Week of March 13, 2017
Hello Shining Stars,
I want to take a minute to thank all of the teachers who opened your rooms to the other immersion schools to come and see how we teach science. Feedback from the team was very positive. It was great to hear from other educators how well we are doing to help students stay engaged and learn in a relevant, engaging environment. I can share some of the feedback from the science observations in our last March meeting. In addition, I want to share how good I feel to open our classrooms up for others to see. Time and again, I get feedback about how our staff cares so much about students and that you all deliver high quality instruction. Know that your skills and expertise have not gone unnoticed across the district.
• Spirit Day Wednesday the 15th – Wear your Sports Jersey or clothes. This Wednesday we have an upcoming spirit day. Remind your students that Wednesday is a day you can wear a sports shirt, hat, go, or anything related to a sport. It is a fin way to celebrate
• Taking It Up Seminar Returns – What is Taking It Up? It’s a 2-day seminar (May 1st and 2nd) focused on supporting educators deepen their understanding of institutionalized racism and bring to light the barriers that continue to exist for many of our students, fellow colleagues, and community members. See the linked email for additional details, but downtown is paying registration fees and for subs for two staff members (classified and/or licensed) to attend, though we may be able to send additional staff. The objectives of this seminar are to:
• Develop a deeper personal awareness about how “who you are impacts” your work in schools and with students.
• Deepen your understanding of Oregon’s history and context around race, racism and racial achievement disparities.
• Become more aware of your own attitudes, values and beliefs about race.
• Develop a stronger awareness of racism and its impact on yourself and others.
• Learn skills for talking to other staff, parents, and students about race and addressing issues you encounter.
If you’d like to attend, please let me know by the end of the week. If you have questions about the seminar, we have quite a few El Camino del Rio staff who’ve attended and can share the experiences.
• Social Emotional Curriculum Inventory (Due Wednesday) – Brooke Wagner and the Instruction Department is gathering an inventory list of curriculum across the district for social emotional learning. Teachers, email me by Wednesday what social emotional curriculum materials you have and also email me if you have nothing. Examples would be Caring School Community, Second Step, Stop/Walk/Talk, Zones of Regulation, Steps to Respect, Bucket Filling, Tribes, or any similar programs. Also, downtown is asking if there’s any specific curriculum you would like to have that you do not currently have.
• Caring School Community Materials – Are you missing any CSC materials? Let me know if you need of a K-2 or a 3-5 kit. Also, if you can’t a copy, I still have some Closing Circles: 50 Activities for Ending the Day in a Positive Way to help with closing meeting ideas if anyone would like a free copy of this handy little guide.
•Nursing Services will stay at El Camino del Río next year- We will be keeping Maxine and Ingrid on site! Hooray. Cheryl Linder asked me to keep nursing services at our school. We will keep the nursing department at our site and we will continue to be a training space for district staff. In addition, families who have had a long standing relationship with Maxine will not have to travel to North Eugene HS to get the services they have gotten accustomed too. This is a huge win for us and our students. Nursing services will be located close to the family resources center creating a community hub right at the center of our school.
•Head Start at El Camino del Río next year! – We will be having a Head Start Program at El Camino del Rio next year. I will be meeting with Executive Director Charleen Strauch about early learning planning in the building on Monday. This decision was made to support our youngest bilingual students. We will be designing a dual language program for incoming students. This is not a moving existing program, but a new classroom designed to promote Spanish and English literacy. This is very exciting news indeed.
• 2017-2018 Staffing Updates – We do have information on ESC. This year, Dr. Balderas decided to cut ESC time to our building. We were given a .4 ESC allocation instead of .5. Thankfully, we can supplement this with time from the little bit of Priority Set Aside money we have left. This means we can still have a .5 ESC position. Unfortunately, classified staffing is not in as good shape. We will have to cut about 4 hours of time from classified Title 1 time due to a 35,000 cut from our title budget. The ELD staffing possibility is still up in the air. Jeff Johnson is waiting to hear from another principal. I should have an answer to this on Monday. The licensed classroom plan survey is out and I heard from most staff last week at PLT. We will have a standup meeting on Wednesday to inform all staff on my decisions to submit to HR. I will meet with teachers and classified staff on Wednesday and Thursday to inform them of shifts in teaching assignments or potential cuts in hours.
• ACE Awards Nominations – In case you missed the Ace Awards nominations email, they are now accepting nominations for this school year. If you’d like to nominate any of your colleagues, either licensed, classified, or volunteers, follow this link to the Ace Awards website. Nominations are due the day before spring break, Friday, March 24th. I have no doubt that several of you deserve this award. Let me know if you need help nominating one of your colleagues.
• Student Care Team Referrals – The March Student Care Team is meeting in next week, which means referrals are due to me by this Friday. Referrals can be for families seeking help for food assistance, incarcerated parents, counseling/mental health needs, parenting resources, transportation assistance, clothing needs, financial assistance, or most any other situation where a family is looking for help but does not know where to turn. Try to get a parent/guardian signature on the release form (editable PDF and non-editable PDF), but know that you can also refer “hypothetical” situations.
• OEA Students in the Lead: Culturally Responsive Teaching – March 18 (registration deadline March 13) – Principals were also asked to share that on Saturday, March 18, the 7th Annual OEA Symposium, “Students in the Lead: Culturally Responsive Teaching” will be held at OSU. This year, they welcome educator and author Zaretta Hammond for a day of provocative dialogue, discussion, and learning. The event takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on the Oregon State University Campus. See the linked flyer for additional information. Visit their website to register and if you have questions about registration, contact Penny Hildreth at penny.hildreth@oregoned.org or (503) 495-2135.
•First Aid CPR Training: I sent an email earlier on Friday sharing some of the opportunities to get trained. I highly encourage our cooking staff and office staff to get trained but it is so important for all of us to get trained. Look for the email in your inboxes.
•School Garden Project training on outdoor classroom management: Just another reminder that The School Garden Project will be hosting an Outdoor Classroom Management session on Tuesday, March 14th from 4-6pm.
Teaching and Learning with Emergent Bilinguals:
•Tool Aims to Help Schools Better Identify English-Language Learners,
from: Education Week
A team of researchers has developed a new tool to help educators evaluate the effectiveness of the surveys that schools use to identify English language learners. The Regional Educational Laboratory’s English Language Learners Alliance has created the Home Language Survey Data Quality Self-Assessment to aid state education departments and school districts improve the quality of data collected through home-language surveys — questionnaires used to identify students eligible for special help in learning English — and learn more about how the surveys are administered. Ready the whole article here.
Calendar of Events
March 12 (Su)
Daylight Savings Time – Spring Forward (Ugh)
March 13 (M)
12:00-12:30, Eugene Emeralds Assembly- In the Gym (Non-PE/ Music Day) We will call younger grades first.
March 14 (Tu)
10:00- 10:30, Joel in Observation
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting- Focus 2017-2018 Calendar, End of the year events for 17′, Final Staffing Decision Shared with parents and site council.
6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting- Focus: Fiesta
March 15 (W)
Staffing spreadsheets are due to Human Resources
9:00-11:00- Joel at construction meeting.
1:45-2:45, PLC Time, Please arrive on time to meet with your team. Focus: Assessment- Math
2:00 PM, Stand up meeting to Announce Staffing Decision- (Library)
5:30-6:30, Kinder Orientation at El Camino del Rio (Teachers and counselor attend)
March 16 (Th)
2:00-2:40, Title 1 Survey Assembly in cafeteria.
3:00-4:00, Equity Team
March 17 (F)
St. Patrick’s Day- No pinching!
March 18 (SA)
9:00-11:00, OBOB Regional Competition (NEHS)
March 20 (M)
4:00-5:30, Joel to all admin meeting
March 21 (Tu)
8:15-11:15, Joel at Principal’s meeting
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting with a focus on Moving and Science Instruction
March 22 (W)
9:00- 11:00, Joel in construction meeting
1:45-2:45, PLC Time, Please arrive on time to meet with your team. Focus: Assessment- Math
March 23 (Th)
Joel potentially out all day for Equity, Instruction & Partnerships Manager Interviews
Cafecito with Parents- Needs to be rescheduled if there are interviews.
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad
March 24 (F)
Regular day before Spring Break- PLT will be rescheduled.
March 27-31– Spring Break!
April 3 (M) No School, PD Day
8:00-12:00, District Math PD ( @ Howard)
April 4 (T)
8:15-11:30, Joel at Principal’s Meeting
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
3:45-4:45, PLT Meeting
April 5 (W)
9:00-11:00, Joel at Construction Meeting
1:45-2:45, PLC Meetings Focus on Math Planning and Assessment
1:45-2:45, April PBIS Meeting
4:00-5:00, Joel at North Region Regional Meeting
April 6 (Th)
10:30, Fire Drill
April 7 (F)
8:15-10:15, Joel at Leadership Attendance Support Meeting
10:30-11:00, Joel in attendance follow up meeting.
6:30-8:30, Movie Night
April 10 (M)
3:30-4:30 PM, Joel at the Immersion Task Force
April 11 (Tu)
5:00-6:00 PM, Site Council
6:00-7:00 PM, Parent Group Meeting
April 12 (W)
1:45-2:45, Wednesday PLC Time- Technology Focus- Primary Intermediate- Math Assessment
April 13 (Th)
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad
April 14 (F)
Regular Day
April 26 and April 27– Parent Conferences
April 28 (F) No School- Compensation Day
May 1 (M) – Library Closes at old El Camino building. No library use after this date. Packing up books first. Then, used for moving storage. No more staff meetings here.
May 6 (Sa) SATURDAY- Fiesta Community Party 12:00-3:00
June 22 (Th)
The Last Day of School (Dismissal 11:40)
June 23(F)
Last work day for teachers. All employees must be out of the building before 12:00 AM-(Midnight).
June 24 (Sa)
Salvage and Asbestos Abatement begins in the old building. No teachers or classified staff may be present.
That is all for the week. Thanks for your ongoing dedication to our students.
Joel