Welcome New Fruitland Park Faculty & Staff

This is a user’s guide for a quick reference to the many things at FPE, much needed information for all, and resources for frequently asked questions. If the material does not completely meet your needs, it might serve to direct you to the assistance you need. We at FPE want you to “fit in” and feel a part of our FPE family. Please feel free to seek out and find answers or assistance if you still have questions. Faculty/ Staff Guide from A to Z Accelerated Reader: Jane James (Media Specialist) has a listing of over 8,000 books that have tests for accelerated reader. Students can access these tests after reading a book. They can also have a goal sheet and a reading log. By accumulating AR points students can earn “dog tag” awards given each nine weeks at grade level award assemblies. Make sure students are reading “good fit” books that are challenging but also at their reading level. You get your password from our Tech Con, Becca Redding so she can let you know what you can and cannot do on this program. You DO NOT have administrative privilege. This means you cannot reset program to have students take a test more than once.

Agenda Books: Students in grades 2-5 have agenda books which are used for parent communication and student organization. These go home on a daily basis and are signed by the parents each night. Please speak to your grade level to see how they are being used within your grade.

Alarms: There are different tones for the different types of drills. Become familiar with the tones and procedures for each. Refer to Staff handbook and plan handouts for further information. Awards Assemblies: Each nine weeks we recognize student achievements by honoring students at grade level award assemblies. (1st, 2nd, and 3rd 9 weeks) Students can receive A honor roll, A/B honor roll, perfect attendance for each separate nine weeks cycle, STAR student (Student Taking Active Responsibility), math dog tags, BUG “Bringing Up Grades” award (2nd & 3rd 9 weeks), AR awards, and others. Parents are invited to attend and awards vary by grade level. See your grade level chair for particular awards and clarifications for your grade level. Teachers are invited to the stage to call out the names of their students who are receiving an award. Yes, you get to talk into the microphone! It is your time to professionally shine for your parents, students, and staff! Your students and you have worked hard. Enjoy! Dog tags and chains are given to award winners and they wear them each Friday throughout the year. The dog tags remain at school and go home at the end of the year. Teachers are to write the name of the student on the back of each tag with a permanent marker when the student receives them.

Book-a-Day (Week): This is a program to make books available on a daily/weekly basis in the primary grades. Many students do not have books in their home that are good and appropriate books for them to read. Teacher Assistants or volunteers help manage and make these books available. Grade level chairs are a resource for this program and how the grade level utilizes it.

Bus Circle, Front Car Riders & Side Car Riders: Before and after school arrival and departure occurs in three areas. In the AM buses and students arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 AM with breakfast being served in the cafeteria. Students are held in the cafeteria until 8:15 and are dismissed to classes after they have finished breakfast. Teachers are to be at their door of their classroom welcoming the students as they arrive. Students arrive by car at the front or side car drop as well during these same times. ELC (Extended Learning Center) - FPES’s before and after day care on site. Some students arrive at side car prior to this time if they are enrolled to do so. At dismissal all three areas begin dismissal at 3:05 by being announced from the front office PA system. Faculty and Staff should supervise student transitions at arrival and dismissal. DO NOT DISMISS until the specific area needed is announced. All day care vans go to side car rider area located on the west side of the campus. Cafeteria: Please walk students quietly to the cafeteria. They are to come in the south side door by the stage. They then walk to the milk cooler to get their milk. All students who attended school here last year have a photo id card with their lunch number on it. They scan their card when they get through the lunch line. New students to the school will need to go to the cafeteria to get a number. If they were in the district last year, the cafeteria manager will research their number. If they are new, she will assign them a number. Character Counts: Teachers and Staff can nominate students for weekly character counts rewards recognition. By placing the student name and their teacher’s name on the back of the nomination slip, and then placing the slip in the jar in the guidance office a student has been nominated. See guidance for slips. Then on Friday morning announcements student names are drawn to receive recognition for these awards. Also, each nine weeks there is a Character Counts presentation during specials for each grade level to attend.

Choir: Third, fourth and fifth grade students are eligible to participate in choir. There are usually before school practices a couple of days each week for portions of the year, with performances at various events. These events occur both on school campus and at additional events off of campus as well. Early Release Days: Every Wednesday is an early release day with end of day dismissal an hour earlier at 2:05 PM. This allows for faculty meetings, teacher grade level planning, ESE program meetings, professional development, parent meetings, and other needs to take place during the contract day. On occasion, early release will occur on other days such as end the of each semester when middle school and high school have exam times. ESE Parent Conferences (Education Meeting): Any proposal to change an existing Individual Education Plan (IEP) requires an education meeting to document the discussion and any changes made. These meetings/conferences can be called by any member of the IEP committee (Teacher, Parent, ESE Teacher, LEA Representative, Guidance Counselor, ESE Specialist, Administrator, etc.). Also Discipline Review Conferences must be called when ESE students receive referrals that result in out of school suspensions because of the severity of the problem.

ESE Programs: Exceptional Student Education programs at FPE include grade level inclusion classes, speech and language therapy, and self-contained classes. In addition we have the services of an ESE Specialist, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, and other services on an as need basis. Our Self-Contained classes include Autistic Spectrum Disability (ASD), Emotional Behavioral Disability (EBD), Educable Mentally Disabled, and Varied Exceptionalities (i.e. Specific Learning Disabled (SLD)). The Response to Intervention (RTI) process must be instituted and documented with any students to address any academic (Reading/Math), emotional/behavioral, or physical disabilities that might be impairing academic progress for individual students. The grade levels have determined RTI 2 and RTI 3 interventions to be implemented at each grade level to assist and document individual student progresses. This includes both academic interventions for reading and math and behavior interventions for emotional behavioral needs. See grade level chairs, ESE Specialist, ESE chair and Guidance Counselor for further assistance. Esembler (http://grades.lake.k12.fl.us): The eSembler grading system is the online system to input assignments and grades. Parents can establish accounts to access these grades throughout each grading period to monitor student progress and completion of work in each content area. Please stay on top of putting the grades into the system. There are report card grades issued each 9 weeks and progress reports (mid-term grades) issued at the middle of each grading period. Low failing grades are bumped to a 50 at the end of the nine weeks. Teachers need to have a minimum of 7 grades per report card subject each nine weeks. Daily attendance is also reported on this system and a part of report cards as well. Progress reports are printed by each classroom teacher to distribute on specific mid-term dates. The 9 week grades are submitted on eSembler, then a printed summary is returned for grade verifications by the teacher and then printed cards are provided for the teachers to distribute. The end of the year report cards are mailed to parents. Your grade chair will provide dates for when the steps occur in this procedure. Please check with your grade chair for your grade level’s grading policy. There are slight variations among the grade levels. Faculty/Staff Meetings: Regular faculty meetings are scheduled on the first Wednesday of each month at 2:30 PM in the Media Center. Other faculty meetings are held on an as need basis such as at the beginning and ending of the year. The days and times of these meetings will vary, as well as faculty versus faculty and staff meetings. There are also occasional staff only meetings for information and training. FCAT & FAIR Testing: Florida began FAIR Reading Tests in the 2009-2010 school year. The test is given 3 times each year (beginning of year, mid-year, and end of year). These tests vary by grade level. It tests multiple reading skills to help with progress monitoring and documenting individual student progress. FCAT testing in the spring determines individual student assessments in reading, math, writing, and science. Third grade tests reading and math; fourth grade tests reading, math and writing; and fifth grade tests reading, math and science. FCAT results determine the Florida School Grades and the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for No Child Left Behind (NCLB). During testing times, rooms that are testing will have signs posted notifying others to please be quiet. Please see that students, faculty and staff are not in any way disruptive to this process.

Hall & School Grounds Supervision: All faculty and staff are responsible for student movement and transitions around the school campus. Teachers and staff not on a separate duty schedule should help supervise the hallway movement before and after school. Students should have a pass, a purpose, or supervision when moving around campus during the day. All faculty and staff should monitor responsible and safe student transitions on campus, and correct or report students when they are not being safe or responsible. Ids and Passwords: Please keep records of various username IDs, passwords and other program accesses that are assigned to you for your use. The copy machine in the teacher work room will be the first 5 digits of your Employee ID Number. You will have 500 copies per each 9 week period to utilize on the copy machine, and you should supply the paper for all usage.

You also will have your email address ([email protected]) with a password that you will update every year. Email remote usage access through http://owa.k12.fl.us/exchange (log in and password same as Lake County). See the bookkeeper to get set up. eSembler (grades &attendance/ see data clerk), Eschool Solutions for professional development opportunities (Employee ID# and PIN). This link is found in the district intranet and located on the left under the Quicklinks section on the home page.

AESOPonline.com is an automated sub request line (Home phone number & PIN). A specific step by step direction packet is in the back of this notebook.

There are also programs for Harcourt Reading and Math, Think Central (username=employee ID#- password= Teacherpass, AR access for teachers and students (media specialist), Star Math and Reading (media specialist), FAIR Testing Results (FCRR/ Reading Specialist), FCAT & ESE Star (County Logins), and FCAT Explorer (County Logins). Deliberate Practice Plan (revised IPDP): Each year every teacher writes and submits an individualized professional development plan for the school year. A template will be provided electronically. The teacher submits an agreed upon focus area with measurable goals, and action steps. There is a progress tracking system developed. The plan should track any professional development attended or completed, list a means to track and evaluate students’ successes, and an end of the year report on results. Often this would track Reading, Math or Science student progress. Measuring instruments could include FCAT results, FAIR testing, Star tests or other progress monitoring instruments. Seek assistance in drafting the plan from fellow teaching peers or administrators. You will conference with administration before submitting the plan and again at mid-year. You will turn in the finished plan with the evaluation of results at the end of year.

Jack Rabbit: Jack Rabbit is the daily county mail delivery system which can be utilized by faculty and staff in conducting school business. It can send materials to various county offices or other schools as well as the teacher union office. Materials should be placed in an envelope (yellow), with delivery location & person’s name written on front. This is picked up and delivered daily in the blue tub in the front office hallway outside the copy machine room. IF you are doing the old fashioned way to copy center, please see assistant principal for codes and approval each time. To ensure delivery it should be in the tub by early AM. Jeans Days: Occasionally staff will be permitted to wear jeans on a Friday in order to benefit a specific charity. If you choose to wear jeans on these days you are asked to make a $5.00 donation to the designated charity. The money is given to the bookkeeper. The principal may give authorization for jeans on additional days. You will be notified in advance should this occur. Lesson Plans: Teachers should have daily lesson plans that document standards taught and topics followed on the grade level subject pacing guides. These guides are available on the county web site under the Curriculum and Instruction Department, under grade level and content areas that are appropriate for your class. Specific questions can be addressed with administrators and grade level chairs.

Media Center: Books checked out can be taken home. If a student would like a new book before scheduled media class, a student may check out a book if it is during free media time. Please check with Mrs. James for when those times are each day. Money for the classroom: Each year the school allocates money for you to buy things for your classroom. The amount may vary based on the district budget and a need which may arise to purchase equipment for the school. You will be informed of the amount you will get at the beginning of each year. This money does not carry over from year to year. Please see staff handbook for further details on expenditure process.

Morning Announcements: Each morning at 8:35 there is a school TV broadcast of announcements. Fifth grade students assist with announcements and studio work. In addition to school news and weather, students are also recognized for accomplishments and Character Counts.

Parent Conferences: Parent conferences can be scheduled at any time by classroom teachers on an as need basis. Usually primary and intermediate grade teachers have conferences 2 times each year at the end of the nine weeks. Report cards are given to parents and grades as well as other appropriate topics are discussed. There is a conference form to be completed and signed at each parent conference. Also, teachers are asked to keep a sign-in sheet to track parent attendance at conference nights which are held twice a year. Our Family Liaison person has a parent resource room for parents to check out materials to use with students at home, which is open during the parent conference hours. There are other programs done by our Family Liaison as well throughout the year. Parent Resource Center: The portable is located in the back of the campus. The parent Liaison who mans the station is Nicole Cottom. Please let parents know there are many hands on materials, games, and informational material which may be checked out from there to the parents. There are prescription pads there for teacher use as well.

Print 1-2-3: Print 123 is where you go to place an order to have materials copied. Often your grade chair or a specific member of your team may be responsible for making copies for the grade level. Please check with your grade chair. To enroll in the site go the LCSB intranet, go to department, to the Information Services Department. Scroll down to Print 123. Create your account. Keep your password secured. Professional Library: The professional library for the school is located in the back office of the media center.

Positive Behavior & Reward Store All classroom teachers are to utilize a positive behavior system as part of their classroom management techniques in their classroom. In addition to any positive reinforcements that classroom teachers are using, the school offers a Student Reward Store which students can shop at every 2 weeks. They earn punches on a reward card within their classroom determined and managed by the classroom teacher. There are 10 punches on each reward card and items are priced based on reward cards accumulated to be spent. The school provides an individual punch, the reward cards and items for purchase at the reward store. Volunteers bring the reward store cart around to the individual classrooms on a prearranged 2 week schedule. If a student does not have enough punches earned to spend he/she can save the card(s) until the next time. Please see grade chair for explanation of appropriate use of punch card system. Each grade level is to be on approximately the same type of use.

Referrals: There is a new pre-referral process which is being implemented this year. A form will be reviewed in a faculty meeting and placed in your teacher handbook. Referrals for behavior issues within your classroom or elsewhere on campus should be submitted to administration for follow up (First to Assistant Principal if available). These should be utilized as a last resort when classroom interventions have been utilized prior without adequate results, or when the behavior is too severe or compromises safety concerns. Please track behavior frequency, duration, or severity of particular students with chronic problems. The referral form allows for you to document some previous interventions you have used prior to the referral. Emotional/behavioral issues are also a part of the Response to Intervention program. This should be of particular concern when it impedes the academic progress of the individual student or others.

RTI/ Response to Intervention: This the process that identifies and prescribes instructional approaches to utilize in providing supports to instruction. Once students are identified and programs are utilized, individual student progress is monitored to determine effectiveness or to determine if more interventions are needed. The Guidance Counselor manages the RTI program and coordinates with classroom teachers to track students in the RTI 2 and RTI 3 leveled processes.

Safety Patrol: Each year 5th grade students apply and are selected to serve as safety patrol. They must have good behavior and conduct themselves responsibly as both safety patrol and as FPE students. These students monitor and direct safe transitions before and after school as students arrive and are dismissed. They are assigned to a specific location and must have the safety patrol belt on if they are to be on duty. Special Classes: Monday through Friday we have special classes scheduled to provide Media, Music, Physical Education and Computer Lab. This schedule permits classroom teachers time for planning, grade level meetings, vertical team meetings and other instructional preparation time. There is also Open Library time for students to spend additional time checking out books and utilizing media materials. Spirit Days: These are held on the first Friday of each month. There are different themes each month. A schedule will be forthcoming, ex.: red, white, and blue day(wear all three colors); camo day, crazy hair day, etc. STAR Students (Students Taking Active Responsibility): Monthly we recognize STAR students from each classroom. These students are chosen by classroom teachers and reflect responsible behavior and effort which is not necessarily tied to academic results. The student receives a local restaurant certificate, a STAR Student Award Certificate, and recognition on morning announcements, and the bulletin board in the cafeteria. In addition their 81/2 X 11 inch recognition display is decorated and displayed in the cafeteria for the month they are recognized.

Faculty & Staff Lunches: Daily the cafeteria provides lunches for an adult lunch price. By notifying the cafeteria in the morning you can also order a salad each day. You can set up a lunch account with a scan card and lunch ID# just like the students use. You can deposit money periodically to cover the cost of your lunch in advance, or you can pay each day that you eat a lunch from the cafeteria. Certain faculty and staff are assigned daily lunch duty while classroom teachers have a duty free half hour lunch. Teachers drop their class off at the lunch line at their assigned time, and pick up their classes at the end of the half hour lunch period. Please follow the lunch schedule and realize that at the first of the year their will be some delays the first few days of school. Vertical Teams, Grade Level Teams & Grade Chairs: All teachers are members of a vertical team of cross-grade grouped or special area teachers. There is a non-load bearing staff member that mentors the vertical team meetings each week. These teams meet to address needs of children, program needs, professional development and other topics pertaining to professional learning communities. Also, there are common times in the schedule for grade level planning and grade level appropriate activities and topics. Within each grade level and ESE there is a grade level chair to coordinate and communicate effectively within the grade level as well as with administration and the leadership team. Conclusion: This A to Z guide is a random sampling of need to know details and resources for some of the FPE programs, and activities. Hopefully this packet will serve as a vehicle to take you through your journey more smoothly as a new member of Fruitland Park Elementary. There may be needs that new staff has as the year goes along which could be added as an additional topic or detail next year. Please notate these and we will add them to next year’s binder. Enjoy your journey with us!