May 17, 2021

By Allan  

 

Hello Everyone,

Did you know there’s only three more Fridays with students this year?

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – 4J has multiple Elementary Music Teacher openings, so HR is doing a “pool hire” for these positions, where principals of the schools with openings will interview candidates all at once and will then haggle over who gets who. Please tell any excellent music teachers you know they should apply!

HR also let principals know they are close to having all classified displacements finished and will soon allow schools to post classified vacancies. We currently have classified openings for Library (6.5 hour), KG EA (6.5 hour), and Title 1 EA (3 and 4 hour).

On a related note, I’m continuing to advocate for Holt to continue to have two secretaries. HR has given a little ground, allowing that we could post for a records clerk instead of an office assistant, which is just one pay grade below an elementary secretary. HR says disallowing two secretaries is not a cost savings measure (because it doesn’t save much), but is an equity issue between buildings that violates state rules. However, there are plenty of other classified positions where additional staffing is provided based on enrollments (i.e. custodial staff, kitchen staff, EA staffing, etc.), so I’m not completely buying this argument. More to come on this.

• Report Cards Open in Synergy – Waiting on Send Home Process – It’s early, but report cards are now opening Synergy. No word yet from downtown how printing and sending them home will work, but since the grading day is before the last day of school this year, I think we’ll likely send home hard copies with hybrid students the last week of school and mail home report cards for SSO students. Stay tuned for the final word on this, though I’m advocating for downtown print and mail all of them.

• 2021-2022 Curriculum Needs – Let me know if any grade levels are short materials for next year (ELA, Math, SEL, etc.). I know we’ll need a full set of kindergarten ELA, Math, and SEL and we need to get back the 5th grade Journeys materials we loaned to McCornack. Outside of those, let me know by Friday if your grade is missing anything and I’ll work on tracking them down.

• 2021-2022 Master Schedule Survey – Linked here is the 2021-2022 Master Schedule Survey. There’s only four questions, but I’d like to get some input in a few areas (2 questions on recess/lunch times, 2 questions on academic time blocks, and 1 for additional comments). Next year’s Master Schedule will be a discussion item at Wednesday’s Staff Meeting, so it may be best to complete this survey until after there’s been a staff discussion.

District Reading Guidelines recommend minimum of 90-minutes daily for Tier I & II (which includes writing) and 60-minutes or more for Tier III. There is no formal district recommendation for math minutes, though most schools have at least 60-minutes for Tier I & II, including Number Talks, and an additional Tier III time.

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Protection Unit – The state mandates we teach the child safety lessons required by Erin’s Law. 4J uses the Second Step Child Protection Unit to meet this requirement. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year. The recommendation is to teach lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. The hope is students will be reminded and empowered before they leave for a break. I’ll resend the Erin’s Law Parent Info (English & Spanish) in Monday’s Quick News, so please find time to cover Lesson 6 sometime between now and the end of the school year. Lessons can be found on the Holt Staff Drive in the Child Protection Unit Folder.

• TalentEd Wrap Up – I’m finally finishing up formal observations and there are a few tasks in TalentEd for both licensed and classified staff to also finish up.

Classified Staff: Complete your “4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form” by the end of the month if you did not complete it in the fall. I’ll use this for when I write up your end-of-year evaluation.

Licensed Staff: Complete your “End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection” by the end of the month. Many licensed staff chose to use the optional building goals, so if you used those goals, lined here is some Optional End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection Language you can use or adapt for your goals reflection. Since easyCBM data this year is sketchy at best, I’m completely fine with people using less rigid of language in your reflection (i.e. rather than saying 82% of students met the target, instead say “most students” or “a majority of students” met the target. This year is atypical, so atypical reflections are allowed.

• School Supply Distribution 5/26 – Wednesday, May 26th next week is the May Supply Distribution for SSO classrooms, from 8:00-2:00. If you are available to help, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet.

• Migrant Ed Summer Classroom Use – The Lane ESD Migrant Ed program is once again using our building this summer. They will move in Wednesday, June 23rd. Student begin Tuesday, July 6th and their final day is Thursday, July 29th. The program packs everything up Friday, July 30th. The program is planning to run five days a week, 8:30-12:30, and are planning to use all the classrooms (since COVID rules limit classroom capacity). Staff are welcome to access the building anytime over the summer, but as a courtesy we should avoid coming in while students are in the building.

Air conditioning is the main factor certain buildings host summer programs, so now that 4J has some new buildings coming being built, my plan is to convince downtown that Holt has done its tour of duty and it’s time for another school have a turn.

• Physical Distancing (COVID) Coordinator Meeting Notes – If you’re interested, linked here are the Physical Distancing Site Coordinator Meeting Notes from last Friday. Highlights include that face covers are still required regardless of CDC’s announcement, since schools are governed by RSSL and OHA, not the CDC. Also of note, the Technology Department will be sending out an update regarding iPad Turn-In soon. The recommendation will be that all students keep their technology over the summer.

• Meal Bags in Classrooms – [A reminder from Nutrition Services – Full Email] The meal bags must be provided in full to students in order for us to report as reimbursable from the state/federal grant. We must serve all of the things in the bags and in the quantities included. Students do not need to eat everything, but we do need to offer the entire bag. I realize this “hard serve” vs a student being able to choose their items is a challenge, and I am really sorry for the food waste that might result because students might receive items they don’t like. This is an unfortunate reality of this method of meal service.

• REPEAT: Earthquake & Fire Drill TUESDAY & FRIDAY @12:15 – We will conduct our May Fire Drill and our one required Earthquake Drill for the year on Tuesday and Friday at 12:15 for each cohort. For the Earthquake Drill, teach students to “Drop, Cover, Hold” meaning drop to the ground (so you don’t fall over), cover yourself by going under a desk (to protect yourself from falling objects), and hold onto the desk legs (so you stay under cover and don’t get bounced out). There are many resource on The Great Oregon Shake Out website, for you to teach students about Drop, Cover, Hold and earthquake preparedness. My plan will be to get on the intercom and make a short announcement about the earthquake drill and will shortly after announce “EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE!” at which point students will Drop, Cover, Hold. We will pull the fire alarm to signal when the Earthquake Drill is over, at which point classes should evacuate the building (in a real earthquake, you’d evacuate when the quake stops). See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up for the Fire Drill following the Earthquake Drill, which will run the same as last month. Don’t forget your Emergency Binder.

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time – Downtown has moved the Anti-Racist PD to 6/2 due to it overlapping with state testing, so this week and next’s PD/PLC time is building focused. Please use this time for additional planning & prep or for any outstanding TalentEd tasks (CLASSIFIED: 4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form, LICENSED: End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection).

• Can We Afford to Ignore the Science of Reading – This TEDx Talk from Melissa Hostetter, a former elementary teacher and current 7th grade teacher, shares what the science of reading means and why implementing it is a moral imperative if we truly want to ensure equitable outcomes for our students far beyond fifth grade. The video is about 10 minutes long.

• JUST FOR FUN: These balls are the same color – This post on BoingBoing shares how David Novick, a professor of engineering education and leadership at the University of Texas at El Paso, is breaking brains with his fantastic color illusions. The balls in the image below are the same color. Here’s why they look different.

• 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 17 (M)
4/5 – Staff Room Duty
12:00, Allan to Formal Observation
2:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

May 18 (T)
8:10-11:45, School Pictures – Cohort A (Gym)
9:00, Allan to Formal Observation
9:30, Allan to Formal Observation
10:00, Allan to Formal Observation
12:15, Earthquake & Fire Drill, Cohort A

May 19 (W)
8:00-1:00, School Pictures – SSO Student Drop-In (Gym)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (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
10:55, Allan to Formal Observation
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort A (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)

May 20 (H)
8:10-11:45, School Pictures – Cohort B (Gym)
8:45, Allan to Formal Observation
12:10, Allan to Formal Observation

May 21 (F)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Begins
12:15, Earthquake & Fire Drill, Cohort B

May 24 (M)
K/1- Staff Room Duty
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

May 25 (T)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY
Towel Day (it’s a nerd thing)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation

May 26 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Supply Distribution (Same School Online)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
10:00-11:00, Allan to Suicide & Threat Assessment Meeting
10:30-11:00, 4th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Library)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort B (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, PBIS Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – If needed for building items

May 27 (H)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation

May 28 (F)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)

May 31 (M)
No School — Memorial Day

 

Having a rough Monday? I’ve got just what you need right here.

Allan