PEEK AT THE WEEK

A big thank you to all of our staff that step in at sometimes a moment's notice to fill our latchkey and Cardinal's Nest preschool positions! It's no secret that staffing a.m. and p.m. Davison latchkey subs at Gates, Hill, Cardinal's Nest, and p.m. at Hahn along with preschool during the day is a challenge at times. We are able to use Edustaff subs for certified positions and GSRP associate teachers. This is helpful for sure, but we fill all the latchkey and tuition based preschool spots through our early learning office with our own subs. During the past year, we have built a bank of available staff for latchkey and tuition based preschool staff. However, we can always use more subs! Those who are interested must apply through GECS on the Davison website and get school and LARA (licensing) fingerprints completed. If you or someone you know are interested in subbing, please let our office staff know and we can help navigate the application and fingerprinting process.

Please help us get the work out! Michelle Edwards has begun communicating the following information regarding Davison Preschool registration for both Cardinal's Nest tuition based preschool and GSRP. Please copy and paste the information in your upcoming classroom newsletters.

Preschool Registration Information; Cardinal’s Nest Open House set for April 8

If you or someone you know has a child that will be turning 3 or 4 on or before September 1, 2020, then Davison Early Learning programming surely has the right fit for your child’s preschool needs. Come visit the Cardinal's Nest Open House from 6-7:30 p.m. April 9 to check out the tuition-based 3- and 4-year-old programs we have to offer.

Davison Preschool Round Up will be held during the week of April 20-24. You can make an appointment for round up beginning April 6th by calling 591-0821 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Families will need to pre-register online for 3- or 4-year-old tuition-based programs in order to schedule a preschool round up appointment. Links for pre-registration will be available on the Davison Schools website under the Early Childhood tab on the Cardi-nal's Nest web page beginning April 1. https://dcer.davisonschools.org/CourseActivities.aspx?id=25&cat=20

You will need to bring the following to your preschool round up appointment:

 Driver's license or Valid picture ID

 Health Appraisal (physical)

 Immunization record

 Birth Certificate

Online pre-registration must be done prior to your round up appointment.

There is s $50 pre-registration fee. Detailed information regarding preschool cost is on the Cardinal's Nest web page. There are 10 preschool sections throughout the school year. Both half and full day programs are available for 2, 3 or 5 days per week. The following sections will be offered according to demand on a first come, first serve basis:

 ½ day 3-year-old tuition-based preschool

 Full day 3-year-old tuition-based preschool

 ½ day 4-year-old tuition-based preschool

 Full day 4-year-old tuition-based preschool

Davison GSRP 4-year-old preschool information

GSRP (Great Start Readiness Program) state funded preschool for 4-year-olds is located at Central/GSRP and The Cardinal’s Nest. Pre-applications for GSRP can be filled out now for the 2020-2021 school year. Eligibility will be determined by the GISD once your pre-application is submitted online @ www.geneseepreschool.org. If eligi-ble, families will be notified and scheduled for an intake/registration appointment starting in April. Don’t wait to apply. Spots fill fast! Placement at Central Elementary vs. Cardinal's Nest will be placed according to transporta-tion needs.

Kindergarten Round Up

Appointments now being accepted for Kindergarten registration Registration: For all kindergarten and developmental kindergarten age students who reside within the district’s residential boundaries Location: Davison High School Athletic Meeting Room (South Door # 12), 1250 N Oak Rd, Davison Dates/Times: Monday, April 20–Friday, April 24. Appointments are available from 8:30-11 a.m. and 12:45-3:15 p.m. Please call Thomson Elementary at (810) 591-0911 BETWEEN March 2 and APRIL 13 to schedule your child’s registration appointment. Plan to allow approximately 30-45 minutes for your scheduled appointment. Please bring the following with you to your registration appointment: 1. The child to be enrolled. The registration process will include a brief basic skills screening of your child. A child must be 5 years old on or before September 1, 2020, to register. If your child’s 5th birthday falls between September 2 and December 1 and you are interested in enrollment, a waiver is required. Please inquire with the school secretary when scheduling your child’s registration appointment. 2. The child’s official (with the raised seal) birth certificate. 3. Davison residency verification. Verification of Davison residency must include the following three valid proofs of residency: Valid driver’s license with the current Davison address. Utility bill (i.e. electric, gas, water, cable, landline phone). The “service” address must be indicated on the bill provided. If you pay your bills online, PLEASE PRINT YOUR ONLINE BILL.** An additional utility bill, bank or credit card statement, tax bill OR Mortgage/lease agreement.** **Proofs above must be in the same name/address as the parent/legal guardian listed on the valid driver’s license submitted. All proofs must be dated within the past two months. Parents/Legal Guardians: In order to complete registration for your child, you must bring the required proofs of residency listed above to your appointment. If you are unable to provide or have any questions regarding the required documents, please discuss this with the school secretary when scheduling your child’s registration appointment. If the required proofs of residency are not provided at the time of registration, your child will not be enrolled in a school building or assigned a teacher until received. We will print your child’s most up-to-date immunization record. A physical is not required. ALL IMMUNIZATIONS MUST BE UP TO DATE PRIOR TO THE START OF SCHOOL. Kindergarten classes will be offered at Siple Elementary, Thomson Elementary and Hill Elementary. Currently, developmental kindergarten classes are only available at Thomson Elementary. Representatives from each building will be available during registration to process your child’s enrollment documents and answer any questions you may have. If all required documentation listed above is received, you will be notified of your child’s school building placement, kindergarten orientation date and time, and teacher assignment in early August. We’re excited to meet you and your child and look forward to having your child join Davison Community Schools!

Our March is Reading Month door decorations are looking fantastic! I have enjoyed listening to the kids and parents making comments about the creativity that went into the decorations. Just a reminder of our upcoming activities to celebrate the joy of reading...

Central/GSRP dates:

Wednesday, March 11th- Door decorating contest vote!

Thursday, March 12th- Police officer Alcodray reads

Thursday, March 19th- Library bus at Central/GSRP.

Thursday, March 26th- Family Literacy Day at Central/GSRP- "Pete the Cat" theme.

Cardinal's Nest dates:

March 12th and 13th- Library bus

Week of the 16th- parent mystery readers

Week of the 23rd- Community readers

Cardinal's Nest Library Bus Schedule:

The Davison Library bus will be here March 12th and 13th at 9:30. Each class will have 10 minutes to tour the bus and pick out a book.

• Room 101 9:30-9:40
• Room 102 9:40-9:50
• Room 103 9:50-10:00
• Room 105 10:00-10:10

*We have a tentative plan of March 19th at 1:30 for Rachel and Katie's p.m. GSRP class.

This Tuesday, March 10th is the big day! Don't forget to vote for the 2020 DCS School Bond!

https://youtu.be/nWVcwHiy8rY

Central and GSRP will have a fire drill this Wednesday, March 11th. Be sure to review your emergency drill flip chart for fire drill procedures. Note that there is a change. You will unlock your classroom door, close the door and exit the building to your regular meeting spot. This is a new precaution that has been put into place in order to allow staff and students to re-enter classrooms. If there was an incident that the fire alarm was pulled by an intruder or live shooter in order to gain access to a group of people, re-entry to classrooms would be possible for safety purposes. Thank you for helping keep our students and staff safe!

A meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, March 12th for Cardinal's Nest a.m. and p.m. staff. A.M. school age and preschool staff will meet with Susan and Lindsey at 9:00 a.m.

P.M. school age and preschool staff will meet with Susan and Lindsey at 3:00 p.m.

The agenda will include:

Staff Evaluation procedures

Licensing updates and student/child allowable ratios for preschool, school age latchkey and preschool age latchkey

Licensing required qualifications for latchkey vs. classroom preschool staff

Registration procedures for 2020-2021

Staff Schedules for 2020-2021

Emergency Procedure information- distribution of black boxes and orange binders

We look forward to meeting with you!

This week early learning staff will be filling out the self-evaluative portion of their employee evaluation. Staff will be choosing three areas of the evaluation that they would like to work on. One area that is a very important in any early learning setting is creating a positive climate within the learning environment. This dimension is a part of the CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) early learning assessment and it includes rating teacher and student communication and relationships. All adults working in our preschool and latchkey learning environments should fall into the Positive climate area. This isn't always easy for some of us, yet for others it is effortless. Ask yourself how you rate when it comes to communicating with your students in the classroom, in the hallway, in the gym, at recess, at arrival and dismissal and all times of the day. One of the most eye opening experiences that I ever had in a teacher training program was when we were given the assignment to audiotape ourselves doing reading recovery lessons. That's right, audiotape, not videotape. We were then required to rate our tone of voice, volume of voice and how much "teacher talk" we were doing that was unnecessary to the lesson. We sometime's forget how our voice volume, tone, and unnecessary talk can affect our students.

The following dimensions are scored on the CLASS assessment and rated on a scale of high positive to high negative. Our ECS, Program Directors, site supervisors and administration strive to have all of our staff working with children fall in the positive vs. negative domains. How do you think YOU would rate?

POSITIVE CLIMATE domains

Positive Affect

• Smiling
• Laugher
• Enthusiasm

Positive Communication

• Verbal Affection
• Physical Affection
• Positive expectations

Respect

• Eye contact
• Warm, calm voice
• Respectful language
• Cooperation and sharing between teacher/student

NEGATIVE CLIMATE domains

Negative Affect

• Irritability
• Anger
• Harsh Voice
• Escalating negativity

Punitive Control

• Yelling
• Threats
• Physical control
• Harsh punishment

Sarcasm/Disrespect

• Sarcasm/voice or statement
• Teasing
• Humiliation

Severe Negativity

• Victimization
• Bullying
• Physical punishment

Please add the following topics to your classroom newsletters.

• Open House at Cardinal's Nest is April 8th from 6:00-7:30.
• Kindergarten round up information- feel free to copy and paste
• Preschool round up information- feel free to copy and paste
• A reminder for Cardinal's Nest parents to call the office @ 591-0821 between 8:00-4:00 and Central/GSRP at 591-0922 if a child will be absent. Please do NOT encourage parents to contact you through text. This creates issues with misinformation and lack of communication to and from the office staff. It can also cause uncomfortable situations for staff. If you receive a text from a parent regarding a student absence, tuition payment, etc..., encourage them to email or call the office.
• Session #8 deadline is April 2.

Thank you with your help with reminding parents of these important dates!

Samantha Morey, is returning to work on Monday, March 9th from maternity leave and she is being assigned to several buildings including Central/GSRP. Please help in welcoming her back to work. I know that all of you remember what it is like leaving your baby to return to work and how that can bring with it some mixed emotions. This week Samantha will be stopping into her building assignments to greet staff and get to know the students. Thank you in advance for making her feel welcome.

Monday, March 9th- Poverty Matters Workshop- GCI (District Administrators) Melissa Schwab on head teacher duty at Central/GSRP.

Tuesday, March 10th- DCS 2020 Bond election! Get out and VOTE! START training at GCI 8:00-3:30, (Susan, Lindsey, Sara H, Sara S, and Rachel M) CCDM @ Aubrees 12:30 (Susan), DI meeting 4:15 at Cardinal Center Board Room (Susan, Lindsey, Melissa S. and Rachel M.)

Wednesday, March 11th- Carrie Blazen at admin 8:00- pupil accounting mtg. 1:00 mtg w Carrie regarding Emergency Plan updates. GSRP advisory meeting in a.m. at GISD (Susan and Lindsey).

Thursday, March 12th- Preschool round up tech mtg w Chris Lesko (Susan and Lindsey) time TBD. Cardinal's Nest only latchkey staff meeting at 9:00 for a.m. staff and 3:00 for p.m. staff (Susan and Lindsey).

Looking Ahead...

Tuesday, March 17th- IEP for Room 1 student, 2:30- Sara S. and Heather Williamson

Tuesday, March 24th- Transition to Kindergarten Evening 5:30-7:00 p.m. All preschool staff should attend. Natalie Miller, Jennifer Burke, and Christy Flowers along with Susan and Heather Williamson will be presenting. All preschool teachers will be introduced and child care volunteers are needed!

Spring Break- March 30th-April 3rd.

Monday, Aprili 6th- Cardinal's Nest starts taking appointments for Preschool Round Up

Wednesday, April 8th- Cardinal's Nest preschool Open House 6:00-7:30