Welcome to the world, Benjamin Fisk, all 10lbs 2 oz and 21 3/4 inches of ya! Born on Wednesday 27 May 2015.
The Year In Review
It has occasionally been my habit over the course of the past few years to publish for you some sort of Year In Review edition of the Blue Note at year's end.
Some years, we've had much to report that was uplifting and positive about the things that we'd accomplished, the things that we'd achieved, in a given year.
This year, however, as I reflect on the year-that-just-was, the only thing I seem to be able to bind my thoughts to is this rather overwhelming sense of all that we have endured.
Together.
What a year.
Before our school year ever began we encountered tragedy at summer's end, and we encountered more and then still more of the same throughout the first part of the year, only to conclude our spring-term with repeated crises, accompanied afterward by our abiding collective post-traumatic anxiety that "the shoe" might drop again on any given day without notice.
I'll admit I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that we've endured more than our fair-share of tragedy and crisis as a school community before, during each of the past few years. We certainly have. But never before have we endured so many things in such rapid succession and all in one year.
Therefore, I will not write for you today a laundry-list of our accomplishments this year. Instead, there will be only this, most of which I have said before, but which remains my lasting impression of the 2014-2015 school year:
I am abidingly grateful to all of you for, at every turn, being the kind and compassionate, responsible and resilient people that you are.
Marshall's ship is not sunk. Nor is it sinking at all, not even a little. We're listing a bit perhaps, as we limp into port at long last. But only because of the emotional maelstrom we have been through this year.
Yet, we have survived this journey.
Together.
Because of you.
I am proud to serve in your ranks.
Changing Places
Please remember, some of our staff will be moving around within the building prior to the start of the 2015-2016 school year. These moves may begin as soon as spaces become available. The changes are as follows:
- Tiffany Ogg (new hire, repl. Chris LeMoyne) will move into room 43.
- Jan Luxton will move into room 31
- Stef Perkins will move into room 31
- Jen Ernst will move into room 26
- Jessica Grant and Amy Hanno will move into room 19
- Laura Alonso-Paez will move into the small office next to Joel Axler
ACCRS Math
Many of you chose to begin to incorporate Engage NY curriculum as a part of your math instruction this year and I am pleased about that. We made a substantial investment in procuring these materials for you this year and I trust that this experience will put us just-that-much more ahead of the game as FUSD moves more and more in the direction of the Common Core/Arizona College And Career Ready Standards (ACCRS) in math and language arts going forward. Assistant Superintendent Walton observed recently that, "As professionals we have an obligation to our students, their parents and the community to utilize the most effective instructional strategies and materials. As a district we will commit to providing on-going professional development to support best instructional practices and learning opportunities."
In that vein, the FUSD Governing Board has approved/adopted several instructional resources to support the ACCRS. Resources have been critically reviewed and measured for alignment to ACCRS by district teams as well as national organizations.
The following instructional resources have been identified by FUSD for math instruction:
- Eureka Math (aka Engage NY) – K-8th grade - ACCRS 2010, met 8 out of 9 or 9 out of 9 (depending on grade level) criteria
- Envision Math – K-5th grade – ACCRS 2008, did not meet criteria except in 4th grade (1 out of 9)
- Prentice Hall – 6th – 8th grades – ACCRS 2008, met 1 out of 9 criteria
- Eureka Math (aka Engage NY) – ACCRS 2010, Algebra I & II, met 7 out of 7 criteria; Geometry met 8 out of 8 criteria
- Holt McDougal – Algebra I & II, Geometry – ACCRS 2008, met 1 out of 8 for Geometry and 0 out of 7 for Algebra I & II
- Programs identified for intervention (remediation – enrichment) are: Do The Math, Camelot Math, and Singapore Math
Janelle Reasor has all of the Eureka Math materials on a flash drive for you to download to your computer. Please get in touch with her ASAP if you would like to have these resources installed on your Apple or Dell laptop.
With that in mind, FUSD has planned a Eureka Math Basics for K-5 training opportunity on Monday July 20, 2015, from 9:00-11:00 am (TNL: Course #48972, Section #32988).
Per Gretchen Markiewicz, "This 2-hour session is intended for those who have not worked with the Eureka materials and will provide participants with an overview of the Eureka Math program. We will examine the structure of the program, log into the Eureka web page and other web pages that support and provide additional resources for this program. Training in the use of the materials will be offered on July 21 for grades K-2 and July 22 for grades 3-5.
Implementing Eureka Math K-2 July 21, 2015 8:30-2:30 (1 hour lunch), TNL: Course #48973, Section #32989
Implementing Eureka Math 3-5 July 22, 2015 8:30-2:30 (1 hour lunch), TNL: Course #48973, Section #32991
The goals for the day include the following:
· Learning the nuts and bolts of the program
· Recognizing the importance of each lesson component and analyzing how each component supports student learning
· Experiencing how both instruction and assessment are balanced through conceptual understanding, application, and procedural fluency
· Focus on Module 1 in preparation for implementing Eureka when school begins
Other topics for discussion will be fluency, parent support, multiple strategies and representations, and pacing. Teachers will walk away with the tools to begin implementation of Eureka Math.
The trainer will be available from 2:30-3:30 for those teachers who would like to continue to plan, collaborate, and ask additional questions. This hour is optional and is eligible for 301 hours."
Calendar
FUSD & Marshall School will be closed on Fridays 05 June - 10 July
- Friday 29 May
- Teacher Contractual Work Day
- Monday 01 June
- Coe at Admin interviews, 9:30
- Coe at Admin Council, 10:30
- Tuesday 02 June
- Coe on vacation (1 day)
- Thursday 04 June
- Last Day Erin and Travis
- Coe at Annual Evaluation, 2:30
- 08 June
- Summer FACTS at Marshall begins
- 08 - 22 June
- Coe on vacation (9 days)
- Thursday 11 June
- Last Day Malinda
- 23 - 25 June
- Coe at Leading Change Conference (3 days)
- 29-30 June
- Coe on vacation (2 days)
- 06 - 10 July
- World Music Workshop at Marshall
- 08 - 09 July
- Coe at Admin Council, all day
- Monday 20 July
- Malinda returns
- Friday 24 July
- Summer FACTS at Marshall ends
- Monday 27 July
- Erin and Travis return
- 29 - 31 July
- New teacher training at FUSD
- Monday 03 August
- 301 day at Sinagua (Thomas Guskey), 8:00-12:00
- Coe at Admin meeting 1:00-2:00
- Tuesday 04 August
- Teacher Contractual Work Day
- All-FUSD meeting at Sinagua, 8:00
- All-Marshall faculty meeting in the Library, 10:00
- various FUSD department meetings, 1:00
- Wednesday 05 August
- Teacher Contractual Work Day
- PTO Teacher Appreciation luncheon, 12:00
- New-to-Marshall student visitation, 2:00
- Thursday 06 August
- First Day Of School
- Kindergarten (only) early release, 11:30
Have a nice summer!
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