Weekly Update

Paine Family,  

I hope you are enjoying your loved ones and getting some rest this long weekend!  I know last week was challenging (with modified schedule for 3 days), but everyone handled it with understanding and grace.  When things get tough we really show what we are made of.  I saw everyone supporting each other and doing what was best for students.  Even though we are in the middle of the most challenging time in education, I could not be more proud to be a part of it, especially to be a part of Paine Elementary. In spite of all this, I saw so much great teaching going on last week with some EPIC moments for our students!

Mrs. Swann started a morning prayer group for those who are interested (she will communicate the days).  We have a beautiful prayer box in our Teacher Wellness Room.  Please use this as one way to communicate any prayer requests.  Mrs. Parker continues to coordinate our Friday morning food trucks (which we all really look forward to each week).  We have had Paine family members experience tragedy and hardship, but we are all there for each other!  There is no better place to be!

We will move forward with our own professional learning as we continue to close learning gaps for some students, while challenging all students.  This will include hyper-focusing on 10 of Hattie's High Impact Strategies next week in our Collaboration Meetings, and for the remainder of the school year. You will find we are already using many of these strategies, but there is always room for all of us to become even more proficient in an area, which directly impacts our students.  As soon as all of our Aims Web Data is available, we will work together to analyze all data early February. 

Finally, we have invested so much time, professional learning, and resources into becoming more proficient with how to teach reading and provide interventions, and we will continue to do this!  We can see the impressive impact this is making on our students with their reading growth.  Math teachers, you will see a ramping up of efforts to continue our professional learning in instructional strategies and development of content knowledge in math, with the formation of a Paine Math PLC (Professional Learning Community).   The gaps we are seeing in math (due to the pandemic) have created a sense or urgency for us to go ahead and provide this opportunity for teachers beginning second semester.  We will continue this into next year.  We will offer this two Thursdays per month from 2:15 to 3:15.  

The beauty of the PLC is that anyone may attend a specific meeting, if it is a topic of interest to them.  We would like for all math teachers (new to TCS and/or Paine) to serve as a core group and try to attend every session.  I promise, it will be worth it!  In addition, I anticipate at some point there will be minimal math requirements for students (similar to reading).  Not only do we plan to stay ahead of the game, but our students deserve the best we can provide!  Sometime this week, we will reaching out to anyone who teaches math and provide you with a schedule and the topics for each meeting.

Thank you for your continued commitment to your personal growth and the growth (academic, social, and emotional) of every student in our building.  Every member of our Paine Family is a blessing!  Thank you for all you do each and every day for our students and each other!  

A Week (January 18-21)

January Calendar

* Class pictures have been moved from January 20th to February 18th.  If you communicated the picture date in your parent communication, please let them know about this change.

Updates for PST

All January PST New Referrals and Monthly Updates are due by Friday, January 21^st by 3:15PM.

 

PST New Referral Google link (for students who have NOT been brought up to PST this year):

January Referral Link: https://forms.gle/VXe9w19uC5qh8rSs9

 

PST Grade Level Google links (for students who have been referred to PST this year):

Kindergarten Update Link: https://forms.gle/kzUfUu26PN5kwhPu7

First Gd Update Link: https://forms.gle/iyDrNcvi1TbPHfjc9

Second Gd Update Link: https://forms.gle/SQeGNux7pd5wUd2i8

Third Gd Update Link: https://forms.gle/P8UVvEXDVX2SHZEL9

Fourth Gd Update Link: https://forms.gle/74fu9e8kt5CkwgaK9

Fifth Gd Update Link: https://forms.gle/ddR9oy29TGnugjF57

Tuesday - Student Assemblies

Our assemblies for December student recognitions will held Tuesday on the PE Field.  Please refer to the schedule below for your grade's assembly time.

Kindergarten - 8:30-9:00

1st Grade - 9:30-10:00

2nd Grade - 10:30-11:00

4th Grade - 11:30-12:00

3rd Grade -  12:30-1:00

5th Grade - 1:30-2:00

Wednesday - Collaboration

We will use our this time for planning this week.  We will utilize our time next Wednesday to discuss Hattie's High Impact Strategies (areas we will focus on for the remainder of the year).  Please use the time this week to work on lesson plans for the next two weeks (and share them electronically).

Thursday - District PD

Early release time will be used to complete District PD this week.  

Reminder from C&I:  Please remind teachers. They should have the “Spark”, “Reflect” and “Tinker” components of their Learning Target LincSprings PD completed. They should implement their “Tinker” (plan) they chose over the next couple of weeks. On 1-20-2022, during district PD time, teacher will meet in PLC’s to review and discuss their plans with one another and complete the “Grow” section.  

PLC - Location     
LETRS - Library (If you choose to meet with this PLC you must also complete District PD)

Content Knowledge - 3rd Grade Collaboration Room

Differentiation - 1st Grade Collaboration Room

Formative Assessment - 5th Grade Collaboration Room

Learning Targets - 4th Grade Collaboration Room

Rigor & Relevance & Discourse - Kindergarten Collaboration Room

Positive Classroom & Well Managed Classroom - 2nd Grade Collaboration Room

Note:  If you were unable to attend the January faculty meeting, we will meet and update you after District PD.  You should have received a calendar invite.

AimsWeb Reading Testing Plan

We will continue with our AimsWeb Reading Assessment testing plan (below).  

 January 26^th – February 3^rd – Paine Kindergarten with Testing Team

 The week of February 7^th will be used for makeups if necessary.  

Special Education Teachers:  Please work with testing teachers to ensure your students receive any accommodations outlined in the IEP. 

STAR Testing

Our deadline for STAR testing was Friday, January 14th.  If a student was out last week, please go ahead and have he/she take the assessment early this week.

Family News

Please continue to keep the following Paine Family Members in your thoughts and prayers:

• Hannah Puryear and her entire family
• Suzanne (Sam) Bush as she recovers from surgery.
• Andrea Barker's mother who has been ill
• Buffy Bland's daughter, Audrey, who will have surgery on 1/27 to remove a small mass).

We offer a prayer of gratitude for the following who were in accidents last week, but are doing fine:

• Lauren Weller's daughter
• Tiara Carlson

Note:  If you have anything you want included in our Family News, please email Dr. L directly.

Paine Precepts 

In honor of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., our Paine Precepts will be some of his famous quotes:

T:    If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.

W:  The time is always right to do what is right.

T:    No person has the right to rain on your dreams.

F:    Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?