Week of August 13, 2018

What a GREAT week of learning it has been!  I'm looking forward to learning more about Bulb, 1:1,  and the Home Grown institute today.  Thank you for being the learners you are and finding "take aways" from each session you attend.  We are EXCITED to be on campus tomorrow and next week for the rest of our back to school work and have lots planned for you with work time too! 

DID YOU KNOW:

• the district has updated their Minimum Expectations for Grading at the Elementary level?  Please review this document and let Admin know if you have ANY questions! 
• the office is making copies of your backpack tags and laminating for you.  They will be in your teacher mailboxes.  Your new car numbers (they are hanging tags this year) will be in your mailboxes, too.  I am OBSESSED with them!  Shout out to Bliss for sponsoring these! 
• an interactive TV on wheels will be delivered to each house and Music this week?  We can't wait to learn more about this cool tool the district purchased.
• we have video conferencing available in the PTO room, now?  We will be trained on this in the upcoming weeks.
• you have access to our faculty favorites? Make someone HAPPY with a little surprise!  

CONVOCATION

Please carpool over and wear the grey Convocation shirt that was delivered to your mailbox. Convocation starts at 8:30.  Please be back in the cafeteria at 12:45.  We will be having you record this year's school song, so bring your props!!

RECOMMENDED INSTRUCTIONAL MINUTES

The district has updated the Recommended Instructional Minutes at the Elementary level.  Please review this document and let Admin know if you have ANY questions!  With these recommendations we will have to make a conscious effort to ensure that houses are ready ON TIME for morning broadcast to start at 7:47.  Morning arrival should look like learners coming to your spaces, dropping off backpacks, and sitting together in a common space in your house immediately.  My expectation is that you start announcements on time.  Waiting even two minutes each day adds up to 10 minutes of instructional time a week and 360 minutes a year.  That is 6 hours of learning time!  Keeping this in mind, your character lessons should be MINI as well.  Community time and character building is who we are AND valuable time together, and I ask for your intentionality of keeping these lessons meaningful and brief.  It is expected that morning house meetings conclude by 8:10-8:15.

How adorable is miss Elizabeth Sinclair, our newest Spur?

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

PTO and volunteers will be delivering school supplies to your spaces next week.  If there is a specific place you want these stacked in your space, please put up a sign in an easy to see place.

COMMITTEE SIGN UPS
To help speed up Friday afternoon, it will help if you sign up for your committees for the year.  Some (like DEIC) need to be "elected" so we will have to vote if you put your name there.  All staff needs to serve on a minimum of two committees including one of these committees: EcoPond, Sustainability, Garden, Recyling, or Composting. 


ADMIN  VISITS
Ashley, Leigh Ann, and I would like to meet each and every learner in every the first weeks of school.  Please sign up HERE to bring your class to our spaces.


FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Since parents have permission to walk their learners to your class on the first day of school, we thank you for being prepared to welcome them and to ready to leave a great first impression of their first day of school with YOU!  Remember that this first week is about building SOLID relationships with the children and their famiLEEs.  Please,  by August 24, pick up the phone and call EVERY family. Tell them/leave a message sharing something special about their child.  It will pay huge dividends to take the time to do this!  My expectation for you, this first three days, is to ensure that school is SO FUN and EXCITING, that the learners do not want to leave at the end of each day.  

FIND YOUR MARIGOLDS
Welcome back for another year of teaching and learning.  Our work is HARD work, but we are surrounded by such awesome people here at Lee.  Take a minute to read (or reread for some of you) this passage adapted form Cult of Pedagogy.  Find your "marigolds" at Lee, better yet...be someone's "marigold!"

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Excellence- to stand out with valuable quality

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Quickly learn the names of other designers and learners in the school and greet them by name.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Excellence is never an accident.  It is always the result of High Intention, Sincere Effort, and Skillful Execution" -Aristotle

DATES TO REMEMBER:
August 12- Stephanie R's Birthday
August 13- Workday
     PTO Breakfast
     Staff Picture (5:45 Gym)
     Meet the Teacher Night (6:00-7:00)
August 14- Workday
August 15- First Day of School
August 16- iPads due to Melinda
     4th and 5th Grade iPad Rollout (8:00-10:00)
August 17- 3rd Grade iPad Rollout (8:00-10:00)

Week of August 6, 2018

It is hard to believe that we are a week and a half away from our 840ish learners filling our building.  We hope you are as excited as we are!

This year's theme is: this is our HAPPY place and Lee surely is a HAPPY place!  Happiness starts in our front office with Shanna.  Thank you Shanna for working NONSTOP to enroll all of the new learners in the area.  Gwen, Deepa, Lisa, and Rucha have also been helping Shanna check residency verification of our learners.  This is a HUGE undertaking each summer, and with our number of learners, that makes it a challenge.  Our office staff does a wonderful job of making people HAPPY when they come in the front door! You rock, ladies!

Thank you to Stephanie D. for spending many days organizing our FOSS Science supplies in transparent tubs and bins for each house.  It is going to be so much easier seeing the resources we have, and it makes us all HAPPY that you did this for us!  You are an organizational ninja!

Thank you to our Kinder Designers and Jacque for working this week to assess our incoming Kindergarteners and for creating most of our Kindergarten class lists.  We know you work very hard to create balanced classes so that ALL of us are HAPPY as the learners grow through Lee.  Thank you, girls!

Thank you to those of you that participated in curriculum writing or professional learning this summer.  Your hard work and dedication helps us improve every year.  Many of you were HAPPY to share your learning with others and will also share your learning during our professional learning this next week.  Our kids and school are so lucky!

Shout outs to all of you that have put time in getting systems in place before we come back.  I know even if you weren't up here in person, you were working electronically, meeting for dinners, attending ARDS and GPCs, orienting teammates, tweeting, and MORE.  Please know that your efforts do not go unnoticed and are what help make this the BEST SCHOOL ON THE PLANET!

Lastly, I am so HAPPY to celebrate the blessing of an INCREDIBLE Admin Team!  Not a minute goes by that I am not reminded about the power of teamwork, collaboration, and servant leadership when I am with Angela, Ashley, and Leigh Ann.  They make Lee my HAPPY place to be!

DID YOU KNOW:

• Chantel will host a Facebook Live bedtime story read aloud the night before school starts?  Stay tuned for more info on how you can share that with your learners.
• Claudia, Melinda, Angela, Kathy, and Susie have already been working behind the scenes this week?  We are grateful for their extra contract days!
• there is a sign up genius for Lisa's family, if you would like to support them? 
• the painters have returned to Lee?   You will see our learning stairs are repainted and also safe, now.  They are also touching up our building so it looks as good as new.
• Schoolworks with Irving Bible Church will still accept your wishlist items if you did not get them in?  Here is the form. 

RJL ROADSHOW
We are super excited to take you on a little field trip on Tuesday.  Please tweet and retweet the event out to help spread the word!  A parent link will be going out this weekend, too.

We feel terrible that our Homegrown Institute staff members will miss this awesome event!  I'm sure you will understand that we did our best to have this event when most staff could participate and when busses were available.  Thank you for your understanding.  

iPADS
Exciting news!  For these people, new iPads and pencils are in and ready for us to get out to you.  I believe you will want to get a case to your liking, one will not be provided by the district.  Here are the specs. We have them ready for you to come and get all day on Monday OR from 7:30-8:00 am on Tuesday.  Here are the directions for enrolling on them.  You will want to have yourself enrolled and ready to use by 8:00 am on Tuesday morning.  You will use your iPad and pencil on Tuesday and all week for professional learning.

     2018-2019 iPad Educator Enrollment Directions
     Educator iPad Backup Procedures


THE SCHEDULE FOR NEXT WEEK
It is going to be a wonderful week of learning.  Please check out this document to see what we have planned for you.


PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Brooke Sims sent out an email about the professional learning in the district.  The website is super organized and helpful.  THANK YOU to our Lee Designers who are helping to facilitate sessions.  Taylor, Priscilla, Sam, and Stephanie.   Please remember that you represent Lee at these events so being friendly and positive is an expectation.

CONVOCATION

Please carpool over to Coppell High School on Friday.  We will sit together as a school and you need to wear your new CISD Convocation t-shirt.

CLASS LISTS

Class lists are starting to be populated in Pentamation, so that you can email your parents on Friday evening.   Please work together, as a house, to comprise a welcoming email to send out on Friday afternoon at 4:00pm.  We want to be consistent, and send these at the same time, so that the office is not bombarded with phone calls.  In your email, please include a Google form to capture info so that you do not have to have all of your parents complete it at Meet the Designer Night.  PTO has requested you add a yes/no question on your form that asks if parents may be contacted by the PTO. Also include the Volunteer Background Check link so that ALL parents can get approved to engage at school.  

MEET THE DESIGNER NIGHT

Please plan to be at this event from 6:00-7:00 on Monday night.  Your space DOES NOT have to be completely ready for this event!  Stage it the best you can and remember that your space will come to life once the learners arrive and create work.  We will give you our 2018-2019 campus shirts to wear on this day and to our event.  We will take a staff picture in the gym at 5:45 and these shirts will help parents to identify staff members in the building.  I am fine with you wearing shorts or jeans with your new shirt for MTD.  Designers, if you have a PTO board member's learner, or a staff member's child in your class...they may need to come to your space at earlier, to meet you, so that they can participate in Meet the Designer Night.  Thank you for your flexibility with these parents.  

FACULTY FAVORITES

Some of you still need to fill out this Google Form that includes information about you and your favorites.  This is a tool the office, PTO, and staff uses to treat you and get to know you better.  We also did our best to order shirts in the right sizes for those we didn't have responses from.

PHONES

If you moved spaces in the building, you need to take your phone with you.  Please disconnect it from the wall and put it in your new space. 

KEEP AFLOAT

In an attempt to lighten your load, we have been strategically sprinkling out "to-do's" though the last couple of blog posts.  I want you to be kind to yourself this school year, so it will help if you get some of these tasks done, now, so you can focus on relationships and lesson design the first couple weeks of school.  Here are some items you can hopefully check off:

• Watch compliance training videos
• Complete Faculty Favorites Form
• Visit and review the Faculty Website
• Update your campus website (new hires, ask a teammate for help, please)
• Request keys from Ashley
• Post your final #rjlsummerselfie pics

LEE STAFF CALENDAR
All important events are uploaded to a shared Lee Staff Calendar.  New hires will want to add the  staff calendar to your phones and MacBooks.  It will help you if you go to this link to bookmark your email on your device.  (NOT THE OUTLOOK ICON ON YOUR MAC BOOK!)  Go to "Add Calendar" above the date range and insert the link.  Here are links to help you:
HTML Link                                         
ICS Link  

DATES TO REMEMBER:
August 5- End of Summer Bash
August 6- Home Grown Institute
     New Hire Breakfast (CMSN- 7:30 am)
August 7- Home Grown Institute
     Campus (am)   District (pm)
August 8- Home Grown Institute
     District (all day)
August 9- Home Grown Institute
     District (all day)
August 10- Convocation (am)  Campus (pm)
August 12- Stephanie R's Birthday
August 13- Campus (all day)
     Meet the Designer (6:00-7:00)
August 14- Campus (all day)
     You will not sleep because tomorrow is...
August 15- The First Day of School!!!

Week of July 30, 2018

Welcome back for another incredible year at Lee.  It has been a RESTFUL summer and we are HAPPY to be back for the 2018-2019 school year.  Our theme this year is This Is Our Happy Place and we believe that Lee Elementary is the best place on the planet with the most incredible and talented staff.  We have hired the best and most amazing additions to our school.  We look forward to meeting everyone and hope that you can join us at Jacque's house for a fun get together.  If you haven't already RSVP'd, please do so here.

DID YOU KNOW:

• we have updated our staff list for the 2018-2019 school year?  Please welcome Kathy Collins (Speech), Kasey Kemp (DLC), and Susie Evans (Diagnostician) to our FamiLEE.  They are assigned by the district and LUCKY to be at LEE!  
• for the 2018-2019 school year we will have Reflex Math (K-5), BranPop and BrainPop ESL (K-5), Gizmos (3-5) Raz Kids Plus (K-5), iStation Reading (K-5) and Imagine Learning for our ESL learners?  We will get log in information to you when that becomes available.
• the CISD Board approved a 3% raise on the midpoint for employees during the 2018-2019 school year?  YAY!
• you can order your CISD Education Foundation t-shirts now through August 17?  You can wear jeans with this year's shirt the first and third Tuesday of each month.  Shirts are $20 and you can order yours, here.  

FACULTY FAVORITES

Please take a chance to fill out this Google Form that includes information about you and your favorites.  This is a tool the office, PTO, and staff uses to treat you and get to know you better.  We kindly request that you reply as soon as possible (by noon August 1) so that we can order our staff t-shirts in the correct sizes.

FACULTY WEBSITE

Our faculty website is updated and ready as a resource for ALL.  It is meant to be a "one stop shop" for you, so it is one you will want to bookmark.  If there is something we need to add, please email me and I will add it on there.

KEYS AND BADGES

Each staff member should have keys to their Design Studio and Storage Room for their House. If you are in a classroom, you should also have a key to the classroom. If you are in need of these keys (or any others), please indicate that in this form. If members of your House have moved spaces, please check with them, first, to trade keys for the appropriate spaces. Specialists, please switch house keys with one another.

TEACHER WISHLIST

We are fortunate to have a partnership with Irving Bible Church.  If you would like something donated to your classroom, please indicate your wish on this form.  They would like to support each of you at Lee.

iBOOK

Want to revisit the vision and mission of our school?  View our campus iBook as it helps tell the story of our building.  This interactive multi-touch book is best viewed on your iPad, but can also be viewed on your MacBook.

FURNITURE AT LEE
We do our best to ensure that there is equitable distribution of furniture in houses. Please do not "borrow" furniture from the media center, A120 or A118, or other places in the building.  Here is the breakdown of furniture.  Please cross check it with what is in your house in case it got moved while cleaning this summer.  If you are a special program designer and need additional/different furniture, please fill out a furniture request form in Eduphoria Formspace.

LEADERSHIP MEETING
We look forward to seeing this year's Leadership Team on Friday, August 10, in the afternoon.  Stay tuned for more information to come your way.

MENTORS
Thank you to Kylie who is serving as our campus Lead Mentor and to our Designers who are taking on this leadership role this year.  All 1st and 2nd year Designers in CISD are assigned a mentor.  Here are this year's partnerships.  Our hope is that you have already started talking and supporting your mentee.

• Meredith-Taylor
• Nikki- Stephanie
• Meghan-Samira

YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO JOIN IN #SUMMERSELFIECHALLENGE

New and returning staff, let us know what you have been up to this summer!  Tweet out with #rjlyear5 and #rjlsummerselfie.  It is fun to watch everyone's adventures and stay connected.  Do you have a bingo yet?  

CISD WEBSITE

Want to get ahead this summer?  Make sure your CISD website is updated.  Directions are on our Faculty Website here.  You are required to follow the district template and must include:

• Name
• Grade/House
• Headshot (professional, not family photos)
• Phone number
• Email address
• Schedule
• Tutoring Schedule

If you have created your own personal website, please link it on your page or have you considered linking your Bulb portfolio?  You will learn more about Bulb during back to school training. 

DATES TO REMEMBER:

August 5- End of Summer Bash
August 6- Home Grown Institute
     New Hire Breakfast (CMSN- 7:30 am)
August 7- Home Grown Institute
     Campus (am)   District (pm)
August 8- Home Grown Institute
     District (all day)
August 9- Home Grown Institute
     District (all day)
August 10- Convocation (am)  Campus (pm)
August 13- Campus (all day)
     Meet the Designer (6:00-7:00)
August 14- Campus (all day)
August 15- First Day of School

June 29, 2018

Looks like lots of you are enjoying your summer break and making the most of it.  I'm loving seeing some of you in places like Mexico, NYC, Costa Rica, Australia, New Mexico, Nashville, and MORE.  I did my fair share of traveling during the school year this year, so the Kastrounis' are preparing for some visits from my parents this summer and taking care of Hannah as she champions through her ongoing chemo therapy.  It has been nice to SLOW DOWN this week.  I've made time to read, tinker, spend time with friends and family, and catch up on things that get set aside during the school year.  Don't you just love time off?  I was reading a June 21 blog post from George Couros about how summer time is the time to rejuvenate.  That rest and relaxation help with long term growth.  I have to say I agree with him!  

FAMILEE UPDATE:
Many of you may have seen on Facebook that Diana took a position in Lovejoy ISD.  We wish her the best as she moves into her new role as a Math Coordinator in their district.  Her departure had us on the hunt for the perfect fit for our FamiLEE this week.  As of Thursday night, we recommended a replacement for Diana.  Meghan Wood (Jesse Tadgerson's long term sub) will be joining our Lee staff, permanently.  We are super excited because Meghan has a strong work ethic, understands how Lee operates, and is a learner and contributor!  Welcome, Meghan!  I will share her phone number once she goes through HR and is approved by the Board.

Speaking of Board approval, please join us in welcoming:
Nurse:  Ameira Olayan (316) 519-2953
Please take time to reach out and welcome her to our famiLEE.  It looks like Ameira will be bringing two of her kiddos to Lee in August.  YAY!  She is super friendly and knowledgeable and will keep all of us safe at Lee.

HOUSE ASSIGNMENTS

Here are assignments for the 2018-2019 school year.  YOU WILL SEE SOME CHANGES IN YELLOW AND BLUE HOUSE.  An "*" designates our Leadership Team members in house/grade.  A "__" indicates a new grade, house, or position.   Much effort was made to create balanced houses and grades.  It is going to be a fabulous 5th year at Lee!


COMPLIANCE COURSES OPEN NOW!!
Each year you will need to join a new course in order for us to track the completion of each portion of your required compliance coursework.  Each folder has an individual due date.  Most of the courses require you to view a presentation and then complete a task. Please pay close attention to all of the directions for each course as they may differ from each other.  We wanted to give you time over the summer to complete the tasks if you would like to get a jump on the content now.  None of the content is due before we get back from summer break.  The code you need for our campus course is:  NK3S9-T26MX

#fitfamiLEE

Would you like to have an accountability partner for getting fit during the summer?  We would love to have you join in.  We are super proud of all of you staying healthy and taking care of yourselves!

#RJLYEAR5 SELFIE CHALLENGE

THANK YOU to many of you who are participating in this challenge.  How better to stay connected than by posting what you are up to this summer.  We have some of our famiLEEs participating, too, which is AWESOME.  Please use the hashtags #rjlyear5  and #rjlsummerselfie . 

We will coordinate an outing this summer that can help you fill in a square or two.  Stay tuned and join in the FUN!

Third Week of Summer Break

We hope you are enjoying your summer break and making the most of it.  It has been quiet up at school until this week.  The Coppell Education STEAM camp is here and it is nice to see kids in the building.  Last week Ashley, Leigh Ann, and I attended the PLC Conference in Ft. Worth.  We had great opportunities to learn more about Professional Learning Communities. We tweeted using #rjllearns from the event if you are interested in seeing what we learned.  Please share your summer learning with us, too!

STAAR:
STAAR results are in for 3-5 grade and our learners have made us all proud.  Every one of you have done a fine job preparing our learners for this "snapshot" of their skills.  THANK YOU.  If you are interested in your learners' performance, data is updated in AWARE.


FAMILEE UPDATE:
Please join us in welcoming:

Special Education Designer:  Misty Lynch (972)786-3205
Please take time to reach out and welcome her to our famiLEE.  She has gone through HR and will go to the Board on Monday.  

As of today, we recommended a replacement for Jessica Kivlin.  Jess will be going to Mansfield ISD, close to her home.  We will miss Jess' spirit!  Best wishes, Jess. 


COMPLIANCE COURSES OPEN NOW!!
Each year you will need to join a new course in order for us to track the completion of each portion of your required compliance coursework.  Each folder has an individual due date.  Most of the courses require you to view a presentation and then complete a task. Please pay close attention to all of the directions for each course as they may differ from each other.  We wanted to give you time over the summer to complete the tasks if you would like to get a jump on the content now.  None of the content is due before we get back from summer break.  The code you need for our campus course is:  NK3S9-T26MX

HOUSE ASSIGNMENTS

Here are assignments for the 2018-2019 school year.  Remember that they are always subject to change.  An "*" designates our Leadership Team members in house/grade.  A "__" indicates a new grade, house, or position.   Much effort was made to create balanced houses and grades.  It is going to be a fabulous 5th year at Lee!

#fitfamiLEE

Would you like to have an accountability partner for getting fit during the summer?  We would love to have you join in.  We are super proud of all of you staying healthy and taking care of yourselves!

#RJLYEAR5 SELFIE CHALLENGE

Don't forget to stay connected with all of us through Twitter.  Tweet our board out to your followers and encourage your learners and their famiLEEs to join in, too. Please use the hashtags #rjlyear5  and #rjlsummerselfie 

We will coordinate an outing this summer that can help you fill in a square or two.  Stay tuned and join in the FUN!

First Week of Summer Break 2018

We hope you are ready to enjoy your first week of summer vacation.  YOU MADE IT AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO MISS US!!! Thank you for an incredible year and all of the fantastic memories as we spread Kindness Like Confetti!

STAFFING:
The last few weeks of the school year we have been interviewing candidates for our open positions.  Thank you to our Admin Team and Jacque for their time and help.  We have extended offers to three candidates (some may look very familiar) and are still looking for the perfect fit for Special Education.  Please join us in welcoming:

Designer:  Shelby Holbrook (682)444-6122
Designer:  Diana Saylak (281)380-9091
Aide:  Christina Giddings (512)924-5538

Please take time to reach out and welcome each of them to our famiLEE.  As of today, we will also be looking for a new nurse as Shanelle will be working close to her new home in Prosper.  Best wishes, Shanelle.  Thank you to our long term subs: Karli, Megan, Colleen, and Lydia.  We are so grateful for the outstanding job they have done closing out the school year for us.  Each of them are forever welcome at Lee!!

HOUSE ASSIGNMENTS

You have been anxiously awaiting your assignments for #rjlyear5.  THANK YOU for your patience! We will have 7 sections in each house. We can plan to have up to 22 learners in K and up to 24 learners 2nd-4th, and no limit in fifth grade.   A HUGE thanks to our office who have enrolled all of these learners and EXTRA thanks to the district for keeping our aide positions in tack for the next school year.  

Here are assignments for the 2018-2019 school year.  Remember that they are always subject to change.  An "*" designates our Leadership Team members in house/grade.  A "__" indicates a new person in grade, house, or position.  "-" means the position is unfilled.  Much effort was made to create balance houses and grades.  We appreciate having such a flexible staff.  Please do not be upset with colleagues who have changed grades/houses for not telling you the "inside scoop."  I asked them to respect the process and keep it to themselves until this blog came out.  It is going to be a fabulous 5th year at Lee!

#fitfamiLEE

Would you like to have an accountability partner for getting fit during the summer?  We would love to have you join in.

#RJLYEAR5 SELFIE CHALLENGE

Last year we had our second summer selfie challenge and we are back for a third round.  Thanks to Ashley for making this year's board!  It is a FUN way to see what you are doing this summer and to stay connected.  We hope everyone will be interested in joining the FUN.  Below is this year's board. Tweet it out to your followers and encourage your learners and their famiLEEs to join in, too. Please use the hashtags #rjlyear5  and #rjlsummerselfie 

We will coordinate an outing this summer that can help you fill in a square or two.  Stay tuned and join in the FUN!

We thank you for the outstanding job you all did with ALL of your end of year tasks.  THANK YOU for being thorough with your furniture and supply inventories.  We will work to get your spaces painted and repaired so you come in to a sparkling space in August.  Please enjoy your summer break.  Relax.  Make memories.  Learn something new.  We will miss you.  Please know I am feeling blessed to have served as your Principal this year and can't wait to see what #rjlyear5 brings us.

 Our wonderful Admin Team!

 These sweet girls donated their hair!

 Ready for summer with some Kona Ice!

 Hey...can't this count as a snocone selfie?

Week of May 28, 2018

THANK YOU for another incredible year at our school.  #rjlyear4 was filled with KINDNESS because of each and every one of you.  Your hard work, dedication, perseverance, and genuine love of children goes unmatched and you are applauded for all that you have contributed to making our school the fine place that it is!  I hope you will always remember that you are were hand picked to be at Lee because of the gifts and talents that you possess. Sometimes you already knew them, other times we brought them out of you.  The special and unique blessing is that we are each on our own journey, yet we can all reflect back over the last year and see that we are better because of each other. It is exciting looking forward and dreaming about #rjlyear5!

It will be sad to see some of our famiLEE move on to different paths, however, I feel confident that the bonds, connections, and lessons made at Lee will have a positive impact at your new homes. Britt, Amanda and Jamie will forever be a Lee Spur famiLEE member, and we wish them nothing less than the best. Please keep in touch! 

Enjoy your THREE DAY weekend as you get ready for the last (sort of) week of school.  We know this is the BEST school, with the AWESOMEST staff and learners.  We only get our kiddos 187 days, so make the most of these last 3 1/2 with them!  THEY ADORE YOU-  AS DO I!

DID YOU KNOW:

• if your learners do not pick up their medication by the last day of school that it will be discarded?  Please inform your parents!
• that lost and found filled with clothing?  Please ask parents to check lost and found before the last day.  Anything not claimed will be discarded or donated.
• that we host a FINAL WALK for 5th graders on the last day of school?  Early release is 12:15, so at 12:00 we will ask that you line a path with learners (starting in the cafeteria) around the first floor so that our fifth graders can be recognized by their school.  Bring your Kleenex! They walk the building two times and all of us will assist with dismissal duty on the last day.
• Jacque would like some feedback?  Please complete this short survey to help her grow and reflect. 
• Compliance Training for 2018-2019 will open up for completion during the summer?  Look for information in my next blog.
• that you have until JUNE 4 to register for CISD Summer Professional Learning, until 5pm? You have to register through Eduphoria so that presenters are prepared and unenroll a day in advance if you are unable to attend.

MEMORIAL DAY CARDS
Don't forget to bring down your class cards for Memorial Day by the end of the day on Friday.  We will deliver them to the DFW National Cemetery on Saturday, May 26 at 9:00 a.m.  This is a rewarding experience, so feel free to join in.  Please put each card in a gallon sized ziploc bag.  Don't worry, we will add the rocks for you, at the cemetery.  Designers, PLEASE resend this invitation and map home, to your class, so that their parents have information about the event.

FARMERS MARKET AT LEE
Our Garden Gurus have done an outstanding job this year!  They will be hosting a Farmer's Market on Tuesday afternoon from 3:00-3:30 to sell the items they have grown.  There are potatoes, carrots, herbs, onions, shallots, peppers, AND MORE!  Learners are creating the flyer, and I will tweet it out for you to share in your newsletters as soon as they are done. Learners can shop before leaving or stay with a parent and shop.  All proceeds go back to our school garden.  Please help us spread the word!


PONYTAIL CLUB
Please share in your weekly communication that we must know by Tuesday, May 29, if a learner is participating in the Ponytail Club.  Learners can sign up here.

END OF YEAR TECHNO CHECK-IN

Please read the Lee End of Year Technology Checklist that explains how and when we will check in/out devices and presentation station carts. See Melinda if you have any questions. Dates and info are also on the staff calendar.  In addition, 4th and 5th grade, please make sure to read and follow Alli's email and Team Time notes with 1 to 1 devices.

5TH GRADE GRADUATION

Want to see our fifth grade graduation on Wednesday afternoon?  Tune in to watch via our YouTube Live channel from morning broadcast.  Thank you, Alli, for setting this up for us and Himani, in B4, for helping to video it. 


STORAGE ROOMS
Thank you for organizing and getting done with your inventory of your storage spaces.  I have cancelled Wednesday's staff meeting so you have designated time to get this done as a group.

LAST DAY LUNCHES

Please let the cafeteria know on this form what your learners will need a sack lunch on the last day. All learners should eat before we release on Thursday.

SPIRIT RALLY

Please notify your parents if their child is getting an award at Thursday's Spirit Rally.  They may want to come and watch them be honored.  Learners will get awards from Leedership Council, Citizens of the Year, Spelling Bee,  Sunshine Spurs, Broadcast, Yearbook Cover, Math Olympiad, Red and Black, Art, PE, Music, Library, STEM, Enrichment, Red and Black, and more. 

YEARBOOKS
We will host yearbook signing after Thursday's Spirit Rally.  Please let your kiddos know that there are no more yearbooks for sale in the front office.

REPORTS IN TEACHER ACCESS CENTER

Please help Kathy Creek by cleaning out your reports in Teacher Access Center as outlined in her email on Monday.

MAY 31 CHECKOUT

Here is the 2018-2019 EOY Check Out Procedure page.  I am giving it to you in digital form so you have live links. A paper copy will be in your box by the end of the day, Friday.  Please have it completed by your house check out time.  We will check out houses in the following order on Thursday (just used master schedule).  Specialists, you will be checked out when we check out your color house. (For example: Purple House is at 2:00.  When we conclude Purple, we will also go to the STEAM Lab and check out Nikki and Colleen before we go to Yellow House where we will check out Jacque and Jessica).   We will do our very best to try and stay on schedule.

• 2:00- Purple House
• 2:30-Yellow House
• 3:00- Red House
• 3:30- Green House
• 4:00- Blue House

No pressure, Shanna!

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK:

Read Your Writing Backward
When you read your writing, your brain will often autocorrect any spelling errors you may have made so that you don't notice them. To catch them, you can try to read your writing from the last work, back to the first. Point crisply under each word as you read it out loud. As you go, think, "Does this look right?"  (Taken from The Writing Strategies Book by Serravallo)

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Success the gain of something desired or attempted.

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Never stop improving.  Great people are always learning and keep their minds open to new possibilities.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"If you want to be successful, it's just this simple...know what your doing, love what you're doing, believe in what you're doing." - Will Rogers

DATES TO REMEMBER:
May 28- NO SCHOOL
May 29- Report Card Grades Due (8:00)
     Talent Show (8:00-10:00)
     5th Grade Graduation Practice (2:30-3:00 Cafe)
     Farmer's Market (3:00-3:30 Media Center)
May 30- Campus Technology Check In Day
     LEEdership Meeting (8:15-9:15)
     Set Chairs Up for Graduation (9:30)
     Lunch in Houses
     Graduation (1:00-3:00 Cafe and Gym)
     NO STAFF MEETING (Get House Inventory Completed)
May 31- Last Day of School
     Report Cards Go Home
     Spirit Assembly (8:00-9:30)
     Turn in Projector Carts
     Yearbook Signing (10:00-11:00)
     Lunches/Recess (11:00-12:00)
     Fifth Grade Parade (12:00-12:15)
     Dismissal (12:15-12:30)
     House and Specials Check Outs (2:00-4:30)
June 1- Cindy's Birthday