Allan's Announcements

By Allan 　http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=9668

Howdy Roadrunners,

You may have lost an hour this weekend, but this will cheer you up. There’s only two weeks until spring break!

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• 2020-2021 Staffing Updates – We have tentatively received an additional 1.5 licensed FTE from SIA (Student Investment Act, formerly SSA) funds. This is tentative pending final board approval and then approval by the state, but downtown is comfortable sharing these draft allocations. Principals will submit two staffing plans. One with SIA staffing and one without. I shared last week this FTE can be used for:

• Facilitating teacher for a “walk to read” model for grades 1 & 2

• Class size reduction for a single grade (grades 1 or 2)

• Class size reduction with blended grades(1/2 blend)

• Limited use for reading intervention

I shared with EA Supervisors and Licensed Specialists on Friday the two plans that incorporate this 1.5 FTE, adding a class at 1st grade and adding 0.5 FTE to 2nd grade for walk to read. The difference between the two plans is 3rd or 5th grade getting the fourth classroom.

SIA PLAN 1: Four classes at 1st, 4th, 5th
K – 25, 25, 25
1 – 19, 20, 20, 20 (SIA 1.0 FTE)
2 – 21, 22, 22, 0.5 facilitating (0.5 SIA FTE)
3 – 26, 26, 27
4 – 21, 21, 21, 22
5 – 20, 20, 20, 21

SIA PLAN 2: Four classes at 1st, 3rd, 4th
K – 25, 25, 25
1 – 19, 20, 20, 20 (SIA 1.0 FTE)
2 – 21, 22, 22, 0.5 facilitating (0.5 SIA FTE)
3 – 19, 20, 20, 20
4 – 21, 21, 21, 22
5 – 27, 27, 27

This brings our total classroom count to what we have this school year, with 21 full-time gen ed classrooms. I’ll continue meeting with grade levels this week for input on these plans, but also feel free to email or talk in person with me if you’d like to share you thoughts on these or other potential scenarios for next school year.

Outside of classroom staff, we’re still waiting on ESSA, ESC, and the Student Behavior Support Coordinator allocations, which leaves our classified and non-classroom licensed positions a bit up in the air. I will update staff on this as soon as I get more information.

• 4J Coronavirus FAQs and NASP Talking to Kids about COVID-19 – Principals and secretaries were sent the linked Coronavirus COVID-19 Talking Points for when we encounter questions from families and I thought all staff might find this useful if you have anyone ask you about this. Should students want to discuss Coronavirus, linked here is a document from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) on Talking to Children About COVID-19, though the short version is to:

• Remain calm and reassuring
• Make yourself available
• Avoid excessive blaming
• Maintain a normal routine to the extent possible
• Be honest and accurate
• Know the symptoms of COVID-19
• Review and model basic hygiene
• Discuss new rules or practices at school

 

 

• REPEAT: March PTO Meeting, TUESDAY – This Tuesday at 6:00 in the Community Room is the March PTO meeting if any staff are able to attend.

• REPEAT: Literacy Night, Thursday – See last week’s announcements for details on Literacy Night. The schedule wasn’t on the flyer, so teachers should let students know the schedule for the evening:

5:30-6:00: FREE Pizza & Cookies (Cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Book Fair Open

Talk Literacy Night up to your students and get them pumped to attend!

• REPEAT: Literacy Night Staff Dinner – We’ll have a variety of pizzas and salads from Mezza Luna and also drinks for any staff working this evening.

• REPEAT: Classified Staff Help at Literacy Night – We could still use some more help on Literacy Night, 5:00-6:30ish. We can use help with setting up drinks, serving pizza, and then with clean-up. Trade time is available, which could be used the next day on Friday’s PD Day. Let me or Corianne know if any of you are available to help!

• CORRECTION: FRIDAY PD Day Info – Oops! I had the locations flipped for K-2/Music/PE and 3-5/SPED/Title, but the correct locations are on the schedule below. See the March 13 PD Email for details, but the short version is:

8:00-10:30: Licensed Tech PD
Grades K-2/Music/PE(Holt)
Grades 3-5/SPED/Title(Gilham)
8:00-10:30: Classified PD (Chavez & ATA)
10:30-1:30: Travel time, lunch, prep time
1:30-4:00: Behavior Framework (Howard Cafeteria)

Linked here is a complete list of the K-12 PD Sessions for March 13, 2020. Classified need to register for trainings on TalentEd Develop (TED). Linked here are the TED Registration Directions.

My preference for part-time staff, both licensed and classified, would be for you to come to the afternoon training here at Howard if you can adjust your hours, but part-time staff can decide.

• Fun Friday! – Book Character Day, 3/20 – Not this week, but the last day before spring break is the March Fun Friday and it’s Book Character Day! Who will you dress as? Hermione Granger, Waldo, Katniss, Arthur, that mouse with the cookie, Khaleesi, Ignatius J. Reilly, Hester Prynne, or maybe just stick a Dr. Seuss Wocket in your pocket and call it good. Sooooo many fun choices! There’s a lot of great ideas here and here. I’ll dress like McMurphy if anyone wants to dress like Nurse Ratched! That or maybe we can get a group to go as Alex and his Droogs. I’m sure the kids would love it. ;)

• Roadrunner Awards Assembly, 3/20 – Not this week, but next week is the March Roadrunner Awards Assembly. The planned mid-show entertainment will be a Siegfried & Roy-like magic performance by Matt and myself if we can pull it off. See the linked Roadrunner Awards Assembly Map for details and teachers should get your awards to me to sign by the end of the week.

• 2020 ACE Award Nominations – It’sACE Awards& season! Howard has exceptional staff and volunteers 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 five categories: teachers and licensed specialists, administrators and supervisors, classified staff, volunteers, and a special lifetime achievement award. 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 let me know if staff want to coordinate anything. Linked here is the ACE Awards Email and the ACE Awards Nomination Google Form. One thought for the volunteer category would be to nominate Bruce “The Gardner” Campbell. Feel free to join me in nominating Bruce, but we can start a campaign to nominate others Howard folks as well!

• EEF Grant Proposals Due to Allan, April 27 – EEF Grant Applications are now open and grants need to be given to me by April 27th for Site Council to rank order our grant submissions. I don’t need the grant completely written out, but if you can give me a title and general idea of the grant, that’s enough for us to rank order them. The date to submit the completed grants is May 8th. Linked here is the EEF Email Sent to Principals, the 2020-2021 Grant Application Website, and here is the 2020-2021 EEF Grant Application. We can submit up to five grants in any amount up to $5,000 per application. EEF has modified their EEF guiding principles for grant funding to:

– EEF supports educational enrichment programs throughout 4J.
– EEF aligns its resources to help schools achieve their goals.
– EEF supports district-wide strategic initiatives.
– EEF values equity in educational programming and opportunities.
– EEF rewards exceptional and innovative ideas.

Additionally, EEF prioritizes requests that support educational enrichment, equity and/or access programs, and that impact the largest number of students possible. They are focused on the areas of:

• Literacy
• Arts
• STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, & Math)
• Career/Technical Education (CTE)

Let me know if you have any questions, want to bounce ideas off of someone, or would like help writing a grant.

• May/June Artist in Residence Schedule – Linked here is the Spring Artist in Residence Schedule, May 4 – June 5, for Bugs, Bones, & Botany: Exploring the Natural World Through Arts with artist Jess Graff. Mellissa cleaned up my previous draft schedule so it doesn’t interfere with OSAS testing, assemblies, and known field trips, but let us know if you spot any potential conflicts.

• Brevity is key to writing an effective email – Keeping your message brief and to the point is proper etiquette when writing an email. See this Forge Article for some other pointers for writing an email that others will want to read. (FYI – The irony of me sharing this in my long weekly announcements is not lost upon me, but hopefully the bolded headings make this a faster read for people when deciding which items apply to you.)

• Love Them First: Lessons From Lucy Laney Elementary – I haven’t watched the entire video yet, but what I saw was pretty great if you didn’t catch this in the latest 4J Office of Equity Update. You will be hooked in after the first few seconds – … leading with your heart, building relationships, holding students to high expectations but starting with “loving them first.”

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

March 9 (M)
PTO Read-A-Thon Continues
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Development, Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Development, Cortez & Carpenter (STEAM Room)
11:55-12:15, Allan & 4th Team – Staffing Input (Upstairs Green Wing)
2:45-3:05, Allan & 2nd Team – Staffing Input (Ashley’s Room, RM25)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 3rd Team – Staffing Input (Allison’s Room, RM20)

March 10 (T)
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:00-10:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Development, Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Development, Cortez & Carpenter (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, RM26)
2:45-3:45, Allan to IEP Meeting (Allison’s Room, RM20)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)

March 11 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Development, Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
10:00-10:30, Allan Covering a Classroom
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Development, Cortez & Carpenter (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:05, Allan & KG Team – Staffing Input (Robin’s Room, RM3)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 1st Team – Staffing Input (Jasmine’s Room, RM11)

March 12 (H)
Newsletter Articles Due
8:00-5:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
8:10-8:55, BSU Meeting (STEAM Room)
9:00, February Monthly Book Winners (Conference Room)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 5th Team – Staffing Input (Suzy’s Room, RM9)
5:00-5:30, Staff Literacy Night Dinner (Staff Room)
5:30-8:00, Literacy Night

5:30-6:00: Free Pizza & Cookies (Cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Book Fair Reopen

7:00-8:00, Community Forums: Student Success Act Proposed Plan (River Road)

March 13 (F)
No School – Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00-10:30, Licensed Tech PD
Grades K-2/Music/PE(Holt)
Grades 3-5/SPED/Title(Gilham)
8:00-10:30, Classified PD (Chavez & ATA)
10:30-1:30, Travel time, lunch, prep time
1:30-4:00, Behavior Framework (Howard Cafeteria)

March 14 (SA)
9:00-12:00, OBOB Regional Battles (North Eugene High School)

March 16 (M)
PTO Read-A-Thon Continues
8:15, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Conference Room)
9:00-11:15, Lawson to Museum of Natural and Cultural History

March 17 (T)
St Patrick’s Day
9:00-11:15, Niccum to Museum of Natural and Cultural History
2:45-3:30, PBIS Meeting (R&R Room, RM21)

March 18 (W)
9:00-11:15, Charpie to Museum of Natural and Cultural History
2:30-3:25, Ukulele Ensemble Performance (Lone Oak Assisted Living)

March 19 (H)
8:50-2:10, Kreider to Museum of Natural and Cultural History
2:45-3:30, TLT Meeting/Tech Training (Angela’s Room, RM24)

March 20 (F)
Fun Friday! – Book Character Day
Popcorn Friday!
8:15-8:45, K-5 Roadrunner Assembly & Tail Feather Reward (Gym)
10:30-12:45, Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – PLC (Library)

March 21 – 29
Spring Break

March 30 (M)
Classes Resume
EEF Grants Due to Allan
Cafeteria Waste System Training (Composting) Begins

We can do this! Spring break is almost here!

Allan