February 8, 2021

By Allan  

 

Hi Everyone,

Don’t forget about the Holt Staff Shout Out Form to recognize fellow Bolts who are doing something awesome or that you appreciate. We’ll share any shout out at next week’s Staff Meeting.

Eleven items of note for this week:

• EA Interviews Wednesday @12:30 – We already have Kindergarten and Title 1 reps lined up, but I like to make a practice of opening up interview committees to ANY staff members who would like to join. We are hiring for a 4-hour Title 1 EA and a 5.25-hour KG/Title 1 EA. Interviews will be this Wednesday 12:30-2:45 and we are interviewing five candidates. Just let me know if you’d like to be part of the team.

• Hybrid/SSO Updates – Three items of note:

• New Hybrid/SSO Info – Late Friday, principals were given a slide show to share with families regarding hybrid and same school online, which included some new concrete decisions by the district. Some were shared at last week’s school board meeting and others were new.

• 5-Hour Day – Hours for early start schools, such as Holt, will be 7:55-12:55 for hybrid. SSO students will also have 5-hour days, though that time may not all be live.

• 4-Day Week – When hybrid starts, the live 5-hour day will be MTHF and Wednesdays will stay the same as they are now with students online only with a shorter Zoom.

• Lunch/Recess 60-minutes – There will be one 30-minute recess and one 30-minute lunch each day. For recess, students will stay in their cohort group. For breakfast & lunch, students will eat in their classroom with the teacher.

• Others – These have been around before, but desks will be 6-feet apart, students and staff must wear masks at all times, there will be plenty of scheduled time for hand washing/sanitizing, restrooms cleaned regularly, and for off-weeks daily synchronous time will be much shorter than it is now. Linked here is a slide show I’ll share in Monday’s Quick News, as well as this video, where I narrate the slides.

• Hybrid Safety Protocols – There’s a lot downtown needs to decide about hybrid and SSO instructional models, but in terms of safety protocols, those plans have largely been in place since August. There will be a more formal of presentations on this in the coming weeks, but if you want a preview, see the district 4J COVID-19 Communicable Disease Management Plan and Operational Blueprint. These protocols have been made in response to ODE’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners.

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time 2/17 – We haven’t had a Wednesday PD/PLC times since 4J made these principal discretion, but downtown is tentatively planning to have principals share hybrid information on Wednesday, February 17th. This is on the Staff Calendar, but be sure not to schedule anything that will conflict with this meeting.

 

 
• COVID Protocol Reminders & Info – Three items of note:

• Leaving Work for Vaccinations – HR emailed a clarification to principals that it is okay for staff to not have to use leave time (i.e. sick leave) for a local COVID vaccinations appointment, but you do need to take a leave if it’s somewhere outside of the Eugene/Springfield areas (i.e. Grants Pass or Philomath).

• COVID Suggestion Box – The latest version of Ready Schools, Safe Learners requires schools to have a process that allows for named and anonymous sharing of concerns that can be reviewed on a regular basis by the designated RSSL building point-person (me), so I’ve created a COVID Suggestion Box Google Form that is permanently linked along the side of my blog under Holt Links. I’ll plan to check submissions each Monday.

• Sign-In Means No COVID Symptoms for Self or Close Contacts – When you sign-in at school, you are attesting that you are not currently experiencing any of the known primary COVID-19 symptoms AND you have not been in close contact with, or do not live with anyone who is displaying known COVID-19 symptoms. These may get updated to include secondary symptoms, but the current symptom list 4J is using is:

• Persistent cough
• Fever greater than 100.3 degrees
• Chills
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• News loss of sense of taste or smell
• Diarrhea or vomiting

 

Gold star to anyone who can name this movie that accurately predicted our no-touch future!

 

• iPad Reset Instead of Return – If a student iPad is not working, have them reset the iPad before suggesting they return it. Most issues can be resolved this way. The linked How to Reset an iPad Quick Sheet (English and Spanish) provides directions how to do this and guidance on setting up the iPad after it has been reset.

• Report Cards Closed Tuesday – Report card will be emailed to families Monday, so Melanie is going to close report cards in Synergy Tuesday morning.

• 2021-22: Draft Staffing Timeline – HR shared with principals a draft staffing timeline:

February 23: Staffing allocations shared with principals
March 18: Staffing plans due by 11:59 PM
By March 19: Principals must provide a verbal notification to any staff who were displaced in the staffing plan submitted to HR
April 13 & 27: Job Expo for Secondary level administrators
April 15 & 29: Job Expo for Elementary level administrators

• Desks and Dolphins – Our desk-making neighbor is continuing to take requests for student desks and delivered three more last week. On another note, this gentleman is also involved with a Florida nonprofit, the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, who have been studying a population of wild dolphins for 50 years and asked me to help him spread the word about this organization, so check out the above link if you or your class are interested in this topic.

• REPEAT: PAHS Holt Staff Appreciation Day, THURSDAY – On Thursday, courtesy of PAHS, Holt staff are invited to go to the Coburg Road Human Bean (across form Costco) to order your favorite beverage. Just mention you’re a Holt staff member to receive one free drink!

• REPEAT: 2021-2022 Staff Survey, Due Feb. 15 – To help prep for 2021-2022 Staffing, please complete the linked 2021-2022 Staffing Survey by next Monday, Feb. 15th.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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 8 (M)
Report Cards Emailed to Families
No ELD Groups
11:30, Allan to Parent Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-4:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)

February 9 (T)
12:30-1:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Zoom)
6:30, Yoga Night for Kids (Zoom)

February 10 (W)
8:30-9:00, Allan Meeting with 4/5 Team (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:40, Allan Reading to Class (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 4th Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30-2:45, EA Interviews (Zoom)
6:00, Family Engineering Night – Straw Rockets! (Zoom)

February 11 (H)
PAHS Holt Staff Appreciation Day at The Human Bean
2:30-3:30, IPBS Monthly CDL Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

February 12 (F)
Friendship Day
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)

February 14 (SU)
*DANCE BATTLE* Virtual Assembly Videos Due

February 15 (M)
Regular School Day – Presidents Day
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)

February 16 (T)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Zoom)

February 17 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
8:40, Allan Reading to Class (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – District Hybrid Info (Zoom)
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)
6:30, Cheer with the Ducks – Holt Virtual Event! (Zoom)

February 18 (H)
11:00-10:00, Bo & Vine – Holt Night Out Fundraiser

February 19 (F)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)

Dance Battle videos are due this coming Sunday!

Allan