We hope everyone is as excited as we are about the 2018-2019 school year! Many of you have already commented about how excited you are, especially about the Voyage Character Ed program. Let's "Seas the Day" and work together to make this year the best year YET! In an effort to make the Nuts & Bolts information a little more exciting than a scrolling blog, I have created an Emaze. At the end of the Emaze presentation, we are asking you to sign off that you have read and understand the details included (there is a link at the end). In addition, we have added a place for you to vote on our new Vision based on the activity from today (Wednesday) and a spot to ask questions you may still have. Please be sure to go through this link (and sign off) by Tuesday, July 31st. Please let us know if you need anything! ~Keeli, David, Tina, & Deb
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Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year! We hope everyone has had a great summer! We also hope each of you have had the opportunity to reflect, rest, recharge, & enjoy time with friends and family this summer. It is without a doubt that our faculty has seen and understands that each day is a gift. We are hopeful that you took advantage of this time to spend with loved ones and take time for you. There is so much we want to share with you guys including showing off what an amzing job our custodial team has done this summer; introducing you guys to our new staff members; sharing our plan for the 2018-2019 school year; laying out our plan for the continuation of the PLC process; and the list goes on and on... But, in due time, we will share all of this with you. If you haven't had a chance to read the post Summertime Thoughts, please take a minute to read it. There is some important information you will want to know regarding the upcoming school year. Below I have highlight the important information you will NEED/WANT to know before you return on July 25th. 1. Our Theme 2. Building Hours 3. Pre-Planning Schedule 4. Raise Rumor 5. To-Do List (before you return) 6. FAQ's We have some additional information that will be sent out in our Nuts & Bolts post during the week of pre-planning. We hope you enjoy your last few days! ~Keeli, Tina, David, & Deb Our theme this year is "Seas the Day". Taken from the phrase "seize the day" or "carpe diem", it's time to focus on the present, letting go of the past, removing the negative, and fix our priorities. This year we will begin our adventure with The Voyage, a character education program that helps support our mission "To develop the minds, hearts, and spirits of Champions". This program will allow us to continue our growth mindset journey while working on qualities that will anchor our Champions throughout their life! Building Hours Beginning July 23 Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. We will open the building on Saturday & Sunday, July 28-29. More information to come. Pre-Planning Schedule Paras work 3 days: July 25, 27, 30 Wednesday, July 25th 7:30-8:00 Light Breakfast, coffee, juice, water in the cafeteria 8:00-8:45 Welcome Back Message 8:45-9:00 Break 9:00-10:30 Speaker 10:30-10:45 Break 10:45-11:15 Activity 11:15 Lunch on your Own 2:00-3:00 Activity in cafeteria *Dress comfortably! Thursday, July 26th 8:00-12:00 District Learning Engagement (click the link to access) Afternoon is all yours to work in your rooms, meet with your team, etc. Friday, July 27th 8:00-9:00 Special Education Team Meeting (Deb's Office) 9:30-11:30 Live Message from our Superintendent (cafe) We will provide some caffeine, water, & light snacks. Bring a comfy chair! 12:00 Lunch provide by our PTA (bring $5 to join PTA) Monday, July 30th In order to allow for enough parking, we have arranged for you to park at West Cobb Church on July 30th. We will send more information out regarding times, etc. by Friday, July 27th. 10:00 Staff Picture (Outside or Cafe, weather depending) 10:15 Staff Brunch in cafe 12:30-2:30 Sneak-A-Peek *Wear staff shirt Tuesday, July 31st 9:30-10:30 Staff Meeting (Champ, Counselors, Media, etc.) *Evaluation Training, more info/times, etc. to come Raise Rumor If you are on any kind of social media (or you read the paper), you may have seen/heard about the possibility of a raise. The rumor is true. Mr. Ragsdale is presenting his proposal to the board on Thursday evening to give all non-temporary (teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, etc.) a 2.6% raise. This would be in addition to those employees receiving a step-raise this year AND the 1.1% bonus that all 238 day employees will receive. Keep in mind that this still must go through the board and be be approved. Things to do before you return on July 25th: 1. Personality Test 2. Report the results of your Personality Test (please do this before July 25) 3. A Few of My Favorite Things FAQs 1. When will we get the Specials schedule & instructional schedule? We are working to tweak some of the details, but we are hopeful that we can get that sent out before you return. In May we shared that core content instructional times will be driven by the special education schedule. These times, once shared, are non-negotiable. 2. When will we get our class lists? Once they are ready, we will share them. Please keep in mind that they are subject to change. If you wonder why we don't put class lists together in the spring, that's because we had over 50 students withdraw (there will be more) and several enroll. That's a lot of shuffling, so that is why we wait....not to mention we receive almost 300 letters. 3. Will we be continuing Doorway Greetings in the morning? Yes. This practice is part of our culture that also supports our mission, "To develop the minds, hearts, and spirits of Champions". 4. Can I go ahead and sign off on the Ethics information and Mandated Reporter information as we have done in previous years? Good news. You already have as it was part of your contract you signed in the spring. 5. Will the county be offering the stipend to ride the buses with the students in the afternoon again this year? Yes. It pays $12 a day for the first 10 days of school. We will need 16 volunteers. If you are interested, see David. You made it to the end! Enjoy your last couple days and we look forward to seeing everyone on July 25th at 7:30 in the cafeteria! ~Keeli, Tina, David, & Deb
Below is a list of things that you can do to get a jump start on the 2018-2019 school year!
1. Personality Test 2. Report the results of your Personality Test (please do this before July 25) 3. A Few of My Favorite Things I hope everyone is having a great summer and taking time for you and your family. You guys deserve each and every minute of this break. Enjoy it to the fullest!
This week I have had the opportunity to attend Solution Tree's: Culture Keepers Principal Leadership in a PLC in Atlanta with several other Cobb Principals and district level leaders. *see picture below As one of the Keynote speakers, Regina Owens, shared, "As principals we have to be the lead learner with a growth mindset." I have learned so much and I look forward to sharing some of it with you in the upcoming school year! I am excited about learning more as we continue on our journey to being a fully-functional PLC! 2 of the ideas that I want to share with you right away are: 1. This blog 2. Personality Test Blog Since the format of the Flipped Agendas were becoming frustrating to some (including me), I am going to use this blog for our Flipped Agendas. When it's ready, I will simply send you a link to click that will bring you straight to this site. It will still be in a bulleted format that will be easy to navigate. For new staff members, we try to reserve "meetings" for professional learning and/or collaborating. As the meme says, "this could have been an email". Flipped Agendas include announcements, schedule/calendar updates, and opportunities to nominate colleagues for Staff Member of the Month, etc. Personality Test I will be asking everyone to take a brief personality test that we will use periodically throughout the year to help better understand one another. I will send the link out again when I send out the "Welcome Back" message, but if you have 5 minutes and want to go ahead and take it now, go for it! There are 2 links below: one that will take you to the brief test and another one to share your results with me. You will not need to remember your results once you report them via the googledoc link below. Click here for the personality test. Click here to report your results. Again, please take time for you this summer. July 25th will be here before you know it. Your to-do list will get done because you're not in this alone! As updates are made to the blog I will let you know via email and/or Remind101. Much love to you all, Keeli |