ISSUE 100
November 12,
2012
The Gallop............
At 100 issues...............Still Running to keep all informed!
Looking back, looking forward…the time is NOW!
Our teachers and
our students make it
the obvious choice!
Birthdays
 Alecia Triggs
11/14
 JC Campbell
11/15
 Ron Cheeks
11/18
 Janine
Stubblefield
11/21
 Nathaniel
Burney 12/10
 Angie Doyle
12/10
 Kathy
Leonard
12/12
 Mark
Williams
12/16
 Marty Bond
12/16
On August 18, 2008, the first issue of the GALLOP heralded the new Frederick
Law Olmsted Academy North noting, “It truly is a new place”. There is no
doubt that things have improved over the years and a “new place” was created
– buildings/grounds upkeep, parental involvement, after school opportunities
for students, school events, attendance, behavior, reputation in the
community/district, and most importantly a staff of dedicated people all
focused on increasing student achievement. For those of you here prior to
2008, looking back brings a sense of pride and accomplishment in all that has
improved for our staff, students, and parents at our school. However, when we
look back and linger too long, we run the risk of being stuck in nostalgic
reminiscing – thankful that things are better than they used to be - slowing our
forward progress in making it truly a new place in ALL aspects.
On November 2, 2012, the first test scores of the KPREP system were
released to the public and shared with our staff. The results were difficult for
us to accept given our efforts, hours spent, and dedication to our students. We
hoped for more and felt unsure of how we can give more. As easy as it is to get
stuck in the past, it is even easier to get stuck in the day to day and not look to
the future. When we analyze the scores, we must understand that behind
every score is an individual young man. When we look at the test results in
detail, we must be honest with ourselves and each other as to what is and is
not working in our efforts.
On November 12, 2012, the 100th issue of the GALLOP allows us to reflect
on the past and be proud of our successes. It gives us time to look at our
present situation/circumstance and be focused on solutions. Most importantly
it provides us with the opportunity to look forward and create a learning
environment and quality school so that ALL young men of middle school age
choose to be a Colt. When our scores rise like the phoenix from the ashes, we
will be “the obvious choice for young men” and “it truly is a new place” will be
the day to day reality. We can honor the past but we must look forward and
dedicate ourselves to improving the achievement of ALL students. We can
linger here in today for a moment but we must look forward and focus on
student work analysis to improve the achievement of ALL students. Our job as
educators is solely reliant on students – their learning and achievement
measures our teaching success and effectiveness. Nothing more nothing less –
the time is NOW!
by Angela Doyle
The Gallop
Calendar
Page 2 of 4
 Monday, November 12
o Student of the Week during the announcements
o Counselor/Support Administrative Staff Meeting at 9 am
o Rising Stars from 2:30-4 pm
o Fall Music Concert at 6 pm
 Tuesday, November 13
o Principal's Meeting and Youth Service Center Meeting
o Faculty Meeting at 2:35 pm in the auditorium
o SBDM at 4 pm in the Media Center
 Wednesday, November 14-------2nd grading period ends
o EPD
o Thanksgiving Meal with our families during all lunches
o Club Day at 2:35 pm
o Rising Stars from 2:30-4 pm
 Thursday, November 15---Islamic New Year-----Colts Corner articles due
o School Pictures starting at 8 am (Ms. Gilbert will be giving you a
schedule)
o Smartboard PD from 3-5 pm
o Rising Stars 2:30-4 pm
o Basketball game vs. Western MS away (2:35 pm)
o Open House for 5th graders at 6 pm
 Friday, November 16
o Staff breakfast for soccer team at 7 am (see attachment on this email)
o Principal's Advisory Group at 7:45
o Grades in agendas
o Team/PLC minutes are due
o Student of the week are due
 Monday, November 19
o Student of the Week during morning announcements
o UofL quartet in Orchestra class
 Tuesday, November 20---No Student of the week due/Teacher grades due
by 3 pm at the end of the day/Teacher grades due by 3 pm at the end of
the day
 Wednesday, November 21--------No School Thanksgiving Break
 Thursday, November 22-----------No school Thanksgiving Break
 Friday, November 23----------------No school Thanksgiving Break
 Monday, November 26
o Rising Stars from 2:30-4 pm
o 6th grade basketball vs. Frost (Home) at 6 pm
 Tuesday, November 27
o Department Meetings at 2:35 pm in regular locations
o 8th grade High School Transition Night @ 6 pm
News and Kudos!!!
The Gallop
Page 3 of 4
Thanks to Ms. Hubbard and Mr. Pierce for organizing posters for Rising Stars
Thanks to Karen Hermes, Ralphine Sistrunk, Cody Wooten, Mark Williams, and Kelsey Hennessey
for scoring a 98% on our building cleanliness report from the district. Way to go!!
Thanks to the following people who helped with the Fall
Festival: Ms. Doyle, Ms. Gipe, Ms. Namay, Mr. Slider, Ms. Niemi,
Mr. Buntyn, Ms. Cannon, Ms. Farley, Mr. Pierce, Mr. Brogdon,
Mr. Parsons, Ms. Vogt, Ms. Grimmer, Ms. Harris, Mr. Beaver, Ms.
Bais, Mr. Scheper, Mr. Murray, Mr. Howell, Ms. Hughley, Ms.
Teaford, Mr. Shumate
Special thanks to Ms. Namay for organizing the efforts of the
Fall Festival
Congratulations to the basketball team who defeated Lassiter in
both Varsity (now 2-0) and 6th grade !!!!
We got our latest results on ACT Explore, which 8th graders
took in September. We had an impressive gain on our scores
moving up in every subject!
Last Year
English 11
Reading 11.4
Math
12.3
Science 13.5
Composite 12.2
This Year
11.6
11.5
13.4
14.4
12.8
National Average
14.7
14.6
15.5
16.6
15.5
Thanks to Tiffany Pierson for
overseeing the physicals for
students
Thanks to Ms. Gilbert for going
to Trunnell Elementary and
representing FLOAN!
Congratulations on the birth of
Sadie Mora! We are so happy
for you Eric
Caption describing
Thanks to the staff
helped
picturewho
or graphic.
make Math Night a successful
evening
Bais, Wolken, Moss, Doyle,
Burton
Thanks to the Bold Venture team who collected canned goods for the American Red Cross to go
to the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey
Congratulations to Quick Recall Team: 6th grade defeated Frost today 13-7 and Varsity defeated Frost soundly 24-9
(our largest margin of the year). Varsity record is 5-1 (7-3 overall).
Next week we have a home game in the library versus OLMSTED SOUTH who kept us out of Regionals last year by 1
point. It should be a good grudge match on home turf.
GOLDEN BROOM AWARD:
GOLDEN Broom AWARD FOR November:
"The winner of golden broom was awarded to Ms. M Hardin Riley for her exceptional
classroom.” Each month, a teacher will be awarded the GOLDEN BROOM based on
attractiveness/cleanliness, decorated bulletin boards, and overall appearance of
team/classroom area.
The Gallop
Announcements
Page 4 of 4
GENDER SPECIFIC STRATEGIES
Ms. Doyle
1. Support him when he's stressed -- children suffer from stress worse than adults from events in their lives (bullying, academic
pressure, friendships, etc.) and don't know how to handle it - must be aware and look for signs of depression - teachers should:
try to find time to talk to/include boys who seem withdrawn and tired in class, stay in contact with parents of boys of which you
are concerned, be aware that your own stress levels may make you less tolerant of challenging behavior
2. Offer choices -- choice gives a person more control over their lives and boys need to learn how to make good choices through
thinking and reflective skills - teachers should: respect a student's decisions don't ask him what he wants and then ignore his
reply, choices help to manage behavior in classrooms for example "you can stop talking and goofing off or you can have detention
it's your choice".
3. Manage choices -- too many choices and it undermines boy's sense of self and no choices he never discovers what he likes best
- choices for boys must be limited and managed - teachers should: choice is motivating and should be given to boys about what
to do and how to do it give them more commitment to work, offer choice within project work, try choice-based activities
4. Don't impose your views on him -- don't give too much praise or too much criticism there must be a balance - teachers
should: encourage students to think ahead about what might happen next in a science experiment instead of telling them what
to expect, ask students for their views, don't impose solutions on boys encourage them to come up with their own answers, keep
your views to yourself and allow boys to explore theirs
5. Give his feelings space in your world -- feelings are as important as thoughts in development of children as unique and giving
human beings - we must reject their feelings - teachers should: give boys incomplete sentences to fill in such as "when I get
angry, I...", "I feel most important when..." feelings sentences, brainstorm anger by inviting class to discuss how they feel and see
anger using synonyms for it asking students to describe situations, have each boy write in a feelings journal to react to events in
their life
From Ms. Kanuparthy
Teachers,
We are looking for students that show specific exceptional interest in Math or Science or
Language arts or arts and humanities or Social Studies. We want to recruit these
exceptional young men to take the written assessment tests in those subjects.
The first of which happens to be on 5th of December 2012, and if any of the
students advance by passing any of the tests, they will compete at the
regional level with more schools. Do let me know as soon as possible.
DID YOU KNOW??????
The name of our staff newsletter was decided by a competition to find the best name from staff
suggestions. The staff voted on three final choices. A teacher named Ms. Knox had the winning
title, the Gallop, which endures today. Interestingly, the second choice, Colts Corner,
eventually became the title of the newsletter distributed to families and the community. The
first issue of the Gallop had the sub heading "running to keep all informed" which is still it's
goal.