Allan's Announcements

Hello Howard Roadrunners,

Here’s the first edition of my weekly announcements. For new staff and as a reminder to Howard veterans, it’s my intent with these announcements to share informational and business items here rather than taking up time at meetings. It’s also my intention, though I don’t alway achieve it, to avoid cluttering up your inboxes by sending only one email a week to staff, rather than forwarding various emails throughout the week. Typically I send these out on Sundays and my hope is for staff read them by Tuesday evening.

A whopping twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – If you didn’t read you email too close last week, AJ was hired as the assistant principal at ATA, which left us with a Title 1 Coordinator vacancy. I swung a deal with HR to allow us to hire Corianne Rice Heinke, who is the Title 1 Coordinator at ATA and who’s been wanting to get back to elementary and Howard in particular. Corianne is an experienced Title 1 Coordinator and we’re lucky to have her, though as I shared in an earlier email, we’ll be starting the a substitute for September in that position.

This past week we conducted interviews for four different positions. One position was Amber’s job share partner at 4th grade. We hired Alisha McKenzie, who has been a popular substitute teacher in Bethel and before that was a Title 1 EA. We also conducted interviews for our 4/5 blended classroom and Stephanie was officially hired for the remaining 0.25 of that position, making her full-time. That left a vacancy for Allison’s job share partner at 3rd grade and for that position we hired Jennifer Shadwick, who taught 2nd grade last year in the Central Linn School District and before that was a substitute teacher. Lastly, we held interviews and hired two preschool EAs to join Gretchen in the preschool classroom, Nollie Carll and Megan Reaves. Nollie has been an EA at Head Start and at the KITS program in Bethel. Nollie is also a 2012 North Eugene High School grad (Go, Highlanders!). Megan has been a child care provider and holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the UO. She’s also a parent at Chavez, where she was a regular volunteer.

The Student Services Department (SSD, formerly ESS) has several position to still hire for, but they did hire for an LC 1:1 (5th grade), Laurel Olivolo, who is new to the school district. Also, the CLC 1:1 (5th grade) taking Patricia’s position has since taken another position, so SSD is reposting for that, along with reposting for an LC EA and a Life Skills EA, so if you know of any good candidates, please tell them to apply. SSD recently conducted interviews for a CLC 1:1 (3rd grade) and a Life Skills 1:1, so hopefully we’ll find out soon who will be filling those vacancies.

• Unpacking Extra Paid Days – I wanted clarify regarding the extra paid time for unpacking that some staff are receiving. Classified staff are receiving an additional 16 hours (two 8-hour days on Monday and Tuesday) to help unpack, set up classrooms, and get the building ready for the school year. These hours are available to classified staff who received time last year and also to new SPED staff. Classified staff should fill out a time sheet for these days and give copies to Lori. I’ll bring some blanks to Wednesday’s Staff Meeting. For licensed staff who received two days last year for packing, there are two days of extended contract for unpacking, wether you are full-time or part-time. For new licensed staff, Facilities takes the stance that new licensed hires follow the usual district procedure for people who are new or changing buildings. I’ll also bring extended contract forms to Wednesday’s meeting, but staff can feel free to download the above linked forms and give Lori a copy. Let me know if any of you have questions on this.

• Inservice Week Updates – Below and linked here is a summary of Inservice week activities. Take special note of the district sponsored event on Thursday and Friday, as there are a number of required trainings for both licensed and classified staff:

• Monday – First day of two unpacking days for classified staff and the second paid unpacking day for licensed staff.

• Tuesday – Licensed staffs’ first official day back to work and the second paid unpacking day for classified staff. I’ll have breakfast burritos for staff Tuesday morning at 8:00 if you got your order in by the deadline.

• Wednesday – Our Back-to-School Staff meeting will start with a catered “Country Breakfast” from 7:30-8:00, and from 8:00-10:00 we’ll go through a number of business and planning items, and then from 10:00-10:30 Misty Jackson will give a training on the new classroom short throw projectors, and from 10:30-12:00 will be the training on the classroom AMX systems. The afternoon will be yours.

• Thursday – See this linked 2016 Back-To-School Inservice Schedule for complete details, but the school district Back-to-School Event will start with a light breakfast and visiting 7:30-8:20 in front of South Eugene High School (SEHS) and from 8:30-10:30 will be the District Welcome Back Event in the SEHS Auditorium. Following the welcome event, all Student Services (formerly ESS) licensed staff must attend a training from 10:30-3:30 at the SEHS Cafeteria. All kindergarten teachers must attend a Kindergarten Assessment Training from 11:00-12:30 at the SEHS Library. All non-SSD EAs will attend two trainings at Churchill High School from 1:00-3:00, one on small group reading and another on behavior/supervision. There are additional trainings for library staff, counselors, music and other specialists, so see the above link for details.

• Friday – All classified SSD staff will meet at the South Eugene Cafeteria from 8:00-11:30 for professional development.

• Master Schedule – Linked here is the 2016-2017 Master Schedule (XLS and PDF). This schedule was shared at the end of last year, but this one has separate tabs for workshop, PE-Music, and Library. The schedule is pretty well set, but we’re certainly open to tweaks if they don’t cause domino effects. We’re also working on reformatting this schedule, which is currently in 5-minute increments, to the more condensed one-page format that Howard staff used to seeing.

• Music & PE Schedule – At the end of last year Howard was given more specialist time, making it so we now have specialists five days a week, now adding Wednesdays, during the full-time semesters for both Music and PE. For first semester, Siera will be our full-time music teacher five days a week. For second semester full-time PE, Rachel will teach MTHF and ChrisAnne Mehl (PE teacher at Twin Oaks & Charlemagne last year and Edison, Gilham & Howard this year) will be our PE teacher on Rachel’s PE TOSA Wednesdays. For the part-time specialist semesters, first semester we’ll have Rachel teaching PE Mondays and Tuesdays and second semester we’ll have Siera teaching Music on Mondays and Tuesdays. See the above linked master schedule for all Music & PE times. Right now the schedule only lists grade levels and not individual teachers, so let me know as soon as your grade level decides who is taking which slot on the schedule. Also, for the semesters with full-time Music and PE, remember that you can now schedule Wednesdays, which I think would be a fairly attractive day to pick since there are more non-student days on Mondays and Fridays than there are Wednesdays.

• Building Google Calendar – At the bottom of my weekly announcements is a two week calendar and also a link to the Howard Building Google Calendar for the entire school year. If you use Google Calendars yourself, you can add the Howard Building Calendar to your list of Google Calendars by clicking one of the calendar links in my blog and then clicking the +Google Calendar icon located at the bottom right of the calendar webpage. This will add the building calendar to your list of Google Calendars if you’re logged onto your Google account. You can also add this calendar to most any calendar app you might use. Let me or Peggy know if you would like any help with this.

• Free Meals for All Students – This year ALL Howard students will receive free breakfast and lunches. ODE just approved 4J’s application last Friday for this to happen at Howard, Chavez, and River Road, so we don’t yet have all the details, but this is something the Superintendent’s Office and Nutrition Services have been working on since last spring. What I do know so far is that families will no longer have to fill out free/reduced meal applications, students will no longer be required to type in their meal PINs (which were going to be six-digit numbers this year), and Joan will instead use a clicker to track how many meals were served. Also, we won’t have to send home any more overdue payment notices to families! I’ll share more details as I get them.

• Allan on Instructional Leadership Team – I was asked (told) to be on the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) this year, which I believe is morphing into what used to be Superintendent’s Cabinet. The group has standing meetings twice a month on Thursdays from 9:00-11:00, so unfortunately I will be out of the building these time, but the upside is I’ll be “in the know” of what’s going and being talked about at the district and will get some say. I supposes this is what happens when I’m now one of the three most senior elementary principals in the district (Denisa, Larry and I were all hired the same year).

• Curriculum Materials Up for Grabs – There are quite a few boxes of random Journeys, Investigations and other materials outside of Room C202 (upstairs green wing). It’s a mix of what was stored in the old building at the end of the old 1st grade hallway and other random materials found around the old building. We’re not planning to throw any of this away, but take a look at these materials before Friday when we’ll start moving them to custodial stores.

• Adding iPad Apps & Notability is Lost – The Technology Department is using a new iPad management system, Meraki, that allows TSS staff to remotely push out new apps and updates without having to disrupt instruction by taking devices out of classrooms to work on them. One change for teachers is that if you ever come across an app you want installed, especially ones that are free for a limited time, send an email to Peggy at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu and she will be able to secure up to 500 licenses and push the app out to all of the iPads we want them on. What happened in the past when staff grabbed an app that was free for a short time, it only secured one license, which means apps like Notability can’t be added back until we secure more licenses. Peggy is currently checking into bulk pricing for Notability since I know that is a high use app for 2nd and 3rd grade.

• Friday Folders/School-Home Communication – For teachers getting their start of the year communication ready, remember all grade levels should plans send their weekly folders, newsletters or other school/home communications on Fridays and not other days of the week. This will make communication easier for families if all grade levels send information home the same day, which is one of our CAP goals. It will also make things easier for when we are sending out school-wide information if we can plan on it going out on a certain day instead of different days of the week, especially when it’s a time sensitive information.

• Composition Notebooks for FOSS – The FOSS science kits require a notebook for each student, so downtown will be shipping boxes of composition notebooks for each of our students. They are for every grade level, so every student will have their own Scientific Notebook that will be theirs to use all year long. They are just generic composition notebooks and are not specific to any kit title/module. They will not necessarily arrive with the kits and will be in boxes of that we’ll distributed to grade levels.

• New Building Updates – Here are quite a few items of note regarding the new building:

• No Food Waste in Garbage Yet – This is a repeat from my BTS letter, but garbage service hasn’t started yet, which mean that if you have any food waste, please take it home an don’t put it in your classroom garbage cans yet.

• Parking Lot Update – Starting this Monday staff and families will be able to park on the bus loop. The parking lot should be open to park on later this week and at that point staff should use the parking lot instead of the bus loop, which will likely be used for deliveries.

• Security System Sign-In – If any of you are planning to come in on weekends or after hours, there are three security zone. The kitchen is one zone (PIN pad located by the back entrance), and gym and cafeteria are another zone (PIN pad located by the ramp leading up to the Music room), and the third zone is for the rest of the building, which includes all classrooms and office spaces (PIN pad located in the main entry between the sliding doors).

• How to Hang Things on Walls – If you want to hang anything on the walls, be sure to use either tape, sticky tack, command hooks, or most anything that doesn’t poke a hole in the wall or will leave behind imperfections when they’re removed. If you have something heavy you want to hang, like a picture frame, let Crystal know and she is going to be trained on how Facilities wants wall hangers to be installed.

• Teacher Desk Modesty Panel – Teachers who came in at the start of August noticed a mysterious large thick rectangular piece of plastic on their teacher desks. I found out these are “Modesty Panels” that can be installed to hang down the front of teacher desks to provide additional privacy when seated at your desk. Crystal is currently storing all of these, so let her know if you would like one of these installed on your teacher desk.

• Leave Phones Where They Are – If you want to move your phone to another location, do not move it at this time. Instead, go to the sign-up sheet in Staff Room if you want your phone moved or if you want a longer cord. If you unplug your phone and plug it into another port, it won’t work.

• Audio Cables for Classrooms – All classrooms have a good long VGA cables that came with the projectors (located in a large flat box in your classroom), but I contact the Technology Department last week if they’ve ordered long audio cables for classrooms to connect computers to the ceiling speakers, because we currently don’t have any of those cables. Hold onto your old speakers until we get the right audio cables for connecting your computers and other devices, which should hopefully be soon.

• New Document Cameras – Most everyone should find new document cameras in a box in your classroom unless you’re one of the two classrooms from the old building who had the current district recommended model (AverVision F17 Portable Flexarm Document Camera). Please give Peggy your old document camera and cords, which we’ll hold onto as spares.

• Cell Phone Signal Repeater – If you’ve tried your cell phone in the building, you’ve probably noticed that our metal roofs cause terrible reception. Cell phone signal repeaters should be installed later this year, October at the earliest, which will boost the signal of most major cell phone carriers. I think we get credit for pushing this point with the school district because this has been an issue for over ten years at the last four new buildings and the Technology Department is just now fixing the issue not just for us, but for Holt, Chavez, Madison, and Cal Young. On a related note, some phones will allow you to set up wi-fi calling if you go into your phone settings.

• Shelves for Student Mailboxes in Mobile Storage – Shelves and pegs to make student mailboxes in the mobile storage units were derived to the Facilities Department earlier this month, but Facilities had to wait until we had a parking lot to deliver them. With the parking lot and bus loop finished this week, they are going to deliver these shelves and pegs sometime this week.

• File Cabinets and Keys – If any of you are swapping filing cabinets with another classroom, let Crystal know because each filing cabinet has a unique key and we only have one spare key for each cabinet. Also, the keys for these cabinets are a type of key that are not part of the online key database the district locksmith uses to look up to make replacements if keys are ever lost.

• Elevator Card Reader – Last I checked, the elevator had still not been set up for card access only and still works with just the press of a button, so we will need to keep an eye on kids wanting to play with it. It’s on the list of things to fix, but Facilities has had a bunch of other punch list items they’ve had to have the electrical contractor fix first.

• Manual Temperature Controls – Here’s what I got from Facilities regarding how much control staff members have over your individual classroom temperatures during the week or on the weekends:

The override button toggles the system serving that area into “occupied” mode (if not already in that mode) for 30 minutes for each press of the button, up to a maximum of 90 minutes. At the moment the system has been set to run in occupied mode from 7am to noon since there has been so little activity over the past two months, and if the building pre-cools every the AM, it tends to hold its temp. I will shift it to run to 3pm today since we are heading into warmer weather and more activity seems to be happening.

The normal district-standard setpoints are 69/73/75. The set can be moved up or down by one degree for individual preference. At default, the heat will come on if the space starts to go below 69. The system will bring in up to 100% cool outside air (if it is below 72 outside) if the space starts to go over 73. This is the situation most of the school year in the Pacific Northwest. The active mechanical air conditioning system will start up if several rooms go over 75. The AC machinery (called a chiller) is quite large so it takes more than a single classroom overridden on a weekend, for example, to safely run this chiller without it short-cycling. Typically 3 or 4 spaces.

If someone pushes the down button, the default set will shift to 68/72/74. Similarly, the up button (push at least twice in case the set is all the way down) can move the set up to 70/74/76.

• Mushroom Chairs Recall and Delay – The stools that were ordered to go in the commons area tables and at the kidney and round tables in classrooms are not here because the model that was ordered has been recalled. They’ll be here sometime in October, so in the meantime, students will have to take their desk chairs back and forth to the back tables in classrooms. In the commons areas, School Specialty is sending some demo stools over, but the only ones we’ve gotten so far are for older students.

• Grand Opening Events, 9/20 and 9/21 – There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new building on Tuesday, September 20th during the school day, which is tentatively scheduled for 10:00 AM. Communications Department staff are still developing plans, but the current thinking is it will be a brief ceremony. Maybe we could have some students speak. The next day, Wednesday, September 21st, there will be a Grand Opening Community Open House. The time that’s tentatively planned for the 5:30-7:30.

• Single Desk Book Boxes Installed This Week – Grade 3/4/5 all have single desks and book boxes are should be installed this week, the same day they will also be installing our standard sized US flags. The flag install was delayed because the flags that were originally ordered were tiny 13-inch flags for each classroom, which I said were not acceptable. I’ve told School Specialty I want the book boxes installed on all of our single desks, even the ones not currently in 3/4/5 classroom.

• Small Shelf for Staff Restrooms – It was pointed out to me at that inside the staff restrooms there’s no place to put down books, phones, purses, etc. I got Facilities to agree to put a small shelf inside each restroom to have a spots for people to put down their things. We first looked at putting a small table with drawers, but the restrooms are ADA compliant and adding a table would block access. They weren’t installed last time I checked, but hopefully they’ll be going in soon.

• Security Cameras – I know some staff were wondering if there were security cameras in the building or in classrooms. There are none at this time, but the building is wired for them to be installed in the commons and outside the building, which is something the district wants to begin making standard in all schools. I also know that some folks were wondering what the circular box with lights on the ceiling is in each classroom. It’s the infrared wireless receiver for the lanyard microphones that teachers can use with the voice amplification system. The lights indicate if it’s on or in stand-by mode. You’ll learn more about it at Wednesday’s AMX Classroom training.

• Insta-Hot in Staff Room – For some reason we did not originally have an instal-hot water dispenser in the Staff Room, but I did manage to convince Facilities to install one (I told them staff would start putting coffee makers everywhere). It’s not functional yet because they need to install a power source, but hopefully that will be done soon as well.

• Library Shelf Book Ends – Some of the bright yellow library books ends have mysteriously disappeared from the library. If you snagged some for your classroom, please return them to Julie.

• Ropes in Gym – The climbing ropes in the gym are going to be removed due to how high they are and the potential risk of a fall. They were not supposed to have been included in the plans and one look at how high they go, you can imagine what a fall would be like.

• School Map – Linked here is a Map of Classrooms and Specialists if you’d like to have one for your reference.

• Hand Dryer Video – It’s seems silly, but this 20 second video on how to use the hand dryers in the restroom is probably worth going over with your students. Interestingly, Dyson did their video without sound, which is probably the second most important thing to prepare kids for when they use the hand dryers since they’re pretty loud. Here’s a link to an amateur video of someone using this model hand dryer so kids can know what it sounds like (who knows why someone felt compelled to upload a video of themselves drying their hands).

• Preschool Information – I mentioned earlier that the school district, in partnership with United Way of Lane County, was awarded an ODE Preschool Promise grant to start a district sponsored preschool. It will run much like a Head Start preschool, with the exception of the grant requiring that it be a longer day and that we serve students who’s families are at least 200% below the poverty level, as compared to Head Start requirement of 100% below the poverty level. The grant is only for one year, but we’re predicting the state will offer the great again and there is a high interest by the school district to continue the program and even expand it to other schools (potentially River Road next). Gretchen Baxter is the teacher and Nollie Carll and Megan Reaves are the EAs. The program will serve 15-16 students ages 3-5. Students will get breakfast and lunch here at school, but we’re thinking they will eat in their classroom (Room B102 in the 1st grade wing). We’re also hoping they can get specialist time for Music, PE, and Library if there are open slots. Tami Walkup, who’s part of the district Early Childhood Team, is coordinating the program for the school district. We’re waiting to start the program until Monday, Sept. 15th because not all of the program’s furniture and materials have been delivered yet and it will also allow the rest of the building to get a handle on the new systems before we introduce 3-year olds to the mix. The goal is to have students who live in our area and who will eventually come to the Howard kindergarten, but we’ll likely have some students from neighboring schools.

• Other Groups in our Building – Besides the preschool program, we also have four other groups/programs coming to our building. One is the Early Childhood Team (ECT), who help facilitate transitions for students and families from early childhood programs like Head Start and EEP into kindergarten. They are located in Room B102 and team is made up of Ana Quintero-Arias (SLP), Donna Boykin (Admin Support), Jim Conaghan (School Psych), Jaime Hock (School Psych), Katie Mason (SLP), and Tami Walkup (SLP). Howard is also the new home for Deborah Dailey, the district McKinney-Vento (homeless) Coordinator, who is in the ground flood small group room by C-wing. The Early Education Program (EEP) is returning to Howard. We had to kick them out of the portable last year due to our growing enrollment, but now that we have more classroom space they are returning to Room A102. Lastly, we also how have our own on-site after school childcare program, which will be run by YMCA. They will be located in Room B201, right next to BEST. See below for details on them.

• YMCA After School Program – At the end of last school year, Site Council selected the YMCA to be our on-site after school child care program. If you’re curious or if any families ask you, here is a link to their flyer and here is a link to their website. Our site director for the program is Kaitlyn Orr, who was the site coordinator at YG/Corridor my last year as principal over there.

• PTO Updates – If you’d like to get a preview of what the PTO has planned for this school year, linked here are the minutes from the PTO Board’s August meeting. The short version is they are planning their usual fundraisers, the first of which is the Cookie Dough fundraisers which starts on September 21st and ends October 5th, with a few potential new ideas and events. See the linked August PTO Board Meeting Minutes for details. And remember that thanks to the PTO’s fundraising efforts last year, particularly through the Tech Trot and Penny War, we were able to completely eliminate the $25 Technology Fee that we’ve usually asked families for in the past!

• Class Sets of Color on Copier – Remember to be judicious in your use of printing in color. We’ve seen some color items printed that are appropriate, but we’ve also seen a number of class sets of items printed in color that really didn’t need to be in color. Color copies are about five cents a copy versus black & white copies which are a fraction of a cent. On a related note, a third copier is going to be installed in the upstairs workroom.

• District Admin Updates – Filing Carmen Urbina’s position is David Bautista, joining 4J as the Equity, Instruction and Partnerships Manager. David has been ODE’s assistant superintendent for educational equity; superintendent in Woodburn; director of instructional services in Salem-Keizer; and director and coordinator of bilingual and migrant services in Woodburn and Salem-Keizer. Over at Family School, their new principal will be Jennifer Hebard, who comes from the Bethel School District, where she was a teacher and Title 1 Coordinator. Lastly, and I don’t usually share assistant principal updates, but since Kelly and North are in our region, I wanted to share that over at Kelly Middle School, John Wayland will be replacing Charlie Jett, who accepted a principal position in Springfield. John was a teacher at Kelly before becoming an administrator at South Eugene High School for seven years and associate principal at a middle school in Tigard for the past three years. At North Eugene High School, you may be aware that NEHS was reducing to the standard two assistant principals from the three APs it has had in recent years. Tracy Ross and Scott Mayers will continue as the APs at North and Courtney Leonard accepted a position in Hillsboro.

• Setting Routines for the First Days of School – In the latest issue of ASCD Express, UC Berkeley philosophy professor Alva Noë state “An environment, natural or human-made, reflects a compromise between design and habit.” When setting routines, teachers look for easily integrated procedures that relate to students’ needs but also help the class achieve some greater learning objective—whether that be setting expectations for independent practice, technology participation, or a respectful classroom culture. As Noë alludes, classroom habits will be shaped by the user experience. Use the first days of the new school year to draw a clear and flexible path to success for those who will travel it. This issue includes articles such as “Setting the Tone for Technology Use,” “Focus on Feelings, First,” and “Six Strategies to Support a Safe, Inclusive, and Respectful Classroom.”

• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

August 29 (M)
Additional Paid Day #1 for Designated Classified Staff
Additional Paid Day #2 for Licensed Staff

August 30 (T)
Teachers Return – Planning Day
Additional Paid Day #2 for Designated Classified Staff
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Breakfast Burrito Gathering (Cafeteria)

August 31 (W)
Classified Staff Return
7:30-8:00, Welcome Back Breakfast (Library)
8:00-12:30, Howard Back-to-School Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)

September 1 (H)
7:30-8:30, District Staff Back-to-School Event – Breakfast & Social (SEHS)
8:30-10:30, District Staff Back-to-School Event – Speeches (SEHS Auditorium)
10:30-3:30, All Licensed SSD (SPED) Staff Training (SEHS Cafeteria)
11:00-12:30, Kindergarten Assessment Training (SEHS Library)
1:00-3:00, EA Reading Group & Behavior/Supervision Trainings (Churchill Cafeteria & Library)

September 2 (F)
8:00-2:30, Science Adoption Training for Elementary Teachers (K-2 @Chavez, 3-5 @Holt)
8:00-11:30, All Classified SSD (SPED) Staff Training (SEHS Cafeteria)
12:00, Class Lists Posted

September 5 (M)
Labor Day – No School

September 6 (T)
8:00-10:00, Staff Meeting – potential meeting for any needed business (Library)
10:00, Q&A Session for New Staff – Optional (Office)
1:00-2:00, Meet your Teacher

September 7 (W)
First Day for Students
easyCBM Fall Benchmarking Begins
PBIS Focus: Safety
7:25, All Hands on Deck to Greet Students and Families

September 8 (H)
REGULAR DAY

September 9 (F)
8:30-5:00, School Board Retreat (Howard Community Room)

Between all the meetings and training and setting up in a brand new building, I’m sure it’s going to be a crazy week!

I’ll be sure to restock my candy supplies for staff real soon.

Allan