Mr. Poole’s Blog

Summer is quickly coming to an end.  I hope everyone has enjoyed the break and the kids have been keeping up on their reading.  Don’t forget that “Supply Night” is on Tuesday, August 23 from 5:30 to 7:00.  You are welcome to bring in your classroom supplies that evening (supply lists can be found on the Kent City School website and at various stores).  There are some changes that have been made for the upcoming school year.

A buzzer system has been installed at the front doors of Franklin.  All visitors will be buzzed into the building between the hours of 8:40 and 3:00.  There is a button to the right of the front doors which allows the office staff to communicate and see the visitor.  This will allow us to keep track of who is coming into the building.  The left door will be unlocked before school until 8:40 and it will be unlocked again at 3:00.

The other change is to our specials schedule.  This year our specials will be on a six day rotation schedule.  This means that your child’s PE class will not always be on a Monday or Tuesday.  Information will be sent home the first day of school or be made available on “Supply Night” regarding your child’s six day rotation schedule.

Franklin will be have a blood drive on Monday, November 1 from 2:00-8:00.  For every 25 donors Franklin receives $500 in grant money. The number of donors carry over to our Spring blood drive.  I thank you in advance for your support. The link below takes you to a site where you are able to schedule your own appointment.  You are able to walk in and donate too.  Please feel free to pass along the link to friends and family.

http://www.lifesharedonor.org/index.cfm?group=registration&hlc=franklin&hostlookupcode=franklin

This school year, your child may be involved in a classroom that has multiple teachers working with students in the area of math.  The purpose of co-teaching is to meet the needs of all the students in the classroom.  It also allows students to be instructed in small groups and allows the teachers to make sure the students are mastering the skills being taught.
In a regular classroom, there is only one teacher to meet the needs of 20 to 25 students.  The teacher finds him or herself trying to decide which needs to address first.  Does the teacher work with the students who already know the material, letting the other students sit and wait or does the teacher make the students who already know the material sit through the lesson?  What pace does the teacher take when going through the lesson?  Each student will begin each lesson at a different starting point.  We don’t want to move too quickly through a lesson or hold students back because we are moving too slowly.
In a co-taught classroom, there are multiple teachers teaching students in small groups and at their pace or level.  The teachers determine the levels by administering pre-assessments to their students and then looking at the results.  The teachers get together at least once a week to look at the results and to organize the groups for the following week.
Students are also being monitored by a universal screening system called AimsWeb.  We use it to monitor student progress in the area of math and reading.  There is a national norm criteria for math and reading scores.  All students will be benchmarked three times a year.  Some students will continue to be progress monitored due to their scores on the benchmark tests.  Students move in and out of the progress monitoring depending on their progress.  The universal screening and progress monitoring helps us to evaluate student progress and determine what support each student will need.  I would be more than happy to sit down with any parents to go over your child’s assessment or to email your child’s score.
We believe strongly that the co-teaching and the universal screenings will help us to keep track of each student’s progress and provide early support rather than waiting for one test at the end of the school year.
We are also currently involved in a new volunteer program called Project More.  Project More has volunteers work with students that need additional support in reading.  All the materials and lesson plans are available for volunteers to use.  Students involved in the program need to have (4) 30-minute sessions a week.  The same volunteer does not need to work all 4 days.  If you are interested in being a volunteer, even if it is only one 30 minute period a week, please contact our office or send an email to Todd Poole.  All volunteers will have to have background checks which will be paid for by the Board of Education.
Lastly, I would like to thank all of the families for their help during our attendance week.  The state will be using these numbers to determine their financial contribution to our district.  I appreciate everyone’ help in making sure that we have the proper documentation for a students’ absence at school.  As long as we have the correct documentation, we will still receive the correct state funding for that student.  Please continue to send in proper documentation for your child’s absences throughout the school year.

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the Olympics.  There were some incredible stories.  The students at Franklin kicked off the beginning of the Olympics with an assembly for “Right to Read Week”. Each classroom represented a different country and displayed each country’s flag as they entered the gym.  The students were treated to a guest reader.  At the end of the week, the classrooms once again traveled to the gym displaying their flags.  This time the students were led around the gym by a torch carrier from the 2002 Olympics.  The special guest carried the torch on one of the legs around the United States.  He was dressed in the original outfit and carried the actual torch that he carried in 2002.  It was a great week.
Our students and families have been very busy doing acts of kindness for others during this last month.  I am truly speechless by how many wonderful and caring families we have at Franklin.  It is an awesome place to be.  The following are just some of the acts that have occurred here at Franklin Elementary:
It began with one of our families being devastated by a house fire.  I sent one email out on a Thursday and the response by Friday was unbelievable.  We filled many boxes of nonperishable food items and we were able to purchase over $600 in gift cards for the family.  We had other families deliver meals to the house.  I received many other emails and phone calls from parents asking what else was needed.
As soon as the news about the earthquake in Haiti, our student council members were meeting to discuss what we could do to help.  The Red Cross was in need of everything so our student council decided to collect money to send to the Red Cross.  There are student council representatives in each classroom and each day the members would collect the money.  We ended up collecting over $400.
The student council also sponsored another cause.  This time the students decided to help burn victims.  The students at Franklin collected 7,700 cans for ACBC which stands for Aluminum Cans for Burned Children.  ACBC is an organization associated with Metro Hospital Burn Unit and raises money to provide a variety of services for burned children.  ACBC holds two camps every year in Ohio.  They give scholarships and also provide necessities for burn survivors.  Franklin raised $165.00 which pays for one child to go to camp.  The students did a fabulous job.  The Kindergarten classes of Mrs. Calhoun and Mrs. Holman collected over 5,000 cans.
The acts of kindness did not end there.  We have a group of young girls who are involved in Girl Scouts.  They meet each week at Franklin.  They wanted to take on some service projects at the school and collect pop tabs to donate to Children’s Hospital for dialysis.  Their goal was to collect 10 pounds of pop tabs.  They were able to triple that amount.  They collected over 30 pounds of pop tabs.  That will be a big help for some children in need of medical care.  The service projects are involving the students in our FFOP efforts to recycle.  The students at Franklin are recycling juice pouches.  Those pouches need to counted and mailed to a company that recycles them by making purses and other items out of the pouch material.  In the Spring, the girls will also be starting our composting efforts during lunch.  In the fall, one of our parents built a composting bin for us to use.  The girls will be promoting the composting of food and will also be in charge of carrying the food out to the compost.  We are lucky to have such an involved group of girls who are willing to help out.
All of these events just happened in the last month.  We have an amazing school with families and student who care about others who are in need and who care about our environment.  I would like to thank all of the families for their help.  It took a whole school to be able to make this much of a change in just a month.

Students at Franklin Elementary will be visiting the Holiday Shop this week.  The PTO is organizing the Holiday Shop for students to purchase items for family members.  Below is the schedule for the classes.  Friday is a make up day for all students.  The students are able to shop during their lunch recess.

Wednesday, December 2nd

9:00 – Barber

9:45 – Holman

10:30 – Regina

11:15 – Wawrin

12:30 – Allport

1:15 – Jones

2:00 – Weitzel

Thursday, December 3rd

9:00 – Frank

9:45 – Sues

10:30 – Wollam

12:30 – Calhoun

1:15 – Parks

We have had a great beginning to the school year.The students are adapting quickly to their new classroom and their new teacher. A new grade and, for some, a new school, presents many new challenges. The expectations become higher. During the first month, the teachers and I have shared our expectations for the school year. Many of the expectations are outlined in the Student Code of Conduct. This was sent home with students during the first week of school (It is located in the student handbook). There is a lot of important information in this document. It is very important that parents review this document with their child and talk about what each expectation means and what impact it may have for not following the expectations. I have communicated this information with all classrooms and this is a great time of the year for the parents to review it again.
We want to make sure that every child experiences academic success during the school year, but we know that their safety is also important. If students do not feel safe, learning will suffer.
If you need another copy of the student code of conduct please contact our office at (330) 676- 8450. Thank you for your support!!