Monday Morning Memo 11.30.20

 

December:

We hope you had a restful fall break!  This was a much needed time to decompress and focus on all that we are thankful for.  Now, it's time to breath deep and get ready to dive into the rush of December.  We hope that we have some fun things planned that will keep your spirits up and let you and your students have some fun.  Be sure to take a look at the email from Sarah Baldwin about the LiveSchool Challenge that begins Monday and lasts throughout the month.  

One of the best things to do to keep our kiddos on track during this busy time of year is to keep their routine the same and their academics progressing as much as possible.  When routines and structure change we often see students struggle behaviorally.  Think about some creative ways to keep instruction and routine on track while still getting in some holiday fun.  Some examples we have seen in the past allow students to still complete their normal academic assignments, but just change the way that  students respond or change the tools that students use to answer their questions.  Ideas include using some fun manipulatives (holiday erasers, small jingle bells, marshmallows, etc) as counters for math, letting students respond to their comprehension questions in reading on colored paper or with special writing utensils, letting students graffiti their answers on a piece of large butcher paper, doing their work underneath their desk, heading out to the courtyard or a sidewalk area with chalk to answer math problems, having the snow fall or a fireplace crackling on the tv in the background, and so much more.  Don't hesitate to share some creative ideas with your peer to help keep our academic pacing on target, get our kiddos into the holiday spirit, and keep the rooms structured to keep behavior in a positive place.

Gift:

If you have not done the survey to indicate your jacket size please do so by Tuesday at 3:00 pm.  You can access this survey by clicking here.  We are hoping to be able to give you a special gift this year, so we need ALL staff from all departments to complete this survey.  If you have a friend that does not often check email please give them a nudge so they hop on and complete the survey!

Welcome:

We would like to welcome two staff members to the DCE family!  Karen Johnson will be joining us as our new custodian.  She comes to us from Peace River Elementary.  We can't wait to have her!  Also, Mathilda Meade has been serving as the long term substitute for Dani in kindergarten.  She has interviewed and been selected as our new paraprofessional III.  She will be working in Kelly Smith's classroom.  She is working on completing her master's degree in special education, so this position is a perfect fit!

We are finishing up interviews this week for a paraprofessional I (2nd grade) and a paraprofessional III (one-on-one).  Hopefully we will be fully staffed soon.  Your patience and flexibility the last few months has been so appreciated.

This Week:

Hoping you have an amazing start to the month of December!

-Keli and James

Phone Message 11.29.2020

 Good afternoon Cub Families.  This is Mr. Vernon with a few announcements for this upcoming week.  I was able to enjoy some time during the break to have fun with my family.  I hope you all were able to as well.  I also hope that all of your families and our Cubs were able to stay healthy.  We will continue with our school protocols to keep DCES as safe as possible for our staff and students.  Please be sure to keep your child home if they show any symptoms.  I thank you for your patience and assistance as we try to keep DCES safe.

I looked at the weather this week and saw that some cooler temperatures were on the forecast this week.  Please add your child's names to the tags of jackets and hoodies they may wear this week.  Our Florida students are not used to keeping track of these items and they often end up in lost and found.  Also remember that all warm clothes worn must follow DCES uniform policy.  They must be blue, yellow, black, pink or white with no writing or logos.  Jackets not meeting dress code may be worn outside of the school buildings.

Keeping our Cubs reading is very important.  Mrs. Skavroneck is again hosting a remote Family Reading Experience this Wednesday, December 2.  Join us at Harbour Heights Park from 3:00 - 5:30pm to check out a book and get a free keeper book.

I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I look forward to seeing our Ready, Responsible, and Respectful Cubs tomorrow morning.

Monday Morning Memo 11.23.20

This year has been an incredibly challenging one, yet there have been so many wonderful things that have also taken place that we are so thankful for.  It is so easy to fall into the trap of focusing on the challenges of our days instead of celebrating the positive aspects.  This is something that I am working on myself.  The reality is that we have faced a pandemic, new testing platforms, challenging behaviors, new initiatives, and a lack of toilet paper to name just a few. But, we have also returned to school in person when others around the country have not, we have immersed our CD students into general education specials and lunch classes successfully, we laughed at Staff Bingo together, held amazingly successful drive through and off campus parent events, started catching our students up academically, managed to build relationships with students even though we are wearing masks, celebrated the birth of babies and some marriages, and jumped in and helped each other out when they needed it.

James and I are so thankful to work at such a special school.  You all are the reason it is so special.  The culture here is just different.  It feels like family.  This is what makes the tough days possible to get through.  We can't thank you enough for showing up each day ready to tackle the obstacles that come our way with a positive attitude, a willingness to jump in and help when needed,  laughter at the end of the day when we debrief about the craziness, and a relentless passion to still give our Cubs a quality education despite the pandemic.  To show you just a bit of our love we have planned two activities for this week.  

On Tuesday, there will be a turkey feather hunt around campus.  Be on the lookout for clipart turkey feathers that contain a reason we are thankful for you on them.  Collect one of these feathers and turn it in to the office.  When you turn the feather in it will be added to our turkeys on the chalkboard and you will be rewarded with a gift card!  There are only 16 feathers hidden, so look carefully!

On Wednesday, we have ordered individual personal size pies for you.  Please stop by the staff lounge to select your pie and grab some whipped cream to take to go.  We hope this yummy treat gets you through your day!

Textbook Adoption:

We will be meeting on Tuesday during your planning periods to discuss the beginning steps of textbook adoption.  Please plan to meet where your team has placed your sample materials.  You will need to bring your blue BEST standards booklet with you and program planners will need to bring a copy of the paper rubrics.  

Weekly Schedule:

Have a great week!

-Keli and James

School Messages 11.22.2020

 Good afternoon Cub Families.  This is Mr. Vernon with a few short messages for this week.

First, remember that we have school 3 days this week, Monday - Wednesday.  Our students and staff have Thursday and Friday off for a short Thanksgiving break.  We hope everyone will be able to have some family time and has things they can be thankful for.

I am very thankful for our DCES staff, families, and students.  This has been a very complicated year and we have had a lot of obstacles to overcome.  Still the DCES school community has done everything we can to stay positive.  We have been trying hard to remember that we can't control the circumstances that we are in, but we can control our attitudes and I have been very proud of our Cubs.

Last, I have attached the December Newsletter to the email that comes with this email.  Thank you all for listening and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.  I will see our Ready, Responsible, and Respectful Cubs tomorrow morning.

https://sites.google.com/yourcharlotteschools.net/dces/december

Phone Message 11.15.2020

 Good afternoon to all of our Cub Families.  This is Mr. Vernon with some announcements for next week. 

Last week was a crazy week and we are happy that storm Eta got out of Punta Gorda without causing much damage.  I was proud of our Cubs as they were able to show GRIT and keep learning despite being out of normal school week routine. I was especially proud of them the way they handled our November Fire Drill on Friday.  I was out watching all the areas and our Cubs were Ready and Responsible.  We were able to evacuate our building in 2 minutes and 15 seconds.  I saw all Cubs listening to their teachers and patiently waiting in the assigned areas.  We practice one fire drill and one unannounced crisis drill each month and they have gone very well.

This Tuesday, November 17th is Fall Picture Day at DCES.  These pictures will be used for our DCES yearbook, so Cubs will need to be in normal school uniform.  Pictures can be purchased online.  The Lifetouch link is available on our DCES Facebook page and will be attached to the email that comes with this phone message.  https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/?fbclid=IwAR2rq3XXBe4HSDl04VUU0aUrrbqaeu930VKFb2zMzdttiud3l6C61pM4mho#/

The picture code for DCES is EVTXHNS7B.  

Last is a reminder of the school calendar this year.  Our students have Thursday, November 26th and Friday, November 27th off this year for Thanksgiving.  We have school Monday - Wednesday that week.  Please unless your child is sick or showing symptoms of sickness, have them at school all day, everyday.  We are working hard to make sure our Cubs learn everything they need to know.

Thank you all for listening.  I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and I will see my Ready, Responsible and Respectful Cubs tomorrow morning.

Monday Morning Memo 11.1.20

 Happy Monday!

Cooler air should be headed our way.  A cool breeze is always a reminder to me to slow down and breathe.  As we head into the month of November please remember to stop and breathe.  We have made it through the first quarter of school during an unprecedented time.  We have successfully kept our kids and ourselves healthy, implemented new safety and wellness protocols, learned new testing platforms, and participated in a new initiative of collaborative planning.  It has been busy... but we have made it.  Take a minute... and breathe!  

Reminders:

Professional Development Day:

Tuesday is Election Day and PD day.  Please remember that there will be voters on campus visiting our cafeteria.  You may want to enter and exit from our black gates instead of the main entrance of the school.

Paraprofessionals should have registered to attend the PD session that is being held at the Charlotte Harbor Event Center.  If you have not yet registered, please do so today.

Teachers, you will be participating in various professional development sessions throughout the day.  In the morning we will begin in the media center for a PD session on Freckle that will be presented by Doreen Alvarez and Alicen Rhodes from 8:00-9:00.  Following this session, James and I will remain with you in the media center from 9:00-11:00 to train you in our new observable elements and explain how the observation process will take place this year.

We will take a lunch break from 11:00-12:00.  We have arranged for a bagel sandwich and chips for you.  Please be sure that you have completed the form for Marie to select your sandwich type.  

In the afternoon we will have break out sessions.  A big thank you to our teacher leaders that will be facilitating these sessions.  We know that it is not often we get to select areas that we want to learn more about and get to learn that information from our peers.  We hope you enjoy your afternoon sessions!  The day will wrap up at 3:00.

Testing:

This week begins our second window for STAR progress monitoring.  Students in kindergarten through second grade will be required to test between November 4 and November 13.  ACCESS students are also required to test during this window.  Please complete the google form to designate your testing dates and times if you have not already done this.

Testing Dates and Times Form

If you teach grades third through fifth you may choose to administer the STAR assessment to check in on your students if you wish.  This is not a requirement since you just completed the APM assessment and are continuing to assess your students in ClearSight.  

This Week's Schedule:

Please let us know if you need anything.  Have a great week!

-Keli and James

Phone Message 11.1.2020

 Good afternoon Deep Creek Families.  I hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful first day of November.  Hopefully, everyone remembered to set the clocks back an hour and enjoyed some extra sleep. Also hope that all of our Cubs that celebrated last night are safe and remember to keep their candy at home.  Parents please help us in keeping these treats at home, so our Cub can focus on learning,  

I have heard that we are going to have some cooler weather the next few days and maybe next week.  Remember that any jacket, hoodie or sweater worn in the school building must adhere to our agreed upon dress code.  However, if a family does not have the proper dress code jackets these can be worn on the way to school, on the playground, at PE or any outside activity where it may be chilly.  Once we get back in the school building these items that don't meet dress code will need to be taken off.  Please remember to write your child's name inside the jacket as Florida students are not used to keeping track of these items and often leave them on campus.  If your family is in need of a jacket we did get jackets donated that we can give students in the front office.

Remember Tuesday, November 3rd is Election Day.  DCES is used as an election site, so Tuesday is a Professional Development Day for our teachers and our Cubs do not have school.  School will be in session the rest of the week after the election.  The next students day off will be Thanksgiving Day on November 26th.  Unless students are not feeling well or have been exposed to the virus it's so important that they are on time for school and at school every day.  

That concludes the reminders for this week, thank you for listening.  I hope you all have a great Sunday.  I can't wait to see our Ready, Responsible, and Respectful Cubs tomorrow morning.