Feb 23

 

Welcome back, phenomenal teachers! We’re thrilled to have you back after the snow break and eager to embark on another journey filled with small wins. Every small step you take in the classroom makes a significant difference. With spring break just three weeks away and assessments approaching, let’s focus on owning the daily victories that pave the way for success. As James Clear reminds us in Atomic Habits, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” Embrace every little win, harness your passion, and empower our students to grow with each day. Together, we build lasting success! Let's begin now.



I can’t wait to see you all.

Instructional 

Kick-Off 2024 Slide Deck

Sample lesson from Mr. Wells (LINK HERE)

November Staff: LINK 

Professional Learning Teams (PLT’s) 

This week schedule will look like the following

Elementary: 

Middle School: 

• Data point Check INs 

February Staff Meeting 

Feb. 10- Staff Meeting (Whole Staff) 

Feb. 25- Committee Meetings 

Grading Expectations Reminder

Pershing Grading expectations is at least 2 grades per week entered into Canvas 

Lesson Plans/Focus Boards

Focus Board Expectation

• Permanently placed in the room and clearly visible to the back of the room.
• Teacher reference Focus Board throughout the lesson

Lesson Plans Expectation

• Lessons are turned into the hub Thursday by end of day
• Lessons reflect the implantation of district curriculum and anticipation/differentiation to meet the needs of your students.

Mid Quarter Dates 

09-20-24

11-15-24

02-07-25

04-25-25

 

EOY: Growth Plans 

Start now completing your EOY Growth Plan in Kick-Up. You do this by modifying your BOY growth plan and providing evidence of your progress. Please do so by March 1st. After you have finished, the Admin team will schedule a meeting to discuss your growth.

Testing Schedule 

Mrs. Lannholm will have the testing schedule available for you all this week as we prepare for DCA’s and Galileo.

2nd Semester Instructional Model Focus
Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals
Providing Scales and Rubrics	Learning Targets Communicated multiple times including closure   Students can communicate learning targets and understand how what they are doing ties to the learning target.	Resources: HERE
Tracking Student Progress	Student and Teacher has evidence of student learning	Resources: HERE
Celebrating Success	Verbal and Written feedback on progress toward mastery	Resources: HERE
Processing Content
Organizing students to interact over the learning Planned structure	Students have multiple opportunity to (verbally and non-verbally) to process information every 4-6 minutes	Resources:  HERE  Kagan Structures: Essential 5
Implementation of PBIS
Teaching/Re-Teaching Expectation	Using Our Punch Card system to reward students for doing what is expected with INTEGRITY	Using 4 to 1 positive to corrective interactions

Operational 

AMI Turn In

As communicated we will be taking AMI packets up during our reading class for Middle school and through the classroom teacher for Elementary. This is how we will document student attendance for each of the days we were out. You will receive an email from Dr. Bartels what these procedures will be.

I.D. Badges
Pershing Middle will be piloting student ID badges during 4th quarter for the Middle School Division. These badges will be used to scan lunch/breakfast, library books, and transportation. More information is coming soon.

 

Teaching Behavior Expectations 

We have 3 weeks left until Spring Break and we want to make sure we reteach behavior expectations, and reward students that are doing what we expect students to do by reinforcing positive behavior. We will use the following schedule and slides to re-teach behavior expectations.

Please use these slides as you speak with your students.

• There is a slide for each day of the week.

Week of February 24th: 1st period teachers revisit daily expectations using slides.


Week of March 3rd: Seminar teachers revisit daily expectations.

(Can make a copy of presentation and adjust for student needs.)


Week of March 10th: Reading Exploratory teachers revisit daily expectations.

(Can make a copy of presentation and adjust for student needs.)



Principal For a Day
Friday Feb. 28th we will have Justin Kensinger, CPA joining us as a community member participating in the SPS Principal for A Day program. Mr. Kensinger is here to witness the great things that each of you and our students are doing on a daily basis.

Culver's Spirit Night 

 

AMI Days 

AMI Teacher Expectations 

Elementary Newsletter: https://secure.smore.com/n/jwyzm 

Important Dates 

Jan 28th- Staff Meeting Committees 

Feb. 2-14th : SPS Foundation Spread the Love Campaign 

Feb. 10 STAFF MEETING (Whole Staff- Library) 

Feb. 17- No School (President's Day)

Feb. 25- Future General Scheduling Night

Feb. 25- Staff Meeting: Committees

Feb. 28 - Principal for A Day

February

5- Robert Kaiser 

10- Vicki Steineke 

March 

2- Jennifer Coffman 

6- Elaine Farrar 

9- Angie Cox 

17- Megan Lannholm

23- Allison Holiman 

28- Lauren Parrish 

29- Jake Viele 

Feb 10

 

Champions Rise Again: The Push Toward Mastery

Teachers, just like the Kansas City Chiefs, we face challenges. They didn’t win the Super Bowl this year, but will they give up? No! They’ll analyze, adjust, and come back stronger next season. Their success isn’t built on one big moment—it’s the small, disciplined actions that got them there. Every practice, every strategy, every ounce of effort compounded to push them to the top.

The same applies to our students. Mastery isn’t a single test score; it’s the consistent habits, daily growth, and relentless effort that lead to victory. Every lesson, every check-in, every word of encouragement fuels their success. The MAP assessment is not just a test—it’s our Super Bowl, a measure of how far we’ve come. Let’s prepare with intentionality, energy, and belief in our students. Because champions rise, champions adapt, and champions win! Let’s go all in! 

Good Things

Congratulations to our ISC classrooms for their hard work in creating and operating the Pershing Perk Coffee program. This hands on approach to provided practical life skills is living out our school mission of being a safe community preparing students for a global society. 

Also, the efforts by our students and teachers have been seen all over the country because SPS recently featured Pershing Perks in district communication. Last week the Facebook reel surpass 1 million views. Congratulations 

View the Reel and its comments here:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/3809558692692424

Instructional 

Kick-Off 2024 Slide Deck

Sample lesson from Mr. Wells (LINK HERE)

November Staff: LINK 

Professional Learning Teams (PLT’s) 

This week schedule will look like the following

Elementary: 

Middle School: 

• 2/10 Progress Monitoring 1st data point is expected to be in whatever tracker you and your team choose to do. 

February Staff Meeting 

Feb. 10- Staff Meeting (Whole Staff) 

Feb. 25- Committee Meetings 

Grading Expectations Reminder

Pershing Grading expectations is at least 2 grades per week entered into Canvas 

Lesson Plans/Focus Boards

Focus Board Expectation

• Permanently placed in the room and clearly visible to the back of the room.
• Teacher reference Focus Board throughout the lesson

Lesson Plans Expectation

• Lessons are turned into the hub Thursday by end of day
• Lessons reflect the implantation of district curriculum and anticipation/differentiation to meet the needs of your students.

Mid Quarter Dates 

09-20-24

11-15-24

02-07-25

04-25-25

 

2nd Semester Instructional Model Focus
Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals
Providing Scales and Rubrics	Learning Targets Communicated multiple times including closure   Students can communicate learning targets and understand how what they are doing ties to the learning target.	Resources: HERE
Tracking Student Progress	Student and Teacher has evidence of student learning	Resources: HERE
Celebrating Success	Verbal and Written feedback on progress toward mastery	Resources: HERE
Processing Content
Organizing students to interact over the learning Planned structure	Students have multiple opportunity to (verbally and non-verbally) to process information every 4-6 minutes	Resources:  HERE  Kagan Structures: Essential 5
Implementation of PBIS
Teaching/Re-Teaching Expectation	Using Our Punch Card system to reward students for doing what is expected with INTEGRITY	Using 4 to 1 positive to corrective interactions

Operational 

  Smart Pass (Middle School) 

This is a reminder to all Middle School teachers: It is a building-wide expectation that SmartPass is used to grant students access to the bathroom during class time. This is not an optional platform. Using this system allows us to track data, pinpoint issues, and maximize instructional time for all students.

 Best Buddies program 

We are proud to announce that Pershing is launching the Pershing Best Buddies program. This is a program that is being led by Morgan Thomas and community partners with the purpose of providing an opportunity for students to cultivate friendships between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is a nationwide program that has made its way to Pershing. See the flyer below for more information or talk to Mrs. Thomas.

Nominations for the 2025 Linda Luke Librarian of the Year Award are open NOW!

 

 

This award was established by the friends and family of Linda Luke, who was librarian at Hickory Hills and Disney. Linda was known for her dedication and commitment to excellence. The Linda Luke Librarian of the Year is an SPS librarian who carries out Linda’s legacy of dedication and commitment to excellence. The award includes a $1,500 cash prize to the chosen librarian.

Colleagues, parents, and community members may submit nominations. Please share this with your staff and encourage them to make their nominations!

To nominate an SPS librarian go to this link: https://www.supportsps.org/linda-luke-librarian-year-award/

The deadline for nominations is February 14.

School Counselor of the Year Nominations are open. If you are interested in nominating a school counselor, please complete this form by February 15th. This year we will announce 3 finalists for the award, with the winner being announced at Celebrate SPS!

Let's shower are amazing counseling team with love. 

AMI Days 

This year SPS will utilize AMI days this school year for inclement weather. Please see the following graphics. 

AMI Teacher Expectations 

Elementary Newsletter: https://secure.smore.com/n/jwyzm 

Important Dates 

Jan 28th- Staff Meeting Committees 

Feb. 2-14th : SPS Foundation Spread the Love Campaign 

Feb. 10 STAFF MEETING (Whole Staff- Library) 

Feb. 17- No School (President's Day)

Feb. 25- Future General Scheduling Night

February

5- Robert Kaiser 

10- Vicki Steineke 

March 

2- Jennifer Coffman 

6- Elaine Farrar 

9- Angie Cox 

17- Megan Lannholm

23- Allison Holiman 

28- Lauren Parrish 

29- Jake Viele