Intro letterdraft 06 23 2
- 1. Respect Excellence No Excuses Enthusiasm Wonder Hello Sci Tech Academy Middle School Staff, As the beginning of the year quickly approaches I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself and inform you of some of my expectations for the beginning of the year. The number one goal of the year is to ensure that our students get smarter as we cultivate a love and curiosity for learning while preparing them for a rigorous high school and subsequently college. By actively cultivating these traits we drive relentlessly towards our school’s unified goal to reach the target SPS score of 80 or above set by our CMO. All champion teachers know that you begin with the end in mind. So too will we, as we set our sights on excellence and the 80+ SPS score. For us this means that each classroom should be driving to at least 65% of our kids scoring basic or above as a floor for achievement this year. If we don’t know where we are headed then I believe we will never get there. For those who I have not had the pleasure of meeting I would like to take an opportunity to briefly introduce myself. My name is Heather Lechner and I am entering my third year as a school/instructional leader. Hailing originally from Iowa I consider myself more of a Pacific North Westerner since I attended high school in Seattle and College in Portland, Oregon. After completing graduate school in Detroit, Michigan I moved to the lovely State of Louisiana as a TFA Corps member and have continued to work in Education for the past 13 years. Working alongside me this year is Vasy McCoy. Vasy has spent the last several years teaching science and engineering at the high school level, and was honored as last year’s district teacher of the year. After graduating with a masters degree in architecture, he worked as an architect for over five years before joining Teach for America in New Orleans. Together we are excited and ready to hit the ground running to make our students, teachers and year a success. In an effort to help prepare for this success there are a few things that I expect you to have in place by day one. As many of these things require preparation or forethought we felt it was important to inform you sooner rather than later. 1. Most of you received an email from Gary that stated you have $500 for classroom decoration/readiness. Just to clarify, the $500 if to beautify your classroom as well as purchase any additional supplies and resources that you may need. Generally speaking many schools provide teachers with approximately $200-$250 for classroom materials, so you might want to factor that in if you are accustomed to receiving those funds. This money is available through reimbursement so please be sure to keep your receipts. Also, if there are some general basic supplies that you need please see me or Vasy as we may have some to distribute so you can use your money on more subject specific needs.
- 2. Respect Excellence No Excuses Enthusiasm Wonder 2. Room Assignments: There have been a few changes so I wanted to be sure that everyone has an updated list so if you wanted to see your room or begin working you could do that. Robyn White 6/7 ELA Annex 334 Adrienne Hamlin 6/7 Math Annex 234 Amy Laurenza 7/8 ELA Annex 335 Betsy Sedlar 7/8 Math Annex 235 Christopher Gunther 6-8 Science Annex 232-233 Kyle Walther 6-8 Social Studies Annex 332-333 Guy Clarke 6-8 Inclusive SPED Annex 230* T.B.D. 6-8 Self Contained SPED T.B.D. Tim Hearin 6-8 Behavior Interventionist 2nd floor Newer Building Lisa Giarratano 8.5 Self Contained Annex 330* *indicates room change 3. What happens in your classroom on a daily basis is the number one indicator of the success of the students in our school. I understand that you stand at the frontlines daily and are charged with the task of educating our students to that end planning is paramount. On August 2, you will need to display in your classroom your first three weeks of lesson plans accompanied by their assessments. We are working on a 7 week cycle with formal assessments every three weeks, the first of which is created by you and the second of which is generated by the Achievement Network. The scope and sequence, as well as the instructional framework will be provided within the next week. Please be sure your own pacing is closely aligned to this scope and sequence as all of our interim assessments are based on this guide. 4. Prepare at least three days worth of substitute work. Please ensure that the work is meaningful and drives instruction in your absence. Tell them where to keep them in the room or to turn them into you so they can easily be found and exactly when they need to be ready by. 5. Attached you will find a room readiness checklist, please be sure to review the form carefully because it clearly articulates the expectations for your classroom on day 1. 6. Since we all want to know each other better (our students included) and we are a college prep school I am requesting that each of you display your college/university diploma in your classroom as well as your college pennant. If you could please write a brief description of your college/university and any notable facts/famous alums that would be great! Do you want them to display the description or send it to you?
- 3. Respect Excellence No Excuses Enthusiasm Wonder 7. At ReNew we value professional development, and are working to develop the most proficient educators in the city. To that end you will have $1000 to apply towards your own professional development. Keep your eyes open for workshops, conferences or seminars that might want to attend to grow in your career! 8. Save the date! July 9/24. I would like to invite you all to my humble home for a BBQ/get together so we can get to know each other a little better before we embark on this great journey! 2827 Powhatan St. NOLA 70126 Which date, the 24th? Cant tell….this is a GREAT idea! I look forward to working with you and surpassing the goal that has been set before us, the kids are WORTH IT!