Week of 11/6/23

 Something Personal 

Factors of Happiness (thanks to the lead learner who passed this along to me!) 

This infograph titled “8 Factors of Happiness” is worthy of revisiting whenever you notice discomfort. I’ve found the quickest way to dispel unhappiness is to ask myself introspective questions to find the source. Based on these 8 factors of happiness, I would ask myself: 

• Am I feeling suspicion and resentment? 
• Am I living in the past (or in the future)? 
• Am I wasting time and energy fighting conditions I can’t change? 
• Am I isolating myself or withdrawing from the world? 
• Am I indulging in self-pity? 
• Am I expecting too much of myself? 

I then continue the line of questioning to gain more self-awareness or I pivot to an easy gratitude practice, like listing 10 things that make me happy on my fingers. This usually gets me out of my head and back to the present moment, as well as in alignment with the values and experiences that make me happy. — CD

Something Professional 

Feast: lunch and plan. Click on the link if you are a classroom teacher. 

Click here to sign up for a plan and duty free lunch for FEAST!

Week of Feast reminders
There are a lot of moving parts next week. I ask for flexibility and understanding if things change or shift from what was planned. Everyone is doing their best and juggling a lot. Time to show why QUEST is the best school around!
◦ We have people in new roles or new to QUEST this year. Feast pros look out for the newbie’s. Lastly, if you don’t know,ask someone. This isn’t the time or place to go rouge.
◦ We are guests in the kitchen. Leave it cleaner than you found it. Rules are different in this kitchen than your kitchen at home. Make sure you are extra kinda and friendly to the kitchen staff.
◦ Make sure you are using gloves at all times when handling food.
◦ Food should never be left out unattended or on the floor.
◦ Make sure you fill out Google docs in email sent by me. This is what is going to be used to create schedule for reheating food and when we will need to use the kitchen
◦ Bre created an ingredient and allergen card to put in front of EACH dish. I will email them out and Bre printed out copies and put them in the office. Allergy kids should be first through the lines. This will help cut down on cross contamination. Please remind servers of this and looking for allergy stickers.
◦ Pole point parents will coordinate with Lyza day of Feast for getting things out of coolers and food when it is ready. This is to prevent too many cooks in the kitchen.
Lastly, thank you for your cooperation! This is the 29th QUEST Feast, let’s make it the best yet!!

November 14

There will be no specials on November 14th. This is considered a consultation day. Please follow the previously shared schedule for the 21st.

Reminder for Classroom Teachers:

Classroom teacher assessments need to be in eDoctrina by the end of the day on Monday, November 13.

Dance Planner Schedule

Week of 10/30/23

 Something Personal

This week I saw an example of a student in a tough emotional spot and a group of lead learners jumping to their side. It was amazing to see, and I couldn't help but think about what a nurturing environment we have created at QUEST. 

There's this term "unconditional love" which is often tied to the what a parent feels for their child, or perhaps that of a very best friend. This idea, whether we have been fortunate to experience it or not, follows the belief that the care you have for someone is without conditions. They mess up, you still care. They slip, you care. Your care is not dependent on anything other than that responsibility to be there with grace and love. 

I would argue that the greatest classrooms have this belief front and center. No matter what mistakes a child makes, no matter how many times they push our button, the care is still the same. And these beliefs are communicated and articulated both verbally and nonverbally. This.Is.Hard. 

Our students all come from different homes, and we adults all come from different upbringings as well, but the greatest opportunity we can give each other and our students is a "nothing is going to change my mind about how awesome you are" kind of belief. We are human, we have emotions, people can rub us the wrong way...but this idea is worth the pursuit. Again, this-is-hard. 

For those that are interested, check out this podcast that unpacks it much more eloquently than I can.

 CHECK OUT THE PODCAST HERE!

Something Professional

No Meeting Weeks

Next week we begin no meeting weeks, where we have no building scheduled meetings until Thanksgiving. For those new to the Q, this is a time where we honor the amount of work that goes into three-way conferences and report cards. Please use the extra time to stay afloat. 

Parking on Tuesday, 11/7

On Tuesday, 11/7, the district has a big retirement breakfast and presentation occurring in central office. They are expecting near 125 people, some of which have issues with walking. 

If you don't mind and are able, it would be awesome if we could park behind the school on Tuesday. Although this is not convenient, this is the kind of school we are and it's a chance to do a nice deed. Thanks!

Report Cards

Report cards are officially open. Please email me right away if you see an error that needs to be rectified through Tom.

Derek out Wednesday 

I will be out of the building on Wednesday of next week. Katie Jo will be in.

MTSS Update

November 10^th will mark the end the first inaugural MTSS Cycle.  Our Interventionists will suspend instruction from the 10^th until after Thanksgiving break.  During that time they will be assessing students, forming groups, creating new intervention schedules and planning and preparing for the next cycle of interventions.  Intervention cycle #2 will begin on November 27^th. 

 

From tech.

 

Good morning all,

I am attaching the info for how parents can login to see report cards on IC as well as troubleshooting tips from the Data Team if you would like to share out with teachers. I am sure they will have parents asking (at least new parents anyway) or post on the Hubs if you haven't already. Have a great weekend!

https://sites.google.com/ga.hiltoncsd.net/hcsddatateam/infinite-campus-tips-tricks/parent-portal-login-support

 

Week of 10/23/23

 Something Personal

When I became a new dad and simultaneously embraced the role of a school leader, I found myself grappling with newfound stress. Over time, I learned that the goal isn't to evade stress – as life can be inherently stressful – but to cultivate greater resilience and persistence in the face of stress. This way, emotions associated with stress don't dictate our responses, which parallels the principles of the 'Zones of Regulation' framework.

In our line of work, the world's ever-increasing demands, and the constant deluge of media and information can easily become overwhelming, especially when combined with personal challenges. This is a recipe for heightened stress. No matter the challenges, I've discovered inspiration in Andrew Huberman, a scientist and podcaster from Stanford. Dr. Huberman outlines the five pillars of health, grounded in scientific research, which, when practiced daily, can have a profound impact on our ability to perform effectively each day. Initially, this focus is for one's own well-being, but it also has a lasting positive effect on personal and professional relationships.

Why am I sharing this with a school full of educators? As we approach a more stressful time of the year, the rituals, habits, and self-care practices we proactively adopt significantly influence our overall health, happiness, and effectiveness. In my view, every educator deserves to feel their best, and by doing so, they can provide the best for their students. I encourage you to enjoy the short podcast clip.

Something Professional 

November 14th is a Consultation Day

November 14th is a Consultation Day. There will be no specials that day, as well as no teacher led interventions, as interventionists and special area teachers will be in meetings all morning. 

Connection Survey...for kids! 

Last year, we held a staff meeting where we checked in on which students we felt we were connected to. From there we made some observations based on the data. 

It was mentioned by many that there would be a desire to survey students. This serves that purpose. 

Task: please use this survey, for grades 1-6. K, we are leaving your kids off of this at this time given being so new to QUEST at this point in the year. Please have students complete this by 11/9/23

Primary teachers: given your students are the youngest ones taking this survey, it is suggested that you do this whole group or in a guided way. Please reach out if you need support in administration. 

MTSS

Check out this really good slide-deck to better understand how to interpret MAP scores.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW!

We are two weeks into having a new process for MTSS. Here's what it has looked like thus far. As always, our caMp team is open to feedback if there are things you think will help us with our systems! Don't hesitate to reach out! 

Alumni Association Trivia Night

 

Week of 10/16/23

 Something Personal

One of the greatest perks of being a principal is getting to be in rooms and see great instruction happening, and getting to see our values lived out. I am  unable to capture all the awesome practices that I see in a single post, but check out some of the effective decisions happening around our school. 

Responsive Classroom in Music: 

Coach K, the former Duke Basketball coach used to run short practices that were packed with learning. Every second was accounted for and conditioning was infused into the pace of the drills. There was little time for sitting. 

I witnessed the same in a music classroom. Students were doing the work the entire time, and the teacher would stop, redirect, offer choice, offer a quick teaching point, and then get them right back into the learning.

In speaking with the teacher, this approach has stemmed from her learning around responsive classroom. Definitely check it out below! 

Text

Responsive classroom?

Zones of Regulation as musicians:

We all know we have an SEL Zones pilot occurring, but it was super cool to see it prior to a music lesson. Students had these private clips to self assess where they were emotionally, and what that meant for them as musicians. Can you imagine a world where all of our students know how to regulate their feelings? That level of emotional intelligence is incredible to consider. 

Inquiry and a call to action in math: 

I sat in a math lesson where the students went through an inquiry process, presented their learning, and then at the end they had to consider what action they could take as a result of their learning. Inquiry based school, action focused school...really great to see! 

Learning being brought to life by bringing in professionals: 

Not gonna lie, his voice is very distinct and it was quite cool to have Glenn Johnson at QUEST. More so, seeing a planner brought to life through an outside professional was powerful for student learning.

Learning should be transdisciplinary: 

I was invited down to check out these homes (engineering) made to withstand a dust storm (science standards), which tied to the book Esperanza Rising (ELA Standards). Let's have two cheers for transdisciplinary learning! 

Students being told who they are: 

These students pictured were being called artists in art, as the teacher models what great artists do. Math time? Call them mathematicians. Reading? Call them readers. Writing? Call them writers. This little language shift can have a big impact on a child! 

A team starting their meeting by connection before content: 

At a level meeting I attended, they started with the question "who is the most famous person you met." Connecting before content matters, and it sets a tone for a relaxed, psychologically safe meeting. If you read this far, you'll never guess who John met: Taylor Swift! Just kidding, but thanks for reading the entire post! 

Something professional

Remind? 

If you are not signed up for remind from the school lens, and you'd like those reminders, please use the link HERE .

SIT Updates: 

• The Halloween parade will go @ 9:30 on the side walk that follows the perimeter of the bus loop. We will keep this method for years to come, so we can expect it to be the same next year. If it rains, parents will be invited to sit on the bleachers in the gym and our parade can cut through the gym so parents can sit in the bleachers and see the kids go by.
• Our district has a Rapid Response Team. If you have larger questions about district safety, please bring these to a SIT rep. or Derek so we can bring these to this team.
• Morning meeting days we are experiencing breakfast line issues. Please enforce the following:   -No student should be eating in their classroom unsupervised. Students should go right to the breakfast line off the bus and go immediately back to class (no waiting for class unsupervised). -We will have three staff members sweeping hallways at the start of the meeting.

MTSS Update

We continue to work to improve our process based on your feedback. Thanks for giving us patience as we grow a new system. 

Consider this: you are seeing a red flag with a student and you want support. You want support so you fill out the consultation form. What happens after you click submit? 

• caMp meets on Tuesdays. We review the forms and within a day of our caMp meeting, you will be contacted for a sit down meeting.
• You will sit down for a consultation and action planning.
• You will receive a summary of the plan from the person who consulted with you! 

Staff Meeting Reminder 

When: 10/24 at 7:50 am

Where: See below. Go to your assigned location.

Week of 10/10/23

Something Personal

Last week, we were prompted to contemplate the concepts of dignity and belonging, which deeply resonated with me. There is nothing more crucial than ensuring that each of you feels a profound sense of belonging and, subsequently, fosters that feeling within our students and among each other.

I would argue that we excel in this goal, but in true QUEST fashion, we refuse to become complacent. Our school is indeed thriving, but we continue to evolve and enhance our approach, all thanks to your collective efforts. Thank you!

In our pursuit of establishing a culture of belonging, let's assess our progress in upholding our welcoming and affirming commitments. Take a moment to reflect on what you're excelling at and identify areas where there is room for growth.

As always, your dedication is greatly appreciated. Wishing the team a fantastic week ahead.

Something Professional 

Safety Q and A & Reflection

We have concluded our evacuation drills for this fall. If you'd like to provide feedback, or you have some ideas that can enhance our safety practices around evacuation, please use the form below (please note this is optional and it is not anonymous so that there can be follow up with your ideas if needed). 

Evacuation Drill Feedback Form

Reminders

• For those that are required to provide conferences, please remember to share your conference schedule with Derek. I've received a good handful so far! 
• If you are hosting an event at the school, feel free to reach out to Derek and Dave I. to request someone at the front door. If Mr. Inzana knows a couple weeks in advance he is always happy to have someone join.
• Student Council applications are available in the office!
• Musical applications will be ready on Monday! 
• You matter. Remember that.
• Picture day is next week! Lead learners should all go down for a photo as well--this goes in the yearbook! There will be no school-wide meeting Wednesday as a result. 

MTSS Update 

Last Friday you were able to enjoy five afternoon stations on MTSS. This input was important, but I wanted to add another layer of review for the MTSS Problem Solving process. Please check out the video below, which reviews the flow chart pictured below. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO!

Weekly Update for 10.2.23

 Team, 

Something Personal

We all bring our unique communication styles, needs, and approaches to our jobs. However, beneath these differences, we share a common human need for love and belonging. Despite this universal need, we often receive affirmation in different ways, similar to the concept of love languages. It is this diversity that makes us uniquely human.

As we enter October, we find ourselves a month into the school year, with nine months still ahead. Have you taken the time to reach out to families, regardless of your role, and celebrate their children? Have you considered how many colleagues you have affirmed in some way, contributing to a sense of belonging that they, and you, inherently desire? In a world where we are go-go-go, how easy it is to overlook the power of our support.

Education is a field that undergoes constant change, constantly evolving. No two years are the same, and this is both the challenge and the beauty of our work. However, the power of relationships remains constant. The need to feel affirmed and validated never shifts.

As we transition into October, I encourage all of us to express the uplifting thoughts we have about others. Don't just keep those thoughts to yourself, but find a way to share them! You never know the impact your positive feedback can have.

Something Professional

DEI Staff Meeting for 10/24: 

On 10/24 we will have a district organized staff meeting around DEI. Last year we did community circles, and this year we are doing breakout sessions based on an instructional strategy (that supports DEI). We need you to express your interest in breakout sessions. Please fill out the survey below so we can get it organized! 

FILL OUT THIS SURVEY ASAP!

Pledge and Student/Staff Rights

This was shared last year, but as a general reminder, a person has a right to not stand or remove their hat for the pledge. 

Vertical Team Meeting (staff meeting) Reminder: 

When: Tuesday, 10/10 at 8 am.

Where: QUEST Cafe

What: Meet with the vertical team you signed up for and then share out at the end

Tech Incentives!

Field Trips

If you are going on a field trip, including a walking field trip, please be sure to fill out the form two weeks prior (or earlier). There are stages of approval that can be missed if not submitted well in advance. 

If you needed something last minute please come chat and we will see what we can do, but please try to get it in early! 

Conferences: Goal Setting

As a reminder, QUEST does goal setting at our three-way conferences. Students set goals based on the Approaches to Learning, and this is documented. Please review this at level meetings, and you can find the actual documents on the Hub. See the picture to the right for what the link looks like on the Hub. 

Why do we do it this way?

Our school is a PYP school, and part of that is the idea that students are the agents of their own learning. Meaning, they should be part of the process. This looks different by level, but the documents we used were created to keep us all aligned.

 Conferences from last week

Conferences are officially allowed to begin after 10/10/23. With that being said, please be aware that security will be available at the school from 4-8 pm on 10/26 and 11/14 (these are the district scheduled nights that are on the school calendar). In addition, these are the two nights Derek will be in the building if you need additional support with your conference (although I can make time on other nights if you need me).  

If you decide to do conferences outside of these nights, 5 3/4 hours (revised from last week per union meeting) of available times outside of the school day, at various hours in order to be a convenience to families, should be scheduled. 

Please provide Derek with your conference schedule once you have it complete!

Weekly update for 9/25/23

 Something Personal

Who will you become in the next five years? Even more significant, what choices do you make each day that propel you in a positive direction?

I came across this thought-provoking challenge, or rather, these questions, in a recent podcast. It squarely focuses on how every daily decision we make carries a compounding impact, ultimately shaping the trajectory of our lives. Our daily choices—our routines, habits, and the daily grind—determine what we manifest and who we evolve into. This notion is undeniably powerful but can also be intimidating when we consider its application to every facet of our personal and professional lives.

This concept is reminiscent of the idea of compounding interest. Think of the moments when we warmly greet children at the door each day or send those uplifting notes and make celebratory phone calls to families. These are emotional deposits. When we encourage a child or colleague, affirming their potential, we make yet another emotional deposit. These emotional deposits accumulate and form strong relationships that significantly enhance learning for our children.

As I stroll through the halls of QUEST, I witness these daily emotional deposits in action all the time. It's genuinely one of the most gratifying aspects of my job. However, let us all bear in mind that as we continue making these daily choices, we are actively shaping the future of our school and, on a personal level, determining who we become. We are the driving force behind the success of QUEST, and together, we will keep the momentum going!

Something Professional

Halloween 2024

• The 31st will be our parade. This is a half day of school.
• We will parade around the bus loop (remaining on the sidewalk so we don't all collapse on one another like last year). 
• The parade will begin at 9:30. Parents will be told about this in the blog for October. 
• If it rains, we will walk the halls one pole at a time. 
• Costumes should be appropriate for school. No weapons, no masks that are going to completely frighten our youngest kids, and nothing that is offensive as outlined by the code of conduct. 

SIT Decision: Adjust Family Pickup Time

SIT functions like management team and SIT combined. Recently, someone requested that we look at moving our parent pickup back five minutes to 3:25. After talking with Tara and SIT members, all felt like this would be helpful and doable. 

Starting October 16th, the parent pickup announcement will go off at 3:25. Please make sure students are ready and head right down. This will be communicated to parents via the blog ahead of time. 

We met our goal: Save the Date! 

Way to go, QUEST, and thank you for your hard work in promoting our Fundraiser. In celebration, the principal, and hopefully a few others, will take some pies to the face in a quick assembly on October 27th from 2:30-3. Please save the date!

MTSS Update: RtI Problem Solving Meetings

Next week at our Superintendent's Conference Day, MTSS coaches and the Office of Instruction will review the MTSS problem solving process (think RtI meetings). Our goal is to make these meetings proactive and highly responsive for our students. 

As a school, you can expect that we will begin to consult with staff members prior to any meetings to ensure you have all the supports that are needed within a classroom. When you express the need, we would look at these at CAP and someone would 

More to come, but we have officially started our problem solving meetings where we are focused on revisits. 

Google Meet? 

Did you know that we no longer have all of our Zoom licenses? Google Meet is the perfect replacement! If a parent says they can only meet virtually, this would be the option to use.

Need support with it? Check out below: 

Watch Google Meet Quick Start for Parent Teacher Conferences Video for visual guidance to

1. Create the Meeting Link - Select New Meeting - Create a Meeting for Later
2. Copy that link and send to parents. Be sure use the same link you sent out to parents to start your meeting the night of conferences.
3. Admit parents to the meeting.
4. Enjoy! 

If any individual need further assistance, see your friendly instructional tech.  For additional resources be sure to check out our comprehensive Google Meet Tutorial Library Located on our Instructional Tech Hub

Conferences

Conferences are officially allowed to begin after 10/10/23. With that being said, please be aware that security will be available at the school from 4-8 pm on 10/26 and 11/14 (these are the district scheduled nights that are on the school calendar). In addition, these are the two nights Derek will be in the building if you need additional support with your conference (although I can make time on other nights if you need me).  

If you decide to do conferences outside of these nights, 5 1/2 hours of available times outside of the school day, at various hours in order to be a convenience to families, should be scheduled. 

Please provide Derek with your conference schedule once you have it complete!

Back-to-School Night Feedback

Thank you for those that took the time to share your thoughts with me. Long story short, I learned: 

• Back-to-school night worked for us structure wise.
• It worked for us time-wise.
• It mostly aligns with our school values. 

The data is below for those interested. You can expect next year to be planned in a similar way (date, time, structure), with small tweaks here and there based on the anecdotal responses that made sense and are feasible.

From the Data Office

We have created a video to share with your teachers about the new Classroom Attendance function (that causes an error for us).  The video includes a one-step workaround.  

 

IC Tips and Trick Page: HCSD Reporting and Compliance Support - Infinite Campus Tips & Tricks (google.com)

 

 

Thank you!