The Hawk Happenings: Pennoyer Staff Newsletter

Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I don't know about you, but the hour we lost last Sunday took a toll on me this year. I think I'm just starting to get into a groove. I love the light outside for longer periods of the day, but getting up in the morning to darkness is not settling well with me. I hope you're all mostly adjusted by now. My daughter still wants to go to bed after 11pm, so I guess not much has changed in the Greenberg household...lol.

Anyways, I wanted to share some pictures and highlights over the past week like I try to do from time to time that make me smile and make me so proud to be part of our Pennoyer family...enjoy!

Daddy - Daughter Dance from last Friday was an absolute BARBIE hit! We had so much fun!!!

Battle of the Books finished their season in 3rd place and Mrs. Kafka once again lead this group of avid readers to success! They scored 153 points over their season and did a wonderful job!

We surprised 8th grader Julia H. with the prestigious West 40 SCOTY Award that her team of teachers nominated her for this year!

The 5th graders started the DARE program and their journey to learning about making good choices in and out of school with Officer Steven.

2nd grader Todd cashed in his PBIS Reward Points for "Lunch With A Teacher" and came to me this past week to ask if it could be lunch with the Principal instead. I said yes of course, and we had the best time hanging out!

Weekly Shout Outs From Ann to both Carly and Alexis AND Julia to Carly

"Carly always brings a positive attitude to her environment and welcomes her students with a smile from ear to ear. She is so passionate about her subject and desires for her students to have the same passion or finds some way to help her students connect to music. Aside from being a dedicated teacher, she is a wonderful co-worker to get along with."

"Alexis has a talent for crafting summative assignments that are engaging and thought provoking for students. She meets her students where they're at and creates genuine connections that leave long lasting impressions. She contributes great thoughts to meetings and overall is a great contributor to the middle school team."

"Shout out to Carly and her work with Pennoyer Chorus! We got to witness their awesomeness again at the Groundbreaking Ceremony. They sing together beautifully and that is due to Carly's time, effort, and care with her students. Wonderfully done!"

*There is no official Staff Meeting next Monday, March 18th. HERE is the "sort of" agenda...enjoy the gift of time!

Hawk Action Items

Pennoyer Spring Spirit Week starts next Monday...join in on the fun and show your Pennoyer Pride!!!

All Pennoyer Grade Band Teams...Don't forget that updated 2024-2025 School Supply Kit Lists are due to Adam by Friday, March 22nd before Spring Break. Reach out to Adam with any questions or concerns.

We're going to do our best to finish all of our IAR Testing Makeups next week. Either Rachel, Melissa, or Adam will reach out to teachers to pull students for makeup testing, and we'll do our best to be as least disruptive to the school day as possible. If there are any concerns with the time/day we're asking to pull students, just let us know. Thanks for your patience and flexibility as we finish up testing.

Using our New Behavior Flow Chart and Updated Referral Policy started these past couple of weeks with all of our students. Just a friendly reminder to make sure you're following things with consistency and fidelity working with our students and contacting parents for all minors and majors. Thanks again for your support and collaboration with all of this! Reach out any time along the way with any questions, concerns, or support you might need.

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. *New addition to the protocol...please make sure to let the supervising teacher know you're sending someone when you sign a student up for a Behavior Academy. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting these.

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 February! Keep it up in March. Here's the Google Form for teachers to complete. Thanks!!!

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

"The mind can see, as long as you'll be, for real with yourself. And you'll forever be."

-Be by Lenny Kravitz

Hawk Celebrations

I couldn't think of a bigger celebration for our past, present, and future at Pennoyer than the Groundbreaking Ceremony this past Wednesday, that brought out so many special individuals and groups of people that made this journey we're beginning to take together a reality. Through all the failed referendums that span many years, to the sacrifices our students, staff, families, Board of Education, and community members have taken on, to the incredible outpouring of support, hard work, and dedication that embodied last year's successful campaign, WE have finally arrived at a new beginning that's brighter than ever. Dr. Kopta, along with so many others, have dedicated themselves to making this dream a reality so students we have now, and the ones that will pass through our doorways for years to come, will have new opportunities, new learning spaces, and updated facilities that they truly deserve. We'll always continue to put our students first, and do everything we can with our newly constructed Pennoyer over the next few years to make sure we make the most of these renovations for our students to shine, thrive, and be Pennoyer Proud each and every day they step into our building. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You on behalf of our students and staff that hold Pennoyer in our hearts...we're small, but we're certainly mighty. #PennoyerPride