August 19, 2013

As I said on Friday, thank you for many, many jobs well done this week.  One can never underestimate the value of a good rest after a strong first week of school.

I will do a mid-week update regarding our first fourth-Monday faculty meeting so you know what choices there are and how to indicate your choice.  I'll also include some information on Open House, which will be on Wednesday, 8/28, and will begin at 6:30pm.

Other Notes

• The counselors worked hard to bring Rachel's Challenge to our school.  This effort toward a culture of caring in our school community will benefit all of us and our relationships.  I hope you are able to attend the community event on 8/22 at 7pm.
• Growth Plans are still coming in and looking very good.  Thank you. I have been making comments that you might not be able to see if you do not expect the "Element Questions" section on the Growth Plan.
• Jason is still waiting for TLC to install the necessary software on our printers.  If the software isn't installed by Monday morning, he will do his best to get them connected and working in your classrooms.
• Although it's not due until 10/4/13, I wanted to remind all of us about our required staff training.  Click here for the tracker and PowerPoints.

Teacher-to-Teacher Resources

Teacher sharing and collaboration affects student achievement, so thank you to those of you who shared so many resources via Outlook this week.  I have compiled them all in a Teacher Resources folder in our Faculty Handbook.

Out this Week
I have jury duty on Monday, so I will be out of the building on 8/19 (maybe longer).

I have great expectations for all that is possible during week two!
Jason

Rachel's Challenge

Our counselors have worked diligently to provide an opportunity for Hixson Middle School students and staff to participate in Rachel's Challenge this year.

We are very excited about this experience, and this email will explain the program and the schedule of events for next week, particularly, August 22.

Rachel's Challenge is a national program started by Rachel Scott's parents as a result of her tragic death at Columbine High School.  The message from her code of ethics about creating a culture of kindness within schools has since reached millions of students and staff members.  Rachel’s challenges are things like:

·         Dreaming Big and Believing in Yourself,

·         Being Kind to Others,

·         Practicing Positive Gossip,

·         Showing Appreciation to Those You Love, and

·         Being the Answer.

We invite you to visit www.rachelschallenge.org for more information or view this video to gain a better understanding of the work of the group.

On Thursday August 22 we will be hosting grade-level assemblies in the auditiorium.

• 7th grade-8:45-9:45
• 8th grade-10:15-11:15

In addition to the assemblies we will further our development with a Friends of Rachel training event during 6 & 7 hours that day.  This training incorporates 50 7th grade and 50 8th grade students with 10 staff members to receive training on what Rachel's Challenge might look like at Hixson. The 10 staff members will receive a separate notification for training purposes.

We will also host a community event that evening at 7pm to invite parents to play a role in our work at Hixson.  You are encouraged to attend.  Your presence will be a visual reminder to parents of our commitment to work on this together.