Announcements

January 29, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/27 19:26 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Assessment, Grants, P.D. | Comments Off

Hello Bolts,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Holt Night Out @Panera, TUESDAY, 4:00-8:00 – The January Holt Night Out Fundraiser is at Panera Bread at Gateway on Tuesday, January 30th from 4:00 pm – 8:00 p.m. Dine-in, drive-thru, pick-up, or delivery. For online orders, use the promo code FUND4U. Remind students to show the flyer (digital is fine) and get them pumped!

• Winter Benchmark Deadline, WEDNESDAY – This Wednesday is the deadline to complete Winter easyCBM Benchmarking.

• Wednesday PD: Report Card Collaboration – In addition to the Report Card Grading Day, teachers can use this time to connect, collaborate, and prep for report cards.

• EA Pathways PD, THURSDAY – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.

• Classified Staff Meeting THURSDAY @12:30 – I don’t currently have any agenda items for this meeting, so for now it will be a check-in meeting, but do let me know if there are any agenda items you’d like discussed.

• 4J Grading & Transition Day Expectations (new info) – Below is what principals were emailed on Friday regarding Grading Day (teachers can work from home if you notify me) and Transition Day (“should be treated much the same as a grading day for licensed staff.”) expectations. That means teachers have the option to work from home both days if you notify me, but do make sure you’re not out and about town during work hours.

Classified staff are still expected to report to the building (which honestly doesn’t seem fair), but you do have the option to use leave or trade time.

February 1 Grading Day – Certified staff may work from home on this day, however they need to inform you as the building principal of their plan to work in an alternate location and how they’ll be available to their team members, if needed. Staff that have not communicated a desire to work from an alternate location will be expected to work on site. This is a working day and professional awareness is critical. Please be aware of the perception of community members if you are engaged in activities in the community instead of being at work. Classified staff need to report to the building, or use appropriate leave or trade time.

February 2 Transition Day – This is a teacher planning and preparation day to prepare for the 2nd semester. It is suggested that teachers engage in ELA planning. We are not directing teacher work on this day. This transition day should be treated much the same as a grading day for licensed staff. Please see above. Classified staff need to report to the building, or use appropriate leave or trade time.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 2/6 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 2/6 – The February SST meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 6, where the team will screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-in on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda will be emailed to teachers needing to attend the meeting.

• Wednesday PD: 100% Data Team Meeting, 2/7 – Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 1:30 in the library will be our 100% Data Team Meeting following winter benchmark scores.

• Myah’s Baby Shower, 2/8 – Mark your calendars! Myah’s baby shower will be Thursday, February. 8 after school! Stay tuned for details from the Sunshine Committee!

• UPDATE: (Reprot cards go home Monday, Feb. 12 as planned) ~~Report Card Send-Home Date Possible Change~~ – Principals were emailed on Friday that report cards are to be sent home no later than Friday, Feb. 9. I’ve emailed directors that past practice was it was always the Friday or Monday a week after grading day. Hopefully they allow for that adjustment, but be prepared to send them home earlier. I’ve already told parents in the Quick News they are going home Monday, Feb. 12, so maybe that will be our excuse to keep it the same.

Send-home date for report cards – Please see the table below for the K-12 grading deadlines. Your teachers have until Monday, February 5 at 8:00am before your secretary works on the back end of Synergy to lock in all the attendance info, allowing the attendance data to populate on the printed report cards. All buildings should plan to send home report cards with students no later than Friday, February 9.

• ELD Report Card Changes – Geoff shared at last week’s Staff Meeting there are no ELD report cards any longer. Principals were sent that same information on Friday along with additional info that ELD teachers are not sending home any kind of insert and are instead holding parent/teachers conference later in the year.

The ELD Program has updated our ELD Family Communication Process. This fall, district administrators approved making ELD Report Cards obsolete, and improving the ELD Family Communication Process. Below is the new ELD Family Communication Process:

All students with L flags in Synergy, both waived and served, will receive the ELPA Summative between January 9- April 12, 2024. The ELD Office will process ELPA data and family resources, and get them to schools during May. ELD teachers will schedule to meet with all families, throughout June, in a variety of formats: in-person, over Zoom, the telephone, or through email. During conferences, ELD teachers will discuss students’ ELPA scores, longitudinal English language development, and social-emotional health. Teachers will also work to strengthen partnerships between multilingual families and their school communities. Finally, ELD teachers will empower families with strategies to better support and advocate for their students.

Please any questions you may have directly to Lily Gold.

• Friendship Day, Feb 14th – As we get closer to this date, a reminder for teams to communicate to families your plan for Friendship Day. The staff agreement is to do Friendship Day as opposed to celebrating Valentine’s Day, though some grade levels did traditional card exchanges. February 14th should be refered to as “Friendship Day” Grade levels need to have general agreement around what they will do, bring, create, etc. and arebe responsible for communicating expectations to families.

• Three Rivers Casino Grants, March 1 – 31 – It’s a month away, but to get anyone interested time to start thinking, the Three Rivers Foundation will accept applications March 1 through March 31. Grants do not have any minimum or maximums amounts. Here’s the link to the Grant Application and the Grant FAQ.

• Elementary Curriculum Updates – If you’re interested, here’s the latest Elementary Curriculum Update that went to principals, which recaps report card info shared earlier (once difference is PE/Music/Library specialists have the option to email reports, though I think it’s better to include reports all in one place as we already were planning), info on a district PBIS meeting, slides from last week’s Outdoor School meeting, a Eugene Science Center 3rd and 5th grade sign-up reminder, and a TAG presentation downtown would like to do at a future building Staff Meeting.

• 7 Live Author Events – If you missed it in the latest Library Connection there were links to 7 Live Author Events. There’s actually more than seven if you follow the link. I’d be most excited to see Jane Yolen Feb. 14 @10:00, who wrote How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You, though she’s also written some very cool older grade books about witches and pirates. Lucille Colandro Feb. 14 @11:00 and April 22 @8:30, who wrote the I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a books. Pete Oswald Feb. 22 @11:00, illustrator of The Sour Grape, The Good Egg, and The Bad Seed, might be good too.

• Studying Skillful Teaching Learning Opportunity – The Skillful Teacher is definitely one of the best ongoing PDs I ever attended and the LaneESD is offering a two part PD introduction Zoom PD (Feb 6 and 13, 4:00-5:00), which if you attend qualifies you to attend future Skillful Teacher modules. These are first come first serve and will extended contract. See the Skillful Teacher Email for details and Register Here, but if this virtual course is anything like the in-person one I attended, it’s well worth your time. Deadline to register if Feb. 1.

Course Description: This session will include a survey of the 18 areas of performance that a teacher must attend to in everyday instruction within four categories: curriculum and lesson planning, motivating students, delivering instruction, and managing a classroom. Participants will develop an understanding and be able to apply the three key concepts of area of performance, repertoire, and matching.

• Playground Hanging Branches – If kids ask when the swings will be open again, Facilities Emailed principals last week to say they are prioritizing hanging limbs near playgrounds and high use walkways, and may start as soon as this weekend.

• Study: More years of schooling linked to lower mortality – Here’s a talking point to kids why school is important. This EdWeek Article cites a new study that found for each additional year of schooling, the rate of mortality for adults under the age of 50 decreased by almost 3%, with the completion of 18 years of education lowering adult mortality by 34%. The study examined research from both industrialized and developing countries and found the outcomes to be consistent across nationality, gender and socioeconomic status

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• New Report Card Info – See Erin Gaston’s Report Card Email for info on the new mid-year grade scores, using a score of “1”, and generic vs. individual comments. Key resources in the email are:

Report Card One Pager(scoring rubric and tips for best practices)

Report Card Guidance Sheets for K-5 (ELA & Report Card alignment)

Elementary Report Card Checklist (How to use Synergy. Links will be updated)

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Arming/Disarming Building Security System – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Arming/Disarming Building Security System:

Arming/Disarming Building Security System
• If coming on the weekend or early/late on a weeknight, sign in at the main office entrance and sign-out when you leave.
• To disarm the alarm system, flash your badge at the dark PIN pad (not the white one), move your badge away, type your four digit PIN (often the last four digits of your social security number), and then wait for the red light to turn green.
• To arm the alarm system, do the same except at the end wait for the green light to turn red before exiting the building.
• There are three security zone (Kitchen, Gym/Cafeteria, and Main Building). See the Holt Security Zone Map for all of the PIN pad locations and zone.
• If an alarm goes off and you cannot turn it off, contact the building admin.

•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 29 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-11:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 30 (T)
FFVP Snacks Resume
4:00-8:00, Panera Bread – Holt Night Out
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 31 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
11:30-11:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Report Card Coordination Time
6:00-7:00, PTO Bingo Night (Cafeteria)

February 1 (H)
Black History Month
No School – Semester Grading Day
8:00-11:30, EA Pathways PD (Churchill HS)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
12:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

February 2 (F)
No School – Transition Day
9:30-4:40, Allan to HR Training (Ed Center)

February 5 (M)
Title Staff Room Duty
National School Counselor Week
Artist in Residence – Larry Meyers (4th & 5th Grade)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

February 6 (T)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to District PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 7 (W)
International Clash Day
Monthly Walk + Roll to School Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 8 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45, Myah’s Baby Shower (Library)

February 9 (F)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

Here’s to a nice short week that I’m positive will be a quiet and uneventful one. ;)

Allan

January 22, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/20 15:24 Posted in Announcements, Equity, P.D. | Comments Off

Howdy Everyone,

Was it just me or was it really weird to start the weekend after working just one day in the building?

Anyhow, a few changes in meeting schedules are below (SST Tuesday instead of IPBS, pushed out the 100% Data Team Meeting Wednesday PD, rescheduled the Fire Drill, and rescheduled a School Choice Tour).

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Swings and School Garden Closed – Until Facilities staff trim the broken tree limbs on sofe play, the swings by the tree will be closed, as is the school garden for the same reason. Jeremy has already taped off the school garden area and will tape off the swings on Monday.

• New Winter Benchmark Deadline, 1/31 – Wednesday, Jan. 31 will be the new deadline to complete Winter easyCBM Benchmarking.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting TUESDAY – Rescheduling our missed SST meeting from last week, we will this Tuesday to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda was emailed to staff earlier regarding the students who will be discussed.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team – The winter benchmark deadline has been moved to Jan 31 (see email for details if you’re interested), so we are rescheduling the 100% Data Team Meeting. Instead, this Wednesday at 1:30 in the library, will be our Equity & Inclusion Team PD that got iced out last week.

• School Choice Presentation THURSDAY @9:00 (Library & Zoom) – Downtown wants all elementary schools to reschedule any missed tours due to the ice storm, so I added one to this Friday right before the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Night.

Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Fri., Jan. 26, 4:00-5:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – We’ll reschedule our missed fire drill for this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day, 1/26 – Friday, Jan. 26 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hair Day! Tell your kids to create their wackiest and wildest hairdo or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY@8:20 – The January School Spirit Assembly is this Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• SPED EA Interviews, FRIDAY @2:45 – Our 7-hour SPED EA job posting closed on Thursday, so Emily and I are planning to hold interviews this Friday at 2:45. Let me know if you would like to volunteer your time to help with interviews and I will send you the interview materials.

• 1st, and 2nd Grade Family Math Night, FRIDAY – Friday, January 26, 5:30-6:45pm is the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Game Night. 5:30-6:10 will be math games in classrooms and 6:15-6:45 will be pizza and a raffle in cafeteria.

• Holt Night Out @Panera, 1/30, 4:00-8:00 – The January Holt Night Out Fundraiser is at Panera Bread at Gateway on Tuesday, January 30th from 4:00 pm – 8:00 p.m. Dine-in, drive-thru, pick-up, or delivery. For online orders, use the promo code FUND4U. Remind students and get them pumped!

• Wednesday PD: Report Card Collaboration, 1/31 – In addition to the Report Card Grading Day, teachers can use this time to connect, collaborate, and prep for report cards.

• New Report Card, Grading Day, and Transition Day Info – See Erin Gaston’s Report Card Email for info on the new mid-year grade scores, using a score of “1”, and generic vs. individual comments. Key resournce in the email are:

Report Card One Pager(scoring rubric and tips for best practices)

Report Card Guidance Sheets for K-5 (ELA & Report Card alignment)

Elementary Report Card Checklist (How to use Synergy. Links will be updated)

• Feb. 1 EA Pathways PD – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.

• Classified Staff Meeting 2/1 @12:30 – I don’t currently have any agenda items for this meeting, so for now it will be a check-in meeting, but do let me know if there are any agenda items you’d like discussed.

• Feb. 2 Transition Day – See last week’s announcemnts for the long verison, but the short version is this day is for ELA prep.

• 24-25 Staffing Timeline (no official info yet) – Several folks have asked, but principals have not been given a timeline for 24-25 Staffing. However, staffing plans are typically due the week before spring break and buildings are given 3 weeks to process staffing scenarios, which means we’ll likely get our staffing allocations the last week of February.

• Black History Month Resources – February is Black History Month, so I wanted to pass along this list as a starting point for resources.

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

From 4J District Librarian, Amy Page:
• Libray Connection 2023
• Sora Black History Month Collection
• Black History Month eBooks

From WeAre Teachers:
• Bulletin Boards
• Posters
• Activities
• Books

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.

• WREN Newsletter and PDs – The latest Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter lists some new new Zoom PD opportunities that staff are compensated for attending and are pretty nice to do from your home. They also list several other opportunities including affinity spaces and teacher pathways for classified staff of color.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – I’d encourage everyone to do the 24/25 and 25/26 Draft School Calendar Feedback Survey. See my prior announcements for the feedback I submitted.

• New WalkerTracker Challenge – There’s a new WalkerTracker Team Challenge January 21-27 if you want to join the Holt Team. I have a fun time comparing how many steps I get compared to others on the team. Download the app (iOS or Android) or go to the 4J WalkerTracker Website to sign up.

• Grading Day Expectations – HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator in advance, but plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues. Be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception.

•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 22 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)

January 23 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Heinrich)
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 24 (W)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Wednesday PD – Equity & Inclusion Team

January 25 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)

January 26 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day
8:20, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
2:30-4:00, SPED EA Interviews (Emily’s Room)
4:00-5:00, Rescheduled School Choice Tour (Library & Zoom)
5:30-7:00, 1st and 2nd Family Math Night (Classrooms & Cafeteria)
-5:30-6:10 Math games in classrooms
-6:15-6:45 Dinner & raffle in cafeteria

January 29 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 30 (T)
4:00-8:00, Panera Bread – Holt Night Out
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 31 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Report Card Coordination Time

February 1 (H)
Black History Month
No School – Semester Grading Day
8:00-11:30, EA Pathways PD (Churchill HS)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
12:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

February 2 (F)
No School – Transition Day
9:30-4:40, Allan to HR Training (Ed Center)

Hopefully, things are back to normal this week for folks. Last week was a rough one!

Allan

January 15, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/13 22:00 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., Technology | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

My weather hopes were off by a day last week, but keep watching the weather forecast for Monday night and Tuesday morning!

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• SPED EA Job Posting – HR finally got our 7-hour SPED EA Job Posting up. If you know of anyone good out there, tell them to apply by this Thursday.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting TUESDAY – SST will meet this Tuesday to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda was emitted to staff earlier regarding the students who will be discussed.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team – This Wednesday at 1:30 in the library, our Equity & Inclusion team is preparing a discussion and training for staff.

• School Choice Presentation WEDNESDAY @6:00 (Library & Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.

Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – Our January fire drill will be this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• Wednesday PD: 100% Data Team Meeting, 1/24 – Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 1:30 in the library we will have our 100% Data Team Meeting to review winter benchmark testing.

• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day, 1/26 – Friday, Jan. 26 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hair Day! Tell your kids to create their wackiest and wildest hairdo or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly 1/26 @8:20 – The January School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, Jan. 26 in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• 1st, and 2nd Grade Family Math Night, 1/26 – Friday, January 26, 5:30-6:45pm is the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Game Night. 5:30-6:10 will be math games in classrooms and 6:15-6:45 will be pizza and a raffle in cafeteria.

• Report Card, Grading Day, and Transition Day Info – Five items of note:

• Report Card Guidance – Linked here are last year’s Report Card Checklist, One Pager, and ELA Grade Level Guidance Sheets. I’ve asked if updated info is coming, though I think it’s only the one-pager that’ll need updating to clarify what I shared earlier about scores, that for mid-year grades a 3 means a student is on-track to meet end-of-year standards, not like last year where a 3 meant they had already met the end-of-year standard.

• Key Dates – Note the following dates:

Feb. 1 (H) – Grading Day
Feb. 1 (H) – EA Pathways PD, 8:30-11:30
Feb. 1 (H) – Classified Staff Meeting at 12:30
Feb. 2 (F) – Transition Day
Feb. 12 (M) – Report Cards Sent Home

• Grading Day Expectations – The Holt Staff Handbook has the following expectations for Report Card Grading Day:

Licensed Staff – Grading day is a regular work day. HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Please be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.

• Feb. 1 EA Pathways PD – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.

• Feb. 2 Transition Day – Principals were given the following guidance on the Feb. 2 Transition Day, but the short version is this day is for ELA prep. Also, the Feb. 2 section that was shared with principals was left blank, so you are reading that part below right.

Reminder of No Meetings During the Week of Grading Day – As we are approaching the first Semester Grading Day, please take a moment to review your building meetings calendar and be sure to cancel any meetings you may have scheduled for the week of January 29.

• February 2: Transition Day – Additionally, we have previously shared that there was an acknowledgement during a June 2023 meeting with the Elementary Literacy team and EEA that 4J’s efforts to improve K-5 literacy require a significant amount of teacher prep time. One way the district can support educators in effectively providing this instruction is to communicate explicitly carved out time throughout the school year to prepare for each module. The dates available in the calendar for 2023-24 were/are:

✔️ Half day during August inservice week
✔️ Nov. 9 – 3.75 hours of ELA Planning, 3.75 hours of Assessment and Conference Planning
Feb. 2
Apr. 12 – 3.75 hours of ELA Planning, 3.75 hours of Strategic Family Outreach

• Round 2 of Vector Training – Downtown asked principals to share the linked Vector Modules Email Communication with staff, but the short version is there are 78 minutes worth of online trainings for staff to complete by March 31st, so Licensed Staff will have two Wednesday PD times to complete the modules and classified staff will have feb. 1 and 2 to compete the modules.

• Staff Shout Outs! – We’ll share Staff Shout Outs at the start of Staff Meetings once again, so complete the Staff Shout Out Google Form to recognize or show appreciation for a colleague. The link can always be found on my blog and on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Second Step Pacing Guide – As a reminder, I wanted to re-highlight the Second Step Pacing Guide. If you are behind, use the guide to make sure you’re at least hitting each topic area.

• OSHA Cheat Sheet – Some folks asked for an OSHA Cheat Sheet, so there’s one with the key questions that could fit behind your badge that answers the key questions an OSHA Inspector might ask:

• Summer School at Holt – I was emailed last week that Holt will again host SEAL and KITS this summer. KITS needs 4 classrooms and SEAL needs up to 15 classrooms. We’ll decide which rooms will be used in the spring after staffing, once we know if anyone is moving classrooms and such. Doesn’t sound like it’s an option to move it to another school again, but I’ve at least asked for them to consider starting earlier since August is such a time crunch between summer programs ending and regular school starting.

• 4J Discipline Matrix – Downtown is finally ready to roll out the 4J Discipline Matrix, which provides a guide for majors, minor, and guidance on how to respond to different situations. I’ll plan to go over this at a future Wednesday PD, but if you want a preview, linked here is the Holt Discipline Flowchart for Teachers, which is actually a generic district template except for slide #3 where I added some Holt specific information, the 4J Minors/Major Behavior Definitions for Staff, and for lower minor incidents there is the Revisiting/Strengthening Classroom Climate & Practices and Implementing Classroom-level Interventions documents. Here’s a link to the 2023-2024 Behavior Matrix (longer version) that was shared with principals and if you’re interested, here’s the Admin Behavior Matrix Slideshow that was presented to building admins last week. Do note there are a lot of link buried within these documents, but most of them link back and forth between each other and there are also several links that are still locked down and even I don’t have access to them yet, so hopefully that gets fixed soon.

• Principal Focused Upbeat Survey – Thought staff might be interested to know principals were told on Friday we will get to do an Upbeat Survey to give feedback on district administration. Maybe this will be extended to classified and licensed staff at some point?

• New WalkerTracker Challenge – There’s a new WalkerTracker Team Challenge January 21-27 if you want to join the Holt Team. I find it fun to compare how many steps different folks are getting on the team. Download the app (iOS or Android) or go to the 4J WalkerTracker Website to sign up.

• District Admin Updates – Angi Meyer, Associate Director of Risk and Asset Management, emailed principals she has accepted a position in Beaverton working with Keri Skinner. No word whether they will hire someone or will restructure. One restructure emailed is that Karen Apgar will take over 504s and Della Thomas will focus on her South & Churchill SSD ElementaryAdmin position.

• Optional Research Survey ($150 Drawing) – If you’re interested, here’s a University of Washington Study where if teachers fill out their 10-30 minute Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Survey and you’ll be entered into a drawing for $150.

• 4 Ways to Use AI in Implementing Restorative Practices – Artificial intelligence can be an effective tool in implementing restorative practices by tailoring the approach to the situation. See this Edutopia Article for details, but to save you a click, they are:

1. Create Restorative Reflections
2. Compose Customized Social Stories
3. Generate Discussion !uestions for Restorative Circles
4. Build Creative Social and Emotional Learning Lesson Plans

This article suggests using ChatGPT, but I’ve found that MagicSchoolAI is more education focused.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – I’d encourage everyone to do the 24/25 and 25/26 Draft School Calendar Feedback Survey. See last week’s announcements for the feedback I submitted.

• Jan. 2 PD Feedback – If you haven’t already, fill out the Classified PD Feedback and Licensed PD Feedback for the Jan. 2 PD.

• Jan 2 PD Slides – Here’s a link to the Jan. 2nd PD Resources Erin Gaston emailed earlier.

•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 15 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 16 (T)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:15-12:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

January 19 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
2:45, Latino Family Night Planning (Ball’s Room)

January 22 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-12:00, OBOB Battles (Library)

January 23 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 24 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
11:30-12:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)

January 25 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)

January 26 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day
8:20, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
11:00-11:30, OBOB Practice (Library)
11:30-12:00, OBOB Practice (Library)
5:30-7:00, 1st and 2nd Family Math Night (Classrooms & Cafeteria)
-5:30-6:10 Math games in classrooms
-6:15-6:45 Dinner & raffle in cafeteria

Think snow, everyone!

Allan

January 8, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/06 22:37 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Equity, Grants, P.D., Video | Comments (2)

Greetings Bolts,

Have you been watching the weather forecast? Snow Friday? See if we get a 4-day weekend!

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• New School Nurse: Hannah Green – Please welcome Hannah Green as our new School Nurse. She is an experienced school nurse and actually started with us Tuesday last week, so please welcome Hannah to Team Holt!

• SPED EA Job Posting – HR still hasn’t posted our SPED EA job posting, but I’m hopeful it’ll go up this week. We’re waiting on the Finance Dept. to approve the job posting last I checked.

• PBIS Playground Rules Round-Up, Rescheduled MONDAY – The Playground Rules Round-Up got rained out last week for K/1 and 2/3 and is rescheduled for Monday if the weather cooperates. We’ll do Tuesday if we’re rained out again.

K/1 MONDAY @ 8:15-8:45
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Vaughan & Harmon)
2. Playground Balls (Gulewich)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Gori)
4. Rules for the Field (Willow)
5. Swings/Slides (Zluticky)
6. Structures (Seno)

2/3 MONDAY @ 1:40-2:10
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Rabourn & Gulekson)
2. Playground Balls (Norton)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Bemiller)
4. Rules for the Field (Harshbarger)
5. Swings/Slides (Talley)
6. Structures (Ball)

• FFVP Resumes TUESDAY – A reminder that the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program resumes this Tuesday.

• Wednesday PD: Upbeat Survey – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we’ll review the results from the fall Upbeat Survey, which this time around we can compare to last year’s survey results.

• School Choice Presentation WEDNESDAY @6:00 (Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.

Wed., Jan. 10, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Zoom)
Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

If you’d like to check out the updated 2024 School Choice Slideshow, our About Holt / School Choice webpage, or our Enroll / Register webpage, feedback to make them better is welcome.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 1/16 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 1/16 CORRECTION – I emailed the wrong SST Meeting date. SST is the same week as Grade Level Team meetings, so it will be on Tuesday, January 16th. The purpose of this team is to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form and check the new checkbox I’ve added called “Academics – Student Support Team – SPED Referral” to make a referral to the team.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team 1/17 – Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 1:30 in the library our Equity & Inclusion team is preparing a discussion and training for staff.

• OSHA Inspection Info – I’ve put this on the Staff Meeting Agenda for Thursday, but I’m including it here so all staff have the information. If we were to get a surprise OSHA inspection, all staff need to be able to answer the following questions if an OSHA inspector quizzed you, which they do randomly of all staff:

What are SDS Sheets? An SDS Sheet (Safety Data Sheet) has information about the properties of chemical products in use at our school, including the product’s composition, potential hazards, safe use, and emergency procedures. The SDS sheets are also on a Facilities SDS Information Website (you need to be on the 4J Network to view the site).

Where are the SDS Sheets located? For Holt, our notebooks with the SDS sheets are located in the custodial office. We are planning to get additional copies to keep in the front office.

Where are the Safety Committee Minutes located? Both the Holt and district Safety Committee Minutes are posted in the Staff Room. Additionally, building minutes are on the Staff Google Drive and the district minutes are online at the district website.

Where is the Worker’s Comp Claims Log located? The last 5 years are posted in the Staff Room (they’re really not, but they will be once I get copies from Risk Management).

Where are the Injury & Incident reports located? These are kept in a binder in the office.

• Jan. 2 PD Feedback – If you haven’t already, fill out the Jan. 2 Feedback form to weigh in if you like having a choice of sessions, the shorter session length, your thoughts on the quality of each of the sessions, and any future PD topics you’d like to see. Linked here are the Classified PD Feedback and Licensed PD Feedback.

• PTO Meeting Highlights – Linked here is the PTO Meeting Slideshow, but a few highlights include that the Holt Bolt will be Friday, May 17th (the date suggested by Leadership), budget updates, soliciting volunteers for various events (OBOB, Carnival, Book Fair, etc.), and the PTO is now their own 501(c)(3), which means they don’t have to follow onerous district Finance rules (can buy food, do reimbursements, and they don’t have to worry about downtown losing checks, which they’ve done).

• Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge – The Ems left bookmarks for teachers to pass out to students to track the reading goal you’ve given them for Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge. Teachers may set any goal you feel is appropriate. The program officially ends at the end of the month, but teachers can extend that the reading goal beyond that if you’d like and I’ll go ahead and tell the Ems all students met their goal so we have enough tickets to go around.

• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – The latest 4J Educator Newsletter is asking for 24-25 and 25-26 Draft Calendar Feedback. I’d encourage everyone to share your thoughts. Downtown did listen to input last year on the draft calendars and did make changes, so share your thoughts. Below is the input I shared, though I’m sure my extended school year idea probably isn’t universally loved and I doubt will ever happen:

June Grading Day (Elementary) – 4J tried putting the elementary grading day after school gets out one-year pre-COVID and it was a disaster. Elementary needs the grading day the Friday before the last week of school. I’d suggest moving the No School Day before Memorial Day weekend, which seems unnecessary, to be an Elementary Grading Day the Friday before the last week of school.

Mid-Term Grading Days – These days are unnecessary for elementary. In November, elementary already miss three days for parent/teacher conferences, so having a 3-day-week right before is a huge break in instruction. I understand wanting to align calendars between elementary and secondary, but make this a PD day or move it to the Friday before winter and spring break (there are tons of absences these days at elementary anyhow), or move them to the last two days of school, so the last student days are not on a Monday and Tuesday.

Transition Days – Move the Transition Days to the Monday after winter break and spring break. Since this is being treated as a prep day, elementary teachers don’t need an additional prep day for the start of a new semester following a grading day, but they could absolutely use a prep day following winter and spring break.

Last Student Days – The last two days of school on Monday and Tuesday will be a waste of time and there will likely be a high student (and staff) absence rate. School should end at the end of the week. Move two of the Transition Days or Mid-Term Grading Days to the end of the calendar so we can end on a Friday.

Early Report Back Date – Be sure to notify EEA in time if teachers are going to have an earlier report back date than what’s currently on these calendars.

Professional Development Days – I’m good with fewer district-led PD days, which is how 4J used to operate, but we should also then reduce the number of instructional staff (licensed and admin) at the district level as well.

Extended School Year – If the intention with this calendar is to extend the school year, I’d suggest going all in! Put in a significant number of non-school days throughout the year so students attend school through the end of June. Look at the old extended-year calendar that ATA used to follow when Jeff Johnson was principal there.

• EEF Grants Awarded – Holt was awarded EEF Grants for four different grants; Fill the Book Machine (Potter), Drumming with a Purpose (Zehner), Can You Hear Us Now? (Reich), Alternative Recess & Social Skills Development (McManus).

• SPLASH! Mini-Grants for Classrooms – If you missed it in the last Eco Experience Science Newsletter, The City of Eugene is now accepting SPLASH! Grant Applications. I’ve added this to the Business Items at Thursday’s Staff Meeting.

• OSAS Testing Window & Preliminary Info – Debbi, our STC (Site Testing Coordinator), will have more info to share after the STC training, but this STC & Principal Email has the testing windows for this year, also below, as well as some other OSAS info if you want a preview before our annual OSAS training.

3rd-5th Grade ELA/Math: April 2 – June 14
5th Grade Science: March 5 – June 14
3rd – 5th Grade SEED Survey (must be offered): March 5 – June 14
K-5 English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA): January 9 – April 12

• Cafeteria Waste Station Review – Tana Shepard wanted to share the linked Cafeteria Waste Station Teaching Resources to reteach your students on the cafeteria waste stations. For additional questions, please reach out directly to Tana.

• SSD January Newsletter – If you’re interested here is the January SSD Newsletter. Topics include requirements for Prior Written Notices, move-in students, Core Boards, and more. The SSD Newsletter Archives has all prior newsletters.

• Lane Regional Teacher Pathways – Lane ESD – Application is Open – Lane Regional Teacher Pathways is a scholarship program for folks interested in pursuing or advancing their career in education. This scholarship centers on ethnically, racially and/or linguistically diverse educators in Lane County. The Pathways program provides scholarships ranging from $2,500-$15,000 to work toward earning an educational license as a teacher, counselor, English Language Development Specialist, Special Education teacher and/or Speech Language pathologist. Click here for more information.

• MLK Jr. Day Resources – If you missed it in the latest 4J Library Connection, there is an excellent resource filled Let’s Learn About Martin Luther King Jr. Slide.

• Free Holt International Calendars – Holt International dropped off a bunch of 2024 Calendars I put in the workroom if anyone would like one.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• School Board Appreciation Poster, MONDAY Deadline to Sign – Please sign the School Board Appreciation Poster in the Staff Room by Monday if you haven’t already.

• PBIS Rules Refresher Slideshow – Teachers should find time to review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow (Winter 2024) with your class if you haven’t already. Related, there are also quite a few really good student-made videos by past Holt students on many playground and recess game rules on the Holt Portaportal.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Room Clears – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Room Clears. Please note that if you ever do a Room Clear, document it with a major referral if it’s not for a medical or non-behavior-related situation.

Room Clears
Procedure: Direct response – push the button on the wall, state your name, and classroom number, stay with the student in the classroom until relief comes, and send the rest of the class to their partner classroom.

When and why?
-When a significant disruption or safety threat occurs
Where to go/partner classroom
-Partner classroom in the same wing as your classroom
-Library
-Extra recess outside (with adult only)

Documentation: If a room clear occurs, the use of a “major” is used to document the incident

-Room clear partner classrooms should be established and revisited each year
-Your partner classroom should be a nearby room
-If you are a specialist or Sped, it is most helpful to coordinate with another teacher who has similar groupings or needs
-When you room clear, the teacher stays, and the students go.
-Also teach your students that if your partner classroom isn’t available (due to field trip, or out of the room) go to another closest room. If a class shows up, take them in!
-The office will need confirmation at some point that you have completed this practice. This should be done during Safety Week

•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 8 (M)
5th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:15-8:45, K/1 Rules Round-Up (Playground)
1:40-2:10, 2/3 Rules Round-Up (Playground)
3:30-5:30, Allan to All Admin’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 9 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
FFVP (Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program) Resumes
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Calming Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 10 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 11 (H)
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Kendallyn’s Room)

January 12 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Group

January 15 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 16 (T)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
12:15-12:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

January 19 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)

If you need something heartwarming, Kim made a super nice thank-you video for Garden Way Church for supporting the Holt Holiday Shopping Program.

Allan

January 1, 2024

By Allan | 2023/12/25 19:32 Posted in Announcements | Comments Off

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I hope you all had a good break. A major highlight of my break was getting to see DIE HARD on the big screen when a friend rented out a theater. They encouraged people to dress up as a character from the movie and I went as the more obscure of supporting character, Uli. I also made my kids watch the classic Christmas film GREMLINS, which I realized my wife had never seen either.

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Jan. 2 PD Info and Sign-Up – See the Jan. 2 PD Email and the Follow-Up Email for details, but here is a link to the Licensed PD Info and the Classified PD Info, which is where you can register for which sessions you would like to attend. Times are locations are:

Licensed Staff, Gilham, 8:00-1:00
Classified Staff, Holt, 8:00-1:00

Sign up now before the good sessions fill up!

8:00-8:25 Carpool Time
8:30-1:00 PD Sessions
1:00-2:00 Lunch & Drive Time
2:00-4:00 Planning Time

*Licensed specialists, see communication from your district team about where to report.

• PBIS Rules Refresher Slideshow – Teachers should find time this week or next week to review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow (Winter 2024) with your class. With input from EAs, I’ve added a slide for Recess Snacks, Library, Stop Walk Talk, and the Buddy Bench. There’s also a classroom slide if you want to use it. I highlighted a few of the bullet points on the slideshow for some of our hotspots and added some additional rules for clarification, which include:

Arrival Dismissal:
Hands, feet, objects to self
This is not recess time, so no wild playing
No eating at morning arrival. Eat in the cafeteria.

Hallways:
Voice Level 0 in the hallways

Cafeteria:
Wait quietly in line

Recess Snack Rules:
Morning Recess: Snacks allowed on the sidewalk only
Lunch Recess: Eating only in the cafeteria. No food allowed at recess
Eating on hard play or soft play will result in sitting out the rest of recess

Library:
Library is a classroom
Follow the same rules you would in your classroom
Keep voices quiet to not disrupt Dynamo Groups

Restrooms:
Voice Level Zero” and “Do not slam stall doors
As a bonus, I also added a couple of videos (VIDEO 1, VIDEO 2) of how to use the hand dryers, which a lot of kids do not seem to know how to use the right way.

Stop Walk Walk:
Stop Walk Talk Video (Silent Film Version)
Stop Walk Talk Video (Start w/Heart Pig Puppet)
Stop Walk Talk Video (Older Students Instructional Video)
Here’s a link to the Staff Drive Stop Walk Talk Resource Folder

Buddy Bench:
How to use the Buddy Bench VIDEO

Related, there are also quite a few really good student-made videos by past Holt students on many playground and recess game rules on the Holt Portaportal.

• PBIS Playground Rules Round-Up – The Playground Rules Round-Up will be the first week back, which Classified Staff helped come up with the areas to review with students. I will connect with EAs about which stations they can help teach (or claim a station now). This time we’re doing two grade levels at a the schedule will be:

K/1 Thursday @ 8:15-8:45
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Vaughan & Harmon)
2. Playground Balls (Gulewich)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Gori)
4. Rules for the Field (Willow)
5. Swings/Slides (Zluticky)
6. Structures (Seno)

2/3 Thursday @ 1:40-2:10
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Rabourn & Gulekson)
2. Playground Balls (Norton)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Bemiller)
4. Rules for the Field (Harshbarger)
5. Swings/Slides (Talley)
6. Structures (Ball)

4/5 Thursday @ 1:40-2:10
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Benavides & Reich)
2. Playground Balls (Longoria)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Cobb)
4. Rules for the Field (Henrich)
5. Swings/Slides (Parks)
6. Structures (Ayres)

Feedback on the above-linked Playground Rules Round-Up document and schedule are welcome.

• Fall easyCBM Testing Window Jan. 3-24 – See Debbi’s Email for details, but the winter reading and math benchmark testing window is open Jan. 3 – 24. This window is shorter than usual, so plan accordingly.

• Wednesday PD: Team Collaboration – Since you’ll have just had 5 hours of PD the day before, let’s set this time aside for teams time to connect and collaborate following the PD from Tuesday. This is also a good time to prep and plan for benchmark testing.

• Ems Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly, FRIDAY @8:10 – This Friday in the Gym from 8:10-8:40 (arrive by 8:05 so everyone is seated by 8:10) will be the Eugene Emeralds Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly. They have a much shorter timeline this year, saying final numbers for students who reached their reading goal are due Feb. 1, but teachers can go ahead and stretch it out if they want. I’ll just tell the Ems all students met their goal, which is what I do every year.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 1/9 – We’ll hold our first SST meetings next week on Jan. 9, to track and review new and current referrals for SPED evaluation. If you have a student you’d like to bring to the team, complete the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form and check the new checkbox I’ve added called “Academics – Student Support Team – SPED Referral.” I’ll take a look at the form on Jan. 2 and will email which teachers should attend the meeting.

• Wednesday PD: Upbeat Survey 1/10 – Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 1:30 in the library we’ll review the results from the fall Upbeat Survey, which this time around we can compare to last year’s survey results.

• School Choice Presentation 1/10 @6:00 (Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.

Wed., Jan. 10, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Zoom)
Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

If you’d like to check out the updated 2024 School Choice Slideshow, our About Holt / School Choice webpage, or our Enroll / Register webpage, feedback to make them better is welcome.

• Artist in Residence Draft Schedules – On the Staff Zimbra Calendar and below are the draft schedules the for the following artists in residence:

Feb. 5 – 15, Mask Making Artist Schedule (3-5)
March 4 – 22, Ceramics Artist Schedule (K-3)
April 29 – May 17, Fiddle Artist Schedule (K-5)

• School Board Appreciation Poster – Downtown is emailed schools we are to make a school board appreciation poster. It’s not super clear what they want, but I’ll put a poster in the library for kids and staff to sign this week during library checkout and lessons. I’m going to just make a simply poster that says something like “Thank you 4J School Board!” and have our school name and logo on there.

• Safety Inspection Results (make sure doors aren’t blocked) – The Fire Marshal did their re-inspection and we mostly passed. They did not cite us but did say we need to make sure all classroom doors have 3 feet of egress, meaning you don’t have any filing cabinets or other items blocking the doorway.

• OSHA Safety Information – This OSHA Email is mostly for the Building Safety Committee but principals were asked to share. The main thing to know is that all Flammable Materials/Decorations are Banned (i.e. any papers or paper objects not flush with the wall). The OSHA Visit Guidance is more just for office staff, but it’s kind of a funny read because it sounds almost like we’re preparing to receive the Queen of England or something.

• WREN Newsletter and PDs – The latest Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter lists several new Zoom PD opportunities that staff are compensated for attending and are pretty nice to do from your home. They also list several other opportunities including Affinity Spaces, Teacher Pathway Programs, and an OEA Winter Recharge Retreat for early educators.

• UO International Cultural Service Program – The UO International Cultural Service Program is again offering free classroom presentations, either in person or virtual (we have to provide transportation, but I can cover that). See the ICSP Brochure for details and request a student HERE.

• Red Cross Classroom Presentations – The Red Cross is offering free one-hour classroom presentations. Their youth preparedness is available for K-2 (Prepare with Pedro) and 3-5 (Pillowcase Project). See the Email & Flyers for details and REGISTER HERE.

• BRING Recycling Field Trips & Class Presentations – Visit the BRING “In the Classroom” webpage for info on setting up a field trip or a classroom presentation (Worm Composting – K-2, and Waste Prevention – 3-5)

• 4J Parent/Educator News – Two items from the latest 4J Parent News and 4J Educator News. One, it said schools are using the 4J Behavior Matrix, but that’s not true. Principals were told we’ll be given information sometime after winter break that we can share with staff and families. Two, Check out Holt in the “OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM – Fin-tastic Field Trips!” for a bunch of cool photos during a salmon release field trip!

• Major/Minor Referrals Reminder – Two reminders when writing major and minor referrals:

• Be Specific – Do not write, “Disrespectful to adult” or “Not following adult directions.” Instead, write what they did that was disrespectful (“Called adult dumb” or “Threw paper on floor”) or what directions they were not following (“Continued to poke another student after two reminders to stop” or “Refused to do work after two promts and asked if they needed help”).

• No Names – You can use the student’s name you are writing the referral for, but do not use other students’ names in in descriptions of incidents. Copies of referrals are shared with parents parents, so we need to keep other student names off of the referrals for privacy reasons.

• OnlineSafari.tv | Live Wildcams – I shared some livestreams last month, but here’s one more. Onlinesafari.tv has almost 100 wildlife cams online from around the world. You can search by type of animal or ecosystem. It’s always soothing to watch animals in their natural habitat. If you’re lucky, maybe you can see some bears roughhousing in a pond in Romania!

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EA Paid Time for Childcare at Jan. 4 PTO Meeting – For our January 4th PTO meeting, will pay two classified staff members who are willing to oversee childcare from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the gym. Should be a pretty easy time since there are usually only about 10 kids at most. Let me know if you are interested.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Walking Excursions – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Walking Excursions (field trips):

Walking Excursions:
Parents/guardians must complete an Annual Permission Walking form allowing children to make walking field trips (within a 10-block radius of the school) ANY TIME during the school year without the need for a signed permit for each trip. However, families should still be notified that the trip will take place.

•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 16 – January 1
No School – Winter Break

January 2 (T)
National Science Fiction Day
4th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00-1:00, Licensed & Classified PD (Various Locations)
1:30-2:15, SPED EA (K-2) AAC Training (Emily’s Room)
2:00-3:00, Allan to Multi-Cultural Group Meeting (Zoom)

January 3 (W)
Classes Resume
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Team Collaboration

January 4 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
1:20-2:05, 4th Grade Junior Achievement
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

January 5 (F)
8:10-8:40, Ems Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly (Gym)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)

January 8 (M)
5th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 9 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:05-8:45, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Calming Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 10 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 11 (H)
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

January 12 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Group

See you all soon!

Allan

December 11, 2023

By Allan | 2023/12/09 21:52 Posted in Announcements, P.D., Video | Comments Off

Hello Holt Bolts,

The week before winter break is always a tough one for kids (and adults), and although kids do well with routines, give yourself permission to just have some fun throughout the week. It’ll likely make things easier for you and the kids.

Eighteen items of note for this week:

• Holt Night Out Fundraiser – Papa’s Pizza, MONDAY – Monday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Papa’s Pizza on Coburg Road, so remind your students to bring the flyer and Papa’s Pizza will donate 50% of all purchases to Holt! Take out and dine in only. Beverages and delivery orders are excluded. See you there!

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Wednesday PD: Post Winter Break Team Planning – I’ll call it out. We’re all going to be super tired that last week before winter break, so let’s just make this day a time for teams to plan for what you’re going to do when kids return after winter break. Teams choose if it’s more useful to work as a group or individually.

• Classified Meeting WEDNESDAY – We’ll hold a Classified Staff Meeting this Wednesday after school at 1:30 in the library to plan our post-winter break PBIS Rule Round-Up. Lesli is working on a schedule and this time, to avoid being rushed and so kids will hear better in smaller groups, we will only teach to two grade levels at a time our first week back. Following the meeting, since we have several new classified staff member, I’ll go over the new staff orientation I did at the start of the school year, reviewing referrals and other building procedures. Veteran EAs are welcome to stay for this as well to pass along any wisdom.

• Holt Spirit Day – Pajama Day, FRIDAY – This Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Pajama Day! Tell your students to wear their comfy PJs, sweats, or robe, or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY @8:20 – The December School Spirit Assembly is this Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. See the linked Assembly Map and Agenda for details.

• Jan. 2 PD Info and Sign-Up – See the Jan. 2 PD Email for details, but here is a link to the Licensed PD Info and the Classified PD Info, which is where you can register for which sessions you would like to attend. Times are locations are:

Licensed Staff, Gilham, 8:00-1:00
Classified Staff, Holt, 8:00-1:00

Sign up now before the good sessions fill up!

• Wednesday PD: Team Collaboration – Since you just had 5 hours of PD the day before, let’s set this time aside for teams time to connect and collaborate following the PD from Tuesday.

• Stop, Walk, Talk Refresher – When we return from the break, teachers should review Stop, Walk, Talk with students. You do not have to use the Stop Walk Talk Bully Prevention Lessons, but may use that or the Lesson 1 & 2 Slideshow shared last year if you choose. Linked here is the Stop Walk Talk Resource Folder that’s on the Staff Google Drive, but it may be easiest to watch one of the videos below and have a class discussion.

• Rules Round-Up and School Rules Slideshow – Mentioned above in the Classified Staff Meeting, we’ll hold a Rules Round-Up Refresher when we return from winter break. Lesli is working on a schedule that will have 2 grade levels going out at a time, which will hopefully make it easier for kids to hear and also not making things feel as rushed. After getting input from Classified Staff, I’ll also make a slideshow teachers can review with students playground hotspots, as well other reminders of different rules inside the building (i.e. walking, hoods indoors, zero voice in hallway, etc.). Feel free to let me know of anything you feel needs covered.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting Dates & Referral Form – With Data Teams now focused on Tier 1 and 2, teacher decided to hold monthly old-school SST meetings to track and review new and current referrals for SPED evaluation. I put these meetings on the Staff Zimbra Calendar the same date and time as the first Grade Level Team meetings of each month. April/May is the only month were dates got a little funky:

Tuesday, January 9, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, February 6, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, March 5, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, April 2, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, April 30, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, June 4, 2:45-3:30

For initiating a referral to the team, I’m thinking it’s easiest to add this to our current Request for Student / Classroom Support Form and added a checkbox for “Academics – Student Support Team – SPED Referral” and teachers can put pertinent details in the textbox below. This may change once we find the old SST Referral Form. I also changed the form so that it will email teachers a copy of what you submit.

• Wit & Wisdom Grade Level Teams Opportunity – Teachers will receive an email Monday morning, but I wanted to highlight for folks that downtown received a grant to create grade level teams to dig into Wit and Wisdom. The goal is to develop guidance of what to teach and what to skip to help make the curriculum manageable for each grade level. They’ll also focus on how to support students with the complexity of the texts. Teachers will be compensated $1200 for their work and will be asked to join 6 days between January and June. Downtown will provide subs and there will be a sign up link in Monday’s email.

• Book Nook Coupon – Here’s an updated Book Nook Coupon (single coupon and sheet of coupons) for students to get a free book at the Book Nook on Thursdays at morning recess. We’ll get copies in teacher mailboxes and put extra in the workroom.

• FOSS Science Student Books – If teachers would like to use FOSS Science Student Books, you can request them by filling out the linked FOSS Kit Resupply and Material Request Form. This link is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard. Credit to Leah for finding this out!

• SSD December Newsletters – Here is the December SSD Newsletter. This month’s topics include the importance of prior written notices, confidentiality reminders, a census update, and where to find key information. See the Newslette Archive for past issues.

• Virtual Walks Video Links – A fair amount of teacher play calming videos throughout the day, so I thought I’d share some links to a new genre of experiences that’s emerged on YouTube, where a bunch of channels offer quiet walks in high resolution. The creators hold a stabilized high def camera with binaural audio and walk around Tokyo at night, or Times Square in snow, or London in the rain, or the back alleys of New Delhi, all without narration. You can hear the ambient sounds and see all the ordinary things usually edited out of sizzle reels. It really feels like you are there and allow you to travel without traveling. A few to start get you started: Nomadic Ambience (NYC, Japan, Iceland), Virtual Japan (Japan), Watched Walker (London, Paris, Spain), Keezi Walks (India, China, Vietnam, South America). Google “quiet virtual walk” for more destinations. Some may be too distracting, but they’re all quite interesting.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EA Paid Time for Childcare at Jan. 4 PTO Meeting – There were no takers from last week, so let me know if any EAs are willing to oversee childcare from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the gym for extended contract . Should be a pretty easy time since there are usually only about 10 kids at most.

• ‘Gnome’ and Away – Walking Challenge Starts Soon – Join the “I’ll be Gnome for the Holidays” challenge in the Walker Tracker App. Once you’re in the app, find Holt and join the team. Make sure you open the app daily to log your steps!

• 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 before winter break, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides (here’s a District Link that has additional files) if that makes things easier.

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

Absences:
Staff members who will be absent from work due to illness, personal reasons, or to attend training need to use Absence Management (formerly AESOP) to document the absence and request a guest teacher, if needed. Please try to schedule as early as possible to make arrangements. If it is too late to schedule a substitute, contact office staff immediately so arrangements can be made. If a longer term absence is anticipated, please contact the administrator for help with the process. Additional info, forms, and links can be found on the 4J Leaves 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:

December 11 (M)
3rd Grade, Staff Room Duty
7:30-8:30, Allan Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser
2:00-3:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

December 12 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:30-2:00, Allan to BAT Team Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Emily’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

December 13 (W)
National Cocoa Day
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Post Winter Break Team Planning
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 14 (H)
International Monkey Day
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
1:20-2:05, 4th Grade Junior Achievement
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kendallyn’s Room)
4:00-8:00, Holiday Shopping
4:00- Pick up students
4:30 – Papa’s Pizza
5:15 – Target
Holt – Hot Cocoa, Cookies, and Wrapping
8:00 – Kids should be home

December 15 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Pajama Day
8:30, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Group

December 16 – January 1
No School – Winter Break

January 2 (T)
National Science Fiction Day
4th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00-1:00, Licensed & Classified PD (Various Locations)
2:00-3:00, Allan to Multi-Cultural Group Meeting (Zoom)

January 3 (W)
Classes Resume
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Team Collaboration
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 4 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
1:20-2:05, 4th Grade Junior Achievement
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

January 5 (F)
8:10-8:40, Ems Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly (Gym)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)

It’s almost winter break!

Allan

December 4, 2023

By Allan | 2023/12/02 21:57 Posted in Announcements, P.D. | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Danceability Assembly, MONDAY – Correction on the grade levels from last week for Monday’s DanceAbility assembly, which will be grades 1/2/3 and K/4/5. We’ll put out grade level cones for where to site and times are:

1/2/3 Danceability Assembly – 8:30-9:10
K/4/5 Danceability Assembly – 9:30-10:10

See Ashley’s Email for a teacher’s guide, teachers may be wise to prepare their students for seeing differently-abled people perform. Since Holt no longer has a Life Skills program, our students likely have had very little exposure to people with disabilities, so to prepare students ahead of the assembly and to prevent any inappropriate responses, teachers might want to show a video the the Danceability Video Webpage. This short dance video seemed like a good one to help kids get an idea of what to expect.

On a related note, the Caring School Community program has lessons on Preparing for Assemblies, which help teach kids about appropriate assembly behaviors. It’s actually a really well-done lesson if you haven’t checked it out.

• Data Team Meetings TUES & WED – Data Team Meetings are next week. See Carla’s email for details, but dates & times will be:

Tuesday, Dec. 5:
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15

Thursday, Dec. 7:
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45

• Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so encourage students to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school.

• Wednesday PD: Building System – Wednesday will be a time to review building systems and structures (requests for assistance, team structures, referral processes, etc). Principals got information about the “Intervention Team” (see last week’s announcements) which is somewhat different from the past. My general thinking is we hold monthly IPBS meetings for Tier 2 and 3 behavior support as we have in the past (now compensated), PBIS meetings to address Tier 1 school wide behavior, Data Team for Tier 1 & 2 academics, and possibly look at creating an old school SST team to specifically manage and track SPED referrals, with changes in Tier 3 services (Title and SPED) being discussed during Grade Level Team meetings, connecting with appropriate staff during those times. If there are specific systems you want to make sure we discuss, let me know ahead of time, but I think this is the main one we want to get agreement around.

• Holiday Shopping Committee Meeting, WEDNESDAY – If you’d like to help with planning the annual Holiday Shopping Event, we’re meeting this Wednesday following the Wednesday PD for anyone willing to volunteer their time. We’re tentatively planning for the annual Holiday Shopping Program for Thursday, Dec. 15th (4:00 – Pick up students, 4:30 – Papa’s Pizza 5:30 – Target, Holt hot cocoa/cookies and wrapping, 8:00 – Kids should be home). It’s tentative because we didn’t get confirmation from the church until last week they were going to be able to sponsor the event. Also, they aren’t doing their annual collection until 12/11, so we won’t know until the week of the event how much students will be able to spend on their families, so we are planning to play it safe and do an invitation-only model, which one student per classroom. For anyone new to Holt who this may be new, see the above-linked overview.

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – We have a fire drill scheduled for Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event, THURSDAY @5:30 – See Debbi’s Email (and the NEWER EMAIL) for details, but mark your calendars for this Thursday at 5:30 for the annual Staff Holiday Party. See you there!

• Holt Night Out Fundraiser – Papa’s Pizza, 12/11 – Monday, Dec. 11 is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Papa’s Pizza on Coburg Road, so remind your students to bring the flyer and Papa’s Pizza will donate 50% of all purchases to Holt! Take out and dine in only. Beverages and delivery orders are excluded. See you there!

• Wednesday PD: Post Winter Break Team Planning – I’ll call it out. We’re all going to be super tired that last week before winter break, so let’s just make this day a time for teams to plan for what you’re going to do when kids return after winter break. Teams choose if it’s more useful to work as a group or individually.

• Holt Spirit Day – Pajama Day, 12/15 – Friday, Dec. 15 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Pajama Day! Tell your students to wear their comfy PJs, sweats, or robe, or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly 12/15 @8:20 – The December School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, Dec. 15 in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• Jan. 2 PD Info and Sign-Up – See the Jan. 2 PD Email for details, but here is a link to the Licensed PD Info and the Classified PD Info, which is where you can register for which sessions you would like to attend. Times are locations are:

Licensed Staff, Gilham, 8:00-1:00
Classified Staff, Holt, 8:00-1:00

Sign up now before the good sessions fill up!

• School Choice Sessions – January is school choice month and downtown is having schools do one daytime presentation & tour, one eventing presentation & tour, and one Zoom presentation. Holt’s tour dates will be:

Wed., Jan. 10, 6:00 PM 7:00 PM – Zoom
Thurs., Jan. 18, 6:00 PM 7:00 PM – Evening
Thurs., Jan. 25, 9:00 AM 10:00 AM – Daytime

I’ve started working on updating our School Choice Tour Slideshow and will share that next week for any feedback

• Elementary Curriculum Updates – The linked Elementary Curriculum Updates emailed to principals didn’t have anything new or pressing, but if you’d like to be in the know there is info on the 4J Discipline Matrix that’s almost ready to roll out, the Math Adoption Meeting Schedule, and a reminder about the Jan 2 PD Registrations (Classified and Licensed)

• 4J Librarian Items – Three items I wanted to highlight from 4J Librarian Amy Page:

• Eugene Public Library Cards – Principals were emailed that all 4J elementary students will be given a library card. However, the cards schools will be given don’t have the students’ names on them and we need to cross-reference them with a list of student names and numbers to make sure we get the right card to the right kid, so it may take some time to get them out to folks. See the above email for details.

• 4J Holiday Choice Boards Collection – If you missed it in the last Library Lowdown, linked here are some terrific Holiday Choice Boards Collections you can use with students.

• 4J Virtual Field Trips – Amy Page will do the leg work for you in connecting you to live professionals specific to your curriculum for a virtual field trip. For reference, here are some Past Virtual Field Trips. Just reach out to Amy if you are interested!

• EA Paid Time for Childcare at Jan. 4 PTO Meeting – For our January 4th PTO meeting, will pay two classified staff members who are willing to oversee childcare from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the gym. Should be a pretty easy time since there are usually only about 10 kids at most. Let me know if you are interested.

• ‘Gnome’ and Away – Walking Challenge Starts Soon – Grab your co-workers and have your team join the “I’ll be Gnome for the Holidays” challenge in the Walker Tracker App. Once you’re in the app, find your school and join. Make sure you open the app daily to log your steps!

• Frozen Playground Surfacing Hazard – Facilities Emailed principals that playground areas are to be closed if bark chip surfaces are a solid frozen crust. See the email for details, but principals discussed this at our meeting last week and made the decision we’ll close structures if they are icy, but we don’t need to close soft play bark chip areas. See the above email for details.

• Honoring Individual Teacher Prep Times – The EEA contract states that prep time will “generally be used for individual planning and/or collaboration at the member’s discretion.” This means the general practice is for individual planning during protected prep times and although some staff choose to use this time to collaborate with colleagues, this is not every teacher’s preference, so be sure to ask “Is now a good time?” if connecting with someone during their planning time.

• De-escalating the Hulk Brain – Dealing with a student’s crisis behavior challenges just about any teacher. In the new issue of EL, Meredith McNerney, an expert in addressing escalated behavior, refers to those crisis moments as Hulk brain reactions. Learn how to defuse the student’s “downstairs” brain—the part that lacks the ability to make rational decisions—and how to activate the “upstairs” brain—the rational, empathetic part that will guide the student, with the teacher’s support, in repairing the harm. See this ASCD Article for details.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit to meet 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 before winter break, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. Each grade level has its own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides (here’s a District Link that has additional files) if that makes things easier. Erin Gaston Emailed this info to licensed staff during conferences.

• Computer Science Education Week Dec. 4-8 – Resources for Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code include The Hour of Code Games, Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, Angry Birds, The Grinch, Google Hour of Code Activities, Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code Escape Estate, and Khan Academy. Also, check out the Library Connection Coding Choice Boards.

• Mandatory Bus Training – Final reminder. Next week I’ll start bugging individuals. The Annual Bus Safety Training is due by the end of December. Teachers should review the following two handouts:

• Riding the School Bus Safely in English and Spanish
• Emergency Exits Handout

Let me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit downtown. There are videos teachers can show in addition to the handouts.

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

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 DataPort Online Reporting Form. School employees are mandated reporters 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
*Skip to the front of the DHS line, once you hear the recording start, press 6 and then 1

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.

•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 4 (M)
2nd Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:30-9:10, 1/2/3 Danceability Assembly (Gym)
9:30-10:10, K/4/5 Danceability Assembly (Gym)

December 5 (T)
10:30-2:30, Data Team Meetings (4th, 2nd, KG)
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:30, SSD Admin SPED Visit/Observation
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)

December 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
8:00-8:30, Allan to Upbeat Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Building Structures
2:40-3:30, Holiday Shopping Committee Meeting (Calming Room)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 7 (H)
8:00-11:45, Data Team Meetings
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee OSHA Training (Office)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
4:30-6:00, BEST Open House
5:30-7:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)

December 8 (F)
National Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day4th Grade Salmon Release (Benavides & Longoria)

December 11 (M)
3rd Grade, Staff Room Duty
7:30-8:30, Allan Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser
2:45, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
3:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

December 12 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Emily’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

December 13 (W)
National Cocoa Day1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Post Winter Break Team Planning
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 14 (H)
International Monkey Day8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kendallyn’s Room)

December 15 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Pajama Day
8:30, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Group

December 16 – January 1
No School – Winter Break

January 2 (T)
National Science Fiction Day
4th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00-1:00, Licensed & Classified PD (Various Locations)

January 3 (W)
Classes Resume

10 days until winter break!

Allan

November 27, 2023

By Allan | 2023/11/23 08:17 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., SEL | Comments Off

Howdy Bolts,

I hope everyone had a restful holiday weekend. I know I enjoyed my downtime!

But be ready to do lots of pre-teaching and re-teaching of rules and expectations. Between kids having 9 days off of school and rising excitement/stress with the coming holidays, kids are going to need LOTS of reminders over the next few weeks.

Twenty items of note for this week:

• New SPED EA, Tiffany Chambers – Please welcome Tiffany Chambers to the team as our newest SPED EA! Tiffany has been working as a long term sub in this position and been a fabulous addition to the primary SPED team. Tiffany is also a Holt parent of a 1st grader, adding to our club of Holt Staff/Parents, which by my count is now up to thirteen!

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Wednesday PD, 11/29: Conferences Feedback – Principals were asked to dedicate some time for staff to provide feedback regarding conferences, which were somewhat different this year. We’ll plan to do this Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 in the library during our Wednesday PD time. Kim also has a post-winter break PBIS proposal, and after the meeting EEA reps asked for time.

• Dental Sealants Clinic, FRIDAY – Stay turned for detail from Nurse Haley, but this Friday will be the Dental Sealants Clinic for certain grade levels.

• Danceability Assembly, 12/4 – We have a K-2 and 3-5 assembly schedule on Monday, Dec. 4 in the gym for DanceAbility, a local disability advocacy group who’s mission is to create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to dance and move together. They have a great message and this is probably one of my all-time favorite assemblies. We’ll put out grade level cones for where to site and times are:

8:30-9:10, K-2 Danceability Assembly
9:30-10:10, 3-5 Danceability Assembly

• Data Team Meetings 11/5 & 11/7 – Data Team Meetings are in two weeks, but I had kinder and 5th grade times flipped, so the correct dates/times are:

Tuesday, Dec. 5:
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15

Thursday, Dec. 7:
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45

• Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day, 11/6 – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so encourage students to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school.

• Wednesday PD, 12/6: Building System – Wednesday, Nov. 6 will be to review building systems and structures (requests for assistance, team structures, referral processes, etc). Principals got information about the “Intervention Team” (see item below) which is somewhat different from the past. My general thinking is we hold monthly IPBS meetings for Tier 2 and 3 behavior discussions as we have in the past (now compensated), PBIS meetings to address Tier 1 school wide behavior, Data Team for Tier 1 & 2 academics, and possibly look at creating an old school SST team to specifically manage and track SPED referrals, with changes in Tier 3 services (Title and SPED) being discussed during Grade Level Team meetings, connecting with appropriate staff during those times. If there are specific systems you want to make sure we discuss, let me know ahead of time, but I think this is the main one we want to get agreement around. The following Wednesday PD, the last one before winter break, will be a review of the Upbeat Survey Results.

• Fire Drill, 11/7 @1:15 – Our final Fire Drill of the year will be Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

• Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event, 11/7 @5:30 – See Debbi’s Email for details, but mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 for the annual Staff Holiday Party. One person from each team should let Debbi know by Dec. 1 how many team members you have so Katie and Melanie can plan.

• Artist in Residence Update – I realized last week I never heard back from LaneArts regarding our Artist in Residence request, so I called them to get that going. We can’t get our first of December, since that’s too fast, but they said we should be able to get our first choice of artists. However, they said Larry Meyer’s Mask Making is for older grades, so we’ll have Mask Making for 4th and 5th grade Feb. 5 – 16, and Five Clay Friends with Lily Hamilton for grades K-3 at a date to-be-determined. LaneArts is still getting back to be about a date for Clay with K-2 and Fiddling with Kelly Thibodeaux for K-5, but they know we want to avoid the end of the school year when schedules start to get complicated.

• Intervention Team Meetings – The following was sent to principals about “Intervention Teams” which downtown gave conflicting messages whether it was for academics or behavior or both:

Ideally, you should be engaging your staff in intervention team meetings to address academic and behavior concerns for students requiring Tier 2 and 3 interventions. This should be prioritized into your building meeting schedule and data team reviews (you have already been provided release time for data team). However, if you are finding it difficult to fit these meetings into your regular cycle of meetings, you can provide extended contract time. In order to be eligible for extended contract, staff would have already have attended a weekly meeting. Ex. Teacher A attended a grade level team meeting on Tuesday and also needs to attend an intervention team meeting (iPBS) on Thursday. This staff member would be eligible to fill out the extended contract form. Teacher B does not have a building scheduled meeting this week and needs to attend the intervention team meeting (iPBS) on Thursday. This staff member is not eligible for extended contract. Please let us know if you have any questions.

So this means we will be able to compensate staff who attend IPBS meetings, because there’s other required meetings most every week. We can discuss at the Wednesday PD who we thing should attend these meetings, though I imagine there will be core members at every meeting and other staff who attend as needed.

• Winter Break Food Assistance 2023 – Goign out in the Quick News is a link for families to sing up for food boxes over winter break. We have paper copies to go home in Monday Mailers and here is a blurb teachers can feel free to cut-and-paste into your classroom newsletters:

Winter Break Food Assistance 2023

If your family depends on school-provided breakfasts and lunches, Harlow Serves would like to provide your child with food assistance over Winter Break. This program is for students currently enrolled at Holt Elementary. Food Boxes need to be picked up from Holt Elementary School on Wednesday, Dec. 13, or Thursday, Dec. 14, 7:30 am – 3:00 pm. The deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 8 for returning paper applications to the Holt office OR signing-up at https://bit.ly/feedhope2023

✶Any food not picked up by 3:00 pm Thursday will be reallocated for other programs.✶

• Field Trip Process Update – Principals got to meet with the person in charge of Field Trips and they scaled back on one step, no longer requiring teachers to upload scans of signed permission slips and instead only require one copy of the permission slip be submitted before sending them home with students. Students will still need to have permission slip turned in two weeks before the trip for Low Risk/Day trips, so there is sufficient time for the school nurse to adjust medical plans as needed. Linked here are the latest version of the permission slip (English and Spanish), which are also linked on the Field Trip Info Page.

• Check Lost & Found – Remind kids to check the Lost & Found because everything will go after winter break. I’ll put a reminder in the Quick News about this as well.

• Retirement Planning Seminar – Shiloh Powers, a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones who left us a bunch of scones in the Staff Room a couple weeks ago emailed me about a free retirement panning seminar happening Jan. 23 at 4:30pm. Click the Registration Link to sign-up.

• Professor says coding, SEL boosts elementary-school math – Introducing coding principles and social-emotional learning into third- through fifth-grade math lessons helped enhance student interest in the academic subject, according to Lindsay Gold, an associate professor at the University of Dayton. Gold shares research that found coding and SEL helped increase engagement, improve understanding of math concepts and enhance problem-solving skills among students See this EdWeek Article for details.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should teach lesssongs 1-4 of the Second Step Child Protection Unit to the state Erin’s Law requirement. See Erin Gaston’s Email for details, but each grade level has their own kit and linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides (here’s a District Link that has additional files).

• Computer Science Education Week Dec. 4-8 – Resources for Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code include The Hour of Code Games, Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, Angry Birds, The Grinch, Google Hour of Code Activities, Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code Escape Estate, and Khan Academy.

• Mandatory Bus Training – The Annual Bus Safety Training is due by the end of December. Teachers should review the following two handouts:

• Riding the School Bus Safely in English and Spanish
• Emergency Exits Handout

Let me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit downtown. There are videos teachers can show in addition to the handouts.

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

Buddies:
Each year classes from different grade levels are matched as buddy classes. This goes along with our Caring for Kids (Caring School Community) curriculum. Once classes are matched, it is up to them to determine when to meet and what activities do. The goal is for classes to meet at least once a month, but you are welcome to meet more frequently if you and your buddy wish. You also may use ideas from Caring for Kids (Caring School Community) Cross Grade Book and/or do whatever works best for your classrooms and buddies.

•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 27 (M)
1st Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
3:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

November 28 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 29 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results

November 30 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

December 1 (F)
Dental Sealants Clinic (time is TBA)

December 4 (M)
2nd Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:30-9:10, K-2 Danceability Assembly (Gym)
9:30-10:10, 3-5 Danceability Assembly (Gym)

December 5 (T)
10:30-2:30, Data Team Meetings (4th, 2nd, KG)
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)

December 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00-8:30, Allan to Upbeat Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Building Systems
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 7 (H)
8:00-11:45, Data Team Meetings
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee OSHA Training (Office)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
4:30-6:00, BEST Open House
5:30-7:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)

December 8 (F)
National Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day

Here we go! Just three weeks until winter break!

Allan

@schooledbyarturo

Teacher CD Compilation #teachersoftiktok #teachertok #teacherlife #teacherproblems #teachersbelike #teacher #fyp

♬ original sound – Schooled By Arturo

November 20, 2023

By Allan | 2023/11/18 20:34 Posted in Announcements, Articles, SEL, Technology | Comments Off

Hello Bolts,

The best conference advice I have is to convey to parents that you know their child (share a story or two) and that you care about their child (speak well of them and that you believe in them), which makes it far easier for parents hear about areas for improvement. My other favorite tip is to start conferences by asking parents, “How do things look from your end?” which ensures you have enough time to talk about anything on their mind.

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• PTO Conference Pot Luck – The PTO is providing meals for staff Monday and Tuesday. They will load up food at lunch and then leftovers for dinner. Looking at the PTO Potluck SignUpGenius it looks like a Taco Bar Monday and Soup & Salad Tuesday.

• Fire Marshall Re-Inspection, WEDNESDAY – The Fire Marshall will be back this Wednesday to make sure all areas of concern have been fixed. The three main areas cited were:

• Twinkle Lights – Unless they are special models that meet fire code, they are not allowed.
• 3-D paper Decorations – Fold-out snowflakes or paper lanterns and such, which is a new rule to me, are no longer allowed. In the past, it was only if these were hanging from the ceiling or lights they would cite us, but the new rule is all combustibles (i.e. paper, cloth, etc.) need to be flush with the wall.
• 3-Feet Egress – Make sure there is no furniture blocking doors. You should have a clear path where you can easily walk while holding a yardstick.

If Jeremy or I spoke with you earlier, make sure your areas have been corrected.

• Wednesday PD, 11/29: Conferences Feedback – Principals were asked to dedicate some time for staff to provide feedback regarding conferences, which were somewhat different this year. We’ll plan to do this Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 in the library during our Wednesday PD time.

• 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 before winter break, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides (here’s a District Link that has additional files) if that makes things easier.

• Erin’s Law Parent Notification – Not this week, but next week I will send the following notification to families about Erin’s Law:

Erin’s Law and Child Abuse Prevention Lessons

Oregon law requires all students are educated about child abuse and what to do if it is happening to them or someone they know. All students participate in 4-6 developmentally appropriate lessons each year regarding personal safety. This includes lessons in general safety and specific information about recognizing, responding to, and reporting child sexual abuse. The lessons are spread out across the year to ensure students consistently receive messaging about keeping themselves safe. See the linked Erin’s Law Parent Information for additional informaiton.

• Second Step Pacing Guide – Related to the above, I wanted to re-highlight the Second Step Pacing Guide, but don’t fee bad if you’re behind. The guide is good to make sure you’re hitting each topic area.

• Data Team Meetings – Data Team Meetings are coming soon and this year downtown is having them focus on Tier 1 classroom whole group instruction and Tier 2 classroom level groups. We’ll have roving subs on the following dates:

Tuesday, Dec. 5:
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG – 1:15-2:15

Thursday, Dec. 7:
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45

• Computer Science Education Week Dec. 4-8 – Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code is in a couple weeks, Dec. 4 – 8. This is an annual call to action to inspire students to learn computer science and here are a few resources you could use with kids that week:

• The Hour of Code Games
⁃ Minecraft
⁃ Star Wars
⁃ Frozen
⁃ Angry Birds
⁃ The Grinch
• Google Hour of Code Activities
• Microsoft MakeCode Arcade
• Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code Escape Estate
• Khan Academy

• Holt PBIS Incentive Programs – A reminder, linked here is an explanation of Holt’s Positive Incentives, which includes ZAPs, Orange Tickets, Spirit Tickets, the ZAP Fairy, and prize explanations. See the Holt Staff Dashboard Behavior Column for more info, including the ZAP Prize List, the ZAP Drawing Nomination Sheet, and others. There’s also Incentives info in the Holt Staff Handbook.

• Spanish Versions of Major Referrals – It’s not a frequent occurrence, but know that we have Major Referrals in Spanish in the office if you have to write a referral for a student where the home language is Spanish.

• WREN Newsletter & Paid Zoom PDs – The latest Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter has some new Zoom PDs. I signed up for one titled “Regulate, Relate, Reason” in January that’ll pay you $260 to attend all three 2-hour Zooms. See the above linked newsletter for how to sign up!

• Schools “Can’t Sit Out” AI – Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Education Roberto Rodriguez emphasizes that school districts should integrate artificial intelligence into education because avoiding it could disadvantage students in a future dominated by technology. Rodriguez highlighted the importance of teacher-led decision-making and collaboration between AI developers and educators. See this EdWeek Article for details.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

• Share w/Families “Conscious Discipline Parent Nights” – If it comes up at conferences that parents are struggling with behavior at home, share with them the parent education series, “School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights.” It will be every Tuesday for 8 weeks, Jan. 9 – Feb. 27. Parents should reserve a spot by contacting Jenny at (541) 790-6173 or potter_je@4j.lane.edu or teachers can pass parent contact info to Jenny as well.

• Items to Review at Conferences – Teachers should review the Title 1 Compact, the Annual Permissions Form, the Student Tech Contract (K-2 and 3-5) if you haven’t already, and if you would like, you can also use the Synergy Family Report, which has attendance, benchmark, and OSAS info.

• Language Link Phone Translations – See the 4J Language Link Interpreting Service webpage for step-by-step directions on how to do translations for in-person meetings, phone meetings, or Zoom meetings. The “cost center number” for Holt is 270.

• EA Assistance During Conferences Sign-Up – If teachers could use any help with prep or other tasks, add your name and the task to the EA Assistance Spreadsheet. EAs should also add your name to the tasks you’d be willing to take on

• Staff Not in Conferences – Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are regular work days for all staff who are not part of conferences and should work their regular hours at school. However, if you pre-arrange trade time with me to not work Wednesday, email me your plan ahead of time. HR Emailed principals they are also making a one-time exception to allow personal days on Wednesday for classified staff.

• Resources for Families – Should any families request assistance with food, clothing, housing/rental assistance, hygiene products, SNAP (food stamps) Benefits, Insurance, counseling, and such, please have them fill out the linked Helping Hand Online Form or contact Holt Family Resource Coordinator, Felicia LaCuesta, at lacuesta_f@4j.lane.edu or call her at (541)790-6174.

• Mandatory Bus Training – The Annual Bus Safety Training is due by the end of December. Teachers should review the following two handouts:

• Riding the School Bus Safely in English and Spanish
• Emergency Exits Handout

Let me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit downtown. There are videos teachers can show in addition to the handouts.

•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 20 (M)
ALL STAFF, Staff Room Duty
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences
11:00-11:40, K-2 Lunch
11::20-12:00, 3-5 Lunch
5:00-5:40, 3-5 Dinner
5:20-6:00, K-2 Dinner

November 21 (T)
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences
11:00-11:40, K-2 Lunch
11::20-12:00, 3-5 Lunch
5:00-5:40, 3-5 Dinner
5:20-6:00, K-2 Dinner

November 22 (W)
No School – Conference Comp Day

November 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 27 (M)
1st Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
3:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

November 28 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 29 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results

November 30 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

December 1 (F)
Dental Sealants (time is TBA)

Happy conferencing and enjoy the holiday weekend!

Allan

November 13, 2023

By Allan | 2023/11/11 09:47 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Video | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

My 98-year-old dad peacefully passed away Friday morning. My mom and I had the idea of playing him Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade, one of his favorite songs from his youth (he saw them live many times in 1930s NYC), and as the song ended he quietly passed. Thank you, all, for understanding my having to leave unexpectedly last week. I’ll be back to work Monday and don’t feel you need to treat me with kid gloves. Feel free to pile on, just like normal, which is what works best for me.

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Lead Water Testing, MONDAY/TUESDAY – A 4J environmental consultant, PBS, will be onsite this week to conduct ODE-required drinking water lead testing throughout the school. PBS will arrive Monday evening before testing to place “Do Not Use” tags on fixtures to ensure water stays stagnant for the required 8-12 hours before sample collection. They will then return Tuesday morning to conduct testing on the required fixtures. All tag placement and sample collection will be completed during off hours, so it should have no impact on fixture use throughout the school day. See this email for details, but unless you’re staying late or arriving early, you won’t even notice.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, TUESDAY – Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is Tuesday so please encourage your kiddo to walk, roll, or carpool this day. Shared earlier are some resources including the Day of Dialogue Teachers’ Project Guide to Supporting Changemakers.

• Holt Night Out – Panda Express @VRC, THURSDAY – Thursday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Panda Express at Valley River Center, so be sure to talk it up to your students. Bring the Panda Express Event Flyer (English or Spanish), paper, or smartphone, when you order, or use the fundraiser code “363024” if ordering online. The PTO also wants folks to save their receipts and submit them at shopandlog.com/VRC or turn them in at the office for the PTO School Cents Fundraiser (English or Spanish).

• Holt Spirit Day, FRIDAY, Backwards Day! – Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Backwards Day! Get kids excited to wear everything backward; backward shirts, pants, hats, backpacks, etc. or kids can simply wear their Holt spirit gear (maybe backward).

• Magic & Balloon Sculpting Assembly, FRIDAY – The November monthly School Spirit Assembly is a combo assembly with a fun Magic & Balloon Sculpting Assembly this Friday The K-2 assembly is 8:05-8:55 and the grade 3-5 assembly is 9:05-9:55.

• Conference Info – Since we didn’t meet this past Wednesday regarding conferences, I wanted to highlight the following:

• Individual Contact of Non-Scheduled Families – Teachers should make individual contact with any families not signed up for a conference yet. A phone call or text would be best. Google Voice or TextNow are good options if you don’t want to text using your real cell number).

• Share w/Families “Conscious Discipline Parent Nights” – If it comes up at conferences that parents are struggling with behavior at home, share with them the parent education series coming up in January being led by Jenny, Kendallyn, and Keri Sage called “School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights.” We’ll put some fliers in the staff room for folks to have on hand, but it will be every Tuesday for 8 weeks, Jan. 9 – Feb. 27. Parents should reserve a spot by contacting Jenny at (541) 790-6173 or potter_je@4j.lane.edu or teachers can pass parent contact info to Jenny as well.

• Prep for Kids & Siblings – Make sure you have some toys, paper, drawing/coloring, games, or other materials outside your classroom to occupy any students and/or siblings who come to conferences.

• Zoom Option – I’m still not advertising Zoom, but I am putting a note in the Quick News that this is the only time we are offering conferences, but for families to contact their child’s teacher if they cannot attend on either of these dates so alternate plans can be made. If families do reach out saying they cannot come on these dates, that’s when teachers offer them Zoom, but just so we’re all on the same page, we are not to meet with families outside of Nov. 20 and 21. Interestingly, NYC exclusively did Zoom conference last year and saw a 40% drop in parent participation according to this ChalkBeat Article.

• Know Your Role During Inclement Weather – Principals were asked to share the 2023–24 Hazardous Weather Conditions Information (i.e. snow days). The short version is school cancellations will be made on the 4J Website, Facebook, X (@4Jweather & @4Jschools), and local news stations, though FlashAlertEugene always seems to announce it first. If there is no announcement, it means school is happening like normal. If school is canceled, only the principal, secretary, and custodial staff report to work. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• Harassment Reporting Forms – If you ever wondered, “Where do the Harassment Forms on our technology desktops ‘go’?” This HR Email says the forms are reviewed at the district (Instruction) and then routed to the building principals for action/follow-up.

• Exploding Whale Date Correction – My calendar last week was incorrect. The infamous Exploding Whale Incident happened November 12, 1970, so Sunday is the official day to celebrate this important day in Oregon history. This article points out it’s also the same date infamous Oregonian figure skater Tonya Harding was born.

• Join the Holt Walker Tracker Team! – I’ve been using the Walker Tracker app (iOS and Android) for a while to complete against other 4J staff on who can get the most steps, but I just realized there’s a Walker Tracker Holt Team, so if you’re so inclined, join the team and let’s compete in the “Where’s Waldo” challenge that starts today (Nov. 12). Winning teams get $300 for their school and one category is simply which team signs up the most new members, so sign up today!

• Thanksgiving Lessons Reminder – Here’s my annual reminder about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Staff should keep in mind that student conceptions of Native Americans often come from classroom activities around the First Thanksgiving. These conceptions of Native Americans gained from such early exposure are often both inaccurate and potentially damaging. When planning activities, be aware that what most of us learned in school about the “Pilgrims” and “Squanto” and the “First Thanksgiving” is a mixture of both history and myth. Thanksgiving activities should avoid reinforcing historical myths and should also avoid stereotypes (ie. no warbonnets) It’s often best to shift the focus away from the “First Thanksgiving” and instead focus on items children can be thankful for in their own lives and on their families celebrations of Thanksgiving at home. Some resources on what to avoid and what to teach can be found at the National Museum of the American Indian, Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance), and Education World. This Google Doc links to a ton of read-aloud stories, primary sources, sites, and other information about Native and Indigenous People. Here is a good article with a Native American Perspective on Thanksgiving as well as one on The True Story of the First Thanksgiving. Also, the 4J Natives Program is available for classroom presentations year-round and can offer an accurate picture of Native American culture. See last week’s announcements for links on American Indian Heritage Month.

EDIT: Added a few more resources. 4J Indian Education-SB13 Tribal History, History and Culture of the Mashpee Wampanoag, Brittanica School Wampanoag Article (log on through Clever), critically reviewed selection of books at Social Justice Books and North Central Regional Library.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

• EMAIL Conference Schedules to Office – Email office staff a list of your conference dates and times. Parents often forget their time and call the office. Teachers should export their times in Calendly by logging onto their account, clicking SCHEDULED EVENTS, and then clicking EXPORT to get an XLS file you can email the office.

• Items to Review at Conferences – Teachers should review the Title 1 Compact, the Annual Permissions Form, and the Student Tech Contract (K-2 and 3-5) if you haven’t already, and if you would like, you can also use the Synergy Family Report, which has attendance, benchmark, and OSAS info. I’ll run these for teachers on Wednesday.

• Language Link Phone Translations – See the 4J Language Link Interpreting Service webpage for step-by-step directions on how to do translations for in-person meetings, phone meetings, or Zoom meetings. The “cost center number” for Holt is 270.

• Conference Confirmation Form – Geoff shared this last year, but linked here is a Conference Confirmation Form I updated for this year, which teachers can use to remind families of their conference time.

• EA Assistance During Conferences Sign-Up – If teachers could use any help with prep or other tasks, add your name and the task to the EA Assistance Spreadsheet. EAs should also add your name to the tasks you’d be willing to take on

• Staff Not in Conferences – Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are regular work days for all staff who are not part of conferences and should work their regular hours at school. However, if you pre-arrange trade time with me to not work Wednesday, email me your plan ahead of time. HR Emailed principals they are also making a one-time exception to allow personal days on Wednesday for classified staff.

• 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 a Zoom link if it’s on Zoom) and I’ll be there!

• Resources for Families – Should any families request assistance with food, clothing, housing/rental assistance, hygiene products, SNAP (food stamps) Benefits, Insurance, counseling, and such, please have them fill out the linked Helping Hand Online Form or contact Holt Family Resource Coordinator, Felicia LaCuesta, at lacuesta_f@4j.lane.edu or call her at (541)790-6174.

• Mandatory Bus Training – The Annual Bus Safety Training is due by the end of December. Teachers should review the following two handouts:

• Riding the School Bus Safely in English and Spanish
• Emergency Exits Handout

Let me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit downtown. There are videos teachers can show in addition to the handouts.

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

Threats by Students
Schools are required to notify the parent of a student when another student makes threats of violence or harm or the student’s name appears on a targeted list that threatens violence or harm to the students on the list. The law requires verbal notice within 12 hours of learning of the threat and written notice within 24 hours, so staff should report threats to the principal as soon as possible.

•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 12 (SU)
Exploding Whale Anniversary (KATU & Raw Meaty Footage)

November 13 (M)
Kinder, Staff Room Duty
7:30, Allan Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
9:00-2:00, 4th Fish Creek Field Trip (Benavides & Cobb)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

November 14 (T)
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
November Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:00, Allan Meeting w/Angela Crum (Office)
9:00-2:00, 4th Fish Creek Field Trip (Longoria & Reich)
9:30-12:10, 3rd Grade Music Field Trip
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 15 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Conferences Prep
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 16 (H)
Holt Night Out – Panda Express @VRC
Picture Retakes (Library)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
12:05, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

November 17 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Backward Day
8:05-8:55, K/1/2 Balloon & Spirit Assembly (Gym)
9:05-9:55, 3/4/5 Balloon & Spirit Assembly (Gym)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Meeting (Roosevelt)

November 20 (M)
ALL STAFF, Staff Room Duty
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences

November 21 (T)
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences

November 22 (W)
No School – Conference Comp Day

November 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

Hope everyone had a good 3-days off!

Allan

@gerrybrooksprin

Good try, but no! #parent #parenting #parentingtips #booktok #books #education #schoollife #funny #fun #delta #candy #sweet #sweets #swifties

♬ original sound – Gerrybrooksprin

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