Sope Creek

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Sope Creek

• Survival Guide
• Nuts, Bolts,
• Navigation of The Creek

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Sope Creek Elementary

• 3320 Paper Mill Road
• Marietta, GA 30067
• 770.916.7085 phone
• 770.916.7087 fax
• http//sopecreeklibrary.typepad.com/blogs
• Principal Martha Whalen
• 2009 2010 School Theme
• Going Global Shining on the Worlds Stage

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First Week of School

• Day 1
• Make sure you know how every child is letting
  home.
• Review your class procedures
• Send home communication with parents that
  includes
• A welcome letter
• Your contact information (email address and phone
  extension)
• Information on how to access your blog.
• Your expectations and procedures.
• Daily schedule
• Open House Dates and Times
• INSERT DATE
• INSERT DATE
• It is VERY important to build relationships and
  to build a community. You will be able to
  accomplish more throughout the year if you take
  steps to build a community and established
  routines/procedures in the first weeks of school.
• OPEN HOUSES
• INSERT DATE
• INSERT DATE

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Where Can I Go When I Need Something?The
Administration has an Open Door Policy. If you
need something we will do all that we can to help
you. This guide should point you to quick help
whenever you need it!
I Need This My Go-To Person Is
school supplies. Karen Turner
an answer to a benefits question. Angie Bonadio (Angelika Bonadio in Groupwise)
textbooks or a teachers edition. Becky Grindstaff (Rebecca Grindstaff in Groupwise)
to request time off on a critical day because of a major life event. Martha Whalen (You will need to write Martha a letter requesting the day off and state the reason why. This will need a two week pre-approval.)
to submit a work order to have something fixed on my computer.
help with a transportation issue. Lisa Hanson. We cannot take transportation changes via email or over the phone.
help with attendance. Brenda Shaw or Lisa Hanson
to get a puking kid out of my room. Kim Kindall-Flores Call the front office and request a clean-up ASAP.
to have something fixed in my room. Angie Bonadio. She will determine if it is a job that our custodians can fix or she will submit a work order.
help with my blog. Jessica Appleyard
discipline for a student. Becky Grindstaff (Grades K, 1, 5) Jessica Appleyard (Grades 2, 3, 4)
to find something in a permanent record Brenda Shaw
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Alphabet SoupInterpretation of All Those Acronyms
Acronym What It Stands For What You Need to Know
APE Adaptive Physical Education Students who cannot participate in regular PE activities attend APE in the cafeteria with Dr. Ellen Campbell (and her guide dog in training).
ASP After School Program The prepaid program that students can attend from 230 until 600 every aternoon. The cost is 7.00 per day
BLT Building Leadership Team Team leaders and the group that will facilitate meetings, disperse information, and the general go-to person on each team.
CRCT Criterion Referenced Competency Test The annual test administered to 1st 8th grade students. This exam may be referred to from this point forward as THE TEST.
EIP Early Intervention Program A program for struggling readers/writers/math students. Vanessa Christofoli is our EIP and Reading Recovery teacher. Several classes are the Reduced Class size model.
ESOL/ELL English Speakers of Other Languages/ English Language Learners Students who need additional support to become proficient in the English language. Sondra Briggs is our ESOL Teacher.
OHI Other Health Impaired Many of our students who qualify for special education are eligible under this category. It often means that they are ADHD.
OT Occupational Therapy Support for students who have weak fine motor skills. Our OT Support Staff are Judith Kennedy and Kitty Beard.
PAI Performance Assessment Instrument The teacher observation forms and summary reports that will be used for your yearly evaluation. You will receive training on the process at a staff meeting.
PICASSO Portal Integrating Curriculum, Assessment, and Student System Operations Good links and information are posted online and protected for Cobb teachers by accessing PICASSO. The log in procedures are different for school and home.
PT Physical Therapy Support for students with weak gross motor skills. Joanie Matthews and Dr. Jill Hanson are our PTs.
SIP School Improvement Plan A document that outlines our goals for the year, action plan for imporvement, and data that tracks our progress.
RTI Response to Intervention A tiered approach to differentiating instruction and gathering student data. RTI Tier 2 meetings take place monthly, and Tier 3 meetings take place weekly.

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Alphabet Soup ContinuedInterpretation of All
Those Acronyms
Acronym What It Stands For What You Need to Know
TWAS This Week _at_ Sope A weekly newsletter published by the front office staff on Fridays. We communicate with a weekly newsletter to decrease the number of individual emails sent. It is published on Friday, and you are responsible for all information in TWAS.
PAL Partners at Learning A student mentoring program facilitated by Sara Jane Lombardi, school counselor.
FTE Full Time Equivalent The way we receive funding.students receive 6 segments of instruction per day. A few times a year we have to report student schedules so that we can receive funding for special programs.











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Comments from the Custodians

• We have five custodians
• Amelia Garrett (Head Honcho)
• Michael Williams (Next Head Honcho)
• Joe Dalton
• Jackie Paden
• Thery Joseph
• They are extremely helpful and take great care of
  our school.
• There is a custodian assigned to every hall. You
  can find their name at the beginning of each
  hallway with the sign, This hall is
  professionally cleaned by..
• They will do the following daily
• Vacuum
• Empty trash
• Clean hallways
• Clean bathrooms
• You will be responsible for the following daily
• Emptying pencil sharpeners
• Cleaning your dry erase board
• Notifying Amelia if a ball gets kicked on the
  roof
• Reporting any problems (including heat and air OR
  bug issues) to the front office or to Amelia
• Picking up the floor daily (have the kids do
  this)

Hours on teacher workdays 630 am -530
pm Hours during the school year 600 am 800
pm
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FAQs

• What time do I have to be here?
• You need to be in your classroom and ready to
  receive students at 715.
• Who do I call if I need a substitute?
• From the first day of school until December
  Jessica Appleyard
• From January until the last day of school Becky
  Grindstaff
• If you know ahead of time that you need to be
  absent, you can call and arrange a substitute
  using the Sope Creek Perferred List OR ask Angie
  to put the request into SubFinder. You need to
  always fill out a Report of Absence form. They
  can be found on the Sope Creek Staff Handbook
  site or under the teacher mailboxes.
• When are meetings?
• Tuesday afternoons. Please keep your schedules
  free on Tuesday afternoons until 400 pm.
• Do I have to go outside the school to find staff
  development opportunities?
• You are surely welcome to do so, but we provide
  school focused staff development here at Sope
  Creek. You will receive credit for the work we
  do on Tuesday afternoons and on Early Release
  Days.
• If I see Happy Motoring what does that mean?
• It means that you can leave as soon as the
  students goas soon as you know that everyone has
  made it to their dismissal locations safely.
• Do I have a mentor?
• YES! You have a mentor who will be your go-to
  person if you have any questions They will be
  most helpful in assisting you and navigation of
  The Creek.

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Response to Intervention How are we working
together to provide opportunities for ALL
students to succeed?
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RTI Continued

• What happens in a Tier 2 Meeting?
• Teachers who have a student of concern will bring
  a packet that has some general information filled
  out regarding that student. (name, birth date,
  parent contacts, background information).
• RTI Tier 2 Groups consist of teams of teachers.
  At the meeting, you will have a turn to discuss
  the student, their difficulties, and receive
  feedback on strategies to implement until the
  next meeting.
• You will implement the strategies and keep data
  on the success of the strategies. At the next
  meeting, you will share the data with the team.
  They will help you determine next steps.
• What happens in a Tier 3 Meeting?
• You will be invited on a Wednesday morning
  (classroom coverage will be provided) to join the
  RTI team. Members may include
• Counselor
• Special Education Lead Teacher, Michele Zarrilli
• Special Education Teacher
• Speech Pathologist, Joan Crawford or Alicia
  McInnis
• School Psychologist, Lauren Koren
• Administrator
• Parents
• You
• ESOL Teacher or Reading Recovery Teacher
• The counselor will facilitate the meeting. You
  will share the interventions that were applied
  and their success rates. The team may make
  suggestions of other interventions to try and
  track. They may also make the determination that
  more data is necessary and make a referral to
  special education.

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Put Specials Schedule Here
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SpecialsThere is a rotation for each grade
level. Lets chart your students first month of
specials.
Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 23 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
Start Here.

• Notes about Specials
• Be sure you are on time to pick up and drop off
  students.
• Notes that exempt students from PE also exempt
  them from recess.
• Specialists will provide you with grades for
  report cards. Be sure that these are the grade
  you assign students on their report cards.

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Sope Creek Foundation
The Sope Creek Foundation is a non-profit
corporation whose sole purpose is to raise funds
and provide resources beyond those provided by
Cobb County or Sope Creek PTA for the benefit o
fall Sope Creek students.

• FYI
• The Foundation has sponsored the following
  purchases
• Phone systems in all classrooms
• Playground track
• Climbing wall in gym
• New carpet in Annex
• Media Center renovations
• SMARTBoards in every homeroom classroom
• Sponsored Events/Activities
• Sociables Tickets are sold to themed events
  hosted throughout the year.
• Teacher Outings Teachers donate their time and
  outings are bid upon during a silent auction.
  Bids are taken during Octoberfest.
• Fun Run Includes a 5K race and 1 mile Fun Run.
  Open to all Sope Creek families, community
  members, and other serious runners.
• SMARTKids Campaign A letter campaign asking
  parents to donate money to fund extras.
• After School Foreign Language French and
  Spanish classes are offered after school for a
  fee. A percentage of proceeds benefit the
  Foundation.
• KidChess After school Chess Club
• Brainy Builders After school lego building club.
• Tennis After school tennis program.

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Sope Creek PTA
We have THE BEST PTA in all of Georgia!!!! They
advocate for students, teachers, staff, and
public education!!!2009-2010 theme Going
Global Shining on the Worlds StagePTA
Presidents Lisa MacDougall Jana Brubacher

• FYI
• Be prepared to join the PTA during preplanning.
  They will host a luncheon on Thursday.
• Save school-related receipts for a 100
  reimbursement.
• Any money that the PTA collects will typically be
  sent to the office in a REGULAR ENVELOPEnot a
  school money envelope.
• Sponsored Events/Activities
• Art Day Visiting artists deliver enriched
  curriculum of the arts.
• Birthday Book Club Students are invited to
  donate and dedicate books to the media center
  during their birthday month.
• Book Fair Mini Book Fair Scholastic Book Fair
  operates during Conference Week. Proceeds
  benefit the PTA.
• Cooks Corner Provides lunch during Early
  Release Days and snacks during Conference Week.