Week of February 1
Dear Shining Star Staff,
Over the last week I have been very busy in classrooms doing observations. I have been feeling the crunch of getting those observations done. However, it has been a joy for me! I am very impressed with your dedication, hard work, and interactivity with each and everyone of our students. It amazes me to see how you all have developed strong micro-communities in each one of your rooms. I am so happy to hear more students speaking up in Spanish even when it is their second language. That’s what it is all about. In short, your hard work IS paying off. Please spend time celebrating with each other and give each other an opportunity to share some of the good things you are doing. Our program has much to be proud of.
Here are this week’s items of note:
• District Admin Updates – This is very big news for our school district. Kim Ketterer is retiring at the end of the school year. Kim has had to spend a significant amount of time helping her parents in Ohio since last spring and now needs to spend more time in Ohio supporting them. Kim has been a great supporter of 4J technology over the years, so be sure to wish her well next time you see her. Her work in technology integration has left a positively legendary footprint on our district for a long time.
• February PBIS Focus: Integrity – The February PBIS monthly focus is Integrity. The PBIS team is restarting our focus on the VIRTUDES/ PRIDE goals. Check out the PRIDE VIRTUDES Bulletin Board in the front hall designed by Jill and Nancy. We want to fill it up with Virtudes Awards. This year, we will not have a separate assembly for the awards, but I will come in and present the award in the classroom and make a big deal out of it by phone with parents too. We intend to make the VIRTUDES awards spontaneous and positive through out the school year. Look for students who have ANY of the characteristics demonstrated starting this week!
• Staffing Timeline & Enrollment Projection Updates- Principals received an updated staffing timeline at Friday’s all admin HR training. Buildings will receive their staffing on Wednesday, February 24th. All buildings will have three weeks to finalize their 2016-2017 staffing plans, with plans due to HR Wednesday, March 16th. At this same meeting we also received our enrollment projections along with a new form for principals to provide additional information if we think our projections are not accurate. El Camino del Río is projected for 366 students ( [KG], 67 [1st], 61 [2nd], 81 [3rd], 48 [4th], 56 [5th]), which I think would be accurate most years. This is virtually unchanged from last year (-2 drop).
We can make the case that our projection is going upward with the opening of new developments in the Howard attendance area. Last year 53 students used school choice to attend our school. In 15-16, that number jumped by 10 students to 63. I am hypothesizing that we will see many families continue to come to our school using school choice once they see that transportation is provided to a non-alternative bus accessed program. The bump in enrollment is a ways away related to the new building. Fall 2017 is still a full 18 months away for us.
If you’re wondering what this projection means in terms of staffing, if ECDR’s staffing ratio from last year holds true (24.8 overall, though KG was slightly lower), we would receive 15 classroom FTE, which would be status quo of FTE. I know little of what to expect from the district about continuing to support SLD instruction. That will be something that I appeal for. However, we lost .6 of that FTE this year in October. Still, this all depends on adjustments to the needs index and overall district budget considerations, which could change this up or down, so this is really just my “back of the napkin” calculations at this point. Nothing will be official until Feb. 24th. My guess could be as good as yours at this point. Just know that my words here are pure speculation except for the facts embedded.
• Licensed Staff Mid-Cycle Goals Conferences – Now that we’re about halfway through the school year, I’ll be emailing licensed staff members to set up a time to meet for this step in the evaluation cycle. Our new superintendent has placed this as a higher priority than past sups, so I’ll be working to complete the Educator Evaluation and Professional Growth Cycles with all licensed staff this year. Head on over to TalentEd to review which cycle you’re on and any outstanding tasks you might have.
• New building updates:
February 11 Public Meeting- Please come to the February public meeting to hear more details about the new building. We will probably have neighbors expressing their concerns about sidewalks, outside appearance, traffic, etc. Having staff there and others expressing positive comments for the benefits of students helps keep us focused on what matters most.
Bidding process and start of construction: All the plans have been submitted to the city and have come back once. Also, the main revisions have been made by the architects already. Last week, the meeting focused on classroom cabinetry and some other fine points. The potential contractors will be given a bidding package in about two weeks to consider whether or not they want to take on the job. Dexter Rummel, our project manager expects 5-10 bigger contractors to make bids. Sometime before mid March there will be a “bid walk” where contractors walk around to look at the building and get an idea of the job site. April 12 will be the board meeting where approval to begin building will happen. Once that meeting happens and the bid is accepted by the school board we can expect contractors to start occupying the site within the week. We should have full tilt construction happening by the last week in April or perhaps the third week in April.
• Informational Meeting on PeaceJam for K-12 Teachers – Downtown asked principals to pass along information to teachers regarding an informational meeting on PeaceJam for K-12 Teachers (though I saw a separate email was also sent to cert_all). PeaceJam is an international organization led by 13 Nobel Peace Prize winners, including the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, with the goal of building global citizenship, peace through anti-bullying instruction and youth leadership. The regional chapter of PeaceJam is now located here in Eugene, working in collaboration with the University of Oregon and schools and districts all over the Northwest. They will be hosting a voluntary, informational meeting Tuesday, Feb 2 from 4-5pm in the Auditorium at the 4J District Office, to cover some of the benefits to 4J teachers of the district membership 4J has established with PeaceJam, as well as upcoming activities and events that will benefit students in the district, including the upcoming youth conference with 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee from Liberia, which will take place at the U of O April 22-23.
• UO Science and Invention Fair – The UO SPICE program (Science Program to Inspire Creativity and Excellence) has announced that the 2016 UO Science and Invention Fair will be held on May 7th in Willamette Hall at the University of Oregon. See the linked flyer for additional details or the SPICE website. If teachers would like to have an instructor from SPICE visit your classroom for science fair workshops (including Scientific Method, Research Questions, Data Collection and Presenting Your Project), email Brandy Dodd (btodd@uoregon.edu).
• Should teachers wear microphones? – Since we’ll have these available in all of our classrooms in the new building, I thought this was a timely Edutopia article to share. It describes how one educator, who never felt he needed voice application before because of his “teacher voice,” recently gained a new appreciation for classroom sound amplification. He describes how he saw a change in the student behavior and in his own behavior as a result.
Staff Meeting Agenda:
2:45-3:05, Connections: Joel starts us off as people complete duty.
3:00-3:20,Observation Reflection and Next Steps: Joel and Reid Sheppard
3:20-3:30,Report from Marcy, Erin Bucklew and Karen about the conference in PDX.
3:30-3:45, Announcements and transitions activities, new building debrief, staffing debrief.
• African American History Month – Prepare for African American History Month with Perspectives. Use readings from the Central Text Anthology to celebrate and deepen students’ understanding and connections to African-American lives and legacies. Consider texts like Margaret Walker’s “For My People” or RuNett Nia Ebo’s “Lord, Lord, Why Did You Make Me Black?” Pair your selections with Write to the Source tasks like The Pages of My Life 6-12. Registration is required.
2016 NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner! –It will be on February 26 @ 6:00 am – 9:00 pm at Join us at the Valley River Inn for Our biggest fundraiser of the year! The 2016 Freedom Fund Dinner This year’s theme: Moving Ahead Together: MC:Cathy Woods Friday, February 26, 2016 Reception: 6pm Dinner and Program: 7pm Valley River Inn 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene, Oregon You can register online at: https://naacpfreedom2016.eventbrite.com I have been to this event for three years with the district. This year, I would like to attend with a staff member or two on my own. Anyone want to go with me and learn about the good work that NAACP is doing in our community?
“Chicano Park Anchor of Barrio Logan,” a talk by Hector Villegas, Chicano Artist FEBRUARY 8-Hector Villegas is a community artist and neighborhood activist in Chicano Park’s Barrio Logan, San Diego. Chicano Park is a public space of cultural and artistic resistance that emerged over struggles of community empowerment and self-determination in the 1970s. The park is home to the country’s largest collection of outdoor murals. Today, the neighborhood is experiencing pressures of housing and retail gentrification and neighborhood activists are struggling to maintain their neighborhood. Hector Villegas’s talk will trace the history of activism in Chicano Park, and discuss his art work and today’s neighborhood movements to protect Barrio Logan against gentrification.
One of his artworks in progress is the pillar at Chicano Park shown in the photograph on the left. You can view more images of his work on Instagram@ mexikota art and on Facebook @ hector mexikota villegas.
Lawrence 115, 1190 Franklin Blvd., UO campus
| February 8, 2016 | ||
| 4:00 pm | to | 5:30 pm |
Sponsored by the UO Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) and the UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
• Beware of the dangers of email – This article has suggestions I’ve often given teachers in being careful in their use of email over placing a phone call instead. Email is fast and effective, but it’s also potentially risky: Without body language or tone of voice to guide them, recipients may wind up taking offense at what you write. That’s especially true in back-and-forth chains that can devolve into frustrated knee-jerk responses, writes Peter Post. “Any time you begin to sense that the thread is becoming unpleasant, that is the moment to pick up the phone or visit the person to resolve the issue,” he advises.
• Schedule of Events for the Week
February 1 (M)
National African American History Month
11:45-12:00, Joel in meeting with teacher.
2:00 PM, Cookie Dough Assembly- (Will begin calling at 1:45 in 5th grade)
3:00, IEP in the Learning Center with Marcy
February 2 (T)
2nd Semester Music & PE Begins across the District
9:00-10:30, Immersion Principal Task Force Meeting (Ed Center)
10:30-11:00, Joel at Financial Service to work on 2016-17 budget. (Ed Center)
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting (Library)
February 3 (W)
1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration Hour- Teachers meet TOGETHER in grade teams in Library.
2:00-5:00, Joel at 4J Equity Committee (Ed Center)
6:00-7:00, Craft Night for Valentine’s Day Crafts
February 4 (H)
7:30-12:00, Joel in 2 formal observations and conferences.
2:45-3:45, ECDR Equity Meeting, Snacks provided.- (Library)
February 5 (F)
1:00-5:00, Joe at Ed Center in 4J MAPS training on hiring.
February 8 (M)
National School Counseling Week (Give Jennifer some props!)
Report Cards Sent Home
7:30-10:00, Joel in observations.
February 9 (T)
9:00-9:30, Latino Outreach Meeting at ECDR- Food For Lane County (FRC) (Alicia and Joel)
3:00, PLT Meeting (Conference Room)
5:30-6:00, Kelly Dual Immersion Transition Info Night before parent group in Library. (Library)
6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting (Library)
February 10 (W)
4:00-5:00, Joel to North Region Admin Meeting (YG/Corridor)
February 11 (H)
Valentine’s Lunch with a Family Friend or Grandparent Modified Schedule to allow for 5 minutes longer lunch for each grade level. (Cafeteria) (See flyers in your boxes for schedule.)
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad! (Recker’s Room 7)
6:00-7:00, School Construction Update- Public Meeting (Joel presents in Library)
February 12 (F)
8:30-9:30, Joel in Formal Observation
And if you’re wondering if this Monday is really the halfway point in the school year, well you are close. A teacher acquaintance I know at Twin Oaks let me know that she had conveniently already counted the school days. Tuesday is our official halfway mark. Have a good week, everyone!
Joel
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