Week of November 7
Dear Estrellas Brillantes,
This week 6 of us will be traveling to Santa Fe New Mexico to share some of the promising practices we use in our building and in 4J. I am very proud of all the accomplishments we have made in our school. Most of this credit is due to the teachers who put in the hard work each and every day to create a consistent and positive experience for our students.
This week our guest Principal, Tom Maloney, will provide any support you need while we are gone. It is a great asset to have him around. I will be checking my email and can still answer any questions you might have. Do not hesitate to call me or reach me during the day.
Important Announcements and Activities of the School
• LEL (Learning About Learning) Science Lesson Visit, Nov. 18th – This year’s round of LEL visits to schools, the district is focusing on science. El Camino del Rio LEL teachers will visit Charlemagne next week on Thursday, November 17th. Classroom teachers will rearrange their usual schedule to fit the times LEL groups will be visiting classrooms. This will probably occur in our building too in March when we have our visit.
For those unfamiliar with the LEL process, linked here is a short post from Edutopia, which has a nice overview of what the process looks like. And if you’re wondering, why the focus on science for LEL this year, part of the reasoning is to help guide the direction of the next science professional development day in January. That’s in addition to the usual purpose of the LEL Instructional Rounds process, which is NOT to provide feedback to the individual teachers being observed, but is rather focused on LEL members’ own instructional practices and building teams of leaders who are able to learn from one another around the craft of leading instruction.
• Student Care Team Referrals – The November Student Care Team meeting is a week from Wednesday, which means that referrals to the team are due this Friday. Please let me know soon if you have any student and/or family situations you’d like to bring to the team. It’s best if you can get a release form signed (PDF or DOC), but we can also bring “hypothetical” student situations if you cannot get a release form signed. Let me know if you have questions about the team or any potential referrals.
• Conferences and Specialists – Downtown is making expectations for specialists during conferences consistent across the district. I’ve sent a separate email to specialists (Title, SPED, ELD, Music, PE, etc.) with the nitty gritty of what came from downtown, but the expectation is that all specialists need to be working during conferences in some capacity and are to be available to families if they would like to meet.
• Holiday Resources – Our DHS contact for the Student Care Team shared the following holiday resources you can feel free to share with families. I’ll plan to email these out to families in a future newsletter and also post on social media. One is Holiday Meals Flyer (English and Spanish) that lists available food boxes, meal sites, holiday gift programs, and holiday celebrations. Another is the 11th Annual Holiday Meal event (English and Spanish) at Lane County Youth Services on MLK Blvd. December 7th for a free meal, raffle, and food boxes. The last is a a flyer for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which can help with bills for households that heat with electricity, natural gas, oil, propane, wood pellets or wood.
• Facilities Use by Staff – Downtown asked principals to share the following. All 4J schools are public property and are subject to public scrutiny. As public employees, no person may use district property for personal financial gain, or for use that is inconsistent with the district’s public purpose, or in a manner that will discredit the district, or offer it free to the community, ie. (such as offering music lessons or exercise classes, holding community meetings, and more).
The district has established board policies to address staff and outside groups wanting to use 4J facilities (Policy 1, Policy 2, Policy 3). In order to establish fairness to all groups, including 4J staff, detailed procedures and a consistent fee schedule are in place. If employees wish to use 4J facilities and/or equipment for private instruction or for non-school community group meetings, or any other reason, they will need to:
- Submit a facilities request using the online form
- Get approval from the superintendent or his designee (that’s the facilities management rental office and the school principal; you are requesting this approval when you submit your online request) and if the use for personal or private purposes is approved,
- Complete a facility use contract (this is generated from your online request) and pay the appropriate fee to reimburse the district for use of the facility.
Our school may have a different process for staff to reserve space for school meetings and other functions. That process is not appropriate for requesting community use of school space or personal use by staff. Please contact the facilities management rental office (Tammi May x7406) if you have any questions.
• Unpaid Leaves – Downtown asked principals to also share the following. “An employee may not take an unpaid day off without the advanced written approval of his or her supervisor and Human Resources director or designee.” Requests must be submitted no less than 48 hours before a known absence. If the unpaid day is related to an illness the request must be sent within three work days upon return to work. To request an unpaid day an employee should follow the below procedure:
• Send an email to their administrator/supervisor and 4J_leaves@4j.lane.edu requesting the unpaid day and including the reason for the request.
• The administrator/supervisor should email both the employee and the 4J_leaves@4j.lane.edu email if they support the request or are denying the request.
• If the administrator/supervisor has supported the request then it will be reviewed by the Human Resources Director.
• If approved, the Human Resource Director will email both the employee and supervisor their approval.
ALL leaves 6 consecutive days or longer must be requested by submitting a leave of absence request form.
• Free After-School Reading and Math Intervention Program – Center on Teaching and Learning’s Reading Clinic at the University of Oregon has openings for our after-school, reading and math tutoring program for K-2 students to receive free after-school reading and/or math intervention services. I have linked here a flyer and registration packet to distribute to teachers and parents. Clinic Services at a Glance:
· 50 minute sessions 2 times per week for reading and/or math (doubled if attends both)
· Sessions are Monday-Thursday between the hours of 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm
· Receive instruction in research-based intervention programs
· One-to-one or small group instruction
· Services delivered by graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Oregon
· Takes place on campus, in the HEDCO Education Building
· Currently we do not offer transportation
· There is no cost
Space is limited, so if more students apply than they have the capacity to serve, those students will be placed on a waiting list.
Teaching and Learning Resources in a Bilingual Environment
4 ways ESSA will change how schools serve ELL students
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, first passed in 1965, is at its heart a piece of civil rights legislation. Its whole purpose is to provide federal funds to states and districts to overcome disadvantages faced by students who have traditionally fallen through the cracks or been intentionally ignored. In the latest rewrite of the law, which turned No Child Left Behind into Every Student Succeeds, there are some key provisions that shift the way schools will have to identify, serve, test and report information about students who do not speak English. Read more here.
Calendar: What is Ahead?
Week of November 7-11
Week of November 14-18
Saludos cordiales,
Director Lavin
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