MCMS Staff Update- September 25 - 29, 2023

Good Afternoon MCMS,

We hope everyone is having a great Friday!  Wow, it has been a busy week!  We have had a lot of great activities over the last few days.  From Janet's Planet, CSI, PTO, SIC, Athletic Games, Grits for Grands, to our Assembly, it was a packed week!  Our visitors have been very appreciative of these opportunities and continue to say how much their children/grandchildren love MCMS!  Thank you for continuing to promote our positive school culture and truly caring about our students.  Mid-Carolina is a special place with an unbelievable staff!

Make sure you are looking over the 2023-2024 MCMS Calendar for current activities and events on campus.  If we have any changes to the calendar, we will make sure to let everyone know.  

Below are updates and reminders for this coming week, September 25 - 29 (Last week in September!). Please let me know if you have any questions about this email, upcoming events, classroom supplies, or anything else.  We are here to support you!

Student Survey- Monday, September 25th- 1st Core

• As a district, we are going through accreditation with Cognia this year and part of this accreditation is Teacher, Parent, and Student surveys.
• We will be completing the Cognia student Survey on Monday, September 25th at the beginning of Core 1.
• I will be sending the students the survey via email on Monday morning.
• I know this is last minute and I apologize how that may impact your instructional day.  
• If you have a test scheduled for Monday, please let me know and we will coordinate a time for your Core 1 to take the survey.
• I will also be sending the Educator survey for teachers to take during your planning on Monday.  

SLO Pre-Conferences

• I will be sending information for SLO Pre-Conferences to you by Monday morning.
• You will sign up for a time to meet with me, Eric, or Katie for your SLO's.
• After you get the email, let me know if you have any questions.
• Thank you for your patience in getting this scheduled.

Grading and Parent Communication

• Please refer to Jared's email regarding grading and upcoming Parent/Teacher conferences.
• This is a critical time of year to make sure we are giving needed feedback to students and parents about academic progress.
• Having a variety of quality assessments is important to ensuring student understanding and mastery.  
• We will be taking a deeper dive into our grading data over the next couple of weeks.  
• As a team, continue to look for those struggling students and let us know if you need any additional resources to help.

Instruction

• The Office of Instruction enjoyed visiting classrooms this week and had wonderful comments on your instruction.  They were very complimentary of the variety of activities and the student focused instruction.
• Thank you for all of the student work you have posted in your rooms and in the hall.  Those little things help students engage more in class and instructional activities.
• Our daily student objectives should be clear and concise, make sure they are standards based.

Ellevation Training- First Quarter

• Below are the modules you should complete during the 1st quarter of school:
• Pathway: Understanding Multilingual Learners: Intro to LTELs (Q1) and Intro to Multilingual Learners (Q1)
• If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Carpenter for more information.

Teacher Absences

• If you have a planned or unplanned absence, email Ms. Whitley and me.  Ms. Whitley is the main contact for getting class coverage.
• If you have a planned or unplanned absence, please have work posted in Schoology for students to complete.  Take time with your classes to go over your expectations of them if you are out.  Having posted work for your students is very helpful for the substitute and if your classes have to be split.

Facility Updates/Needs 

• With cooler temperatures on the way, please let us know if your HVAC unit needs any adjustments.
• We have some small group desks in the Multipurpose Room available for teachers. Take a look to see if they will work for you, let Ms. Lisa know and she can move them to your room.
• Please let us know if you have any additional classroom needs.

MCMS Schedule- September 18th - 22nd

• Monday (9/25)
• CSI (6th Grade)
• Volleyball Practice
• Football Practice
• SDNC Board Meeting
• Tuesday (9/26)
• Team Meetings @ Planning
• CSI (6th Grade)
• Volleyball HOME vs. B. L. @ 5:00 PM
• Football Practice
• Wednesday (9/27)
• CSI (6th Grade)
• Professional Learning 3:30 PM - Related Arts
• Football Practice
• Volleyball AWAY @ Sandhills
• Thursday (9/28)
• Football AWAY @ Sandhills
• Volleyball Practice
• Friday (9/29)

Sneak Peek at 10/2 - 10/6:

• Lunch &Learn (8th) and PTO (10/2), Team Meeting, 7th Grade Anti Bullying Assembly (Enrichment), and VB Away (10/3), 8th Grade Anti Bullying Assembly (Enrichment), PEBA Visit, Professional Learning, and FB Home (10/4), PEBA Visit, Fire Drill, and VB Home (10/5), Club Day (10/6)

7 Mindsets Schedule

• Thank you for starting our students off with our 7 Mindsets Curriculum, we are excited to jump into Everything is Possible this week.
• 7 Mindsets Schedule 2023-2024

Please let me know if you have any questions about this week's updates or any other topic.  

Have a great day!

Dr. Dobyns