Updates - 18 September 2014

Hello everyone,

In the midst of the tragedy we experienced this week I found myself profoundly moved to see, at every turn, our entire community collectively drawn together in order to reach out compassionately toward one another, especially toward our most deeply saddened members and a family in the throes of profound grief.

That part of this tragic business was quite beautiful.

The way Marshall rallied on Monday, parents, students, and staff together as one grieving community, was another confirmation to me of why I love this place and its membership.  Marshall is special, a place like no other.  That was proved to me again this week.

In view of the week we've had, it is truly my hope that you have a safe and relaxing weekend.

Connect To School Night
Thank you for completing the Connect To School Night reflection survey (and if you haven't yet, there's still time to do so).  I am pleased with the preliminary feedback you've provided.

Please have a look at the results by clicking this link.  The graphs are easy to interpret, but pay close attention to the comments at the bottom, too.  On the upside: I think you will see that, in general, most of you appear to have felt very positively about this event and that most of you would repeat it next year, with some of you hopeful to consider repeating it later in this school year.  On the down-side: Turn-out was less than we'd hoped for, but actually pretty darn close to par for a more-traditional Open House Night, I think.  Definitely a point-for-growth as we look at carrying out this event in the future.

I'd like us to discuss our first-ever Connect To School Night further as a staff, focusing on the feedback you've provided and with a view to developing our plans for doing it again (whether or not we choose to do it sooner or later).  We have begun to do so in your CTs this week, but I have reserved our 23 October morning faculty meeting for this purpose as well.

What's been especially cool is the amount of universally positive feedback I continue to receive from our parents on an almost daily basis since last Thursday, quite often from folks who otherwise rarely-if-ever seek me out for any reason.  Here's a great example:
Mr. Coe,
    In the wake of the tragedy that Marshall has experienced this week I thought I would share some good news with you.
    In the 14 years I have been in education and the 9 years I have been a parent of a student in the Flagstaff Public Schools I have never been a part of an Open House that has been as productive and meaningful as the one Marshall put on last Thursday evening. It was impressive to see how Marshall School is embracing the philosophical shift that is occurring in education right now and putting theory into practice. Marshall School took the idea of a true parent/school partnership and put into place a plan of action.
    It was obvious that a lot of time and energy was spent training the faculty and staff on presenting the student information to parents both delicately and inclusively. There are two elements from Open House that made an impression on me. One was the concept of parents looking at their student's data, making goals for their student's next benchmark, and then, and this is the best part, encouraging parents to commit to what they will do at home to help their student reach their goals. Secondly,knowing that some parents have the right intentions, but don't know how to help their students, the teacher utilized the Ipads and showed us a couple of educational sites and how they would work for us as parents. It's one thing for a school to provide a list of resources for parents. However, it's another for a school to take the time to demonstrate and utilize technology to help parents discover how a specific tool would work for their child.
    Lastly, I was happy and grateful for Mrs. ____'s willingness to take the time to walk parents through the entire process. It was obvious that she was well-prepared for the presentation. I am thankful my daughter has her as a teacher this year.
    Please share my thoughts as you see fit.
    Proud Marshall Parent,

Projectors
FUSD technician John McCooey has asked that you immediately notify the Help Desk (or if you have trouble with this, Malinda) to create a work order whenever you see the "Please clean filter" notice on your projector's screen.  Each day of delay in doing so threatens to turn your projector into a boat-anchor.

Calendar
Week A
Observation Calendar begins
  • Monday, 22 Sept.
    • Coe at Flagstaff Community Foundation awards, 10:00-12:00
  • Wednesday, 24 Sept.
    • Coe off, all afternoon (dermatologist)
  • Friday, 26 Sept.
    • Fire Drill, 10:00
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