9.29

 

Hi All, 

I hope that you all enjoyed this glorious weekend! Holy moly...sometimes Vermont in the fall just knocks your socks off! 

I wanted to give a huge thank you to all who participated in the All School Meeting Fun. Also, huge kudos to the amazing class participation and engagement/rule following of our youngest students.

Shoutouts 

• Don't forget to send me your "shoutouts" for you colleagues. 
• Becky P. Thank you for your flexibility in supporting a student on Friday. 
• Doreen---thank you for staying late and working with me for the Bobcat Beat. 

News and Announcements 

• Looking for a Bus Rider--- Love a little extra money? We are looking for an adult or two to ride U3 on Monday and Friday afternoons. Please see me ASAP if you are interested in this opportunity.
• Fire Drill---We are required to do a full evacuation drill in the month of September. We will run our first Fire Drill at 9:40 tomorrow morning.
• You may announce this drill to your class so they know what to expect 
• Teachers please bring your red bags
• Students and teachers are to leave their classrooms using their Fire Route silently and meet at the back part of the field in class lines. 
• Lori will be checking in for attendance, Chuck and I will be clearing the building 
• Once the building is clear I will come out and report any observations to the kids (likely "Great work, you were quiet, etc.)
• Tuesday Evening at 6:15---There will be a board meeting at Calais Elementary School. This will be the meeting. The agenda for the meeting can be found here. If you are unable to attend in person please see the link here. 
• Friday Data Meetings- Ellen will be here to review and talk more about Form A. 
• Staff Meeting- Wednesday we will be reviewing data, debriefing the Fire Drill and learning more about Domain 2 of the new Danielson Framework. Here is a look forward at our staff meetings for October: 
• October 9th--- Zones of Regulation Training 
• October 16th--- Joelle VanLent 
• October 23---Zones of Regulation Training 
• October 30---No Meeting (5 Wednesday's in October)
• Goals---be thinking about your goals for the school year, having one goal focusing on Domain 2. We will talk more about this goal in our October 2 staff meeting. Goals and meetings will happen before the 15th of October.     

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday	9:40 Fire Drill
Tuesday	6:15 School Board Meeting at Calais
Wednesday	Food Service Training 2:15-4:30  Staff Meeting 3:15-4:45
Thursday	***Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown
Friday	No WIN–Team Meetings During Specials. Meetings will be held in the Literacy Intervention Room

Where is Celia?

Monday	Student Interviews 9:15-10:30 Meeting at 3:00
Tuesday	WCLT---Team meeting **Celia out until 1:00 Board meeting 6:15 at Calais
Wednesday	12:15-1:15 Superintendent Meeting
Thursday	10:00 Meeting with Susanne
Friday	8:15--- Celia and Lori Meeting  1:30--- Meeting with Nurse Erin

9.22

Hi All, 

I hope that you had a great weekend. We are squeezing every last bit of summer out of our weekend. What a glorious gift that fall is! 

                                              .      . 

This past Friday was a wild day and I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to everyone for supporting and stepping in to help out. Please remember that following through on rules, utilizing buddy classroom and prompting/recognizing positive behaviors are supportive to the entire system.   

Shoutouts

• To ALL for making picture day work. What a mess !?! You all did great. 
• Knowing we were short staffed, when her student went home sick, Michelle Meacham sought me out (Betsy) to see how she could help out.  Thanks Michelle for stepping up.  It really helps
• Huge thank you to Chuck and Lucia who have worked extra during this week that we've been short staffed 
• Thanks to Amber and Tyler to finding the positive and tapping in/out when needed. 
• Ashlyn and Megan--thank you for continuing our data/team meetings when I wasn't able to attend

News and Announcements 

• Celebration---Kate's class picked Maker's Day on Monday afternoon. Jess H will send an email with more details. The celebration will be whole school and from 2:45-3:15. Here is the schedule for you classes for the day: Special Celebration Schedule
• Bus Evacuation Drill---We will be holding bus riders to do the required Fall evacuation drill. The busses have been coming in earlier than usual so I hope this won't disrupt our morning too much! Amber, Tyler and I will be running this. 
• Whole School Meeting---We will meet for our first Whole School Meeting of the year on Friday Morning from 9:45-10:15. We will run the same abbreviated special schedule as tomorrow. 
• Wednesday is Open House---there will be no staff meeting. There will be a Chili/Cornbread dinner offered for staff in the library starting at 4:15. 
• Goals---be thinking about your goals for the school year, having one goal focusing on Domain 2. We will talk more about this goal in our October 2 staff meeting. Goals and meetings will happen before the 15th of October.     

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday	Bus Evacuation Drill  Maker's Day Monday Celebration---2:45-3:15 **See email from Jess H Steven will be in the building don't be surprised if we stop by your classroom!
Tuesday	**Lori out of building for conference
Wednesday	Open House 5:00-6:00
Thursday
Friday	All School Morning Meeting 9:45-10:15 No WIN–Team Meetings During Specials. Meetings will be held in the Literacy Intervention Room

Where is Celia?

Monday	9:00 Bus Evac Drills 12:00 Meeting 4:00 Curriculum Council---Celia leaving at 3:45.
Tuesday	8:15- Student Meeting 1:30-3:30 Steven in Building---Classroom Visits
Wednesday	12:15-1:15 Superintendent Meeting 1:30-2:30 Student Meeting 5:00-6:00 Open House
Thursday
Friday

9.15

  

Hi All, 

I hope that you enjoyed this glorious weekend. On Tuesday this week I acknowledge the 29th year of my Mother's passing. It's still so hard to believe that this impactful person has been gone for so long but yet she has. I have one generous ask of you to help me celebrate her memory if you're so inclined. Please pass a random act of kindness around our community; whether here or at school. My mother, Denise, was a joyful and kind person who always saw the good in the world. Thanks for considering helping lift the spirits of others in her honor. 

Shoutouts 

• Amber Burnell--Really stepped up on Friday when I turned my radio on channel 2 by mistake. 
• Kate Rob--thank you for such a rich conversation about student expectations and teaching on Friday. 
• Colby--you've been pulling double duty and showing up for two kids, thank you! 
• Bess and Dawn---thank you for saving the day and ensuring that Berlin PK didn't need to close on Friday. 
• Intervention Team---thanks for all your support in making data teams successful. 

***Please send me "shoutouts" for the blog! We're looking for lots each week. 

News and Announcements 

• After much feedback we will be going back to our old system of getting students to/from lunch. I appreciate you all giving a new system a try. I also acknowledge all that is on your plate and don't want to make it overflow for something small. 
• Moving forward: One duty person will be 3/4 at the end of the hallway by the nurse's office and one person will meet 5/6 in the hallway by the climbing wall. 
• I am not going to assign the 'pickup' person I will let you all sort that out. Tyler will be in the cafeteria as backup adult. 
• K-2 Students will be walked from Lunch/Recess by those on duty.
• 3-6 teachers will pick up their students at the end of their lunch block
• Note: If you are out and around during transition any support or acknowledgement of positive student behavior is very much appreciated. 
• Reminder: Tomorrow is Stuffy Day. Students will be allowed to bring their stuffy's out on the playground to "meet and greet." Your schedule will be the same. 
• Jessica Heinz sent out a revised School Celebration Protocol.  Here is the full information if you want to check it out again. Classroom Teachers please remember to fill out this form with celebration ideas. The PBiS team will choose between celebrations that "alter the schedule" and ones that can be done all day without a schedule change. 
• Reminder: If we have a celebration or a whole school meeting this is the schedule we will be following: WSM/Special Celebration Schedule.
• My apologies! I changed the Duty Schedule in real time and I know it messed a bunch of you up on Friday. I had to switch some things to accommodate our Friday meeting schedule. This is the most current duty schedule. 
• Joelle VanLent will be visiting this week all day on Wednesday. If you have a student who you would like extra consult on please let me know! She will also be with us at Staff Meeting on Wednesday. 
• Radios: Our new radios are in please let Lori know if you are missing one! 

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday	"Stuffy Day"--Meet and Greet During Recess ***Normal Schedule Steven will be in the building don't be surprised if we stop by your classroom!
Tuesday
Wednesday	Picture Day Joelle VanLent Visit--All Day Staff Meeting 3:15-4:45 Agenda
Thursday
Friday	No WIN–Team Meetings During Specials. Meetings will be held in the Literacy Intervention Room

Where is Celia?

Monday	8:15- 9:00-- Student Meeting 9:00-11:00 Classroom Visits
Tuesday	Leadership Team 8:30-12:30 *Celia Out of Building in the AM Winooski Valley Workgroup 1:30-4:30
Wednesday	8:15- Student Meeting 9:45-10:45 Student Team Meeting 12:15-1:15 Superintendent Meeting 1:30-2:30 Meeting with Arlyn and Principals 3:15-4:45 Staff Meeting 6:15-9:15 Schoolboard Meeting
Thursday	PBiS Team Meeting 8:15-8:45 Budget Work Session 1-3:30 *Celia Out of Building in the PM Student Meeting 3:45-4:45
Friday	8:15-9:00 Student Meeting

9.8

Hi All, 

First off, thank you very much for all the birthday wishes. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all that you are all doing to make sure that things are going smoothly and that students are feeling connected to their classmates and their wider school community. Extra recess was a blast, keep the paws coming! The more we prompt for and reinforce the behavior we want the more of it we see. 

Also, please remember if you say something, we mean it. For example, no talking during this transition. Stop. Re-Set. Practice until the transition is smooth and silent. I know this can be utterly exhausting however, it shows kids that we say what we mean. This applies in all settings. Another quick reminder: please be out and moving around a recess. Proximity and being within earshot of conversations eliminates a majority of recess snafus! Thank you to all who are getting their recess steps in. 

Shoutouts 

• Christine Gibson-Davis---thank you for stepping up to ride the bus on Tuesday/Thursday! 
• Amber Burnell---thank you for stepping up to ride the bus on Monday/Friday. 
• Note: We're looking for a bus rider on Wednesday! Any takers?
• Doreen and Lori---thank you for checking busses and making sure that all kids are getting where they need to go. 
• Jessie Dall and Megan Mitchell---thanks for support during dismissal 
• Betsy Vanderlip---thank you for all your help in Kindy 
• Freddie C---thank you for supporting a kiddo and a team

***Please send me "shoutouts" for the blog! We're looking for lots each week. 

News and Announcements 

• As we look towards our next celebration please remember to bring the filled tube to Lori, Lori will then announce it over the intercom. The classroom teacher of that grade will email details about the celebration before the next school day. Classroom teacher's will relay the celebration and timing. Please see the schedule for planning celebrations below: 
• Schedule:  

• 3rd (first few days)

• 5/6th (by the end of the first full week) 

• 2nd (first part of second week) 

• Kindergarten (second part of second week)

• 4th (first part of the third week) 

• 1st (second part of the third week) 

• PK (fourth week)

• Please see the WSM/Special Celebration Schedule as you think about your planning.

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday	Staff Meeting 3:15-4:45 Agenda
Thursday
Friday	No WIN–Team Meetings During Specials

Where is Celia?

Monday	Classroom Visits Curriculum Council 4:00-5:30 *leaving right as school gets out
Tuesday	8:15-8:45—Lori/Celia Meeting
Wednesday	12:15-1:15 Superintendent Meeting 3:15-4:45. Staff Meeting
Thursday	PBiS Team Meeting 8:15-8:45 Check in with Susanne 10:00-10:45 Steven in Building 10:30-12:00
Friday	WCUUSD LAU Plan Work Committee 8:00-9:00

9.2.24

 

Hi All, 

What a whirlwind first few days! You all did an incredible job. It was lovely to spend time in and out of your classrooms. The energy of the first week is so strong. Remember that we are focusing and will continue to focus on Creating Positive Learning Spaces much of the year. 

We looked at this in the spring but take a peek at the Danielson's Framework Domain 2. I've linked the new rubrics below:

https://danielsongroup.org/the-framework-for-teaching/

FYI: Rowan has a doctor's appointment at Berlin pediatrics at 9:15. We will come into school first and then head over to the office. I will then drop her off at her school. I should be back around 10:30 at the latest. 

Let's make it a great week! 

Celia 

Shoutouts

This section of the blog is a way that you can "shout out" your colleagues in a positive way. How to make a shoutout: 

• Send me an email/write a note, fill out this google form Shoutout Form

We will work on an additional shoutout system as we talked about during inservice. This is a simple place to start. 

News and Announcements

• BES Spirit Wear: https://berlinelementaryfall.itemorder.com/shop/home/. Grab your BES logo gear here! 
• Here is the link to this week's Staff Meeting Agenda
• Needs and Strategies---Here are some examples of needs and strategies. Here is the document we started. We will refine this week at staff meeting, I wanted to give it to you to look at early if you'd like. 
• De-Escalation Resource This is a great resource put out by PBIS. There are some simple tables with very actionable resources. 
  
• Team Meetings--
• Will meet during specials on Wednesday
• If you have a student with a 1:1 please expect to hear from Tyler or a special educator about setting up a team meeting to review the child(rens) plan. 
• Buddy Classroom---Buddy Class---Universal Sheet. Please fill out this sheet so that we know where you buddy classroom is. This is important for many in the building. 
• Request: Radios...please let Lori know no later than Tuesday at 12:00 if you are in need of a radio for your classroom. 
• Request: I will send out a school community email and would like to include photos from the first weeks of school. please upload photos to this folder: BES Photos

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday	No School
Tuesday
Wednesday	No WIN–Team Meetings During Specials Staff Meeting 3:15-4:45
Thursday
Friday

Where is Celia?

Monday	No School
Tuesday	Rowan/s Dr. Appointment—9:15. Back by 10:30
Wednesday	9:30—10:00—Elementary Principal’s Check-In 12:15-1:15 Superintendent Meeting 3:15-4:45. Staff Meeting
Thursday
Friday	8:15-8:45—Lori/Celia Meeting