Have a Great Spring Break!

This Week at GCMS:

As the week winds down and we get ready for Spring Break week, I am amazed at how quickly this school year has gone.  We are already starting to plan for spring events such as Future Cougar Nights and 8^th grade commencement, along with next year’s back to school events.  I hope that everyone has a relaxing break next week, and “recharge your batteries” for the final stretch run of this school year!

Congratulations Susan!

I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to Susan Higdon for all that she has done here at GCMS and in Grayson County Schools.  Susan and I started teaching around the same time at the high school several years ago.  Susan would later teach at Clarkson and then at GCMS.  Since I have been principal at GCMS, Susan has taught a little bit of everything:  ELA, social studies, reading intervention, literacy coach, and never once complained to me when I would ask her to take on a different challenge.  She has shown great dedication to her job and more importantly to her students.  She will certainly be missed at GCMS, and on her last day before retirement, I just wanted to say thanks.

Congratulations Ginny!

Ginny Paine recently shared with me her plans to retire at the end of this school year.  I told her that she was way too young to retire!  Ginny has been with the school system for the past 27 years, teaching at Caneyville and then coming to GCMS when the 6^th grade was added to the middle school.  We want to thank Ginny for her hard work, dedication, and inspiration to the students of Grayson County.  She will certainly be missed as well.

Great Job!

Congratulations to the GCMS chorus on their KMEA performances earlier this week!  The 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade choirs all received distinguished ratings this year!  Great job!

Congratulations to the GCMS volleyball teams on an outstanding season!  The 7^th grade team was undefeated this season and won the conference championship.  The 8^th grade team was also outstanding and was the conference 8^th grade runners up.

Several GCMS students participate in the GCHS winter drum line and color guard.  The drum line recently won grand champions at the Tri-State Winter competition!  We look forward to having the drum line and the color guard perform for our student body at GCMS on Friday morning!

Education Funding in State Budget:

I received the email below from KASA.  I highly recommend calling to leave messages for Rep. Tim Moore and Senator Carroll Gibson.  It took me about 1 minute to call this morning.  Calling in to leave a message can only help!

Urgent Action Required -  It is possible the General Assembly may vote on a final version of the budget bill - House Bill 303 - before they recess. A conference committee made up of members of both chambers will be working to produce a final version of the budget during these three days.

The House version of the budget restored almost $90 million in proposed cuts to P-12 education that had been proposed by Governor Bevin. These cuts were in preschool, ESS, and other critical areas. The Senate reversed the House action and re-instituted cuts to these programs in its version of the budget.

It is critical that we contact legislators with the following simple message: "Retain the House version of House Bill 303 funding for elementary and secondary education."

Please call 800-372-7181 and leave the simple message above for your Senator and Representative. 

Aspiring Principal Program:

The third and final cadre of the Aspiring Principals program through GRREC and WKU will be having an informational meeting on March 30 at the Grayson County Board of Education Central Office.  The meeting is scheduled to start at 3:30 that afternoon.  Lea Ann Frank, Ashley Johnson, and Gary Parker are participating in the 1^st and 2^nd cadres, and I’m sure that they would be glad to answer any questions that you might have.  This is a great way to get your principal certification at a greatly reduced cost.

Quote of the Day:

“People often tell me that motivation doesn’t last, and I tell them that bathing doesn’t either.  That’s why I recommend it daily.” ~Zig Ziglar

Coming Attractions:

April 1……Due date for SGG post assessments to be given

April 4-8…Spring Break for GC Schools

April 18….Faculty Meeting/VAL-ED Survey

April 30….Summative Conferences due for non-tenured teachers

April 30….All teachers should have organized and analyzed SGG data.

May 15….Summative Conferences due for tenured teachers

May 17….PLC Day for teachers and staff (no school for students)

May 18-24..KPREP Testing (makeup testing, May 25-27)

Happy Easter from GCMS!

This Week at GCMS:

It has been another busy week at GCMS!  Our students and teachers are working hard as the 3rd 9 weeks of the school year has come to an end.  The NCAA Tournament has lost a little of its local interest with most “local” teams having been eliminated early this year.  Not too many “Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk”  fans running around Grayson County.  I have just a few notes to share with you as we work our way toward the end of the week. I hope that everyone enjoys the Easter weekend with your friends and family.

WKU History Contest:
Congratulations on an outstanding showing at this year’s WKU History Contest!  GCMS had 26 students to place among the winners at this year’s event.  Overall, about 15 percent of students are recognized, and almost 50 percent of the GCMS students who participated won recognition.  7th grader, Bailey Richardson, placed 2nd out of several hundred 7th graders.  This is one of the best showings ever!  Thank you to Mr. Helm, Mr. Meredith, and Mrs. Hicks for taking the students, and thank you to all of our social studies teachers and the rest of our teachers, staff, and parents for doing such a good job preparing the students. 

Congratulations GCMS Orchestra!

Our 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade GCMS orchestras each received straight distinguished ratings at KMEA concert festival this week.  Congratulations to our orchestra students and to our orchestra directors, Adam and Stacy French!

Good Luck Volleyball!

I want to wish the best of luck to our 7^th and 8^th grade volleyball teams in the conference championship games tonight at Ohio County.  Both teams have had great years!

Great Job Team 5!

We enjoyed visiting Team 5 classrooms for showcase lessons earlier this week.  We were able to observe a wide variety of effective teaching and learning strategies.  I appreciate these teachers opening up their classrooms for colleagues in this way.

Aspiring Principal Program:

The third and final cadre of the Aspiring Principals program through GRREC and WKU will be having an informational meeting on March 30 at the Grayson County Board of Education Central Office.  The meeting is scheduled to start at 3:30 that afternoon.  Lea Ann Frank, Ashley Johnson, and Gary Parker are participating in the 1^st and 2^nd cadres, and I’m sure that they would be glad to answer any questions that you might have.  This is a great way to get your principal certification at a greatly reduced cost.

Quote of the Day:

“Success is the sum of small efforts—repeated day in and day out.” ~Robert Collier

Coming Attractions:

March 31…All classroom observations due

April 1…....Due date for SGG post assessments to be given

April 4-8....Spring Break for GC Schools

April 18….Faculty Meeting/VAL-ED Survey

April 30….Summative Conferences due for non-tenured teachers

April 30….All teachers should have organized and analyzed SGG data.

May 15….Summative Conferences due for tenured teachers

May 17….PLC Day for teachers and staff (no school for students)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This Week at GCMS:

I wish you the Luck ‘O the Irish on this St. Patrick’s Day!  I have seen lots of shamrocks and Leprechauns around at GCMS today.   If you didn’t wear your green today, I hope that you were not reminded the hard way!

Legislation in Frankfort:

I know that many of you are very interested in what is going on in Frankfort with the Governor’s proposed cuts to education in Kentucky.  I know that you are also very interested in the funding of KTRS.  The House of Representatives passed a Budget Bill (HB 303) yesterday.  I know that many of you called or emailed Tim Moore, and you may want to contact Senator Carroll Gibson as the budget is considered in the Senate.  Tim Moore called me yesterday and explained that he did not vote for HB 303 because the House would not include some amendments that he supported.  Sometimes the process and the politics seem to prevent things from getting accomplished in government.  I did appreciate him calling to discuss the bill and other education issues.  It is always good to reach out to our representatives and let them know what we are thinking on the issues.  If we do not speak up, we are certainly never heard.

Congratulations Susan:

I want to congratulate Susan Higdon on her upcoming retirement from teaching.  We will certainly miss Susan at GCMS.  She has worked long and hard for our students and our school, and I appreciate her years of service and dedication to the children of our community.

Good Luck Students!

Good luck to the GCMS Academic Team at State Governor’s Cup this weekend!  The GCMS FPS team will compete at state, along with Payton Abney in written composition.  We are very proud of these students and wish them the best!

Good luck to GCMS students participating in the annual Western Kentucky University History Contest tomorrow at WKU.  Grayson County students have traditionally done very well in the contest and we wish this year’s group the best as well.

Good luck to the GCMS Volleyball team as conference tournament play starts next week.  This year’s tournament will be at Ohio County starting on Monday, March 21.

Good luck to the GCMS archery team at regional competition on Friday evening at Warren East.

Teacher Evaluations:

We have enjoyed getting into a lot of classrooms lately.  Formal observations are winding down, and summative evaluation conferences are coming up fast.  We will need to complete all non-tenured summative conferences (including Domains 1 and 4) by April 30.  We will need to complete all tenured summative conferences (6^th grade, Title, and Unit teachers) by May 15.  As you complete your documentation of 1 and 4, please get with the administrator in charge of your evaluation to set up a summative conference.

Quote of the Day:

“Luck is believing you’re lucky.” ~Tennessee Williams

Coming Attractions:

March 18….Selected GCMS students at WKU History Contest

March 18….GCMS Archery at Regional Competition

March 19….GCMS academic team at State Governor’s Cup

March 21-23..GRVC Volleyball Tournament at Ohio County

March 23...Team 5 Showcase Day

March 31...All classroom observations due

April 4-8....Spring Break for GC Schools

April 18….Faculty Meeting/VAL-ED Survey

April 30….Summative Conferences due for non-tenured teachers

May 15…..Summative Conferences due for tenured teachers 

Proficient and Proud

This Week at GCMS:

We received exciting news this week that with state adjustments to the accountability scoring methods, Grayson County Middle School is once again classified as a Proficient School!  I want to thank everyone for your continuing hard work and dedication on behalf of the students of GCMS!  Our continuous improvement is a testament to our great students, staff, and parents.  I have just a few other notes that I want to share as our week winds toward an end.

Congratulations Students!

Our GCMS Cougars have been very busy recently, and several different student groups have seen great success! 

Several GCMS 7^th graders have earned state and/or national recognition for outstanding scores on the ACT test.  Bailey Richardson and Amanda Fulp have earned national recognition.  These two along with Chloe Cox, Stetson Higdon, Nate Pennington, and Miles Hornbeck have earned state level recognition. 

Congratulations to the GCMS band for scoring 40 distinguished ratings at the recent solo and ensemble festival.  Several GCMS students received multiple distinguished ratings.  Madison Dudgeon, Rylie Hayes, Jeremiah Embry, Levi Pawley, A. J. Napper, Chianne Newton, Riley Penny, and Matthew Woosley received 2 distinguished ratings.  Mason Parker received 3 distinguished ratings, and Trevor Kincheloe received 4 distinguished ratings.

Hats off to the GCMS KUNA (Kentucky United Nations Assembly) delegation for a great performance at this year’s KUNA conference last weekend!  The 2015 KYA Governor Elect, Payton Abney served on the Leadership Team; Jessica Manion, McKenzie Johnston, Shelby Weedman, and Grace Bernhard wrote and presented a Resolution to “Stop Zika”. Their Resolution not only passed the Summit, it received the Outstanding Resolution Award, pr. Other Awards received included Delegation of Excellence and Honor Level Award for Service. Ambassador Grace Bernhard received Outstanding Ambassador.

Our GCMS volleyball team continues to have an outstanding season!  The team will have its last home matches of the season tonight (March 10) at GCMS.  After a pair of away matches next week, it will be time to compete in the conference tournament.  Good luck girls!

Great Job Team 3!

I enjoyed popping into the Team 3 showcase lessons today!  I observed highly engaged teachers and learners in all subject areas.  Everything from a Socratic Seminar to analyzing graphs in math to a science lab to thinking stations in ELA had the students really into their learning today.  I appreciate the team opening your classrooms for your colleagues to come in to observe today.  Our next showcase lesson day is scheduled in Team 5 on March 23.

Make Up Days:

The district has announced make up days for this school year.  We will be in school on March 18 with students.  Teachers and staff will work a PLC Day on May 17.  All other make up days will be added to the end of the school year, making the students’ last day of school June 3.  Teachers and staff will work on June 6, 7, and 8 with the 8^th being closing day.

Quote of the Day:

“Success Procedure: Run your day by the clock and your life with a vision.” ~Zig Ziglar

Coming Attractions:

March 14….Faculty Meeting, 2:50 (testing and accommodations training for all teachers and staff who will be working with this year’s KPREP testing)

March 16….GCMS SBDMC meeting, 3:15

March 18….GCMS Archery at Regional Competition

March 19….GCMS academic team at State Governor’s Cup

March 23….Team 5 Showcase Day

March 31….All classroom observations due

April 1.........SGG Post Assessments due

April 4-8…..Spring Break for GC Schools

April 11-22..STAR Testing, round 3

April 18…Faculty Meeting/VAL-ED Survey

April 30…Summative Conferences due for non-tenured teachers

May 1.......Final Roster Verifications should have been completed in CIITS by May 1.

May 15….Summative Conferences due for tenured teachers