Pennoyer Staff Newsletter - 2/2/24

                                             Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I can't believe we're into February already!  I was reminded this week that we have an extra day this year during February, but I know we can handle it.  They say in education that this month can be toughest, but I know how hard all of you are working to make things work for our students each and every day, and if we stay the course, lean on each other, and keep perspective along the way, I know we'll get through any month this year and have plenty of things to celebrate and smile about.  Here's a moment for me this week that I absolutely loved and certainly made me smile!  I walked up to bring some papers to Meghan Loring's class, and was invited to stay for their morning meeting.  I'm so glad I did!  What an amazing display of getting our students ready in the morning with PBIS school wide and classroom expectations.  These 3rd graders sat in a circle, called out positive affirmations, and reviewed what it means to be a Pennoyer Hawk.  They passed around their talking piece, which happens to be a stuffed animal squirrel, and everyone got a chance to participate and be heard.  It was such a cool thing to see!!!

Speaking of cool things to see, I seriously watched (at least for me), the greatest musical documentary I can remember besides The Beatles Get Back, on Netflix this past week.  If you haven't see it and you have time, check out The Greatest Night In Pop documentary.  I have to say, if you were born in the 90's or after, this might not mean as much to you, but for a musically passionate boy like myself in 1985, when the song "We Are The World" came out with all of these amazing artist singing together and raising money for kids and families starving in Africa, it blew my mind.  One of the coolest things was actually watching this with my 16 year old son Lennon and how much he was into it.  When he was just a 1st grader or so, I would play this song for him with all of these artists that I love, and name the people singing during their parts.  He was so musically connected even at that time, and such a smart kid, he memorized all of the artists names and was able to yell them out as they sang their parts.  He'd be like, "Dad, that's Lionel Richie, that's Ray Charles, and that's Bob Dylan."  Pretty cool.

*HERE is the agenda for our Staff Meeting next Monday, February 5th at 3:15pm to continue our work on Restorative Practices.  Remember this will be a virtual staff meeting over Zoom, so you can be in your classroom spaces. 

Hawk Action Items 

• As we prepare our students for IAR testing that will start for 3rd-8th grade the week of March 4th, don't forget about these IAR supports/resources you can utilize during ELA/Math blocks and/or Enrichment time.  Reach out to Adam with any questions or support if needed.

• If you're interested in signing up to supervise and facilitate any Behavior Academies after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, feel free to sign up on the  spreadsheet.  Here's a reminder about the protocol for our Behavior Academies if you're interested.  Thanks to everyone who has been supporting these. 

• Just another friendly reminder to make sure food is out of the classrooms each day and nothing is left open.  We have found some mice in our building, and we're doing our best to deal with this situation.  As homeroom teachers, if you didn't get a to have students clean out their lockers to make sure there is no food, old work they don't need, etc. before Winter Break, please take some time that works best (could be homeroom, Enrichment, etc.) to have students do this before Friday, February 16th.  If you need garbage cans or recycling bins by classrooms, please let our maintenance crew know and put in a work order...thanks!

• Lucky Losers Ridgewood Casino Night Fundraiser Event - On behalf of Ridgewood High School, an invite has been extended to  the Union Pennoyer staff and families for their 4th Annual Lucky Losers Casino Night Fundraising Event.  Click HERE for a flyer if you're interested. Purchase a couple's ticket for the event if you'd like.  By doing this, you will be involved in the biggest community event of the year for Ridgewood.  You will meet coaches, alumni, parents, school administrators, community members, along with having a fun filled night out with dancing, food, cocktails and casino gaming fun.  Most of all chances to win raffle prizes, 50/50 and the grand prize of $5k (Based on 200 couples). Registration link (https://ridgenet.revtrak.net/lucky-losers-22/?fbclid=IwAR2p3wgNhO3oo7bzgnO-th5CkoWv2oqsmLFndpyJ9o3E84WAn7y28t5VcqY) 

What your ticket includes...

- Admission for 2 people
- All you can eat appetizers

- Buffet Dinner

- Top shelf bar from 6pm - Midnight

- Casino Gambling

- Dancing

- 1 Ticket for the grand prize $5K (Based Off Of 200 Couples)

• Below are some useful supports and resources to check out to help build a more restorative mindset and set of tools to use at Pennoyer.  These come from the PD we did at our Staff Meeting this past Monday.  We're planning on continuing this work at our next Staff Meeting on Feb. 5th next week!

           Recording of our Restorative Practices PD (1/23/24) – This is a recording of the  

           session from Monday.   The link expires 30 days following your training. 

           What is Restorative Practice – This is a link to a YouTube video that discusses  

           restorative practices and how to 

use these in schools.

           HERE of some of the slides covered during the training.   These might come in  

           handy as we continue to learn and utilize more restorative practices in our  

           classrooms.

• I hope all is going well with instituting our universal expectations each day of the week for EVERY CLASS PERIOD they teach a new group of students to support behavior, expectations, and build connections.  3 to Succeed! 

                  1. Greet students every morning.

2. Display School PBIS expectations OR PBIS Expectations (BLANK) in the

classroom and review everyday. Example: What are 2 ways we are

responsible in the classroom? In school? (This doesn't have to take long each

day and each class period)

3. Anytime your kids are in the hallway (arrival, dismissal, transitions,) you are

in the hallway with them. Middle school - transitions between classes.

• Wanna make somebody's day at Pennoyer...don't forget about our staff shout outs we'd like to get started up again this year!  It's real easy; if one staff member wants to give another staff member at Pennoyer a positive shout out for something that week, just send a quick email blurb to Adam, and he'll feature it in our weekly Hawk Happenings!

• Great job with all the social media posts shared for the month of December! Keep it up in January. Here's the Google Form for teachers to complete.  Thanks!!!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all.  But if you just believe, there's no way we can fall"

                    -We Are The World - U.S.A For Africa (Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones)

Hawk Celebrations

Last week on Friday we had our 2nd Annual Middle School Dance..."Another Year, Another Dance," and it was definitely something worth celebrating!  I can't tell you how much pride and joy I felt watching our middler schoolers enjoy themselves and connecting with friends.  There were dancing circles, dancing lines, students hanging out playing board games, and everyone was so respectful and positive all night long.  I was so proud of our middle schoolers.  They're a great group of students!  The disco ball was a hit for sure, along with the DJ that played what the students wanted.  Next year, we gotta get that disco ball to spin for sure!!!  Thanks to all of the staff that helped out and supported this special student event.  I couldn't have done it without you.  I know it was a long night, and I really appreciated everyone who was there.  Also, thanks to our amazing PTC who came out to help as well with concessions, the front entrance, and supplying us with decorations!  You're a great group to work with, and we're lucky to have you at Pennoyer.  Finally, I can't forget to thank our Principal Crew members that stayed after school last Friday to help decorate the gym and MPR for this special event...#PennoyerPride to our entire middle school!!!

February Birthdays! 🎂

Nina Torossi - 2/11