January 4, 2010 Weekly Announcements

Monday
January 4

Tuesday
January 5

8:00, Instructional Leadership, West Main - Kevin

2:30, Meeting w/C. Green, Ad. Building - Kevin

Wednesday
January 6

9:30, Meeting K-College, Keeping the Doors Open - Kevin, Susan


2:40, Curriculum (Department) Meeting - Room 415

Thursday
January 7

7:30, Assistant Principal's Meeting, West Main - Maggie

3:30, Middle School Scheduling Committee, West Main

Friday
January 8

8:00, EdYes Planning Meeting - Tamela, Kevin, Vickie


I am looking for a student who has made significant improvement in their academic and behavioral record since the beginning of the year. If you have a student who you feel fits this description please forward the name to me.

Tamela will lead our curriculum meeting this Wednesday, core area leaders should plan for a 1/2 hour meeting as part of this time. Please submit your agenda to me ahead of time. Special area teachers will meet at their designated district location.

Condolences to Erin Kidman on the passing of her grandmother.

We welcome back Jennifer Pinckeny who returns after her maternity leave. Lisa Dewey has been ordered to bed rest by her doctor and will be on leave until she returns from her maternity period. Amy Sweaney joins us as a new hire in the computer applications classroom, please introduce yourself and offer her any assistance you can provide.

After discussing the extenda computer systems at our last leadership team, we decided to move ahead with a building wide implementation. This would put the system in each of the core content classrooms. If you have questions or concerns about this decision please touch base with me ASAP.

We want to start back with a PBS review, it will be amazing how much everyone will forget in a two week period. This is the primary agenda item for Monday's advisory. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do a review with all of your classes, also.

We introduce the school-wide read in advisory this week. Everyone should have their books at this point and the advisory plan for the week discusses the introduction of the book.

I am attaching a copy of an article that appeared in Education Week over the break. It discusses the states last minute legislation to be competitive for the Federal Stimulus dollars.

We will begin running the dental clinic in the building on Wednesday, we probably have over 200 students who applied for this service. The clinic will be housed in the small conference room behind the after school office. Students will be called out of class when it is their time for cleaning and exam. This is the only dental care many students will get.

December 14, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
December 14

3:00, PBLS Team Meeting Student Center

3:30 - 8:00, 7th grade basketball tournament games

Tuesday
December 15

7:30 Secondary Principal's Meeting, West Main - Kevin

Wednesday
December 16

3:00, Staff Holiday Party, Bennuccis

Thursday
December 17 - Assembly Schedule

Staff Holiday Luncheon, each lunch hour

12:30, Recruiting

1:30, Holiday Concert

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Carlotta's room.

Friday
December 18



We will host first round basketball tournament games on Monday. Our 7th Grade "b" team will play as will all the other schools in our league, games will run into the evening. 7th and 8th grade "a" teams will play at other schools on Tuesday and Thursday.

We will run our assembly schedule on Thursday, so that we can hold the holiday concert at 1:30. This will be a tier I activity so students must be on tier I, with no over dues and have an ID to attend the concert. Each team should have a plan for those who are not able to attend.

Errin Corstange class will have a pizza party in her classroom with her advisory class at 2:00. Her class had the greatest participation in the Hungry Howies fundraiser last month. She will provide a list of names of students who will be attending.

Our annual subscription to EdClass is due and Atiba tells me it is used very infrequently, so I am not planning to renew. If this is not the case please let me know.

All students should have been provided their grade level data for math and reading as indicated on the EdPerformance reports. This information is to be placed in their student planner as a means of reinforcing the information.

Thursday is the last day of the student advisory food drive which funnels into the greater Kalamazoo food drive. Keep promoting this in your advisory classes.

Points up reinforcement is scheduled this week. I have to make one change to Steve's posted plan. 7/8 team will do points up on Friday, 6th period. They were scheduled for Thursday, but we had to reschedule the concert, and it would be too much to do it all on the same day. This activity is for academic reinforcement. We will not impose the typical Tier I expectations, IDs and no overdue library books.

There is a sign up on the office door for the holiday luncheon. Bring a dish and enjoy lunch this day in the staff lounge.

We have a leadership meeting this week in Carlotta's room. There will be a dinner, promise!

If you would like to come into the building over the break, please see me. There will not be much custodial coverage over the two weeks.

December 7, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
December 7

2:40 Staff Meeting

Tuesday
December 8

7:30, Meeting w/S. Ellis - Kevin, Rivets, Nate

9:30, Points up Planning Meeting - Stephen, Susan, Mark, Melissa, Kevin

2:00, Middle School Principal's Meeting, West Main

3:30, Basketball, Hillside, 7th grade Home, 8th Grade Away

Wednesday
December 9

10:30, Planning Meeting w/Muralist - Kevin, Vickie, Errin, Megan, Elisha, Tamela

2:40, New Teacher PD, 415?

7:00, Holiday Concert, Loy Norrix

Thursday
December 10

10:30, Meeting w/Facilities - Kevin

3:30 Basketball, Linden Grove, 7th grade Home, 8th grade Away

Friday
December 11



We will meet for a 1 hour staff meeting Monday after school.

New student schedules are in you mailboxes. 1st day of a new marking period, have the students make a back-up copy in their planner (new ones are provided). Do not send students down to teh students center because they don't like their schedule. If there is a structural problem, i.e, missing a 3rd hour, then a student needs to see a counselor to get it resolved. E-mail a counselor and let them know a student wants to see them or have the students fill out a counselor request in the main office.

We will finalize planning for the points up recognition for the second marking period. This event will take place next week during 7th period. Each team will have a designated day for this event similar to what we did 1st marking period. We'll give you an update as soon as plans are finalized.

Most staff who nominated student for a Merit Recognition, weren't able to be present because of your class schedule. You should know, however, that the program was very nicely done and it was very powerful to read aloud all the wonderful things you had to say about our students.

November 30, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
November 30 (A)

7:30, Magnet Evaluation Site Visit

3:00, KEA Middle School Steering Committee Mtg., West Main - Kevin, Stephen

Tuesday
December 1 (B)

8:00, Leadership Meeting, West Main - Kevin

3:30, Basketball, Linden Grove, 7th grade - away, 8th grade - home

Wednesday
December 2 (A)

8:00, Interviews, Human Resources - Kevin

Thursday
December 3 (B)

7:30, Assistant Principal's Meeting, West Main - Maggie

3:30, Basketball, Maple St., 7th grade - away, 8th grade - home

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Rana's Room

5:30, Parent Advisory Meeting, Library

4:30, Recruitment Planning Meeting

Friday
December 4 (A)

Half day of school, AM schedule

PM Records

8:30, Merit Awards, Cafeteria


We will meet with magnet evaluators at in the office conference room initially on Monday. We probably won't get out into the building for classroom observations until about 2nd hour. Please keep your doors unlocked so that when we come to a classroom it appears welcoming. I want to say thanks to everyone in advance for their efforts to put our best foot forward on Monday.

Please be mindful of the directions from the counselors about completing grading. All grades should be posted by 3:00 on Friday afternoon. Please see Steve or Susan if there are any questions.

We will meet with 1st, 2nd and 3rd periods on Friday morning. There is no advisory on Friday.

Leadership will meet in Rana's room this Thursday afternoon.

Irving Smith and Dianne Kirby are team teaching in Jennifer Pinckney's class while she is out on her maternity leave. Jennifer plans on returning after the holiday break in January.

Our first Merit Awards program will be held this coming Friday. staff who are able, our encouraged to stop by and listen to student recognitions.

November 23, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
November 23

Tuesday
November 24

1:30, Staff/Student Volleyball Game


Wednesday
November 25 - Thanksgiving Break

Thursday
November 26 - Thanksgiving Break

Friday
November 27 - Thanksgiving Break

A reminder that we will follow the assembly schedule on Tuesday. This means we'll meet all of our classes, however the times have been adjusted. The bells should be adjusted for this plan. A copy of the schedule can be found on the shared drive.

Marla needs an approximate number of students who will be attending homework hub from each team each afternoon, so that she can place a snack order with Mrs. Harris. I going to ask team leaders to send her your best estimate, error on the high side.

I should have a lesson plan from everyone by Monday morning which will include the plan for November 30th. We expect our evaluation visit on the 30th to run from 7:30 to 12:00. Everyone should be prepared for a visit, but we probably will miss some classroom over the course of the morning.

The student advisory council will be facilitating the building effort to contribute to the holiday food drive, I'll ask everyone to promote this in advisory as this issue will hit many families and students over the holiday period.

Every team should have a plan to supervise and engage the students who are unable to attend the volleyball game on Tuesday because of Tier 1 status or overdue library books.

November 16, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday November 16

2:30, KEA Meeting, Room 415

3:00, PBLS Team Meeting

3:30, Memorial Garden Planting, Main Courtyard

3:30, Basketball, Portage West, 7th grade away, 8th grade home


Tuesday November 17

7:30, Secondary Principal's Meeting

11:30, Visit with Administrative Coach - Kevin

3:30, Basketball, Mattawan, 7th grade away, 8th grade home


Wednesday November 18 - Picture Re-take Day

2:45, Department Chairs Meeting, Office Conference Room

4:30, 3/3 Basketball planning meeting, Office Conference room


Thursday November 19


Friday November 20


At 3:30 on Monday we will recognize the passing of our colleague, Wendy Hotrum, in the center courtyard. Julie has had contact with her family and members will be present. There will a gathering at Brewsters after the ceremony. Wendy was a 6th grade science teacher who passed away last November from cancer

EdPerformance testing got screwed up slightly last week because of staff illness. I am attaching a new updated plan to finish testing baring everyone being healthy through the

Dr. Rice has assigned an administrative coach to work with secondary principals. Mr. Durso will visit with me on Tuesday. We will likely do a walk-through of the school during his visit.

We are scheduled for a site visit with the federal evaluators on Monday, November 30, from 7:30 - 12:00. We have to turn in lesson plans for this visit in by Monday, November 23 so central office can format materials for the visit. So next week I'll need everyone's lesson plan for at minimum three days (2 days the week of the 23rd and the plan for Monday the 30th) or just give me plans for both weeks in full. The plan must be in the template Tamela provided everyone at the beginning of the year.

Paul Murray will be joining us in 8th grade math this week. He will take over for Jennifer Pinckney who will start her maternity leave on Wednesday.

An FYI - there is a link on the Milwood website to get a copy of the metro schedule for this area. You access it from the parents tab.

November 9, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
November 9

Tuesday
November 10

2:00, Magnet Principal's Meeting

3:30, Basketball, Portage Central, 7th grade home, 8th grade away

5:00, Meeting w/L. Sarelis (Bond Rep.) - Kevin

7:00, KAMSC Parent Meeting, Back Lobby

Wednesday
November 11

1:30, Meeting w/Threads Church - Kevin

2:40, Departmental Team Meeting

Thursday
November 12

8:30, Meeting w/J. Schlage, B. Witzak - Kevin and Tamela

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Melanie's Room

3:30, Basketball, Hillside, 7th grade away, 8th grade home

Friday
November 13

6:00, Parkwood Hoopla


The parent conference attendance data is compiled -- we saw 434 of 676 parents for an attendance rate of 64%. Our rate was 57% for minority parents and 76% for non-minority parents. While this might seem low it represents the best data we have had at Milwood in recent years. A thank-you to everyone for this effort. Notable turn outs Hayes 89%, Young 87%, Oles 85%, Rocco 82%, Pauken 82%.

EdPerformance testing continues this week with 6/7 team Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Team 7 test on Thursday and Friday. Please be sure that students know what testing group they are in and when to report to testing. This would be the role of the advisory teacher. We are not starting the morning testing sessions until after advisory at 8:00, first hour. Maria McCarty provided directions to everyone on attendance records during this time.

Wednesday we are scheduled for department meetings. Again, core area will meet in room 415 as we continue discussion of curriculum in the context of the magnet plan. Other departments will meet with their departments in district conversations at the designated district locations. Again be sure to sign-in as all sessions are monitored for attendance.

I have heard from 6-7 staff who say they will play in the basketball game Friday night. We will play with the Maple St. teachers against the Parkwood teachers. There is still room on the roster.

We have a KAMSC parent meeting scheduled for Tuesday night, please promote this event especially in your advanced classes. While it affects 8th graders immediately, it wouldn't be bad information for 6th and 7th grade parents to get exposed to.

November 2, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday

November 2

2:40, Staff Meeting, room 415

Tuesday

November 3 - Election Day

8:00, Instructional Leadership, West Main - Kevin

3:30, Basketball, Maple St., 7th grade home, 8th grade away

Wednesday

November 4

8:30, DDA Training, KRESA - Maggie

9:00, Meeting w/Muralist - Vickie, Elisha, Errin, Kevin

2:30 Meeting w/J. Peabeck - Kevin

Thursday

November 5 - Picture Re-Take Day

7:30, Assistant Principal's Meeting, West Main - Maggie

3:30, Meeting with LKF, Ad. Bldg. - Kevin

3:30, Basketball, Portage North, 7th grade home, 8th grade away

6:00, Fall Sports Banquet

Friday

November 6 - No Students

8:30 - 3:00, Professional Development

I am attaching a copy of the EdPerformance testing schedule that will take place during the month of November. I met with department heads last week to work out this schedule, we thought it would be the least intrusive. Teams will need to break their students into 6 groups 1-6. Each group will have two testing sessions. Students will be out of class only as long as it takes them to test. We'll take a few minutes at staff meeting Monday to get this task together. Bring a student list of your team to the meeting.

Professional development on Friday will have two dimensions, a introduction to racism training and a continuation of our CHAMPS training. We will have lunch brought in so we'll go 8:30-11:30 have lunch and then go 12:00 - 3:00 in an afternoon session. We are starting a little late because of our presenters schedule

We are still looking for basketball players for the Nov. 13 game against the Parkwood staff. I have 4 players committed so far.

A reminder that Tuesday is an Election Day, don't forget to vote.

October 26, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
October 26

7:38, Points up Recognition, Team 8, Back Lobby

2:45, EdPerformance Planning Meeting, Office Conference Room - Julie, Kevin, Brad, Melissa

Tuesday
October 27

7:38, Points up Recognition, Team 7/8, Back Lobby

Wednesday
October 28

7:38, Points up Recognition, Team 7, Back Lobby

2:40, Departmental Meetings

Thursday
October 29

7:38, Points up Recognition, Team 6/7, Back Lobby

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Lisa's classroom

5:30, Parent Advisory Meeting, Library

Friday
October 30

7:38, Points up Recognition, 6, Back Lobby

3:00, Staff Bowling, Airway Lanes


We will continue pulling students for MEAP make-ups this week, We have to get 100% of students tested. We will conduct the MEAP raffle at 2:10 on Monday afternoon on channel 90, we will post the winners on daily announcements on Tuesday, for students who won't be able see the drawing live.

We will be meeting with all students in points up recognition this week. Please get your advisory to the back lobby ASAP at the start of the day to get the program going. We'd like to complete the program during the advisory time. If you have a student who is off team during advisory, make sure they get to attend during their teams program - there a a few of these kids in the building.

This week on Wednesday all teachers have departmental meetings scheduled. All core staff (math, science, social studies, ELA, SPED) will attend a meeting at Milwood. We will meet initially in room 415, together and then we will break out. All other staff will be meeting with their departments in district meetings at designated locations. Be sure to get your name on the sign-in. If you are not sure where to attend please see me.

I heard great things about Milwood effort over the weekend. Thanks to Brad for organizing our participation in the Campus Classic - I understand that the staff team of Jim, Ryan, Brad, Janel and Anna came in first place and that our student team also won their age division. Another note of thanks to Elisha and Brandi for organizing a volleyball outing to WMU on Friday night. Again I heard we had a great turnout and everyone had a great time watching the Broncos.

Student led conference reports are to be turned into Deb by Friday the 30th. I sent the report in an email attachment. You can still work on conferences this week. When you turn in the report also turn in the parent reflection form, which you should have reviewed. We will collate the feedback and present a report to the leadership team.

Reminder that we are still trying to finish up Aims testing, the EdPerformance testing window opens on November 2, computer lab usage will be difficult during the testing window.

Also remember that staff are invited to bowl a couple of games on Friday afternoon. It is a small thank-you for every one's hard work and perseverance. Oh, and were still looking for basketball players for November 13......let me know if you can give us a few minutes of playing time.

October 19, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
October 19

2:30, KEA Meeting, Room 415

3:00, PBLS Team Meeting, Student Center

Tuesday
October 20, MEAP testing - Schedule for remaining day - (3rd, 4th, 1st, 2nd, 7th periods)

Wednesday
October 21

3:45, Football, Maple St. Home (Loy Norrix)

5:00 - 8:00, Student Led Conferences

Thursday
October 22, MEAP testing - Schedule for remaining day (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 1st periods)

5:00 - 8:00, Student Led Conferences

Friday
October 23 1/2 Day PM Schedule

7:30, Meeting w/S. Ellis - Kevin and Rivets

12:00 - 3:00, Student Led Conferences

7:00, WMU, Volleyball Game

Saturday
October 24

9:00, Campus Classic 5K



MEAP testing continues this week on Tuesday and Thursday. Tamela will put out directions on make-up testing. We have over 100 students to do make-ups with so please pay attention to directions. Remind students to go straight to MEAP testing on Tuesday and Thursday.

Attendance reminder: mark classes that you don't meet all present on MEAP testing day. We'll mark absences from the office.

Only 6th graders will receive new schedules on Monday. Because these are the only students changing classes.

We will host volleyball tournament games on Monday and Tuesday this week.

New student planners will be distributed this week in advisory as we start a new marking period. Please make sure you incorporate the planner calendar into: lesson objectives, homework or assignments. It serves no purpose if teachers don't use it.

Jeff from facilities asked me to remind everyone that the new heat systems have an air intake vent on the side. If this vent is covered or if you place a cabinet in front of it, you will experience poor heat distribution.

We are looking for basketball players for a November 13 basketball game with the Parkwood Staff. Their PTO is hosting a fundraiser at Milwood and as part of the event there will be a basketball game between the Parkwood staff and a combined team from Maple and Milwood. e-mail me if you can play for a few minutes that night.

October 12, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
October 12

3:45, Cross Country, Portage West

Tuesday
October 13 MEAP Testing

1:00, Magnet Budget Meeting - Tamela, Kevin

3:30, Volleyball, Portage North, 7th grade Home, 8th grade Away

6:30, Meeting with Parkwood PTO - Kevin

Wednesday
October 14

7th grad Lunch, Meeting with 7th Grade Basketball Players, Rocco's room

3:45, Football, Portage North, Away

Thursday
October 15 MEAP Testing

8:30, Meeting with Facilities

8th Lunch, Meeting with 8th Grade Basketball players, Rocco's room

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Andrea's room

3:30, Volleyball, Linden Grove, 7th grade Away, 8th grade Home

Friday
October 16

1/2 day of school



Friday is the last day of the marking period. You'll receive specific directions about completing the card marking from counselors. Pay close attention to the deadlines.

Tuesday and Thursday are both MEAP testing days. Please pay close attention to directions and your responsibilities. Ask Tamela if you have any questions, we will collect your testing materials from you after each testing period. Make sure you have accounted for and returned all materials to the testing tubs.

Conference invitations must be completed by end of advisory on Monday. We will collect them in the morning on Monday to get them to the post office by Monday afternoon.

We will use the 1/2 day on Friday to prepare for the student-led conference period. Mary or I will need a copy of everyone's schedule.

If you are not receiving a feed on channel 90 or 100 please let Melissa know and cc me. It is important that everyone is getting information being communicated each morning.

A reminder to staff that IEP summaries are posted on the "S" drive. This is information about a student's disability. Every teacher should be familiar with this information.

October 5, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
October 5

2:40, Professional Development, Room 415

Tuesday
October 6

PBLS Data Day - Kai, Maggie, Lindsey, Melanie

8:00, Instructional Leadership, West Main - Kevin

3:30, Volleyball, Portage West, 7th Grade home, 8th Grade Away

3:45, Cross Country, Portage West, Away


Wednesday
October 7

7:30, County Middle School Principals' Meeting, KRESA - Kevin

3:45, Football, Mattawan, Home - Loy Norrix

Thursday
October 8 - Picture Day

7:30, Assistant Principals' Meeting, West Main - Maggie

2:45, Evaluation Meeting, Library - Kevin, Maggie and Probationary Staff


3:30, Volleyball, Mattawan, 7th Grade Away, 8th Grade Home

Friday
October 9

10:00, Lock Down Drill


Our professional development on Monday will focus on PBS, MEAP and Student Led-Conferencing. We'll start promptly at 2:40.

I need to see all 6th graders who didn't complete their literacy survey first thing Monday in the cafeteria during advisory time. You would have got a list of the students this would include in your mailbox on Friday.

AESOP will not take a substitute order if it is not placed within an hour before school starts.

E-mail me your advisorys' participation rate during spirit week. This would be the percentage of students who participated in the themed days last week. Please do this by Wednesday. We'll announce the winning class for a doughnut day on Friday.

After-school programming begins on Monday. There are a limited number of students starting out in the program. A couple of teams have inquired about getting their homework hubs included in the after school program, so that teachers might receive payment for their time after school. This will require that a team representative attend a meeting with Marla and myself.

I have set up a time on Thursday after school to meet with the probationary staff and outline the evaluation process for the coming school year. If you have a conflict please schedule a time with me to meet on a different date. If you are not sure of your status see me also.

We will be communicating the process for picture day through daily announcements, we are still working on how to best do this, without disrupting classes all day. I had October 8, listed as our picture day and the promotional materials say Oct. 9, so we'll clarify and get information communicated to everyone.

Vanessa will sit in administratively for Maggie on Tuesday as she works with the PBLS team in a data day

We will have a lock down Drill on Friday. This is a fairly simple drill. All students must be in a classroom with the door locked. Nobody may leave a classroom. We will continue to communicate instructions in daily announcements.

September 28, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
September 28

12:30, Meeting w/J. Warner - Kevin

Tuesday
September 29

3:45, Cross Country, Mattawan, Away

3:45, Volleyball, Hillside, 7th Away, 8th Home

Wednesday
September 30

9:45, Lebonte Grant Meeting, Room 409 - Kevin and Errin

12:45, PA dismissal to the gym for Pep Assembly will begin.

3:45, Football, Hillside, Away

Thursday
October 1

2:30, Web Page Training, Library

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Lorie's Classroom, 915

3:45, Volleyball, Linden Grove, 7th Home, 8th Away

4:00, Magnet Budget Meeting - Kevin

5:30, Parent Advisory Meeting, Library

Friday
October 2


Mary sent out revised plans for advisory lessons last week. I want to remind everyone that from time to time we will make adjustments in the plan for advisory because of topics or issues that come up. Your flexibility is appreciated.

Patricia Chalmers sent us information on the TLS innovative grants program. Her department will award $21,000 in innovative grants this year. No one grant will exceed more than $3,000. If your team has an idea they would like to pursue, please let me know. We probably can only submit one grant from our building.

I will place literacy surveys in teachers boxes, primarily 6th grade. They are for a student in your advisory or 1st period. It means that they participated in a summer program and the grant that funded the program has to have feedback on two questions on the survey. Please have the student in your class complete the survey and put them in my mailbox. They should take one minute to complete. I have to have them all back by end of school Tuesday.

There were a few teachers that indicated they were interested in the web page training. It will be this Thursday after school, in the library. If you are interested anyone may join us.

The building team will meet with individual teams on Monday to overview the building team process and the teams role in this process. Meetings will take place in room 807.

A reminder, windows need to be closed a the end of the day. Custodians should check but it helps if staff have a routine to close them. There were a number of windows open over the week end. There is no security in a classroom, we only have motion detectors in hallways.

September 21, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
September 21

2:30, KEA Meeting, Room 415

3:00, PBS Team Meets, Student Center

Tuesday
September 22

8:00, Orientation, WMU SPED pre-interns, Library

2:30, KCIS Team Meeting, Office Conference Room

3:45, Cross Country, Linden Grove, Away

3:45, Volleyball, Maple St., 7th Away, 8th Home

Wednesday
September 23

2:30, New Teacher Professional Development, Library

3:45, Football, Portage Central, Home

Thursday
September 24

3:45, Portage Central, 7th Home, 8th Away

6:30, Open House

Friday
September 25


A reminder to leadership team members, we will have lunch with Rick and Helen on Friday, September 25, during your lunch time.

Thursday is Open House. Teachers should be prepared for open house with some type of summary information about your class, course syllabus, classroom/curriculum expectations, etc. Teachers will be in their classrooms throughout the evening and students will be asked to walk their parents through their schedule. Remember you'll have many parents to talk with, be careful not to let one parent monopolize your time. If someone wants to have an in depth conversation see if you can't get them to schedule an appointment. I will have a parent advisory flyer that I'd like you to have available in your classrooms to promote our next parent advisory meeting.

New and probationary teachers, this Wednesday is the first mentoring meeting. Dawn and Vanessa will lead the mentoring process in our building this year.

Will all the department heads please see me this week so that we can to establish a meeting schedule for the year and to review the expectations for each department.

Monday we will hold elections is advisory this week to establish the representative for each advisory class. James will come on the air, channel 90 at 7:45 Monday to up date everyone. He'll need to know who the representative is by end of day Monday, so plan to communicate this information to him. He will meet with the 8th grade advisory leaders on Wednesday. They will be planning spirit week for next week.

Our first tier 1 event is just around the corner. Wednesday, September 30 we will have a last hour pep assembly. More details to come.

We will start taping the Friday drawing on Thursday in Rana's broadcasting class. This will allow us to run immediately at 7:35 on Fridays. It also means that students have to turn their tickets in by Thursday morning.

It will be our goal to run scrolled announcements on channel 100 everyday. About 9:30, Maria posts the lunch detention names so that kids can see who should be reporting to room 806 or a teachers class. It would be helpful if that was viewed just before the lunch transition. We change back to the daily scroll after lunch.

September 14, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
September 14

2:40, Staff Meeting, Room 415

Tuesday
September 15

8:00, Instructional Leadership Meeting, West Main - Kevin

Wednesday
September 16

3:45, Football, Portage West, away

Thursday
September 17

7:30 District Assistant Principal's Meeting

3:30, Milwood Leadership Team Meeting, Room 907

3:45, Volleyball, Maple St., 8th grade away, 7th grade home

Friday
September 18


Maggie forwarded everyone a data sheet that we need to continue to use this week to report attendance numbers. You'll do this and should begin taking attendance in Pinnacle. I just need you to do one more thing and that is to e-mail Maria McCarty your attendance number for advisory by 9:00. This is all information we must report to central office daily. If you have any questions regarding the use of Pinnacle please ask.

Community education uses our building as a site for adult classes in the evenings. They may use your classroom from time to time. They are generally very respectful and we have few problems, however if there is a concern over the use of your classroom forward the concern to me and we will get it resolved.

I will place some yellow tickets in all teacher mail boxes to be used for the Ipod drawing on Friday. Pass one out to any student who returned his or her registration materials by last Friday. Have them write their first and last name on the ticket and then collect them. Put them in an envelop and place them in my mailbox. This will be a separate drawing from regular Friday reinforcement.

If you need reinforcement tickets see Deb Blondin.

Teachers please send any extra planners, binders, tabs and the registrations forms of students who have not attended to the office, Monday morning.

We are looking for 4-5 teachers who would like to be trained in our web-site development. This would allow us to have more people adding and updating information on the school web-site. the training will be after school in a couple of weeks for about an hour. Send me an email if you are interested.

We have sponsored a golf team in the annual Parkwood golf outing which is a fundraiser for their 5th grade week of camp. It is next Sunday, September 20 in the afternoon. If any staff are interested please let me know and we'll get you singed up on team Milwood. It's a free round of golf. Let me know ASAP if you're interested.

We will be using both channel 100 and channel 90 in the mornings. Channel 90 comes out of the video lab and channel 100 comes out of my office. Monday we will introduce student advisory council to the students on channel 90. Tuesday -Thursday we'll be on channel 100 with announcements and then back to Channel 90 on Friday with a live drawing.

September 7, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
September 7 Labor Day

Tuesday
September 8 First day, 1/2 day

Meetings in the back lobby
8:20 - 8:40, Principal Team Meeting Team 8
8:50 - 9:10, Principal Team Meeting Team 7/8
9:20 - 9:40, Principal Team Meeting Team 7
9:50 - 10:35, Principal Team Meeting Team 6/7
10:15 - 10:35, Principal Team Meeting Team 6
(Team 6 dismisses to home from the back lobby)

Wednesday
September 10

Thursday
September 11
4:00, Meeting with LKF, Admin. Bldg. - Kevin

Friday
September 12
7:00, Meeting w/L. Johnson - Kevin and Dawn

7:35, Video Announcements

Tuesday, 1st day, all teachers are outside to the appropriate grade level door to collect their advisory class and bring them into the building no later than 7:25. Entry will begin as soon as you are ready - there is no hurry. Talk with them before you come into the building and be clear about your expectations for hall behavior.

Attendance will be taken on the 1st day using the advisory list. Simply put an "A" next to the name of any student not in attendance. Write the names of any new or additional students on this list. Someone will come to your class to pick up the attendance list at approximately 8:30.

We are on a tight schedule with 20 minute team meetings in the back lobby the first day, please have your students in the lobby on time so we can move along and get though our agenda.

We must offer a breakfast on the 1st day of school, so Brenetta will come around with a cart to advisory classes to offer a simple breakfast item (no choice) to students. This is only done on the first day.

A reminder about e-mail etiquette, do not use the district global e-mail system for any personal items. If it is work related run it by me first. This is a directive per Pat Chalmers.

Turn your video systems on and tuned into channel 90 before you go outside to get your students - we will run the first day announcement at 8:00 - if there is a problem or your system isn't running yet buddy up the teacher next door for the information.

Special education teachers should have a daily schedule established with the para-educators by the end of the week. Please e-mail me a copy of this schedule. It should identify break and lunch times, as well as classroom coverage.

Many of you have had questions regarding the lesson plan template Tamela sent you. If you have already submitted your plans this week you do not have to redo them into the template. We will update you on the progress of our online system hopefully this week.

I will provide information to both students and staff regarding the process for completing the first day packets and returning them to school during the first day broadcast.

June 8, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
June 8

7:45, 7A Honor Roll Recognition
8:45, 7B Honor Roll Recognition
9:40, 6 Honor Roll Recognition

6:30, New Student Orientation


Tuesday
June 9

11:30, Meeting w/B. Witzak - Kevin and Tamela

6:00, 8th Grade Recognition
7:00, 8th Grade End of Year Dance


Wednesday
June 10

1/2 Day PM Schedule "A Day"

11:00, KCIS Staff Luncheon


Thursday
June 11

1/2 Day PM Schedule "B Day"


Friday
June 12

8:00, End of Year Staff Breakfast, Library

12:00 - 4:00, Teacher Checkout


Monday morning we are planning on doing honors recognitions of our 6th and 7th graders. We will use the schedule outlined and will keep these as brief programs. Teachers will be asked to help with the program.

Loy Norrix is scheduled to do an athletic presentation at 8th grade lunch hour. It may bleed over into 6th period for select students.

Staff luncheon on Wednesday will begin with a brief team survey activity to complete our paperwork with KCIS.

We had an impressive display at the Epic Center Friday night as part of Art Hop. Congratulations to all who helped make that event happen.

Maggie and I will begin checking staff out of the building beginning at 12:00 on Friday. There is a sign up on my door. The check out form is attached to this weeks' announcements.

Everyone is expected to give an exam on Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday (6/10) A Day
7:35 4th Hour Exam
8:27 5th Hour Exam
9:11 6th Hour Exam
9:55 7th Hour Exam

Thursday (6/11) B day
7:35 1st Hour Exam
8:43 2nd Hour Exam
9:41 3rd Hour Exam

I can only stress the importance of teachers being visible in their hallway and at supervision areas. We want a safe and positive ending to the school year. Please walk out with students on the last half days to maintain supervision all the way to the buses.

June 1, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
June 1

2:40, Professional Development, Rm. 415

2:40, Curriculum Team Meeting, Library


Tuesday
June 2

Wednesday
June 3

Graduation -K-Central


Thursday
June 4

Graduation, Norrix

Friday
June 5

Art Hop


Steven and Ellen will be out of the building on Monday and Wednesday doing scheduling.

Friday is the last day of after-school program

We will meet in room 415 for professional development, Tamela e-mailed the curriculum writing team about meeting in the library, so we will have two meetings going on at the same time.

If you are leaving the building for another building next year please schedule a magnet inventory meeting with Atiba and Tamela. We have to provide a full accounting of curriculum supplies purchased from the magnet grant to central office.

Plan on a staff luncheon on Wednesday, June 10 after our 1/2 day of school. This is being provided by KCIS, there will be a short survey task just prior to lunch that we will ask everyone to do as a team.

We will have a pot-luck breakfast on Friday, June 12 to celebrate the close of the 2008-2009 school year at 8:00 in the library.

Orientation is scheduled for Monday, June 8 at 6:30. We have not had our best face forward on this process, as it was rescheduled numerous times. Any staff who can help us with this event please let Steven know. The help is greatly needed. An orientation meeting with 15 students from MLK and Winchell was added for Tuesday, June 9 during the school day. We will meet with this group of students in the library.

Maggie and I will begin checking staff out of their classrooms on Friday, June 12 beginning at 12:00 noon. Teachers will get a check out memo in the next day with an outline of responsibilities for closing out the school year. Everyone has to out by Friday, June 12 unless your scheduled through the next week. Atiba, Mark and Melissa will be responsible for the movement of all technology out of classrooms.

May 25, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
May 25 Memorial Day

10:00, Band in Kalamazoo Memorial Day Parade

Tuesday
May 26

Wednesday
May 27

9:00, KCIS Meeting

10:00, Disaster Drill

Thursday
May 28

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting

6:30, Middle School Orientation

Friday
May 29


We were selected to participate in the Safe and Civil Schools 2009 Summer Institute. This grant funded opportunity will allow the members of our MiBLSi team will get six days of a national training beginning on June 15.

Please review and be prepared for disaster drill on Wednesday. We are to do two of these yet this year. We have completed all of our fire drills for the year.

We will have a shortened leadership team meeting for this Thursday because of orientation. We will be discussing homework expectations for the coming year. In my meeting with Dr. Rice this past week he made it very clear that he has an expectation for middle schools to establish regular and reasonable homework requirements as part of our effort to improve achievement.

Steve is helping organize the orientation for Thursday night and is looking for staff to help out. If you can give us an hour on Thursday night please let him know. Remember this is our opportunity to make a first impression. We need to attend to any graffiti or poorly displayed hall items.

Teams should be making plans for students to begin cleaning out lockers for the end of the year. Remember we don't let students bring back packs the last days of school.

7th grades are on a field trips this Tuesday and Wednesday

Loy Norrix is trying to schedule a meeting with incoming 8th grade athletes. We have not identified a date as of yet.

I will be meeting with with mandatory summer school 8th graders on Wednesday, and will be pulling students out of class for this purpose.

May 18, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday May 18

7:45, Athletics Meeting - Kevin, April, Brad

9:00, Meeting w/T. Frison - Kevin

2:30, KEA Meeting, Room 415

3:00, Meeting w/Dr. Rice, Ad. Bldg. - Kevin

6:00, Parent Advisory Meeting


Tuesday May 19

7:30, Secondary Principal's Meeting, West Main - Kevin

11:00, Secondary School Improvement Planning Meeting - Kevin


Wednesday May 20

2:40, Professional Development, Room 415

Thursday May 21

8:00, Meeting w/B. Witzak, C. Williams - Kevin and Atiba

Friday May 22


We are scheduled for professional development on Wednesday. We will overview the school improvement plan and will get closure to the vocabulary work we began this year as topics for the meeting.

I will be meeting with 8th graders who have not met the promotion standard for high school to discuss their options for summer school and over the next week. We have 54 students in 8th grade who have not met the standard for promotion.

A thanks to Mary's leadership and all of the staff who helped out with video game night this past Friday. It went well and was popular with both the parents and the students who attended.

I posted a a reading list for summer on my office door. If you'd like to participate with any of the books listed put your name on the ones you're interested in and I will get a copy to you before school gets out.

We continue to wait on planning as the district is trying to clean up the enrollment issues at the middle school. Maple Street is over enrolled at this point and they have to move students to a Milwood or Linden. Staffing continues as we go into the second round of moves. All responses to the second posting must be to HR by Friday.

We discussed with the Leadership team that our summer back to school staff development will likely be the week of August 17. This is a little earlier than we wanted but we have to work around district plans. This will be a paid voluntary PD oppotunity.

A reminder that our last merit awards program will be Friday, June 5. Staff nominations are to be turned into Deb Blondin by Friday, May 22.

A large number of 6th graders will be out of the building on Thursday, because of the 6th grade city track meet.

May 11, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
May 11

8:00, Meeting w/T. Kendall, West Main - Kevin

2:40, Staff Meeting, Room 415

6:00, 8th Grade Farewell Meeting, Room 415

Tuesday
May 12

7:00, Spring Concert

Wednesday
May 13

8:00, School Improvement Plan Meeting - Rick, Helen, Atiba, Kevin, Tamela

3:00, Middle School Counselor's Meeting - West Main

Thursday
May 14

8:00, Magnet Principal's Meeting, Ad. Bldg. - Kevin

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Room 415

Friday
May 15

2:30, Meeting w/L. Johnson - Kevin and Dawn

5:30, Wii Night


I provided every teacher with a copy of their grade distribution for the 5th marking period. Please review the individual data - we will share building wide data and refer to it in our conversation at staff meeting Monday.

Please be reminded that the staff lounge is designated as a staff only area. It should not be used for student tutoring or student programing unless a special arrangement was made with me for a one time event, i.e., MEAP testing.

I have the name of a private tutor who is taking students for summer work. If you are in a conversation with a parent and they express an interest, let me know. This would be a paid tutor.

A congratulations to Rana and Lamont for their work with the students and the talent show. The Friday evening show was a huge success and greatly enjoyed by the parents.


This Wednesday is a Hungry Howies School Night for Milwood Magnet. The parent group will receive 10% of the receipts.

Orientations that were scheduled for this week are being rescheduled as we wait central office decision on enrollment placements and the new school boundaries.

May 4, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
May 4

9:00, MSTLC, Interview - Kevin

2:40, Professional Development

Tuesday
May 5 - Election Day

8:00, Leadership Meeting, West Main - Kevin

3:00, Meeting w/WMU Graduate Student - Kevin

Wednesday
May 6

7:30, Assistant Principal's Meeting, West Main - Maggie


Thursday
May 7

1:15, Talent Show (6th/7th Grade)

3:30, Meeting w/B. Witzak, C. Williams, Ad. Building - Kevin and Atiba

Friday
May 8

1:15, Talent Show (8th Grade)

6:30, Talent Show


We will meet after school on Monday for Professional development. Curriculum work/conversation will be the focus of this session.

We will continue promoting Tier 1 and library overdues this week. The same conditions apply for the talent show as did for the basketball game. We will dismiss students out of their 6th period class to attend the Talent Show. 6th and 7th grade will attend on Thursday and 8th grade will attend on Friday.

Tuesday is an election day don't forget to vote. The library renewal millage is up for vote along with the a proposal to fund the Metro system and one seat on the school board is open.

This is staff appreciation week, and we hope to say thank-you to everyone for all that they do to keep Milwood running smooth. We will be raffling items through the week and will have a luncheon in the staff lounge on Thursday.

We are scheduled to begin orientation visits with new in-coming students beginning the week of May 11. We will have visitors every morning, with building tours and a lunch before they leave for the day.

April 27, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
April 27

2:40, Staff Meeting, Room 415

6:00, Parent Advisory Meeting, Room 415

Tuesday
April 28

Wednesday
April 29

Thursday
April 30

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting

Friday
May 1 1/2 Day of School

Student/Staff Basketball Game

Rollerworld Skating Party


The National Magnet School Conference is this week in Charlotte, North Carolina. I will be attending this conference with our magnet team - Diane, Melanie, Atiba, and Tamela. We return to school on Thursday. Vickie will be subbing for me during the week.

Maggie will provide team data during Monday's staff meeting and these will be time for team conversations relative to the data and end of year plans.

We have a push on to get overdue library books turned in. Please remind students that this must happen by end of school on Wednesday if students want to attend the basketball game on Friday.

Thursday is the last day of April and any outstanding receipts from teacher budgets should have been turned in by then.

We follow an AM schedule on the Friday half-day. We have 1st, 2nd period with the game during 3rd hour. We will dismiss at the end of second hour and teams should make arrangements to have a designated room for students who are not tier 1 or have overdue library books.

There is summer school this year for 6th grade students and 8th grade students. 6th grade is voluntary with teacher recommendations and 8th grade is mandatory for students who have failed a semester in two or more core classes.

April 20, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
April 20

2:30, KEA meeting, Room 415

2:45, Office Staff Meeting

Tuesday
April 21

7:30, Secondary Principal's Meeting, West Main - Kevin

Wednesday
April 22

7:30, Assistant Principal's Meeting, West Main - Maggie

3:00, KCIS Meeting - Kevin, Mary, Terrell

Thursday
April 23

10:00, Meeting with 6th Team

10:45, Meeting with 7A Team

11:45, Meeting with 8A Team

Friday
April 24

10:45, Meeting with 7B Team

11:45, Meeting with 8B Team

3:00, Staffing Committee Meeting - Kevin, Maggie, Dawn, Carlotta



We have scheduled team meetings this week to review some end of year information, and to reinforce upcoming tier 1 activities. These are planned to go right into lunch periods. If your team has anything in particular you'd like to see on the agenda please let either Maggie or myself know.

Mary is working with parents planning a tier one event for Friday, March 15, a video game night there are a number of ways staff can help out. Please let Mary know if you're available to help out with any aspect this night or if you have a game system that you're willing to let us borrow for the night.

The staffing process for next year will begin this week. Carlotta and Dawn have agreed to join Maggie and myself on the building staffing committee. We will be reviewing candidates for posted positions in keeping with the magnet staffing process. This process will continue through the remainder of the school year as the district staffing process moves along and transfers begin to occur.

A reminder to please pass out a 6 week progress report to students in your 7th period class on Thursdays. We did discuss the cancellation of advisory in our leadership meeting this past week. An there is a group of the team that will try to pull together targeted advisory lessons for the last 4 Thursdays in May. We are still in the process of reviewing and considering an Advisory plan for 2009-2010.

April 13, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
April 13

9:00, Magnet Meeting - Kevin, Atiba, Tamela

2:40, Staff Meeting, Room 415

6:00, Parent Meeting

Tuesday
April 14

1:30, IEP, Sidelines - Kevin

2:00, Magnet Leadership Meeting, Ad. Bldg - Kevin

Wednesday
April 15

3:00, Middle School Counselor Meeting, West Main

Thursday
April 16

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Room 415

Friday
April 17

A reminder to review PBS expectations as we come back to school from a break. Mary will be sending out the scripts to revisit if it is helpful. Teams should discuss the process for this information being presented to students on team.

We have a staff meeting scheduled for Monday, it is suppose to be a department meeting day. We will meet together in room 415 to start the meeting.

Jeff Bell who is a financial advisor, will provide lunch on Thursday in the staff lounge to any staff member who'd like to drop in. He will also talk about issues related to the school employees retirement system.

Maggie will be sending out a PBS self-evaluation to all staff. We will use this data make strategic plans for next year. Please take a minute to complete it when you get it.

Please continue to remind students of the need for letters of intent. We have a number of students who have not responded to date.

I hope to get information out soon, about preparations we have to make for summer construction. It appears as though all the classrooms undergoing construction for the summer of 2009 will have to be boxed up and go into storage.

March 30, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
March 30

Tuesday
March 31

8A, WMU Trip

8:30, Technology Meeting w/High School Administration

5:30, Meeting w/Magnet Evaluators - Kevin, Atiba, Tamela, Melissa

Wednesday
April 1

7:30, Building Team Meeting

9:00, Meeting with Big Brothers/Sisters - Kevin, Mary

Thursday
April 2

8B, WMU trip

7:00, School Board Meeting - Kevin

Friday
April 3 No School Spring Break Begins!


We have a school social worker from Germany visiting the school on Thursday with Richard. She will be touring the school during the day.

We have a technology meeting with high school administrators on Tuesday and will be touring the school looking at instructional technology being used in the school. We may stop in classrooms to see demonstrated usage.

The school will be open during the spring break week if anyone needs to get in.

The federal evaluators are back in the district for the summative end of year evaluation this week. We will meet with them and present evidence of our progress, but they will not do a on-site visit.

Any master list transfer request must be turned into HR by end of the day on March 31 to be considered.

Our request for exercise equipment is suppose to go to the board on Thursday night, finally.

March 23, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
March 23

3:00, Grant Writing Meeting - Kevin, Mary, Diane

Tuesday
March 24

4:30, Rollerworld

Wednesday
March 25

3:00, KCIS Meeting

Thursday
March 26

8:30, Upward Bound Meeting, library

3:30, Leadership Meeting, room 415

Friday
March 27 - 1/2 day of School


We are scheduled to follow a PM schedule this coming Friday, 4th, 5th 6th and 7th hours. The bells will hopefully be adjusted to reflect the schedule. Times are in the handbook.

We are scheduled for PD in the afternoon on Friday. We have lunch coming in at 11:00 in the cafeteria and we will try to start PD by 11:30 and will end by 2:30. Rick and Helen will working with the staff on instructional strategies.

We will have contractors in the buildings after school for the next couple of weeks. They are running wire for the camera system that is being installed in all of the hallways and common areas.

I want to be clear about the procedure in the event of staff illness. I should be contacted by phone no later than 6:30 am. My home phone number is in the phone book and the staff handbook. My cell number is 217-0676. A copy of lesson the lesson plan should be in the staff members mailbox or left with Deb. If you have a medical appointment you should put it in writing(email) to Deb with a cc to me.

I am canceling the department head meeting for Monday afternoon because of a conflict in meetings.

Please turn your conference reports into Deb ASAP. We want to tabulate the results and get some feedback to everyone regarding the parent survey.

March 16, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
March 16

2:30, KEA meeting, room 415

Tuesday
March 17

8:30, Secondary Principal's meeting, ALP

5:00, 6th grade basketball, Parkwood-Upjohn, away

Wednesday
March 18

5:00, Student-led conferences

Thursday
March 19 1/2 day of school

12:00, 5:00, Student-led conferences

5:00, 6th grade championship game

Friday
March 20

7:00, School Dance


We begin the last trimester Monday. Students will have postings at the entry door informing them of their 1st hour teacher. Every 1st hour teacher should get 2 copies of the student schedules. Please do not send down students who don't like their schedule. Their is a process for seeing the counselor. I suggest having the students write down their schedule so that they have a back-up copy in your room should they loose the schedule. Sign up in the main office or an email from a classroom teacher.

We will clarify the tardy procedure with students during the announcements. Please review and reinforce this process with your students.

The student planners should be distributed this marking period through our social studies teachers as they have in the past.

We were scheduled to have a merit awards ceremony this Friday, however I'm not sure all of the planning and notification has been completed. It may have to be pushed back a week.

Leadership meeting for this week is canceled due to conferences. We will hold our next leadership meeting on Thursday, March 26.

Our goal for the coming conference period is 70%, this is the goal the staff set a few weeks back at our staff meeting.

We are scheduled for a 1/2 day AM schedule on Thursday (A).

March 9, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
March 9

2:40, Staff Meeting, Room 415

Tuesday
March 10

2:00, Magnet Leadership Meeting, Ad. Bldg. - Kevin

5:00, 6th Grade Basketball, Spring Valley, Home

Wednesday
March 11

3:00, Middle School Counselors Meeting

Thursday
March 12

8:30, Middle School Athletic Director's Meeting

6:00, Literacy Night

Friday
March 13 1/2 day of School


We complete the 4th marking period this Friday. As usual you'll have to have your grades posted by 3:30 on Friday.

We will meet for a brief staff meeting on Monday followed by department meetings.

We will use of the 1/2 day on Friday as a preparation for the student-led conference which will take place next week. All the invitations should have been left in the office. If you still have some please get them to Mary. Refer to Mary's email if you have any questions - it appears to be working better this time around.

We have approximately 31% of our students turning in letters of intent, we have to keep working on this. Please keep some blank letters available in your room and focus on your 1st hour class. Try to keep a running log of who has to still bring one in. Any letters that are brought in should be put in the office envelope on Deb's desk. We will hold another raffle this Friday to help with motivation.

Literacy night this Thursday, we will continue to encourage family participation all week. There is a dinner served that night, lots of activities please keep informing and inviting students to attend this evening.

March 2, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
March 2

3:00, Basketball Tournament Games, Milwood

3:30, Wrestling, Home

4:15, 8th grade Basketball, Mattawan @ Hillside

4:30, 7th grade basketball, Mattawan @ Portage West

Tuesday
March 3

3:00, 8th Grade Basketball @ Hillside

3:15, 7th Grade Basketball @ Portage Central

Wednesday
March 4

3:00, 8th Grade Basketball, Maple St. @ Milwood

4:30, 7th Grade Basketball, Paw Paw @ Portage West

Thursday
March 5

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting

5:00, 6th grade Basketball, Milwood El. - Home

5:30, Keeping the Door Open, Dinner- Open House, K-College

Friday
March 6

8:00, Instructional Leadership Meeting, West Main - Kevin

1:30, Upward Bound Meeting, Interested 8th Graders


We will be a host school for 8th grade girls basketball tournament games Monday through Thursday this week. So we will have a number of visitors coming in from other schools throughout the week.

We do not have a staff meeting this week as we have Literacy Night coming on Thursday, March 12. This event serves as a spring open house date and is a mandatory evening for all staff. Planning has been going on over the last few weeks and we will continue to update everyone regarding plans.

We will meet with leadership team this week. We will finalize all of the plans for student-led conferencing at this time. Maggie will also outline some PBS procedures aimed at curbing class tardiness that we want to institute the final 12 weeks of school.

Schedules should be completed for the student-led conference process. Most staff did a great job of getting these to Mary in a timely way. If you have not gotten her your schedule please communicate with her on Monday.

We have to continue working our letters of intent. All decisions regarding staffing and budgets will be based off of enrollment projections which are going to come from these letters. If students turn them into you please see that they are placed in the envelop on Deb's counter the day they come in.

We will work on recruiting 8th graders for the upward bound program, WMU will consider up to 20 students from our school. Ellen will be meeting with those who are interested on Friday at 1:30. the student must meet one of the following criteria: would be a first generation college graduate in their family, qualify for free or reduced lunch, struggle academically.

February 23, 2009

Monday
February 23

2:30, Department Heads Meeting

6:00, Parent Advisory Meeting

Tuesday
February 24

8:00, Evaluation Visit

3:00, Debriefing with Evaluation Team - Kevin, Atiba, Tamela

6:00, GEAR-UP night with 8th grade families


Wednesday
February 25

10:00, Lock Down Drill

7:00, Middle School Information Meeting, Cafeteria

Thursday
February 26

3:30, Wrestling, Hillside, Away

Friday
February 27 -- No School/Mid Winter Break


All across the state schools will be conducting lockdown Drills on Wednesday, February 25. I will review the purpose and the procedure with students on Wednesday morning announcements. We will then conduct our lockdown drill at 10:00. If you are unsure of anything please don't hesitate to ask questions.

We have federal evaluators in the building on Tuesday. Please take a minute to look at anything posted in your hallway. If there is torn or written on work please take a few minutes and clean or repost, it speaks to our building pride.

Information on the merit award was handed out last week. We need to see recommendations turned into Deb Blondin by Wednesday, February 25. This is a an opportunity to recognize students who are making positive strides in school.

Sibling conference schedules should have been completed. Mary will distribute them to everyone, we are now working on scheuling conferences with the remaining advisory students. This week you should use your advisory time to complete scheduling and to begin working on invitations to conferences. We will hold a brief informational broadcast at the beginning of advisory to communicate expectations and directions for the invitation.

We will host an information session on Milwood Magnet for parents of new middle school students this Wednesday night. If there are staff members who are able to help with this please let me know so we can factor this into our planning.

Department heads will meet in the conference room at 2:30 on Monday.

February 16, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
February 16

2:30, KEA meeting, rm. 415

3:00, Girl's Basketball, Portage Central, 7th home, 8th away

3:00, PBS Team Meeting

Tuesday
February 17

7:30, Secondary Principal's Meeting

3:30, Wrestling, Maple Street, away

Wednesday
February 18

8:00, Team Meeting 8B

8:45, Team Meeting 8A

9:50, Team Meeting 6

Thursday
February 19

8:00, Team Meeting, 7A

8:40, Team Meeting 7B

10:00, Band Program at Woods Lake

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, room 415

Friday
February 20

6:00, Winter Sports Banquet


Reminder that lesson plans for the magnet evaluation visit on the 24th of February are due by the end of school on Tuesday. I have to forward them to central office in preparation of evaluation binder. I will attach a copy of the lesson plan template we are currently using.

We did discuss at leadership team the need for a universal lesson planning structure. I will be bringing some models to the team in the coming weeks. If anyone has a strong interest or concept they would like to advocate for please see me. This is will be tied to the curriculum work we are currently doing.

We have two upcoming evening events just around the corner. On Tuesday, February 24th we have a GEAR UP event planned for our 8th graders. We will have an evening dinner with presentations from Loy Norrix and WMU on next steps in the academic career. On Wednesday, February 25th we will host an informational evening for new incoming students and their parents. If you are able to attend this evening would you please let me know so I can factor staff into plans for the evening.

Teachers have a KEA meeting Monday afternoon. I would urge any of you who have questions about the staffing process for next year with the new school to attend and get your questions answered and to understand the time line and process. This will be a difficult situation for the next few months. We don't have our staffing allocation set yet, we have just been given scenarios.

We have rescheduled our team meetings on expectations for Wednesday and Thursday this week. We are going to try a set up in the back lobby for these meetings using the new chairs that recently came in.

February 9, 2008 Weekly Announcements

Monday
February 9

2:40, Staff Meeting, Room 415

3:00, Girls Basketball, Portage West, 7th home, 8th away

4:45, Secretarial Interview - Kevin, Deb, Maggie

Tuesday
February 10

1:30, Meeting with Retained 8th Graders

3:30, Wrestling, Portage North, home

Wednesday
February 11

3:00, Girls Basketball, Portage North, 7th home, 8th away

Thursday
February 12

8:30, Band Performance - Edison

10:00, Band Performance - Washington

7:00, School Board Meeting

Friday
February 13


Our staff meeting on Monday will start out with some general overview information related to student-led conferencing and we will be breaking into departments and will continue our work toward building academic vocabularies.

8th grade teachers please inform those students who have been retained that Mr. Kendall will be here on Tuesday afternoon to address their concerns about promotion to high school. We will meet in the office conference room at 1:30 or just after the start of 7th period. If you are not sure who this is just let me know.

We are planning team meetings this week to review expectations and continue the conversation about getting students goal focused. These will likely occur on Tuesday and Wednesday, Maggie and I are coordinating times for this and a specific location. More information to come.

The Board of Education meeting for this Thursday night is to make a decision on the recommended plan to change middle school and high school boundaries. We should know where things stand by Thursday night.

I know it is getting old with Mr. Drummer pulling the band students out of class again to put on elementary school concerts but I will appreciate everyone's understanding. We are in a public relations effort trying to convey positive perspectives about the school as many new parents are wondering about the outcome of the boundary decision.

KVCC nursing students will begin working in the building again on Thursdays beginning this week.

February 2, 2009 Weekly Announcements

Monday
February 2

2:40, Professional Development, Rm. 415

3:00, Girls basketball, Hillside, 7th away, 8th home

Tuesday
February 3

8:00, Instructional Leadership, West Main - Kevin

7:00, Parent Meeting Parkwood Elementary

Wednesday
February 4

8:00, UBD Training, West Main - Tamela, Atiba

9:30 - Band Performance Parkwood Elementary

1:00 - Band Performance Milwood Elementary

Thursday
February 5

8:00, UBD Training, West Main - Tamela, Atiba

3:30, Leadership Team Meeting, Rm. 415

5:00, 6th grade basketball at Winchell

Friday
February 6

No Students, Professional Development



We will discuss the plan for Friday's professional development Monday during our building professional development. Monday's PD will focus on inquiry based learning, and we will revisit some our PBS data.

I am attaching a copy of the lesson plan template we will use in preparation for our February 24 magnet evaluation site visit. Reminder that the lesson plan is due in by the 17th. The evaluators will take a deeper look at just a few classes during this visit. We will determine which classes get a visit on the 24th.

Deb and Renee are providing me with information that indicates we are not accurately marking attendance around the building. The biggest problem is marking students present who are actually not here. This causes us to keep students on our building count who are actually not here. After 30 days of non-attendance we can remove them from our rolls, but if they are marked present in one class then they have to stay on. I will follow up with teachers individually who appear to be making mistakes.

Literacy Night is Thursday, March 12, 6:30 - 8:00, please put this on your calendar.

I have drawings for the courtyard renovations in my office. The plan is largely to start over and clear out most of the current landscaping and begin anew with patios, seating and new beds. I have to respond back to facilities by end of day on Monday. If you want to see what is on paper currently or have concerns or comments please let me know on Monday.