Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012- Wooo Hooo!

Today is Day 5.

*Please keep Mrs. Smutek lifted up in your thoughts and prayers. 

*Please vote for TOY and COY.  Place ballot in box outside Mrs. Higgins' office.  If you could vote by noon that would be great.

*Thursday, Dec. 20th: Class Party Day
 PTA Gift Bags go home with every student.  Thanks to Speas PTA.  
 School-Wide Sing Along 2:00 Gym, Come ready to sing and have fun.  Some of you may be called on to demonstrate dance moves. 

*Please read the Holiday shutdown procedures below, and help out if your team members have vacated early. 

*Thank you to SR for managing the school store this month.  It was a herculean task (vocabulary word for today- herculean) and she did it well.  Thanks to Tuttle for making it possible for SR to manage the school store. 

*Thanks to Mrs. Totten for getting McDonald's to donate some 200 toys for the school store. 

*Thank you to everyone who participated in the Polar Express experience today.  Bushey, Uzcategui, Dimov, Arora, and everyone else---great job!  The kids loved it.

*You all have worked incredibly hard.  What ever you do during the break  enjoy it---in moderation.  No Speas staff on WXII, please.   

*Lockdown Drill was very successful.  Please make sure we are:

            -putting Green/Red Cards under doors, and in outside windows

            -closing and locking all outside windows

            -turning off lights, closing blinds

            -we are aware of issues with keys and LTM coverage.  Dr. Cook is 

              talking to system personnel about this issue.  Thank you to 

             everyone who shared a concern.


*Staff Celebration was fun!  Thanks to Mrs. Summey and the planning committee. 

*You can now follow Speas on Twitter.  You can go to the webpage and click the link, or you can click the link on this page.  We will try to tweet reminders about events.  

*Holiday shutdown- Teachers please do the following before you leave your classrooms for the break:

Note:  All plants, animals and other items, which might be damaged by the set back temperatures, should be taken home.

Turn off all nonessential electronic equipment throughout the facility.

Close and secure all windows, doors and close all blinds for insulation and security.

*As you interact with parents and students about the tragedy last week, they will have questions about our school security.  If you cannot communicate a sense of security, please direct them to the office.  It is also important that we make our kids feel safe--we will not make comments that make children feel unsafe, no matter how we feel.  We are the adults!  Our mood determines the mood of the school. 

  Please remind students and parents of the following things, copied and pasted from an email from Theo Helm:

Hello all -- I know you've probably had your share of phone calls today from parents who are worried after the shootings in Connecticut. Here are a few points to make as people call or stop in to talk. Try to keep emphasizing these things, and if that doesn't satisfy them, refer them to one of us. If I can do anything, please call.

  Middle and high schools have security officers. As for elementary schools, we have spoken to law enforcement (Winston-Salem and Kernersville police, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office) and they are increasing their patrols and presence this week.

  Every school has a safety plan that is reviewed with law enforcement. As part of this plan, every school does lockdown drills at least twice a year.

  We are going to review our safety procedures in light of what we can learn from what happened in Connecticut to see how they can be improved. 

 Above all, be empathetic with parents – they’re understandably nervous, and they need to know that you worry about their children as much as they do

Gentle Reminders:

* When planning and executing field trip plans, please keep in mind that it is against policy to require parents to accompany students on trips.  We cannot exclude students from trips for behavior, or inability to pay.

*Leading up to the break, please encourage students to read as much as they can and take AR tests. 

Speas Events:                                    

*Monday, Jan. 7th: SIT Meeting
                                        
*Tuesday, Jan. 8th: Progress Reports go home
                                          3rd grade Field Trip to Sci Works 9:00 AM-1:30 PM

*Wednesday, Jan. 16th: Tech Day, all grade levels meet w/D. Bates    
                                                  Schoolwide Spelling Bee 

*Wednesday, Feb. 13th: Tech Day, all grade levels meet w/D. Bates 

*Tuesday, March 5th: 4th grade trip to Raleigh 6:30 AM-5:00 PM

Friday, March 8th: 1st grade to WSSU 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
                           
*Wednesday, March 20th: Tech Day, all grade levels meet w/D. Bates 

*Wednesday, April 10th: Tech Day, all grade levels meet w/D. Bates 

*Friday, April 12th: 5th grade to Sci Works 9:00 AM-1:30 Pm

*Tuesday, April 23: Kinder trip to Children's Museum 9:00 AM-2:00 PM

*Wednesday, April 24: Third grade trip to Tanglewood 9:00 AM-1:00 PM