Final Update - 05 June

Hello everyone,


Well, here we are... at the end of the year.  Wow.  Honestly, I'm a bit stunned to be able to acknowledge that fact.  It's been a heck of a thing, this school year, hasn't it?  And I'd just like to say thanks, once again, for your patience and understanding as I muddled through beginning to learn how to be a principal. Needless to say, I understand that I still have a lot to learn.  Likewise, I "get" that we have, as school, a great deal of work to do in order to accomplish what needs to be done over the course of the next few years, and that some of that work requires me to improve as an instructional leader.  I hope to be able to do so.  Time will tell.  One way or the other, please know this: I will always do my best to keep the success of our students, and your ability to be successful as a professional, as my top priorities.


The Portables
I met with a contingent of folks from the district, as well as a local contractor, yesterday to discuss a thorough renovation of the portable classrooms which will take place over the summer.  In fact, work will begin in two weeks in order for it to be concluded by the time we resume school in August.  This means that the portable classrooms must be emptied of all your stuff.  If you are currently storing curricular materials in the portables, please move these things to your classroom (please, not 29; too many other things must go in 29).  Jan will move her things into room 29 temporarily.  The Suzuki violins can remain locked in the cabinets.  Any other junk needs to be hauled out.  Please, if you've left things out there, for whatever reason, be responsible to remove them so that this project can go forward in a timely manner.  If you don't move the stuff, someone else will have to.  It is for everyone's benefit that I ask this of you.


FACTS Room

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Similar to the above renovations, the same contractor will be installing a new door, sidelight, and transom, as well as demolishing the east wall in the counselor's office to make way for a new entry into the FACTS room, which we hope will one day be repurposed as our Arts & Sciences Laboratory.  We will form a small committee to work on the future of this project once the physical space is ready.  Meanwhile, we will need the FACTS room emptied of all collateral materials and supplies in order to get it ready for the contractor.  I've already asked Erin Walton to move out the FACTS stuff and she's been instructed to dispose of anything that doesn't belong to her program that's not in one of the locked cabinets.  So, if you've been storing  your not-FACTS, not-locked-up stuff in the FACTS room, it's probably wise to get it moved out.

Report Cards
Please send report cards home with your students at the end of the day on Thursday.  Please hold any report cards for students with outstanding Library bills.  Give these to Malinda and we will distribute them during the summer as bills are paid or other arrangements are made.


Contracts
Your contracts are due to the district office by 19 June.  I've delivered in-person those contracts that have already been returned to me.  Henceforth, it's up to you to ensure your contract arrives at HR on time. Please don't forget.


Self-evaluation
Please don't forget to complete your self-evaluation before you check out on Friday.  I believe it will help us with the new evaluation/observation instrument next year.


2012-2013
We will most likely gather at as faculty on 09 August in the morning for initial Faculty Meeting. I suspect there will be an all-FUSD meeting sometime on the morning of 08 August and that you will have time later in the day to work in your classrooms.  


Your initial 301 Day is scheduled for 10 August and will focus on the subject “Making Connections to the Common  Core.”  You have been asked by Gretchen Markiewicz to "register" with either Joy or Page if you intend to attend this paid-training opportunity.


Students will join us for the first day of school on Monday 13 August. The late bell will ring at 8:50 in the morning.

Dodgeball!

Team Class Of '85

Finally, please have a look at the post about last weekend's Dodgeball! tournament on the Marshall Magnet School blog.  Thanks to Barrett Tritle, Christie Kinkaid, and Janelle Reasor, who all worked tirelessly to coordinate this one-of-a-kind event, we've got another $7000.00 in our magnet program's budget for next year.  Remember: it's events like this, along with the Tax Credit cotnributions that you help raise, that make our $100,000.00 annual extracurricular magnet programs budget possible.
 

Thanks for efforts on behalf of our students and, more personally, for making this a very memorable year for me.

Have a great summer!

Please keep an eye on our Facebook page, the school community blog, and your email for updates and such.

See you in August.

Updates - 01 June

Thanks, everyone, for your attention and consideration at our faculty meeting today.  I appreciate it.

I also appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the ongoing, inevitable flux in our planning, scheduling, and staffing.

Next week, of course, is the end of the matter, as far as this school year goes.  So, there's not a lot to report out on in this Blue Note.  Just a few odds and ends... for the good of the order, as they say.

• Please remind your students that backpacks are not allowed on the last day of school. 

• Please don't forget to use my signature stamp to sign your students' report cards.

• Please make sure you include a copy of your students' report cards in their cum folder as part of your end-of-year check-out procedures.

• Please remember that Thursday is an early release day, akin to our typical Friday schedule.

• Third, fourth, and fifth grades still have GDMs scheduled for next week.  Please check your calendar to ensure that you're ready and able to attend at your scheduled time.  AIMS scores, albeit embargoed AIMS scores, will be delivered to you at these meetings.

• If you haven't completed your self-evaluation yet, please do so before check out.  You will find the form online via this link.

• If you haven't scheduled a check-out time for Thursday afternoon or Friday, please do so via this link.

• Friday is a contracted teacher-work day.  Please plan to arrive at work at your usual time.