Our Story

I know our Faculty Meetings on Thursday morning do not include the whole staff, so I again wanted to take the opportunity to share our thoughts behind the bookmarks that you received Thursday.

Five months ago, we had so many unknowns.  Keli and I had no idea how it would all come together.  New administration, new Core Team, new students, construction all over campus, and so many other items just to figure out.  Deep Creek has had a tremendous story and we just knew we were responsible for the next chapter.

We had three items that we wanted to be our focus:

When Keli and I reflected on these goals the one that stood out so far this year was Student Relationships.  Watching the love and effort all of you share with our Cubs is such a beautiful thing.  It makes us so proud to lead you and we can't thank you enough.

The thought of the bookmarks... we know Deep Creek has had a great story.  It's up to us to fill the rest of the pages and create our own story. Keli and I are so happy you all are part of Our Story.  Enjoy this last week of school, your Winter Break and thank you for all you do.

Happy Holidays,
James & Keli

N

MMM December 2 - December 7th

Good morning.  We hope you are reading this MMM refreshed from a terrific Thanksgiving Break with your families.  Hopefully all of you took a well deserved break, we definitely did.  Looking over the calendar we do have a busy week, but get to end it with fun as we kick off the holiday season with Thursday's Candy Cane Lane Night, our chorus singing at the Punta Gorda Tree Lighting Ceremony on Friday Night and our staff Holiday Party on Saturday night.  Remember, all our invited.  It would be beneficial to car pool if possible as parking is limited.  We will be purchasing Baked Ziti and sign ups are in the staff lounge for sides.  We also will have some beverages, but bring any special items you prefer.

James' Address:  1189 Oxsalida Street  Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Friday, December 6th will kick off our 12 days of Christmas countdown for DCES.  We definitely have a lot of academic work to do in the next three weeks, but we can work hard and have fun too.  Please take a look at the calendar of events that is posted below.

Have a great week.
Keli & James

DCES 12 Days of Christmas Celebration

Thankful for our DCES Staff!

With only two days this week and nothing major on the DCES calendar there didn't seem to be a need to post the weekly calendar.  Monday during lunches Keli and I will have holiday pies in the staff lounge for all.  These pies are just a reminder of how thankful we are for each of you.  We know how lucky we are to work alongside the best staff.

Music & Measurement

Good morning to you all.  I hope you all enjoyed the cooler weather this weekend and got a little chance to relax.  We are coming closer and closer to a well deserved Thanksgiving Break.

Before that break we have Music and Measurement.  Our Cub Pride team met on Friday and sent out emails with information for the evening.  Also in your mailboxes are hard copies of information for M&M.  If you have any questions, please make sure you ask a teammate or stop by the office.  Last year we did not have a Music & Measurement night and it was missed by many. 

Make sure you visit your Buddy Classrooms this week to prepare for Student Led Conferences and assist students with all the success they will share with their parents.

Thank you for all you do,
James and Keli

You Are Not Alone

It's been two months since I have been named Principal of Deep Creek Elementary School.  I could not be more proud to lead this school, but I am not going to lie there have been days where I have been nervous and anxious.  I definitely feel the pressure of the expectations to keep this school great and sometimes it's overwhelming.  In these moments, I often stop and make sure I remember I do not have to do this alone.  This needs to be a reminder for all of you. Our jobs are so rewarding, but often so difficult.  We have to remember we are not alone.  We have many staff members with different talents, we can depend on each other.  I'm placing the spirit stick that was in our bags from Wednesday on my key chain to remind me that we don't just say we are a school family, we believe it as well.  

Today will be a day firsts for so many new staff members and new students.  Keli and I have tried hard double and triple checking schedules, but we know there are going to bumps in the road.  We will analyze and make changes as needed.  We thank you ahead of time for your patience and understanding as we navigate through this first week.  

Looking forward to a great first day and an amazing 2019 - 2020 school year.
-James

McElroy Signing Out

Good Morning Deep Creek School Family, 

Yes my final MMM. Over the past six years I have written numerous Monday Morning Memos or Friday Fast Facts. Whatever they were called, I merely was trying to communicate frequently with you about what was happening here at DCES. Good communication skills are key to success in life, work and relationships. From that very first day on August 16, 2013 when I was so scared and wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do. I tried to do what was right by our Cubs with each decision I made. I know I have not been perfect but I have poured my heart into DCES. As with all good families, we have our Ups and Downs. Thank you for forgiving my mistakes and standing beside me in the good and bad. Most importantly, thank you for being the best staff you could be. I could not be more proud to say I was part of this wonderful place. 

We have come a long way TOGETHER! Some memories like above will be cherished always. Each of you will have a special place in my heart forever. James and I have worked so great together. I could not be more proud that he will lead DCES. I know you will all support him and continue to make sure DCES is a great place for everyone.

I BELIEVE in DCES! Keep pursuing nothing less than the success of DCES. I hope you continue to use technology as an accelerator to reach new heights.  

Many come through these doors each year but remember "Once a Cub, Always a Cub"! As we say goodbye to each other, Mrs. Abraham, Mrs. Malepart, and Mrs. Schulte, and our 5th graders. I hope everyone remembers that this isn't good bye it is just until next time! 

Always a Cub, 

Adrienne 

MMM 052019

Good Morning Deep Creek School Family, 

Oh goodness as I write this, I realize this is one of my last. I will leave that right there before I start crying again. 

Hopefully, through my years sharing with you via this format you have gained some knowledge. I am continually learning new things and I love to share them. This week I am bringing to you a feature called Boomerrang that you can add on to your Microsoft Outlook email. This is a great new feature in outlook that was missing but this add in is helping me! 

Boomerrang Youtube How to Video

I will encourage you going forward to read the newsletters from Aja. She seems to be in touch with instructional technology and has shared some good info. I hope you continue to use technology as an accelerator to move you forward but not be the focal point! 

Thanks for all you do, 

Adrienne and James 

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Cub Family,

I hope all of you ladies had a wonderful Sunday either relaxing with your own mothers or spending time with your families.  Please know that even if you don't have children of your own you serve that role for so many students at our school.  Thank you all for accepting that role and always going above and beyond.

Looking forward to a great week.
James & Adrienne

Happy Staff Appreciation Week

Good Morning Deep Creek School Family, 

Words could never express how thankful we are for what each of you do for our Cubs, each other, and the school on a daily basis. We hope you enjoy a week of feeding you :) and removes one thing that you have to do during the week. 

Note Thursday is a Food Truck - Philly Ts. They would like a rough estimate on what everyone wants so they bring enough food. Please fill out this link. We won't hold you to it but want to get a good idea. 

https://forms.gle/TNF24A42sea4Zn5D6

We hope you enjoy the fun filled week. Stay tuned for our daily trivia compliments of James since this is his area of expertise! 

Adrienne and James

DCES Testing - Nothing Less Than Our Success

Good morning to all,

Next week again opens the window in regards to FSA Testing and 3rd graders completing the SAT 10 Test.  Thank you in advance to our grade levels not testing and their assistance in creating a quiet environment for our students.  This includes transitions around campus and assistance on the playground.  We are requesting that the basketball court is not used on the mornings of these dates as well as the soccer fields behind J Building.  The 3rd grade SAT 10 dates are Monday, April 29th and Tuesday, April 30th.  The remaining dates are on the table below.

Each of the remaining FSA dates will include sessions that are 80 minutes in length, but remember there will be several students who have accommodations of extra time.  The next 3 tables show the location of testing, the test administrators, and proctors.  On these testing dates other grade levels may not see Paras that normally help them until late in the afternoon.  They will be used not only to administer tests, but also for class coverage and cafeteria supervision.  

We will end again by emphasizing that the most important role that we fill at this point is a calm, confident face for our students.  At this point it's Nothing Less Than Our Success, we encourage our students to simply do their best.    Here is one final visual that shares methods that can assist with our students testing.

  

Have a great week,

Adrienne & James 

Howdy Yolks

Good Morning Deep Creek Families, 

In your box, you should find a little treat! 

Adrienne & James

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Good Morning Deep Creek School Family, 

Great things coming up. As the year comes to an end here are some fun things going on! 

#1 For staff appreciation week we have arranged a Stone Crabs DCES Staff DAY on Sunday, May 5th. Staff tickets are provided and include food. If other family members want to attend it costs $15.00. Please RSVP on the link below:

Stone Crab RSVP

#2 Some of you may know Adrienne is a huge Scrabble fan...so we are going to have a staff scrabble game starting Monday 4/15 until Friday 4/26 at 3pm. We will be awarding big prizes for the most point earners. We are giving you two forms of your letter a pocket size (so you have it with you at all times) and a full paper size. You may use either but not both at the same time. All directions are on the slide. You upload your picture of the words to a blank slide. There is a link to the word total within the slide show as well. HAVE FUN! 

DCES Staff Scrabble

We hope this adds some fun and reduces some stress before the testing begins. 

Thanks for all you do, 

Adrienne and James

Nothing Less Than Our Success

Good morning to all,

I want to use this MMM to again thank you all for how well last week progressed in regards to FSA Testing.  Testing can cause us to be irritable and nervous, but I believe we handled it great last week and our students were able to test in calm, prepared, and positive environments.   So, please make sure you know your efforts during this time are appreciated.

The picture below is always one of my favorites.  It is all the 4th and 5th grade Writing Tests and 3rd grade ELA Tests boxed up and ready to be sent.  They will be picked up today.

I wanted to share some resources that have been recently emailed, I know you have seen them, but I wanted to put them in one location.  The first is titled, "Stressed Out" and includes student friendly language that may be beneficial.  Ellen Harvey shared it with administration and included the message that testing times bring stress and there are a few pages in this PDF that can be used for prep.  The PDF will be attached to the email.  

Finally, Adrienne shared a book with me that she used previously during testing.  It's titled, "Testing Miss Malarkey" by Judy Finchler.  It's a book that focuses on doing your best and not allowing one test to be the biggest issue in your life.  I have one copy available in my office if you would like to use it for your class.

Again, thank you for all your efforts to prepare our students for these tests and the manner in which you take the administration of the tests seriously.  It is appreciated.  I have attached a jpeg of the remaining FSA Testing dates below.

Thank you all and have a great week.

Adrienne & James

April is Autism Awareness

Good Morning Deep Creek Elementary, 

April is Autism Awareness Month. We are going to bring awareness to our campus. 

Please have all your students write in their planners to wear a blue uniform shirt on Tuesday, April 2nd.  In addition, we have purchased a spirit stick "Choose Kind" for every student. Please give these out during the first week in April and try to help students add it to their rings. We hope this prompts conversation with your students about being accepting of everyone's differences. 

The Family Reading Center is celebrating kindness and acceptance with a National Scribble Day activity on Wednesday. Mrs. Brown will read the book on the WCUB as well. Here is a link to some info. 

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-scribble-day-march-27/

Thank you for all you do to make all our Cubs feel welcome. 

Adrienne and James 

spring break MMM

Dear Deep Creek School Family, 

Yes this is an exciting but stressful week so we hope you all just breathe! We thank you in advance for all you are doing to make this such a wonderful school! DCES is not only about test scores and grades but also family and happy kids! Keep that in mind as you prep for Teddy Bear Picnic. 

That is what we hope for all our Cubs and each other! As we end observation season, we can honestly say that is what you are doing each day. 

We try hard to not lose touch with this concept. Thank you for being open and trusting us enough to come share concerns when needed. 

Have an awesome week and restful spring break. Well deserved! 

Adrienne and James 

Teddy Bear Picnic

Dear Deep Creek School Family,

9 school days until the greatest tradition in Charlotte County, the Teddy Bear Picnic.   With new people in each grade level it's important to get out the information to all.  We went over this information at Friday's Program Planner Meeting and Team Leaders will be going over with you on Tuesday to answer questions.  Please make sure if have questions, please ask.

Parking:

Remember to park in the back lot and park in the next open spot in line.  Parking needs to stay organized and we start the process.

No Specials:

Bag Lunch Pick Up:

K - 2                  10:15am

3 - 5                   10:30am

Pre K                  11:30am

Expo:

Students will need to be in Expo by 10:30am to make sure areas are set up.

Expo will begin at 10:45am

Student Led Conferences

Student led conferences will begin at 11:15am, building will be locked until this time

Classrooms time will be 45 minutes and will include Student Led Conferences and Science Fair

Parents may go to lunch spots earlier, but students can not be released until 12pm for lunch

** Exception is that parents may sign out students who are going to eat with a sibling’s class

Picnic

Picnic will start at 12pm

Grade level signs will be set up in courtyard to designate where grade levels sit

Mrs. Salatino is making individual teachers signs for areas within grade levels

Please instruct your students/parents where to sit

Sign out sheets will be completed  in your classroom before lunch and sent up at end of day

Dismissal

Dismissal may begin at 12:30pm

Sign out sheets should be completed prior to picnic

Do not send permission slips to the office until they are attached to sign out sheets at end of day

Any changes to permission slips need to be taken care of in the office.  Parent or family member would need to come to office to sign out student.   DO NOT SEND STUDENT WITH FAMILY MEMBERS THAT HAVE A CHANGE IN A PERMISSION SLIP.  OFFICE STAFF WILL CALL FOR STUDENT ONCE DISMISSAL HAS BEEN CONFIRMED.

Recess

Classroom teachers bring and pick up students from playground, duty free lunch will be as follows:

K & 1 1:00 - 1:30pm ESE Team & Paras for coverage

2 & 3 1:30 - 2:00pm Specials Team & Paras for coverage

4 & 5 2:00 - 2:30pm ESE & Specials for Coverage

ESE, Specials, and Paras will have duty free lunch from 12:30 - 1:00pm

Have a great week,

Adrienne & James

Leadership Notebooks

Dear Deep Creek School Family, 

Happy Monday to all.  I hope the weekend was enjoyable.  Spring Break is quickly approaching and that means so is Deep Creek's most cherished tradition, Teddy Bear Picnic.  I know the picnic part of the fun is relaxing, but often the student led conference in the classrooms may bring some anxiety.  Adrienne and I often hear that part of that anxiety is the Leadership Notebooks that students should have been creating throughout the year to share with their families.  It is believed that we are forgetting the purpose of the Leadership Notebook and it ends up being something that ends up forgotten in the curriculum.  We need to be reminded that the Leadership Notebook assists students in creating goals and understanding their learning.

Dr. Robyn R. Jackson comments on this classroom tool in her book Never Work Harder Than Your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching:

"Data notebooks provide a powerful way of getting students involved in collecting their own feedback about their learning and have been used with children as young as kindergartners all the way up through seniors in high school."  Students benefit from data notebooks because they have a voice in their learning and can understand and work towards success in a systematic way.  Students are then able to articulate their learning at Student-Led Conferences because they record and understand their own data."

It should be mentioned that it is fairly certain that you all see the benefits of these notebooks, but struggle to find the time in the instructional day to work on them and use them effectively on a regular basis.  These suggestions were found that may help in the future.

The key is having a system in place so instruction time is not interrupted too often and the time spent looking at and recording data is meaningful. You need to figure out what works best in your classroom structure.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Set up a system so your students know when it is time to fill out their data notebooks.
• Set a time limit on the data-recording sessions so you are able to move forward with classroom instruction in a timely manner.
• Data-recording sessions should correspond with current overarching assessments. This will limit the impact on instructional momentum.
• Determine a specific time for entering data. It could be right before going home, between subjects, or after lunch.
• If students finish assignments early, suggest that they record data in their notebooks quietly while they wait for other students to finish.
• Intentionally confer with students individually about their goals. This should be done within the context of your current instructional frameworks such as guided reading or individual conferencing.
• Train your students to monitor their own personal goals, if possible, at a designated time during the school day.
• Do not have students track data that has not been discussed and connected to best-practice strategies for improvement. Remember, your guidance is key to student achievement!

These suggestions were found with more information from the following website.

https://www.leaderinme.org/blog/using-student-data/

Thank you all and let's have a great week.

Adrienne & James

Common Core or No Common Core?

Good Morning Deep Creek School Family, 

So this past week there has been much hype and questions about the Governor's statements about common core. I wanted to collect the information we have received thus far. We will update you as we get more information. This will not be a quick process so hold tight and if parents ask, we are following the directions given to us by the district office. 

Earlier this week, the following statement was issued by Susie Lee, FDOE Bureau Chief, K-12 Student Assessment:

As you are likely aware, the Executive Order regarding academic standards and civic literacy calls for the Commissioner to make recommendations to the Governor by January 1, 2020. As such, we currently do not anticipate any changes to K–12 statewide assessments for this school year. Given that we will await the Commissioner’s recommendations, we will continue to do all work necessary this calendar year to prepare for assessments as currently outlined in statute for the 2019–2020 school year.

As we have done previously with new or revised standards, we will work with all stakeholders to successfully implement any new or revised statutes, State Board Rules, and policies that result from the recommendations. We will also provide all of the necessary communications to help students, teachers, schools, and districts understand these changes as they relate to statewide assessments.

Message from DOL: Please rest assured that the Division of Learning will take an active role in every step of this process, and whenever able and asked, will participate in providing feedback to those making decisions for changes on the horizon. We will continue to keep you as up to date as possible along the way, and I encourage you to do the same with us. Together, we will ensure that any and all changes to curriculum, instruction, and assessment is met with student success.

Thank you for sticking to our game plan and doing what is best for our Cubs!  

Thank you so much for all you do every day!

Adrienne and James 

iReady Scores, Our Path to the Superbowl?

Good morning to all.  

The hope is that the Superbowl doesn't bring tired staff members and cranky sleep-deprived students today.  It seems that everyone watches the Superbowl even if they aren't football fans.  Some for the commercials, some for the halftime show, some for food, some for fun with family and friends.  Whatever your reason I hope that you enjoyed.

I'm going to stick to the football theme this morning, because it's hard for me to let go.  College football ended earlier in January and now the NFL is done as well.  It's always sobering to think about life without football until August.


I believe football is a lot like our classrooms (I know except their salaries).  The coaches teach the standards they expect and an assessment is administered at the end of the week, which is a football game.  Both the Patriots and Rams played 18 games to reach the Superbowl.  That's 18 assessments that were administered throughout year.  Each of these assessments were analyzed by several coaches. They look for what went right and what went wrong and they form practice plans for the next week.  In these practice plans, they emphasize and keep focusing on what is working and a plan is formulated to correct what did not go as planned.  There are always external factors working for or against a football team, but a good coach keeps the players focused on strengths and improving weakness and ignores factors that can not be controlled.



This is exactly how I look at MOY iReady scores.  The MOY scores are not our Superbowl.  It's another mid season assessment that is used to generate feedback.  It is a tool to indicate what our students have as strengths and assist in the creation of a blueprint to correct deficiencies.   I know these scores bring anxiety, especially when we compare scores with other classrooms and other schools.  They bring anxiety to Adrienne and I as well.  But we have to use the mindset that these scores are part of the journey.  If they are low, what is the plan to help our students?  If they are high, how do we continue to enrich our students?

The diagram below was shared with Adrienne and I at a training and I believe it is simple way to think about instruction.  Common Assessments like iReady, which our based on standards help us identify a common expectation of what should be expected as quality student work.  If students are not performing in some class, it is imperative to look at the instructional strategies in those classes and compare with classes that are achieving highly.  We have to accept feedback, we have to collaborate, and we have to accept that there may be a better way.

I hope you all enjoy a terrific week.  Try not to stress over the incoming iReady scores; use it as the feedback that it is intended.

James & Adrienne