Week of January 18
Hello Shining Stars,
Last week, it just felt like we were moving right forward. It was also Carmen Urbina’s last week in the district. I and many others will greatly miss her leadership. She, Casandra Kamens and I met to discuss CFEE Taking It Up. This project now will be renamed Carrying It Forward: Raising our Voices to End Racism in Schools. The CFEE (Coaching for Educational Equity) organization is no longer consulting on this project. It will be district leaders that “carry the torch” forward. Jennifer Harris and myself are among those who will push forward with this work. Megan Murphy will also be a facilitator supporting this work. The good news is that Carmen will be consulting and supporting us to ensure the project is well supported and outlined with the proper intentions.
School choice is right around the corner. Please share the positives of our school with people you know in the community. Word of mouth matters to parent, positive or negative.
Here are some items of note for the week:
• Artist in Residence Options – PLT prioritized on an Artist in Residences and also a date for the artist to come to school. February 15 or a little later will most likely be the start date for our first Artist in Residence, Samuel Becerra. The second artist is still being decided upon based on availability. Erin Bucklew also has connected with a dynamic multi skilled artist from Cottage Grove who we are in communication with named Olive del Sol.
•Volunteers for Saturday’s Showcase 9:00-12:00 We still need volunteers to help out with the showcase event. I will be there from 9-12. A couple of parents have also volunteered. Please come and help out!
• Care Team Referrals – The Student Care Team will be meeting next week, which means referrals to the team are due this Friday. The Care Team can help with a variety of stations including recent or impending homelessness, paying utility bills, incarcerated parents, counseling resources, and many others. DHS can also provide us with updates for any reports we’ve made and wanted updates on what action they’ve taken. Linked here is the 4J Release Form (PDF or DOC) if you can obtain a parent or guardian signature, but you can also refer “hypothetical” student or family situations. Let me know if you have any questions about potential referrals, but if it’s a situation that’s on your mind, it’s probably a worth referring to the team.
• Updated Health Standards – 4J hasn’t shared these with staff yet, but Rachel Farkas shared the most recent Oregon Health Standards for K-3 and 4-5 if you’d like to look them over.
• News from the Emerald Empire Reading Council – Here’s the January Newsletter from the Emerald Empire Reading Council. This month’s newsletter includes a number of workshops and some recommended books. If you’d like more information, visit their old fashioned 90’s website.
• January 29 Grading Day Staff Expectations – Taking classified staff first, this is a regular work day for most people. Grading days are usually a time classified staff use accumulated comp time. If you want to take a comp day please contact me and Edna before January 26 with your comp hours so I can sign off on their use.
For licensed staff, HR last year allowed teachers to request to work from home on grading days. Below are the expectations HR set out for licensed staff for grading days last time around and I’m assuming it’s the same for this year:
Unlike a planning or PD day, where the District has a firm expectation that all teachers report and be physically present throughout the work day, we have exercised greater flexibility for grading days in recognition of teachers’ professional status. On grading/ report days, principals have discretion to require that all teachers report and work on their grades at the building, or alternatively, to allow teachers to request permission to work from home, and report to the building when grades are completed. In exercising this discretion, please consider the following:
(1) Would allowing a teacher to work from home on this day interfere with work that needs to be done? For example, do you have teachers who need to collaborate with each other in order to prepare reports? — if so, it does not make sense to allow them to work in isolation;
(2) Grading day is a work day. It costs the district about $480,000, and it is not intended to be a vacation day.
(3) Teachers are highly visible members of the community, and part of our expectation of them as professionals is to be good stewards of public resources. If you do allow teachers to work off site this day, please remind them public perception issues and work to protect them. This means that if we grant flexibility to work off-site, it is critical that they work during work time. We grant flexibility to principals to allow teachers to work off-site on grading day, but if it is abused, we will not be able to continue to do so.
(4) The flexibility to work off-site is a privilege, and not an entitlement. Whether you allow any teacher to work off-site is within your discretion. I believe the best practice is to communicate to teachers is that you expect them to work in the building on this day, unless they have requested and received your advance permission to work from home.
So in short, if teachers would like to work from home this day, let me me know, but be sure to make plans ahead of time if you need to collaborate with colleagues for grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town.
Also, grades are due on Monday, February 8. Teachers will be sending them home in the student backpacks. Please disregard the previous email about grades being brought to the office to be sent home.
• Here are some interesting events sponsored by CLLAS:
“At the Border: A comparative analysis of U.S. newspaper reporting about unaccompanied immigrant children”, a CLLAS grad grantee presentation by Ricardo Valencia
Wednesday January 27th, 2016, 4pm-5:30pm, McKenzie Hall 125, University of Oregon
Join us for a talk by Ricardo Valencia, whose work examines the reporting of Central American unaccompanied immigrant children in 2014 through hundreds of pieces published in four U.S. newspapers. The project helps understand the dynamic between Non- Latino and Latino sources and who led the media narrative on this issue. Valencia is a PhD candidate in Media Studies with an accomplished career in journalism and as a diplomat of the El Salvador Embassy in Washington, D.C. His research was funded in part by a Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) grant.
“Chicano Park Anchor of Barrio Logan,” a talk by Hector Villegas, Chicano Artist
Monday February 8th, 2016, 4pm-5:30pm, Lawrence Hall 115, University of Oregon
Hector Villegas is a community artist and neighborhood activist in Chicano Park’s Barrio Logan, San Diego. Chicano Park is a public space of cultural and artistic resistance that emerged over struggles of community empowerment and self-determination in the 1970’s. The park is home to the country’s largest collection of outdoor murals. Today, the neighborhood is experiencing pressures of housing and retail gentrification and neighborhood activists are struggling to maintain their neighborhood. Hector Villegas’ talk will trace the history of activism in Chicano Park, discuss his art work, and today‘s neighborhood movements to project Barrio Logan against gentrification.
• Watch: One-Minute Mindfulness Strategy – In their research, “The Mindful School Leader” authors Valerie Brown and Kirsten Olson found that most educators are overwhelmed and often don’t take the time for self-care. In this ASCD Express video, they demonstrate a quick, 30-60 second breathing strategy that is an easy way to incorporate mindfulness and repose throughout a busy day. Try incorporating this exercise whenever you can find a free minute, whether first thing in the morning, at the close of the day, or anywhere in between.
• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Zimbra calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
January 19 (T)
Joel, Nancy, and Megan at LEL B- McCornack Elementary (All Day)
Staff Meeting 2:45-4:45- Agenda is below:
- PBIS Review 1/2 hour
- IPBS Process Review 1/2 hour
- Dual Language Agreements and our Proposed Curriculum Alignment Plan (45 minutes)
4:00, Joel to All Admin Meeting for Preliminary Budget & Staffing Info (Ed Center)
January 20 (W)
8:00-9:00, Joel meets with Charis McGehee about dual immersion.
10:00-3:00, Joel, Aline, and Karen at Priority/ Focus Schools Meeting in South Willamette Valley (Lane ESD)
1:45-2:45, PBIS Meeting in Room 9 (All Classified are to expected attend.)
1:45-2:45, PLC Collaboration Time
January 21 (H)
7:30 AM, Joel and teacher in pre-conference.
12:00 PM, Joel in formal observation of teacher.
3:30-5:00 PM, Joel at the Immersion Task Force Meeting.
January 22 (F)
1:45-2:30 PM, Chamber Music Assembly (Gym)- Have students ready by 1:35.
3:00-3:30 PM, Joel and a teacher in pre-conference.
January 23 (S)
9:00 AM-12:00 PM, School Choice Showcase (Ed Center)
January 24 (Su)
9:00-10:30 AM, Joel on 89.7 KLCC with Jill to discuss our awesome program.
January 25 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week
11:30 AM-3:30 PM, Aline & Joel to Title 1 Coordinators and Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45-3:45 PM, Site Council Meeting (Conference Room)
Agenda for Site Council:
CAP Review
School Choice Process
State Assessment Schedule Approval
Discussion of STAMP Assessment for this Spring.
January 26 (T)
Last Day of PE
7:30, Joel and a teacher in pre-conference.
8:45, Joel and Alicia in a Cafecito about School Choice.
10:30-11:00, Joel in formal observation.
3:00-4:30, El Camino del Río River/ Road Design Committee
6:00-7:00 PM, Dual Language Immersion Information Night
January 27 (W)
7:45-11:45, 4/5 Peer Observation Day, Megan,Nikita, Alexis, Jill all get pre-arranged substitutes for a half day. Communicate with Edna for these Title 2 A funded subs.
2:30-3:30 PM, Student Care Team Meeting, Joel and Jennifer attend. (Howard Staff Room)
6:00-7:30 PM, Engineering Night (Cafeteria)
January 28 (H)
1:00- 2:00 PM, Joel leads the School Choice Tour
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting in Erin Recker’s Room
3:15-5:15, Joel and KG Teachers to Monthly Kindergarten Meeting (Gilham)
January 29 (F)
Grading Day
1:30-3:00, Joel meets with mentor off site.
All Classified and Certified at the work site unless otherwise arranged with Joel.
Hope you all had a restful and fulfilling your Monday! It was good to see some of you at the NAACP MLK March.
Gracias para leer todo de este diario!
Saludos cordiales,
Joel
