(708) 524-3085
Sam LeDeaux Principal

May 19, 2013

 

Staff Goal: Parent Teacher Communication

Please check out the design and expectations for our SIT Parent-Teacher Forum.

 

 

 

May 17, 2013

 

Staff Goal: Parent Teacher Communication

For an SIT Parent-Teacher Forum update, please click here.

 

Staff Goal: Parent Teacher Communication

Class Lists...

Our teachers spend hours collaboratively creating next year's student placements by considering much information and several data points.  Although not the exhaustive list, some of the considerations are:

  • academic needs
  • social/emotional needs
  • overall student population (grade level sections needed and student maximums per class)
  • demographics
  • parent input forms with information describing student learning styles and needs
  • teacher styles

Once our teachers complete these, I will take a look over the lists and ask for any clarification I may need.  Our parents know our kids best as children, our staff know our kids best as learners, and we mesh the two as best we can to meet the needs of all 504 of our kids.  Please know that much time, collaboration, and deliberation goes into finalizing lists.  Our staff will begin once our staffing placements for next year are finalized, which we anticipate being very soon.  Finalized lists will be posted at the end of the summer, shortly before the start of the school year.

 

We appreciate your patience, support, and trust.

 

 

May 2, 2013

 

Staff Goal: Parent Teacher Communication

Please join us for our School Improvement Parent-Teacher Forum at the end of the month!

 

Staff Goal: Teacher Collaboration

At yesterday's staff meeting we were exposed to the benefits to teaching kids that the collaboration on Twitter can provide.  Prior to our meeting, a handful of teachers were utilizing Twitter as an instructional resource and tool to enhance student learning.  In the last 24 hours, well over 20 staff members are exploring!  Please feel free to follow our staff members on Twitter, and check out our Mann School hashtag, #mannschool, to see some of the great things teachers are doing with and for kids!

 

Reflection

Going back to my appointment as Principal of Mann School last May, I have considered myself very fortunate to be a part of a community that cares so much about its school and is so passionate about kids and education.  Being a reflective person, my appreciation for all this community is and all this community does has only grown.  This year I have learned a lot, am still learning a lot, and will continue learning a lot, and there's no place I'd rather do so.

I am proud to be a part of this community, and I am proud to be a Mann Mustang.  The words on this screen cannot do justice to the thanks I offer you.

Thank you for your support!

 

 

April 1, 2013

 

We are very excited to finish this year strong, and begin thinking about next year.  One reason we are excited is because we are educators who love that we get to teach kids at Mann school!  Another reason we are excited is because of the work we’ve done to date to build upon.  Some of the things we’ve worked toward over the past 7 months and how they correlate to our goals coming into the year are:

 

Staff Goal: Parent Teacher Communication

 

  • Continued efforts to be transparent and accessible to our community:

    • Presence on the playground before and after school

    • Phone calls

    • Emails

    • Webpages

    • Blogs

    • Winter input survey

    • School Improvement Team looking into more avenues, such as an SIT email account

    • Participation in extracurriculars

 

Staff Goal: Teacher Collaboration & Camaraderie

 

  • Regular staff meetings 2 x per month.  Standing agenda items include:

    • whole group sharing from individuals and teams who attended Professional Development conferences

    • 1 to 1 sharing-->teachers partner up with one another and share something successful or new that is done in their classrooms

 

 

 

  • Vertical dialogue (collaboration of adjacent grade levels)

 

 

  • Every Wednesday (early release 2pm-3pm) is structured as grade level team collaboration time with a focus on data to determine student needs and working with team and support staff to address student needs

  • Have You Filled A Bucket Today theme

  • Official Mann School Colors

  • Staff t-shirts

 

 

  • Mustang Motto Days

  • School Spirit

 

Staff Goal: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

 

  • Established foundational routines and procedures such as:

    • entire implementation based on data

    • standing staff meeting agenda item

    • team meeting 2 x month

    • summer leadership conference for team members

    • on-going training for our PBIS Internal Coach

  • This spring we hope to earn Recognition status as an Illinois PBIS school for our commitment to the proactive systems approach for teaching behavior

 

Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum

 

  • A year long staff focus on teaching kids--not content or subject material

  • Formal evaluation process focused on collaborative reflection of daily practice of teaching kids

  • 100% of teacher requests for Professional Development approved

  • Continued Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation

  • Restructured 5th grade chorus time to provide elective options similar to Julian Middle School

  • Math curriculum support (Math Facts program for grades 1-3) redesigned by Mann Math Committee for grades 1-5

  • Data Coach (new position this year) has fostered our implementation of data use "behind the scenes" as well as collaborating and team teaching to foster tech infusion in daily instruction

  • Diligently and meticulously working to outfit additional classrooms with interactive projectors for use by our kids and teachers during classroom instruction

  • 5th/6th grade collaboration between Mann & Julian teachers

 

 

Community Goal: Leadership

 

  • Continuously encouraged teacher leadership in developing:

    • School Improvement Team (SIT)

    • Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

    • Professional Development sharing (PD)

    • Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

    • Staff idea sharing/collaboration

  • Final numbers (i.e., sections at each grade level) have not yet been released by District Office for the 2013-2014 school year; however, once they are, Mann School staffing for next year will be determined by a commitment to our incoming goals this year and our current SIT goals (which all primarily focus on communication and collaboration).  Our staff has talked all year about working toward advancing Mann School from 211 degrees to 212 degrees (metaphorical reference to the temperature at which water boils), and all staffing decisions for next year will be made to best position us to accomplish this.  As more information becomes available, I will share it with you.  One decision already made is that 2013-2014 5th grade will be self-contained as opposed to departmentalized (students will remain with homeroom teacher for all subjects rather than switching for all subjects like in middle school).

 

 

Community Goal: Perceptions of the Reputation of Mann School

 

  • We believe the work we’ve done to date, the way we’ve conducted ourselves, and the manner in which we plan to continue to positively move forward will help favorably shape this.  We are not sure how much of this is within our control, but we are open to suggestions.

 

 


Wrap Up


We understand we still have much work to do.  The ideal learning environment we work toward continually evolves, and we will continue to raise our expectations for ourselves to reach it.  Our kids are worth it and our community deserves it.  We appreciate and encourage your continued partnership and support.

 

 

March 26, 2013

 

School Improvement Team (Community Goal: Leadership)

Please check out our newly revived School Improvement Team page (which can be found on our Mann School main page under the "About" tab)!

 

 

 

March 25, 2013

 

Walking around the school (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

Students in our 5th grade pod Friday 3/22/13 were enthusiastically sharing the game boards they created to practice and show mastery of their vocabulary words...

 

"Nomopoly" is similar to Monopoly.  Work your way around the board buying vocabulary words priced accordingly.  If you define the word correctly and can afford it, the word is yours.  Purchase as many as you can and collect rent when others land on your vocabulary word!

 

 

"It Ends Here" is a game in which you work your way up the board by correctly defining vocabulary words--but don't get caught in the Underworld or Hot Lava!

 

 

Define vocabulary words and earn your way to top of the mountain in "Quest to Olympus"!

 

 

Flip over the bigger vocabulary word, correctly define it, and collect both cards as you battle in "Spell War"!

 

 

Correctly define vocabulary words to occupy space on the board working toward 3 in a row--but watch out for the bomb that will remove one of your pieces on the "Tick Tick Tick Tac Toe" board!

 

 

For more about what’s happening at Mann School, please ask your child, talk with your teacher, check out blogs and webpages, volunteer, and/or come stop in.

 

*REMINDER: Please do not reply to the mannschool@op97.org email address.  It is a ghost account used only for sending messages to the community.  If you would like to contact staff members here at the school, please contact them directly at their email address.  You will not receive a response if you email the mannschool@op97.org address, because it is not checked for incoming messages.

 

 

March 18, 2013

 

What a weekend!  (Staff Goal: Communication)

Our Mann Chess Team won the District 97 tournament this weekend!  Our Odyssey of the Minds teams earned 1st, 1st, and 2nd at State, and have qualified for the World competition!  It was a great weekend to be a Mann Mustang—although it is always great to be a Mann Mustang!

Stop by the office and check out the trophies our kids earned.  If you have thoughts on how we can proudly display all past and future accomplishments of our Mann Mustangs, please share them with us.

 

What’s Happening?  (Staff Goal: Communication)

2nd Grade Teachers share:

“4 pics of the Second Grade Limericks that the second grade team just wrapped up!  The students followed an "A,A,B,B, A" pattern as we have been spending time learning about various forms of poetry.”

 

 

 

 

 

For more about what’s happening at Mann School, please ask your child, talk with your teacher, check out blogs and webpages, volunteer, and/or come stop in.

 

 

 

February 28, 2013

 

Some of the things going on... (Staff Goal: Communication)

  • It's ISAT season...

  • Ms. Lamb shares:

The entire third grade created "February Bugs" to help support our love of poetry and our current lessons on adjectives. The kids had a blast and our tree now stands colorful and tall in our hallway! The best part of our "Poet-Tree" is that it changes as the months go by. Please come visit our tree when you are in the building and see how creative our students can be!

Sincerely,
The Third Grade Team

 

 

 

 

  • Ms. Sarno shares:

On 100 Day we celebrated by writing 100 ways "We Love School". Here we are with our 100 ways.

 

 

 

 

  • Nurse Shilpa shares:

I gave talks about personal hygiene to most of the 4th grade classes, and to one 3rd grade class, 15 minutes in length. I encouraged the students to "gift " themselves, their peers, and their families to be more responsible and respectful when it comes to take care to attend more to personal hygiene. I incented by offering horseshoe hoorays for students who teachers/parents are noticing more attention to this important topic.

 

 

  • For more about what's going on in your child's classroom, please contact your child's teacher.

 

 

 

February 1, 2013

 

 

 

One School, One Story (Staff Goal: Collaboration & Camraderie)

On behalf of the Mann School Writing Committee, Mrs. Lamb shares:

What do you get when you give 505 students one writing prompt and 61 dedicated staff members?

Creative madness!  The students and staff members at Horace Mann Elementary School took a challenge this winter to deliver the same writing prompt to all the students in the school.  The goal was to initially show the growth that students make throughout their years of elementary school, but what we ended with was so much more!

The prompt was "If I was 20 feet tall..." and the assignment was to work with our students to help them write what their lives might be like at this size.  We decided this would be a great prompt because it promoted creativity and allowed the students to use their imaginations to help form their writing samples.  We used the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing along with school-wide proofreading marks that the students are all exposed to starting in Kindergarten.

As the assignment began, the ideas and lessons began exploding.  All of the specials (Music, PE, Art, Spanish) jumped on board and created their lessons surrounded with the theme of being 20 feet tall.  The classrooms all took different takes on it and began researching some of the tallest people in the world.  Our very own art teacher, Mr. Schmidt, helped create a 20 foot tall person that was hung in the gym.  This helped the students make a connection to how tall being 20 feet tall really is.

In the end, we learned what we expect from our students as writers.  Together we realized the incredible ways students interpret what we teach as well as the importance and joy of collaboration.  It gave the school a common topic, one that a fifth grader could share with a first grader, and a topic that a music teacher could talk to a homeroom teacher about!  In our final display, we showed samples from kindergarten to fifth grade along our now "sideways" 20 foot person.  We added on speech bubbles to connect our work to the latest Common Core and our hope is that visitors can come enjoy this incredible display of pure child driven imagination in our lobby!

 

Math (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

A group of educators here at Mann have formed a Math Committee.  This committee is exploring ways to supplement and strengthen our current math curriculum.

 

5th/6th Vertical Dialogue (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

Our 5th Grade Team of teachers had our second collaborative meeting with 6th grade teachers from Julian.  The meeting in the fall (10/23/12) was focused on Math, and this one (1/9/13) was focused on Language Arts.  We continue to become more familiar with the expectations for our kids upon entering Julian, and look forward to growing our partnership with our middle school colleagues.  For more information, please contact your child’s teacher.

 

ISAT (March 7-22) (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

As you may have heard, standards and assessment in education are undergoing major construction.  We are transitioning from Illinois State Standards to Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  To date, the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT) has assessed learning of Illinois State Standards, and is the instrument being used to assess the transition phase to CCSS.  Beginning in 2014, CCSS will be assessed by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).  Here is more information on the ISAT to PARCC assessment transition.

 

School Improvement Team (SIT) (Staff Goal: Collaboration & Camraderie, Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

The “How Are We Doing?” survey given to staff and parents in December has been taken very seriously.  We have engaged in extensive School Improvement Team (SIT) and all-staff discussions.  Our serious, candid, and collegial dialogue has resulted in the decision to use the results internally to work toward positive and productive change to meet our Mann School and Community needs.  Please continue to communicate with us often and share freely your suggestions and compliments.

 In addition to this work, our SIT will continue working toward meeting the state mandated “Rising Star” requirements.  “Rising Star” is a web based tool which our SIT must use to determine school improvement goals using indicators selected for us from a pool of indicators.  As clear as this sounds, you can click here just in case you’d like to learn a little more   :)

 

Wrap Up

Mann School is a great place to be, and we take pride in working toward collaboratively extending ourselves to the next level.  We appreciate your support, involvement, and feedback.  Please keep it up!

 

 

 

December 10, 2012

 

Reminders and Procedures (Staff Goal: Communication)

Please help us comply with policies and provide a safe and productive learning environment for our kids. 

 

  • Please help us provide a safe pick-up and drop-off environment for our kids.  Please refer to the "Safe Crossings Newsletter".  Particularly significant are pages 3 and 4.  Please help us keep our children safe by abiding by the street signs.  Infractions can result in a warning or ticket from the Oak Park Police Department.
  • Teachers begin leading students into the building at 7:57.  Please be prompt to school so our kids get off to a great start to the day.  It also makes for smooth school wide morning logistics, such as attendance, lunch count, and announcements.  If you are in the office between 8:00-8:20, please be respectful of the day that's already underway.  Your voices and other commotion are heard over the intercom and projected school wide.  Please be as quiet as possible, if not silent, during all school announcements.
  • The expectation is that students leave the building with everything they need (hats, coats, homework, etc.).  Students will not be permitted back into the building after dismissal.
  • Please do not respond to the mannschool@op97.org email address.  It is a ghost account used for Community blasts.  It is not checked regularly. 
  • As posted around the school, dogs are not to be on school grounds.  This offense could warrant a warning or ticket from the Oak Park Police Department.
  • Please remind kids to be off wheels (bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc.) on school grounds, especially before and after school.
  • To provide another precaution in keeping our kids safe, we will begin conducting background checks for all volunteers.  The intent is not to offend our families, but to protect our kids.  For more information, please see "Background Checks of Volunteers".
  • For a reminder about our District policy regarding medications, both over the counter and prescription, please click here.

 

I understand this message may be perceived as "negative"; however, our children's safety and positive learning environment are worth it.

Thank you for your help and support!

 

 

 

November 6, 2012

 

5th Grade Curriculum Update (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

In a two-fold effort to use Wednesday mornings in a different way and prepare our kids for their upcoming experience at Julian Middle School, we are piloting a 5th Grade Elective rotation.  We were targeting Wednesday, November 21, as our implementation date, but have enthusiastically moved that up 2 weeks!  We will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, November 7.  Just as they will be responsible to do at Julian next year, students will have to make choices (i.e. Chorus or an Elective wheel/rotation).  Also, students will qualify in and out of the elective rotation, based on academic criteria.  It is not coincidental that Academic Studies is the name of the support class at Julian, and works the same way as we are piloting here at Mann.  An overview of these courses are offered below.

Like all things, we plan, prepare, organize, try, reflect, learn, grow, and move forward.  We are excited about this first step, and thank you for your support and patience.

Here are our Elective offerings:

Chorus  Year long commitment, already decided following past practice.

OR

Wheel/Rotation of classes  Three 8 week courses, comprised of Pop Culture, Civil War, and Business.  Students will rotate through all three courses over the remaining 24 weeks of the school year.  This is a 24 week commitment.  


Overview:

Pop Culture (taught by Mr. Zander)

There will be small assignments the first six weeks and a large assignment due weeks seven and eight.  The smaller assignments will be weekly Edmodo assignments.  The large assignment will be a paper. Students will be allowed to pick from a few options.  Students can write a short story about good vs evil (J.K Rowling inspired).  Students can write a children's short story (Roald Dahl inspired).  Students can write about an invention of their creation (Steve Jobs inspired).

 

Civil War (taught by Dr. Baird)

The Civil War is the central event in America's historical consciousness. While the Revolution of 1776-1783 created the United States, the Civil War of 1861-1865 determined what kind of nation it would be. The war answered two fundamental questions left unresolved by the revolution: whether the United States was to be a dissolvable confederation of sovereign states or an indivisible nation with a sovereign national government; and whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world.

Northern victory in the war preserved the United States as one nation and ended the institution of slavery that had divided the country from its beginning. But these achievements came at the cost of 625,000 lives--nearly as many American soldiers as died in all the other wars in which this country has fought combined. The American Civil War was the largest and most destructive conflict in the Western world between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the onset of World War I in 1914. James McPherson

Topics to be covered during the course:

  • Disunion
  • The Country Goes to War
  • Antietam and Emancipation
  • Life at War
  • The Home Front
  • Shifting Tides
  • Bringing the War to an End
  • Effects of the War

 

Business (taught by Mr. Rollo)

Understanding and practice with banking, payroll, taxes, insurance, and credit will be the focus

 

Academic Studies will be simultaneously taught throughout the 24 weeks by Ms. Germanier and Ms. Yocius

Academic Studies is a class designed to provide small group instruction to support grade level skills.  Students qualify for Academic Studies based on consideration of several factors including MAP, ISAT, in-class assessment, daily work, teacher recommendation, and parent recommendation.  Students can graduate from Academic Studies by meeting academic criteria set by the teacher (improvement as assessed by a combination of all of the factors that qualified the student in to Academic Studies).  Upon graduation from Academic Studies, students enter the Elective rotation as it stands at that time.



Again, we are very excited about this different use of time, as well as creating a middle school transitional opportunity for our 5th grade students!  For more details, please contact your child's teacher or visit your teacher's webpage.

 

 

 

 

November 1, 2012

 

Parade (Staff Goal: Communication)

First off, I again want to extend my apologies for yesterday’s parade.  The negative that resulted was some families missed their kids in the parade.  I’m a dad, too, and fully understand the significance of seeing our kids in the parade, which is why I sincerely feel terrible about that.  I am genuinely sorry.

The positives that came as a result were:

  • Our kids got to see and be seen by all 505 other kids and all 40+ staff members
  • Our kids got to be inside and outside while parading, minimizing the need for coats that alter/cover costumes
  • A route for our kids with decreased liability
  • A new parade route within the building (including stairs and exercise for our kids in zig-zagging through the entire building) in addition to an outside route
  • An extremely smooth process (that took half the time I anticipated!)
  • Families being able to see all kids in a condensed amount of time

Like all things, we plan, prepare, organize, try, reflect, learn, grow, and move forward.  All of this has been noted.  Thank you for your understanding and support.

 

School Improvement Team (Community Goal: Leadership)

We have a bit more information regarding our 2012-2013 School Improvement Team.  We will be looking to fill 2 parent member seats.  We hope to provide details about how to offer your desire and enthusiasm to be a part of this team within the next week or so.

 

Mann-Julian Collaboration (Staff Goal: Collaboration, Community Goals: Teaching & Curriculum, and Perceptions of the Reputation of Mann School)

Last week, we initiated our first vertical dialogue with Julian.  Two of our 5th grade teachers met with four 6th grade teachers from Julian and had dialogue focused on Math.  This first dialogue opened communication, as Julian shared their expectations for incoming 6th graders and we shared what our past practice has been.  We look forward to continuing this dialogue to not just a couple more meetings, but fluid dialogue amongst teachers.  Our vision is to extend this dialogue to work toward aligning expectations and practice, in Math and all areas for our kids.  To my knowledge, this has never been done before, and we are excited about this partnership!

 

Mann Mustang Motto Day (Staff Goals: PBIS & Camaraderie)

School spirit was abound again!  Our Respectful, Responsible, and Compassionate students were proudly dressed in Mann wear and navy blue and orange.  We decided to recognize all classrooms that had 100% participation as reported by their teachers.  We had 3 classrooms with 100% participation.  Our staff also had 100% participation, as we were rockin’ some sharp navy blue Mann School bucket shirts gifted by PTO!  We are excited about continuing to infuse school spirit and Mann wear into our community (parents, too!), and are currently working toward this.

 

Don’t forget to vote! (Staff Goal: Teacher Collaboration & Camaraderie, Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

It’s election time, and that means a lot of things.  One thing it means here at Mann is “Piggie or Fly Guy”!  If you are not familiar with Piggie and Fly Guy (which, I know, is nobody), they are fictional characters in children’s books.  We are exposing our students to the election process on a school wide basis by promoting an election pitting Piggie against Fly Guy.  Students are becoming informed voters by doing their due diligence (Piggie and Fly Guy books are being checked out of our Library in record numbers!), posters have been hung around school, students and staff are wearing voting stickers, Piggie and Fly Guy both made an appearance during Halloween, you can click here for advertisements, and the hype has even found its way into our morning announcements!  Please ask your child tonight who they’re voting for, and why.

 

THANK YOU!

I want to thank you for the way I’ve been welcomed in this community and all the support you’ve shown.  This message coincidentally aligns with the onset of the Thanksgiving season, but this is not a seasonal message; it is an everyday feeling.  I thank my lucky stars daily that I am fortunate enough to be a part of this community, surrounded by the people I’m surrounded by, and have the opportunity to learn on a daily basis amidst the wonderful things that take place here all day everyday with and for kids.  I really try not to take anything or any day for granted, and I hope that shows.

 

Wrap Up

We continue to believe that commitment to our Staff’s 3 goals (Parent/Teacher Communication, Teacher Collaboration and Camaraderie, and PBIS) will address the top 3 priorities voiced by our Community last spring (Teaching and Curriculum, Leadership Role, and Perceptions of the Reputation of Mann School).  These priorities continue to drive our direction.

 

 

 

October 12, 2012

 

Communication (Staff Goal: Communication)

If we are not meeting your expectations for communication, please hold us accountable and share that with us.  If we are meeting your expectations for communication, please share that with us, too!  For one form of communication, please click here.

 

Be Respectful, Responsible, and Compassionate! (Staff Goal: Camaraderie)

Our first Mustang Motto Day was a success!  Mann wear, navy blue and orange--school spirit was everywhere!  We had many students and staff members “participate”.  I wish I knew the percentage of participation…hhhmmm…a thought for our next Mustang Motto Day…

 

Walk to School Week (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

With the guidance and support of the Mann PTO Green Committee, we celebrated Walk to School Week October 1-5.  We were encouraged to walk or bike to school, and also showed our awareness of Green incentives with different activities and school spirit each day!  Our kids learned a lot, and had a blast while doing so!  Thank you Mr. Perkins and Ms. Yockey!

 

Math Facts (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

Math Facts are back!  Math Facts is a volunteer program led by Ms. Buckner that helps support our kids learn math facts.  Currently, the program will universally support Grades 1-3.  We are all very thankful for the extra help teaching our kids.  Thank you Ms. Buckner and company!

 

School Improvement Team (SIT) (Community Goal: Leadership)

I am continuing to learn and familiarize myself with how SIT has worked in the past; however, moving forward, our D97 SIT's will be state regulated.  The members of the Team, notes, topics, meeting schedule, everything will be regulated and inputted into a new system which will be state monitored.  Aside from the fun that in itself will provide, being a part of the Team provides another opportunity to be a Mann leader in making proactive decisions that will promote the teaching and learning our kids deserve.  Parent(s) will be a part of the state regulated membership, but I am not yet sure how many will be allowed.  When I learn more, I will be sure to share.  In the meantime, if this leadership opportunity describes something you'd like to be a part of as we continue moving forward here at Mann, please be prepared to help us work out the details of filling our SIT Parent membership.

 

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) (Staff Goal: PBIS)

Our grand opening of the 2012-2013 PBIS Store was a success!  A big thank you to our PBIS Team parent representative, Ms. Barrett, and company for their help in running the store!  Class visitors were on time, kept to the schedule, and our kids were excited.  Most exciting of all, our PBIS Team is partnering with our Mann PTO Green Committee for future store inventory!  For more about PBIS, please visit our PBIS blog.

 

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (Comuunity Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

We have 2 staff members, Ms. Diviacchi and Ms. Vincent, who spent time this summer learning and training to become our CCSS liaisons in leading Mann during this time of educational transition.  They continue to learn and work with our staff as we implement CCSS into our kids’ instruction.

 

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) (Staff Goal: Communication)

The District is in the process of determining a universal distribution of MAP data.  Until that is determined, we are “holding” them.  I understand that based on past practice, some parents may expect them to be distributed during conferences.  Please be patient with us while we await our next directive.

 

Evaluations (Staff Goal: Communication)

FYI…

Principal evaluations in Illinois are undergoing redesign.  In District 97, the new format is effective immediately.  One of the changes is that 25% of a Principal’s evaluation is based on “student growth”.  Expect this format to become part of Teacher evaluations no later than 2016.   

 

Prompt Student Attendance (Staff Goal: Communication)

Thank you for our kids’ prompt arrival to school!  It accomplishes many things:

  • Gets our kids off to a great start to the day!
  • Makes lunch counts accurate
  • Makes our attendance phone call follow ups accurate
  • Provides for morning efficiency in the office (prompt announcements for our kids and staff, office “customer service”, etc.)

We appreciate your help with these things!

 

Safety (Staff Goal: Communication)

Thank you for your help maintaining our students’ safety.  Please continue reminding our kids to stay off wheels (bikes, scooters, etc) while on the blacktop.  Also, please obey our signs regarding no dogs on school property.

 

5th Grade Curriculum (Community Goal: Teaching & Curriculum)

We have some exciting news to share with you!  In an effort to continue providing our kids learning opportunities, as well as preparing them for what’s on the horizon at Julian next year, our 5th Grade Team is in the process of making some revisions to our curriculum.   At this point, we are working to create a Julian Middle School elective model which we will pilot on Wednesdays.  More details to follow as they crystallize, but here’s where we are in the brainstorming process:

  • Wednesday mornings will follow an elective schedule, rotating every X (8?) weeks
  • There are 2 elective options:

Chorus-->full year commitment, OR

Business/Civil War/Pop Culture-->on a rotating basis, students will have X (8?) consecutive wks of each of the 3 classes

  • Chorus students will not be responsible for Business/Civil War/Pop Culture content, just as Business/Civil War/Pop Culture students will not be responsible for Chorus content
  • Business/Civil War/Pop Culture classes will be guided by essential outcomes and learning objectives, measured by participation, assignments, and assessments.  Once finalized, these will be shared.
  • We will also provide our students an Academic Studies class which will provide the same support as the class by the same name at Julian Middle School.  This class will offer interventions and support in a target area (i.e. Language Arts).  Students will qualify based on criteria.  The criteria has not yet been finalized, but may include data such as ISAT, MAP, current daily grades, teacher input, and parent input.  During our pilot, qualification for this Academic Studies class will trump participation in the Business/Civil War/Pop Culture rotation—but not Chorus.  When students meet specified growth/improvement criteria, they will slide back into the Business/Civil War/Pop Culture rotation.  Details are still being worked out, but we are anticipating 3-6 week check in points to meet growth/improvement criteria of the Academic Studies class.
  • We are currently targeting to begin implementation of this “Julian prep” elective model no later than the first week of Trimester 2 (Wednesday, 11/21).

Like everything in education, we will try something new in the best interest of teaching kids, assess, learn, and make necessary revisions moving forward.  Again, this is where we are right now, and as details crystallize, we will share them with you.  Thank you for your patience and support during this exciting time!

 

Wrap Up

We continue to believe that commitment to our Staff’s 3 goals (Parent/Teacher Communication, Teacher Collaboration and Camaraderie, and PBIS) will address the top 3 priorities voiced by our Community last spring (Teaching and Curriculum, Leadership Role, and Perceptions of the Reputation of Mann School).  These priorities continue to drive our direction.

 

 

 

September 11, 2012

 

“Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids” is a book that was read to our entire staff on Institute Day, our entire student body on the first day of school, and all attendees at this year’s first PTO meeting on Thursday, September 6, 2012.  The book encourages positive behavior, as well as how to show appreciation for positive behavior.  This philosophy perfectly aligns with Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and our encouragement for our kids, staff members, and community to “Be Respectful, Responsible, and Compassionate.”  We filled our PTO’s “bucket” by sharing numerous Horseshoe Hoorays our staff had written out to them.  Horseshoe Hoorays are golden tickets given as a gesture of appreciation.  Please ask your child about Horseshoe Hoorays.  With this knowledge of Horseshoe Hoorays, clicking on the link above for our Bucket Book, and clicking on our PBIS blog link above, we are now counting on YOU, too, to join us as Bucket Fillers.

 

Speaking of being Compassionate, we would like your help.  Our school does a good job making our lunchroom safe for students with peanut allergies.  Our school-offered lunches are nut free, and we have a designated section for students to eat who have nut allergies.  In years past, I believe we’ve allowed students to invite friends to join them in the designated nut free area; however, in the interest of the safety of our kids, we are eliminating that option for friends who bring lunch from home.  There are many variables to control in that scenario, and that responsibility is a lot to put on and ask of our teachers and lunchroom supervisors.  As a result, it can be possible for our nut-allergic students to be separated from (home-lunch) friends, which can cause anxiety.  Our kids work very hard during the school day, and deserve a time of relaxation and socialization during lunch.  So, what we would like to do now, in the spirit of Compassion, is ask you to encourage your school-lunch eating kids to join our friends at the peanut free table.  We are also having the same Compassionate conversations with our kids here at school.  As a community of Bucket Fillers, I am confident we can minimize—if not altogether eliminate—this potential lunchtime anxiety.

 

Our common language as Bucket Fillers in being Respectful, Responsible, and Compassionate, has contributed toward 2 of our 3 staff voiced goals: PBIS (and teaching our kids in their entirety) and Teacher Collaboration and Camaraderie.  Our 3rd staff voiced goal is Parent/Teacher Communication.  From comments made at last week’s PTO meeting, as well as several comments made to me personally by parents, it sounds like some of our teachers have taken it upon themselves to act immediately toward this goal by making positive phone calls home.  It sounds like some of these calls were made during the first week of school, some on the first day, and even some the night before the first day of school!  If you aren’t already doing so, please remember to hold us accountable for our efforts toward our goals, and “fill our buckets” when you notice us working toward them.

 

Visit

Last week, representatives of the PTO Executive Board from Longfellow (another of D97’s elementary schools) visited us.  They are interested in advancing technology and its implementation and integration at their school.  They visited 4 of our classrooms, and were particularly interested in our SMART board application.  Upon leaving us, they shared 3 things: gratitude for letting them visit, excitement about how technology can support learning, and compliments about our impressive staff.  What an effective way to address the Perceptions of the Reputation of Mann School (a top 3 priority of our Community.  Other 2 priorities-->Leadership Role and Teaching and Curriculum).  Go Mann Mustangs!

 

Teaching and Curriculum

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are something you will become more and more familiar with—if you haven’t already.  The short of it is that the objective of CCSS is to restructure teaching to focus on the Essentials our kids must learn.  A deep understanding of these Essentials by all kids, or Common Core State Standards, should lead to strong application skills to empower learning.  CCSS are relatively new and still taking shape in terms of implementation.  CCSS will replace Illinois State Standards.  Thus, a new assessment (called PARCC-->Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) will be implemented, currently set to commence during the 2014-2015 school year.  PARCC will replace ISAT’s.

In the meantime, the expectation is that we begin transitioning to CCSS over the next two years, although we will still be assessed by ISAT’s.  We don’t make the rules, but we must play by them.  We will make the most of the situation and the current circumstances.  Currently, Mann School is focusing on TEACHING KIDS.  It sounds simple, but believe it or not, under today’s pressures and scrutiny in Education, it can become easy to lose focus of this.  It can become easy to begin thinking we teach Math, Reading, Music, PE, Technology, behavior, etc.  It can become easy to begin thinking we teach Everyday Math, Treasures, PBIS, etc.  We have spent 3 weeks reminding ourselves we TEACH KIDS.  We use Everyday Math, Treasures, Technology, and PBIS as resources to TEACH KIDS.  We TEACH KIDS Math, Reading, Music, PE, behavior, etc.  We TEACH KIDS.

As we continue to become increasingly more confident in the idea that we simply TEACH KIDS, transitioning to CCSS will become increasingly more smooth.  We will continue gaining confidence in the way we rearrange, revise, apply, implement, and maximize the curricula, resources, tools, time, and staff we have to TEACH KIDS.  Our staff has decided to take the initiative in creating a system of planning for the instruction to TEACH KIDS (Parent Priority-->Teaching and Curriculum).  This will entail bringing about a universal approach to using our staff planning time, and effectively and efficiently collaborating with staff to meet the needs of our kids.  We made this decision as a staff last Friday, and hope to begin implementation next Wednesday, September 19.

This is where we currently stand with regard to CCSS.  For more general information on CCSS, you can click the link above.  For District specific information on Common Core, please click here.

 

Air Conditioning

We know our building can become very hot.  We understand the impact on the learning environment.  Our teachers and students do a great job playing the hand we’re dealt and making the most of what we’ve got.  District has been made aware of our daily situation during heat.  The District does not have the funds to retrofit our building with air conditioning.  It also does not have the funds to afford the monthly power bills that would come along with the dozens and dozens of window air units it would take to have a cooling effect in our classrooms.  Even if District had the funds to pay the monthly bills, our building fuses could not handle all the power it would take.  The same is true for ceiling fans.

We are doing what we can.  We maximize the cooler places in the building and designate them as “cooling stations”.  Teachers have the option to spend time teaching our kids in these cooling stations if/when possible.  Our only water cooler is on the first floor, and the suggestion was made to provide one on the third floor.  A suggestion was also made to provide an ice machine on the third floor.  We are trying to find a way to accommodate these requests.  If you have suggestions that can be implemented within our current circumstances, or a way to support our teachers and kids during hot temperatures, please share them with me.

 

Playground

Our playground (on the southside of the building, along Division) will be renovated/upgraded (if you’re thinking what I was thinking, I already asked and the answer’s no—the funds for the playground do not even remotely cover any air conditioning costs…).  The process will begin with preliminary discussions involving PTO, all interested parties from our Community, and myself.  Here is an excerpt from the email I received describing the process:

"The timetable is as follows:  November 9, 2012 - all pre-planning with school communities completed.                              

           November 10-January 25 - architectural work constructing bid specifications and construction documents.
                                         January 28 - bids out to vendors.
                                         February 13 - bids due.
                                         February 20 - recommendation for award in Board Packet.
                                         February 26 - Board meeting - review
                                         March 19 - Board meeting - approval
                                         March 20-May 30 - finalization of contractor with successful vendor and staging/ordering of materials.
                                         August 15 - playgrounds completed.

In order to meet the November 9, 2012 deadline, we need to establish three meetings with your school community:

Meeting 1 (week of September 17 - Monday, Wednesday & Thursday) - with principal, PTO president/Co-President along with Therese O’Neil (Asst. Supt Finance & Operations) , Norm Lane (Director of Buildings and Grounds), representatives from landscape architectural firm - scoping out "game plan" for first community meeting.

Meeting 2 (Week of October 1 - Monday, Wednesday & Thursday) with respective school community - architects will present overview to specific school and cull out "what" community wants for their playground.

Meeting 3 (Week of October 29 - Monday, Wednesday & Thursday) with respective school community - architects return with an "almost complete" playground plan and derive final feedback.

So, outlined above are the only available dates for each of these 3 meetings.


Again, I need to impress on you that the dates delineated above are THE ONLY ones we have.  The architects are working on other projects and I have commitments to this schedule."

 

When our dates are confirmed, I will be sure to share them.

 

Secured Entrance

Our office and art room renovations turned out nicely!  Thank you for abiding by and respecting our secured entrance policies.  We know it is inconvenient, awkward, and sometimes frustrating when our staff asks you to walk around our building to the front to enter, or to sign in and put on a visitor’s pass; but the safety of our kids is worth it, and we stand by that.  Thank you for your help, support, and understanding.

 

School Colors

As I continue to learn, grow, and acclimate myself to Mann, I made a fascinating (I thought so, anyway) discovery:  Nobody seemed to know what our school colors are.  I asked roughly 30 staff members and parents, and got 30 different responses!  And most entertaining of all: all 30 responses were said with a question inflection.  Not one person said with conviction, “Our school colors are x and y.”

So, our PBIS Team made the executive decision to say with conviction, “Our school colors are navy blue and orange!”  If you begin seeing an influx of navy blue and orange Mann “swag” (Staff Goal-->Teacher Camaraderie), this is why.  You may have even noticed the change on our Mann School website…

 

Wrap Up

We continue to believe that commitment to our Staff’s 3 goals (Parent/Teacher Communication, Teacher Collaboration and Camaraderie, and PBIS) will address the top 3 priorities voiced by our Community last spring (Teaching and Curriculum, Leadership Role, and Perceptions of the Reputation of Mann School).  I have shared just a few examples of less than 3 weeks of work here at Mann.  We are very excited about what’s happening here at Mann School, and enthusiastically expect to continue building on this!

 

August 26, 2012

 

Greetings All!

 

We’ve really gotten off to a terrific start!  We’re very excited about countless things here at Mann.  One of the things we are excited about is our direction, which I’d like to highlight.  Back in June, I offered our staff the opportunity to voluntarily provide me with input.  The input was to help me learn the great things happening here at Mann, along with things we would like to make great here at Mann.  In one form or another, I received input from every single staff member, which says a lot about the educators that engage daily with our kids. 

I read through every single comment, organized the feedback, and shared the collective staff voice during our first official time together, Institute Day, Tuesday, August 21.  Three strengths clearly topped the list: 1) Technology, 2) Parent/Community Support and Involvement, and 3)Teaching and Support Staff.  Three priorities we would like to add to that list were also clearly voiced: 1) Parent/Teacher Communication, 2) Teacher Collaboration and Camaraderie, and 3) Teaching Kids (specifically behaviorally/PBIS, but generally speaking in their entirety).

 

Completely independent of that, PTO provided me the 188 responses submitted by our community in preparation of the Principal search process last spring.  Like the staff input, I read every single comment, organized the feedback, and shared the community voice represented by those 188 responses with our staff during Institute Day.  Three strengths clearly topped the community list: 1) Overall Quality of Teaching Staff, 2) Supportive and Active Community, and 3) Commitment to Technology and its Implementation.  Three priorities the community would like to see added to those strengths were also clearly voiced: 1) Teaching and Curriculum, 2) Leadership Role, and 3) Perceptions of the Reputation of our School.

 

So, the good news is that our staff and community agree on the top 3 strengths of Mann School!  The GREAT news is that if our staff fine tunes efforts to teach kids in their entirety, collaborates to maximize those efforts, and communicates those efforts with our community, we believe the community will feel more comfortable with our teaching and curriculum, feel more confident in the direction we’re being led, and perceptions of the reputation of our school will be influenced!  By addressing our top 3 staff goals, we will accomplish the top 3 goals of the community!

 

Upon realizing what our staff wants and what our community wants, and that they are in essence the same things, we have officially committed to making it happen.  It will take time and effort.  We are sharing this with you not only to help hold us accountable, but also to partner with and support us as we work toward achieving these goals for our kids.  Along the way, if you have suggestions for us to meet our goals, please share them with us.  Also, if you notice a concerted effort to meet these goals, please share a compliment or token of appreciation.  With dozens of staff and hundreds of community members on the same page in support of one another in the interest of our kids, it is just a matter of time until we achieve our goals.

 

I hope to review this data and provide a status update at our first PTO meeting Thursday, September 6, at 8:15am.

 

Thank you!

 

July 1, 2012

Welcome!

I am excited to be a part of the Mann Family!  This is my 3rd year here in Oak Park.  I was at Longfellow Elementary as Assistant Principal my first year, and Julian Middle School as Assistant Principal last year.  I got to work with Mann students and families in my role at Julian last year, and am excited to extend that work this year.

I earned a BA in Elementary Education from Knox College, and an MA in Educational Leadership from Concordia.  I taught 3rd grade for 4 years and earned tenure in Schaumburg, then taught computer classes to students in K-8 in Chicago for 3 years prior to coming to Oak Park.

I am proud of my membership in the Oak Park Community, and have been welcomed and made to feel right at home.  I look forward to continuing my growth as an educator, and learning from the abundance of talent, knowledge, and enthusiasm that surrounds me to best service our kids!