From the desk of Dr. Tyson

cultural_diversity@mabry.cool

Mabry’s third International Night was held on Thursday, January 27, 2005.  The Lassiter Dance Team, Otto of the Tahino Trio, and Mabry students provided entertainment.  Students, parents and staff members sampled food from different countries and viewed exhibits of items from around the world.  A number of participants wore native costumes and attire.

At Mabry we do not just value the cultural diversity represented by our community, we celebrate it!  Special thanks go to one of our Spanish teachers, Mrs. Ruthie Rivera, who planned this celebration, as well as all of the teachers, students, and parents who supported her efforts.

PTSA Meeting

This morning I met with the PTSA and shared several items. Below is a very brief summary of each of the items.

1. The SPLOST construction will add 50,000 square feet to our school. We will now have 150,000 square feet at Mabry!
2. I have a meeting this week to explore the purchase of furniture and equipment for the new classrooms.
3. Students are now taking the Performance Series, a nationally normed computer adaptive test that is correlated with the CRCT and should allow us to predict success on that state test.
4. The 8th Grade Writing Assessment is scheduled for Wednesday, January 19th.
5. Early Release Day is scheduled for Wednesday, January 26th.
6. Buddy Pictures are scheduled for Friday, January 28th.
7. The 7th Grade Science students will take a fieldtrip to Jekyll Island the week of January 27th.
8. The changes in the federal overtime regulations are impacting schools. (See my post on January 6th.)
9. The Power to Learn (1 on 1 laptop initiative) appears to be scheduled to go before the board during the first part of February.
10. I have joined with those teachers who are now blogging as a communication tool for parents by starting this blog.
11. All who are interested can take a tour of the construction immediately after your meeting today.

(Click to enlarge)

Volunteer Help

We have such wonderful staff at Mabry. They are always very quick to go above and beyond to help children. We have several paraprofessionals who have come in early or stayed late to help children prepare for up-coming tests or projects. Recent changes in federal law will prevent them from doing this. No hourly employees may work beyond their 8 hour work day. No hourly employees may volunteer at their place of employment beyond their regular work day.

It was very difficult for me to tell these wonderful ladies this news. They were all very heartsick. If you have strong feelings one way or the other about this new federal law, I would encourage you to let you Congressmen and Senators know. I do not think anyone saw the adverse impact this law would have on children at school.

Welcome to My Virtual Desk

First Semester Ends
Today we brought the first semester of the 2004 - 2005 school year to a close. Energy and spirit were high as students and staff looked forward to the beginning of the two week holiday season. The week was punctuated with various ensembles from band and orchestra performing in the skylight. Additionally, the chorus performed today for the students. A parent stopped me in the skylight to comment on how bright and festive the school was today.

(Click to enlarge this holiday gift)

My Virtual Desk
This also marks the first post on this new blog, "From the Desk of Dr. Tyson." I hope to join with those teachers who are using blogs to communicate with students and parents. Our hope is to have everyone on the staff comfortable with this rather new technology by the end of the year. Some of our teachers have been brave souls and are actively posting to their blog already. Others are practicing with them behind the scenes.

Our plan is move toward every teacher using a blog or a website to communicate with parents and students next year. This will be a growth process as we experiment with what categories are most useful and how to best structure the information.