Principal Update 9/9/22

Good afternoon Doss parents and families.  I hope you are well today.

Week 4 Walkthrough Photos

I’d like to send a special shout out to our PE department today.  If you are not aware, all K-5 students attend PE every day, which is a huge benefit to our students and teachers.  Ms. Carroll has been working hard to lead this department through many staffing challenges but has made it work for the benefit for our kiddos.  I am incredibly proud of her work as we develop our PE program.  We also hired Mr. Seth Johnston to be our second PE teacher.  If you recall, Mr. Johnston was a long-term sub for coach Mosby in the spring semester.  He did such a great job that he accepted a full-time position with us a few weeks back.  I am incredibly thankful for his work and positive attitude.  I spent an afternoon in PE to observe our 1^st and kinder students.  Both Seth and Jenny had great systems worked out for our students as they explored their movement centers.  I also wanted to note that coach Mosby, long-time Doss PE teacher, is retiring.  I will work with the Doss PTA on a retirement celebration for him in the coming months.  We have a replacement and will announce her name in the coming weeks. 

All K-5 students completed the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) beginning of the year tests over the past few weeks.  The purpose of this online math and reading test is to gain baseline data on all students current academic levels.  It is a great data point to begin differentiating for our students and their various needs.  Students will also take it again later this fall and at the end of the year (late March) to gauge growth.  Our teachers should be discussing this with you at you parent/teacher conferences soon.  Additionally, HUGE thanks to Mi-Ae Lee  for arranging and supporting the efforts of MAP growth and for everyone who supported our classroom teachers.   

Lastly, thank you also to Mrs. Lang and Mrs. Putska for arranging an amazing author visit!  Our students really enjoyed listening to Aaron Reynolds on Wednesday.  If you haven’t done so, be sure to order a signed copy for your child ASAP.  I look forward to our next author visit coming on Thursday, September 15 as we welcome author Christina Soontornvat for our 3-5 students. Have a wonderful weekend.  If you are a football fan, enjoy!  We have a big weekend ahead.   

Updates

• Parking at Good Will
• Please do not park at Goodwill if you have done so in the past.
• I will also share this message with our community.

• Teacher Leveling
  • Leveling occurs at the beginning of the year, typically after Labor Day, when student enrolling/withdrawing have leveled out.  
  • During this time schools can either gain or lose teachers based on the student/teacher ratios.
  • Due to our growing student population, we added both a 1st and 2nd grade teacher which have been filled with long-term subs.  We will not add an additional teacher in kindergarten at this time.
  • Thankfully, we were provided with full-term teachers listed below:
    • We are welcoming Marci Adkinson to our first-grade team!  She comes to Doss from Hill Elementary with several years of experience.  Marci will join the first-grade team next week and fully take over the classroom on September 19.
    • We are also welcoming back Heather Miller!  Heather will join the second-grade team later in September.
• Elevator Updates
  • Through many weeks of close communication with central administration, I am happy to report that our elevators are now working.  🙂
• AISD Building Repurpose Community Sessions
• AISD Family Presentation on importance of Bilingualism and Biliteracy