Week of February 29
Hello Camino del Río Staff,
With staffing decisions now upon us, it’s never easy or pleasant to have these discussions where the outcome of which has the potential for unwanted changes and challenges for our colleagues, whom we work with every day. While I want to be transparent in our process for deciding upon a staffing plan and to give everyone a chance to have their say, I also don’t want staff to ever feel like they are competing or at odds with one another. I have only seen Camino del Río staff put students first. I also believe that is the best way to frame these difficult decisions. I believe it’s important for staff to work together through this whole process. You all are the best!
Some important happenings at El Camino del Río
• Student Care Team Resources – I wanted to share a few resources that were shared at last Wednesday’s Student Care Team meeting. One is a service through OSU Extension Services, FoodHero.org, which provides families with recipes, meal ideas, budgeting, shopping, and many more resources, such as classes. The site is available in both English and Spanish. They also offer the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. This came out of a situation where a parent was having trouble managing food budgets and had little experience cooking, instead buying more expensive prepared/processed foods. A second resource was for a situation involving an adoptive parent looking for support with challenging behaviors, and DHS shared a state run website, the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center, which has many resources ranging from training, to a lending library, to support groups, to many other support services. A last one is WellMama, which is a non-profit that provides pregnancy and postpartum mental health support services to women and their families in Eugene and Springfield area.
• EAST Reminder: Lesson Plans – HR meets monthly the the substitute teacher’s union, EAST, and HR emailed principals asking us to remind both licensed and classified staff to help in getting lesson plans to substitutes. Sometimes lesson plans are sent directly to substitutes outside of AESOP, but many substitutes access AESOP via phone rather than computers. Also, some may not have access to technology or printers at their homes. Other situations have lesson plans coming very late via email and the substitute may not have access to a computer/printer in the building. When possible, attach lesson plans in AESOP rather than only emailing them directly to the Guest Teacher/Substitute. This step will also will allow office staff to serve as back-up and assist in printing off the lesson plan in the event the Guest Teacher/Substitute is not able to access the plans from home. NOTE: Lesson plans can be attached after the position has been accepted.
• State Testing & Student Opt-Outs: FAQs for Staff – In the email sent by Randy Bernstein to all staff last week regarding state testing and opt-outs, I wanted to highlight the Staff Communication Guidelines section of the email. Note that during work time, over district email or using other district resources encourage parents to opt-out. Outside of work hours, staff are free to express their opinions publicly about standardized tests or about opting out, but if families ask you about testing in your official capacity as a school district employee, staff are to remain neutral and factual. The best response is to refer them to either me or the school district website on the opt-out process.
• TELL Oregon Teacher Survey Deadline Extended – Due to high interest, the TELL Oregon Teacher Survey deadline has been extended to Thursday, March 10th. Now that we’ve seen out staffing for next year, this is an opportunity to sound off at the Oregon Legislature about school funding, class sizes, testing, teacher evaluations systems and other topics. The survey takes about 20–30 minutes to complete online. The survey will ask you for a unique individual code, which you can request online or you can get off of the letter that was put in licensed staff members’ mailboxes last week. As of writing this, there have been only three responses from El Camino del Río (the website allows you to see the response rate by school).
• Bias in the Journeys Materials – This is a reminder of something I shared earlier in the year. Downtown is wanting to address bias in the HM Journeys reading materials. Principals have been asked to have teachers report elements of bias you come across in the new reading materials, whether it’s race, gender, religion, language, culture or otherwise. There is not a formal reporting form or an official plan of will be done with the collected information, but I do think it’s important for us to report bias in Journeys and in any other curriculum materials. The best way to report, is to send an email directly to myself, Susan Penrod, and Sara Green all at once.
• Supervision & Security Information – Linked here is a flyer with tips from Risk Management on preventing vandalism and theft through line of sight supervision, keeping keys with staff, not covering classroom windows, keeping doors locked, closer supervision in high risk areas (such as the bathrooms), and monitoring classrooms and hallways during passing times.
• Should schools change approach to Black History Month? – February is Black History Month, which this year has been marked by calls from some to reconsider how the nation — and schools — mark the month. Some educators say setting aside a specific month for such lessons can lead to less integration of the topic throughout the school year. See this article from The Atlantic for the complete story. On a related note, remember that Teaching Tolerance has many quality ready-made lessons that can be used throughout the school year to teach topics on race, equity and diversity.
cartoon by Alyssa Miles
• Beyond formative assessment: Formative assessment is important in our work. In fact, without it, it is hard to gauge student progress in our classrooms. We take notes and look for little changes in reading skills or math skills. However, there is something magical that can happen student teacher relationships during the writing process in our intermediate grades. This article shares the thoughts of a teacher’s philosophy on conversing, consulting and creating in the classroom he works in.
• Queer Educator: Understanding our colleagues is very important. Just as it is important for us to deeply understand our students, so is it vital to know each other. We must have a lens of understanding of staff of color, LGBTQ staff, and other spectra of identity. All of us work in our classrooms every day. We bring assets and funds of knowledge that vary from each other. This blog article is a good example of a perspective that I feel we should consider deeply. We need to build empathy and try to understand how to relate to each other in order to help serve our students better.
Schedule of Events for the Week
Spirit Week Themes by Day:
February 29 (M)
11:30-3:30, Aline to Title 1 Coordinator Meeting (Ed Center)
3:00-4:00, Site Council Meeting- Focus is on staffing. All are welcome to attend.
March 1 (T)
Women’s History Month
Youth Art Month
Music in Our Schools Month
National Nutrition Month
Open Enrollment Begins
March 1: Too Tired Tuesday (PJ Day)
ELPA Testing Begins
7:30-8:00 Mid cycle Conference
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting (Library)
5:30-7:30, Joel to EEF Gala (Ford Alumni Center)
March 2 (W)
7:30-8:00 Mid cycle goals Conference
12:00-2:00, Joel to North Region Principals’ Mid-Cycle Goals Meeting (Ed Center)
1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration Hour- Math PLC Time
March 2: Wacky Wednesday Crazy Hair/Hat Day
Claudio Sanchez of NPR, 7PM at the Law School,
6-7, Dr. Seuss Night at El Camino del Río
March 3 (H)
7:30-8:00 Mid cycle goals Conference
March 3: Thoughtful Thursday: School Pride Colors/School Shirts
March 4 (F)
7:30-8:00 Mid Cycle Goals Conference
March 4: Fancy Formal Friday-Dress up
March 7 (M)
Classified Employees Week
Women in History Week
March 8 (T)
International Women’s Day
2:55-3:40, Optional Staff Meeting- Staffing discussion. (Library)
PLT Cancelled
6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting
March 9 (W)
1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration Hour- Math PLC Time
4:00-5:00, North Region Principals’ Meeting (Kelly MS)
March 10 (H)
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad
3:00-4:00, Furniture Meeting (Library)
March 11 (F)
8:30-3:30,- LEL at El Camino del Río! Observations and teacher learning in classrooms throughout the day.
March 12 (S)
9:00, Regional OBOB Competition (North Eugene HS)
March 13 (SU)
Daylight Savings Time (Spring Forward)
Have a good week, everyone!
Joel
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