Week of September 26
Hi Everyone,
Last week was another very busy one. I know how hard our teachers were working to adjust the program to support our new blends. You made it look easy, though I know it was not. The extra hours of work to help the new composition of classes is paying off. Students feel welcomed and supported in all spaces of our school. You are an amazing staff. Thank you for your hard work. This next week we are focused on Safety. It is Safety Week. I have attached a list of simple procedures for you to follow. By the end the week, we will be in for a special treat, hearing the famous Gabino Palomares in our assembly.
• Licensed Staff TalentEd Self Self-Reflection Form Due Friday – Most licensed staff have a deadline this Friday to complete your Self-Reflection form in TalentEd. This is required for all temporary, probationary, and contract teachers who are on year-2 of the evaluation cycle, which is most of you. Log onto TalentEd and complete this form. For licensed staff, I do not see the contents of your self reflection, but I am notified once it is completed. Let me know if you have any questions on any of this or need any help logging onto TalentEd. Also, begin to think about your professional practice and personal goals. Smarter Balanced Assessment is not a required measurement for your assessment. You can use EDL2, Easy CBM, or your own reading/math measurements if you do them across a grade(s) in a consistent way. Goals meetings will be made by Myka and I very soon. All goals will need to be completed by 10/31.
• Safety Drills Information for Safety Week:
Click below to read the main procedure. Look at the calendar for general times when drills will occur.
Evacuation Map for River Road El Camino del Rio
• Staffing Updates – We have two new staff beginning this week! Our ELL EA will be Margaret Lima. She goes by Peggy. Peggy comes from the California Central Valley with a wealth of ESL and teaching experience. Peggy will be starting by the end of the week. Also, Antonio Salgado Nolazco begins his work in kindergarten with Nikita on Wednesday. Antonio, has worked at River Road El Camino del Rio before and is a parent here too. He has a lot of EA experience and kinder experience. They both will be a great addition to our team.
• District Admin Staffing Updates – Kevin Herrington has been hired into the position of College and Career Readiness and Career Technical Education Administrator. Kevin is a North Eugene High School graduate (Go, Highlanders!) who is coming back to 4J. Kevin has been doing similar work in California and here in 4J will oversee Career Technical Education (CTE), College & Career Readiness, AVID and Transitions.
David Bautista, who recently joined 4J in the equity administrator role, is departing. He has been asked to lead a dual immersion program in Santa Barbara, California, where his wife has been working. It was a difficult decision for David to leave 4J after only a few months, but his decision came down on the side of reuniting his family.
• Staff Orientation Check-List Due Friday – The checklist acknowledgment form to indicate that you have read and understood the District Back-to-School Memo (and PDF) is due to me this Friday. Principals this year are expected to give HR copies of all signed forms, so be sure to review the memo and give me the signed form before the end of the week. I’ll plan to start bugging individual staff members Wednesday who haven’t turned in their acknowledgement forms. This is a requirement of all classified and licensed staff.
• Classified Staff Self Assessment Form Due Friday – This was a new requirement from the end of last school year, and similar to licensed staff, classified staff are now expected to complete the Classified Employee Self Assessment form (Word and PDF) at the start and end of each school year. HR has already notified classified staff of this new expectation, but I wanted to remind staff this form is due to me by this Friday. This form is not sent to HR and is only seen by me. Feel free to email me an electronic copy of the form if you are using the linked Word file, but I will also put hard copies in staff mailboxes on Monday. Let me know if you have any questions.
• Learning About Learning (LEL) Network Teacher Rep Needed – For several years, 4J has had LEL Networks, first with only principals and later adding teacher reps from each school. Downtown now wants to rotate teachers who participate, so each school will have two teachers and rotate one off and one new one come on each year. Megan is rotating off and Nancy will continue for her second year, so please let me know if any of you are interested joining Nancy and myself as part of the LEL Network.
The purpose of a Learning About Learning Network is to orient members to the Instructional Rounds process and to begin the process of building teams of leaders who are able to learn from one another around the craft of leading instruction. The goal of instructional rounds isn’t to provide feedback to the teachers being observed, but rather the primary purpose is for observing classrooms to compare LEL members’ own instructional practices with those of the teachers they observe. The chief benefit of this approach resides in the discussion that takes place among LEL members at the end of the observations as well as in subsequent self-reflection. This short post from Edutopia has a nice overview of what the process looks like and linked here are the LEL Meeting dates & times. Feel free to ask Megan, Karen or Nancy or myself if you have any questions. Let me know if any of your are interested.
• New Monthly Absence Management Entry Requirement – Downtown is now requiring all staff to enter their own absences (administrators too) in AESOP. This is not a change for licensed staff who put in for substitutes, but staff who do not always put in for subs or record their absences, both licensed and classified staff should take special note. Staff can reference the district AESOP Quicksheets and Support for Licensed and Classified Staff website that will walk you through the process. There is a wealth of helpful information there including some videos regarding how to use the system if you are not familiar. If you need help you may also contact the sub desk at (541) 790-7689.
• Creativity and Parent /Community Engagement Night, October 4, 6:00-7:00: There will not be a regular parent group meeting. We are going to try something different. Teachers, parents, and community members will be invited into the library to think differently for a period of time to increase the engagement in the classroom. Teachers and the community members will brainstorm creative ways to teach, together! Please come to this event to work with the consultant, Jay Breslow to consider creative ways to engage our students that make learning more relevant.
• Curriculum Night, Oct. 12th, 5:45-8:00 – Just a quick reminder that Curriculum Night will be on Thursday, Oct. 12th. We’ll have a new plan this year. Dinner will be available to all who attend until 6:30. Childcare will be available. At 6:30, there will be a general assembly meeting to review dual language fundamentals, and Title 1 programming. At 6:55, parents will be excused to the first teacher session. At 7:25, there will be a passing period. At 7:30 there will be a final session if families have two children in different grades or classes.
•Student Information Verification Forms: Teachers, thank you for returning the verification forms. This makes a big difference for communication in the office. We will get more families information and also provide better home communication in case of late pick ups and student injuries. If you get more, please bring them in to the office.
• Attendance – AM and PM Reminder – Quite a few teachers are not getting both their AM and PM attendance entered. One issue is a Synergy upgrade that happened last week and made it so using iPhones or iPads are not saving properly, but Edupoint is looking into it. The Technology Department is recommending teachers refrain from taking attendance on iPads and use a laptop until they get more information from Edupoint. However, we’ve had teachers not getting PM attendance recorded before this upgrade. Please check that you are doing PM attendance properly after 12:00 PM. Thanks!
• We are Team Eugene Lanyards – Staff may have seen the “We Are Team Eugene” t-shirts floating around at the start of the year. Downtown sent buildings lanyards with the same slogan if you’d like one. They will be available at the staff work station in the office by the stapler, etc.
• Guidelines for Email Signatures – Principals were sent an email from downtown to share the linked Guidelines for Email Signatures with staff. These guidelines are intended to promote a professional, businesslike image in all Eugene School District 4J employee email communications. Email signatures should include your name, the school or department to which you are assigned, the name of the school district, email address and telephone number. You may also include your job title as reflected in official district records. To use a working title instead of your official job title, you must obtain written permission from a Human Resources administrator. Email signatures should be in black text in an easily accessible font. The district name is Eugene School District 4J with the words in that order and the J in 4J capitalized. Email signatures should not include colored text, complicated fonts, images, clip art, background, any personal quotes, slogans, legal disclaimers, or a job title other than your official job title.
Format Order:
Your name
Your official title (optional)| School or Department Eugene School District 4J
Email address | Office Phone
Fax (optional)Sample Employee Signature:
Jane Doe
Teacher, Ace Elementary School
Eugene School District 4J
doe_jane@4j.lane.edu | 541-790-XXXX
• Free Literacy Program for Spanish Speaking Families – The fall session of Pilas Family Literacy Program begins on October 3rd at the Dos Ríos Elementary School and on October 4th at the Fairfield Elementary School. Please see the linked flier and application for details and feel free to distribute this information. The program is open to all Spanish speaking families in Eugene and Springfield, and is open to children ages 0-13, offering:
• Pre-kinder readiness class
• K-3 Reading curriculum
• Homework Club for ages 9-13
• Family involvement activities
• English classes for parents
• City of Eugene Neighborhood Matching Grant – The City of Eugene Neighborhood Matching Grant cycle is open now through October 31st with $50,000 available for neighborhood improvement and community-building projects. Community involvement and building relationships are key components and are encouraged by requiring that the project budget include a match amount equal to, or greater than, the grant request. Grant guidelines and application materials are available on the City’s website, the linked flyer, or by calling Cindy Koehler at 541-682-5272.
• ASCDExpress, Relationships First – Relationships don’t just fuel student learning, writes Rick Wormeli, they also invigorate teaching. “We are more willing to invest in students when we feel connected to them,” he notes, and that mutuality helps carry teachers during the hard work ahead of them. This issue of ASCDExpress offers tips for strengthening classroom bonds through structured discussions, writing tasks, parent engagement, and restorative interventions.
Here is the Calendar of Events for the next two weeks:
Events for the Week of September 25-September 30: Click on the image below.
Events for the Week of October 3 – October 7th: Click on the image below.
Thanks for reading everyone,
Joel
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