March 8 Update

Happy Friday!

Lots of FYI today... please read all. 

One of my favorite quotes... and something that I regularly have to ground myself in (especially when times feel tough).  We can get caught up in the day to day "issues" and forget about the bigger picture.  I find myself in this cycle - timelines, behaviors, emails, etc.  All of those things keep me "treading water".  When I get overwhelmed, I need to remind myself of my purpose and all the good things I experience every day - all those things that remind me why I "love to swim".

Take some time today to change your thinking from the "treading of water" to all the reasons you "love to swim". 

New Staff Member - Technology Specialist:

I'm excited to inform you that Noureddine Elghayad has officially accepted the Technology Specialist position at McKinley & Washington. Bringing with him valuable experience in classroom technology from an American school in Morocco, Noureddine will begin his training with our technology team starting Monday, March 11th and we anticipate him being comfortable on his own at McKinley & Washington by the middle of April.

Setting 3 - STRIDE:

Starting next year, we are excited to host a Setting 3 STRIDE program (2 classrooms) here at McKinley!  Currently, Washington has 5 classrooms supporting STRIDE.  Due to space issues, we are moving two of the classrooms to join us!  

STRIDE is our setting 3 (in the classroom over 60% of the day) that supports students with cognitive delay.  The program will be housed in the Learning Center and current Makerspace room - some construction will occur over the summer to close these spaces in more.  More information will come on the program, logistics, and programming.  

Please join me in welcoming this program!  

Curriculum Requests:

Attached you will find the form to complete if you have summer curriculum writing requests for the '24-'25 school year. The deadline to complete this is March 22. You will be notified by April 19 if your request is able to be fulfilled. 

Guidelines for Curriculum Requests:
1. Priority will first be given to curriculum areas, teams, or grade levels where curriculum writing is deemed necessary due to new state standards and/or new courses.
2.  Consideration will then be given for courses needing revision, updating, or further alignment.
3. If curriculum monies still remain, individual teachers or teams of teachers may be approved for requested curriculum work.
4. Requests must be submitted by Friday, March 22 and teachers will be notified by April 19 if their request(s) have been approved or denied.
5. Generally, time allotted for curriculum writing teams will follow the guidelines below:
*New Courses = 6-12 hours
*Existing Courses = 3-6 hours
6.  All summer curriculum writing work will be done at Rose Street or the Learning Zone depending on availability.

Form

BBBS Shirts:

From Beth Fink, Special Education Teacher at OHS - 

We will be selling shirts (see link) stores.courtsportsandmore.com/smile_more  from March 11-27, with shirts being done at the beginning of April just in time for the start of testing.  Shirts will be $17 with $5 going to BBBS.  Shirt sales are open to anyone in the community.  We were wondering if this information could be put in your newsletter to families and shared with teachers at your school/building.  We appreciate your help in raising money for a great organization.  If you have any questions please feel free to reach out.  

Pear Deck:

Starting next school year, we will not have a PearDeck subscription.  If you use this regularly, you will want to use your supply budget to pay for it.  Again, starting next school year.

Building Weekly Newsletter:
Click here to access the building weekly newsletter

Have a great weekend!-
-Justin