Updates - 25 May 2018

Hello everyone,

This, my 345th post to you here, will be my final entry on the Blue Note blog. The domain, www.bluenoteblog.com, will officially expire in September 2018. You will forever be able to refer to the content herein, as an historical record, at marshallbluenote.blogspot.com.

My affection for you, this special place, and the students we have served together will not diminish as I step away from this role to rejoin the teacher corps and a new faculty across town.  My time at Marshall has blessed my life immeasurably, with truly life-changing friendships, a bagful of genuinely astounding stories (some of which I think are worth retelling over and over, some of which I would love to forget), and total absolute confirmation that I can, in fact, do hard things. Because, quite frankly, I believe, for the past 2520 days, I have.  The 10 canary-yellow to-do notebooks, which I've filled line-by-line, top-to-bottom, and margin-to-margin in the course of the past seven years, likewise attest to this fact.  I've learned a lot about myself, and about how other people perceive me, and a thousand-thousand other mostly valuable things during this experience.

I will always be grateful to many of you for sticking with me through it all. Your occasional words of encouragement and support over the years have equipped me, sometimes at precisely the right moment, to persist for yet another day in this difficult work, and in many, many cases have touched my heart deeply, and meant more to me than you will ever know.

But we all know, I was really only ever the interim principal at Marshall, holding a place between Mrs. Zanzucchi and the next "guy" while trying not to break the place in the meantime.  I'm glad we've come to a point where I can step away, confident that I really did work super hard everyday to do my best by Marshall while you needed me to, to return to a role that's far less contentious and much more in line with what I feel I've actually been called to do with my life: teach.  I'm also pleased to know that so many of you are involved in the process of finding someone to serve in the principal's role here who is committed to understanding you, and loving you, and to working sincerely on your behalf to make Marshall ever-better for all, as I, likewise, have always tried to do.

Year-end Check-out Check-list

The year-end check-out check-list can be downloaded by classroom teachers at any time.

Also, please don't forget:

• Dismissal will happen at 12:25 on Thursday 31 May
• Send report cards home on Thursday 31 May
• Come to work around 8:30 on Friday 01 June
• Complete cum folders for each student in your class
• Complete each component of your Year-End Check-Out form
• Sign-up in the office to have someone check-you-out on Friday 01 June
• If you're leaving FUSD, do not forget to turn in your tech. They will hunt you down.
• Marshall would like your keys/badge back, too, if you're bailing on the FLG. But we will be less ruthless in our pursuit of you if you forget.

Report Cards

Classroom and specials teachers, please don't forget:

Friday, May 25:

Special area teachers, please have your grades entered by 12:00 noon TODAY.

School office staff will need to do the initial attendance rollover at 12:00 noon TODAY as well.

Classroom teachers should not print report cards until an announcement is made that both of the previous steps have been completed.

If teachers choose to print report cards prior to May 31st, please add this message in the comments box on the standards report...

"Student attendance is accurate as of May 25, 2018. Actual days membership through May 31, 2018, will be entered in students' permanent files." 

Thursday, May 31: Last Day of School

Standards reports will be sent home with students at the end of the day.

School office staff should do the final attendance rollover by 12:00 noon.

Friday, June 1: Teacher Work Day

Teachers should print a final standards report with the "official" attendance documented.

TPPP Logs

Certified 301-eligible personnel, don't forget to turn in your Teacher Performance Pay Plan logs to the appropriate folder next to my in-basket in the office.  Would be great if you could do this TODAY.  I will be submitting a spreadsheet of your hours to payroll as soon as the district provides it to me.

TPEC sign-offs

Mr. Spock says,
"Without a completed eval,
teachers are not eligible for
[TPPP] payment."

As in years past, all certified personnel will need to sign-off on this year's TPEC evaluation in several places, if you haven't done so already.

First, you'll need to review and sign-off on the details of your pre-conference under the Plan Details tab.  You should have already done this.  But if you haven't, you can still (and must) do it now.

Second, after your first (and/or second) formal observation(s), you should have logged-in and acknowledged the evaluation under the Observation Acknowledgements tab. But, again, if you haven't, you can still (and must) do it now.

Don't forget to click the Mark Complete button at the top of each of these pages.  If you forget, your eval will not be complete and the circle-flower-icon-thing will be orange (or blue or grey) but not green. If it's not green, that's bad... Please heed Mr. Spock's word of warning (above) if this becomes the case.

Finally, if you are a continuing-contract teacher and were granted a Second Observation Waiver recently, please sign the form that was placed in your mailbox yesterday to acknowledge it.  You should place your signed waivers in the folder labeled TPEC Waivers next to my in-basket in the front office TODAY. I am required to turn these forms in to HR no later than 72 hours after the waiver has been granted, which was done on Wednesday 23 May.

Calendar

• Monday 28 May
• NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day
• Tuesday 29 May
• Payday!
• Wednesday 30 May
• First grade Minute-to-Win-it in the Gym, 9:00
• Thursday 31 May
• Kinder graduation in the Gym, 9:00
• LAST DAY early dismissal, 12:25
• Staff Fiesta at casa de Milios, 4:00
• Friday 01 June
• Teacher contractual work-day, 8:30

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 18 May 2018

Hello everyone,

Alas, the penultimate Blue Note...

Thanks, all y'all, for providing the Superintendent with the names of your nominees for the principal hiring committee so quickly.  I'm just as anxious as you to see this process resolved.  Likewise, I continue to hold out great hope that y'all will select someone super-awesome and well-prepared to energetically lead Marshall in the future.

Also, thanks for not grumbling too much this morning when I had to ask so many of you to drop what you were otherwise prepared to accomplish during your workday in order to step into numerous vacant roles to ensure all of our students were able to go to school safely and be under the supervision of a qualified member of our professional staff today.

All-School BBQ
Please remember, the correct serving times for the BBQ on Monday 21 May, as indicated on the corrected flyer that was sent home earlier this week, are as follows:

• K-1: 11:20-11:55
• 2-3: 12:00-12:25
• 4-5: 12:30-12:55

Student supervision on the playground will be available for 20 minutes after each serving time.  I will reset the bells accordingly on Monday.

18-19 Updates

Lots of new hires this week!  Thanks to all who participated on the many hiring committees that took place.  Only Music remains unfilled at this time.  Hope to screen applicants for that position early next week and then have a committee pulled together to conduct interviews later on, prolly in the Thursday-Friday timeframe.

Otherwise, as you'll see on the most recent revision of the Staffing Sheet, we've got pretty much everyone else in place for the coming school year.

Updates have also been made to the Master Schedule and the Floorplan Map for the coming school year. You can download the new versions of each of these docs by clicking the links above or you can embiggen the pics below by clicking on them.

Calendar

• Monday 21 May
• All-School BBQ, 11:20-1:15
• Wednesday 23 May
• AZELLA Graduation in the Gym, 2:00
• Friday 25 May
• Fifth Grade Graduation in the Gym, 9:00
• Monday 28 May 
• NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 11 May 2018

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the kind words of support and encouragement after our impromptu faculty meeting earlier this week.  I have been uplifted in my interactions with a number of you since making my announcement to return to the classroom next year.  I am undeniably excited to see what the future brings to all of us.

Click here to download .pdf

Floorplan 18-19
I think it was during the strike that I sent out the draft version of the 18-19 floorplan map.  This link will take you to it if you missed it the first time around.

Heritage Square Lunch Schedule
Remember, due to the strike, we've rescheduled our 18th annual K-2 Suzuki performance to next Wednesday 16 May at high noon.  In order to accommodate the walking fieldtrips that are necessary to get all our little guys downtown on time, we need to move the lunch schedule around a bit that day.  Please be ready to have your kids in the cafeteria on the following schedule on Wednesday:

• Kinder: 10:25
• First: 10:35
• Second: 10:45

All 3-5 students will eat/play on their regular schedule on Wednesday.

All-school BBQ
Food services always provides us with a send-home flyer for the school BBQ and I always have to update it because the times on it are always wrong.  Somehow, this year, the flyer escaped my attention and it got sent home with the very wrong times still on it.  We sent home a half-sheet flyer yesterday along with a robo-call with the right times on it.  Folks can still use the green flyer to RSVP, but I hope you will make an effort to remind them of the proper times if you communicate with your families between now and Monday 21 May.

The correct serving times for the BBQ, as indicated on yesterday's flyer are as follows:

• K-1: 11:20-11:55
• 2-3: 12:00-12:25
• 4-5: 12:30-12:55

Calendar

• Monday 14 May
• Payday!
• Magnet Monday Spring Showcase, 2:10 (dancers at 2:30 in Gym)
• Tuesday 15 May
• Site Council, 4:00
• Kinder Bubble Night, 6:00
• Wednesday 16 May
• 18th annual Heritage Square Suzuki performance, 12:00
• Thursday 17 May
• Faculty meeting (Penca, Anderson) in the Library, 7:45
• Early dismissal for grading/report card prep, 12:25
• Friday 18 May
• Volunteer appreciation breakfast, 7:45
• Emergency drill (fire), 9:30

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 04 May 2018

Hello everyone,

What y'all did at the front of the school today, as all the kids were coming in, well, it pretty much destroyed me, got me all verklempt.  Pretty awesome, Marshall School.  Pretty awesome indeed.

Gosh, it's nice to see you.
Ain't no sunshine [when you're gone].

Bistro l'Marshall

While schools were closed, we were one of the sites in Flagstaff that was open for breakfast and lunch.  During those six days, while we were never at any time swamped, we did, nonetheless, have the chance to serve 233 meals to folks who stopped in to dine with us.  Our awesome cafeteria supervisor, Ms. Pat, did a great job of having ample food and staff on hand to be able to provide a quick, healthy meal to everyone who asked to be served.

Tax Credit: Final Update

Did you get the word that we met our annual fundraising goal again this year?  I'm not sure if that message got broadcast as effectively as I wanted it to recently, in light of the many other messages that were flying around at the same time. 

I'm happy to report that, for the seventh year in a row, we exceeded our goal to collect tax credit donations sufficient to sustain and grow our magnet programs and field-trip opportunities for our students.  As of the last accounting report, we pulled in almost $42,000 in tax credit donations between 18 April 2017 and 17 April 2018.  

Thanks for your all your sincere efforts to spread this important message to every parent in your classroom and, likewise, among your friends and relations.  This campaign works best when our message is carried home and around town by word of mouth with your personal endorsement behind it.

Now Hiring 

We've begun the process of hiring for the coming school year in earnest and have already paper-screened, interviewed, and made (and had accepted) at least one offer of employment for the 2018-2019 school year.

Currently posted online we've got a fifth grade (11 applicants as of today), a 1/2 SEI (5 applicants at the moment), a cross-cat (5 applicants), and a library aide (no applicants yet; it just went live this morning). Music should post soon.

As always, I'm going to need help getting all these jobs screened (fairly, legally, and wisely, at Marshall we always look at every applicant's on-paper qualifications) and interviewed (we always hire by collaborative committee-process here at Marshall) while there are still so many highly qualified, compelling, exciting candidates on the market.  I hope when I reach out to some of you for help in this process in coming days and weeks that you'll happily be wiling to join me in accomplishing this admittedly fun but nonetheless arduous endeavor.

Teacher Appreciation Week

The PTO postponed their meeting this week because of the walk-out, so they weren't able to get together to start planning for Teacher Appreciation Week (7-11 May).  But, they're hopeful to get together next week and plan together ways they can honor y'all nevertheless beginning on 18 May. 

Calendar

• Monday 07 May
• Coe at Admin Council, 12:00
• Wednesday 09 May
• PTO meeting in the Library, 4:30
• Thursday 10 May
• Regular school day
• Friday 11 May
• Regular school day

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 20 April 2018

Hello everyone,

Below's the low-down for teaching assignments and the master schedule for the 2018-2019 school year.  Click the pics below to embiggen 'em and/or the links below to download .pdf copies of each.

My cousin's mom, who is ethnically German, born and bred, often would accuse my (ethnically mid-western, always verbose, commonly hilarious) uncle of indulging his tendency to over-explain things when just a short, simple explanation would otherwise suffice.  She was fond of telling him, "Jim (sounds like Cheem), you are telling us how the clock was made. We just want to know what time it is."

As delivered in her terse, authentic Bavarian dialect, I always thought my aunt's likely idiomatic analogy was a wonderfully descriptive critique of an over-explainer's guilt. And, you'll not be surprised to learn that, over the years, I myself have been accused of committing similar sins.  As recently as this week, in fact. And last week.  And the week before that. So, rather than commit the offense (yet again) of spending 1000 words telling all of you how the "clocks" below were made, I'm just going to tell you "what time it is" and publish them to you all today as-is and, otherwise, without comment.

Excceept to say: a bunch of us worked really hard on these plans, we talked to lots of people, listened, bargained, lobbied, bickered (just amongst ourselves, natch), sought consensus, made some legit hard decisions, pulled out our hair, lost sleep, missed lunches, stayed late, and basically printed these final drafts with our own collective blood, sweat, and tears... all for the greater good, the greater equity, the greater big-picture vision of who-and-what Marshall School is and, most importantly, all we can be for every single one of our students every single day.

So, anyway, that being said (and quite succinctly, if I do say so myself), here ya go...

Download 18-19 staffing assignments .pdf

Download 18-19 master schedule .pdf

Calendar

• Monday 23 Apr
• NO SCHOOL - Unused Snowday
• Tuesday 24 Apr
• NO SCHOOL - Unused Snowday
• Wednesday 25 Apr
• Regular School Day - Makeup for 28 Feb. Snowday
• Faculty Meeting with Asst. Supt. Walton, 7:45  CANCELED
• Friday 27 Apr
• Payday!
• Emergency drill (Fire), 9:30

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 13 April 2018

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday (the thirteenth) payday!  I kinda miss Friday paydays.  Do you?  I wonder if we'll ever get them back... I'm sure there was a reason for going to the first and the fifteenth paydays a few years ago (I think it had something to do with Obamacare), but given the ever shifting political landscape these days, I wonder if those reasons might go away someday.

Speaking of shifting political landscapes, did you see the headline in the Daily Sun this morning?

Gov. Ducey pushes 20 percent Arizona teacher pay hike by 2020

Reason to hope for change? I sure hope so.

Odds and Ends

• Fieldtrip requests are officially closed for the balance of the school year.
• Certified contracts should be in your hands by 15 May.  You will have 14 days to sign.
• The final 2018-2019 staffing sheet (grade-level assignments) and master (specials) schedule will be in next week's Blue Note
• All teachers have been invited by the PTO to participate in next week's Spring Carnival. Don't forget, there's classroom money in the Spring Carnival for all who participate.

Wildfire Safety Planning
If you've been with us for a few years, you might remember how scary things got around here in late May 2014 when the Slide Fire was barreling up the rim from Oak Creek, fully out of control, threatening Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, and Mountainaire with imminent destruction, and dropping big bird-wing sized ashes on us throughout one afternoon.  Firefighters were able to get a few good stable lines around it eventually that night, but not before evacuation notices for those neighborhoods made it impossible for us to route students home to those areas buy school bus.  We had to put all our bus kids, and a bunch from DeMiguel and Kinsey too, into the gym at Flagstaff High School that afternoon and reunify them with their parents there, one-at-a-time.

Given that this fire season portends to be even worse, and with a much earlier onset, than the one in 2014, the FUSD admin team is prepping plans to carry out similar reunification/evacuation/emergency response plans should we be called upon to act urgently to protect all of our students and personnel in the event of a fast-moving wildfire headed our way.

I will continue to update you as these plans develop over the course of the next few days and weeks and will hope that you will, as always, pay careful attention to them.

Calendar

• Monday 16 Apr
• 4th grade AzMerit make-ups
• Wednesday 18 Apr
• 3rd grade AzMerit ELA & Math #1
• Coe at Elementary admin meeting, 9:30-11:30
• Thursday 19 Apr
• 3rd grade AzMerit ELA & Math #2
• PTO Spring Carnival 5:30-7:00
• Friday 20 Apr
• Emergency drill (fire), rescheduled to 27 Apr
• First-ever Marshall Spirit Leadership Assembly in the gym 9:30
• 2-hour Friday Professional Development Seminar for teachers, CANCELED
• Coe at TARIAT Conference at NAU, 2:00

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 30 March 2018

Me

Hello everyone,

Not only did I learn recently that I am more Neanderthal than some 95% of the human race, I also found out that I am 99.9% of northern European extraction, which, as a repeated skin-cancer survivor, comes a no surprise to me.  However, I was quite excited to learn from this same 23andMe test that I am something like one-tenth of one percent (approximately a hang-nail's worth) Askenazi, which is a broadly dispersed, generally European subset of the Jewish people.

I am quite excited to have learned this about myself, that some seven or eight generations ago I had a Jewish ancestor.  Turns out, I now fit right in with my wife and daughter in this respect. The same 23andMe test that I took told Lisa that she's almost 30% Ashkenazi and also that she's nearly 10% African, and even a skosh east Asian, most of which she didn't know about herself at all before (and the story of her previously unknown 63-year-old long lost sister that 23andMe told her of is great story for another time, too).  All of this, of course, makes Bek a wonderful amalgam of just about every continent and many of the major people groups in the whole entire world. Kinda like Marshall School.  Which thrills me to no end.

All that said to say this: חג פסח שמח... happy Passover! Which is an admittedly religious thing to say to you on this Friday afternoon after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (or something like that). But a religious remembrance to which, in view of my newly discovered cultural and ancestral heritage, I hope you will indulge me, just this once.

Testing Season Is Upon Us
Just another heads-up: we dive full force into our annual state-mandated AzMerit tests next week, and will continue to plug away at them for all students in grades 3-5 throughout the next several weeks.

Thanks for keeping your head, and the collective heads of all your students, in the game.

If you're one of the lucky ones who will be proctoring these sessions, please ensure that your tests are secured each night, that you follow all protocols and instructions to the letter, that you review and honor the security agreement that you signed, and that your students comply at all times with the state's expectations for how, where, when, and who must take these tests.

If your position let's you out of this obligation, nevertheless, we will expect that you will respect the effort that is being made in this regard by so many members of our school community and that you will demonstrate this at all times by moving quietly throughout the building during this period, by reviewing the many small changes and modifications that have been made to schedules and calendars, and by giving, as you are able, both moral and professional support to your cohorts who are reasonably anxious to see their students succeed in this endeavor.

Calendar

• Monday 02 April
• Third grade AzMerit: Writing
• Kinder Suzuki performance at FHS, 5:30
• Tuesday 03 April
• Fifth grade AzMerit: Writing
• First grade Suzuki performance at FHS, 5:30
• Wednesday 04 April
• Fifth grade AzMerit: ELA & Math #1
• PTO meeting in the Library, 4:30
• Second grade Suzuki performance at FHS, 5:30
• Thursday 05 April
• Fifth grade AzMerit: ELA & Math #2
• Friday 06 April
• Kevin and Kathy Brown visit to some K, 3, 4 classes for book presentation, 9:00
• STEAM Council in the Science Lab, 12:45

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 16 March 2018

I'm just a caveman...

Hello everyone,

Happy Spring Break eve!  I hope you have many wonderful plans to enjoy the next nine days off work in the company of those you love.

I plan to do likewise and have, as I told you earlier in the week, taken a half-day of vacation this afternoon in order to start my ski-week a little early by heading up the hill to schralp the gnar with Bekah, my brother Dave, and his kids.

Just so you know, I've taken three vacation days (Mon.-Wed.) next week, too, to do much the same thing (mas gnar schralping, that is), so I won't be in the office at all during the Break (Thurs. and Fri. are official district holidays) .  Nonetheless, if you urgently need me for whatever reason, please don't hesitate to call me on my cell.

Hallway PBIS Updates

Click images to embiggen

Some encouraging progress has been made in recent weeks to regain appropriate decorum in our hallways during transition times throughout the school day.  Except when students are moving into and out of and in-between their special classes.  Several times a day, just about every day of the week, there are moments where the the corner near the Library in the kindergarten wing is super congested, albeit for only a few minutes at a time.

Our in-house computer-guru, McA, has provided this helpful graphic to help all of us better understand when these moments of considerable congestion most commonly occur down that way.  All of our specials teachers and I ask you to please take these times into careful consideration when you're moving your students around in the building for any non-specials-class related purposes (e.g. you're headed to the playground, kinder-wing bathrooms, the Library, etc.) and that rather than contributing to (or worse, colliding with) the cluster, you make a deliberate decision to instead take a different and less congested route to your destination at these brief-but-busy times of day.

Of Specials and Lunches and Tests
Our awesome special-classes team has been working diligently all week in an attempt to make arrangements to reschedule some of your classes during the weeks of AIMS Science and AZMerit testing.  In the end, however, there were too many complexities to make such a radical rearrangement of the master schedule a reality.

Therefore, be it known: if your class has a special-area class that coincides with one of your testing days, that your special classes will, of necessity, need to be canceled.  If your scheduled testing day does not coincide with a special class, or if your class does not participate in state-mandated standardized testing, there will be no changes to your otherwise well-established schedule for specials.

Also, our excellent RTI team would like to remind you that, during some of our upcoming testing weeks, "lunch times for grades 2/3 and 4/5 will be switched on Apr. 4-5, as well as Apr. 11-12 to provide the 4th and 5th grades extended AzMerit testing sessions."  Please take note.

Long Distance Calling

I found out recently that there's a secret code with which it has long been possible to call long-distance from the phones in your classrooms. I'd never been told about this code before.  And, to be honest, I still don't know what it is or how it works.

But I guess it doesn't matter.  Because I've also recently come to learn that it's the district's intent, "given the wide variety of area codes included in cell phone numbers that  move into our district, [to remove] the long distance code so family communications can be more easily accomplished."  I don't think it has been implemented yet.  But, it's probably wise to keep an eye out for an email from FUSD Tech Services in the near future advising you that this new service is now available on your phone.

New K-8 ELA Curricula Trainings

Calendar

• 19-23 March
• Spring Break!
• Tuesday 27 March
• Fourth grade AIMS Science testing
• Site Council in the Library, 4:00
• Wednesday 28 March
• Coe at Elementary Admin meeting, 9:30-11:30
• Thursday 29 March
• Faculty Meeting in the Library, CANCELED
• PTO Family Fitness Night, 5:30-7:00

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 09 March 2018

Hello everyone,

Rain rain, go away.

Actually I don't mean that.  But it does look like it's gonna rain (not snow) in the Saturday-Sunday timeframe this weekend.  The way I'm looking at it, this winter, I'll take any and all precip in whatever form it comes and try, as always, to never begrudge the rain for raining.

Another storm in the 16-17 March window, I think.  And, at the moment, this one looks like it could be doozy.  Stay tuned...

International Women's Day
As many of you know, yesterday, 08 March, was International Women's Day and, as I've said many times in the past, it continues to be my great privilege to have been included, for the entire duration of my career as a professional educator, amongst so many amazing women. I love riding bikes and drinking beers with my buddies. Still, it's no secret that I generally tend to prefer the company of your gender to that of my own, especially on a professional basis.  Likewise, most of you are aware of the fact that I'm not reluctant to blame my oft clouded judgement, and inherited inability to access certain components of my still nascent emotional intelligence, on the Y chromosome I got from my father.

Nonetheless, I remain grateful for the instructive insight, the ceaseless compassion, and the ever-patient instruction in what I've come to view as my second-language, which I have received from the many awesome women who have played strong, passionate lead roles in my life as I've grown from boyhood to manhood.  It's not always easy to be a boy (nor a girl, either, I'm sure), both nature and nurture too commonly conspire to make us complicated, interpersonally tone-deaf, and sometimes even broken creatures.  It has been, without a doubt, the women in my life who have collaborated to save me from this fate, often from myself, and always from my baser selfish impulses.

I am indeed one of the thousands of man-children (and women-children alike) who would not be who we are today, were it not for the roles strong women have played in our lives.

Beginning with my mom and extending now through my long loving partnership with Lisa, and of course to our daughter, and finally to so many of you, please know: my (hopefully always appropriate, never creepy) affection and admiration for you, and for all that you do, abides, always, in both my heart and mind.

Yes For FUSD

There hasn't exactly been a run on the Yes For FUSD raffle tickets that I mentioned here last week.  So, I'm gonna republish the information below, just in case you forgot about this opportunity to support this important public school advocacy group.

If you would like to be involved in this effort, I would encourage you to reach out to the organization via their webpage.  Or, if you'd like to help them raise funds for printing and mailing, you might want to buy a raffle ticket or two... I've got them in my office.  There are two kinds, red and white.  The first, for five bucks each are the white ones.  They will enter you to win Diamondbacks pre-season tickets.  The game is on 24 March and the drawing will take place on 15 March.  The second kind are red.  They are ten bucks each (or two for $18, five for $40, or 15 for $100) and they will enter you to win a week in a condo at Lake Tahoe which will be available between 30 December 2018 and 06 January 2019.  As a bonus, the more expensive red tickets will go into the white ticket drawing, too.

All the proceeds go to Yes For FUSD.

Early Release Lunch Schedules
Next week Thursday and Friday, 15 and 16 March, lunches will run on our regular Friday lunch schedule.  Regular school lunches (not sacks) will be served both of those days and school will be dismissed at 12:25.

On Wednesday, 14 March, we will dismiss school at 11:10 and our sack lunch schedule that day will be as follows:

• 9:35-9:55 -- K-1 eat lunch 
• 9:55-10:15 -- K-1 on playground 
• 10:00-10:20 -- 2-3 eat lunch 
• 10:20-10:40 -- 2-3 on playground 
• 10:25-10:45 -- 4-5 eat lunch 
• 10:45-11:05 -- 4-5 on playground

 Janelle also made
the front page of the
Arizona Daily Sun on Sunday

Viola Awards Update
Congratulations to Janelle Reasor!  Janelle won the Flagstaff Arts Council's Arts Community Impact (Individual) Viola Award at this season's event last weekend.

Calendar

• Monday 12 Mar
• Grand Canyon Univ in staff lounge at lunchtime
• Wednesday 14 Mar
• Payday!
• Early dismissal for Conferences, 11:10
• Thursday 15 Mar
• Early dismissal for Conferences, 12:25
• Friday 16 Mar
• Emergency drill (fire), 9:30
• Early dismissal for Conferences, 12:25

Please acknowledge that you read this post.


P.S.
Several of Eva Herberger's and Amy Ronn's students successfully participated in the regional winter Special Olympics games at Snowbowl this week.  Congrats to all!

Updates - 02 March 2018

Snowday with Bekahcoe!

Hello everyone,

I am so pleased that we were granted our first (and possibly last/only) official snowday of the 2017-2018 school year this week.  I often tell people, snowdays, federal holidays, and summers alone are not enough of a good reason to get into our profession.  But, I'll be danged if, after we've enjoyed another awesome snowday, I'm not fully convinced they're definitely a great reason to stay in it.  I really do hope you enjoyed your bonus day-off as much as I enjoyed burning one of my vacation days.

For the record, 25 April becomes a regular day of school because of Wednesday's snowday.  The master calendar has been amended to reflect this change.

PBIS Stuff
Representatives of the PBIS Committee (well, just Casey, actually) and I met with the lunch duty folks on Thursday afternoon to review and revamp out cafeteria and playground expectations together in an effort to ensure that student safety and well-being remain on the top of our collective priority list.  We were very productive and accomplished a lot in a short time.

One thing that arose out of our discussion, which both the PBIS Committee and our awesome lunch duty bunch would like to encourage you to express to your students, are the following ideas:

• Every student should find one spot in which to sit whenever they are eating in the cafeteria; lunch aides will make every effort to ensure that students stay in that one seat for the duration of their eating time except to throw away trash.
• No food should be taken from the cafeteria to the playground.
• Students cannot be permitted to play in the garden, behind the bushes, or anywhere else outside the immediate oversight of an adult.  All staff should reinforce the idea to our students, "If you cannot see an adult, they cannot see you. And if they can't see you, they can't help you.  The grown-ups on the playground are there to help."
• No students will be permitted in the hallways during the lunch periods without a teacher-issued hallpass except to use the restrooms near the cafeteria.
• Lunch tubs/bins should be retrieved from the cafeteria and returned to classrooms well after the lunch period, ideally towards the end of the school day, in order to reduce student traffic in the halls.

Yes For FUSD
Several members of Marshall's community met together with folks from every other school site, the district office, and the community at-large to kick-off the 2018 Yes For FUSD initiative this week.  A growing body of information about this important effort will continue to be added to their website over the course of the next many days, weeks, and months as the school board makes its final decisions about tax-rates and actual dollar values, allocations, and things such as that.

If you would like to be involved in this effort, I would encourage you to reach out to the organization via their webpage.  Or, if you'd like to help them raise funds for printing and mailing, you might want to buy a raffle ticket or two... I've got them in my office.  There are two kinds, red and white.  The first, for five bucks each are the white ones.  They will enter you to win Diamondbacks pre-season tickets.  The game is on 24 March and the drawing will take place on 15 March.  The second kind are red.  They are ten bucks each (or two for $18, five for $40, or 15 for $100) and they will enter you to win a week in a condo at Lake Tahoe which will be available between 30 December 2018 and 06 January 2019.  As a bonus, the more expensive red tickets will go into the white ticket drawing, too.

All the proceeds go to Yes For FUSD.

End Of The Grading Period Stuff
It's officially March, which means the end of the grading period, parent-teacher conferences, and spring break are right around the corner.  Gradebook czar Overton sent the following information earlier in the week:

• Friday, March 2nd:
• Special Area Teachers have the afternoon to finalize grades.
• Friday, March 9th:
• End of 3rd Quarter
• All specials grades must be in by 12:00 noon.
• Office staff will do the attendance rollover by noon.
• Regular classroom teachers can transfer grades at anytime. However, they must wait to print until the announcement has been made.
• March 14th-16th
• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Please be sure you present Standards Reports to parents at conferences.
• Friday, March 16th
• Deadline to enter or change grades in Report Card.  To be safe, you will want to make any changes by 11:59 PM on the 15th.
• All Standards Reports should go home with students unless you have a conference scheduled for a later date.

Likewise, FUSD transportation has given us our early dismissal schedule for parent-teacher conference week.  We will release students as follows:

• 14 March -- 11:10 (sack lunches, too)
• 15 March -- 12:25
• 16 March -- 12:25

Calendar

• Saturday 03 Mar
• Viola Awards at High Country Conference Center
• Cocktail Hour: 5:00-6:00
• Awards Gala & Dinner: 6:00-9:00
• Monday 05 Mar
• Coe at Admin Council, 1:00-4:00
• STEM Night at NAU Skydome, 5:30-7:30
• Wednesday 07 Mar
• Coe to chaperone Grimmett/Arnold ski trip, 9:00-2:30
• Kindergarten registration in the Gym, 4:30-6:30
• Thursday 08 Mar
• Flagstaff Symphony Link-up concert at NAU, 10:00-12:30
• Friday 09 Mar
• End of third grading period
• PBIS Committee meeting in the Music room, 2:15

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Updates - 23 February 2018

Hello everyone,

I'll be honest, I've been writing, revising, deleting, and rewriting this week's Blue Note for several days now.  For my efforts, I've netted almost no words that have endured here for more than a few hours at a time.  I'm at a loss when it comes to knowing what to say to you under these circumstances.  Suffice to say, I find myself quite apoplectic as we have all been forced, once again, to collectively sit by helplessly as yet another deadly crisis of school safety unfolded in our nation.

So, instead of making too feeble an attempt to put my own thoughts down on this page, I'm just going to steal what Superintendent Penca wrote to all of us earlier in the week and hope that it conveys to you my sentiments in this regard, which are entirely in line with his.

I join you in sadness for the events occurring this week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, and share your concern for these occurrences becoming too commonplace in schools, malls, movie theaters and concerts across our country.  I understand the staff, students and parents of the Flagstaff Unified School District and our community have experienced firsthand the feelings of fear and disruption caused by threats to our schools in recent years.  We will continue to refine our procedures to prevent, prepare for, and respond to all types of threats and hazards. 

 Additionally, we will reaffirm our commitment to ensure our district’s schools are filled with peace, acceptance, inclusivity, compassion, equity and love.

Calendar

• Wednesday 28 Feb
• Payday!
• Kindergarten Registration in the Science Lab, 4:30-6:30
• Science Fair Open House in the Gym, 5:00-6:30
• Friday 02 Mar
• Coe at (rescheduled) FUSD Growth & Inspiration Council meeting, 6:45-8:30 AM
• AZMerit planning meeting for 3-5 teachers in the Library, 1:00-2:00
• Comprehensive Needs Assessment team meeting in the Science Lab, 2:00-3:30
• Saturday 03 Mar
• Viola Awards dinner at High Country Conf. Center

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 16 February 2018

Hello everyone,

My thanks to all of you, and especially to Casey, for keeping the wheels on while I was away last week at the Title 1 conference.  It was a productive and reinvigorating experience for Heather, Janelle, and I (and, I'm sure, for the team members from several other FUSD elementary schools, too) and it's comforting to know while I'm away that things are able to go on more or less as they always do. 

PBIS Survey
Your PBIS Committee has been hard at work of late compiling an inventory of useful classroom managment strategies to help us refine and constantly revitalize our long-standing system of positive behavior supports at Marshall. We will review many of the components of their new endeavors together at our Faculty Meeting next Thursday morning, 22 Feb, at 7:45.

Meanwhile, the Committee would benefit from your participation in a short PBIS survey, which is available online: www.surveymonkey.com/r/GSGVJRG.

Voice Amplification Systems
Did you know: There's a ton of solid research that supports the use of the voice amplification sound systems that are installed in each classroom at Marshall. Classrooms that use these kinds of enhancements have consistently seen improvements in attenuation, achievement test scores, proficiency and the rate of growth toward mastery, word recognition, as well as significantly diminished distractability and off-task behaviors. Similarly, teacher who use voice amplifiers consistently report  less physical fatigue and less time devoted to managing behaviors as advantages of these systems.

If the voice amplification components in the classroom where you work have malfunctioned or require some sort of service or maintenance because they have fallen into disrepair over time, please let us know in the front office and we will do all we can to get things up and running for you ASAP.

Yes For FUSD
It's not too soon to ensure that you're able to vote in the upcoming 2018 general election by registering to vote.  In November, FUSD will be asking our community to approve both bond and override measures to sustain public education throughout the region.

More information about FUSD's proposed measures is available at www.YesForFUSD.com and Arizona residents may register to vote online at: www.servicearizona.com/voterRegistration.

Tax Credit Reminder
If you haven't yet paid your 2017 taxes, there's still time for you to make your tax credit contribution to Marshall.  I haven't yet done so myself.  But I have every intention of making our family's donation to Marshall just as soon as I find the time to sit down to complete our 2017 filing.  I always make our contribution online as I'm sitting in front of Turbo Tax so we're not out-of-pocket for our $400 for any longer than need be.  I find that the red DONATE NOW button in the sidebar of the Blue Note Blog (bottom right) is a super convenient way for the Coes to make our donation.

As of today, we've collected $22,000 since April 2017.  That leaves us about $18,000 short of our budgetary needs for the coming year.  Please don't forget about Marshall at tax time.

Calendar

• Monday, 19 Feb
• NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day
• Thursday 22 Feb
• Faculty Meeting in the Library, 7:45
• Coe at 2018-2019 district planning meeting, 2:00
• Friday 23 Feb
• Coe at FUSD Growth & Inspiration Council meeting, 7:00-8:30
• STEAM Council Science Fair setup, 12:45

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 02 February 2018

Hello everyone,

I know you feel the same way I do about our little professional community, that we're more than simply a group of people who work together everyday, we really are a family.  Sometimes there are minor tensions between us, but more often than not there's an abiding sense of sincere affection and support.  Not only is Marshall typically a staff that gets-along, we're also a staff that's always at the ready to rally when individuals within our ranks are suffering.  I'm grateful to all of you for your willingness to reach out to one another in meaningful ways to lend a helping hand, a sympathetic ear, or a word of encouragement when you recognize it's needed.

With that in mind, I hope you've already had a chance to read the email Janelle sent to all of you on Malinda's behalf today.  I've encouraged Malinda to always remember that she's got the support of our entire community behind her during this time.  I know you will do the same.

National Title 1 Conference
I will be attending the National Title 1 Conference next week Wednesday through Sunday.  Reasor and Overton will be coming along, too.  Your ever-capable current administrative intern, Casey Reger, will officially be acting principal in my absence.  Thanks for doing all you can to help make this experience a positive and realistic one for her.

She doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to encourage Casey to correspond with you about updates and upcoming events via a Blue Note-style email or printed communique next Friday afternoon, 09 Feb.  So, probably nothing new for you to read from me in this space for a couple weeks, 'til 16 February, I'm thinking.

Calendar

• Monday 05 Feb
• Fifth grade middle school applications due
• Coe at Admin Council, 1:00
• Wednesday 07 Feb
• Coe at National Title 1, all day
• PTO in the Library, 4:30
• Thursday 08 Feb
• Coe at National Title 1, all day
• Friday 09 Feb
• Coe at National Title 1, all day
• PBIS Committee meeting in the Music Room, 2:15
• Kindergarten Valentines Dance in the Gym, 6:00

Coming up

• Monday 12 Feb
• Coe on "sick leave" for Mohs surgery, all day

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 26 January 2018

Hello everyone,

Sadly, my required training in Phoenix at Fortress ADE was kind of a bust yesterday (four hours parsing through over-precise definitions and exemplars of formative and summative assessment).  But, I got to take my mom out to a late lunch afterward, so the 350-mile round trip wasn't all for naught.  Also, was fun to get my still-sorta-smells-new car out on the open road, too.  Can't tell you how nice it is to drive anywhere in a vehicle with working climate controls, a real stereo, and without a view through the floorboards of the road beneath my feet.  Makes me feel so grown up, ya know.

Weatherwise, it looks likes we're back to warm and dry for the weekend and the near-term period of time.  Get out there early to avoid the mud (if you're bound for the woods) and the traffic (if you're headed up to Snowbowl).

Have a great weekend!

School Facilities Bond
A district-wide inventory of needful repairs, upgrades, and maintenance concerns will be place on the ballot in Nov. 2018 when voters will be asked to approve a multiyear Facilities Bond for FUSD.  Based on your knowledge/familiarity with our building and surroundings, please respond as best you are able to the two survey items below:



Calendar

• Monday 29 Jan
• Payday!
• Magnet Monday second semester begins!
• Thursday 01 Feb
• Voluntary iPad training in the Library, 3:45

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 19 January 2018

Hello everyone,

Hey, how about I don't update you on anything related to my health this week?  Sound good?

I think so, too.

Instead, I'll divulge that I think it's very likely to snow a bit tonight and throughout the day tomorrow.  Sure do hope you're able to get out and enjoy it... that's definitely my intention.

These Halcyon Days
I'm sure you feel the same as I do and can easily acknowledge that the school weeks following the Winter Break each year contain some of the most pleasant days we get to enjoy during any given school year.  Never completely devoid of their challenges, they are, nonetheless, typically the calmest and most rational work days of the school year.

But, as always, they are drawing to an end.  Already, sporadic reports of springtime girl-wars, lunch recess boy-fights, as well as rumors of overwrought and overworked faculty and staff are beginning to trickle into my office a little more each day.  I've no doubt, we will be fully back-to-normal, both socially and emotionally, each of us in his/her own way (in my case, with my head spinning, basically half-crazed, and barely holding it together), in very short order.  Soon the halcyon days will be gone once again.

As I've said before, "February [always] brings planning for the coming year, the impending pressures of upcoming testing, the rush to complete all that's on your curriculum map before it's too late, and the resurgence of the madness that inevitably must come as we work together toward the end of the school calendar."  That inevitable madness is just around the corner, and, as we always have in the past, we must collectively steel ourselves to face the coming storm.

With that in mind, I'd like to encourage you, as I often have before, to keep your wheel round and your vessel full by seeking to be balanced and remain fulfilled by the things you do and the people you love beyond the confines of school.  Remember: this work is hard; physically and emotionally, it's some of the hardest work there is.  We are poured out here each and every day.  And our work is not always as rewarding or as fulfilling as we hope for it to be, we often do not see the fruits of our labors for many, many years.  But still, it's important work we do.  Good work.  And in the lives of our students it's essential work.  I'm blessed to be reminded almost daily by your positive attitudes and demeanor, however, that deep down, even in the depths of our occasional despair and exhaustion, we're all committed to working hard to ensure the well-being and success of each student that comes through our front doors. 

So be prepared for the hectic, chaotic, frustrating days to come.  But also be encouraged.  Remember: you possess great power, the power to change lives for the better.

I've shared a Dr. Saenz talk or two with you in the past. I think he's pretty cool.  I listen to him now and then, whenever I need a good pep talk, or a reminder to keep my life in balance, or a push to recall when I grow discouraged why it is I continue to to the work that I do.  I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch the video below, and, likewise, that you'll be left feeling encouraged and empowered by it.



Calendar

• Monday 22 Jan
• Magnet Monday Showcase, 2:10
• Tuesday 23 Jan
• 10% Tuesday at Fratelli, all day
• Coe at Educational Enrichment Director hiring committee, 7:30-12:30
• Thursday 25 Jan
• Faculty Meeting in the Library (PBIS), 7:45
• Coe in PHX at ADE for KDA admin meeting, all day

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 12 January 2018

Hello everyone,

Optimistically, I am beginning to feel a little more hopeful this morning that this infection will not eat my face off, which is a thing I've actually been kinda concerned about the past few days.  I'm grateful to all y'all for working together for the past three days to keep the school up-and-running while I've been away.  Don't like being away.  But it sure was nice to not need to be stressed about work while I was being stressed about my face.  I don't like to think I'm a particularly vain individual, but I will admit to being vain enough that I really didn't like the idea of losing a part of my face to a gross, scary infection.

At the moment, as I write this sitting here at our kitchen table casually drinking coffee (and eating another probiotic yogurt), I'm obviously feeling a little guilty about missing the better part of three full days of work this week. And I find myself feeling all the more so because (might as well tell you now) I'm going to miss a few more days at school in February.  I've been booked for some time to attend the annual National Title 1 Conference in Philadelphia 07-09 Feb.  And yesterday, following my visit to the doctor, I scheduled a Mohs surgery to have the basal cell cancer removed from my ear canal on our Presidents' Day holiday on 19 Feb.  Maybe I won't need to miss any work after that gig, but I suspect I will.  Last time I had a Mohs to remove a cancer on my neck, I was left with a 5-inch long incision, some 17 sutures, and ultimately a really gnarly scar.  Missed a few days of work for that one, for sure.  So we'll see what happens.

Sure am glad we've go so many exceptionally capable folk on staff who can fill in as acting-admins when I'm gone.

Calendar

• Monday 15 Jan
• NO SCHOOL - MLK Day
• Tuesday 16 Jan
• Fifth grade middle school registration in the Gym, 1:20
• Site Council in the Library, 4:00
• Wednesday 17 Jan
• Coe at Elementary admin mtg, 9:30
• Coe at Educational Enrichment Director hiring committee mtg, 11:30
• Friday 19 Jan
• Emergency drill (Fire), 9:30
• Two-hour professional development seminar for faculty (vertical CTs), 1:00-3:00

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 05 January 2018

Hello everyone,

Seems as though it's been a long time since I last put fingers to keyboard to write to you.  How have you been?  Hope your winter break was gratifying.

Mine was kinda meh.  Broke a couple of my ribs falling off a ladder.  And got a gnarly and persistent sinus infection.  So I watched a lot of movies and read a few books during mine.

I'm feeling a lot better now.  Still, getting old is a bummer sometimes.

Looking forward to a little winter weather someday?  Me too.  The Wednesday-Thursday timeframe next week is looking better everyday.  Fingers crossed.

Admin Intern Updates
Both Reasor and Overton have successfully completed their administrative internships as of December 2017 and are now in possession of NAU's much coveted institutional recommendation, which will permit them to sit for the state's 8-hours-long principal certification test soon.  I'm quite proud of them and likewise am both hopeful and extraordinarily confident that they will each make fine new school administrators in the (near?) future.

Almost simultaneously to Janelle and Heather finishing up their admin internships, Casey Reger began hers mid-December and will be working through the many rigorous components of her own internship throughout the course of the spring semester.  I'm excited to be working with Casey now, too, and thrilled that by year's end Marshall will have fostered the future of school leadership (one hopes in FUSD) so positively by fledging such capable, soon-to-be school admins three-times over.

Townsite Community Land Trust (TCLT)
Just down Bonito Street at Aspen Avenue, four small houses have been remodeled and are now available to purchase as permanently affordable housing for "low to moderate income residents."  The group that has arranged for this opportunity hopes to encourage the sale of these homes to local public servants like teachers, cops, and other working-class folks like you and me.  If you're looking to put down roots in Flagstaff, I hope you'll give them a look.  I've put information about TCLT in the lounge and would be happy to put you in touch with a representative from their organization if you think this might be a good fit for you.

Calendar

• Monday 08 Jan
• Coe at Admin Council, 12:00-4:00
• Friday 12 Jan
• Payday!
• Monday 15 Jan
• NO SCHOOL - MLK Day

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