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STAFF NEWS AND NOTES

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24 EDITION 24, ISSUE 25 Spring Has Sprung Edition Fri. Mar. 16 Newsletter Posted CHARACTER TRAIT ASSIGNMENT Mar. 12 16 PE/Health/Music Mar. 19 23 English Mar. 26 30 Social Studies Apr. 2 5 Science Apr. 16 20 Math Apr. 23 27 Art/Tech/H&C Apr. 30 May 4 Foreign Language May 7 11 PE/Health/Music May 14 18 English May 21 25 Social Studies

March 9, 2012

KUDOS - To everyone who was associated with making last Friday evenings Faculty Basketball game vs. Lisha Kill a success. While kudos were given in last weeks edition of Nuts & Bolts as well, its appropriate to follow up with an additional kudos. Thanks to Ken Rizzo for his scheduling the game with Lisha Kill; thanks to our Student Council and co-advisors Melissa Brandt and Kristina Gabriele for their efforts in organizing the evening; thanks to Seth Harris for serving as a very loud and energetic announcer; thanks to Tracy Henry and Mary Lancaster, for the first of its kind Cake Raffle; thanks to Dawn Savery for serving as coach although she did absorb her first loss as a coach; and thanks to all of our colleagues who participated. Overall it was a very positive night, a great fundraiser for our Student Council and a fun evening for students and adults! - In the follow-up kudos department to Tracy Henry and Mary Lancaster for their Cake Auction last Friday evening. As indicated in an email this week there was a great response, the kids really loved the Cake Auction and they received much positive feedback from parents and teachers. $168 was raised from the 11 cakes that were auctioned through a raffle Pick a Price auction. The money was donated to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. Thanks, Mary and Tracy, for the great opportunity for our kids and for a nice give back to our community! - To Mary Kate Englat who was recognized at this past Mondays Faculty Meeting by Chris Myer with his monthly Pat-on-the-Back activity. Chris, as he has done for several months now, asked a random person for a staff member who is a pleasure to work with. This staff member had a lot of nice things to say about Mary Kate, which we all second! Congratulations, Mary Kate, on the recognition and thanks Chris for your Paton-the-Back every month!

Polite Considerate Generous Cheerful Loyal Sympathetic Patriotic Trustworthy Fair Cooperative

MARCH WORKSHOP DAY SCHEDULE Our schedule for the March 23 workshop day is as follows: All staff reports to SHS auditorium 8:00-8:15 Mr. Corr 8:15-8:45 Mary Ratzer; Inquiry in the Common Core 8:45-9:00 Ms. Skeals 9:00-9:15 Break The following schedule is for non-math and non-ELA teachers. 9:15-10:15 Session 1 Common Core 101 HS Auditorium 10:30-11:30 Session 2 Discipline Specific Common Core Video; Discipline Specific Content Area Reading Strategies 11:30-12:45 Lunch 12:45-3:15 Work on One Grade Level Lesson Exemplar to Infuse Content Area Literacy Shift of the Common Core Share Out: Cross Grade Level Lessons as time permits For math and ELA teachers. 9:15-11:30 Session 1 By grade level work with a single strand to translate standards. 11:30-12:45 Lunch 12:45-3:15 Share Out: Cross Grade Level Progression 6-8 & 9-12 Work on One Grade Level Lesson Exemplar to Infuse the Instructional Shifts of the Common Core Learning Standards. Librarians and 1 or 2 Selected Teaching Partners 9:15-11:30 Inquiry Based Research: Collaborative Team Planning with Mary Ratzer. 11:30-12:45 Lunch 12:45-3:15 Continued Inquiry Based Research Planning

PM BUS SUPERVISION ZONE #1 ZONE #2 ZONE #3 ZONE #4 CAF K. Ring K. Rizzo K. Roberts K. Crosby W. Salvi People are reminded to be on duty on a daily basis to make sure that supervision is provided.
ALL STAFF MEMBERS ARE REMINDED THAT THE BUS SUPERVISION IS AN ASSIGNED DUTY AND IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR ALL STAFF MEMBERS TO BE WHERE ASSIGNED DUTY; IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ARRANGE FOR REPLACEMENT PERHAPS BY SWAPPING WITH A COLLEAGUE.

LONG-TERM CALENDAR OF EVENTS Mon., March 19 Faculty Meeting, Literacy Skills Tues., March 20 Wear White Day Thurs. Mar. 22 7:30 pm Beauty and the Beast Fri. Mar. 23 Teacher Workshop Day 7:30 pm Beauty and the Beast Sat. Mar. 24 7:30 pm Beauty and the Beast Sun. Mar. 25 2:00 pm Beauty and the Beast Mon. Apr. 2 International Potluck Dinner Thurs, April 5 Faculty Feud Fri. Apr. 6 Good Friday No School Mon. Apr. 9 - 13 Spring Vacation Apr. 16, 17, 18 ELA 7/8 Assessments Apr. 24, 25, 26 Math 7/8 Assessments Thurs, April 26 PTA/PAC Meeting Tues, May 1 7:30pm Concert #1 Wed., May 2 7:00pm Public Forum on the budget SJHS Thurs., May 3 French 8 Field Trip to Clark Art Institute 7:30pm Concert #2 Tues., May 8 Wear Green Day 7:30pm Concert #3 Wed., May 9 6:30pm District Art Show Thurs., May 10 7:30pm Concert #4 Fri., May 18 7:00pm Faculty Play May 23-June 1 Science 8 Performance test Thurs., May 24 Track Meet Fri., May 25 Track Meet Rain Date Fri., June 1 Science 8 Performance Test NCTA Retirement Dinner Mon., June 4 Science 8 Written Assessment Thurs., June 7 6:30pm Studio Art Show Reception 7:00pm Parent Orientation Wed., June 13 7:00pm PTA/PAC Fri., June 15 6th Grade Student Orientation 7:00pm Grade 8 Awards Program/Dance Fri., June 23 Regents Rating Day CALENDAR OF EVENTS Mon. Mar. 12 Periods 1 & 2 Grade 8 Special Area Presentations 2:30 pm English Department Meeting Science Department Meeting Tues. Mar. 13 2:30 pm Social Studies Department Meeting Guidance Department Meeting Wed. Mar. 14 2:30 pm Math Department Meeting Thurs. Mar. 15 7:00 pm PTA/PAC

PTA/STAFF RECOGNITION TEA The PTA Council is planning on holding its annual Staff Recognition Tea on Tuesday, March 27. Employees are recognized for their years of service beginning at 20 and denoted every five years after that. Shaker Junior High School staff members to be recognized include: 25 years: Bob Bedell, Steve DeMarco, Cheryl Germinerio, Jeff Holmes and Debra Howard. 20 years: Holly Blau If anyone should be recognized for 20, 25, 30years of service, please let R. Moore know asap. SPECIAL AREA DEPARTMENT PRESENTATIONS As part of our eighth grade programming unit, presentations by the high school departments have been scheduled for MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012 WITH A SNOW DATE OF MARCH 13, 2012. The presentations will take place in the junior high school assembly room. Representatives from Technology, Art, Family and Consumer Science, Business and Music will present their ninth grade course offerings. The guidance department has scheduled this date because it works with the schedule for our programming unit. The time frame will be approximately ten minutes per presenter. PLEASE ARRANGE ANY AUDIO-VISUAL NEEDS WITH STEPHEN BROWN AT EXT. 4558. The eighth grade parent night at the high school is scheduled for Thursday, March 15, 2012. Period 1 Period 2 Norris & Houston Halls Clay & Calhoun Halls 7:45am 8:25am 8:29am 9:09am

SUNSHINE FUND Each year we have several events that take place which call for recognition from the entire school community. Money for these cards of sympathy, flowers, etc, comes from our building Sunshine Fund. We periodically have to replenish the fund and your assistance in doing so is appreciated. Contributions of $10.00 can be given to Holly Lindhurst or Holly Blau for our building Sunshine Fund. STAND UP COMMITTEE T-SHIRT DAYS Two t-shirt days sponsored by the Building Stand-Up Committee are on the schedule Tuesday, March 20 Wear White Day Wear Green Day Tuesday, May 8 Please mark your calendars and be ready to wear white on March 20 and green on May 8. In total there will have been 5 t-shirt days during the school year that will be combined to create a total value for each hall. These values will determine point distribution in the inter-hall competition. Thanks to Sarah Strouse and Tracy Maynard, members of the Stand-Up committee, for organizing this portion of the committees activities. PTA/PAC MEETING SCHEDULED Our next PTA/PAC meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening March 15. As always we will begin at 7:00 pm in the Library. Agenda items include: 1. Program Changes at Shaker Junior High School: Summer School, Literacy Lab, etc. 2. Events, Initiatives at Shaker Junior High School 3. PTA Report 4. Superintendents PAC Report 5. Other

The legislation would limit all sexually related instruction to "natural human reproduction science" in kindergarten through 8th grade. Opponents of the measure said it's too broad and fear it would prevent teachers and others from speaking out against the bullying of gay teens. N.Y.C. Officials Release 'Value Added' Reports New York City officials last week released "value added" reports that purport to estimate a teacher's impact on his or her students' standardized test scores to news outlets, several of which plan to make the data publicly available. The move is expected to spark controversy among educators similar to that from a project by the Los Angeles Times, which published teachers' names and value-added scores online in 2010. The United Federation of Teachers has tried to prevent the release, but the union's last legal defense failed earlier this month when a state court declined to hear an appeal to a ruling requiring the release under open-records laws. Though generally supportive of using value-added as one part of evaluation systems, philanthropist Bill Gates argued a day before the release in The New York Times that making the reports available amounted to a "public shaming" of teachers that could threaten teacher-evaluation reform. The Times has asked teachers in the relevant grades and subjects to submit additional context, which will be published with the reports. The online news site, gothamschools.org, has decided not to publish the ratings. The UFT plans to run ads protesting the release. S.C. Panel Rejects Anti-Standards Bill A state senate panel in South Carolina has voted against a bill that would block the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in math and reading. It will still be considered by the full committee, however. The subcommittee voted 7-3 last week against the measure. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan also weighed in last week in a letter critical of supporters of the bill. He noted that "South Carolina lowered the bar for proficiency in English and mathematics faster than any state in the country from 2005 to 2009," according to federal data. The state board of education in July 2010 adopted the standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. All but four states have adopted the standards, replacing guidelines that vary from state to state. Opponents call it a nationalization of public education and say the state needs to maintain control. But supporters say they are a state-led effort to improve competitiveness. Full implementation under the standards is set for 2014-15. Website to Highlight Adolescent Brain Researchers in the University of Toronto's neuroscience department are planning to launch a website that will make information about neuroscience and its implications for instruction available to educators this fall. The website is part of a project called The Adolescent Brain: Implications for Instruction, which will also include a quarterly newsletter and professionaldevelopment courses. Hazel McBride and Michael Ferrari, both researchers with the university's well-known Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, say they're responding to teachers' interest in using research in neuroscience to inform classroom practices. EMPIRE STATE PLAZA K-8 STUDENT ART EXHIBIT As you know, we submitted student artwork to join the collection of 10 school districts at this years Empire State Plaza Exhibit. The exhibit is being held from March 6-12. The show is a very impressive collection of how our area students were inspired by the permanent collection at the Empire State Plaza. This event is a one of a kind, as it is the only capital region exhibition for K8 students. This exhibit is being held in conjunction with National Youth Art Month and is sponsored by the NYS Office of General Services and the Capital Area Art Supervisors (CAAS) group. Students and parents were invited to a reception where they had the opportunity to hear remarks form the NYS Office of General Services Commissioner, Rosann Destito, and Anne Manzella, our own District Art Supervisor!

STUDENT COUNCIL ACTIVITY-RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE The Ronald McDonald House of Albany prints a monthly wish list of household items that they are out of altogether or that need to be replenished. Student Council is placing boxes outside all four hall offices, where student can on their own drop off items from the "wish list". The boxes all have an attached list of the items in need; in homeroom you will be receiving a copy of the attached wish list. We will be running this event until our April break. Every Tuesday and Friday in homerooms, Student Council members will be coming around to promote this event! *Homeroom Teachers-Please read through the "Wish List" and keep this posted in your classroom for students to view. Thank you for your support! WISH LIST FOOD NEEDS Individual Microwaveable Soups Mac & Cheese & Pastas Individual Packs of Chips & Pretzels Juice Boxes Single Serving Cereals PAPER PRODUCTS Paper Bowls Paper Plates Dinner Napkins Plastic Wrap Aluminum Foil 4 Gallon Trash Bags Tall Kitchen Bags Gallon Sized Ziploc Bags CLEANING SUPPLIES Disinfectant Wipes Laundry Detergent Dishwasher Detergent Dishwashing Liquid Fabric Softener Sheets Antibacterial Spray Cleaner Plug In Air Freshener Refills GIFT CARDS Walmart, Hannaford, Price Chopper, Stewarts Gas Cards EDUCATION IN THE NEWS From Education Week, February 29, 2012 edition Minn. Law to Require Skills Test for Teachers Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has signed a bill that requires teachers to pass a skills test in order to get a state license. The Democratic governor signed the bill last week after vetoing similar legislation last year. A press release from his office says the new bill includes changes sought by his administration. The new law will require Minnesota teachers to pass skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics before they receive a license. Current law allows licensed teachers to take and retake the test for up to three years. The measure passed the state Senate and House with nearly unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans. Tenn. Delays Action on Gay-Issues Ban Legislators in Tennessee last week put off consideration of a measure to ban the teaching of gay issues to elementary and middle school students after fellow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam expressed concerns. Gov. Haslam told reporters that lawmakers should be focused on other issues.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK Theres enough opportunity to live life on the edge without being selfdestructive. Patrick Swayze