Updates -- 24 April 2015

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday.  Happy pay-day.  Happy most-well-earned-weekend ever.

Hope you're able to rest and relax for a couple days, far from the rigors of work, safe in the company of those you love.

Expression Of Gratitude
I sent the following letter to the superintendent earlier this week.  I share it with you because I want you to know how I feel:
Hello,
      First of all, I want to formally recognize my abiding appreciation for everyone at central admin who has stood in the breach for us at Marshall recently.  My gratitude to goes out to Diana (Shaum) and Bev (Gibbs) for providing us with additional counseling support throughout this process, and especially to Joel Axler, Nancy McCleskey and Jen Netzky for being here to talk and listen to our parents, our students, and our staff members for hours on end day after day, and also for their efforts to compassionately reach out to the families of every kid kept home after-the-fact (~70 on Tuesday; 15 on Wednesday; 10 Thursday) to ensure them that Marshall is safe and that getting back-to-normal is a good thing to do.   Likewise, it I am grateful to Bob (Kuhn) and Mary K (Walton) for so deftly organizing and carrying-out such a meaningful, informative and orderly public forum on short notice earlier in the week, and for their validation of the work we have all accomplished at our schools to make sure that they’re safe.  Thanks to Tony (Cullen) for recognizing the importance of the forum and for finding the time and space for it at FHS.  And, finally, my thanks to Chris (Grove) and Dietrich (Sauer) for showing up unexpectedly at Marshall in the wake of lockdown #2, just in case we needed a few extra eyes-and-hands; we did.
      I cannot recollect a time when I’ve been more proud to be a part of FUSD.  Our district administrative team, as well as the faculty and staff at Marshall School (and I’m sure at every site), have all performed above-and-beyond admirably during this time of trial.
      Nevertheless, I don’t think I can impress upon you how much emotional turmoil these events have evoked, particularly among my faculty and staff, who have twice now endured these awful disruptions.  Nor do I think I will be able to impress upon you how overwhelmingly proud of our staff I am.   None of them faltered during these trying times, not one has  failed to carry-out our prime objective: to keep safe the students of Marshall.  And yet, despite their elevated levels of anxiety, evident yet today on most of their faces, they still have not wavered in their commitment to our students and community.  On Tuesday, the day after our most recent disruption, not one para-pro, not one gen-aide, not one teacher or support staff member was unexpectedly absent from work.  That’s a pretty amazing statistic in my opinion, given that it was likely everyone’s compulsion (myself included) to just stay home and hide-out as a response to our collective (and reasonable) paranoia: that we might get another one of these calls one of these days, quite literally when we least expect it.  That expectation has sadly become our new normal.  I don’t like it.  Not one bit.  But it is.
      And yet I am able to  tell you without equivocation: Marshall School and its entire staff is ever-ready to do what needs to be done.  Regardless.  Now more than ever.  But it’s also nice to know, again without equivocation, that FUSD (and FPD, who have also been universally awesome throughout this ordeal) has our back.
      In view of all this craziness, I am hopeful to bring our faculty and staff together again tomorrow after dismissal for another short face-to-face debrief.  And then I am going to send them home early, to be with their families, to rest and recuperate so that they’ll be ready to get back to it on Monday.
     John Coe, principal
     Marshall Magnet Elementary School

Tentative 2015-2016 Stuff
We will conduct our annual part stock-market, part blackjack class-placement trading games during the week of  04 May.  Jessica Grant has sent you the schedule and trading cards have been placed in your mailboxes.  Most of you have done this with us before.  If you haven't, please get with your grade-level peers prior to your appointed time to be sure you're up-to-speed with how to complete your cards.

With that in mind, below are links to a few other documents you might find interesting and/or useful as you begin to plan for the coming school year.  Now is the time to scrutinize each of them for conflicts and trouble-spots.  Feel free to bring your concerns to me or Janelle Reasor at your earliest convenience.  Please note my use of the word "tentative" in identifying each document.  Any/all of these plans may be subject to change as mandates, schedules, expectations, etc. are made without warning by those in authority over us...


TPPP
FYI: Your TPPP activities log is due to me no later than the last day of school.

301
You have been asked in a recent email from Mary K Walton to vote on next year's 301 calendar.  FUSD will be unable to proceed with the plan until 70% of 301-eligible faculty have voted.

Bonito Street Construction
The City of Flagstaff has informed us that Bonito Street south of Marshall will be under construction between Elm and Santa Fe beginning late May to improve water and sewer lines.

Tech Peer Coaching
Heather Zigler has asked principals to encourage teachers to apply to be trained and equipped to become Technology Peer Coaches.  The application is available at http://tiny.cc/2015techcoachapp.  Questions? Contact Heather at 6129.

DCS (formerly CPS)
Nancy McCleskey has provided you with a packet of new information regarding reporting abuse and/or neglect to the Department of Child Services.  It was put in your mailboxes last week with an orange top-sheet.

TL;DR: If you see signs of abuse, such as a physical injury, call 1-888-SOS-CHILD.  Do not make such a report online.

Calendar
Week A
  • Monday 27 Apr.
    • Regular School Day -- Snow Day Make-up
  • Wednesday 29 Apr.
    • PTO School Carnival, 5:30-6:30
  • Thursday 30 Apr.
    • K-2 Heritage Square Suzuki Perf., high noon
    • Coe, White at PBIS mtg, 4:00


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Updates -- 17 April 2015

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday.

Happy Friday, indeed.

What a relief to know it will be the weekend soon.

Guess we'll lead off today's Note with the lock-down...

Lock-down
First of all, let me again say, "Thanks."

You did well.  Our kids did well.  Everyone.  Every one of you and your kids were safely sequestered behind a closed door mere seconds after I instructed you to lock-down.

I'm supposed to meet with members of Flagstaff PD along with folks from FUSD admin later today to "debrief" with them about what happened here on Wednesday afternoon.  I will be sure to share-out to you anything important or relevant that I learn.

Meantime, we learned a few things ourselves the other day about locking-down this place in the event of an emergency.  I'd like you to review the following by way of refining our lock-down procedures going-forward:

  • We now know for-reals that such a situation could occur at any time during the school-day.  I think we should better prepare ourselves and our students for such by drilling lock-downs and fires at more complicated and chaotic times of day.  I hope to begin doing so soon, after we let the dust settle a little bit.  Be prepared for that.
  • Also, regarding the time of day in which such a lock-down situation could occur, we now know that if we are compelled to lock-down during a time of transition (recess, lunch, RTI, specials, magnets), we may have students who are locked-out of classrooms without a staff member to supervise them.  Ideally, this would never happen.  But it could.  And on Wednesday it did.  During our lock-down this week we had seven students in a closed (and possibly unlocked) classroom.  Alone, without a teacher or staff member to attend to them.  
    • Hearsay indicates that these students passed-by several classrooms that were in the process of locking-down on their way to their homeroom.  This shouldn't happen.  If, as you are closing your door, you observe any student in your vicinity you must grab them and immediately and lock them in your room, regardless of whether or not they're yours or give you the impression that they are headed elsewhere.  They cannot be allowed to proceed.  Lock them in with you regardless of their protests.
    • Talk with your students now about the urgency to seek out the nearest classroom, work-room, or office with an adult in it immediately in the event of a lock-down, especially if it occurs during a time of transition.  But also tell them to stay quiet and stay put if they find themselves in an unsupervised area during a lock-down (again, hearsay seems to indicate that Flag PD found--and assigned one of their officers to, reducing their SWAT team by one--our unsupervised students during their initial sweep after about 5-10 minutes because one of them cracked open the classroom door to peek.  A bad idea, to say the least).
  • Lock your door knobs!  Check them each morning.  Keep them locked all day.  Every day.
    • We will be issuing back-of-the-knob keys to all parapros and aides soon.  Subs already have them on the back of their temporary badge.
    Click to enlarge
  • It has always been our policy, though perhaps not our persuasion, that those who are left-out on the playgrounds when a lock-down is called are to immediately evacuate our campus for the safe area that's been established at Flagstaff High School.  The police were told during our initial emergency call that we likely had students at FHS and were mobilizing to meet them there when we were informed by Marshall staff that there were no students in the safe zone, despite the fact that this situation occurred at lunchtime when the playground was full.  
    • That's because all of our students, teachers, aides and parapros returned to the building.  Doors were held open.  Children and adults alike were waved into open doors and hallways, overriding the keycard lock-out we had initiated manually via the emergency panel in the office because the caller had stated that they were "in the building with a gun" ready to "hurt hundreds of children."  I know it's counter-intuitive to run away from Marshall in the event of a lock-down.  But that's what you must do.  Otherwise, you run the risk of heading right back into the line of fire.  That's what happened on Wednesday, and it would have been better if it hadn't.
      • I met with all our playground aides on Thursday to review this procedure with them.
    • If you haven't already done so, you and your students should walk the path to the safe zone as soon as you possibly can.  Be sure everyone knows where to go.  It might be wise to instruct them that they should make every attempt to find a grown-up to go with, but that they may need to run this path without an adult in the event of a real emergency.  Police will always be dispatched to meet you there, but again, in the event of a real emergency, in may take some time for them to arrive.  Wait there.  No matter how long it takes.  Someone will come for you eventually.  Never, ever should anyone return to the school from the safe zone until you have been told to do so my me, a member of the Marshall crisis team (Amy, Janelle, or Jessica), FUSD administration, or the police.
  • I have made a few changes and revisions to our lock-down procedures.  Immediately review for yourself, and share with your students, the key components of our updated lock-down procedures.  Put in your Outlook or Google calendar a reminder to do this repeatedly on a regular basis.
Special classes
Teachers, please let our special-area teachers know ASAP if you are not planning to bring your students to Art, Music, PE or Technology during the final week of the school year in order to allow them to plan for collaboration and other activities during that time.

Calendar
Week B
  • Tuesday, 21 Apr.
    • Science Council in the Science Lab, 4:00
  • Friday, 24 Apr.
    • Regular School Day (snow-day make-up)
    • Lock-down Drill -- POSTPONED
    • Fisk shower @ Kohl's, 3:30






Posted by

Updates -- 10 April 2015

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday!

Happy pay-day!

APTT & Connect-To-School
I was quite uplifted by your positive attitudes and the support you showed for the APTT-model at our meeting on Thursday.  Thanks for bringing such great ideas to the table.  I am pleased that we will be able to continue to implement this approach to cultivating parent-teacher, home-school partnerships at Marshall.  I think it will be an essential component of our future success.

With that in mind, based on our conversation on Thursday, here's what we'll need to focus on going forward:
  • We will publish a set of Connect-To-School dates on our master calendar ASAP
    • we know that our first Connect-To-School meeting will be on 10 Sept. 2015
    • individual family conferences will take place during the second week of October 2015
    • our second parent-teacher Connect-To-School meetings will be on an evening (or two) in late January 2016
    • we will have a third Connect-To-School parent-teacher team meeting and hold as-needed individual family conferences prior to Spring Break week in March 2016
  • The school office will communicate to parents via Facebook, marshallmagnetschool.com, and The Marshall Magnet newsletter that attendance at Connect-To-School events is an expectation for all parents with children at Marshall
  • Teachers will communicate to parents about how essential and important team meetings and conferences are
  • Teachers and teacher-teams will be encouraged to adapt the APTT model to suit their needs
    • Every effort should be made by teachers to retain the essential components of parent-teacher team building, data review, and tool distribution
AzMerit
Testing season officially begins this Monday, 13 April, at Marshall.  As you know, our third through fifth graders will be taking new standardized AzMerit tests using iPads for the first time ever.  Because we have only three iPad carts that have all the right hardware (keyboards, stands, headphones) and software (a proprietary browser set in "single app" mode) our schedule for testing is quite complex and will require that we use classrooms and the Science Lab as test settings at times.  Therefore, we need everyone to abide by the following directives:
  • Ensure that standard hallway protocols (quiet lines, no running, etc.) are followed carefully and to-the-letter at all times during testing weeks
  • Do not use wireless devices (iPad carts) on the WSLAN network during testing weeks

This Week's Blue Note Brought To You By...
In case you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, Flagstaff Youth Theater's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opens tonight in the Flagstaff High School main auditorium.  Curtain is at 7:00 on Friday and Saturday evening, and Sunday matinee shows start at 2:00. You can always buy tickets at the door.  The show will run on weekends through the 26th.

(Bekah Coe is in the chorus-line.)

 Calendar
Week A
  • Monday 13 Apr.
    • Coe @ Admin 1:00-4:00
  • Tuesday 14 Apr.
    • Site Council in the Library 5:00
      • PBS Committee reporting
  • Thursday, 16 Apr.
    • PBIS training at FRC (White, Paez, Fugett, Edwards), all day
  • Friday 17 Apr.
    • Earth Day!
  • Saturday 18 Apr.
    • Sights and Sounds at Flagstaff Mall
      • Marshall Band, 10:00
      • Marshall Suzuki, 2:00




Posted by

Updates -- 03 April 2015

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday.  Happy three-day weekend!

Nurse Becky
I'm pleased to welcome Nurse Becky Witt, RN, to Marshall.  Please take a minute to stop into the Health Office sometime soon to meet her and introduce yourself if you haven't done so already.

Please be reminded: you must always send a Health Office Referral form along with any student you send to the nurse.  It's especially essential to do so now as Becky is learning both who you are and who your students are.

As indicated in the email she sent to all of you this week, her office hours will be 8:15am - 2:30pm. After 2:30 she will still see students with life and death emergencies and students with daily scheduled medications.  Her lunch will be from 10:30-11:00am, unless posted on door.

Please continue to treat minor scrapes with bandages in your classroom.  But also keep in mind the major concerns (the 5 Bs) that always merit the referral of a child to the Health Office: 
  • Breathing Problems 
  • Blood (more than minor cuts) 
  • Blow to the Head 
  • Barf 
  • Broken Bones
Camp Iwannago
The summer FACTS program will be using our site for Camp Iwannago this year. They will be using the lobby and all the rooms in the first wing (classrooms 5-12) as well as the Cafeteria, playground, Fit Kids room, and the Science Lab.  The program will run from Monday, June 8th - Friday, July 24th (Closed Friday July 3rd). 
 
I'm sorry for the late notice on what is sure to be a great imposition on those teachers whose classrooms will be occupied all summer by this program.  I just found out about it, too.  

Having this program at Marshall will require you to stow your gear at year's end more thoroughly than usual, in order to ensure it is safely preserved during the summer.  FACTS workers will photograph your rooms before they begin using them, and I have been assured that all will be put back as it was when they are done.  FACTS director, Travis Drake, has assured me that his program will repair or replace any damage that ensues from the FACTS program's activities on our campus during the summer.

Connect To School
We will meet together on Thursday morning at 7:45 to discuss the future of our APTT-inspired Connect To School events.  Please be on time, I suspect there will much for us to deliberate over at this meeting.  I will have packets available at our meeting, but if you care to peruse graphs of our response-form data prior to the meeting, please feel free to download and print out a copy for yourself.
Calendar
Week B
  • Monday, 06 Apr.
  • NO SCHOOL - Spring Holiday
  • Wednesday, 08 Apr.
  • Coe @ Elementary Admin, 7:30-10:30
  • Thursday, 09 Apr.
  • Faculty Meeting in the Library, 7:45
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