Meadow Hall Staff Newsletter

We have reached the last week of September and it is now officially fall:) This week is altered with no school on Monday, September 26th and an early release on Friday, September 30th. Happy New Year to those celebrating!

As staff is aware, the number of chrome books in each cart don’t match the number of students in your class and there is a need to plan ahead and borrow from other classes. It is unlikely every teacher will have a full class set. If you know you need a full class set (testing, writing project, etc…) and don’t have one, arrangements within the grade or between grades need to be made beforehand.

We have some upcoming professional and early release days. Here is the plan for those days:

September 30th - early release

• 1:15pm in the Media Center - Staff/equity mtg make-up session for paraeducators and other professional staff that missed
• 1:30pm in room 12 - Evaluation year overview meeting for all 1st, 2nd and 3rd year teachers

October 24 - professional day

• Grade levels (1st-5th in general education) will sign up for a time slot to discuss and plan Q2 focus groups. This would avoid having teams meeting at overlapping times. And allow us plenty of time to develop a solid, data driven focus group plan to start on November 9th (start of Q2).
• Teachers also have the option of joining virtual (and optional) professional learning the morning of October 24th. If members on your team would like to and plan to join the PD, then that grade level would choose an afternoon focus group mtg time. If not, then the morning time slots would be available to that grade level.

Please review the email Mr. Mackall sent last Friday, 9/23:

Staff,

As we close out the week and prepare for next week I am asking that we make a collective effort to review expectations with all students. I am noticing that students are taking the liberty to run down the hallways throughout the day and are not taking into consideration that classes are in session. Specifically, when they are coming in from recess grade levels are really loud. This, then, is carried into the lunchroom and the noise level is excessive. Please take some time during the morning meetings in the next few days to reiterate the following expectations:

• Students should walk in the hallway (at all times)
• Students should use inside voices in the hallway and in the lunchroom
• If students run in the hallway, they will be asked by the adult to turn around and demonstrate the appropriate way to walk down the hallway.

Classroom teachers should reiterate expectations before transitions to specials and other places in the building. Should students not follow the expectation please take students back to the starting point until they get it right. (This also includes recess)

I would like for teachers to also reiterate expectations at the end of the day. Our students who are car riders and walkers that exit from grades 3/5 portables and students coming from the grades 4/2 hallway consistently run out of the classroom. Should staff members on duty see students running down the hallway when they are on duty, please ask them to turn around. I need us all to make a collective effort to support students with adjusting hallway behaviors. Should students continue to run down the halls at the end of the day we may need to begin walking them to the APR room and exit doors from the classrooms. For now, let's reiterate expectations and see if this helps with the running in the hallways. I want to encourage all staff to give class high fives if you notice changes in hallway behavior. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

MAP Make-Ups

The MAP testing window closes on October 14. Lorena and/or Casey will contact teachers regarding make-up testing.

Here is an updated MAP Guide - MAP Testing Guide

Grading and Reporting –

Be sure to follow the Domains by Marking Period document for collecting and reporting grades. There are some discrepancies between this document and Synergy which are being resolved.

Changes to Performance Matters Tests –

Two changes to the PM assessments for grades 3-5 have been reversed. Students can once again move back to previous items on the test. This impacts the multi-select limitation. Students will be able to proceed to the next item without selecting the appropriate number of correct answer.

Data collected from this form will help drive the technology professional development opportunities offered this Fall. In addition, we will provide you with data from your school to help plan future support. Staff will have until Friday, October 7th to submit a response to the form.

Fall 2022 Technology Professional Development

THANK YOU!

We had a fantastic Book Fair and Ice Cream Social Event and wanted to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make this possible! Thank you to the Book Fair Committee: Whitney Swain, Erin Greenlee, Mike Freund, and Melissa Golladay! And thank you so much to Ladan Hozhabri for chairing the Ice Cream Social! We also had so many fantastic volunteers. So THANK YOU everyone for coming to these events and a very special THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered!

SPIRIT NIGHT DINE OUT FUNDRAISER AT SILVER DINER

Come on out to Silver Diner on Thursday, September 29, from 5-8pm for our Spirit Night Fundraiser! Enjoy lots of yummy food all while supporting Meadow Hall! A portion of all proceeds from the night will go back to supporting our school, so tell your neighbors, friends, everyone to join us that night, too!

Complete MAP testing, Dibels (K-2) and KRA (K) testing and make-ups. Lorena and Casey for help with these testing items and/or make-ups.

• no school

Friday, September 30

• early release (no recess; lunch schedule altered)

Wednesday, October 4

• no school

Tuesday, October 11

• Leadership Team mtg - 3:45-5pm

Email: Ilana_N_Simhon@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/meadowhalles/
Location: 951 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD, USA
Phone: 240-740-5260