The Weekly Words
9/20/26
Team,
Research shows that the strongest predictor of a student's long-term success isn't test scores or background, it’s GRIT (perseverance and passion for long-term goals).This week, we are helping students build grit by handing them the mic. High-performing cultures don't rely solely on teacher enforcement; they thrive when students actively hold each other accountable and celebrate shared growth.
The key action for Week 6 is to establish student-led shout-outs & peer accountability. Reserve 3 minutes at the end of lessons or morning meetings for students to publicly recognize peers who are demonstrating grit, driving learning, and upholding the Noble Big 4. Remember the Edutopia piece on Fostering Grit in the Classroom. Thinking back to "Austin’s Butterfly" from last year, peer feedback remains one of the most powerful tools we have to model and teach perseverance.
Mr. Walker, M.Ed.
Principal
Shout-Out: Mr. Rozsa! A huge thank you for your commitment and grit in continuing the Noble Morning Show this year, despite managing a full teaching schedule. Our morning announcements set a repeatable culture tone for the whole school!
Shout-Out: Ms. Gaines! Thank you for your strategic thinking. Your coordination in planning IS push-ins provides Mr. Rozsa with essential filming opportunities downstairs, making the Morning Show possible for our entire community. This is teamwork in action!
Kindness Fundraiser Milestones! Students were thrilled to earn their Cookie Blanket and Kindness Passport last week as their first milestone in the Kindness Fundraiser Challenge!
Exemplary Fire Drill! September's drill was incredibly smooth! We exited in 2 minutes and 45 seconds with an overall time of just 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Great practice of routine!
Real-World Spanish! Students are taking off in Sra. Romina's Spanish class! We love the real-world connections you make while teaching essential vocabulary.
Bright Blue Grandparents' Day! What an incredible turnout on a sunny Monday morning! Love seeing the powerful intergenerational support in our community.
Refining Routines: Mrs. DiDona! Excellent work in perfecting the Turn and Talk routine. Mrs. DiDona demonstrated grit by having students "Do-it again" until expectations were fully met.
Gap-Closing: Mrs. Salvatore! Making our Noble half-days work powerfully by pulling students to target specific gaps!
Celebrating Our Fathers and Father Figures! Despite the clouds, we saw tremendous support! 300 donuts, 200 cups of coffee, and countless smiles. Our dads and father figures are the best!
Strong Enrichment at Right at School! Loving the combination of homework help and enrichment taking place after school.
Supporting Goals: Ms. Conner! Students love Ms. Conner as she provides crucial support services, helping every student meet their personal speech goals.
5th Grade Showtime Prep! Mr. Rossi, thank you for preparing your 5th graders for future school-wide performance. We love the coordination and the respect students are showing the instruments!
In our upcoming staff meeting, we will take a transparent look at our recently released 2.5-star State Report Card rating. While this number reflects where we are, it does not define where we are capable of going. Moving the needle requires intentional, aligned action across every classroom, starting with how and what we teach. Starting this week and moving forward, we are placing a heavy emphasis on strict implementation of our adopted High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM).
Why HQIM Over Alternative Resources?
- Rigorous Standards Alignment: Randomly pulled internet worksheets or alternative activities often dilute rigor or miss the depth of state standards. HQIM is specifically designed to meet grade-level expectations.
- Vertical Alignment: HQIM ensures a logical sequence from K through 5th grade, building skills year-over-year so students don't face learning gaps or unexpected jumps in difficulty.
- Horizontal Alignment: HQIM guarantees that every student in a given grade level receives the exact same high standard of instruction, regardless of classroom placement.
- Equity for All Learners: Relying on cohesive curriculum ensures every student at Noble gets equal access to grade-level content daily.
To support you in this work, members of our district Learning Team will be joining our TBTs to assist with planning, pacing, and effective HQIM implementation.
Don't See you name? Please be sure to complete our Staff Interest Survey!
September & October Birthdays
September 6: Mrs. Holyk
September 7: Ms. Hagan
September 12: Ms. Alexis
September 19: Mrs. Ohlinger
September 30: Ms. Burkey
October 4: Mrs. Doyle
October 6: Ms. Oberfield
October 11: Mrs. Nalepa
October 17: Ms. Hubbard
October 22: Mrs. DiDona
October 30: Mrs. Barrancotto
Our September Staff Meeting is this Thursday, September 24 from 3:45 - 4:45 p.m. in the Media Center.
Agenda:
Celebrations
Quick Hits
Read Ohio Literacy Support
Ohio State Report Card
Monthly Priorities
September Survey
795 Union Time
The Scholastic Book Fair is returning October 5–9! Please begin promoting the event to families now, especially highlighting the Scholastic eWallet for cash-free shopping and the call for parent volunteers. Behind the scenes, we need to begin organizing key logistics to ensure smooth execution, including securing the setup space, building the master classroom shopping schedule, and planning teacher preview hours. Keep an eye out for detailed schedules and volunteer sign-up links arriving soon as we prep for a fantastic reading week!
Our Kindness Fundraiser is off to a great start! Please share the message below with your classroom families on ClassDojo to keep our momentum going:
Noble Families,
Our Kindness Fundraiser is off to a great start! If you haven’t yet, please take a few minutes to share your student’s fundraising page with 10 or more friends and family via email or text at:
Don’t forget to write the Completion Code on your student's Boarding Pass and have them return it on Tuesday to receive a FREE participation prize and their Kindness Passport! It’s not too late to help our school. Thank you for your continued support!
P.S. Need help getting set up? Watch this short how-to video!
Staff Next Steps:
Boarding Pass Collection: Please collect completed Boarding Passes on Tuesday morning and submit to front office so that we can ensure students receive their participation prizes and Kindness Passports.
Kindness Stamps: As you catch students demonstrating kindness throughout the week, keep stamping those passports!
Thank you for your support in making this fundraiser a success for our school community!
Our First Noble All-Star Assemblies are Friday, September 25!
Pre-K, K-2: 2:35 - 3 p.m.
Grades 3-5: 9:20 - 9:50 a.m.
Please make sure your All-Stars are selected by Tuesday and families are notified to attend.
As we kick off the new school year, we want to ensure your voice and concerns are heard. Please use the TAP form to log any building climate concern(s).
The District has adopted a plan for communications with persons with disabilities, which is available at the following link: Communication Plan. The plan establishes procedures to ensure that the District's communications with persons with disabilities, including applicants, participants, members of the public, and companions with disabilities, are as effective as its communications with others.
Grade-Level MTSS Meetings are right around the corner! The purpose of these meetings is to collaboratively analyze student data, evaluate intervention progress, and design targeted multi-tiered supports to ensure every student succeeds academically, socially, and emotionally.
Schedule & Planning Details:
Dates: September 29 – October 1 (attached schedule)
Substitutes are provided for you, no need to enter in Frontline.
Intentional Scheduling: The master schedule for these days was thoughtfully crafted to accommodate grade-level planning and lunch times as smoothly as possible while prioritizing dedicated meeting time. Each grade level will have a 2 hour Grade Level MTSS Meeting and then, an additional planning to begin working on action steps.
Collaborative Support: All Title leads and intervention support specialists are included in these sessions to ensure a unified approach to student success.
Please review the attached schedule for your team's specific meeting time and location. Thank you for your continued dedication to supporting our students!
This week, continue strengthening AVID strategies by intentionally incorporating Costa’s Levels of Thinking into our instruction. Let's challenge students to move beyond recalling information and engage in deeper thinking through purposeful questioning, meaningful discussion, and evidence-based reasoning. Our goal is to create learning experiences that encourage students to explain their thinking, make connections, and apply their knowledge in new ways.
As you likely know, the first step with Evaluation Cycles is to meet and review your PGP. Please use this link to sign-up for a 20-minute slot with me. Our Noble PGP deadline is October 5, 2026. Therefore, our meeting has to be on or before that date. Note - I can add more times if these slots do not work for you; just let me know if you need that.
In preparation for our meeting, please have a draft of your PGP ready and in the Ohio Evaluation System for OTES 2.0 prior to our meeting time. Keep in mind that your goals should be aligned to our Noble One Plan and include one academic goal and one culture goal.
For the PGP, please ensure it is written as a SMART goal.
I look forward to discussing your professional goals and learning a bit more about you. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!
The fall Interim Assessment testing windows are approaching. Please see the dates and subjects for each grade level below:
Grade 4 (Monday, October 5 – Thursday, October 22)
- Grade 4 Math and ELA
- Grade 4 Science (proctored in IlluminateEd)
- Grade 5 ELA, Math, Science
Grade 3 Math (Monday, October 26 – Friday, October 30)
Grade 3 Math
Step-by-step guidance for before, during, and after testing, plus answers to frequently asked questions, can be found in our Before, During, After (BDA) document. You can access it on Clever or at tinyurl.com/CHUHBDAs.
Please note that updates have been made to the interims to align with current pacing and curriculum changes. To start, complete the first step of the Data Analysis process: take the interim yourself and jot down your predictions and curiosities about how students will perform. Where do you expect common errors, strong performances, or struggles?
Starting the year strong during Beginning of Year Acadience testing is critical as we relentlessly pursue a 4-Star Rating for Noble, proving to our community that every student can thrive. Because state report card metrics measure Early Literacy growth from BOY to BOY across school years, these fall scores directly impact our upcoming report card. We cannot afford a slow start and must build targeted intervention groups and student focus lists immediately to maximize growth and hit our targets.
Upcoming Fire Drill: Our October fire drill will take place on Tuesday, October 13, at 2:45 p.m. Please ensure your posted evacuation map is clearly visible by your classroom door and review drill expectations with your students.
