OUR VISION

• Lilburn Middle School will become a Professional Learning Community committed to working collaboratively to engage students in learning in order to actualize student potential.

OUR MISSION

• Lilburn Middle School is committed to engaging all students in learning the Academic Knowledge and Skills through research-based best practices with mastery being measured by local, state, national, and world-class standards and re-teaching/reassessing students as needed to actualize their potential.

OUR VALUES

• We use research-based best practices to engage students in learning.

• We build healthy relationships with our students, parents, and community members.

• We provide appropriate interventions to support students in actualizing their potential.

• We collaborate with our colleagues toward building a Professional Learning Community.

Collective Efficacy Statement- The Key to the Power of One

• We know that the greatest enemy of greatness is variance. We will be consistent in our implementation of effective instruction, assessment, and response to student learning. This consistency will be driven by careful understanding of the curriculum (AKS). At Lilburn Middle School, we put students first in all that we do. We ensure that we are developing the whole child by incorporating SEL, developing appropriately aligned and engaging lessons, and embracing collaborative planning. We will ensure that the LMS instructional framework is upheld. At LMS, all adults speak positively of our school, our students, our community, and our colleagues. We practice a growth mindset. We leverage high expectations, high-quality lessons, and belonging to support the success of each and every child.

LSPI GOAL

• Our LSPI is ready to roll! Please keep in mind that it is still a living document. as we continue to refine this document, we will update you with any revisions that are made.

• You may review the lspi here:

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V99-t7iml_ik7G9nzIm8rYN-a3HJAy7m/view?usp=sharing

This week, we will refocus on facilitating effective small-group instruction. I am most proud of the fact that small group instruction is taking place at Lilburn Middle School. As with any instructional strategy, we want to ensure that teachers feel confident in using the strategy and have many tools to do so. Please see below for a brief article that includes five tips that you can incorporate as you facilitate small-group instruction in with your students.

If you would like to share an instructional strategy (credit will be given to all contributors), please complete this PD Share sign-up.

Previous Bite Size PD Contributors

Blueprint Focus for the Week: EXCELLENCE

By now, we have all reviewed this year's LSPI. We have personally supported the work of the LSPI with our RBES goal and our Professional Learning goal. If you recall, goal 4A involves LMS becoming a "Preferred Educational Destination" school. This means that staff, students, and parents all agree that our school is the place where everyone WANTS to be. They describe this further as the "Disney Experience." When we discussed this in our content meetings, people really enjoyed the idea of the "Disney Experience" as our goal. Those are very high standards we all agreed. Please see below for more on what it means to cultivate the "Disney Experience" at LMS.

https://howtodisney.com/10-characteristics-that-make-the-walt-disney-company-a-fabulous-employer/

NEW:

Picture Day

Thank you to everyone for showing up on time for our staff picture!

Early Release Conferences

Early Release conferences present an opportunity for teachers to make a lasting connection with parents. This is one of our signature activities to leverage the home-school relationship in order to best support students. Please read the ER Tips prior to conferences to ensure that we are offering a consistently high-quality conference experience for all parents. Remember, your grade-level admin and counselors are here to help. If you need additional support during your conferences, reach out to your grade-level support staff. If you know of a high-needs conference ahead of time, go ahead and let your grade-level support know of this in advance of the conference. You all do such an amazing job of engaging parents. I can't wait to see the conferences in action this week.

Sample Fall Conference Structure

Tips to Successful Conferences

The first round of Early Release/Parent Conference days for the 2022-2023 school year is this Wednesday, October 19th, and Thursday, October 20th. On these two days, students will be dismissed at 1:05 PM. The rest of the day will be spent conferencing with each student’s parents and reviewing the child’s academic and behavioral progress.

This is the time to review the student’s work samples, progress report, communications report, Data from Universal Screener, ELLP Plan, and Test Participation Plans, and make decisions with parents.

Additional information about Early Release days has been sent out. Please reference the email from

• Dr. Maresh (overview and ER conference plan) sent out 10/7/2022

• Diane Brown (what to do with your team's conference schedule) sent out 10/12/2022

• and Brian Howe (lunch schedule) will be sent out 10/17/2022

Our "late day" is Wednesday (10/19). Please make sure that conferences are scheduled up to no later than 7:00 PM.

Thursday (10/20) is our "early day" for conferences. Teachers may leave after students are dismissed on Thursday.

Support staff (custodial, clerical, para support, etc.) will adhere to their normal daily schedule on both days.

Professional dress is expected for those attending conferences on Early Release days.

Remind Sign Up (we still need a few staff members to sign up. Please take care of it this week.):

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for Remind. This will serve as our emergency phone tree (along with Messenger) in the event of an emergency.

As mentioned in the faculty meeting, communication is a priority for our school team. You also heard that Remind is a major part of our emergency communication procedures. Please go ahead and sign up to receive our school's Remind messages.

REMIND:

Sign up to receive messages through Remind. This will be used in case of emergency, or if there is a need for urgent/time-sensitive communication. Text @f637g3 to 81010.

Feedback Wanted:

Please complete this brief survey to let me know how the year is going. Thank you to all of those who have already provided feedback.

https://forms.gle/D1WtA9h51koEXbQQ9

Faculty Meeting Updates:

As discussed in the faculty meeting, there are some updates that we need to share. We agreed to share this information by email, rather than in the meeting. Please review the attached presentation.

Faculty Meeting Slides

ELT

We will continue the Tier I model of ELT through Fall break. We were scheduled to move into Phase II this week, but we will need to delay that plan until after Fall break. We are making a change because we are still awaiting access and training on some of the intervention platforms that are required to be used. When these technical issues are worked out, then we can begin Phase II of our ELT plan. At this time, students will continue to receive Tier I, II, and III instruction in their content classes during ELT. The only students who will move are those who are attending special education ELT groups and selected EL students. These students have already begun reporting to their off-team groups as of last week.

As a reminder, we are rotating through the academic periods (Monday- PD1, Tuesday- PD2, Wednesday- PD3, and Thursday- PD4, Friday- rotate Advisement and Literacy Block. Our Monday-Thursday ELT plan consists of the following teacher actions:

1) Begin the period with a warm-opener (student check-in): We will begin ELT each day with our Champion Circle (First and 10 Check-In). Ms. Hall did send out information about this.

2) After the check-in (Champion Circle), Tier I and Tier II teachers (team teachers) will move students into one of four activities:

• remedial/extension independent activity to address CFA area of weakness or content skill practice

• small groups- targeted students should be pulled to participate in a small group during ELT. Ensure that you use data to determine who is pulled into the Ongoing Small Group Instruction (OGSGI).

• Mini-lesson that comprises no more than 15 of ELT instructional time (about 5-7 minutes of teacher-led whole group instruction).

• Data collection to determine upcoming groups/instruction.

We are in the first phase of ELT installation, so we are working to host Tier I, II, and III students on team at this time. Only special groups (EL, Special Education) students will move to a different location. Data-driven intervention and small group instruction is expected to occur during ELT. This is a district expectation and a major focus of our ELT. It is critical that we all follow the ELT plan.

When we move to Phase II after Fall Break, we will introduce the online intervention platforms that will support students' learning needs at the Tier II and Tier III levels. Please refer to the ELT FAQ document for additional guidance about ELT instruction.

Champion Circles (updated):

We didn't have enough time to go through the entire training at our faculty meeting, but Mrs. Hall, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Parrish, and Ms. Julio mentioned a brief overview. During the First & 10 Check-In, you will conduct a class meeting with your students for the first 10 minutes during ELT. Students who travel to other groups will participate in the group that they report to each day. The change to move this time to during ELT is another effort to preserve the instructional time of first period.

Please remember that this effort to address SEL is not only a local school focus but a district expectation that we must provide for our students. The final plan has been communicated on Friday through the ELT overview email that was sent out.

The community circles will be a part of our normal school day. The First & 10 Check-In is an LMS expectation of all teachers and will be ongoing throughout the school year.

Progress Reporting Timeline:

Progress reports are sent out regularly for our students to receive communication about their progress in each class. Teachers should follow the progress reporting timeline to ensure that we are consistent in our communication with our families. Please see the link for the progress report/report card schedule for this year. We will update this schedule if the need arises and the dates will be added to our calendar.

Progress Report/Report Card Timeline

Instructional Supports:

Mustang Walks- Please hang the QR code that was placed in your mailbox in a visible area in your room. This is a link to the feedback form that administrators and guests will use when conducting informal walk-throughs (known at LMS as Mustang Walks). If you did not receive a form, please email Dr. Irish. Although teachers will receive feedback through this process, these walks are non-evaluative and only serve to provide feedback to teachers about their instructional practices.

We expect to see every content teacher that we evaluate at least once per week (walkthroughs or informal walk-throughs)

Mustang Rounds- Teachers will resume peer observations (Mustang Rounds)beginning on September 20. The details will be discussed in your content meeting. Mustang Round Overview

Communication Reminder:

As you know, we are continuing to support an ongoing effort to reduce disruptions to the instructional process. Please refer to the weekly newsletter, social media, morning announcements, and PM announcements for regular updates of events/activities occurring within our school. Please refrain from sending 'All Staff' emails throughout the day. Please also be mindful of intercom announcement requests. If you need an 'All Staff' email to be sent or an intercom announcement to be made, please confer with Dr. Irish before doing so. If you have an announcement request, please send it to 625 LMS Announcements. Announcements will need to be submitted by 3:30 PM in order to be included that day. The announcement email group is monitored by all of the individuals who make/organize announcements (including messages to our community). When making your announcement request to the email group, specify which platforms you want the information to be shared (weekly staff newsletter, weekly parent newsletter, social media, news show, etc.)

Please be mindful of what is placed in emails as it is subject to an Opens Record Request and can be requested by a parent or the media (this extends to any other platform that is facilitated by GCPS).

Required PD- We should all be just about completed with our required PD. If you haven't started, please take care of it this week. Let's get it done before the deadline.

Make sure to complete the required district PD courses:

Cybersecurity Awareness Training All Employee Portal Security Awareness- 11/1/2021

HR Compliance- Required by All- located in the PD&E # 29377

Tutoring & Clubs

The tutoring rotation is as follows: Tuesday-Connections; Wednesday- Math and Social Studies; Thursday- Language Arts and Science

Here are a couple of reminders:

• Please make sure to communicate your tutoring schedule to your students/students' parents in order to make them aware of the schedule.

• Remind parents that tutoring is free and available each week unless there is a communicated cancellation.

• Students do not need to make an appointment for tutoring on the regular tutoring days. This is a tool that is available as a Tier I intervention for all students.

• Please make sure to be present and ready to receive students starting at 8:10 AM on your content's assigned tutoring day. Students arrive at 8:15 AM.

• Any cancellations of tutoring must be communicated to your grade level administrator in advance.

Regarding Clubs: We are still working to get club meeting dates on the LMS calendar. If you have a club that you would like to sponsor, please reach out to Ms. St. James with your proposal.

Silent Lunch

Silent lunch is an option for teachers to use to address MINOR behaviors that occur in the classroom. Please use room 5.130 as your first option. You will need to work with your grade level admin if you are in need of a silent lunch in your classroom (for class-wide silent lunch). We need to ensure that the admin is in the loop to help with any parent communication that may result from the class-wide silent lunch. Additionally, the admin will help to ensure that Mrs. Markitan's team is aware of the additional cleaning needs that are required when classroom lunches occur.

Title IX Reminders:

Title IX Coordinator- Cecilia Carmichael; Title IX Investigator- Onika St. James; Title IX Decision-Maker- Nicole Irish

When should I contact our Title IX Coordinator, Mrs. Carmichael:

• Whenever a student reports misconduct that could qualify as sexual harassment

  • A student does not have to use the magic words "sexual harassment" to address with the Title IX protocol.

• Whenever you observe behaviors that appear inappropriate, harassing in nature, or if a student or staff appears uncomfortable.

  • It is your duty to make sure you report any conduct that you observe.

What can I do to ensure compliance?

Do:

1. 1. 1. Take each report seriously

      2. When you observe concerning behavior, ask a student if they are doing okay.

      3. Address trends in sexual misconduct in your class (such as separating problematic students)

      4. Adhere to your training (ask for additional training if you are still unsure)

Do Not:

1. Investigate to determine the truth of the report

2. Issue accommodations/consequences to address the concerns without alerting a Title IX Coordinator

3. Communicate with parents about sexual harassment concerns

4. ALL PARENT COMMUNICATION SHOULD BE THROUGH TITLE IX COORDINATOR

5. ALL Concerns/Complaints are to be kept CONFIDENTIAL - Those not assigned a role in the TITLE IX process do not have a need to know

GET FIT CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK: Get some activity every day
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends American adults get at least 150 minutes of activity per week. Think of the types of activity you can fit into your everyday life. Take a midday walk around your neighborhood. Create a brain break with your students. Do some squats while you’re waiting for your next class to arrive. Walk the long way back to class after lunch. Dance in the kitchen while making dinner at home. These types of activities are inexpensive and can make a big difference when you add up the time doing them.

How many minutes of activity will you get this week? Keep a log and set a personal goal.

Make sure to review the last few pages of the Pre-Planning Agenda to keep up with your completion of required compliance professional learning. There are several deadlines coming up soon, so stay on top of it. You can get to the agenda here.

All staff are required to read and reflect on the LMS Staff/Faculty Handbook.

The LMS Faculty Handbook is located here: LMS Training Page

GCPS Personnel Handbook is Located Here: GCP Personnel Handbook

Building a Foundation for Educational Equity and Responsiveness (2022-2023) Course #28985

The Office of Staff Development is offering this course as a three-part series for teachers. The desired outcomes of the series are to gain a heightened awareness of personal context filters, to identify biases we hold, and to create an action plan for positive change. Course #28985 will open on August 15, 2022. The last day to register will be August 29, 2022. The first session will be asynchronous, and it will be followed by two synchronous sessions.

When: August 30, 2022; September 27, 2022, and October 25, 2022 (4:00 PM - 6:00 PM)

Where: Online; Zoom Link will be added to the PD&E course information.

1) Monday, October 17

• ELT (1st Period)

• Georgia School Bus Safety Week (Day 1/5)

• Great Days of Service

• School Bus Driver Appreciation Day

• PSAT In-Service at LMS- 8th Grade During Planning

2) Tuesday, October 18

• ELT (2nd Period)

• Connections Tutoring

• Continue Required Compliance PD

• PTA/Executive Board Meeting 6 PM

• Georgia School Bus Safety Week (Day 2/5)

• Great Days of Service

• Content Leader Meeting 8:00 AM

• Chorus Recruitment Informational Meeting (Parents) 6 PM

3) Wednesday, October 19

• ELT (3rd Period)

• Math and Social Studies Tutoring

• CFA Slider Sales

• Georgia School Bus Safety Week (Day 3/5)

• Early Release Parent Conferences (Day 1/2)

• Great Days of Service

• Dismissal at 1:05 PM

• Lunch for staff

4) Thursday, October 20

• ELT (4th Period) (Fall Break-Cancelled)

• Language Arts and Science Tutoring

• Georgia School Bus Safety Week (Day 4/5)

• Early Release Parent Conferences (Day 2/2)

• LMS Progress Report #2

• Lunch for staff

5) Friday, October 21

• Continue Required Compliance PD

• Georgia School Bus Safety Week (Day 5/5)

• Great Days of Service

• Literacy Block Friday

• District Honor's Chorus Field Trip (Athens)

• Mr. Nebel's Classroom Visits

• CFA Slider sales and Ice Cream Sales during lunch

6) Saturday, October 22

• Rest and Relax

• Teaching Academic Language and Content to ELs (TALC to EL) course @ Lilburn Middle School

7) Sunday, October 23

• Rest and Relax

Coming up next week:

Red Ribbon Week, PSAT

Have a Supercharged and Laser-Focused Week!

Additional School-Wide Newsletters: