60 Seconds of Mindfulness Options

Mindfulness is growing and kids are benefiting. Keep filling the jar with those stickers!

Need-to-Knows

• Portfolio share opens next week, meaning people are allowed to hold them starting Monday. With that, please be sure that the progress reports are shared with parents at the portfolio share. Some also share ahead of time so that parents can bring their questions to portfolio share. This is fine, but please make sure the parent is signed up for one before giving it to them ahead of time.  In the event that you make an effort to bring a parent in for portfolio share and they do not come in, please be sure to share the progress report--at the end of the year we will be putting them online like last year, but for this marking period we simply share it with parents. If you need help with getting a parent or two in and you have invited and invited, please let me know so I can help you get them in. 
• No meeting weeks begin next week. The purpose of having this extra time of no meetings is to honor the effort that you all put in during portfolio share, and to allow you a chance to focus in and remain balanced. Please be sure to take great care of your stress during the busy month of March. Mindfulness is a great tool! 
• Please be sure to check out the new furniture. The new classroom furniture is more than new furniture. Students are being taught how to self-regulate, how to collaborate, and how to determine what they need...that's the power in these designs. It was a lot of effort for those involved, so be sure to check 'em out and ask a student or two what they like/dislike about the new furniture. We are a progressive school, and I value and appreciate the fact that we are "really" teaching the whole child and considering the skills they need beyond our walls. Go QUEST!

Looking Ahead

Congratulations QUEST Students!

See below for an announcement from Impact Earth. We are rocking this, QUEST. I will also announce this to our students at our Wednesday morning meeting. Please see me (Andrea) if you have any questions about our Zero Waste Initiative!

Impact Earth Winter Competition 2019 

1st place - QUEST with a percentage 87.5%

2nd place- Village with a percentage of 84.3%

3rd place- Northwood with a percentage of 76.9%

QUEST

During the week of Feb. 11th  through the 15th:

The QUEST school alone kept  614 lbs. out of the landfill. that is just for one week kids! If we keep this up we will keep over 23,000 lbs. out of the landfill for the school year! Thank you QUEST, that certainly makes a difference in our environment!

Enjoy

You all deserve a great break. Enjoy!

RTI News

RTI Slots for New Referrals are FULL for this school year. If you have a serious concern with a student and wanted to bring them up for this school year please see Lisa. 

Reminders and Need-to-Knows

• Don't forget to add your stickers each time your class does 60 minutes of mindfulness! We are filling that jar, with lots of good learning for kids! Non-classroom teachers and staff, you should join the fun too, as mindfulness is a way of life for all of us! 
• On 2/27 we will have a morning meeting at 10 in the gym. The Harlem Wizards are coming! We will need to squeeze in so that they have some space to shoot at a hoop and show off their skills, but please mark this changed time on your calendar. 
• The computer lab is getting new furniture next week. New furniture means new ways of navigating the space. Those that use the lab, be sure to check it out and consider what creative ways you might use it with your students. We plan on adding monitors and a lego wall in the near future! shhhhh...
• Please be sure kids are not going outside at the end of the day without supervision. Most kids were doing great with this, but this past week we have had a few issues with it. Please remind your students. 

A Look Ahead...Through March

TGIF

What a busy week it has been for all of us. When things get wild around here, it becomes all the more important to go back to the breath, list our gratitude, and find ways to celebrate one another. Next week we have 5 more days until break...5 days to impact kids before we send them home. Be sure to make the most of it. Enjoy your weekend with your loved ones!

Proud to be your Principal.

Derek

March 6, 2019 Author Visit

Matt Phelan is an award winning author and illustrator of picture books and graphic novels.   He will meet with all levels! 

9:00 Kindergarten/Primary
10:10 Intermediate
1:30 Elementary

Looking for Guest Volunteers... (60 second survey)

Are you a staff member without a home base classroom? Or maybe you have a classroom and would love a guest staff member to pop into your classroom to lead a mindful minute during the 60 day Mindfulness Challenge...

If you answered yes to one of the questions, we invite you to take (less than) one minute to complete this survey.

Thank you!!

https://goo.gl/forms/Maa20BQz9S9z0l7e2

CIA next week

What? CIA

When? 2/12

Where? Your team will meet in your usual meeting spot where you have your weekly meetings, not the BOE room

Goal? Continue working on your action plan for Executive Functioning. Andrea, Brenda, and I will be around to offer support to teams that might need it.  

Looking Ahead

RTI News:

RTI Slots for New Referrals are FULL for this school year. If you have a serious concern with a student and wanted to bring them up for this school year please see Lisa.  

60 Second of Mindfulness Extra Options!

To kick off the Principal’s Mindfulness Challenge, in addition to the toolbox of activity options in your mailbox, here are two one minute of mindfulness recordings on gratitude that you are welcome to share with your class. There is also an image you can use! The image shows a quick, engaging activity on mindfulness of the breath, too. 60 seconds a day for 60 days...let’s do this!

Think Warm Thoughts

Need-to-Knows

• See the Craig's LIst? Someone is looking to see a Writing Workshop. If you are open to having the person who posted in, please reach out to them!
• When using the stage, please return the chairs and stands back to their original spots. This helps Heidi quite a bit! 
• Next week, we are currently scheduled to have the Sled Race on Wednesday am. This is subject to change based on weather. We will make a call Monday if we are moving it. 
• Thanks for your work around Executive Functioning for those that attend the staff meeting. We already have a couple levels/areas with ideas of how they will create some consistent, tier 1 plans around it with their levels. Whole child=what we do at QUEST! 
• We begin our next Principal's Challenge today! Please join us. 60 seconds for 60 days. When your class does a mindfulness activity, grab a sticker from the office and place it in the jar across from the cafe...each time. Let's fill the jar as evidence of all the mindful practices we did together! 
• Fruit and Veggie Challenge is about to begin! Would love to see high participation, QUEST! We are models for kids!  

Looking Ahead