February 21-28, 2014 Corpus Christi Catholic School Schindler's List

AS ALWAYS - CHECK OUT OUR COLT EXPRESS AT CCCSCOLTEXPRESS.BLOGSPOT.COM to read what is being shared with our entire community! 

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No Parking or Walking on Icy Surfaces
It was brought to my attention by Mike Novak that on Friday of Parent/Teacher Conferences that there was a staff member that parked on ice on the parking lot of the school.  Their car was sliding down the hill it was so slick.  For your own safety. please use caution when parking or exiting your car and be aware of icy patches on our black top.  

New Folder System in Front Office
As we have numerous things that are dropped off in the front office daily, we have created a system in the folder in which lesson plans used to go for things brought to school from parents or other individuals, ie., permission slips, etc.  Please regularly come to the office to check these folders so you can gather what we may have for you.  We hope this gets important "stuff" to you more quickly.  Obviously, students will continue to be called for lunches so no worries on this!  

AdvancEd Planning Meeting and Needed Documents
Just a reminder that we will have an AdvancEd planning meeting on March 13 from 3-5 PM. We will be going through the Accreditation report we sent in and go over the logistics for March 17 and 18.  This is a mandatory meeting as we all need to be on the same page!  :) 

Also, we need UP TO DATE Class Schedules and Procedures/Rules for EVERY class.  Please email or print me a copy of your current schedule.  We will be sharing these with the team so they know where they can find you and what you will be doing the two days they are here.  

Loking for an EASY way to make Rubrics?
Check this link out:  Rubric Maker

Here's a GREAT website for Catholic Teacher Resources that Ms. Gonzales found!

Check it out at http://catholicteacherresources.com - take the "tour" then let me know what you think! If we are interested, we can do an HSA grant for the $295 yearly fee if you all believe it would be beneficial! 

Here's What Happening NEXT WEEK and the FOLLOWING: 

Friday, February 21- JEANS DAY; ITBS

Re-testing Today; 8th Grade Melodrama Dress Rehearsal in Gym at 1:45 PM

Saturday, February 22- 6:30 pm in Gym- 8th Grade Melodrama "Saga of the Golden Horseshoe" 

Monday, February 24 - ITBS TESTING!  No Homework and NO SPECIALS/Planning Periods this week! Please discuss importance of ITBS with students!

Tuesday, February 25 - ITBS TESTING! Regular Everyday Uniforms for PK-5; PE Uniforms for 6-8

Wednesday, February 26 - ITBS TESTING!; Mass uniforms for PK-8; School Mass 1:45 PM

Thursday, February 27 - ITBS TESTING!; Regular EVERYDAY uniforms for PK-8

Friday, February 28 - ITBS TESTING!; Regular EVERYDAY uniforms for PK-8

Saturday, March 1 - (RESCHEDULED) HSA SPAGHETTI DINNER and BASKET RAFFLE - 6 PM in Gym!!

Monday, March 3-Friday, March 7 - ITBS Make-Up Days
Monday, March 3 - Regular EVERYDAY uniforms for PK-8
Tuesday, March 4  - Regular Everyday Uniforms for PK-5; PE Uniforms for 6-8

Wednesday, March 5th - NO SCHOOL - Staff Lenten Retreat at Sacred Heart Retreat Center!  We will meet at CCCS and can take the bus. Please RSVP to Kim if you want to ride the bus. 

Thursday, March 6 - HSA Meeting 7:30 AM; Regular EVERYDAY uniforms for PK-8

Friday, March 7 - SCHOOL IN SESSION; Regular EVERYDAY uniforms for PK-8

Reminder of THINGS to DO:

• Please complete your Tier 2 and 3 Intervention Logs and turn them into Kim for January/February
• Schedule your team meeting with your team
• Post your lesson plan exemplar on wall in PLC room! 
• RSVP to Kim if you want to carpool or ride the bus for Ash Wednesday's Retreat
• Send Kim a CURRENT class schedule and rules/procedures (if they have changed) to share with AdvanceEd Team
• 1st-8th Grade Teachers - pick up peppermints and bracelets for kids doing ITBS testing.

EVENTS COMING SOON: 

Sunday, March 9 - Corpus Christi Colors Sunday

Wednesday, March 12  - AdvancEd Prep Meeting 3-5 PM

Monday and Tuesday, March 17-18 - AdvancEd Review Team at CCCS - more info to come

Wednesday, March 19 - St. Joseph Day Donuts with Dad in Cafeteria beginning at 7:00 AM - 5-8th Grade Awards 3rd Qt. Assembly to be RESCHEDULED to April 9th before Mass.

Monday, March 24-Friday, March 28 - SPRING BREAK - NO School!

Friday, April 5- CCCS Staff Hosts Parish Soup Supper - please start planning now to bring your favorite Lenten soup for this evening's event!  As a reminder this is OUR way of thanking our parish for their support of our school!  

PLC Schedule and Themes for the Next Few Weeks:

- Preschool/Pre-K Team Meeting and PLC - Tuesdays at 7:00 AM 

- K/1/2 PLC - Permanent CHANGE of TIME/DAY - Tuesdays at 10:50 AM

- Middle School PLC - Tuesdays at 12:00 

- 3/4/5 PLC - Permanent CHANGE of TIME/DAY Tuesdays at 11:10 AM 

• Week of February 23 - No PLCs this week - Please turn in your data to Mrs. Dusbabek or go chat face-to-face if you have concerns as we will NOT have data meetings this month
• Week of March 3 - Regular PLC - THEME: Greeting Students Daily ; Objective:  TWBAT implement greeting student at the door and seeing them eyes through the eyes of Christ! 
• Week of March 10 - Regular PLC - THEME: A Kind Reminder; Objective:  TWBAT identify all the GREAT things they have learned in PLCs or through coaching and how they are implementing them into their classrooms! 

Have a SUPER DUPER Blessed Week!   

Corpus Christi Catholic School Schindler's List - February 7 and 14, 2014

Happy Valentine'S DAy!

AS ALWAYS - CHECK OUT OUR COLT EXPRESS AT CCCSCOLTEXPRESS.BLOGSPOT.COM to read what is being shared with our entire community! 

FRIDAY - Full School PLC Agenda

• 12:00-1:00 - Lunchtime 
• 1:00-1:30- Full School Staff Meeting - school update 
• 1:30-2:00 - Prep for AdvancEd Training
• 2:00-4:00 PM - AdvancEd Stakeholder Training (All administration, teachers and staff as well as SAC and HSA in the computer lab) - be prepared to present your standard 

Lesson Plans
As we learned about in our PLCs week before last, lesson planning and use of lesson plans are one of the most important things a teacher can prepare in planning for good instruction. As we have many second language learners in our room, this is a great link on the importance of lesson planning, especially for these types of learners : 2nd Language Lesson Planning

Please select one page of your lesson plans, highlight the words - title, objective, standards, assessment and then glue it to the"exemplary" chart on the wall in the conference room that includes:

• Title
• Objective (using higher level Bloom's words)
• 1-2 standards (no more than this and no numbers - make sure to write out 1 ELA and 1 content area standard if not ELA for each lesson) that you are focusing on with this objective
• One formal or informal assessment for EVERY lesson

A Shift in Publication of Colt Express and Schindler's List
Effective this week, the Colt Express and Schindler's List will now be produced every 2 weeks rather than every week.  They both will, of course, always be available digitally at their blogspot addresses for you to continue to access.  

Last year as you may recall, the digital Schindler's List and Colt Express were created to be a "one-stop" information source after numerous complaints by both teachers and parents about the frequent individual emails coming from the office.   As the concept of these two publications is to be the place for parents and teachers and staff to get ALL the information you will need, it takes an exorbitant amount of time to make sure it is completely accurate and concise.  

Between these two blogs, I presently spend roughly 10 hours per week creating these publications. This no longer seems reasonable.  Therefore from this point forward - please note that Schindler's List and the Colt Express will be published every other week.  I would ask that as part of your team meetings, which most teams are already doing, that you review both for shared understanding.

Team Meetings

As a reminder, it is very important that every team meets at least every other week.  Please work together to make sure all members of your team can attend and submit notes to me at the end of each meeting.  We will be using these as part of our AdvanEd reporting.

Lunch/Recess Duties
I am so thrilled to share with you that beginning on Tuesday, February 18- you will now have staff coverage for your recess and lunch duties and regular classroom teachers will no longer be responsible for this duty!!!  Mrs. Deirdre Frey who is serving in our preschool/pre-K program as a staff aide, will be serving in this role until the end of this year!  As always, please "hand off" you students to Ms. Deirdre to make sure she is ready to take over the reigns. Do not just let your children go until you have seen she is there and available.   

WEATHER and OTHER EMERGENCY ALERTS

With so many recent weather delays, as a reminder, we are no longer using our phone tree to communicate weather delays or closures. We are using only www.flashalert.net to share this with our community and the media.  When you sign up - you can receive email communications as well as text messages within seconds of the posting.  As a reminder, weather postings are NOT available for CCCS on Fox.  I  recommend, if you choose not to sign up through flashalert.net, you watch KRDO Channel 13 as they seem to be the most accurate.  

To receive weather and emergency alerts via email and text messages, please go to www.flashalert.net and complete the following:

1. Click on Colorado Springs on the map

2.  Click on Private and Charter Schools

3. Click on Corpus Christi

4.  Enter your email address

5. Follow the directions for continuing to enter your phone number to receive texts

TEACHER EASE CALENDAR
Please note - we are no longer going to use the "pop up" for events happening each day as there has been confusion when things don't jive! Rather than calling the office to see what is happening, please first access the calendar on your Teacher Ease home page to see what is happening for the day as Dawn is rockin' to make sure it is ALWAYS accurate and makes changes as needed!!

ITBS Testing Coming February 24-28

The vision for CCCS for this year was to pilot the online version of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) for the diocese as we are the most technologically equipped.  We found out this last Friday that Riverside Publishing is having numerous issues with the implementation of the online version. We have therefore, chosen to go with the regular - paper/pencil implementation that we have done for many years in the past for probably the next 5 years.  
Please mark your calendars for the week of FEBRUARY 24-28 as our ITBS testing period with make-ups ONLY the next week. Please  plan for NO HOMEWORK and light classwork this week.  We also will have no specials that week as specials teachers and available staff members will do "read-tos" and extended time sessions with students who have this documented need in their Student Assistance Plans.  We will share our calendar for testing at our PLC on Friday!

Even though our school makes a point to not "teach to the test", this test data is really somewhat high stakes for our school and students.  Therefore, please make this a serious situation and work to help your students understand the importance of this week's testing.    

Get TEXTS from CCCS! 

We are really excited to offer a new tool to our CCCS community!  We are inviting parents, students and staff to subscribe to a program called SchoolTextLine so we can share non-emergency announcements and reminders via text message! 

To subscribe, simply text: CCCS27 to: 96298 to start receiving text announcements and reminders from our school!  We currently have 30 individuals who have signed up!  Let's make this grow so it can be an effective communication tool! 

Professional Development
Some teachers have asked about professional development and how they can get their required CDE hours and move up in the Teacher evaluation rubric. I wanted to give you a quick run-down on how this works:

• Professional Development that we have at school will be accumulated at the end of the year and a certificate for your records will be created. All PLCs and other training where there is a sign in sheet will be added to your yearly certificate. 
• Professional Development is ultimately the responsibility of the teacher.  Opprtunities may be paid for by the school if they are required by administration but as PD is something a teacher can "take with them", the practice across our diocese is that we do not pay DTO or cost of most professional development opportunities that teachers may choose to participate in,  
• As a reminder, D11 will allow us to participate in their FREE Professional Development if they have space!  Please contact Marcia Palmer at 520-2555 to set up an account and then access the D11 Electronic Registrar Online (ERO) to take PD classes. 
• Here is another great article that may help you manage how to get professional development:  "Taking Control of Your Professional Development" - check it out!  http://www.joewoodonline.com/taking_control/

Announcement Schedule: 

On all days between first and second period, we will begin having Joseph Font and Stephen Sabish lead our announcements.  The goal is by the time the AdvancEd team is here in March that they are doing it completely on their own!!  Joseph and Stephen will choose 1 person come to the office daily with them - it is certainly ok to have the same kids come more than once.  They are already doing a great job!!

Here's What Happening THIS WEEK: 
Sunday, February 9 - Corpus Christi Colors Sunday - come to CC Mass for a dress down pass when you wear your CC Mass uniform

Monday, February 10-Everyday Uniform for K-5; Square One Art Begins

Tuesday, February 11 - Everyday Uniform for K-5; PE Uniforms for 6-8; School Pastor/Principal's Meeting at Corpus Christi 8:30 AM

Wednesday, February 12 - Mass Uniform for K-8; 1:45 - School Mass

Thursday, February 13- V-Day Shirts with Uniform Bottoms; Valentine's Day Parties for Preschool-5th Graders - 11-Noon (No other times are allowed); NOON DISMISSAL - NO Specials; Parent-Teacher Conferences - 3PM-7PM; 8th Grade Bake Sale during conferences 

Friday, February 14- NO SCHOOL; Parent/Teacher Conferences -  8 AM-NOON; Teacher Comp Time from Noon-3:15 PM; 8th Grade Bake Sale fundraiser during conferences  

Reminder of THINGS to DO:

• Send home your P/T conference confirmation letters to parents
• Turn in your schedules to Nichole 
• Prepare your portfolios (for Preschool/Pre-K) and your data sheets (for K-8) to share with parents during P/T Conferences
• Let Kim know if you need me to attend a conference with you OR if you are planning to recommend "the gift of time" (repeating a grade) for any of your students.
• Please complete your Tier 2 and 3 Intervention Logs and turn them into Kim for January 
• Schedule your team meeting with your team
• Post your lesson plan exemplar
• Plan to share on Friday your AdvancEd indicators and the Catholicity indicators.  We will take turns presenting. 

EVENTS COMING SOON: 

Monday, February 17- NO SCHOOL - President's Day

Tuesday, February 18 - Everyday Uniform for K-5; PE Uniforms for 6-8

Wednesday, February 19

• SAC Meeting - 7:45-9:00 AM 
• Mass Uniform for K-8
• 9-10:30 AM - Preschool/Pre-K and Kindergarten OPEN HOUSE for all parents interested in these programs for the 2014-2015 school year
• 1:45 - School Mass

Thursday, February, 20 -  9-10:30 AM - Preschool/Pre-K and Kindergarten OPEN HOUSE for all parents interested in these programs for the 2014-2015 school year

Friday, February 21- JEANS DAY; 1:45 - 8th Grade Melodrama Dress Rehearsal in Gym  

Saturday, February 22 at 6:30 pm in Gym- 8th Grade Melodrama "Saga of the Golden Horseshoe" 

Monday, February 24-Friday, February 28 - ITBS TESTING!  No Homework and NO SPECIALS/Planning Periods this week! Please discuss this 

Saturday, March 1 - (RESCHEDULED) HSA SPAGHETTI DINNER and BASKET RAFFLE - 6 PM in Gym!!

Monday, March 3-Friday, March 7 - ITBS Make-Up Days

Wednesday, March 5th - NO SCHOOL - Staff Lenten Retreat at Sacred Heart Retreat Center! Celebrate Ash Wednesday as a family!

Thursday, March 6 - HSA Meeting 7:30 AM

Friday, March 7 - SCHOOL IN SESSION 

Sunday, March 9 - Corpus Christi Colors Sunday

Monday and Tuesday, March 17-18 - AdvancEd Review Team at CCCS - more info to come

Wednesday, March 19 - St. Joseph Day Donuts with Dad in Cafeteria beginning at 7:00 AM - 5-8th Grade Awards 3rd Qt. Assembly to be RESCHEDULED to April 9th before Mass.

Monday, March 24-Friday, March 28 - SPRING BREAK - NO School!

PLC Schedule and Themes for the Next Few Weeks:

- Preschool/Pre-K Team Meeting and PLC - Tuesdays at 7:00 AM 

- K/1/2 PLC - CHANGE of TIME/DAY - Tuesdays at 10:50 AM

- Middle School PLC - Tuesdays at 12:00 

- 3/4/5 PLC - CHANGE of TIME/DAY Tuesdays at 11:10 AM 

• Week of February 9 - NO PLCs This Week; Prepare in Classroom for Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Week of February 16 - REGULAR PLC Week - K/1/2 PLC on Tuesday instead of Monday
• Week of February 23 - Data PLC Meetings lead by Mrs. Dusbabek 

Have a SUPER DUPER Blessed Week!