Thursday, August 30, 2018

Our Yearlong Focus at JCP

Week One is almost in the books and things have been fantastic! Not too many crying kiddos, not too many crying moms and dads...

Our school district's focus for the last three years has been the same: 



At JCP, this means: 
  • Teachers collaborating as a team to best serve ALL students, not just the ones assigned to them. The biggest impact a teacher can have on the academic growth of students is to not try to do it alone. The biggest expert in the room is the room and the more we trust each other and are willing to see how and where we can grow, we learn from and lean on each other and use the strengths of our teammates to meet the needs of these amazing scholars. We do this during our Monday late starts, during staff meetings, during bi-monthly teacher meetings, and during their daily preparation blocks when kids are at specialists. You'll even catch them texting each other at all hours of the night, talking about how they can make tomorrow better for your little angel.
  • Rigor, Differentiation and Teacher Clarity: Using research-based instructional strategies and high-quality curriculum that has been proven to reach every student, whether they're zooming right along, or whether they need extra support to reach grade level. Many of our students come from challenging backgrounds, some walking in already knowing what they need to do, others walking in a grade level or two behind. Our teachers are continually being trained on how to meet the needs and challenge every learner, regardless of their level or the grade they're in. If we have a 2nd grader performing at a kindergarten level, they'll get extra targeted support because we know they need to make more than a year's of growth this year. On the flipside, if we have a kindergartner who is already doing 1st grade work, s/he will also be pushed to make a year's worth of growth. Often times this is referred to as the Goldilocks Principle. This means figure out exactly where your child is, what they need next, and send them home each day cognitively exhausted. 😊 
  • Relationships: Social-emotional learning and PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support).  At JCP, we focus a lot on positive reinforcement rather than punitive measures. You'll hear "Thank you for walking" or "Can you go back and show us what it looks like to walk in the hallway?" rather than "Slow Down. Stop running." We work on teaching the whole child. Our job is to teach them how to be contributing and understanding community members. We teach empathy and kindness, self-awareness and self-regulation. If a student is upset or feels unsafe, not matter how amazing the teacher or the instruction being delivered, that child can't fully benefit. We need to teach the whole child and provide interventions and growth to each of them. I'll continue to provide more information on these key areas as the year progresses, but every training we receive, every conference we attend, every staff meeting will remain focused on these three area. When we master these, amazing things happen. 

Monday, August 20, 2018

Hello 2018-19 School Year!

My goal is to do a much better actually writing blog posts this school year, not just posting weekly videos!

Dates:
Aug. 27 -First day of school for 1st and 2nd graders. 8:35 start (even though it's Monday.)
Aug. 29: First day of school for Kinder Group A
Aug. 30: First day of school for Kinder Group B
Aug. 31-Sept. 3: No school: a long enough weekend for all the kinders to completely forget everything they learned their first day of school :)
Sept. 4: Everyone back to school, all hands on deck!

We're so excited for this school year. We have been talking about and preparing for these amazing scholars all summer and we can't wait to see all of the amazing learning that is going to happen.

Start going to bed at a normal time now, get your 10-12 hours of sleep, drink lots of water so your brain is fully hydrated, and we'll see you in a few day!