http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=11685
Hi Everyone,
This week marks the celebration of Classified Employees Appreciation Week! Contributions by classified staff to our school, students, and families are immeasurable! Not only would our school be unable to operate without our classified staff, our school is by far a better place for the classified folks we have here at Holt. Your dedication and hard work, whether it’s helping a student you don’t normally work with, covering a classroom or group at the last minute, or any number of things where folks go above and beyond, know that your efforts have not gone unnoticed. Holt is a better place for having you all here!
In recognition of your hard work, licensed staff are serving up a pot luck put on Monday. Our parent group, PAHS, on Tuesday is putting on a Nacho Bar, on Thursday is setting up a “Bagel Break,” and is planning on serving up some treats on the other days.
Seventeen items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:
• CLC Teacher Update – Please welcome Richard Schminke as Holt’s new CLC Teacher! HR got me the candidate list quicker than I expected, so Kelsey and I interviewed Richard last week and we’re happy to announce he accepted the temporary position for the remainder of the school year. We’re glad to have you on the team, Richard!
• CLC EA Interviews, WEDNESDAY – Interviews for our 5.5-hour CLC EA vacancy are this Wednesday right after school. Darren and Richard will be part of the interview team, but other staff are welcome to join if you would like. Just let me know and I’ll share applications and interview materials.
• Staff Allocation Updates – Kim’s Student Success Coordinator (SSC) position and Gloria’s Essential Skills Coordinator (ESC) are both being funded the same as this year. We’re still waiting for Student Service Department (SSD, i.e. special education classified and licensed staffing) and for English Language Development (ELD) allocations.
• REPEAT: Classified Appreciation Potluck, MONDAY! – A reminder for licensed staff, The Sunshine Committee has organized a Classified Appreciation Week “Potato Bar” Luncheon. See the linked Sign-Up Sheet for details.
K – grated cheddar, butter, sour cream, Greek yogurt
1 – baked potatoes (70) 50 regular/20 sweet potato
2 – desserts
3 – chopped green onions, diced tomatoes, steamed/roasted broccoli, guacamole, salsa, sliced olives,
4 – salads and/or slaws
5 – fruit platter or fruit salad
Specialists – chili (in crock pot), black beans (in crock pot), chopped bacon or bacon bits or diced ham• REPEAT: Sluggo’s Reading Challenge Assembly, TUESDAY – Tuesday (Grades K-2 @8:30-9:15 and Grades 3-5 @1:15-2:00) is our virtual Kick-Off Assembly for Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge. See prior announcements or the Ems Email for details on how kids can earn 2 FREE tickets to an Ems Game. I signed up all classroom to receive tickets.
• Friday PD: 22/23 Staffing Discussion & Survey Results – This Friday’s PD will be our final all staff discussion regarding next year’s staffing plan. Shared at last week’s Staff Meeting, the OSAS portion of this meeting has been rescheduled. Please complete the 22-23 Staffing Survey by Wednesday so results can be shared at Friday’s Staff Meeting as a starting point for our discussion.
• OSAS Training Date Change, 4/1 – Related to the above, the new OSAS Test Security Training will be on Friday, April 1st (no joke). SAVE THIS DATE because there will not be the usual opportunities for make up trainings in other buildings. EAs who will be in 3/4/5 classrooms or SPED classrooms when testing occurs need to attend as well. I’m working on arranging a tech training for grades K/1/2 during this same time.
• Fire Drill, 3/15 @1:10 – Not this week, but next week on Tuesday, March 15th at 1:10 will be our March Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.
• Lockdown Instruction Before Fire Drill – Related to the above, downtown is requiring schools to review Lockdown and Evacuation Drills with students. ALICE is no longer being used in 4J and it’s replacement is not in place yet, so in the meantime, teachers should simply do a short review with students off of the 4J Safety Poster (below), which says the following for each drill:
LOCKDOWN! Locks, lights, out of sight.
STUDENTS
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the doorADULTS
Recover student form the hallway if possible
Lock the classroom door
Turn out the lights
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the door
Prepare to evade or defendEVACUATE! (A location may be specified)
STUDENTS
Leave stuff behind if required to
If possible, bring your phone
Follow instructionsADULTS
Lead students to evacuation location
Account for students and adults
Notify if missing, extra or injured students or adults.
• REPEAT: Erin’s Law, Lesson #5 BEFORE SPRING BREAK – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.
• COVID Updates – Big changes are coming and it’ll be important to respect staff, student, and parent responses to these changes, which will range from stress and worry to relief and excitement. See the 4J Email, 4J Webpage, or the School Board Presentation for specifics on protocol changes. Here are FIVE highlights:
• Face Mask Change – Mask will be optional for both students and staff starting Monday, March 14th.
• 3-Feet Distance (to the extent possible) Continues – The latest version of Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework says we are to continue to strive to maintain 3-feet distance as a mitigation strategy, so no change there.
• Contact Tracing & Quarantine Ending – Because omicron spreads so fast, by the time a COVID exposure is identified, transmission has already occurred, so no one has to quarantine for being a close contact starting March 14th. However, anyone who test positive or anyone displaying symptoms, will need to isolate.
• iPads Stay at School and Snacks at Recess? – With changes in protocols, I’m thinking we could now keep iPads at school instead of sending them home and we could also go back to students eating snacks at morning recess, if staff want to do these. I’ll add these as topics for Friday’s Meeting.
• Lingering COVID Questions – Principals are supposed to get more information on Wednesday, but I have a number of questions I’m planning to ask. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far, but let me know if there are others I should ask:
• Are we still cohorting? If not, can we resume breakfast in the cafeteria?
• Without contact tracing, can we stop tracking seating charts for lunch, classrooms, and specialists?
• Are masks optional for volunteers?
• Do we still need to fill out the HR Volunteer Google Form or can we go back to volunteers simply filling out the volunteer background check?
• Are parent in-person meetings allowed? IEP meetings? Parent group meetings?
• Would an outdoor and/or indoor school carnival be allowed?
• For COVID positive staff or students, is isolation 5 days or just until they are symptom-free without meds?
• If an unvaccinated student is a close contact with a positive household member, do they have to quarantine if they show no symptoms?
• March 18th Expectations – This is a teacher work day. Teachers may work from the building or in another location. If teachers are not going to be in the building they need to let me know where they will conduct business that day. Downtown has not given this flexibility to classified staff, but classified folks can utilize trade time this day to shorten your work day. I’ve scheduled a Classified Staff Meeting at 9:00 for this day, so let me know if you have any agenda items you’d like discussed.
• REMINDER: Quiet Lines in the Hallways – Keep student lines quiet when walking through the hallways. Classes tend to get loud especially at lunchtime or on their way to recess. Make sure students use a Voice Level 0 (i.e. no talking) in the hallways and remind them that other students are still in class.
• ACE Award Nominations Open – It’s ACE Awards season! Holt has an exceptional staff who make a difference for students every day and are worthy of recognition. Now is the time to recognize them! Nominations can be made in four categories: teachers and licensed specialists, administrators and supervisors, classified staff, and volunteers. Nominations are due by March 31st. Going by past experience, winners are usually selected when a staff gets together to nominate an individual with a flood of nominations, so feel free to start a campaign. Linked here is the ACE Awards Webpage and the ACE Awards Nomination Form. There is no limit on the number of people you can nominate!
• REMINDER: Holt Bolt Shirt Time – Don’t forgot get put your shirt size down for the Staff Holt Bolt Shirt Orders. See Ashely’s Email for details.
• REMINDER: Digital Being a Writer Sign-Up – Teachers, remember to register for your Being a Writing Online Account. Just follow the above link (and leave the employee ID field blank). Here’s the original email if you want all the details.
• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Early Release of Students – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Early Release of Students:
Early Release of students:
To maintain the flow of instruction, leaving school early is discouraged. We realize, however, there are times when leaving early is unavoidable. If an early dismissal is required, students must be picked up by a parent and signed out in the office. Teachers are instructed not to release a child unless told to do so by the office. Students may be released only to parents or an authorized representative of the parents. Authorization must be in writing or via phone call to the office. Adults picking up students during the regular school day are asked to do so through the school office. Office personnel will call the child’s classroom and the student will be dismissed to meet the adult in the office.
• Did you know there’s a “Moon Tree” in Eugene? – I knew about this but had forgotten until I saw this Atlantic Article, “We Almost Forgot About the Moon Trees,” which reminded me there’s a Moon Tree on the UO Campus at the EMU, which might impress students if you ever happen to be talking about space. In 1971, 500 lucky seeds were taken aboard the Apollo 14 mission and into orbit around the Moon. Once the seeds returned to Earth, they were planted in various places around the world. No noticeable differences have been detected between the Moon Trees and trees grown from seeds that have never left planet Earth, but the story behind them is rad nonetheless.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
March 7 (M)
Classified Employee Appreciation Week
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #5
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul BodinMarch 8 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
8:30-9:15, K- 2 Virtual Assembly – Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:15-2:00, 3-5 Virtual Assembly – Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:00-7:00, Parent Education Series – Conscious Discipline (Zoom)March 9 (W)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
11:30-12:30, Allan Covering Classroom
2:45, CLC EA Interviews (TBA)March 10 (H)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
8:30, Allan to Title 1 Budget Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
3:15-5:00, Outdoor School Teacher/Principal Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)March 11 (F)
Melanie Out, Katie Covering
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – Final 22-23 Staffing Discussion (Cafeteria)March 14 (M)
Melanie Out, Katie Covering
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #5
National Pi Day
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)March 15 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)March 16 (W)
Dental Clinic (varnish and sealants) – Time/Location TBA
Staffing Plans Due to HR
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)March 17 (H)
St Patrick’s Day
Dental Clinic (sealants) – Time/Location TBA
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45-3:25, Leadership Meeting (Debbi’s Room)
5:00, Staff Bowling! (Emerald Lanes)March 18 (F)
No School — Staff Work Day
9:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)March 19 – 27
No School — Spring BreakMarch 28 (M)
Classes Resume
It’s out last 5-day week until spring break!
Allan
