GVES Superkid News
10/14/20
Our Motto: Today and every day, be your own superhero!
Principal Pantology
Hello GVES families! Welcome to our first newsletter of the year. We are so happy to be back with our students in person and are excited to provide you with news from our school. This year our news topics are going to be extended to include all the work our staff does at our school through committees that you may not be aware of. Each week our staff participates in the following committees:
● PBIS/SEL Team : Leads Positive, Behavior, Interventions and Strategy use and demonstration which includes social-emotional learning and restorative practices.
● I-CAT Team: Enhances, improves, and increases student & staff performance.
● Leadership Team: Shared leadership model for decision-making & academic support aimed at promoting the goals and initiatives of the school.
● Data-driven Instruction Team: This team leads the staff in taking a deep dive into our data, helping us to make sense of it and to strategically make better instructional decisions.
● Parent Engagement Team: Establishes & develops efforts to enhance parent involvement and help form mutually benefiting relationships within the GVES community.
● Attendance Team: Monitors and supports absenteeism; shares successful strategies with staff and supports families with resources to ensure students get to school each day.
● Social Team : acts as the connectors and celebrators for staff and students.
You will see in the newsletter what each committee is currently working on and how it helps our students, families and staff reach the goals of our school.
I would like to let you all know that our start-up to school has been fantastic! Staff and students are so excited to be back and although our school day is much different, staff are diligently working to provide the most effective instruction tailored to the needs of our students. For this
year, our 2 Instructional Priorities are as follows:
1. Ensuring that all students have access to grade level curriculum-scaffold up, not down
2. Using restorative practices throughout the day to support the whole child
If you didn’t know, we just started the Boys & Girls club here at GVES.
What this means for your child is that he/she can do his/her distance learning at school when not in the classroom. Students in the program can also come all day Fridays as well. We are trying to get as many students as possible to join so we can support learning for the full day.
Please call Kassidy Kirby at 623-8150 X561 if you want to get your child enrolled.
Expectations to help review at home
● Be Respectful
● Be Responsible
● Be Safe
● Be There, Be Ready
● Be Positive
PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions Supports Team
Hello parents! This year the PBIS Team is shaking things up a bit. If you haven’t already heard from your student(s), our
SuperKid Tickets have gone viral! Students now wear a lanyard that also serves as their pass around school. On the pass is a QR code where your student receives points by showing Responsibility, Respect and Safety in the different areas of our school. Having a common goal and language helps staff and students create a wonderful school environment where
we strive to help all feel safe and comfortable.
We also don’t want to forget fun! Stay tuned for our upcoming Spirit Week to celebrate all of the hard work our students have been doing! Our goal is not just about teaching academics, it’s about teaching the whole child.
“We need more human superheroes in our homes and communities;
we need teachers, caregivers and other adults who are sensitive,
courageous, aware and therefore naturally moved to take the
necessary actions to co-create nurturing environments where the next
generation of superheroes can emerge” Porrata, 2015.
For Our Families
Please know that we miss having all of you in our buildings. A parent’s active role
in his or her student’s education is one of the most powerful ingredients for that
student’s success. We know that the role is very different and even more active this
year with online learning. Please, don’t hesitate to reach out for support! Morning Mugs will be starting up again soon with a new spin; Morning Zooms! Due to current circumstances, our educational Morning Mugs will be through Zoom this year to ensure the safety of our speakers
and listeners. Stay tuned for upcoming topics and dates.
Attendance
We have been working with students, parents, teachers and the Boys and Girls Club to sign up students for our full day program. The students have a safe place to go, receive help with their school work, have nutritious meals, and enjoy enrichment activities.
DDI Data Driven Instruction Team The DDI team helps teachers use a tool called GoFormative that allows for instantaneous feedback for students. Our goal is to build self-direction in our
students by providing them with instant feedback that helps the student know exactly what their next action should be. Through our data collection, teachers look at each student’s individual needs and work to bridge any gaps that they have in their learning. Each day the students do a formative assessment in the form of an exit ticket that provides the teacher with
the means to drive their instruction based on the student's needs.
ICAT Instructional Consultation, Assessment Team
“Instructional Consultation, Assessment Teams:
The Systematic Search for Quality Instruction”
ICAT is a support structure for teachers to work shoulder to shoulder with a colleague and problem solve to find the best way to match what happens in the classroom to what individual students or groups of students need. We use collaboration and data based assessment and
decision making to lift and support each other. We also use ICAT to collect data to support intervention plans for special education and Read by Grade 3.
Critical Assumptions of ICAT teams:
● All students learn
● Early intervention is preferable
● The critical arena for intervention is the teacher-student relationship within the general education classroom
● The instructional match and setting is the focus of problem solving
Social
5 Things to ask your kids instead of “How was school?”
1. What made you smile today?
2. Who did you sit with at lunch?
3. If you could change one thing about today what would that be?
4. What was the hardest rule to follow today?
5. Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
(Reference: https://herviewfromhome.com/ )
“Behind every young child who believes in themselves is a parent who believed first.” ~Matthew Jacobson
Ask your child(ren) to tell you all about their Superkid Cards
and their Super Power Wheel from school.
