Cougar Staff:
It is a bit quieter this week as the school year
is wrapped up with a big bow finally on top. Our son, Scott is enjoying his summer study abroad in Denmark, but as usual, Tessa is keeping lots of activity going at the Blain house. At GCMS, Summer Cougar Zone has started, and Mrs. Manion reports that it is going
well. Preparations are being made for
next week’s Camp Invention, with Mrs. Frank serving as Camp Director this year. Several of our science and math teachers have
been here working on standards and plans for next year. The custodians are working hard on floor waxing
and cleaning. The roofing project on the
west end of the building should get started next week. So “quiet” and “slowing down” are very
relative terms when referring to activity at GCMS. I’m certain that Grand Central Station has its
quieter, slower moments as well.
Congratulations:
Again, I want to say congratulation to Mr. Barry Duvall on his retirement from teaching at GCMS.
Congrats also to Mr. Shane Morris on his upcoming wedding on June 21.
Congrats to Mrs. Brittany Geary on finding out that she is expecting a baby boy this fall.
Staff Days:
I feel very good about the progress that was made during our
week of staff training days. PGES is
such a huge proposition, but it also holds such huge potential for positive
benefit. I know that nobody savors the
prospect of still being in school in June, but the training days really couldn’t
have come at a better time. I am
confident that with this “head start” that we will hit the ground running when
we return to school at the end of July. It
was interesting to look through everyone’s self-reflections that were completed
last week. I commented last week that I
thought that several of our strongest teachers seemed to be the hardest on
themselves in the ratings. Through our administrator training, it is clear that “developing” and “accomplished” will
be the most common performance ratings, but there are likely to be a few “ineffective”
and hopefully a few “exemplary” in the mix as well. I heard good comments about last week, and I
appreciate everyone’s hard work and positive attitudes.
Data Retreat:
Our School Improvement Team will be attending a data retreat
on June 18-20 at Smiths Grove. We have
gathered data from our school with the intentions of developing new improvement
goals for this coming school year. I
appreciate David Whitmore, Becky Miller, Becki Pearl, Nycol Hart, Susan Higdon,
Amanda Thomas, Lisa York, and Stacy Downs agreeing to help me with this
process.
Math Grant:
Our math teachers will be putting in some days attending
Math-Plus grant training in late June. I
appreciate them going the extra mile to make sure that our students have the
most effective instruction possible.
Thanks to Melanie Gallagher for heading up the Math Plus grant for GCMS.
Weighting of Grades:
Our GCMS Site Based Council recently revised the No Zero
Policy for the coming school year.
Teachers are still not to record zeroes in Infinite Campus, but require
make up work, catch up café, test retakes, , etc. to insist on student
learning. The section that has been
changed is the weighting of grades section.
No longer will it be required to have a certain percentage summative, a
certain percentage daily, and a certain percentage communication pieces. With our Standards Based Grading Teams basing
grades 100 percent on summative assessment, the council granted them an
exception to the policy last year. With
more teams volunteering to go standards based next year, the council felt it
was more appropriate to change the policy instead of expanding the
exceptions. We do still encourage
teachers to based grades largely on summative assessment since that is where
students demonstrate mastery.
Fundraisers:
Our school district is making a big effort to reduce
fundraisers this coming school year. The
district does not want groups raising money just to be raising money, but to be
able to clearly detail what the funds are needed for. All Redbook forms will need to be filled out
from now on. Fundraisers involving the
sale of processed foods (donuts, pizza kits, butter braids, cheeses, sausages,
and on and on) are not acceptable for school fundraiser requests this coming
year.
Time Flies:
It does not seem possible that I have completed seven years
as principal at GCMS! Mr. Bill Embry was
principal for seven years here, so as I begin my 8th year, the only
person who has been GCMS principal longer is the immortal Kenneth Ray, the man
who was principal when I was a student in middle school here! Mr. Ray served as GCMS principal for 10 years
in the 1970’s-1980’s. I have often said
that this is the best job that I have ever had, and I appreciate the great
staff and students here that make it a pleasure to keep coming back!
Quote of the Day:
“A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile
world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.”
~Ken Keyes
Coming Attractions:
June 18-20…Data Team Retreat at Smiths Grove
June
24-25..Math Plus grant meetings at GRREC
June 26…Math
Plus leadership meeting
July
15-17…Sixth Sense
July
29..GCMS PD Day
July
31...GCMS Opening Day and Back to School Night
Aug.
1….District wide day in Grayson County Schools
Aug. 4…Not a
required work day at GCMS
Aug.
5…Students first day of school
