a new three-week morning and afternoon duty rotation next week.  Pagel, Fisher, and Fresquez will be on the playgrounds and hallway in the morning, and helping with dismissal procedures during the afternoon.  Please remember to wear your safety-vest when you're on the playground.  And thanks, as always, for your help!

On that note, when it's your turn to do these important duties and you find that you'll be out for a day, please make arrangements with someone else to cover your duty.  We've found that we simply cannot count on subs to arrive in time to be apprised of where they need to be, nor can we really count on them to know what they're supposed to do.  Best to keep these roles in-house as much as we can.  Please plan ahead to have another staff member step in for you whenever possible.

Calendar

• Monday, October 24
• Coe at Admin 1:00-4:00 - Ballard has the helm
• Tuesday, October 25
• Safety Committee meeting 7:30-8:00
• Coe at FUSD School Board meeting 5:30 
• Thursday, October 27
• CPI Team meeting 8:00
• Hurley Walnut Canyon fieldtrip
• Friday, October 28
• Java By The Gym 8:00
• 2-hour Professional Development meeting (agenda forthcoming), 1:00-3:00

Please acknowledge:

Updates -- 14 Oct.

Oooph. Wow. Anybody else feeling a bit exhausted?

Yeah? Me, too.

Thanks for hanging in there, everyone. Can't tell you how much I appreciate your tenacity and commitment. It's so great to be reminded, all the time, as I walk around the building, drop into your rooms, or talk with you in the halls, of how hard you're working and how totally you're committed to making this year a success. Thanks upon thanks.

Lockdown Drill
We were going to do a lockdown drill midweek next week, but I've decided: we're gonna postpone it for a week or so. Page and Jim and I need to get together and make sure everything's prepared for this important safety procedure. And we will. But all things taken together, we just haven't had the time to convene as a Safety Committee in recent weeks. Sorry about that. My fault.  But stay tuned; we'll be updating you soon on a new date.

Faculty Meeting
We will have a Facutly Meeting on Thursday, 20 October at 8:00 AM in the Library. An official agenda is forthcoming, but as an overview, you should come prepared to hear from Steve and Bobby about the Evaluation Committee's work, from Jamie Whelan, the coordinator of NAU's Praxis program, and a few other odds and ends, too.

Please read this blog

I know it's tempting to just scroll to the bottom and put your name in the Acknowledge box. And I fully understand that perhaps I can, at times, be a bit obtuse when I write to you. But I think it would be great, and probably super-efficient, if everyone would please, once more, commit to reading through my weekly tome. I've tried to keep it as brief as possible. And I've tried to honor my commitment to use it to help you maximize your planning and prep time. But it's gotta get read in order for it to be useful. K?

Calendar
Don't forget: the Master Calendar is the most up-to-date and accurate means to know what's going on at Marshall. Other calendars may try to stay timely, but only one is: mine... The Master Calendar

• Tuesday, 18 Oct
• Coe at CPI Training, 4:00-7:00
• Wednesday, 19 Oct
• Coe at CPI Training, 4:00-7:00
• Thursday, 10 Oct
• Faculty Meeting, 8:00
• Coe at CPI Training, 4:00-7:00
• Coming Up:
• Thanksgiving Dinner, November 3rd

New Forms
I appreciate that more and more of you are letting me know what's going on in terms of your travel and special-event plans.  It's important that Melinda, Erin, and I always know where you and your classes are.  In order to help you keep us apprised of your fieldtrip, special-speaker, special event, personal and/or professional leave, and other sundry plans, I've scanned and made .pdf files of several important documents that I hope are useful to you.  They're also listed in the sidebar under Forms.  And you can always email me with your updates, too!

• Fieldtrip Permission form
• Bus Request form
• Small-vehicle Request form
• Employee Leave Request form

Please acknowledge:

Updates -- 07 October

Hello everyone,

You all know by now that Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, died this week.  Much has been made of his passing, and deservedly so.  I am an admirer of Jobs, though I would not label myself a disciple or a true-believer or anything so extreme.  But, in all that's been done and said in the wake of his death, I think Job's own words about life and death, and finding your purpose are as appropriate and inspiring a reflection (and tribute) as I've heard in a while.  I think you might find them meaningful, too.



Now back to what's going on around here:

Future Tax Credit Requests
The Site Council would like to create a projected budget for Tax Credit expenditures this school year. In order to do that, we need to get an idea from you what sorts of requests you plan to make between now and June. Please complete the short form below to help us get a better idea of what you've got planned and how much it might cost. Remember: there's no need to worry about our allocation of Tax Credit money.  We're just trying to be cautious and careful as we realign ourselves in an attempt to do everything by-the-book.  Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you're planning!



Calendar

• Monday
• Fit Kids will be here to do heights and weights all day. Please bring your class to the hall outside the nurse's office at the time you signed up for
• Coe at Admin Council 1:00-4:00
• Tuesday
• Fire Safety Assembly at 9:00.  To be attended by Yard, Stern, Shaw, McAllister, Hurley, Bull, McFall, Townsend, and Koenig.
• Wednesday
• Coe at Common Core Standards training all day
• Thursday
• Picture Day all day. Please bring your classes to the FACTS for photos at the time you have been assigned.  Please let us know if you've made trades.
• Friday
• Mustang Gallop all morning

Upcoming Faculty Meeting

We will have a Faculty Meeting on 20 October at 8:00AM in the Library.  That's more than a week from now.  At that time we will receive an update from the Evaluation Committee members (Bobbie and Steve), a presentation from NAU's Praxis program, and discuss our ongoing and upcoming Tax Credit contribution solicitation campaign.

Flagstaff Symphony

Flagstaff Symphony will present a fun Halloween-themed concert on October 28. People are encouraged to come in costume.  Music from Harry Potter, Sorcerer’s apprentice, and many other kid friendly selections will be played. Marshall artwork including Dia de los muertos and other spine chilling pieces will be on display in the Ardrey lobby for this performance.

As a symphony school, tickets for students are $8, and any adults, (faculty and accompanying adults,) are $15. Now is the time! Musicians from this performance can come to your classroom for curricular integration activities prior to the October 28 performance. See Mrs. Tillman for ideas, or to share success stories! 

One last thing

Please, as I stated at the beginning of the year, ya gotta let me know via email or a note or via some other written form,  whenever you're planning to leave campus for a fieldtrip.  Always.  It needs to go on the master calendar.  And, frankly, it's just good policy for your administrator and front office to know where you are and what you're planning so we can answer questions and stuff.  The more well-in-advance, the better.  Feel free to share letters home, and sundry other information with us prior to your trip, too.  You can never tell us too much, or let us in on these things too soon.  Thanks!

Please acknowledge:

Fire Safety Clown Assembly - First Come, First Served

Coming soon to a school gym near you, our one-and-only shot at a fire safety clown assembly this year... brought to you, curiously enough, by the Summit & Pine/Strawberry Fire Department's firefighters.  They're very excited to bring their brand new show to our school!  Trouble is, they've only got time to give us one assembly, and we've got limited space in the gym.

Probably the most equitable thing to do is take the first, say, 5 or 6 classes, somewhere between 100 and 150 kids I figure, (with appropriate consideration given to allow our other smaller programs, such as Pat's and Jennifer's kids, to attend regardless) to sign up to see the show.  It's scheduled to run from 9:00-9:30 (Yes, I know this is during primary RTI time) next Tuesday, October 11.

So, here's how I think we'll do this: If you'd like to have your students attend, put your name in the Acknowledgement box below (You don't need to Acknowledge this post if you don't want to go to the show!).  The first five or six teachers to sign in, dated today, 05 October, will get in.

Sorry if this system comes across as inequitable, but I can't think of another way to do this...

Here's hoping you read your email this afternoon.

We want to go to the Fire Safety Clown Assembly!

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About School Tax Credit Money

A little over a year ago, right after I got transferred from Christensen, I approached Stacie with an idea I had to use some of my tax credit money to purchase a few cameras for a digital video and photography club here at Marshall.  I knew I had several thousand dollars in my tax credit account, thanks to many years of generous contributions and the careful accounting of Christensen’s excellent secretary, so I figured, given a good rationale for the expenditure, purchasing the cameras would be no big deal.

I was wrong.

Stacie and I were both surprised to learn that, from the district’s perspective, my money no longer existed, that in fact it had never existed, not as I had understood it to exist anyway.  As it was explained to us at that time, all of Christensen’s tax credit money was actually in a few large accounts at the district and always had been: a general account, a fieldtrips account, as well as a few others.  There was no John Coe account.  In fact, as I later came to learn, there never had been a John Coe account except in our secretary’s well-kept, but apparently unofficial, accounting ledger book.

Needless to say, I was rather disappointed to learn this, and to find that what I had thought of as my money was, in a very real sense, not.  And worse, that it was, in fact, gone.

In the end, Christensen’s tax credit money was redistributed to schools around the district on a per-student basis, based on the number of Christensen students who were reassigned to each building.  So Marshall got some of Christensen’s tax credit money, so did Thomas, and Cromer, and several others.  Any school that got Christensen students last year got some of Christensen’s tax credit money.

As it turns out, at many schools in FUSD, including Marshall and Christensen, a misperception has been permitted to grow among faculty, chiefly due to the diligence and good intentions of our school secretaries. Until recently we have been encouraged to think about tax credit monies on an individual, or classroom basis. But this is not as it should be, nor is it what the law allows.  By law [ARS 43-1089], tax credit contributions can be paid only to “a public school for support of extra curricular activities of for character education programs.”  This money is paid into a central fund that is identified by-school and held in a distinct set of accounts at the district level.  Tax credit contributions cannot be made to specific classrooms, or to classroom teachers, or even for specific fieldtrips or programs.

So, where does all this leave us?

Well, we have a ledger book.  And based on its balance sheet, some of you who have worked hard for many years to solicit tax credit contributions from your parents, are quite rich.  Others, such as those of you who were transferred from another school, are quite poor unless you raised tax credit funds last year that were earmarked in the ledger book for your class.  Depending on who you are this is either the source of great comfort or a point of abiding frustration to you.  

But remember: the accounting ledger is a fiction, a construct that only exists in our minds and on Malinda’s computer.  Otherwise, it’s not real.  As far as FUSD and the state of Arizona are concerned, we have just a handful of tax credit accounts, a general fund, a fieldtrips fund, an arts magnet fund, and a couple others that are nearly empty.  There is no account at the district level with your name on it.  Nor does the state tax credit law allow for such an account to ever be created.

The bottom line is this: it has always been the intent of the Arizona state legislature that Marshall’s tax credit monies belong to all of us, as a school community.  And they do.

So then, equitably and legally, how do we realign ourselves to be compliant with the state’s intentions while honoring the plans that many of us have made to spend tax credit money this year?

That’s a tough one.

The best way I can come up with is to close the accounting ledger from this point forward and, from now on, apply any future tax credit receipts correctly.  If we proceed this way, that would mean that the money you have on the ledger that’s identified for your classroom is still, technically, yours to expend.  But it would also mean that, at the end of this school year, the ledger book would go away and all of Marshall’s tax credit monies would be correctly perceived as being in the funds at the district in which they already are actually and legally deposited.

In the long run this works out best for all of us, I think.  As an Arts and Science magnet school, it makes little sense for us to not allow all of our students to benefit from the monies we have received.  In order for our magnet programs to be vibrant and growing, year after year, every child at Marshall should have equal access to the benefits of our many unique extracurricular programs, not just those fortunate enough to be in certain classrooms.  

Similarly, if we are to continue to become a uniquely more capable and appealing arts and science magnet school, we must all bear the burden of encouraging our families to make this simple, crucial annual contribution to our school.  If we and our special magnet school programs are all to benefit from tax credit money, we should all participate in an ongoing campaign to encourage our families to give to our school and its programs.

So, here’s the bottom line: you’ve still got your money. You will still get to do what you want to do.  But please remember, it’s not really your money.  It never was.  It’s Marshall’s money.  And that’s all of us.  And it always has been.

Please acknowledge:

Updates -- 02 Oct.

Sorry this update is arriving so late.  We're still working on getting back into a more-or-less normal rhythm around our house... fortunately things are looking better and better by the day!  Frankly, we're all just glad to not be making visits to the hospital any longer.  We were getting tired of that place, despite the excellent care they gave to my wife.  Plus, I was becoming a little concerned about the amount of time I was spending up there; I was becoming a bit fearful they might decide to make me a doctor.  Just because I was there... Ya know, stranger things have happened.

My official Blue Note notes are at work, and I'm at home at the moment, hanging with the fam.  So, for the time being, we'll just have a look at our upcoming calendar, to make sure we're all on the same page this week.  I'll update you on odds and ends in the next few days.

Calendar

Wednesday

• Walk To School Day - see Holly if you have questions
• Coe at Elementary Principal's Admin meeting 9:00-11:00
• Joint Councils (Site, Arts, Science) meeting 5:00-6:15
• PTO meeting 6:30-7:30

Friday

• Mustang Gallop all morning across the street
• PTO T-Shirt sale in the morning before school near the office
• FUSD Budget Meeting with Ken Garland, 1:00 at Sechrist - you are encouraged to attend