Technology

June 17, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/06/17 19:59 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Technology  |  Comments Off on June 17, 2022

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

Four items of note for what should be my final staff announcements of the school year:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Human Service Coordinator Interviews, WEDNESDAY, 9:45-12:00 – If you’d like to be part of interviews for our Human Services Coordinator position, we’ll be doing those here at school Wednesday, June 22nd from 9:45-12:00.

• Open Classroom Positions – With Lindsey and Mandy sadly leaving us, we have two openings at 4th grade. I’m moving Elizabeth into one of the 4th grade openings, which will give her a more stable position (Elizabeth student taught with Ashley and being the fourth person on a grade level team can be tenuous), which leaves us a 4th and 3rd grade opening. Let me know by Monday if anyone is interested in either of these positions. I’m planning to submit a requisition to HR Tuesday morning. Since neither of these positions went through the Job Expo, HR said we are contractually obligated to first post it internally for 5 days. If less than two internal candidates apply, we can repost the position externally. Let me know if any of you would like to volunteer your time to be part of interviews for either of these positions and I will connect with you when we hold interviews over the summer.

• Head Custodian Sub – Until Facilities hires a permanent person we will have Randy Williams, retired Head Custodian from Roosevelt. He and Ryan will connect to get a hand-off of things before he starts next month.

• Summer School Map Update – A few things shifted on the SEAL/KITS Classroom Map. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on this.

• No Nearpod Next Year – Downtown is not renewing the district subscription for Nearpod subscription next school year (it’s now more expensive and had low usage rates), but they will get individual licensed for teachers who were high-level users, so let me know if you used it regularly this year and would like it again next year.

• Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Paused – ODE has canceled the Oregon Kindergarten Assessment for 2022, but we will have to administer a new one in 2023. See this ODE Bulletin for details.

 

Feel free to call, text, or email anytime over the summer if you need anything. I’m pretty much on-the-clock most of the summer anyhow after foolishly volunteering to be the SEAL principal.

Enjoy your time off, everyone!

Allan

 

June 6, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/06/04 20:48 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Science, SEL, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on June 6, 2022

 

Howdy Bolts,

We’ve almost made it!

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Ryan Moving to Washington – Our fabulous Lead Custodian, Ryan Brown, is moving to Washington at the end of the month, which sadly means we are now on the lookout for hiring a new lead. Wish Ryan well on his new adventures!

Facilities will post the position soon, but custodial jobs have been very hard to fill this year, so over the summer we’ll likely have a lead custodian from another building fill in during SEAL and KITS. If you know any good custodians out there, please encourage them to join our awesome school!

• New 2nd Grade Teacher, Myah Rahbourn – We had a strong pool of candidates for our remaining 2nd grade opening and have hired Myah Rabourn. Myah student taught this year with Ashley, but before that was an EA in Lebanon School District and at the end of last year taught 3rd grade on an emergency license. Watch for Myah subbing at Holt this week and welcome her to the team!

• Job Posting Updates – Our Human Services Coordinator position and possibly our 4-hour Title 1 EA position will go up this week. We have two 4-hour opening and HR is likely bumping someone into at least one of these positions. They emailed me one person was bumping into one of the openings, but when I sent that person a “Welcome to Holt” email they told me HR offered her a job at Howard instead of Holt. I emailed HR about this, but haven’t heard back, so at this point I’m not sure if we have one or two openings. If you know anyone good out there though, please encourage them to apply.

• REMINDER: PE/Music On-Time Pick-Up – With PE and Music out on the field, make sure you’re out there on time to pick up your class, so that Alex and Ashley get their breaks.

• ELA Adoption: Wit & Wisdom – Staff were emailed that Wit & Wisdom was officially adopted last week by the school board. Due to delays in the pilot process and delays in obtaining school board approval, we will not have materials until August. However, staff do have digital access if you go the Wit &Wisdom Teacher Review Site and use the password: elafororegon

Scroll down to access a 10-minute “Welcome to the ELA Review Page” video.

Additionally, there is a Wit & Wisdom Introduction Slide Show teachers may want to check out, which goes over what models you will teach, as well as links for further exploration.

• ELA Materials Open House TUESDAY & FRIDAY – If you want to preview materials now, there is an open house this week. Here are the details:

Tuesday, June 7, 2:30-5:00
Friday, June 10, 9:00-4:00

Bailey Hill Instructional Center
2295 Four Oaks Grange Rd.
(off of W 18th, west of Churchill)

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit, THIS WEEK & NEXT – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. Teach lesson 6 right before summer break, within the last two weeks of school. Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are the Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

• Earthquake/Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – We’ll conduct an Earthquake/Fire Drill this Tuesday at 1:10. I’ll get on the PA an announce the earthquake drill, reviewing Drop, Cover, Hold, and will launch the drill by saying EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! We’ll pull the alarm to signal when to evacuate the building. There are many resources for teaching Drop, Cover, Hold at The Great Oregon Shakeout. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

• Allan Job Shadow TUESDAY – Beth Kruzki is going to job shadow me on Tuesday. Beth will be the SEAL/KITS principal for the second part of this summer. I’ll be principal for the first couple weeks of summer school to get things going and Beth will take over for the remainder of the program, although I report back a couple weeks later on July 27, so I’ll be around most of the program anyhow. Beth wanted to job shadow me to get a sense of how things look at elementary (she has mostly secondary admin and online admin experience).

• REMINDER: James Brown Award Nominations, DUE WEDNESDAY – See Ashely’s Email for details, but complete your nomination for the 2022 James Brown Award by Wednesday at 9:00pm. Here are the past James Brown winners:

2018 – Jincy and Heidi
2019 – Lisa Goff
2020 – Jenny Potter
2021 – Kelsey Hicks

• REPEAT: Kona Ice, WEDNESDAY at 1:45 – Kona Ice is coming to Holt THIS WEDNESDAY. Bus riders who bring money can be dismissed at 1:45 if they brought money for shave ice, so they have time to buy and eat their shave ice before getting onto the bus. Supervision of students will be provided.

 

• REPEAT: FRIDAY Report Card Grading Day Expectations – This Friday is a regular work day for both classified and licensed staff. For licensed staff, HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues this day. Also, 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. For classified staff, this is a good day to cash in any accumulated trade time you’ve built up, but remember you need to notify me before you begin accumulating time.

• REPEAT: Report Card Printing & Envelope Stuffing – Since grading day is before the last day of school, like normal, 4J elementary schools are going back to normal report card procedures, where teachers print report cards and stuff envelopes, which will be sent home with students the last day of school. Melanie will do the “Update Attendance” procedure in Synergy the Thursday before grading day, so wait until grading day to print report cards.

• REPEAT: Schedule Your Gaga Ball Rules Lesson – Gaga Ball is going to be one of our Field Day stations, which I’ll be running, and I’d like to teach kids the rules ahead of time. Let me know a good 10-minute block to go over the Gaga Ball Rules Slide Show with your class sometime before Field Day on Wednesday, June 15th. The closer to Field Day the better, but email a time that works well for you.

• EA Help Boxing Materials this FRIDAY & Next Week – Title 1 EAs will be available this Friday and next week to help box up ELA Materials (Journeys & Being A Writer) and also to inventory the SIA Diverse Book Library Kits. Just let Jenny know and she will send someone your way.

• ELA Materials Packing Directions – Linked here is the Full ELA Materials List to Keep or Discard, as well as Eric Anderson’s Email.

• Teachers will get 6 boxes per classroom.
• Most Journeys and Being A Writer materials: Box and attach this Label Template on each box.
• Leveled Readers: Box separately and use the Leveled Reader Label Template ere.
• Trade books and big books: Keep them for 4J use. If your building does not want them, please send them to Bailey Hill using this label.

• REPEAT: Diverse Classroom Libraries Inventory – Teachers will inventory the SIA Diverse Classroom Library Book Sets. There are two processes depending whether you are teaching the same grade next year or if you are moving grade levels or schools.

If not moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, keep books in your room.

If moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, leave bins in classroom, and write the bin barcode number on the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022.

• REPEAT: End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022. This needs to be completed by all staff in charge of an area before you start your summer and need both mine and Ryan’s sign-off. Let me know if you have any questions.

• REMINDER: 3/4/5 Climate Survey  – If you missed the deadline, the survey is still open for 3/4/5 teachers to have students complete the student climate survey. See the email I sent earlier for details, but first show the video and then have students complete the survey.

English version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4jelementaryclimate2022
Spanish version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ambienteprimaria4j2022

• REPEAT: June 20th, Juneteenth Expectations – HR was supposed to send something out, but principals got the succinct graphic below. Monday, June 20th is the last regular workday for licensed staff, but it is also a new Federal Holiday, so staff have the option to work extra days prior to Juneteenth and not working this day or you can take June 20th off and work on Tuesday, June 21st instead.

 

• REPEAT: Science Kit Restocking – If you need additional materials for your science kit, be sure to complete the Science Kit Restock Order Form before the end of the school year.

• 2022 Direction Service Summer Directory – The 2022 Direction Services Resources for Youth and Families is an annual resource containing recreation, respite, support, and service opportunities that families of children with disabilities can access. I’ll share this in the Quick News, but wanted to share with staff as well.

• District Admin Updates – Paula Nolan, current EOA principal, will be the new principal at Spencer Butte Middle School, replacing Peter Tromba who is moving back east. Also, Andrea Belz, Director of Financial Services, Holly Langan, Director of Support Services, and Christine Nesbit, 4J General Counsel, are all leaving 4J at the end of the school year. See this email for full details.

• Is Silent Ball the Best Classroom Management Tool You Never Knew Existed? – I used to play this game all the time when I taught 2nd and 3rd grade, except I called it “Quiet Ball” and this was back in olden times before GoNoodle or even projectors. This WeAreTeachers Article shares why it’s a great tool to have in your classroom-management toolbox.

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

June 5 (SU)
3:00-7:00, Barbara Kitterman Retirement Celebration

June 6 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6
8:00, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Ayres)
9:50, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Heinrich)
3:45-4:45, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

June 7 (T)
Beth Kruzki Job Shadowing Allan
8:00, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Parks)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:00-1:00, Allan to KG Transition Meeting (Zoom)
1:10, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 8 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:45-3:15, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
9:00PM, James Brown Award Nominations Due

June 9 (H)
Last Day for Title 1 & ELD Groups
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
2:45, Allan to SPED Planning Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

June 10 (F)
No School – Grading Day

June 13 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6

June 14 (T)
9:50, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Lovato)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

June 15 (W)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5 (Field)
9:00-10:00, Allan Skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2 (Field)
7:00-9:00, Sheldon HS Graduation (Hult Center)

June 16 (H)
1:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (if needed)

June 17 (F)
Last Day for Students
Last Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
10:15-10:30, 4th & 5th Grade Recess
10:45, Grab-n-Go Lunches Delivered to Wings
11:10, Early Dismissal
Staff Social – End of Year BBQ

June 20 (M)
Juneteenth
Last day for licensed staff
8:00-4:00, Allan to I Love U Guys Training (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

August 26 (F)
Licensed Staff Report Back

August 29 (M)
Classified Staff Report Back

8 1/2 days to go!

Allan

 

May 2, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/04/30 16:18 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Technology  |  Comments Off on May 2, 2022

 

Hello Holt Staff,

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, but let’s take time to appreciate ALL Holt staff members and everything you do each and every day. To honor everyone, our fabulous parent group, PAHS, is organizing a food train for Holt Staff on Monday and Wednesday (I’ll bring donuts on Tuesday and Thursday). You all are a RAD staff to work with, who make me glad to be part of Team Holt!

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Expo Updates – No updates yet from HR regarding last week’s Job Expo. Stay tuned!

• REPEAT: Staff Pockluck, Monday – The Sunshine Committee May Staff Pockluck is happening this Monday, though PAHS is also feeding us. Feel free your name to the Staff Potluck Luncheon Sign-Up. Sunshine will provide Birthday cake for May Birthdays!

• Friday PD: 22-23 Master Schedule Planning – This Friday’s PD time will be for staff wanting to give input on next year’s Master Schedule. If you’d rather share your input over email or before the meeting, that’s fine too.

• 2022-2023 Elem Content Minutes Schedule Guide – Related to the above, downtown made a 2022-2023 Elementary Content Minutes Schedule Guide, which has the suggested (not required) amount of minutes for each content area for when schools develop their master schedules. Holt is already pretty aligned with these guidelines, with the exception that the guide lacks a math intervention period and the ELA times vary a bit. Also, the guide has a 15 minute morning recess instead of 20 minutes, which I pointed out is different from 4J’s Standard School Schedule. District admins said that was a mistake and 5 minutes will have to be pulled from somewhere else.

• 3/4/5 Annual PBIS Student Climate Survey – Traditionally the climate survey has been administered to 3rd-5th grade in early spring. However, this year the Instruction Department revamped the survey to administer to all students in grades 3rd-12th and it is almost ready to share all the details, including the link. 3rd-5th grade teachers will need to pick a date and time to administer the survey during the month of May. Be on the lookout for additional details, coming out soon.

• GI Outbreak Update – See the linked email for an update on our suspected Norovirus / GI outbreak from the head of 4J’s Health Services. The short version is cases are down by a lot and we may be able to lift current protocols this week. A big shout out to Ryan and Ritchie who’ve had A LOT of work added to their plates as a result of this outbreak.

In related news, this stomach thing seems to be making the rounds as I got a notification my own kids’ school about an outbreak at their schools.

• No Toys or Other Items at Recess – Outside of book (but not a library book), kids are not to bring toys or other items out to recess. We’re starting to see more items snuck out to recess if staff can remind students and keep an eye out for smuggled items.

• Gaga Ball Update – Facilities came out last week to survey our Gaga Ball Pit FIP (Facilitates Improvement Proposal). It’s not official until the Facilities Team meets, but it sounds like they will approve our plan. They’re a bit reluctant about it because they know that as soon as one school gets a Gaga Ball Pit, then ALL elementary schools will want one, but I like laying claim that we’re THE FIRST school in 4J with a Gaga Ball Pit. They did make a couple changes to our original proposal. One, the location needs to be on a hard surface, so it will be on hard-play next to the covered play area (see map below). The second change is we need to add rubber matting below the pit, which makes sense to avoid scraped knuckles. Facilities will install the pit, but that probably won’t happen until over the summer. However, we’ll plan to bring out the Gaga Ball Pit as a Field Day stations so kids will at least have one day with it this year. If you’re interested, linked here is a Gaga Ball Rules Slide Show I made and got classified staff input on.

• Field Day Updates – We got an okay from downtown last week to do K-2 and 3-5 Field Day, complete with parent volunteers to help run stations. We’ll hold Field Day the last week of school Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. We’ll decide on a date a a future Staff Meeting.

• 4J Summer Seal Program Updates – Downtown is hoping to add an incentive to get more staff to fill summer school vacancies. Class sizes will be increased if they do not have enough staffing and the Sheldon/North regions will be combined. I volunteered Holt to NOT host the SEAL program and to instead host Migrant Ed, which ends earlier and operated fewer days in the building.

I also asked about the summer cleaning schedule for schools hosting the SEAL program. District admin were not sure, but believed Facilities is planning on cleaning these buildings prior to the summer use, but are going to confirm that.

• Library Media Services Info – District Librarian, Amy Page, shared the linked Library Media Services Slide Show with principals, which links out to a wealth of resources for teachers, including safe search engines, the district digital book collection Sora (USER: 4J username, PASS: 4J email password), and the underused research website PebbleGo (USER: holt1 PASS: school). She also shared that she is available to create curated research sites, such as the one on slide #4 about Exploring Penguins. Just contact her at page_a@4j.lane.edu

• Next Level Sports Flag Football Staff Discount – Next Level Sports partners with the University of Oregon to bring a co-ed youth Flag Football league to Eugene  June through July for grades K-7. I share this here because they are offering a coupon code for staff, so let me know if you’d like that code. 

• Teacher Appreciation Week Freebies – Check these RetailMeNot and WeAreTeachers articles containing lists of all the freebies and discounts educators can get this week. Applebee’s free lunch or dinner, 20% off at Buffalo Wild Wings, 15% off J.Crew, 15% off at Michaels, 20% off at Pieology Pizza, or a free cheeseburger with any purchase at Sonic! I’m bummed Insomnia Cookies isn’t on there, but there’s some good stuff here. Also, McDonald’s has free coffee or soda if you show your ID, but wasn’t on either list.

• Celebrating Inclusive Mother’s Day & Father’s Day – As we celebrate and honor caregivers in schools, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be opportunities to recognize the diversity of family structures. See this Welcoming Schools Article for how to inclusively celebrate these holidays.

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

May 2 (M)
Teacher/School Staff Appreciation Week
May Staff Potluck
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)

May 3 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
10:00-11:30, Allan to Superintendent Interview Panel Meeting (Zoom)
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 4 (W)
Star Wars Day!
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
12:30-12:55 – Delgani Strings Visit to Longoria
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:00-1:25 – Delgani Strings Visit to Benavides
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)
1:30-1:55 – Delgani Strings Visit to Talley
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 5 (H)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT

May 6 (F)
School Lunch Hero Day (2nd Grade)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Superintendent Interview Panel Meeting (Zoom)
10:10-12:00, 5th Grade Monroe Visit
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

May 8 (SU)
Mother’s Day

May 9 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
TAG Testing Window
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT

May 10 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, Conscious Discipline Parent Night (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, ACE Awards Celebration (Facebook)

May 11 (W)
School Nurse Day (Office)
8:30-1:30, Allan to Superintendent Interviews (Ed Center)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

May 12 (H)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

May 13 (F)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

And May the 4th be with you, always…

Allan

 

April 4, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/04/02 19:07 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on April 4, 2022

 

Greetings Holt Bolts,

Twelve items of note for this week:

• Sunshine Newsletter Highlights – Desiree send a Sunshine Newsletter of Sunshine Committee events coming up:

• Staff Potluck Monday! – I forgot to put this on the calendar way back when Sunshine originally sent this out a couple months ago, but it’s not too late to add your name to the Staff Potluck Luncheon Sign-Up! Sunshine will provide Birthday cake for April Birthdays!

• Volunteer Appreciation Week and Treat Table Sign-Up – Sunshine also shared the April 18-22 Volunteer Appreciation Week Sign-Up to recognize our small but dedicated volunteers, as well as student teachers and practicum students.

• Staff Shout Outs – Click the Shout Outs Link to post a shout out about a staff member who has gone above and beyond! You can also use the shout out notes in the Staff Room table. These will be shared in the next Sunshine Newsletter!

• Holt Openings for Job Expo – Holt Will have one full-time SPED teaching position and one half-time SPED teaching position at the Job Expo later this month if you have any teacher friends you want to recruit to come work here at Holt! SSD is pairing the half-time job with a Gilham half-time SPED job, so it will actually be a full-time position. Spread the word that Holt is the place to be!

• Summer School Classified & Licensed Jobs – The new SEALs Summer School Program has a number of openings if folks are looking for summer work. The 4J Jobs website has postings for Teachers (Elementary and Middle), Counselors, Secretaries, and EAs (Elementary and Middle). There are also job postings for K.I.T.S. (Kids in Transition to School) and E.S.Y. (Extended School Year). Most positions close Wednesday.

• Friday PD – School Improvement Plan Updates – This Friday’s PD time will be an update and chance for input on our School Improvement Plan being worked on by Site Council. We’ve looked at a variety of data and have used the ORIS Tool to examine areas of need. Our next step will be to develop 2-3 goals and I wanted staff to have a chance to share your thoughts on priority areas. If you’d like to review the data, info, and past meeting minutes, you can go the Holt Staff Drive > Meetings > Site Council > 2021-2022 > Minutes.

• April 15 PD/Planning Day – Principals were told last Wednesday that we are in charge of the PD for this day (5.5 hours of PD, 2 hours of prep), though a portion of the day that’s a district led Zoom, but downtown doesn’t know yet what time that will be, so I can’t announce times for the building PD at this time. However, as I shared last week, I will plan on doing an all-staff review of Kelso’s Choice and the Second Step Bully Prevention Unit (which is different from the Erin’s Law Student Safety Unit). Let me know if you have any additional topics you’d like us to cover or if you’d like to help lead or assist with the Kelso or Bully Prevention review. I’m also planning to hold a Classified Meeting this day, but will announce the time of this meeting once downtown figured out the time for their portion of the day.

• SSD Staffing Allocation Update and Clarification – I shared last week how SSD Licensed & Classified Allocations were different this year, with no program identification between LC and CLC staffing. If you are interested, linked here is a Google Slide Show and Google Doc that SSD Admin went over with principals last week, but the elevator speech version is that IDEA tells us special education is NOT a place where students go to receive services, but rather special education services are to follow students as determined by the IEP.

• REPEAT: 2022 Electronics Recycling Competition – Remind kids they can drop off any old electronics at the collection site in front of the office this week. See the Electronics Recycling Competition Flyer for details, but donations can be anything with a plug or that takes batteries (toys, cell phones, monitors, computers, phones, cables, etc.).

• Suspected Norovirus – If you’d didn’t hear through the grapevine, C-Wing had a suspected Norovirus outbreak with half a class out sick with similar symptoms (i.e. barfing). Lane County Public Health ordered nightly deep cleaning for that wing and for classes to use hand wahsing instead of using hand sanitizer, so remember the continued importance of washing hands and not touching your face, even for non-COVID reasons.

• Oregon Blue Book Student Essay Contest – If you’re looking for a writing topic that may grab your kids’ interest, the Oregon Blue Book Student Essay Contest theme for the year is, “Oregon Students Share Their Pandemic Experience.” Students can submit written or video essays. Written essays must be 100-300 words and will include an illustration to go with the essay. Video essays must be two minutes or less. Winners will be featured in the 2023 Blue Book and also invited to the State Capitol for the official Oregon Blue Book Release Party. The contest is open until October 20, 2022.

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

Hall Passes:
• Any student coming to the office must have a hall pass (hot pink). Please remember if they are coming for a break you need to note the time that they are able to return. If you need more hall passes, please let the office know.
• Generally, students should have permission to be in the halls with a note, or in some cases, a self-manager badge. All students in halls should follow the regular rules of the halls and walk quietly.

• 100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying – This Guardian Article has some fabulous tips! Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers, or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved. Some of my favorites were:

22. Laugh shamelessly at your own jokes.
34. Go for a walk without your phone.
60. Drop your shoulders.
91. If in doubt, add cheese.
97. Listen to the albums you loved as a teenager.

But I firmly disagree with this one (utensils MUST be loaded in the same order they go into the drawer):

17. Don’t be weird about how to stack the dishwasher.

And one bonus tip I did a few years ago that was a life changer:

101. Turn off you phone notifications. My phone only has text and phone notifications turned on. All other apps I check when I’m ready to, not when they tell me to.

 

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

April 4 (M)
Artist in Residence Continues
School Librarian’s Day (5th Grade)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
2022 Electronics Recycling Competition Drop-Off Week
8:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)

April 5 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, Conscious Discipline Parent Nights (Zoom)

April 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
2:40-3:30, 2nd Grade Data Team
3:00, Allan Meeting w/SSD Admin (Zoom)

April 7 (H)
Regular Day

April 8 (F)
8:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – School Improvement Plan (Cafeteria)
1:30-2:20, KG Data Team Meeting
2:25-3:15, 1st Grade Data Team Meeting

April 11 (M)
Artist in Residence Continues
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty

April 12 (T)
Allan Potentially Testifying at Custody Hearing
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

April 13 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
2:40-3:30, 5th Grade Data Team

April 14 (H)
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
4:00-7:00, Allan to Job Expo (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

April 15 (F)
No School — Planning/Professional Development
Times is TBA for All-Staff, Classified, and District Meetings

Just eleven weeks until summer (or is it too soon for that?).

Allan

February 7, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/02/05 21:28 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Literacy, P.D., Technology  |  Comments Off on February 7, 2022

 

Greetings Holt Staff,

This week is National School Counselor Week, so I just want to give a shoutout to Mr. Max, who’s done a great job stepping up as our school counselor this year. I’d also like to give a shoutout to Ms. Darla, who’s generously continued to stay connected with Holt and helped with a variety of matters, so thank you for not dropping us like a hot potato. Both of you are amazing and your work is much appreciated.

Twelve items of note for this week:

• February Fire Drill, Tuesday @1:10 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be the February Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map. If it raining, we’ll try again next week.

• Bertha Holt Birthday Assembly, FRIDAY! – See the linked Assembly Agenda for details. The Zoom begins at 7:40, winners announced at 7:50, assembly REALLY begins at 7:55, and will end at 8:10.

• Friday PD Cancelled – Downtown emailed principals they do not have ELA info ready for this Friday and have to reschedule. Be sure to complete the Teacher PD Survey if you haven’t already. If you have already completed it, enjoy your extra hour of of prep!

And if you’re interested, Expeditionary Learning (EL) and Wit & Wisdom are the two curriculums that are being considered.

• Classified Staff Meeting Friday 2/18 – Teacher PD this day will be async, so I’ve added the February Classified Staff Meeting to the calendar for this date. We can talk recess, PBIS, and start planning for the Gaga Ball Pit rollout (probably after spring break).

• School Nurse Update – Hailee Ritter is our new school nurse and will be here on Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

• Dismissal Car Traffic Policing – Drivers are starting to slack again of following pause parking rules at dismissal, not pulling forward, getting out of their car, or blocking traffic in some other manner. It’s not an expectation staff police the pause parking line, but it’s much appreciated if you can remind parents to keep it moving.

• Staff Gear Order Form – Ashley already emailed folks, but (UPDATED) order at the NEW ONLINE STORE for a Holt Staff t-shirt or hoodie.

• District Admin Updates – See the linked emails for details, but Brooke Wagner is the new Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, taking Jose Salgado’s spot after he resigned in December. Filling Brooke’s Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services position temporarily is former Albany superintendent Melissa Goff. Lastly, Morgan Christensen is temporarily taking over Title IX Coordinator, which Dawn Strong was previously doing along with her COVID duties for HR.

• TECH TIP: Adding 4J Calendar in Zimbra – If you want to add the district calendar (which has Zoom links for all their public meetings) to your own Zimbra Calendar, you can do that by Click your Calendar tab > Click the gear icon at the top of your list of calendars > click Find Shares > Check the box next to 4J Calendar and then click Add.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Copy Room & Copying – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook is on Copy Room & Copying (note that the “Parent Help” section is not happening right now):

Copy Room & Copying
Agreements:

• Save big copy jobs (grade level projects or multi-page packets) for days other than Monday mornings.
• Please continue to use the copy machines wisely, sparingly, and in accordance with copyright laws. Use both sides of each piece of paper, along with half sheets, whenever possible.
• For copies over 100, please use the Riso.
• Students are not allowed in the IMC
• Cardstock must be loaded in the “free” side feeder only
• White paper: Drawers 1 & 2
• Colored paper: drawer 3
• Oversized paper: drawer 4
• Please do not put construction paper in the copier, use the Riso instead.
• Baskets are located in each copy room for copies that are left on machines
• Staff should make an effort to scan/thumb through what they grab off the copiers to avoid mistakenly taking copies belonging to other staff members
• The wrapping paper the copy paper comes in is NOT recyclable. There is a waxy coating on the inside.
• If white-out is used, it must be COMPLETELY dry before using on the copier. White correction tape is preferred to avoid residue being left on the glass
• Color copies can only be printed by the office. General guidelines are for a few pages, not whole class sets. If you need color copies printed, please send your document to Katie or Melanie with your request. This will require lead time to allow the staff to have time to print
• If the copier jams, do not walk away!! It is staff responsibility to fix the machine. Do not leave it for the next person. If you cannot solve the problem, notify the office immediately and put a sign on the copier
• If a code appears, let the office staff know.
• Norms are posted in the copy rooms.

Supplies:

• Supplies in the cupboards are for teacher use only, not classroom supplies
• If supplies need to be reordered, use the white board in the large IMC to list what is needed. Add your name for reference. Office staff check periodically to see what needs to be ordered. This would be only for supplies needed in the IMC rooms, not classrooms
• Exception: Pencils located under the sink are also for student use.

Training:

• It is the teacher’s responsibility to train their student teacher, practicum students, or parent volunteers on proper use of the machines and procedures
• Office staff should be asked if help is needed
• Replacement of staples or toner must be done by office staff

Clean up:

• Staff should clean up any papers or other materials used to complete a project
• Staff should replace die cut letters and shapes to their locations

Parent Help:

• PAHS have created a mailbox in the workroom where staff can place a work order
• Staff should fill out the form indicating what they need done
• Lead time is required
• Staff may also select to have their own classroom volunteers use the copy room and resources. Volunteers need to be trained by teachers on all copy machines and procedures

• Look Beyond the Struggle to Celebrate Black Achievement – In addition to recognizing the civil rights movement, teachers can use Black History Month to call attention to the achievements of Black Americans in other areas. See this Edutopia Article for ideas on who to celebrate outside of the civil rights movement.

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

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

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

February 9 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-3:25, 1st Grade Data Team
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiation Session (Zoom)

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

February 11 (F)
7:40-8:10, Friendship Day & Holt Celebration Assembly (Zoom)
1:30-2:20, 2nd Grade Data Team
1:30-2:25, Friday PD: Complete the PD Survey
2:25-3:25, KG Data Team

February 14 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
4:00-5:00, All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

February 15 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

February 16 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Mobile Food Pantry (Cal Young)
2:40-3:25, 4th Grade Data Team
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 17 (H)
Regular Day

February 18 (F)
Winter Benchmark Testing Closes
SJ Visits Her Class!
1:30-2:20, 5th Grade Data Team
1:30-2:25, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – High Leverage Strategies
2:25-3:25, 3rd Grade Data Team

February 21 (M)
No School – Presidents Day

FYI – Someone let me know last week there’s only 86 kid days school until summer. :)

Allan

 

December 6, 2021

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

Hello All,

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

Twelve items of note for this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

December 16 (H)
Regular Day

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

Nine kid days until winter break!

Allan

 

November 29, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/11/27 19:05 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Technology  |  Comments Off on November 29, 2021

 

Hey Holt Bolts,

Just three weeks until winter break (with a 4-day week in the middle), but remember this can be a stressful time of year for many students and families (and us too) for a variety of reasons, so be prepared for uncharacteristic behaviors the next few weeks.

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Behavior EA Job Posting & Interviews – Interviews for our Behavior EA position will be this Thursday after school 2:35-4:00. If you’d like to volunteer your time to help with interviews, let me know and I will share applications and interview questions. Both classified and licensed staff are welcome to join!

• Two New EAs Start Wednesday – Our two new EAs, Hannah Connor (2.5-hour EA) & Andrew Raasch (CLC EA) are set to start this Wednesday, so please introduce yourself and welcome them to Holt!

• Holt BEST EA Job Posting – If any classified staff are interested in additional hours or if you know of anyone else good, please encourage them to apply for the Educational Assistant, BEST Afterschool (multiple vacancies, multiple sites) job posting. Although it says multiple sites, district BEST admin will give people their site of preference (Holt, of course). The posting closes Wednesday.

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit– If you haven’t already, to meet the Erin’s Law state requirements, teachers must cover Lessons 1-4 of the Second Step Child Protection Unit this fall before winter break. Lesson 5 should be taught right before spring break and lesson 6 right before summer break.

• Behavior Check-In Survey – Kim and Max wanted to connect with staff on any other students that need behavior support and if there are any topics regarding behavior you have questions or need information. If you have students needing additional supports or information, complete the linked two-question Behavior Check-In Survey.

• REPEAT: Artist in Res. Survey (Term 2) DUE FRIDAY – For our Term 2 Artist in Residence, teachers should take a look at the LaneArts Residency Descriptions to pick your top five artists. Then fill out the linked Artist in Residence Survey 2021 (Term 2), which will help facilitate our discussion and decision at our December 7 Staff Meeting. Please complete the survey by this Friday.

• Elementary Director Visit Thursday – Director of Elementary Education Services, Jeff Johnson is planning to visit Holt this Thursday at 9:45. He said he wants to stop by some classrooms, so I figured people would appreciate a heads-up.

• COVID Protocol Reminders – Two COVID protocol related items:

• ODE Outdoor Mask Requirement & Test-to-Stay Changes – An ODE Bulletin and ODE News Release from last week said the state will soon issue revised guidelines that don’t require masks to be worn outdoors and new rules so students do not need to quarantine if they test negative for COVID. However, 4J is working with the county to determine next steps on these and what it means for schools, so at this time all 4J COVID protocols are status quo until further notice. Stay tuned!

• 3-Feet Physical Distance Reminder – Continue to remind students to maintain 3-feet physical distance, especially when they are walking in line, lining up in class, lining up at the end of recess, or lining up outside the cafeteria.

 

 

• December Fire Drill, Tues. Dec. 7th @1:10 – Not this week, but next week on Tuesday, December 7th at 1:10 will be the December Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map. If it’s raining, we’ll reschedule for Tuesday the following week. 

• Allan Out of the Building Dec. 7th – I’ll be out of the building Tuesday, December 7th to attend an in-person ELA Adoption Meeting and retired South Eugene HS principal Stephanie Cannon will cover for me. I’ll plan to be back in time for the Staff Meeting.

• SIA Classroom Libraries – Principals will get more info on this Wednesday, but downtown used Student Investment Act (SIA) funds to purchase diverse books for classroom libraries. Holt is getting three pallets worth of books on Wednesday, December 15th at 2:00 (which I’ll tell downtown is a terrible delivery time). Each classroom teacher will get 3 book bins worth of books, which teachers can pick up after the delivery.

• 4J Care Teams – 4J has Regional Care Teams to help schools when they’ve exhausted their resources to assist a family. For additional info, here is the Sheldon Region Care Team Flyer. Connect with Max for initial requests for assistance, but principals got an email there were zero referrals from Sheldon Region schools, so let me know if you have any student or family situations you’re feeling stumped how to help. Referrals could for assistance could be:

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

• UPDATE: K-5 Health Curriculum Adoption/Pilot – The adoption team is hoping to get reps from South and Sheldon area schools, particularly a SPED teacher, an ELD teacher, a PE teacher, Kinder, 1st, 3rd, and 4th, ideally. See this Update Email for details and let me know if any of you are interested.

• Language Arts Pilot Info – If you’re curious, the ELA Adoption Team shared the linked ELA Pilot Info & Timelines with committee members last week.

• Mobile Pantry on Wednesdays – I’ll share this in the Quick News, but linked here is a Mobile Food Pantry Calendar from Food for Lane County if you have any families you want to share this with.

• BrainPop Pilot Ending – 4J’s Free BrainPop pilot ends this week on Tuesday.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Threats by Students – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Threats by Students. I actually just added this to the handbook because I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of this policy, especially since downtown hasn’t sent the district back-to-school policy memo in three years:

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. State 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.

• REPEAT: Computer Science Education Week / Hour of Code Dec. 6-12 – Next week, December 6-12, is Computer Science Education Week, which include the Hour of Code. Check out the tutorials and activities at Hour of Code, Computer Science Education Week, Khan Academy, and these Edutopia Articles. Let me know if any of you are doing something cool for the Hour of Code. I’d love to see if we can get some media coverage!

• 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 29 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Artist in Residence Begins

November 30 (T)
Regular Day

December 1 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-3:25, KG Data Team Meeting
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 2 (H)
9:45-10:45, Elem Director Visit to Holt
2:35-4:00, Behavior Support EA Interviews (Library)
5:30-8:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)

December 3 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:20, 1st Grade Data Team Meeting
2:25-3:15, 2nd Grade Data Team Meeting
2:30-4:00, Allan to New Teacher Mentor Meeting (Zoom)

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

December 7 (T)
Computer Science Education Week – Hour of Code
TAG Testing Week
Artist in Residence Continues
Allan Out – Stephanie Cannon Covering
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

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

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

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

Have a good week, y’all!

Allan

 

November 22, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/11/20 19:53 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Technology  |  Comments Off on November 22, 2021

Howdy Bolts,

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Five staffing updates:

• Behavior EA Job Posting & Interviews – Our Behavior Support EA Job Posting is now up and closes Tuesday. Hopefully I’ll get candidates on the 24th and can set up interviews for the following week, most likely on Tuesday, Nov. 30th or possibly Thursday Dec. 2nd if HR is slow getting me the candidate list, so let me know if you’re interested in being part of interviews and I’ll send you candidate applications and interview questions.

• 2.5-hour Title 1 EA (Hannah Connor) – Hannah Connor was offered and accepted our 2.5 hour Title 1 EA job. She currently works and is planning to continue to work as a Behavior Technician at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders and prior to that worked as a Personal Support Worker.

• School Nurse (Lisa West) – Nurse Cathy has been the school nurse for the ENTIRE Sheldon Region, but she is getting some relief. Lisa West has joined 4J and will be taking over at Holt and Monroe. She was at Health Screening last week, so some of you may have already met her. I actually met her about 30 years ago, because we went to high school together (Go, Highlanders!).

• BEST Coordinator (Lily Hamilton) – I realized I hadn’t included in prior announcements Ben decided to decline the BEST Coordinator position in favor of retaining his building hours, which he would have had to give up job rights to, so downtown has been conducting interviews for a while and has hired a new coordinator for Holt, Lily Hamilton. She’s a recent graduate from the UO and has worked as a Garden Educator, a Summer Program Leader at Willamalane, and as a Preschool Teacher. Downtown is still hiring BEST EAs for Holt and once they are hired, we’ll be able start things up.

• Holt Same Name Fun! – If you’re keeping track, we now we have Ashley & Ashley, Debbie & Deb, Jackie & Jacque, Jeff & Geoff, Katie, Katherine & Kathy, Kelly & Kelly, Liz & Elizabeth, Melanie & Melanie, Robert & Robbie, and Robin & Robin. Most impressively, we now have Lisa, Lisa, Lisa & Lisa, who should really start their own band.

Please give a big welcome to all our new folks!

• Artist in Residence Survey 2021 (Term 2) – For our Term 2 Artist in Residence, teachers should take a look at the LaneArts Residency Descriptions to pick your top five artists. Then fill out the linked Artist in Residence Survey 2021 (Term 2), which will help facilitate our discussion and decision at our December 7 Staff Meeting. Please complete the survey by Friday, December 3rd.

• Fire Marshall Inspection Results – Ryan is connecting with folks who had items the Fire Marshal flagged as needed correcting. If you’re interested, linked here is the complete Fire Marshal Inspection Report, which also including additional emails and documentation. The two main items we got dinged for were:

• Combustable items hanging from ceilings
• Door egress width (3-feet) blocked by rolling carts and other items

Door egress is something they’ve always been stickers for, but items hanging from ceilings is a new one to me. The Marshall will be coming the first week of December to make sure we have corrected items on the report.

• Staff Meetings, Library or Cafeteria? – It was asked last week if we need to continue to meet in the cafeteria or if we could move back to the library. I checked with downtown and even though staff are vaccinated and we are wearing masks, we still need to maintain 3-feet distance, which we cannot do with a staff our size in the library, so for now we’ll continue holding Staff Meetings in the cafeteria.

• Timeline for Potential Staffing Shifts at Semester – It was asked at last week’s Staff Meeting what the timeline would be for potential staffing shifts as a result of students changing pathway from online to in-person or vice versa. I asked at a principals’ meeting and was told they should have more information following the middle and high school shifts, which are happening now at their trimester break. They’ve realized a lot of survey data need cleaning up, with duplicate, incomplete, and/or conflicting submissions. Once that is cleaned up, the process should move fairly quickly, but as of right now, we were not given any firm dates outside of January 10th is the deadline for elementary families to submit a change request and that second semester, when students would start their new pathway, is only twenty-one days later on January 31st.

• Current Online & In-Person Numbers – Related to the above, linked here Enrollment as of 11-01-21. Holt has 486 total students, including both online and in-person. 25 are in K-5 Connect, 15 in EOA, and 446 are in-person. The grade breakdown for online students is:

KG: 5
1st: 9
2nd: 7
3rd: 5
4th: 4
5th: 10

• FREE Students Coats – Jessica Cristobal, wife of UO Football Coach Mario Cristobal, donated a bunch of student sized coats to Holt. If you know of students in need of a winter coat, please check in with Melanie if we have coats in their size.

• Seesaw Family Connect – Downtown backed off on saying ALL school communication must go through Seesaw, but teachers should try to use Seesaw as a way for families to see what students are doing in class (recording videos of themselves or taking pictures of their work). This will hopefully build a connection with families, which is more challenging right now due to safety protocols. A short video message now and then can be another method for families to feel more connected to their child’s teacher.

• K-5 Health Curriculum Adoption/Pilot Opportunity – Let me know if any of you are interested in being on the adoption team to help select a new 4J Elementary Health Curriculum. See the linked email for details, but let me know by the end of the week if you’d like me to submit your name.

• Student Quarantine Change – Lane County Public Health notified 4J they are changing the 14-day quarantine for student close contacts to a 10-day quarantine. See this email for details. Another state change coming next month is a test-to-stay option.

• Reminder: Heath and Safety Protocols – HR asked principals to share a few reminders about face masks:

• Our team does not anticipate ODE or Lane County Public Health changing the requirement that face masks are required indoors for all students and staff.
• Masks should be worn at all times unless actively eating or drinking or if you are in a room with the door closed.
• Many staff have elected for an increased level of protection and use an N95 or KN95 mask. It is not appropriate to assume this means they are not vaccinated. If you recall, last year many of our employees were fit tested for N95 masks.

If you have any concerns about colleagues not following current protocols, please contact me.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Toys – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Toys, which are supposed to stay home:

Toys
Toys are to be left at home. If a student brings a toy, it is teacher discretion to remove and hold if it becomes a distraction. Toys for after school programs or events should remain in a student backpack

• Computer Science Education Week / Hour of Code Dec. 6-12– December 6-12 is Computer Science Education Week, which include the Hour of Code, which was started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify “code”, to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. Check out the tutorials and activities at Hour of Code, Computer Science Education Week, Khan Academy, and these Edutopia Articles. Let me know if any of you are doing something cool for the Hour of Code. I’d love to see if we can get some media coverage for some of our activities during Computer Science Education Week.

• JUST FOR FUN: What to Watch! – Ever wonder what’s new and good to watch on the streaming services? Check out Variety’s What to Watch page, which is updated weekly. They cover new and recommended shows on the major streaming platforms. I can usually find one or two new shows or movies that interests me.

• 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 22 (M)
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
4:30-6:30, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

November 23 (T)
1:00-3:00, Holiday Food Box Pick-Up
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

November 24 (W)
Regular Day (maybe)

November 25 (H)
No School — Thanksgiving Break

November 26 (F)
No School — Thanksgiving Break

November 29 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty

November 30 (T)
2:35-4:00, Behavior Support EA Interviews (potential)

December 1 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-3:25, KG Data Team Meeting
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 2 (H)
9:45-10:45, Elem Director of Elementary Visit
2:35-4:00, Behavior Support EA Interviews (potential)
5:30-8:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)

December 3 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:20, 1st Grade Data Team Meeting
2:25-3:15, 2nd Grade Data Team Meeting
2:30-4:00, Allan to New Teacher Mentor Meeting (Zoom)

Fingers crossed for a nice and quiet short week.

Allan

November 1, 2021

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

 

Hello Friends,

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

Eleven items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

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

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

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

 

 

• Conferences Updates – Five parent/teacher conferences updates:

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

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

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

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

• REMINDER: Conference Dates – Dates for conferences are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 11 (H)
No School — Veterans Day

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

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

Allan

 

 

September 20, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/09/18 22:52 Posted in Announcements, Equity, Technology  |  Comments Off on September 20, 2021

 

Greetings Holt Staff,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Five staffing updates:

• CLC Teacher Interviews Monday – Kelsey and I are interviewing a candidate for our CLC Teacher opening on Monday at 2:40 in the school garden if any of you would like to join us. Let me know and I will get interview materials ready for you.

• Behavior Support EA – We had a surprisingly strong pool of candidates and I’ve forwarded a name to HR for hire. Hopefully they make the offer early this week so they can start sometime this week, but I’m predicting they won’t start until next week.

• COVID Utility EA – Just like last year, downtown has decided to staff schools with a 6.5-hour COVID Utility EA. Since this position is so similar to the Behavior EA, HR gave me permission to hire someone from the above pool of candidates we interviewed, we had a strong candidate for this position who I’ve also forwarded on the HR for hire. Fingers crossed they can start later this week, but more likely next week.

• 2-hour Night Custodian – Please welcome Robert Bolden as our newest night custodian. Robert is primarily at Monroe, but when he’s finished over there comes to Holt to help out for 2-hours.

• BEST Coordinator Hires and BEST EA Openings – Our very own Ben Duncan has been hired as Holt’s BEST Coordinator, so congratulations Ben. In my experience, BEST functions better when the coordinator is someone who also works in the building during the day, so I’m glad we were able to get Ben for this job. BEST is tentatively set to start in mid to late October. And speaking of BEST positions, the BEST EA Job Posting was reposted if there are any classified staff members interested in adding 2-3 hours to their day. The posting closes this Thursday, September 23rd.

• Recesses Shorter on Fridays – A reminder that according to the 4J Standard School Schedule, morning and afternoon recesses are 5-minutes shorter on Early Release Fridays. This is noted on the Master Schedule on the supervision tab, but not on the main master schedule tab, which created some confusion around this.

• September PLC Meetings – Downtown has given principals leeway to prioritize building operational needs over starting up PLCs, which I was already planning for one of our PLC dates. The plan for our next to PLC times will be:

• September 22 (W) – Vector (formerly SafeSchools) Training Time Part !
• September 29 (W) – Review & Discuss Leadership Plan Survey
• October 6 (W) – Vector (formerly SafeSchools) Training Time Part 2

• Rain & Smoke Morning Arrival Plan – Kim and I (but mostly Kim) came up with a tentative plan for if we have to let kids inside early in the morning. I’ll bring this to a future meeting for staff approval, but if we HAVE to bring kids in from a downpour, we will put 5th under the covered blacktop area, 4th into the gym through the exterior gym doors, 3rd into the cafeteria through bike cage doors, 2nd into the library though their normal entrance, and K/1 will be seated in the hallway in C and D wings. For smoke days, we’d likely split the gym between 4th and 5th grade. We’re working on EA location assignments, but should have that ready to go soon.

• Curriculum Night – Talking with other principals, it doesn’t sound like many schools are doing a virtual Open House or Curriculum Night Events, instead letting the fall Meet Your Teacher events and sharing class info by email. I think Holt should follow suit, but let me know if I’m reading the room wrong and teachers DO want to hold a Curriculum Night and I’ll add this to a future meeting agenda.

• Artist in Residence – Lane Arts informed me the artist for “Bold & Bright Murals” is not on their roster anymore, but they are reaching out to the “Glass Fusing Fun.” Below is the survey from earlier in the year, but I’ll put this on a future agenda for us to decide our Term 2 Artist. See the Lane Arts Artist in Residence webpage for their complete list of artists.

 

• Digital Second Step Curriculum – Our online Second Step subscription just got activated this Saturday and I added all licensed staff. Let me know if you did not get an email from Second Step and you wanted access

• iPad Request for Students – If you have a new student who needs an iPad, you do not need to put in a ticket to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu. You just need to let the office know which student you need the iPad for and we will check it out through the Learn21 checkout system. For students who have lost or damaged their iPad, they too can get a replacement iPad through the same method. The district policy is the first lost or damaged iPad is free, the second incident requires families cover half the cost, and a third incident families must cover the entire cost. However, I checked with the Tech Department and families who are unable to pay the replacements costs are to be given another without restriction. My hope was that families who continue to lose or damage iPads, we would issue an iPad that stays at schools, but was told that is not what we are to do.

• COVID News – In the first week of school 4J already has one class that’s been on quarantined for two days while they contact trace, so be vigilant about masks and 3-feet. Here are several other updates:

• COVID-19 Case Dashboard – Downtown created a COVID-19 Case Dashboard that tracks the number of positive on-site COVID student and staff cases by school.

• Assigned Seat Documentation – Do know that if a class goes on quarantine, district contact tracers will need to collect seating charts for classrooms, any small groups classrooms or specialists may have (including Title and SPED), and also cafeteria assigned seats. Please have these ready to scan and email at a moments notice.

• Classroom Cleaning Updates – Ritchie shared an email with me that custodians were directed to change their nightly cleaning of student desks and small group tables. This is interesting because it conflicts with what’s on the district COVID-19 Communicable Disease Plan and the COVID-19 Infection Prevention Cleaning and Disinfecting Protocols posted on the district website. I’ve emailed the district Custodial Service Managers, but haven’t heard back yet, and I also plan to bring this up Monday’s principals’ meeting, so stay tuned.

On a related note, a few teachers have asked about cleaning desks after m meals. It’s not required this year, as we focus on hand sanitizing instead, but teacher are welcome to clean desks if they choose.

• Chairs Put Up at Dismissal – Kind of COVID cleaning related, It’s best if teachers can have students put chairs up on their desks at the end of the day.

• Quarantine & Tech – I’ve already share this, but In order to respond to quarantine at a moment’s notice, Student iPads need to be traveling from home to school daily. If you need of additional headsets, please submit a ticket at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu

• Lessons for Students Quarantine – Principals are supposed to get information on Monday at our All Admin Meeting regarding Seesaw and students in quarantine, but a good tip I got from the BV principal is for teachers to simply send out the Monthly Library Choice Board from Amy Page for students in quarantine, asking them to complete X-number of activities each day.

 

 

• Reimbursement Updates – For staff turning in receipts, a reminder that checks are no longer being written by schools and reimbursements go on your next paycheck. Melanie has to submit all reimbursements to Financial Services by the sixteenth of each month, so staff need to give her receipts by the 13th if you want the reimbursement to appear on your next paycheck.

• Air Quality Updates – We had some bad air last Friday and the new 4J standard is when the air quality index rises into the range considered “unhealthy,” with the AQI just over 150:

• Keep outdoor activities to a minimum. Students may eat outside, and recess may be held outside, but activity should be limited—no high-exertion activities like running games. (This is a change given the needs of the current year, instead of requiring indoor recess in this air quality range.)
• We should keep all students inside if AQI is 200 or greater.
• The district monitors air quality conditions to guide decision-making around school-sponsored outdoor student activities using AirNow.gov

• SPED Referral Process – I already shared this with SPED teachers, but SSD emailed principals How to Refer a Student for Special Education if you’re interested in the current process, which is essentially the school team fills out a Referral Packet, gives it to the school psych, who reviews it and gives it to a district referral review team, who make a recommendation, that is brought back to the school team, and then an Evaluation Planning Meeting takes place to decide whether or not to move forward with an evaluation for special education.

• Calendar Request Form (Electronic Version!) – You can still use the paper version of the Calendar Request Form I shared last week, but Gloria made an Electronic Calendar Request Form you can use instead. Be sure to notify Melanie you complete the form after submitting it.

• 4J NATIVES Program – Linked here is info and sign-up forms for the 4J NATIVES Program. There won’t be a presentation at a staff meeting as there has been in the past due to a new coordinator to replace Brenda Brainard has not yet been hired.

• Holt Water Bottle Update – Water Bottles didn’t start getting printed until last week, which means they will should here sometimes the last week of the month.

• K-5 Connect & EOA Update – Downtown has experienced many delays moving forward with the waiting list for K-5 Connect. Families are now being offered slots in the program and they are still taking students from the waiting list at grades where they have room. Families that are contacted on the waiting list have 24-hours to make a decision before they lose the seat. They hope to have this ironed out in the coming week.

• Google Apps Student Permission Form – I know not many classrooms are using Google Apps, but principals got an email from the Tech Department saying for any students who do not have Google Apps permission, we can now get verbal permission from a parent and complete the form for them.

• SSD Scheduling Ideas – SSD emailed principals and SPED Teachers Scheduling Ideas doc for when buildings are short staffed due to unfilled subs jobs or unfilled job postings. Holt is better off than most schools, but we are down two positions right now (a sub for Jason and a 1:1 for a kinder).

• REPEAT: Safety Week, Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 – Safety Week is next week. See the schedule below and see Last Week’s Announcements for details.

• Monday – Directed Evacuation (i.e. Fire Drill) – 1:45
• Tuesday – Lockdown Drill – 8:35
• Wednesday – No Drill or Weather Make-Up Day
• Thursday – Room Clear – Time decided by teachers
• Friday – Earthquake/Fire Drill – 8:35

Please let me know if you do not have a manual or if you have any questions or suggestions.

• REPEAT: Principal Visits to Classrooms – If you haven’t already, let me know a good 10-minute block of time I can come to visit sometime this month to introduce myself to kids and read a book.

• Education Appreciation Days at Autzen Stadium – The Oregon Ducks are hosting two upcoming Education Appreciation Days at Autzen Stadium. They’re offering a 30% off discount for you, your friends and your family. This discount can be used at the October 30th game against Colorado. Go to www.goducks.com and buy tickets using the code “2021EDU”

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

September 20 (M)
Schools can begin 1:1 easyCBM measures
8:30, Allan Reading to Class
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
12:45, Allan Reading to Class
2:40, CLC Teacher Interviews (School Garden)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

September 21 (T)
10:20, Allan Reading to Class
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)

September 22 (W)
2:45-3:25, Vector Training (formerly SafeSchools) Training Time
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

September 23 (H)
Regular Day

September 24 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
12:10, Allan Reading to Class
2:30-3:25, ACT Aligned Activity (Email Coming Sunday Monday)

September 27 (M)
Safety Week
Allan turns 50 and gets an AARP Card!
9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
1:45, Fire Drill

September 28 (T)
8:25, Lockout Drill
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Library)

September 29 (W)
No Drill or Weather Make-Up Day
2:45-3:25, PLC Meetings – Repurposed for Leadership Plan Discussion (Library)

September 30 (H)
Room Clear Drill – Time decided by teachers

October 1 (F)
8:35, Earthquake/Fire Drill
1:30-2:25, Building Based PD – Repurposed for Leadership Plan Discussion (Library)

After a full week of school with all students in-person for the first time since March 2019, those memes about “There’s no tired like teacher tired” never seemed so relevant, but I’m sure we’re building up our stamina.

Have a good week, everyone, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Allan