• Opera at Camino del Río-Cantata Criolla, Antonio Estévez “Florentino and the Devil”, Featuring Venezuelan soloists, tenor Idwer Alvarez (Florentino) and baritone Gaspar Colón (Devil). These artists are visiting our city from Venezuela. It is rare to hear them in the US because of our tenuous relationship with that country. However, these opera singers have spectacular voices. Our students will have a special concert and education session on Thursday April 28 at 9:00 AM. Mr. Adee will be here to support us in our assembly and he and Craig will help get us set up for a rich experience. We will begin calling you down at 8:40 on Thursday. I (Mr. Lavin) will escort you from oldest to youngest to the cafeteria.
• Putting in Tickets for Technology Help – The Tech Department sent a friendly reminder to principals, asking us to remind staff that when you need assistance with anything technology related, you should send an email to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu, which creates a ticket, or call x7777. The reasons staff are asked to put in tickets are numerous, including but are not limited to:
• To get an accurate accounting of the workload for your schools
• To obtain statistics on the overall workload for all TSS
• To justify the existence of site-based TSS (!!!)
• To get statistics on the type of requests coming in, so they can target training and other resources.
• To see historical data for devices and problems
• Because TSS assignments can change at any time
• To better allocate TSS staffing. This is important because a low number of tickets could indicate that a school doesn’t need as much tech support time as it is currently getting. In looking at current data, they believe this is because the staff at some schools may be emailing to talking the TSS directly instead of putting in a ticket.
• “After ALiCE Next Steps” Training – Risk Management is holding an “After ALiCE Next Steps” training on Monday, May 16th, 3:00-5:00 at our school, Camino del Río. See the email from Randi Bowers-Payne for the agenda and details. I’m planning to attend the training and we have a solid team coming too. Please let me know by the end of the week if any of you would like to attend. Our goal is to use this time to build a plan for our building and begin setting out a framework of crisis management in a real life situation. On a related note, I am meeting with Police Chief Pete Kerns on Monday to discuss the recent Emerald Park shootings and how such incidents effect schools and communities. Our parent Phil Carrasco helped to arrange this important meeting.
• Medications on Field Trip – With field trip season now upon us, one important reminder to staff going on field trips is that only school staff should ever administer medication. Unless it is a custodial parent, volunteers or other parents leading groups of students on a field trip should never be the ones to administer medicine.
• “Oregon Rising” Event Wednesday – Flyers for this event went home last Friday and an email was sent to families, but if you missed it, on Wednesday, April 27th from 7:00-8:00 at Sheldon High School, which is a statewide public outreach effort to answer the question, “What do we want Oregon schools to be for our children and grandchildren?” All the information gathered will be presented to state legislators to tell the story of what we want our state’s education system to look like. If you cannot take part in the community conversation, you can respond online at oregon-rising.org
• Survey about Smarter Balanced – Teachers may have received invitations from the Audits Division of the Oregon Secretary of State to participate in a survey about Smarter Balanced. These surveys are part of an audit mandated by HB 2713, from the 2015 legislative session. Linked here is a copy of HB 2713 in case you would like to learn more about the context for the survey, but I did want teachers to know this survey is legitimate and is an avenue to directly let the legislature know your thoughts on SBAC. Some of you already spoke to staff from the Secretary of State in late March.
• Election Rhetoric Takes its Toll on Students – Some students have suggested that they are fearful about what the outcomes of this year’s presidential election could mean for their families and friends, according to a survey of 2,000 teachers by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The anxiety is most prominent among immigrant students and Muslims. I usually avoid overtly political articles, but this something that’s been on my mind ever since a 4th grader came to me a couple months ago sincerely concerned that he would no longer be able to play with his Latino friend if Trump were elected president. Who knows what policies will or will not be changed following the election, but this article from NPR discusses the very real impact election rhetoric is having on students and families. Teaching Tolerance posted a similar article this week as well.
Children climb on a sculpture as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Urbandale High School in Urbandale, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall/AP
• Schedule of Events for the Week
April 25 (M)
12:00-12:30- Joel gives a tour to parent.
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
April 26 (T)
8:30-9:45, Cafecito (Parent meeting with principal for all interested)– Topic: Summer opportunities for your child. Conducted in Spanish and translated to English.
3:00, Joel in Summative Meeting
April 27 (W)
Administrative Professionals Day (formerly Secretaries Day)
9:00-11:00, Joel in pre-construction meeting. (Facilities)
12:00, Fire Drill
12:30-1:00, Blazers Grant Meeting with Rachel Farkas
April 28 (H)
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
7:30-8:00, Joel in end of cycle goals meeting
9:00-9:45, Venezuelan Choir Concert, Canatata Criolla (K will have recess with 1/2)
1:45-2:45 PLC Planning Time- Math Focus- Work on Compendium or Formative assessments. (Library)
1:45-2:45, 1st Grade ELD 2016-2017 Planning, (Room 9)
4:30-6:00, Joel at 4j Equity Committee
April 29 (F)
Joel doing teacher effectiveness write-ups. (Not available expect for major discipline issues) (No admin sub)
May 2 (M)
Teacher Appreciation Week
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Children’s Book Week
2:00-2:30, Extra Recess and Yogurt PBIS Reward
May 3 (T)
5:00-8:00, North Region Baseball Event – Night at the Swede (NEHS)- PLEASE COME TO THIS IF YOU CAN
All Day Visitors from GUY LEE Elementary to visit our school for learning. (We visit them May 10.)
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting Recap of Guy Lee Visit
May 4 (W)
12:00-1:00, Furniture Meeting with Joel, Kay Mehas and Dexter Rummel (Conference Room)
1:45-2:45, PLC Time- Math Focus Planning (Library)
1:45-2:45, Joel, Abby and Nancy lead Kinder ELD 2016-2017 (Room 9)
May 5 (H)
7:45-8:30, Joel and team at a meeting on Revocation of Evaluation for IEP
8:30-12:00, Dental Flouride Clinic (Room 17)
NO BEST After-school Program
May 6 (F)
8:00-2:00, Professional Development Day – No Students, Pastries and coffee served at 7:45.
5:00-8:00, Fiesta Event
Have a great week everyone!
Joel
Celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Month with your students. Plan something meaningful with them.