Goodbye, 2018!

Wow!  I cannot believe this is the last week of school before 2019! 
Anyone else feeling as if the kids are a little...squirrel-y?

Gatherings
I really enjoyed the two times we were able to gather this week!  Thank you for your attendance and attention at Thursday's 7:30am staff meeting.  If you were not on the Emergency Contact list in the new red folder, please do go on there now and submit your information.  

Thank you to the Milios Family for hosting and the Staff Engagement Committee for coordinating the wonderful staff holiday party.  I have been close to tears only a few times in this gig.  I must say, I felt one well up as I left the party.  I am filled with gratitude for the amazing people I get to work with.  Thank you for all you do!  You are impactful!

Emojoke 
Did you know that iPhones and non-iPhones don't exactly speak the same emoji language?  This new insight could have saved some awkward feelings this week when the innocent laughing and smiling emoji became a symbol and creepy faced emoji.  Glad this was clarified. 😌

If you have 9 min., I highly recommend you spend them on this sweet short film about kindness and perseverance. 

Evaluations this week
Hauer, Herberger

Coming up..

Wednesday, December 19th
~2:00-3:30pm Reasor at Threat Assessment Training (FRC)
~5:00-5:30pm Kindergarten Snowflake Extravaganza in Gym
~5:30-6:30pm PTO Craft Night

Thursday, December 20th
~8:00am Staff Mtg (I know.  I loved it so much, I want more time to gather. You don't want to miss this brief meeting.  I have a gift for you.)
~Holiday Luncheon   

• Kinder: Eat: 11:15-11:40; Play: 11:40-12:00
• First: Eat: 11:35-11:55; Play: 11:55-12:15
• Second & Third: Eat: 12:05-12:25; Play: 12:25-12:45
• Fourth & Fifth: Eat: 12:35-12:55; Play: 12:55-1:15

Friday, December 21st
Let the Mustangs run free!!! Plan ahead if you can and enjoy an early out.  Have a wonderful, well-deserved break!  Thank you for making 2018 incredible for me!  I cannot wait to see what 2019 brings!  The Staff Engagement Committee would love to showcase one of your New Year's Resolutions (personal or professional).  Please share it here. 

Together, we rise!  Thank you Mr. McAllister for stepping up BIG TIME!  The kids had a blast.

Please acknowledge you have read this post.   

Hello December!

Grading Information, from Heather Overton

Hey everyone! It's your friendly, neighborhood Grade Book Coordinator! 

Here are some important Grade Book dates and deadlines for Quarter 2:

• Thursday, December 13th - Early Release for Standards Report Preparation
• Friday, December 14th - Final Day for Specials Teachers to report grades
  • They have until 3:30pm
• Friday, December 21st - Last Day of Quarter 2
  • Attendance rolls over by 12pm
  • Teachers can print Standards Reports prior to leaving for Winter Break (if desired) 
  • Do not send them home yet for district consistency
• Friday, January 11th 
  • Standards Reports go home
  • It is not recommended to wait until this day to print
    • Quarter 2 Grade Book and Report Card closes at 5:00pm
      
    • All changes after this day will need to be formally submitted to Lynette Hammitt at the District Office.

Let Heather know how she can help you and if you have any questions!

A Fisk 301 Opportunity (sign up in TNL)
Do you want to take students on a field trip across the world, to outer space or back in time? Are you looking for interactive tools to lead lessons & deliver content in all subject areas? Google Expeditions & Nearpod are apps that allow just this! These apps are easy to use and provide prepared lessons that allow teachers to guide their class to new, exciting places right from the classroom. Nearpod is a tool that can also be used to deliver content and engaging lessons beyond "field-trips". There are thousands of lessons to brows through and easy to use features to create your own lessons. Nearpod allows for lesson delivery with features including, formative assessments, discussion protocols, assignments & more! Nearpod is a great tool to allow all students a "front-row" & opportunity for active participation. 
To check Nearpod out got to : https://nearpod.com/ 
**Please bring your charged teacher iPad and charged teacher Laptop
Training here at Marshall Tues, 3:45-5:45pm.


Holiday Luncheon
Dec 20th
Don't forget, the first annual (?) Holiday luncheon has been scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 20th.  Please be attentive to our somewhat modified schedule in order to accommodate our many guests, especially at the primary lunches. We will create a flyer to go home this week.  Feel free to include in your newsletters/blog as well.

• Kinder: Eat: 11:15-11:40; Play: 11:40-12:00
• First: Eat: 11:35-11:55; Play: 11:55-12:15
• Second & Third: Eat: 12:05-12:25; Play: 12:25-12:45
• Fourth & Fifth: Eat: 12:35-12:55; Play: 12:55-1:15

United Way Results


My message to Sylvia Johnson:
"Well we didn't reach our goal but we have improved participation from 1 (to my knowledge) in the past, to 30 donors!!!! Our goals was not monetary. It was a campaign to educated staff what United Way does in our community and the several ways we can assist to make that difference. Out of our 62 (certified and classified) staff members, we had 30 participate!! We didn't reach our ambitious 80% participation goal but we will take just shy of 50% (we have recorded, not sure if others went online)! My records indicate $1,017.00 was raised by Marshall staff alone. We are so proud of this! We almost reached the 2017 Total Leader $ of $1,100.00. Remarkable! I hope other schools were as successful! Have a great weekend." -JR
In 2017, 29 FUSD employees participated. We are 30 strong!!!!  

Don't forget about our TAX CREDIT CAMPAIGN (See post from Dec. 2nd for all info) 

Evaluation Week
Ryan, Coates

Coming up...

Monday, December 10th
~2:00-3:00pm Penca/Reasor (my eval)
~3:30-5:30pm Reasor at Discipline Matrix
~3/12 Days of Christmas Grinch Day 

Tuesday, December 11th
~3:45-5:45pm Technology 301 with Fisk
~5:30pm Governing Board Mtg
~4/12 Days of Christmas Frosty the      
           Snowman Day

Wednesday, December 12th
~5:00-6:00pm SEI Family Craft Night
~5/12 Days of Christmas Rocking 
          Around...socks

Thursday, December 13th
~7:30am Staff Mtg in Library PBIS and ER plan review
~11:50am Cake Decorating Parting in the gym
~12:25 Early Release
~4:00-7:00pm  Marshall's Holiday Party at Casa de Milios
~6/12 Days of Christmas Ugly Sweater Day (contest at Casa de Milios)

Friday, December 14th
~7/12 Days of Christmas Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Mindfulness is all over the news recently.  Are you practicing some of the techniques we learned in our yoga/mindfulness training?  

 Please acknowledge you have read this post.   

Was it a November to remember?

2018 is coming to an end
Where did you go, November 2018?  I don't know about the rest of you but I am stuck in a serious time warp!  I cannot seem to "snap out of it".  Time just continues to speed up!  

Hello December!
I hope you enjoyed your snow day. Please remember, we will now have school on April 23, 2019.  




Canned Food Drive
Our annual canned food drive collection will happen this Friday,  December 7th at 9am.  The cans collected at this year's drive will, once again, go to support Marshall families through our in-house Parenting Arizona office as well as St. Mary's Food Bank.  Thanks for encouraging your students to donate.  The winning  class wins a pizza party (thank you PTO)!

Tax Credit Campaign Why do I care so much about tax credit?  Because of the great, almost immeasurable value we place on every single tax credit dollar we receive.  Because of the amazing opportunities we are able to provide to you and your students with every tax credit dollar we expend.  Because of the huge benefit we are able to return to you and your classroom with every tax credit dollar we encumber for field-trips, materials, special one-of-a-kind extracurricular programs, residencies, curriculum, and even, on occasion, capital items.

I have learned through the years that almost every tax credit dollar that comes into the school comes after a direct personal appeal, a personal reminder, a personal plea that comes from one of us to the parents of our students, community stakeholders, close friends, and family members. Our community needs to be reminded and often retaught about the tax advantages that come from making a donation to our school.  And we've learned that this appeal is best heard and understood when it comes from you, from a member of our faculty and staff who understands the benefits our students derive from every single tax credit donation made to Marshall School.

I hope you'll make the effort to reach out to your students' parents, your friends, and your family members in the next few weeks to remind them about our need of their tax credit donations.

Below are a few items that many of us have found useful when making our annual appeals for tax credit donations.

This letter has been used with great success as a first step in making your direct appeals.  Please feel free to download it and revise it to suit your needs.

This flyer  was sent home earlier this week and will be sent home again and again between now and the mid-April tax filing deadline.  Feel free to download it to include with the letter you sent to your friends and family members.

This page on the Marshall School Blog provides some helpful additional information about what Arizona's public school tax credit program is and its advantages for tax payers.

Remember: tax credit works for anyone and everyone who pays taxes in the state of Arizona.  We must all work to secure these funds.  Thank you for your part in getting this information in the hands of our stakeholders.

Innovation Grants are here!!!!

The Flagstaff Unified School District Foundation (FUSDF) Teacher Innovation Fund supports teacher-designed programs aimed to improve student outcomes by unleashing the creativity, ingenuity, and expertise of staff across the Flagstaff Unified School District. FUSDF encourages and supports excellence in teaching by awarding grants, typically between $500 to $2,000, to FUSD staff for special and innovative projects that are not provided for in school budgets.

Here is the Teacher Innovation Fund Grant Application.  The deadline for submitting completed applications is on or before Tuesday, January 8, 2019.  Questions can be directed to Paul Kulpinski, Chair of the Flagstaff Unified School District Foundation, at FUSDFoundation@gmail.com

The Foundation will offer a Grant Writing Workshop on Wednesday, December 12 at 4:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the FUSD Administrative Center.  Any staff interested in learning strategies for planning innovative projects and successfully requesting funds from grantors are invited to attend.    

Let's go get some grants!  Let Alysa Greenberg know if you are writing one.  We can help! 

Evaluation Week
Overton, Macias and Thompson

Coming Up...
Monday, December 3rd
~1-4pm Reasor at Admin Council

Wednesday, December 5th
~3-5pm Hanno and Reasor at LAUNCH
~4:30-5:30 PTO in Library

Thursday, December 6th
~8:00am-3:00pm Reasor & Krause @ Tech. Bond Advisory

Friday, December 7th
~9:00am Canned Food Drive
~12:45-1:45 PBIS Committee Meeting in Science Lab

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