THE GALLOP Issue #112 11

There are few things more exciting in the career of an educator than the first few days of school! Stocking up on supplies, preparing your room, and wondering what the students will be like who will soon be filling up the seats is all part of the joy and nervous energy surrounding the start of a school year. Although much emphasis is placed on the first day of school, those of us who have taught before know that a school year is a long journey.

As we begin a new year, so begins a new era of the Gallop. Many of you will recognize that the Gallop has undergone a significant redesign. In addition to a new design profile, we are also looking to include more content created by teachers – after all, this is your publication. If you have a story that you would like to have featured, a statistic or result you would like to publicize, or an article or photos that you would like to submit, please share them with me so that other staff members can also celebrate your success and the success of your students.

This year, our school’s focus will be on the Big Rocks of PLCs, school culture and climate, and our RTI Program. Our vision of Every Child Proficient is not something that will be achieved by accident. The systems that we have developed as a school are critical in ensuring high-quality instruction takes place in the classroom and high-quality support and intervention are available when a student falls behind. I am very excited about our progress this summer and I believe that we begin this school year more ready than ever to meet the needs of our students.

We are joined in our work by several new faculty members this year, and they have already demonstrated energy and enthusiasm. We also added two new administrators this year – Julie Bowman, who will serve as a counselor for the 6

th and 7

th grades, and Ryan Rodosky, who will

serve as the 8th

Grade Assistant Principal. Mrs. Bowman comes to FLOAN very highly-regarded for her work in the district, while Mr. Rodosky has served our school very capably as master teacher for ECE/Special Populations.

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.” The first day of school is an important step on our journey, but it is no more or less important than each of the others. Rest up tonight…our journey begins now.

THE

GALLOP

Issue #112

SUMMER SESSIONS During the summer, many staff participated in planning sessions for WIN time, curriculum mapping, and summer camp planning.

Page #2

FLOANed! New teachers participated in a building-wide scavenger hunt during orientation.

Page #5

The Journey Begins By Bill Perkins

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BIRTHDAYS AUGUST-SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

Alecia Bowens (8/2), Charles Buntyn (8/3), Mary McCarty (8/5), Shonda Gilbert (8/12), Vanessa Moss (8/18), Julie Bowman (8/20), Sara Hardin-Riley (8/22), Debbie Nail (8/26),

Kenny Boyd (8/27).

SEPTEMBER

Andrew Jones, Cathy Crenshaw-Hinkle (9/4), Chris Underhill (9/7), Monica Hill (9/12), Win Cross (9/13), Jayme Underhill (9/15), Emily Vogt (9/19), Milita Chilton (9/26).

I signed a contract to teach at the central board office of a small, rural school district in Kentucky about a week before the first day of my teaching career. Before the ink was dry, I was at the high school ready to stock up on curriculum and planning materials and resources, ready to begin preparing lessons for the upcoming school year.

I was given five textbooks, one for each class from 7th

grade to 12

th grade, and I would teach one period of each.

That was it.

No curriculum maps or pacing guides. No guidance from existing faculty (I was the only E/LA teacher at the high school). Just a set of standards and a textbook. It was a rough way to begin the year.

That was nine years ago. Thankfully, things have come a long way since then. This summer, faculty members from each content area convened in the library to plan their curriculum. Besides the standard textbooks, the faculty had access to district curriculum maps, assessment calendars, and redeveloped standards. Experienced teachers and new teachers worked together to develop a framework of how the various standards in their discipline would be taught and assessed throughout the school year. As a teacher who has seen both sides of the spectrum, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing how prepared we are and the fact that no teacher in our building will be teaching in isolation this year.

There are many benefits to this type of planning. Not only are we aligning our curriculum vertically and horizontally in departments, but we are also working to develop common assessments and processes that will divide the workload and improve the quality of the work simultaneously. That is the sign of a high functioning PLC – when the works is being divided amongst the participants, leading to more polished curriculum and assessment. As a result, we begin this school year much more prepared than we have ever been. I have high hopes for how this work will translate into classroom instruction and, ultimately, student learning.

Thanks to the hard work of the many committed faculty members who attended the summer sessions, we are now in the best place we have been curriculum-wise to start the year. We know what we need to teach, when we need to teach it, and hopefully we are already beginning to answer the question of how it will be taught. That is a very different question than the one I began my first year of teaching with…

Just what have I gotten myself into?

Summer Sessions By Brenton Parsons

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SIGNS OF GROWTH

63% Percent of students who met or exceeded typical growth in Reading on MAP testing during the 2012-2013 school year at FLOAN.

52% Percent of students who met or exceeded typical growth in Math on MAP testing during the 2012-2013 school year at FLOAN.

SIGNS OF GROWTH

If you have data that demonstrates the progress we are making at the school, please share it with us! Simply send an email to Mr. Perkins with the following information:

SUBJECT LINE: SIGNS OF GROWTH BODY: Information regarding fact or statistic

CALENDAR AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20

First day for students

MONDAY, AUGUST 26

Jefferson County School Board Meeting, 7 pm

AUGUST 26-28

Suicide Prevention Training

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28

SuccessMaker Training from 2:30-4:30 pm

Fire drill

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30

Team Leader Meeting

Admin Meeting @ 8 am in EPD Room

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

Labor Day – No school

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Administrative Staff Meeting at 8 am

Team Leader Meeting at 2:35 pm

Colt Academy PD at 2:30 pm

THE GALLOP Issue #112 11

2013 FLOAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

The FLOAN football team takes the field against an opponent last season.

Date Time Day Game Teams Field

8/15 6:00pm Thur Jamboree Olmsted Lassiter Fairdale HS

8/21 6:00pm Wed Non-Conf Noe Olmsted Fairdale HS

8/29 6:00pm Thur Non-Conf Olmsted Barrett Shawnee HS

9/5 7:30pm Thur District Olmsted Knight Fern Creek HS

9/12 7:30pm Thur Non-Conf Meyzeek Olmsted Moore HS

9/19 7:30pm Thur District Olmsted Frost Valley HS

9/26 7:30pm Thur Non-Conf CAL Olmsted CAL

10/2 6:00pm Wed District Conway Olmsted Fern Creek HS

*There is a gate fee for the football games

Coaching Staff

Chris Underhill William Pierce

Troy Danner Jayme Underhill

Athletic Director

Eric Mora

FOOTBALL TEAM WEBSITE

http://www.olmstednorth.com/

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FLOANed! During Summer Camp, new teachers participated in a scavenger hunt to orientate themselves to the building. Here are some photos of the action – to see more, go to:

www.twitter.com/OlmstedNorth1.

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NOTES AND REMINDERS

FLOANed! During Summer Camp, new teachers participated in a scavenger hunt to orientate themselves to the building. Here are some photos of the action – to see more, go to www.twitter.com/OlmstedNorth1.

Day of Week Meeting

Monday No Meetings

Tuesday Team Meeting

Wednesday (2nd and 4th Wednesday of Month)

EPD Meeting

Thursday PLC

Friday Grade Department Meeting

The namesake of Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North was a landscape architect (1822-1903) responsible for designing some of the greatest parks and park systems in the United States. Some of his most notable works include Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.

He is responsible for 18 parks and six parkways in the Louisville Metro Area, including Iroquois, Cherokee, and Shawnee Parks.

Olmsted is considered the father of modern landscape architecture.

NEW MEETING SCHEDULE

Presenting PD

1. Professional development sessions start with getting approval. Nancy Sheffield is the go to person for this. Please email her your ideas for PD or EPD to discuss how it fits with our district/school vision and the needs of our teachers.

2. Fill out the JCPS Professional

Development Proposal and any credit or

stipend sign-In sheets that you require.

Complete the proposal and the information

on the top of the sign-in sheets and bring

them back to Ms. Sheffield. Mr. Perkins has

to sign the PD proposal and notify Shonda

Gilbert to add your session (if it is not during

the school day) to the calendar.

3. At the PD, everyone signs in for either

stipend or credit (if applicable) or on a sign-in

sheet provided by Betty Gipe (EPD). It is

your responsibility to ensure correctness.

4. Make copies of the JCPS Professional

Development Proposal and the sign-in sheets

for your records and any associated

documents and submit to our bookkeeper,

Barb Nava-Payton.

Get your spirit gear for the school year at the FLOAN Bookshop.

A variety of colors, sizes and styles are available.

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FLOAN will again be assisted by an Education Recovery Team from the Kentucky Department of Education. The team consists of a mathematics specialist, a literacy specialist, and a leadership specialist.

Rhonda Niemi will continue in her role as the Education Recovery mathematics specialist this school year. Ms. Niemi has twenty-six years of experience mathematics education. Synthia Shelby will take over the literacy specialist role from Mike Slider. Ms. Shelby has fourteen years experience in literacy and social studies. Randy Peffer will take over for Jodie Zeller in the role of Education Recovery Leader. Mr. Peffer has twenty-five years of educational experience.

THE GALLOP Issue #112

[Street Address] [City, ST ZIP Code]

[Addressee] [Street Address] [City, ST ZIP Code]

Education Recovery Team by Randy Peffer

Synthia Shelby will be an integral member of the Kentucky Department of Education team in our building this year. In this photo she is pictured

outside her office in Rm. 110.