http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=9977
Hey Friends,
Hope you enjoyed you three-day weekend.
Twenty-six items of note for this week as well as notes from last Thursday’s Staff Meeting:
• 2020-2021 Staffing Updates – I shared last week that our two 4th grade and one kindergarten positions are still vacant. HR is planning to fill these with teachers from their Early Hire Pool. Interviews will be held this week with all elementary candidates and principals, which will be facilitated by K-8 Directors. Principals will discuss our preferred candidates and candidates will share their preferred positions with HR, who will make the final placements.
• Building Closed for the Year – With classrooms now closed down, staff are strongly encourage to not work in the building until the fall. However, if you do need to work in the building, email or text me and continue to sign-in at the office. I recently learned the sign-in sheets are 4Js way of contact tracing if someone were to come down with COVID-19, so we’d know who all was in the building on which day and which times.
• 2020-2021 Master Calendar – The building calendar for next school year is posted on the Howard Staff Google Calendar. I build the calendar as if we’re back in the building like normal, but if that change, we will make adjustments later (i.e. cancel Meet Your Teacher, Open House, etc.). Meeting dates are pretty much the same as in the past and I ran these dates past Site Council reps and a few other folks. Highlights include:
• Staff Meetings – Generally the third Tuesday of each month.
• IPBS – Generally second and fourth Tuesday of each month.
• PBIS – Generally first Tuesday of each month.
• TLT – Generally fourth Thursday of each month.
• Site Council – Fourth Monday of September, April, and May.
• Monthly Book Winners – Generally first Thursday of each month.
• Student Care Team – Generally fourth Wednesday of each month.
• EA Supervisor Meetings – Generally first Friday of each Month.
• Meet Your Teacher – Tuesday, 9/8
• Open House/Curriculum Night – Thursday, 10/8 (the evening before State Inservice Day)
• Conferences – Wednesday, Oct. 28 4:00PM-8:00PM, Thursday, Oct. 29 8:00AM-8:00PM, Friday, Oct. 30 No School – Teacher Comp Day
• Literacy Night – Thursday, 3/18 (the evening before a Friday 4J PD Day)• Master Schedule Updates – We’re moving forward with the schedule as if we’ll be back to school like normal in the fall. Even if we were to end up with A/B days and only see half of a class every other day, the master schedule would still work, though we’d likely have to modify the PE/Music schedule. We’ve finished the Title 1 and supervision schedule (20 min. Lunch and 20 min. recesses) and are finishing up the SPED schedule. From there we will then begin working on the rest of the schedule. I’ll plan to share a draft once it’s ready, but if there are folks who want to help work on a draft, let me know and we can connect.
• 2020-2021 Leadership/Building Rep. Positions – Each year all leadership positions are considered vacant and anyone can sign up for one, with the exception of CTL positions, which downtown generally likes to keep consistent. The current list of leadership/rep positions are; Equity, Garden, IPBS, PBIS, Site Council (two classified and two licensed), Social Committee, and TLT. If you would like to sign up for a leadership or rep position, follow this link to the 2020-2021 Leadership/Building Rep. Positions Google Sheet. If we have multiple candidates, we’ll do an email vote for those positions. I also added rows at the bottom if anyone wants to lead a new position.
• Classified End-of-Year Evals – I’ve started working on these in TalentEd. Normally I come to you in person for a signature, but this year they are online and we’re also we’re not in the building, so if you have questions about your eval, please call, text, or email. Do know that when I do the scoring, I mostly rate staff in “Area for Growth” or “Effective” and reserve “Exemplary” for any standout areas. I usually tell staff, both licensed and classified, if you’re rated Exemplary in an area, it means you should be teaching other staff around the school district in that area. Area for Growth or Effective are fine, but I didn’t want people to think I had job performance concerns when you see fewer Exemplarys marked on the evaluation than you may have put down on your self evaluations.
• Licensed End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection? – In normal times I’m reminding teachers to complete their goal reflection, which all licensed staff, even teachers not on the observation cycle this year, complete in TalentEd. HR has not given direction whether teachers are still expected to complete this task. ODE is not requiring summative evaluations for teachers this year, but 4J has not decided if they are requiring them or not. Without spring assessment data, I’m not sure how goals would be measured, though I suppose teachers could reflect on how they were doing working towards their goals, even if the don’t have the data. I’d advise not doing anything at this point, but wanted to put this on people’s radar.
• 2020-2021 School Map – Linked here is my current thinking for 2020-2021 Room Assignments. Most folks are staying put, but we have one fewer classroom than this school year, so ELL and LC will no longer have to share a space with Title 1 (RM30). Other than that, everyone is who is staying at Howard is staying in their current classroom. However, with the potential closure of Corridor, this all may change if we end up adding more classrooms.
• Class Lists – Downtown has not provided guidance on this yet or the June 5th Transition Day, but I’m going rogue and am saying it’s okay for grade levels to work on class lists if you’d like. I’ve connected with Mellissa and grade levels may do this at your final weekly Data Team Meetings. Like last year, I’ve create Google Sheets (view only link) for grade level teachers to add students and once those are filled out other staff can give input regarding combinations or other potential issues.
• Supply Lists – Classroom teachers, please connect with you 2020-2021 teams to decide on your supply list and email any updates to Lori by the end of the school year. For your reference, linked here is the 2019-2020 Supply List.
• Report Cards – Brooke emailed teachers a link to the Spring 2020 Reporting Guidance on what people will do for report cards this year.
• Meal Distribution Update for June 5 & Summer – Meals will be serving on June 5, the Elementary Transition Day. June 12 and beyond, Nutrition Services staff will take over passing out meal out front that Howard Staff have currently done. We will not be delivering any food after this date, though Nutrition Services is working with 4J Natives Program and the Wraparound Team to determine how to support families who cannot access the meal sites.
• Summer School Likely Not Happening – At Friday’s All Admin meeting, it sounded like summer school most likely will not happen. The distancing guidelines for busing seem unfeasible.
• Optional Staff Meeting, Thursday @12:30 – Our weekly Optional Staff Meeting is this Thursday at 12:30. On my email and on a forthcoming Zimbra calendar invite, but not on my blog, are the Zoom Meeting Invite links.
• Attendance and Truancy – The truancy officer is available to go out to check on students who have been referred for truancy this year and who are currently not engaged in distant learning despite multiple attempts to connect and staff have specific concerns for the students physical and/or emotional well being. This service is expected to be used sparingly. The reason for offering it is that there are some students that do not have a connection at the school and the truancy officer, may have a relationship with the student or parent. If you have any students in this situation you have concerns about, please let me know.
• Summer Reading Staff Picks! – Since summer is almost here, it’s time for me to put together my annual end-of-the-school-year Summer Reading Staff Picks! Email me or text me what your summer reading list looks like and I’ll post everyone’s picks in my final weekly announcements of the year. I love hearing what other are planning to read and have found some good books in the past. My picks so far include The Living Dead, an unfinished novel by George A. Romero (the man who invented the “rules” for zombies with Night of the Living Dead) finished by Daniel Kraus, who wrote Oscar Best Picture winner The Shape of Water. I can’t wait for this book to be released! If you want some ideas, here’s Bill Gates Summer Book Picks, but let me know your books!
• PBIS Focus: Celebrating Your Success – The June PBIS monthly focus is Celebrating Your Success, so remember the PBIS/CFK Cheat Sheet, which matches our monthly themes with Caring School Community class meeting lessons. It’s an easy way to tie the two activities together.
• REPEAT: May Birthday Lunches With the Principal FRIDAY – Friday at 12:00 will be the virtual May Birthday Lunches with the Principal. In my email, but not on my blog, are the Zoom links and a short blurb for teachers to send to families. Also in my email and not on my blog are a list of the May birthdays. Feel free to drop in as a Special Guest!
May Birthday Lunches with the Principal
Each month, Mr. Chinn celebrates student birthdays with Birthday Lunches with the Principal. Students with birthdays in May are invited to join Mr. Chinn for a Zoom birthday lunch celebration on Friday, May 29th, 12:00-12:15. Enjoy some corny jokes, magic tricks, and special guests!
• Last Week of School Optional Lesson Plans – Day-by-day lesson plans will not be created for the final week of school. Instead, the SDS team will compile a few optional activities you could use that week as you wrap-up. These activities will focus on SEL, student choice, and class community.
• North Eugene High School Design Update and Feedback – If you’re interested, linked here are some NEHS Design Mockups that were shared at last week’s school board meeting and linked here is a North Region Parent Email and Survey that went out to families.
• ODE Input for 2020-2021 Schools Year – If you’d like to have some say on ODE guidelines and expectations for next school year, go to the linked ODE School Year 2020-21 Input Survey.
• 4J Wraparound Update Newsletter – Click the link if you’d like to see the current 4J Wraparound Update Newsletter.
• SSD Newsletter – If you’re interested, linked here is the latest Student Service Newsletter #7.
• District Admin Updates – Eric Anderson has been appointed to the Curriculum Director position previously held by Sue Wilson. Eric has served as an elementary, middle and high school principal. He and I also went to “principal school” together with several other administrators around 4J, so I’ll vouch for him that he’s a good guy. Positions yet to be filled are the Holt principal, the Equity, Instruction & Partnership administrator, and a North AP, but downtown has put a hold on admin hires and placements until the future of Corridor is decided.
• How to bring back the Mac chime – Tech nerd stuff here, but I was pretty excited when I learned on BoingBoing how to turn on the old school Mac chime – the epic C Major chord that plays when you boot an old Mac – on in newer models. Here’s the terminal command, courtesy of Mr. Macintosh:
sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
And to turn it off again:
sudo nvram StartupMute=%01
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
May 25 (M)
Memorial Day – No SchoolMay 26 (T)
11:00-12:00, Free MealsMay 27 (W)
10:00-11:00, Allan to Oregon Open Learning Hub Webinar
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
11:00-12:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser
1:00-1:30, Kindergarten & Interventionist Meeting
1:45-2:15, 1st Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:30-3:00, 2nd Grade & Interventionist MeetingMay 28 (H)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
12:30-1:00, Optional Howard Check-In Meeting
1:00-1:30, 3rd Grade & Interventionist Meeting
1:45-2:15, 4th Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:30-3:00, 5th Grade & Interventionist MeetingMay 29 (F)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:00-12:15, May Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Zoom!)
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendanceJune 1 (M)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Celebrating Your Success
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V FamiliesJune 2 (T)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
11:00-12:00, Kelly MS 6th Grade Parent/Student Orientation Zoom
1:00-5:00, Allan to Early Hire Interviews
6:00, ACE Awards Ceremony (live on Facebook)June 3 (W)
Walk+Roll to School Day
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V FamiliesJune 4 (H)
Last Day for Preschool
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
12:30-1:00, REQUIRED Howard Staff Meeting
7:00-8:00, Kelly MS 6th Grade Parent/Student Orientation ZoomJune 5 (F)
No School – Transition Day
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:00-12:15, June/July Birthday Lunches With the Principal
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendance
We’re on the homestretch here! You got this, people!
Allan
