Week of June 10, 2019


June 9th, 2019

Dear Shining Stars,

This year will be one of the last blog entries of the year. 

• End­ of ­Cycle Goals Reflection OVERDUE – The final step ALL licensed staff, even teachers not on the observation cycle this year, is to complete theEnd­ of ­Cycle Goals Reflection in TalentEd. You do not need to write a novel. A few sentences reflecting on how you did towards your goals is fine, but please complete these by Friday. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Staff Social – Friday @4:00– Mark your calendar for an end ­of ­year El Camino Friday at 4:00 this week! Hop Vally Goodbye to Joel (me) and end of the year social.

• Report Card Updates (print x2 but no envelope stuffing) – Teachers were emailed revised guidelines on how report card printing and stuffing will happen. Teachers print two copies of the report card and deliver those to the office (also return your envelopes if you’d like us to stuff them). This also applies to SPED reports under four pages and ELL reports. Also, Title 1, Music, PE and any other reports are to go home on Friday in Envelopes June 14th. Please let me know if you have any questions.

•End of Year Checklists and Tech Checkout Link – Linked here is the End­ of ­Year Checklist as PDF or Survey for staff who are in charge of a classroom or other area. This form needs to be completed and signed off by me or you can do the survey before the end of the summer. A sign­up sheet for checkout dates and times is here on this Google Doc. You can use the Summer Tech Checkout Link if you are taking home any school technology for the summer. The Tech Department has noted that “The purpose of this privilege is so that teachers can have access to teaching materials online or on their device over the summer. This opportunity is limited to a teacher laptop and/or tablet. Any other technology item (e.g. projectors, SMARTBoards, document cameras, etc) need to remain in the building for summer maintenance and inventory.” By the way, Peggy Vega will be going downtown this summer.  She will be working exclusively on Websites for the district.  We will miss her greatly she has been a top-notch TSS.

• 4J Instructional Framework Pilot – The end of the school year is probably the absolute worst time to ask for volunteers to pilot anything, but the district has developed 4J’s Instructional Framework: Five Dimensions of High-Quality Instruction, which is largely based on a multiyear research effort at the University of Washington. 4J’s twist was to add some equity components that were missing from the original rubric. Working with EEA and HR reps, this pilot is wanting to improve this framework which is better than the current evaluation system. It is a simpler system and will allow you to focus on specific areas for growth.  If there are any teachers interested in being part of this pilot and want to try this rubric instead of the current one, please follow this Instructional Framework Pilot Survey Link to officially indicate your interest for the next school year. Let me know if you have any questions about this. Karen Ramirez will be in charge of this with you so  I also recommend you check with her about the idea of using the pilot.

• Direction Service 2019 Summer Directory – Linked here is the Direction Service 2019 Summer Directory. Each year Direction Service publishes this resource of recreation, respite, support, and service opportunities that families of children with disabilities can access during the summer months – and some are available year­round. Feel free to share this with families. You can also access the 2019 Summer Directory via the Direction Service website.

• Dreambox Student Summer Access – Before you send your students off for summer break, be sure to remind them (and their parents) that they can access DreamBox anywhere, anytime—all summer long. Playing for just 30 minutes three times a week will help them keep their math skills sharp. Feel free to send this Dreambox Parent Tip Sheet home with your students or email it directly to parents. It’s an easy way to get everybody on the same page when it comes to summer learning.

• District Admin Updates – Mike Johnson, principal at Monroe Middle School, has been selected as the Superintendent of Creswell School District, opening up the principalship at Monroe. This leaves admin openings for a principal at Monroe, an AP at Kennedy, and the Federal Programs Administrator.

Here are the remaining events for the rest of the year:

June 10 (M)
All Grade Level Data Team Meeting 1 hour per grade. Subs have been arranged by Jaime Jones.

June 11 (Tu)
8:30-12:30, Field Day and School Wide BBQ- See Dene’s email last Friday.

Bucklew end of the year celebrations in 1st.

3:15-4:00, Final Equity Meeting, Room A200

June 12 (W)
3:15-5:15, PLT Rescheduled ESSA Goals Writing Meeting, Karen Ramirez attends.

June 13 (Th)

Last Day for Title 1 and SPED

Kinder end of the year celebrations.- Skoubo

June 14 (F)
No AM assembly.
12:15-1:00, Racism Free Zone Dedication before Choice Time
Joel and Fiends to Hop Valley for Goodbye celebration.

June 17 (M)
Check out times available with Joel
Regular Day

June 18 (Tu) 

Last Day for Students, Early ReleaseLast Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees

Check out times available.
Pick up brown bag lunches early.

10:00-11:30,Promotion 5th-grade Breakfast

 11:30-11:45, The School-wide Clap out
Last Day of School

11:45 Dismissal

June 19 (W)

Last Day for Licensed Staff

Teacher Grading and Work Day 

That’s all for the week. Get out there and do your very best for kids. They deserve it! 

Saludos cordiales,
Joel Lavin 

Week of June 3, 2019


June 2nd, 2019

Dear Camino del Río Staff,

Never, in the history of our nation, have the 6Cs been so important. Thank you, teachers, for modeling & emphasizing the value and importance of these skills: Character–Citizenship–Communication–Critical Thinking–Collaboration–Creativity

Think about how you can incorporate them each day you work with young people.

Here are some important events and notes for the week:

• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release will focus on an article on Restorative Practices.  The double prep was last week. All year, staff have said that they want to understand it better. This Friday we will cover a few basics to help everyone get on the same page with language and practical tips to support your classroom circles. 

Staff Meeting this Tuesday- In the staff meeting, we will make a few decisions.  1. The PLC focus for 2019-2020. I will also ask for an interest in leadership roles for 2019- 20 to pass on to Karen Ramirez. In addition, I will announce the location of all the classrooms for next year.  The remainder of the meeting will be focused on accomplishments fo 2018-2019. See you in Room A210.

• 2019-2020 Staffing Updates – We will be conducting interviews for two bilingual EA positions this Thursday.  The Bilingual EAs will have two distinct roles, ELL EA and Kindergarten EA. June 5th from 12-4.  We have a good pool to work from and Jennifer, Erin Skoubo, and I screened these candidates last Friday. Karen Ramirez will also be in on the interviews.

• End­ of­ Cycle Goals Reflection –   ALL licensed staff, even teachers not on the observation cycle this year, need to complete in TalentEd is the End ­of ­Cycle Goals Reflection. You do not need to write a lot but it does need to be conclusive about your goals. A few sentences reflecting on how you did towards your goals is fine, but please complete these as soon as possible. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Try to live in the Learning Zone or the Growth Zone. Looking forward to changing in the coming year is living in the Growth Zone. It is ok to lean forward into this work even if you feel tired from the year you have just about completed.

• Subbing for me this week –Tom Maloney will be covering for me on Friday while I take a personal day to go on a field trip with my son. We will be going to Seal Rock to do science with his class. It is an opportunity I did not want to miss. Tom will help run the Friday meeting on Restorative Justice and also help with discipline supports.

• NEHS Senior Stroll Wednesday at 12:20-­12:40 – North Eugene High School staff are continuing their new fun tradition of letting their graduating seniors visit their old elementary and middle schools, but they are changing their format so they are talking all students to all feeder school, so they’ll be at ECDR for a shorter amount of time than in the past. Grads will walk down the halls, but if you want to make sure you see former ECDR students be sure to be in the front lobby between 12:20 and 12:40.

• Report Card Updates (print x2 but not stuff) – At last week’s Elementary Principals’ Meeting and also in an email to licensed staff were revised guidelines on how report card printing and stuffing will happen.  The short version is teachers print two copies of the report card and deliver those to the office. From there, office staff will take it. This also applies to SPED reports under four pages and ELL reports. Principals were also told that Title 1, Music, PE and any other reports are to go home in envelopes on June 14th or 17th. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Licensed Staff Check-out – Check-out Link for Licensed Staff, This is the checkout link. So far, I have three teachers signed up.  We need more than that.  If you cannot make any of the times, please propose a new one! Remember, June 19th will not be a normal check out time. There will be self check out on the Google Survey here: Self Check Out to take care of all of the tasks that need to happen before June 19th at 4:00 PM. This includes all the tasks you have finished before you leave for the summer.  It also includes information forms in case Karen Ramirez, or I need to contact you.

Here is the schedule of events for the rest of the school year:

June 3 (M) 

Office check-in

2:15, Fire Drill 

June 4 (Tu) 

8:00-12:30, Joel at All Admin Meeting and Elementary Meeting

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting- Celebrating success and planning for 2019-20. A210

PLC preferences survey.

4-6, Parent Group Planning Meeting for 2019-20, Library

June 5 (W) 

12:00-4:00, EA Interviews in the Conference Room

PLT canceled.

June 6 (Th) 

3:15-4:00, Final GOTG 

June 7 (F) 

Regular AM assembly.
Easy CBM Benchmarking ends

Restorative Justice PD

June 10 (M)
All Grade Level Data Team Meeting 1 hour per grade. Subs have been arranged by Jaime Jones.

June 11 (Tu)
8:30-12:30, Field Day and School Wide BBQ- look for details from Dene.

June 12 (W)
3:15-5:15, PLT Rescheduled ESSA Goals Writing Meeting

June 13 (Th)

Last Day for Title 1 and SPED

June 14 (F)
No AM assembly.
12:15-1:00, Racism Free Zone Dedication before Choice Time
Joel and Fiends to Hop Valley for Goodbye celebration.

June 17 (M)
Check out times available with Joel
Regular Day

June 18 (Tu) 

Last Day for Students, Early ReleaseLast Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees

Check out times available.
Pick up brown bag lunches early.

10:00-11:30,Promotion 5th-grade Breakfast

 11:30-11:45, The School-wide Clap out
Last Day of School

11:45 Dismissal

June 19 (W)

Last Day for Licensed Staff

Teacher Grading and Work Day 

That’s all for the week. Get out there and do your very best for kids. They deserve it! 

Saludos cordiales,
Joel Lavin 

 

Week of May 27, 2019


May 27th, 2019

Dear Camino Staff,

After hearing from the district that Karen Ramirez would be returning to lead El Camino, I had a huge sigh of relief.  To me, this signified a continuation of the work we have done for the last 5 years that matters most: supporting bilingual student achievement.  I know that you and Karen will continue to ask these questions:

How are the kids?

What story does the data tell about ALL students?

What gaps are we working to close for our students?

Are we growing future leaders and educators to continue the work?

Our school has never been about the brand, it has always been about helping each and every kid grow to their potential.  I have confidence that Karen will take our students to the next level with all of your help.

• Report Card Resources – If it’s helpful, remember there is the 4J Elementary Report Card website, which has information on comments (smaller space so make comments individual and not generic), the Report Card Bridge Document (matching the math CCSS to each section of the report card), tips on report card completion.  Please budget your time to get this done in a timely manner.  We have one day combined for grading and clean up this year.  The grading window is open and ready for you to enter. It will close on June 19th. Remember, you will need to print two copies of the report card. One goes in the cumulative folder, the other is placed in envelopes.  The cumulative folder copies should be separated and labeled by grade. Classified EAs will help file these on June 19th.  This will not be MariCarmen or Yasmin’s job.  They will be focused on preparing the report cards to mail.

• Care Team Resources – Linked here are a few resources that came out of last week’s Student Care Team Meetings: 

• EUGfun 2019 Guide EUGFun! lists a plethora of fun free activities happening across Eugene over the summer. Copies of this can be found on the EUGfun! website and there are also booklets available in the Staff Room. There are also coupons inside to help children find fun things to do at a very low cost.

• Family Court Assistance Office – The purpose of the Family Court Assistance Office is to help the increasing number of self- represented litigants in domestic relations cases (divorce, custody, or parenting time proceedings). Office staff can inform self-represented litigants of court procedures and available court forms, review documents, and provide information about legal services and other resources available in the community. 

• Safe Families – Support for families in crisis get back on their feet. When a crisis strikes, many rely on relatives and friends, but for some families, this is not an option. For families out of options, you can call Safe Families and they will work to arrange care for your child with one of their certified Host Families. How it works: 

• Parent(s) maintain full custody
• 100% Voluntary Placement and Hosting (Host Families are not paid)
• Children go home as soon as the parent(s) are ready
• Children ages 0-18 are eligible, including parenting teens • Volunteer families are trained and screened with background checks & home studies
• Stays can be as short as a couple days and as long as a year
• They are committed to reuniting parents and children as soon as possible 

For more information or to get help, contact Angela Albin at (541) 349-2870 or AAlbin@safefamilies.net, or visit their website. https://eugene.safe-families.org/ 

• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release will focus on an article on Restorative Practices.  All year, staff have said that they want to understand it better. This Friday we will cover a few basics to help everyone get on the same page with language and practical tips to support your classroom circles. 

Restorative Justice Opportunity to Learn

• 2019-2020 Staffing Updates – We will be conducting interviews for two bilingual EA positions next week.  The Bilingual EAs will have two distinct roles, ELL EA and Kindergarten EA. June 5th from 12-4 will be the date of the interviews.  We have a good pool to work from and Jennifer, Erin Skoubo, and I screened these candidates last Friday.

Here is the schedule of events for the rest of the school year:

May 27 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

May 28 (Tu)

7:45-8:00, Office Meeting check-in

Newsletter Check-in
Joel at the Elementary Principal Meeting until 12:15

No meeting.
May 29 (W)

4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI (All Day)
3:15-4:00, PLT- To discuss leadership roles for 2019-20

May 30 (Th)
Regular Day

May 31 (F)
12:00-1:30,Volunteer Appreciation Event at 12:00-1:30. Look for details from Zelene and Alicia. 

2:00-4:00, Teacher Double Prep Time 

June 3 (M) 

Office check-in

2:15, Fire Drill 

June 4 (Tu) 

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting- Celebrating success and planning for 2019-20. A210

4-6, Parent Group Planning Meeting for 2019-20, Library

June 5 (W) 

12:00-4:00, EA Interviews in the Conference Room

PLT cancelled.

June 6 (Th) 

3:15-4:00, Final GOTG 

June 7 (F) 

Regular AM assembly.
Easy CBM Benchmarking ends

June 10 (M)
All Grade Level Data Team Meeting 1 hour per grade. Subs have been arranged by Jaime Jones.

June 11 (Tu)
8:30-12:30, Field Day and School Wide BBQ- look for details from Dene.

June 12 (W)
3:15-5:15, PLT Rescheduled ESSA Goals Writing Meeting

June 13 (Th)
Regular Day

June 14 (F)
No AM assembly.
12:15-1:00, Racism Free Zone Dedication before Choice Time
Regular Day

June 17 (M)
Check out times available with Joel
Regular Day

June 18 (Tu) 

Check out times available.
Pick up brown bag lunches early.

10:00-11:30,Promotion 5th-grade Breakfast

 11:30-11:45, The School-wide Clap out
Last Day of School

11:45 Dismissal

June 19 (W)
Teacher Grading and Work Day 

That’s all for the week. Get out there and do your very best for kids. They deserve it! 

Saludos cordiales,
Joel Lavin 

Week of May 20, 2019


May 19th, 2019

Dear Camino Staff,

The Viaje Musical was once again astounding.  The students were so proud of their work and Mr. Adee outdid himself again.  It truly is like watching an artist painting a masterpiece when students move along to the beat and make music, dance, sing, and believe in the Camino dream. Thank you teachers, volunteers, and Mr. Adee of course for putting on such a beautiful event.  This truly fits in with our cross cultural vision for our school. 

• 2019­-2020 Staffing Updates – Principals were told at our last meeting, pending budget committee and board approvals, that all schools (minus a few smaller schools) next year will get a 6.5 hour, Classified Behavior Coordinator to help with Tier 2 and Tier 3 student behavior support. This will be a new classified position and downtown is still deciding on the job classification, but it will be posted sometime in the near future. Also, we have two 6 hour positions posted under bilingual EA that are up on the district employment page. Be sure to encourage any excellent people you know to apply! 

•Field Day+ BBQ is on June 11.  We will have a variety of activities that are super fun planned for Tuesday, June 11.  Please expect to have less instruction on that day.  Teachers that lose prep time will be able to make up days on Friday, June 14.  Also, the lunch will be a bbq style with recess.  

Lunches will begin at 11:00.

Kindergarten and 1st: 11:00-11:35

1st and 2nd Grades: 11:35-12:10

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades: 12:10-12:45 lunch

 

• End of Year Items – Several informational end­ of­ year items:

• Report Cards & Permanent Record Cards – Teachers can work on report cards anytime, but for attendance purposes, wait to print the later afternoon on the last student day, Tuesday, June 18th. MariCarmen needs to run an attendance update for the dates to calculate correctly on the report cards. The report card window will begin on Monday, May 20.

For printing report cards and stuffing report card envelopes, as has been done in the past, teachers will print two copies of the report cards, stuffing one in the report card envelope (an addresses report card envelope this year) and stuff one in student CUM files (in the back of CUM files, not the front). Another change is teachers no longer need to fill out the permanent records cards. For this year’s report card envelopes, do not put anything in the envelope other than the one sheet (printed back­to­back). All envelopes have to be standard letter weight since this will be a mass mailing. All Title 1, ELL, and Sped reports will be delivered separately. If teachers would like help stuffing envelopes, there will be classified staff working on Grading Day, Wednesday, June 19th, so we should be able to find folks still working in the building this day to help if teachers get report cards printed before noon this day.

PE, Music, and Title 1 reports are to go home on Monday, June 17th the Monday Envelopes. SSD and Instruction are still deciding how to handle SPED end of year reports, which can be multiple pages.

Remember to choose one language to send report cards. Spanish or English report cards will be sent by mail.

• Last Day Dismissal Time – El Camino’s dismissal time for the last day of school, Tuesday, June 18th, will be at 11:45 am.

• 5th Grade Promotion & Clap Out – 5th grade is having their promotion ceremony Tuesday, June 18th at 10:00-11:40 in the lobby area. Their breakfast will begin in the library at 10:00 with some short informal speeches and closure. 5th grade will go to their room around 11:20 to get ready to go to the clap out and staff will help students line the halls at 11:30. We will line the hallways to clap them out and end their clap out in the gym before dismissal.

• Grab-­n-­Go Lunches – We’ll again provide students with a bagged lunch on the last morning. We will run this as we’ve done in the past. The younger grades will be called for lunches early in the day.  Teachers can also send students with a wagon or Rubbermaid bucket to get lunches. Please plan to get this before 10:45 and arrange with B Loftis for the pick-up times.

• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release Math PD is for “Building Goals” so this meeting will be a number of business items including our ESSA Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP), First Day of School Plans (meet in gym or just go to class), Class Lists (how are they looking?), Master Schedule (updates and discussion), and any other business items folks might have, so let me know if you have any items to add to the agenda.

• Barcoding Elementary Curriculum Materials in Schools – Principals were sent an email letting us know that this summer a 4J cataloging specialist will be barcoding all the Journeys, Being A Writer, and Intervention materials in all elementary schools. Since we have three summer school programs using downstairs classrooms and teachers usually like to lock down everything, but teachers should make sure that the above-listed materials are not locked up and are accessible to the catalog specialists. Downtown also asked principals to remind teachers of changing buildings that curriculum materials stay in the current building and that staff does not take materials with them to their new location. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• An Evening with Dr. Wendy Ellis: Building Community Resilience – A Call to Action – Tuesday, May 21st from 6:00­-8:00 at the Ed Center Auditorium will be a free event sponsored by Lanekids and Lane Early Learning Alliance, for preK­12 leaders, educators, and community members. Dr. Ellis will share information and lessons learned from the Building Community Resilience (BCR) initiative and the community-based efforts to address adverse childhood experiences and adverse community environments, which Dr. Ellis has coined the “Pair of ACEs.” See the linked flyer for details and if you’d like to attend, follow this Registration Link.

Here is the Calendar of events for the remainder of the year:

May 20 (M)

Library book return week (No new books out after the 17th of May)

EasyCBM testing begins

Newsletter Check-in

May 21 (Tu)

6th Grade MAth tests at 10:05 AM- Joel Proctors them. (Conference Room)

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting PBIS (A210) 

May 22 (W)

2:30- Fire Drill  (Hopefully not during testing.)

3:15-4:00, PLT (Conference Room)

May 23 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting (A200)

May 24 (F)

Morning Asemblea- Normal time, please bring Virtudes down early for signing.

2:15-3:00, Math PLC (A210)

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

May 27 (M)

No School – Memorial Day

May 28 (Tu)

Newsletter Check-in

Joel at the Elementary Principal Meeting until 12:15

May 29 (W)

4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI (All Day)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 30 (Th)

Regular Day

May 31 (F)

Volunteer Appreciation Event in the AM- Look for details from Zelene and Alicia.

2:00-4:00, Teacher Double Prep Time

June 3 (M)

2:15, Fire Drill 

June 4 (Tu)

No parent group

June 5 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

June 6 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Final GOTG

June 7 (F)

Regular AM assembly.

Easy CBM Benchmarking ends

June 10 (M)

All Grade Level Data Team Meeting 1 hour per grade. Subs have been arranged by Jaime Jones.

June 11 (Tu)

8:30-12:30, Field Day and School Wide BBQ- look for details from Dene.

June 12 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

June 13 (Th)

Regular Day

June 14 (F)

No AM assembly.

12:15-1:00, Racism Free Zone Dedication before Choice Time 

Regular Day

June 17 (M)

Check out times available with Joel

Regular Day

June 18 (Tu)

Check out times available.

Pick up brown bag lunches early.

10:00-11:30,Promotion 5th-grade Breakfast 

Clap out 11:30-11:45, Dismissal.

Last Day of School

June 19 (W)

Teacher Grading and Work Day

 

That’s all for the week. Get out there and do your very best for kids.  They deserve it!

Saludos cordiales,

Joel Lavin

 

Week of May 13, 2019


May 13th, 2019

Here are some of the main items of the week:

• Stop, Walk, Talk Classroom Review – Classroom teachers, please review the linked 2 minutes 31 second Stop, Walk, Talk Video with students this week. EAs need to hold students more accountable for first trying Stop, Walk, Talk before going to an adult (unless it’s safety-related), by first asking students “Did you tell them to stop?” and “Did you try walking away?” before an adult intervenes. It’s also important for the student when they are telling someone to STOP what it is they want them to stop doing (i.e. “Stop following me” or Stop saying that to my friend”). Another reminder teachers can reinforce with students is to report situations (“tell”) right away and not at the end of recess when recess supervisors need to leave for groups.

2019-­2020 Consumables Order: DUE FRIDAY! GOT TO DO TASK– Teachers were sent an email regarding consumable order for next year for Being a Writer, Journeys, LearnZillion, and FOSS Science. All orders must be completed by the end of next week. Here is a link to the Google Sheet.

 

• IEP Meeting Compensation – Non­SSD teachers can use the linked Non­SSD Licensed IEP Time Log (2018­2019) found on the HR Forms webpage (there is a separate form for SSD staff) to request payment for up to six hours of additional compensation based on you per diem rate. Submissions will be accepted through June 14, 2019, by 5:00 PM. Payment will be included on the June 29th pay installment. See the above link for details.

• Student Care Team Referrals Due FRIDAY – The Student Care Team will meet next week, which means student/family referrals to the team are due this Friday. DHS has been great about helping quite a few of our families, pointing them towards resources for a variety of different situations (homelessness, assistance with bills, incarcerated parents, counseling resources, and many others), so please consider referring a student or family in need. Try to get a signature on the 4J Release Form (English or Spanish) so DHS can research the family situation to see what services they would qualify for. And if it is of use in talking with families, linked here is an English/Spanish Care Team Flyer. If there’s a situation where you can’t get a signature for whatever reason, you can refer “hypothetical” student or family situations. Let me know if you have any questions about potential referrals, but if it’s a situation that’s on your mind, it’s probably a worth referring to the team.

• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release Spanish Literacy PD  an assessment session for grade level teams to work together, so plan to bring your “Spanish tier 2 stuff” to A210. And remember, if you haven’t already, you can log your PLC hours for collecting PDUs by registered for Staff Meetings and Friday Early Release PDs by going to 4jpd.net

• Child Protection Unit Info – Erin’s Law lessons are now expected to be taught in by classroom teachers using a 6­lesson Second Step curriculum that’s been purchased for schools. However, Matt has stepped up and offered to finish meeting this year’s required lessons, so teachers are off the hook until next fall.

In the meantime, if teachers want to look over the curriculum, it’s all online and I can give you the access codes for your grade level, as well as your grade level’s notebook and posters if you’d like them now. The plan for next year will be that in the fall teachers will go over the first five Second Step Safety Lessons (probably during Safety Week) and will teach the sixth lesson as a review/refresher before winter break and before spring break. State law expects all students kindergarten through 12th grade to be instructed in the child protection. Let me know if you have questions or if you’d like the access codes, grade level notebook, and posters for your grade level.

 

Here is the calendar of some of the main events:

Noche Cultural- Marimba del Rio

May 13 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

May 14 (Tu)

8:30­-12:00, Joel to All Admin & Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

4:45-5:45, Site Council

6:00-7:15, Parent Group

May 15 (W)

3:15-5:14, PLT ESSA Goals Planning- Goal #2

Viaje Musicale Setup

May 16 (Th)

10:05-11:15, Joel proctoring 6th Grade Math Tests (Conference Room)

The gym is not available after school. 

Viaje musical setup

May 17 (F)

2:00-3:00, Data Team Meeting on Spanish Core

6:00-8:00, Viaje Musical (Gym)

May 20 (M)

Library book return week (No new books out after the 17th)

EasyCBM testing begins

Newsletter Check-in

May 21 (Tu)

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting PBIS (A210) 

May 22 (W)

2:30- Fire Drill  (Hopefully not during testing.)

3:15-4:00, PLT (Conference Room)

May 23 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting (A200)

May 24 (F)

2:15-3:00, Math PLC (A210)

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

May 27 (M)

No School – Memorial Day

May 28 (Tu)

Newsletter Check-in

Joel at the Elementary Principal Meeting until 12:15

May 29 (W)

4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI (All Day)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 30 (Th)

Regular Day

May 31 (F)

2:00-4:00, Teacher Double Prep Time

June 3 (M)

2:15, Fire Drill 

June 4 (Tu)

Site Council (Meet new principal?)

No parent group

June 5 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

June 6 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Final GOTG

June 7 (F)

Easy CBM Benchmarking ends

June 10 (M)

All Data Data Team Meeting

June 11 (Tu)

8:30-12:30, Field Day and School Wide BBQ

June 12 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

June 13 (Th)

Regular Day

June 14 (F)

Regular Day

June 17 (M)

Regular Day

June 18 (Tu)

Promotion 5th-grade Breakfast (Tentative)

Last Day of School

 

That’s all for the week. Get out there and do your very best for kids.  They deserve it!

Saludos cordiales,

Joel Lavin

Week of May 6, 2019


May 5th, 2019

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week,

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, which is a week to give explicit thanks to teachers. Yes, all our staff support our kids each and every day. And, teachers, this is YOUR WEEK! You have a special gift to recognize each and every child and help them grow. Our teachers are extraordinary in their dedication to students and their abilities to reach students. Your approach to the whole child is noticed by all of us. We can see your actions making such a huge difference in our students’ lives.  You all are the best, and I’m so happy and proud to be part of our fantastic team that supports our teachers each and every day!

The Parent Group is working to recognize ALL El Camino teachers, this week, so look for goodies in the Staff Room! Also, please check your mailboxes for kind things each day to celebrate your work as teachers.

Here are a few items of note for the week:

• 2019-2020 Consumables Order: Please Complete by May 17 – Teachers were sent an email regarding consumable order for next year for Being a Writer, Journeys, LearnZillion, and FOSS Science. All orders must be completed by the end of next week. Here’s a direct link to the Google Spreadsheet.

• Grade Book Training & Report Card Marks – Brooke emailed principals and asked us to share the following information:

Dear Teachers,

For those interested, the district will have some additional Elementary GradeBook training for the second semester grading period, please be on the lookout for an email from Tammy Christensen with specifics about dates and times.

Besides, we have some clarification of the report card marks, we want to make sure staff are clear about the percentages and marks 1-4. The 1-4 marks are not rubricked scores.

This image shows the percent ranges the Elementary Report Card Sub-Committee assigned to each mark. Note the percent range necessary to earn each mark on the report card.

Please direct your questions tosis@4j.lane.edu.

Thanks

Brooke

• Courage Kids Summer Camp Sign Up – Courageous Kids offers a free 4 day/3 night camp for youth grades 1st-12th who have experienced the death of a loved one. Space is limited so register quickly. See the linked flyer for details about this year’s camp and please share with any students or families who you think would benefit.

•Transitions Intent to enroll:  This week you will receive a letter to send home to parents about intending to stay at El Camino next year.  We will use this as a guide to help balance classes in all grades. It may also give is strong evidence to shift FTE  to lower grades if we find that there is significant attrition in upper grades. I will have the letter ready on Monday afternoon.

Calendar of events for May and early June:

May 6 (M)

Teacher Appreciation Week

PLC time with Reid

May 7 (Tu)

Office Meeting

PLC Time with Reid

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting (A210) 

Agenda:

  • Celebrations of success
  • Peer Leadership
  • Planning 19-20 and End of Year Activities for 19′

May 8 (W)

OEA Teacher Walkout- No School

May 9 (Th)

Regular Day

May 10 (F)

2:00-3:00, Technology Learning Led by Teachers including Apple Classroom and Dreambox

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep Time

May 13 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

May 14 (Tu)

4:45-5:45, Site Council

6:00-7:15, Parent Group

May 15 (W)

3:15-5:00, PLT ESSA Goals Planning

Viaje Musicale Setup

May 16 (Th)

The gym is not available after school. 

Viaje musical setup

May 17 (F)

2:00-3:00, Data Team Meeting on Spanish Core

6:00-8:00, Viaje Musical (Gym)

May 20 (M)

EasyCBM testing begins

Newsletter Check-in

May 21 (Tu)

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting PBIS (A210) 

May 22 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT (Conference Room)

May 23 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting (A200)

May 24 (F)

2:15-3:00, Math PLC (A210)

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

May 27 (M)

No School – Memorial Day

May 28 (Tu)

Newsletter Check-in

Joel at the Elementary Principal Meeting until 12:15

May 29 (W)

4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI (All Day)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 30 (Th)

Regular Day

May 31 (F)

2:00-4:00, Teacher Double Prep Time

June 3 (M)

2:15, Fire Drill 

June 4 (Tu)

Site Council (Meet new principal?)

No parent group

June 5 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

June 6 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Final GOTG

June 7 (F)

Easy CBM Benchmarking ends

June 10 (M)

All Data Data Team Meeting

June 11 (Tu)

8:30-12:30, Field Day and School Wide BBQ

June 12 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

June 13 (Th)

Regular Day

June 14 (F)

Regular Day

June 17 (M)

Regular Day

June 18 (Tu)

Promotion 5th-grade Breakfast (Tentative)

Last Day of School

Have a good week everyone! You’ve got this! Have a fantastic week with your students!  Make every moment count.

Joel 

Week of April 22, 2019


April 21st, 2019

Hi Shining Stars,

This Wednesday is Administrative Professionals’ Day.  I’d like to recognize the hard work of El Camino’s excellent office staff, Yasmin and MariCarmen who manage so much each day.  Yasmin is responsible for improving our attendance rates. MariCarmen is the most organized secretary in the district. Thank you for delivering messages, wiping bloody noses, talking down frantic parents, helping new students get to class, checking for head lice, and that’s all before 8:30am!  Did I mention that we are the only 100% bilingual school office in 4j? Thank you for all you do! They both have the best smiles.

Here are some items of note for the week:

• May 3rd offerings for EAs – Classified Staff were sent an email about the various workshop they are to attend on Friday, May 3rd. Go back to your email and reread the Transition Day email for details as well as the Workshop Registration Directions that were included in the original email and will direct you to 4jpd.net 

• Staffing update- We have made two new teacher hires for school next year.  Our own, Antonio Salgado Cruz will become a 1st-grade teacher next fall.  Antonio will be in a teaching program but the district has given the go-ahead to allow him to teach in Fall 2019 with an emergency license. We are thrilled to have him in this new role. In 2nd Grade, we welcome Alison Ramirez. She is coming from Northern California, Santa Cruz to become a teacher at our school. She just completed her 1st year teaching in Sonoma California in a dual languge classroom in 4th grade. At this point, we are fully staffed in licensed positions.  Now, we have to begin to hire classified staff. We will need to hire two bilingual EA’s and I will be posting those requisitions next week.  Spread the word to your bilingual friends of this wonderful opportunity.

Alison Ramirez Byers

EEF Grants Due MONDAY – If you have any grant ideas, get them to me by this Friday! Site Council will rank order all grant proposals at that time. See prior announcements for details, but you don’t need to write the entire grant at this point. Just tell me your title and general idea.

District Admin Updates – Kat Lange has been hired as the new Director Student Services Department (SSD), starting in July, taking the place of Cheryl Linder who is retiring. Kat has been serving as one of our SSD administrators since January 2018 at the high school level. Before coming to 4J, Kat worked in Colorado, where she was a special education director and college adjunct professor in a smaller school district. She previously served as a principal, assistant principal, and special education teacher.

Tackling the Stress of Testing Season – For many of our students, academic preparation isn’t enough to ensure a smooth testing season. In this edition of Teaching Tolerance’s The Moment, they offer tips for dealing with this stressful time of year—including resources for understanding and countering stereotype threat and affirming all our students.

How a Literacy-First Program Revived a School- A Title I school in the Bronx is dramatically improving student outcomes—one book at a time. The article is here.

Here are the main events at school through the end of May:

April 22 (M)

OSAS TESTING Begins

National School Volunteer Week

Newsletter  Office Check-in

5th Grade at Outdoor School 

April 23 (Tu)

Joel will be at the Elementary Principal Meeting in the AM

2:10-3:00, Assembly 123 Andres Music Group,  bring backpacks.

6:00-Evening 123 Andres Parent Engagement Assembly

5th Grade at Outdoor School 

April 24 (W)

Administrative Professionals Day-( 😉 Yasmin and MariCarmen)

3:15-4:00, PLT

5th Grade at Outdoor School 

April 25 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting in A200

April 26 (F)

No Friday assembly. 

New Choice time begins. –  12:45- Beginning in the gym to organize classes.

2:00-3:00, Math PLC Time

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

April 29 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

April 30 (Tu)

8:30-12:30, LCC dental clinic-10 Students- Ann Anderson

6:00-7:30, El Dia de Los Libros

May 1 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 2 (Th)

North Region El Camino Team observing @ El Camino  in the AM

5:30-7:30, ACE Awards Celebration

May 3 (F)

Transition Day- No meetings set by Joel. 

Joel at Mandt Training 8:00-5:00

May 6 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

PLC time with Reid

May 7 (Tu)

PLC Time with Reid

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting (A210) IDEA and 504 Movie Video with Popcorn and Licorice

May 8 (W)

OEA Teacher Walkout- No School

May 9 (Th)

Regular Day

May 10 (F)

2:00-3:00, Restorative Practices Article Study

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep Time

May 13 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

May 14 (Tu)

4:45-5:45, Site Council

6:00-7:15, Parent Group

May 15 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 16 (Th)

The gym is not available after school. 

May 17 (F)

2:00-3:00, Restorative Practice/Disrupted Learning Conversation

6:00-8:00, Viaje Musical (Gym)

May 20 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

May 21 (Tu)

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting PBIS (A210) 

May 22 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT (Conference Room)

May 23 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting (A200)

May 24 (F)

2:15-3:00, Math PLC (A210)

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

May 27 (M)

No School – Memorial Day

May 28 (Tu)

Newsletter Check-in

Joel at the Elementary Principal Meeting

May 29 (W)

4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI (All Day)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 30 (Th)

Regular Day

May 31 (F)

2:00-4:00, Teacher Double Prep Time

 

Have a good week everyone! You’ve got this! Have an amazing week with your students!  Make every moment count.

Joel 

Week of April 15, 2019


April 14th, 2019

April Inspiration

Dear Shining Stars,

I am so extremely proud of our work on a very successful Noche Cultural. So many hours of work were represented there. Zelene, David, Nikita, and many other teachers put in the times to make this a very rich event.  Fernel and his wife also put in many hours to help make this happen. Alicia and the Latinx Leadership group was also very instrumental in bringing educational experiences to this event.

Noche Cultural was born out of adversity in our community but last Friday night was all about being together, learning together, and culturally aware students.  Seeing students dressed to dance together from multiple cultures and ethnicities is what really hit me.  Our students HAVE become cross-culturally aware in our school.  We cannot measure this with a test, but we can see it in how students develop relationships, how they work together to perform a dance, or how they interact in our community. Thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors, classified staff, parents, community members, and families who made this such a successful event.  I hope that this remains a k-8 program or even becomes a k-12 event.

Here are some news items of importance for the week:

• Teacher Registration for New ELL Program – Ellevation (click link here)- The ELD Program recently purchased Ellevation, a data, reporting, and collaboration platform designed to support ELs and their teachers. This program is available to all administrators, specialists, and teachers, and will allow all certified educators access to longitudinal data of their current and former EL students. This data is critical when addressing instructional decision-making and program placement. All licensed staff should follow this Ellevation Registration Link to sign-up (only takes about a minute). I’ll also put hard copies of the letter in your mailbox Monday. For additional information, (1) Ellevation Teacher Letter  and 2) Ellevation Information for Classroom Teachers PowerPoint. 

Ballet Folklorico Tour with Nikita on Monday, April 15

Nikita will be doing a full tour on Monday to give a short presentation(15-20 minutes) about Ballet Folklorico.  Some of it will be about the history of Ballet Folklorico and some of it will be about our school’s program (Choice Time and after school).  When I get to your room I will have kids watch a short video and then see some pictures and clothes from Ballet Folklorico.  You can have the presentation in Spanish or both Eng./Span.  Be present during the presentation so kids can refer to you if they have any questions later about it. 
 
Here is a schedule for everyone.  I looked at the master schedule to make this, but let me know if it doesn’t work.  I have some flexibility in the late afternoon.
 
8:30-8:45 Screen (To be rescheduled)
8:50-9:05 Gomez (To be rescheduled)
9:10-9:25 Diaz
9:30-9:55 Skoubo
10:00-10:15 Reckers
10:20-10:35 Flores
10:40-11:00 Hernandez
11:40-11:55 Ramirez
12:00-12:15 Hellman
12:20-12:35 Bochnia
12:40-12:55 Bucklew
1:00-1:15 Barnes
1:45-2:00 Chavez
2:05-2:20 Piper/Kantara

• Doddle Buddy App Removed – It recently came to the Tech Department’s attention that Doodle Buddy contained advertising that may not be appropriate for students. The app is being removed from student iPads this week and will be replaced with replacement apps, like Book Creator, Keynote, Notability, Seesaw, and Notes. 

• School Websites – Classroom websites are a great way to communicate with families and keep them connected to what’s happening here at school. You may not know it, but our TSS, Peggy, besides supporting Howard and River Road/ El Camino del Rio also works 12-15 hours a week helping to make the school websites across the district. If you’d like help building a class website or improving your current website, send in a ticket to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu 

 

 

Here are the main events for April and May:

April 15 (M)

8:30-9:10, Peruvian Assembly 

3:15-6:15, ESSA Goal Setting Meeting

April 16 (Tu)

3:15-4:00, PBIS Staff Meeting (A210)

April 17 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

April 18 (Th)

3:15-4:00, GOTG B

April 19 (F)

No Friday Assembly

No Choice time this Friday.

2:00-3:00, Disrupted Learning Discussion #2

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

April 22 (M)

National School Volunteer Week

Newsletter Check-in

5th Grade at Outdoor School 

April 23 (Tu)

Joel will be at the Elementary Principal Meeting in the AM

2:10-3:00, Assembly 123 Andres Music Group,  bring backpacks.

6:00-Evening 123 Andres Parent Engagement Assembly

5th Grade at Outdoor School 

April 24 (W)

Administrative Professionals Day-( 😉 Yasmin and MariCarmen)

3:15-4:00, PLT

5th Grade at Outdoor School 

April 25 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting in A200

April 26 (F)

No Friday assembly. 

New Choice time begins. –  12:45- Beginning in the gym to organize classes.

2:00-3:00, Math PLC Time

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

April 29 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

April 30 (Tu)

8:30-12:30, LCC dental clinic-10 Students- Ann Anderson

6:00-7:30, El Dia de Los Libros

May 1 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 2 (Th)

Kelly Middle School Teachers observe our classrooms.

5:30-7:30, ACE Awards Celebration

May 3 (F)

Transition Day- No meetings set by Joel. 

Joel at Mandt Training 8:00-5:00

May 6 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

PLC time with Reid

May 7 (Tu)

PLC Time with Reid

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting (A210) IDEA and 504 Movie Video with Popcorn and Licorice

May 8 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 9 (Th)

Regular Day

May 10 (F)

2:00-3:00, Restorative Practices Article Study

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep Time

May 13 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

May 14 (Tu)

4:45-5:45, Site Council

6:00-7:15, Parent Group

May 15 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 16 (Th)

The gym is not available after school. 

May 17 (F)

2:00-3:00, Restorative Practice/Disrupted Learning Conversation

6:00-8:00, Viaje Musical (Gym)

May 20 (M)

Newsletter Check-in

May 21 (Tu)

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting PBIS (A210) 

May 22 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT (Conference Room)

May 23 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting (A200)

May 24 (F)

2:15-3:00, Math PLC (A210)

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

May 27 (M)

No School – Memorial Day

May 28 (Tu)

Newsletter Check-in

Joel at the Elementary Principal Meeting

May 29 (W)

4th and 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI (All Day)

3:15-4:00, PLT

May 30 (Th)

Regular Day

May 31 (F)

2:00-4:00, Teacher Double Prep Time

 

 

Have a good week everyone! You’ve got this! Have an amazing week with your students!  Make every moment count.

 

Week of April 8, 2018


April 7th, 2019

Dear Shining Stars,

Congratulations to El Camino’s 3 ACE Awards Nominees, licensed staff members David Adee, Dene Eller, and classified staff member Yasmin Aguilar! You are all well deserving of your nominations and you show the community what an amazing staff we have here at El Camino!

ACE Award “Champions” will be selected in four categories: Teachers & Licensed Specialists, Classified Staff, Administrators & Supervisors, and Volunteers. Each champion will receive a $250 grant from the Eugene Education Foundation for a school or program of their choosing. A special Lifetime Achievement Award also will be announced.

All nominees will be honored and champions will be announced at the awards celebration at North Eugene High School on Thursday, May 2, 5:30–7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Please join me to celebrate with them on May 2.

SELF CARE APRIL: We all know that there are no non-school days in April.  Sometimes, this month can seem so stressful with so much to complete and of course, testing.  I found this handy self-care calendar that you might want to try. I have also heard that some staff have made some healthy choices and are supporting each other to meet their personal self-care goals. Way to go! Do what you can to support each other.  

Motivation Monday #2- As many of you know, Dene Eller is helping remind students about being all they can be. Monday in the cafeteria will be out the next installment of the Kid President.  Watch this video and try to include some of the messaging in your morning meeting. It will help us build a strong climate with the students. It is also a good reminder for all of us.

 

Staffing Updates- Let’s do some interviews! We have two teachers to hire.  I have set the interview schedule to be this Thursday. We need two teachers to get a substitute for the day to help us run interviews.  We have about 9 candidates in the screening pool right now. We need to hire a 2nd and 1st-grade teacher.  I need one primary teacher to help out. Ana Hansen has already volunteered to help us. Send me an email Monday if you are willing to help. Interviews will run from 10:00-2:30 with processing and ranking after school that day. 

EEF Grants Due to Joel by May 2 – EEF Grant Applications are now open and grants need to be given to me by May 2 for Site Council to rank order our grant submissions. I don’t need the grant completely written out, but if you can give me a title and general idea of the grant, that’s enough for us to rank order them. The date to submit the completed grants is May 17th, but our May Site Council date falls after that date. Linked here is the 2019-­2020 EEF Grant Application Announcement. We can submit up to five grants in any amount up to $5,000. EEF puts a higher priority on grants related to Arts, Literacy, and STEM. The application is very straightforward and I am happy to help out.

• District Admin Updates – If your’e interested, downtown is restructuring the Instructional Department, not adding any new positions, but reshuffling current positions and duties. Susan Penrod’s curriculum administrator position is being changed into a new K­8 director position and Brooke’s Elementary Director position also becoming a K­8 Director position, so there will be two K­8 Directors. This model of a K­8 Director and a High School Director is what was in place over 10 years ago. Sue Wilson will take over Susan Penrod’s ELA and Humanities duties becoming Director of Curriculum. Also, Karen Pérez of the Office of Equity, Instruction, and Partnerships is taking over the Title III (English Language Learners), Title IC (Migrant Education), and dual language programs. Lastly, they are shifting and revising TOSA positions to both support the upcoming curriculum adoptions and to support the Curriculum Director across content areas.

• National Poetry Month – April is National Poetry Month and here are a few useful links from WeAreTeachers of 50 Must Share Poems for Elementary Students, Teaching Tolerance on using Maya Angelou poems to celebrate National Poetry Month, from ReadWriteThink.org, and Edutopia.

 

Here are some of the upcoming events in the school:

April 8 (M)

PLC Day 1

DAY 1 8:45-12:45
SCHEDULE 3 SUBS
9:00-10:00 2ND
10:00-11:00 3RD
11:40-12:40 1ST

April 9 (Tu)

Joel at the All Admin Meeting until 12:00 PM

PLC Day 2

DAY 2 8:30-12:30
SCHEDULE 4 SUBS
8:45-9:45 4 TH/ 5th
10:00-11:00 KINDER 
  11:00-12:00 Joel/ Reid Check in

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting-Benito Juarez Communication Meeting

April 10 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT- Focus is on Master Schedule Planning and Classroom Placement Decision Process

April 11 (Th)

10:00-2:30, Interviews for 1st and 2nd-grade positions

3:15-4:00, Noche Cultural Last Minute Check-in

April 12 (F)

2:00-4:00, Friday Everyone Collaborates to support Noche Cultural

5:00-8:00 PM, Benito Juarez/ Noche Cultural

April 15 (M)

Regular Day

ESSA Goal Setting Meeting

April 16 (Tu)

PBIS Staff Meeting

April 17 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

April 18 (Th)

3:15-4:00, GOTG B

April 19 (F)

2:00-3:00, Disrupted Learning Discussion #2

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

April 22 (M)

National School Volunteer Week

April 23 (Tu)

Joel will be at the Elementary Principal Meeting in the AM

April 24 (W)

Administrative Professionals Day-( 😉 Yasmin and MariCarmen)

April 25 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting in A200

April 26 (F)

2:00-3:00, Math PLC Time

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

Other big evening events coming soon:

April 12, Noche Cultural

April 23, 123 Andres Assembly and Parent Engagement Night

April 30, El Dia de Los Libros Literacy Night

May 3,  No School-Transition Day-Class List Making and 5/6 transition work

May 17, Viaje Musical

 

Have a good week everyone! You’ve got this! Have an amazing week with your students!  Make every moment count.

Joel

Week of March 18, 2019


March 17th, 2019

Dear Shining Stars,

As we approach the Spring Break,  I am seeing a many positive characteristics come through. These are some characteristics many of us are striving for and that we want to achieve together. I see them in the hallways, classrooms, and our staff meetings.

Build strong relationships- I see each and every one of you do this. Keep working at those student, parent and staff relationships.

Teach essential social skills- I know this year more than ever the Second Steps Curriculum has benefitted your students.

Get on the same page-  The ongoing conversation we are having with Reid Shepard and with each other is about getting on the same page.  We are working on this one.  I feel this should be a major area of focus for us as a staff. We must make a meaningful commitment  about our school wide agreements on classroom and  learn to live with it. 

Teach all students problem solving- I see this happening often. It is improving our school culture.

Create meaningful parent involvement- We are very good at this.  Every visitor that I guide through our school is impressed with the level of involvement in our school. Our parents make a huge difference in the culture of our school.

Celebrate personal achievement and good behavior- Our weekly school wide meetings are a best practice in building positive culture.  Celebrating those students  who do the right thing is very important.  

Model the behaviors you want to see in your school-  We are the solution. No one else will “fix” the problems we face with high intensity behavior.  Look within yourself.  Look to each other.  We are the change, not “the district.” The conversations we have to get on the same page will help us move forward but the work we do daily with young people is what matters most. The way we act in front of them matters too.

• Staffing and classroom placement – I have been trying to figure out ways to place all our classrooms in the building.  We definitely have room for all of them but it will be tighter than it is this year.  Some staff will have to move classrooms but we also will have to close some rooms to their previous use.  For example, A209 will most likely become a regular classroom and Title will now be in one classroom downstairs.  Also,  the 4J nursing department is staying in our building another year. This was decided by the instruction department and SSD downtown. The tricky part is that I cannot seem to design a classroom arrangement that includes all 2nd grade classes on one floor.  

• ESSA Indicator meeting last week – The ESSA indicator meeting was a lot of rating and hard work, but it was not something our staff has not done before.  This week we will be prioritizing the areas the team feels we need to do the most work on as a school. We meet Wednesday from 3:15-6:15.  Interestingly, there is some work we feel we can do to improve our school but there are many things the team feels are not in our control, but the district’s control.  We will discuss this further next week and I will give an update at the post-Spring break staff meeting.

• Looking for Sponsors for Noche Cultural-If you know someone who has a business that would like to support our school, please send me a quick email. I will add their name to the Benito Juarez Noche Cultural Poster.

•Choice Time extended to April 12-This is a reminder that we decided to extend choice time to April 12 so students would have more time to practice dance and do cultural activities  together  in preparation for the Benito Juarez Noche Cultural Celebration. Nancy will be arranging our final set of choice time selections very soon. Expect an email from her communicating about this.  It is important that we have a balance of choices for all grade levels.  Communicate with Nancy so our kids have the best selection possible.

• Care Team Referrals due Tuesday-Short notice, but the Student Care Team is meeting this Thursday if staff have any students or family situations they would like to refer to the team. We have a high number of students in difficult situations, so please let me know if you have any families who are looking for help (referral form English and Spanish and English/Spanish Care Team Flyer) or any “hypothetical” situations to bring to the team.

• Movement And Breathing Breaks Help Students Stay Focused On Learning – Research has shown that short movement breaks help students get focused, improving both skill-building and knowledge retention. See thisMind/Shift Article for details (as if you didn’t already know this was a good idea).

 

Here are some of the upcoming events in the school:

March 18(M)

All Day Dual Language Observations (Previously cancelled due to snow days.) Reset the substitutes using Immersion Task Force code. We will go to North Eugene and Kelly.  The observations begin at Kelly.

March 19 (Tu)

3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting-PBIS

4:00-5:00, Noche Cultural Meeting

March 20 (W)

3:00-4:00, PLT

3:15-6:15, PLT ESSA Planning Part Deux

March 21 (Th)

3:00-4:00, GOTG

March 22 (F)

Double Prep

March 25 (M)

Spring Break

March 26 (Tu)

Spring Break

March 27 (W)

Spring Break

March 28 (Th)

Spring Break

March 29 (F)

April 1 (M)

Regular Day

2:20 PM Fire Drill

April 2 (Tu)

Staff Meeting on Noche Cultural

April 3 (W)

3:00-4:00, PLT

April 4 (Th)

3:00-4:00, GOTG

April 5 (F)

2:15-3:00-Progress Monitoring #2

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

April 8 (M)

PLC Day 1

April 9 (Tu)

Joel at the All Admin Meeting

PLC Day 2

3:15-4:00, Staff Meeting-Benito Juarez Communication Meeting

April 10 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

April 11 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Noche Cultural Last Minute Check-in

April 12 (F)

2:00-4:00, Friday Everyone Collaborates to support Noche Cultural

5:00-8:00 PM, Benito Juarez/ Noche Cultural

April 15 (M)

Regular Day

April 16 (Tu)

PBIS Staff Meeting

April 17 (W)

3:15-4:00, PLT

April 18 (Th)

3:15-4:00, GOTG B

April 19 (F)

2:00-3:00, Disrupted Learning Discussion #2

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

April 22 (M)

National School Volunteer Week

April 23 (Tu)

Joel will be at the Elementary Principal Meeting in the AM

April 24 (W)

Administrative Professionals Day-( 😉 Yasmin and MariCarmen)

April 25 (Th)

3:15-4:00, Equity Meeting in A200

April 26 (F)

2:00-3:00, Math PLC Time

3:00-4:00, Teacher Prep

Other big evening events coming soon:

April 12, Noche Cultural

April 23, 123 Andres Assembly and Parent Engagement Night

April 30, El Dia de Los Libros Literacy Night

May 3,  No School-Transition Day-Class List Making and 5/6 transition work

May 17, Viaje Musical

 

Have a good week everyone! You’ve got this! Have an amazing week with your students!  Make every moment count.

Joel

 

 

Dr. Dene Eller is a master at these. We all should work on adding some of these compliments to our repertoire.