January

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to the winners of our

Ford Elementary Spelling Bee.

Madeline Howard

from Ms. Keasler's Class

and

Michael Farmer

from Mr. Plunkert's Class!

All the participants did a great job at the Spelling Bee!!!
Madeline we will be cheering for you as you move on to the

District Spelling Bee.

Winter Weather

The Winter weather has been a fun treat!

The students came to school very excited

about the snow the other day.

I hope that everyone had a chance to go outside and

enjoy our rare snowy day!

Winter
by Dorothy Aldis
The street cars are like frosted cakes

All covered upWith cold snowflakes.

The horses' hoofs scrunch on the street;

Their eyelashes are white with sleet.

and everywhere the people go

With faces tickled by the snow.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to all of you.

Hope you enjoy time with your family and friends!

See you in the New Year!

Vertical Team Collaboration

For our Professional Learning Day today our vertical teams gathered to collaborate.

They started their time together by introducing themselves with the sentence starter:

"The ice cream flavor that best describes me is___________ because________."

There were some very interesting answers shared.

Everything from Vanilla to Double Chocolate Chunk.

Then the staff moved on to look at the Georgia School Keys.

We looked specifically at Curriculum Standard 2 which addresses collaborative planning.

The teachers shared their thoughts on where our school

is with collaborative planning using the rubric.

The vertical teams also discussed ways we can improve in this area

and move into the "fully operation" stage.

The session was concluded by discussing the benefits of meeting

as a vertical team and what topics they would like to discuss this year during their

vertical team meetings.

Many teachers felt that vertical teams will allow our large staff to stay connected,

focus on the children and create a common language for our school.

Great ideas came from these conversations.

Thank You teachers for your willingness to collaborate and all the great ideas!!

Also, a special Thank You to the Group Leaders who facilitated the conversations

and brought reinforcements just in case.

Fall Has Arrived!

Fall has finally arrived. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather.

On November 14th, 15th and 16th we will be having our Ford Friends and Family Thanksgiving Feast. It is a great opportunity to bring your family members
to Ford to have lunch with your children. The lunchroom staff prepares an excellent
Thanksgiving meal for all to enjoy. We will be having turkey & dressing, a roll,
a choice of 3 sides, carton drink or cup of tea, and a dessert.
Lunch will cost $2.50 for all guests.
The schedule for each day will be sent home with your child.
We look forward to seeing you!

Greetings

Hello I'm Sharon Arduino.

I graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I completed my Masters in Educational Leadership at Kennesaw State University.

I have been an educator for fourteen years.

While in the classroom I taught first, second and third grade.

I was an Instructional Lead Teacher at Nickajack for 6 years.

As an ILT I valued working with the faculty , students and parents to improve student achievement. I also enjoyed mentoring new teachers.

Last year I was an Area Lead Teacher serving 21 schools in Area 2.

I am so excited to be at Ford this year and I look forward to getting to know all of the students and parents in our community!