How was your week? (new blog/same title)

Today ends our second to last 5 day week of the year.  Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?  So how did your week go?  Did you zoom out to see the highs and the lows?  I encourage you to do that.  Some days this week I had to zoom out to find the highs because there were a couple of lows that kept coming into my thoughts.  Other days I was able to reflect and the highs were easy to see, and to celebrate.  This week had two "lasts" for me- our last BLT meeting and our last Culver's Night.  The coming weeks will have more of these "lasts".  My good friend Joy, a principal from Connecticut (that's where I was born, by the way), told me not to think of it as retirement.  She said it's "refirement".  I am fired up to support my parents on their life journey.  I'm also fired up to support Lauren as she continues her education journey.  She has a big "last" today- the FORT exam this morning.  I know that she'll do well and I know she'll be happy when she's finished with that test.  And tonight she and I will celebrate with dinner, just the two of us.  Now that's a great way to end a week!

Calendar

Monday, May 23rd    Jay will be out in the morning attending a doctor appointment/ Student Achievement Committee 4:30PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Tuesday, May 24th    Final Band Concert 6:30PM

Wednesday, May 25th    NJHS induction ceremony 5:30PM

Friday, May 26th    Jeans for Troops Day ($5 to GIGo Fund for Veterans for wearing jeans)

Monday, May 30th    Memorial Day (No School)

Wednesday, June 1st    PTO meeting 8:45AM

Thursday, June 2nd    Celebration Day (This is a "no letter" day!)

Friday, June 3rd    Celebration Day rain date/ 4th to 5th grade transition afternoon

Monday, June 6th    8th grade Day Away/ 5th, 6th, and 7th grade Day Away from 9AM-2PM

Tuesday, June 7th    8th grade graduation

Wednesday, June 8th    Last day of school (half day)

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

(from MindShift)

"There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets credit."

Ronald Reagan

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"One has to realize one's limitations.  Why kid yourself?"

I. M. Pei, architect

(from Inspiring Quotes)

(The 5SWs from Andrew Marotta. It's worth the 90 seconds, I promise!)

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"Your greatest mess may be the very thing that qualifies you the most to help other people."

Ed Mylett

(from Inspiring Quotes)

(from @WeinsteinEdu on the Twitters)

(from Inspiring Quotes)

BLT notes

Before we get to the shared notes, I'd like to thank Bekah, Janine, Colleen, Carey, Becky O., and Melissa for their honesty and openness during all of our BLT meetings this year.  I know they have shared your concerns with me so that we can get better.  They also shared your successes so you could be shouted out to all staff.   They will also represent our school well at the Student Achievement Committee meeting on Monday.  It has been an honor.

That being said, here are the notes for our BLT meeting.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out.

To fully answer the question I posed in the title, my week was really just okay.  Jen has been in Sanibel all week and is driving home with her brother.  We have had our daily phone calls, and were on a webinar together yesterday, but I can't wait for her to get home.  I got to spend more face to face time with my parents this week because I made time to go see them.  The week got better yesterday when Lauren came home for the weekend.  I know I say "family first" a lot and you know that I mean it.  We aren't promised tomorrow, but we can definitely make it a goal to make today the best Friday of the week!

See you all soon!

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

How was your week?

Do me a favor.  Look back on your week and write down the three best things about the week.  Only one must be school related.  Here are mine...

Lauren had her final class in Oshkosh (but she still has student teaching).

Two of my cousins from Connecticut made a surprise visit to see my parents.

I was able to coach a group of 8th grade girls, and they are one of my favorite teams of all time.

Why am I asking you to start this list?  I think that often we look back on a week and don't notice the good things that we've done or that we've been a part of.  I witness you doing great things every day.  Some of them are "big" things and some are "little" things.  The list you make should make you happy.  Imagine the list you'll have if you do this daily instead of weekly.  It makes me think of the quote below.

(from Inspiring Quotes)

Now go make this the best Friday of the week!

This week's family smore

I'll be adding some pictures from today a little later, but here it is for now.

Calendar

Friday, May 13th    Career Day in the AM/ District Celebration after school

Friday, May 13th-Sunday May 15th    PTO Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday, May 17th    7th and 8th grade Mega Math Meet in Madison

Wednesday, May 18th    Content meetings 7:45AM (BLT is in charge)/ PTO Culver's Night

Thursday, May 19th    5th and 6th grade Mega Math Meet in Madison

Monday, May 23rd    Student Achievement Committee 4:30PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Tuesday, May 24th    Final Band Concert 6:30PM

Wednesday, May 25th    NJHS induction ceremony 5:30PM

Monday, May 30th    Memorial Day (No School)

Thursday, June 2nd    Celebration Day

Friday, June 3rd    Celebration Day rain date/ 4th to 5th grade transition afternoon

Monday, June 6th    8th grade Day Away/ 5th, 6th, and 7th grade Day Away from 9AM-2PM

Tuesday, June 7th    8th grade graduation

Wednesday, June 8th    Last day of school (half day)

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

(from @teachergoals on the Twitters)

"It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."

Mahatma Gandhi, lawyer, social reformer, independent movement leader

Increasing Confidence to Accelerate Competence from George Couros

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"Most of the time, everyone deserves more than one chance."

Celeste Ng, writer

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"Everything was worth looking at more closely."

Celeste Ng, writer

(from Todd Nesloney's blog)

"We are a landscape of all we have seen."

Isamu Noguchi, sculptor, designer, landscape architect

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"We are a landscape of all we have seen."

Isamu Noguchi, sculptor, designer, landscape architect

(from @teachergoals on Twitter)

We Are Teachers

I get an email from this group a few times a week and thought this was too good to keep to myself.  Check out all of these teacher giveaways.  Good luck!

Jon Gordon email (I get these almost daily, and the BEST just caught my attention.)

9 Things The Best in Business and Sports Do

I’ve been very fortunate over the last two decades to work with many of the best leaders and organizations in business, sports, healthcare and education. I’ve found that the best in these different fields implement the same principles and practices. Here are some of my findings: 1. The best know what they want. They have clarity that drives their actions. When you are on a mission with a vision you won't give up when faced with challenges. It’s essential that everyone in the organization is clear on the vision and mission and knows how they can contribute to it. 2. The best build a great culture. Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectation and beliefs drive behaviors. Behaviors drive habits. Habits create the future. If you want the fruit you must invest in the root. Culture is the root. Culture creates sustained success. 3. The best do ordinary things better than everyone else. Success is all about the fundamentals. Vince Lombardi once held a 4-day coaching clinic and spent 2 full days on one play: the power sweep. Opponents knew it was coming but still couldn't stop it. 4. The best are mentally stronger. Through adversity their belief is greater their circumstance. Research at Duke University shows that optimists work harder, get paid more and are more likely to succeed in business and sports. Because they believe it, they take the actions necessary to create it. 5. The best overcome their fear of failure. Everyone has fear but the best overcome it. They don’t allow it to control, limit or paralyze them from taking action. The greatest success strategy is to focus on the love of what you are doing instead of fearing the outcome. 6. The best build great relationships and teams. No once creates success alone. We all need a team to accomplish something great. The best leaders and teams utilize the 4 Cs. They communicate, connect, commit and care. 7. The best transform negativity. They allow negativity to sabotage their team and mission. One person can’t make a team but one person can break a team. Great leaders and teams feed the positive and weed the negative.

8. The best think like rookies and overcome the curse of experience. They don’t expect a bad outcome because it happened before. They don't long for the good ole days. They work hard, believe anything is possible and create the good ole days right now. They innovate, adapt and turn challenges into growth opportunities. 9. The best care more. In a world where most don’t care those who care stand out and perform better. They put more time and energy into their product, design, service, and/or craft. Joe DiMaggio said there’s always some kid seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best!

"'Til You Can't", a song by Cody Johnson

Coming back to school from my mom's appointment on Wednesday I heard this song.  There have been too many coincidences that have happened in the last 10 days, I'm thinking they were Godwinks, that make me know that I chose the right time to retire.  If you have a few minutes, please listen to this song.

I am so looking forward to being with you after school tonight.  Let's promise not to talk school but instead let's talk about our summer plans, our families, or the book you're reading.  It has been an exhausting week, both physically and mentally, and the weekend couldn't be happening at a better time.  I hope to see you at Ironwood after school, the Bucks game will be on, and the first one is on me.

Have a great weekend!

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Zoom out

You have heard me talk about George Couros from time to time.  I share his blogs with you in our weekly nuts and bolts and he joined us in December via Google Meet for our staff meeting.  Saturday morning I read his latest weekly email and this quote struck me.

The quote and accompanying visual were what I needed as I reflected on the week.  The quote is from Dr. Will Deyamport while speaking about financial literacy with George.  Think about a point in time from this week or a day this week.  It might be a high or it might be a low.  But that's just one point on your weekly timeline.  Hopefully you've had more highs than lows (the visual on the left above) but I know that the trajectory of your week is on an upward trajectory (the visual on the right above).  I encourage you to reflect on your days and your weeks and find the good in each of them.  The school year is quickly coming to an end and we have so much good to remember.  And those good moments are what help us come back to school every day for our kids.

Here's our family smore for the week.  I'll be adding more pictures before I send this out to families at 2:00 today so if you have any pictures you'd like to share, please do!

Calendar

Friday, May 6th    Merton only Student Senate Dance

Wednesday, May 11th    District meeting 7:45AM/ AHS visits our 8th graders 1PM

Friday, May 13th    Career Day for 6th-8th grades in the AM/ District Celebration after school

Friday, May 13th-Sunday May 15th    PTO Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday, May 17th    7th and 8th grade Mega Math Meet in Madison

Wednesday, May 18th    Content meetings 7:45AM/ PTO Culver's Night

Thursday, May 19th    5th and 6th grade Mega Math Meet in Madison

Monday, May 23rd    Student Achievement Committee 4:30PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Tuesday, May 24th    Final Band Concert

Wednesday, May 25th    NJHS induction ceremony 5:30PM

Monday, May 30th    Memorial Day (No School)

Thursday, June 2nd    Celebration Day

Friday, June 3rd    Celebration Day rain date/ 4th to 5th grade transition afternoon

Monday, June 6th    8th grade Day Away

Tuesday, June 7th    8th grade graduation

Wednesday, June 8th    Last day of school (half day)

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

"Made for the Moment" 

We are all made for every moment we encounter.

Whether the moment makes us or we make the moment.

Where we are helpless in it or on top of it,

The predator or the prey.

We are made for that moment 

-Matthew McConaughey (from his book Greenlights)

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough."

William Blake, poet, painter

(@graceandcompany)

"Everyone has to figure out their own line in the sand."

David Henry Hwang, playwright, screenwriter, librettist

(from Inspiring Quotes)

(from George Couros)

Educator Effectiveness

How are you doing with Educator Effectiveness?  Do you have any questions?  Have you thought about setting up a time to meet for our end of the year meeting?  I have already had some of these meetings and look forward to meeting with all of you before the end of the school year.  Please do your best to set up these meetings between now and Friday, May 20th.

Next week...

I have had the honor and privilege of coaching one of our volleyball teams this year.  It's a great group of girls who have fun and want to get better.  We talk about doing three things well each game- get our serves in, cover the floor, and have fun.  Our last practice is Tuesday morning before school and our tournament is on Thursday after school.  I'm not mentioning this so you can come watch us play (but if you want to we play at Arrowhead at 6:30ish) but instead to let you know that I will have more time for before and after school meetings if that fits better into your schedule to meet with me.  I wrote a blogpost titled "Call Me Coach" in 2017 with my friend Dennis Schug, a principal from NYC, about being a principal and a coach.  As the season has progressed, the girls have started calling me coach more often than Mr. Posick.  I must admit I really like that, but I like even more the reflective conversations that we have about your impact on our kids.

This weekend is Mother's Day, a weekend that I always spend with family.  Jen and I are spending time in Fox Lake this weekend with her family and Lauren.  I'm also running a 5K in Pardeeville (Isn't that a great name for a Wisconsin town?) on Saturday morning.  It's also opening weekend for fishing.  Running and fishing are two of my favorite things to do to relax and reflect.  I'll be with my mom and dad on Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day.  I encourage you to spend time with your family and friends this weekend.  It's a great weekend to make the moments count instead of counting the moments.

Have a great weekend!

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

It's really May?!?!

When you return to school on Monday it will be May.  Can you believe it?  As I look at the calendar below there is a lot going on.  And what's on the calendar doesn't include everything that you're doing in your classrooms with our students.  I've seen all sorts of things from poetry to classroom assessments to worms to read alouds to tennis to snapcircuits to pancakes to small groups at white tables to choir and band rehearsals to weaving to tennis to presentations.  You get the picture.  I saw all of this over the course of 4 days this week.  It shows me that you are all keeping our kids engaged.  The more our kids are engaged, the quicker your classes go and the better the kids behave.  I look forward to being in classrooms today and in the weeks to come.

Calendar

Tuesday, May 3rd    Final Choir Concerts 7:00PM

Wednesday, May 4th    Building meeting 7:45AM

Friday, May 6th    Merton only Student Senate Dance

Wednesday, May 11th    District meeting 7:45AM

Friday, May 13th    Career Day for 6th-8th grades in the AM/ District Celebration after school

Friday, May 13th-Sunday May 15th    PTO Scavenger Hunt

Wednesday, May 18th    Content meetings 7:45AM/ PTO Culver's Night

Monday, May 23rd    Student Achievement Committee 4:30PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Tuesday, May 24th    Final Band Concerts

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

"Be driven, be focused, but enjoy every moment, because it only happens once."

Alicia Keys, singer-songwriter, musician

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"Doubt can motivate you, so don't be afraid of it.  Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need them both."

Barbra Streisand, singer-songwriter, actor, filmmaker

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric."

Bertrand Russell, philosopher, logician, mathematician, social critic, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

A-team meeting updates

• Technology: 

• Testing for panic buttons- need a date that allows for us to test 911 message alerts. Discussion on date and time. Plan to have this occur at 8:00AM, communication will be sent to families, community members, and staff regarding this. Date will be set in the future.

• 10 I-PADS for individual students’ needs will be purchased for 2022-23. 4K-1st grades will have Chromebook Tablets ordered to update our classroom needs.

• Building & Grounds: Looking to hire; thank you to everyone for the additional support.

• Finances: Curriculum & Tech Curriculum expense tracking will be something that we are working on to allow staff to know what we have and what staff has access to in order to support our students.

• Curriculum & Instruction: 

• Student Achievement May 23 begin @ 4:30.

• May 11 District Wide 7:45 @ IS- Little Theater

• August 15-17 New Teacher Induction Dates

Family smore

Some of you may be wondering what happened to our family smore.  I do send it out every week.  It's on my webpage and on the Twitters and the Facebook.  Although I need to add more pictures to complete this week's smore, here is the link.

Personal day requests

There are no more requests for personal days on May 20th.  Please see me if you have any questions.

Thanks for stepping up and stepping in

Yesterday we had a number of people step up to cover classrooms as we were in a pinch for guest teachers.  You have all been so helpful covering classes this year but yesterday took a village.  Thanks to Matt, Mary, Janine, Janice, Becky O., Becky F., Leah, and Dave.  Not only did you step up, you did so with a smile.  Thank you!

Tonight after school the PTO has a Mother-Son baseball night.  Ron and I are grilling for the moms and sons before they head off to the Brewers versus Cubs game tonight.  Stop on out on the blacktop if you'd like to "grill" Ron and I before you head home tonight.

Have a great weekend, and make time for yourself, your family, and your friends.

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Forward Exams are done, so now what?

It seems that the focus for most of us all year has been Forward testing.  We have talked about how we are preparing our students, how we will make the testing environment as quiet and focused as possible, and how we can make sure that our students are giving their best effort and taking their time.  Now that Forward testing is over, except for the students who will need to do makeup tests, we should set our sites on continuing to provide excellent learning experiences for all of our students.  We still have important learning to do!  Keep student learning moving forward, pushing our students to stretch themselves and ask more of themselves.  Collaborate with your colleagues and connect with your students and their families.  My work to provide feedback isn't over for you now that Forward Exams are over.  Please invite me in to see the great things you are doing with and for our kids.  You know I love being in your classrooms more than being in my office, and I'd love to stop in, observe what's happening, and then have a discussion following my visits.  I am excited to watch what the next six weeks has in store for our kids, and for you!

Calendar

Monday, April 25th    BLT meeting 4:15PM/ Student Achievement Committee 5PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Wednesday, April 27th    Grade level meetings 7:45AM/ Arrowhead Math placement test in the PM

Tuesday, May 3rd    Final Choir Concerts

Wednesday, May 4th    Building meeting 7:45AM

Friday, May 6th    Merton only Student Senate Dance

Wednesday, May 11th    District meeting 7:45AM

Friday, May 13th    Career Day for 6th-8th grades in the AM/ District Celebration after school

Friday, May 13th-Sunday May 15th    PTO Scavenger Hunt

Wednesday, May 18th    Content meetings 7:45AM/ PTO Culver's Night

Monday, May 23rd    Student Achievement Committee 5PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Forward Exam makeups

Here's the plan for the next few days.

Friday, April 22nd    Grades 5-8 ELA Session 1 at 9:00AM in room 119

Friday, April 22nd    Grades 5-8 ELA Session 2 at 10:30AM in room 119

Monday, April 25th    Grades 5&6 ELA session 4 9:00AM in the computer lab

Monday, April 25th    Grades 7&8 ELA session 4 10:00AM in the computer lab

Monday, April 25th    Grades 5-8 ELA session 3 11:00AM in the computer lab (headphones needed)

Tuesday, April 26th    Grade 8 Science and Social Studies 9:00AM in room 119

Tuesday, April 26th    Grades 6-8 Math session 1 10:30AM in room 119

Wednesday, April 27th-Friday, April 29th    TBD

*Room 119 is right across from the library.  It's the Health, Geometry, and 8th grade Algebra A classroom.

A-team update 

• Emergency Procedures Discussion. These have been Updated. Remember to put 1 in your sub folder. Have you checked your map for your tornado location? We'll be having a tornado drill next week.

• End of the Year Room Expectations: Packing up your room will be coming to assist with planning. 

• Summer School Rooms: After we have enrollment, we will assign rooms & let staff know. Summer School enrollment closes April 14. All summer school classes will be in the Primary School.

• District Postcards Highlights this Month: 3rd Grade Arcade, Math Meet, Staff Longevity.

• State Requirements for Substitutes: Can student teach and substitute in classroom, involved in teacher prep program & junior status & 15 hours of classroom observation- then can substitute.

• Staffing Updates: Interviews set for April/ May for 5K & 3rd Grade positions. Interviewed this week for Intermediate School FACE teacher.

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

A Small Question to Help Further Build Positive Relationships (from Pernille Ripp)

(from MindShift)

"If you're waiting for the right time...Time never comes, time only goes."

Azereth Skivel

(from George Couros' blog)

"The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more."

Charlie Munger

Family smore

Some of you may be wondering what happened to our family smore.  I do send it out every week.  It's on my webpage and on the Twitters and the Facebook.  Although I need one more picture to complete this week's smore, here is the link.

Personal day requests

This is a reminder from Wednesday's meetings that there are no more requests for personal days on April 29th or May 20th.  Please see me if you have any questions.

I'm looking forward to the weekend because I'll be with my family a lot.  Saturday morning is golf with my dad, brother, and brother in law.  Then there's a surprise birthday party for my brother in law in the afternoon (Don't tell him!).  On Sunday Jen and I will probably be doing some work around the yard, getting our patio set for Spring and Summer nights, and maybe watching a little NASCAR.  I hope that you are able to enjoy time with your family and friends this weekend, too.

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Curveballs

Baseball season is underway and with it hopefully some better weather.  Where is this Spring of which people speak?  Anyway, I saw this quote and it made me think about our path to success.

"The shortest distance between two point may be a straight line, but it's in the curving paths that the best things are found."

Lygia Fagundes Telles, writer, lawyer

Our path to success for our students and our school has not been a straight line.  We have try something, reflect on how it works, make adjustments, reflect on the adjustments, and make more adjustments.  It's a continuous process and one that involves and requires collaboration and feedback.  The straight line approach might appear easier but it also isn't practical.  Noting truly moves in a straight line.  There are curves along the way and that's how it should be.  The one thing we can't do is stay still, and I know you all well enough to know that you don't stay still for long.  Let's keep reflecting on what we're doing and enjoy the curving paths that are leading us to more success.

Calendar

Thursday, April 14th    Forward testing for all

Friday, April 15th-Monday, April 18th    Spring Break #2 (No School)

Tuesday, April 19th-21st    Forward testing

Wednesday, April 20th    PTO Culver's Night (see below)

Monday, April 25th    BLT meeting 4:15PM/ Student Achievement Committee 5PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Tweets, blogs, and quotes

"Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

James Baldwin, American novelist and activist

(from @teachergoals)

"We need to do things without expecting benefits in return."

Lygia Fagundes Telles, writer, lawyer

(from Inspiring Quotes)

(from Inspiring Quotes)

(from @tedhiff on the Twitters)

PTO Culver's Nights

On April 20th, the PTO will benefit from Culver's Night in Hartland.  Although I haven't been there in a while, our families really like to see staff members there.  We even get to take food to tables and cars!  The PTO gets a percentage of the proceeds from 4:00-8:00.  You don't need to stay the entire time, in fact I try to shoot for 5:30 when it's closer to dinner time.  If you are interested in joining me for a bit that night, please let me know or, better yet, just show up and surprise the families!

Forward Exams

Next week ends our scheduled Forward Exams.  I am apologizing in advance for the interruptions that will occur starting next week and extending into the following week as we make every effort to have our students complete the make up exams.  If there is a day for us to avoid, please let me know so that I can try to work around that day or class period.  As I reflect on the Forward Exam so far, I've heard you talk about how we have been able to create really good testing environments.  I've also you talk about how seriously the students are taking the sessions.  Thanks for reminding your classes of the importance of taking their time and doing their best.  I think that everything you have done to help our students prepare will show up in the results.   Keep up the great work!  Only three testing days left!

As we approach Spring Break #2, I hope that you make time for your family and friends and stay away from school work as much as possible.  I won't reach out to you unless there's an emergency.  If you need to get in touch with me, texting will be your best option.

Have a great 4 day weekend!

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell

Thank you!

Thanks for a wonderful week!  I must admit that I was anxious about our staff meeting and our assembly.  In case you want to see the presentation I shared at the assembly, here it is.  I really have missed the assemblies and hope to have one in May if our schedule permits.  Although I didn't get into as many classrooms this week as I would have liked, when I was in classrooms I was inspired by your preparation for instruction, the way you support your students, and your genuine concern for all students in your classrooms.  Next week is only four days long, but for our students it might seem longer as they have Forward Exams in Math or Language Arts.  Please keep that in mind as you plan for assignments and assessments.  Be more present in our hallways during transition time especially on days when we are testing.  You have done amazing work preparing our students.  All that's left is to provide them with the best testing environment possible.  The rest is up to them, and they are ready!

Calendar

April 4th-9th    Little Mermaid Jr. Musical Week!

Friday, April 8th    PTO meeting 9:45AM/Little Mermaid Jr. 7PM

Saturday, April 9th    Little Mermaid Jr. 2PM and 7PM

Monday, April 11th-Thursday, April 14th    Forward testing for all

Friday, April 15th-Monday, April 18th    Spring Break #2 (No School)

Tuesday, April 19th-21st    Forward testing

Wednesday, April 20th    PTO Culver's Night (see below)

Monday, April 25th    BLT meeting 4:15PM/ Student Achievement Committee 5PM/ School Board meeting 6PM

Tweets, quotes, and blogs

"So much with so little" from George Couros

"Throw yourself toward the unfamiliar.  Let curiosity be your guide."

Sarah Jessica Parker, actor, producer, businessperson, philanthropist

(from Inspiring Quotes)

"Despite the help you may have received along the way, if was, in the end, and individual undertaking."

Sarah Jessica Parker, actor, producer, businessperson, philanthropist

(www.mrsdscorner.com)

"People are always neglecting something they can do in trying to do something they can't do."

Edgar Watson Howe, writer, newspaper and magazine editor

Brian is doing well after his surgery

Just providing an update on Brian.  His surgery went well, although he's in quite a bit of pain.  He promises me that he will do what the doctors tell him to do.  He thanks you all for your prayers and well wishes.

PTO Culver's Nights

On April 20th, the PTO will benefit from Culver's Night in Hartland.  Although I haven't been there in a while, our families really like to see staff members there.  We even get to take food to tables and cars!  The PTO gets a percentage of the proceeds from 4:00-8:00.  You don't need to stay the entire time, in fact I try to shoot for 5:30 when it's closer to dinner time.  If you are interested in joining me for a bit that night, please let me know or, better yet, just show up and surprise the families!

I started by thanking you for a wonderful week.  I'll end by thanking you for all that you do for our students, for your colleagues, and for our school.  You all make our school a special place.  Since the beginning of the school year your focus has been on our kids and their success.  You review with students before and after school and during lunch times and prep periods.  I notice, and the kids and their families notice, even if we don't say anything or send you an email or a note of thanks.  Thank you!

Have a great weekend!

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell