GCMS Has a Heart!

This Week at GCMS:

We were glad to have one of those rare and wonderful happenings this week, a five day week of school!  It has been a super busy week, and I have enjoyed getting to observe in lots of classrooms this week.  Thank you for your continuing dedication to helping students learn and succeed!  I have just a few notes to share as this week comes to a close.

Great Job on AHA Fundraiser!

After three years in a row as the number 1 school in the state in fundraising for the American Heart Association, we took a one year hiatus from the program last year.  Our students came back in a big way for this year’s AHA fundraiser, raising over $11,000 this week!  The students have enjoyed the competition and this morning’s reward events.  I appreciate Crystal Bratcher and all the related arts teachers heading up these efforts.  I appreciate Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Pierce, and Mr. Morris being great sports and each taking a pie in the face this morning.  It was good to see Mr. Lockett receiving an award for his valiant efforts earlier this week as well.  Great job!

Dr. Suess’ Birthday and Career Dress Up:

We will recognize Dr. Suess birthday with a future career dress up day on Wednesday, March 2.  Students may dress up as their future career, with GCMS using the theme “Oh! the Places You’ll Go!”

Observations/Evaluations:

As you know, all formal classroom observations must be completed by the end of March.  If you have not yet scheduled your observation, please get with the administrator in charge of your evaluation to set a date and time.  The summative conferences must be completed by April 30 for non-tenured teachers and by May 15 for tenured teachers.  Non-tenured teachers have summatives every year, and this year we also have summatives for 6^th grade teachers, Title teachers, and unit teachers.  Please check with your administrator if you have questions.

Logging On and Off of Computers:

Teachers and staff members should be extremely careful and conscientious about never leaving a computer workstation logged in.  If you are logged in and need to leave the room, always be sure to log out of that computer.  There was an issue because of this sort of thing at one of the other schools this week, and that school and the whole network were in jeopardy.  Mr. Graybeal, Mr. Butler, and the entire tech staff worked many extra hours and were able to contain and eliminate the threat.  Again, let’s make sure that does not happen here.  Thanks.

Student Voice Surveys:

Thanks for your diligence in getting this year’s student voice surveys completed.   Results are starting to show up in CIITS, so take a look next time you log into CIITS.  I don’t want anyone to stress over the survey results.  It is just one piece of evidence about performance and not a set percentage of anyone’s evaluation.  Realistically, SVS gives a very limited amount of information in looking at one year’s results.  As we get farther in, it may be useful to look back at multiple years of data and see if we have observable patterns in SVS results. 

Showcase Lessons in March:

We have two teams planning showcase lessons during the month of March.  Team 3 showcase will be on March 10, and Team 5 showcase will be on March 23.  We look forward to visiting these two teams and appreciate them opening their classrooms to their colleagues.

Quote of the Day:

“You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”  ~Dr. Seuss

Coming Attractions:

Feb. 29…last date to spend 920X classroom money

Mar. 1…GCMS Volleyball hosts Hancock Co., 5:30

Mar. 2…Dr. Suess’ Birthday/Career Dress Up Day

Mar. 2…GCHS Showcase in the Gym, 2^nd/3^rd/4^th periods (one team per period)

Mar. 3…GCMS Volleyball hosts Ohio Co., 5:30

Mar. 3-5..GCMS students at KUNA

Mar. 31…deadline for all formal classroom observations