Principal's Message, 3-26-21
Greetings Stough Families,
I hope you're enjoying the warmer weather and excited about the break ahead. Here are your weekly updates:
1. I can't believe it's already Spring Break! Students return to learning (in-person or remote) on Thursday April 8. (Note, this is a change based on a District decision earlier this week to swap Teacher Workdays - May 13 is now a regular school day. Here's the WCPSS Calendar Link.)
2. You can read more about Wake County Schools' next transition and the Board decisions from earlier this week at this link. You'll see that a final opportunity exists between now and April 1 to indicate a change to your student's learning environment. If you want your child to continue in his or her current model (In-person or Virtual Academy), no action is needed. If you want to make a shift for the final quarter this year, you may indicate that in this Google Form. Please note that any change will result in schedule changes and possibly teacher changes.
Yesterday's District Update also had lots of information on changes to eating and drinking guidance, health reminders, and bus rider information. Please be sure you are aware of these important updates before school resumes in April.
3. This past week in P2 was a "flex week," but some teachers jumped ahead to our next trait, humor. For a 1-page character card overview, click here. And, for P2 for Families (password: P2), click here.
Humor is a sense of playfulness and lightness. It is a way of looking at and describing the world that brings laughter to people. A person with the strength of humor is skilled at seeing the funny side of things, bringing smiles and laughter to others, and identifying and communicating the absurdities in life. People with this strength don’t specifically need to be joke tellers, although many are.
Sidenote - If there was ever a year to have a sense of humor, I think many of us would say it's this one. Thanks to all our staff and families for humoring one another throughout!
4. For students in grades 3, 4, and 5, End-of-Grade Testing will still take place in May and June. Part of our preparation includes a similar benchmark test in math called the NC Check-in. Students in the virtual setting will be invited to campus on April 14 (asynchronous day) to take this assessment. In-person students will take this on April 15.
We need our grades 3-5 families in the VA to read this letter and respond to the embedded Google Form.
5. Here are the PTA Updates:
Papa Murphy’s Fundraiser: March 31
Papa Murphy’s on Oberlin Road is donating 25% of sales from 1:00-8:00pm back to the Stough PTA.
Commit to Eat at Stough Elementary PTA's GroupRaise Meal @ Papa Murphy's
Mellow Mushroom Fundraiser: April 15
Order dinner from Mellow Mushroom from 3:00-9:00pm on April 15 and Stough PTA will receive 10% of your purchase.
Commit to Eat at Stough Elementary PTA's GroupRaise Meal @ Mellow Mushroom
WCPSS District 6 School Board Advisory Council 3/24 meeting (BAC)
This BAC meeting focused on upcoming WCPSS budget discussions. Christine Kushner, District 6 School Board Representative, Mark Winters, WCPSS Finance Officer and Terri Kimzey, WCPSS Senior Budget Director reviewed the impact COVID-19 had on last year's budget. They also shared the future budget being presented to the Board of Education and County Commissioners. You can see the detailed slides here and view the presentation given to the school board. Principal Chris Cox and Tracy Dixon, parent/PTA BAC representative, both attend these quarterly meetings. Feel free to contact Tracy at TracyDixonNC@gmail.com with questions or comments.
Spring Auction
If you own or work for a business that might be interested in donating to our spring auction, please contact stephanie.austin85@gmail.com.
There will not be a weekly message next Friday due to Spring Break. Again, our next day of live learning is Thursday, April 8. I hope that all have a restful break with friends and family. We look forward to a safe, productive and joyful finish to the school year!
Best regards,
Chris Cox, Principal