September 29, 2017

Getting Better

How do we know that we are getting better? At times it feels as though we are bombarded by assessments and accountability metrics routinely throughout the school year. There are times when it feels as though testing is replacing learning, data is overtaking relationships, and time for deep learning and discourse has evaporated. At the end of the fall assessment cycle, these feelings are predictably widespread. Feelings of optimism about the new school year can be replaced, or overwritten, by feelings of hopelessness, frustration, and anxiety as the testing window seems to drag on while you are waiting to start digging in to the real work you'd hoped to get into with your students.  "How is this testing beneficial to our students?" is a question I get more often than you might think.

The short answer to the question about how testing benefits our students is...it doesn't.  Simply administering tests has very little effect on student learning.  Hattie (2015) found that even teaching test taking has an effect size that falls below the hinge point (0.3) in its ability to improve student achievement.

The longer answer is that it's not the testing that helps the students, but rather it's what we do with the information gathered from the testing.  It is in the act of looking at the results from the assessment program for individual students and groups of students and then making adjustments to their program that the magic happens.

Our use of the problem solving protocol is central to the conversation of how to ensure we take the data gathered from testing and turn that information into steps, strategies, and activities which are uniquely designed to meet the learning needs of our students. Taken from the problem solving driver planning tool, "This system provides a specific process for facilitating effective data conversations that establishes a spirit of inquiry and positions the analysis of multiple measures of data at the heart of the exploration and action plan development." In short, it is the problem solving driver that provides TCAPS common language and a common protocol to help turn data from tests into specific actions and behaviors that produce results for students.

Tests, whether NWEA, unit tests, Tier II diagnostic tests, exit tickets, or quick quizzes, are all designed to provide us with feedback on how students are progressing toward their identified goals, to measure the impact of our work with them. Our Special Education teachers are very familiar with this concept and live it every day by measuring progress toward identified goals and objectives on student IEPs. Assessments are given, goals and objectives are developed, action steps are put into place, and progress is measured. Wash, rinse, and repeat. The process continues until students demonstrate goal mastery and either add in new goals to work on or are exited from Special Education.

So yes, there is a lot of testing. How we approach the testing and what we do with the results will go a long way in determining whether or not there has been any benefit to students or not. We will continue to look at the frequency and duration of tests that we, as a district, can control. Specifically, we'll continue making sure we do our best to achieve a Goldilocks approach to testing (not too much, not too little, just right). You'll have the best practices available to you to help extract as much useful information from the tests to measure your impact on student learning and to help improve achievement for all students. Hang in there, keep up the great work, and know that what you do makes a huge difference in the lives of your students!

DYK: According to the Detroit Lions' pregame show last week, you can hear a Lion's roar five miles away.

Deep Thoughts: "Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be." - Rita Pierson (2013)

Video of the Week:
Rita Pierson: Every Kid Needs a Champion

Thanks & Appreciation:

• Thanks to our coaches, trainers, athletic directors and everyone else who kept our student athletes safe during this most recent heat!
• Thank you Sara Bageris for this week's fun Lions fact!
• October is National Principals Month. Thank you principals for all of your hard work and dedication to our students!
• Thank you to the staff and students for your persistence and focus in getting through a power / internet / phone outage today! Your focus on students was evident and appreciated!
• Thanks RaeAnn Fiebing for your on-the-spot / just-in-time communications support.  

Announcements & Reminders:

• Principals, I sent out a general evaluation orientation email on 9/25/17 at 1:24pm to those of you on evaluation.  If you think you should've received one, but didn't see it, please check with Julie Gorter. 
• HQV Google forms are on their way!  Grant Chandler and the MI-Excel team are putting the finishing touches on the forms and will be sending them our way.  We expect to see them by mid-next week! In the meantime, you may print these copies of the Data Collection Tools for HQV visits, which may be used until we go live with the Google Forms. Remember to save the paper copies and enter into the forms once we get them to you.
• The next Joint Principals Meeting is Monday, October 2. We will meet at the Sabin Cafe from 4:15 - 5:45.
• Building Bridges with Music - coming soon to our schools! Stop the Bullying! workshops feature live music by the Jeff Haas Quintet. If you haven't experienced one of these shows, you and your students are in for some amazing and thought-provoking entertainment. Students of all ages enjoy the music and engage with the musicians on the important topic of bullying. Julie will be reaching out to you with more information and to discuss scheduling. Click HERE to view a short video showcasing what they do as well as hear from special guest Colleen Smith, who shares her experience with the program.
• Today is National Coffee Day in the United States! 

This Week in the Blueprint:  The Problem Solving Driver System 

TCAPS began working on and implementing the problem solving driver during the 2015-16 school year. At the start of the 2016-17 school year, the district network approved the problem solving driver planning tool, which includes this definition:

This system provides a specific process for facilitating effective data conversations that establishes a spirit of inquiry and positions the analysis of multiple measures of data at the heart of the exploration and action plan development.

We have mountains of data from all sorts of assessments. Unless we actually do something different as a result of that data, however, we're unlikely to improve. The problem solving driver gives us a common method across the district for examining data and using that data to make changes that help us improve performance.

Parker's Calendar

This Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• Bond Election Capital Planning at MOGL
• STEM Meeting / Skodack 
• Eval Process Mtg
• Accountability Measures/McCall
• Board Study Session

Tuesday

• ET
• Soma/Parker Bi-Weekly

Thursday

• New Principal Marzano Training
• Mattson/Carmien/Parker
• Parker/Chandler
• STEM/Chamber of Commerce Meeting
• Parent Meeting

Friday

• DAN Meeting
• Bond Election Capital Planning - WMS
• Apple Crunch  - Long Lake

Next Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• Silver Lake Visit
• Board Curriculum Agenda Setting
• Joint Principals Meeting

Tuesday

• Board Communications
• ET

Wednesday

• Board Finance
• Partnership
• Huddle

Thursday

• Lansing / MDE Title II Workgroup
• Parker/Chandler
• Curriculum/Technology

Friday

• Secondary Hangout
• DAN Meeting
• Bond Election Capital Planning

This Week in Photos:

 #heroes

#savedthedayatWMS

#400snacksinfiveminutesnoproblem

#THANKYOU!

#happymiddleschoolers

September 22, 2017

A lion with a mullet??  Yep. 

The work of school improvement is hard.  I've said it before, I'll say it again. Truly getting better as a whole organization presents many challenges. It also presents many opportunities for growth of ourselves as adult learners and for our students. Just like our students, we need to continue to learn and grow as professionals. We need to continue to be curious about things that we see and hear. We need to continue to be open to new ideas, new perspectives, and new ways of being and doing.  To truly improve, we need to do what we ask of our students; we need to take risks, try new techniques, learn from our failures, and demonstrate persistence when tasks prove difficult.

Installing the Blueprint challenges each of us in our own ways. It challenges our beliefs, our history, and it challenges what we are comfortable with. When faced with these type of challenges to our normal, it's reasonable to expect that we might pause, hesitate, or dig in to our position a little bit because it feels really uncomfortable to change. It's reasonable to expect that we need more time to let this idea settle in, to look at more data, to give it time to work before moving to the next step. All of these are normal, expected, and understandable reactions to change. I get it. I understand. I really do. But I think we can do more than that. I've seen it and I really believe it is a powerful way to reach all of our students, from the very top to the very bottom on the list of achievers, and to help them achieve success.

What I know is that if we don't step out of our comfort zone, remain resistant to change, and wait to try new improvement strategies, the students we teach might not get our collective best efforts. Students will continue to go through school and get a year older (and for many of them, farther behind) each grade. The top students will continue to score pretty well on standardized measures, while those learners who struggle continue to struggle, disconnect from school, and find other - far less productive ways to spend their time.  

What adds more urgency is that the group who struggles isn't as small as you might think. Only around half of students who graduate with a TCAPS diploma meet both EBRW (Evidence Based Reading and Writing) and Math requirements for college readiness on the SAT. Half. I know...it's higher than the State and Regional average, but it's not a statistic that I think we should be particularly proud of.  Half. It's just a number and just a test, but that test is pretty good at predicting future performance and further academic success. I believe that with the talent and resources available to us, we can do better than half.

You might remember a quote in this blog a couple of weeks ago that was something like every organization being perfectly designed to get the results it's getting. The purpose of the Blueprint is to change the way the organization functions to improve the results, meaning better results for our students, better chances for them to succeed in college and careers, and be more prepared citizens, ready to join our community.

It's hard work. There are new systems, a new instructional model, a new way of doing many of the things we've done for a while now. These are pretty high stakes, though.  Half of our students really need us to take these chances, try these new things, and to get it right.  Their futures depend on it.


DYK: Word of the day:  Felidae...There are 36 species of cats in this family. Species in this family are found in all areas of the world, except for Australia and Antarctica. They vary in size from the domestic cat to the lion. 

Deep Thoughts:
"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." - Peter Drucker

Article of the Week:
Many northern Michigan school buses did not pass safety inspection - TCAPS again passes them all!  98 "Green" and 1 "Yellow".  Great job!

Making Students Partners in Data-Driven Approaches to Learning

Examining Links Between Academic Performance and Food Stamps 

Thanks & Appreciation:

• Principals who attended the Mi-Excel Leadership class Monday and Tuesday!
• Thanks to our fantastic bus mechanics, bus drivers, and transportation personnel for another outstanding safety inspection and making sure all of our students get to school safely!
• Thank you staff at WSH for the celebration of students at your academic awards!
• Thank you Music Boosters for all you do to support our District and our talented musicians and performers!
• Coaches and trainers: Thank you for taking care of our student athletes this week during this unseasonably warm weather!
• Thanks to every teacher learning a new program or learning new curriculum units and assessments!
• Thanks Than Dykstra for helping me celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day!
• Thanks Grant Chandler for spending time with your favorite district (TCAPS) this week!
• Thank you administrative assistants for being able to do 47 different projects at the same time while being continuously interrupted!
• Thank you to Matt Griesinger, TCW Boys Varsity Soccer Coach, for the positive example you are setting for our young men, our parents, and for positively representing our school. It is appreciated!
  "Your boy's soccer coach was exemplary in every sense of the word.  Everything from the coach was positive, encouraging and tactically coaching the players to be successful on the field of play.  The coaching throughout the game was top notch.  He displayed support and respect for the officials.  You have an elite coach that you and your school should be very proud to have on your coaching staff.  He represented Traverse City West very well."  
  Dave Martin, Assistant Referee - Midland Dow vs Traverse City West
  
  

Announcements & Reminders:

• Our elementary social studies team have been hard at work on returning social studies to its proper place in the lives of our elementary students. The Michigan Open Book Project is a multi-year initiative funded as part of the Technology Readiness Infrastructure Grant (TRIG) which will empower groups of master teachers to come together, collaborate, and develop an open education resource for use in classrooms around Michigan. Stay tuned for more information from Rose Gallagher and our elementary social studies leaders!
• Congratulations West Middle School for being the only middle school to earn the prestigious MIPA Spartan Award (Michigan Interscholastic Press Association) this year.  Great work!
• Principals who are under evaluation this year will receive a notice from me that you are under evaluation this year, a general evaluation orientation session, and have a growth plan submitted and approved by me by October 15th.  More information will be coming your way in the coming week.
• We have been overrun by community generosity this year and have a substantial surplus of school supplies and backpacks that have been donated for elementary students in need. If you know students who could use new backpacks or supplies, please reach out to Karyn Hertel in Communications.
• Updated 2017/18 High Quality Visions of Subject Specific Instruction (HQV):  HQV visits resumed this week with some principals who were working with Grant Chandler and will be continuing throughout the school year. Principals are allowed to give you feedback and coaching around the observation. HQV observations are not to be entered into iObservation. They will be collected on a Google Form (from MI-Excel), which will enable teachers to receive immediate feedback the moment the observer leaves the room and submits the form. We have worked hard to keep HQV out of Marzano, but are excited to now be able to discuss the evaluations and data in a manner that is not directly related to evaluation. The hope is that by doing this we can minimize evaluation related anxiety and have more open conversation about instructional improvement. If we work together and are respectful of the process, these conversations can help us move the needle on student achievement and form strong partnerships.
• There has been value for teachers in knowing whether the principal is doing an HQV observation or a Marzano evaluation.  HQV data was previously collected by paper and pencil in most places. Administrators in those buildings would often identify the type of observation to staff by either carrying a clipboard or paper (HQV), or carrying a laptop (Marzano).  Since both Marzano and HQV will be recorded online, the principals (or teacher observers) will be using a laptop for both. Staff and principals should work together to agree on the best way to let staff know, or buildings might decide that they don't really need to know, they just would like the feedback.  Principals, please work with your staff to identify how this works in your building.
• Hint:  A sticky note on the back of your computer would be an easy identifier that you're doing an HQV observation. 
• Principals, please remember to submit the names of your 2017/18 BAN members by September 29.

This Week in the Blueprint:

There's a pretty large IF/THEN statement regarding what the theory of action is around the Blueprint. This is great to me in many ways. First, even though it might not seem like it, we have launched several of these systems and drivers and just need some more practice, tuning, and persistence to realize significant benefits. Second, this work will transform how we operate as an entire organization, saving people time and resources while maximizing results for all students. Third, IF /THEN statements bring back fond memories of my old programming days in high school (yes, we had computers back then) and college (Quick Basic, Pascal, and even Fortran!). 

So, without further explanation of why I like it so much, here it is (I hope you can find something in here to connect with too!):

THE BLUEPRINT'S THEORY OF ACTION

#oregontrailwasmyfavorite

Parker's Calendar

This Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• MI-Excel Leadership Academy - Day 1
• Joint Principals Meeting

Tuesday

• ET
• MI-Excel Leadership Academy - Day 2

Wednesday

• WSH Academic Awards
• Huddle
• MASA Conference

Thursday

• Board Curriculum Committee Meeting
• Parker/Chandler
• MASA Conference/ Blueprint Presentation
• Curriculum/Technology - B. Reynolds
• Elementary Concerns
• Music Boosters Meeting

Friday

• DAN Meeting
• Soma/Parker/CTH/McCall
• Jeff Haas Meeting
• Shelagh Fehrenbach @ TH - Math!

Next Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• Bond Election Capital Planning at MOGL
• STEM Meeting / Skodack 
• Eval Process Mtg
• Accountability Measures/McCall
• Board Study Session

Tuesday

• ET
• Willow Hill Visit
• ELL Meeting/ K. Schneider
• Soma/Parker Bi-Weekly

Wednesday

• MI-Excel Leadership Meeting/C. Wacker
• ELA Meeting/C. Wacker
• Huddle
• JPM Agenda Setting B/ Berger/ A. Wares
• Curriculum Budget Meeting/Nesky
• Admin Intern Meeting

Thursday

• Huddle
• New Principal Marzano Training
• Parker/Chandler
• STEM/Chamber of Commerce Meeting
• Parent Meeting

Friday

• DAN Meeting
• Bond Election Capital Planning - WMS

This Week in Photos:

#CEreadiesforreadingplans

#iRIP

#notanewappleproduct

#choral-aires

#talentedstudents

#tcapsmusic

#putnamcountyspellingbee

#thankyouerich

#25thannual

#staytuned
#buildingbridges
#jeffhaasisgreat

Thank you for all that you do! Have a great weekend!

September 15, 2017

DYK:  Even though the lion is sometimes referred to as the “king of the jungle,” it actually only lives in grasslands and plains. The expression may have come from an incorrect association between Africa and jungles or may refer to a less literal meaning of the word jungle.  

DEEP THOUGHTS:
"The emphasis should be on why we do a job."   - W. Edwards Deming


In this week's "Article of the Week", M-Live reports on State Rep. Tim Kelly's plan to push the legislature back into an A-F scorecard to report school accountability.  State Superintendent Whiston has proposed a "transparency dashboard" approach to school accountability, citing concerns that the scorecard approach doesn't tell the whole story.

This is the conversation that is going on while Michigan students continue to collectively fall behind students from other states. Perhaps I'm getting a little bit cynical as I age, but I think it's doubtful, if not impossible, that this conversation to move the needle when it comes to preparing students for college and careers. The continued focus on accountability, rather than on school improvement, will likely continue to produce the same results.

What we know is that the work we do is challenging, dynamic, and complex.  We know that true school improvement occurs when we are able to support teachers, provide a challenging curriculum, and engage our students in rich, meaningful work.  None of these, in my opinion, will be accurately reflected by a dashboard, nor evident on a scorecard. This accountability model has, and will likely continue to, fail to provide the necessary framework for our schools to improve to better educate our students.

It would be irresponsible to ignore accountability measures from MDE and I'm not suggesting that we do so.  I'm also not suggesting that we shouldn't measure student progress. I don't think, however, that only focusing on accountability scores will help us do better work for our students. 

What we are doing, that I happen to think makes a lot of sense, is working to provide the supports and structures necessary to help teachers and principals continue to improve, to educate, and to make sure that classrooms continue to evolve to meet the needs of our students to be productive citizens and to be more than adequately prepared for college or career.  It's long past the time to move past the old "gotcha" model and to truly embrace one of support and a growth mindset.

(SPOILER ALERT:  here is where I am going to start writing about the Blueprint😊)

TCAPS is installing the MI-Excel blueprint to help increase the great things that are going on in our schools and to help build systems that support students, teachers, and schools. It is a research-based, comprehensive school improvement model. The systems and drivers installed last year have laid some important groundwork for where we are now - installing an intense student support network, instructional infrastructure, and focusing in on high quality, subject-specific instruction. It is through these systems that we are going to be able to truly impact college and career readiness in a positive way.

This work, though exciting, is hard.  There aren't really any shortcuts and we'll have to take a close look at the things we do and why we do them, being ready to change practices and to try new approaches to achieve greater results.  If we are able to stay disciplined, implement the Blueprint, and make needed modifications over time, I'm confident that we will be able to amplify the great things we are doing for kids.

TCAPS has great teachers, principals, and support staff who are working hard every day to do their very best for students.  The goal of the Blueprint is to help support that work, help us all continue to grow and develop professionally, and to improve our ability to make college and careers a reality for every student who walks through our doors. 


Article of the Week:

Michigan lawmaker pushing for revised A-F school accountability system

How to Define Public Schooling in the Age of Choice?

Thanks and Appreciation:

• Christine Guitar...reunification with my prized coffee cup!  THANK YOU!!
• Thank you to everyone who worked, volunteered, and helped organize this year's Patriot Game!
• Even though none of them are reading this, thank you to our awesome students!  It is so great to have them back in school, reminding us of why we do what we do!
• Thank you to our bus drivers, mechanics, and transportation department support staff!
• Thanks to our food service staff who feed and care for our students and staff each and every school day!
• Thank you Janna Deering for your leadership in offering LEAP programs and enrichment activities, hiring and training coaches, scheduling, handling phone calls, and generally making school more fun, more engaging, and more connected for so many of our students.
• Thank you Erich Wangeman and the TC Westmen for the video of this great performance of The Star Spangled Banner!

Announcements / Reminders:

• Teacher Evaluation Timeline
• Read the memo regarding PLC Meetings for 2017/18
• The next Board Curriculum Committee Meeting is Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 7:30am in the Board Room at the Admin Building.
• Curriculum leaders will be meeting shortly to make final revisions to the HQV checklists. Stay tuned for additional information.
• Tuesday, September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Seriously!

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is

• awaiting approval of the Every Student Succeeds Act
• (ESSA) plan with the United States Department of
• Education (USED) and will delay the district publishing
• deadline of the Annual Education Report (AER) until
• the appropriate data are available. It is currently
• anticipated that data necessary for the creation of
• AERs will not be ready until Winter 2017. As such,
• please note that the general report information,
• cover letter templates, and combined report data on
• MISchoolData.org
• have not been updated for AERs to
• reflect the materials to be used for the 2017-18 school
• year AERs.
• Further details will be provided to schools and districts
• as it becomes available.

• 
  
  
  

Update on the Annual Education Report

• The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is
• awaiting approval of the Every Student Succeeds Act
• (ESSA) plan with the United States Department of
• Education (USED) and will delay the district publishing
• deadline of the Annual Education Report (AER) until
• the appropriate data are available. It is currently
• anticipated that data necessary for the creation of
• AERs will not be ready until Winter 2017. As such,
• please note that the general report information,
• cover letter templates, and combined report data on
• MISchoolData.org
• have not been updated for AERs to
• reflect the materials to be used for the 2017-18 school
• year AERs.
• Further details will be provided to schools and districts
• as it becomes available.

THIS WEEK IN THE BLUEPRINT:  
The Instructional Infrastructure system is concerned with implementing and supporting a vision of high quality, ambitious subject specific instruction to impact student/teacher performance in schools.

The district describes and communicates explicit high quality subject specific instructional practices that are aligned with the district’s specific student-learning targets.  This creates a shared understanding of the quality of instruction to which we aspire to deliver in every classroom every day for every child.

TCAPS curriculum leaders along with the DAN committee are reviewing the current HQV Checklists to more closely align with HQV documents and to improve inter-rater reliability.


Parker's Calendar

This Week:

 Monday

• Huddle
• Bond Election Capital Planning 
• Soma/Parker/McCall
• Board Meeting

Tuesday

• ET
• HMH Training for New Teachers
• Soma/Parker Bi-Weekly

Wednesday

• HMH Principals Training
• Huddle
• Westwoods Visit
• Curriculum Leaders

Thursday

• Huddle
• Student Support Network Meeting/VanLoo/Tisdale/Chandler
• Bond Election Capital Planning
• Online Class/High School Credit Meeting

Friday

• DAN
• Elementary Principals Meeting
• Assorted work, catch up, email, phone calls, and generally productive and goal directed behaviors

Next Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• MI-Excel Leadership Academy - Day 1
• Joint Principals Meeting

Tuesday

• ET
• MI-Excel Leadership Academy - Day 2

Wednesday

• WSH Academic Awards
• Huddle
• MASA Conference

Thursday

• Board Curriculum Committee Meeting
• MASA Conference/ Blueprint Presentation
• Curriculum/Technology - B. Reynolds

Friday

• DAN Meeting
• Assorted work, catch up, email, phone calls, and generally productive and goal directed behaviors

This Week in Photos:

#ironman

#rowtheboatberger

#principalslearningmath

#houghtononthemic

#notsofastkip

#toldyouthiswasblogworthy

#mathwhisperer

#whoknewthismuchaboutnumberlines

#bigfanofresearch

Thanks for all you do. Have a great weekend!

September 8, 2017

Shared Vision

DEEP THOUGHTS:

"Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it is getting."  - Peter Drucker



DYK:  A lion can run for short distances at 50 mph and leap as far as 36 feet. While impressive, what many are unaware of is that teachers routinely exceed these statistics during the first day of school!



I love what I have seen while walking around our schools this week!  In this short amount of time (the first week of school!!)  I have seen classrooms focused on instruction, building classroom communities, setting norms, and classrooms buzzing with productive conversations between students who were up and moving around the room, interacting to solve problems by working together while their teachers orchestrated and supported their discussions. I saw behavior expectations being taught. I saw happy, smiling teachers, students, principals, bus drivers, and parents. In short, I have seen an impressive group of educators demonstrating excitement and a sense of urgency for what you do. Thank you for jumping in with both feet and putting a positive start to the school year!

Urgency: How much is too much?
Maintaining urgency is a delicate balance. Too much urgency can leave folks behind, while too little can slow our improvement and result in lost growth opportunities for our students and for ourselves.  We will work throughout the school year to strike the right balance.  While my job is to continue to press, I will work to be mindful that constant pressure makes learning difficult and can negatively impact culture.  

To reach our goals, we must continue to strive for continuous improvement and a positive, collaborative, respectful culture.  This, as you know, flies in the face of the punitive, accountability-driven culture that we hear so often from Lansing. While we will continue to struggle with many at the State level (on many topics), we know that one of the benefits of local public school control is that we can identify our own model of instruction, set our own culture, and work together to meet our goals. Only when we align our sense of urgency and continuous improvement with a solid culture will we truly realize the power that we have to truly transform the lives of our students and to help prepare them for college and career.

The goal is to proceed with urgency and purpose, while maintaining a positive, collaborative culture to dramatically improve the readiness of our students to achieve success in college and careers.  Installing the systems of the Blueprint and continuing to work and learn together will enable us to realize these goals, build an incredibly strong organizational culture, and produce exceptional results for our students, parents, and community!


Article of the Week:

Report finds chronic absenteeism a problem in Michigan schools

Thanks and Appreciation:

• Thank you to all teachers, support staff, and principals for a GREAT first week of the school year!
• Thank you Kindergarten teachers!  Your students come in with such little knowledge of how school works and you transform them into positive students, capable of reading, writing, listening, and so much more. The transformation you achieve each year with these young learners is nothing short of amazing!
• Thank you to our dedicated bus drivers for navigating countless construction zones, new students and stops, and getting everyone where they need to be safely!
• Thank you Administrative Assistants! The start of the school year can be challenging, frightening, and confusing to some of our parents. Thanks for your patience, your professionalism, and for making our lives run so much more smoothly!

Announcements / Reminders:

• Teacher Absences - All personal absences (i.e. personal illness, family illness, personal business days, bereavement days) should be entered directly into WillSub by the teacher or administrative assistant (www.willsub.com). Professional absences must be requested by completing an Individual Professional Absence Request Form  then submitting it to the building principal and department budget manager if applicable. Completed and signed Professional Absence Request Forms must be submitted to the administrative assistant at your building to be reserved on the District Inservice Calendar and entered into WillSub. 
• Principal Absences -  All personal absences (Personal Illness, Family Illness, Personal Business Day, Vacation, Bereavement  should be submitted for approval using the online Absence Request Form. Professional absences must be requested by completing an Individual Professional Absence Request Form  then submitting it to Christa Hislop in HR.
• Principals: If you haven't already received them, Julie will be sending out coaching visit invitations, performance management, Plenary sessions, etc...  While scheduling thousands of appointments is very high on Julie's list of preferred activities, it can also get a little challenging trying to navigate all of your calendars. Please be sure to reply to her calendar invitations as quickly as you can so she knows whether you've accepted or declined. This will enable her to get us scheduled more quickly and move on to scheduling more appointments!! :)  Thanks!
• Good luck to Ironmen Bryan Kay and Ben Berger!

THIS WEEK IN THE BLUEPRINT:  This week we will be reviewing feedback from principals regarding HQV and Curriculum rollouts in their buildings. We will focus on what went well, what needs clarification and adjustment, and what supports might be needed.  We want this to go well, as it helps to ensure that each building gets the support it needs to successfully begin working in these two instructional infrastructure systems.  Focusing in on high quality instruction, curriculum, and assessment will help to ensure that we are meeting the learning needs of every TCAPS student across the district. Here's a brief video explaining the systems we'll be focusing on this year in TCAPS.


Parker's Calendar

This Week:

 Monday

• Labor Day

Tuesday

• First Day of School Visits
• Evaluation Meeting/Berck

Wednesday

• Board Finance/Operations Committee Meeting
• Huddle
• Planning/ Science & Social Studies
• Nesky/Gorter 
• BCC Agenda Setting

Thursday

• Huddle
• Parker/Chandler
• Curriculum/Technology - Reynolds
• HMH Math Meeting

Friday

• DAN Meeting
• EA Visit
• Illuminate - TCAPS Goal Setting & Planning
• Gorter/Parker Calendar Meeting
• Patriot Game

Next Week:

Monday

• Huddle
• Bond Election Capital Planning 
• Soma/Parker/McCall
• Board Meeting

Tuesday

• ET
• HMH Training for New Teachers
• Soma/Parker Bi-Weekly

Wednesday

• HMH Principals Training
• Huddle
• Curriculum Leaders

Thursday

• Huddle
• Parker/Chandler
• Bond Election Capital Planning

Friday

• DAN
• Elementary Principals Meeting

This Week in Photos:

#firstdayoffirstgrade

#skiierteacher

#allgreentrianglecake

#roadrunnersrule

#greatmascot

#freebirdseed

#hugetv

#journeys

#learning

#alwaysgottapeekupoverthedesk

#backattheknoll

#thanksforthewelcome

#thatsalotofmiddleschoolers

#eighthgraders

#backtoschool

#ems!!!