Weekly Update: Aug. 30 – Sep. 13th

Our highest attended event is tonight. Curriculum Night is a great opportunity to showcase the amazing learning that will take place in your classes this year. I know it is a very long day and and our community greatly appreciates your time and energy. The great news is that we have a three day weekend to recuperate.

Happy Almost Friday and Vietnamese National Day,
Jacob

Thursday, August 29th
Day 8 – HEFG
Advisory Schedule
WWW Parent Meetings at 5:00pm
HS Curriculum Night 6:00pm – 8:15pm
Day 4 – FGHE

Friday, August 30th
Day 1 – ABCD
Teacher Letter of Recommendation Workshop with Becky Konowitz from SCU at Lunch in the MPR

Monday, September 2nd
Holiday – Vietnam National Day – No School

Tuesday, Sep. 3rd
Day 2 – EFGH
University Night for Grade 11 – 6:00pm

Wednesday, Sep. 4th
Day 3 – BCDA
Divisional Meeting, 3:15-4:30 (MPR) Advisory/WWW Prep

Thursday, Sep. 5th
Day 4 – FGHE
Advisory Schedule

Friday, Sep. 6th
Day 5 – CDAB
Sunshine Committee’s Plastic Chair Event, 4-8pm (Quan 909)

Monday, Sep. 9th
Day 6- GHEF
Advisory Schedule

Tuesday, Sep. 10th
Day 7- DABC
Flansburg Architects on Campus
HSLT Meeting, 3:15-4:45 (HS Conference Room) Agenda Here

Wednesday, Sep. 11th
Day 8- HEFG
Flansburg Architects on Campus
All School PD- Vertical Teams 3:15-4:30 (various locations)

Thursday, Sep. 12th
Day 1- ABCD
Advisory Schedule

Thursday, September 12, 2019

8:00 – 9:10am       Block A (70 min)

9:10 – 9:25am       Break (15 min)

9:30 – 10:40am    Block B (70 min)

10:50   – 12:00pm Block C (70 min)

12:00  – 12:40pm    Lunch (40 min)

12:45 – 1:55pm      Block D (70 min)

2:00 – 3:00pm      Advisory / CIS University Visit  (60 min)

Friday, Sep. 13th
Day 2- EFGH
Sunshine August/September Birthday Celebration, Morning Break (Faculty Room)

On the Horizon

• Parent Teacher Conferences, October 10/11 (see below for more details)
• Week Without Walls, Week of September 15
• Positive Education Training, September 30 and October 1
• Positive Education Student Assembly (1 hour assembly), October 2 Schedule Here
• End of Quarter 1, October 4

Staff Action Needed

• Please remember to help put away equipment (e.g. PA system, risers, balls, etc.) if you are using the HS gymnasium as it’s Chris and Alison’s classroom.
• Recognize a colleague for kudos
• Set up your PingID for the IB by Wednesday, Sep 4 (email Cassie when done)
• PBL/Inquiry Survey, complete by August 30
• Review the AP/IB Info Section
• RSVP for Sunshine Committee’s Plastic Chair Event by August 30
• WWW Teacher Schedule September 2019 for Internal Coverage
• All Biology Students in Regi and Polly’s classes will miss C block on September 24 for a guest speaker and 1 hour Positive Education Student Assembly on October 2 (Check important dates that impact instruction here)

HS Grade Books: Please keep your Grade Books up to date. Parents and students will be checking from now on looking for assessment data. Most of your grade books have multiple formative assessment data points, but summative assessments should be inputed to give the families a better understanding of where they stand with their end of quarter grade.

HS Curriculum Night– Our HS Curriculum Night  will on Thursday, August 29th.  Our grade 9, 10 and 11 parents arrive starting at 5pm in the auditorium (9), HS gym (10), MPR (11) for information on the WWW program and Junior Retreat.  Only grade level deans (9/10) and trip leaders need attend this session.  Curriculum Night officially starts at 6pm in the auditorium.  After a 10 minute opening, parents will start coming to your classes according to the bell schedule at 6:20pm for A block.  You can see our schedule on this link.  Some of you will not be able to return home after school, but stay here for the evening.  We have ordered a few pizzas to be in the HS faculty room at 4:15pm.  Be in your classrooms by 6pm.

You only have 10 minutes with each class, so highlight at least:

• Introduction of yourself and background
• Share an overview of the course curriculum
• Share grading/marking guidelines
• Share the syllabus
• Let them know the best ways to contact you about their child’s progress

If you have any questions about your 10 minutes of fame, please talk to your department head, Jacob or Tim.

Sunshine’s Plastic Chair Event on September 6 after school-  The fourth annual Sunshine Committee PlasticChair Event is right around the corner.  It will take place on Friday, September 6th from 4-8pm at Quan 909 restaurant.  Your Sunshine Committee contributions will pay for food and drink for you and your significant other (if applicable).   The restaurant is located just across the river and bridge by the Canadian School. The address is 84/3A Nguyen Luong Bang.  Come for the entire time or just a portion after your workout, coaching or other responsibilities.  This is one of the best staff events that Sunshine hosts and we imagine it will be again. RSVP here to give us an idea for table set up and food. If you did not sign up, no worries just show up for a good time.

Parent/Teacher Conferences (Oct 10/11)– We will be using the online booking system again to schedule PTC’s starting in September. To better serve our parent community, we will be offsetting the hours of PTC’s a little to support those families that have students in both the MS and HS. HS conferences will take place in classrooms in the HS building on October 10 from 2-7pm and on October 11 from 9am-1pm. If you are a faculty parent with students in other divisions, you will be asked to schedule your conferences with your own children outside of the HS designated hours. If you are a faculty parent and have questions please see Jacob. More information to follow, but you can see the overall structure below.

PBL/Inquiry– Please complete the PBL/Inquiry Survey so we can better support and connect you with other teachers that might be looking for interdisciplinary connections. We have a great team of Thomas G, Evan, Amy, Justin and Kari to support you along the way. You can review the longer PBL/Inquiry slide show from May of 2019 or the abridged version that was shared at the August 14th meeting.

Pink Book: Be sure that your Pink Book for your apartment is up to date with your Realtor / home owner.

Observations are Coming: What You Need to Know–  We are starting our staff evaluations this coming week.  During the week of observation we will have a pre conference, a full block observation, and a post conference.  Huyen and Tram have scheduled these and will invite you the week before.  There are two observation tracks: returning teachers and new staff.  We use the Charlotte Danielson Professional Practice Framework for all teachers.

Returning Teachers (Focused Evaluation)

• Will choose 2-3 total components from domains 1-3 (Planning & Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction) i.e. 1b, 2d, and 3a for a focused evaluation.
• Meet for a pre-conference to determine the 2-3 components together with administrator
• Full block observation
• Post-conference meeting

New Teachers to SSIS (Full Danielson Framework)

• Meet for a pre-conference and determine main growth goals for the year
• Full block observation
• Post-conference meeting

HS