Principal's Page
October 19, 2009
Dear Parents:
I spent a good portion of my weekend reflecting on the success of Friday’s Fuller Family Night. When we took the risk of restructuring this event a few years ago, the stakeholders involved in that decision had no idea that it would yield such a positive result. I find that there is so much value in parents/guardians, students, teachers, administrators, and community members engaging in meaningful conversations about our collective work with children. The surveys that parents completed at the end of program sessions provided us with valuable feedback.
There are many who work to make Fuller Family Nights happen. Our PTA executive officers dedicate so much time to organize and allocate resources. The teachers spend countless hours, together at meetings and at home, to plan presentations that respect and value your time and inform your understanding. Finally, I certainly recognize that parents change schedules and alter weekend plans to be here in support of the event. After the building was clear of parents and students, a few staff members and I made preparations for securing the building for the weekend. Our conversations were fueled by a sense of pride in our school and our work, and gratitude to our families for their trust and support. Thanks to all of you who took the time to attend Fuller Family Night. We look forward to the success of our next event on November 20th.
Professional Learning Teams
At a recent School Board Advisory Council Meeting, the Board representative asked for feedback from parents and educators about early release Wednesdays. It was impressive to hear such supportive comments from both educators and parents. I said very little, simply because I found it very difficult to capture the rich conversation that transpires during that time. Using data your child provides through assessments, teachers tailor instructional plans to not only teach the Standard Course of Study, but they also enrich, reinforce, and extend learning skills and concepts based on students’ strengths and challenges. With the support of their colleagues, who are either teaching the same content, or have some specialized expertise, they make the most of this time together. As our profession continues to learn more about how children learn, teaching them becomes increasingly technical and demands not only commitment, but a keen awareness of how to read and respond to children. In most cases, teachers are here long past the one-hour they are afforded because in our profession, you can never finish all there is to do in the time that you have to do it. Thanks for your support.
Supporting Our School Community
I am so thankful for the strong support our school receives from our parents and families. Not only do you support our school through PTA fundraising, but you also respect our limited time and resources. There are so many material contributions you make as well. Many of you have expressed interest in donating cases of paper, tissue and band-aids, hand sanitizer, pencils, makers, crayons and snacks. We genuinely appreciate all you do to support our school.
Magnet Recruitment
We are entering the season of magnet school recruitment. To inform the non-magnet community about our school, we attend the WCPSS Magnet Fair. We also attend recruitment sessions in non-magnet schools located in our draw area, and we host tours here at the school. Quite frankly, it’s a lot of time and effort to try and provide the community with an understanding of how our school would be different from their base school. This being said, all feedback that I have received about the biggest factor that influences our families to request magnet acceptance into our school is parent marketing. Within your communities, you talk about our school in such a positive manner, and as a result, the number of applications to our school continues to increase. Thanks for “talking up” our school.
Student Pick-up Issues
As a late start school, we understand that you are sometimes required to schedule afternoon appointments that require you to check out your child early from school. As noted in the handbook, please plan to do this prior to 3:15. The demands on our front office staff to prepare for afternoon dismissal increase during the last 30 minutes of school, and it is very difficult for them to conduct those responsibilities and provide you with high levels of customer service. Also, it is very important that if someone other than you is picking up your child, please make sure that the name is specified on the “Student Data” sheet that you completed for this school year. Finally, please provide us with legal documentation regarding custodial rights so that we can honor your wishes regarding who may or may not check out your child.
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