Cardinal Countdown 8/28/16

Good morning!  I hope everyone had a restful weekend, and you are ready to attack the week.  I am hopeful that we continue our trend of things settling into a regular routine, but I certainly cannot make that promise.  I have loved coming into work with you all and watching such a great staff managing all the different challenges that have been thrown at us this year.

And now for the count(up):

1. Keys - We are working on keys for the rooms.  As you have noticed as you have come in there are card key readers on the doors.  When they installed the card key program on my computer, I got the new version.  The version on our network was the old version.  The two versions have to talk before I can start distributing cards.  I am hopeful that will be this week.
2. Building access - We will continue to try to have the building open and available by 6:30 a.m. each day until we can get the card keys available.
3. Team CFA Coach - Just a reminder that James Cole is our instructional coach from Team CFA.  Some of you may have seen him moving around with Erin through the building last week.  No reason to be frightened, he is part of the team :).  
4. The PTO budget meeting is this afternoon.  If I have a staff member interested as serving as the PTO representative for the school, I would love to discuss it with you.  Please email me and let me know.
5. Please review the 504 information sent out by Erin last week.  While you may not currently have a 504 student, there is a good chance that you will encounter one through the course of the year.  You need to be aware of what the 504 plans require of you.  If you need her to resend it, please email her.
6. The Governance Committee meets this Thursday at 8:30.
7. TDap and Immunizations - Kindergarten and 7th grade... we will be sending information throughout the week regarding required immunizations.  If you receive any information from parents regarding any of these, please make sure that you forward it to Donna Koehler immediately. 

Cardinal Countdown 8/15/2016

Good morning, and welcome to the 2016/17 Cardinal Countdown!  I will use this space to update everyone on the events of the week at Cornerstone.

I also like to use this space to take a few minutes to mention people who have done things that are noteworthy through the course of the week.  With that being said, it would be impossible to do this week, because of the incredible number of things that I saw happening each day we have been in this new building!  Thank you to everyone for your hardwork and commitment in bringing this building to fruition.

I know that much has been mentioned about the incredible work and (wo)man-hours that the board has put into making this building happen for all of us.  The kudos that they have received and will continue to receive is well earned.  However, there is one point that I think is important to remember.  The success of our school has been, and will continue to be, directly related to the quality of the education offered by it's teachers.  You have done an amazing job of not only educating students, but building this place into more than a school.  It is a community of people.

With that being said, I want to make sure that we continue to deliver that message regularly to students, each other, and to our families.  Messaging is important when we talk about our new space.  Please make sure that we use words like "community" and "home" so that our commitment to those things remain in the forefront of people's minds.  How we talk about things is important in how people are going to think about things.

Now on to the fun stuff.  Only 2 days!

1. Speaking of community, the PTO has generously offered to serve us lunch on Tuesday.  We are going to dine (sup?) together at 11:30 on Tuesday.  We will gather for a few moments then to share some final thoughts and directions for Tuesday and Wednesday.  
2. After lunch on Tuesday, you will be free to do as you please until your Open House.  We ask that you be present :30 minutes prior to open house and plan to remain for :15 minutes after the open house.
3. We will be sending you all kinds of directions through the course of the next two days.  Please keep an eye on your email for the procedures during the next two days.  We will try to get them all located in one place, but that may not be possible, because we are working quickly through things.
4. Allyson has been spearheading facility stuff right now.  The movers are working on moving trash and will be here to help us discard the discard-able furniture.
5. Please make sure that you use all the available built-in storage space in you room.  
6. We will be circulating through rooms the next few days to make sure that people have what they need.  You may have to part with, or share, some items with those who do not have.
7. Mind the parking patterns around campus!
8. Please use the problem reporting forms for issues in your rooms.  We will be submitting those to Landmark to deal with the problems that are within their scope.  We will find ways to assist with the rest.

Finally, thank you, thank you, thank you!  I am thrilled to be starting the year!