Something Personal
Reflecting on a Memorable Moment at QUEST
This year's graduates marked the first Kindergarten class I've overseen as Principal at QUEST. As I observed a student, who had been rather reserved and heistant in their earlier years, confidently present to a room filled with proud QUEST staff, I was amazed. That moment encapsulated the essence of QUEST.
Each one of us contributes to the growth and development of our students. Regardless of our specific roles and job titles, it is a collective effort to empower students to reach their full potential. Witnessing this transportmation firsthand was truly remarkable and a standout experience of my year.
To our entire QUEST community, thank you. Our work can be exhausting, at times unappreciated, and the end of the year can bring many moments of doubt; however, every effort matters. We have a significant impact on our students, and together, we create the magic at QUEST. I see and appreciate each one of you. Keep up the exceptional work--home stretch!
Something Professional
Science Fun Day
Please read your Science Fun Day email. All paperwork for classes will be found in your mailbox at the end of the day, May 30th. Don't forget Science Rules!
Click here for an organized overview!
Session times:
Kick Off in Auditorium- 9:15-10:05
Session 1- 10:10-10:45
Session 2- 10:50- 11:25
Session 3- 11:30-12:05
Session 4- 12:10 - 12:45
Session 5- 12:50- 1:25
Session 6- 1:30-2:05
Session 7 - 2:10 - 2:45
SUMMARY OF STAFF MEETING Survey RESULTS
ACCORDING TO AI
I reviewed the feedback on staff meetings line-by-line to determine good next steps for next year, but I also asked AI to do the same and to collaborate with me. Thank you, Magic School!
This is how AI interpreted the results:
- With the question regarding what type of staff meeting do you enjoy the most:
Summary of Staff Meeting Style Preferences:
- Choose Your Own Adventure (Breakout Sessions): 24 votes
- Team Time to Plan and Work Together: 14 votes
- Sit and Get (Presenter Talks, You Listen): 3 votes
- Independent (On Your Own Work): 5 votes
Based on the survey results, it seems that the staff heavily favors "Choose Your Own Adventure (Breakout Sessions)" as their preferred style of staff meeting, closely followed by "Team Time to Plan and Work Together."
- With the question regarding in what ways did vertival teams benefit our school:
Summary of Benefits of Vertical Teams:
- Building community and connections with staff not regularly interacted with.
- Increased productivity compared to previous years.
- Collaboration in a meaningful way across different groups.
- Sharing ideas and activities for self-care.
- Focus on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and generating ideas for classroom implementation.
- Opportunity to learn from colleagues at different grade levels.
- Common time to plan and discuss committee-related topics.
- Collaboration across grade levels and departments.
- Learning new strategies for classroom implementation and SEL.
- Exchanging successful practices between different levels.
- Consistency in working towards a common goal or mission.
- Integration of vertical team work into staff meetings for efficiency.
- With the question regarding a creative way to make meetings better:
Summary of Creative Ideas to Improve Staff Meetings:
- Providing snacks.
- Starting and finishing meetings on time.
- Sharing out updates at the end of meetings.
- Incorporating more mindful minutes.
- Having a flexible schedule for meetings.
- Considering after-school meetings instead of always before school.
- Making district-required meetings more meaningful and relevant to the school.
- Less district based meetings
- Increasing interactivity and group activities during meetings.
- Allowing for more options and customization in meeting schedules.
- Exploring different locations for meetings to enhance collaboration.
- Limiting district presentations during meetings.
- Ensuring good acoustics for better hearing during meetings.
- Incorporating fun activities like games or conversations starters.
- Improving seating comfort and sound systems.
- Encouraging variety and change in meeting formats.
- Creating a visual display to track progress and achievements throughout the year.
- Offering more options for interactive or self-directed meeting days.
- Considering separate rooms for meetings to improve sound quality.
- Providing agendas in advance for preparedness.
- Featuring teachers presenting on their strengths or passions.
- Clarifying roles and responsibilities for each team before and during meetings.
- With the question on the most meaningful staff meeting:
Summary of Favorite Staff Meetings:
- Appreciation for Choose Your Own Adventure meetings where staff share expertise and knowledge.
- Enjoyment of vertical team meetings and IB-focused meetings.
- Positive feedback on interactive meetings such as the walking/podcast session.
- Preference for sessions where teaching tools and strategies are shared.
- Value in collaborative meetings where schoolwide projects are worked on together.
- Interest in topics like executive functioning and math strategies.
- Engagement in activities focused on building connections and identifying safe persons for students.
- Enjoyment of community circles after significant events.
- Satisfaction with customizable meetings that cater to individual interests and needs.
- Emphasis on learning new strategies or tools with immediate application in the classroom.
- Preference for staff-led sessions where colleagues share resources and expertise.
- Likelihood of finding meaning in meetings with options to choose activities.
- Positive experiences with CIA meetings that focus on student relationships and connections.
- Appreciation for the ability to select sessions for a more personalized meeting experience.
Closing out APPR for Teaching Staff
- Even
though they are able to see their summative element in Frontline, there is
NO action needed at this time regarding the summative element.
- The
collective growth score will be calculated in July and automatically input
into teachers' summative element.
- Time
will be set aside on the August 22nd Staff Summer Day for
teaching staff to acknowledge their overall composite score in Frontline.
Directions will be forthcoming after the collective growth score is
inputted.
- The
entire process will be finalized in Frontline. Teachers will no longer
need to sign their composite score report in Schoolfront.
Learner Profile
As you have likely
noticed in your building, we have been celebrating Hilton students who exhibit
the IB Learner
Profile both in and outside of school in grades K-12. We are
looking to once again highlight 5-6 students across the district (K-12) and
will have posters created to celebrate them to be posted in each school.
We try to post the first group in September and the 2nd group in
February. However, we need your help in identifying these students.
Please
view this link of the learner profile. If you know of any students
who are exhibiting any of the traits inside or outside of school, please write
a short description including their names and what they are demonstrating and
send to Steve Cudzilo. If selected, I will reach out to the student's
parents for permission to create a poster and hang it in the buildings.
Thank you for your consideration.
Reminder from Tech
In a memo from NYSED on
May 1, 2023, best practices and requirements to reduce a district's risk
relative to cybersecurity and cyber-attacks were listed. The first item on the
list was multifactor authentication. The memo in its entirety can be seen here. Since September
2021, for all district employees, multi-factor authentication on our District's
Microsoft hilton.k12.ny.us accounts was a requirement. As we continue to
evaluate potential changes to increase cybersecurity, we have
determined that our next step is to implement multi-factor authentication
on staff member Google accounts (ga.hiltoncsd.net).
A quick walk through on
how to set up this feature is here, or if you prefer a video
walkthrough, you can find that here.
In addition to typical
multifactor authentication methods, if you are logged into your
ga.hiltoncsd.net account on an eligible phone, you may choose push
notification Google prompts as your multi-factor authentication
method. More on the Google prompts option can be seen here, including directions for
both Apple and Android phones. Again, this method is an option but not
required. You may choose to use the code by voice or text message method
outlined above.
You may complete this
process at any time leading up to Thursday, June 20. This feature will be
active on Thursday, June 20, for all employees. If you haven't gone through the
process to enable multifactor authentication on your Google account prior to
June 20, you will be prompted to do so on June 20 or the next time you log into
your Google account.
Please don't hesitate to
reach out if you have any questions, and thank you for your assistance in protecting
student and staff data.
Library Reminders:
Important dates for the end of year library operations
Interlibrary Loan (for faculty/staff to request books from other school libraries)
Last Day to request ILL: Thursday, May 23
Return ILL: Friday, June 7, 2024
Students:
Last day to checkout books: Friday, June 7
Start to return your books on Monday, June 10
Last day for K-4 classes: Friday, June 14
Faculty
Faculty can continue to borrow books from the QUEST library until the last day of classes.
The library staff will communicate with students and faculty/staff about any books or other equipment that has not been returned. Q? Contact Michelle or Mindy
Something Profound
Check out this interesting article by George Cuoros on the use of AI and getting into the habit of it.
