Updates - 16 December 2016

Hello everyone,

Hope your holidays, whatever form they might take, are pleasant and filled with love, contentment, and renewal.

PBIS Updates
Sheila White sent out some good information about revisions our PBIS Committee has made to our program recently.  They're reprinted below to ensure everyone's up-to-speed with what we hope to accomplish in our efforts to make this vital process work even better here at Marshall.

Many of you have expressed frustration since we lost our PBIS staff member, as we have not had an intermediary place for students when they become a barrier to classroom learning. We listened and have come up with a school-wide plan that will be implemented starting in January. 

Buddy Classrooms: Each teacher will partner with another teacher as Buddy Classrooms. You get to choose, with some parameters. Kinder teachers will partner with 3rd grade and Poland. First grade and Hulls will partner with fourth grade and Bergs. Second grade will partner with fifth grade and Fisher/Baker. Once you have "Buddied Up", please inform me of the partnership as a record will be kept. I realize there are not exactly the same number of classrooms per grade level, so let's get creative to make sure we all have a buddy. The idea is that it isn't a same grade level because of peer interactions. Ms. White's room, Mrs. Paez's room, and a few other locations will be available as well. The idea is that you will teach your students the process. Each classroom will set up an area where students will sit and "reflect" on their behavior. (More on the reflection forms later this week.) Your "buddy class area" should also be used for your own students prior to sending them out of the class. Procedural information will be in your box by the end of this week or right after Winter break. I am creating a PBIS folder for each of your classrooms. Buddy classrooms are not optional. Please embrace this process as we must work together, as we always do, to provide the best learning environments for all our students.  

Discipline Referral Forms: They are being rewritten to include the above changes. These forms will provide you with a paper trail in case of recurring behaviors. They become invaluable when a student is referred to the B-GDM. They will be required for any office referrals. The shorter, and more specific forms will be available immediately after winter break. Third: How are we doing? A new Google Form will be located on the sidebar in the blue note, once it has been finalized, that will allow you to help us help you. What is going well? What ideas do you have? Our intention is that we take the second semester of this school year to implement and tweak these new programs so that the start of the 2017 school year has us with a fully functioning system for behavior concerns. As always, I am here to answer questions and process ideas. Please feel free to drop an email or stop in any time.

Calendar

• Monday 02 Jan.
• NO SCHOOL - New Year holiday
• Wednesday 04 Jan.
• PTO in the Library, 6:30
• Thursday 05 Jan.
• Faculty meeting CANCELED
• Gradebook closes, 4:00
• Friday 06 Jan.
• Report Cards go home

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Updates - 09 December 2016

Hello everyone,

You learn something new every day, or so they say.  

Yesterday I learned that the anatomical drawing of the female uterus that's used in the boy's sexual health class is rendered on the poster somewhat out-of-scale. According to the instructor, if a real woman were to have a uterus that size, "She would need to be nearly seven feet tall."

Hate to think I would never have learned this had I not had to sit with a few of our fifth-grade behavior-support boys in their sex-ed class this week.  I'm 24 years into this profession, taught fifth grade for some 18 years of it, and yesterday was the very first I'd ever heard about the seven-foot-tall woman and her oversized uterus.

Amazing. #lifelonglearner

New Staff

If you haven't already had the chance, I hope you'll take a sec in the next few days to seek out and welcome our newest staff member, Sherri Dustin.  She's taken on a 0.5 FTE SPED Resource position for the balance of the year here.  You can find her around the school building or in room 26 where she's set up shop with Amanda Roth.

Tax Credit

Contributions are starting to roll in!  We've collected about $3000 since last week.

Please continue to put reminders about tax credit in front of your students' parents as often as you're able.  Likewise, I hope you'll take a few minutes to revise and send the appeal-letter to your friends and family members who might want to take advantage of the program.

Don't forget, there's lots of helpful info about what tax credit is and does for Marshall on the school blog.

Sure do appreciate your efforts in this regard.

Calendar

• Wednesday 14 Dec.
• Payday!
• Science Council in the Lab, 3:45
• Book Bingo in the Gym, 5:30-6:30
• Friday 16 Dec.
• End of Grading Period #2
• Emergency Drill (canceled)
• Staff Holiday Gathering at Dark Sky, 3:30
• Rogue One at Harkins, 4:50

Winter Break

19 Dec. - 03 Jan.

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Updates - 02 December 2016

Hello everyone,

Well, it's officially upon us, the season of the year I most dread... tax credit season.



No other cause, no other endeavor, no other initiative that we undertake at Marshall School compels me to lose more sleep more than our annual tax credit drive.  I worry way more about tax credit than I do about test scores.  I worry more about tax credit than I do about free-and-reduced lunch counts.  I worry more about tax credit than I do about our annual enrollment numbers.  And trust me, I worry a lot about each of those things.

Why do I worry so much about tax credit?  Because of the great, almost immeasurable value we place on every single tax credit dollar we receive.  Because of the amazing opportunities we are able to provide to you and your students with every tax credit dollar we expend.  Because of the huge benefit we are able to return to you and your classroom with every tax credit dollar we encumber for field-trips, materials, special one-of-a-kind extracurricular programs, residencies, curriculum, and even, on occasion, capital items.

Tax credit dollars are easy to spend.  Every year we spend almost $40,000.

Tax credit dollars are hard to acquire.  Every year we struggle in earnest up to the very last minute to get enough of them.

Every tax credit dollar that comes into the school comes after a direct personal appeal, a personal reminder, a personal plea that comes from one of us to the parents of our students, community stakeholders, close friends, and family members.  Some schools are able to just sit back and watch the tax credit donations roll in.  Not Marshall.  We've learned over the years that our community needs to be reminded and often retaught about the tax advantages that come from making a donation to our school.  And we've learned that this appeal is best heard and understood when it comes from you, from a member of our faculty and staff who understands the benefits our students derive from every single tax credit donation made to Marshall School.

I hope you'll make the effort to reach out to your students' parents, your friends, and your family members in the next few weeks to remind them about our need of their tax credit donations.

Below are a few items that many of us have found useful when making our annual appeals for tax credit donations.

This letter has been used with great success as a first step in making your direct appeals.  Please feel free to download it and revise it to suit your needs.

This flyer was sent home earlier this week and will be sent home again and again between now and the mid-April tax filing deadline.  Feel free to download it to include with the letter you sent to your friends and family members.

This page on the Marshall School Blog provides some helpful additional information about what Arizona's public school tax credit program is and its advantages for tax payers.

Also, newly updated full-color Marshall School brochures are available in the front office.  We have nearly 500 of them.  Not enough to send home with every kid, but certainly enough for you to include with your letters if you'd like to send them to folks far afield who might want to know more about who Marshall School is and what we're going to do with their donation.

Remember: tax credit works for anyone and everyone who pays taxes in the state of Arizona.

Thanks for your help and participation in this process.

FOSS
Now comes the time to make a decision about FOSS.  Teachers, please spend a few minutes thoughtfully completing this short survey form to help us determine our next steps.

Thanks.

Canned Food Drive
Don't forget to encourage your students next week to bring in items.  The parade will start at 9:00 on Friday morning.  I suspect this may be the last year for our special guest since Mrs. Claus is retiring and all...

Grade Reports
Our on-site report card czar, Mrs. Overton, sent an email to all staff earlier in the week with important dates pertaining to the next iteration of our report cards.  By way of reminder, some of them were as follows:

• Thursday 08 Dec.
• Early release for grading and report card preparation
• Friday 09 Dec.
• Special area grades entered by noon
• Friday 16 Dec.
• End of grade period
• Attendance roll-over at noon
• Thursday 05 Jan.
• Gradebook closes at 4:00
• Friday 06 Jan.
• Report cards go home with students at end of day

Field-trips
Just a reminder: please always send me an email so I can put your upcoming field-trips on the Master Calendar.  We've had a few slip through the cracks of late.

Calendar

• Monday 05 Dec.
• Coe at Admin, 1:00
• Tuesday 06 Dec.
• 10% Tuesday for Marshall at both Fratelli Pizza locations, all day
• Grand Canyon Univ. recruiter luncheon in lounge, 11:30-1:00
• Site Council in the Library, 4:00
• Wednesday 07 Dec.
• Coe, Jimenez, Reasor at FUSD Business Office training, 9:30-1:00
• PTO in the Library, 6:30
• Thursday 08 Dec.
• Early dismissal for grading and report card prep, 12:25
• Friday 09 Dec.
• B-GDM in the Music room, 7:45
• Canned food drive parade, 9:00

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