Dec 8-12—MES Christmas Bazaar

Dec 8—GES Holiday Programs: K-8:30; 1st-1:30

Dec 9—AES Holiday Programs: K- 8:30 , 1st-9:30; 2nd-1:00; 3rd-2:00

Dec 9—GES Dinner with Santa—5-7

Dec 10—GES Holiday Programs: 2nd-8:30; 3rd-1:30

Dec 11—GES Holiday Programs: 4th-8:30; 5th-1:30

Dec 11—AES Evening with Santa—5:00-7:00

Dec 11—MES Family Night—5:00-7:00

Dec 12—AES Holiday Programs: 4th-8:30; 5th-1:30

Dec 16—MES Holiday Programs: Dil-low/Thacker; Bentley/Hays; Cook/J Martin; Spradlin

Dec 17—MES Holiday Programs: Mor-gan/Ray; S. Martin/Pierce; Under-wood/Kelsey; Wireman/Waginger

Dec 18—MES Holiday Programs: 1st Grade & 5th Grade

Dec 18—Middle School Band Con-cert—6:30 @ GCHS

Dec 19—WMS Choir Holiday Perfor-mance—9:00

Message from the Superintendent I can hardly believe this school year is almost half way complete. It has been an inspiring year as we have cel-ebrated academic growth and continue to look for ways to improve on how we serve our children to meet their educational goals. This year, I've been visiting our schools and I am seeing first-hand the excitement and creativity taking place in our classrooms. Our schools are full of energetic and dedicated individuals who are committed to ensuring our students receive the best educational opportunities while attending our schools. I

am honored to be a part of our amazing team of staff members. It is truly a privilege to be a part of Greenup County Schools.

Many current initiatives have the potential to increase student achievement and move our district forward. Some of these include: professional learning acade-mies for teachers; outside consultants to support us in writing, math, and data analysis; partnering with other districts to provide ACT tutoring for our juniors and seniors, a PIPE grant to improve our leadership processes; Tech-spert cadre; Instructional Rounds; and much more. Our district is united in its’ efforts to provide our students with the best possible education for their futures.

Therefore, during this holiday season, as we take time to reflect and enjoy mo-ments with our family and friends,I want to express gratitude for everyone who makes it possible for our students to come to school every day ready to learn and receive a quality education.

I am thankful for our students who give us all a daily reminder of what is im-portant and why we are here.

I am thankful for the support of the parents in creating an outstanding partner-ship for our students.

I am thankful for the teachers, support staff, and our Board who really care about student achievement and have the best interests of our students at heart.

I am also thankful for our community members who partner with us to “Grow Greenup County Schools.”

I would like to wish the best to you and your families. Thank you for all that you do for students. Your commitment to Greenup County Schools is truly recog-nized and appreciated.

this issue

Did You Know? P.2

ACT Prep P.3

Reading Fair P.5

Upcoming Events

News You Can Use Greenup County School District Newsle(er

ISSUE 4 December 2014

GC Librarians prepare for the award ceremony during the first annual District Reading Fair.

MMS KYA students had a great trip to Lexington in November. Eighth grade student Gary Adkins received an outstanding delegate award. 6th grade students Gracie Lyons, Adam Lemaster, Tristan Tillery, and Tate Duncan had their bill passed and were able to meet the KYA governor. That is quite an accomplishment! A big thanks to KYA spon-sor Mr. Shane Runion and Mrs. Cornette for supervising this trip.

Congratulations GCHS teacher, Kristina Brown. Her Donor’s Choose pro-ject "LEGO Make an Atom!" was recently funded. Interested in Donor’s Choose for your classroom? Simply create an account at do-norschoose.org and get started!

Mrs. Arthur’s first grade class at WES won first place for their Christmas tree in the Festival of Trees hosted by the Paramount Woman’s Association in Ashland. The theme for their tree was the movie Frozen. Congratulations!

MES hosted a Culture Fair and welcomed natives of other countries as well as world travelers to share their cultures and experiences. Countries represented included Germany, Tanzania Africa, South Afri-ca, Canada, and Mexico. Thanks to our visitors!

McKell Middle School is pleased to be hosting this year's 2014 6th Grade Showcase on Saturday, Dec. 6th. Good luck, teams!

Some of Ms. Chaffin's WMS 6th grade students recently worked on essays and poems to submit in the Taylor Swift & Scholastic “How I Shake It Off” Writing Contest. Entries have been sent and we wish our writers good luck!

Argillite Elementary recently hosted a banquet for students who scored proficient or distin-guished on the state assessment. Everyone enjoyed an “Evening with the Stars”.

WMS 2014-2015 Basketball Season Cheerleading Squad members have been named. They are: Haley Newman, Emmah Vanover, Hannah Wilks, Mandi Holbrook, Sierra Smith, Abby Ste-phens, Madison Wilks, Leslie Rowe, and Narissa Nunley. Their new coach is Katie Collins, a former WMS and GCHS Cheerleader.

Food is still coming in through the 2014 Filled with Hope Awareness Event & Food Drive. Dona-tions are divided between the GCSD Brown Bag Program & Helping Hands Food Pantry. Two schools (AES and GES) participated in a classroom challenge to see could bring in the most items! The winning class at each school (Ms. Martin at AES and Ms. Prater at GES) will be recog-nized with a pizza party provided by OLBH Healthy Community Initiatives. WES students partici-pated in the annual “Turkey Trot” as part of their celebration! A big shout out to Angela Biggs (retired GCSD teacher) who really helped get South Shore area involved this year. Thanks to all who participated and contributed!

GCSD teachers recently completed data analysis training. Teachers participated in and in-depth study on how scores are cal-culated for state assessment results. This training provided an understanding of how various areas have the highest im-portance and how they are scored. All schools are now creating action plans to enhance student achievement for the best overall calculated score. Schools who have completed this process across the state have shown tremendous improvement. GCSD is invested in supporting all students and teachers to move from good to great!

WMS students, staff, family and community members recently enjoyed the Outstanding Student Awards and Recognition Ceremony. Students who scored a "Distinguished" on the KPREP assessment and/or reached bench-mark on the EXPLORE test were recognized for their achievements.

It’s not too late to become a Christmas angel for a GCSD student! Contact your school’s Family Resource/Youth Service Center for more information. We still have several students in need of a sponsor. There is a $50 limit on gifts.

For the latest updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook! Search Greenup Schools.

Did You Know?

Teacher Academies

As an initiative for continuous improvement, our district leads grade specific profes-sional learning academies each month. During this time focus is given to best prac-tices of teaching, instructional strategies, providing rigor, instruction tied to standards, and monitoring student learning for growth.

Sessions happen monthly and focus on literacy and math standards. During ses-sions, teachers are brought together to share and learn best practice teaching strate-gies. Sessions are led by district administrators and district content specialists. The intent of these Academies is to increase the levels of teacher efficacy.

Key offerings include:

• Explicit Instruction • Before, During and After Reading Lessons • Five Components of Literacy • Conceptual Math Strategies • Testing Strategies to Boost Achievement • Matching Instruction to KCAS Standards • Analyzing Student Mastery Data • Make and Take Lessons with Manipulatives • Technology Infusion Stakeholders have input about their learning. Teachers provide feedback at each ses-sion and their input is used to focus the upcoming sessions. As a result, there is a true cycle of continuous improvement for leaders, teachers, and students.

2014 Stultz Pharmacy Holiday Classic

Join Us for GCHS Boys Basketball Action! December 29-30-31 GCHS Gymnasium

Month 3 A�endance

MES 95.12

GES 95.08

MMS 95.01

AES 94.47

WES 94.42

WMS 94.24

GCHS 92.29

District 94.37

Congratulations to McKell Elemen-tary and McKell Middle for winning the Month 3 attendance banners!

Does your child have asthma? The GC Health Department is offering a “Healthy Homes 4 Healthy Kids” Asthma Pilot Program. Experts will work with your family to examine ways to reduce your child’s expo-sure to potential asthma triggers in your home. Space is limited and incentives are available, so join today! Contact Erin Fannin or Cas-sie Mace at 473-9839 for more information.

GCHD Offers Asthma

Pilot Program

FREE Microso!

Office for Students!

In order to help our students succeed this school year, Microsoft is provid-ing Office to every student free of charge. With Office 365, our students now have access to the latest ver-sion of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and much more!

For PC and Mac:

• Visit Office.com/GetOffice365 • Click through to install and follow the onscreen process

• On the installation page select your language and click install

GC Districts Unite to Offer Free ACT Prep Courses! Updated!

The Greenup County Cooperative Extension Office hosted a business "short course" entitled American Private Enterprise Systems. The program is designed for high school juniors and seniors who are interested in going into business. This year's program reached 42 participants from Greenup County Area Technology Center, Russell Area Technology Center and Raceland High School. The stu-dents listened to various entrepreneurs and business professionals from our area and took a field trip to local businesses to learn about how they operate. The stu-dents toured Pregis in Wurtland and the AT&T Call Center in East Park.

Students were quizzed on each lesson taught during the three day course and also took a final exam. The top five students who scored the highest on their quizzes and final exam were granted the opportunity to attend the Kentucky Youth Seminar in June 2015 at the University of Kentucky. Four of the top five students were from Greenup County ATC: Cecelia Bellew, Todd Chapman II, Lakin NIchols and Allison Tracy. These students will be given a chance to obtain scholarships for college at this conference.

GCATC Students Par4cipate in American Private Enterprise System Program

Schools across the district celebrated Veterans Day with special programs and events. Thanks to the many local veterans who took the time to visit our schools and share this special day with students. We appreciate your service and your commitment to sharing your stories with the next generation of proud Americans! *First photo courtesy of Adam Black

“United for Your Future”

Free ACT Prep Sessions

January 17, 2015

January 31, 2015

ACTC Technology Drive Campus (Industrial Parkway)

School districts in Greenup County are uniting to sponsor free ACT (American College Test) preparation courses for sopho-mores, juniors and seniors in the Greenup County, Raceland Independent and Russell Independent School Districts. The ACT, America’s most widely accepted college entrance exam, is an integral part of the admission process for many colleges and programs, and is required for all Kentucky juniors.

Prep sessions will be offered on two separate dates to accommodate student schedules. The days will consist of parent infor-mation sessions and student needs-based sessions for all four components of the ACT. Teachers with content expertise in specific subjects will lead courses in English, Reading, Math, and Science. Furthermore, each course will be student-needs specific (trigonometry, algebra, vocabulary, reading speed , literature, syntax, chart analysis, biochemistry etc.). Courses and their descriptions will be finalized and available prior to the event. The goal of the specific sessions is to allow students to pick areas in which they need to improve based on previous ACT test results. Students will choose their sessions on-site and may attend up to 4 sessions each day. Students are welcome to attend both Saturday events, so they may eventually end up with 8 different sessions to help them improve their scores.

• Student check-in will start at 8:00 each day and a grab-and-go breakfast will be available. • Lunch will be provided from 11:30- 12:30 Registration is now open! Applications are available in the GCHS guidance office and at the Board of Education. We are united for the future of all Greenup County students!

Now Open to

Sophomores!

The GCSD hosted the first annual District Reading Fair in November. Students from each school completed learning projects based on books they had read. Students presented their projects at individual schools November 5-10, and the winners ad-vanced to district competition on November 17. Congratulations District Winners: Individual Fiction: K/1 - Rachel Hall, MES; 2/3 - Raini Hall, AES; 4/5 - Hunter Gullet, GES; 6-8 - Kolby Hunt, MMS; 9-12 - Elisa-beth Boggs, GCHS Individual Non-fiction: K/1 - Joey Jones, AES; 2/3 - Gabe Cox, GES; 4/5 - Ryleigh Duncan, MES; 6-8 - Sophia Shoemaker, WMS

Group/Family Fiction/Non-fiction: K-2 - Carly Hunt, MES; 3-5 - Savannah Grady & Brooke Marshall, GES; 6-8 - Launa Ratcliff, Baylee Robinson, & Hayley Howard, MMS; 9-123 - Amanda Burton, Cecelia Bellew, & Deborah Tolliver, GCHS. The projects were truly amazing! Thanks to our district librarians for the extra effort to make this event special. Now…what to read next?

2014 District Reading Fair