Allan's Announcements

March 4, 2024

By Allan | 2024/03/03 00:16 Posted in Announcements, Arts, Assessment, Equity, P.D., Video | Comments Off

Hello Holt Bolts,

It’s Classified Appreciation Week and I want to give a TREMENDOUS shoutout to Holt’s truly amazing classified staff. Our school would not function without you and I cannot imagine coming to school without the talented and fun team of classified folks we’re lucky enough to have here at Holt! You all are the best!

Eighteen items of note for this week:

• Classified Appreciation Week MONDAY Goodies – Holt Classified Staff are ROCK STARS! Licensed staff, remember to bring your goodies for the Baked Potato Bar on Monday! Also, watch for some extra treats in your mailbox this week from me.

• K-3 Artist in Residence Begins MONDAY – The K-3 Clay Artist in Residence begins this week with Lily Hamilton teaching 5 Clay Friends. Linked here is the Artist Schedule that was shared earlier and is also on the Staff Zimbra Calendar.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting TUESDAY – The March SST meeting will be this Tuesday, where the team will screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-in on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda will be emailed to teachers needing to attend the meeting.

• Wednesday PD: OSAS Annual Training – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library will be the 3/4/5 OSAS Training and also a K/1/2 ELA CAT Practice Test.

• Sheldon Region Noche de Familia, 3/12 @5:30 – Tuesday, March 12th from 5:30-7:00, Holt will hold a Sheldon Region Noche de Familia. We are targeting Latino families, though all families are invited. I’ll be running the following article in the next two weeks in the quick news and will also ask other Sheldon Region elementary schools to do the same.

Región deSheldon, Noche de Familia
March 12th 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Región de Sheldon, Noche de Familia is open to all K-5 families within the Sheldon region. This event is completely free! It’s a perfect opportunity to connect with other families in the community. We would be delighted to have you join us for this special evening of celebration and togetherness. Questions? Email ball_k@4j.lane.edu

• Free burritos to the first 100 people
• Food trucks to purchase additional items
• Free fruit and pan dulce
• Kids’ crafts and activities
• Raffle and photo booth
• Information booths (Spanish and English)
• Performance by Ballet Folklórico Colibrí

• Wednesday PD, 3/13: 24-25 Staffing – Staffing will be shared with principals on March 8. I’ll email staff the allocations and potential staffing scenarios that same day, as well as a survey to share their thoughts on the scenarios. Wednesday, March 13 at 1:30 in the library will be our first discussion as a group regarding 24-25 staffing. Any remaining time this day will be dedicated time for Vector Training.

• Bike Repair Day at Holt, 3/13 – Safe Routes to School is putting on a Bike Repair Day event at Holt on Tuesday, March 13 after school 1:15-3:45, by the bike racks. Let kids know they’ll be there to provide free basic bike repairs including Flat Tires, Brakes, Shifting, Bike Fitting, and Safety Checks.

• Chipotle (at Gateway) Holt Night Out, 3/13 – Let your kids know the next Holt Night Out is Tuesday, March 13th, from 4:00-8:00 at the Gateway Chipotle location (not the Coburg Road location). Just show the flyer or use the promo code N69HTLD if ordering online. Click HERE for additional details.

• Don’t Prop Exterior Doors – A reminder, for safety reasons, do not prop exterior doors unless you are standing right next to the door and for a very short duration of time.

• Discipline Matrix Input – I shared the 4J Discipline Matrix in prior announcements, but haven’t gone over it at a meeting yet. That may be good because some principals have raised concerns in the areas of:

1) Major technology violations
2) Racial Harassment
3) Skipping & tardies (engagement)

District admin are seeking input from building Equity & Inclusion Teams, which Holt’s team will look at this Thursday. Let me or any of the Equity & Inclusion Team reps know if you have any thoughts on this topic.

• Summer School SEAL Info – If you’re interested, linked here is a SEAL Overview Slideshow as well as the SEAL Referral Process.

• Apply Now for 4J Summer Jobs – Current classified and licensed employees can apply for 4J Summer Jobs (see link for complete list) by using this Application Form. The application deadline is Saturday, March 9. Applications will receive an email response regarding their status by Friday, March 15. Email seal@4j.lane.edu if you have any questions.

• Elementary Curriculum Updates – If you’re interested, linked here are the latest Elementary Curriculum Updates that were shared with principals, which has info on TAG, Math, and 4/5 Wit & Wisdom. The part probably most interesting to staff is about Dreambox usage, which states

Dreambox data is helping students close the gap in their math learning! Our data is showing that students who are completing 2-4 lessons per week have made a half year’s growth in their math knowledge. Even better, students who are playing 5 or more lessons per week since September have made, on average, a full year’s growth. We have several schools who are using this program and seeing results. Way to go, Awbrey Park, EOA, WIllagillespie, Spring Creek and River Road/El Camino. Keep up the good work! Have all of your students taken the placement test in Dreambox? Let me know how I can support your staff and students. Jamie Tait, Elem Math Specialist

Dreambox may not be as gamified as Prodigy and other math apps, but it’s pretty darn effective if you have your students do it for a little bit each day.

• 4J Grow Your Own Program, Professional Development Application – Principals were asked to share the following:

Our 4J Grow Your Own Program – Application is NOW OPEN!

The application window is from March 1, 2024 – April 5, 2024. To learn more about the Grow Your Own Program and 4J’s commitment to providing pathways to licensure please visit the Grow Your Own webpage by clicking HERE. To apply for the Grow Your Own program click HERE.

If you have any questions you can reach out to:

Chemika Bolden
HR Administrator, Grow Your Own Program
bolden_c@4j.lane.edu

• Golden Apple Award Nominations Open, March 1–31 – Make Holt look good and nominate a Holt staff member or volunteer for the new 4J Golden Apple Award (taking the place of the ACE Awards). Nominate someone now through Sunday, March 31, by completing and submitting this Nomination Form.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• 24/25 Staffing Survey – Please complete the linked 2024-2025 Staffing Survey to help me prep for next year’s staffing plan. I’d like to hear from both classified and licensed staff. I’d like to know staff members’ plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan, master schedule, or any other thoughts or feedback.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

March 4 (M)
Classified Appreciation Week
K-3 Clay Artist in Residence Begins
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
9:00-1:30, OSEA Membership Drive (Staff Room)
10:30-1:00, Potato Bar Classified Appreciation Lunch (Staff Room)
2:30-3:00, Allan Meeting w/SSD & Elem Directors (Ed Center)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

March 5 (T)
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meetings (Calming Room)
5:00, PERS OPSRP (Tier 3) Info Session
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

March 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Learning Walk (Gilham)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 3/4/5 OSAS Training, K/1/2 ELA CAT Practice Test (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

March 7 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
3:30, Allan to TAG Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, 24-25 Kinder Orientation (Library & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

March 8 (F)
Staffing Allocations Given to Principals
2:45, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)

March 11 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
K-3 Clay Artist in Residence Continues
7:30, Allan Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up

March 12 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)
9:30-12:10, 4th Grade Hult Center Field Trip
5:30-7:00, Noche de Familia (Gym & Cafeteria)

March 13 (W)
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Staffing Discussion #1 and Vector Time (Library)
1:15-3:45, Bike Repair Day at Holt (Bike Racks)
4:00-8:00, Holt Night Out – Chipotle

March 14 (H)
Pi Day
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
8:45-9:30, 5th Portable Planetarium, Parks (Gym)
10:45-11:30, 5th Portable Planetarium, Henrich (Gym)
1:15-2:00, 5th Portable Planetarium, Ayres (Gym)
2:45, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
3:30, Allan to TAG Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

March 15 (F)
8:45-9:30, 5th Portable Planetarium, Parks (Gym)
9:00-10:00, Allan to 4J SAT Team Meeting (Zoom)
10:45-11:30, 5th Portable Planetarium, Henrich (Gym)
1:15-2:00, 5th Portable Planetarium, Ayres (Gym)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Meeting
5:00-8:00, 4 Strength in Neurodivergence Festival (Sheldon)

And if you missed it, here’s our Reading Buddy Event on KEZI and also on the 4J Facebook (Video and Photos) and Instagram (Video and Photos)

Allan

February 26, 2024

By Allan | 2024/02/24 22:31 Posted in Announcements, Arts, Equity, P.D., Video | Comments Off

Howdy All,

Nineteen items of note for this week:

• Holt Night Out – McMenamins on 19th, TUESDAY – This Tuesday is the February Holt Night Out Fundraiser, which is at McMenamins on E. 19th. The PTO is getting a really good percentage on this one, with 50% of purchases, so pump this one up! Dine-in or pick-up. Just mention the fundraiser. Plus, it’s conveniently located across the street from Prince Pucklers for after-dinner ice cream!

• Wed PD: Student Climate & Culture Survey, DUE WEDNESDAY– The K-2 Climate Survey and 3-5 Climate Surveys are due this Wednesday, when we will have our next Equity & Inclusion PD. We will look at the data to help guide our next steps. When completed, feel free to put them in Carla’s mailbox for safekeeping or keep them yourself and bring them to the Wednesday PD.

• Dental Clinics THURSDAY and FRIDAY – Nurse Hanna Emailed staff we will hold our fluoride and sealant clinics this Thursday and Friday. They will start around 9:00 and end around 1:30. If a student is receiving fluoride, it should take around a minute, and if they are receiving sealants, it should take around 15 minutes. A staff member will come to each class to pull students who have signed permission slips.

• SAEBRS 2-5 Self-Eval Due THURSDAY – 2nd through 5th grades students should complete the SAEBRS self-evaluation by this Thursday. Don’t sweat it if you miss the deadline, but try your best to have students complete the assessment by this date. See the SAEBRS Slideshow for details.

• Read Across America – Buddy Reading Event, FRIDAY, 8:15-8:35 – A bit last minute, but Leadership planned a fun short activity this Friday to Celebrate Read Across America. Here’s the plan:

WHEN: Friday, 8:15-8:35 (buddies will read for 15 min.)
WHERE: K/3 in D wing, 1/2 in A wing, 2/4 in library office hall

We’re hoping we can get some news media to come out and originally planned for kids without publicity permission to go into the Calming Room, but I pulled the list and there are only 3 students without permission. Not here, but the publicity permission list is attached to my announcements email and the 3 NO students are at the top.

• Classified Appreciation Week, March 4-8 – Holt Classified Staff are AMAZING! Monday next week at lunchtime will be a delicious Potato Bar in your honor! Also, watch for some extra treats in your mailbox this week from me. Licensed staff, be sure to add your name to the Potato Bar Sign-Up if you haven’t already.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 3/5 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 3/5 – The March SST meeting will be on Tuesday, March. 5, where the team will screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-in on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda will be emailed to teachers needing to attend the meeting.

• Revised K-3 Clay Artist Schedule – This artist requested her final session happen two days after the first 3 sessions, so we had to adjust the K-3 Clay Artist in Residence Schedule. Let me or Lesli know if you see any issues.

• 24-24 Staffing Timeline Revision – Leadership made a few changes to the Staffing Timeline. When I email the initial allocations I’ll now include a survey of potential scenarios that I will share the results of on 3/13. Also, following our second staff discussion, I’ll send a second survey, in case anyone changes their mind from the first survey, and at the 3/20 Wed. PD I’ll announce the staffing plan I’m submitting to HR and the rest of that PD time will be staff collaboration time.

Feb. 29 – Staff Meeting: Staffing Priorities & Grade Level Needs
Mar. 8 – HR gives principals 24-25 allocations
Mar. 8 – Allan emails allocations & draft scenarios w/survey
Mar. 13 – Wed. PD: Staffing Discussion #1
Mar. 14 – Staff Meeting: Staffing Discussion #2 w/early release for the second survey
Mar. 20 – Wed. PD: Announce Final Discussion & Collaboration Time
Mar. 20 – Staffing Plans Due to HR

• Perfect and Near-Perfect Attendance Awards – If any teachers would like me to recognize your students with perfect attendance for the first semester (no tardies or absences) or near-perfect attendance, let me know and I can give a 30-second award presentation to perfect attendees in your classroom. Just give me a date and time to come in and I can make a big deal about regular attendance. Attached in my email is a list of all the students with perfect attendance first semester. Also, if you know of any kids with “near perfect” attendance who you’d like to recognize, let me know and I can award them as well. I’ll plan to do the same at the end of the school year for perfect second-semester attendance and students with perfect attendance all year. I’ll also plan to give a shoutout at Monday Morning Announcements.

• Bells Off by Over 1 Minute – I put in a Tech Ticket almost a month ago, but our bells have drifted almost 2-minutes away from Cupertino time, so we should be flexible in the mornings for those students running to the doors when the bell rings until downtown gets the bells fixed.

• Book Nook Reminder – Remember the Book Nook Coupons are the only currency students should use for Book Nook.

• Lunch Codes Coming – Deb has been holding off Nutrition Services for us, but 4J is transitioning back to students having to use Lunch Codes. Later this year 4th and 5th grade will start using their 6-digit PIN, which is also their 6-digit password. The timeline is to test it out later this year with older kids and then start in the fall K-5. The reason for this is to be a precaution for students with food allergies because after students type their PIN (or scan a card, which is also an option) health alerts will pop up on the screen to alert staff, which I can understand schools need to do for liability reasons.

• Future PD and BEPA/SEL Survey – Erin Gaston Emailed staff a PD Input Survey (for all licensed staff) and a PE Minutes Survey (for classroom teachers). Friday, March 1 is the deadline. For the BEPA and Morning Meeting survey, if the results are that people are not doing them, I’m guessing there is going to be additional PD and master schedules more micromanaged.

• Teaching Children to Save Lessons with Banner Bank – The Eugene Downtown Banner Bank emailed me offering a free 30-minute lesson for elementary students on the importance of self saving and having safe savings spaces. They are available anytime after March 5th, so if you are interested, let me know or email Daniella Zapien Flores <Daniella.ZapienFlores@bannerbank.com> directly.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• 24/25 Staffing Survey – Please complete the linked 2024-2025 Staffing Survey to help me prep for next year’s staffing plan. I’d like to hear from both classified and licensed staff. I’d like to know staff members’ plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan, master schedule, or any other thoughts or feedback.

• Equity and Inclusion Student Team – More names have been added, so last call to add names of students who would like to participate in the Student Equity & Inclusion Team.

• Women’s History Month – March is Women’s History Month. Here’s a WeAreTeachers Article I shared last week and here is the latest 4J Library Connection which has a section on Women’s History Month resources.

• Free Class Snacks! – Send your kids to the office in the morning for a grab-and-go breakfast (who didn’t get a breakfast earlier that morning), which is a great way to build up your supply of snacks for kids.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Confidentiality – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Confidentiality. With so many staff members who are also parents, it’s important to be aware before and after school when there are little ears about:

Confidentiality

Building Spaces:

When having conversations (i.e. emails, etc.) please be aware of your surroundings and choice of words at school, at home, and in public. Staff personnel/personal issues and individual student issues are always considered confidential.

At school, the confidential conversation should take place behind closed doors and not in any communal place like the staff room, library, office, etc.

Contact teams in another setting if you have a concern or question.

Cum folders:
Staff may look in a child’s CUM folder, though it MUST stay in the office. Parents requesting to view their child’s cumulative file should make this request through the school office. The office will then arrange an appointment with the parent, and the principal, to go over the file. This affords the teacher and the office time to go through the file to make sure appropriate information is contained therein. Cums MUST REMAIN IN THE OFFICE AREA AT ALL TIMES.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

February 26 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

February 27 (T)
Holt Night Out – McMenamins on 19th
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 28 (W)
8:30-9:10, Allan to SEAL Meeting (Zoom)
9:00-10:30, Allan to 4J BAT Team Meeting (Zoom)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team (Library)

February 29 (H)
SAEBRS Grade 2-5 Due
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-1:30, Dental Clinics (Lost & Found Area)
2:45, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

March 1 (F)
Women’s History Month
Read Across America – Buddy Reading Event
8:15-8:35, Read Across America – Buddy Reading Event
9:00-1:30, Dental Clinics (Lost & Found Area)

March 4 (M)
Classified Appreciation Week
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, Allan Meeting w/SSD Admin (Office)

March 5 (T)
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meetings (Calming Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

March 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 3/4/5 OSAS Training, K/1/2 ELA CAT Practice Test (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

March 7 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
3:30, Allan to TAG Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, 24-25 Kinder Orientation (Library & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

March 8 (F)
Staffing Allocations Given to Principals

Four weeks until spring break!

Allan

@schooledbyarturo

#teachersoftiktok #teachertok #teacherlife #teachersbelike #teacherproblems #teacher

♬ Vogue (Edit) – Madonna

February 19, 2024

By Allan | 2024/02/17 21:55 Posted in Announcements, Equity, P.D., Technology | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

I attended an excellent professional development this weekend. I originally only went because there was extended contract offered and I figured I could use the time to work on this week’s staff announcements (which I also did), but it was a really energizing and engaging experience. The keynote speaker, Jimmy Casas, was a bit of a motivational speaker, but I really liked how he talked about school culture, which I think Holt is doing pretty darn well on. Not to get too mushy, but I’m super glad to be working with you all here.

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 2/20 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Wednesday PD: SAEBRS SEL Student Screener – I reshuffled Wednesday PD topics and this Wednesday at 1:30 in the library will be on the new SEL student screener all schools are now starting. I will give staff an overview of how it works (the short version is K-5 teachers complete a short checklist on each of your students and grades 2-5 have students complete an online survey form), but most of the PD time will be for teachers to complete the teacher-student screener. See my Feb. 5 Announcements for additional information on SAEBRS.

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – We’ll reschedule our missed fire drill this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. I’m also considering if there are a TON of kids gone on Monday, I might do a surprise drill that day.

• Holt Spirit Day – Animal Day, FRIDAY– Friday, Feb. 23 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Animal Day! Tell your kids to dress up as an animal, wear some animal print, a shirt with animals on it, make some ears, or just wear some spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY @8:20 – The February School Spirit Assembly is this Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• Holt Night Out – McMenamins on 19th, 2/27 – Tuesday, Feb 27th is the February Holt Night Out Fundraiser, which is at McMenamins on 19th. The PTO is getting a good percentage on this one, with 50% of purchases, but pump this one up. Dine-in or pick-up. Just mention the fundraiser!

• Student Climate & Culture Survey, DUE 2/28 – Our Equity Team leaders emailed teachers the linked K-2 Climate Survey and 3-5 Climate Survey. The target completion date is Wednesday, February. 28, when we will have our next Equity & Inclusion PD. We will look at the data to help guide our next steps. When completed, feel free to put them in Carla’s mailbox for safekeeping or keep them yourself and bring them on the 28th.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team, 2/28 – Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 1:30 in the library will be an Equity &. Inclusion Team meeting to review the above survey data and plan next steps.

• Dental Clinics 2/28 and 2/29 – These clinics were set up by our prior school nurse, but I just noticed this on the calendar and haven’t checked in with our school new school nurse, Hannah Green, to make sure this is still happening. The original plan was for these to be on Feb. 28 and 29, starting at 9:00 and running through the end of the day in the Lost & Found Area. Stay tuned for more info.

• Read Across America – Buddy Reading Event, 3/1 – I’ll put this on this Thursday’s Leadership Team Agenda to solidify a plan for this year, but this is on the calendar not this week but next week, so stay tuned.

• Women’s History Month – March is Women’s History Month. Here’s a WeAreTeachers Article with activities and ideas to celebrate this month. If you know of other good resources, let me know and I can share them in future announcements.

• PTO Meeting Updates– I forgot to include this last week, but linked here is the February PTO Meeting Slideshow if you’d like to know what the PTO is up to; updates on budget, non-profit status, future Holt Night Outs, spring carnival (April 19), and Holt Bolt (May 17).

• Reteach with STOP, WALK, TALK – A reminder to folks when you are processing and reteaching with students to coach them to use Stop, Walk, Talk.

Student reports a problem:
“Did you ask them to stop?”
Yes. “Did you try walking away?”
No. “You need to first tell them to STOP so they know you don’t like what they are doing.”

Student reports saying STOP did not stop the problem:
“Did you try walking away?
Yes. “Good job telling them to STOP and trying to WALK AWAY. Let’s go take care of ___________.”
No. “Remember that walking away also usually fixes the problem.”

It’s also important to remind students when not to use STOP, WALK, TALK if an incident involves safety issues, physical aggression, or discriminatory remarks (i.e. racist, sexist, etc.) and instead IMMEDIATELY tell an adult.

• MFA with Google Authenticator – To head off more hacking, the 4J Tech Department is upgrading email security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Principals all now have to use it and it will be rolled out to all staff in the coming weeks. You’ll log in just as you do now with your username and password, but will then also have to enter a one-time 6-digit code from a Google Authenticator App you’ll need to download to your phone or tablet. Linked here is an MFA with Google Authenticator Quick Sheet, which I also put on the Staff Google Drive in the Tech folder.

• Free Class Snacks! – Several classes already do this, but send your kids to the office in the morning for a grab-and-go breakfast (who didn’t get breakfast earlier that morning), which is a great way to build up your supply of snacks for kids. Keep them from getting hangry!

• First Aid/CPR Training – Downtown is scheduling First Aid/CPR training for staff who are required to be trained (which is 5th grade teachers for Outdoor School) and are asking if there are additional staff who’d like to be trained. Let me know by Wednesday if you’d like to be trained and I’ll add you to the list.

• Free Bike Locks, Helmets, & Replacement Bikes – 4J Safe Routes to School received a grant for bike locks, helmets, and replacements for bikes stolen from school for students. Any staff member can fill out the Lock, Helmet & Replacement Bike Request Form to request on behalf of students you work with.

• Teaching Children to Save Lessons with Banner Bank – The Eugene Downtown Banner Bank emailed me offering a free 30-minute lesson for elementary students on the importance of saving and having safe savings spaces. They are available anytime after March 5th, so if you are interested, let me know or email Daniella Zapien Flores <Daniella.ZapienFlores@bannerbank.com> directly.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• 24/25 Staffing Survey – Please complete the linked 2024-2025 Staffing Survey to help me prep for next year’s staffing plan. I’d like to hear from both classified and licensed staff. I’d like to know staff members’ plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan, master schedule, or any other thoughts or feedback.

• 24-25 School Supply Suggestions – Downtown is planning to provide school supplies again. This is their Elementary School Supply List. Let me know by the end of the week if there are any other items you think should be on this list. Headphones are one I’m adding. If there are items we want that don’t make the list we are allowed to ask families to provide them.

• Equity and Inclusion Student Team – There are a few names already added, but if you have students who would like to participate in the Student Equity & Inclusion Team, please add their names to the Student Equity & Inclusion Team Spreadsheet.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Translating – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook is on Translating. Most school-wide communication falls on me, but for those occasions, when anyone needs to translate something, DeepL is a more accurate translation service than Google Translate.

Translating:
We will translate school-wide correspondence into Spanish, if possible

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

February 19 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, Allan Meeting w/SSD Admin (Office)

February 20 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks) 9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres) 10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
1:40, 3rd Grade Delgani Strings Assembly (Cafeteria)
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 21 (W)
Girls on the Run Registration Opens
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – SAEBRS Screener (Library)
7:00, School Executive or Regular Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 22 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

February 23 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Animal Day!
8:20-8:40, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)

February 24 (SA)
10:00-1:00, Eugene Youth Math Festival (Mac Court @UO)

February 26 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Prinicpals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

February 27 (T)
Holt Night Out – McMenamins on 19th
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 28 (W)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team (Library)

February 29 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-2:25, Dental Clinics (Lost & Found Area)
2:45, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

February 30 (F)
Women’s History Month
Read Across America – Buddy Reading Event
9:00-2:25, Dental Clinics (Lost & Found Area)

We may have lost our 3-day weekend, but we can make it the next five weeks until spring break, right?

Allan

February 12, 2024

By Allan | 2024/02/10 23:05 Posted in Announcements, Equity, SEL | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

Man, I was really looking forward to that 3-day weekend.

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Title EA Job Posting – Holt’s Title 1 EA Job Posting to find a replacement for Annie is now up. I’m asking HR to extend the closing date to be closer to when we get staffing allocations, so applicants would have a better idea about the stability of the position beyond this school year.

• Report Card Send-Home Day, MONDAY – Reports cards and inserts will go home in Monday Mailers this Monday.

• Friendship Day, WEDNESDAY – Teachers and teams should communicate to families your plan for Friendship Day. The staff agreement is to do Friendship Day as opposed to celebrating Valentine’s Day, though some grade levels did traditional card exchanges. February 14th should be referred to as “Friendship Day.” Grade levels need to have general agreement around what they will do, bring, create, etc. and arebe responsible for communicating expectations to families.

• All-School La Bomba Dance Party – WEDNESDAY @9:28 – Kids will receive a FREE pair of Bombas Socks on Wednesday to celebrate thanks to our friends at Hope Project and Bombas! Socks will be delivered to all classrooms this week. On Wednesday morning, you can hand out the socks. Kids can put them on right away or save them for later. At 9:28, I will announce it’s LaBOMBAS time, where can join in on an all-school dance party.If you need to swap out a size, text or call Ashley and will have students ready to deliver.

• Staff Pet Kahoot – To add onto the Friendship Day fun, Elizabeth made Holt Bolt’s Friends (Pet Kahoot!!) you can do with kids on Wednesday if you’d like. Let Elizabeth know if she missed anyone’s pet.

• Wednesday PD: Vector Training Time – This Wednesday will be one of two times for teachers to complete the second rounds of Vector trainings. If you’re wondering why there were new trainings, HR told principals the state and their insurance carrier mandated additional trainings this school year, which these cover.

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – We’ll reschedule our missed fire drill this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 2/20 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team, 2/21 – Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 1:30 in the library will be an Equity &. Inclusion Team focused meeting. Stay tuned for details and if you didn’t get a chance to read it before, check out Emily’s email on Encouraging High Standards.

• Holt Spirit Day – Animal Day, 2/23 – Friday, Feb. 23 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Animal Day! Tell your kids to dress up as an animal, wear some animal print, a shirt with animals on it, make some ears, or just wear some spirit gear! And if you want to be secretly funny, feel free to do a Where the Wild Things Are theme in your classroom this day. “Let the wild rumpus start!” 😉

• Spirit Assembly 2/23 @8:20 – The February School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, Feb. 23 in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• 24-25 Staffing Timeline – Downtown is promising to give schools all of our allocations at once this year; licensed and classified, SSD, ELD, and SIA, but did not mention Title, which I’m following up on. They are only giving us 1 week and 3 days to process our staffing plan. Last year we had 4 weeks. This seems way too short and I also plan to follow up with district admin about this, either giving more time to process or at least giving us classroom FTE ahead of time. However, if these dates stand, below is the timeline I’ll follow for the staffing process. I’ll plan to run this past staff for approval, but feedback beforehand is welcome.

Feb. 29 – Staff Meeting: Staffing Priorities & Grade Level Needs
Mar. 8 – HR gives principals 24-25 allocations
Mar. 8 – Allan emails allocations & draft scenarios
Mar. 13 – Wed. PD: Staffing Discussion #1
Mar. 14 – Staff Meeting: Staffing Discussion #2
Mar. 14 – Mar. 19 – Anonymous Google Survey
Mar. 20 – Wed. PD: Final Discussion
Mar. 20 – Staffing Plans Due to HR

• 24-25 School Supply Suggestions – Downtown is planning to provide school supplies again. This is the district’s Elementary School Supply List. Let me know by the end of the week if there are any other items you think should be on this list. Headphones are one I’m adding. If there are item we want that don’t make the list we are allowed to ask families to provide them.

• SSD January Newsletter – If you’re interested here is the February SSD Newsletter. Topics include the Neurodiversity Town Hall, Job Expo, IEP Amendments, and more. The SSD Newsletter Archives has all prior newsletters.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• 22/23 Staffing Survey – To help me with next year’s staffing plan, I’d like staff, both classified and licensed, to complete the linked 2024-2025 Staffing Survey. I’d like to know staff members’ individual plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan, master schedule, or other thoughts. All answers will be kept confidential and let me know if you have any questions.

• Random Act of Kindness Week – Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week February 11-17! If you’d like to do something with kids, HERE, HERE, and HERE are some activity ideas.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

February 12 (M)
Kindergarten Staff Room Duty
Random Act of Kindness Week
Artist in Residence – Larry Meyers (4th & 5th Grade)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
Report Cards Sent Home
7:30, Allan Monthly Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to SCIP Meeting (Ed Center)

February 13 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 14 (W)
Holt Friendship Day – Bomba Sock Day
9:28, All-School La Bomba Dance Party
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Vector Training Time (Library)

February 15 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-11:40, 2nd Grade (Bemiller/Rabourn) Jordan Schnitzer Field Trip
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:30-7:30, 4th Grade Invention Project Night (Gym)

February 16 (F)
9:00-11:40, 2nd Grade (Norton/Gulleckson) Jordan Schnitzer Field Trip
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Meeting (Churchill)

February 19 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)

February 20 (T)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:40, 3rd Grade Delgani Strings Assembly (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 21 (W)
Girls on the Run Registration Opens
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 22 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

February 23 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Animal Day!
8:20-8:40, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)

February 24 (SA)
10:00-1:00, Eugene Youth Math Festival (Mac Court @UO)

30 school days until spring break! [grits teeth]

Allan

February 5, 2024

By Allan | 2024/02/02 21:47 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Grants, P.D. | Comments Off

Hi-Diddily-Ho, Holt Bolts!

This week is National School Counselor Week, so I’d like to take a moment to give a shout-out to Megan. Although new to Holt this year, she’s jumped right in and become a vital part of our team for supporting students, staff, and families! Thank you for all you do, Megan!

Be sure to give Megan a thank you and some appreciation this week!

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Staffing Update: SPED EA (Annie Carpenter) – I’m pleased to announce that Annie, who has been subbing in SPED that past few weeks, has been hired as the newest member of the primary grade SPED team. This means we will have a 6-hour Title 1 EA vacancay, which I have sumbitted a requisition to post.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 2/6 – The February SST meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 6, where the team will screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-in on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda will be emailed to teachers needing to attend the meeting.

• Wed. PD: 100% Data Team Meeting – This Wednesday at 1:30 in the library will be our 100% Data Team Meeting following winter benchmark scores.

• Myah’s Baby Shower, THURSDAY – Myah’s baby shower is this Thursday after school! See the email from Robin and the Sunshine Committee for details!

• Report Card Reminders – I emailed this earlier, but as a reminder:

Send-Home Date Monday, Feb. 12 – Downtown gave the okay for us to send home report cards on the date we’d originally planned and had on the calendar for parents.

Parent Reports in Mailboxes – Parent Reports from Synergy, with easyCBM, OSAS, and attendance info, are in teacher mailboxes and should be included in report card envelopes.

You May Print Now – Sharon has completed the attendance steps in Synergy, so teachers can print report cards when you are ready.

Use AI to Help with Comments! – Stuck on tricky language for comments for a particular student? AI can give you some very nice language as a starting point. Most folks like ChatGPT, but I prefer the education-focused MagicSchool.ai.

• Random Act of Kindness Week, 2/11 to 2/17 – Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week February 11-17! If you’d like to do something with kids, HERE, HERE, and HERE are some activity ideas.

• Friendship Day 2/14 – Teachers and teams should communicate to families your plan for Friendship Day. The staff agreement is to do Friendship Day as opposed to celebrating Valentine’s Day, though some grade levels did traditional card exchanges. February 14th should be referred to as “Friendship Day.” Grade levels need to have general agreement around what they will do, bring, create, etc., and are responsible for communicating expectations to families.

• Fire Drill, 2/14 @1:15 – We’ll reschedule our missed fire drill for Thursday, February. 14 at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• 24/25 Staffing Survey – Principals haven’t gotten a 24/25 staffing timeline yet, but I imagine we’ll get our staffing for next year around the end of this month, so to help me with next year’s staffing plan, I’d like both classified and licensed staff to complete the linked 2024-2025 Staffing Survey. I’d like to know staff members’ plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan, master schedule, or other thoughts. All answers will be kept confidential and let me know if you have any questions.

• Presidents Day/Make-Up (no official update, but likely day off) – District admin said they were going to decide last week if this date would be a make-up day, but nothing has been shared with principals. Since that date is so soon and since there was nothing in the latest 4J Parent News, I’m guessing this will stay a holiday. June, 14, 17, and 18 are still on the calendar for make-up days, so stay tuned for a decision on those dates.

• Equity and Inclustion Student Team – See Emily’s Email for details, but teachers should add the names of 1 student per class who are interested and/or you think would be good representatives on our Equity & Inclusion Student Team. Consider students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, students with food allergies, students who struggle with mental health, students who are learning English as a second language or whose parents speak another language at home.

• Safety Committee Items – Meeting minutes are in the Staff Google Drive and posted in the Staff Room, but two Items we wanted to highlight for staff:

Fire Drill (close doors) – Doors were left open during the last fire drill. Keeping the doors closed helps prevent a fire from spreading.

Remind Kids DO NOT press ADA Button – Remind your students to NOT press the ADA button near the bike cage exterior door. Tell them this created a safety concern because we do not want to give strangers access to get inside the building. This should also result in a referral. A minor the first time and a major for a repeat.

• Grant Approval Form Required (for awarded grants) – Downtown does not need a Grant Approval Form to approve/disapprove grant applications, but Financial Services does need this form to set up an account for any grant funds you are awarded, so if you are awarded a grant that awards funds (not stuff), complete the above form and give it to Sharon. I’ve added a link to this form on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Girls on the Run Preview – Our Girls on the Run Head Coaches, Heidi and Leah, will share info at a future staff meeting, but if you’d like a preview, linked here is the current Holt Girls on the Run Plan, which will be March 18 through May 27 on Mondays and Wednesdays after school for girls in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.

• SEL Student Screener, SAEBRS – I’m putting this on the next staff meeting agenda, but below is info on a new SEL screener 4J is doing K – 12. Teachers will complete a 2-3 minute screener on each student and then students in grades 2-5 will complete an online version of the same questions. Here is the email sent to principals and below is the text we were asked to share:

Our district will be administering the SAEBRS (Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener) universal screening tool in two windows throughout the 2023–2024 school year. SAEBRS is a brief, norm-referenced tool for screening students to identify areas of potential school-wide growth. This universal screening tool is built to align academic and socio-emotional learning opportunities and interventions to increase well-being and developmental competencies. The initial screening window is between January 3rd, 2024 – February 29th, 2024. SAEBRS is administered by teachers or counselors in grades K–12 and takes approximately 2–3 minutes to complete each student assessment. MySAEBRS is the student version of the same assessment given to students in grades 2-12.

This survey is a valuable tool for schools to identify patterns and opportunities to teach lagging skills, and areas of growth to support social, academic, and emotional outcomes. We will be administering SAEBRS two times in the following windows January 3rd, 2024 – February 29th, 2024 and May 1st – May 31st, 2024. This data should be utilized to inform an understanding of school-wide social and cultural aspects that inform interventions that are not singularly student focused.

4J Background Research and Training Materials for SAEBRS

There’s a fair amount of info to wade through, which is why we’ll go over this at a Staff Meeting and provide staff a Wednesday to complete the teacher screener portion, but I figured some folks would want a preview ahead of time.

• Elem Principal Meeting Items – I’d added several questions to the meeting “Parking Lot” last week that I thought staff might find interesting, with the answers in blue:

4J Truancy Officer – Has a replacement for Mark Barr been hired? Are we able to submit a request for someone to go out to families of truant students? *No one has been hired. Earlier in the month, Kat and a few others were working on identifying a solution to this current need. We will see if there is an update.

Smart Start Planning – Is there a plan for a team of teachers and admins to plan Kinder Smart Start for next fall? *Plans to launch a K Smart Start team (made up of various stakeholders), will be shared as soon as we solidify a date for February. More details to follow in the coming weeks.

Staffing Timeline – Do we have a timeline for 24/25 staffing? *We hope to have more clarity on this timeline later this week to be able to share with principals.

Enrollment Projections – Can principals be emailed our enrollment projections by grade level for next year that staffing will be based on? *We can bring this up and share with the Data Team and HR as a request for staffing/budget season. [I’ll share this with staff if/when we get it]

• Monday Announcements Videos – A reminder that if you ever forget to log onto the Monday Morning Student Announcements, the videos are on the Staff Google Drive under HOLT STAFF DOCUMENTS > MISC > MONDAY MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS. And don’t forget to sign your class up to lead the Pledge of Allegiance if you have some kiddos who would like to do that.

• ESOL and DL Scholarship for Teachers, FREE! – See this email for details, but it’s an opportunity for teachers to add an ESOL Endorsement and/or Dual Language Specialization at no cost thanks to a grant. All courses are online. The deadline to apply is April 3, 2024.

• More Black History Month Resources – The latest Library Lowdown has some updated Black History Month Resources Slide along with the following links:

• GALE Celebrates Black Artists in History with activities and lesson plans
• NEA K12 Lessons and Activities
• We Are Teachers: 34 Activities for Black History Month
• Black History Month Podcasts
• Black History Month Choice Board

• Discounted Tickets for Ducks Education Day – The annual UO Education Appreciation Day for Men’s and Women’s Basketbal is offering folks who work in schools discounted tickets on on Feb. 10 (men’s basketball) and Feb. 16 (women’s basketball). Click the images below to order your tickets.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Housekeeping – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Housekeeping:

Housekeeping:
• Students should pick up scraps, books, pencils, etc. off the floor before being dismissed each afternoon.
• Similarly, chairs should be stacked each afternoon and all trash cans should be placed outside your door.
• No stickers should be placed on desks, chairs, books, cubbies, etc.
• Student work habits often reflect their surroundings. Maintaining a neat and tidy classroom serves as a positive model for children to emulate.
• While seemingly unimportant, housekeeping details can make a difference in school appearance and students’ respect and attitude toward learning.
• Trash cans should be placed outside the room each night.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

February 5 (M)
Title Staff Room Duty
National School Counselor Week
Artist in Residence – Larry Meyers (4th & 5th Grade)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

February 6 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to District PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 7 (W)
International Clash Day
Monthly Walk + Roll to School Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 8 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
2:45, Myah’s Baby Shower (Library)
6:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

February 9 (F)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)

February 12 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
Random Act of Kindness Week
Artist in Residence – Larry Meyers (4th & 5th Grade)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
Report Cards Sent Home
7:30, Allan Monthly Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-11:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

February 13 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 14 (W)
Holt Friendship Day – Bomba Sicks Day
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 4J Behavior Matrix (Library)

February 15 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-11:40, 2nd Grade (Norton/Gulleckson) Jordan Schnitzer Field Trip
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:30-7:30, 4th Grade Invention Project Night (Gym)

February 16 (F)
9:00-11:40, 2nd Grade (Bemiller/Rabourn) Jordan Schnitzer Field Trip
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Meeting (Churchill)

February 19 (M)
No School* — Presidents Day (possible school closure makeup day)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

Two weeks until our next 3-day weekend!

Allan

January 29, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/27 19:26 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Assessment, Grants, P.D. | Comments Off

Hello Bolts,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Holt Night Out @Panera, TUESDAY, 4:00-8:00 – The January Holt Night Out Fundraiser is at Panera Bread at Gateway on Tuesday, January 30th from 4:00 pm – 8:00 p.m. Dine-in, drive-thru, pick-up, or delivery. For online orders, use the promo code FUND4U. Remind students to show the flyer (digital is fine) and get them pumped!

• Winter Benchmark Deadline, WEDNESDAY – This Wednesday is the deadline to complete Winter easyCBM Benchmarking.

• Wednesday PD: Report Card Collaboration – In addition to the Report Card Grading Day, teachers can use this time to connect, collaborate, and prep for report cards.

• EA Pathways PD, THURSDAY – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.

• Classified Staff Meeting THURSDAY @12:30 – I don’t currently have any agenda items for this meeting, so for now it will be a check-in meeting, but do let me know if there are any agenda items you’d like discussed.

• 4J Grading & Transition Day Expectations (new info) – Below is what principals were emailed on Friday regarding Grading Day (teachers can work from home if you notify me) and Transition Day (“should be treated much the same as a grading day for licensed staff.”) expectations. That means teachers have the option to work from home both days if you notify me, but do make sure you’re not out and about town during work hours.

Classified staff are still expected to report to the building (which honestly doesn’t seem fair), but you do have the option to use leave or trade time.

February 1 Grading Day – Certified staff may work from home on this day, however they need to inform you as the building principal of their plan to work in an alternate location and how they’ll be available to their team members, if needed. Staff that have not communicated a desire to work from an alternate location will be expected to work on site. This is a working day and professional awareness is critical. Please be aware of the perception of community members if you are engaged in activities in the community instead of being at work. Classified staff need to report to the building, or use appropriate leave or trade time.

February 2 Transition Day – This is a teacher planning and preparation day to prepare for the 2nd semester. It is suggested that teachers engage in ELA planning. We are not directing teacher work on this day. This transition day should be treated much the same as a grading day for licensed staff. Please see above. Classified staff need to report to the building, or use appropriate leave or trade time.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 2/6 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 2/6 – The February SST meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 6, where the team will screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-in on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda will be emailed to teachers needing to attend the meeting.

• Wednesday PD: 100% Data Team Meeting, 2/7 – Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 1:30 in the library will be our 100% Data Team Meeting following winter benchmark scores.

• Myah’s Baby Shower, 2/8 – Mark your calendars! Myah’s baby shower will be Thursday, February. 8 after school! Stay tuned for details from the Sunshine Committee!

• UPDATE: (Reprot cards go home Monday, Feb. 12 as planned) ~~Report Card Send-Home Date Possible Change~~ – Principals were emailed on Friday that report cards are to be sent home no later than Friday, Feb. 9. I’ve emailed directors that past practice was it was always the Friday or Monday a week after grading day. Hopefully they allow for that adjustment, but be prepared to send them home earlier. I’ve already told parents in the Quick News they are going home Monday, Feb. 12, so maybe that will be our excuse to keep it the same.

Send-home date for report cards – Please see the table below for the K-12 grading deadlines. Your teachers have until Monday, February 5 at 8:00am before your secretary works on the back end of Synergy to lock in all the attendance info, allowing the attendance data to populate on the printed report cards. All buildings should plan to send home report cards with students no later than Friday, February 9.

• ELD Report Card Changes – Geoff shared at last week’s Staff Meeting there are no ELD report cards any longer. Principals were sent that same information on Friday along with additional info that ELD teachers are not sending home any kind of insert and are instead holding parent/teachers conference later in the year.

The ELD Program has updated our ELD Family Communication Process. This fall, district administrators approved making ELD Report Cards obsolete, and improving the ELD Family Communication Process. Below is the new ELD Family Communication Process:

All students with L flags in Synergy, both waived and served, will receive the ELPA Summative between January 9- April 12, 2024. The ELD Office will process ELPA data and family resources, and get them to schools during May. ELD teachers will schedule to meet with all families, throughout June, in a variety of formats: in-person, over Zoom, the telephone, or through email. During conferences, ELD teachers will discuss students’ ELPA scores, longitudinal English language development, and social-emotional health. Teachers will also work to strengthen partnerships between multilingual families and their school communities. Finally, ELD teachers will empower families with strategies to better support and advocate for their students.

Please any questions you may have directly to Lily Gold.

• Friendship Day, Feb 14th – As we get closer to this date, a reminder for teams to communicate to families your plan for Friendship Day. The staff agreement is to do Friendship Day as opposed to celebrating Valentine’s Day, though some grade levels did traditional card exchanges. February 14th should be refered to as “Friendship Day” Grade levels need to have general agreement around what they will do, bring, create, etc. and arebe responsible for communicating expectations to families.

• Three Rivers Casino Grants, March 1 – 31 – It’s a month away, but to get anyone interested time to start thinking, the Three Rivers Foundation will accept applications March 1 through March 31. Grants do not have any minimum or maximums amounts. Here’s the link to the Grant Application and the Grant FAQ.

• Elementary Curriculum Updates – If you’re interested, here’s the latest Elementary Curriculum Update that went to principals, which recaps report card info shared earlier (once difference is PE/Music/Library specialists have the option to email reports, though I think it’s better to include reports all in one place as we already were planning), info on a district PBIS meeting, slides from last week’s Outdoor School meeting, a Eugene Science Center 3rd and 5th grade sign-up reminder, and a TAG presentation downtown would like to do at a future building Staff Meeting.

• 7 Live Author Events – If you missed it in the latest Library Connection there were links to 7 Live Author Events. There’s actually more than seven if you follow the link. I’d be most excited to see Jane Yolen Feb. 14 @10:00, who wrote How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You, though she’s also written some very cool older grade books about witches and pirates. Lucille Colandro Feb. 14 @11:00 and April 22 @8:30, who wrote the I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a books. Pete Oswald Feb. 22 @11:00, illustrator of The Sour Grape, The Good Egg, and The Bad Seed, might be good too.

• Studying Skillful Teaching Learning Opportunity – The Skillful Teacher is definitely one of the best ongoing PDs I ever attended and the LaneESD is offering a two part PD introduction Zoom PD (Feb 6 and 13, 4:00-5:00), which if you attend qualifies you to attend future Skillful Teacher modules. These are first come first serve and will extended contract. See the Skillful Teacher Email for details and Register Here, but if this virtual course is anything like the in-person one I attended, it’s well worth your time. Deadline to register if Feb. 1.

Course Description: This session will include a survey of the 18 areas of performance that a teacher must attend to in everyday instruction within four categories: curriculum and lesson planning, motivating students, delivering instruction, and managing a classroom. Participants will develop an understanding and be able to apply the three key concepts of area of performance, repertoire, and matching.

• Playground Hanging Branches – If kids ask when the swings will be open again, Facilities Emailed principals last week to say they are prioritizing hanging limbs near playgrounds and high use walkways, and may start as soon as this weekend.

• Study: More years of schooling linked to lower mortality – Here’s a talking point to kids why school is important. This EdWeek Article cites a new study that found for each additional year of schooling, the rate of mortality for adults under the age of 50 decreased by almost 3%, with the completion of 18 years of education lowering adult mortality by 34%. The study examined research from both industrialized and developing countries and found the outcomes to be consistent across nationality, gender and socioeconomic status

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• New Report Card Info – See Erin Gaston’s Report Card Email for info on the new mid-year grade scores, using a score of “1”, and generic vs. individual comments. Key resources in the email are:

Report Card One Pager(scoring rubric and tips for best practices)

Report Card Guidance Sheets for K-5 (ELA & Report Card alignment)

Elementary Report Card Checklist (How to use Synergy. Links will be updated)

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Arming/Disarming Building Security System – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Arming/Disarming Building Security System:

Arming/Disarming Building Security System
• If coming on the weekend or early/late on a weeknight, sign in at the main office entrance and sign-out when you leave.
• To disarm the alarm system, flash your badge at the dark PIN pad (not the white one), move your badge away, type your four digit PIN (often the last four digits of your social security number), and then wait for the red light to turn green.
• To arm the alarm system, do the same except at the end wait for the green light to turn red before exiting the building.
• There are three security zone (Kitchen, Gym/Cafeteria, and Main Building). See the Holt Security Zone Map for all of the PIN pad locations and zone.
• If an alarm goes off and you cannot turn it off, contact the building admin.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 29 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-11:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 30 (T)
FFVP Snacks Resume
4:00-8:00, Panera Bread – Holt Night Out
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 31 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
11:30-11:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Report Card Coordination Time
6:00-7:00, PTO Bingo Night (Cafeteria)

February 1 (H)
Black History Month
No School – Semester Grading Day
8:00-11:30, EA Pathways PD (Churchill HS)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
12:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

February 2 (F)
No School – Transition Day
9:30-4:40, Allan to HR Training (Ed Center)

February 5 (M)
Title Staff Room Duty
National School Counselor Week
Artist in Residence – Larry Meyers (4th & 5th Grade)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

February 6 (T)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to District PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 7 (W)
International Clash Day
Monthly Walk + Roll to School Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 8 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45, Myah’s Baby Shower (Library)

February 9 (F)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

Here’s to a nice short week that I’m positive will be a quiet and uneventful one. ;)

Allan

January 22, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/20 15:24 Posted in Announcements, Equity, P.D. | Comments Off

Howdy Everyone,

Was it just me or was it really weird to start the weekend after working just one day in the building?

Anyhow, a few changes in meeting schedules are below (SST Tuesday instead of IPBS, pushed out the 100% Data Team Meeting Wednesday PD, rescheduled the Fire Drill, and rescheduled a School Choice Tour).

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Swings and School Garden Closed – Until Facilities staff trim the broken tree limbs on sofe play, the swings by the tree will be closed, as is the school garden for the same reason. Jeremy has already taped off the school garden area and will tape off the swings on Monday.

• New Winter Benchmark Deadline, 1/31 – Wednesday, Jan. 31 will be the new deadline to complete Winter easyCBM Benchmarking.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting TUESDAY – Rescheduling our missed SST meeting from last week, we will this Tuesday to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda was emailed to staff earlier regarding the students who will be discussed.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team – The winter benchmark deadline has been moved to Jan 31 (see email for details if you’re interested), so we are rescheduling the 100% Data Team Meeting. Instead, this Wednesday at 1:30 in the library, will be our Equity & Inclusion Team PD that got iced out last week.

• School Choice Presentation THURSDAY @9:00 (Library & Zoom) – Downtown wants all elementary schools to reschedule any missed tours due to the ice storm, so I added one to this Friday right before the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Night.

Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Fri., Jan. 26, 4:00-5:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – We’ll reschedule our missed fire drill for this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day, 1/26 – Friday, Jan. 26 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hair Day! Tell your kids to create their wackiest and wildest hairdo or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY@8:20 – The January School Spirit Assembly is this Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• SPED EA Interviews, FRIDAY @2:45 – Our 7-hour SPED EA job posting closed on Thursday, so Emily and I are planning to hold interviews this Friday at 2:45. Let me know if you would like to volunteer your time to help with interviews and I will send you the interview materials.

• 1st, and 2nd Grade Family Math Night, FRIDAY – Friday, January 26, 5:30-6:45pm is the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Game Night. 5:30-6:10 will be math games in classrooms and 6:15-6:45 will be pizza and a raffle in cafeteria.

• Holt Night Out @Panera, 1/30, 4:00-8:00 – The January Holt Night Out Fundraiser is at Panera Bread at Gateway on Tuesday, January 30th from 4:00 pm – 8:00 p.m. Dine-in, drive-thru, pick-up, or delivery. For online orders, use the promo code FUND4U. Remind students and get them pumped!

• Wednesday PD: Report Card Collaboration, 1/31 – In addition to the Report Card Grading Day, teachers can use this time to connect, collaborate, and prep for report cards.

• New Report Card, Grading Day, and Transition Day Info – See Erin Gaston’s Report Card Email for info on the new mid-year grade scores, using a score of “1”, and generic vs. individual comments. Key resournce in the email are:

Report Card One Pager(scoring rubric and tips for best practices)

Report Card Guidance Sheets for K-5 (ELA & Report Card alignment)

Elementary Report Card Checklist (How to use Synergy. Links will be updated)

• Feb. 1 EA Pathways PD – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.

• Classified Staff Meeting 2/1 @12:30 – I don’t currently have any agenda items for this meeting, so for now it will be a check-in meeting, but do let me know if there are any agenda items you’d like discussed.

• Feb. 2 Transition Day – See last week’s announcemnts for the long verison, but the short version is this day is for ELA prep.

• 24-25 Staffing Timeline (no official info yet) – Several folks have asked, but principals have not been given a timeline for 24-25 Staffing. However, staffing plans are typically due the week before spring break and buildings are given 3 weeks to process staffing scenarios, which means we’ll likely get our staffing allocations the last week of February.

• Black History Month Resources – February is Black History Month, so I wanted to pass along this list as a starting point for resources.

Info on BHM origins:
• Awesome Video: How Black History Went From a Week to a Month 
• Article: Black History Themes
• Article: The Man Behind Black History Month

On Teaching:
• How to Be an Anti-Racist White Educator
• What Anti-Racist Teachers Do Differently

Black Youth Leaders and Activists:
• Past: Youth in the Civil Rights Movement
• Present: Young Black Activists, Young Black Leaders and Creators Making History Today, Amanda Gorman

From 4J District Librarian, Amy Page:
• Libray Connection 2023
• Sora Black History Month Collection
• Black History Month eBooks

From WeAre Teachers:
• Bulletin Boards
• Posters
• Activities
• Books

Keep in mind that black history and teaching the story of historically of marginalized groups should be a year round-activity and not just a sidebar or novelty to the American history typically taught in U.S. schools. It should be viewed as a central part of the American story.

• WREN Newsletter and PDs – The latest Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter lists some new new Zoom PD opportunities that staff are compensated for attending and are pretty nice to do from your home. They also list several other opportunities including affinity spaces and teacher pathways for classified staff of color.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – I’d encourage everyone to do the 24/25 and 25/26 Draft School Calendar Feedback Survey. See my prior announcements for the feedback I submitted.

• New WalkerTracker Challenge – There’s a new WalkerTracker Team Challenge January 21-27 if you want to join the Holt Team. I have a fun time comparing how many steps I get compared to others on the team. Download the app (iOS or Android) or go to the 4J WalkerTracker Website to sign up.

• Grading Day Expectations – HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator in advance, but plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues. Be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 22 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)

January 23 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Heinrich)
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 24 (W)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Wednesday PD – Equity & Inclusion Team

January 25 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)

January 26 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day
8:20, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
2:30-4:00, SPED EA Interviews (Emily’s Room)
4:00-5:00, Rescheduled School Choice Tour (Library & Zoom)
5:30-7:00, 1st and 2nd Family Math Night (Classrooms & Cafeteria)
-5:30-6:10 Math games in classrooms
-6:15-6:45 Dinner & raffle in cafeteria

January 29 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (5th Classrooms)
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 30 (T)
4:00-8:00, Panera Bread – Holt Night Out
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 31 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
12:50-1:15, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Report Card Coordination Time

February 1 (H)
Black History Month
No School – Semester Grading Day
8:00-11:30, EA Pathways PD (Churchill HS)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
12:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

February 2 (F)
No School – Transition Day
9:30-4:40, Allan to HR Training (Ed Center)

Hopefully, things are back to normal this week for folks. Last week was a rough one!

Allan

January 15, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/13 22:00 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., Technology | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

My weather hopes were off by a day last week, but keep watching the weather forecast for Monday night and Tuesday morning!

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• SPED EA Job Posting – HR finally got our 7-hour SPED EA Job Posting up. If you know of anyone good out there, tell them to apply by this Thursday.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting TUESDAY – SST will meet this Tuesday to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda was emitted to staff earlier regarding the students who will be discussed.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team – This Wednesday at 1:30 in the library, our Equity & Inclusion team is preparing a discussion and training for staff.

• School Choice Presentation WEDNESDAY @6:00 (Library & Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.

Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – Our January fire drill will be this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

• Wednesday PD: 100% Data Team Meeting, 1/24 – Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 1:30 in the library we will have our 100% Data Team Meeting to review winter benchmark testing.

• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day, 1/26 – Friday, Jan. 26 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hair Day! Tell your kids to create their wackiest and wildest hairdo or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

• Spirit Assembly 1/26 @8:20 – The January School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, Jan. 26 in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

• 1st, and 2nd Grade Family Math Night, 1/26 – Friday, January 26, 5:30-6:45pm is the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Game Night. 5:30-6:10 will be math games in classrooms and 6:15-6:45 will be pizza and a raffle in cafeteria.

• Report Card, Grading Day, and Transition Day Info – Five items of note:

• Report Card Guidance – Linked here are last year’s Report Card Checklist, One Pager, and ELA Grade Level Guidance Sheets. I’ve asked if updated info is coming, though I think it’s only the one-pager that’ll need updating to clarify what I shared earlier about scores, that for mid-year grades a 3 means a student is on-track to meet end-of-year standards, not like last year where a 3 meant they had already met the end-of-year standard.

• Key Dates – Note the following dates:

Feb. 1 (H) – Grading Day
Feb. 1 (H) – EA Pathways PD, 8:30-11:30
Feb. 1 (H) – Classified Staff Meeting at 12:30
Feb. 2 (F) – Transition Day
Feb. 12 (M) – Report Cards Sent Home

• Grading Day Expectations – The Holt Staff Handbook has the following expectations for Report Card Grading Day:

Licensed Staff – Grading day is a regular work day. HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Please be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.

• Feb. 1 EA Pathways PD – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.

• Feb. 2 Transition Day – Principals were given the following guidance on the Feb. 2 Transition Day, but the short version is this day is for ELA prep. Also, the Feb. 2 section that was shared with principals was left blank, so you are reading that part below right.

Reminder of No Meetings During the Week of Grading Day – As we are approaching the first Semester Grading Day, please take a moment to review your building meetings calendar and be sure to cancel any meetings you may have scheduled for the week of January 29.

• February 2: Transition Day – Additionally, we have previously shared that there was an acknowledgement during a June 2023 meeting with the Elementary Literacy team and EEA that 4J’s efforts to improve K-5 literacy require a significant amount of teacher prep time. One way the district can support educators in effectively providing this instruction is to communicate explicitly carved out time throughout the school year to prepare for each module. The dates available in the calendar for 2023-24 were/are:

✔️ Half day during August inservice week
✔️ Nov. 9 – 3.75 hours of ELA Planning, 3.75 hours of Assessment and Conference Planning
Feb. 2
Apr. 12 – 3.75 hours of ELA Planning, 3.75 hours of Strategic Family Outreach

• Round 2 of Vector Training – Downtown asked principals to share the linked Vector Modules Email Communication with staff, but the short version is there are 78 minutes worth of online trainings for staff to complete by March 31st, so Licensed Staff will have two Wednesday PD times to complete the modules and classified staff will have feb. 1 and 2 to compete the modules.

• Staff Shout Outs! – We’ll share Staff Shout Outs at the start of Staff Meetings once again, so complete the Staff Shout Out Google Form to recognize or show appreciation for a colleague. The link can always be found on my blog and on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Second Step Pacing Guide – As a reminder, I wanted to re-highlight the Second Step Pacing Guide. If you are behind, use the guide to make sure you’re at least hitting each topic area.

• OSHA Cheat Sheet – Some folks asked for an OSHA Cheat Sheet, so there’s one with the key questions that could fit behind your badge that answers the key questions an OSHA Inspector might ask:

• Summer School at Holt – I was emailed last week that Holt will again host SEAL and KITS this summer. KITS needs 4 classrooms and SEAL needs up to 15 classrooms. We’ll decide which rooms will be used in the spring after staffing, once we know if anyone is moving classrooms and such. Doesn’t sound like it’s an option to move it to another school again, but I’ve at least asked for them to consider starting earlier since August is such a time crunch between summer programs ending and regular school starting.

• 4J Discipline Matrix – Downtown is finally ready to roll out the 4J Discipline Matrix, which provides a guide for majors, minor, and guidance on how to respond to different situations. I’ll plan to go over this at a future Wednesday PD, but if you want a preview, linked here is the Holt Discipline Flowchart for Teachers, which is actually a generic district template except for slide #3 where I added some Holt specific information, the 4J Minors/Major Behavior Definitions for Staff, and for lower minor incidents there is the Revisiting/Strengthening Classroom Climate & Practices and Implementing Classroom-level Interventions documents. Here’s a link to the 2023-2024 Behavior Matrix (longer version) that was shared with principals and if you’re interested, here’s the Admin Behavior Matrix Slideshow that was presented to building admins last week. Do note there are a lot of link buried within these documents, but most of them link back and forth between each other and there are also several links that are still locked down and even I don’t have access to them yet, so hopefully that gets fixed soon.

• Principal Focused Upbeat Survey – Thought staff might be interested to know principals were told on Friday we will get to do an Upbeat Survey to give feedback on district administration. Maybe this will be extended to classified and licensed staff at some point?

• New WalkerTracker Challenge – There’s a new WalkerTracker Team Challenge January 21-27 if you want to join the Holt Team. I find it fun to compare how many steps different folks are getting on the team. Download the app (iOS or Android) or go to the 4J WalkerTracker Website to sign up.

• District Admin Updates – Angi Meyer, Associate Director of Risk and Asset Management, emailed principals she has accepted a position in Beaverton working with Keri Skinner. No word whether they will hire someone or will restructure. One restructure emailed is that Karen Apgar will take over 504s and Della Thomas will focus on her South & Churchill SSD ElementaryAdmin position.

• Optional Research Survey ($150 Drawing) – If you’re interested, here’s a University of Washington Study where if teachers fill out their 10-30 minute Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Survey and you’ll be entered into a drawing for $150.

• 4 Ways to Use AI in Implementing Restorative Practices – Artificial intelligence can be an effective tool in implementing restorative practices by tailoring the approach to the situation. See this Edutopia Article for details, but to save you a click, they are:

1. Create Restorative Reflections
2. Compose Customized Social Stories
3. Generate Discussion !uestions for Restorative Circles
4. Build Creative Social and Emotional Learning Lesson Plans

This article suggests using ChatGPT, but I’ve found that MagicSchoolAI is more education focused.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – I’d encourage everyone to do the 24/25 and 25/26 Draft School Calendar Feedback Survey. See last week’s announcements for the feedback I submitted.

• Jan. 2 PD Feedback – If you haven’t already, fill out the Classified PD Feedback and Licensed PD Feedback for the Jan. 2 PD.

• Jan 2 PD Slides – Here’s a link to the Jan. 2nd PD Resources Erin Gaston emailed earlier.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 15 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 16 (T)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:15-12:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

January 19 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
2:45, Latino Family Night Planning (Ball’s Room)

January 22 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-12:00, OBOB Battles (Library)

January 23 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 24 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
11:30-12:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)

January 25 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)

January 26 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day
8:20, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
11:00-11:30, OBOB Practice (Library)
11:30-12:00, OBOB Practice (Library)
5:30-7:00, 1st and 2nd Family Math Night (Classrooms & Cafeteria)
-5:30-6:10 Math games in classrooms
-6:15-6:45 Dinner & raffle in cafeteria

Think snow, everyone!

Allan

January 8, 2024

By Allan | 2024/01/06 22:37 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Equity, Grants, P.D., Video | Comments (2)

Greetings Bolts,

Have you been watching the weather forecast? Snow Friday? See if we get a 4-day weekend!

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• New School Nurse: Hannah Green – Please welcome Hannah Green as our new School Nurse. She is an experienced school nurse and actually started with us Tuesday last week, so please welcome Hannah to Team Holt!

• SPED EA Job Posting – HR still hasn’t posted our SPED EA job posting, but I’m hopeful it’ll go up this week. We’re waiting on the Finance Dept. to approve the job posting last I checked.

• PBIS Playground Rules Round-Up, Rescheduled MONDAY – The Playground Rules Round-Up got rained out last week for K/1 and 2/3 and is rescheduled for Monday if the weather cooperates. We’ll do Tuesday if we’re rained out again.

K/1 MONDAY @ 8:15-8:45
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Vaughan & Harmon)
2. Playground Balls (Gulewich)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Gori)
4. Rules for the Field (Willow)
5. Swings/Slides (Zluticky)
6. Structures (Seno)

2/3 MONDAY @ 1:40-2:10
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Rabourn & Gulekson)
2. Playground Balls (Norton)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Bemiller)
4. Rules for the Field (Harshbarger)
5. Swings/Slides (Talley)
6. Structures (Ball)

• FFVP Resumes TUESDAY – A reminder that the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program resumes this Tuesday.

• Wednesday PD: Upbeat Survey – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we’ll review the results from the fall Upbeat Survey, which this time around we can compare to last year’s survey results.

• School Choice Presentation WEDNESDAY @6:00 (Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.

Wed., Jan. 10, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Zoom)
Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

If you’d like to check out the updated 2024 School Choice Slideshow, our About Holt / School Choice webpage, or our Enroll / Register webpage, feedback to make them better is welcome.

• Grade Level Team Meetings, 1/16 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.edu

The Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 1/16 CORRECTION – I emailed the wrong SST Meeting date. SST is the same week as Grade Level Team meetings, so it will be on Tuesday, January 16th. The purpose of this team is to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form and check the new checkbox I’ve added called “Academics – Student Support Team – SPED Referral” to make a referral to the team.

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team 1/17 – Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 1:30 in the library our Equity & Inclusion team is preparing a discussion and training for staff.

• OSHA Inspection Info – I’ve put this on the Staff Meeting Agenda for Thursday, but I’m including it here so all staff have the information. If we were to get a surprise OSHA inspection, all staff need to be able to answer the following questions if an OSHA inspector quizzed you, which they do randomly of all staff:

What are SDS Sheets? An SDS Sheet (Safety Data Sheet) has information about the properties of chemical products in use at our school, including the product’s composition, potential hazards, safe use, and emergency procedures. The SDS sheets are also on a Facilities SDS Information Website (you need to be on the 4J Network to view the site).

Where are the SDS Sheets located? For Holt, our notebooks with the SDS sheets are located in the custodial office. We are planning to get additional copies to keep in the front office.

Where are the Safety Committee Minutes located? Both the Holt and district Safety Committee Minutes are posted in the Staff Room. Additionally, building minutes are on the Staff Google Drive and the district minutes are online at the district website.

Where is the Worker’s Comp Claims Log located? The last 5 years are posted in the Staff Room (they’re really not, but they will be once I get copies from Risk Management).

Where are the Injury & Incident reports located? These are kept in a binder in the office.

• Jan. 2 PD Feedback – If you haven’t already, fill out the Jan. 2 Feedback form to weigh in if you like having a choice of sessions, the shorter session length, your thoughts on the quality of each of the sessions, and any future PD topics you’d like to see. Linked here are the Classified PD Feedback and Licensed PD Feedback.

• PTO Meeting Highlights – Linked here is the PTO Meeting Slideshow, but a few highlights include that the Holt Bolt will be Friday, May 17th (the date suggested by Leadership), budget updates, soliciting volunteers for various events (OBOB, Carnival, Book Fair, etc.), and the PTO is now their own 501(c)(3), which means they don’t have to follow onerous district Finance rules (can buy food, do reimbursements, and they don’t have to worry about downtown losing checks, which they’ve done).

• Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge – The Ems left bookmarks for teachers to pass out to students to track the reading goal you’ve given them for Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge. Teachers may set any goal you feel is appropriate. The program officially ends at the end of the month, but teachers can extend that the reading goal beyond that if you’d like and I’ll go ahead and tell the Ems all students met their goal so we have enough tickets to go around.

• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – The latest 4J Educator Newsletter is asking for 24-25 and 25-26 Draft Calendar Feedback. I’d encourage everyone to share your thoughts. Downtown did listen to input last year on the draft calendars and did make changes, so share your thoughts. Below is the input I shared, though I’m sure my extended school year idea probably isn’t universally loved and I doubt will ever happen:

June Grading Day (Elementary) – 4J tried putting the elementary grading day after school gets out one-year pre-COVID and it was a disaster. Elementary needs the grading day the Friday before the last week of school. I’d suggest moving the No School Day before Memorial Day weekend, which seems unnecessary, to be an Elementary Grading Day the Friday before the last week of school.

Mid-Term Grading Days – These days are unnecessary for elementary. In November, elementary already miss three days for parent/teacher conferences, so having a 3-day-week right before is a huge break in instruction. I understand wanting to align calendars between elementary and secondary, but make this a PD day or move it to the Friday before winter and spring break (there are tons of absences these days at elementary anyhow), or move them to the last two days of school, so the last student days are not on a Monday and Tuesday.

Transition Days – Move the Transition Days to the Monday after winter break and spring break. Since this is being treated as a prep day, elementary teachers don’t need an additional prep day for the start of a new semester following a grading day, but they could absolutely use a prep day following winter and spring break.

Last Student Days – The last two days of school on Monday and Tuesday will be a waste of time and there will likely be a high student (and staff) absence rate. School should end at the end of the week. Move two of the Transition Days or Mid-Term Grading Days to the end of the calendar so we can end on a Friday.

Early Report Back Date – Be sure to notify EEA in time if teachers are going to have an earlier report back date than what’s currently on these calendars.

Professional Development Days – I’m good with fewer district-led PD days, which is how 4J used to operate, but we should also then reduce the number of instructional staff (licensed and admin) at the district level as well.

Extended School Year – If the intention with this calendar is to extend the school year, I’d suggest going all in! Put in a significant number of non-school days throughout the year so students attend school through the end of June. Look at the old extended-year calendar that ATA used to follow when Jeff Johnson was principal there.

• EEF Grants Awarded – Holt was awarded EEF Grants for four different grants; Fill the Book Machine (Potter), Drumming with a Purpose (Zehner), Can You Hear Us Now? (Reich), Alternative Recess & Social Skills Development (McManus).

• SPLASH! Mini-Grants for Classrooms – If you missed it in the last Eco Experience Science Newsletter, The City of Eugene is now accepting SPLASH! Grant Applications. I’ve added this to the Business Items at Thursday’s Staff Meeting.

• OSAS Testing Window & Preliminary Info – Debbi, our STC (Site Testing Coordinator), will have more info to share after the STC training, but this STC & Principal Email has the testing windows for this year, also below, as well as some other OSAS info if you want a preview before our annual OSAS training.

3rd-5th Grade ELA/Math: April 2 – June 14
5th Grade Science: March 5 – June 14
3rd – 5th Grade SEED Survey (must be offered): March 5 – June 14
K-5 English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA): January 9 – April 12

• Cafeteria Waste Station Review – Tana Shepard wanted to share the linked Cafeteria Waste Station Teaching Resources to reteach your students on the cafeteria waste stations. For additional questions, please reach out directly to Tana.

• SSD January Newsletter – If you’re interested here is the January SSD Newsletter. Topics include requirements for Prior Written Notices, move-in students, Core Boards, and more. The SSD Newsletter Archives has all prior newsletters.

• Lane Regional Teacher Pathways – Lane ESD – Application is Open – Lane Regional Teacher Pathways is a scholarship program for folks interested in pursuing or advancing their career in education. This scholarship centers on ethnically, racially and/or linguistically diverse educators in Lane County. The Pathways program provides scholarships ranging from $2,500-$15,000 to work toward earning an educational license as a teacher, counselor, English Language Development Specialist, Special Education teacher and/or Speech Language pathologist. Click here for more information.

• MLK Jr. Day Resources – If you missed it in the latest 4J Library Connection, there is an excellent resource filled Let’s Learn About Martin Luther King Jr. Slide.

• Free Holt International Calendars – Holt International dropped off a bunch of 2024 Calendars I put in the workroom if anyone would like one.

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• School Board Appreciation Poster, MONDAY Deadline to Sign – Please sign the School Board Appreciation Poster in the Staff Room by Monday if you haven’t already.

• PBIS Rules Refresher Slideshow – Teachers should find time to review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow (Winter 2024) with your class if you haven’t already. Related, there are also quite a few really good student-made videos by past Holt students on many playground and recess game rules on the Holt Portaportal.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Room Clears – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Room Clears. Please note that if you ever do a Room Clear, document it with a major referral if it’s not for a medical or non-behavior-related situation.

Room Clears
Procedure: Direct response – push the button on the wall, state your name, and classroom number, stay with the student in the classroom until relief comes, and send the rest of the class to their partner classroom.

When and why?
-When a significant disruption or safety threat occurs
Where to go/partner classroom
-Partner classroom in the same wing as your classroom
-Library
-Extra recess outside (with adult only)

Documentation: If a room clear occurs, the use of a “major” is used to document the incident

-Room clear partner classrooms should be established and revisited each year
-Your partner classroom should be a nearby room
-If you are a specialist or Sped, it is most helpful to coordinate with another teacher who has similar groupings or needs
-When you room clear, the teacher stays, and the students go.
-Also teach your students that if your partner classroom isn’t available (due to field trip, or out of the room) go to another closest room. If a class shows up, take them in!
-The office will need confirmation at some point that you have completed this practice. This should be done during Safety Week

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 8 (M)
5th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:15-8:45, K/1 Rules Round-Up (Playground)
1:40-2:10, 2/3 Rules Round-Up (Playground)
3:30-5:30, Allan to All Admin’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 9 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
FFVP (Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program) Resumes
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Calming Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 10 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 11 (H)
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Kendallyn’s Room)

January 12 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Group

January 15 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 16 (T)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
12:15-12:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

January 19 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)

If you need something heartwarming, Kim made a super nice thank-you video for Garden Way Church for supporting the Holt Holiday Shopping Program.

Allan

January 1, 2024

By Allan | 2023/12/25 19:32 Posted in Announcements | Comments Off

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I hope you all had a good break. A major highlight of my break was getting to see DIE HARD on the big screen when a friend rented out a theater. They encouraged people to dress up as a character from the movie and I went as the more obscure of supporting character, Uli. I also made my kids watch the classic Christmas film GREMLINS, which I realized my wife had never seen either.

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Jan. 2 PD Info and Sign-Up – See the Jan. 2 PD Email and the Follow-Up Email for details, but here is a link to the Licensed PD Info and the Classified PD Info, which is where you can register for which sessions you would like to attend. Times are locations are:

Licensed Staff, Gilham, 8:00-1:00
Classified Staff, Holt, 8:00-1:00

Sign up now before the good sessions fill up!

8:00-8:25 Carpool Time
8:30-1:00 PD Sessions
1:00-2:00 Lunch & Drive Time
2:00-4:00 Planning Time

*Licensed specialists, see communication from your district team about where to report.

• PBIS Rules Refresher Slideshow – Teachers should find time this week or next week to review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow (Winter 2024) with your class. With input from EAs, I’ve added a slide for Recess Snacks, Library, Stop Walk Talk, and the Buddy Bench. There’s also a classroom slide if you want to use it. I highlighted a few of the bullet points on the slideshow for some of our hotspots and added some additional rules for clarification, which include:

Arrival Dismissal:
Hands, feet, objects to self
This is not recess time, so no wild playing
No eating at morning arrival. Eat in the cafeteria.

Hallways:
Voice Level 0 in the hallways

Cafeteria:
Wait quietly in line

Recess Snack Rules:
Morning Recess: Snacks allowed on the sidewalk only
Lunch Recess: Eating only in the cafeteria. No food allowed at recess
Eating on hard play or soft play will result in sitting out the rest of recess

Library:
Library is a classroom
Follow the same rules you would in your classroom
Keep voices quiet to not disrupt Dynamo Groups

Restrooms:
Voice Level Zero” and “Do not slam stall doors
As a bonus, I also added a couple of videos (VIDEO 1, VIDEO 2) of how to use the hand dryers, which a lot of kids do not seem to know how to use the right way.

Stop Walk Walk:
Stop Walk Talk Video (Silent Film Version)
Stop Walk Talk Video (Start w/Heart Pig Puppet)
Stop Walk Talk Video (Older Students Instructional Video)
Here’s a link to the Staff Drive Stop Walk Talk Resource Folder

Buddy Bench:
How to use the Buddy Bench VIDEO

Related, there are also quite a few really good student-made videos by past Holt students on many playground and recess game rules on the Holt Portaportal.

• PBIS Playground Rules Round-Up – The Playground Rules Round-Up will be the first week back, which Classified Staff helped come up with the areas to review with students. I will connect with EAs about which stations they can help teach (or claim a station now). This time we’re doing two grade levels at a the schedule will be:

K/1 Thursday @ 8:15-8:45
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Vaughan & Harmon)
2. Playground Balls (Gulewich)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Gori)
4. Rules for the Field (Willow)
5. Swings/Slides (Zluticky)
6. Structures (Seno)

2/3 Thursday @ 1:40-2:10
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Rabourn & Gulekson)
2. Playground Balls (Norton)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Bemiller)
4. Rules for the Field (Harshbarger)
5. Swings/Slides (Talley)
6. Structures (Ball)

4/5 Thursday @ 1:40-2:10
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:
1. Rough Play/Horseplay and Chase Games (Benavides & Reich)
2. Playground Balls (Longoria)
3. Stop Walk Talk (Cobb)
4. Rules for the Field (Henrich)
5. Swings/Slides (Parks)
6. Structures (Ayres)

Feedback on the above-linked Playground Rules Round-Up document and schedule are welcome.

• Fall easyCBM Testing Window Jan. 3-24 – See Debbi’s Email for details, but the winter reading and math benchmark testing window is open Jan. 3 – 24. This window is shorter than usual, so plan accordingly.

• Wednesday PD: Team Collaboration – Since you’ll have just had 5 hours of PD the day before, let’s set this time aside for teams time to connect and collaborate following the PD from Tuesday. This is also a good time to prep and plan for benchmark testing.

• Ems Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly, FRIDAY @8:10 – This Friday in the Gym from 8:10-8:40 (arrive by 8:05 so everyone is seated by 8:10) will be the Eugene Emeralds Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly. They have a much shorter timeline this year, saying final numbers for students who reached their reading goal are due Feb. 1, but teachers can go ahead and stretch it out if they want. I’ll just tell the Ems all students met their goal, which is what I do every year.

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 1/9 – We’ll hold our first SST meetings next week on Jan. 9, to track and review new and current referrals for SPED evaluation. If you have a student you’d like to bring to the team, complete the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form and check the new checkbox I’ve added called “Academics – Student Support Team – SPED Referral.” I’ll take a look at the form on Jan. 2 and will email which teachers should attend the meeting.

• Wednesday PD: Upbeat Survey 1/10 – Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 1:30 in the library we’ll review the results from the fall Upbeat Survey, which this time around we can compare to last year’s survey results.

• School Choice Presentation 1/10 @6:00 (Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.

Wed., Jan. 10, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Zoom)
Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)

If you’d like to check out the updated 2024 School Choice Slideshow, our About Holt / School Choice webpage, or our Enroll / Register webpage, feedback to make them better is welcome.

• Artist in Residence Draft Schedules – On the Staff Zimbra Calendar and below are the draft schedules the for the following artists in residence:

Feb. 5 – 15, Mask Making Artist Schedule (3-5)
March 4 – 22, Ceramics Artist Schedule (K-3)
April 29 – May 17, Fiddle Artist Schedule (K-5)

• School Board Appreciation Poster – Downtown is emailed schools we are to make a school board appreciation poster. It’s not super clear what they want, but I’ll put a poster in the library for kids and staff to sign this week during library checkout and lessons. I’m going to just make a simply poster that says something like “Thank you 4J School Board!” and have our school name and logo on there.

• Safety Inspection Results (make sure doors aren’t blocked) – The Fire Marshal did their re-inspection and we mostly passed. They did not cite us but did say we need to make sure all classroom doors have 3 feet of egress, meaning you don’t have any filing cabinets or other items blocking the doorway.

• OSHA Safety Information – This OSHA Email is mostly for the Building Safety Committee but principals were asked to share. The main thing to know is that all Flammable Materials/Decorations are Banned (i.e. any papers or paper objects not flush with the wall). The OSHA Visit Guidance is more just for office staff, but it’s kind of a funny read because it sounds almost like we’re preparing to receive the Queen of England or something.

• WREN Newsletter and PDs – The latest Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter lists several new Zoom PD opportunities that staff are compensated for attending and are pretty nice to do from your home. They also list several other opportunities including Affinity Spaces, Teacher Pathway Programs, and an OEA Winter Recharge Retreat for early educators.

• UO International Cultural Service Program – The UO International Cultural Service Program is again offering free classroom presentations, either in person or virtual (we have to provide transportation, but I can cover that). See the ICSP Brochure for details and request a student HERE.

• Red Cross Classroom Presentations – The Red Cross is offering free one-hour classroom presentations. Their youth preparedness is available for K-2 (Prepare with Pedro) and 3-5 (Pillowcase Project). See the Email & Flyers for details and REGISTER HERE.

• BRING Recycling Field Trips & Class Presentations – Visit the BRING “In the Classroom” webpage for info on setting up a field trip or a classroom presentation (Worm Composting – K-2, and Waste Prevention – 3-5)

• 4J Parent/Educator News – Two items from the latest 4J Parent News and 4J Educator News. One, it said schools are using the 4J Behavior Matrix, but that’s not true. Principals were told we’ll be given information sometime after winter break that we can share with staff and families. Two, Check out Holt in the “OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM – Fin-tastic Field Trips!” for a bunch of cool photos during a salmon release field trip!

• Major/Minor Referrals Reminder – Two reminders when writing major and minor referrals:

• Be Specific – Do not write, “Disrespectful to adult” or “Not following adult directions.” Instead, write what they did that was disrespectful (“Called adult dumb” or “Threw paper on floor”) or what directions they were not following (“Continued to poke another student after two reminders to stop” or “Refused to do work after two promts and asked if they needed help”).

• No Names – You can use the student’s name you are writing the referral for, but do not use other students’ names in in descriptions of incidents. Copies of referrals are shared with parents parents, so we need to keep other student names off of the referrals for privacy reasons.

• OnlineSafari.tv | Live Wildcams – I shared some livestreams last month, but here’s one more. Onlinesafari.tv has almost 100 wildlife cams online from around the world. You can search by type of animal or ecosystem. It’s always soothing to watch animals in their natural habitat. If you’re lucky, maybe you can see some bears roughhousing in a pond in Romania!

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EA Paid Time for Childcare at Jan. 4 PTO Meeting – For our January 4th PTO meeting, will pay two classified staff members who are willing to oversee childcare from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the gym. Should be a pretty easy time since there are usually only about 10 kids at most. Let me know if you are interested.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Walking Excursions – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Walking Excursions (field trips):

Walking Excursions:
Parents/guardians must complete an Annual Permission Walking form allowing children to make walking field trips (within a 10-block radius of the school) ANY TIME during the school year without the need for a signed permit for each trip. However, families should still be notified that the trip will take place.

•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

December 16 – January 1
No School – Winter Break

January 2 (T)
National Science Fiction Day
4th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00-1:00, Licensed & Classified PD (Various Locations)
1:30-2:15, SPED EA (K-2) AAC Training (Emily’s Room)
2:00-3:00, Allan to Multi-Cultural Group Meeting (Zoom)

January 3 (W)
Classes Resume
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Team Collaboration

January 4 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
1:20-2:05, 4th Grade Junior Achievement
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

January 5 (F)
8:10-8:40, Ems Reading Program Kick-Off Assembly (Gym)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)

January 8 (M)
5th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 9 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:05-8:45, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Calming Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

January 10 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

January 11 (H)
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

January 12 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Group

See you all soon!

Allan

Allan's Announcements

March 4, 2024

February 26, 2024

February 19, 2024

February 12, 2024

February 5, 2024

January 29, 2024

January 22, 2024

January 15, 2024

January 8, 2024

January 1, 2024

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