Preparing to welcome you back!

 

Hello Mustangs!  I hope this message finds you rested, refreshed and ready for a new school year! It is my honor to extend a warm welcome to the Marshall TEAM!  Last year, we witnessed remarkable teamwork and dedication from each member, and we are confident that this year will be even more remarkable. Together, we have the power to accomplish great things and make a positive impact within our community.

The 2023/24 school year promises exciting new opportunities, challenges, and growth. As part of the Mustang team, you will play a crucial role in shaping a nurturing and inclusive environment that fosters creativity, collaboration, and excellence.

I encourage you to bring your unique skills, ideas, and passion to the table. Whether you're an experienced team member or joining us for the first time, your contribution will be valued and appreciated.

As we embark on this journey together, we want you to know that we are here to support you every step of the way. Our collective efforts will pave the way for unforgettable experiences and achievements that we can all be proud of.

If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions, don't hesitate to reach out to us. I am eager to hear from you!I really hope you and your family are enjoying your last week of summer!  I know it can be hard to transition out of your much needed break.  It is my hope you are as excited as your students and their families are!  

#MarshallElevatED

Supplies

We hope to have all supplies in next week.  Please don't go into the Science Lab and take anything just yet.  Erin will let you all know when grade level supplies are ready. We spent over $30/student to have ALL YOU REQUESTED.  We will be asking families for a $30 donation to try to offset this cost to maintain this service to our teachers, students, and families.  If they ask, checks to be written to Marshall CSO.  Cash and credit card also accepted at front office. We hope to have a quick pay option soon.

Did you know...

95% Group - Phonics Core Program for K-3

Marshall teachers do not have to attend the district trainings!  We are 1 year ahead of the newly adopted curriculum.  Materials have been delivered and are housed in Mrs. Overton's room.  I am so proud of you all for taking on the pilot for this program and pedagogy! You are ahead of it and students win! 

BRYS Grant 
(Building Resilient Youth & Schools)

We will continue our partnership with CCESA and multiple community supporters to provide support in addressing behavior and mental health for our students and staff.  

Important Info for 2023/24 successful kickoff!

Changes in Policy and Procedure for Certified Staff:

I'm sure you are probably aware that there have been changes to the district prep time policy for certified staff. These changes impact the length of our student academic day, school start and end times, how we utilize our early release time, and increased opportunity for professional development/learning at the site and district level. Minimum requirements for PLCs/CTs have been outlined, protected duty-free prep before or after school has been established, and the minimum prep minutes have been expanded from 200- 240 minutes weekly. To me, the increase in guaranteed weekly prep time, commitment to ongoing site and district professional learning/development and continuation of PLCs supports our profession and the professionalism of our career.

You may have questions so I wanted to share the board approved New Procedure and abbreviated Key Points . We can discuss this more about at our beginning of the year meeting, but here's an overview:

We have new procedure in place that support the following:

PLCs- Held between 40-60 minutes each week

Teacher Prep Time- Minimum of 240 minutes each week, which includes 150 minutes before or after school, plus specials time each week, plus 30-60 minutes on early release.

Elementary Prep- Guaranteed 30 minutes either before or after school daily.

Minimum prep time from specials is 4 specials per week @ 30 min/special

Early Release PD- 5 afternoons @ 10 hours annually for district PD/Collaboration.

Up to 23 additional hours for site-based PD or professional meetings.

No district or site-based PD scheduled during conference months of October or March.

Staff/committee meetings are OK during conference months.

Maximum of 5 hours/month on months that contain a district PD day.

Max 4 hours/month on other months.

Early Release Prep- Guaranteed 60 minutes of prep time on early release days on site-based days. 30 minutes of guaranteed prep on district-based days.

How Will this Impact Marshall?

The teacher contracted day is now 8:30- 4:00 and our student academic day is now 9:00- 3:30 M-Thurs and 9:00- 12:45 on Friday. This is consistent across all elementary schools, execpt for PDH and Leupp. This change allows for staff to have 30 minutes of personal or collaborative prep either before or after school. (It also supports greater student coverage both before and after school as well)

At this time, student drop off will begin at 8:40. Morning FACTS will end at 8:30 and busses may arrive as early as 8:30 as well. We are working on a supervision plan for bus/FACTS students so certified staff don't have to serve duty beginning at 8:30.

Specials Schedule- Specials will be extended to 40 minutes for grades 3-5 this school year. Please review this schedule closely.  Suzuki times are subject to change.

PLC Schedule- PLC/CT will take place weekly for all certified teachers, per new procedure 401.2C. Classroom teachers will hold PLCs during the school day, during one special block. 

PD Calendar- I am working on a PD Calendar for the school year. The 5 FUSD PD  dates are Sept 29, Dec 1, Jan 26, Feb 23, and April 26.  Marshall will host all 2nd grade teachers in the district on these days.  More details to come. 

For Marshall PD Dates, I'd like to take some time to share our academic data, parent, student, and staff survey results, and review our CNA/IAP as a staff. From there, we can develop a strategic and meaningful PD plan to ensure that our time together is focused and aligned on our school-wide goals and YOUR needs!

Staff Meeting Calendar-I'd like to discuss with the staff on our August 18th Mustang Corral, how we can best schedule our staff meetings to meet your needs. We can meet either before or after school or during contractual time on Fridays.

Additional Professional Responsibilities- 4-102.B sets aside 12 hours for "routine obligations" outside of the contractual day. I'd like to discuss what this what opportunities are available this year (STEAM, Open House, PTO events, etc).

Duty Schedule 

Final Back to School Plan for ALL STAFF (Classified and Certified) 

To be clear, at Marshall, we continue to focus on the inclusivity of our staff.  If you are a paraprofessional, classified staff, custodian, front office, site sub, or food services, you are considered a TEACHER here at Marshall.  All means all!  If there is something specific to Certified or Classified teachers only, I will make that clear distinction. 

Aug. 1-4 

New Colleague Orientation for Ms. Isabella Smith, Resource K-3, and Ms. Faith Stehle, XCAT. We are so excited to welcome you to our Mustang Team! 

Monday, Aug. 7  

8:30-12:30 Teacher Time!  Teachers work in their classrooms to prepare for the upcoming school year.

12:30-1:00 Welcome Back Luncheon provided in the Library for all staff by Toasted Owl sponsored by CORE Construction who will be building our new Marshall school! They can't wait to meet you!  Our Marshall CSO also has a few announcements for you during this time together!  

1:00-2:15pm Welcome back Mustang Corral in the Library!  We will celebrate some great accomplishments, share successes, meet new team members, and cover the basics needs to make sure expectations are clear for the year to come!

2:15-4:00pm Teacher Time!

Tuesday, Aug 8

8:15-9:30am Coffee Truck for all Marshall teachers out front sponsored by CORE! 

8:30-9:00 Teacher Time!

9:00-10:00am - All school teacher Meet and Greet and Welcome Back information for our families!  

10:00-12:15am Teacher Time!

11:30-12:30 Optional lunch provided for all FUSD teachers at CHS

12:30-4:00 FUSD's Welcome Back for our site at CHS.  Let's sit together and rock your Marshall tees! We will have a section. Agenda is attached.

 

Wednesday, Aug 9

First day of school for all students.  

Kindergarten is on early release schedule Wed-Friday. They will release from their classrooms on Wed and Thurs since food services is in gym. Friday they will release early from gym.

All students will release early on Fridays. 

All students will walk in with their families (if applicable) and either have breakfast or go directly to their classrooms.  All staff without a classroom, please join us out front for the red-carpet welcome with music and Louie the Lumberjack.  We will also have many with class lists and maps to be sure all get into their rooms. We will not have outdoor recess on this one morning.  This will give all teachers the opportunity to show their class where to line up after morning recess for Thursday. 

Thursday, Aug 10

Second day of school for all students.

Kindergarten is on early release schedule with busses.  

All students will walk in with their families (if applicable) and either have breakfast or go directly to the playground. 

Special Area teachers will be on the playground for duty and ELL Specialists will be in cafeteria for breakfast supervision.

Many will be available to help families up front and we will make sure families leave at the first bell (9:00am).

12:35pm - dismissal for kindergarten from classrooms.

3:30pm - dismissal for all.  Buses to line up in gym as years prior.

Friday, Aug 11

All students will walk in with their families (if applicable) and either have breakfast or go directly to the playground. 

Special Area teachers will be on the playground for duty and ELL Specialists will be in cafeteria for breakfast supervision.

Many will be available to help families up front and we will make sure families leave at the first bell (9:00am).

12:35pm - dismissal for kindergarten in the gym

12:45pm - dismissal bell rings for all.

12:45 - 4:00pm - Teacher Time and School-wide collaboration time

#MarshallElevatED! 

There will be no specials on the first week of school so students can learn expectations and routines with the help of our Special Area teachers to be sure we have consistency. Specials will begin on Monday, Aug. 14.  All supporting staff without classrooms and special area teachers will be assisting with coverage for all students and classroom teachers for the first week. If you would like to schedule a specific time for specific assistance during the first week, please communicate that with me and we will make it happen. 

New Bell Schedule:

8:40am - doors open for students and food service starts

9:00am - first bell rings and teachers get their students from outside.

9:05am - Instruction in the classroom begins. 

3:20pm - dismissal for Kindergarten in the gym

3:30pm - dismissal bell rings for all. 

The teacher contracted day will now be 8:30-4:00.  

Early Release Fridays 

12:35pm - dismissal for kindergarten in the gym

12:45pm - dismissal bell rings for all. 

FACTs Operating Hours will not change.

6:45am Arrival 

6:00pm Dismissal

Co-Op Operating Hours 

7:30am Arrival 

5:30 Dismissal

New Master Schedule 2023/24

This schedule reflects the following changes:

~Changed arrival and dismissal times

~Protected teacher prep time per policy

~Increase Specials to 40 min for grades 3-5 

~Lunches overlap by 5 min between grades

~Recess before lunch for all grades but Kinder

~Protected Tier III time

~Suzuki times are NOT finalized as Suzuki instructor times continue to vary. 

This schedule accomplishes the following:

~Increased instructional minutes (since student day was cut)

~One grade level at recess at a time

~A deeper special area experience for grades 3-5

~Prep time is more equitable since K-2 have 60 min of Suzuki violin each week. 

Reminders

All carpets have been cleaned.

All rooms have been detailed.

If you come to work in your room early, custodial services will not be able to clear out trash from hallways, etc. as they are detailing other schools. Please communicate your needs with the front office since we do not have regular services between now and the beginning of the school year. 

I am working with Marshall CSO to have swag ready for Tuesday's Meet and Greet for our families.

EXPECTATION CHECKLIST 2023/24 <---click

 We will discuss.  Please complete by August, 25th.

I will be out of the office from July 31 at 3:30pm- Aug 7 at 12pm with very limited access to email or phone. Please bring any questions, concerns or compliments to me on Monday morning 🙂 We have so much to look forward to! Please enjoy your final week summer with those you love!

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