Monday Minute – December 9, 2013

Greetings!  This is always an exciting time of the year.  The Christmas lights and decorations are breaking out all over Elberton, as the season of goodwill gets underway.  It is a time for the family, the giving of gifts, and the celebration of life and the New Year.  We have enjoyed a great first semester at Elbert County Schools.  Thank you for being a part of our many successes.  Let’s work together to make these final two weeks of the semester as productive as any of the school year.

State School Superintendent John Barge will be visiting Elbert County Middle School on Wednesday, December 11 at 12:00 p.m.  We are excited to be hosting this visit from Dr. Barge and his team.  It will provide us an opportunity to showcase the great things happening at ECMS and to discuss the great things happening throughout our system.

AdvanED External Review Dates – Elbert County Schools has been approved as a candidate for Systems Accreditation by AdvancED. We have identified and submitted the preferred dates of October 5-7, 2015 for hosting an external review.  Upon our return from Christmas break, we will begin navigating the collaborative processes associated with Systems Accreditation.

2014-15 Academic Calendar – Thank you to those who provided input and ideas related to the development of the 2014-15 school calendar.  Calendar options will be provided for your feedback in early 2014.

Core Essentials – It is an expectation in our school system that in every class and subject students are doing work of “high cognitive demand.”  Often described as “rigor,” it would serve us well to have a common definition of what we are aiming to achieve with this Core Essential.  An excellent description of this concept is provided at What is Rigor?  I believe you will also find Angela Meier’s Rigorous Unit Checklist to be very helpful.  Check it out: Checklist for a Rigorous Unit

Food for Thought – “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”  ~E. E. Cummings

Have a great week!  Let us keep those in need of healing and wholeness in our thoughts and prayers.