v Kudos to Briscoe for receiving two special awards last week!  First, our school was one of fifty nationwide to be presented with the 2010-2011 Imagine Nation Super School award, thanks to the outstanding progress made by students using the Imagine Learning program.  Then, we learned that student efforts in collecting Box Tops earned second place in our area, with the competition including schools from other districts.  A banner and traveling trophy was presented to the school during an assembly in the cafeteria last Friday. Both the Imagine Nation Super School plaque and the Box Top Traveling Trophy are proudly displayed in the main office.  Thank you, teachers and staff, for helping Briscoe obtain these special recognitions!

v A congratulation to the winners of Briscoe’s 2011-2012 Spelling Bee - Noey Galvan (Ms. Kibbee’s 5^th grade homeroom) won 3^rd place;               Miguel Rodriguez (Ms. Ritchie’s 5^th grade homeroom) earned 2^nd place; and Matthew Ramirez (Ms. Edwards’ 4^th grade homeroom) was awarded 1^st place!  Matthew will represent Briscoe at the district-level Spelling Bee competition in the spring.  Special thanks to Ms. Edwards for a great job in coordinating this year’s Spelling Bee, to Ms. Weinstein for assisting during the Bee, and to all the teachers and students that participated in this year’s competition.

v Ms. Gehret would like to recognize Kinder and Fifth Grade teachers for completing GT recommendations online by the district’s deadline!  The task involved quite a bit of work, and had to be completed for each homeroom student including new students that enrolled right before the deadline. You all deserve a pat on the back for a job well done!

v Picture retakes went smoothly last Wednesday, thanks to Ms. Arellano who took care of sending notices home prior to the event, and who called students that returned picture packages and all new enrollees to room 6 for pictures.  She did a very good job of taking on this additional responsibility since we were still short-handed in the office as Picture Retake Day approached!  

v At this time, I would like to introduce Lori Barajas as our new office clerk.   Ms. Barajas was selected from among several persons that applied for the LEP clerk position at Briscoe, and comes to us from Fondren Elementary, where she performed many of the duties she will be assigned here at our school. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Barajas to the Briscoe family!

v Kindergarten teachers will be administering the Stanford/Aprenda test to students every morning this week immediately after ancillary.  Please monitor students in the hallways and restrooms of building C to keep the noise level at a minimum during testing.  Also, note that Ms. Valdez and Mr. Ghori will help administer the test to small groups of students so their morning classes/duties will be modified to accommodate the Kindergarten test schedule. 

v Briscoe’s Winter Program will be held on Tuesday, December 13^th. The Programs Committee has provided a Practice Sign-In Sheet (posted on the counter in the main office) so teachers can select a time to practice with students in the cafeteria. At least one performance is needed per grade level so all students can be represented in the program.  Mr. I. Castillo will need your performance information no later than Tuesday of this week (name of teacher and/or grade level performing, what the performance will be – song, dance, poem, skit, and the title of your performance – song title, etc.). The Programs Committee must have this information in order to organize the order of the performances and to create the program, so be sure to send your information as soon as possible but no later than Tuesday, December 6^th.

v The Winter Check-Out Sheet is being reviewed/modified and will be distributed to teachers before the end of the week.  Begin working on the items that need to be taken care of by December 16^th so that all assigned tasks can be completed by the December 16^th due date.

v Save the Date - The Winter Social for the Briscoe staff has been scheduled for Thursday, December 15^th from 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM at the Black Labrador, an English pub/restaurant located on Montrose at Richmond.  An invitation and RSVP form will be shared with staff members as soon as the menu is set, but please “save the date” on your calendar so you can join us for this special holiday celebration!