Weekly Highlights:
It’s unfortunate that the many things teachers do decisions we make (teachers make an estimate of more than 3,000 decisions a day!) go unnoticed by the larger public. Which makes it all the more rewarding for me to share with you that Ms. Meenan has been named as one of five finalists in district 24 for the City’s Big Apple Award. Brimming with compassion and always ready to refine her craft, Ms. Meenan’s patient work with our ASD students is an inspiration to educators everywhere. Congratulations Ms. Meenan and we can’t wait to learn from you as 102 continues on our path to collaboration!
Things You Need to Know
AP Re-Organization: I am delighted to announce that Ms. Mintiens has agreed to join our staff as the new PreK to 2 assistant principal. Dedicated, hardworking, and most importantly, kind, Ms. Mintiens amazingly met all 4 priority criteria in our search for an AP: 1) She has up-to-date knowledge of TC Reading and Writing and Fundations; 2) she understands innovative approaches to literacy intervention; 3) she’s already proven as an assistant principal (at a top-ranked elementary school no less); and 4) she exemplifies 102’s 4 non-negotiable professional qualities everyday. (positive, student-centered, reflective, eager to learn)
Ms. Mintiens’ arrival gives me confidence to shift Mr. Borelli to lead some of 102’s most ambitious initiatives in grades 3-5, and the APs will transition to their new roles (and rooms) when Ms. Mintiens starts on 5/9.
5/21 Carnival: The 102 School Leadership Team is organizing our first-ever carnival and we need your help. We are looking for teachers and/or teacher teams to put together carnival games and activities, and anyone who’s interested should speak with Ms. O’Donnell. (This could be a great May class project for any grade…) We are also setting up information booths for programs in our school or the community, and if you have any ideas please speak with Ms. Martin. Anyone who can attend on 5/21 to lend a hand can receive up to two hours of per-session, and you please speak with Ms Delvecchio to discuss further.
Families will receive time-specific tickets: 9-10:30AM are reserved exclusively for grades PreK to 2, grades 3-5 are admitted from 10:30-12PM, and grades 6-8 students after 12:30PM. Students grade 6 and under must be accompanied by parents. The event closes at 2PM and we will schedule students volunteers throughout the day. All bounce houses, cotton candy, and popcorn are free, and students can earn tickets to pay for other games and food through exhibiting good behavior from 5/2 to 5/20. More information about the ticket-earning system as well as the carnival will be included in a staff memo Monday.
May Professional Learning: We will spend the majority of May learning about the programs we’ll use next year and June to actually plan for next year. Please see below for the most up to date PL calendar for May:
Email Supervisors In Case of Absences: I’ve made a request for staff to demonstrate the professional courtesy in emailing supervisors in case of absences once before, and it’s regrettable that I need to do so again. Let me be more clear this time by providing the rationale behind why it’s so important–but not contractually required–for you to do so. Skip to the next item if you already email me and cc APs when you are absent. (Thank you!)
Subcentral does not automatically generate emails/notices to secretaries and supervisors about staff that will be absent for the day. There is no glory in scheduling coverages: it is tedious and thankless work that is unnecessarily made more difficult when each supervisor has to log into the subcentral system to find out which teachers are absent and confirm which are already covered. The DOE’s Subcentral system was designed at a time when landline phone service was the primary and most efficient mode of communication: think about that.
If you’re still not convinced, imagine a scenario where you have to cancel an important lunch meeting with a family member, colleague, business partner, or perhaps your supervisor. Instead of texting or emailing the person directly to say you have to reschedule, you call the restaurant instead and ask them to pass the message along when the person you are to lunch with shows up to the restaurant alone. You’ve satisfied the restaurant’s cancellation policy, but probably not much else.
Things happen and there will always be times when we have to be absent. All I’m asking for is for all of us to do our best in making things easier for those who cover for us.
Sweet Pups Need You: Speaking of covering for those in times of need, thank you to everyone who informed us about two stray dogs that were roaming around our school lot Friday morning. Apparently the owner went away and the dogs were left without food and water. They were nothing but skin and bones when we found them, and I’ve never seen a bowl of water disappear so fast–a gallon in 10 seconds fast–when our kind staff brought them food and water. (Thank you Mr. Borelli, Ms. Delvechhio, Ms. Hassenbein, Mr. Rodriguez, and Ms. Beltran) We got them to Animal Control and I’m hoping that someone can adopt or at least foster them. Please spread the word; even in the backdrop against human cruelty they remain sweet and trusting the way only dogs do. Throughout the car ride they wouldn’t stop trying to come to the front seat to sit on my lap; it’s heartbreaking. Please email me if you can help.
mrkobot.com 