Welcome Back!!

2018 and 2019 School Year!

Staff Letter

I hope this letter finds you in good health, relaxed and rejuvenated for a great year at Hawthorne Elementary.  Last year was an amazing year for me as your new Principal and now that we are “All Aboard”, I am excited to “Embrace the Journey” and move towards our goals together!

This year we will be focusing on how we bring together all of the moving parts and programs at Hawthorne to create excellence in our students, our teams and ourselves.  We will be re-energizing and synergizing our Personalized Learning and AVID programs, creating “High Impact Teams”, learning about our strengths, the Danielson Framework and our new Eureka! Math curriculum. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I know that, collectively and collaboratively, we will accomplish all of our goals for the 2018/19 school year. 

With the school year quickly approaching, I have some important dates for you:

July 30 –    Carrie, Cindy and Longi return to work

August 4 – Garden clean up (7:30-11:30am) – Volunteers needed!  We are expanding and cleaning our garden areas! 

August 7 – Team Leader Meeting 8:00-12:00 (Breakfast provided)

August 8 – New Employee Welcome

August 9 – All Teachers on Duty

All (classified and certificated) Staff meeting:  8:00-12:00 (continental breakfast)

Staff Lunch:  12:00-12:45

Classroom prep:  12:45-4:00

August 10 – All Teachers on Duty

                     High Impact Teaming PD (certificated staff) – 8:00-10:00 (continental breakfast)

                     Kindergarten Orientation – 10:30-11:30

                     PTA Luncheon for Staff – 12:00-1:00

                     Classroom Prep – 10:30-4:00

August 13 – FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

I am excited to welcome our new staff to Hawthorne and know you have already made them feel welcome!

Longina Summers – Assistant Principal

Taylor Flowers – Kindergarten

Marissa Concepcion – 3^rd Grade

Rhonda Tilton – 4^th Grade

Christina Sumerford – 6^th Grade

I am also excited to see some of our veteran teachers in new roles at Hawthorne!

Erin Masi – Intervention/Resource Specialist

Raquel Schnakenberg – 2^nd Grade

Danielle Purdey – 3^rd Grade

Christina Ramirez – Read 180

It is a privilege to lead you in this work; I recognize your talent, passion and dedication.  This year we will work to bring all of the pieces together, create strong teams and embrace the journey!  If you need anything, do not hesitate to text, call or email (602-284-7816) – Enjoy the last few days summer!  

Week 38 - THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

Great Things We Noticed:

• 2018/19 Team Leaders!  
• Kinder:  Little
• 1st Grade:  Ebie
• 2nd Grade: Wilbur and Gallegos
• 3rd Grade:  Montgomery
• 4th Grade:  Nichols
• 5th Grade:  Wible/McVey
• 6th Grade:  Carrasco/Harris
• SPED:  OK
• 2018/19 Shared Leadership Team Members!

• Kinder:  Haas
• 1st Grade:  Rubens
• 2nd Grade:  Gallegos
• 3rd Grade:  Purdey
• 4th Grade:  Esquivel
• 5th Grade:  Wible/McVey
• 6th Grade:  Carrasco/Harris
• SPED:  OK
• Intervention:  Masi
• R180:  Ramirez 
• DJ Party with a "Floss off"!
• Recorder recital with 4th grade and Carol OK's class
• ALL Assessments DONE!
• End of year Party for Clarissa!
• Skills Day!
• PD for our PL team!
• Marcia's AWESOME farewell speech - THANK YOU, Marcia! 

Nuts and Bolts:

• Checkout paperwork has been delivered - Here are some items to work on and complete before the end of the school year:
• Classrooms:  Please make sure that you properly store all materials to avoid any damage during deep cleaning.  Boxes and personal items must be properly stored in your storage closets or rolling cabinets.  Take home anything you did not use this school year.  This is the perfect time to clear all clutter, if you have any.  Remember - some of our classrooms will be used for summer school (more information coming).  
•  Cums: Please feel free to begin to work on cums- they are time consuming.  To give our office staff enough time to check all cums, you must complete them by June 12^th.  Let Paulina (New Irene)  know when your cums are done.  
•   Moving:   There are only a few clearing out classrooms.   If you are moving, start packing now, but please leave your boards for last.  If you are not moving, do not clear your bulletin boards before June 4^th.  Students will disengage and discipline issues will rise if your room is cleared too soon.  All electronic hardware changes must go through Lisa.  You may take your computer laptop because this item has been assigned to you, not your classroom. 
• Supervision of students is crucial in these final days!  Be present - Be Outside your room when you can - THANK YOU! 

Upcoming Events: 

6/12 - Kindergarten Performance - MPR - 9:30

6/12 - Arlington Graduation (Carrie out at 3:30)

6/13 - 1st/2nd Grade Field Trip to Park

6/13 - 6th Grade Promotion - AHS - 9:30

6/13 - REGULAR DISMISSAL WEDNESDAY

6/14 - 3-5 Awards Assembly - 9:00

6/14 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - Students dismissed at 12:05!! 

6/14-8/9 - Summer Vacation 

       

Week 37

Great Things We Noticed:

• Shared Leadership Meetings - Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful work!
• Kristi Forsythe using OSMO - Chat with her about how to integrate this into your classroom!
• Danielle Purdey completing ALL the CAASPP assessments - Nice Job! 
• 43 Parents graduating from our PIQE classes! 
• Delnita Brown being recognized at Volunteer of the Year! 

 

Nuts and Bolts:

• If a student ends the year with all one's on their report card, please come and chat with Clarissa or myself.  There is some retention/non-retention paperwork that needs to be completed.  
• We have hired TWO new staff members in the past week - 
• Marissa Concepcion will be joining the 3rd grade team 
• Taylor Flowers will be joining the Kindergarten team
• Checkout paperwork has been delivered - Here are some items to work on and complete before the end of the school year:
• Classrooms:  Please make sure that you properly store all materials to avoid any damage during deep cleaning.  Boxes and personal items must be properly stored in your storage closets or rolling cabinets.  Take home anything you did not use this school year.  This is the perfect time to clear all clutter, if you have any.  Remember - some of our classrooms will be used for summer school (more information coming).  
•  Cums: Please feel free to begin to work on cums- they are time consuming.  To give our office staff enough time to check all cums, you must complete them by June 12^th.  Let Paulina (New Irene)  know when your cums are done.  
•   Moving:   There are only a few clearing out classrooms.   If you are moving, start packing now, but please leave your boards for last.  If you are not moving, do not clear your bulletin boards before June 4^th.  Students will disengage and discipline issues will rise if your room is cleared too soon.  All electronic hardware changes must go through Lisa.  You may take your computer laptop because this item has been assigned to you, not your classroom. 
•  Report Cards:  Report cards were due for review on Friday, June 1^st.   If you have not finished contact Clarissa or myself ASAP.  
• ENVISION:  DO NOT KEEP ANY ENVISION MATERIALS! 
• Please let me know if you are interested in attending the Excellence through Equity Conference  - If you went last year, give someone else a turn ;) The conference is September 20-21, 2018
• STAFF MEETING ON JUNE 6th - EOY Pot Luck - Sign ups will be in lounge!  
• Let your classified staff know they are welcome to attend the EOY potluck and bring a treat to share! 

Upcoming Events: 

• 6/5 - PIQE Graduation 
• 6/6 - 4th grade recorder performance - 9:00 MPR
• 6/7 - PL Team PD Day - 8:00 in Library
• 6/8 - Skills Day - 9-11
• 6/12 - Eureka PD - 5th Grade
• 6/12 - Kinder EOY Performance - 9:30 MPR
• 6/13 - 6th Grade Promotion - Arlington High School - 9:30
• 6/13 - 6th Grade Family Reception - MPR 
• 6/14 - Awards Assembly - Grades 3,4,5 - MPR 
• 6/14 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!  Students dismissed at 12:05!!

Week 36

Great Things We Noticed: 

• Raquel and Doree attending Hour of Code Training - I cannot wait to see what your students create!
• Breakout EDU - Congratulations to TEAM 3 - you win Breakfast on Friday and a day of your copies being done for you! (Barnett, Ebie, Wakefield, Forsythe, OK, Wilbur, Montgomery, Esquivel, Wible, Pudey, Armentrout)
• An awesome welcome to our new staff members Longi, Tina and Rhonda - Welcome to Hawthorne! 
• Digging for fossils in Ebie's class
• The last SOM assembly - I love seeing those students that have had some "ups and downs" be recognized for improvement - GROWTH MINDSET! 
• If you didn't know, we have an AWESOME preschool program - Kudos to Suzanne Armas and her team! 

 

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Nuts and Bolts:

• Checkout paperwork will be in your boxes soon - Here are some items to work on and complete before the end of the school year:
• Classrooms:  Please make sure that you properly store all materials to avoid any damage during deep cleaning.  Boxes and personal items must be properly stored in your storage closets or rolling cabinets.  Take home anything you did not use this school year.  This is the perfect time to clear all clutter, if you have any.  Remember - some of our classrooms will be used for summer school (more information coming).  
•  Cums: Please feel free to begin to work on cums- they are time consuming.  To give our office staff enough time to check all cums, you must complete them by June 12^th.  Let Paulina (New Irene)  know when your cums are done.  
•   Moving:   There are only a few clearing out classrooms.   If you are moving, start packing now, but please leave your boards for last.  If you are not moving, do not clear your bulletin boards before June 4^th.  Students will disengage and discipline issues will rise if your room is cleared too soon.  All electronic hardware changes must go through Lisa.  You may take your computer laptop because this item has been assigned to you, not your classroom. 
•  Report Cards:  Report cards are due for review on Friday, June 1^st.  Let me know if you need more time. 
• EUREKA:
• Eureka Math Manipulatives were delivered to pods/classrooms yesterday. Boxes are labeled with your names.  (6^th grade, I still have yours in the library).  TE’s and student books should be here next week.

• ENVISION:  DO NOT KEEP ANY ENVISION MATERIALS! 
• You may start sending up your enVision teacher boxes/materials next week. Pleeeeaaase make sure you send up everything.  The list of teacher materials is below.  Student books will not come up to me until the week of June 4^th. I will send an email when I am ready for them.  Consumables can be tossed or given to students.

• Please let me know if you are interested in attending the Excellence through Equity Conference  - If you went last year, give someone else a turn ;) The conference is September 20-21, 2018

• I have noticed teachers making copies for next year.... Please do not do this.  We are running low on both funds and paper and need to wait until next years budget hits in July before we can start using supplies for next year.  If you have any questions let me know. 

• Lot's of teachers will be out for SLT and AVID next week - let's work together and support our substitutes with student behavior.  

• Be visible as much as possible over the next weeks - this helps support student behavior

• Everyone should be current through 5/15 with your PE monitoring forms... the last two are due 5/30 and 6/13 - see Debbie if you have any questions.

• I appreciate your desire to complete your checkout in a timely manner, but please don't take everything off the walls.  The students need routine and consistency all the way through... and we have a visit on Friday from a board member and Asst. Superintendent.  

• STAFF MEETING ON JUNE 6th - EOY Pot Luck - Sign ups will be in lounge!  

Focus: 

This might seem like a crazy idea, but why not try something new at the end of the year? 

We all have that one thing (or many things) we’ve been wanting to try, but just haven’t gotten around to. So this is your chance — give it a whirl! The excitement and energy of trying something new (and letting your students know you’re trying something new — they love that), is a feeling that’s hard to replicate and one that can help you stay excited till the end of the year.

Short on ideas? Here are 12 great Teaching Channel resources to get the ideas flowing.

• Critical Creativity in the Classroom
• Spoken Word Poetry
• Inviting Curiosity and Socratic Questioning in the Classroom
• Writing Commentaries
• Conver-Stations
• Life-Size Graphic Organizers
• Analyzing Texts with Storyboards
• Pinwheel Discussions
• Comic Book Templates
• Creating Found Poems
• Infographics for Change
• Teaching and Learning with Minecraft

Here are some ideas for Memorial Day Activities: 

   

Upcoming Events:

• 5/28 - NO SCHOOL!  
• 5/29 - Shared Leadership Team - Bourns Technology Center - 8:00
• 5/29 - PIQE 8:30am and 6:30pm
• 5/30 - Lunch on the Lawn
• 5/30 - Leadership Team - 2:55
• 6/1 - Visit by Dr. Farooq (School Board Member) and Dr. Lewis (Asst. Supt. Instruction) 
• 6/1 - Minimum Day - Students dismissed at 12:05
• 6/4 - RUSD Volunteer of the Year recognition (Delnita Brown is Hawthorne's VOY) CMS
• 6/5 - PIQE Graduation 
• 6/6 - 4th grade recorder performance - 9:00 MPR
• 6/7 - PL Team PD Day - 8:00 in Library
• 6/8 - Skills Day - 9-11
• 6/12 - Eureka PD - 5th Grade
• 6/12 - Kinder EOY Performance - 9:30 MPR
• 6/13 - 6th Grade Promotion - Arlington High School - 9:30
• 6/13 - 6th Grade Family Reception - MPR 
• 6/14 - Awards Assembly - Grades 3,4,5 - MPR 
• 6/14 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!  Students dismissed at 12:05!!

 

Week 34 - Classified Employee Appreciation Week!

Great Things We Noticed:

• Smooth sailing and hard work on the CAASPP assessment!  Thank you 3,4,5 and 6 grade teachers and your students for all of your hard work!  
• Mrs. Lantz's window that honors her 6th graders - stop by and see it!   
• Honoring our "Portrait of a Graduate Award of Excellence" recipient Dayanara Montoya from Mr. Carrasco's class!
• 1st Grade Mother's Day Tea - What a joy to have all those family members come to celebrate with our 1st graders!
• Ms. Tavaglione staying on as our 2nd grade teacher!  
• Hiring Rhonda Tilton for our 4th grade position - she is currently the Hearts Coordinator at Monroe!
• 59 parents participating in our PIQE classes!
• A great lunch and breakfast prepared for our AWESOME staff!
• You made Irene feel so special on Friday!  Thank you for your kindness and support! 

 

 

 

Nuts and Bolts:

• Clarissa shared a set of Kindness Lessons at the last Leadership Meeting - this is the perfect time of year to implement some of these lessons.  See your team leader or Clarissa for more information. 
• Please be out to your lines in the morning, recess and lunch as soon as possible.  Reinforce and reteach how to line up and why it is important - even to our upper grades.  
• When out at recess practice ACTIVE supervision - move and interrupt large group of students.
• For attendance parties watch for emails from Clarissa - Keep up the promotion of great attendance!
• CAASPP:  
• Math starts on Tuesday at 9:00 (CAT one day one, PT on day two)
• Let's push attendance hard on Monday - We need all the students here!  
• Leadership Team:  Dave Horton will be here on MONDAY at 3:00 in the library to discuss next steps.  This information will inform our goals for next year and our focus for Shared Leadership.  Please come if you are able! 
• Wednesday is at Team Meeting - (staff meeting is the 23rd)  - you should be analyzing your common assessments and continuing you PLC work.  
• RUSD Opportunities from our Arts Partners Newsletter This is a new newsletter created to share the many offerings from our Arts Partners available to RUSD teachers and students. Check out the May edition here. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please subscribe here.
• Message for our 1st grade team: 
• Thank you staff for opening your first grade classes to our Riverside Fire Department so students could learn about water safety through the entertaining Stewie the Duck book. This is an important project and we are fortunate that it was implemented in RUSD, to help keep our children safe. All sites have been visited and if classrooms were missed, they will be rescheduled. In addition, Riverside Fire Department is sending a Stewie the Duck book to every elementary campus library and every first grade teacher for the classroom library. Thank you Dave Hernandez, Riverside Firefighter!
• Advanced Phonics: Instructional Services will provide a review course in the Advanced Phonics Intervention for any teachers who have been previously trained. 
•  The course will be held on Tuesday, June 19 from 8:00am-3:00pm at University Heights Middle School in Room 410. Teachers should bring their Green Linguistics Guide to the training. Participants will review and practice the following: · All Instructional Routines · Placement Criteria · Progress Monitoring Guidelines · Lesson design/pacing suggestions 
• This voluntary training will be on a timecard at the staff development rate. Interested teachers must enroll on the PD hub under the Intervention tab as enrollment is limited. For further information, teachers may contact Andy Stetkevich, Staff Development Specialist
• Clarissa and I will both be out on Friday, May 18th - Carol will be Admin Designee - PLEASE only send emergencies and serious behavior to the office.  Everything else can wait until Monday.  

FOCUS:

The end of the school year is here!  The next 5 weeks will be exciting and stressful, they will test our paitence and attitudes, there is so much to do and to get accomplished before our students leave us!  I understand the stress and Clarissa and I are here to help and support you through the next weeks. If something is bothering you or your workload becomes overwhelming - come and see us, we are here to support you!  

• Remember to be mindful of your own level of stress and the energy you are putting out into your classroom.  The students feed off of this energy - and they will give it right back to you.  
• Keep routines and procedures the same (as much as possible) - this will help your students maintain their focus.
• Be extra patient and extra kind to students, collegues and staff.
• Keep up on your obligations and commitments - try not to procrastinate ( I am the worst at this!)
• Here are some items to work on and complete before the end of the school year:
• Classrooms:  Please make sure that you properly store all materials to avoid any damage during deep cleaning.  Boxes and personal items must be properly stored in your storage closets or rolling cabinets.  Take home anything you did not use this school year.  This is the perfect time to clear all clutter, if you have any.  Remember - some of our classrooms will be used for summer school (more information coming).  
•  Cums: Please feel free to begin to work on cums- they are time consuming.  To give our office staff enough time to check all cums, you must complete them by June 12^th.  Let Paulina (New Irene)  know when your cums are done.  
•   Moving:   There are only a few clearing out classrooms.   If you are moving, start packing now, but please leave your boards for last.  If you are not moving, do not clear your bulletin boards before June 4^th.  Students will disengage and discipline issues will rise if your room is cleared too soon.  All electronic hardware changes must go through Lisa.  You may take your computer laptop because this item has been assigned to you, not your classroom. 
•  Report Cards:  Report cards are due for review on Friday, June 1^st.  Let me know if you need more time.