August 31, 2020

By Allan  

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to the 2020 Bizarro World school year! At the end of last week, principals were handed the inservice week schedules and the PD we’re supposed to deliver, so I apologize for not being able to send out agendas and schedules earlier.

I think we just have to accept that this year is going to get off to a rough start and do what we can to support one another through these (not going to say unprecedented) oddball times. And once kids actually start, I think my main bar if we’re doing well will be if kids are feeling connected to school and know that there’s an adult out in the world who cares about them. Connections, community, and relationships. That’s my theme for the year.

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Teleworking Agreement – It may not seem like it with the quick deadline and work schedules a mystery until this Friday (see items below), but the goal behind this agreement is to lessen the number of people working on campus. HR has said staff are not allowed to work from home until both the principal and HR staff have approved the teleworking agreement. However, HR has also said that since report back dates are this week, any staff who submit their form to their principal by their report back date is allowed to start teleworking right away, with the assumption that the form will be approved, though approval is tentative.

For classified staff, know that schedules agreed upon for teleworking will likely change once students actually return to school.

Also know that Holt meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday will be held both in-person and over Zoom. See below for meeting details on that.

• Inservice Week Schedule – As I said earlier, principals just got the Inservice Week Schedule at the end of last week, so these are about as new to me as they are to you. I spent Saturday digesting them so I could get them to you in my Sunday announcements. Details on the second inservice week is still vague, but principals will get details this coming Friday during the protected planning day, so I’ll share details on next week’s inservice plan in my next announcements. Note that the above linked scheduled lists “Building PD” but be aware that really just means that I’m in charge of delivering the district required PD and trainings, not that we have actual autonomy to do what we want during these times.

The biggest change in the schedule is that the protected planning day is now Friday and that PD is supposed to start the first day staff report back. Breakfast burritos are still on for Wednesday for all staff, but I will have some breakfast goodies and drinks for licensed staff when you report on Tuesday.

I’ll plan on doing a mix of Zoom and in-person for building meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, but after that will stick with Zoom-only meetings. It’ll be an interesting experiment in meeting facilitation.

I will send Zimbra Calendar Invites that will include agendas and Zoom links for the PD sessions I am leading. I noted below which trainings are 4J Zoom meetings. Downtown will be sending out a document with all of those meeting links soon.

Staff Development Specialists (SDSs) created a K-5 Collaborative Planning Flyer for their sessions, which may explain the intention of those multi-day session. This will be a cross district content collaboration time and is not building collaboration time like we’ve experienced in the past, this is structured/focused district collaboration. Buildings may end up working together during the process but do not to expect this to be only in-house time.

For classified staff, I would like to to attend the Instructional Technology sessions if you typically teach small groups or supported students online in the spring. During other times, please connect with your cooperating teacher as to how you can be helpful. If you have questions about if a training is appropriate for you or regarding schedules for part-time staff, please reach out to me.

Here’s the outline for the next two weeks:

September 1 (T)
Licensed Staff Report Back
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Breakfast Snacks & Visiting (Gym)
8:30-11:00, Back to School Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)
11:00-12:00, District Staff Wellness and Self Care (Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Finalize Class Lists, SafeSchools, TalentEd Tasks
1:00-2:30, Interventionist Schedule Meeting (Gym & Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

September 2 (W)
192-Day (most) Classified Employees Report Back
8:00-8:15, Classified & Licensed Welcome Back Breakfast Burritos & Visiting (Gym)
8:15-9:00, Classified & Licensed Universal Design Learning PD (Gym & Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Classified HR Training (Gym & Zoom)
9:00-12:00, Licensed Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)

September 3 (H)
8:00-10:00, District Welcome Back Event (4J Zoom)
10:00-12:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)
10:00-12:00, SSD Training for SPED Staff (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Licensed Social Emotional Learning – Relationship Building PD (Zoom)
2:00-4:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)

September 4 (F)
Protected Planning Day
8:00-12:00, Allan to All Admin PD (Ed Center)
1:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (School Garden)

September 7 (M)
Labor Day, No School

September 8 (T)
8:00-12:00, Various District PD Topics (Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)

September 9 (W)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) PD (Zoom)
2:00-4:00, Protected Planning

September 10 (H)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Building Operations (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Protected Planning

September 11 (F)
Protected Planning Day
8:00-12:00, Allan to All Admin PD (Ed Center)

• Q&A Session for New Staff, Friday @1:00 (optional) – I’ll be available Friday at 1:00 in the school garden to check-in, answer questions, or provide any assistance for new staff. I can get busy during inservice week, so I like to schedule at time when I’ll be available for new staff. Email, text, and phone calls work too though for anyone teleworking.

• Reopening Updates – One instructional and two logistical reopening items:

• Elementary Schedules – Teachers & Students – On Friday, downtown gave principals the Weekly Work Schedule for Teachers and Students (Google Sheet or PDF). It’s pretty complicated and took me some time to digest and understand it. I’ll plan to take some time at the 9/1 meeting to go over this schedule and answer questions.

If you missed Cydney’s Email, downtown posted a Sample Schedule for an Elementary School Student Day. The idea is that each grade level at a school will be assigned to one of the three schedules and that students will gradually work up to their full schedule over the course of the first month.

There is a process downtown wants schools to follow for deciding which grade levels will follow which schedule (if you’re interested, here’s the checklist principal were give on Friday). The first step is to meet with the interventionists (Title, SPED, ELD) to decide, based on case load, which two grade levels best match up. The team will look at caseloads by grade level to help decide which two grade levels will follow Schedule #1, which two will follow Schedule #2, and which two will follow Schedule #3 on the above linked schedules. Downtown also wants building leadership teams to have input on grade level schedule assignments. My plan is to meet the afternoon of 9/1 first with interventionists and then meet with the leadership team.

• School Supplies – Downtown is buying school supplies for students. See this linked email for details and the list of supplies. Teachers are being allowed to add items to go home with students, so if you have additional items you’d like sent home with students (paper or composition books seem conspicuously absent), let Katie know as soon as possible so we can get those ordered. Downtown has not shared the plan for distributing student supplies, so stay tuned for those dates and logistics.

• Updated Return to Work Presentation – HR has given principals an Updated Return to Work Presentation we’ll cover on 9/1 with licensed staff and 9/2 with classified staff. I just thought I’d share it here if anyone wanted a sneak peek.

• Holt Staff Handbook – The Holt Staff Handbook has been updated by Debbi, and although much of it applies more to brick-and-mortar schooling a fair amount still has relevant building policies and procedures. Please take time to review the handbook and let me or any Holt veterans know if you have any questions.

• Fire Drills During CDL – I don’t think any school did fire drills in the spring, but principals received an email saying that we have an official okay from the Fire Marshall that we do not need to conduct monthly fire drills during CDL. However, we do need to have an evacuation plan for any staff working in the building during distance learning. The normal fire drill procedure is for staff and students to go out to the playground, but when it’s just staff in the building, the flagpole out front will be our rally point.

• PAHS Meeting Updates – The Holt Parent Group meet last Wednesday and here are some highlights:

• 20/21 PAHS Facilitator – Tina Tague was voted in as this year’s PAHS Facilitator. She’s also continuing on as the PAHS Volunteer Coordinator.

• PAHS Message, Need Help? – Tina asked me to forward the following to staff:

Hello Holt Staff!

As you are preparing for this year like no other, please keep our Holt Volunteers in mind. If there is anything that PAHS or the volunteers can do to make this even a tiny bit easier for you, please let me know. We all appreciate you and your dedication to our kids so much and would love to help make this weirdness a little less stressful. There is a long list of us hoping and waiting to help how we can. Please reach out – for even the smallest thing.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

We miss you!

Tina Tague
PAHS Volunteer Coordinator/Facilitator
Holt Elementary

• Project Hope – Holt Clean-Up Day 9/12 – The annual Project Hope Community Event, where North Park and Garden Way Churches encourage community members come to Holt on a weekend to help spruce up the grounds, will be held this year on Saturday, September 12th, 9:00-12:00. The only differences this year are that people are being asked to bring their own gardening tools and to wear a mask if they are working within 6-feet of someone else.

• Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser, 9/17 – The first Holt Night Out Fundraiser of the year is scheduled and it will be at Papa’s Pizza on Thursday, September 17th. It’s good for dine-in or take-out, but not deliveries. Mark your calendars, bring a flyer, and spread the word!

• ESC Interview Thursday, 4:15-6:15 – Jenny and I are conducing interviews for our 0.5 FTE Essential Skills Coordinator (ESC) this Thursday, 4:15-6:15, socially distancing in the school garden. We have three candidates well be interviewing, so please let me know if any of you would like to volunteer your time to be on this interview committee.

• Family Quick Notes – I forgot to CC staff on my email to families last week, but I’m planning to send weekly Quick News updates to families each Monday as district plans unfold. Linked here is the Quick Notes Archive.

• Teacher iPad Replacement – James Grubic let me know that the Tech Department will replace any teacher iPad 4s with iPad Air 2s, which will allow your to run a newer iOS and access to newer apps and app updates you might not have now (like virtual backgrounds in Zoom!).

• REPEAT: Attendance Survey & Breakfast Burrito Orders! – Even if you don’t want a burrito, please complete linked Breakfast Burrito Order Google Form by Monday at 9:00 to at least tell me if you’ll be attending the meeting in-person or by Zoom. Log onto your 4J Google Account and get ready to eat some yummy food on 9/2 when we’ll have the entire Holt Team, both classified and licensed, back again! And just send me an email if you have trouble with the Google Form.

• REPEAT: Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/31 – If you haven’t already and would like a FREE breakfast burrito Wednesday morning, please complete linked Breakfast Burrito Order Google Form by 9:00 on Monday. You’ll need to log onto your 4J Google Account to complete the form.

• UPDATED: Classroom Assignments – I had a Speech and Psych in the wrong room, so linked here is an Updated Classroom Assignments Map.

• Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th.

• Tech Support Handout & 4jdesktop Reminder – Linked here is a Tech Support Handout which lists who to contact and how to contact them when you have technology support needs. The above link is minus the OSLIS user and pass, which we’re not supposed to post online, but that can be found in the attachment in my email.

The most important point on the sheet is for staff to email 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu to request help from our Technology Support Specialist (TSS), James Murray. This creates a ticket which many people see and can further help to direct the issue to the best available person to handle it. Also, the number of tickets generated by our school dictates how much TSS staffing we are allocated.

• Zoom Registration – James emailed teachers that you would get a Zoom meeting invitation from Steve Menachemson, the 4J Information Technology Director, and to accept the invite because this will give you a “Licensed” Zoom account. To check that you have a licensed account, open Zoom and click on the account button in the top right corner of the screen. A menu will pop up and will say Licensed next to your name if you have a licensed account. See the image below to see what I mean.

• Student Meals Continue With Changes – Nutrition Services emailed principals that they do not have the capacity to add buses to onsite meal distribution and instead are opening up additional kitchens and expanding meal service hours at current meal sites, including Holt, to 10:45-2:00 daily. Their next step is to work with the 4J Wraparound Team and other programs to determine how they can continue some level how to deliver to families with transportation barriers. If you’re interested, see the linked email for details.

• 4J Reopening Blueprint – As an FYI, Oregon school districts were required to submit their “blueprint” for reopening to the state. 4J has posted their COVID-19 Operational Blueprint for School Reentry on the district website. There is an individual plan for each school they had to submit as well, though these plans are nearly identical for each school.

• Back-to-School District Policy Memo Postponed – If you were wondering, the usually district Back to School Policy Memo that staff have to review and sign-off that you understand all fo the policies and procedures has been postponed for this fall.

• Planning Lessons With the Student Experience in Mind – Providing students with clear directions and easy-to-navigate content is especially important during distance learning. See this Edutopia Article for tips including:

• Write lessons – and then put them aside for 24 hours
• Rehearse from the student perspective
• Streamline formats
• Try to think like a non-teacher.

• 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 1 (T)
Licensed Staff Report Back
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Breakfast Snacks & Visiting (Gym)
8:30-11:00, Back to School Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)
11:00-12:00, District Staff Wellness and Self Care (Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Finalize Class Lists, SafeSchools, TalentEd Tasks
1:00-2:30, Interventionist Schedule Meeting (Gym & Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

September 2 (W)
192-Day (most) Classified Employees Report Back
8:00-8:15, Classified & Licensed Welcome Back Breakfast Burritos & Visiting (Gym)
8:15-9:00, Classified & Licensed Universal Design Learning PD (Gym & Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Classified HR Training (Gym & Zoom)
9:00-12:00, Licensed Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)

September 3 (H)
8:00-10:00, District Welcome Back Event (4J Zoom)
10:00-12:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)
10:00-12:00, SSD Training for SPED Staff (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Licensed Social Emotional Learning – Relationship Building PD (Zoom)
2:00-4:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)

September 4 (F)
Protected Planning Day
8:00-12:00, Allan to All Admin PD (Ed Center)
1:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (School Garden)

September 7 (M)
Labor Day, No School

September 8 (T)
8:00-12:00, Various District PD Topics (Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)

September 9 (W)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) PD (Zoom)
2:00-4:00, Protected Planning

September 10 (H)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Building Operations (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Protected Planning

September 11 (F)
Protected Planning Day
8:00-12:00, Allan to All Admin PD (Ed Center)

September 14 (M)
First Day of School

Looking forward to actually getting to meet some of Team Holt in person!

Allan