Hello Bolts,
Sixteen items of note for this week:
• Short Staff Meeting, WEDNESDAY, 1:30-1:45 – I’m moving Thursday’s Staff Meeting to Wednesday in order to hold Interviews for our vacant SPED Teacher position for next year. I really didn’t want to push it out another week and risk losing some candidates. Linked here and on the Staff Google Drive is the short Staff Meeting Agenda. Let me know if you have any additional agenda items.
• Wednesday PD: Master Schedule Rep Meeting, 1:45-2:30 – Following the short staff meeting will be follow-up meeting for the Master Schedule Rep. Team. A hold-up at the last meeting was conflicting district guidelines for PE/Music to have K-2 or 3-5 scheduled together and placed either the morning or afternoon, but there is another Kindergarten Guideline from when kindergarten moved from half-day to full-day that kindergarten would always have PE/Music in the afternoon. Principals are scheduled to give input on this at our meeting on Monday, so we should have a final decision. Although called “guidelines” they were both made in collaboration with EEA and the expectation is buildings will follow them as “rules.” The revised timeline for the master schedule is:
Friday, April 26 – Survey Due
Monday, May 6 – Skeleton Schedule Shared
Thursday, May 9 – Feedback on Skeleton Schedule
Wednesday, May 15 – Reps Meet to Discuss Schedule
Wednesday, May 22 – Reps Meet to Discuss Schedule
May 22 – June 5 – Teams Fill in Schedule
Thursday, June 6 – Staff Meeting to Discuss Schedule
*3 weeks buffer after that weekFollowing this meeting, if we’re able to make enough satisfactory adjustment teams should meet to begin filling in the blanks, making sure you have all the content areas (adjusting the times as needed) on the 4J Master Schedule Guidance.
And again, the master schedule will never be all things to all people, but we can at least try our best to make it workable for everyone.
• Talent Show Assembly, THURSDAY @1:10 – The annual Holt Talent Show Assembly will be the afternoon of Thursday, May 23rd in the cafeteria. The assembly will start at 1:10, so please be seated and ready to go at 1:05. See the linked Assembly Map & Directions for details.
• SPED Teacher Interviews, THURSDAY, 2:30-4:45 – Emily, Kelsey, and I will conduct interviews this Thursday, 2:30-4:45, to hire our new full-time SPED teacher for next year. Let me know if any of you would like to join the interview committee and I will email you the interview materials.
• Talent Show Evening Performance, THURSDAY @6:00 – Remind students the Talent Show Performance for families will be this Thursday at 6:00 in the cafeteria and gym. Also, Kona Ice will be at Holt an hour before the event, 5:00-6:00, if families would like some shave ice before the event.
• West African Cultural Arts Assembly, FRIDAY @1:00 – Sorry about two assemblies in a row, but this group was really difficult to schedule. The assembly will be this Friday at 1:00 in the gym, so ignore the assembly map from last week’s announcements that had it in the cafeteria. We’ll sit in our usual assembly spots. Here is the Lane Arts Webpage with info about the assembly.
• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team 5/29 – The final Equity & Inclusion Team Wednesday PD of year will be Wednesday, May 29th at 1:30 in the library.
• 2024-25 Kinder Meet & Greet, 5/29 @2:30 – Families with incoming kinders for next year are invited to come meet each other Wednesday, May 29th at 2:30 on the playground.
• Final Book Nook, 5/30 – Let your class know that Thursday, May, 30th will be the final Book Nook of the school year.
• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – There’s still four weeks of school left, but all classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break (within the last two weeks of school). Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.
• Library End of Year Dates – Holt, Howard, and Chavez Libraries are planning to follow this end-of-year schedule:
Week of May 20-24
Library Lessons
Last Week for CheckoutsWeek of May 28-31
Library Lessons
Book Returns and Activities (No checkouts)June: Library Closed/No checkouts or Library Lessons
INVENTORY OF LIBRARY
Collecting library data and issuing use reports
Tracking down books and Sending Reports/Phone Calls
Book Repair, Re-labeling, `
Weeding and Cataloguing
• Self-Managers Round #2 – Linked here is the Round #1 Holt Self-Managers Spreadsheet. Let me know if you don’t have access to the spreadsheet and I’ll give you access to the Staff Google Drive. A few other Self-Manager Notes:
Managers Announced Monday – I’ll announce the first round of Self-Managers during Monday Morning Announcements.
Lanyards & Badges – Will be delivered to classrooms after announcements.
Group Photo – We’ll gather kids for a group photo after we pass out the lanyard and badges.
Postcards – Postcards will be in the Staff Room for staff to sign who work with the students.
Tracking Warnings – We’re doing 3 Strikes for losing Self-Manager Badges. If a student gets a warning, track it in the Notes column on the Self Manager Spreadsheet.
Privileges – Kids can start going to lunch & specials early right away, though do not send kids out to recess ahead of time since there may not be adults out there to watch them. We’ll have the Golden Table out in the cafeteria as the “Self-Manager Table” Monday – Wednesday” and available for Golden Table Tickets Thursday & Friday. We’ll schedule a Self-Manager Recess one afternoon before the next application deadline. Teachers are welcome to add their own additional privileges.
• Science Kit Packing & Storing – See Maggie Cline’s Email for details, but grade level teams should make note of the Materials Request Form if your team needs any materials refreshed for next year school Year.
• Study shows optimal test times for students – Most teachers already know this, but now there’s science to back it up! This EdWeek Article (you’ll need an account to view it) highlights a new study that underscores the impact of proper timing on student test performance, suggesting morning assessments yield more accurate results. Research showed a slump around lunch time and in the early afternoon.
•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:
• PTO Childcare EA Help in June – Any EAs interested in helping with childcare at the June 6 PTO meeting, 5:30-7:30? The PTO will pay extended contract or I can offer trade time if you’d rather bank some hours for a grading day. Let me know if you are interested.
• MySAEBRS 2-5 Student Self-Eval Due May 31 – A reminder that 2nd through 5th grades students should complete the MySAEBRS self-evaluation by the end of the month. See the SAEBRS Slideshow for details.
• easyCBM Spring Benchmark Closes June 3 – The spring easyCBM Benchmark Testing Window closes June 3rd. See Debbi’s Email for details.
•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
May 20 (M)
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
Spring SAEBRS Window Open (May 1-31)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:30-4:00, Girls on the Run
2:30-3:30, Allan to SPED Meeting
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principal Meeting (Ed Center)May 21 (T)
8:45-12:30, KG Mount Pisgah Field Trip (Harmon/Vaughan)
9:15-10:15, 5th Grade Math Advancement Testing (C12)
2:45-3:45, Allan to 504 Meeting (Calming Room)
4:00-5:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Emily’s Room)May 22 (W)
7:30-8:10, Student Equity & Inclusion Meeting (Calming Room)
8:00-9:00, TAG Follow-Up Testing (Sheryl’s Room)
9:15-10:15, 5th Grade Math Advancement Testing (C12)
1:30-1:45, Staff Meeting (Library)
1:45-2:30, Master Schedule Rep. Meeting (Library)
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run
2:40-4:00, Talent Show Rehearsal (Cafeteria)May 23 (H)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4J MAPS Meeting
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
1:10, Talent Show Assembly (Cafeteria)
2:30-4:45, SPED Teacher Interviews
5:00-6:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser
6:00, Talent Show (Cafeteria)May 24 (F)
8:45-12:30, KG Mount Pisgah Field Trip (Gulewich/Seno)
1:00-2:00, West African Cultural Arts Assembly (Gym)May 25 (SA)
Towel DayMay 27 (M)
No School – Memorial DayMay 28 (T)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Artist in Residence Continues (Calming Room)
easyCBM Spring Benchmark Open (5/13 – 6/3)
Spring SAEBRS Window Open (May 1-31)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)May 29 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion (Library)
2:30-3:30, 24-25 Kinder Meet & Greet (Playground)May 30 (H)
8:50-10:35, Final Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
3:30-5:00, Allan to KG Smart Start (Ed Center)
5:30-7:30, Retirement Celebration / Golden Apple (formerly ACE) AwardsMay 31 (F)
Spring SAEBRS Window Closes
It’s our final 5-day week of the school year!
Allan
@devincomedy Warned ya