Week of March 18, 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.