Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Night

Hurry Up and Wait:

I will make this week’s Cougar Notes short and to the point.  After having our first snow day of the school year yesterday, staff returns to school today for a PLC day.  Some of these notes are repeat information from last week.  Have a great weekend!

PLC Day Agenda:

I.             Professional Learning Communities Revisited…Ashley Johnson and Lea Ann Frank

II.            The PLC Notebook…Ashley Johnson and Lea Ann Frank

III.           GCMS CSI Contract Development…Jim Blain

IV.          PGES Domains 1/4 Evidence & Documentation..Mr. Whitmore, Mr. Logsdon, Mrs. Mullins

V.            Reflecting on your PGP…Jim Blain, Jonathan Devore

VI.          CSI Teams Meet Individually

A.            Rico Tyler will be here to work with the science dept. at 1:00.

B.            Related Arts will have time to work on program review.

VII.         Evaluations should be completed before you leave.

Lunch will be on your own this time.  CSI teams should turn in evidence of your work, minutes, etc. before you leave on Friday.  Evaluations should be emailed or hard copies left in Mrs. Pearl’s office.

Concerns:

Please remember 8th grader Cheyenne Phillips and her family.  Cheyenne  and Dalton Hayes have been missing for several days, and have now been seen in other states in the southeast.  This story has garnered state and national news attention in a very disturbing way.  Let’s all pray for their safety and the safety of others they may come into contact with.  If you have any information, please contact Deputy Bryan Hammons or the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office.

We have several staff members with health concerns or family members with health concerns.  Please remember Karen Likins (surgery), Gail Smallwood (husband in hospital), Lea Ann Frank (death in the family), Viola Williams (flu), Cassie Jarboe, Stacy Pierce, Laura Goff, Mary Ann McKinney, and several others who have concerns right now. 

Congratulations to Mary Ann McKinney on her upcoming retirement.  We will all miss her at GCMS.

Also, congratulations to Mr. Barry Anderson on his retirement.  Mr. Anderson will retire as superintendent at the end of June.  We appreciate his help and support over many years of service in Grayson County Schools.

Good Luck!

Good luck to our GCMS academic team this weekend!  The team will be competing in District Governors Cup competition at St. James School in E-town on Saturday.

State Compliance Visit:

I have not said much about it, but Grayson County Schools will be having a state compliance visit on January 20-22.  Folks from KDE will be looking at how various programs in Grayson County Schools work, and they will likely make suggestions for improvements.  Some of the areas that they will be looking at include Title I, program reviews, special education, PGES, alternative ed., pre-school, etc.  There will be folks visiting our building at least one of those three days doing classroom walkthroughs and informal interviews.  If you are interviewed, just think of it as a great way to share some of the great things that are going on at GCMS!

Student Voice Surveys:

As you know, Grayson County Schools will be participating in the state student voice surveys through Infinite Campus in March.  By January 30, students in grades 3-12 should test their IC user IDs and passwords by logging into IC.  I have shared some more specific information with team leaders about this process.

Coming Attractions:

Jan. 16…PLC Day (no school for students)

Jan. 17…GCMS Academic Team competes at district Governors Cup

Jan. 19…MLK Day, no school

Jan. 21…GCMS site based council meeting, 3:15

Jan. 30…Students grades 3-12 should have tested their IC user IDs and passwords by logging into IC.

Jan. 30…Teachers will review their PGP and record reflections in CIITS.

Jan. 30…Deadline to have all Peer Observations completed

Jan. 30…Deadline to have all 2nd Mini-Observations completed (non-tenured teachers)

Jan. 31…GCMS Archery competes at NASP Pre-Regional Competition in Meade Co.

Feb. 16…PLC Day (no school for students unless changed to a makeup day)