The Knight Times

Thomas Dale Faculty and Staff,

What a week! It was an honor and privilege to spend this week with you, working alongside and learning from you. From Monday all the way through Friday, you inspired me, you challenged me, and you encouraged me. I appreciate you making my first week with you the most amazing week of my educational career!

Ready or not...there will be about 2,400 of the most amazing students on Earth stepping on campus to fill our halls and classrooms with joy, enthusiasm, and a bit of nervous energy. Tuesday will be the BEST first day EVER! With the opportunity for all of us to meet all of our kids, we are starting off on the right foot to build relationships with our students. This day will be awesome, but totally crazy. And that's okay! Flexibility, a positive attitude, smiles, and high fives will make everything alright for everyone!

As promised, here are the up-front essentials for Tuesday:

• You will need the BELL SCHEDULE.
• You will need access to the ESSENTIALS FOLDER.
• You will need the link to the BUS ROUTES and the BUS INFORMATION TABLE.
• You will need access to the VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENTS to play at the beginning of the block.
• We appreciate your assistance with our HOT SPOTS and HOT TIMES. Your help is invaluable!
• You may need the ALPHA ROSTER of 1st period classes to assist students with finding where to go for 1st block.
• 1st period - GREEN schedules to your students. Return any "No-Shows" with the enrollment form before 10am.
• 4E rotations - Single grade level, please escort. Two grade levels, please split your class. Three or four grade levels, choose one grade level and work with your department to distribute your choices.
• Pep Rally - You will need the Pep Rally AGENDA and STADIUM SEATING MAP.
• HAVE FUN!!

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 Luis Diaz-Diaz:

The fourth recipient of the I Make A Difference award is a dedicated teacher in the History Department, year in and year out she keeps her students motivated and at the edge of the investigative frontier of her program. She expects excellence in the product and is able to see it through, This educator is also a driving force behind our seniors final countdown, in which she exemplifies the qualities of perseverance and uncompromising leadership. The fourth recipient is Mrs. Laura Deck. A Marine mom. True grit.

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!

• Bell to release students who travel. This year, students who travel between campuses will be given a 5 minute head start and will be released at the sound of a soft bell. When the tardy bell rings for class to begin, all students are expected to be in class; this will be a tardy bell for ALL students. We will not begin documenting tardies for the first week of school.
• Wednesday Checklist. This DOCUMENT includes information about the Student Packets that will go home with students in 1st period.
• Morning Meeting Menu. The document shared on Thursday's Know Your Kids session is located HERE. Please see your department chair, supervising administrator, or me if you need assistance or have questions.
• Thursday Enrichment. Beth Clark will solicit feedback from you based on the first two days of school regarding what topics for student expectations or nuts-and-bolts need to be covered.
• Tech Integrator. Please click HERE to access Janice Skipwith's support schedule.
• Club Sponsors and Team Membership. Interested in serving Dale in an additional capacity? Click HERE to tell us about your interest!

It is with great pleasure that I announce this year's PAC! I appreciate your willingness to serve on our team to lead Dale forward!

Cindy Waters and I will co-chair this leadership team of key communicators. Our first meeting will be on September 19 after school. In this meeting, we will establish our process and structure for effective communication.

Co-Chair - Cindy Waters

English (3) - Robin Kiku, Lee Bloxom, Peter Berringer

Fine and Performing Arts (3) - Ilana Puglia, Luke Petrey, Sarah Klinger

World Languages (2) - Emily Bentzen, Brenda Contreras

Special Education (1) - Miriam Bonner

Social Studies (3) - Laura Deck, James Thompson, Chris Davis

Office Staff (1) - Libby Faulkner

Clinic/Library (3) - Mo McCamey, Candy Mason, Meg Clemens

H/PE (1) - Carrie May

CTE (2) - Braxton Byerson, Candy Warthen

New to Dale this year: the Pledge of Allegiance, the moment of silence, & the morning announcements will be brought to you as a short video. Faculty on both campuses will show students that day's video morning announcement through their projector at the start of each day.

To quickly and easily access the video, open the Google Doc (found in the TDHS Essentials Folder) marked TDHS Morning Announcements and click the link under that day's date.

Click HERE for Tuesday, September 4.

Each morning, by 8:15, you will find a new video posted and ready to play at 8:30 when the opening bell sounds.

To submit an announcement to be read on the morning announcements, we will use the same process as last year. We will use a shared Google Doc in the Announcements Folder within the TDHS Essentials Folder.

For now, we are only accepting written announcements. Have them in by noon the day BEFORE you want the announcement read.

Click HERE for a quick reference.

We will eventually be accepting finished video clips or promotions (keep them short - 30-45 seconds max) or perhaps brief raw footage of events to insert into the announcements. Stay tuned for instructions on how to submit video in next week's edition of The Knight Times.

The Chesterfield County Public Schools Student Health Services program has provided guidelines for all staff to use in assisting students with specific health concerns. THIS DOCUMENT provides school staff with general guidance based on standard first aid principles related to four health conditions: asthma, life-threatening allergies/anaphylaxis, diabetes and seizures. Please review and keep this document in a location where it is easily accessible.

Some students require more specific, individualized interventions. For these students in your classroom, I will provide you with a student-specific Emergency Action Plan, based on information received from their licensed healthcare provider and/or parent/guardian.

Student Health Services supports the goal of Chesterfield County Public Schools to provide a safe, supportive and nurturing environment. If you have any questions, please contact Meg Clemens, BSN, RN, NCSN.

Do you know how to keep yourself safe, and decrease your risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens? Bloodborne pathogens that are found in body fluids are infectious microorganisms that can cause disease in humans. THIS DOCUMENT provides you with some important information on universal precautions so that you can help protect yourself.

Knowing how to prevent exposure to potential risks is an important factor in your protection. If you ARE exposed, it is equally important to know what to do and how soon to take action. More specific information will be presented at the annual OSHA update.

Please read and save this document. If you have any questions, contact Meg Clemens, BSN, RN, NCSN.

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.

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!

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: August 31
• Admin Team Retreat: August 7 and 8
• ILT Retreat: August 14 and 15
  
• Instructional Admin: August 20
  

Kevin Cook - September 6

Kara Watts and Caitlyn Falsone - September 8

Angela Roberts - September 9

Enjoy your day!!!

Stay connected to OUR CALENDAR and mark yours!

Click HERE for our 2018-2019 meeting dates.

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

September 7 - ILT Meeting

September 10 - First Morning Meeting

September 10 - Chromebook Distribution

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
• Week of August 27

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

• August 2018
• September 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