February 19, 2024

A message from Principal Vinten

Good Afternoon, Team!

The PD agenda is within the newsletter. Please make sure grades are updated and grade verification reports are printed out on Wednesday afternoon and given to me signed by Wednesday before you leave that afternoon.

Enjoy your long weekend!

#MAWAY!

Aimee Vinten

The mission of Manara Academy is to provide students with a creative, adaptive and ethical environment to become knowledgeable inquirers and future leaders in a diverse and evolving global society where we master languages, honor cultural heritages, and respect diversity.

"A" week schedule this week!

Teacher Shout - Outs!

This week's shout outs go to two more dedicated teammates!

1st shout out goes to ..... Coach Smith! 🎉

Coach Smith is another staff member who can be consistently counted on. He helps where needed, always responds with a "no problem!", and is a great team player. Thank you, Coach Smith, for already getting a jump on planning Field Day in May, as well as all you do for helping to promote physical fitness in our scholars. You are appreciated!

2nd shout out goes to ..... Mr. Cravey!🎉

Mr. Cravey is a very dedicated teacher who is filled with motivation for student success! From coming in extra early to staying late every day, he is driven by making sure his students have what they need in their learning each day. I appreciate his drive and passion for student success! Thank you, Mr. Cravey, for knowing your students and continually trying to get them where they need to be!

Thank you, Coach Smith & Mr. Cravey for your leadership and dedication! Come see me for a special treat!😁

PD Day - February 20

Here is the PD Agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 20. Please be at your location by the designated times. If you have any questions, let me know!

Students in the Hallway/Coming to the Front Office

Please remember that our hallways are open and the front office area is an area where the phone is utilized and parents are located. Whenever your class is in the hallway walking from class to class, to the cafeteria, or to specials classes, students should be at a level ZERO!! Do not leave your classroom if they are not at a level zero. Allowing even a few to talk gives the rest permission to not listen to the directive. You should also walk with your class (not way behind them) when your class is going to places throughout the building. Please focus on your hallway procedures with your students and do be careful of the tone when redirecting them if they are not following directives. The loud tone can be heard by everyone who is in the front office area, and can be perceived as "yelling" or negative.

Also, if sending a student to the front office, it should only be because of one of the 7 B's (see chart below) AND with a nurse's pass. DO NOT SEND A CHILD UP TO CALL HOME (they can do that from your classroom) OR SEND THEM UP FOR A BANDAID!!!!!!! If you need more bandaids for your Boo Boo box, please email Ms. Tabatha and she will get you some. Thank you for helping with these procedures! We want to be accommodating to all and need your help with procedures so that the campus runs smoothly! 😁

Content Based Language Resouces

Please see the link regarding content based language resources from TEA. See Ms. Chamri if you have any questions!

Content-Based Language Instruction

Bad Weather Make-Up Day

March 25, the Monday after Spring Break, will be our bad weather make-up day. School WILL be in session that day! We are looking forward to seeing all staff & scholars on Monday, March 25!!

TFAR Naming Conventions & SLO Student Growth Tracker Information

For teachers in grades 3-8, please make sure to update your TFAR naming conventions with the following:

Teacher last name.grade.subject.TEK focus.date

Next TFAR due this week (for the start of the 5th 6 week period).

For all teachers with an SLO focus:

SLO Student Growth Tracker Input #3 is due this week!! (week of February 12) The 4th 6 weeks ends on Friday, February 16, so please have your SLO Growth Tracker updated and your folder with evidence updated no later than February 23. Reach out if you have any questions.

Paper Calendar Events for the month of February- grades 3 - 8

The Paper platform is excited to introduce the 2024 edition of the February Paper Reading calendar. Paper Reading is a reading practice tool that drives literacy outcomes by listening to students’ oral reading and offers instant, data-driven feedback for actionable insights.

Dive into a month of pre-prepared Paper Reading assignments with our Plug and Play Calendar. Are you ready to embark on this literacy journey? Let us guide you!

What can you expect?

Select from two grade-band Paper Reading calendars, featuring daily ready-to-use assignments throughout February.
Calendars will be delivered by email, and include nonfiction and fiction readings, commemorating Black History Month and February Holidays.
Student and teacher video guides to enhance the learning experience.
Passages include built-in assignments with vocabulary tasks, model reading, and reading comprehension question(s)

What does the calendar look like?

The full calendar is available here, with clickable links to assignments. See the example below! These are great activities to assign for homework or during WIN time!

Autism Awareness Month in April - t-shirt link order form

We are in the midst of planning a fun event in April for Autism Awareness Month. The link below will take you to the custom ink website to order Autism Awareness t-shirts. We would love as many people as possible (adults and students) to participate in purchasing a t-shirt to be able to wear at the event in April (more information to come). Thank you for your support!

Autism Awareness T-Shirt Order Form

Lesson Plans and Weekly Newsletters

Where to put them: 2023-2024 Teacher Resources drive within the STEM folder.

Please make sure to upload your lesson plans & newsletters to the correct folder by Sunday evening. If you need help, please let me or Ms. Wilson know! They are being checked, so thank you for having them uploaded on time!

*Make sure to add Common Sense Media lessons to your lesson plans each week, Paper lessons/expectations, and NewsELA Social Studies lessons!

**Also, remember to include morning work for each day as scholars are arriving/finishing breakfast each morning. Routines are key, and strong morning routines set powerful learning tones for the day!

SLO data collection

Within your individual SLO folders I have added a data tracker where you will input data collected from your TFAR or mCLASS assessments. The following dates are when the following data should be input:

Using the Initial Skill Profile Rubric:

BOY assessments (Data acceptable: 1st TFAR given, mCLASS, Circle)

Using the Targeted Skill Profile Rubric:

December (week of Dec 11) End of 3rd six weeks - Evidence of student progress #1 Done!

January (week of Jan 3) Start of 4th six weeks - Evidence of student progress #2

February (week of Feb 12) End of 4th six weeks - Evidence of student progress #3

February (week of Feb 21) Start of 5th six weeks - Evidence of student progress #4

March (week of Apr 1) End of 5th six weeks - Evidence of student progress # 5

May (week of May 20) End of 6th six weeks - EOY Student Skill Level

Remember to utilize the same TFAR for the the start and end of each 6 weeks so that the data is an accurate comparison.

Reminder: Naming conventions for TFAR assessments: last name.grade.subject.date

To-Do Items

Things to do this week:

Place your lesson plans & newsletters in the correct google drive folder
SLO data collection - Evidence #3
Grades -- end of 4th 6 week period ofs February 16
TFAR assessment (new one for start of 5th 6 week period!)
Continue with weekly digital citizenship lessons - IMPORTANT!! 😀

Upcoming Events

Feb 19 Gradebooks will be locked by 4:00pm

Feb 19 No School - President's Day

Feb 19-23 SLO Student Growth Tracker Input Due - Evidence #4

Feb 20 PD Day - No school for scholars (staff blackout day)

Feb 20 Start of the 5th Six Week Period

Feb 22 Staff Meeting - 4:15 -5:15pm

Feb 23 New TFAR assessment due (for start of 5th 6 week period) - remember naming conventions!!!

Feb 28 Vinten and Wilson off campus - Strategic Planning Meeting

Feb 29 Staff Meeting (mandatory) 4:15-4:45

Mar 15 Wellness Friday!

Mar 18-22 Spring Break - No School! (March 4-8, 15 & 25 are staff blackout days)

Mar 25 - School will be IN SESSION! Bad weather make-up day from the January cancellation day

Apr 4 UTA Planetarium Field Trip for grades 3rd - 5th

Apr 8 Bad weather make-up day (no school!)

Apr 9-10 No School - Eid holiday (April 5 & 11 are staff blackout days)

May 10 Six Flags Over Texas Field Trip for grades 4th - 8th

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