MCMS Staff Update - November 27 - December 1, 2023

Good Afternoon MCMS,

Happy Friday! I hope that you are enjoying a relaxing week and have been able to take a break from the normal craziness of the school week.  We will have three and a half short weeks let until winter break.  We have several events over that time, including our 6th and 7th grade field studies.  Please reach out to us if you have any questions about the upcoming days or events, there might be logistics or planning details that we are missing.

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, November 27 - December 1. 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!

Happy Birthday! We wish a very happy birthday to those who celebrate this week!

• Vivian Morris (11/28)

Weekly Reminders

7th Grade Hallway Lighting Upgrade- Our way overdue lighting upgrade to the 7th grade hallway is underway!  Over the Thanksgiving break, workers have been busy removing ceiling tiles in the 7th grade hallway.  This is in preparation for our lighting upgrade that will occur over the winter break.  This should not impact anyone's classroom or student transition in the hallway.

7th Grade Main Entrance- The main entrance for the 7th grade hallway has been upgraded as well.  You will no longer use a code to get in that doorway, instead you will use your faculty ID to scan in.  The key pad to the right of the door is where you will scan your ID, our current door code cannot be used on the actual key pad.  The district is slowly updating most of our entrances with this same access.  We will be issuing new student IDs in January to give them access to these doors as well.  We will keep you updated as new doors get added to this system.

Letters of Intent for 2024-2025 - You will be receiving your Letters of Intent for the 2024-2025 school year in your mailboxes on Monday, November 27th.  Please return those to me no later than the morning of December 7th.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Semester 1 Peer Observation - To support reaching our instructional goals for this year, each teacher will complete one peer observation next week.  The focus of this observation will be to looking at student engagement/motivation, effective use of technology, instructional planning, differentiation, and/or soft skill development.  This observation will occur during your planning time.  This peer observation will replace our previously scheduled after school meeting next week.  I will send a separate Peer Observation email tomorrow with additional details.

Faculty/Student Basketball Game - We will be having our Winter Pep Rally on December 13th.  At this Pep Rally, we will be having a Faculty/Student Basketball game.  Please reach out to Coach Meetze if you would like to play in the game.

A Very Merry- Mid-Carolina - Thank you to Mary Coleman for working on the "A Very Merry- Mid-Carolina dress days.  We are excited to celebrate the final 12 days until winter break in a fun way! 

One last picture...

LET'S GO USC!

MCMS Schedule- November 27th - December 1st

• Monday (11/27)
• 
  
• Tuesday (11/28)
• Team Meetings @ Planning
• Wednesday (11/29)
• No After School Meeting
• Thursday (11/30)
• 6th Grade Field Study to Roper Mountain
• Friday (12/1)
• Club Day

Sneak Peek at 12/4 - 12/8:

• MCMS PTO (12/4),  iReady ELA Benchmark Testing and Team Meetings with Dobyns @ Planning (12/5), Early Release (12/6),  iReady Math Benchmark Testing (12/7), and SGA Meetings @ Lunch and Make-Up Picture Day (12/8) 

Professional Learning - Second Quarter

• Below are the remaining Wednesday Professional Learning dates for the second quarter.  The dates highlighted in yellow will be full faculty.  I will send additional information and reminders.
• November 29th - No After School Meeting - Peer Observation Week
• December 6th - Early Release- Teacher Work/Collaboration Time
• December 13th - Leadership Team
• December 20th - MCMS Holiday Social! 

Ellevation Training Reminder

• After completing your module, implement one of the strategies and then reflect on that strategy.
• The module completion and reflection should be on different days.  
• Below are the Ellevation Training modules you will need to complete this school year:
• Semester 1: Pathway- Understanding Multilingual Learners: 
• Intro to LTELs (Q1)
• Intro to Multilingual Learners (Q1)
• Intro to Newcomers (Q2)
• Intro to SIFE (Q2)
• Semester 2: Pathway- Developing Academic Language (4 modules in this pathway):
• Intro to Develop Academic Language (Q3)
• Develop Academic Language with Meaningful Messages (Q3)
• Develop Academic Language with Strong Sentences (Q4)
• Develop Academic Language with Weighted Words (Q4)
• If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Carpenter for more information.

7 Mindsets Schedule

• Thank you for continuing to teach the 7 mindsets curriculum and infusing it within your daily teaching.
• Mindset of the week- We are Connected
• 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