http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=13108
Hi Everyone,
It’s time for the circus to open!
Twenty-eight items of note (sorry) for this week:
• Behavior EA (Abby Parks) – Already announces at our staff meeting last week, but please welcome our new Building Behavior Support Assistant (BBSA, i.e. Behavior EA), Abby Parks. Abby was at Holt all last year in a long term SPED EA sub. Abby is also continuing as our second as one of our two school crossing guards. Our second Behavior EA Job Posting is up now and closes Wednesday if you know of anyone good who you think should apply. We already have 11 applicants, so that’s a good sign!
• Classroom Help Sign-Up – If any staff are available to help your colleagues get their classroom ready, please add your name to the Class Set-Up Help Spreadsheet and check in with the folks need ing help on Tuesday.
• Tuesday Staff Meeting Cancelled – We don’t have any pressing topics, so Tuesday’s “If Needed” Staff Meeting is cancelled.
• SIGN UP – Kinder Transition Day 2023 – See Lesli’s Email for details, but if you haven’t already, be sure to sign-up on the Kinder Transition Day 2023-34 Spreadsheet for a block of time on each of the tabs.
• Wednesday PD: Curriculum Night Planning – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we’ll meet to decide on the format for our Curriculum Night / Back-to-School Night. Last year was a mix of some classes doing formal presentations to families and other grade levels did a more casual open house.
• PBIS Playground Rules Round-Up – The Playground Rules Round-Up will be Monday, Sept. 11 at 8:15 for 1st and 2nd grade and Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 1:45 for 3rd, 4th, & 5th Grade. See the station assignment and maps for where classes start and the rotation order. Let me know if you have any questions.
MONDAY, Sept. 11 @8:15
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:1. Structures (Gori)
2. Swings & General rules (Willow)
3. Hard Play, Boundaries (Zluticky)
4. Four Square, Kickball, Wallball, Gaga Ball (Bemiller, Rahborn)
5. Equipment, Lining Up, Restrooms (Gulleckson, Norton)TUESDAY, Sept. 12 @1:45
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:1. Structures (Ball, Harshbarger)
2. Swings & General rules (Talley, Longoria)
3. Hard Play, Boundaries (Benavides, Cobb)
4. Four Square, Kickball, Wallball, Gaga Ball (Reich, Heinrich)
5. Equipment, Lining Up, Restrooms (Parks, Ayres)Reviewing the stations are #1 Vicki, #2 Ben, #3 Allan, #4 Felica, and #5 Annie, though other available staff can come out to help review the Playground & Recess Supervisors Guidelines.
• PBIS Common Area Rules Review – Teachers should find time this week or next to review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow with your class to go over Arrival/Dismissal, Restroom, Cafeteria, and Hallway. There’s also a classroom slide if you want to use it.
• Rainy/Smokey Arrival Plan – Classified Staff on Friday reviewed and revised our Rainy (also smokey) Arrival Plan, which is:
KG & 1st in Cafeteria
2nd & 3rd in the Gym
4th graders Library
5th under covered play area (or Library if smokey)
• Dismissal Job Assignments Map – A reminder to everyone, classroom teachers walk non-bus riders outside to your grade level’s designated pick-up spot (see same as above Arrival & Dismissal Map). For bus riders, at least one staff member from each wing should walk them down the hallway, through the cafeteria, and out to the buses. If buses are late, students are to wait under the covered play area. Alex, Ashley, and Robbie will help supervise as well.
• easyCBM Assessment Window Sept. 11 – Oct. 6 – Downtown shared the testing window for fall easyCBM benchmarking, which is 4 weeks in the fall, and will be Monday, Sept. 11 through Friday, Oct. 6. Testing windows for winter and spring benchmarking will be 3-week windows (1/3 – 1/24 and 5/13 – 6/3). Watch for testing details from Debbi and Jenny.
• EdTech TOSA Available 9/6 – Kellyclare Gardner is visiting schools the next few weeks and will be at Holt on Wednesday, Sept. 6 from 8:00-11:30 to help folks that need assistance with Edtech (Clever, Seesaw, Lalilo, Smartboard, Teacher doc cams, Printing QR Codes, Printing student passwords and more) She is developing a sign up sheet for folks, but drop ins are welcome. Her plan is to set up shop in the staff rooms and she is available to come back if needed.
• Preliminary Leadership Plan – Linked here is the preliminary Holt Leadership Plan I submitted to JCAC (Joint Contract Administration Committee). Once we hear back from downtown, we’ll make a final decision on the allocations for the jobs we submitted.
Assembly & Enrichment Activities Coordinator, $2,000.00
Attendance/Family Outreach, $1,500.00
Building Scheduling Coordinator, $1,000.00
Communications Coordinator, $2,000.00
Equity & Inclusion Collaborators (6 reps), $9,000.00
Equity & Inclusion Facilitator (2 reps), $6,000.00
Evening Family Event Coordination (2 reps), $2,000.00
Girls on the Run Coordinator? (2 reps), $3,000.00
Grade Level Team Leaders (6 reps), $6,000.00
Literacy Leader, $1,000.00
Non-Monthly School-Wide Assemblies, $1,000.00
Parent Group Liaison, $1,000.00
PBIS & SEL Collaborator, $500.00
Specialist Team Leaders (2 reps), $2,000.00
Student Council/Leadership Collaborator, $500.00
Student Council/Leadership Coordinator, $1,500.00
Sunshine (Staff Wellness) Collaborator, $500.00
Sunshine (Staff Wellness) Coordinator, $1,000.00
TAG Coordinator, $1,500.00
• Master Schedule Updates – Two items regarding the 23-24 Master Schedule.
• Library Schedule – Grade level teams can add teacher names to library schedule. Some teacher names were already added close to what was earlier on the schedule, but teams can swap names around as you want. Each class will have a weekly 30-minute library lesson and a weekly 15-minute checkout. For the checkout time, teachers only send students who returned their books and can checkout a new book. For Wednesday checkout times, Title EAs will escort students to the library.
• PE/Music Schedule Corrected – The PE/Music/Library Specialist tab is now correct.
• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Scents/Cleaners/Air Fresheners – An important reminder from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Scents/Cleaners/Air Fresheners:
Scents/cleaners/air fresheners: Perfumes, highly scented deodorants, air freshening spray, and plug-ins altogether must be removed from classrooms and commons spaces due to staff and students sensitivity
• PE/SEL Booster Resources – Here are the PE/SEL Booster Resources Doc mentioned at last Friday’s PD. Save yourself a ton of time by using these for Morning Meeting ideas on greetings, for sharing, group activities, and end-of-day closing activities. This doc also has ready-to-use Morning Meeting slideshows for the first four weeks of school. This link is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard
• Dead 4J Links – With the district website upgrade, if you had any links you’d bookmarked or shared on a blog, website, Seesaw, or other doc or app linking to the 4J website, they are now most likely dead and have been assigned a new numerical URL.
• Enrollment Info – Holt is now very close to our projection of 464 students with 459 students currently enrolled. If you’re interested, here’s the district Enrollment as of 09/01/23, which for us is minus the 10 kids who enrolled on Friday.
• Additional Licensed and Classified BEST Hours – If you’re interested in additional hours, see Levi’s Email about adding BEST EA hours, anywhere from 1-hour to 4-hours, or a licensed Academic Coordinator position.
• HR Updates – Two HR items were shared with principals:
• TalentEd “Roll Over” Delay – The roll over from 22-23 and 23-24 has had issues, so not all staff have access just yet or may be attached to the wrong school. HR hopes to have these fixed in the next couple weeks.
• Paid Leave Oregon Information – Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) is a new program that allows employees in Oregon to take paid time off for some of life’s most important moments that impact our families, health, and safety. Some life qualifying events that keep you from working may be covered under Paid Leave Oregon if they fall into one of three different types of leaves: Family Leave, Medical Leave, and Safe Leave. If eligible, you can take paid leave to:
(a) care for yourself or members of your family during the birth of a child, or to bond with a child after birth, adoption, or placement of a child in your home through foster care,
(b) care for yourself during a serious health condition,
(c) care for a family member when they have a serious health condition, and
(d) if you or your child experience sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, or stalking.See the linked PLO Information for additional information.
• SafeSchool / Vector Training Delay – These were supposed to be available on 8/21, but that did not happen. We don’t have a timeline for when they will be sent available, but principals were told to give staff 1-hour in September and 1-hour in October to complete the online training before the Nov. 1 deadline. OSHA has added new required trainings, so the new trainings total more than 2 hours, so I’ll plan to give folks a third hour of time to complete the modules before the deadline. Here are the mandatory trainings for all staff (there are additional required modules for school psychologists, counselors, social workers, and principals):
• AED (17 mins)
• Child Abuse (31 mins)
• Boundaries (39 mins)
• Blood-borne (22 mins)
• Unconscious Bias (36 mins)
• Ladders (19 mins)
• Curriculum Getting Started Planning and Resource Guides – Content Specialists compiled key information to help teachers plan for the new school year with the Getting Started Planning and Resource Guides for Science, Health, PE, Math, ELA, and Social Studies, including resources, scope and sequences, available materials and curriculum. This is also linked on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• 4J Learning Hub – The 4J Learning Hub isn’t yet linked on the new 4J website yet, but it’s worth bookmarking if you haven’t already. You do need to log onto your 4J Google account to access the site. The link is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard and also on my blog.
• Library Lowdown: Free Staff Library Cards! – I mentioned this last week, but the latest Library Lowdown had info on how school staff, even if you live outside the city limits, can get a FREE library card, which it totally worth it just for the Free Streaming Services. My other favorite freebie is a free online subscription to Consumer Reports. Just bring your school photo ID and your current Oregon driver license/ID to one of the branches to sign up.
• Bystander Intervention for Educators – WREN is offering another Zoom PD October 12th from 4:30-6:00pm on Bystander Intervention for Educators, in which you will be paid a $75 stipend for attending. I’ve signed up! See the latest WREN Newsletter to sign-up today.
• Staff Walk-Up Song QUIZ! – How well do you know your colleagues musical tastes? Whoever gets the most correct on the Holt Staff Walk-Up Song Quiz wins a prize!
• Building Strong Foundations With Classroom Routines – Sure I share this every year, but it’s a good one. Investing time early in the year to establish procedures and expectations lets teachers and students enjoy a classroom that runs more smoothly (almost!) every day. See the Edutopia Video below for some good tips and reminders. The other oldie but goodie from Edutopia is an article on how Relationship Matter More Than Rules and how community building in the classroom starts on day one. See this Edutopia Article for strategies to begin forging strong relationships.
• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:
• Welcome Back Assembly Friday @1:30 – See the Assembly Map and Directions for details on our Welcome Back Assembly. If the AQI and weather is good, we’ll be outside in the same U-shaped formation facing the same direction we would be in the gym.
• Classroom Newsletters to Allan – Please CC or forward copies of classroom newsletters to Allan.
• Principal Visits to Classrooms – Let me know a 10 minutes block of time I can come and visit sometime this month to introduce myself and read a story to your class.
• SELCO’s Educator Grants, Due 9/30 – SELCO’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grant Program offers grants up to $1,000, which are due Sept. 30th.
• Holt Spirit Gear Sale Deadline, Sept. 20 – See Ashely’s Email for details, but the limited edition Holt Spirit Gear Sale ends September 20th.
• Team Sign-Ups – Feel free to add you name to the Team Sign-Ups Spreadsheet.
• Insurance Open Enrollment Deadline, Sept. 15 – Choose your insurance plan by September 15th or else you will lose your health insurance benefits for this year. See the 4J Open Enrollment 2022-23 Website for details.
• 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 4 (M)
Labor Day – No SchoolSeptember 5 (T)
2:00-3:00, Meet Your Teacher (Classrooms)
2:30-3:30, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Playground)
3:00, Allan to 504 Meeting (Calming Room)
4:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting (RMS)September 6 (W)
Kinder Starts
Grades 1-5 Structured Collaboration & Support of Kinder Smart StartSeptember 7 (H)
All Grade Levels StartSeptember 8 (F)
1:30-2:00, Welcome Back Assembly (Hard Play)September 11 (M)
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) Starts
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:15-8:45, PBIS Rules Round-Up, 1st & 2nd (Playground)
3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)September 12 (T)
1:45-2:15, PBIS Rules Round-Up, 3rd, 4th, 5th (Playground)September 13 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wednesday PD – SafeSchools/Vector ModulesSeptember 14 (H)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, Holt PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)September 15 (F)
Regular Day
Let’s make this a good first week of school!
Allan
