Carpenter`s Chatter - Carpenter Elementary School

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Carpenter’s Chatter
Principal ‘s Newsletter for Carpenter Elementary ield
April 6, 2015
*Early Release: On our last Early Release Day, our staff watched a video on
testing code of ethics in preparation for end of grade tests. We also facilitated
grade level planning as we focused on essential curriculum concepts that must
be taught before the year’s end. The PTA supplied us with a delicious pizza
luncheon. Many thanks to Shannon Flynn for organizing our staff luncheons
on behalf of the PTA this year.
*Honor A Teacher: Thank you for the nominations for Cary Chamber
of Commerce’s Honor A Teacher Award. We have received 43
nominations on 18 different teachers. The top five nominated teachers
were Jillian Cleveland, Tracie Newson, Tuyetnga Levesque, Gina
Esposito and Tammy Matthews. These teacher have submitted essays and
will be interviewed by business leaders. The winner will be announced
on May 11, 2015 at Regency Park. We will continue to read a nomination
on the intercom announcements each morning.
*Technology Tidbits: When I first came to Carpenter Elementary, all
the grade levels expressed an overwhelming desire to increase
technology tools. Many Cary schools have a Smartboard/Promethean
Board in every classroom. At Carpenter, we had three portable
Promethean Boards and two were broken. These boards have now been
fixed. In addition, with proceeds given from the YMCA and 519 Church
renting our building, we were able to purchase new technology. Thirtyeight new, all in one computers have been added to the computer lab and
media center. The computers that were in these spaces have been
redistributed throughout classrooms. In addition, ten Promethean Boards
are being added to our classrooms. Two interactive boards will be
installed in each grade level and the Art room.
*PTA’s Boosterthon: $13.70 per student is how much we received in
state and local funding this year for library books and technology. A laser
print cartridge for our media center’s printer costs over $300. This is just
one printer as each grade level has their own. Each K-3 teacher is required
to have a county issued IPad to do Mclass reading assessments. Did you
know that when one breaks, it is the school’s, not WCPSS’s,
responsibility to fix? We had a discipline situation on the bus last week
in which three books were destroyed when a chameleon smashed yogurt
all over another chameleon’s books. These three books were replaced out
of the $13.70 per student funding. Maintenance and replacement costs
like this take most of our media and technology funding. Can you
imagine three teachers sharing one laptop? Me neither, imagine our
students doing the same. WCPSS has committed to a 3 to 1 technology
plan which is three students to one student technology device. The plan
Important Dates
April 8th
Gr 3 Tr 1-3 Laurel Hill Trip
April 9th
5th Grade Middle
School Overview - 1:00 pm
Boosterthon Pep Rally
Grades K-2 - 1:50 pm
Grades 3-5 – 2:40 pm
April 14th
Internet Safety - 5-6:30 pm
April 17th
Run Club
Full Day of School
Boosterthon Fun Run
Track 3 9:30 – 10:30 am
Last Day for Track 3
April 20th
First Day Back for Track 4
Track 4 Boosterthon
Rep Rally - 2:40 pm
April 21st
Track 4 Case 21 Reading Test
April 22nd
Track 4 Case 21 Math Test
Chick-fil-A Night
April 23rd
Track 4 – Grade 5 - Case 21
Science Test
Science Festival
PTA Cultural Arts Program
Grades K-2 - 1:15 – Transient
Grades 3-5 - 2:15 - Transient
April 24th
Run Club
April 27th
Tracks 1-2 Interim Reports
Grades K-2 – 9:30 - Fun Run
Grades 3-5 – 10:40 – Fun Run
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The4CsofCarpenter–Creativity,Communication,CollaborationandCriticalThinking
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is several years out but we want to prepare Carpenter for this technology focus by purchasing as many student
devices as we can before then. The profits from the PTA Boosterthon will be used to purchase student laptops.
Please reach out to your friends, family, and neighbors to sponsor your child during a fun run. People pledge
money for each lap your child walks/runs up to 35 laps.
*Pastries with the Principal: If you missed last month’s Pastries with the Principal meeting, we discussed the
Teacher Working Conditions Survey from Spring 2014. Some measures that have been implemented to bring up
these scores include:
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establishment of a teacher led Leadership team that meets monthly
increase staff meetings from 4 times a year to 12 times a year to build community
staff celebrations are woven into the staff meeting structure
a menu of professional development sessions are offered
professional development is delivered by classroom teachers and geared towards their needs
plus/delta Google evaluations are done anonymously after each staff development session
weekly staff newsletter is written and issued by the principal
principal takes a more active role in discipline referrals
open door policy established by administrators
Although the 2014 TWC results preceded my leadership, I am very excited to be part of the changes at our
school. I am confident that the Spring 2016 TWC Survey will yield improvements.
*Teacher Request: Due to shifting enrollment, there will be many teacher assignment changes next year. Parents
can describe the type of learning style their child has and the corresponding teaching style desired. Parents can
also request “any teacher but..” with details. These anonymous comments will be taken into consideration while
making final placement decisions. Click here http://goo.gl/forms/kb3jkN6afo
*Inclement Weather: Our teachers are busy making plans for our inclement makeup days. There will be no
Specials on these days as the days are devoted to core curriculum. Many teachers will be facilitating two Reading
and two Math lessons to make up for lost time. We encourage students to come and stay all day;
April 17th
Full Day
Tracks 1, 2, and 3
Lunch is served
May 16th
½ day
Tracks 1, 3, and 4
No lunch
May 30th
Full day
Tracks 1, 3, and 4
Lunch is served
*PTA Science Festival: Don’t miss the fun, hands on Science learning for all families on April 23rd from 5:30
– 7:30 pm. This night is sponsored by a grant that our Instructional Resource Teacher won from Duke Energy.
*Testing Dates: End of Grade Tests are approaching soon and every group requires two adults; one to administer
the test and one to proctor. With the amount of 504 plans and IEPs that we have, it is not uncommon to have
over twenty testing groups at a time. Therefore, it is imperative that all students be present on their testing days
unless they are really sick. Please ensure these dates are kept free so that your child may be in attendance;
Test
Reading EOG – Grades 3-5
Math
EOG – Grades 3-5
Science EOG – Grade 5
Track 1
May 14th
May 15th
May 18th
Tracks 2, 3 and 4
June 10th
June 11th
June 12th
With Chameleon Pride and Spirit,
Fay Jones
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
The4CsofCarpenter–Creativity,Communication,CollaborationandCriticalThinking
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

The4CsofCarpenter–Creativity,Communication,CollaborationandCriticalThinking
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