Week of March 5, 2018
Character Counts: March – HONESTY
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dates Events
Monday, 03/05 Book Fair Day 1
Tuesday, 03/06 Book Fair Day 2
First Grade Field Trip
Wednesday, 03/07 Book Fair Day 3
Faculty Huddle @ 7:30am (Technology Lab)
PLC Meetings (K-2)
Statewide Tornado Drill
Thursday, 03/08 Book Fair Day 4
Guided Reading Training (8:00-8:45)
3rd Grade Field Trip Ackland (Edmond, Poteat)
PBIS PACK Party
Friday, 03/09 Book Fair Day 5 (Ends @ 2pm)
3rd Grade Field Trip Ackland (Whitford, Hoopingarner)
NATIONAL SOCIAL’S WORKER WEEK
Happy National Social Worker’s Week to the best Social Worker in Durham Public Schools, Ms. Angelia Barnes! Please
let her know how much we appreciate her by showing her just how valuable she is to our school! We are fortunate to have
you as part of the Tiger Family! You are truly an asset to our school!
CogAT TESTING
CogAT Testing will occur this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning, beginning at 9:15am. All second
graders will take this assessment. Please remind your students to move quietly throughout the hallways and work to
minimize distractions on these days so that our 2nd graders can do their best!
READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK
Kudos to Ms. Bradford, Ms. Judd and Coach “Will” for continuing to spread the love of reading to our students by planning
and implementing fun, daily activities to celebrate Dr. Seuss and his contributions to literacy! We had fun reading, learning
and dressing up as our favorite Dr. Seuss characters!
TIGER SAVES WEEK
What a wonderful week we had as our Community Partner, the East Durham Children’s Initiative, helped our students,
parents and faculty members on matters involving saving money, taxes and building and sustaining credit. Our Kindergarten
students received piggy banks to begin saving their money while all teachers received financial lessons/activities provided
by EDCI. This year, we averaged more parents contributing to their children’s savings account and we intend to out-do
ourselves next year!
PLC CORNER
This week’s PLC’s will be broken up into two days: Wednesday (K-2) and Thursday (4-5). The PLC’s will focus on Data
Diggs, Intervention Plans and better utilizing Ready Toolbox.
BOOK FAIR
Ms. Alston has organized a great Book Fair for our scholars this week! Please adhere to the schedule and encourage your
scholars to make a purchase from the Book Fair! Each classroom teacher has two (2) book fair hall passes in their mailbox.
The passes can be used for students who are ready to make a purchase (have $) and can be used any day of the week
between 9:30 and 10:00 and at other times stated on the pass. If none of the times on the pass work for you, send Ms. Alston
an email and she will schedule an alternate time for you. Students will also have an opportunity to preview the book fair
merchandise and/or make purchases during their class library special time.
DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS TRANSFER PROCESS 2018-2019
The DPS Transfer Process is open to eligible DPS employees who wish to request a transfer from one school site to a
different school site for the 2018-2019 school year. Teachers and classified staff request transfers for many reasons, and
anyone interested may complete the online transfer request form by March 30, 2018. Please adhere to the following dates:
•February 19, 2018 - District-wide transfer window opens.
•March 24, 2018 – Regional Job Fair (Consortium of 13 districts; DPS is hosting the teacher career fair at Southern
High School).
•March 30, 2018 - District-wide transfer window closes.
•April 9, 2018 - District-wide transfer list will be sent to all Principals.
•April 14, 2018 - District-wide Teacher Career & Transfer Fair.
•June 1, 2018 - The transfer process will be completed.
A vacancy does not have to exist in order to request a transfer. Transfers requests will not be accepted after the March 30 th
deadline. Vacancies are often unpredictable and arise throughout the year. If you are interested and eligible to transfer, you
must complete a transfer request prior to March 30 th. Multiple schools may be requested. Please read the instructions
carefully, and follow this link to find the online form that you need to fill out. Please right click on the following link and
open the hyperlink to apply for a transfer:
http://dpsnc.bmetrack.com/c/l?
u=7956E97&e=C601D9&c=69656&t=0&l=2BC764AB&email=pmfkHHm6kJzMceBaNC0lJMi4zfNJKND7&seq=1
STAFF CELEBRATIONS
(In each bulletin, we will recognize a few staff members who “go the extra mile.” While we know Y.E. Smith has the best staff on the
planet and is full of staff members who go the extra mile daily, this is a small sampling of the individuals we are spotlighting bi-
weekly in “Paw’s Up!”! If you see them, please comment on their efforts.)
“PAWS UP!”
Shelia Washington Thank you for all of your hard work in coaching teachers and filling in the gaps!...#PAWSUP!
Meghan Antol
Jayven Brown Thank you for all that you do to ensure that Access Testing goes smoothly!! Thank you for all that you
Barry Blefko do! …..#PAWSUP!
Muriel Castillo
Jayven Brown Your relentless effort and care that you provide students is so inspiring! You are truly determined to
Jazma Hunt ensure that all of the students that you serve have the safest educational experience possible! Thanks for
Barbara Bonilla V. all that you do!...#PAWSUP!
Lee Cobb
Takeia Smith Thank you for your flexibility in taking on whatever task is needed! Your efforts are
Elbert Smith appreciated!...#PAWSUP!
Cheryl Whitley
William Henley, Jr.
Bermadine George Thank you for stepping in and providing exactly what we needed in our effort(s) to continue to educate
our students! We truly value and appreciate all of the work that you do!...#PAWSUP!
UPDATES & REMINDERS
Observations & PDP’s We are currently in our second round of formal observations. Look for emails this week
from the administration pertaining to your mid-year PDP’s.
Progress Monitoring Please be reminded that you should be progress monitoring every day. We are no
longer progress monitoring the reds every 10 days, yellow every 20 days and green and
blue once a quarter. All students should be progressed monitored. Ms. Washington will
come around to see if you have progress monitored at least two students. If you have
not turned in your progress monitoring sheets please get it to her ASAP. Also, guided
reading must continue EVERY DAY! Progress monitoring does not take the place of
guided reading.
Parent Conferences Please be sure that you are setting up parent conferences. We are in the 3 rd quarter of the
nine-week period and you should have had at least one conference with every parent in
your classroom. If you are having problems reaching parents, please reach out to Mr.
Smith and Ms. Barnes to assist you.
