Week of November 23
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Calendar of Events: What is coming up?
November 23 (M)
9:00-9:45, Dali String Quartet Assembly (Cafeteria) School-wide assembly
3:00-5:00, Joel, Jaime and others at an IEP Meeting in Katie Hynes Petty’s Learning Center
November 24 (Tu)
9:00-11:30,Illana Umanski from the UO visits to discuss Spanish proficiency in ELL identified students.
12:00-1:00, Joel in a meeting at Springfield High School.
1:45-2:15, Joel at a meeting with Sara downtown.
3:00-4:00, PLT Meeting
Agenda:
- Dual Language Leadership in the building.
- PBIS School-wide activity boosters.
- Set TLT and Equity Team Meeting dates for the remainder of the year.
- Title 2A Sub Time Planning by grade level & AIMS4S3 Error Analysis.
November 25 (W)
2:45-3:45, PLC Planning Time (Library) Focus: Planning Math Units and creating formative assessments.
November 26 (Th)
Thanksgiving- No School
November 27 (F)
Thanksgiving- No School
November 30 (M)
3:00-4:00, Site Council Meeting
December 1 (Tu)
8:30-9:30, Cafecito- Topic with Parents, Winter and Mental Health with Pedro Pacheco from NAMI. (Alicia will contact all families via Autodialer.)
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
Agenda:
- Revisiting Group Agreements on Dual Language
- Staff Handbook Review
December 2 (W)
1:45-2:45, PBIS Meeting, All Classified Attend + PBIS Teacher Members
1:45-2:45, PLC Teacher Collaboration Time
2:45-3:45, Joel to STAMP Assessment Meeting.
December 3 (Th)
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad
6:00-8:00,Viaje Musicale
December 4 (F)
12:00-1:00, Joel at Superboundary Meeting Howard
6:00-8:00, Viaje Musicale
December 6 , Sunday-Robotics Competition in Philomath,
December 7 (M)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principal’s Meeting
December 8 (Tu)
2:45-4:45, PLT Meeting – Focus on Dual Language Instruction
6:00-8:00, Spaghetti and Safety – A Parent Group Meeting- A Parent Traffic Safety and Information Night- A community event focused on safety.
December 9 (W)
1:45-2:45, PLC Wednesday Collaboration Time
December 10 (Th)
Regular Day
December 11 (F)
6:00-8:00, Noche de Peliculas
December 14 (M)
Regular Day
December 15 (Tu)
8:00-11:00, Superintendent Balderas visiting our school and observing classrooms.
December 16 (W)
1:45-2:45, PLC Planning Time with Grade Level Teams
8:45-11:00, Salmon Release Field Trip, 4th and 1st grade buddies activity.
December 17 (Th)
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad Meeting
December 18 (F)
8:00-9:00, Joel at Principal PLC breakfast in Springfield
1:50-2:30, Winter Break Recognition Assembly??? Premios de Virtudes ?? (Tentative)
What is happening?
Here is a list of important activities and news related to the school:
•New email listserv: river_community. I have added a new listserv tool caled river community. It is meant to act as a bridge between parents, teachers, and volunteers who want to communicate to the overall group. The list serv will include non-4j emails and will be strictly for news. No communication about students should happen using this new email tool. I will be adding teacher, staff, and the most active parent group to this email listserv. Anyone in the listserv group will be able to send original communication including parent group members and volunteers.
•Viaje Musicale December 3 and 4!
Viaje Musical-(A musical journey)
December 3rd & 4th 6:00pm (show length 50 min.)
Students arrive at 5:30pm and report to classrooms.
Who: All students in grades 4/5
Where: El Camino del Rio Gym
A professional DVD will be made of the Friday performance.
Students attire for show: Black pants, white T-shirt and comfortable athletic shoes. (No heels or dresses please: Athletic movement is an important part of the event and we want students to be safe and have a good time!)
Mr. Adee will provide colored fabric to accent outfits.
PLEASE NOTE: There are several reasons we are having Viaje Musical for two nights.
1) Mr. Adee goes to teach at Howard school second semester so this is our biggest music program of the year and lots of work is going into it! We want students to have the opportunity to present their work more than one time.
2) A professional DVD will be made on the second night.
3) Greater opportunity for community members to come see students.
4) Our gym has been modified to accommodate construction of our new school and so it is much smaller now (3/5 of its original size). Because of the smaller gym we have reduced audience capacity, so we are asking that you please send half your family one night and half the other (if at all possible)! However, please remember that 4/5 students performing in the show need to attend both nights. See…. you…. there! ¡Viva la música!
• United Way Pledge Forms Due Dec. 4th – The United Way drive kicked off with Larry Soberman’s help when I was gone in Albuquerque. Some of you probably spoke to Larry briefly about the benefits of United Way Programming. United Way is a great program that directly benefits our students in many ways. Please consider donating a small amount this year. United Way is the largest community support network in Lane County and makes a huge difference in many lives. If you choose to participate, forms are due to the office by December 3rd. You can place them in my mailbox by my office. Also, remember that you can even donate directly to your own school, grade level or your own classroom through EEF on the form, which may be a good thing to do since the “Educator Expenses Tax Deduction” was cut by the feds. However, a donation through the United Way is still tax deductible.
• 2015 Winter Holiday Resources Spanish & English – Last week I shared the 2015 Winter Holiday Resources flyer, which has information on food boxes, meals sites, holiday gift programs and holiday celebrations. DHS has given us a translated version of the documents, so it is now available in both Spanish and English or all in one document.
• District Admin Updates – Two updates were sent out to principals this week:
• Early College & Career Options (ECCO) High School – Stephanie Cannon will continue as interim principal of ECCO on a part-time basis (three days a week) and Scott Mayers will round out the FTE (two days a week) to assist with Alternative Education placements, in addition to his current role at North Eugene. Kim Finch will assume the CTE coordinator responsibilities for 4J in addition to her current responsibilities. These personnel changes were made as a result of Brad New’s resignation from his position at Eugene School District 4J to pursue other professional and personal opportunities.
• Change in Instruction Department Structure – Beginning next month, the district’s Chief of Staff, Dr. Charis McGaughy, will assume leadership of the Instruction Department and oversight of its four divisions—elementary education, secondary education, education support services, and research and planning. Pending board approval, there may also be a change in position title. The office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion also will move into the Instruction Department. Equity and multicultural education were a part of instruction before but they were never given this level of instructional focus. I am encouraged by this move. The new organizational structure will facilitate alignment and coordination between the instructional divisions. This is structure is reminiscent of a time this seems very similar to when Tom Henry oversaw the Instruction Department as deputy superintendent. I can recall that this was a time when communication from downtown was clear and decisions were made with a district level lens. I hope to see the same from Gustavo’s new structure.
• Report: Media stereotypes dissuade girls from computer science – This article reports young girls are negatively influenced by the stereotypes portrayed on television and in films, according to a report from Google with surveys by Gallup. Also, only 7% of students said black and Hispanic characters are represented “most of the time” in these roles on screen. A Google official said everyone benefits from efforts to increase diversity in business and entertainment.
• Report: The Unknown Struggles of a Bilingual Student– This article is a blog entry from a woman who grew up in the South Bronx who has become a teacher. Her story was inspirational to me for a variety of reasons. Being a child in a bilingual school has many challenges. Knowing that there are like minded bilingual teachers out there who take the time to care and love children in a similar setting was very uplifting to me. I am pleased that our staff understands the importance of helping these children see their language skills as gifts in an increasingly multilingual environment.
That is all for this short week. Please remember that I am proud of what you do and share your amazing work with friends and colleagues each day. Thank you for your perseverance and determination to provide the best bilingual education our community deserves. Happy Thanksgiving.
Saludos cordiales,
Joel
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