As this school year ends and we begin preparations for next fall, I am reflective upon the wonderful first year that I have had as your principal!
We have done and learned so much this year! You all worked very hard on your ARMT+ tests, and I know that your test scores will be reflective of this. I hope that you all enjoyed the Field Day celebration and end of year celebrations that rewarded you all for your hard work!
Parents - thank you for your help and support throughout the year! Please remember to read with your children this summer to help them stay prepared when school begins in August!! Supply lists are available in the office and at various business throughout the county.
I hope you all will remember our drive to raise funds for a new school sign - call me if you need more information!
Have a wonderful and safe summer vacation!! We can't wait to see you in August!!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
I know that we
are all concerned and upset about the horrible events that occurred at Sandy
Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday, December 14th. In no way can words adequately describe what
that community is feeling at this time, and I know all of our thoughts and
prayers are with them as they grieve their losses. I do want you to know that we are taking
precautions, increasing security measures, and reviewing our safety plans to do
everything we can to protect your child.
Today, I talked
with every class about safety procedures at Rock Mills. We discussed our safety drills – including
our “lock down” procedures, and our faculty is reviewing our school safety plan
this afternoon in a faculty meeting.
Also during this week, Mr. Kirby, Randolph County Superintendent, has
requested additional sheriff deputies for school patrol. The presence of these deputies is welcome,
and the students know that they are here with us practicing our safety procedures.
One change that
you may notice immediately will be our locked exterior doors. All doors exiting to the outside will be kept
locked. The front doors will be open
only from 7:00 – 7:30 a.m. each morning and from 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. each
afternoon. You are, as always, welcome
to visit our school; however, if you come after 7:30 a.m. and before 2:00 p.m.
you will need to be let in the front doors.
I appreciate your cooperation in this matter, and while I know that it
may be of slight inconvenience to us, nothing compares to the safety of our children.
I am always
available to you if you have any questions or concerns. You may also e-mail me: jbraden@randolph.k12.al.us, and to further
increase communication, I will begin utilizing a school Twitter account, as
well as continuing my blog, http://rockmillsjhsnews.blogspot.com. I will send out further information once the
Twitter account is set up and working.
Thank you for your help and cooperation in
ensuring the safety of our children.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Rock Mills Ornaments at the Governor's Mansion
 |
| Christmas Tree with Ornaments from Second Grade |
Students from Mrs. Banks' class in Second Grade made reindeer ornaments from their handprints, and they are displayed on the tree in the picture above.
 |
| Cinnamon-Gingerbread Ornament by Kindergarten |
In the picture above, you can see a close-up of a cinnamon-gingerbread ornament made by our Kindergarten class. Some of our ornaments from our Third Grade class are displayed in the tree below.
Ms. Coker's Third Grade class originally took a field trip to Rock Mills Pottery to make pottery ornaments. These ornaments were partially broken during the ceramic firing process when a shelf fell in the kiln. Thanks to the creativity of Mrs. Richardson, our Reading Coach, you can see the beautiful hanging collage that received a place of honor in the entry hall of the Hill House. We would like to thank Mrs. Gillespie for her beautifully written letter describing the work that was put into the making of these ornaments and the disappointment we felt when they were broken. As you can see, the hanging collage turned out beautifully, and the final picture shows the collage in the entry hall in the right corner.
 |
| Ceramic Hanging Collage by Third Grade |
 |
| Entry Hall of Hill House Showing the 3rd Grade Collage in the Right Corner |
CONGRATULATIONS
to all of our Rock Mills students and teachers who participated!!!!
I was so proud to represent you as your principal!!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Below is my Action Plan for my final project of my Personal Learning Network PLU course.
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Name of Organization: Rock Mills Jr. High School
2. Project Title: Using Blogs for Effective Communication and Collaboration
3. Project Location: Internet-Based
4. Contact Person: Jennifer Payne Braden
5. Contact Information: 415 County Road 75, Roanoke, Alabama 36274; (334) 885-6823; jbraden@randolph.k12.al.us
6. Project Timeline: 2012-2013 School Year
7. Amount Required: No funding will be required to begin or maintain this project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Provide a brief overview and summary of the project. It should provide a credible statement that describes your organization and establish the significance of the project
In an effort to provide better communication to all stakeholders, I will maintain a blog entitled “Rock Mills Jr. High School News”. This blog will be used for general announcements, communications, praises, and discussions on happenings at school.
A blog will also be created for collaborative professional development. I will use this blog to launch discussions with faculty regarding topics of importance to our educational environment.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
State the challenges identified, the rationale/need to address these challenges and the conditions to be changed by the project
Each year, parents respond to a Title I survey for Parental Involvement. One of the main obstacles listed is the need for improved communication between the school and home. The news blog will be maintained in an effort to improve this communication.
Also, we are a very small school. Because of our size, it is hard to schedule professional development time with faculty during the work day. A professional development blog will be created to increase collaboration between faculty members and foster an active learning environment for us as well.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
The objectives should describe the intended outcome of the project and should be SMART (Simple, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic and Time Bound)
Indicate how the objectives will contribute to the achievement of the project, what difference the project will make and the time frame during which this will happen.
During the 2012-2013 school year, two blogs will be created and maintained. One blog will be used for communication between the school and home, and the second blog will be used for professional development discussions between faculty members and administration.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Describe the project activities indicating how the objectives will be accomplished, what will be done, who will do it, who are the implementers, partners and beneficiaries and when it will be done. Describe how the project will be sustainable after the funding period.
I have already created one blog, “Rock Mills Jr. High School News”, and I will soon create a second blog for professional development for faculty members. No funds will be needed for the creation or maintenance of these blogs. Beneficiaries of the news blog will be all stakeholders of Rock Mills School. The professional development blog will be used to launch discussions for professional development on job-related educational topics.
PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
Describe how you are going to monitor and evaluate the project so as to assess progress during implementation and improve the project efficiency as the project moves along.
Both blogs will have the comment section activated. The news blog will be monitored for effectiveness based on comments and number of views that it receives. The professional development blog will be monitored by a checklist that I maintain monitoring responses and comments posted by faculty members. The project will be evaluated based on the number of views and comments.
DOCUMENTATION AND SHARING RESULTS:
Describe how you are going to document the progress of your project during and after implementation. State how you will document and share your results and let others know of your purpose, methods and achievements.
Since the blogs will be public and can be viewed by anyone with the link, I will use that as documentation of the project. I plan to share this project with administrators in my district.
PROJECT BUDGET:
Indicate the total cost of the project and also provide a detailed budget for these costs.
Items needed for the project include computers, Internet connections, and administrator time for research for appropriate professional development topics. These items are already in place, and no additional funding will be necessary.
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Name of Organization: Rock Mills Jr. High School
2. Project Title: Using Blogs for Effective Communication and Collaboration
3. Project Location: Internet-Based
4. Contact Person: Jennifer Payne Braden
5. Contact Information: 415 County Road 75, Roanoke, Alabama 36274; (334) 885-6823; jbraden@randolph.k12.al.us
6. Project Timeline: 2012-2013 School Year
7. Amount Required: No funding will be required to begin or maintain this project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Provide a brief overview and summary of the project. It should provide a credible statement that describes your organization and establish the significance of the project
In an effort to provide better communication to all stakeholders, I will maintain a blog entitled “Rock Mills Jr. High School News”. This blog will be used for general announcements, communications, praises, and discussions on happenings at school.
A blog will also be created for collaborative professional development. I will use this blog to launch discussions with faculty regarding topics of importance to our educational environment.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
State the challenges identified, the rationale/need to address these challenges and the conditions to be changed by the project
Each year, parents respond to a Title I survey for Parental Involvement. One of the main obstacles listed is the need for improved communication between the school and home. The news blog will be maintained in an effort to improve this communication.
Also, we are a very small school. Because of our size, it is hard to schedule professional development time with faculty during the work day. A professional development blog will be created to increase collaboration between faculty members and foster an active learning environment for us as well.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
The objectives should describe the intended outcome of the project and should be SMART (Simple, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic and Time Bound)
Indicate how the objectives will contribute to the achievement of the project, what difference the project will make and the time frame during which this will happen.
During the 2012-2013 school year, two blogs will be created and maintained. One blog will be used for communication between the school and home, and the second blog will be used for professional development discussions between faculty members and administration.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Describe the project activities indicating how the objectives will be accomplished, what will be done, who will do it, who are the implementers, partners and beneficiaries and when it will be done. Describe how the project will be sustainable after the funding period.
I have already created one blog, “Rock Mills Jr. High School News”, and I will soon create a second blog for professional development for faculty members. No funds will be needed for the creation or maintenance of these blogs. Beneficiaries of the news blog will be all stakeholders of Rock Mills School. The professional development blog will be used to launch discussions for professional development on job-related educational topics.
PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
Describe how you are going to monitor and evaluate the project so as to assess progress during implementation and improve the project efficiency as the project moves along.
Both blogs will have the comment section activated. The news blog will be monitored for effectiveness based on comments and number of views that it receives. The professional development blog will be monitored by a checklist that I maintain monitoring responses and comments posted by faculty members. The project will be evaluated based on the number of views and comments.
DOCUMENTATION AND SHARING RESULTS:
Describe how you are going to document the progress of your project during and after implementation. State how you will document and share your results and let others know of your purpose, methods and achievements.
Since the blogs will be public and can be viewed by anyone with the link, I will use that as documentation of the project. I plan to share this project with administrators in my district.
PROJECT BUDGET:
Indicate the total cost of the project and also provide a detailed budget for these costs.
Items needed for the project include computers, Internet connections, and administrator time for research for appropriate professional development topics. These items are already in place, and no additional funding will be necessary.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Personal Learning Networks
Just as our students are busy with their studies, I have been working on some continuing education as well. Administrators must earn one PLU (professional learning unit) per school year, and this year, I have chosen to study about Personal Learning Networks, or PLN's.
Personal Learning Networks, or PLN's, are simply networks of people and resources who have information to share regarding similar issues. A school administrator would want to develop a PLN with other school administrators to discuss, learn, and share information about common challenges they face on a daily basis.
For my final project, I have been asked to reflect on how my personal learning network has changed and grown during the course of the workshop and discuss my plans for how I plan to continue to grow my learning network and how I hope to contribute to the professional learning of my administrative colleagues.
My PLN has definitely changed and grown over the last six weeks of this workshop. I have learned to utilize many new technologies and Web 2.0 tools to find other school leaders who share their knowledge and experiences through these tools. As all of you know, I use this blog to communicate with parents, students, faculty, and the community about important news and activities here at our school. Many administrators share their professional knowledge on their blogs, and I have learned to use Google Reader to subscribe to RSS feeds to quickly and effectively access some of the blogs onto one readable site. This allows me to use my time more effectively when searching for information. I have also created a Twitter account for the first time! I know, you're thinking that is strictly for social or entertainment purposes. Through this course, I have seen Twitter used effectively as an information platform for educational issues. I am still on the fence as to whether it would be useful for our school as I use our e-mail lists, blogs, web site, and SchoolCast for informing you of news and events. One final tool that was used in this workshop was podcasting. Podcasting is a voice recording that can be embedded into web sites or blogs to distribute information. Our SchoolCast is a type of a podcast, and that will probably be what I stick with for the present time.
In the future, I plan to continue to utilize this blog for communications with our school stakeholders, and I also plan to begin blogging with our teachers for professional development. To continue to grow my PLN, I will continue to subscribe to RSS feeds of blogs that have good, solid educational information. I will also begin to experiment more with Twitter as an educational tool. I hope to contribute to the professional learning of my administrative colleagues by sharing this information and encouraging other administrators to learn to utilize these Web 2.0 tools for increasing communication and collaboration within their schools.
I would encourage feedback from parents and other administrators on the use of these Web 2.0 tools, and how you think they would be useful (or not), for our school!
Personal Learning Networks, or PLN's, are simply networks of people and resources who have information to share regarding similar issues. A school administrator would want to develop a PLN with other school administrators to discuss, learn, and share information about common challenges they face on a daily basis.
For my final project, I have been asked to reflect on how my personal learning network has changed and grown during the course of the workshop and discuss my plans for how I plan to continue to grow my learning network and how I hope to contribute to the professional learning of my administrative colleagues.
My PLN has definitely changed and grown over the last six weeks of this workshop. I have learned to utilize many new technologies and Web 2.0 tools to find other school leaders who share their knowledge and experiences through these tools. As all of you know, I use this blog to communicate with parents, students, faculty, and the community about important news and activities here at our school. Many administrators share their professional knowledge on their blogs, and I have learned to use Google Reader to subscribe to RSS feeds to quickly and effectively access some of the blogs onto one readable site. This allows me to use my time more effectively when searching for information. I have also created a Twitter account for the first time! I know, you're thinking that is strictly for social or entertainment purposes. Through this course, I have seen Twitter used effectively as an information platform for educational issues. I am still on the fence as to whether it would be useful for our school as I use our e-mail lists, blogs, web site, and SchoolCast for informing you of news and events. One final tool that was used in this workshop was podcasting. Podcasting is a voice recording that can be embedded into web sites or blogs to distribute information. Our SchoolCast is a type of a podcast, and that will probably be what I stick with for the present time.
In the future, I plan to continue to utilize this blog for communications with our school stakeholders, and I also plan to begin blogging with our teachers for professional development. To continue to grow my PLN, I will continue to subscribe to RSS feeds of blogs that have good, solid educational information. I will also begin to experiment more with Twitter as an educational tool. I hope to contribute to the professional learning of my administrative colleagues by sharing this information and encouraging other administrators to learn to utilize these Web 2.0 tools for increasing communication and collaboration within their schools.
I would encourage feedback from parents and other administrators on the use of these Web 2.0 tools, and how you think they would be useful (or not), for our school!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wow! We have been busy here at RMJHS!
We held our annual PTO Fall Festival on Saturday, October 13th, and it was a tremendous success!! I do want to thank all of the parents, teachers, students, volunteers, and businesses who helped to make our festival possible! Congratulations to the winner of the Chili Cook-Off: Summer, Brooke, and Lacey Milam! Congratulations are also in order for the Prince/Princess and King/Queen:
October is Anti-Bullying month. During the weeks of October 15 - 19 and October 22-26, we are ending our morning announcements with anti-bullying public service announcements given by our Student Council officers and representatives. Teachers are also including at least one anti-bullying activity or lesson in their classes during these two weeks. On Thursday of next week (October 25th), we encourage all students to wear orange to symbolize their stance against bullying.
Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated here during the last three days of October. This is the annual week in which we promote being drug free. Students will receive daily stickers or reminders, and we hope to have a guest speaker for this event as well. Red Ribbon Week will end on October 31st, and students are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to remind us that drugs are Spooky! (Please remember - no face painting or costumes that would be too large for students to sit comfortably in their desks. Costumes must also abide by the dress code rules found in your Student Code of Conduct Book.)
We have been helping RCHS celebrate their Homecoming this week by participating in their Spirit Days. Today was Generals are Tacky Day (wear tacky outfits), and tomorrow is School Spirit Day (wear blue and gold). RCHS is also planning with me to come to RMJHS to do another pep rally. This activity was a huge success with our students last year, and I hope we'll be able to offer it again very soon.
The last day of 1/2 Day Free Play (for students who earned it from the fund raiser) is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 26th. Our fund raiser items from Mixed Bag Designs came in last week, and I distributed them to the students on Friday.
Please remember that your Early Bird yearbook sale will end soon. Right now the prices are $23.00, but they will increase soon. If you are the parent/guardian of a Kindergarten or 8th grade student and you would like to purchase a yearbook ad, you need to contact Ms. Winkles here at the school as soon as possible to do so.
We held our annual PTO Fall Festival on Saturday, October 13th, and it was a tremendous success!! I do want to thank all of the parents, teachers, students, volunteers, and businesses who helped to make our festival possible! Congratulations to the winner of the Chili Cook-Off: Summer, Brooke, and Lacey Milam! Congratulations are also in order for the Prince/Princess and King/Queen:
Prince: Eric D'Acquisto
Princess: Danica Barfield
King: Jacob Nimon
Queen: Hayley Farr
Queen: Hayley Farr
October is Anti-Bullying month. During the weeks of October 15 - 19 and October 22-26, we are ending our morning announcements with anti-bullying public service announcements given by our Student Council officers and representatives. Teachers are also including at least one anti-bullying activity or lesson in their classes during these two weeks. On Thursday of next week (October 25th), we encourage all students to wear orange to symbolize their stance against bullying.
Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated here during the last three days of October. This is the annual week in which we promote being drug free. Students will receive daily stickers or reminders, and we hope to have a guest speaker for this event as well. Red Ribbon Week will end on October 31st, and students are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes to remind us that drugs are Spooky! (Please remember - no face painting or costumes that would be too large for students to sit comfortably in their desks. Costumes must also abide by the dress code rules found in your Student Code of Conduct Book.)
We have been helping RCHS celebrate their Homecoming this week by participating in their Spirit Days. Today was Generals are Tacky Day (wear tacky outfits), and tomorrow is School Spirit Day (wear blue and gold). RCHS is also planning with me to come to RMJHS to do another pep rally. This activity was a huge success with our students last year, and I hope we'll be able to offer it again very soon.
The last day of 1/2 Day Free Play (for students who earned it from the fund raiser) is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 26th. Our fund raiser items from Mixed Bag Designs came in last week, and I distributed them to the students on Friday.
Please remember that your Early Bird yearbook sale will end soon. Right now the prices are $23.00, but they will increase soon. If you are the parent/guardian of a Kindergarten or 8th grade student and you would like to purchase a yearbook ad, you need to contact Ms. Winkles here at the school as soon as possible to do so.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The
Rock Mills P.T.O. Fall Festival will be Saturday, October 13th from
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. We are still in need of
2-liter drinks for the Ring Toss.
Donations of cakes for the Cake Walk can be brought in on Friday,
October 12th or Saturday before the festival begins. There will be games, hay rides, concessions,
bingo, and auctions for Alabama and Auburn baskets. Tickets for the games and booths can be
purchased at the door for $.50 each (some booths require more than one ticket). There is no cost for admission for the
festival. Students are currently selling
tickets for a drawing for either a $100.00 bill or a gift certificate for
$125.00 to Clark Brothers Meats. Chili
for the Chili Cook-Off will need to be brought to the school lunchroom by 5:00
p.m. on Saturday. Volunteers to help
with booths are encouraged – check with your child’s teacher. We hope to see everyone there!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)