March 31

 

Team, we’re in the home stretch—just 37 days left! Let’s finish strong by fully living out our mission: Pershing K8 is a safe community where all students learn at high levels and are prepared for a global society.

As Tony Robbins says, “The quality of our lives is determined by the standards we set.” Let’s raise the bar—not just for our students, but for ourselves. Hold tight to those high expectations for behavior and academics. Our students rise when we believe they can, and when we refuse to lower the bar.

Every day is a chance to inspire excellence, build resilience, and remind our students that greatness lives in them. Let’s bring the energy. Let’s bring the belief. Let’s finish the year with purpose.

Good things 

Safe Community: Pershing celebrates with 7th/8th grade Spring Fling and Elementary Movie Night. 

Global Society: Pershing Elementary learns from the Springfield Symphony 

High Levels of Learning: Spanish classes designs a food truck putting their knowledge of the language to the work. 

Global Society: NJHS uses their volunteer time to help tutor students in the Elementary 

Safe Community: Students take time to honor students with positive office referrals. 

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: Normal PLT this week 

• Please make sure we are reporting and leaving at the designated time 

April Staff Meeting 

April 15 Staff Meeting Whole Staff 

April 29 Committee Meeting 

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

 

Testing Schedule 

Middle School Galileo Schedule 

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

Professional Development Opportunities
Summer Professional Learning
There are many paid professional learning experiences being offered this summer. Check out this preview of learning opportunities, and then register in Kickup. Select learning that will propel you forward as you positively impact student learning!

Spring Cooperative Learning Refreshers
Want to boost student engagement and bring joy to your classroom? Join us to explore ways to embed student engagement strategies from Cooperative Learning, 7 Steps to a Language-Rich Classroom, and Active Classroom within your district-provided curriculum. From pre-K to 12th grade, there is no better time to try things out than 4th quarter! View sessions here, and register in Kick Up.

Operational 

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 

Be looking for communication from Mr. Cooper and Dr. Bartels on the schedule of when each grade will be having the quarterly behavior expectation meetings with classes. During these meetings student I.D’s will be introduced to students. 

Returning from Spring Break is a great time to reteach behavior expectations and reinforce rewarding positive behavior. The slides below can help you reteach expectations. Keep holding students accountable academically and behaviorally. The slides below can help you re-teach. Re-teaching 

Expectation:  these slides 

Required Training 

During the March 11th staff meeting we held the required district training Cultivating an Asset-Based Mindset. Below you will find the list of staff members that completed the training. If you have not, the make up date is April 1st 7:30am-8:30am in BAC 150. Again, this is required training for 24-25 school year. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

• College Colors Day

As the district sponsored ACT dates approach, we would like to host a College Colors Day.  Please encourage your students and staff to wear their College Colors/Gear/Swag on Friday, April 4th to support our juniors in achieving their best score!  

 

Elementary Newsletter: https://secure.smore.com/n/3rafy

Pershing Middle Parent Newsletter: HERE

Friday, May 23, 2025 Calendar Clarification

The last day of school will be a full day. There are some calendars in print that show the last day of school as a two-hour early release, including the 2024-2025 Student Handbook. Communications will provide clarity for parents later this spring to alert them of this change.

Important Dates 

April -3 : Paraprofessional Appreciation Day 

April - 4: National School Librarians Day 

April - 7-11: National Assistant Principal Week 

April - 8 No School for Students/Teachers Election Day 

April - 15 Staff Meeting (MAP Training) 

April - 22: National School Bus Driver App. Day 

April - 23: Administrative Professionals Day 

April - 21 MAP test begins 

April - 29 Committee Meetings 

April Birthdays

2- Megan Ponsar Tommy Wells 

3- Christina Burt 

16- Chirs Tillman 

19- Jessica McCall 

20- Kelsey Barbagiovanni

22- Megan Thomas 

29- Sally Guilliams