Grayson County Middle School

Cougar Staff

Our first full week of school has gone very well!  The students and staff are settling in to our new class schedules, and our procedures and expectations are being established.  I would like to complement our staff for getting everything off to a great start this year.  We have lots of kids with lots of serious issues.  Sometimes what they need most is just for us to love them and show that we care about them.  Many times that is our most important job.  Okay, enough of that mushy stuff!

Pizza on Wednesday:

Mr. Jeremy Edwards, our American Fidelity Rep., is treating us to pizza for lunch on Wednesday (August 21).  We will let you know that day where to stop by and get a slice or two of pizza.  We appreciate Mr. Edwards doing this for our staff!

Walk-Through Observations:

As our administrators conduct classroom walkthroughs this month, in addition to engagement, thinking skills, and checking for understanding, we would like to focus on how teachers manage procedures.  Remember, we will focus on one PGES component each month throughout the school year.  Always have your learning target(s) posted and your lesson plans available for review.

School Safety:

Our GCMS school safety committee is working on updating our school emergency management plan.  If you would like to give input, please see one of the committee members.  As part of the plan, we are conducting our annual “hazard hunt”.  We have placed forms in your mailboxes to describe any existing or potential safety hazards at GCMS.  This could be in your classroom, in the hallway, restroom, or anywhere in our building or on the grounds.  Also, please describe what you feel could be done to mitigate or take care of the issue. 

Lockdown:

Please review the email that Mr. Whitmore sent out earlier today concerning our upcoming lockdown drill.  As you know, Senate Bill 8 requires every emergency drill to be conducted during the first month of school and then repeated in January.  This includes the lockdown drill.  Mr. Whitmore has contacted local emergency personnel and invited them to come and be a part of our drill.  We will be including evacuation as part of the drill.  You should wait until your door is unlocked by police or a school administrator and then evacuate your class following our regular fire drill evacuation procedure.

Safe Crisis Management:

I spent the past three evenings at GCHS participating in Safe Crisis Management training.  Our own Wendy Butler, along with Joe Kolter from Lawler and Monica Heavrin, did a great job in leading the training.  Angie Escue, Faye Critchelow, and I were the only ones from GCMS who participated this week, but I know that the assistant principals and several others from GCMS plan to participate when the training is held here at the middle school on August 26-28.  Several GCMS staff members were trained this summer as well.  We would like to have more GCMS staff members to sign up, so if you would like to participate, it is not too late!

KPREP Data Release:

We are starting to get some preliminary KPREP testing data, which is still under the quality control phase.  Just as soon as we are able to start sharing the data with our teachers, we will do so.  It is important for teachers to know how the students performed on this spring’s testing to inform them on strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth.  We will not receive our school wide accountability information until mid-September.

Sunshine Club:

Please remember to stop by the office and give Mrs. House your $5.00 donation for the Sunshine Club.  The staff agreed that we want to continue this program, so it is important that all staff members contribute.  Thanks for supporting your GCMS family in this way.

District Teacher Handbook:

Please remember to go to the district website at www.graysoncountyschools.com to review the district handbook.  You will need to print and sign page 30 and return it to the office as soon as possible.

Quote of the Day:

“The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake.”   

~Nelson Boswell

Coming Attractions:

Aug. 16………….Suicide Prevention Certificates due to Mrs. House

Aug. 19………….Cougar Zone begins

Aug. 21………….GCMS Site Based Council Meeting, 3:00

Aug. 22………….Home Football vs. Edmonson Co., 5:30

Aug. 23………….School Picture Day

Aug. 26-28…….Safe Crisis Management training, 3:30-7:30

Aug. 28…………Team Leader Meeting, 7:15

Aug. 30………….PD Day at GCMS (no students), 8:00-3:00 with lunch on your own

Sept. 2………….Labor Day, no school

Sept. 9………….After school teacher’s meeting, ILP presentation

Sept. 17………..Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:00-6:00

Sept. 30………..Professional Growth Plans due to administrators