January 28, 2019

By Allan  

Hi Roadrunners,

Wow! We had a massive turnout for our PTO Harry Potter Family Night! We’d planned on around 200 kids attending, but we had way more than that and Ollivander’s ran out of custom wands in about the first 15 minutes. The PTO told folks they will post directions for all of the craftiviites and recipes for the potions and butter beer. And a big thank you to all the Howard staff who also turned out for the event. It’s was an awesome way to end the week.

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Life Skills Staffing Update – SSD added an EA to our Life Skills program and we have hired Kristina Meister, who started partway though last week. You may have already seen Kristi around the building this year, subbing regularly in Life Skills and the CLC, but also in the kinder wing where her daughter attends in Katrina’s class. Kristi is a former CLC EA who I worked with when I was principal at Corridor/YG, but she took time off to be a mom and is now ready to get back into the game. Kristi also holds a degree in special education. Please welcome Kristi to the Rockin’ Howard Team!

• Report Card Grading Day, Licensed Staff – For licensed staff, Friday’s report card grading day is a regular work day. HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.

• Friday Early Release Compensation – Related to the above, something I shared in an earlier announcement, but thought I’d repeat, is that to make up for teachers’ missed hour of prep this Friday the Early Release PD on Friday, February 15th is cancelled.

• REPEAT: Report Card Comments & Deadlines – Speaking of report cards, don’t forget about the resources on the 4J Elementary Report Card Website, including the Report Card Bridge Document shared at Math PLCs, as well as guidelines on individual student comments. Also remember that all of 4J is sending report cards home a week from Friday on February 8th. If you need comments translated, the deadline to get comments to Elizabeth is Monday, Feb. 4th.

• UPDATE: EA Extravaganza Friday, February 1 – This Friday is the Elementary EA Extravaganza. See the linked Extravaganza Email and Registration Directions for details. Session offerings are listed when you follow the TalentEd Registration Link. Let me know if you have any questions.

• 2019-2020 Staff Survey, Due Feb. 15th– Principals will receive staffing allocation for next school year on Tuesday, February 19th, so to help me in planning potential staffing scenarios for next year, I’d like staff to complete the linked 2019-20202 Google Form Staff Survey or on the linked Word File. I’d like to know staff members’ individual plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan and master schedule. Please complete the survey by Friday, February 15th. All answers will be kept confidential and please let me know if you have any questions.

• Don’t forget about Level IIs – At last week’s PBIS Meeting when looking at SWIS data we noticed that since winter break, only five Level II have been written. Referrals are down in general this month (Yeah!), but we wanted to remind staff to not to forget about using Level IIs, which can be a good way to address repeated low level behaviors by both reteaching and contacting families.

• Major/Minor Behavior Matrix – Related to the above, linked here is the 4J Elementary Behavior Matrix, which includes a handy grid on pages three and four with guidelines on when we should respond to misbehavior with a Redirect/Reteach (Uh-Oh/Level 1), a Minor Referral (Level 2), or a Major Referral (Level 3). For example, for Disrespect/Noncompliance, a Level 1 is appropriate for passive refusal to participate, with very slow response to request, a Level 2 is appropriate for ignoring a reasonable request with a prolonged refusal to participate, and a Level 3 would be appropriate for repeated refusal that leads to substantial and ongoing disruption. And as we all know, the referral forms mean nothing and it’s all in our reteaching, reinforcing, and consistency that helps to improve student behavior.

• Political Activity & Use of District Equipment and Time – HR asked principals to remind staff that district policy prohibits employees from using district time and resources (including email, photocopiers, computers, network, etc.) for political purposes. This prohibition is broad and encompasses not only the advocacy for specific initiatives, but also advocacy for political action during work time. District materials and equipment will only be used for school purposes. See the linked email for details.

• REPEAT: School Choice Visitation Week & Info – This week is School Choice Visitation Week #2, so be ready to see families coming through the building and into classrooms this week. I’ll also hold a school choice evening presentations and tour on Tuesday, 6:00-7:00 for families who can’t come to one of the daytime tours. Let me know if any staff are interested/willing in helping me talk about our awesome school. I’ll buy you a drink from Espresso ETC!

• Teaching Tolerance with Literature Workshop – Short notice on this, but the linked flyer for detail about the Teaching Tolerance with Literature Workshop presented by the Lane County Literacy Council (formerly Emerald Empire Reading Council) for educators K – 8. Classroom activities as well as bibliographies will be shared. The workshop will be Monday, January 28 at 4:15-5:45 at McCornack Elementary School. 1.5 PDUs will be earned by participants. Cost is free to LCLC members and $5.00 for non-council members. Snacks will be provided.

• Why Every Classroom Needs Jigsaw Puzzles – I loved seeing this recent WeAreTeachers Article because I always had a jigsaw puzzle out in my classroom. I put mine on a giant tray, so I could easily move it off the kidney table, and I’ll gift my old tray to the first teacher who asks for it. Jigsaw puzzles offer benefits for all ages, and teachers can use them in a variety of ways, some of which may surprise you.

• Making Connections With Greetings at the Door – Research shows that greeting students as they come into class bolsters a feeling of belonging and readiness to learn. See the Edutopia video below for details.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the year:

January 28 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week #2
Artist in Residence – Nicole Hummel – Functional Pottery Continues
2:40-3:30, Site Council (Conference Room)

January 29 (T)
9:45-10:45, School Choice Tour
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Erin’s Room, RM22)
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation & Tour (Library)

January 30 (W)
8:30-12:15, Data Team Meetings (Conference Room)

1st – 8:30-9:30
2nd – 10:00-11:00
5th – 11:15-12:15

3:30-5:00, Allan to ESSA Meeting (Ed Center)

January 31 (H)
8:00-11:20, Data Team Meetings (Conference Room)

8:00-9:00 – 4th
9:10-10:10 – KG
10:30-11:20 – 3rd

2:45-3:30, TLT Meeting (Angela’s Room, RM24)
7:00, BEST Strings Concert (Kelly MS)

February 1 (F)
No School – Grading Day
PBIS Monthly Theme – Cooperation
7:45-3:00, EA Extravaganza

February 4 (M)
National School Counseling Week
Artist in Residence – Nicole Hummel – Functional Pottery Continues
Report Card Comment Translations Due to Elizabeth

February 5 (T)
8:00-11:30, Allan to TalentEd Committee Meeting, Travis Sheaffer subbing (Cal Young)

February 6 (W)
2:30-4:30, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Committee Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Administrator Meeting (NEHS)

February 7 (H)
8:10-8:40, 3rd Grade Delgani String Quartet Assembly (Gym)
10:00-11:30, School Garden Project Work Party (Howard Garden)
5:30-7:00, Early Childhood Open House (Cafeteria & SPED Classrooms)

February 8 (F)
Report Cards Sent Home
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
1:25, EA Supervisors Meeting (Title 1 Room, RM26)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – Math PLC (Library)
2:30-3:30, Licensed Interventionists (Title & SPED) PLC – Virtual Meeting

If you missed it last week, Howard’s BEST Program was in the newspaper, where a number of students received free bikes. See the linked article and excellent pictures below of some faces I’m sure you’ll recognize.

Allan