Rewards money, party, new Xerox machine, and more...

Our faculty Christmas party is this coming Monday night at 6:30. Davonia and I are looking forward to having you. I would caution you to drive slowly on Cedar Lane. Young deer seem to love to run across the road. They add much to the scenery but can really damage a car.

New Xerox machine—We have a new Xerox machine coming next week to replace the one in the Staff Room. We are able to get this one for virtually the same monthly lease price as the one that is currently there. Also, they are including a color laser printer for the school which, after rebate, will be free.

Rewards Money—Thanks for your comments on how best to use the “Rewards Money” we received for closing the gap. There were many good comments. Most favored purchasing the badly needed desks and chairs in grades 1 and 2, so I have gotten prices, and we will be able to order 50 desks and 50 chairs for each of those 2 grade levels. There were some good suggestions for other uses, and as other funds become available, we can address those things as well.

Visitors from Alexander City—Our guests had many good things to say about what they saw. The comments on student behavior were especially good and very much in line with comments we have received over the years. Effective Schools research lists “a safe and orderly environment” as the first characteristic that separates effective schools from others.

For those who do not have direct deposit—On the bulletin board in the Staff Room is a brochure from Regions Bank entitled "Priority Partners." This service allows employees who do not have direct deposit to open a checking account at no cost. To sign up, you may go to any Regions and specify you want to sign up the "Priority Partners Service."

Looks like someone else has our idea. This article is from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the proposed use of blogs by a school system there

Birmingham International Festival Workshop—The teacher workshop will be Saturday, February 25 at Homewood Middle School. If you would like to attend, please give your completed paperwork to Cay Davis by Thursday, December 15. Leave the payment section blank. Mrs. Davis will take care of that for everyone and send the forms in together.

Calendars for 2006—I have several 2006 calendars that have come to me as freebies lately. I am putting them on the counter in the Staff Room. If you are in need of a calendar, please take one.

The plan for the early dismissal day will be for you to have the time to do the things you need to do to wind things up and be ready to start fresh in January rather than being faced with a backlog from before the holidays. It will be important that everyone has grades posted. That will allow me to generate report cards, run honor rolls, etc. during the holidays as I am doing other things here at school. You may want to look at cutting off grades Friday to give yourself time to grade papers and get them in the computer. For those who are ready to post earlier than that last Tuesday, I will have grade posting turned several days before that.

Next Week

Monday—Music practice for grades 4-6 (8:30-10:45 at Harwell Auditorium. Continues daily through Thursday.)
Monday—Christmas Store opens and runs through Thursday
Monday—BBSST
Monday—Faculty Christmas Party (6:30)
Thursday—Grade posting will be turned on for those ready to post earlier than Tuesday
Friday—Recycling
Friday—Music Program 9:00 at Harwell for all grades
Friday—Fire drill and tornado drill

Week After Next
Tuesday—Dismissal at 12:35
Tuesday—Grade due before you leave.