Week of September 7, 2015
Hi all,
My main method of communication to staff will continue to be through the Diarío this year. Each Sunday I will publish a post about the week. There will be resource links of interest, district news, and a 14 day calendar to keep you ahead of things a bit. For new staff and as a reminder to Camino del Río veterans, it’s my intent with these announcements to share informational and business items here rather than taking up time at staff meetings. It’s also my hope to avoid cluttering up your inboxes by sending emails throughout the week and to instead just send just one informational email a week to staff. Typically, I send these out on Sundays and my hope is for staff read them by Tuesday evening.
Here is the Final Master Schedule:
https://drive.google.com/a/4j.lane.edu/file/d/0B0vx1uRstx9_TExxVWZaUHk4ek0/view?usp=sharing
Note: The Music schedule occurs 2X per week. PE is on a separate schedule for Fall. Anywhere on this schedule it says PE is after February 1, 2016.
Here is the Fall PE Schedule:
Calendar Information:
We use Zimbra as our main calendaring system.
These are the view only versions of the system. You can also add to the Zimbra calendar. Most of last year’s staff are already on the editable version. Please add events to the Zimbra calendar like field trips so more staff know what is happening and the office is well informed.
If you want to know what I am up to you can always click on this:
https://mail.4j.lane.edu/lavin@4j.lane.edu/Calendar.html
Staff Calendar: This is where you should post field trips so the office knows what is coming. Also, this is where to find staff meeting dates, etc.
https://mail.4j.lane.edu/home/river_road_elementary_school@4j.lane.edu/Calendar.html
River Road Calendar Parents and Website:
https://mail.4j.lane.edu/home/river_road_elementary_school@4j.lane.edu/RR%20Website%20Calendar.html
Parking Lot Changes Information:
I will be sendoug out a separate dismissal email out this evening. The email will include pick up and dismissal routines, teachers duties, etc.
A little about Katie Hynes Petty, our new Learning Center Teacher:
Katie Hynes-Petty is a graduate of the U of O and has been a special education teacher for 24 years, teaching at all levels. She has a teenage son and a daughter who recently graduated from the U of O. She enjoys gardening, playing in the outdoors and reading. Ask her about when she was in a half-time show for a Duck home game.
Her schedule is from:
IEPs will be scheduled on Mondays as much as possible. She will flex that day and stay longer on another day as necessary.
District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff -Here’s a link to this year’s District Back-to-School Memo, which covers a variety of district rules, policies and guidelines. All staff must review the memo and sign & return the check list acknowledgment form to Edna no later than Monday, September 28th. I’ll place hard copies of the acknowledgement form in staff mailboxes this Friday. I will review some of the changes in meetings but I encourage you to block out some of your workday to review these policies during the pre-service week.
Camino del Río Staff Handbook Review – Speaking of policy review items, attached is the updated Camino del Río Handbook for 2015-2016. For people new to Camino del Rio, this handbook should answer most any questions you have about Howard policies and procedures. Let me know if you have any questions and please sign & return the acknowledgement form, which I’ll also put hard copies of in mailbox, to Edna by Friday, September 25th, stating that you have read and understand the contents of the handbook.
Counselor Schedule – Our extraordinary counselor, Jennifer Harris, will be keeping the same schedule as last year, which is as follows:
Monday: River Road
Tuesday: River Road 8-12, Howard 12-4
Wednesday: River Road 8-11, Howard 11-2 (RR 2ish for meetings)
Thursday: Howard 7:30-11:30 River Road 11:30-4
Friday: Howard
Smarter Balanced Score Information – If any of you have been looking at Smarter Balanced scores from last spring, here are a few things to know. Individual scores are under review until the end of August. Also, the scores are “embargoed” from parents and students until September 17th, so DO NOT share scores with anyone outside of school staff. Schools are also advised to not make any major changes based on test results (i.e. suddenly focusing more on looking for evidence or focusing on open response) because the test itself may be undergoing changes. Schools are instead encouraged to look more overall at how they are doing. We will be reviewing some of this data in more detail in the upcoming week for further discussion.
TSS Tech Support Schedule – Peggy will again be in the building five days a week in the morning, 2:00-4:00. She also works at Kelly and Howard quite a bit. Her Kelly time has some flex time between Howard and Kelly, so she is on-call during that time if anything urgent comes up over here. This year, Howard has 11 COWS! If you need Peggy during her other building time, just send her a ticket through 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu and she will be be able to come back over to Camino del Río. Also remember that you can always call the tech help line at (541) 790-7777. If Peggy is sick for some reason, downtown will even send someone out from another area to give you support if necessary.
Library Updates, Library Staffing and Tech Permissions – One, the district is converting all library browser from the Via library circulation systems to a new one called Destiny that’s made by Follett and is web based. Allison Connor has been trained on the new system and will share information on the new system with our staff at a later date. I will be assigning an EA some library time to minimally maintain the library. Currently, we do not have a volunteer to support the library during the school day. Lastly, here is a reminder to use the Technology Permission Form if you are planning to have student use Google Apps, Edmodo or district email, although I don’t think anyone was using these last year.
Write In Readers – Journeys Intervention Materials – The Instruction Department sent out “Write in Readers” to schools for grades 1-5. These are intervention materials for students performing below the 30%. They have half the vocabulary, shorter chunks of text, and follow the theme of the main selection, but not the exact same story. Our fall benchmark numbers from the last year were used to determine a minimum of the number of students at some and high risk in reading at grades K-5. These were allocated by students per grade, not teachers. These materials were delivered to classroom teachers for use with students performing below the 30%. However, grade levels can also decide that these materials would be better used with students in Title 1 or SPED. Ed Support Services is currently auditing all SPED materials to ensure that IEP Goals are aligned to CCSS and the materials available to LC teachers will properly support them.
River Road Construction Update – If you’d like to know where River Road is at in their construction process, you can subscribe to updates by following this link. Attached is the latest update which has information about a potential purchase of some adjoining property that 4J has been trying to negotiate a purchase of for a number of years since the River Road property is so small.
Other Construction Updates- The gym is making steady progress. Please do not enter the gym until further notice. It is a construction zone. There are dangers such as odors, and dust that may be harmful to you.
How To Tackle Digital Citizenship During The First 5 Days Of School – Digital citizenship is not a one time discussion. It is an ongoing process that needs to be taught to all grade levels. The problem is that things are changing so rapidly that it is difficult for everyone to keep up to date with the trends. Everyone has to be educated and develop an understanding of the role digital citizenship plays in our everyday lives. There is so much that goes into being a digital citizen; from taking photos of others to knowing when it is appropriate to share something online. See this short article for more details.
Gus Out to Buildings – Our new superintendent is planning to visit all schools this year and is scheduled to visit Camino del Río the morning of December 15. Gus is visiting one or two schools each week for a half-day. He also said he doesn’t need to attend a staff meeting, but would rather walk around on his own after meeting with principals for a quick check in and then meet with the principal again at the end for a follow-up.
15/16 4J Transportation Trip Rates – Attached are the 2015-2016 4J Transportation Trip Rates. After 6 years of zero rate increases, there will be a 7-9% increase this year to offset higher driver, fuel and maintenance costs. In addition, for schools utilizing activity vans, Transportation will be moving to a per-mile fee to help capture fuel and maintenance costs associated with their use.
District Admin Updates – There were a few district admin changes and movement over the summer. Susan Penrod, principal at Spring Creek, accepted a new position in the Instruction Department as K-12 Curriculum Administrator: English Language Arts. The position is the ELA equivalent of Maddy Ahearn’s Math position downtown. Taking Susan’s place at Spring Creek as principal is Raquel Gwynn, who many of you may know as a Staff Development Specialist (SDS) and the District BEST Coordinator. Raquel’s District BEST Coordinator position has yet to be filled. Over at ESS, Leila Schuck is the new Elementary ESS administrator, taking over for Amy Tidwell who’s now the Director of SPED in Bethel. Leila was most recently a SPED Consultant and a SPED teacher at Willagilespie. Cydney Vandercar is continuing on this year as the interim Director of HR. No one has been hired to fill her previous HR position.
What’s coming up?
September/October PBIS Theme – Respect
September 1 (T)
Teachers Return – Planning DaySeptember 2 (W)
Classified Staff Return
8:00-11:00, Camino del Rio Back-to-School Staff Meeting & PD (LibrarSeptember 3 (H)
7:30-8:30, District Staff Back-to-School Breakfast & Social (SEHS)
8:30-12:00, District Staff Back-to-School Event & Speeches (SEHS)12:30-2:30 PD, Library- A Conversation about elevating the Language of Spanish.
September 4 (F)
8:00-11:00, Digital Training for Journeys for Licensed Staff (Ed Center)September 7 (M)
Labor Day – No SchoolSeptember 8 (T)
10:00, Q&A Session for New Staff – Optional (Library)
1:00-2:00, Meet your TeacherSeptember 9 (W)
First Day for Students
PBIS Focus: SafetySeptember 10 (H)
REGULAR DAYSeptember 11 (F)
REGULAR DAYFamily Back to School Social Event
See you all soon!
Joel
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