SEL

March 14, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/03/12 20:55 Posted in Announcements, P.D., Science, SEL  |  Comments Off on March 14, 2022

 

Howdy Bolts,

My crystal ball tells me we will see “interesting” behaviors this week. Between spring break and masks becoming optional, I think it’ll be important staff do A LOT of pre-teaching of behavior expectations this week and not count on “They should know this by now.”

Seventeen items of note for this week:

• Staff Allocation Updates – We’re still waiting for Student Service Department (SSD, i.e. special education classified and licensed staffing) allocations, but we did get our English Language Development (ELD) allocations, whis is the same as this year (0.8 FTE) and we also got our SIA (Student Investment Act) 1st grade EA allocation, which is 3 hours per 1st grade classroom, which downtown projected us for three 1st grade classrooms, meaning 9 hours.

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – Tuesday at 1:10 is our March Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.

• REPEAT: Lockdown Instruction Before Fire Drill – Related to the above, downtown is requiring schools to review Lockdown and Evacuation Drills with students. ALICE is no longer being used in 4J and it’s replacement is not in place yet, so in the meantime, teachers should simply do a short review with students off of the 4J Safety Poster (below), which says the following for each drill:

STUDENTS
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the door

ADULTS
Recover student form the hallway if possible
Lock the classroom door
Turn out the lights
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the door
Prepare to evade or defend

EVACUATE! (A location may be specified)

STUDENTS
Leave stuff behind if required to
If possible, bring your phone
Follow instructions

ADULTS
Lead students to evacuation location
Account for students and adults
Notify if missing, extra or injured students or adults.

 

• TIME UPDATED: Staff Social, Bowling at Emerald Lanes, THURSDAY! – Don’t forget we have a staff social this Thursday at 4:00 at Emerald Lanes! Come visit with work friends, have some beverages, show off your bowling skills (or non-skills if you’re like me, but I can show off my rad bowling shirts). See you there!

• COVID Updates – Five COVID related updates:

• Drinking Fountains & Legionaries Disease – I mentioned at Friday’s Meeting that we’re now allowed to use drinking foundation again. However, do not let students use the classroom drinking fountains until they have been flushed for a full 5-minutes (a good job for a kid). Since that water has sat stagnant for over a year, we don’t want anyone getting Legionaries Disease.

• Mask Up in Nursed Office & Isolations Room – The state has determined that school health rooms and isolation rooms are healthcare settings. This means if staff are interacting with students closely or for a sustained period of time, masks will be required for staff in the health room. If the interaction is brief or contact is not close, masks are only strongly advised. Masks should be offered to students that will be in the health room for a sustained amount of time. If students are symptomatic or sick, they will be required to wear a mask. Examples;

• A student comes into the health room briefly for scheduled medication–no masks required for staff or student.
• A student comes into health room for injury or illness that requires some observation or close contact (observation after a head bump or inhaler use)–Staff required to mask, mask offered to student.
• A student comes into health room not feeling well or is symptomatic–masks required for both student and staff. Student should be moved to isolation space until picked up to go home.

• Rapid Tests if Symptoms at School – Although we’re not doing test-to-stay for close contacts any longer, we can still administer rapid tests for any student or staff who start exhibiting symptoms while at school.

• Teaching Kids to Respect Others’ Mask Choices – If teachers haven’t already, be sure to take some time during your Monday Morning Meeting time to remind students to respect individual choices when it comes to masking or not. If you want a canned slide show about this, the Adams principal shared this Student Masking Slide Show.

• COVID Flowchart – This is more for front office staff, but if you’re interested, linked here is the latest COVID Flowchart for when a student tests positive, shows signs of illness, or is exposed to COVID.

• iPads Staying at School – Starting Monday, most students will leave their iPads at school. Only BEST/YMCA kids will take them home, but please remind those students iPads at dismissal are to be in backpacks and not walking and iPad-ing at the same time.

• Holt Bolt, Thursday, May 18th – PAHS settled on Thursday, May 18th as the date for this year’s Holt Bolt. It’s on the calendar and that’s the date we’ll stick with unless something unexpected comes up.

• Check Lost & Found – Remind kids to check the Lost & Found this week. Anything left at the end of the day Thursday will be bagged and donated.

• Artist in Residence Schedule – Linked here is the Fiddle Artist in Residence Schedule (PDF or XLSX). I believe Lesli has checked in with grade level teams, but let us know if you have any questions. The residency title is The Art of Fiddling and the Mystique of Louisiana and Kelly Thibodeaux is the musician leading the lesson in the Music Room. Regular Music classes will be in classrooms during three week residency.

• ACTION REQUIRED: Claim You 4J Account – 4J Technology Emailed staff a RapidIdentity Quicksheet how to update your password and account security. The short version is go to this link and follow the directions.

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law, Lesson #5 BEFORE SPRING BREAK – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

• REPEAT: ACE Award Nominations Open – Nominate a teachers or licensed specialists, administrator or supervisor, classified staff, or volunteer. Nominations are due by March 31st. See the 4J ACE Awards webpage for more info.

• REPEAT: March 18th Expectations – Teachers may work from the building or in another location. If teachers are not going to be in the building they need to let me know. Downtown has not given this flexibility to classified staff, but classified folks can utilize trade time this day to shorten your work day. I’ve scheduled a Classified Staff Meeting at 9:00 for this day, so let me know if you have any agenda items you’d like discussed.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Recesses – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Recesses:

Recess
• Students are walked by teachers from the building to the asphalt/red curb at the beginning of recess. Students are released once EAs signal readiness. Please be on time, so that students receive a full recess.
• Students are picked up from recess on time. It would be very much appreciated if teachers would please review with students and reward them for staying on their spot in line (on the asphalt) and not move around once line up has begun. A significant percentage of physical aggression issues occur after the recess whistle has blown as kids are lining up.
• Recess supervisors will blow the whistle in soft play a minute prior to the 2 minute warning bell.This gives kids time to walk back from soft play to hard play and line up. The warning bell is a time for hard play students to return equipment and line up.
• Student Classroom Volunteers during recess:There will be NO VOLUNTEERS allowed in the classroom during any of these recess periods. If students approach a teacher about volunteering, the teacher needs to send them back to the appropriate place they need to be at that time. The only exception to this is if volunteering in another room is a part of a designed student support plan.
• Students Inside at Recess: Students are not to be in classrooms during recess. District policy is that students are to be out of the building during recess times. An occasional opportunity (not daily or weekly), is permitted, but students must be SUPERVISED. Students cannot be left alone in classrooms. A reminder also that students cannot be kept from recess for behavioral reasons or work completion.
• All classes need to have an assigned line for the end of recess times. Please work with the teachers/grades to assign class to lines. Consider flow, entrance to buildings etc when determining lines. A copy should be given to the office so that supervision staff can be informed.
• Recess Supervisor PBIS Guidelines
• PLAYGROUND GUIDELINES – General Rules for all

• ODE Continuing Care and Connection Next School Year – An ODE Announcement to administrators that school districts are next year to continue to focus on care and connection. More info will be coming from ODE, but note they have quite a few resources on the ODE Care and Connection webpage.

• NASA Artemis I, Send Your Name to Space – Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come. NASA is offering people a chance to have your name included on a flash drive that will fly aboard the space craft to the moon. I thought kids would find this fun and it also might spark an interest in space and science studies if any of you are doing that this spring. I got my NASA Boarding Pass!

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

March 14 (M)
Melanie Out, Katie Covering
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #5
National Pi Day
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, 5th Grade Outdoor School Family Information Night (Zoom)

March 15 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

March 16 (W)
Staffing Plans Due to HR
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
5:30, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

March 17 (H)
St Patrick’s Day
Dental Clinic (sealants) – Time/Location TBA
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45-3:25, Leadership Meeting (Debbi’s Room)
5:00, Staff Bowling! (Emerald Lanes)

March 18 (F)
No School — Staff Work Day
9:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
10:00, Optional Classified Staff PD (Zoom)

March 19 –  27
No School — Spring Break

March 28 (M)
Classes Resume
Artist in Residence Begins
Kinder Staff Room Duty
6:00-8:00, Allan to 4J Equity Action Team Meeting (Zoom)

March 29 (T)
Regular Day

March 30 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, School Board Work Session (Zoom)
6:00-8:00, Allan to 4J Equity Action Team Meeting (Zoom)

March 31 (H)
6:00-7:00, Mental Health Parent Night: Suicide Prevention & Awareness (Zoom)

April 1 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Sports Day
April Fools’ Day!
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – OSAS Test Security Training (Cafeteria)

Just four kid days until spring break!

Allan

 

February 28, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/02/26 22:05 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, P.D., SEL  |  Comments Off on February 28, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three Staffing Updates

• CLC Job Postings and Interviews – Our two CLC vacancies are now posted on the 4J Jobs website and will close on Tuesday. If HR can get me candidate names in a timely manner, my hope is to hold interviews for the CLC Teaching position Monday, March 7th and the CLC EA position Wednesday, March 9th after school if any of you would like to volunteer your time to help with interviews. Let me know if you are interested and I will get you applications and interview questions.

• School Nurse Update – Holt has a new RN who was hired last week, Awbree Cardwell. She will be at Holt and Monroe. She’ll have the same hours as Hailee and will be on-site in the morning on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays. Nurse Cathy is going to start training her this week. And if you’re keeping score on the Holt Same Name Game, we now have Aubree & Awbrey, Ashley & Ashley, Debbie & Deb, Jackie & Jacque, Jeff & Geoff, Katie, Katherine & Kathy, Kelly & Kelly, Lisa, Lisa & Lisa, Liz & Elizabeth, and Robin & Robin.

• REPEAT: 22/23 Staffing Survey – To help me with next year’s staffing plan, if you haven’t already, I’d like staff to complete the linked 2022-2023 Staffing Survey. All answers will be kept confidential and let me know if you have any questions.

• Friday PD – Watch for a separate email regarding this Friday’s PD, which will focus on the ACT area of Social Emotional Learning and Self Care.

• Classified Appreciation Week is Coming! – A reminder for licensed staff, shared earlier in the Sunshine Newsletter, next week on March 7th is our Classified Appreciation Week “Potato Bar” Luncheon. This day we celebrate all our amazing classified staff, and everyone is welcome!

K – grated cheddar, butter, sour cream, Greek yogurt
1 – baked potatoes (70) 50 regular/20 sweet potato
2 – desserts
3 – chopped green onions, diced tomatoes, steamed/roasted broccoli, guacamole, salsa, sliced olives,
4 – salads and/or slaws
5 – fruit platter or fruit salad
Specialists – chili (in crock pot), black beans (in crock pot), chopped bacon or bacon bits or diced ham

• REPEAT: BMX Virtual Assembly, MONDAY@8:30 & 1:15 – This Monday is our very cool BMX Virtual Assembly from Guinness World Record Holder, Matt Wilhelm. Zoom links are on the Holt Staff Calendar and times for the assembly are:

Grades K-2: 8:30-9:15
Grades 3-5: 1:15-2:00

See Last Week’s Announcements and Ashley’s Email for prior shared info.

• Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge Kick-Off Assembly, March 7th – Tuesday, March 8th (Grades K-2: 8:30-9:15 and Grades 3-5: 1:15-2:00) is our virtual Kick-Off Assembly for Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge. See Last Week’s Announcements or the Ems’ Email for details on how kids can earn 2 FREE tickets to an Ems Game. Attendance is optional for this assembly, but it can be fun for kids.

• COVID Updates – In COVID news…

• Mask Rules Updates (No Change) – You may have read the ODE and CLC announcements regarding new mask guidelines, but everything in 4J is status quo for now. March 19th (a staff work day) is when school district have the option to lift indoor mask rules. On a related note, I asked at a recent principal meeting if they were considering changing the mask requirement for when student are not around (like how it was last spring) and was told that’s a local rule and it is something they are looking at.

• Close Contact Sport at Recess OKAY – It was asked at a principals’ meeting last week if kids can now play close contact sports, such as soccer and basketball, and the answer was this IS allowed now.

• Working w/Minor COVID Symptoms if you had COVID? – It was also asked if a staff member who has had COVID in the last 90 days can come to school with minor cold symptoms (i.e. sore throat, cough, etc.). The answer was, yes, with minor cold symptoms, but they should not be at work if they look contagious. Staff need to be fever free for 24 hours and free from diarrhea/vomiting for 48 hours.

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit, Lesson #5 – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

UPDATE: DATE IS TBA • 4J OSAS Testing Window & Training Reminder – Principals and Data Coordinators were emailed the 4J OSAS testing window for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, which is April 11 – June 3. Gloria will give the annual test security training next week on Friday, March 11th at 1:30. EAs who will be in 3/4/5 classrooms or SPED classrooms when testing occurs should attend as well and can bank trade time for coming to this training.

• REPEAT: Read Across America, March 2nd – NEA’s Read Across America is this Wednesday. This year’s theme is: Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers. For some ideas and resources, check out NEA (National Education Association), The Book Wrangler’s Month Long Reading Calendar (Google Slides linked to books on Epic!), and Reading Rockets.

• Electronics Recycling Competition 2022 – Holt has won this in the past, but the 2022 Electronic Recycling Competition is coming in April. I’ll start advertising the event in the Quick News and on social media, but staff can also feel free to talk it up to kids as well. Here’s the blurb I’ll use:

 

2022 Electronics Recycling Competition!

Have any old electronics collecting dust? If it has a plug or takes batteries, and wether it’s working or not, just drop them off at at NextStep (245 Jackson St.) during March and April (making sure you tell them it’s for Holt) or drop them off at at Holt’s main entrance the week of April 4th and 8th.

Cell phones, monitors, computers, phones, cables, etc. we’ll take it all!

The school with the most “e-waste” collected wins a $500 gift certificate and a Next Step Robot made by a local artist. Holt won this competition in the past, so let’s see if we can win again!

 

• GagaBall Pit Update – Our Gaga Ball Pit it here, but it’s a permanent installation and not a portable pit, so I need to get approval from the Facilities Department before we can put it in, so it may be a while before we have GagaBall up and running. Stay tuned!

• District Admin Updates – Morgan Christensen, principal at Kennedy MS earlier this year, will continue as the Title IX Coordinator through the end of the year. Jennifer Hebard, assistant principal at at Kennedy MS, will become interim principal through the end of the year. Scott Marsh, principal at Edison, is moving to serve as the interim assistant principal at Kennedy MS for the rest of the year. etired admins will cover Edison for the remainder of the school year. See the linked email for full details. R

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Animals/Pets – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Animals/Pets:

Animals/Pets

• Animals are not allowed inside the school, nor in or around arrival and dismissal areas.
• The only exception are registered service animals. All service animals must be approved by the front office.

• Women’s History Month – March is Women’s History Month. Jacque found a cool Women’s History is Epic “Wall of Fame” Slide Show for 23 school days in March from Book Wrangler, which contains direct links to Epic! books on each of the woman highlighted. Book Wrangler also has printable posters and bookmarks. Other resources to check out include:

• National Education Association (NEA)
• We Are Teachers
• Edutopia
• WomensHistoryMonth.gov

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

February 28 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
8:30-9:15, K- 2 Virtual Assembly – Matt Wilhelm BMX Show (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:15-2:00, 3-5 Virtual Assembly – Matt Wilhelm BMX Show (Zoom)

March 1 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria or Library)

March 2 (W)
NEA’s Read Across America
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

March 3 (H)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin

March 4 (F)
1:10-2:00, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – ACT SEL/Self-Care (Async)

March 7 (M)
Classified Employee Appreciation Week
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #5
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45, CLC Teacher Interviews (Tentative)

March 8 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
8:30-9:15, K- 2 Assembly – Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:15-2:00, 3-5 Assembly – Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:00-7:00, Parent Education Series – Conscious Discipline (Zoom)

March 9 (W)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45, CLC EA Interviews (Tentative)

March 10 (H)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

March 11 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – Staffing & OSAS Test Security Training (Cafeteria)

14 kid days until spring break!

Allan

 

January 31. 2022

By Allan  |  2022/01/29 16:44 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D., SEL  |  Comments Off on January 31. 2022

 

Howdy All,

Thought I’d pass along a compliment from my sub who mentioned how helpful and welcoming of a staff we have here at Holt. Glad to finally get to come back!

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• School Nurse Update – Lisa West, our school nurse, has taken another job outside of 4J. Her last day was last week and I’m still waiting for an update from SSD as to who will be her replacement.

• 22-23 Staffing Timeline – HR is behind on getting staffing information out for next year. Right now their goal is to have it out to principals the last week of February.

• Friday PD: SEL/Morning Meetings – This Friday’s PD will be an SEL focus on Morning Meetings. Licensed staff will meet in the cafeteria at 1:30. The following Friday PD will be an update on the 22-23 ELA Adoption, which will include an optional drop-in Zoom Q&A session by the Adoption Team Leaders.

• Classified Absence Reminder – If you’re absent and even if you don’t need a sub, you need to record all absences in the Absence Management System (formerly AESOP). If you have questions how to enter an absence, visit the website 4J Absence Management Quicksheets and Support.

• CORRECTION: Visitor/Volunteer Process – I made a mistake and left out a step for anyone wanting to use volunteers. The Volunteer Approval Process, in addition to volunteers completing the volunteer back ground check, principals also have to fill out a submit volunteer names to HR for approval along with a liability waiver form. Apologies to Elizabeth and Robbie who had volunteers try to come last week, but HR put a stop to it when they saw them sign-in through the Raptor sing-in system. So if you want visitors and/or volunteers, give me the following:

• Volunteer Name
• Volunteer Tasks (what they’ll be doing)
• A Signed Volunteer Liability Waiver

• Bertha Holt Celebration, Gift of Hope Project, Coming in February! – As part of an ongoing tradition, the students of Holt are raising money to support an international family using the Gifts of Hope Catalog through the Holt International Organization. See the linked draft Gifts of Hope Project Flyer for details, but the short version is we are asking student to find a way to earn $1 that they contribute. These will go home with students and we will announce the gifts chosen on the Ultimate Cozy Pajama Day Assembly on Feb. 25th.

• EAs and Staff Meetings – If any EAs would like to attend Staff Meetings that occurs beyond your normal work day, let me know and we can make an agreements about banking trade time to use on a non-student day.

• Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so please encourage your students to walk, bike, carpool, or ride the bus to school. If students live a long way from school, they can try parking a ten minute walk from school and walking the rest of the way. The goal is to reduce traffic and pollution around our school and to promote physical activity for our students.

 

 

• Save the Date for OSAS PD, Friday, March 11 – Gloria emailed earlier, but SAVE THE DATE for the required Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) security training on Friday, March 11th at 1:30 (location TBD). because there will not be the usual opportunities for make up trainings in other buildings. EAs who will be in 3/4/5 classrooms or SPED classrooms when testing occurs need to attend as well.

• Staff Meeting Location Survey: DEADLINE EXTENDED – Were up to 23 votes and it’s still a dead heat between switching Staff Meetings to Zoom or remaining in-person. We’ll decide at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, which will be the last time we’ll be able to meet in the cafeteria. Fill out the Staff Meeting Location Survey by Monday to tip the scales one way or the other.

• REMINDER: Teacher PD Survey – Teachers were already given time for this, but if you haven’t already be sure to complete the linked 4J Teacher Curriculum Trainings Survey.

• REPEAT: EEF Grants DUE FRIDAY – EEF is accepting grants for round two of the school year. See the EEF Email or EEF Website for details. Unlike in the past, staff may directly submit grants without first going through Site Council. This year, after the Feb. 2 deadline, all submitted grants will then go to Site Council for rank ordering.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Leaving the building during work day – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on “Leaving the building during work day”:

Leaving the building during work day:

• For safety reasons, all staff must notify the office when leaving the premises. Should there be an emergency during the absence, it is important a staff member’s whereabouts is known. Likewise, staff must let the office know when returning to the building.
• All itinerant, or district personnel, visiting Holt MUST sign in/out while on campus.

• Using Morning Messages to Start the Day in Distance Learning – The morning message is a popular way to help elementary students transition into school—and it can be adapted for home learning. See this Edutopia Article for details.

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

January 31 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Report Cards Sent Home
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
4:30-6:30, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

February 1 (T)
Black History Month
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiations (Zoom)

February 2 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:15-5:15, Optional Morning Meeting PD (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 3 (H)
5:00-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiations (Zoom)

February 4 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – PBIS / SEL PD

February 5 (SA)
1:00-2:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)

February 7 (M)
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
National School Counselor Week
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

February 8 (T)
International Clash Day (sorry, one of my all-time favorite bands)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, PBIS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, Conscious Discipline Parent Nights (Zoom)

February 9 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-3:25, 1st Grade Data Team

February 10 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

February 11 (F)
Friendship Day & Holt Celebration Assembly
1:30-2:20, 2nd Grade Data Team
1:30-2:25, Friday PD: ELA Adoption Update

Have a fab week, everyone!

Allan

 

January 24, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/01/22 20:18 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Grants, P.D., SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on January 24, 2022

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for being out last week. In normal times, I would have just come to work, but since my vaccinated middle schooler tested positive and since I had primary COVID symptoms (sore throat, congestion, minor fatigue), I figured I needed to follow the rules and stay home from work. In the end, I never tested positive and burned a few regular ol’ sick days.

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Staffing Update – Please welcome (back) Margaret Maddy as our newest 2.5 hour Title 1 EA. You may recognize Margaret because she previously worked at Holt in the kitchen. Welcome to the team, Margaret!

• COVID Updates – In COVID news…

• Contact Tracing Resumes – The state is now requiring schools to contact trace for all UNMASKED situations (breakfast, snack and lunch), but not recesses. This means the pause on contact tracing is over.

I asked if this meant specialists (PE, Music, SPED, Title, ELD, etc.) no longer needed to maintain seating charts, since those are always masked situations, but was told they should continue to maintain seating charts just in case rules change or if any unusual situations come up. See this 4J Communication for additional info on changes in contact tracing, isolation ,and quarantine.

As a reminder, the best way to avoid close contacts is to keep breakfast and snack in the classroom to less than 15 minutes total or create two different seating charts for breakfast and snack.

• KN95 Masks Available – Downtown is giving all schools KN95 Masks and is ordering more. One mask is good for 5 days and can last good longer if cleaned and disinfected. Come by the office if you want one.

• Staff Notifications – Teachers will get a notification from the district if a student in your class tests positive AND was in school during their infectious period. If a student developed symptoms over the weekend and was not infectious while at school, there would be no notification. However, I will continue to notify teachers of positive students so you have the quarantine dates for sending out assignments.

• Temporary Paid Leave (TPL) – If staff test positive for COVID, you will qualify to TPL. Staff Sick Leave into AESOP and after 4J Staff Contact Tracer Dawn Strong contacts you, she will authorize TPL. Also, staff caring for a child who is positive and if the staff member is not fully vaccinated (booster), they would qualify for TPL because they are now a close contact. If you are booster, however, you’d have to use sick days for child care. (I know. I know. Not my rule there.)

• January Virtual Assembly, THURSDAY @7:40 – The January Virtual Winter Wonderland Assembly is this Thursday. See the above linked agenda for details, but log on early at 7:40 and the festivities will begin at 7:50. Zoom links are on the Staff Zimbra Calendar.

• Science Assembly, THURSDAY @8:30 & 1:15– Ashley emailed details earlier, but this Thursday will be a very cool Extreme Science Assembly. See the link for some videos you might show your kids ahead of time to get them excited! Zoom links are on the Holt Staff Calendar.

Grades K-2: 8:30-9:15
Grades 3-5: 1:15-2:00

 

• REPEAT: Holt Winter Wonderland BINGO Night, THURSDAY – Get your student’s pumped! Not this week, but next week on Thursday, January 27th is a Holt Virtual Event and this time it’s Winter Wonderland BINGO Night!

• Asynchronous EA Learning – FRIDAY – SPED and Title EA were emailed info about Asynchronous EA Learning happen din this Friday, which may have missed a number of building EAs. More details and session descriptions are coming this week, but newer staff are encouraged to attend specific foundational sessions that they have not been able to join previously. These sessions will be highlighted with guidance.

• Report Card Info & Reminders – Three items of note:

• Print on Friday – Report cards cannot be printed until Friday morning. Melanie will send out an email after she’s updated the attendance.

• Parent Reports – The 4J Parent Reports (easyCBM, OSAS, attendance) need to go home and will not be available to print until Thursday. Gloria will get them to staff as soon as she can that day.

• Friday Teacher Work Day Expectations – Although teachers need to come in to print report cards, downtown emailed principals the official expectations for Friday’s Teacher Work Day, which is:

The staff work day is a regular work day. Teachers are allowed to work from home if they notify their administrator in advance. However, teachers should plan ahead if they need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading or student issues. Please be aware that teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception of how this day is used.

• Staff Meeting Location Survey DUE FRIDAY – With only 13 votes it’s a dead heat between switching Staff Meetings to Zoom or remaining in-person. Please fill out the linked Future Staff Meeting Location Survey by the end of the week.

• Student Semester Changes – Last Thursday, I emailed the list of students switching pathways. If teachers haven’t already, do the following as soon as possible:

1. Decide who is taking the new students.
2. Notify the office who is taking the new students (so we can put them into your Synergy).
3. Send new families a Welcome Email by Tuesday, which can simply be your fall welcome email.

We had 12 students returning to in-person and 11 students moving online. Here’s the grade level breakdown.

Returning
KG – 2
1st – 3
2nd – 3
3rd – 1
4th – 1
5th – 2

Leaving
KG – 1
1st – 2
2nd – 0
3rd – 0
4th – 5
5th – 2

I’ve emailed returning families the following Welcome Back – Quick News.

• Bertha Holt Celebration, Gift of Hope Project, Coming in February! – As part of an ongoing tradition, the student of Holt are raising money to support an international family using the Gifts of Hope Catalog through the Holt International Organization. See the linked Gifts of Hope Project Flyer, but we are asking student to find a way to earn $1 that they contribute. These will go home at the semester change and the deadline to return funds raided is Thursday, Feb. 10th. We will announce the gifts chosen on Feb. 11th, Friendship Day at Holt.

• Classroom Buddy Activity – At the request of Student Council, the PBIS Team emailed teachers a Classroom Buddy Activity we’ll do for the Feb. 11th Friendship Day. See the above email for details and classroom buddy assignments, but be sure to following the timeline:

• Complete All About Me activity AFTER the start of the new term (Monday 1/31) and with enough time to meet and exchange with your buddy teacher.
• Meet with your buddy teacher to match kids up and then exchange papers.
• On Friendship day (Friday 2/11) hand the papers out to your class so they can “get to know” their buddies. Make sure you explain what classroom buddies are because it has been awhile and some kids might not have been here when we did them last.

 

 

• Parent Education Series – Jenny and Max are leading a parenting titled “School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights” starting next month. Please help promote this event. I’ve created a Facebook Event and Jenny made a Program Flyer (English & Spanish).

 

Parent Education Series
School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights

Let’s face it, being a parent is a hard job! It has been even harder since the beginning of the pandemic. At times, our emotions get in the way of our ability to access our own parenting brilliance. Wouldn’t it be nice to respond to conflict with rational thinking and problem-solving? Join us as we learn to regulate our emotions and stop reacting out of impulse or tradition, so we can help our kids regulate their emotions and reactions.

Come learn, connect, and explore parenting with Conscious Discipline

This series, led by 4J staff on Zoom, is based on the School to Heart to Home parenting education curriculum from Conscious Discipline.

Tuesday, February 8 at 6:00p-7:00pm – Brain States: A new way of understanding yourself and your children
Tuesday, March 8 at 6:00-7:00pm – Composure: Being the person you want your children to become
Date TBA – Assertiveness: Setting limits respectfully
Date TBA – Encouragement: Noticing, accepting and connecting with children

Dinner! Make & Take Materials! Free!

Following each session, attendees will receive:

• a gift card to a local restaurant (to replace the meal we’d provide if able to meet in person)
• printed material related to content covered.
• a copy of Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline, a parenting book that covers much of the content we will discuss.

RSVP here:

Registration Form Or email Jenny Potter potter_je@4j.lane.edu Limited to 25 families!

Once you’ve registered, we will send you a link.

For more information about Conscious Discipline, visit the Conscious Discipline Website or this short Conscious Discipline Video.

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be the January Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the • REMINDER: Teacher PD Survey – During last week’s cancelled Staff Meeting, I asked teachers to use the time to complete the linked Optional Teacher Curriculum Trainings Survey (which was revised the following day on 1/19). Be sure to complete the survey by the end of the week if you did not do so already.

• REPEAT: Final School Choice Tour TUESDAY – The last school choice tour of the year is this Tuesday at 12:30, but wanted staff to know I’m planning a Zoom tour of the school at the end of my presentation, so you may see me walking around hallways and classes Zooming with my iPad or laptop.

• EEF Grants Due Feb. 4 – EEF is now accepting grants for round two of the school year. See the EEF Email or EEF Website for details. Unlike in the past, staff may directly submit grants without first going through Site Council. This year, after the Feb. 2 deadline, all submitted grants will then go to Site Council for rank ordering.

• Optional Morning Meeting PD (Virtual) WEDNESDAY or 2/2 – Jan. 26th and Feb. 2nd 4:15 to 5:15 pm, SDS staff will present how you might help to meet the Social Emotional Learning needs of your students while developing a better sense of community, belonging and classroom culture. RSVP using this Google Form as soon as possible. SPOTS for this session are limited to 50 participants. Extended Contract will be provided.

 

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Medications – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook is on Medications:

Medications:

• It is the policy of the Eugene 4j School District to cooperate with parents to dispense medication that has been prescribed by a physician during the school day. Confidentiality should be practiced regarding individual student medication.
• All medication should be kept locked in the office and must be in the original container issued by a registered pharmacist. Parents must sign an authorization form granting the school permission to administer medication.
• Students are only allowed to carry inhalers if there is an authorization form in the office to do so. This is very rare at the elementary level. Otherwise, students should not have medication with them, including over the counter medications. Cough drops are not permitted in class and should be immediately sent to the office.

• Black History Month Resources – February is Black History Month, so I wanted to pass along this list as a starting point for resources. There are, of course, many other resources available; Rethinking Schools, the Zinn Education Project, and Facing History and Ourselves to name a few.

Info on BHM origins:
• Awesome Video: How Black History Went From a Week to a Month
• Article: Black History Themes
• Article: The Man Behind Black History Month

On Teaching:
• How to Be an Anti-Racist White Educator
• What Anti-Racist Teachers Do Differently

Black Youth Leaders and Activists:
• Past: Youth in the Civil Rights Movement
• Present: Young Black Activists, Young Black Leaders and Creators Making History Today, Amanda Gorman

Black History Month 2021
For 2021, the BHM theme is The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. There’s obviously such a wealth of resources to work with here, but these are a few books related to this theme:
• Read-aloud: Me and Mama
• Sony Animation: Hair Love
• Read-aloud (there are a bunch of other great ones on this YouTube channel): We March

Lesson plans, etc.:
• Virtual History Journeys
• PBS Learning Resources

Keep in mind that black history and teaching the story of historically of marginalized groups should be a year round-activity and not just a sidebar or novelty to the American history typically taught in U.S. schools. It should be viewed as a central part of the American story.

• MegaMillions Lotto Pool – Time to dream big! The MegaMillions Jackpot for Tuesday’s drawing will be $396 Million. If you want to join the pool, get me $2 (cash or Venmo) by 3:00pm on Tuesday!

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

January 24 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues

January 25 (T)
12:30-1:10, School Choice Presentation & Tour (Zoom)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
7:00-8:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)

January 26 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:15-5:15, Optional Morning Meeting PD (Zoom)

January 27 (H)
Holt Spirit Day, Winter Wonderland!
7:40-8:10, Winter Wonderland Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:30-9:15, K- 2 “Extreme Science” Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
1:30-2:15, 3-5 “Extreme Science” Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Library)
6:30, Holt Winter Wonderland BINGO Night! (Zoom)

January 28 (F)
No School – Staff Work Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
9:00, Allan to SSD Meeting (C1)

January 31 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Report Cards Sent Home
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
4:30-6:30, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

February 1 (T)
Black History Month
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiations (Zoom)

February 2 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:15-5:15, Optional Morning Meeting PD (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 3 (H)
5:00-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiations (Zoom)

February 4 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – PBIS / SEL PD

February 5 (SA)
1:00-2:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)

Have a good week, everyone!

Allan

 

January 3, 2022

By Allan  |  2021/12/30 22:03 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, P.D., SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on January 3, 2022

 

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Hope you all were able to relax during your break and maybe even forgot what day of the week it was at some point.

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Jan. 3 Professional Development  – We’ll meet in the cafeteria for the Jan. 3 PD. 7:30-8:00 is an optional social time and the meeting will start at 8:00. I’ll have some continental breakfast type of food and drink. I’ll resend the agenda I shared right before the break. SSD, ELD, and staff on the ELA adoption team will leave the meeting early for a different meeting 9:30-12:30.

• Friday PD/PLC Time – This Friday’s PD will focus on the 4J ACT strand Achieve Equitable Outcomes, with a particular focus on Anti-Racism & Anti-Bias. Watch for a separate email with details on this Friday’s activity.

• School Choice Info – School Choice season has begun and school choice tours will again be over Zoom. I’ll hold virtual school presentations and tours on Jan. 11th (12:30PM), Jan. 20th (6:00PM), and Jan. 25th (12:30PM). Holt is closed to most students (we’re allowed to take about 10 kinders), so these tours serve more to retain neighborhood families who are considering trying to lottery into other schools. I’ll reach out to PAHS this week to see if a parent rep would be willing to share about the parent group and about Holt from a parent perspective. If there are any staff who are interested/will to join me in the presentations, I’d love to have more voices than just myself. You could share as little or as much as you’d like. Staff merely being present during these Zooms also helps families feel like we’re a family and a team and makes it more welcoming. Below is an article I’ll put in the next Quick News.

School Choice for the 2022-23 School Year

Spread the word to all of your friends that HOLT ROCKS! With Holt’s focus on the whole child we are an excellent school and a positive choice in your child’s education. With School Choice coming soon, please invite friends and acquaintances to visit Holt (virtually) and seriously consider joining the Holt family.

We’re holding virtual school presentations and tours on Jan. 11th (12:30PM), Jan. 20th (6:00PM), and Jan. 25th (12:30PM)

Please watch the 4J website at www.4j.lane.edu> Parents > School Choice for information on upcoming visitation opportunities and the upcoming lottery applications timeline.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95863212123?pwd=QTQxbFlmaU8wSlJaM3hKZGZmN3ZaQT09

Meeting ID: 958 6321 2123
Passcode: 908361

• Artist in Residence Update – Lane Arts go back to me over the break about our artist preferences. None of our top picks were available winter term (Jan, Feb, Mar), but our #1 pick, the fiddle artist, is available right after winter break. However, we need to find a dedicated space for him to see classes, such as the library or somewhere else. Space is pretty tight and I’m stumped on finding a spot outside of the library, so I’ve added this to Monday’s meeting as a business item. Please let me know if any of you have ideas on how we might make this work or if you think we should look for a different artist.

• COVID Protocol Updates – Five updates:

• REPEAT: Outdoor Mask Requirement (Students) – Downtown announced that starting January 4th students will no longer need to wear masks outdoors. Make sure students take their masks to recess so they can put them back on when they re-enter the building. Remind students to keep track of their masks at recess by:

• Mask lanyard,
• Pocket
• Slid below their chin
• Wrapped around their arm

• Outdoor Mask Requirement (Staff) – Downtown clarified that staff outside can only take their masks off if they can maintain 6-feet distance from students. With kids running up to adults at recess and arrival/dismissal on a pretty regular basis, I’d suggest staff use a mask lanyard so you can quickly mask up when you are closer than 6-feet with students.

• Masks at Recess Line-Up – At the end of each recess when kids line up, we will have students mask-up so they are ready to go when they re-enter the building. This will avert traffic jams at the doors going back in from recess.

• Masks at Arrival Line-Up – For morning arrival, staff should tell students to mask up a minute before the bell rings. Staff supervising entrances should get some extra masks to pass out as needed.

• CDC Quarantine Changes – You may have read in the news the CDC has revised their 10-day quarantine guideline to a 5-day quarantine. I emailed the 4J COVID person and they said this won’t change anything for us until the new guidelines are first filtered through the state, then the county, and then 4J, so we are status quo on 10-day quarantines and test-to-stay for unvaccinated students.

• 2.5-hour EA Vacancy – Our runner-up candidate for this position accepted another job with more hours, so I reposed the position. It closes on Sunday, Jan 2nd. HR will give me the candidate list sometime this week, so I’ve tentatively scheduled interviews for Wednesday, Jan. 12th, 2:40-4:30. Let me know if any of your are interested/willing to volunteer your time to help with interviews.

• Social Emotional Teaching Reminders – Two SEL reminders:

• Second Step Pacing Guide – I’ve shared this before, but linked here and also on the Holt Google Team Drive is the Second Step Year-Long Pacing Guide.

• Starting Each Class With a Warm Welcome – I see most teacher starting class each day with a morning meeting, which is great. This Edutopia Article and video below reinforces the importance of morning meetings as not just a good welcoming activity but also a proactive classroom management strategy. It builds community in the classroom, establishes a sense of shared values, and makes everyone feel included. These were made for the fall, so they reference the start of the year, but their lessons apply all year.

• UO International Student Free Presentations – The UO ICSP (International Cultural Service Program) is offering in-person and virtual cultural presentations to schools. See the linked UO ICSP Brochure and UO ICSP Website for student profiles, presentation topics, and how to request a presentation.

• Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY– Remind kiddos this Wednesday is the monthly Walk+Roll to School Day, where we encourage students to walk, bike, carpool, or ride the bus to school. The goal is to reduce traffic and pollution around our school and to promote physical activity for our students. This happens the first Wednesday of each month.

• District Admin Update – Jose Salgado, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, has resigned from his position with 4J. Downtown has yet to decide on the future of this position (though I have my theories).

• District McKinney-Vento Student Data – Linked here is the most recent district-wide McKinney-Vento Student Report. These totals represent students for the entire school year, not necessarily who’s in buildings now. Holt server the fourth highest number of homeless students and families than any other elementary school in 4J. Not on my blog, but attached to the email is of which of our students qualify for McKinney-Vento.

• EEA Seminar Brochure – Linked here is the EEA 2022 Professional Development Seminar Series, which is filled with useful PD opportunities for EEA members, as well as an option to earn collect credits that can bump you up a column on the pay scale.

• Hazardous Weather Information for 4J Staff – With all the now we had over the break, as a reminder, linked here is the Hazardous Weather Information for 4J Staff district webpage, which has everything you need to know what to do when winter weather comes. Setting up the Text Message Alerts for whether closures and delays can be especially helpful.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Accidents – Staff & Students – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on accidents involving staff and/or students:

Accident:
Staff:
Any staff member involved in a workplace injury needs to inform the administrator and fill out an injury form immediately. If a form is not completed, personal loss may not be covered by workman’s compensation insurance. If you find it necessary to see a physician due to a work injury, please get information from office staff. The designated district facility is indicated on the form. Forms can be found on the 4J website.

Student:
In the case of minor accident or illness, send the student to the office with a Health Pass, or call the office to inform them that the student is coming to the office. Don’t hesitate to send another student as an escort if you feel the need. In the event of an injury, be sure to fill out an accident report. If the student is vomiting or feels they are going to, please send them with a trash can.

If a student is seriously injured then must be accompanied by a staff member. Please press the emergency wall button nearest the location of the injury and request assistance. If you are unable to leave the student having a health emergency to call the office, send a student to the office with a red card.

• JUST FOR FUN: The Far Side Returns! – Were you also a child of the ’80s or ’90s? If so were you also obsessed with The Far Side? Then you may be interested to know that after 25 years of silence Gary Larson occasionally posts new stuff on his Far Side Website.

 

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

January 3 (M)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
7:30-8:00, Optional Visiting and Social Time (Cafeteria)
8:00-1:00, Staff Meeting/PD (Cafeteria)
1:50, Allan Meeting w/Angela Crum (Office)

January 4 (T)
Winter Benchmark Testing Opens
2:45-3:25, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)

January 5 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiation Session (Zoom)

January 6 (H)
Regular Day

January 7 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD/PLC – Equity

January 10 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
2:30-3:30, Allan to Care Team Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

January 11 (T)
12:30-1:30, School Choice Presentation & Tour (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)

January 12 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-4:30, 2.5 Title EA Interviews (Library)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 13 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiation Session (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

January 14 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD/PLC – SEL

January 17 (M)
No School — Martin Luther King Jr. Day

See you all soon!

Allan

December 13, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/12/11 19:35 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D., SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on December 13, 2021

Hey Holt Bolts,

The week before winter break is usually a crazy one, with more than normal of escalated behaviors (kids and adults), so be prepared. Also, give yourself permission to just have fun with kids this week, which can lessen some of the undesired behaviors. That’ll also send kids off to winter break on a positive note and help them feel good about coming back from the break in January. Make this week a fun one!

Eighteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Four staffing updates:

• Behavior EA Update – Hannah Connor, who recently started as a 2.5 hour Title 1 EA, is our new Behavior Support EA, filling Max’s former position before he became our school counselor. Besides working here at Holt, Hanna also currently works as a Behavior Technician at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders and prior to that worked as a Personal Support Worker.

• 2.5-hour EA Vacancy – HR is allowing me to submit to hire our runner-up for this position without having to start over. My hope is HR will make the job offer next week and the person can start after winter break.

• Holt BEST Coordinator Update – Downtown is shuffling BEST Coordinators. The person originally assigned to Holt is being moved to Howard and Howard’s coordinator, Aubrey Bulkeley, is coming to Holt. Aubrey will start at Holt in January, though she’ll be visiting Wednesday after school, and the goal is for BEST to start up in early February. Depending upon available curriculum and hiring of BEST EAs, they are planning to start small with 15-25 students.

• BEST Academic Coordinator Opportunity – If any staff are interested in supporting BEST as the Academic Coordinator, see this linked Email and Job Description. The best fit for this position is a licensed staff member who has an interest in/comfort level with math and data, but classified staff with this skill set can also take it on. Here’s the basic overview:

• Oversee EA instruction in Do the Math small groups (similar to Title groups happening during the day).
• Look at data, and with consultation of the Data Team, determine who should be invited to BEST.
• This is an extended contract position for 1.5 – 2 hours per day.
• There are Academic Coordinators at other sites who can help, with regular collaboration meetings planned.

Since this is extended contract, there’s no interview or job posting or anything like that. Just let me know if you’re interested and I’ll put you in touch with Molly Lajoie, the District BEST Afterschool Coordinator.

• REPEAT: Crazy Hair Because We Care! FRIDAY! – Get kids pumped and plan your own crazy hair! If families want to share their crazy hair on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #crazyhairbecausewecare, Papa’s Pizza will award the “BEST Hair” photo with a FREE Large Pizza of their choice!

• December Virtual Assembly, Friday @7:55 – The December Spirit Day Virtual Assembly will be this Friday at 7:55. Here’s the agenda for the event:

7:50
Start Zoom meeting with each class.
Music will be played until start time.

7:55
Assembly begins Live! Mr. Chinn Starts us off!

7:56
Miss Kim pulled out 23 winners (Pre drawn…one from each class) and adds to the wheel (pre-written) 😜
These kids will STAY IN CLASSROOM!  Pizza coupons Prize will be delivered!
Mr. Chinn will then Spin the wheel with all 23 names on it for the big prizes!

1st Spin = Connect 4
2nd Spin = Large Pop-It!
3rd Spin = Bubble Wand
4th = Drone

These winners can come down to get their prize!

8:00
Ms. Reich does BOLT WINNER DRAWING for Vending Machine Coins by
They can come to get their prize!

8:01
While we are waiting for Holt Bolt Winners to get their prize, Lets share ourCrazy Hair (Highlight each room!)

8:05
GAME TIME!!!
We drew 8 Spirit Tickets and have 4 teams for the game!
Today we are playing Reindeer Games!

GAME:
4 teams of 2
One person wears the reindeer antlers
The Other player throws the rinds on the antlers.
The first one to get 3 rings on the antlers wins!
PRIZE??? Gold Coins and something else for “losers” 🙃

8:07
End Assembly portion. Congratulations to the teams!

8:09
School cheer and goodbye!

• SIA Library Pick-Up WEDNESDAY – The SIA Classroom Libraries are being delivered this Wednesday. Teachers should pick up your three book sets at the end of the school day.

• Science Kit Transition Survey + Information – I connected with Jamie Tait, District K-5 STEM Specialist, regarding Eric Anderson’s Email and Holt’s past agreement with Sue Wilson and Jaimee Massie where each grade level kept their kits and had them refilled by the district. Jamie is fine with this arrangement and she and Eric are seeing if they can possibly use this arrangement at other buildings.

So don’t send you kits back, but if you have kits that need restocked, let me know and I’ll contact Jamie.

• January PD & PLC Times – For January and February, district admin have reduced the amount of PD and PLC time to just 1-hour per week on Fridays, though it’s actually 55-minutes, 1:30-2:25 to ensure staff get their golden hour, but I’ve deleted the Wednesday PLC times off the calendar. There’s only two Friday PDs this month and I will send a separate email with the plan for those days.

• COVID Updates – Two updates:

• Outdoor Mask Requirement – Downtown emailed principals that starting January 4th students will no longer need to wear their face coverings while outside at recess. When students go to recess, make sure they take their masks with them so they can put them back on when they re-enter the building. Ideas for taking masks out are:

• a mask lanyard,
• in a pocket
• slid below their chin
• wrapped around their arm

• Test to Stay – Downtown is planning to start using BinaxNOW rapid testing at schools in January. Specifics are going to be shared with principals later, but linked here is the OHA Release from earlier this month.

 

 

• Cabinets Blocking Doors – This Monday is our Fire Marshall re-inspection. The main issue on the Fire Inspection Report is moving rolling cabinets, wagons, or other items from blocking the 3-foot required fire egress, so I’ve told Ryan to move anything not already moved before the re-inspection.

• Work Room Doors Closed – We have a few students who elope now and then, so we need to make sure the two work room doors are kept closed. They don’t need to be locked, but being closed is probably enough to keep students from wandering in.

• Leadership Plan Approved – The 4J JCAC (Joint Contract Administration Committee) last Thursday officially approve the Holt Leadership Plan.

• K-5 Health Adoption Reps – Downtown is looking for Churchill or Sheldon Region reps on the K-5 Health Adoption Committee. They are specifically looking for Special Education, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 4th grade, and PE reps. If you are interested, see the linked email and add your name to the K-5 Health Adoption Team Interest Google Form.

• Holt School Choice Tour Input – I’m prepping for January School Choice Tours and wanted feedback on the School Choice Tour Slideshow and the Holt School Choice Webpage. Although Holt is closed to most transfers, this is our chance to retain students and families who live in our neighborhood who are considering leaving us for other schools. Let me know if you see anything we should add to highlight for families or if there’s anything that looks incorrect. This is where we want to seriously brag about ourselves!

• Send Me Photos for Social Media! – Related to the above and showing ourselves off, please text me pictures of anything fun or interesting happening at school. I love getting good content to post to our social media pages, which potential families also often check out when shopping for schools.

• $600 Kindness Mini Grant – The Choose Kindness Foundation is offering schools $600.00 to design and implement kindness activities that may be used for classroom or school-wide kindness events or celebrations as well as specific Teacher Wellness through kindness activities. Linked here is the very simple Choose Kindness Mini Grant Application and also Sample Ideas for potential kindness activities. The due date is Feb. 25, 2022 and notification of awards will be by March 11, 2022.

• Choose Kindness Foundation Music Video – Related to the above, the music video below, from the Choose Kindness Foundation, highlights four kindness skills kids can practice: be friendly, offer help, show appreciation, and reach out to those with needs. It’s a tad corny, but feel free to share with you class if you’d like.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Child Abuse – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Child Abuse and Child Abuse Reporting:

Child Abuse
Any employee of the district who has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, or who has observed the child being subjected to circumstances or conditions that could result in abuse or neglect will immediately report these observations to the counselor and/or principal, completing the Suspected Abuse Reporting Form. School employees are mandated reports and should contact the Department of Human Services with their observations/concerns, immediately (within 24 hours) or the EPD Non-Emergency line:

Oregon Child Abuse Hotline, 1-855-503-7233 (SAFE)
Eugene Police Department Non-Emergency Number, (541) 682-5111

School employees should not contact the child’s family, or any other persons, to determine the cause of the suspected abuse or neglect. It is not the responsibility of the school employees to determine or prove that the child has been abused or neglected.

• 5 Days of Holiday Resources for Educators – While Character Strong is a curriculum for the secondary level, they shared some links that could be used at elementary to wrap up the week before winter break.

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

December 13 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
Artist in Residence Continues
National Cocoa Day
Fire Marshall Re-Inspection
2:30-3:30, Allan to Care Team Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

December 14 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)

December 15 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:45, Teacher SIA Library Pick-Up (Library)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 16 (H)
Regular Day

December 17 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Crazy Hair Day!
7:50-8:10, December Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
2:35, LEAVE EARLY FOR WINTER BREAK

December 18 – January 2
No School – Winter Break

January 3 (M)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
8:00-1:30, Staff Meeting/PD (Cafeteria)

January 4 (T)
2:45-3:25, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)

January 5 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

January 6 (H)
Regular Day

January 7 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

FIVE days until winter break! Make them good ones!

Allan

December 6, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/12/04 18:36 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, SEL, Technology  |  Comments Off on December 6, 2021

Hello All,

It was fun seeing folks at the staff holiday party last week. I’m in full support of more Fridays at 4:00 and such if others are into that!

Twelve items of note for this week:

• PBIS Orange Ticket Bonanza! – Just 28 spaces to go in the Orange Ticket Board. Keep the positives going out to earn that popcorn party.! We’re going to want to use all of our PBIS tools and tricks between now and winter break.

• Outdoor Mask Rule & Test-to-Stay Update – Downtown is planning on the start of January for when they revise the current outdoor mask rules. They’re also continue to work with LCPH on how to implement the new State of Oregon test-to-stay option, where kids who are close contacts don’t have to quarantine if they provide a negative test (though fully vaccinated students with no symptoms already do not have to quarantine), but no definite timeline on that yet. Stay tuned!

• Mask Lanyards – Related to the above, E=earlier this year teachers were given class sets of mask lanyard, which we will need for students to help keep track of their masks when they go outside for recess. Let me know if you do not have these lanyards or never got them and we’ll figure something out.

• Crazy Hair Because We Care! FRIDAY, DEC. 17 – Get kids pumped and plan your own wackadoo hairdo! Elementary Schools across 4J are celebrating kindness on Friday, December 17th by recognizing Kind Words and Crazy Hair! Just encourage kids to wear their craziest hair style to school on Friday, December 17th. If families want to share their crazy hair on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #crazyhairbecausewecare, Papa’s Pizza will award the “BEST Hair” photo with a FREE Large Pizza of your choice!

• Fire Marshall Re-Inspection, 12/13 – Not this week, but Monday, December 13th next week is our Fire Marshall re-inspection. If your work area was on the Holt Fire Inspection Report, make sure all violations are taken care of by this date. Let me or Ryan know if you need any help or have any questions.

• IEP Meeting Compensation – A reminder that Non-SSD teachers can use the linked 2021/2022 Non-SSD Licensed IEP Log Google Form, found on the HR Forms webpage (there is a separate SSD Staff Form) to request payment for up to six hours of additional compensation based on you per diem rate. Submissions will be accepted through June 10, 2022 by 5:00 PM. Payment will be included on the June 30th pay installment. I’ve also added these links to the Holt Staff Dashboard under the Employee Info column.

• 4J TAG Newsletter – Debbi already shared the most pertinent TAG Updates, but linked here is the December TAG Newsletter if you’re interested.

• REPEAT: December Fire Drill, Tuesday @1:10 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be the December Fire Drill. Linked here is theBuilding Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map. My sub fill my role during the drill. If it’s raining, we’ll reschedule for Tuesday the following week.

• REPEAT: Allan Out of the Building Tuesday – I’ll be out of the building Tuesday, December 7th to attend an ELA Adoption Meeting, but retired South Eugene HS principal Stephanie Cannon will be covering for me and I’ll plan to be back in time for the Staff Meeting at 2:45.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Lost & Found – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on the Lost & Found, which will be emptied over winter break, if staff can remind students to check it between now and then:

Lost and Found
A lost and found area is located near the library. Students should check clothing racks frequently. Valuables, such as glasses, money, or jewelry are turned in to the office. Please inquire with the office if valuables are lost.

Periodically, the “Lost and Found” will be emptied and boxed for donation. Parents will be notified two weeks prior to this happening thru Holt Quick News.

• Beanstack – Amy Page shared about Beanstack at a Staff Meeting a while ago, but as a reminder, it’s is a unique tool in that uses reading challenges to engage students, teachers, school staff, and families in reading. It’s easy to use and can provide insight into students’ independent reading habits. To refresh your memory, linked here is a quick informational Beanstack Slide Show with voice over and step-by step direction.

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

December 6 (M)
No School – Staff Work Day
5th Grade Staff Room Duty

December 7 (T)
Computer Science Education Week – Hour of Code
TAG Testing Week
Artist in Residence Continues
8:00-2:45, Allan at ELA Adoption (ATA) – Stephanie Cannon Covering
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

December 8 (W)
Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day
8:20, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-3:25, 3rd Grade Data Team Meeting

December 9 (H)
2:45, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
4:30-6:30, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

December 10 (F)
Deadline for Secret Snowflake
1:30-2:20, 4th Grade Data Team Meeting
2:25-3:15, 5th Grade Data Team Meeting

December 13 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
Artist in Residence Continues
National Cocoa Day
2:30-3:30, Allan to Care Team Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

December 14 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)

December 15 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 16 (H)
Regular Day

December 17 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Crazy Hair Day!

Nine kid days until winter break!

Allan

 

November 1, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/10/30 19:12 Posted in Announcements, Articles, SEL, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on November 1, 2021

 

Hello Friends,

We survived a week of Halloween excitement, so now we just need to survive this week’s sugar crash.

Eleven items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Molly Beick (CLC EA) – Molly has been subbing in the CLC most all of this year, but she has now officially been hired to fill Ganell’s 6.5 CLC EA vacancy, so please welcome Molly as our newest Holt Bolt!

• School Counselor Update – We interviewed three candidates for our Temp School Counselor opening this past Friday and will hopefully have a job offer out from HR by the end of the week.

• CLD EA Vacancy – The person HR offered Jason Martinez’s 5-hour CLC EA position never responded, so SSD had HR make the job offer to another candidate. Darrin has taken over Jason’s morning crossing guard duties, but hopefully we’ll get someone for the rest of the position soon. In related news, Jason is now working online with K-5 Connect.

 

 

• Conferences Updates – Five parent/teacher conferences updates:

• EA Extravaganza, Wednesday, Nov. 10th – Educational Assistants should attended the EA Extravaganza on November 10th between 8:00-12:00 via Zoom. See the above link for sessions, times, descriptions, and Zoom links, and see Marlee Litten’s Email for additional details.

• Title 1 Compacts & Conferences – Title 1 Compacts (English and Spanish) should be reviewed with all families at conferences. For the signatures, the teacher and student should sign the form and for parents review the permission section at conferences and then just date the form in the parent signature line that the parents agreed to do their part. This should be less work than sending the forms home for parent signatures and then having to collect and track them again. Title 1 staff will put class sets in teacher mailboxes this week.

• Wednesday PAHS Lunch – PAHS is planning to provide a big lunch for staff on Wednesday, with enough to be left over for dinner if staff are still working in the building then, so I’ll need to get a head count at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting of how many people will be in the building this day.

• Allan Available to Attend Conferences – Teachers can let me know if you have any tricky conferences you’d like me to attend. Send me a date, time, and Zoom link and I’ll be there!

• REMINDER: Conference Dates – Dates for conferences are:

Nov. 9 (T), 3:25-7:25, Evening Conferences
Nov. 10 (W), 8:00-8:00, All-Day Conferences
Nov. 11 (H), Veterans Day – No School
Nov. 12 (F), No School, Teacher Comp Day

• PAHS Volunteer Request Form – PAHS is looking to help and volunteer however they can. Library is the only place volunteers are allowed inside the building, but if you have other uses for volunteers (prepping materials, grading, sorting, etc.), please filled out the linked PAHS Volunteer Request Form. Last week they set out pumpkins in the school garden for the Kinder Pumpkin Patch “Field Trip.”

• REMINDER: Mandatory Elementary School Bus Safety Training – If you haven’t already, be sure to show your students the required Bus Safety Training Video and then let me know the date you showed it.

• Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so please encourage your students to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school. If students live a long way from school, they can try parking a ten minute walk from school and walking the rest of the way. The goal is to reduce traffic and pollution around our school and to promote physical activity for our students.

• Campus Safety and Security Team Offer – Kari Skinner, Director of Student Wellness and School Safety, emailed principals that our new Campus Safety and Security Team (kind of the new SROs) are offering to be a sort of mentor and/or “seeing” a student to make a connection. If you know of a student who could use this kind of big buddy, let me know the student name and a brief description of what you’re hoping for.

• Seesaw Usage – The following was sent to principals on Friday regarding how teachers should use Seesaw, but I don’t think the first bullet (sending class newsletters over Seesaw) is right (there’s no formatting option and if you link or attach a newsletter, that’s one more click you might lose someone). I’m going to ask about this at my elementary principals’ meeting on Wednesday, so feel free to ignore that bullet for now. I think the other three bullets are nothing new:

Now that the year is well underway, we want to give some reminders on what should be happening in each teacher’s Seesaw account. Make sure that you start engaging in Seesaw walk throughs in the coming weeks. If you need Seesaw assistance, please reach out to Justin Huntley.

• Home communications from the classroom. Classroom newsletters should be disseminated through Seesaw. These are automatically translated into the home language.
• Each classroom teacher should have an asynchronous lesson, learning links, and/or choice board posted for students on quarantine.
• When students are on quarantine, daily assignments for students.
• Zoom links for grade level TOSA supports.

• 4J Care Teams – 4J has started Regional Care Teams to assist schools needing assistance when they feel they have exhausted their resources to assist a family. For additional info, here is the Sheldon Region Care Team Flyer and a Slide Show that was shared with counselors. For initial request for assistance for families, please connect with Darla. Referrals could be for assistance regarding, though not limited to:

• Death of a parent
• Incarcerated parent -­ concerns about recent incarceration or pending release
• Homeless or impending homelessness
• Unknown if open child welfare case but has concerns that were called in
• Domestic Violence
• Extreme behavior issues – ­additional supports needed outside of school
• Specific resource needed but unknown where to refer
• Medical concerns about the child or other family

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Hoods off indoors, Hats OK indoors – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Hats and Hoods:

Hats may be worn on the playground, halls, and cafeteria at Holt. Teachers may ask a student to remove the hat if it becomes a distraction. Teachers may decide if hats may be worn in their own classrooms and guidelines for students must be clear and consistent. If hats become a distraction, the teacher may ask a student(s) to remove the hat. Continued disruption with hats may require teachers to communicate with parents about their classroom policy.

Hoods may be worn outdoors for warmth, but must come off once inside the building for visibility and safety; this includes halls, cafeteria, and classrooms.

• Team Building Activities for Kids – We all know that a sense of community and belonging helps kids feel safe, take risks, and (hopefully) make better, kinder choices. This list from WeAreTeachers offers a list of some ideas for helping students connect and cooperate with one another.

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

November 1 (M)
KG Staff Room Duty
Ewok Appreciation Day
1:45-2:00, 4th Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)

November 2 (T)
1:45-2:00, 3rd Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)

November 3 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 4 (H)
8:30-9:30, Allan to Safety Committee Webinar (Zoom)
2:00-2:15, 2nd Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
4:00-5:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)

November 5 (F)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

November 8 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
2:30-3:30, Allan to Care Team Meeting (Zoom)

November 9 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)
3:25-7:35, Parent/Teacher Conferences (Zoom)
4:00-8:00, Holt Night Out Fundraiser – Chipotle Mexican Grill

November 10 (W)
No School – Conferences
8:00-12:00, EA Extravaganza (Zoom)8:00-8:00, Parent/Teacher Conferences (Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

November 11 (H)
No School — Veterans Day

November 12 (F)
No School — Parent/Teacher Conferences Comp Day

If you missed it in Saturday’s Register Guard, Holt made the local news gain. Check it out and feel free to share with students!

Allan

 

 

October 25, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/10/23 21:40 Posted in Announcements, SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on October 25, 2021

 

Hi Bolts,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Temp Counselor Interviews Friday – We’ll conduct interviews for our Temp Counselor Vacancy this Friday from 1:20-3:30. Let me know if any of your are interested in joining myself and Kim.

• October Virtual Assembly, Friday @7:55 – The October Spirit Day Virtual Assembly will be this Friday at 7:55. We’ll draw winners over Zoom (prizes will be delivered to classrooms) and then (keep this part a secret from kids) we’ll unveil our brand new BOOK VENDING MACHINE! Afterwards, grade levels can have a “field trip” to come see the vending machine according to the schedule below. Here’s the agenda for the event:

7:50
Start zoom meeting with each class.
Music will be played until start time.

7:55
Assembly begins! Live from the hallway! Mr. Chinn Starts us off!

7:56
Miss Kim pulled out 10 winners (Pre drawn) and adds to the wheel (pre-written)
THEY STAY IN CLASSROOM! Prize will be delivered!
Spin the wheel with all 10 names on it!

1st Spin = Fidget Game winner!!!!
2nd Spin = BIG Fidget Pop-It!
3rd Spin = RAZOR scooter!!!

BOLT WINNER DRAWING = First Helper at the Book vending Machine

8:00
SHOW the SPECIAL SURPRISE!

-Unwrap machine
-Mr. Chinn Cuts the ribbon!
-Student puts in coin to machine

8:04
End Assembly portion.
Start of the Field Trip Around the School!

8:15 – KG Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:25 – 1st Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:35 – 2nd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:45 – 3rd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:55 – 4th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
9:05 – 5th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine

• Elementary Director Visit Monday – Director of Elementary Education Services, Jeff Johnson is planning to visit Holt this Monday around 9:15. He said he wants to stop by some classrooms, so I thought people would appreciate a heads-up.

• Conferences Updates – Three updates regarding parent/teacher conferences.

• Teleworking Allowed – Principals have been given flexibility to allow teachers to work from home for conferences, which I’ll allow. Just send me an email if you are planning to work from home either of the conference days.

• Staff Not at Conferences – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday are regular work days for all staff who are not part of conferences and should work your regular hours at school. However, if you have accumulated trade time or are planning to accumulate trade time in order to not work any of these dates, email me your plan ahead of time.

• REMINDER: Conference Dates – Dates for conferences are:

Nov. 9 (T), 3:25-7:25, Evening Conferences
Nov. 10 (W), 8:00-8:00, All-Day Conferences
Nov. 11 (H), Veterans Day – No School
Nov. 12 (F), No School, Teacher Comp Day

• PE and Music Pick-Up – A request from Alex and Ashley, please be sure to pick up your students on time so specialists have time to prep for their next class.

• Teacher Recess Reminders – Two items of note:

• Morning & Lunch Recesses 5-Minutes Shorter on Fridays – Remember, according to the 4J Standard School Schedule, morning and afternoon recesses are 5-minutes shorter on Early Release Fridays (60 minutes total of Recess/Lunch/Break/Passing Time on regular days and 50 minutes total on early release days). This is noted on the Master Schedule on the supervision tab, but not on the main master schedule tab.

• No Snacks at Recess – Although this is allowed during normal times, we can’t have kids taking off their masks to eat at recess, so please make sure students are not taking food out to recess with them.

• Classified Emergency Sub Plans – EAs should write a generic set of “Emergency Sub Notes” to the office. Include schedules and other pertinent notes, but this will help for if folks are unexpectedly out.

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. I believe 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier. I’m including the linked Erin’s Law Information in Monday’s Quick News and it’s recommended teachers follow-up with the linked Family Message (English & Spanish).

• Second Step Scope & Sequence – Speaking of Second Step, linked here is the recommended Second Step and Bully Prevention Scope & Sequence. I know the reality is it’s difficult to cover all of these lessons, but do take time to cover the high points in each of units over the course of the year.

• Leadership Plan Update – All of the leadership positions staff voted to compensate on our plan have been filled on the Leadership Sign-Up Sheet. Our final task to vote on the plan with the names attached, 2021-2022 Holt Leadership Plan, which we’ll do at our next staff meeting, which will require a minimum 75% licensed staff approval.

• COVID Protocol Updates & Reminders – Four items of note:

• What Symptoms Mean Staff Stay Home? – Staff should stay home If you are experiencing any primary COVID symptoms due to an unknown illness, which are:

⁃ Fever of 100.4° F or higher
⁃ Chills
⁃ Cough (non-persisten, dry coughs are okay, but congested coughs are not)
⁃ Shortness of breath
⁃ Difficulty breathing
⁃ New loss of taste or loss of smell
⁃ Diarrhea
⁃ Vomiting

As always, staff who feel unwell should stay home and use appropriate leave (sick leave).

• Holt Family Quarantine Letter Updated – Geoff spotted there was some incorrect info on the Holt Family Quarantine Letter, which referred to a slide deck (which was the TOSA created one that expired on Oct. 15) and a Home Learning icon in Clever that didn’t exist (Downtown made one after I asked, but it simply links back to the quarantine letter), so I deleted those two bullets on the letter.

• Check that your Clever is current – If you have students on quarantine, teachers should check your Clever page to make sure apps, resources, and other links are current.

• Vaccine Booster Clinics – I signed myself up for a booster this Friday, so to save you all research time, you can go to Lane County COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Clinic Operations webpage. They encourage you to schedule an appointment in advance for more rapid service at their clinics, but they also welcome walk-ins.

• UO EdF Practicum Students – The UO is looking to place undergraduate Education Foundation (EdF) students during winter (January 3 – March 18) and spring terms (March 28 – June 18). EdF students spend a minimum of 3 hours per week per term in a classroom setting. They can assist host teachers with individual and small groups for academics, art, PE, and STEM activities. More details are provided in the linked UO EdF Field Placement Flyer. If you are interested, complete the linked Seeking Teachers to Host an EdF Student Volunteer Survey Form by Friday, November 5th.

• Behavioral Safety Assessment Training Video – Sheri Hoyland, the 4J Behavioral Safety Assessment Coordinator (threats, suicide, safety, etc.), asked principals to share with staff the linked Behavioral Safety Assessment Training Video. Linked here is her full email, which also includes a link to the Student Wellness & School Safety Department website, which is your “one stop shop” for all things Student Wellness & School Safety Department, and also the linked Age Appropriate Sexual Behavior in Children and Young People, which delineate which behaviors are Age Appropriate, Concerning, or Very Concerning by age range (0-4, 5-9, 9-12, and 13-18).

• K-5 iPad Cart Survey – Holt actually has the best response rate of any 4J school on this right now, but teachers who haven’t already should complete the K-5 iPad Cart Survey by the end of the week.

• SSD Mask Flowchart – If you’re interested, linked here is the SSD Mask Flowchart for how to address situation when a student receiving special education is not wearing their mask properly on a regular basis.

• Child Welfare Reports – When you make child welfare calls, let me know and also complete an Abuse Reporting Form (make a copy and don’t edit the original), which helps me track dates, concerns, and how many calls we’ve made for individual student. To make a report, you can call either:

Oregon Child Abuse Hotline, 1-855-503-7233 (SAFE)
Eugene Police Department Non-Emergency number, (541) 682-5111

• Elementary TOSAs List – I’ve had a few different teachers asking who to reach out to downtown for different curricular supports, so linked here is an email of the 2021-2022 Elementary TOSAs that was sent out earlier this year.

• List of Social Services – Similar to the Parenting Now Resources for Families (English and Spanish) I shared in the past, linked here is a very comprehensive Relief Nursery Community Resource Guide that ranges from counseling, to anger management, to immigration assistance, with 48 pages of local resources for families.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: No Scents or Perfumes – Holt has a nicely comprehensive Holt Staff Handbook, which I’m planning to highlight a section of in each week’s announcements. For this week it’s Scents/cleaners/air fresheners:

Scents/cleaners/air fresheners: Perfumes, highly scented deodorants, air freshening spray and plug-ins altogether must be removed from classrooms and commons spaces due to staff and students sensitivity

• Buddy Bench Video – Since it’s been almost 3 years since kids have been in person, a number of kids have no idea how to use the “Buddy Bench” on the playground if teachers could take some time, perhaps at a Morning Meeting to review how it works. If it’s easier, here’s a 3-minute video one school put together on how the Buddy Bench works.

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

October 25 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
9:15, Jeff Johnson Classroom Visits
10:15, 4th Grade Rules School (Library)
10:40, 5th Grade Rules School (Library)
4:30-6:00, Health Insurance In Retirement Presentation (Zoom)

October 26 (T)
1:45-2:00, KG PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

October 27 (W)
Book Vending Machine Arrives!
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Kinder Pumpkin Patch in the Garden
1:45-2:00, 5th Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)

October 28 (H)
8:45-9:00, 1st Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
9:10-10:10, Reich in School Garden
10:40-11:40, Dagget in School Garden
12:45-1:45, Robison in School Garden
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
4:00-6:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)
1:45-2:00, 2nd Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)

October 29 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Dress-Up Day!
7:50-8:10, October Holt Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:15 – KG Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:25 – 1st Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:35 – 2nd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:45 – 3rd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:55 – 4th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
9:05 – 5th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
1:30-3:30, Temp Counselor Interviews (Library)

November 1 (M)
KG Staff Room Duty
Ewok Appreciation Day
1:45-2:00, 4th Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)

November 2 (T)
1:45-2:00, 3rd Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)

November 3 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 4 (H)
4:00-5:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)

November 5 (F)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

Only 2 weeks until a short Conference Week. After that, just 1 full week until a short Thanksgiving week. Then just 3 weeks until a nice long winter break. There’s your good news of the day!

Allan

June 7, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/06/05 16:18 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., SEL  |  Comments Off on June 7, 2021

 

Hello Friends,

We’re almost to the finish line!

Nineteen items of note for this week:

• Report Card Updates – Principals should get an update on Monday about how report cards will be send home, but what we do know:

Report Card Blog Updated Soon – Brooke is sending me updated info to put on the Elementary Report Card Blog so watch that site for new info, but it currently has a number of nuts-and-bolts resources that are still useful.

Parent Reports Coming Thursday – 4J Data folks told me easyCBM data will be uploaded to the Parent Reports Wednesday, so I’ll print these Thursday for teachers.

Specialists Reports Due Friday – Specialists (PE, Music, Title) should have reports ready by Friday for classroom teachers to stuff envelopes on Grading Day. SPED reports will be emailed to families.

Grading from Home – Teachers should let me know if you’re planning to work from home, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading.

• School Supplies for 2021-2022 – Teachers should take note in Melanie’s Email regarding school supplies downtown is purchasing for next school year and to let Melanie or I know ASAP if there are supplies you’ll want that are not on the list. If enough schools ask for certain items (such as folders, which are not on the list), then they will consider adding those items.

• Olympic Field Day – Spirit Day! – Not this week, but next week is the final Holt Spirit Day of the Year, it’ll be Olympic Field Day on June 14th (Cohort A) and June 15th (Cohort B). Wear active clothing and athletic shoes for this day of fun! Teachers will assign a color (Red, Blue, Green, or Yellow) for each student to wear for field day and show school spirit by wearing their assigned team color! Go, Bolts!

 

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time (Learning for All) – Shared earlier, principals have not been told what we’re supposed to present this Wednesday, except that the topic 4J’s new “Learning for All” policy, which has all incoming students (kinders and move-ins) with a CLC placement on their IEP now going to their neighborhood schools. This will be a major shift for schools without a CLC, but it’s not going to be much of a shift for Holt except that no new kids will be bused from other schools to our CLCs (current student in the Holt CLC can stay or go to their neighborhood school). Since this is happening during the Sheldon Graduate Car Parade and a number of staff are hoping to give a nice send off to former Holt students, I’ll plan to simply share out the information for people to review on your own.

• SSO Journeys Book Return, WEDNESDAY – In-person hybrid students will return their Journeys books this week (Cohort A Monday and Cohort B Thursday) and SSO students will return their books on Wednesday between 8:00-2:00. We’ll lay out a books on a table in the office vestibule for kids to pick a FREE Book through the window. If you’re available to help at any time, please add your name to the SSO Supply Collection Sign-Up.

• 2nd Grade iPad Return, June 18- Families may keep their borrowed student iPads over the summer, with the exception of 2nd graders who will get a different device in 3rd grade, so we will collect their device on Friday, June 18th from 8:00-2:00 If you’re able to help with device collection, please add your name to the iPad Collection Sign-Up.

A few teachers and parents outside fo 2nd grade have asked if they too can return their iPad and I’ve told them, yes. Not to play telephone, but I heard from someone who heard from someone that all grades are going to return devices, but who knows if that’s true.

• Staffing Updates – Our 6.5-hour Kinder EA, 4-hour EA, 3-hour EA, and Office Assistant positions all close this week. The Library/Title EA position should go up this week. I’m tentatively scheduled interviews Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll know which interview will be which days and times once I see how much overlap there is between the candidate lists.

• Summer Technology Checkout Form – If you are taking home any school devices (laptop, iPad, doc cam, or other devices) for the summer, please complete the 4J: Technology Equipment Checkout Contract 2020-21. I also put the link on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• BEST at Holt Next Year – BEST was originally planned to rollout at Holt this school year, so I’m not sure how much Dan shared with folks, but it’s an after school enrichment program that targets students needing additional academic support and students who safe and stable place to be after school. Most programs serve about 50-80 students and typically run until 5:30 or 6:00, five days a week, proving students with a dinner. BEST sometimes partners with YMCA and run a majority of the program in the gym, cafeteria, and a few classrooms (usually SPED or Title or other areas already set up for small groups). I’ll share more details once I connect with the 4J BEST Afterschool Coordinator.

• Masks & Vaccination Verification – NOT TOO LATE! – A few people asked if it was too late to submit for the vaccine verification so you don’t have to wear a mask when kids aren’t around, and it is not too late. HR updating the verified list daily. HR doesn’t want the link posted publicly, so search your Zimbra for “Face mask requirements Vaccination verification for staff” from Health Services on May 27th to find the link (or ask me to forward it to you.

• Desk Update – Desks are finally getting ordered. School Speciality was being super slow and I was starting to think this wasn’t going to happen, but we’ve placed our order for 260 single desks. Since we have to receive them before June 30th, we had to take what they had in stock and it ended up being a slightly different Single Desk Model that’s a couple inches wider than the demo model we have now. Also, the only wire book baskets they had on hand only had 2-inches height, so I went with the taller enclosed book boxes. The desk height is adjustable and the range is 22”-30”.

• State Update for School in Fall – An ODE News Release from last week stated that students will attend school full-time, five days per week in the fall, but since vaccines will not be ready for all students by then that some health and safety measures will remain in place. The specifics of those measures aren’t spelled out, but my guess is we’ll be wearing masks, maybe continuing to cohort grade levels for contact tracing purposes (not A/B day cohorting), and that the 6-foot rule will go away.

• Staff Summer Reading Picks – LAST CALL! – Send me your summer reading picks and maybe a short description if you want and I’ll share them in next week’s announcements. Share your recommendations with your fellow Holt Bolts! Another book sitting on my nightstand is Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks), who’s other zombie themed books, The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, were a fun mix of mock-nonfiction and genuinely original and clever zombie scenarios, so I’m hoping this new book about Bigfoot rides that same fine line between parody and seriousness.

• REPEAT: 2021 James Brown Award Nominations – Use the Google Form to nominate a staff member you think deserves to be the 2021 award recipient. See last week’s announcements for details.

• REPEAT: Last Week Plan – This is the schedule for the last week of school:

June 14 (M) – Cohort A attends in-person, regular hours
June 15 (T) – Cohort B attends in-person, regular hours
June 16 (W) – Regular Online Wednesday
June 17 (H) – 7:55-10:10, K-4 Async/5th A & B attend in-person
June 18 (F) – 2nd Grade iPad Return, 8:00-2:00

Field Day will be Monday (Cohort A) and Tuesday (Cohort B). Linked here is the Field Day Details. We’ll discuss the plan Wednesday’s Staff Meeting, but I did have some questions about the K/1 and 2/3 times overlapping with the recess and also the K/1 lunch time. I’m thinking we will close the field during field day activities and potentially part of hard play area if we need that for field day. For lunches, I’m thinking we can maybe get classes a heartier snack or maybe schedule two snack times and then eat actual lunch after Field Day, but let me know if teams have a better idea.

4/5 – 8:10-9:10
2/3 – 9:25- 10:25
K/1 – 10:50 – 11:50

Let me know if you have any questions.

• REPEAT: 2021-2022 Class Lists, DUE FRIDAY – Teams should finish their 2021-2022 Class Lists by this Friday. Then next week past teachers, specialists, and other staff can check lists for any potentially bad combinations or other concerns.

• Two Summer Reading Programs – If teachers want to use them we’ll leave out bookmarks for Menchie’s Summer Reading Program that were dropped off last Friday. Kids just fill out bookmark after they read a book and once they have read 10 books (or 10 hours), they can get a FREE 5 ounces of free frozen yogurt. Another is the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Journal program, where kids also records books they’ve read and can turn in for a free book once they’ve filled up their journal.

• 4 Ways to Take a Real Break This Summer – Some teachers turn downtime into a professional learning opportunity, but unplugging from work has a lot of value. See this Edutopia Article for details on the value of truly unplugging, but here are the bullet points:

1. Read what brings you joy instead of educational research books
2. Seek out a new avenue for seasonal work instead of teaching summer camp or school
3. Develop a hobby instead of focusing on PD
4. Look forward to your break instead of reflecting back on your school year

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the school year:

June 7 (M)
SPED/Office/Library- Staff Room Duty
Cohort A Return Reading Books (Journeys)
8:30, Allan Meeting with BEST Afterschool Coordinator
2:00-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

June 8 (T)
easyCBM Testing Window Closes

June 9 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Materials Collection (Front Office)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)

June 10 (H)
Last Day for Dynamos
Cohort B Return Reading Books (Journeys)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)
6:30, Sheldon High School Graduation

June 11 (F)
No School – Grading Day
9:00-12:00, State Testing – EOA and Make-Up Testing (Locations TBA)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

June 14 (M)
Field Day Olympics 2021! – SPIRIT DAY
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor- Staff Room Duty
Hybrid Cohort A – Last In-Person Day
8:10-9:10, Field Day, 4/5
9:25-10:25, Field Day 2/3
10:50-11:50, Field Day K/1
12:45, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

June 15 (T)
Field Day Olympics 2021! – SPIRIT DAY
Hybrid Cohort B – Last In-Person Day
8:10-9:10, Field Day, 4/5
9:25-10:25, Field Day 2/3
10:50-11:50, Field Day K/1

June 16 (W)
Regular Online Wednesday
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
10:00-1:30, EA Interviews (Tentative)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting – If Needed (Library & Zoom)

June 17 (H)
Last Day for Students – Early Release
Last Day for 192-Day (most) Classified Staff
7:55-10:10, K-4 Async Only (Hybrid & SSO)
7:55-10:10, 5th Grade Hybrid Cohort A & B Attend In-Person
11:30, Last Day BBQ Celebration (School Garden)
1:00-4:00, EA Interviews (Tentative)
4:30, Monroe 8th Grade Drive Thru Graduation

June 18 (F)
Last Day for Licensed Staff
8:00-2:00, 2nd Grade iPad Return (Main Entrance)

June 23 (W)
Migrant Ed Sets-Up

June 25 (F)
Last Day for Secretaries

June 30 (W)
Last Day for Elementary Principals

July 28 (W)
Elementary Principals Report Back

July 30 (F)
Migrant Ed Packs-Up

August 16 (M)
Elementary Secretaries Report Back

August 30 (M)
Licensed Staff Report Back

September 2 (H)
Classified Staff Report Back

 

Just two week left and try not to feel like is the chair blow.   ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

Allan