Weekly Top for 10-25-19

Folks,


Announcements right at 7:45 AM today-
Our news team will do the news at 7:45 today so that the news can be out before the 8th grade field trip today.  

Next week gone-
I will be in Lansing at a conference next week and gone Monday-Wednesday.  Craig will also be out Monday and Kelly Gaideski will be the fill-in administrator in the building that day.  I will be checking my emails and voice messages from Lansing.  In the evening if you have something pressing you can call my cell.

Great concert-
What a wonderful choir concert Wednesday night!  It was a beautiful site to see our 6th-12th graders all up on stage together.  A retired principal from SJPS was there and he said it was the best concert he has been to in a long time!  

Our 6th-12th grade choir students

No meeting Monday-
Two Mondays in a row without an after-school  meeting!  

Spirit week (October 28th-November1st)-
Monday-  Tie Dye vs. Neon Day
Tuesday-  Pajama Day
Wednesday-  Biker vs. Hawaiian Day
Halloween-  Yes, students are allowed to dress-up for Halloween. 👻  Many staff are as well!  If a student's costume prohibits their learning you could ask them to remove a mask, hat, etc. during your class.
Friday-  Favorite Sports Team Day

Empty Water bottles and 2 Liters-
Beth Fairchild would love empty water bottles for a district project and Jenna would love 2 liter bottles for Astronomy.  The lounge or the back office are places you can drop water bottles.  Give your 2 liters directly to Jenna.  Your donations are appreciated!

Kindness matters-
Check out this link that Beth created for students to recognize other students for their kindness.  I told the kids at the beginning of the school year that it really boils down to two words in the whole English language to improve this school & the world, and they are "BE KIND!"

Kindness Matters

Bringing the juice-

Jenna, Amy, Mary Ann and Melissa-  Planning a great learning opportunity for our 8th graders.  Taking a lot of kids on a field trip is a stressful endeavor!
Denise, Kathy R., Mary B., Melissa, and Kathy M.- Working through a tough situation in a very professional manner.
Mary Ann and Kevin-  Two of our staff members who gave up a lot of after school time to coach volleyball.
Candace (Candy)-  Helping 6th graders navigate knowing their new rotations
Kristin (From Marci)-  Helping and going above & beyond for our 7th graders with NHD research and annotated bibliographies. 

Rotation  Teachers due date-
Just a reminder to rotation teachers that your 1st rotation grades need to be submitted by 4:00 PM on Tuesday, October 29th.  If you are not done by then, please let Renee know.  As we are going to make them historical on Wednesday, October 30th in the AM.  If you are new to submitting grades for rotations please see Joe Fralick or Kara Nicholson (Our T3's).

Quick Survey-

The UPTO has been considering increasing our fundraising efforts to help the school more, but we’re not sure what’s most needed.  Could you please fill out a short (two-question) survey about what  you think is most needed for your classes?  Thank you!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZMC3RD5

Upcoming items-

Thursday, November 7th - Conferences at SJHS

• Thursday, November 7th hours 1st-3rd
• Friday, November 8th hours 4th-6th

Dismissal is now 11:00 instead of 11:04 on all half days.

Wednesday, November 13th-  Former NFL speaker (will speak right away after the late start and we will run the alternate schedule (2 hour delay or 40 minutes per class schedule)  This will be in the Blue Gym.

Thursday, November 14th-  Whole student body to SJHS for the Beauty and the Beast Teaser show.  No GO Time this day.  We will start boarding the buses after 1st hour and hope to arrive at SJHS at 9:30 we will return just before 4th hour.  (No 2nd and 3rd hour this day)

Quote of the week-

Have a great weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 10-18-19

Folks,


1st rotation over Monday/2nd rotation starts Tuesday-

Rotation 1 ends this Monday, October 21st and rotation 2 starts this Tuesday, October 22nd.

No meeting Monday-

We have no after school meeting this Monday.  

UPTO yesterday-
We had another full UPTO meeting.  They are a supportive group who are helping supplement many worthy requests.  More to come on this!

8th graders next week-
8th grade science classes at Wolf Lake and the SJ Water plant
Tuesday, Oct. 22nd-  MacKellar and Milletics out
Friday, Oct. 25th- Francis and Foster out

Choir Concert next week-
If your schedule allows come out and watch the UMS & SJHS choirs sing at the John & Dede Howard Auditorium beginning at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, October 23rd.  

Morning announcements-
Remember the bell does not dismiss the students from 1st hour on morning announcements days.  The teacher at the end of the announcements dismisses the students.  Kristin and her group of students work hard.

Flu Shots next Thursday-
Flu shots will take place next Thursday, October 24th from 3:00-5:00 PM.  The sign-up sheet needs to be done by Monday.

October 31st deadline approaching-
Just a reminder that the MESSA deadline is just around the corner.  Your insurance sheet can be turned into the office in the envelope and your online registration can be done per the directions Kathleen Hamilton sent.

Bringing the Juice-
Dana, Dave, and Jason-  Helping JB out this week!
Craig -  Dealing with a difficult situation all week!
Maurice-  Many maintenance requests completed
Beth- A beautiful bulletin board!
Kristin, Deb, and Geri-  The new "genrefication" in the media center 
Laurie-  Giving up an evening to assist a student at choir festival
Susan-  Volunteering Builders Club for "Socktober" and the toiletry drive.

Article & website to explore-

See the trees...

Quote of the week-

Have a great weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 10-11-19

Folks,


Monday Staff Meeting-

On the agenda:

• Quick tutoring talk
• Student number/Student name clarification/Email 
• Riverwood Center Presentation- Crisis team resource

Goal for 19-20-

You set a goal at the end of last year for this school year if you had a final evaluation meeting with Craig and I.   We will meet with you soon to make sure the goal is unchanged.  Please put this in a google doc. and share it with us when we set up an appointment with you.

MESSA Insurance Sheet-

Don't forget the October 31st deadline for open enrollment with insurance.  This was the email sent out by Kathleen on Oct. 1st.  Remember also that MESSA is requiring online enrollment. We have an envelope in the office for the completed forms that need to be returned to Central.

Retirement Workshop at the RESA-

Please see the updated email from Sue Patzer on the retirement workshop for new, middle, and near the end of your career workshops in figuring out the new law, what your pension can look like, insurance, etc.   The updated email came out on Wednesday afternoon.  They are only having so many open spots so signup soon.

8th grade field trips around the corner-

On October 22nd (MacKellar and Milletics 8th grade classes) and October 25th (Francis and Foster 8th grade classes) will be heading to the fish hatchery and water plant to kickoff their salmon in the classroom project.

Confirmed Parent Contact-

If you have a student with a "F" in your class you must make confirmed contact with the parent of the student.  A confirmed contact can be a face-to-face meeting, a phone call, or a email that the parent responded back to you on.  We as a staff believe that this is how we do business.  

On the flip side, how many positive emails, phone calls, etc. have you made this school year?  Choose 5 students a week (one a day) and give it a whirl.  It will make the student, parent, and you all feel great.  A win-win-win all around! 

Come on now!!!!!  -
We are not contacting students on itsLearning for GO time.  We are relying on the email system that we discussed at our meeting.  This will only confuse the students and they will go to the wrong places.

Reminder:  8th grade orchestra and Uptones gone next week-

8th grade orchestra will be out 2nd hour this Tuesday (per Rachel's email) and the Uptones will be gone 5th and 6th hours on Thursday next week (per an email I forwarded).  These students know they are responsible for their missed work.

Board of Education Meeting-

We have a board of education meeting at Central Office on Monday, October 14th at 6:00 PM.

Count Signatures? -

Are you up to date on signing the count day sheets with Grace?  If not, please come down today and sign them.

Finding a Student ID #-

The most simple way (Per Matt Maier's idea at our tech meeting) to discover who a student ID (when just given a student ID) is to take that ID and put it in the "To" box in an email and the student's name pops up.

Bringing the Juice-

Joanie and Matt-  Completing a very successful CC year!

Jill-  Heading up student council once again!

Carla, Beth, and Melissa-  Giving great feedback in a very intense meeting this week!

Cathy-  Taking a kid under her wings and going above & beyond!

Renee- The Upton Care emails you have received this week if you have a student with a grade that required an email.

Article/Video of the week-

The Power of Relationships in Schools

Quote of the week-

Have a great weekend,

Chad

Weekly Top for 10-4-19

Folks,



Laura's email-
If you haven't answered Laura's email from yesterday yet please do so today.  The survey on a google form will take you less than 3 seconds, unless you want to add and then it make take 30 seconds.  We want to start training students and parents on items delivered/left at home.  It is an anonymous survey.

Kathleen's email-
Don't forget to fill out the open enrollment information from MESSA.  It was in an email sent out by Kathleen Hamilton on Tuesday morning.

Flu Shot-
Don't forget to preregister in the office if you want your spouse and you to get a flu shot at Upton on October 24th.   You can also have a daughter/son 14 years or older.

Bringing the Juice-
Grace- For her count day responsibilities.  Don't forget to sign the sheets!
Laura- For finding ways to streamline a lot of efficiencies in the office.  She is doing a wonderful job!
Renee-  Getting a printer for certificates and printing many this week
Jeff, Wes, Muriel, and Joe-   National Custodian Day this past week.  We are truly lucky to have this crew!
Joanie & Matt-  Coaching the 1st place girls and boys teams in Berrien County!

Flip-flop-
Yes, Grace and Laura have switched spots in the office.  😁

Thanks for caring-
It really has been heartwarming to have the support, thoughts, and prayers from all the staff.  My dad's spots in his lungs are not malignant!  He has something called sarcoidosis.  Hopefully with medication that can be cleared up and he can continue to heal from his defibrillator/pacemaker surgery.  If you haven't heard yet his nurse in Grand Rapids was Lauren Gressley, and she was phenomenal!!!!

Article/video of the week-
A little over 2 minute video.  We do a lot of this at Upton! 

The Powerful Effects of Drawing on Learning

Quote of the week-

Have a great Friday & weekend,

Chad