Diario Camino del Río

Week of February 29

Hello Camino del Río Staff,

With staffing decisions now upon us, it’s never easy or pleasant to have these discussions where the outcome of which has the potential for unwanted changes and challenges for our colleagues, whom we work with every day. While I want to be transparent in our process for deciding upon a staffing plan and to give everyone a chance to have their say, I also don’t want staff to ever feel like they are competing or at odds with one another.  I have only seen Camino del Río staff put students first.  I  also believe that is the best way to frame these difficult decisions. I believe it’s important for staff to work together through this whole process. You all are the best!

Some important happenings at El Camino del Río

• Student Care Team Resources – I wanted to share a few resources that were shared at last Wednesday’s Student Care Team meeting. One is a service through OSU Extension Services, FoodHero.org, which provides families with recipes, meal ideas, budgeting, shopping, and many more resources, such as classes. The site is available in both English and Spanish. They also offer the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. This came out of a situation where a parent was having trouble managing food budgets and had little experience cooking, instead buying more expensive prepared/processed foods. A second resource was for a situation involving an adoptive parent looking for support with challenging behaviors, and DHS shared a state run website, the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center, which has many resources ranging from training, to a lending library, to support groups, to many other support services. A last one is WellMama, which is a non-profit that provides pregnancy and postpartum mental health support services to women and their families in Eugene and Springfield area.

• EAST Reminder: Lesson Plans – HR meets monthly the the substitute teacher’s union, EAST, and HR emailed principals asking us to remind both licensed and classified staff to help in getting lesson plans to substitutes. Sometimes lesson plans are sent directly to substitutes outside of AESOP, but many substitutes access AESOP via phone rather than computers. Also, some may not have access to technology or printers at their homes. Other situations have lesson plans coming very late via email and the substitute may not have access to a computer/printer in the building. When possible, attach lesson plans in AESOP rather than only emailing them directly to the Guest Teacher/Substitute. This step will also will allow office staff to serve as back-up and assist in printing off the lesson plan in the event the Guest Teacher/Substitute is not able to access the plans from home. NOTE: Lesson plans can be attached after the position has been accepted.

• State Testing & Student Opt-Outs: FAQs for Staff – In the email sent by Randy Bernstein to all staff last week regarding state testing and opt-outs, I wanted to highlight the Staff Communication Guidelines section of the email. Note that during work time, over district email or using other district resources encourage parents to opt-out. Outside of work hours, staff are free to express their opinions publicly about standardized tests or about opting out, but if families ask you about testing in your official capacity as a school district employee, staff are to remain neutral and factual. The best response is to refer them to either me or the school district website on the opt-out process.

• TELL Oregon Teacher Survey Deadline Extended – Due to high interest, the TELL Oregon Teacher Survey deadline has been extended to Thursday, March 10th. Now that we’ve seen out staffing for next year, this is an opportunity to sound off at the Oregon Legislature about school funding, class sizes, testing, teacher evaluations systems and other topics. The survey takes about 20–30 minutes to complete online. The survey will ask you for a unique individual code, which you can request online or you can get off of the letter that was put in licensed staff members’ mailboxes last week. As of writing this, there have been only three responses from El Camino del Río (the website allows you to see the response rate by school).

• Bias in the Journeys Materials – This is a reminder of something I shared earlier in the year. Downtown is wanting to address bias in the HM Journeys reading materials. Principals have been asked to have teachers report elements of bias you come across in the new reading materials, whether it’s race, gender, religion, language, culture or otherwise. There is not a formal reporting form or an official plan of will be done with the collected information, but I do think it’s important for us to report bias in Journeys and in any other curriculum materials. The best way to report, is to send an email directly to myself, Susan Penrod, and Sara Green all at once.

• Supervision & Security Information – Linked here is a flyer with tips from Risk Management on preventing vandalism and theft through line of sight supervision, keeping keys with staff, not covering classroom windows, keeping doors locked, closer supervision in high risk areas (such as the bathrooms), and monitoring classrooms and hallways during passing times.

• Should schools change approach to Black History Month? – February is Black History Month, which this year has been marked by calls from some to reconsider how the nation — and schools — mark the month. Some educators say setting aside a specific month for such lessons can lead to less integration of the topic throughout the school year. See this article from The Atlantic for the complete story. On a related note, remember that Teaching Tolerance has many quality ready-made lessons that can be used throughout the school year to teach topics on race, equity and diversity.

cartoon by Alyssa Miles

• Beyond formative assessment: Formative assessment is important in our work.  In fact, without it, it is hard to gauge student progress in our classrooms. We take notes and look for little changes in reading skills or math skills. However,  there is something magical that can happen student teacher relationships during the writing process in our intermediate grades.  This article shares the thoughts of a teacher’s philosophy on conversing, consulting and creating in the classroom he works in.

• Queer Educator: Understanding our colleagues is very important.  Just as it is important for us to deeply understand our students, so is it vital to know each other. We must have a lens of understanding of staff of color, LGBTQ staff, and other spectra of identity.  All of us work in our classrooms every day. We bring assets and funds of knowledge that vary from each other. This blog article is a good example of a perspective that  I feel we should  consider deeply. We need to build empathy and try to understand how to relate to each other in order to help serve our students better.

Schedule of Events for the Week

Spirit Week Themes by Day:

February 29 (M)

11:30-3:30, Aline to Title 1 Coordinator Meeting (Ed Center)

3:00-4:00, Site Council Meeting- Focus is on staffing. All are welcome to attend.

March 1 (T)
Women’s History Month
Youth Art Month
Music in Our Schools Month
National Nutrition Month
Open Enrollment Begins

March 1: Too Tired Tuesday (PJ Day)

ELPA Testing Begins

7:30-8:00 Mid cycle Conference
2:45-3:45,  Staff Meeting (Library)
5:30-7:30, Joel to EEF Gala (Ford Alumni Center)

March 2 (W)

NEA’s Read Across America

7:30-8:00 Mid cycle goals Conference
12:00-2:00, Joel to North Region Principals’ Mid-Cycle Goals Meeting (Ed Center)

1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration Hour- Math PLC Time

March 2: Wacky Wednesday Crazy Hair/Hat Day

Claudio Sanchez  of NPR, 7PM at the Law School,

6-7, Dr. Seuss Night at El Camino del Río

March 3 (H)

7:30-8:00 Mid cycle goals Conference

March 3: Thoughtful Thursday: School Pride Colors/School Shirts

March 4 (F)

7:30-8:00 Mid Cycle Goals Conference

March 4: Fancy Formal Friday-Dress up
March 7 (M)
Classified Employees Week
Women in History Week

March 8 (T)
International Women’s Day
2:55-3:40,  Optional Staff Meeting- Staffing discussion. (Library)

PLT Cancelled

6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting

March 9 (W)

1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration Hour- Math PLC Time
4:00-5:00, North Region Principals’ Meeting (Kelly MS)

March 10 (H)

2:45-3:45, Mod Squad

3:00-4:00, Furniture Meeting (Library)

March 11 (F)

8:30-3:30,- LEL at El Camino del Río!  Observations  and teacher learning in classrooms throughout the day.

March 12 (S)
9:00, Regional OBOB Competition (North Eugene HS)

March 13 (SU)
Daylight Savings Time (Spring Forward)

Have a good week, everyone!

Joel

Week of February 22

Queridas Estrellas Brillantes,

Last week was a busy week.  I missed being in the building on Thursday and Friday as a lead facilitator for Carrying It Forward.  However, I was also very proud to have so many staff members with me in the room at the Ed Center doing important inside out work to change our practices for the better with students.  Carrying It Forward (Taking It Up) is a jump off point for us to renew our work in the area of race and equity. In particular, our building must work especially hard to support positive cross-cultural, and positive racial identity development. The teachers and staff members on our team agreed. We decided to focus our efforts in the equity action plan on school climate and race. We especially felt that PBIS and Caring For Kids curricular systems need more development in relation to race and will work on this in the coming weeks with all of you. Thanks again for your dedication to this work to support all of our students.

Some important events and items of note

• School Choice Visitation Week – Just a reminder that this week is the second School Choice Visitation Week. We have some of families signed up for tours (mostly at the younger grades), so don’t be surprised if you see me walking visitors around the building and into classrooms this week. There are some special appointments I made during this week with certain parents who could not make the regular tour times.

• TELL Oregon Teacher Survey – If you didn’t catch this in Gus’ email to staff earlier, the TELL Survey is an opportunity for teachers to share your experiences and insights, and is open now through the end of February. Linked here is a letter from the groups partnering on this project, which includes OEA and the Chalkboard Project. This is the second year Oregon has participated in the nationally developed survey. All licensed, school-based educators are invited to share observations and opinions about the teaching and learning conditions in their schools and what supports are needed to ensure success for each and every student. The TELL Survey is voluntary, confidential, and anonymous, and takes about 20–30 minutes to complete online. The survey will ask you for a unique individual code, which you can request online or you can get off of a letter that I will put in licensed staff members’ mailboxes on Monday.

• Read Across America, Wednesday, March 2nd – Just a quick reminder that Wednesday next week is NEA’s Read Across America. Classroom resources for this event can be found at Suessville, ReadingRockets.org and NEA. Our Title team has organized many fun events during Spirit  and Literacy Week. See her email for details.

• District Title 1 Newsletter – Here is the latest district level Title 1 Newsletter that went out to Title 1 Coordinators and principals. As usual, this month’s newsletter is mostly coordinator specific information and tasks, but there is a nice infographic about What Does it Mean to be Culturally Responsive? which includes the four stages of culturally responsive teaching.

• McKinney-Vento Identified Student Count – I shared this report last year and thought staff might be interested in this year’s numbers. Deborah Dailey, the 4J McKinney-Vento (homeless) Coordinator shared the January McKinney-Vento Report with principals, which included the total number of students identified in the district by region and by school. The North Region has the most identified students. Howard has had 29 students who were McKinney-Vento so far this year, which is the second highest at the elementary level compared to Chavez’ 38 students. River Road is third behind Howard with 28 students.

• Start Planning for Women’s History Month – Women’s History Month is just around the corner! Start planning for March with written, visual and multimedia texts in Perspectives for a Diverse America. Filter your search on the website with the “Gender” lens and by grade level to find a reading, and pair it with a task like Where I Stand to make it come alive for students.

• bell hooks and Emma Watson in conversation – Related to the above, here is a great Boing Boing blog post. Paper Magazine’s “Girl Crush” series pairs notable women for fascinating conversations, which they transcribe and publish. The series is spectacular, and this interview, between author/feminist/activist bell hooks and actor/feminist/activist Emma Watson, is the best yet.

• Do iPads improve teaching, learning? – Educators Jeanne Carey Ingle and Tanya Moorehead in this commentary share five takeaways from research on the use of iPads in the classroom. Research, they write, shows that iPads improve learning and student engagement. Researchers also have found that iPads can level the playing field for all students, they note.

New Building Updates:

El Camino del Rio Elementary New School Garden Meeting, Wednesday, February 10, 2016

• Update from John regarding garden components- Fence will not be part of 4j design. Will be part of the grant maybe as phase 2/3. Probably pad and shed is most important. Also, idea of putting the shed on the north side and the beds on the south to get more sun. A 3-bin compost system doesn’t have to be part of this stage but can be added later at minimal cost. Shed will be a bit more of a display area/kiosk, as well.
• Wish List- Pour pad and shed, Irrigation system, Greenhouse, Stackable benches that can be chained at night., A couple picnic tables/benches.
• Joel’s idea of shrubs and trees- Parents interested in a sensory garden. Herbs, edible perennials, etc. How can we design something that includes these plants, a place to walk into, a meandering space. What do the landscape architects have in mind? Are there more edible/aromatic plants around the classrooms, all around the edge, space on the west. Sarah Wheeler (SGP) is a great resource for the types of plants we will want. We don’t want a production garden, but a learning garden appropriate for a class of children. Pollinator species, wetland-type plants along the swale. An area around the beds that can be trampled, but then edge is more a nice herb garden where people can meander. Closer to the edge of the property for the eventual fruit trees. Careful with native plants. That giant one in the old garden. Careful with the lines of sight if they get too big.
• Miscellaneous garden topics discussed: 1. Global Delights owner is interested in helping with coffee grounds for compost.  2. Andrea Garcia (first grade parent) wants the sensory garden, also including the Latino community/history/plants/customs. 3. More intentional work with culturally diverse components for the garden. 4. John Moriarty: garden beds to better serve kids with special needs, he knows two people who can consult when the time comes to help with beds that are higher for accessibility from a wheelchair. 5. No more garden beds in the 4j design, but really cheap, pre-cut, maybe $4-500. We have the ones currently in the front of the school as well.
• Furniture Meeting, February 18: Many of you may have noticed that we have a lot of new furniture in the library.  It is there for you to try out and get a feeling for.  In addition, we are interested in what you like or dislike of the furniture.  There are a few items we already have discovered do not work well. The spinning desk ,for example, is out. We heard that Howard absolutely loved these desks in concept. Once they tried them out,  however, they realized the desks would not work. Currently, we are in the stage of focusing primarily on the classroom. Once we have made furniture decisions there, we will move on to the commons and the other common spaces like media center. There are kidney table renderings available for us to see if you have interest in the size or style. They do not have any in stock for us to look at though.

 Schedule of Events

February 22 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week
Informal Observations throughout the day.
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

February 23 (T)

7:30-7:45, Pre conference Meeting
8:45-9:45, Cafecito and School Choice Sessions- Transitions Focus
10:15-11:15, Joel in Formal observation
12:05, Joel in informal observation
3:00-5:00 PLT Meeting- Discussion of scenarios.
6:30-8:30, Black Lives Matter Book Club- TaNehisi Coates Between the World and Me (Library) All are welcome to attend.

February 24 (W)
10:00-12:00, Joel to Staffing Allocation Meeting (Ed Center)
12:00-1:00, Joel to Title 1 Allocation Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Jennifer and Joel to Student Care Team Meeting (Staff Room at Howard)
2:15-3:30, Contractor PreBid Walk about.

February 25 (H)

7:30-7:45, Mid term Goals Meeting
7:45-8:15, IEP Meeting in Learning Center
8:45-9:20, Quetzal Assembly in the Cafeteria
10:00-12:00, Joel doing Informal Observations
1:30-2:00, School Choice Tour
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad Meeting
3:00-4ish, Roshny’s Baby Shower in the Staff Lounge
February 26 (F)
Last Day for In-district School Choice Requests

7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
7:45, Pre-conference Meeting
9:00-10:30, PDAT Meeting on Latino Parent Curriculum in Bethel SD
12:00-1:00, Joel in formal observation.
3:00, Joel in mid term goal conference.
4:30-6:30, Joel at 4J Equity Committee

February 29 (M)

SPIRIT WEEK
7:30, Joel in post conference observation meeting.
9:00-10:00, Joel in formal observation.
11:35-12:30, Joel in informal observation meeting.
3:00-4:00, Site Council Meeting
11:30-3:30, Joel and Aline to Title 1 Principal & Coordinator Meeting (Ed Center)

March 1 (T)
Women’s History Month
Youth Art Month
Music in Our Schools Month
National Nutrition Month

7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
Open Enrollment Begins for out of district students.
3:00-3:45,  Staff Meeting – Topic: staffing (Library)

March 2 (W)

NEA’s Read Across America

7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
1:45-2:45, PBIS Meeting
2:45-4:15, IEP Meeting in Learning Center
6:00-7:30, Dr. Seuss Night

March 3 (H)

7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
11:00-1:00, Joel at the Latino Outreach Network Meeting
March 4 (F)

7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
3:00, Mid Term Goals Meeting

Have an excellent week, everyone!

Joel

Week of February 15

Hi Shining Stars,

I hope you all had a relaxing and refreshing three-day weekend and that you all were able to stay healthy, avoiding the many illnesses that seem to be sweeping schools the past couple weeks.

Here are some major items of note for the week:

• 2016-2017 Staffing Survey – Please complete the staffing survey, either on Survey Monkey or on a Word file. I’d like to hear from both classified and licensed staff to know folks’ individual plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s building-wide staffing plan and master schedule. Please complete by next Monday, February 22nd so I can gather input before I draw up potential staffing scenarios. I will share some potential scenarios at our Site Council meeting the next week. All are welcome to attend.  All answers will be kept confidential and please let me know if you have any questions.

• Student Care Team Referrals – The Student Care Team will be next week, which means referrals to the team are due this Friday. Let me know if you have any situations you’d like to refer to the team, either as a hypothetical or a full referral with a signed 4J Release Form (PDF or DOC).  Let me know if you would like to talk about any potential referrals.

• District Admin Updates – Cal Young principal Kim Watry has accepted a middle school principal position in Colorado back at her previous school district. And in the elementary ranks, Camus Ridge principal Tom Maloney announced earlier this year that he is retiring at the end of the year.

▪ IEP Meeting Compensation – I shared this earlier in the year, but with many annual IEP meetings coming up, I wanted to remind non-ESS licensed staff that the EEA contract allows for licensed staff to be compensated for up to four hours of additional pay. Track your IEP meeting times on the Non-ESS Licensed IEP Time Log, which will be accepted later this year between April 25 and June 10th. The attachment can also be found on the HR Forms section of the 4J website.

• Free 4 Week Soccer Clinic – If you want to share this with any interested kids, a new local non-profit soccer club for 5-19 year old children is offering a free 4 week session this month (they are asking for a $5 donation though). The sign-up is at Kelly Middle School this Wednesday and Thursday from 4:00-5:30. See the linked flyer and letter for details.

• Eugene Concert Choir Outreach Program – The Eugene Concert Choir Outreach program is in it’s eighth year and is again offering free classrooms presentations Feb 12 – April 22 to introduce basic musical concepts and choral singing to elementary students, K-5. This year they are offering up to three 30 minute classrooms sessions if any teachers or grade levels are interested. After kids learn the song, they’re invited to perform with the Eugene Concert Choir on stage in their spring kids’ concert at the Hult Center. See the linked letter and application (PDF and DOC) for more details. If you have any questions, email Choir@eugeneconcertchoir.org or call the Eugene Concert Choir office at (541) 687-6865.

• TED Talks: How to make stress your friend – Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.

How to make stress your friend?

Schedule of Events for the Week

February 15 (M)
Presidents’ Day – No School

February 16 (T)

IIPM Data Day

8:45-9:30 ,Pre colombian Assembly with Samuel Becerra

8:15-2:40

3:00-4:45, Staff Meeting (Library) with Susan Penrod on Foundational Skills

“These foundational skills are not an end in and of themselves; rather, they are necessary and important components of an effective, comprehensive reading program designed to develop proficient readers with the capacity to comprehend texts across a range of types and disciplines.“- CCSS ELA

February 17 (W)
Vaccination Exclusion Day

First day of artist in residence sessions.

4:00-6:00, Digital Learning Day (Ed Center)

February 18 (H)
Several Staff Attending Carrying it Forward (formerly Taking it Up)
Gig Nelson as administrator in building.
3:45-5:15, KG Teachers to Monthly Kindergarten Teacher Meeting (Adams)

4:00-5:00, Joel, Karen, Marcy, Alexis to Furniture Meeting (Library)

February 19 (F)
Several Staff Attending Carrying it Forward (formerly Taking it Up)

Gig Nelson as administrator in building.

February 22 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week

9:30-10:00, Joel does school tour.

10:00-2:00, Joel doing walk through observations.
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

February 23 (T)

8:45-9:45, Cafecito with parents on School Transitions -pre-k-k, 5th-6th, (FRC)

10:00-2:00, Joel doing walk through observations.

3:00-5:00, PLT Meeting (Extended Contract to discuss staffing scenarios)

February 24 (W)

10:00-11:30, Joel to Staffing Allocation Meeting (Ed Center)

2:30-3:30, Joel and Jennifer to Student Care Team Meeting (Staff Room at Howard)

February 25 (H)
Regular Day

February 26 (F)
Last Day for In-district School Choice Requests

Have an excellent week, everyone!

Joel

Week of February 8

Dear Shining Hearts Staff,

Some Important Announcements

• Report Card Clarification: SEND REPORT CARDS SIMULTANEOUSLY ON TUESDAY PM

• All teachers will be sending home report cards on TUESDAY afternoon (February 9) in backpacks.
• All teachers can print report cards at any time. (However, the attendance data will be printed on the cards after 7:30 AM on Monday.) This gives you time to stuff cards for Tuesday.We have to run a special report in Synergy to transfer this attendance data to the cards during non-school hours. Marian will do this between 7:00-7:30 tomorrow.
• Teachers are expected to stuff report cards on their own. This is not the responsibility of the office. Make sure to communicate with specialists about their progress reports too.
• Teachers’ 1000 copy count should cover your report card printing. If you run out later in the month, let the office know and we will provide more copies.
• Encourage your students to bring back the envelopes signed by parents. Sometimes teachers offer a small incentive for doing so.  This will help you figure out if parents read it or not. This also helps reduce printing costs of new envelopes and it’s good for the environment too.

♥

• Food For Lane County Produce Plus Program @ DHS – I just learned about this program at our last Student Care Team meeting, but if you ever hear of families needing access to free food, the Produce Plus program is at all DHS offices on Mondays and is open to anyone from the public. This is the same program we offer to families once a month through the FRC but it is offered every week at DHS sites as well. The offices closest to our area are:

West Eugene Family Center
2101 W 11th Ave
Eugene, OR 97402

McKenzie Center
2885 Chad Drive
Eugene, OR 97408

♥

• Staffing Survey Out Next Week: Some of you may remember from last year that I sent our a staffing Survey. I will do so again next week as a Google Survey but slightly revised. Please consider being flexible in how you answer the questions. We try to build a staffing plan that works well for staff. However, our primary purpose as educators is to provide the best dual language immersion experience for our students. Sometimes, that means personal preferences are considered after student needs.

I will be sending the survey out to all staff to find out about your interests and planning for next year. I will be the only person reading the survey. However, if you have news to share with me about moves, retirements, and so on; I encourage you to to come and make an appointment with me as well so we can talk more personally about your bigger life changes.

♥

• District Admin Updates – Randy Bernstein, the Director of Secondary Education, has decided to retire after a 34-year career as a public educator, 15 years of which has been in 4J. Randy will complete the year in his current role before retiring in June. Also, Jon Lauch, our longtime Director of Facilities Management and Transportation, has been tapped for a leadership position in the private sector. Jon will stay will on through April. Lastly, Dr. Charis McGaughy, formerly 4J Chief of Staff, has formally transitioned to the title and role of Assistant Superintendent for Instruction. Charis assumed the leadership and oversight of the Instruction Department in December and this past week the school board approved the final logistical pieces of reinstating the role of Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, which was last filled in 2010–11. This is not an added administrative position but a replacement. Downtown does not plan to appoint a new Chief of Staff.

♥

• Fun Activities for Anti-bias Education – Teaching Tolerance is now offering an archive of webinars on a growing list of topics, but here is a new one that sounded particularly good. Are you looking for fun and creative ways to engage your students in anti-bias learning? This webinar features video footage of educators teaching Perspectives for a Diverse America advisory activities. These team-building exercises break down social barriers and improve classroom climate.

♥

• How to engage, educate with virtual field trips – Virtual field trips can be a fun educational alternative to traditional field trips, Discovery Education’s Kyle Schutt suggests. In this commentary, he shares five tips to help educators make the most of virtual field trips and notes that, in his experience, event-based virtual trips are most effective.

♥

New Building Updates:

• Cabinets in the classrooms:  After some discussion in the last meeting about the new building, facilities listened closely to our suggestions about using COW CARTS in classrooms.  The ideas is that we will have a lockable closet designated for our COW Carts in every classroom.  COW Cart use is a standard in the district and this also provides more usable storage above the student cubbies for teachers. The depth of this storage space will remain at 16 inches.

• Public Meeting this Thursday: There will be a public meeting this Thursday in the Library. We will discuss the main features of the building and answer any questions that participants have about the building. Shane MacRhoades will be there to ensure that all questions about bicycles, pedestrians, and the roadway are answered. Please come to see and be involved if you have interest.

♥

What is Coming Up:

February 8 (M)

Secret Friend Day 1
Report Cards Printed by Teachers with attendance data after 7:30.
7:30-8:00, Joe in pre-conference.
8:45-9:45, Joel in observation.
10:30-12:00, Joel at UO PDAT Meeting on Latino Parent Teacher Curriculum
2:30-3:30, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
3:30-5:00, Joel to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

February 9 (T)

Report Cards Sent Home by teachers in backpacks.

Secret Friend Day 2
7:30-8:00, Post conference meeting. (Classroom)
9:00-9:30, Latino Cooking & Nutrition Outreach Meeting (FRC)
3:00-4:00, PLT Meeting- Main Focus Finalizing the Artist in Residence Schedule, Update on Priority School Status from Kathy and Joel.
5:30-6:00, Kelly Transition Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

February 10 (W)

Secret Friend Day 3
1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration time in the (Library)
3:00-4:00- Camino del Rio Garden Meeting (Conference Room)
4:00-5:00, Joel to North Region Admin Meeting (YG/Corridor)

February 11 (H)

Secret Friend Day 3

10:30-12:10,Valentine’s Lunch with a family Friend or Grandparent in Cafeteria. (Extended Lunch) (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad!, IPBS Meeting (Recker’s Classroom, Room 7)
6:00-7:00, School Construction Update- Public Meeting (Cafeteria)

January 12 (F)

Secret Friend Day 4
8:30-9:30, Joel in Formal Observation
There will not be a Valentine’s Dance as was previously scheduled.

February 15 (M)
Presidents’ Day – No School

February 16 (T)

8:45-9:30, School Wide Assembly at 8:45-9:30 on Pre Colombian Culture (Gym)
2:45-4:45, Staff Meeting (Library)-Focus Foundational Skills in Reading with Susan Penrod and Reid Sheppard

February 17 (W)
Vaccine Exclusion Day

Artist in Residence Day 1 with Samuel Becerra
4:00-6:00, Digital Learning Day (Ed Center)

February 18 (H)
Carrying It Forward- Order your Sub today Taking It Up (Classified as well.)
Joel out to lead facilitate. Admin coverage included.

February 19 (F)
Carrying It Forward- Order your Sub today under Taking It UP (Classified as well.)
Joel out to lead facilitate. Admin to coverage included.

Have a fabulous week, everyone!

Joel

Week of February 1

Dear Shining Star Staff,

Over the last week I have been very busy in classrooms doing observations.  I have been feeling the crunch of getting those observations done. However, it has been a joy for me! I am very impressed with your dedication, hard work, and interactivity with each and everyone of our students. It amazes me to see how you all have developed strong micro-communities in each one of your rooms. I am so happy to hear more students speaking up in Spanish even when it is their second language. That’s what it is all about.  In short, your hard work IS paying off. Please spend time celebrating with each other and give each other an opportunity to share some of the good things you are doing. Our program has much to be proud of.

Here are this week’s items of note:

• District Admin Updates – This is very big news for our school district. Kim Ketterer is retiring at the end of the school year. Kim has had to spend a significant amount of time helping her parents in Ohio since last spring and now needs to spend more time in Ohio supporting them. Kim has been a great supporter of 4J technology over the years, so be sure to wish her well next time you see her. Her work in technology integration has left a  positively legendary footprint on our district for a long time.

• February PBIS Focus: Integrity – The February PBIS monthly focus is Integrity. The PBIS team is restarting our focus on the VIRTUDES/ PRIDE goals. Check out the PRIDE VIRTUDES Bulletin Board in the front hall designed by Jill and Nancy. We want to fill it up with Virtudes Awards.  This year, we will not have a separate assembly for the awards, but I will come in and present the award in the classroom and make a big deal out of it by phone with parents too. We intend to make the VIRTUDES awards spontaneous and positive through out the school year. Look for students who have ANY of the characteristics demonstrated starting this week!

• Staffing Timeline & Enrollment Projection Updates- Principals received an updated staffing timeline at Friday’s all admin HR training. Buildings will receive their staffing on Wednesday, February 24th.  All buildings will have three weeks to finalize their 2016-2017 staffing plans, with plans due to HR Wednesday, March 16th. At this same meeting we also received our enrollment projections along with a new form for principals to provide additional information if we think our projections are not accurate. El Camino del Río is projected for 366 students ( [KG], 67 [1st], 61 [2nd], 81 [3rd], 48 [4th], 56 [5th]), which I think would be accurate most years. This is virtually unchanged from last year (-2 drop).

We can make the case that our projection is going upward with the opening of new developments in the Howard attendance area. Last year 53 students used school choice to attend our school. In 15-16, that number jumped by 10 students to 63.  I am hypothesizing that we will see many families continue to come to our school using school choice once they see that transportation is provided to a non-alternative bus accessed program. The bump in enrollment is a ways away related to the new building. Fall 2017 is still a full 18 months away for us.

If you’re wondering what this projection means in terms of staffing, if ECDR’s staffing ratio from last year holds true (24.8 overall, though KG was slightly lower), we would receive 15 classroom FTE, which would be status quo of  FTE. I know little of what to expect from the district about continuing to support SLD instruction. That will be something that I appeal for. However, we lost .6 of that FTE this year in October. Still, this all depends on adjustments to the needs index and overall district budget considerations, which could change this up or down, so this is really just my “back of the napkin” calculations at this point. Nothing will be official until Feb. 24th. My guess could be as good as yours at this point. Just know that my words here are pure speculation except for the facts embedded.

• Licensed Staff Mid-Cycle Goals Conferences – Now that we’re about halfway through the school year, I’ll be emailing licensed staff members to set up a time to meet for this step in the evaluation cycle. Our new superintendent has placed this as a higher priority than past sups, so I’ll be working to complete the Educator Evaluation and Professional Growth Cycles with all licensed staff this year. Head on over to TalentEd to review which cycle you’re on and any outstanding tasks you might have.

• New building updates:

February 11  Public Meeting- Please come to the February public meeting to hear more details about the new building. We will probably have neighbors expressing their concerns about sidewalks, outside appearance, traffic, etc. Having staff there and others expressing positive comments for the benefits of students helps keep us focused on what matters most.

Bidding process and start of construction: All the plans have been submitted to the city and have come back once. Also, the main revisions have been made by the architects already. Last week, the meeting focused on classroom cabinetry and some other fine points. The potential contractors will be given a bidding package in about two weeks to consider whether or not they want to take on the job. Dexter Rummel, our project manager expects 5-10 bigger contractors to make bids. Sometime before mid March there will be a “bid walk” where contractors walk around to look at the building and get an idea of the job site.  April 12 will be the board meeting where approval to begin building will happen.  Once that meeting happens and the bid is accepted by the school board we can expect contractors to start occupying the site within the week.  We should have full tilt construction happening by the last week in April or perhaps the third week in April.

• Informational Meeting on PeaceJam for K-12 Teachers – Downtown asked principals to pass along information to teachers regarding an informational meeting on PeaceJam for K-12 Teachers (though I saw a separate email was also sent to cert_all). PeaceJam is an international organization led by 13 Nobel Peace Prize winners, including the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, with the goal of building global citizenship, peace through anti-bullying instruction and youth leadership. The regional chapter of PeaceJam is now located here in Eugene, working in collaboration with the University of Oregon and schools and districts all over the Northwest. They will be hosting a voluntary, informational meeting Tuesday, Feb 2 from 4-5pm in the Auditorium at the 4J District Office, to cover some of the benefits to 4J teachers of the district membership 4J has established with PeaceJam, as well as upcoming activities and events that will benefit students in the district, including the upcoming youth conference with 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee from Liberia, which will take place at the U of O April 22-23.

• UO Science and Invention Fair – The UO SPICE program (Science Program to Inspire Creativity and Excellence) has announced that the 2016 UO Science and Invention Fair will be held on May 7th in Willamette Hall at the University of Oregon. See the linked flyer for additional details or the SPICE website. If teachers would like to have an instructor from SPICE visit your classroom for science fair workshops (including Scientific Method, Research Questions, Data Collection and Presenting Your Project), email Brandy Dodd (btodd@uoregon.edu).

• Should teachers wear microphones? – Since we’ll have these available in all of our classrooms in the new building, I thought this was a timely Edutopia article to share. It describes how one educator, who never felt he needed voice application before because of his “teacher voice,” recently gained a new appreciation for classroom sound amplification. He describes how he saw a change in the student behavior and in his own behavior as a result.

Staff Meeting Agenda:

2:45-3:05, Connections: Joel starts us off as people complete duty.

3:00-3:20,Observation Reflection and Next Steps: Joel and Reid Sheppard
3:20-3:30,Report from Marcy, Erin Bucklew and Karen about the conference in PDX.
3:30-3:45, Announcements and transitions activities, new building debrief, staffing debrief.

• African American History Month – Prepare for African American History Month with Perspectives. Use readings from the Central Text Anthology to celebrate and deepen students’ understanding and connections to African-American lives and legacies. Consider texts like Margaret Walker’s “For My People” or RuNett Nia Ebo’s “Lord, Lord, Why Did You Make Me Black?” Pair your selections with Write to the Source tasks like The Pages of My Life 6-12. Registration is required.

2016 NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner! –It will be on February 26 @ 6:00 am – 9:00 pm at Valley River Inn. Join us at the Valley River Inn for Our biggest fundraiser of the year! The 2016 Freedom Fund Dinner This year’s theme: Moving Ahead Together: MC:Cathy Woods Friday, February 26, 2016 Reception: 6pm Dinner and Program: 7pm Valley River Inn 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene, Oregon You can register online at: https://naacpfreedom2016.eventbrite.com I have been to this event for three years with the district.  This year, I would like to attend with a staff member or two on my own.  Anyone want to go with me and learn about the good work that NAACP is doing in our community?

“Chicano Park Anchor of Barrio Logan,” a talk by Hector Villegas, Chicano Artist FEBRUARY 8-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 1970s. 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’s talk will trace the history of activism in Chicano Park, and discuss his art work and today’s neighborhood movements to protect Barrio Logan against gentrification.

One of his artworks in progress is the pillar at Chicano Park shown in the photograph on the left. You can view more images of his work on Instagram@ mexikota art and on Facebook @ hector mexikota villegas.

Lawrence 115, 1190 Franklin Blvd., UO campus

Sponsored by the UO Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) and the UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts.

• Beware of the dangers of email – This article has suggestions I’ve often given teachers in being careful in their use of email over placing a phone call instead. Email is fast and effective, but it’s also potentially risky: Without body language or tone of voice to guide them, recipients may wind up taking offense at what you write. That’s especially true in back-and-forth chains that can devolve into frustrated knee-jerk responses, writes Peter Post. “Any time you begin to sense that the thread is becoming unpleasant, that is the moment to pick up the phone or visit the person to resolve the issue,” he advises.

• Schedule of Events for the Week

February 1 (M)
National African American History Month

11:45-12:00, Joel in meeting with teacher.

2:00 PM, Cookie Dough Assembly- (Will begin calling at 1:45 in 5th grade)

3:00, IEP in the Learning Center with Marcy

February 2 (T)
2nd Semester Music & PE Begins across the District

9:00-10:30,  Immersion Principal Task Force Meeting (Ed Center)

10:30-11:00, Joel at Financial Service to work on 2016-17 budget. (Ed Center)

2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting (Library)

February 3 (W)

1:45-2:45, Teacher Collaboration Hour- Teachers meet TOGETHER in grade teams in Library.

2:00-5:00, Joel at 4J Equity Committee (Ed Center)

6:00-7:00, Craft Night for Valentine’s Day Crafts
February 4 (H)

7:30-12:00, Joel in  2 formal observations and conferences.

2:45-3:45, ECDR Equity Meeting, Snacks provided.- (Library)

February 5 (F)

1:00-5:00, Joe at Ed Center in 4J MAPS training on hiring.

February 8 (M)
National School Counseling Week (Give Jennifer some props!)

Report Cards Sent Home

7:30-10:00, Joel in observations.

February 9 (T)

9:00-9:30, Latino Outreach  Meeting at ECDR- Food For Lane County (FRC) (Alicia and Joel)

3:00, PLT Meeting (Conference Room)

5:30-6:00, Kelly Dual Immersion Transition Info Night  before parent group in Library. (Library)

6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting (Library)

February 10 (W)

4:00-5:00, Joel to North Region Admin Meeting (YG/Corridor)

February 11 (H)

Valentine’s Lunch with a Family Friend or Grandparent Modified Schedule to allow for 5 minutes longer lunch for each grade level. (Cafeteria) (See flyers in your boxes for schedule.)

2:45-3:45, Mod Squad! (Recker’s Room 7)

6:00-7:00, School Construction Update- Public Meeting (Joel presents in Library)

February 12 (F)

8:30-9:30, Joel in Formal Observation

And if you’re wondering if this Monday is really the halfway point in the school year, well you are close. A teacher acquaintance I know at Twin Oaks let me know that she had conveniently already counted the school days.  Tuesday is our official halfway mark. Have a good week, everyone!

Joel