TO-KNOW

• This is a big edition because I attended a District Office Day on Wednesday and got a lot of information.

• THANK YOU to Jessica Abrams and Molly Phillips for their work on the Walk-A-Thon (Thank them if you see them).

• Thank you to everyone for making our “unannounced fire drill” such a success on Wednesday. I was very impressed with how everyone jumped in to keep students safe and get the building cleared.

• See “To-DO” below regarding Take-Home Chromebooks.

• Saturday, December 9th is Educator Appreciation Night for the Columbus Blue Jackets. If you like Hockey, or you like spending some time in Columbus, you are eligible for a FREE ticket with the purchase of a reduced price ticket. You would also get a free T-Shirt. Go to www.BlueJackets.com/Educator for more details.Use the Promo Code:’educator’ at checkout.

• Gifted Education Update:

• Switching from Terra Nova and InView to Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and IOWAs (Reading and Math only)

• Testing Window - week of February 5 - training in January for test administrators

• Grade 2 - CogAT and IOWAs (paper administration- Just Reading and Math)

• (2017-18 only) Grade 3 - CogAT (online administration)

• Grade 4 - IOWAs (online administration)

• Grade 6 - CogAT (online administration)

• Identify Creative Thinking Ability

• CogAT = 112 or above

• Teacher Checklist (10 questions)

• GATES 2 Checklist - teacher support/training for administering checklist will be provided

• No Service Letters

• Letter to notify parents of students identified gifted who do not receive formal gifted services.

• Professional Learning Requirement

• Teachers, delivering primary services for gifted (GIS and ELA Teachers 4th & 5th), must get 30 hours of PD the first year, at least 30 hours of PD the second year and additional clock hours each year after.- More information about this will come soon.

• PD must meet one of eight key competencies, including: differentiating instruction; selecting challenging and complex content; extending or replacing the general curriculum; recognizing underrepresented populations who are gifted; selecting formal and informal assessments; and understanding the social and emotional needs of students who are gifted.

• SDQ: We will only be administering the SDQ one time this year. The window is 10/9-11/10. You will be given 60 minutes to complete the SDQ on 10/16/2017. A letter about the SDQ will be sent to families today. Here is a link to the SDQ questionnaire (Link), Each student should have one questionnaire completed. Here is a link to a Q&A sheet about the SDQ (Link)

• Here is the link to Parent Teacher Conferences (Link). We will be sending this out to parents today.

To support Breast Cancer Awareness in the community, the Oak Hills Local School District is partnering with The Jewish Hospital - Mercy Health Mobile Mammography Unit at 3 school buildings in early November.  The Mobile Mammography Unit is available to all interested persons in the surrounding community.

Delhi Middle School on November 1, 2017 from 7:30 a.m. till 11:00 a.m.

John Foster Dulles School on November 2, 2017 from 7:30 a.m. till 11:00 a.m.       

Oak Hills High School on November 2, 2017 from 12:00 noon till 3:30 p.m.

Call 513-686-3300 today to schedule an appointment at any of the above locations.  Participating insurances are billed.  Financial assistance is available for those who quality.

Click here for additional facts about breast cancer and screenings.

Planning Calendar (Yearly Planning Calendar)

TO-DO

• IMPORTANT: PLease send an email to Cyndi and I with a list of all students, in your class, that are participating in CHromebook Take-Home. THis must be completed prior to the end of the day on 10/19.

• Complete the SDQ questionnaire (Link) for each student.

• Please don’t forget to continue working on your safety trainings. They are due at the end of this month.

• If you have a positive news story that you would like to share let me know. You can also submit the story to Emily buckley for coverage (Link)

TO-READ

If you are inspired, perplexed, or irritated by the weekly reading I’d love to hear about it! Send me an email or grab me in the hallway. Learning never ends!

• Here is an article entitled “The First Rule of Engagement” (Link) .  This article was very interesting to me. Important stuff.

• Question:

• Do we follow the First Rule of Engagement?