October
20, 2008
Dear Staff,
We recently had a
Leadership Team meeting that focused on the state of student achievement
in the Kyrene School District. The Leadership Team consists of
administrators and leaders from all over the district and I wanted to
remind everyone that we all contribute to and take responsibility for
every student making continuous progress. Remember when Ron Clark told
us the stories about the cafeteria workers and custodians who helped
students learn spelling and vocabulary words? I wanted to keep that
inspirational message alive!
I pointed out that
we have groups of students who continually achieve lower than others.
Specifically, these are students from ethnic minority groups, special
education and English Language Learners. In addition, I also pointed
out to the group that achievement patterns for all students are erratic
and do not show a positive trend line.
We can never be
satisfied until all students—every single one—is making progress and
experiencing success. Let’s all be committed to seeing to it that this
happens so that Kyrene will be the place where every student, no matter
what background they come from, can achieve excellence and success. I
know we can do this and believe in all of us to make it happen!
David
District News
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Attention Kyrene Staff!
Here’s a reminder about the Annual Inspiration Award!!
All applications are due on October 24, 2008!!
Please
refer to the September 26th edition of the Insider for more
details.
Kyrene
1st Annual Inspiration Award!!
Were
you inspired by Ron Clark’s presentation to change your interactions
with students? Tell us how and be eligible to win some great prizes!
Application forms can
be found at
T:\Instructional Services Tools\Inspiration Award
and are due to Sandy Anderson,
sander@kyrene.org or Mail Stop #7 on or before 4:30 pm on October
24, 2008!
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Inspiration Award Prize Descriptions 2008-09
Two
Grand Prize Winners:
An expense paid trip to attend the
Ron Clark Academy’s Educator Conference
(details below)
One
First Prize Winner:
Full (in-state) Conference Fee (up to $400) to support
the winner’s
Professional Growth Plan
10
Second Prize Winners:
One copy each of:
The Essential 55: An Award-winning Educator’s Rules
for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child, and
Ron Clark’s
blockbuster book of how to manage a classroom.
10 Third Prizes:
Once copy each of the film, The Ron Clark Story teacher Ron Clark
(Matthew Perry, in an Emmy-nominated role) is full of hope as he leaves the familiarity of his hometown for New York City's
provocative and volatile inner-city public school system.
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Two
Grand Prize Winners Will Receive:
An expense paid trip to attend the Ron Clark Academy’s Educator
Conference from February 6-8, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia. Award
includes:
1st Class
Round trip ticket from Phoenix to Atlanta (donated by a Kyrene Family)
» Hotel room for two
nights
» One Professional
Growth Day (Guest Teacher or Support Staff Substitute)
» Conference Fee
Friday Night,
February 6, 7:30—10:30 pm: Conference Kick Off and Movie Night: Attendees will hear a
keynote address by Ron Clark, followed by a viewing of the
Emmy-nominated movie, The Ron Clark
Story. Dinner will not be provided, but refreshments will be
served.
Saturday, February 7,
8:00 am—5:30 pm: Concurrent Workshop Session: Participants will rotate through staff
development workshops taught by Ron Clark, Kim Bearden, and other
members of the RCA faculty. For complete bios of the RCA faculty,
please visit
www.ronclarkacademy.com
A continental breakfast and lunch will be served. Workshops will
include:
-
How to Have a
Creative Classroom in a Time of Increased Accountability
-
Vocabulary and
Reading in the Content Areas
-
Hands-on Science
-
Ron Clark’s Math
Methods for Raising Test Scores!
-
Innovative Strategies
for Connecting with Parents and the Community
-
Setting Student
Expectations to Foster Excellence
-
Implementing the
Essential 55 and more!
Visit to The Ron
Clark Academy: Throughout the day,
buses will bring attendees to The Ron Clark Academy for tours of the
school, led by RCA students and staff. Students will also perform.
While at the Academy, participants will observe Ron Clark teaching math
and social studies lessons and will have the opportunity to interact
with him and his students.
Saturday Night,
February 7, 8:00—11:00 pm: Prom Night:
Take a walk down memory lane at the RCA Prom Night. Join the staff in
your favorite prom outfit—taffeta and polyester are highly encouraged.
Complete against Ron in the dance contest; have a prom picture made with
Ron, or campaign for Prom King or Queen. It will be a night to remember!
Sunday Morning,
February 8, 9:00—11:00 am:
Conference Wrap-up and Giveaway Session: Led by Ron Clark,
this session will tie together all that was learned throughout the
conference. Breakfast will be served, and there will be great giveaways
and surprises for all!
New Feature – Amend Absence Requests
In
the past, support staff and administrators who submitted an absence
request through iVisions weren’t able to amend the request once it was
submitted. We have worked with Visions to enhance this module so now
employees can amend a request once it has been submitted and/or
approved. Simply log into iVsions, click on Employee Resources,
Attendance. At the bottom of the page, you will now see the option to
Modify a Request. Requests can be modified either prior to the day
used, or upon your return to work. Any modification must still go
through the approval process. For example, if you plan to take 5 days
of vacation, but return 1 day early, you can modify this request to be
for only 4 days. You will get an email response once your supervisor
approves this change and it will be posted by payroll.
Please remember, all
support staff and administrators should be reporting their planned and
unplanned absences through iVisions. In addition, school based support
staff must call into Subfinder when they will be out. If you have
specific questions about subfinder and when it should be used, please
contact Kathleen Jett at 480-783-4006
Print Shop Goes “Paperless”!
The Print Shop is
now requesting that all print shop orders be submitted using
Navigate, the online print shop ordering system. This will not
affect many users, as over 97% of the 2,000+ orders the print shop
receive each month are placed through Navigate. It is time, however,
that the remaining users hop on board and begin to use this wonderful
system that streamlines the ordering and accounting processes. The
benefits of using Navigate include: flexible ordering, emailed order
status updates, order tracking and instant job pricing. You can submit
your orders two ways; electronic or hardcopy.
Electronic ordering
allows you the option to upload almost any file type for them to print
(Word/PDF/Excel/Publisher/Power Point). Or as an alternative, you can
use the scanner that is attached to the large copier in your school’s
work room to ‘digitize’ your hardcopy originals as a PDF file and upload
that file when you fill out the online order form.
Hardcopy ordering
lets you fill out an online order form and print out the job ticket when
completed. Attach this ticket to your hard copy originals and send the
order through the interoffice mail as you currently do with the ‘NCR’
order forms.
The old ‘NCR’ order
forms will no longer be printed, stocked or accepted at the print shop.
If you encounter any problems while using Navigate, please feel free to
contact Kris Cuyler or Ryan Stratton at x4295 or at email them at
printshop@kyrene.org.
Informational Meeting for ASU’s DELTA Doctoral Program in Educational
Leadership
There will
be an informational meeting to learn more about ASU’s DELTA Doctoral
Program in Educational Leadership on November 20, 2008. This meeting
will be held at the Kyrene District Office from
4:30-5:30 pm. The DELTA
(Dynamic Educational Leadership for Teachers and Administrators)
doctoral program is an executive leadership educational program
designed for practicing professionals seeking an alternative to
traditional graduate programs. If you are interested in attending this
informational session, please email Patty Hineman at
phineman@kyrene.org.
School
News
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Kyrene de las Brisas
finalists for Green Hero Award
Since 2002, the
teachers and staff at Kyrene de las Brisas, have been continually
educating themselves how to help the environment. The changes
implemented over the years have created a sense of pride. Principal
Christie Winkelmann and the Brisas school community truly care about the
earth.
Because of their
efforts, they are one of five finalists for the Green Hero Award in the
K-12 schools division as chosen by the Global Institute of
Sustainability at Arizona State University. Voting is taking place
online at
www.azcentral.com and the winner will receive a $2,500 Safeway gift
card.
Among other things,
students took first place in a recycling contest after collecting 4 tons
of paper, and a year later outdid themselves by getting the community
involved and recycling 30 tons of paper. Last year they installed an
irrigation system for their garden.
"The students are
most excited (about recycling) because it's something we can do," said
Mary Jo Boergers, co-coordinator for the school's paper recycling. "They
can also see the visible results of the papers piling in the recycle
bin, the water bottles expanding in giant plastic bags and the mountain
of plastic shopping bags."
Kyrene de las Brisas
was also recognized by AZ Schools, "Making a Difference" with
information on the program and how to vote listed on their website.
Good luck Brisas and
don't forget to cast your vote!!
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