Happy Break!

Info to Know...

Behavior Assemblies: On Tuesday, January 9th, we will do a quick review of behavior expectations in the gym with the students.

3rd Grade: 10:35-10:55
4th Grade:  1:00-1:20
5th Grade: 9:10-9:30

Instructional Technology Survey: Please take this survey by Friday, January 12th. It will not take more than 5 minutes.

5 Essentials Survey: As you know, each year we take the 5Essential survery: Here is the link:  https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/teacher/login/ .We appreciate real input in this process.  You should have received an email in recent days inviting you to complete the survey.  In addition, all 4th and 5th grade students will be asked to complete the survey as well.  In planning ahead, 4th and 5th grade homeroom teachers should plan for their students to complete this survey in class prior to January 31st.  It should take approximately 20 minutes.  All certified staff should complete the survey by January 17th, which is our first staff meeting of the new year.  We will end the staff meeting early that day for your time.  Once you complete the survey, please send me an email with the words DONE!   Your thoughtful input and time are greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Winter MAP Testing: Winter MAP testing schedule is here.  Testing will begin after break. Resource teachers: Please list your small groups and when you will be testing here.  Nancy has already made the sessions, so please check your sessions and the students in them. The sessions are listed by "HPT & your room number" and created by Nancy Watt. If you need any changes, please let Nancy know. 

 When We Come Back...

• Monday, January 8th
• Institute Day: Agenda Here
• Tuesday, January 9th
• Reading & Math Club
• Behavior Expectations Review
• 3rd Grade: 10:35-10:55
  4th Grade:  1:00-1:20
  5th Grade: 9:10-9:30
• Wednesday, January 10th
• Team Meetings
• MAP Testing Begins
• Thursday, January 11th
• MAP Testing
• WATCH DOGS~Dad & Kids Pizza Night at 7pm 
• Friday, January 12th
• PL Day: More information to come
• Schedule Here

Week Sweet Sixteen

We can do it! 5 more wake-ups! We look forward to a fun evening tonight to socialize together at our Holiday Party! Thank you to our party planners!!

Info to Know...
Holiday Brunch: On Friday, we will have a special Holiday brunch catering from the Country House. Thank you to Cheryl Burns for organizing! 

Classroom teachers will eat during the Holiday assembly & non-classroom teachers & paraprofessionals will eat after the assembly. Non-classroom teachers & paraprofessionals, thank you for supervising the students during the assembly. There will be NO specials on Friday. 

5 Essentials Survey: As you know, each year we take the 5Essential survery: Here is the link:  https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/teacher/login/ .We appreciate real input in this process.  You should have received an email in recent days inviting you to complete the survey.  In addition, all 4th and 5th grade students will be asked to complete the survey as well.  In planning ahead, 4th and 5th grade homeroom teachers should plan for their students to complete this survey in class prior to January 31st.  It should take approximately 20 minutes.  All certified staff should complete the survey by January 17th, which is our first staff meeting of the new year.  We will end the staff meeting early that day for your time.  Once you complete the survey, please send me an email with the words DONE!   Your thoughtful input and time are greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Apple Distinguished School Book: Our Book is Published in the iBook store here~you can download your copy here. Your students can find the book in Self Service under "books" to download and check out!

Winter F & P: Please benchmark any of your red and yellow students before Winter break. Fill in data here. 

Winter MAP Testing: Please sign up for Winter MAP testing here by today. Resource teachers: Please list your small groups and when you will be testing here.  Nancy has already made the sessions, so please check your sessions and the students in them. The sessions are listed by "HPT & your room number" and created by Nancy Watt. If you need any changes, please let Nancy know. 

Next Week...

• Monday, December 18th
• ELL Club
• Tuesday, December 19th
• Reading & Math Club
• Holiday Stories: Schedule Here
• Choir Concert at 7pm
• Wednesday, December 20th
• Band to perform at 7:40
• Thursday, December 21st
• Choir & Orchestra Concert at 8:30 in the gym
• Winter Parties at 10:00-11:00am
• Reading, Math & ELL Club
• Friday, December 22nd
• Jingle Bell Assembly at 8:30 in the gym
• Holiday Staff Breakfast during assembly
• Dismissal at 12pm

Check out Week 15 & 16's Story Here...

https://storify.com/kristinabeeler/hptpride-weeks-15-16

Holiday Sweet Smiles

Pawesome Staff

Thanks to all of the December birthdays for all of the awesome treats today!

Thank you to Kristy for putting together the Hachiko Challenge. And thank you to all of the classroom teachers for assisting with the challenge so all of the students could be successful and understand the importance of STEM concepts and come up with solutions to make their boats even better. Amazing!

Thanks to Noel, Ellen, and Donna for their perseverance and diligence to advocate for a student.

Thanks to Hazen for just being HAZEN. :)

Thank you all so much for the birthday cards, messages and gifts. I am so blessed to work with such amazing staff members and students. I love being a part of the High Point Team! Noel

Thanks to the delicious treats from the December birthdays! We needed that!

Noel and Ellen, so proud to work with you.

Thank you Sue for your patience and willingness to go above and beyond for our students.

Thank you Vicki for all you do! Your patience and kindness is appreciated.

Fun-Filled Week Fifteen

Info to Know...
PARCC Testing Password:  Teachers should be receiving a message about resetting your password for Pearson Next (PARCC testing).  You need to do this and remember your password for PARCC testing in March. Thank you!

Winter F & P: Please benchmark any of your red and yellow students before Winter break. Fill in date here. 

Winter MAP Testing: Please sign up for Winter MAP testing here. Resource teachers: Please list your small groups and when you will be testing here.  Nancy has already made the sessions, so please check your sessions and the students in them. The sessions are listed by "HPT & your room number" and created by Nancy Watt. If you need any changes, please let Nancy know. 

Lunch Room Contest: If your students who order lunch bring their lunch card every day in the month of December, your class can win a pizza party. Please let Karen in the kitchen know if one of your student's card is lost and she will get you a replacement. Thank you. 

iPad Update: Last weekend, Apple released iOS 11.2. Please update your iPad and advise your students to update their iPad at home. This update will take about 30 minutes. 

Attention all Macbook Firefox users:  A new updated version of Firefox is now available for your Macbook.  Please contact Nancy Watt as this update does require assistance in order to be installed on your computer. 

12 Days of Twitter: Please join the #135edchat Twitter chat starting this Monday December 11th, for our 12 Days of Twitter Chat.  We will be posing a new Twitter prompt each day, including weekends, counting down the days until winter break.  Click on 12 Days of Twitter and then click on each ornament to see the prompt for the day. I would love to see many of the High Point team to spread the holiday cheer throughout this 12 days. I promise it will be fun!

School Improvement Meeting Notes: If you are wondering what was discussed at our SIP meeting and what is next to come, check out our meeting notes here. 

Next Week...

• Monday, December 11th
• ELL Club
• BIT Meeting at 1:25
• Tuesday, December 12th
• Reading & Math Club
• Wednesday, December 13th
• Team Meetings All Day in Conference 
• Thursday, December 14th
• Paw Collection
• Reading, Math & ELL Club
• Friday, December 15th
• Staff Christmas Party at Square Celt

A Look Ahead...

• Monday, December 18th
• ELL Club
• Tuesday, December 19th
• Reading & Math Club
• Holiday Stories: Sign Up Here
• Choir Concert at 7pm
• Wednesday, December 20th
• Band to perform at 7:40
• Thursday, December 21st
• Choir & Orchestra Concert at 8:30 in the gym
• Winter Parties at 10:00-11:00am
• Reading, Math & ELL Club
• Friday, December 22nd
• Jingle Bell Assembly at 8:30 in the gym
• Holiday Staff Breakfast during assembly

How Can These Smiles Not Make You Feel the Magic?

Pawesome Staff 

This is a little late, but thank you all for the warm 60th birthday celebration. The decorations, card and all-school song touched my heart. I will always remember how grateful I felt on that day.

Thanks to Nancy Watt for helping to make sure our SKYPE session with the author would work well!

Thank you Jenai, Hazen, and Sue Feinberg for all you do for our students! I truly appreciate the support...wouldn't be able to do it without all of you.

Thank you Joe for all the little things you do on a daily basis. They don't go unnoticed!

Thank you Denise M. and Eve for doing my bus duties when I had Art Club!

Thanks Denise Hazen for talking me through difficult moments....I appreciate you each day!

Fab Week 14

Can you believe it?? December 1st! It sure doesn't feel like it with this weather! Enjoy this last warm weekend before the December like conditions come back next week! Thanks for a great week~lots of great learning for our students as always. We love seeing all the students writing pieces filling the halls and sharing of writing with their peers in the classrooms. Lots to be proud of....thank you. 

Excited about our Skype with Leslea Newman on Tuesday at 1pm followed by our digital breakout. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks for Kristy for organizing the questions and for Cheryl F for planning the event with Leslea Newman. 

Info to Know..

December IPI: The IPI team will be collecting data on Monday, December 4th. 

PARCC Testing Password:  Teachers should be receiving a message about resetting your password for Pearson Next (PARCC testing).  You need to do this and remember your password for PARCC testing in March. Thank you!

Winter F & P: Please benchmark any of your red and yellow students before Winter break. Fill in date here. 

Winter MAP Testing: Please sign up for Winter MAP testing here. Resource teachers: Please list your small groups and when you will be testing here. Thank you!

Lunch Room Contest: If your students who order lunch bring their lunch card every day in the month of December, your class can win a pizza party. Please let Karen in the kitchen know if one of your student's card is lost and she will get you a replacement. Thank you. 

Save the Date for Upcoming Holiday Dates:

• Dec. 15     Staff Christmas Party at Square Celt
• Dec. 19     Choir concert  7pm @ High Point
• Dec. 20     Band to perform at 7:50 am @ High Point as the students are walking into school.
• Dec. 21    Choir & Orchestra concert @ 8:30 in the gym.
•                  Classroom Parties 10 - 11
• Dec. 22   Jingle Bell Express Assembly 8:30 am.  (full school)

Next Week..

• Monday, December 4th
• IPI Collection Day
• Art Club
• ELL Club
• Tuesday, December 5th
• Skype at 1:00 on Gym with Digital Breakout Following
• Reading & Math Club
• Pop-Up Art Show at Sandburg 5-7pm
• Wednesday, December 6th
• SIP Meetings at 7:00 in Art Room: Notes here
• Grade Level Meeting with Department of Teaching & Learning at 2:40
• Special Ed Team Meeting at 1:30
• Thursday, December 7th
• Paw Collection
• Reading, Math & ELL Club
• Friday, December 8th
• 4th Grade Ag in the Classroom

A Look Ahead..

• Monday, December 11th
• ELL Club
• BIT Meeting at 1:25
• Tuesday, December 12th
• Reading & Math Club
• Wednesday, December 13th
• Team Meetings All Day in Conference 
• Thursday, December 14th
• Paw Collection
• Reading, Math & ELL Club
• Friday, December 15th
• Staff Christmas Party at Square Celt

Tidbits to Check Out:

Check out this article about "How to Help Students Ask Better Questions by Creating a Culture of Inquiry.  Read here. 

#HPTPRIDE
Check out week 13 & 14 story here. 

Pawesome Staff

Thank you lunch ladies for taking down all the Vets day artwork and sorting it!

Cheryl and Kristin, Thanks for sharing some wonderful ideas at our staff meetings that we can take back to the classroom. I'm loving it!

Thank you 5th grade team for our great collaboration on Wednesday in planning the digital breakout!

Thanks Christina for all of the strategies to try with my student!

Thank you Vicki for being an amazing partner.

Noel, thank you for all your help. You are so committed to our kids.

Thank you Elise for always stepping up and going above and beyond. You are amazing and I so much appreciate all you do!!

A big thank you to Nancy for helping me with my QR issue on Monday! Thank you Kristin for teaching us new ways to use technology to engage our students during the staff meetings. I cannot wait to see how much fun the students have with the scavenger hunt you created!