The Knight Times

Thomas Dale Faculty and Staff,

This year, as we lay the foundation for our work ahead, we are committed to 5 key levers for school improvement:

• Healthy and Joyful Culture
• Collaborative Processes
• High-Quality Instruction
• Student Voice and Leadership
• Community Engagement

Our commitment to elevating student voice is gaining momentum through several avenues, including one activity we will add to the mix in the near future. During the months of December and January, members of our Admin Team will "shadow" a student. The purpose of Shadow-A-Student is to gain a better understanding of Thomas Dale from our students' perspective. Each member of the admin team will select a student to "shadow" for an entire day. We will go to each class, we will eat lunch, take notes/tests/quizzes/etc. as if we were a student in that class. When we are in your classroom, please do not alter any of your plans for the day. We are not in there to observe or evaluate you; this is purely a learning experience for us to help shape our understanding of the Thomas Dale experience. Before a member of the admin team engages in their Shadow-A-Student day, I will ask them to reach out to the teachers on the student's schedule to let you know they are shadowing a student in your class. After we complete our experience, we will reflect on what we learned to help shape our shared vision.

If this is an activity you would like to participate in as well, please contact me. I can save a few professional days to make this happen. This experience is a tremendously powerful one. To find out more, visit https://www.shadowastudent.org/.

Additionally, we will participate in a student exchange with James River High School. On Friday, December 7, 5 students from JR's SCA will shadow our SCA officers. Please join me in welcoming the River students to Dale.

Feel free to wear jeans on the spirit days this week!

Up-Front Summary (by day):

Monday

• Homeroom: Morning Meeting
• Ugly Sweater Day: Feel free to wear Jeans with your UGLY SWEATER!

Tuesday

• Dress Like a Decoration: Feel free to wear Jeans with your Spirit Wear!

Wednesday

• Homeroom: Take Grab-and-Go Lunch Survey in Google Classroom
• Holiday Movie Character: Feel free to wear Jeans with your Spirit Wear!

Thursday

• Homeroom: Take Grab-and-Go Lunch Survey in Google Classroom
• Winter Holiday Appreciation: Feel free to wear Jeans with your Spirit Wear!

Friday

• Holiday Colors: Feel free to wear Jeans with your Spirit Wear!
• Pep Rally Adjusted Schedule (Click HERE for the schedule)
• Last Day to Order Soap (Order HERE)
• Hoops for Hope (Check out the Flyer HERE)

Links shared in this issue:

• KUDOS
• More Student Recognition!
• Superhero Drive Flyer
• Tech Integrator - Janice Skipwith
  
• ESOL Corner
• Staff Parking Pass Form
• Bell Schedule for December 10-14 (Piloting new schedule with Enrichment every day)
• Proposed Bell Schedule for 2nd Semester
• December 18th Pot Luck Form
• Winter Exam Schedule
• Exam Checklist
• Knight's Cafe Order Form
  

#EveryKnightEveryDay

Each week, I will include writing from our students. This started as an idea to include student voice in our newsletter, and I think has the potential to be so much more. If you are interested in having your students write about their Thomas Dale experience for inclusion in The Knight Times, simply submit them to me...and I will include them.

Here are this week's:

• Over the years of my attendance at Thomas Dale, I’ve experienced so many things that I never thought I would. Some things were good and some weren’t, but each occurance taught me something important. I’ve met so many different people, watched them grow, and watched myself grow in the process. I learn something new everyday and I appreciate the people who have helped me along the way. I can’t believe I’m already a senior and will be graduating in a few months. I’m excited and nervous, but I’m ready to explore and find various new opportunities for myself and encourage others to do the same. --Mya Jackson

• These past four years have been such a wild roller coaster. There have been so many ups and downs, but they have built who I am today. I am grateful for all the good and bad things that have happened to me at Thomas Dale. All of the frustrating drama and great friend bonds have molded me into a strong individual. They were life - changing crucial moments and without them I would not be who I am today. I am so grateful for all the opportunities given to me, all of the experiences I have gone through, and all of the diversity at this school. Thomas Dale is something really special and I think we should all be grateful for it. --April Zoppa

The I Make A Difference award is a weekly recognition for a staff member going above and beyond the requirements of the job. Each week, the previous I Make A Difference award winner will select one member of the faculty/staff who displays excellence, goes the extra mile, and makes a difference and "pass" it on.

From Karen Lee:

The 16th recipient of the I Make A Difference award is Jamarri Price!

Someone said, “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” When I read that statement, I thought of Jamarri Price. One day while on duty in the commons I observed Jamarri interacting with our special needs students. As our students entered the commons for lunch, Jamarri addressed each student by name and made specific comments to each one. It was awesome watching faces light up, students moving with more energy, and the expression of excitement revealed in their faces as they connected with Jamarri. We could say, Jamarri is simply doing his job, but what makes a difference is the way Jamarri does it; the compassion and caring attitude he shows for our students can easily be characterized in two words, selfless service. Jamarri is an ambassador for our expectations of values, and belief that… every student matters, every Knight, every Day.

The purpose of our weekly KUDOS is to give public affirmation to a faculty/staff member for a job well done. Anytime you witness something that you think deserves KUDOS, you are invited to fill out THIS FORM with the staff member's name and a little about why he/she deserves KUDOS. You will notice a difference in the form. We have added a layer that will send each individual recipient an email with attachment shortly after the KUDOS has been submitted! The list of teacher names and valiant acts will be published in The Knight Times. At each faculty meeting, those nominated for KUDOS will be entered into a drawing for a special prize! Be alert to the wonderful actions of your colleagues and give a shout out when you see something awesome!

Please enjoy this week's KUDOS by clicking HERE!

Each month, we will celebrate and recognize one teacher as the Teacher of the Month and one staff member as the Staff Member of the Month. We were so excited to celebrate our Teacher and Staff Member of the Month recipients so far!

• September: Jamie Barrack and Michelle Kimenhour
• October: Rachel Langston and Steve Davies
• November: James Thompson and Bridget Lehman

Submit your nomination for December's Teacher and Staff Member of the Month by clicking HERE.

Each month, we will celebrate and recognize one student from each grade level as the Student of the Month. This student will be publicly recognized in front of classmates and on social media. Additionally, we will place a yard sign at each student's place of residency indicating that they are a Student of the Month for the appropriate grade level. Each student will be able to keep the yard sign. Each student who is nominated but not selected will also be recognized publicly.

Please think of a student you feel is deserving of December's Student of the Month and submit that student's name HERE.

The Culture by Design team has come up with several ways for us to celebrate our awesome knight students, as they exemplify the pillars of the Knight Code. Please take a moment to read through the awards and methods of nomination.

Additionally, we would like to ask that all Homeroom teachers encourage their students to come up with spirit-oriented Genius hour sessions. Ideas to jump start the conversation include: poster painting, face painting, relay races or candid photos... but we'd love to make their ideas come into reality.

• Grab-and-Go Lunch During Exams (Action). Homeroom Teachers, please have your students take the survey loaded in Google Classroom indicating whether or not they intend to purchase a grab-and-go lunch during exams. Thanks!
• Superhero Drive (Information). Check out the Flyer HERE!
  
• Historians are always looking for stuff (Information/Action). Mr. Anthony and Mr. Thompson are looking for operational model train sets or operational model race car sets. If anyone has one they are willing to part with we would greatly appreciate it and put it to good use. Thank you.
• Thomas Dale Angel Trees (Information/Action). Our annual Thomas Dale Angel Trees are in the School Counseling office at the Main Campus and the West Campus lobby outside of the main office. Gifts are due back to the counseling office at the main campus by Friday, December 14th. If you have any questions, you can email Heidi Hicks.
  
• Tech Integrator (Information). Janice Skipwith is a wonderful resource for high-quality instruction. Please see her weekly newsletter HERE.
• ESOL Corner (Information). Alexis Manuel, Emily Castle-Dunn, and Heather Walker work tirelessly to support our English Learners at Dale. Check out and bookmark the ESOL Corner page!
• Late Bus Passes (West Campus Teachers - Action). Please return your GREEN late bus passes each day. Mrs. Maclauchlan hands them out starting at 8:27am for any of the buses that arrive at or after that time. Occasionally, we have more than the typical 3-4 that arrive late daily, especially on days of weather. When passes are not returned, the office staff needs to continuously remake passes each week. Another issue when passes aren't returned is that Mrs. Mac runs out of passes and that causes the announcement interruption of late buses during first period. Please help us save trees and time by returning your green late bus passes to the office each day.
• Edgenuity (Information). Edgenuity is up and running! Different than years past, we will focus heavily on credit recovery. We are going to begin with allowing several students to repeat their first nine weeks online. If one of your students is impacted, the counselor will contact you as the teacher of record, and Catherine Craft is our program monitor.
• (Re-Print) Before and After School Supervision (Action). No student should be in our school without supervision before or after school hours. This is a non-negotiable for our Superintendent, and there will be zero tolerance. Please ensure you are in compliance. Let me know if you have any questions or need any support to make this happen.
• (Re-Print) Staff Parking Passes (Action). Please complete the linked form for your staff parking pass. Once you have completed the form, please see Michelle (Main Campus) to pick up your pass starting November 26th. Click HERE to enter the form.

From December 10-14, we will pilot a new bell schedule that incorporates Enrichment every day. The feedback to move forward with this has been overwhelmingly positive, and I would like to test it out and get feedback from teachers and students so that we can make any necessary adjustments before making it our bell schedule. Using this week to test is also convenient, as we will run additional Enrichment opportunities in preparation for Winter exams. On December 14, we will have an extended 2nd block class to accommodate the exam and will still build in an Enrichment to give us an idea of whether or not this schedule will work - I would like to get as good a "test drive" as possible.

The plan is to move to this bell schedule (adjusted according to feedback from this "test drive") when we start the second semester. If, however, feedback from teachers and students is to move to it (or a version of it) sooner or to not change it at all, then we will.

Here is the plan for the week of December 10-14:

• Monday will remain the same as we've always known it this year: Morning Meeting in the homeroom class; when we start the new schedule, all Mondays will remain as originally planned for the rest of the year.
• Tuesday-Friday will be Academic Enrichment, without the transition to homeroom. The 1st period teacher will become the "homeroom teacher" for students to launch to their academic enrichment setting. This will eliminate the additional transition/movement. It will also make Morning Meeting on Mondays much more meaningful and special.
• 1st period teachers should identify their A/B buddy partner as we have done with homeroom throughout the year so far.
• 1st period teachers SHOULD NOT treat this enrichment period as a continuation of their class; as such, 1st period teachers SHOULD NOT teach during this designated period of enrichment.

HERE is the schedule we will use from December 10-14.

Please click HERE for the proposed bell schedule for the remainder of the school year beginning on January 28, 2019.

• The next Genius Hour will be January 28th. The catalog will be created December 10th-January 3rd, so please start thinking about potential sessions to host or to help students host.

• Also, please give me (Elizabeth_Clark@ccpsnet.net) feedback on any part of Genius Hour to let me know ways to improve it!! Next time, all Genius Hour links will be in ONE document for you on the TD Dashboard and they will each have an explanation, so hopefully it will be easier to locate what you need.

• No students should be in the Cafeteria or Commons during Monday Morning Meeting.

• During Wednesday/Thursday Academic Enrichment periods, if you are working with students, you should send extra Homeroom students to your A/B partner. If there is no room there, you can send them to the Commons with a pass. Students need to check in with you first before they come to the Commons. If you do not know where the student is, please mark them as absent.

• On the following form, please fill out the student you will be bringing to the Potluck Lunch and the food item that you wish to bring.

• December 18th Holiday Potluck

• If you would like an invitation to use for your student, see your administrator (they will have them for you).

Remediation and Testing Opportunities

It's that time again, where students are involved in various "remediation" and "test" sessions. Your help is needed to make sure that students are encouraged to attend these review and test sessions.

For all planned remediation and test sessions, a list of students will be included with the "Attendance Update & Report", which is sent daily by Darby Dickerson. Passes will also be delivered to the students on this list at the beginning of 1st Period, with the location and time of where the students should report. This is where your help is greatly appreciated. First Period Teachers, when the passes are delivered to your class, please give the passes to the students. Homeroom Teachers, if a student reports to your class and their name is on the list, please send those students to the location indicated.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

• Please click HERE for the exam schedule; this was shared previously, but I wanted you to have it again in this email.
• Exams are due to your department chair by the end of the day on Monday, December 10. Please click HERE to access the Checklist you will need to follow when constructing exams and submit with your exams.
• Senior exemptions will be applicable for Seniors with an A or B grade in your course at the time of administration of the exam and no more than 5 absences (1st period) or 3 absences (block). Waivers will be available for Seniors who make the grade but have excessive absences in your class starting Monday, December 3.
• Your exams will need to be graded and entered into Synergy no later than the end of the day on Friday, January 11.

It’s that time of year! Our annual HOOPS FOR HOPE game is next Friday, December 7th. Please join us to watch the Thomas Dale boys basketball team play Matoaca. We will be working to raise money to benefit The Cure Starts Now. This organization funds research to defeat an always fatal, inoperable, brain tumor in children, that doesn’t respond to traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. We have raised almost $15,000 in the 4 years before this and we can’t wait to add to the total! We will sell t-shirts and other items to help with the cause also, so feel free to reach out to Heather Walker get some swag! (T-shirts $10, keychains $5, wristbands and stickers $1- photos to come!) The game is usually very well attended and lots of fun!

If you are interested in helping, we will need adults to hang out where money is involved. This means in the concession stand and at tables with merchandise during the game. The more hands on deck, the less time commitment involved.

Please print the flyer and hang it in your room and talk with your students about it. We are hoping for a great turn out!

Here is a link to a 2 minute video to help you learn more about the organization and DIPG tumors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u2xvnq8Oig

Thank you so much for all that you do to support the good works at Thomas Dale. YOU ARE AMAZING TO WORK WITH!!

The ASOL classes are making homemade goat's milk soap! The soaps would make a great gift for the holiday season! We have 3 different types of soap, So hurry and get your order in soon. The soaps will be on sale from November 26-Dec 7. They will be delivered to your room during Enrichment on Thursday Dec 13. Thanks for your support!

Click HERE to access the order form.

On the heels of Registration Night, school counseling is gearing up to begin the program planning process. CCPS is attempting to streamline student scheduling by implementing online student registration. Teachers will continue to be instrumental in this process, however, at a different level. You will be asked to make a concerted effort to explain future course options and requirements to your students. You will not need to make any level recommendations this year (additional information regarding this change will be forthcoming from Dr. Jones). The county goal is give students more autonomy in selecting the rigor of their course load.

To support this effort, Thomas Dale’s schedule of events will mirror this:

Meet with our students grouped by grade level during Enrichment

• Juniors (rising 12th)… Main large auditorium – December 5th
• Sophomore (rising 11th)…Main large auditorium – December 6th
• Freshmen (rising 10th)…West auditorium – December 5th
• Freshmen (rising 10th)…West auditorium – December 5th

Meet with our students individually by grade level during specified blocks

• Juniors (rising 12th)…January 23rd – February 7th
• Sophomore (rising 11th)... February 13th – February 22nd
• Freshmen (rising 10th)…January 23rd – February 22nd

Spirit Week:

• Dates: 12/3-12/7

• Days:

• Monday: Ugly Sweater

• Tuesday: Dress like a Decoration

• Wednesday: Holiday Movie Character Day

• Thursday: Winter Holiday Appreciation Day

• Dress representing your favorite winter holiday.

• Friday: Holiday Colors

• Freshmen: White

• Sophomores: Blue

• Juniors: Green

• Seniors: Red

• Deck the Halls: 12/6 (H.C. Hallways per class)

Pep Rally:

• Date: 12/7

• Method: Indoor/Split

• More information on a later date.

This week the Knights Cafe is offering blueberry streusel muffins, chocolate chip muffins and cinnamon rolls. Please click HERE to access the order form.

As part of our intentionality to strengthen trust, communication, and relationships, we will include agendas and minutes from our meetings in this section of the newsletter.

• Admin Team: November 20
  
• ILT: November 9
  
• Instructional Admin: November 27
  
• Community Partners Meeting: October 9
• Principal's Advisory Council: November 14
• Student Advisory Council: November 9
• ACTS Notes (from Cindy Waters): November
• English: November 19
• Math: Minutes Folder

Angela Porter, Matt Crenshaw, Melody Vaughn - December 3

Gabriella Mirabilio - December 5

Carrie Weese, Clint Patterson - December 7

Dennis Zeiters, Deane Davis - December 8

Enjoy your day!!!

Stay connected to OUR CALENDAR and mark yours!

Click HERE for our 2018-2019 meeting dates.

December 3-7 - Spirit Week

December 4 - PTSA Meeting (6:00pm in the Main Large Auditorium)

December 6 - Winter Band Concert

December 7 - Pep Rally Adjusted Schedule (Click HERE for the schedule)

December 7 - Hoops for Hope at the Basketball Game vs. Matoaca

December 10-14 - Pilot the new bell schedule (Click HERE for the schedule)

December 10 - Draft of Winter Exams due to your Department Chair

December 14 - 2E Exam (Winter Exam Schedule)

Click below to access previous issues of The Knight Times, our weekly staff newsletter:

• Week of August 13
• Week of August 20
• Week of August 27
• Week of September 3
• Week of September 10
• Week of September 17
• Week of September 24
• Week of October 1
• Week October 8
• Week of October 15
• Week of October 22
• Week of October 29
• Week of November 5
• Week of November 12
• Weeks of November 19 and 26

Click below to access previous issues of From the Castle, our monthly parent and community newsletter:

• August 2018
• September 2018
• October 2018
• November 2018

If you have information you need to share, input you seek, or dates you need to communicate, please send it to me. As we improve our communication structure, The Knight Times will become an increasingly collaborative document.

Please email me what you'd like to share - just ensure you have The Knight Times as part of your subject line. I will just need a title, body of text to include, and a picture attachment (if you have one to add to your piece).

Email: christopherm_jones@ccpsnet.net
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/ccpsnet.net/tdhs/
Location: 3626 W. Hundred Rd. Chester, VA 23831
Phone: (804) 768-6245
Facebook: facebook.com/ThomasDale
Twitter: @GoTDKnights