The Knight Times

Thomas Dale Faculty and Staff,

In lieu of a written opening message, I have instead created a short video message.

Please click HERE to view a short video.

More information regarding this opening message will be shared during teacher in-service week. I love you and care deeply about you. It's time to go to WORK!!!

Every Knight.
Every Day.

No matter what.

Let's DO this!

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 Brenda Manson:

The third recipient of the I Make A Difference award is a person known for his voice. Many times, you will hear him walking the halls singing or talking in Spanish. His enthusiasm is contagious with the faculty and student body. Also, he is our local "Grounds and Hall Beautifier." You will constantly find him picking up trash or recovering broken equipment to be repaired. As seen last year on the news, he cares about his students and wants them to succeed beyond Thomas Dale. Mr. Luis Diaz, you make a difference!

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. 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!

• The agenda for in-service week is located HERE. Please save it as a reference for each day. Any changes that need to occur will be reflected in real time.
• Dress Code for In-Service Week. Please use good judgment when dressing comfortably for in-service week in a manner that is appropriate for the setting. On Wednesday, I expect you to represent Thomas Dale in the best light by dressing professionally comfortable (some call this business casual) during your professional development day experience in different buildings throughout the county.
• Please check out our Tech Integrator's Back-to-School newsletter HERE. Janice Skipwith is an AWESOME support for our instructional program!
• (Re-print) Please review our admin team duties and responsibilities chart HERE. Our admin team has grown in size; we are now rolling 13-deep, and we represent every aspect of our school. It is a good idea to bookmark this document for quick and easy reference.

The master schedule has been updated and is now visible in synergy to both you and the students. This year each of the core subjects have a common planning block to assist with collaboration during the school day. Additionally, we have more teachers this year than last year. Both of these changes have created a need for us to share our rooms and space with one another. Some of you will be floating throughout the school day among several rooms due to availability. If you were chosen to float, thank you for cooperating. If you are not floating it is almost certain that you will have a colleague teaching in your room during your planning period, so thank you for accommodating them as best you can. Sharing our space and working together with one another is just one more way for us to build even stronger relationships with our colleagues and make our faculty even more amazing.

Please see the operational plan for our Enrichment periods by clicking HERE. It is a good idea to bookmark this document until we get into a routine.

On Wednesday of the first week of school, we will begin with our BELL SCHEDULE. Although, we do not anticipate much of a need for Academic Enrichment on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, we will implement our bell schedule to include Enrichment. Students will report to their Morning Meeting (Homeroom on their schedules) classroom and teacher.

• Wednesday of the first week: Purpose and explanation of Enrichment. There will be a video from Dr. Jones that explains the "why" of Enrichment. The document linked above will assist you with understanding and explaining the "how" and "what" of Enrichment.
• Thursday of the first week: Nuts and bolts of the school day, along with expectations. We will share information with you that will need to be communicated with students. We will also use this time to develop early ideas for a Genius Hour catalog through a brainstorming activity.

On Thursday, August 30th, we will welcome our incoming freshman class, the class of 2022. This event will take place from 1-4, followed by a tailgate for the students. Orientation is an "all hands on deck" event. There will be a student component and a parent component to this event. Click here for more detailed information. If you teach any 9th graders and are normally housed on Main campus, you will be assigned a location at West for the meet and greet portion of the day. Those locations will be emailed individually to teachers who are impacted. If you are willing and able please help with the fee collection and let Mark Fowler know. Thank you in advance for the work you will do to make our newest Knights' first experience at Thomas Dale amazing!!

High-Quality Instruction is the core function of our school, and our intention is to ensure that we constantly improve the quality of teaching and learning in our classrooms. To do so, our team will be in classrooms. A lot. The goal of these observations is to observe learning so that we can engage in reflective dialogue about the learning that occurred and the overall effectiveness of each lesson. You can expect to have multiple observation and feedback cycles over the course of the year along with shorter walkthroughs in between. In the spirit of improvement, our administrators and ILT will engage in a longitudinal improvement cycle to get better at observing teaching and learning and at leading coaching conversations.

We will use TalentEd as a place to catalogue our observations and conversations. We will also use a separate form for the brief walkthroughs. This cycle will allow us to continually focus our attention on instruction and keep a running dialogue going throughout the year.

TalentEd, our evaluation library, requires us to complete certain tasks. Here are upcoming due dates to keep on your radar:

• Collect Baseline Data by September 28
• Goals are due to administrators by October 12
• Goals are due for submission on November 2

There is only one first day of school each year. This year, we will make it the best day of our students' lives! On the first day of school, we will build relationships, establish trust, open lines of communication, and connect with each other and our school. ALL teachers will see ALL of their students, and ALL students will see ALL of their teachers...on the first day! All class assemblies will be part of the first day to set the tone and expectations for an AMAZING year! To end our day, we will rock out at a PEP RALLY!!!

Let's make our first day of school count... making it all about relationships, connections, excitement, and joy! An overwhelming feeling that school really is an AWESOME place!

To do so, we will adjust our bell schedule so that students attend all 7 of their classes on the first day. Logistics regarding the day and specifics regarding the pep rally are forthcoming. This day is not an "Even" day or an "Odd" day...it's an "ALL" Day. Let's make September 4 AMAZING! Please click HERE to unlock the schedule for our first day of school!

To celebrate you and to connect with each other, Beth Clark will put a slideshow together of your summer travels and activities. Please email her a picture or two and a brief description of what you were up to over the summer.

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: August 2
  
• Admin Team Retreat: August 7 and 8
  
• ILT Retreat: August 14 and 15
  
• Instructional Admin: August 20
  

Dick Anthony - August 28

Miriam Bonner - August 29

Mike Walker and Chris Marshall - August 30

John Diebel - August 31

Enjoy your day!!!

Stay connected to OUR CALENDAR and mark yours!

Click HERE for our 2018-2019 meeting dates.

August 27 - Admin Team Meet-and-Greet (12:30-1:30pm, West Campus Cafeteria)

August 27-31 - Teacher In-Service Week (AGENDA)

August 30 - Freshman Orientation

August 31 - "Dale"-gate and Battle of Chester

September 4 - First Day of School ("All" Day - BELL SCHEDULE)

September 7 - ILT Meeting

September 17 - Faculty Meeting (West Campus Auditorium)

September 17 - Back-to-School Night (6:30-8pm)

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

• Week of August 13
• Week of August 20

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

• August 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. 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