12/12- Lozano Board Member Visit

12/11-14 Q2 Interim Assessments

12/15- Last Day of GCYC Programing

12/15- One Comer Holiday Party

12/19-20 MoY Math and Reading Diagnostic Testing

12/21- Last day of Semester 1, ALL HANDS DAY

12/22- Network PD Day - NO SCHOOL, ALL HANDS DAY

12/25-1/5- Winter Break - BUILDING CLOSED

1/8- Campus PD Day - NO SCHOOL, ALL HANDS DAY

1/12- Q2 Town Hall, ALL HANDS DAY

1/15- MLK Day - NO SCHOOL

1/16- ALL HANDS DAY

1/19- Semester 1 RCPU ALL HANDS DAY

A couple of reminders for the week:

1. Core Value Feedback survey results will come out TOMORROW by 8am, thank you for your patience.

2. Sign Up for Affinity-Based Conversation: Who we are and the identities and perspectives we carry matter. They can inform how we experience and navigate space. As I sit back to build our vision strategy for next Semester and next year, I want to ensure that I am centering the important voices and perspectives that you all carry. Please join me for any of the spaces to which you identify. Attendance and participation are entirely optional. You can sign up HERE! All sessions will begin promptly at 4:30 and a location and menu for dinner will be shared in advance.

3.Upcoming STAY Conversations: I am very excited to be in conversation with you about what needs to be true for you to continue that completely, sincerely devoted, determined, enthusiastic, earnest, unwavering commitment to what we are trying to accomplish for our students. Our stay conversations will allow us to explore this more intimately. Please look out for a sign-up sheet for STAY conversations, coming soon. These will be scheduled from Jan 15th - March 29th. I will work my hardest to meet your most convenient availability- during preps where helpful.

3. Site Visit from Chicago Board of Ed member Rudy Lozano, Jr.

Team: Three members of the Chicago Board of Education have asked to visit Noble campuses as part of their review for our re-chartering, and the three campuses being showcased are Pritzker, the OC, and BIG COMER. We are establishing ourselves as a point of pride across the network, and welcome this additional opportunity to show what we do.

Board Member Lozano will begin his visit at the HS campus a little before 1pm. He will be touring the building and observing, accompanied by Principal Hemingway and members of Noble Network Leadership. He will most likely head over to the MS campus 1:30 and 1:45, and then end his visit at 2pm.

If there are any specific things needed from you in advance of this visit, you will have already heard from your manager. For everybody else, it’s just more of the same: keep your space clean, support where needed, dress to impress, and come in ready to be amazing. Just another typical Tuesday at Comer.

If you’d like to learn more about Board Member Lozano, you can take a look HERE. Please reach out to your manager or any member of the leadership team with any questions.

4. Holiday party sign up + pay for guests in the office this week!

Hemingway

PTO Form Adjustments

We have made some adjustments to the PTO Form in the hopes of adding clarity and consistency to the process. Here is a summary of the changes:

• When you go to the form, you will be asked to choose between Full Day PTO and Partial Day PTO.

• If you select Full Day PTO, the rest of the form will look mostly the same. Remember to enter the Number of Hours as Total Days x 8 hours

• If you select Partial Day PTO, you will be asked to indicate your Time of Arrival and your Time of Departure. Regardless of what you enter here, the Portal will mark it as 4 hours spent. However, that is not necessarily what the final determination will be. In cases where you are taking shorter amounts of time, your balance may be adjusted later (but always in multiples of 4 hours).

REMEMBER: There will continue to be discrepancies between your PTO balance in the Portal and Paycom while system alignment continues on a rolling basis. When these discrepancies exist, your balance in Paycom is the official record.

If you ever have extenuating circumstances that are not captured in the PTO Form, feel free to forward them to bjohnson@garycomermiddleschool.org.

Inside your classroom there is a page protector with a green/red card in for emergency drills + a sheet with the basic procedure. By the 12/1 please print out your rosters for ALL Classes (Advisory + Freedom Friday classes) and put into the page protector so you can take the packet with you when you leave the building. If for some reason your room does not have one let Agosta know ASAP.

Must be completed this Wednesday in PMA. There will be no office hours in PMA this Wednesday due to mandatory video that must be shared. Below is our specific one pager for all advisors to review today and make yourselves familiar with before showing in PMA Wednesday. Please reach out with any questions or concerns to Ashley, this is a triggering conversation so any support you need please ask.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FdH9eSuX2HZsAg29tbCiQHqU0p-OZA5ct1Fpi3l71fU/edit

Title IX Student Training - The Office of Student Protection will provide training on preventing and reporting abuse to all Pre-K-12 CPS students.

In advisory next week we will be showing the Title IX video one for 6th and another for 7th/8th. This is a state wide expectation that has to be done, you as the advisor will show the video throughout the week. I will be sending more details as it approaches but please plan accordingly for one day M-th for you to show it. Parents/guardians are allowed to opt out and I only have one at this point and will be pulling them as needed. Details are in the family newsletter if you are curious what is being shared with them. Thank you and reach out with any questions or concerns.

Many staff are submitting ITeam Help Desk tickets to an older address that is no longer active. The correct email address for ITeam Help Desk tickets is gcms-help@catamounts.org.

In some cases, this problem arises when GMail autofills an address for you and selects the older address. If you want to avoid that issue, follow these steps:

• Go to GMail

• Click on the matrix of 9 dots next to your username and photo in the upper right corner of the screen.

• This will pull up a menu of apps. Right-click on the Contacts app, and select Open Link in New Tab

• Search for the incorrect email address

• After selecting that contact, click on the 3 vertical dots in the upper right part of the screen (next to “Save contact”)

• Select Delete and Delete

7th Grade Headlines

Winter Diagnostic administration is right around the corner! We will be holding our Winter Administration of Edmentum diagnostics the week of 12/18. Specific dates and logistics will be forthcoming, but be ready to invest scholars in our Diagnostics post-Thanksgiving

Get in on the excitement

Comer College Prep invites students and staff to join the fun on and off the court! Sign up now to play alongside your students and colleagues in this friendly basketball game against the Chicago Police Department. Let's unite as a community, cheer for camaraderie, and celebrate the spirit of togetherness through building connections and teamwork!

Staff and Student Sign-Up HERE!

9-12 JV Boys Basketball

9-12 JV Girls Basketball

9-12 Varsity Girls Basketball

9-12 Boys Varsity Basketball Schedule

This week will be the first cycle of Top Catamount winner. Please show the slide in advisory so students know what they are working towards. Next week's top 3 will earn an additional special opportunity!

ITeam has noticed staff plugging non-tech devices into TV's, projectors, and other school-owned electronics. This can cause problems for equipment, including irreparable damage. Please only use Noble-issued IT equipment in your classroom, and if you have a need, submit a help desk ticket to gcms-help@catamounts.org.

1. Parking: Only park in designated spots. We will be monitoring and asking people to move- no one should be parking by the handicap rail, on the outside of the parking lanes or in the handicap spots. Parking there cuts off the ability for delivery trucks, and can be an evacuation hazard (especially when too close to doors). If the lot is full you may park in the lot on Ellis or the street.

2. Windows + ACs: ACs should never be run with the heat on, it’l damage the AC. Windows can be opened max 2 inches, and need to be closed before leaving everyday. We know it gets warm, we’re doing our best with an old radiator system, please help keep our building secure by closing your windows.

3. Lights/purifies/fans- Must be turned off at the end of the day and should never be running over the weekend.

4. Posters need to be off the window shades, doors can only be decorated 1/3 way. These are all fire code violations and can result in the school being fined. If you need to adjust please do so this week.

Request for Individual PD

At Comer we encourage our staff to expand their knowledge and their capacity through selective individualized professional development. If you find an opportunity for professional development that you feel would expand your impact, please use this form to submit your request.

Advisors, we need your help in getting this survey for families completed. The neighborhood has become a place for scholars to just hang out and we need families to let us know where they are supposed to be. Please reach out to families and have them complete this survey- it has gone out 2x and will be in the newsletter, but you can also text the link to families if you have that relationship. The first advisory to complete will earn lunch on culture. Questions go to Ashley.

If the copiers in 206 are acting up please let Agosta know as soon as possible. We can usually get a tech in the next day (or same day!) if we know early enough to make the calls. A couple of best practices:

1. Make sure to stay and watch your copies. The sooner a jam is identified the easier it is to fix and less disruption your day and frustration in thinking that you’re done when it’s been jammed.

2. When refilling the copiers with paper, fill all the drawers, this will keep the machine running smooth

3. If there is a jam and you can’t reach the paper, ask for help! The tiniest bit left in there will cause the whole thing to melt down- it is the touchiest of things.

4. If ever unsure just call or text me 312.995.4478 and I’ll come take a look or call the tech.

5. There will be a Printers GChat created where you can put in to all staff if one is being touchy- I'll monitor throughout the day so that I can try to put calls in as need- but the fastest way will always be text

We have a student who is severely allergic to nuts. Please do not consume nut products in classrooms (this can include granola bars + peanut butter + just in salads). Please limit consumption to the staff lounge and then wash hands and if possible rinse your mouth. - We’ll look into getting mouthwash and little cups in the bathroom. Thank you for your conscientiousness in keeping our scholars safe in every way possible.

Here is the GCMS Internal PTO Link!

Noble Schools Calendar

Families can add the One Comer Master Calendar to their own personal calendars. Please note that when there are updates on this calendar, they will reflect on your personal one as well.

This omnibus is a one stop shop to the majority of things you will have questions about this year

In an effort to be Clear, Consistent, and Connected the Behavior Tiers have altered a bit with Weekly Reflections. You can view the one pager of examples of each tier here