Week 8

 

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable weekend. Here are the updates for the week.

Data Day 

Data days will be occurring this week for all grade levels.

Monday - Grades 3-5

Wednesday - Grades 6-8

Thursday - Grades K-2

Students will be in the gym from 1:30- 3:00 pm watching a movie while their teachers are doing data analysis and planning.   

Lexia Usage

It is super important that we are intentional with how we are using Lexia and Dreambox. You need to monitor the time spent on the resource and intervene where appropriate. You should be monitoring what students using GoGuardian every time the students are using the Chromebooks. Know what skills they are working on and intervene when necessary. Celebrate student successes by printing off the certificates that they earn. Remember, if you don't care enough to monitor, they won't care enough to do it.

Halloween Party

On Friday, October 29th, classrooms will host a Halloween party. They can begin their parties right after lunch. Don't forget this is an early dismissal day as well. Lunch will be served that day. Students are allowed to wear their school appropriate costumes to school. 

Black Out Days

Black out days are days where staff is not allowed to take the day off. This typically occurs when we have too many people out and not enough staff to cover the absences. Please understand that when you take a day off, it impacts the team. 

News to Know

• Vision Screenings continue this week up until 10/27.
• Picture retake Day is Tuesday 10/26. Please remind your parents.
• Wednesday, Oct. 27 - I will be out in the afternoon as I have to attend a Dean Training.

Week 7

 

Happy Monday!  I hope that you all had a wonderful, fun and restful weekend!  It's starting to feel like fall...  Can you believe that in two weeks it will be November?  We have a new 1st grade teacher starting today, Ms. Singleton.  She is taking Ms. Devine's position...and Ms. Adams, 8th grade Math is scheduled to return today.  It's great to have these staff members join us this week.  I hope you have a great day!

Data Day

Homeroom teachers are required to input data from the NHA assessments into the data tracker. In order to give them time to sift through the data, we have scheduled Data Days that will take place each month. 

Mon 10/25: 3rd-5th 

Wed 10/27: 6th-8th 

Thur 10/28: K-2nd

It is my hope to have Sped Resource Room teachers join the wings that they cover.  I will give you an update as we get closer to those days.

Trunk or Treat Changes

Historically, Laurus Academy hosts a Trunk or Treat event. This year, due to unforeseen circumstances we will not be having our event. Instead, we will allow students to wear their non-scary, school appropriate costumes to school. Each class will have a party and parents can donate candy to the party. This will take place on Friday, October 29th. It is an early release day, so the party will be from 12:30-1:30. 

Arrival and Dismissal

This is a gentle reminder that you must be standing at the door to greet your students each day as they arrive in the morning. During dismissal, you need to be at your door as well. 

News to Know

10/20-10/27: Vision Screenings

10/22 Pink Out Day (Wear pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, $2.00 for students), PM lockdown drill

10/26 Picture Retake Day

10/29: U of M VS MSU Day for $2.00

Week 6

 

Hello Wonderful Special Pops Team! 

I hope you all had a great weekend. Here are our focus areas for the week. 

Child Study

We only had one student referred to Child Study.  So I will schedule it for 9:00 am so that it frees up your day.

03's

Now that BOY testing is complete for NWEA and AIMSWeb, please plan to discuss your student data during our 03's...how you will be using it to drive your instruction and student support.

Lexia Snapshot

Now that things are underway, we can no longer just tell students to get on Lexia and Dreambox. We need to be intentional about the usage of our digital tools. This week, the focus is Lexia. 

Scope and Sequence: Use this lets you know exactly what the students are learning based on the "level" that they are on. 

Usage Report: This allows you to check and see how much time students have spent on Lexia. 

Skill Builder Guide: For small groups, use the resources tab. There are short skill builder lessons that are aligned with whatever level the student is on. You can print it so students can practice the skills that they need to work on. 

Watch this video for how you can quickly do a 5-minute check of your students' progress. 5 minute check.

  

For a brief refresher, refer to the Lexia Professional Learning Guide

Thank you K. Summers for the great resources!!!!

Interims are coming soon!

Interim testing will be here before you know it. Please mark you calendars for the upcoming Interim testing dates. Team leads should print the interims and review it with your teams at your team meetings. Make sure you all are aware of what's coming up so you can prepare your students as best you can.

• Nov. 7-12: Interim 1 Science (Grades 3, 4, 6, 7, 8)
• Nov. 7-12: Interim 1 ELA (Grades 3-8)
• Nov. 15-19: Interim 1 Science (Grade 5)
• Nov. 29-Dec. 3: Interim 1 Math (Grades 3-8)
• Nov. 29-Dec. 17: Interim 1 Soc. Studies (Grades 3-8)

GoGuardian

Please be sure to have GoGuardian up and running when the students are using the chromebooks. Our students still require a great deal of oversite. If students try to go to inappropriate sites or even just be off task, you can see it. It is a major liability for us if you are not overseeing their technology use. 

Week 5

 

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful weekend.  I did...but boy, I am tired of the muggy, rainy weather!  Looking forward to the crispness of fall.  This week is a four day week!  Yay!  We have Professional Development on Friday.  The arrival time has been updated from the October calendar to accommodate the NHA trainings.  Please make sure you plan to be in attendance from 7:45-3:00.  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Jean Week

Just a reminder that you can wear jeans all week.  Enjoy!

Progress Reports - General Education Teachers Only

Progress reports must be available for parents to view on the Parent Portal by Friday, Oct. 8th. Notifications must be sent out to inform all parents. All grades must be in the gradebook by Thursday, Oct. 7th. Be sure to include comments on the progress reports as well. Also, NWEA Parent letters will go home on Thursday.

Fall Regional Professional Development Day

Our Fall Regional PD is on Friday, Oct. 8th. There is no school for the students. Teachers are expected to be at the school from 7:45- 3:00. Please check your email for the schedule of the day. 

Uniform and Cell Phones

Teachers, please help us enforce the uniform and cell phone policy. Students should not be wearing hoodies and jackets.  Just do a brief check as you take attendance. If you are not sure, please refer to the entire uniform policy which can be found on the school website. Here is a snippet. 

In addition, cell phones are not allowed to be used during the school day. Cellphones are to be put away during school hours. If a student has a cell phone out, please kindly remind them of the policy. If there is a second offense, the cell phone may be confiscated and a parent must pick it up at the end of the day. 

Picture Retake Day

Picture Retake Day is October 26th. Please send out reminders through your parent communications. If you have any questions regarding pictures, please contact Ms. D. Campbell. 

Laurus Student Creed

Let's lead by example! Every morning we all need to corporately say the Laurus Student Creed (that means you too 😊). If your students don't know it, create a visual so students can join in. Remember, words have power and we are what we say! 

I am a Laurus Student. I strive to achieve academic excellence. I exemplify high moral character. I work diligently to prepare for the future. I know my success in school and life is dependent on my own effort and the choices I make.

Reminders:

• Count Day is Wednesday! It's also a free dress day! Please remind your parents and students.
• Staff Meeting: Wednesday, October 6 at 7:30.  This will be a live stream.  We will be sending a meeting link.