December 17, 2012

By Allan  

Hello Everyone,

With the recent tragic events that unfolded last Friday, I know this will effect people (students, families and staff) in different ways. Come Monday, I’m sure some students and parents may want to talk about the shootings and parents may have new safety concerns in addition to those that came out of the incident at YG/Corridor and the shooting at Clackamas Mall. In regards to safety, you can feel free to refer parents to me or if you want some talking points, you can see the email I sent to parents earlier or the following letter that was shared with the School Board.

If you missed the two documents Justin emailed to staff on Friday, (Managing Strong Emotional Reactions and Talking to Children About Violence) they contain some excellent advice on how to responds to kids or adults who may come to you with questions or concerns. I feel it is important we maintain a normal routine, but it is also impotent we reassure students that they are safe here at school.

Donna Somerville, who is in charge of school counselors, also shared three related documents that might be useful for staff to review; A Guide for Teachers about Grieving Students, Self Nurturing Activities, and What We Need During Grief.

As I wrote in last week’s announcements, principals were asked to avoiding drawing inordinate attention to the incidents at YG for fear of copycat false reports, which actually did happen at another school, but taking into consideration the two recent shootings, I do want us all to review and practice the lockdown drill with our students this week. See below for details on this item, but after the break I additionally want to hold a “Safety Week” where we will practice all of the most critical emergency procedures.

This time of year is always a very stressful for kids and adults for a variety of reasons, but this week will likely be even more so. Be prepared for uncharacteristic behaviors and handle situations calmly and reassuringly as they come up.

Take care of our students and families, but also remember to take care of yourself, your family and each other as well.

 
Five items of note for this week:

• Staff Holiday Party/Luncheon – Remember that this Wednesday at 2:15 at McMenamins North Bank will be the Howard Staff Holiday Party. Here are the details:

What: Howard Staff Holiday Party/Luncheon
Where: McMenamins North Bank
When: Wednesday, Dec. 19th, 2:15 PM
How: Just bring ourself, your appetite, and an optional white elephant gift if you want to play.

All you need to bring is an appetite if you want to buy yourself some good food or drink. We also decided to bring back the white elephant gift exchange, so if you’d like to join in on this goofball activity, bring a wrapped humorous gift for the game. If you’re new to white elephant gifts, they’re generally inexpensive, humorous items or used items from home that will make the group laugh. This gathering will also be a nice time to have a send off for Allen Grush. David Nelson was unfortunately unable to attend, so hopefully we can get him to a Friday at 4:00 in January. We realize how busy everyone is, so we wanted to hold a fun event that required very little of folks in terms of time and planning. I think this can be a really nice way for us to relieve stress from what will is a very difficult time right now. Hope we’ll see you all there!

• Fire Drill, Monday at 9:00 – We got rained out last week, so we will try again first thing Monday morning at 9:00. If it’s raining at that time, I’ll wait for a break in the weather and try it later in the day. If we get rained out all day, we’ll try it again at the first opportunity of clear weather.

• Lockdown Drill, Code Blue/Code Red Wednesday at 10:15 – As mentioned above, I want to take time to practice the Code Blue and Code Red Lockdown drills. The procedures are in your staff handbook, but they are also linked here for your convince. At 10:15 on Wednesday, I will get on the PA to make a brief announcement about the drill. Right after we will conduct the Code Blue Drill. Soon after that we will move into a Code Red – Lockdown Drill. Please review the attached documents and also the rainbow colored Emergency Procedures Manual that should be posted in all classrooms. Please let me know if you have any questions.

• January 7th PD Day – Caring for Kids Training, 8:30-11:30 at Chavez – I shared this a few weeks ago, but as a reminder, on the January 7th professional development day, following winter break, there will be a training for all Caring for Kids pilot school teachers. The training will be in the Chavez Library and will run from 8:30-11:30. 8:00-8:30 will be coffee & chat & catch-up time. I haven’t received any information about what you should bring, but I’m assuming they will want us to bring the curriculum to the training. Classified staff, you are welcome to attend but not required. If you are not attending the meeting, connect with your primary cooperating teacher about what you can be helping with during this time. Certified staff, remember that 2 hours of this day is furloughed, so be sure to end your day 2 hours early than your normal 8 hour day or the equivalent amount for part-time certified staff. Please et me know if you have any questions.

• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for this week:

Dec. 17 (M)
9:00, Fire Drill
2:00-3:30, Allan and Melissa to Principal and Title 1 Coordinator’s Meeting (Ed Center)
3:45-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

Dec. 18 (T)
10:00-11:00, Allan to Common Schedule Meeting (Ed Center)
11:55-12:55, Allan conducting teacher observation
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting canceled to give staff time to complete SafeSchools required trainings
4:00-5:00, Allan to NEOGOV (EdZapp’s replacement) Training (Ed Center)
5:30-6:00, Parent Laptop Training (Room 6)
Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser for Maria’s Family (Coburg Road Location)

Dec. 19 (W)
10:15, Code Blue and Code Red Lockdown Drill
2:15, Staff Holiday Party/Luncheon at McMenamins North Bank!

Dec. 20 (H)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Superintendent’s Cabinet Meeting. Melissa to cover. (Ed Center)
2:15-4:30, Librarian Interviews (Staff Room)

Dec. 21 (F)
11:00-12:30, Birthday Lunches with Mr. Chinn

This will likely be a challenging week, but lets make it a good one for our school community and then take time to rejuvenate ourselves over winter break. Thank you all for everything you do!

Allan