Vocabulary Parade 2

On Friday, October 29th, we had our second annual Vocabulary Parade. This is an opportunity for our kids to keep the enthusiasm of dressing up for Halloween but still have it be educational. The students chose vocabulary words that they have been learning this year from math, science, social studies, and literature and brought them to life by dressing in a manner that showed the definition. The teachers even got into the act as well. The students then paraded around the bus lane and were judged based on how creative and well-designed their costume was. The winners were:

Pre-K: McKenzie O.

Kindergarten: Mr. Pinaire

1st Grade: Natalie A.

2nd Grade: Presley S.

3rd Grade: Dylan K.

4th Grade: Annalise S.

5th Grade: Dana B.

Special Ed.: Elijah

What songs do you want played at the dance?

We will be having our first KES school dance on Friday, November 5th from 6:00-8:00pm in the Kennedy gym. We want you to have the opportunity to choose what songs you would like to have played at the dance. If you have a song you would like to dance to on Friday, November 5th, please comment. All songs must be appropriate for school and we can not guarantee that they will be played, but please let us know what you would like to hear.

Dragon Dollars

Kennedy Elementary school is very excited about our new PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support) program. We instill in our students each day to be Ready, Respectful, and Responsible as soon as they board the bus in the morning until the second they get home from school. This year, we have really worked hard on showing exactly what it looks like to be Ready, Respectful and Responsible in each area of the school day (in the Hallway, on the Playground, in the Bathroom, etc). We have also shown them what it looks like to NOT be those 3 core values. We have done this through videos on our morning announcements (You can see them on our website www.barrrow.k12.ga.us/kes) and in the classroom. The students now are earning Dragon Dollars when they are “caught” being one of these 3 R’s! Every teacher and staff member, including our custodians and cafeteria workers are giving these dollars away when they see someone being Ready, Respectful, and Responsible. The students have now had the chance to spend their Dragon Dollars by making purchases through our Dragon Dollar Distribution Center. Every other week, students can order items ranging from Silly Bands and tattoos to Ice cream and Homework passes or even bigger items like lunch with a teacher or even a ticket to the Tailgate party or dance. The students fill out their order form and put the Dragon Dollars on the form and give it to their teacher. The teacher turns the orders into our Dragon Dollar Distribution (DDD) Center also known as Ms. Mays’s Special Friends Class by Wednesday. Ms. Mays’s class fills every order in less than 48 hours and has the items ready for delivery on Friday. Our PTO volunteers deliver these items on Friday to each classroom. This process has been beneficial to every student in our building because it is teaching them “life skills” that will make them a success in anything they choose to do. EVERY person who wants to be successful MUST be Ready, Respectful and Responsible to be that success as well as have the money management and organization skills. Every student is learning those money management skills and organization skills through this process. Ms. Mays’s class is learning job skills while they are also working on each of their individual goals. It really is an amazing process that you really need to see to truly appreciate it! Ms. Mays and Ms. Kathryn Bachman, our PBIS coach, have done a wonderful job to put this program in place, and I am very proud of them and our students for what they are learning through this. The cool thing is that they order form in now going ON-LINE this week! If that is not “real world” learning, I don’t know what is!

A Fabulous PTO Friday

I want to thank our "revitalized" PTO for a fabulous Friday. I don't know if you are aware that we have several KES parents that are working hard reignite our PTO. A couple of Fridays ago they provided breakfast muffins for our staff and today they put together one heck of a chili cookout. The teachers were so appreciative of all their hard work to get it planned and organized. And of course they loved the food!!! There were 6 kinds of chili with all the fixins, hot dogs, hamburgers, and plenty of desserts!! Not only did they do all that today, they also have organized a Subway night with the Bethlehem Subway for next Tuesday, October 26th. Subway will be donating $3.00 to KES for every combo meal sold from 4:00-8:00. That is a great deal. If that was not enough, they also got our dance almost completely planned out for November 5th! Great JOB PTO!!!!

Another Busy Week!

You would think having a week off would have had me ready for the "busy"ness of this past week, but with so many great things going on, it was hard to keep up.
Tuesday we had our first real PTO meeting which was really exciting because we are now starting to form a group with a plan and a mission. Thanks to those who stepped up to fill "interim" positions so we can have some structure. I also want to thank Leigh Sears and her PTO president at Russell Middle for coming and giving us some good advice.
We also did our second Data Team meeting on Tuesday. I am so proud of our teachers and students on the progress that they have made from the first formative to the first summative assessment in math. We had growth in EVERY CLASSROOM!!! Way to go KES students and teachers. I am so proud.
Wednesday we had early release day and conference day. Over 150 parents were in the building to conference with teachers to get an update on exactly where they child is progressing in each subject area. It was so crazy, that I forgot to have my teachers send home the report cards that day. Sorry parents for the confusion.
Thursday was our 1st Curriculum and Awards day. Over 220 parents came to see math lessons and see their children get awarded for their hard work. It was a joy to see students and parents working math problems together. I really loved it.
Friday, our special friends "Rocked" at Special Olympics, but what made it so neat was the cheering section that they got when they were leaving for the Olympics. Our pre-k, 4th and 5th graders lined the bus lane to wish them luck as they got on the bus. It was really cool! We ended the day with just under 100 students who had earned over 30 Dragon Dollars celebrating at the first KES Tailgate Party. It was a blast!
Next week will be just as busy as well. I have 13 more students who earned enough Dragon Dollars to eat lunch with. Our fundraiser will be ending on Friday . and I will learn if I have to spend a day on a tricycle! We will also be having a teacher appreciation cook out on Friday. It should be fantastic.
There is always something Remarkable happening at KES; you should come and visit!

Fundraiser

Our Fall fundraiser is off and running. This year we are using Believe Kids Fundraising. You can buy flowers, wrapping paper, candy, cookies, etc. through this program. Your child can earn wonderful prizes for selling the products. These prizes range from a charm necklace all the way up to a iPod Touch! This program also allows you to purchase by using their website http://www.shopbelieve.com/ . The students can send a link to family and friends throughout the world and have purchases made to help support KES. We do ask that the students remain safe when they sell by not going door to door, selling at night, or going alone.

This program also gives incentives for the teachers. If half of the class sells just 1 item, then the teacher receives $50 to purchase items from Believe!

If the school sells $7,000 worth of product, I will spend an entire day on a tricycle when I visit classes that day.

Please help us with this fundraiser as a percentage of the proceeds will go to purchase technology for the classrooms.

FALL BREAK!!

I love Fall Break!!! Don't get me wrong, I love being the principal at KES, but I really love having a Fall Break. It is a great time to step back and to reflect on a wonderful first 9 weeks and to look forward to an even better next 9 weeks. We have a lot to be excited about in the first 9 weeks.

1) Our Pre-K (Class of 2024)has been a wonderful new addition to the school. They are learning how to be Ready, Respectful, and Responsible just like the rest of the other Dragons. They are so excited to be at school each and every day, and they are learning so much.

2) We have lots of Kindergarten (Class of 2023)students who are doing a wonderful job on their Math. After the first summative assessment, over 92% of them are exceeding in their math.

3) Our First Grade (Class of 2022)is rolling as well. They have been doing a wonderful job with their writing. We have some really good authors that have filled the first grade hallway with great narratives.

4) The second grade (Class of 2021)did a superb job of learning about Solids, Liquids,and gases. We had some fantastic Tree Maps that classified objects by their state of matter.

5) Our third graders (Class of 2020)have produced some really fabulous writing samples. It is amazing to see how they are moving from really just one or two paragraphs to full-fledged stories with great plots and character development.

6) The fourth graders(Class of 2019)have done some amazing jobs in truly understanding the concepts of division of 3-digit by 2 digit numbers.

7) I am really proud of our 5th Graders (Class of 2018) because the job they have done to set an example for all the rest of the students. They have worked hard to show what it means to be Ready, Respectful, and Responsible.

8) Our Special Education program has also seen some serious progress with their student's education plans. Mrs. Mays's class was even turned into the Dragon Dollar Distribution Center a they filled orders for or Dragon Dollar purchases.

9) That's right Dragon Dollar Distribution Center. Over 4800 Dragon Dollars were spent in our first Dragon Dollar store. That is a lot of Dragon Dollars!!! and that is a lot of students being Ready, Respectful, and Responsible.

10) We also have a group of parents that have been wonderful volunteers. I have seen parents selling ice cream, making copies, putting labels on report cards, working with students on their reading, and even providing muffins to just say thanks!

It has been a great 9 weeks.

We also have some great things in store for the next 9 weeks as well.

- We have Awards Day and Math Day.

- We have Dragon Dollar store with the tailgate party.

- We will start our Rise and Shine program.

- We will have our Annual Vocabulary Parade.

- We will have our first school dance.

- We will being doing a Dad's Volunteer Day.

- We will also have our first Family night.

Plus lots more. It is going to be great, and I can't wait!

But first I am going to enjoy my Fall Break. I go to an All-you-can-eat Buffet each day and then I do some serious running! It is really a lot of fun. Enjoy yours!