Daisy Daily for Week of January 29, 2018

Daisy Friends,

Whoa, are you ready for February?  (The shortest month makes its arrival this week.....)  January certainly zipped by!

Here are a few important highlights of the week ahead:

• Mon., Jan. 29: 7 pm, WHS Girls' Basketball PINK Game to benefit Cancer Awareness
• Tues., Jan. 30: 7 pm, Daisy PTO Meeting in the Cafe
• Wed., Jan. 31:
• 8 am EL Committee Meeting in Office
• 3:15-4:15 pm: Schoolwide PLC Meeting, featuring Literacy Night "Run-Through" Mtg.; Data Team Model Committee Meeting, etc.
• Thurs., Feb. 1, and Friday, Feb. 2: Restorative Practices Training at WHS (Numerous staff members involved)
• Thurs., Feb. 1: 6 pm--District-wide Social Media Presentation for adults, featuring keynote speaker Tom Pincince at Westbrook Middle School
• Fri., Feb. 2:
• "Sports/School Spirit" Day
• 1:45-2:45 pm: Theatre Works Assembly for all students and staff featuring "SkippyJon Jones Show" in Gym

Don't forget, next week is Parent/Teacher Conference Week with 1 pm Dismissal on both Tues., Feb. 6, and Thurs., Feb. 8.

Also, the 100th Day of School is (currently) Thursday, Feb. 8.  We are planning a 9:15 am Schoolwide "Good News" Assembly on that day to celebrate our 100th day together.  Please keep those pics of "100 days of learning" coming to Lesley Harrington!

Other important upcoming dates:

• "Sweethearts Dance" sponsored by Daisy PTO, Feb. 9
• Literacy Night--Feb. 15
• School Vacation Week--Feb. 19-23
• Book Fair--Week of Feb. 26
• Half-Day PD with 1 pm dismissal--March 8
• Full Day PD--March 9
• Math Night--March 22
• "Light on Westbrook" at Oxford Academy--March 24

Please continue to consult our Daisy Staff Calendar for all the latest updates!  If you haven't already bookmarked this link, please do so:

DAISY STAFF CALENDAR

Wishing all a marvelous week ahead!

Warmly,
Ruth

Daisy Daily for Week of January 22, 2018

"Using Students as Resources"

Some of our native Spanish speakers led their classmates 

during a recent Spanish class.

Daisy Friends,

Hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful weekend!

Thanks so much to all staff members who participated in Restorative Practice Training last week, and thanks, too, to all who supported their colleagues' attendance at this important training.  

Thanks, too, to all for the successful implementation of our revised schedule last week.  We tweaked times on a few individual duties, but, all-in-all, the improvements proved to work successfully.

Here are a few notes about the week ahead:

• We have a Daisy Leadership Team Mtg. at 8 am on Monday in the office.
• Our Westbrook High School Girls will host a PINK game at 7 pm on Monday at WHS.  The Lady Knights will play HK that evening and proceeds will benefit cancer research.  (Correction: This game is scheduled for NEXT Monday, Jan. 29!)
• LAS Links Testing continues this week, online, in Room 20, under Melissa Vazquez-McCoy's supervision.
• Our third- and fourth-grade students will participate in an SBAC Interim Math (Practice) Assessment in classrooms this week, according to this schedule:
• Grade 4:  Tues., Jan. 23, from 10:15-11:15 am.
• Grade 3:  Wed., Jan. 24, from 10-11 am.
• Liz Egan's (WMS Art Teacher) retirement party will take place this Thursday, Jan. 25, at 4 pm.

As always, please regularly check our Daisy Staff Calendar link at:

DAISY STAFF CALENDAR

Thanks and let's make it a great week!

Ruth

"Sports Pride" in third grade.

Daisy Daily for Week of January 15, 2018

We work hard and we play hard at Daisy!

Daisy Friends,

Hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful, long weekend!

Here are a few reminders re: the four-day week ahead:

• We will start our revised lunch/recess/duty schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 16.  (This was shared through Google docs as well as in hard copy to all staff members.)
• A lot of our staff members will be involved in Restorative Practice Training on Jan. 16, 17, 18 and 19.  We will be working to provide coverage through Kelly Services, but appreciate everyone's flexibility during this time.  We may need to cover some duties from within, so if we don't have subs for all duties, please talk to your team/colleagues about swapping duties on the days that you're away at Professional Development.
• Please join me in welcoming a new student teacher, who will join Michele Hammond in Music, starting on Jan. 17.  Her name is Julia Tackett and comes to us from a program of study at Connecticut College.
• LAS Links Testing will begin this week at Daisy.  A new feature this year is that these assessments are delivered online.  Our Bilingual teacher, Melissa Vazquez-McCoy, will be assessing our English Learners, so please be advised that service schedules may change during the next few weeks.

As always, please check our Daisy Staff Calendar for all events/details at the link below:

DAISY STAFF CALENDAR

Let's make it a great week!

Ruth

Colorful Veggies in the Cafe : )

Daisy Daily for Week of January 8, 2018

Ever wonder what happens on a

 SNOW DAY at Daisy???

Daisy Friends,

Hoping that everyone weathered the blizzard well and let's hope for a full week of school for the week ahead!

Please check your e-mail re: a newly-revised Lunch/Recess/Duty Schedule (revised on Jan. 5, 2018) that does NOT alter time in classrooms nor support schedules.  The link to this newly-revised schedule is also available here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1btxiZLsich7l9-v94TQp5Tv245VHii75YA3PBBPtH1E/edit?usp=sharing

Please take a look at this schedule to see how it may impact your students and please give feedback to me this week.  The plan is to adopt this new schedule to begin on Tuesday, January 16th.

A few notes about this week and the weeks ahead:

• Monday, Leadership Meeting in Office at 8 am
• Tuesday, BOE Meeting at 7 pm at WHS
• Wednesday, Department-Based PLCs, 3:15-4:15 pm
• Friday, Preschool Screening at 9 am and WECC/WELL Meeting in Staff Lunch Room from 10:30-11:30 am
• Next Monday, Jan. 15, is Martin Luther King Day/NO SCHOOL.
• Restorative Practice Training will take place next week in two separate sessions:  Jan. 16-17 and Jan. 18-19.

As always, please consult our Daisy Staff Calendar for all the dates/times at:

DAISY STAFF CALENDAR

WISHING YOU ALL A FABULOUS WEEK WITH OUR STUDENTS!

Warmly,

Ruth

Daisy Daily for Week of January 1, 2018

Our Staff has Spirit!!!

We had a record crowd at our Annual Sing-Along this year!

Daisy Friends,

I sincerely hope that all enjoyed a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  How is it that such a long  break always zips by so quickly?

Looking forward to having everyone back with us on Tuesday, Jan. 2, as we welcome our students back for the New Year!

A few reminders/updates:

• There will be a breakfast set up for all staff members on Tuesday in the Staff Room.  Please enjoy!  : )
• Please complete your slips to reserve your "Gift of Time" in the New Year. Alicia and Jackie will assist in scheduling these into my calendar.  (Please remember to give a few choices.)
• We've been exploring a way to tweak our lunch waves so that the 2nd/3rd grade group can have more time to eat, since it's our largest group. I'll e-mail out a proposed, adjusted schedule, seeking your feedback, for a possible revision.
• We have a Staff Meeting this Wed., Jan. 3, from 3:15-4:15 pm in the cafe.
• As always, please check the Daisy Staff Calendar for all Grade-Level Meetings, other meetings and special events at: 

DAISY STAFF CALENDAR

Let's make it a great week!
Ruth

Our elves decorating the front of the school.

Red/Green Day