Week of May 14, 2018

Have an incredible weekend, sweet ladies.  I hope you have felt kindness and appreciation from our PTO and FamiLEEs.  You are such a talented and dedicated bunch and are loved very much!  Please leave as soon as ALL learners are safely dismissed!

DID YOU KNOW:

• if you want some tips to spice up engagement in your weekly newsletter that you might enjoy this article from Edutopia?
• that PTO will be giving classroom designers $50 at the start of 2018-2019 school year? They also approved $5000 towards STEAM Lab materials, the renewal of Reflex Math, a Nacho Machine (my personal fave!), and money for a leadership retreat.  YAY PTO!
• the district added a Composting Class, on June 7, to the CISD Summer Professional Learning courses?  You can register through Eduphoria.
• our iPad minis will be replaced with a new(er) iPad during the summer?  
• we will participate in a Ponytail Club at our last spirit rally?  Please talk to your learners and parents to see if anyone want to donate at least 10 inches of their hair to charity.
• that we have THREE Designers who will be recognized as GEMS at the Board Meeting, at 5:30, on May 21?  CONGRATULATIONS Stephanie, Samira, and Britt!  We are so proud of you!

STAAR TESTING

Please view the master schedule for scheduling on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Let parents know about adjusted times for our grade level schedules on these days. 

Please put this information in your weekly newsletter.  

All 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students across the state of Texas will be participating in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.   Please see the testing schedule below:

• Monday, May 14th:  3rd Grade Math; 4th Grade Math
• Tuesday, May 15th:  3rd Grade Reading; 4th Grade Reading
• Wednesday, May 16:  5th Grade Science

 Please make note of these important dates!  Due to the need for a secure test environment, visitors may not go beyond the office on these days.  There will be no volunteers for recess duty, helping teachers, helping in the library, helping in the office or tutoring students.  In addition, there will be no visitors allowed during lunch.  It is important that we maintain an environment that is free of interruptions so we ask that all cell phones, smart watches, and fit-bits remain at home on testing days. Please keep in mind that there are alternate lunch times on testing days.

Thank you for your cooperation!  

Angela Garvin

MARVELOUS MONDAYS IN MAY
We hope you enjoyed the game of Human Scrabble last week.  This week we will feed you some delicious lunch.  I wonder what is in store next week?

LEADERSHIP MEETING
I have a request for our team for Wednesday's meeting.  Please wear closed toe shoes.  We will be going on a field trip as we take our meeting to our neighbor, Coppell Middle School West.  If you have a hard hat from year one, please bring it.


DONUTS WITH DADS
Please invite your dads to come to the Media Center Flex Space to have donuts with their learners before Field Day on Friday.  Donuts will be served from 7:20-7:40 and learners must have an adult with them to attend.


FIELD DAY
Field Day will be Day 0 on the calendar.  As soon as we get information from PTO regarding start time etc. we will pass it along.  Please find out if your learners need a sack lunch from the cafeteria and have parents enter information on this google form.  THANK YOU!

RTI & END OF YEAR DATA

Designers, as the end of the year approaches, we want to make sure that all of your data for any RtI learners is up-to-date and in AWARE.  If you have any learners currently on RtI, please schedule an RtI meeting on Monday, May 21st to visit with Ashley and Angela about learner progress, end-of-year assessment data, and the required documentation.  They are happy to walk you through what is expected to be in AWARE. 

CISD FOCUSED WALKTHROUGH

We will give feedback on Domain 3 Dimension 3: Classroom Culture.  

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK:

Zoom In on a Moment of Importance
Think about a memory and all the events that are part of that memory. Think about what's important about that memory, or the big idea the memory leaves with you. Identify the one part of the memory that feels the most important. Write some ideas about what's important about it, and hwy it's important. Try to write just that one smaller part of the larger moment. Tell it bit by bit. (Taken from the Writing Strategies Book by Serravallo)

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Responsibility- making the right choice to be reliable and dependable.

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

After we eat, we will clean up after ourselves.  This includes cleaning off the tables and making sure we haven't left any trash on the floor or around the eating area.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you.  Never excuse yourself." -Henry Ward Beecher

DATES TO REMEMBER:
May 13- Mother's Day
May 14- Kindergarten Field Trip (Dallas Zoo)
     3, 4, 5 STAAR Math test
May 15- Education Foundation Shirt with Jeans
     2nd Grade Field Trip (Biodiversity Center)
     Kindergarten Field Trip (Andy Brown Park)
     3, 4, 5 STAAR Reading Test
May 16- 5 STAAR Science Test
     Leadership Meeting (3:30-5:00)
May 17- Spurs Savings (7:20-7:40)
     Officer Freeman Visits 5th Grade (8:00) Cafe
     All Library Books Due to Media Center
May 18- K-1 Dyslexia Screener Due
     Donuts with Dads (7:15-7:40 Media Flex Space)
     Field Day
May 19- Stephanie gets married!