Week of May 15, 2017


May 14th, 2017

 

Dear Shining Stars,

Last week was such a busy week.  At the same time,  it somehow felt grounding to work beside all of you in our familiar roles in this wonderful place we call school.  If you have not had a chance to talk to your students about moving from the old building, I encourage you to do begin to do so this week.  It is time for us to thank the building and begin to help the students make transitions in their mind to the new space.  64 years is a long time for a building to serve the community.  Consider how you might say goodbye to it.

Here are some announcements for the week:

• Did you have a chance to view the video of our kids walking to school with Mayor Vinis?  If not, here you go. Our students celebrate walk and bike to school day That sure was a fun community event to be a part of.  A big thank you is deserved to Sarah Mazze for helping organize this event.  It really was great to see our community involved here.

• Student Care Team Referrals – The May Student Care Team meeting is in two weeks, which means referrals are due to me by Friday next week. Referrals can be for families seeking support for food assistance, incarcerated parents, counseling/mental health needs, parenting resources, transportation assistance, clothing needs, financial assistance, homelessness, impending homelessness, 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 where you have concerns but cannot get a signed release.

• 2017 Parenting Now! Resources for Families – Linked here is the 2017 Resources for Families Poster (English and Spanish) from Parenting Now! This poster is a very comprehensive resource guide sorted by area of need (i.e. Counseling, Financial Assistance, Legal, Substance Abuse & Recovery, etc.) if you are ever helping families look for Lane County agencies and resources.

• May 26 PD Day – The last PD Day of the year is in two weeks on Friday, May 26th. There will be a brief meeting in the morning to discuss leadership for 2017-2018 and items related to moving: Most of the day will be related to packing boxes and helping each other move. I’ll also provide some time for licensed staff to complete the End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection form in TalentEd and for classified staff to complete the Classified Employee Self-Assessment assessment form (PDF or DOC).

• ELD Service will end on June 14 or 15: The last day for ELD of Kinder, 1st, 3rd and 4th grades will be Wednesday, June 14th. Since Field Day is from 9am-11am and BBQ lunch from 11am-1pm on Thursday, June 15th, this will be the last day of ELD for 2nd and 5th grades.  The following week, the last three and a half days of school, Nancy will be working on end of the year ELD paperwork and filing the necessary forms in the front office and at ELD office. This is a collaborative decision Nancy, Lily Gold and myself have made to serve our students. If you have any questions, please contact me (Joel) about the end of service for the year.

• Class Lists Parent Notification – The plan as has been the last three years is to wait until fall to notify families about classroom placements. We usually have a fair amount of turnover each summer.  Posting class lists like we did this year will be the plan for next year unless I hear otherwise from folks who think I should reconsider.

• 2017-2018 School Leadership Positions – We still have some open positions for next year’s building leadership positions. Feel free to sign-up and we’ll make these official at the May 26th PD Day. If you would like to sign up for a leadership or rep position, look for the clipboard in the staff lounge.

• Fresh Fruit & Veggie Program – Nutrition Services is watching the funding very closely with the Fresh Fruit and Veggie Program and it may be that they need to end this program on May 31st. The state is unsure of the amount of funding to complete this school year, as well as what next year will look like. Nutrition Services will let us know more information when they receive details from ODE.

•Families, advocates, and allies of gender diverse and transgender children- A great resource for families-Juli Heffernan at UO and Tina Schmich have started a support group for parents of gender diverse students.  They met for the first time in September and will meet the third Thursday of each month:Families of Gender Expansive Youth Support and Advocacy Group, Third Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m., 1685 West 13th Ave | Unitarian Universalist Church of Eugene. The Facebook event posting for this month’s meeting can be found and shared here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1317758461597676/ .

For questions, please contact Julie at jheffern@uoregon.edu or Brianna Stiller at stiller@4j.lane.edu.

• Free, Optional iPad Basics Workshop – In response to interest expressed by classified staff, Instructional Technology is offering four sessions of iPad Basics. The North Region session is being hosted  at Howard in two weeks on Wednesday, May 24th from 2:00-3:00 in the STEM Room. Follow this link to the 4J Workshops Website for further information and online registration. Any 4J employee, classified or licensed, is welcome to attend.

• Why it’s important to recognize unconscious bias – While it may be difficult to admit, “unconscious bias is a real phenomenon in all schools,” asserts former educator and principal Kate Gerson in this article. Gerson, who now works with nonprofit UnboundEd, challenges educators to engage in the uncomfortable work of evaluating unconscious bias.

The Calendar of Events for the remainder of the year:

May 15 (M)

Regular Day

May 16 (Tu)

8:15-11:15, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

3:00-5:00, Two Hour Staff Meeting on LearnZillion & a session on Dreambox and how to use some new features.  Maddie Ahearn, Jamie Massie, and Reid Sheppard in support.

May 17 (W)

9:00-11:00, Joel at construction meeting.

1:45-2:45- PLC Time  Focus- Planning  for math instruction. New Compendium for the end of year??

May 18 (Th)

3:00-4:00, Equity Meeting 

May 19 (F)

 2:00- 2:30 PM (Cafeteria) Earth Assembly

May 22 (M)

4:00-5:00, Joel at All Admin Meeting

May 23 (Tu)

2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting

May 24 (W)

9:00-11:15, Joel in Construction Meeting

1:45-2:45, Wednesday PLC Time- Technology Focus- Primary Intermediate- Math Assessment

May 25 (Th)

5:30-7:00, River Road Farewell Event in the cafeteria and parts of the school.

May 26 (F)

Academy Day- No School

Short staff meeting in the AM focused on moving questions and the new building.  PBIS and routines in the new building will be a topic.

Most of the day is allocated for packing boxes and doing moving preparation.

May 29 (M)

Memorial Day- No School

May 30 (Tu)

Joel and some teachers to Rigler Elementary in Portland

6:00-7:00, Parent Group Multicultural Potluck Dinner (Cafeteria)

May 31 (W)

9:00-11:00, Joel at construction meeting.

1:45-2:45- PLC Time  Focus- Planning  for math instruction.

June 1 (Th)

5th Grade Outdoor School

June 2 (F)

5th Grade Outdoor School

June 5 (M)

Regular Day

June 6 (Tu)

2:00-2:30- School Wide BEST Strings Performance in Cafeteria

3:00-4:00, Final Staff Meeting of the year in (Room 18)

June 7 (W)

9:00-11:00, Joel at construction meeting.

1:45-2:45- PBIS Meeting in Room 9

1:45-3:45- PLC Time – Professional Development on Imagine Learning software for 2017/2018. Extended contracts provided.

June 8 (Th)

8:00-2:30, Final Data Team Meeting #6  (Room 18)

June 9 (F)

Now a REGULAR SCHOOL DAY

June 12 (M)

3:30-5:00, Joel at Immersion Task Force Meeting (Parr Room)

June 13 (Tu)

4:00-5:30,Final Site Council Meeting: Transitions for new members and thank you for old members. Includes a tour of the new building.

June 14 (W)

9:00-11:00, Joel at construction meeting.

1:45-2:45- PLC Time- Focus:Aligning report card information across grade levels.

June 15 (Th)

9:00-11:00, Field Day 

11:00-12:15, School wide BBQ

June 16 (F)

No School – Grading Day

June 19 (M)

Regular Day

June 20 (Tu)

Regular Day

June 21 (W)

9:00-11:00, Joel at construction meeting.

1:45-2:45- PLC Time- Let’s pack together!

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. 

Have a great week, everyone! 26 days of school left in the old building!

Joel

 

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