Teacher's Advisory Counsel - October

1. What will TCS do with the 2.9 million dollars from the Jefferson County Commission?

Please see the last issue of In the Loop for a detailed article on the

Jefferson County tax dollars.  

Link to article - http://images.pcmac.org/Uploads/TrussvilleCity/TrussvilleCity/Divisions/DocumentsCategories/Documents/October_5_2017_In_the_Loop.pdf

2. Can we have an online master district calendar for events that occur at all of the schools? For example: band concerts, math nights, parent nights, etc. There are many events that overlap between the schools and parents have to make a choice to attend one or the other, or miss one child’s event. This also causes teachers to miss their own children’s events.

Most schools have their own Master Calendar’s posted on their website or some form of calendar for employees to see.  Events change daily, sometimes several times a day, so the best option at the moment is for each school to update their own calendars.  Right now, the monthly calendars published at each school give the best information. In addition, principals talk with each other and then check also with Central Office before planning big events.  Since we have three elementary schools with multiple grade levels and a middle school and high school with multiple team sports and clubs, it is extremely hard to plan events that do not coincide with each other.  

3. Can we have a printed calendar of the upcoming events at our school?  The school calendar is updated just about every day and is printable by all!  Please let Lisa Lothspeich or April Smith know if you are having problems seeing/printing the school calendar
4. May we have details about the remodel? During the Spring of 2018 four additional classrooms will be added to the end of the back hall, extending past our current second grade classrooms. Each classroom will have a bathroom and the area will all be a “safe room”.  The playground will be relocated and expanded prior to the beginning of the construction. As more details become available, we’ll share them.
5. May we have details about the playground improvements? The District will pay for the relocation of the existing 2-5  playground, the pad and ground cover for the area needed to accommodate additional equipment.  The proceeds from the Rockathon will go towards purchasing a new piece of equipment.  We are currently meeting with the selected vendor and Mr. Davis about our options.
6. Would it be possible for us to know what we are working on during our collaboration day at least a few days before? Wouldn’t knowing ahead of time help us to have more intentional and effective planning?  Yes, you are correct.  That would be best.  I’ll be more diligent and intentional about those plans and disseminating them to you in a more timely manner.
7. Can we place all of things that you would like for us to share in newsletters on one spot on the blog? We can do that.  But, frequently the things that are sent out come from the BOE or our PTO and need to be forwarded immediately for distribution.  We can add those to the blog after the fact so you can find them easily.
8. Is there a way to make sure that the blog alerts us in a timely manner? Why do I not see blog alerts until the next morning?  The blog subscription service is Feedburner. It delivers feed content to subscribers once per day. We have selected the window of 9:00pm-11:00pm as our window choice so you have updates by the next morning.  If we ever place something in the blog that is time sensitive (where you need to see it prior to the designated email time) we will email you directly and ask you to check the blog. The link to the blog can also be added to your favorites and checked at any time.
9. Can a system be developed that will help teachers receive information in a more timely manner? (Student led conferences, Training PD, etc.) I will certainly do my best to improve in that area.  Specifically, the student led conference idea developed during an administrative collaborative and you were told the following day, two weeks prior to the event.   I felt being flexible and seizing this opportunity was important for our school. I’ve worked with several of you to accommodate plans you already had for that afternoon.  If anyone else has concerns, please let me know and we’ll work through those too.