Randolph School’s End of the Week Notes for Dec. 21, 2007

Celebrations!

Thank you, Staff, for the gift to the Foundation for LPS in my name. Your thoughtfulness will benefit our students through the various Foundation programs. Dr. B.

Please note:

Randolph’s boundaries will change this fall. A section will be added from our current east boundary to S. 48^th Street. A section from Sumner Street to South Street will move to Sheridan School’s area.

Please contact Marcell at 436-1163 for a permit form to guarantee staying in Randolph School, if you live in the Sumner to South area.

District deadline for permits is Jan. 4. 2008.

Curriculum and Instruction

Families of Fifth Graders:

The UNL Saturday Science Program will be held on four Saturdays in February (with a snow day, just in case, scheduled in March). Saturday Science application forms will be sent home with all 5^th graders and are due to the LPS Science office before 4:00 p.m. on January 11^th. Participants and a waiting list will be chosen on Monday, January 14. Cost of the program is $40, which allows participants to attend all fours sessions, and includes weekly take home activities and materials. Watch for the application packet!

Questions? Contact Lois Mayo at 436-1802 or lmayo@lps.org

Meetings Held This Week

Elementary Principals met on Wed., Dec. 19 at LPSDO. Notes from that meeting follow:

Principals Council Notes

Becky Wild: Third Degree Sexual Offenders

Receive letter from LPSDO barring them from being at school. Principals may make an exception for offenders (parents) coming to school. Examples include: concert, conferences, etc. Greg Perry has a form for principals to use. Becky will email the letter and form to use (only with third degree sexual offenders). This is not a law; it is an LPS policy.

Nancy Biggs, Human Resources Update

LPS staff should not be required to direct traffic.

Barb Jacobson, Summer School Reading and Math

Summer school for grade 3 students will be a four week session. Randolph students will attend at Elliott. Busing will be available from Randolph to Elliott. The summer school session will be from 8:30-11:30. Applications to teach in summer school will be available March 1^st.

Jill Pauley, New Payroll System Update

Exempt and non-exempt personnel are two types of employees in federal law. A new system is coming for non-exempt personnel time to be recorded accurately, because of required overtime pay or need to not be over 40 hours per week. Employee cannot “volunteer” to do own job. Office, custodians, kitchen, paras, and mentors will log in on any computer at school. May also use this system (“prox readers”) for workshop attendance registration.

May have a pilot in May or over the summer. May be full implementation at this time next year (second semester 08-09). Every employee will have an individual calendar of days, hours worked. (TAS = time accountability system) Office personnel may be the first pilot group in summer.

Appraisal Process Update (Vern Fisher, Bess Scott, Deb Dabbert, Ruth Ann Wylie)

The current teacher appraisal document is over 30 years old. Since 1998, there has been a call for revisions. During the 2004-2005 school year, the creation of draft “rubrics” using 3-2-1 ratings was shared. Now, there is a four-year timeline for research, study, draft, pilot, revision, and implementation. This year is committee formation and research.

Vern Fisher, PLC/SIP Update

“Tetra Data” preview will be presented next month at PC, so we can see the capabilities of the new data warehouse.

Examples of the PLC sharing fairs are displayed in LPSDO central hallway.

PLC assessment: goal is to find out where process is and what products we use. How do we use this information to grow over time?

Update SIP plans at building level to reflect current work. Site visits will be held again next school year.

Mary Reiman and Tim Hahn, New Standards for the 21^st Century Learner

Mary shared the new standards for media: “Learners use skills, resources, and tools to:

1. inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.

2. draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

3. share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.

4. pursuer personal and aesthetic growth.”

Barb Jacobson: 2008-09 Building Flextime

Barb needs to hear how the flextime is working, so can respond to LEA. Example: Staff given list of options (topic, date, time), and then asked to submit their own personal learning plan. Other schools have added the time to PLC sessions. Other schools have used blocks of time for whole group learning sessions throughout the school year. Some principals have used the hourly time sheet (district) for staff to keep track of their flextime hours.

Susie Katt: Math Update

1. Schools order own objective cards.

2. Workbooks will arrive at buildings in April. Let her know asap if need additional.

3. New teacher workshop in math may be done as a “make and take”. Susie handed out a form to list new teachers or new to grade level teachers.

Karen Saunders: Reading Update

Summer and fall professional development in interventions were listed. The Foundations class could be required for all, with specific content and skills courses available for teachers to choose according to need and interest. Discussion was held on who to require this training for interventions of—teachers, specialists, paras. Teachers would need to know about the whole listing of optional courses. Karen will be at Randolph on Jan. 9 before school to gather information from teachers about the writing assessment. Watch for the survey form to complete after break.

Upcoming Events

Dec. 24- Jan. 2 Winter Break NO SCHOOL

Jan. 3 Classes start again.

Jan. 7 GET meets at 8:10 in Mrs. Mahoney’s room

Jan. 7-11 Parent Survey conducted by LPS for appraisal of Dr. Bonaiuto as principal

Jan. 8 Staff Meeting from 4-5:00 p.m. for beginning DocuShare training

Jan. 8 PTA meeting 7:00 p.m. Program = “New Year’s Resolutions” (homework, getting organized, study skills, and student leadership project presentations). Mrs. Mahoney and Mrs. Hale presenting with students.

Jan. 9 Karen Saunders visits here 8:15-8:45 a.m. Stop in the staff work room to share your comments about the writing assessment. Watch for the survey to complete before Jan. 9^th.

Jan. 10 Technology Planning Committee meeting 8:10 a.m.

Jan. 14 No School for Elementary Students

Jan. 15 School Improvement Process Committee meets at 8:10

Jan. 15 Principal’s Parent Forum 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center

Jan. 17 Professional Development meeting 4-6:00 p.m. in the computer lab: DocuShare training

Jan. 21 No School

Jan. 22 SCIP meets in Mrs. Mahoney’s room

Jan. 23 Elementary Principals’ Council meets at LPSDO

Jan. 25 Report Cards Home!

Jan. 29 PLC Early Dismissal 2:18

Jan. 30-31 Grade level instructional conferences with Dr. Bonaiuto

Jan. 31 Dr. Moore, Asst. Superintendent for Instruction, meets with Randolph Staff at 8:10 to conduct appraisal of Dr. Bonaiuto as principal.