http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=11309
Hey Holt Bolts,
Here’s your good news for the week. Teachers and school staff can get a free Thank You Meal starting Monday through Friday at McDonald’s during breakfast hours! The McGriddle is sadly not on the list, but you can get a FREE sandwich with hash browns and a medium coffee. Just show a school ID!
Fourteen items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Three Staffing Updates:
• SPED Classified Changes – SSD partway through last week transferred Ganell from our CLC to Spencer Butte Middle School to work in their Learning Center. Taking her place is a new SSD hire, Dylan Johnson, who is set to start this Wednesday.
• COVID Utility EA (Rosie Lenker) – Our new COVID Utility EA started last week, but I told everyone the wrong first name. I shared her legal name and not her preferred name, which is is Rosie, so please welcome Rosie to the team!
• Potential District Staffing Shifts – Downtown emailed the following to principals on Friday, which sounds like they may be shuffling teachers to balance class sizes:
Variance in class size – We continue to have some large class sizes across our elementary schools and the luxury of some small classes. We will be revisiting building staffing allocations following the impact of the October 18 vaccine mandate to address any teacher shortages or to ameliorate our large classes across the district.
• Leadership Plan Meeting, Wednesday @2:45– This Wednesday at 2:45 in the library, I’ll hold an optional meeting for any licensed staff interested in drafting a third Leadership Plan scenario for staff to consider. As discussed at last week’s Staff Meeting, this plan will separate the Leadership Team from the Leadership Plan, redistributing those 7 days. In this scenario, staff taking on extra leadership duties will be compensated in the Leadership Plan and the Leadership Team will be a voluntary committee, similar to those who volunteer to be on PBIS, Safety or other teams and committees. If you’re unable to attend this meeting, but wish to share your thoughts, let me know before Wednesday. I’ll plan to share the new draft with all staff following this meeting.
• PAHS Potluck Lunch This Friday! – Our fabulous parent group is planning a Staff Appreciation Potluck for staff this Friday, so be on the lookout for some good food to be delivered by 10:00!
• Conference Reminders – Conferences will be Tuesday, Nov. 9th, 3:25-7:25 and Wednesday, Nov. 10th, 8:00-8:00 (minimally in 15 minute blocks), with no school that Thursday for Veterans Day or on Friday for the comp day . Once you have your conference schedule, share a copy of it with the office for when parents call the office forgetting their times. One option for scheduling conference is Calendly, which SJ shared at last week’s Staff Meeting, which will email parents the Zoom links and also reminders of their scheduled meeting time. If you need a translator, let me know the date, time, and Zoom link and I’ll put in a request for a district translator to join your Zoom. Still no answer from downtown if teachers may telework or not during conferences. Jenny and I will also keep you posted if Title 1 Compacts will be a Google Form or paper.
• District Calendar Updates – Three items of note:
• October 15th – Work Day – Now that all building and district PD (not including Data Teams) is paused through at least January, this Friday is all yours for planning and prep. The Tech PD on accessing the pre-made Seesaw and Nearpod lessons at 9:00 on Friday is now optional (watch for forthcoming Zoom links). See the linked District Email and Principal Email for additional details.
• October 18th – Work Day – Teachers are to receive at least 5.5 hours of planning time this day, but I’m not planning to hold any meetings this day unless something comes up.
• November 5 & 19 – Downtown has said Friday, November 5th and 19th, teachers will have an additional hour of prep time to compensate for missed prep time on November 12 and 26. If you’re asking yourself, “Weren’t all PLCs and PDs already cancelled these days?” I was wondering the same thing.
• School Bus PBIS & Positive Slips – Bus drivers have their own version of a PBIS positive slip, which teachers should honor just the same as our Zap Tickets for weekly drawings and such. Below is an example of the Bus Positive Slip.
• REMINDER: Set Up Your Voicemail – If you haven’t already, by this Friday set up your 4J voicemail. See the linked 4J Phone Voicemail Manual or this Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for how to set it up. If you have questions, please contact Brian at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu
• REMINDER: K-5 iPad Cart Survey (and Allan speculation) – If you haven’t already, classroom teachers should complete the K-5 iPad Cart Survey James Grubic sent to all elementary teachers last week, which will help downtown identify what teachers need. What wasn’t said in that email, rumor has it they are considering allowing us to keep iPads at school instead of having kids take them home every night.
• REMINDER: On Time Recess Pick-Up – Teachers, be sure to pick students up on time from recess. Most EAs are scheduled to leave the playground right at the end of recess.
• 4J TAG Updates – If you’re interested, principals and building TAG Coordinators were sent the 4J October TAG Newsletter and an email about Fall TAG Testing. The short version is schools sign up for a testing block and that’s when we test any TAG referrals.
• ELA Adoption Updates – Another if-you’re-interested item, I volunteered to be the Sheldon Admin rep for the K-5 ELA adoption because I’m nosy and like to be in-the-know, so if you’re curious, here is the Adoption Committee Handouts last week. I had a link to the slide show, but that link is no longer sharable. I did grab a screenshot of the four programs being considered, which are ARC Core, EL Education K-5 Language Arts, Wit & Wisdom, and Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA).
• SSD Updates for Principals – One last only-if-you’re-interested item, SSD shared the following SSD Slide Show Updates covering various SPED related topics.
• United Way Ruby Bridges-Hall Event – Save the Date – United Way is organizing a virtual event with Ruby Bridges-Hall, happening 10:00-10:30 on Thursday, October 28th, specifically for Lane County students and schools. There will be a 10-minute presentation, and 20-minute Q&A session led by students. Linked here is the Event Flyer. As you likely know, Ruby Bridges helped launch the desegregation of New Orleans public schools at the age of 6, in 1960. The event theme is “the power of using your voice for racial justice.” There will be more to come soon regarding this opportunity.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
October 11 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)October 12 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)
4:00-6:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)October 13 (W)
2:45-3:25, Optional Leadership Plan Meeting (Library)October 14 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)October 15 (F)
No School — Planning Day
8:00-2:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Roosevelt MS)
9:00-10:00, Optional District Tech Webinar – Pre-made Nearpod and Seesaw lessons (Zoom)
10:00, PAHS Staff Appreciation Luncheon Delivered (Staff Room)October 18 (M)
No School — Teacher Work Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-4:00, Allan to All Admin MeetingOctober 19 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)October 20 (W)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)October 21 (H)
Regular DayOctober 22 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
And if you missed it on KEZI last week, Holt is now TV news file footage! They did a story on Oregon ‘Care and Connection’ Campaign Eases Return to In-Person Learning and reused footage from when they came out the first day of school. Check out the video below and feel free to share it with students.
Have a good 4-day week everyone!
Allan