Tuesday MM - December 1st

Good Morning - Week "B"

Vision Screening sign up is on the board.  see Laurie for more information.

I am at a Joint Principals meeting today with the agenda attached as follows;

• Hi all - hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. A few reminders for tomorrow:

1. We will start at 8 a.m. in the Education Building. Group A will begin in Room 219 with the poverty simulation, and Group B will begin with Marty and Dana in the EVAAS session in the auditorium. The attachment shows who is in each group.
2. At 10 a.m., we'll take a break and have breakfast in the lobby. 
3. At 11 a.m., Group B will go to Room 219 for the poverty simulation and Group A will go to the auditorium for the EVAAS session. The sessions will end by 1 p.m.
4. At 1 p.m., senior staff will be available in the auditorium for a Q&A about the mandatory improvement plans (MIPs) required for schools identified by the state as low performing. We want to answer your questions and get a better understanding of how we can help explain the process to teachers. Patsy Squire will also be there to give a quick update on the 11 Title I Priority Schools.
5. Principals - the information you need for the EVAAS session comes from Marty Ward and is pasted below my signature line.

Hope this helps - we're looking forward to the experience. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Theo Helm, Chief of Staff
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Community STEM/STEAM night this Thursday December 3rd from 6pm to 8pm at Atkins Academic and Technology High School. Our address is 3605 Old Greensboro Road Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

Same night - PARENT POWER at SciWorks from 5:30-8:00

Monday MM - November 30th

Good Morning - Week "B"

I look forward to hearing your Thanksgiving stories and upcoming plans for the winter break.  We have 15 instructional days to impact the outcomes for our students.  My focus is to work with staff on the creation and implementation of great lesson plans.

Here are some upcoming events; 

• STEM team meets Tuesday
• Text structure PD Wednesday in the media center
• Sarah, Jenn, Kim & Demarie to the EL Education Site Seminar at Evergreen in Asheville on Thursday and Friday 
• Spelling Bee Friday 
• Book Fair next week 
• Book Fair "Game Night" w/ FOOD TRUCKS on Thursday, December 10th

No subs today, we are looking for a long term sub for Diana.  Please give Laurie any knowledge you have of good sub who may want this position through the end of December.

Tuesday MM - November 24th

Good Morning - Week "A"

At Brunson, I am thankful for....

• Joy in our classrooms
• Partnership and trust within our staff
• A place for me to join Passion and Purpose
• Academic growth  
• Caring
• Compassion 
• High Standards
• Most of all, YOU! 

"We journey with others.  Some precede us, some accompany us and some follow us.  Consequently we have paths, maps, models, scouts and co-journeyers.  We must be thankful for and wary of these co-journeyers.  They show us the way and lead us astray."

Let's go shopping!!!

There are a great deal of materials in the gym. They are available for the taking until 2:00 Tuesday (today), when they will then get packed up and sent to the Teacher Warehouse OR trashed.

Please take whatever you want:

• Math manipulatives 
• Science & social studies supplies 
• ELA material 
• Reading material 
• Workbooks (great remediation opportunity OR whole class demonstration, but not to be copied and used with the entire class) 

T​here is one qualification...these materials are yours to store and use accordingly; they are not to show back up on the stage.

Thanks to Laurie (and family), Mr. Dorsett, Ms. Currin, Ms, Gulledge, Ms. Alva, and members of my own family for the EXCELLENT job purging a GREAT deal of INCREDIBLY DUSTY materials on Sunday. Other than the dust, most everything else has been straightened.

Kathy has assisted with the creation of a "Project Closet". It is still a work in progress and we will let you know more when it's ready. We know that each of you will help us keep this area clean of "I just don't want it or have room for it" stuff.

During the day, I will have "worker bees" assisting in delivering materials that are still current. We will deliver them to one teacher on the grade level and then, as a team, you can decide who needs them/keeps them in their room.

Have a great day~ Mrs. H.
Subs:
Nicole Robinson for Nancy Smoot
Robin for Stacy
No sub for Anna
No sub for Diana

Monday MM - November 23rd

Good Morning - Week "A"

Thanks to the team that tackled the stage project this weekend.  The shopping for materials and supplies will begin Tuesday with instructions in the Blog.  DO NOT take things today until we get confirmation on shred and send backs to central office.

Be.ville is headed to the recycle bin on Wednesday.  If you have items that you want to re-purpose please retrieve them on Tuesday.

I want to share a quote from a book I am reading, "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer

• “Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others. All of them, from Martin Luther King Day to Arbor Day to Christmas to Valentine's Day, are in one way or another about being thankful.”

Subs Today;

Brenda Knox for Nancy Smoot

Robin for Stacy

Calvin Smart for Demarie Anderson
Ellen Gentle for Tonya Grisette

Friday MM - November 20th

Good Morning - Week "B"

I appreciate all your support of our STEM magnet at the event last night.  

Let's make these last three days before the Thanksgiving break AWESOME for our students and us.  Adult behaviors impact student outcomes. 

• We're making a final attempt to collect PBIS Hospitality dues from all staff members. These funds are used to support all members of our staff in times of need and in times of celebration - and to show our appreciation of staff members who seldom get recognized for their efforts, such as bus drivers and crossing guards, cafeteria workers, social workers, reading specialists, secretaries and clerks. The list goes on! Please pay Laurie in the office: Certified staff, $20 and Classified staff, $15 - or whatever you can offer, if the established dues are too much for you.

Subs Today;

No sub for Mrs H.  she is on the 4th grade State Capitol trip

George Newman for Kim Woody
Nakeshia Robinson for Darcy Steele
Sue Ann Gillespie for Venice Hailstock
No sub for Doris Davis
No sub for Diana Adkins

Thursday MM - November 19th

STEM NIGHT TONIGHT

Sorry for the mistake yesterday.  our evening begins @ 6:00 and goes until 7:30!  We will need your help to remove the projects from the media center Thursday @ 7:30 or Friday Morning before 8:00. 

Brenda Bourne and the HR staff will be on campus this afternoon to assist employees.  She will be housed in my office and I will take my show on the road.

What do we value that is “beyond measure?”

At the CLC on August 11th or 12th each participant received a book “Beyond Measure.”  You are welcome to join a book discussion on Monday, November 23rd from 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm at “The Quiet Pint."  Please indicate your presence via e-mail to me by Friday afternoon so we can get an accurate count for the appetizers to be provided by our neighbor.  the agenda is to meet here in the media center for a 15 minute discussion followed by a walking trip to the restaurant for socializing and further discussion to build a "Just Culture."

I appreciate all the 11 staff members who stayed and worked on our supervision structure so we can provide more planning time at Lunch and after-school.  We will meet again in early December to hammer out details and begin before the end of 2015.

Items that were left off the list from our meeting;

• Our SIP that was sent out via e-mail and google docs -  We will formalize that document with a staff vote at our December meeting.  Please review and speak with SIT with any questions or comments
• Focus School - I have attached a letter to our website and will send an alert now today to have parents aware of this status.  I have a webinar with our district and DPI on Friday @ 4pm to learn more about our accountability.

Subs:
Jennifer Thompson for Kim Woody

Wednesday MM - November 18th

Good Morning - Week "B"

Faculty meeting today in the gym at 3:30

STEM night is Thursday, from 5:30-7:30.  We appreciate all the support you are giving to your students.

We have been identified by DPI as a focus school.  An email and phone message will be sent today with accompanying information posted on our web site.  I will share more at our meeting this afternoon. 

10. Service and Compassion

• We are crew, not passengers. Students and teachers are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others, and one of an EL Education school’s primary functions is to prepare students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service.

Subs:
Willa Kirby for Sarah Davis am only
Robin for Stacy