Principal's Update- Friday, April 10, 2015

37 days left to inspire, teach, and motivate our students....

A couple updates-

MCA's- Week 1
Reading MCAs started this week.  Thank you to everyone for being flexible and quiet during this testing season.  Also, a huge thank you to Denise Carlson for all her work on this.  We will continue testing through the rest of the month- reading, math, and then science. 

Book Study Learning Work
Thank you for the great discussion at our staff meeting on new structures and systems.  I appreciate your honesty and critical thinking as we move forward examining core instruction and our system of supports.  Click here to see our notes from Chapters 1, 2, and 3.  If you have questions, concerns, or want to discuss any of the work we have done, please come see me. 

Update on PBIS
As I stated last week, we have a team who is looking at core behavioral expectations through a PBIS model.  One of the items we are currently working on is a student discipline referral.  This referral has many purposes- helping us communicate (what happened and what the outcome is), helping create follow through with a consequence/outcome/communication home, and allowing us to track data and ultimately begin to be proactive with certain students.  This data will help us see exactly where, when, and why behavioral issues are occurring. 

To see a draft of our office referral, click here.  If you have feedback on the form, please let me know. 
 
Severe Weather Awareness
Next Thursday, we will participate in the Statewide Tornado Drill.  Please take some time to review the procedures (your colorful flipbook) and maps (we are still updating, so use your current maps for locations).   Tom Sager sent out an email from the city on some guidelines with tornado drills.  Click here to see it.  I'm attaching it as an FYI only. 

PTO Teacher Rep-
PTO is looking for 1-2 Teacher Reps for the remainder of this year and into next year.  It's a great group of parents who plan so many things around McKinley (World Passport, Carnival, Lunch with a Loved One, Book Fair, etc.).  If you are interested or want further information, come see me.

Valet Parking for the Week
Our Valet Parking spot goes to Annette Kleinschrodt.  Annette is truly a class act in the world of social workers.  Annette wears a lot of "hats" around here- a resource to staff, a lifeline for a student crisis, a liaison for families, or a firefighter helping put out "fires" around here (to name a few)!  Annette is always extremely professional, positive, and focused on students and families.  Thank you for all you do for McKinley, Annette. 


To close, I found a quote last year that resonates with me still today- "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value" (Albert Einstein).  In all honesty, I think this illustrates our staff here at McKinley.  It's amazing to see how much of a team approach we use here at McKinley- we aren't here to shine alone, but make our kids shine.  It's an amazing thing.

I'll get back into the routine of taking pictures- I've been slacking lately! 

Enjoy the weekend- I heard the sun will be making a reappearance!  :)
-Justin