Hello everyone,
I cannot deny it, I love the change of the seasons. Lots of folks get pretty amped up when the aspens turn yellow; they are undeniably pretty. But I'm more inclined to feel like it's really starting to be fall when the oaks begin to turn, which they are beginning to do this week. Gambel oaks are too oft' overlooked, in my opinion, and are equally underrated for their beauty and as harbingers of the change of the season.
Glad to finally get that off my chest...
New State Science Standards
Got this email this week: "The ADE is pleased to announce that effective October 4, 2016, the 60 day window for public comment on existing Science Standard (2004) and Social Studies Standard (2005) has been opened. The public survey to provide feedback on existing standards will be available through December 3, 2016.
The ADE is also accepting applications for educators (K-12 and higher education) to serve on the revision committees for each of the content areas. The application for committee members will remain open for the duration of the revision process.
To provide feedback or to apply to serve on a review committee, please visit the Science and Social Studies Standards - Public Feedback page. Buttons to apply to serve on the review committee are at the bottom of the page."
Hope you'll take a few minutes to chime in with your opinion, or perhaps apply to serve on the revision committee, particularly in view of your recent experiences with the FOSS Next Generation Science kits.
United Way
No one's stepped up to coordinate our school's annual United Way campaign this year, so it falls to me to promote it, I guess. Information about United Way should be forthcoming to your mailboxes soon. Please consider donating to this worthy cause. I will continue to remind you about this throughout the month of October.
Register To Vote!
Don't know about you, but my voter registration is current and up-to-date and I have every intention of voting early in the upcoming general election. If you're not registered, you have until Monday 10 Oct. at midnight to do so. I think you should. It's pretty easy to do it online at www.servicearizona.com.
Conference Week Stuff
Pat in the cafeteria says they're doing sack lunches all week. But kids will be eating in the cafeteria and going to the playground as usual each day because the Clothing Exchange will be in the Science Lab this year. That's great!
Don't forget Wednesday's lunch schedule is super wonky:
- 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
During your Parent-Teacher Conferences, in addition to distributing Report Cards and talking with parents about student achievement and assessment, please also do the following three things (if they apply to any of your students), too:
- Distribute Arizona Residency letters to parents who have not completed their residency affidavit this year. Please encourage parents who get this letter to come to the office after their conference to complete this mandatory form. We're happy to make free copies of their documentation!
- Have parents who have not signed the Technology End User Agreement complete it at the time of their conference. Please keep these and return any signed forms to the office at the end of each day.
- Inform parents for whom you have Move On When Reading letters that their child could be retained at the end of third grade if their reading scores do not improve. Ensure they get the letter to this effect which has been distributed to the teachers of all children to whom this applies.
Also, if you could do your level-best to "sell" Parent University to your parents during Conferences, that would be swell, too!
Calendar
- Monday 10 Oct
- Coe at Superintendent's annual evaluation, 11:00
- Early release for Conference, 12:25
- Tuesday 11 Oct
- Coe at Transgender Students legal seminar, 10:00
- Early release for Conferences, 12:25
- Wednesday 12 Oct
- Payday!
- Early release for Conferences, 11:10
- Thursday 13 Oct
- NO SCHOOL - Fall Holiday
- Friday 14 Oct
- NO SCHOOL - Fall Holiday
- Monday 17 Oct
- Taiko Drumming Artist-in-Residency begins
