Thursday Thriller
March 25, 2025
CELEBRATIONS
Jeff Horwitz, our UDL Consultant from Novak Education, spent some time with our Guiding Coalition members and UDL Co-Hort teachers recently. We dug into self-reflection and flexible materials—key parts of UDL. Our district has been focusing on really getting to know UDL, why it matters, and diving deeper into two of the ten Focus Areas.
A big shout out to Brian Casey and Jami Parsons for letting us observe their 2nd and 3rd period classrooms! Both of them have been planning lessons with the goal of removing barriers so all students can access grade-level content. While some of us were observing lessons, the rest of the group took a walk through the school to find examples of how YOU are already supporting students with flexible materials and scaffolds to help them succeed.
We found tons of great examples! The big takeaway from yesterday was how valuable it is to look at how different teachers are using flexible materials—things that give students more options for how they access content and reach the learning goals. It was awesome to see how much is already happening in our classrooms.
If you chat with Conor, Kim E, Christy, Stephanie, Sean, Nate, or Roger, they’ll tell you how cool it was to visit other classrooms. It only took about 20 minutes, and having a clear task—finding and snapping pictures of flexible materials—made it super focused. When you have something specific to look for, it really helps narrow down what to pay attention to in the classroom.
Next time, we’d love to get more of you involved in these walk-throughs! It’s a great way to see what’s working, get new ideas, and learn from each other. If you would like to walk through classrooms and see for yourself, let Nicole or me know we will support you!
Big CONGRATS to JAZMIN!! She’s our NEW HEAD SECRETARY!!! Jazmin has already been diving into the role, working with the District Office staff to get a solid grasp on the head secretary duties. In just TWO days, she sorted through 46 invoices from the past few months, categorizing them correctly in the budget and getting everything squared away – and that’s just a small part of what she’s doing! :D Jazmin has also been supporting Janelle with Discipline entries, letters, and various tasks in BEAST SKYWARD. When I asked her what her vision for a head secretary is, she said, "Leadership, teamwork, collaboration, and organization." So excited to see all the great things she'll do!
NUTS-n-BOLTS
1. Thank you to Chad for sending out communication around grades. Last night at Millennials, Yaneth spoke to each student who had F's. They were told they needed to raise the grade to passing by Wednesday morning in order to play in the match between GMS and Pioneer Wednesday afternoon. I'll ask Janelle to send a list of students in Millennials so you have this information.
2. Career Fair tomorrow-packets in your mailbox. Please ask questions today!
3. Monday the 31st during 6th grade science classes, counselors, secretaries and admin will be in to register students for electives. Please have the slides ready for when we come in. THANKS!
Tuesday, April 1st same routine only with 7th grade
4. STAMP testing for 8th grade students only begins on Monday. Please review Yaz's email that was sent on March 26th.
Our Dual students (Bahena & Fernandez) and some from Mr. Fernandez's Spanish 2 class will take the STAMP test in the library from Monday to Friday, March 31st–April 4th. Testing will take place in the afternoon during the 5th through 7th periods. Students will first check in with their 5th-period teacher before heading to the library.
5. April 1st and 2nd the Pioneer and Garrison Admin teams will be doing our "5th to 6th grade Parent Meeting" Roadshow. We have advertised and sent flyers home with 5th grade families. We did have a great turn out at each school last year.
7. When we return from spring break, we will be launching into end-of-year activities. The highlighted events are open for people to help plan.
April 3rd Orchestra Concert
April 25th Color Run and Activity Day
May 5th-9th Teacher Appreciation week(We are asking classified staff to help plan. :D), 1st week of SBA testing
May 12-16th 2nd Week of SBA
May 13th -District Band Festival @ 7:00PM
May 14th -Evening Play performance for GMS
May 15th-NJHS Induction Ceremony
May 19th -Student Success Night
May 27th -Garrison Band and Choir Concert
May 28th -Garrison Orchestra Concert
June 3rd -Recognition
Activity Day
We’ve got some fresh ideas for celebrations and awards, and we’d love your input! Nicole, Nicole, Steve, Yaneth, and I are the ones planning the event. Robin has kindly stepped in the last two years to help with the student speeches.
Planning for school events is time consuming especially if you want it done right and not half-assed. We will be sending out information for you to get involved.
We’re always open to suggestions because you have some awesome ideas! One thing I’d ask though: if you have something negative to say about an event, try holding off for 24 hours. We all tend to be reactive sometimes, but if we just pause and think it through, it can save a lot of trouble. Learn from my mistakes. :D
WISE WORDS
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
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