April 27, 2015

By Allan  

Ms.Frizzle

Hello Everyone,

Fourteen items of note this week:

• Staffing and Job EXPO Updates – At last week’s third and final round of the Job EXPO I hired Natalie Niccum, mother of Howard students Esten and Parker, for our third full-time kindergarten teaching position. Natalie is currently teaching 2nd grade at Edison, but before that she taught primary grades at ATA for a number of years, including kindergarten. Like the other folks we hired, Howard was the ONLY school that Natalie applied for, so it’s always nice to know that people are wanting to come here! This leaves our our half-time 5th grade facilitating position as the only one left to fill.

• 5th Grade PE/Music Performance Assembly, Tuesday at 1:10-1:40 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be a performance by Howard 5ht graders that’s been in the works thanks for Mr. Adee and Ms. Rachel! See the attached assembly map for logistical details.

• PRIDE Awards Wednesday, April 29th – This Wednesday is the April PRIDE Awards. PRIDE certificates and invitations to families are located in the office. When you turn in your PRIDE nominations, be sure that you let Lori know who and why each student is being recognized so she can put their name up on the board. And know that it is okay at this point in the year if you only have a a couple award recipients. :)

• Curriculum Library Discard Timeline, May 1st – A repeat from last week, the Curriculum Library (out in the portable) will become an instructional space next year, so remember that this Friday will be the last day to scavenge what you’d like to keep from out there. Anything left after the May 1st PD/Planning day will be boxed up and shipped downtown for discard. I will save math manipulative for our soon to be added classrooms, so those teachers will have some materials, but most of the old curriculum materials are just collecting dust and are not at all current.

• Building Leadership Opportunities – Another repeat form last week, please following the link to the 2015-2016 Leadership/Building Rep. Positions to sign up for a leadership or rep position. All position will be considered vacant and anyone can sign up for one. Once leadership positions are settled, we will begin the process for developing our building Leadership Plan.

• Journeys Materials Inventory – Lupe asked for an inventory of what we were supposed to have received for our HM Journeys upgrade and Marlee send us the following order form from the original proposal, which breaks out what should be in each grade level, including what is in each “package.”

• Updated Artist in Residence Schedule – I had some suggested revisions to the Artist in Residence schedule which I’ve mashed up into the schedule below. I’ve flip flopped the 2/3 and 4/5 weeks to avoid some conflicts (field day, play and field trips) and also changed a few of the times to address early release and recesses. Early release on Wednesdays are an issue for Linda and Suzy, but I’ll have Linda’s class skip Wednesday and go one more day May 22rd, which would make Suzy’s class’ first day be May 23rd and go two days longer than the 4/5s. Samuel would teach five classes June 1st & 2nd and Suzy’s final session two sessions would be a bit shorter since Samuel is coming straight from Erin’s class those days. Let me know if you see anything that needs to be changed and we can finalize the schedule during the business portion of Friday’s PD time. It’s not a perfect schedule, but I think it’s the best we can do to work around all of our end of the year activities.

Monday, May 18th to Thursday, May 21st

• 8:00-8:45 Silver (KG)
• 8:55-9:40 Seno (KG)
• 10:10-11:10 Swift (1st grade)
• 11:50-12:50 Corliss (1st grade)
• 1:05-2:05 Kirk (1st grade) – May 18, 19, 21, 22

Friday, May 22nd to Thursday, May 28th (Memorial Day, 5/25)

• 8:00-9:00 Callihan (5th grade)
• 9:15-10-:15 Groshong (4th grade)
• 10:40-11:40 Frank (4th grade)
• 12:55-1:55 Rock (5th grade) – May 26, 28, June 1, 2

FIRDAY, MAY 29TH, NO SCHOOL, PD/PLANNING DAY

Monday, June 1st to Thursday, June 4th

• 8:00-9:00 Kreider (3rd grade)
• 9:10-10:10 Zimmerman (3rd grade)
• 10:30-11:30 Larsen (2nd grade)
• 12:10-1:10 Gaston (2nd grade)

FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH, NO SCHOOL, GRADING DAY

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant – As you heard on the morning announcements last Thursday, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program is ending for the year. The grant funds for the program ran out earlier this year and additional grant funds from Nutrition Services were brought in to take us through the end of the year, but those funds too have run out. The main reason this was a problem is that we were 40+ students over our enrollment projection, which is what the grant budgeted for.

• Construction Updates – Attached are the minutes from the last Owner/Architect/General Contractor (OAC) Meeting and here are the highlights:

• Access Plan Submitted to City – Facilities is submitting the access plan I shared last week to the city for a temporary occupancy permit for moving into the new building over spring break next year. This is likely going to be a major factor in whether we move in over the break or wait until Fall 2016.

• Clock Update – Facilities and the Technology Departments are still working on what’s wrong with our clocks. There have been lot of theories and they are still trying to figure it out, but they are leaning towards it being an issue with the clock mechanics, in which case they will replace our clocks. I’ll keep you posted on this.

• Downtown Admin Updates – Interim Directors for HR and Finance have been announced. HR Director, Sarah Brown’s last day was last Friday and Howard parent Cydney Vandercar will be serving as the Interim Director of Human Resources. Cydney has over 22 years serving in 4J, as both a teacher and as an administrator. Simone Sangster also had her last day this past week and Andrea Belz will be serving as the Interim Chief Financial Officer/Director of Support Services. Andrea has been Associate Director of Financial Services since September of 2013.

• Risk Management Bulletin – If you’re interested, attached is the April Risk Bulletin that was sent to principals. Highlights include Safety Smarties, Form reminders, Work Comp trends and Free Trainings.

• Learning to Be “Good” – Can kindness be taught? If so, whose job is it to teach it? Read what scientists and educators have to say in this Teaching Tolerance post. Grant advocates an approach for dealing with uncaring behavior by express disappointment in the action rather than the person, explaining why the action was wrong and how it affected others.

• 6 ways to help students with ADHD succeed on writing assignments – Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often struggle with writing tasks, academic writing instructor Tracy Collins writes in this blog post. She outlines six common problems these students face during essay writing assignments and suggests ways to help students overcome them.

• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

April 27 (M)
Smarter Balanced Testing Continues (No Groups)
7:55-8:40, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 6)
8:45-9:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 20)
10:25-11:10, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 7)
11:55-12:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 2)
12:30-1:15, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 13)
1:15-2:00, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 14)
2:30-3:30, Site Council Meeting (Staff Room)
3:30-5:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

April 28 (T)
7:55-8:40, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 6)
8:45-9:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 20)
10:25-11:10, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 7)
11:55-12:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 2)
12:30-1:15, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 13)
1:15-2:00, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 14)
1:10-1:40, 5th Grade PE/Music Performance – Assembly (Gym)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Library)
5:00-6:00, ACE Awards Reception (Hult Center Lobby)
6:00-7:00, ACE Awards Ceremony – Ticketed Event (Hult Center, Silva Concert Hall)

April 29 (W)
Fluoride Varnish
9:00-11:00, Allan to Construction Progress Meeting (Construction Trailer)
7:55-8:40, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 6)
8:45-9:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 20)
10:25-11:10, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 7)
11:55-12:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 2)
12:30-1:15, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 13)
1:15-2:00, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 14)
10:55-12:30, PRIDE Awards at Lunch (Cafeteria)
3:45-5:15, Allan and KG Teachers to Full-Day KG Implementation Meeting (Ed Center)
6:00-7:00, 5th Grade PE/Music Performance (Gym)

April 30 (H)
7:55-5:30, 2nd Grade to Oregon Zoo
7:55-8:40, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 6)
8:45-9:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 20)
10:25-11:10, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 7)
11:55-12:30, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 2)
12:30-1:15, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 13)
1:15-2:00, ACTion Lab Classroom Presentation (Room 14)
2:30-4:00, Specialist Furniture Meeting (Library)
2:30-3:30, PBIS Meeting (Room 21)
5:30-7:00, Family Engineering Night

May 1 (F)
No School – PD Planning Day
8:00-12:30, Professional Development (Library)
12:30-4:00, Planning Time

May 4 (M)
Teacher Appreciation Week
Smarter Balanced Testing Continues (No Groups)
Reading Progress Monitoring Week 13
10:45-12:00, Human Growth and Development (5th Grade)
2:00-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)

May 5 (T)
10:45-12:00, Human Growth and Development (5th Grade)
2:15-3:30, Allan to BSP Meeting (Room 9)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Room 7)

May 6 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Hawaii Day
Library Last Week of Checkout Begins
Oregon Substitute Teacher Day
8:00-12:00, Allan & Robin to Title 1 Coordinators/Principal/ESC Work Session (Ed Center)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Construction Progress Meeting (Construction Trailer)
10:45-12:00, Human Growth and Development (5th Grade)
1:00-3:00, Allan to Educator Effectiveness – Summative Evaluation Meeting (NEHS)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

May 8 (H)
2:30-4:00, Design Team Meeting (Library)

May 8 (F)
7:30-6:00, 5th Grade Field Trip to OMSI
8:00-2:00, 4th Grade/Life Skills Field Trip to UO

Have a nice four-day week, everyone!

Allan

 

And if you missed the KVAL news story last Thursday of Shelly’s kindergartners visiting the construction site, here’s the video! They actually let us go up on the second floor if teachers want to take their class on a tour (or if staff want to maybe go out on Friday).