Science

April 8, 2024

By Allan  |  2024/04/06 21:51 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., Science  |  Comments Off on April 8, 2024

 

Greetings Bolts,

A few shoutouts. First to Holt’s Golden Apple Nominees, Caitlin, Sheryl, Katie G., and me. There are, of course, many many talented and deserving staff members, but thank you all for making Holt a special place and for making us look good!

And a second shoutout, just last Friday I learned that Tuesday, April 9th is Library Worker’s Day, so a shoutout to Robbie for all his work keeping the Holt Library Running and being part of 4J’s pilot of full-time licensed librarians in elementary schools! Thank you, Robbie!

Twenty-six items of note for this week:

• Electronics Recycling Competition Drop-Off Week – Remind students about the annual BRING Recycling Electronics Recycling Competition.Anything with a plug or that takes batteries can be dropped off at Holt this week. The school with the most “e-waste” collected wins a $500 gift certificate and a Next Step Robot made by a local artist.

 

• Solar Eclipse MONDAY at 10:30 – We get a rare opportunity to observe a solar eclipse (it’s actually a partial eclipse) during school hours on Monday, April 8, starting at 10:30, peaking at 11:20 or 11:30, and ending at 12:15. Linked here are Directions for Making a Solar Eclipse Viewer and some notes about Eye Safety During an Eclipse. We’ll have recess as normal and I’ll remind student on Monday announcement “Don’t stare at the sun!” and also put a note in the Quick News, but also remind your kids the dangers of staring at the sun. 

There’s also the Great North American Eclipse 2024 eBook highlighted in the most recent Library Connection. 

 

• Data Team Meeting K-5, TUESDAY – We’ll hold grade level Data Team Meetings this day with roving subs. See Carla’s Email for details, but the schedule will be:

8:10-8:40 – 4th
8:50-9:20 – 2nd
9:40-10:10 – 5th
10:20-10:50 – 1st
11:00-11:30 – 3rd
11:40-12:10 – K

 

• Wednesday PD: Science OSAS & Accommodations – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we’ll review the Science standards and assessment, as well as go over how to input student accommodations into TIDE.

 

• ​Holt Night Out, Bangers & Brews, WEDNESDAY, 3:00-8:00 – Wednesday, April 10th is a Holt Night Out at Bangers & Brews! ​Remind kids to stop by Bangers & Brews at 2506 Willakenzie Road, across from Sheldon High School, between 5:00-8:00 pm, and just mention Holt when ordering for our school to get a percentage of all sales.

 

• Accessible Education Parent Group, THURSDAY @5:30 – Emily and Carla have started up an Accessible Education Parent Group to give families of student with IEPs voice and support, which will meet for the first time on April 11 at 5:30 in the library.

 

• Midterm Grading Day, FRIDAY – This is a non-student day and the expectation from downtown is staff are to report to the building and be available to colleagues on this day. For classroom teachers, 3.75 hours is dedicated to ELA planning and 3.75 hours is for “Strategic Family Outreach.” Downtown hasn’t given guidance on what this outreach is supposed to be, but I’d suggest using this time to call, email, or text families you need to connect with for various reasons; improvements, progress and/or struggles with attendance, academics, behavior, relationships, etc.

There’s no expectation you’re reaching out to all families, but target parents of a few key students you work with. Principals last week brainstormed a few ideas:

• Positive postcards home
• Positive phone calls
• Phone calls about attendance
• Make phone calls or have meetings
• SEAL Phone Call Invitation for Summer School w/registration link email to follow
• Have meetings with families who have struggling students
• Tier 2 and 3 behavior

 

• EA Assistance FRIDAY Sign-Up – There is the optional EA Pathways PD, but for any EAs working int he building , add your name to the EA Assistance Spreadsheet. Teachers add anything you can use help with.

 

• Volunteer Appreciation Week Sign-Up – The week of April 15 is Volunteer Appreciation Week. If you haven’t already, talk with your team and sign up to bring some treats or snack on the Volunteer Treat Sign-Up Google Sheet Elizabeth sent out earlier.

 

• Fire Drill, 4/16 @9:25 – I’m taking advantage of a couple classes being gone on a field trip to have our fire drill at a different time. The April Fire Dill on Thursday, April 16 at 9:25. 1st grade will be lined up outside already at the end of their recess and by the time the drill is over, 2nd and 3rd graders can just go straight to their 9:30 recess. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. We’ll reschedule if we get rained out, but right now the forecast looks good.

 

• Fire Drill Reminder, Close Doors – Several classroom doors were left open during the last fire drill, so remember to close them this time around. Keeping the doors closed helps prevent a fire from spreading.

 

• Scholastic Book Fair Opens, 4/19 – Watch for details from the PTO and Robbie about hours and preview scheduling, but the Book Fair will open on Friday, April 19th and will also be open during the School Carnival. The Book Fair will run through Thursday, April 25th.

 

• Sheldon Mama Mia Performance, 4/19 – The Sheldon High School Drama Department will perform an abbreviated version of their current musical, Mama Mia, on Friday, April 19th. The time is TBA, but we will share it with staff once Sheldon staff confirm. It’s tentatively at 1:15.

 

• Holt PTO School Carnival, 4/19, 5:30-7:30 – The Holt PTO has been hard at work on this year’s annual School Carnival. It will be Friday, April 19th from 5:30-7:30 in the cafeteria, gym, and playground. They’ll have games, food carts, the car bash, and this year are adding a silent auction. Remind your class and get them pumped to attend!

 

• Earth Day, 4/22 – If you missed it in the Eco Experience newsletter, Earth Day is Monday, April 22 and they shared a number of resources, including the EarthDay.org and the 4J Elementary Earth Day Resource Page, which includes classroom presentations on various topics by Eco Chick, so sign up now!

And few other fun resources:
Subject to Climate Earth Day Resource Guide
Earth Reminder: Earth Day Activities
Nat Geo Kids: Earth Day
ACT now Climate Action Super Heroes

 

• Cafeteria Sign In Help – A few notes from Kim for lunchtime:

• Thank you to everyone helping out as kids learn their number and input them into the system.
• Teachers – for your 5-minute time in the cafeteria, please continue helping kids through the line / salad bar.
• Teachers – one teacher should help students at the computer (next to Deb.) This doubles our ability to get kids through the line.
• K-1-2 – Popsicle sticks will be in your mailing boxes on Monday morning. They include your student name, barcode, and an identification system to help Kim sort them at the end of lunch for the day. You will pick these up each morning. NOTE: the system requires Deb to pick up the scanner gun and click it to read the barcode, so:
• Prepare students to hand the stick to Deb who will scan it and keep it.
• If one teacher could assist with scanning, that would be helpful

Thanks everyone!

 

• Wash Your Hands! – Remind kids to regularly wash their hands. We had quite a few stomach bug issues last week and I do not want to end the year having to follow norovirus protocols.

 

• Elementary Assistant Principal Pool – I’m still hoping we get to post a Holt specific position where me and staff can holt interviews and have say who is hired, but an Elementary Assistant Principal Pool went up over spring break if you know of anyone good out there you might tell them to apply.

 

• No Food on Playground – I’m going to announce this at Monday Zoom Announcements, but remind kids that they may ONLY eat food on the curb (AM recess only) and not at hard play or soft play or anywhere else. If kids are caught eating food anywhere else or at lunch recess, they will have to sit on the curb the rest of that recess. There’s been a lot of litter and food waste scattered around the playground lately.

 

• All Visitors Through Main Entrance – A staff member or student let an adult visitor in via the Calvin St. side entrance last week.  Remember, all visitors must enter the building through the front office so they can sign in through the Raptor system, which cross references visitors with multiple criminal background sites. If someone is trying to enter through another entrance, do not open the door, but point them in the direction of the office. The also applies to district staff, who are also supposed to sign in through the office before entering the building.  It was just a visitor from Holt International last week, so no real threat, but it’s not something we should do in the future.

 

• PTO Updates – If you’re interested, linked here is the PTO Meeting Slideshow and PTO President Notes from last week’s meeting.

 

• Proposed 24-25 Calendar – The school board last week took a first look at a Proposed Two-Year Calendar for 24-25 and 25-26. Staff gave feedback on the initial draft and they made some changes, which I feel some are good and some are bad:

• GOOD: Conferences 2 Days – They made conferences 2 days again and the Wednesday of Thanksgiving is simply a non-contract day.
• GOOD: Transition and Midterm Grading Days – These didn’t really make sense for elementary since kids don’t transition and teachers don’t do mid-term grades. Transition days were eliminated and the Midterm Grading days are now half PD and half Midterm Grading, which for elementary I’m guessing means half PD and half prep. In my opinion, they should movie the April 18 Midterm Grading/PD day to Monday, March 31 after the break.
• BAD: No Prep Day after Spring Break – This wasn’t on the draft calendar either, but there has almost always been a PD and/or Planning Day after spring break.
• BAD: Mon. & Tues Last Day of School – Probably lots of absences these days and not sure how productive of days they will be.
• BAD: June 1/2 Day Grading Day – They moved the grading day from falling after the last day of school, but it’s now a half day instead of a full day and it’s also on the Friday before the last Monday and Tuesday, which doesn’t seem nearly enough time to get report cards written and prepped, unless they are planning on mailing them again.

 

• April Heart of Teaching Newsletter – Linked here is the April The Heart of Teaching, which has info on the Math Adoption, April 1st PD Slides, Social Studies PD opportunities, Info about workbook ordering for Fundations next year, and much more from PE, TAG, Health, Library, and other subjects.

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EEF Grants Open 4/8 – EEF Grants are opening soon. They have not announced a deadline for applications, but usually, it’s about a month-long window. EEF prioritizes grants that focus on Enrichment (ex. STEM, arts, experimental learning), Ready to Learn (ex. literacy, SEL, accessibility solutions), and Pathways (ex. CTE, SPED, TAG). The application link is not live yet, but linked here is a PDF I made of the form from earlier this year.

Schools can submit as many grants as they want, so feel free to start writing! I saved a PDF version of Last Year’s EEF Grant Application if you want to start now. And remember that AI (MagicSchool.AI and ChatGPT) can save time doing a lot of the writing for you!

• Multi-Factor Authentication Starts This Week – See the MFA Email about how to set up your Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Principals has had to do this since February, so let me know if you need any help setting this up. And if you were wondering what the “Hardware Key” is, for people do not install the authenticator app, it’s a USB drive you’ll have to insert into your computer each time you log onto your email. Rob said the switchover will probably happen Tuesday Night or Wednesday Morning and he’ll be at Holt Wednesday morning if anyone needs help.

 

• 100+ Philosophical Questions to Enrich Classroom Discussions and Boost Critical Thinking – This Educators Technology Article caught my eye in the April Ed Tech Update. It’s a great set of questions to prompt interesting class discussions, such as:

• Should You Always Tell the Truth?
• What Makes You Grow Older?
• Is Seeing Believing?
• Can You Be Brave and Scared at the Same Time?
• Can You Control Your Emotions?

 

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

Buddies
Student:
Each year classes from different grade levels are matched as buddy classes. This goes along with our Caring for Kids (Caring School Community) curriculum. Once classes are matched, it is up to them to determine when to meet and what activities do. The goal is for classes to meet at least once a month, but you are welcome to meet more frequently if you and your buddy wish. You also may use ideas from Caring for Kids (Caring School Community) Cross Grade Book and/or do whatever works best for your classrooms and buddies.

 

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

April 8 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach Staff Room Duty
Electronics Recycling Competition Drop-Off Week
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
7:30, Allan Monthly Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
9:00-10;30, Allan to 4J BAT Meeting (Zoom)
10:30-12:15, Partial Eclipse
2:30-4:00, Girls on the Run
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

April 9 (T)
Library Worker’s Day
Talent Show Application Due
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:10-12:10, Data Team Meeting K-5 (Old Counseling Office)
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)
6:30-7:30, 3rd Grade Cultural Heritage Night (Gym & Cafeteria)

April 10 (W)
7:30, Allan to 4J MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – OSAS Science & Accommodations PD (Library)
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run
3:00-8:00, Holt Night Out – Bangers & Brews

April 11 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
5:30-6:30, Accessible Education Parent Group (Library)

April 12 (F)
No School – Mid-Term Grading Day
8:30-11:30, EA Pathways PD
4:30-6:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Meeting

April 15 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
Volunteer Appreciation Week
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:30-4:00, Girls on the Run
2:40, Talent Show Auditions (Reich’s Room)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

April 16 (T)
9:00-1:00, 4th UO Museum of Natural & Cultural History, Reich & Longoria
9:25, Fire Drill
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:40, Talent Show Auditions (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

April 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 4J Behavior Matrix (Library)
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

April 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-1:00, 4th UO Museum of Natural & Cultural History, Benavides & Cobb
2:45, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:30-6:45, Kinder Reading Night (Classes & Cafeteria)

April 19 (F)
Scholastic Book Fair Opens
1:15 (tentative), Sheldon Mama Mia Assembly/Performance (Cafetetorium)
5:30-7:30, School Carnival (Gym, Cafeteria, Playground)

 

Just 2 months until summer!

Allan

 

October 30, 2023

By Allan  |  2023/10/28 20:46 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., Science  |  Comments Off on October 30, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

Just one more full week until a nice short refreshing 3-day week!

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Additional SPED EA – SSD gave Holt an additional 7-hour SPED EA, which will make permanent the Temp SPED EA position Tiffany Chambers is currently filling. I’ve submitted a job requisition and hopefully, it will go up later this week.

 

• Safety Week Info, Oct. 30 – Nov. 3 – We’ll hold our Safety Week this week to practice the various school safety procedures.

• Monday: Evacuation (fire) Drill @1:15
• Tuesday: Room Clear & Hold @teacher choice
• Wednesday: Secure Drill @10:00 & Playground Emergency Whistle
• Thursday: Lockdown @1:15
• Friday: Shelter (earthquake) & Fire Drill @8:20

See Last Week’s Announcements for details.

 

• Halloween Costume Reminder – Remind your students on Monday the rules for costumes:

• NO props
• NO masks (except with teacher permission in class)
• NO especially scary or gory costumes (i.e. no blood, wounds, etc.)
• NO inflatable costumes
• NO dressing as another race, ethnicity, or culture

 And keep your costume on after school for our annual staff picture!

 

• 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.

 

• Wednesday PD, 11/1: Stop, Walk, Talk & Translation Conference Scheduling – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we will go over Stop, Walk, Talk and how we will roll this out to students. See last week’s announcements for details, but we will also use this time to schedule conferences for families needing Spanish translations. District translation staff said to plan to use Language Link (see item under conferences) for translation of any language besides Spanish. Not on my blog but attached to the email is a list of all the families who indicated Spanish is the parent’s home language. Teachers on this list should plan to stay longer at the Wednesday meeting to schedule double-session conferences. I’m thinking we try to schedule all of them on Monday.

 

• Title 1 Math Groups Begin THURSDAY – Title 1 Math Groups will begin Thursday, Nov. 2.

 

• Wednesday PD: 11/8 Staff Meeting – Wednesday at 1:30 will be a Staff Meeting instead of PE since we had to shift the November Leadership Meeting around due to all the non-school days. Let me know if anyone is willing to volunteer their classroom.

 

• Nov. 9 Mid-Term Grading Day – 3.75 hours will be ELA planning and 3.75 hours of planning for conferences. Downtown said they will provide guidance for teachers, but it’s optional, so do what is most useful for you this day.

 

• Nov. 9 EA Pathways PD is Optional – The EA Pathways PD Email that went out to classified staff wasn’t super clear, but signing up for this PD 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.

 

• Nov. 9 Assistance Requests (EAs, Add Your Names) – If staff need assistance from EAs with anything on the Nov. 9 PD Mid-Term Grading Day, add those tasks to the EA Assistance Spreadsheet. Last time around, most all EAs ended up being required to attend PD, but this time downtown is not planning any PD for EAs.

 

• Scientist Guest Speaker – I have a friend from high school, Luke Wackler, who’s in town Nov. 17 and offered to be a guest speaker to any classroom that’s interested. He has a pretty interesting background, having worked on NASA satellites, Mars rover analysis, GPS satellites, communication satellites, and electronics systems, and in the Navy was a nuclear chemist, mechanic, fireman, and medic. Let me know if anyone is interested and can get him scheduled.

 

• DanceAbility Assembly Dec. 4 – Over a month out, but we’ve scheduled an assembly Dec. 4 (8;30-9:10 for 1/2/3 and 9:30-10:15 for K/4/5) that’s probably one of my all-time favorite assemblies by a local disability advocacy group DanceAbility, who’s mission is to create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to dance and move together.

 

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

• Send Conference Email Wednesday @3:00 – Send your Calendly conference sign-up link to families this Wednesday at 3:00. Below and linked here is a Sample Conference Email (since copying from my blog doesn’t work for some reason) teachers can feel free to use or adapt or ignore completely. If you would like students at the conference or if you would rather they stay home, you can add a sentence about that. Remember to block out lunch (11:00-11:40 – K-2, 2:20-12:00 – 3-5), dinner (5:00-5:40 – 3-5, 5:20-6:00 – K-2), and end of day clean-up/set-up time (7:40-8:00). The above link also has the time blocks for conferences if you need a reminder.

SUBJECT: Fall Conferences Sign-Up

Dear Families,

Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Monday, Nov. 20 and Tuesday, Nov. 21 from 8:00 am-8:00 pm. There will be no school for students this week.

Conferences are in-person and families should sign up for one of the open slots on the link below:

ADD CALENDLY LINK HERE…

Building strong parent-teacher partnerships is important in reaching our common goal: helping your child get the best education possible.

Thank you,
TEACHER NAME

• Conference Schedules to Office – Give office staff a list of your conference dates and times. Parents often forget their times and call the office. Teachers should export their times in Calendly by logging onto their account, clicking SCHEDULED EVENTS, and then clicking EXPORT to get an XLS file you can email the office.

• Items to Review at Conferences – Teachers should review the Title 1 Compact, the Annual Permissions Form, the Student Tech Contract (K-2 and 3-5) if you haven’t already, and if you would like, you can also use the Synergy Family Report, which has attendance, benchmark, and OSAS info.

• Language Link Phone Translations – See the 4J Language Link Interpreting Service webpage for step-by-step directions on how to do translations for in-person meetings, phone meetings, or Zoom meetings. The “cost center number” for Holt is 270.

• Conference Confirmation Form – Geoff shared this last year, but linked here is a Conference Confirmation Form I updated for this year, which teachers can use to remind families of their conference time.

• EA Assistance During Conferences Sign-Up – If teachers could use any help with prep or other tasks, add your name and the task to the EA Assistance Spreadsheet. EAs should also add your name to the tasks you’d be willing to take on

• Staff Not in Conferences – Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are regular work days for all staff who are not part of conferences and should work their regular hours at school. However, if you pre-arrange trade time with me to not work Wednesday, email me your plan ahead of time. HR Emailed principals they are also making a one-time exception to allow personal days on Wednesday for classified staff.

• Allan Available to Attend Conferences – Teachers can let me know if you have any tricky conferences you’d like me to attend. Send me a date & time (and a Zoom link if it’s on Zoom) and I’ll be there!

• Resources for Families – Should any families request assistance with food, clothing, housing/rental assistance, hygiene products, SNAP (food stamps) Benefits, Insurance, counseling, and such, please have them fill out the linked Helping Hand Online Form or contact Holt Family Resource Coordinator, Felicia LaCuesta, at lacuesta_f@4j.lane.edu or call her at (541)790-6174.

 

• Ems Reading Program Assembly – We couldn’t get our first choice of December, but I did book it for right after winter break on Friday, January 5th from 8:10-8:40.

 

• Fire Marshal Inspection – We got the results of our Fire Marshall Inspection and did pretty well. There were primarily only three things they cited us for, though across multiple rooms:

• Twinkle Lights – Unless they are special models that meet fire code, they are not allowed.
• 3-D paper Decorations – Fold-out snowflakes or paper lanterns and such, which is a new rule to me, are no longer allowed. In the past, it was only if these were hanging from the ceiling or lights they would cite us, but the new rule is all combustibles (i.e. paper, cloth, etc.) need to be flush with the wall.
• 3-Feet Egress – Make sure there is no furniture blocking doors. You should have a clear path where you can easily walk while holding a yardstick.

I’ll be connecting with folks next week to make sure violations are corrected. Another new twist to this year’s inspection is schools are being fined if violations are not corrected and it comes out of building funds.

 

• Elementary Curriculum Updates (Science Kits) – See this week’s 4J Elementary Curriculum Update that was sent to principals, which the main point of this edition was that there are 3 kits for teachers to use during fall, winter, and spring terms (which are located in the custodial hallway) and to free to reach out to Science TOSA Maggie Cline if you need assistance.

 

• District Admin Updates – Misael Flores Gutierrez, Director of Student Support Services, has accepted a position at ODE. His position not being replaced and his duties are instead being assigned to other district admin.

 

• School Safety and Emergency Management Transition – Kari Skinner, Director of School Safety and Emergency Management, has accepted a position in Beaverton, and downtown emailed principals they will likely have a temp assigned to her position until a “reimagined role” can be decided on and hired.

 

• Strategies for Students With Scattered Minds – Teachers can help students strengthen their brain’s executive function with “workouts” in which they practice pausing, prioritizing, improving their working memory, and mapping their options. See this Edutopia Article for details.

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Licensed Optional SMART Goals, Due Nov. 3 – Here are Optional Licensed SMART Goals teachers can cut-and-paste into TalentEd if you would like.

• Sunshine Committee Dues – See Elizabeth’s Email for details. Full-Time Licensed Staff: $30.00 and Classified Staff: $20.00. There’s a money envelope in Elizabeth’s mailbox or you can Venmo @elizabethcobb1

• Elementary Inclusive Beliefs Survey – Teachers, if you haven’t already, complete a 10-minute Elementary Inclusive Beliefs Survey. This is a joint 4J and EEA effort.

 

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Physically Moving/Restraining Students – This week’s highlight (a repeat from last week because I somehow deleted the into and it ended up in the reminders section) from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Physically Moving/Restraining Students. Restraint should be a last resort required to keep students and adults safe. It should only be done by MANDT Trained staff, but untrained staff are allowed to restrain a student in cases of an immediate threat (i.e. about to run in front of a car):

Physically removing/restraining:
• Physically removing/moving/restraining a student is never allowed unless there is an imminent threat to a person. Should be a trained staff member except in extreme situations. If you need assistance with a student call the office using the intercom on the wall or phone

How to get help (immediate):
• If available, use a radio to request help. If not, use the intercom button, or use the phone and dial 6100. If a staff member is nearby, you may also request them to get help for student behaviors

 

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

October 30 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
Safety Week Begins
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:15, Fire Drill

October 31 (T)
Halloween!!!
Room Clear and Hold Drill @Teacher Choice
Kindergarten Hearing Screening
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 1 (W)
Ewok Appreciation Day
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
10:00, Secure Drill
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Stop, Walk, Talk Rollout (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 2 (H)
Title 1 Math Groups Begin
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting
1:15, Lockdown Drill
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:00-7:00, Holt PTO Meeting (Library)

November 3 (F)
8:20, Earthquake & Fire Drill

November 6 (M)
Title Staff Room Duty
TAG Testing Week
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up

November 7 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting

November 8 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

November 9 (H)
No School – Mid-Term Grading Day
8:30-11:30, EA Pathways PD

November 10 (F)
No School – Veterans Day (Observed)

 

Have a good week, Bolts!

Allan

 

June 12, 2023

By Allan  |  2023/06/09 22:02 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Math, Science, Technology  |  Comments Off on June 12, 2023

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

We made it! Another year down and I can’t think of another group I’d rather have spent it with!

Nineteen items of note for this week:

• Water Balloon Launch AM Recess, MONDAY – AM Recess Monday we are going to have some wet fun if any of you want to join. Kids will stand behind the kickball backstop while any interested staff can come out to hurl water balloons towards waiting students through the chainlink backstop (I have a few water balloon launchers to add to the fun).

• Field Day, TUESDAY – Field Day is this Tuesday. Grades 3-5 will be 8:45-10:15 and grade K-2 will be 12:00-1:30. See the linked Short-Version Field Day Doc for details, but the main things teachers need to prep for is to divide students into 4 color groups before field day, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. Two related items:

• Missed PE/Music Prep – If teachers want their PE/Music prep time, let me know and we will work to have someone cover your class for a 30-minutes during your field day time.

• Recess Still Happening (Hard Play & Field Closed) – Recesses will still take place during their usual times, but only soft play will be open while Field Day is in progress.

• Kona Ice Fundraiser, TUESDAY @1:30 – Kona Ice will be here TUESDAY at 1:30. Teachers should send bus riders who have money to hard play at 1:30. And remember, all staff get a free shave ice! Just show your badge!

• Team Meetings, CANCELLED – Team Meetings are on the calendar for Wednesday, but since it’s the last week of school, teams do not need to meet or send out minutes unless you have info you think is important to be communicated out.

• Holt Spirit Day – Summertime Tie-Dye Day, THURSDAY – Student Council didn’t set a firm date, but we’re calling the last day of school Summer Tie-Dye Day!

• Last Day Lunch Plan, THURSDAY – Grade levels will come to the cafeteria to pick up a sack lunch on a 5-minute rotating basis. Kids will put lunches in their backpacks to take home (bus riders included).

10:25 – KG
10:30 – 1st
10:35 – 2nd
10:40 – 3rd
10:45 – 4th
11:10 – Early Dismissal
*5th Delivered to classrooms

See the next item why we could use some help from any available staff to deliver lunches to 5th grade classrooms.

• 5th Grade Clap Out, THURSDAY @11:00 – This came up at Site Council, but let’s try a “Clap Out” for this year’s 5th graders on the last day of school at dismissal. The plan will be for classes on Thursday at 10:55 to line the hallways, and starting at 11:00, the 5th grade will parade through our hallowed halls one final time while staff and students clap and cheer them on. See the linked Clap Out Map for the path, which will be D > C > B wing, and when the parade is over, all grade levels can dismiss students.

• Office Assistant Interviews 6/22 @10:30 – I’ve tentatively scheduled interviews for Sharon’s replacement on Thursday, June 22nd, 10:30-12:00. If anyone would like volunteer their time to help with interviews, let me know and I will send you the interview materials.

• Technology Summer Checkout Form – If staff are planning to take home any school technology (laptop, iPad, doc cam, etc.), complete the linked Technology Summer Checkout Form 2023-24.

• iPad Configuration Proposal – Our excellent TSS, Rob, is hoping to create a K-2 and 3-5 iPad configurations, which would make iPad setups easier and would pretty much eliminate the possibility of an iPad having the wrong configuration. Rob crated a Google Sheet listing all the apps what would appear in the two configurations. No one would lose apps you currently use, but you might see some additional apps (6 at most) you don’t currently have. Let me know by the end of the week if you think this should be a staff conversation in the fall. If I don’t hear from anyone, I’ll tell Rob to go ahead with this plan.

• PAHS Updates – Linked here is the PAHS Draft Calendar of Events for next year. I’ve also added these to the Staff Zimbra Calendar. The main dates of note are that they want to have the school carnival and the Holt Bolt both in the spring. They’ll still do the October Costume BINGO Event, which can say is the opportunity for kids to dress up at school if we don’t want to do a Halloween/Dress-Up Day during the school day. Also of note, Kimberly Brown and Amanda Knight are the new Co-Facilitators (both kinder parents, so we’ll get them for a while!), who are looking into making PAHS their own 501(3)c, which I think is a good move. They’re also rebranding PAHS the Holt Parent Group, since they heard from a number of parent they were confused by the name PAHS.

• Summer School Dates – These are also on the Zimbra Staff Calendar, but these are the dates and times summer school will be in session:

KITS: June 27 – August 18, Tuesday – Thursday, 7:30-3:30
SEAL: July 10 – August 15. Monday – Friday, 7:30-3:30

 

 

• Leadership Plans for 2023/24 School Year – Principals on Friday were given supporting documents for the New Leadership Plans. I’m not sure if these are final or are still being negotiated, but figured I’d share for anyone interested.

• New Kinderzone Format – I already shared this with the kinder team, but the linked Kindergarten Smart Start Proposal (i.e. the new Kinderzone) was shared with principals, which will go to the school board for input next month.

• Suggested Elementary Content Minutes – Linked here are the 23-24 Elementary Content Minutes and Schedules Guidelines. This has the suggested minutes for each content area, although downtown did acknowledge that the suggested minutes exceed the available minutes in the days, so this is merely information for us to consider.

• 23-24 Elementary PE Info – Linked here is an email that was sent to PE teachers regarding the new PE minutes expectations. I shared this information earlier at a staff meeting, but here it is all in writing.

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details, but eight reminders:

Report Cards Sent Home Last Day – Report cards are to go home with students on Thursday.

LICENSED: Goals Reflection Due & Sample Language – Complete your Goals Reflection in TalentEd if you haven’t already . You can use the 2023-2023 SMART Goals Reflection Sample Language if you’d like.

CLASSIFIED: TalentEd Self Reflection Due – Completed the Self Reflection in TalentEd, if you haven’t already.

End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist. Turn it in at the office when you are done.

Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – Teach Lesson 6 of the Child Protection Unit if you haven’t already.

End-of-Year Pizza Party Sign-Up – Don’t forget to add your name to the End-of-Year Staff Pizza Party Sign-Up Sheet.

Science: End of Year Wrap-Up – From the June Science Update, see the guidelines for Restocking & Storing Science Kits and the End of Year Science Survey.

End of Year 1 Implementation Survey ELA – Share your thoughts on the ELA Implementation.

 

• JUST FOR FUN: Mac Emulators Through the Ages – Infinite Mac is a website that takes you on a nostalgic journey through Macintosh software from the years 1984 to 2000. The entire Macintosh experience runs seamlessly in your browser. I’m so old I wrote all my college papers on a typewriter and it was in my masters program I used a Macintosh LC II to write my thesis. I had some serious geek nostalgia visiting this website.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note going into summer:

June 12 (M)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
PE & Music Both in Gym
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

June 13 (T)
No PE or Music Classes
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2
1:30-3:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Hard Play)

June 14 (W)
PE & Music Both in Gym
8:30-10:30, KG Walking Field Trip (Country Lane Park)
9:00-11:30, 5th Grade Walking Field Trip (N. Park Church)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

June 15 (H)
Last Day for Students – Release Time 11:10
Last Day for Classified Staff
PE & Music Both in Gym
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, Kinder Magic Show (TBD)
Grab-and-Go Lunches
-10:25 – Kinder
-10:30 – 1st
-10:35 – 2nd
-10:40 – 3rd
-10:45 – 4th
10:55, Grades K-4 Line the Hallways
11:00, 5th grade Clap Out
11:10 – Early Dismissal
11:30-12:30, Annual End-of-Year BBQ (Cafeteria)

June 16 (F)
Last Day for Licensed Staff
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Board Meeting

June 22 (H)
10:30-12:00, Office Assistant Interviews (Staff Room)

June 27 – August 18
KITS at Holt, 7:30-3:30 (TWH)

July 10 – August 15
SEAL at Holt, 7:30-3:30 (MTWHF)

July 26 (W)
Allan Reports Back (though I’m at SEAL July 10-21)

August 14 (M)
Secretaries Report Back

August 25 (F)
Licensed Staff Report Back

August 30 (W)
Classified Staff Report Back

 

Three and a half days to go!

Allan

 

May 29, 2023

By Allan  |  2023/05/27 21:14 Posted in Announcements, Science, Technology  |  Comments Off on May 29, 2023

 

Howdy Bolts,

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• 23-24 Staffing Updates – Two updates:

0.2 MUSIC – I’m happy to announce we have rehired Tracy Zehner as our 0.2 Music teacher for next school year.

OFFICE ASSISTANT – HR has put a hold on this position and there is a possibility they will place a displaced employee into this position. They said they will let us know if we can post or not sometime this week.

• Kendall Subaru AdoptAClassroom Drawing TUESDAY – Kendall Subaru is once again “adopting” Holt and there will be six lucky teachers who will get $500 to spend on their classroom. We’ll stick with our criteria from last year for who is elected, which is one winner from each of the following:

• new teacher (5 years or less)
• switching grades (last 2 years)
• 1 upper
• 1 primary
• SPED (this is a requirement of the grant)
• Specialist

We’ll also take off winners from the last two years. I’ll spin the Wheel of Names in the library on Tuesday after school to select the lucky winners, and that way folks can keep an eye on me so that I’m not cheating if you’ll like to watch, but you do not need to be present to win. ;)

• ELA and Math Student Consumable Order, DUE TUESDAY – See this email for details, but consumable orders for Math and ELA are due this Tuesday. One rep per grade level should complete the linked Order Form.

• Annual Safety Inspection, WEDNESDAY @10:30 – Our annual safety inspection is this Wednesday at 10:30. Linked here is a handout of the Most Common Classroom Safety Violations. The two main items we got dinged for last time were:

• Combustable items hanging from ceilings
• Door egress width (3 feet) blocked by rolling carts and other items

• May Spirt Assembly & Talent Show Combo Assembly, THURSDAY @8:30 – Our combo School Spirit/Talent Show Assembly will be this Thursday, 8:30-9:30 in the cafeteria. Linked here is the Assembly Map and Directions. Stay tuned for additional directions for the performers.

• Friday PD: Double Prep – For the final Friday PD of the year, it’s a double prep to make up for the missed prep on Grading Day next week.

• Fire Drill, June 6 @8:05 – Our final Fire Drill of the year will be Tuesday, June 6th at 8:05. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

• Raptor Alert Log-In Issue – If you had trouble logging onto the Raptor Alert app, try deleting the app from your phone or iPad, reinstall it, and then try logging in again. That fixed the issue for everyone who’s tried it so far. I don’t think the rostering issue is fixed yet, but staff can sill poke around the app to see what it looks like during a drill/emergency.

• Sheldon Senior Grad Walk, June 8 – Sheldon HS is planning a Grad Walk, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 8th at 9:45. Classes are invited (though not required) to line the halls to clap and cheer (signs are a nice touch) for seniors in their cap and gowns who attended Holt as I lead them through their elementary hallowed halls one final time. See this email for details, but basically it’s a chance for seniors to connect with staff they knew, to be cheered on by kids and staff, and also serve as an inspiration to our elementary kiddos. SHS said they’ll connect with us soon with additional details, but they’re planning on two buses worth of Holt alumni coming to visit!

• Report Card Grading Day Expectations, June 9 – Friday, June 9th is a regular work day for both classified and licensed staff. For licensed staff, HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues this day. Also, 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. For classified staff, this is a good day to cash in any accumulated trade time you’ve built up, but remember you need to notify me before you begin accumulating trade time.

• LICENSED: Goals Reflection Due & Sample Language – All licensed staff need to complete their Goals Reflection in TalentEd by the end of the school year. If you used the Optional SMART Goals shared in the fall, linked here is a 2023-2023 SMART Goals Reflection Sample you can cut-and-paste from if that’s helpful to folks. And remember, no shame or blame if you didn’t achieve all of your goals. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• CLASSIFIED: TalentEd Self Reflection – Most Classified Staff completed the Self Reflection at the start of the year in TalentEd, but if you didn’t do it already, be sure to log onto TalentEd and complete the form as soon as possible. Let me know if you need any help with this.

• Draft Inservice Week Schedule & 4J PD Calendar – District admin shared with principals last week the Draft Inservice Week Schedule (here’s a Detailed Schedule) as well as the 4J PD Calendar for the year. The Calendar is pretty empty at this point, but the inservice week is more fleshed out. I’d asked if they could move the District Back to School Event to Thursday, so we could do our all-staff back to school meeting the day classified staff report back, but was shot down on that.

• 2023-24 Class Lists Review – Linked here are the 2023-24 Class Lists for staff to review and make any suggested revisions if you spot any bad combinations or imbalanced classes. Sending and receiving teams will to discuss students at the June 6th Staff Meeting, so let teams know your suggestions well before then.

• 2023-24 Master Schedule – Linked here is the 2023-24 Master Schedule as it currently stands. Most every grade level was good with this schedule, though we’re still seeing if there are any fixes we can make to help 4th grade that don’t cause issues for other grades.

• 2023-24 Holt Calendar – Leadership last week added a few dates to the Holt Staff Calendar for next year for the Welcome Assembly and Meet Your Teacher. We’ll discuss the proposed date for Curriculum Night (Tues. Sept. 26th) at the June 6th Staff Meeting.

• 2023-24 District Calendars – Staff were emailed next years Employee Work Year Calendars and also the District Calendar. I’ve had a few people ask about the two Mid-Term Grading Days. Principals asked about these at our meeting last week and our directors had not heard either what the plan is for these days. Principals also asked about the three days off for conferences, wondering whether the expectation is there is 16 hours of conference as in the past or if there’s a new expectation of 24 hours of conferences. Elementary directors were left out of the loop on this one too, so we’ll have to wait to hear what upper district admin says the plan for these dates are.

• REPEAT: Licensed IEP/504 Time Log DUE JUNE 8 – I’ve shared this before, but the Licensed IEP/504 Time Log is for licensed staff to record times you’ve attended IEP and 504 meetings during your prep time or beyond regular work hours. The deadline is to complete the form is June 8th and payment would be on your June 30th paystub. Teachers can receive up to 12 hours compensation.

• End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist. Once teachers have completed all tasks on this list and have had me or Jeremy sign-off, you are free to start your summer. And that includes if you take care of everything on Thursday, June 15th! I’ll put hardcopies in mailboxes next week.

• Mystery Science Subscription Renewed – There were enough staff wanting Mystery Science for next year, so we will renew the subscription for another year.

• Building Budget Cuts Next Year – If we seemed more free-spending with building funds this year, it’s because we used ESSER funds to cover all the school supplies (paper, materials, copies, etc.), which are what normally eat up most of the building budget. ESSER funds go away next year, so we’ll have to go back to pre-COVID stinginess with the school budget.

• Water Balloon Launch Last Week of School – We have a kind donation from Annie of a ton of waterballoons, so I was thinking we could do something I’ve done in the past. At recess the last week of school, we can have kids stand behind the kickball backstop while any interested staff can come out and hurl water balloons towards waiting students through the chainlink backstop (I have a few water balloon launchers to add to the fun). This way we can control kids not getting too wet. We’ll plan to do this at recesses on Monday the last week of school, so let me know if your grade level would rather we not do this with your classes. All staff are welcome to soak some students if you have a grade level you’d particularly like to get wet!

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break (within the last two weeks of school). Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

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

May 29 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

May 30 (T)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #1 Classes
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
ELA and Math Consumable Orders DUE
PE & Music Outside (Gaga Ball)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
8:15, Allan to Formal Observation
9:15, Allan to Formal Observation
2:45, Adopt A Classroom Drawing (Library)

May 31 (W)
8:50-10:45, Final Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
10:30-12:00, Annual Safety Inspection
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
2:30-4:00, Talent Show Rehearsal (Music Room)

June 1 (H)
6:00-7:45, Talent Show Assembly (Cafeteria)

June 2 (F)
Alex Returns!
8:10-8:45, 3rd Grade Playground, “Walk the Trail” Pioneer Activity
1:30-2:30, Friday PD -Double Prep
3:30-5:00, 4J 2023 Retiree Celebration (Ed Center)

June 5 (M)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #2 Classes
Title Staff Room Duty
PE & Music Outside (Kickball Field)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

June 6 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room:
8:05, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting – Class List Transitions (Library)

June 7 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

June 8 (H)
Last Day for Dynamos / Title 1 Groups
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
9:30, Sheldon Senior Grad Walk
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Library)

June 9 (F)
No School – Grading Day
8:00-1100, Allan to Admin LETRS Training (Zoom)
1:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)

June 10 (SA)
7:00-9:00, Sheldon HS Graduation (Hult Center)

June 12 (M)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #1 Classes
Kindergarten Staff Room Duty
PE & Music Both in Gym
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

June 13 (T)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-512:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2
1:30-3:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Hard Play)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL/Equity Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

June 14 (W)
PE & Music Both in Gym
8:30-10:30, KG Walking Field Trip (Country Lane Park)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
1:30, Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser (Hard Play)

June 15 (H)
Last Day for Students – Release Time 11:10
Last Day for Classified Staff
PE & Music Both in Gym
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, Kinder Magic Show (TBD)
Grab-and-Go Lunches

-10:25 – Kinder
-10:30 – 1st
-10:35 – 2nd
-10:40 – 3rd
-10:45 – 4th
-10:50 – 5th

11:10 – Early Dismissal
11:30-12:30, Annual End-of-Year BBQ (Cafeteria)

June 16 (F)
Last Day for Licensed Staff
7:30-9:00, Allan to MAPS Board Meeting

Eleven and a half days to go!

Allan

 

 

August 29, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/08/27 23:20 Posted in Announcements, Arts, Literacy, P.D., Science, Technology  |  Comments Off on August 29, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

It’s the week we get the gang back together!

One pro-tip for new folks accessing some of the links below. Make sure you are logged onto you 4J Google account (using your 4J email and password to log onto Google) and not your personal Gmail account. This often trips folks up.

Thirty-three items of note for this week (sorry there’s so many):

• Staffing Updates – Four staffing updates:

• Nurse (Eden Van Bloem, RN and Hailee Ritter, LPN) – Eden has worked with 4J in the past and we are happy to welcome her back as our RN. I’m also pleased to announce that Hailee, who was with us last year as our LPN, will continue to help support students here at Holt this year.

• Title 1 EA Interviews, Tuesday 9:45-11:15 – We’re holding interviews this Tuesday for our 6-hour Title EA if anyone would like to join me and Jenny. We need a classified rep on the committee, but if any licensed or classified staff would like to joint the committee, let me know and I’ll send you the interview materials.

• Title EA Vacancy and Hire – Lori Tingue, who was returning to her EA position after a temp teaching position at Gilham last year, has accepted a teaching position in Junction City. Earlier in the summer we conducted interviews for another 4-hour EA vacancy, where we had a strong pool of candidates, so I submitted to hire one of the candidates from that pool. Hopefully HR makes a job offer soon and this person can start later this week!

• Darrin Heffington Leave Extended – I learned late last week that Darrin is planning to extend his leave, so we’ll sadly have to wait a while longer for his return. He’s asked for privacy around why he is out, but is still hopeful he’ll be able to return this school year, so for now we’ll start the year with a substitute in his SPED EA position.

• New Staff Email, Calendar, Google Access? – I think I’ve given all our new folks access to the Staff Zimbra Calendar, the Staff Google Drive, and added folks to Staff Email Lists. Let me know if I’ve missed one of these for any of you or if there are other things, such as access to digital curriculum materials you need help accessing.

• Back to School Meeting Agenda – Linked here and on the Staff Google Drive is the Back to School Staff Meeting Agenda. Depending how much discussion we have on some of the business items, I’m hoping I can get folks out early. For some of the decision items, if there’s not an easy clear consensus, I’ll plan to table some of those items to discuss later. Following the all-school staff meeting, I’ll have a short Classified Staff Meeting to go over some supervision items. Let me know if you have any additional agenda items.

See you in the cafeteria at 8:00 for socializing and breakfast snacks, with the meeting starting promptly at 8:30. And free to roll down a comfy teacher chair if you’d rather not sit on a bench.

• Team Sign-Ups – If you’d like to sign-up to be a member of one of our building teams, please add your name to the Team Sign-Up Sheet (2022-2023). Leadership Team (monthly), PBIS Team (monthly), IPBS/SEL Team (twice a month), and I added an Equity Team Meeting (monthly). Teams can be big or small, so doing be bashful about adding your name.

• Inservice Week Updates – Downtown has made more changes to the Inservice Master Schedule Google Doc, but it’s now pretty much complete with Zoom links and most of the conflicts resolved.

• SPED EA Zoom PD Tuesday Morning – We have a staff welcome back gathering at 8:30 in the school garden and SPED EAs have a PD on Zoom that also starts at 8:30, but you all have my permission to show up 15 minutes late for the Zoom if you want to come join everyone in the garden for snacks and socializing.

• Restorative Justice PD, Tuesday, 8/30, OPTIONAL – Principals were told this PD is open to all staff, but is intended for classified staff who may be leading Restorative Circles, so staff should note it’s optional and not required, which is not stated on the above spreadsheet. See this email for details.

• PD Conflicts, Thursday 9/1 – SSD staff should note that Joel Lavin’s Email (telling staff on 9/1 to work in buildings) conflicts what’s on the spreadsheet (attending a Wit & Wisdom PD), but I’d say go with whichever you feel is more useful to you. There’s another conflict this day for Kindergarten teachers and EAs, but I’ve already connected with them.

• District Back-to-School Event Space Limited – If you missed it in the district email, the 4J Back-to-School Event on Thursday has limited space and seating only for 300 attendees. Attendance is optional, but if you do attend you may want to get their early or bring your own camp chair.

I’ve kept the Holt Staff Zimbra Calendar current with the document for classroom teacher and classified staff, but specialists should check the above linked spreadsheet for your meeting dates and times.

 

• EA Help this Week? – Title EAs have PD the same time as teachers Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, but will have other times they can help out where needed. Just fill out the linked Dynamo Assistance Spreadsheet if you can use any help and we’ll see if we can connect you with someone.

• Friday PD Time Change (5-min.) – When we have district led PD, the start time will now be 1:25-2:25 instead of 1:30-2:20. For consistency, I’m going to leave it the same for the monthly building led dates, but let me know if you think this is something we should discuss as a staff.

• Health Curriculum Delivered & Into Video Coming – Teachers may have noticed on Friday that The Great Body Shop Teacher’s Guides were delivered left with your Wit & Wisdom items outside classrooms. Also, you’ll soon start receiving a monthly “Student Issue” magazines each month. See the linked email for details. Downtown is also planning to send a short (15-20 minutes) voice-over slideshow that will introduce teacher to the GBS curriculum, which they want you to review before Thursday and Friday’s Health PD. Here’s a link to the GBS Slideshow w/out Voice-Over if you want to review it without that part. 

• DRAFT EA Schedules – The 2022-2023 Master Schedule now includes the EA Schedule, though it is still VERY much in draft form depending upon whether Title 1 groups are 4 or 5 days a week, which I’m hoping to decide at Wednesday’s Staff Meeting. If there’s not a clear consensus, we may table this decision when we have more time, since Title groups don’t start until later in September.

• REPEAT: 22-23 Master Schedule – Linked here is the 2022-2023 Master Schedule, which is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• REPEAT: Who is A/B and C/D on the Schedule? – Grade level teams should let me know which classes will follow the A, B, C, or D schedules and I’ll add names to the Master Schedule and the PE/Music Schedule tab. GOLD STAR to 1st grade who let me know their times first!

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – I’d like to visit every classroom sometime during the first few weeks of school to greet students and introduce myself. I’ll read a favorite story to your class and chat with the kids a bit. Teachers, please let me know a good 10 minutes block of time I can come and visit sometime this month. Thank you!

• Classroom Newsletters to Allan – I’d like to have copies of classroom newsletters when teachers send or email them home to families (CCing me on your email is best). This helps me keep up to date on what’s happening or going to happen in classes when families ask and it also lets me know details of any class activities that I might be able to get local media to come out and cover. I love promoting our school!

• PAHS Meeting Updates – Three updates from the first meeting by our parent group, Parents at Holt School (better known as PAHS).

• Holt Bolt (Oct. 19) and Spring Carnival – Pre-COVID, PAHS was planning to swap the school carnival (Holtober Fest) and jog-a-thon (Holt Bolt), and are carrying through with those plans this year. The Holt Bolt will be Wednesday, October 19th. Times are TBA, but we’ll try to run it in morning similar to how we did it last spring. The date for the Spring Carnival is TBA.

• PAHS Budget – If you’re curious, linked here is the PAHS Budget. They did make one change to add $50 in classroom funds for new teacher. There was one other addition, but didnt’ write it down and it’s escaping me now, but it wasn’t anything major.

• PAHS Table at Meet Your Teacher – Parents will have a table out near Kona Ice to help recruit volunteers more family involvement. They’ll have some games for kids to play while they wait for Shave Ice. They’re also planning to have a table at Curriculum Night, once we settle on a date for that.

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program – I have an email to the Nutrition Services Department about when this program will start, but wanted to remind teachers that starting this year Holt gets to participate in the Federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, where a raw fresh fruit or vegetable will be delivered to your classroom daily for kids to have as a snack. Stay tuned for more details once I get them, but I wanted to remind folks about this.

• Insurance Open Enrollment Deadline, Sept. 15 – A reminder that you need to choose your insurance plan by September 15th or else you will lose your health insurance benefits for this year. See the 4J Open Enrollment 2022-23 Website for details.

• Check Your Paycheck – 4J is currently transitioning their Finance Department budgeting and payroll systems to a new one, so there’s a possibility for errors on your paycheck, either under or overpaying. I got overpaid one year and had to pay back a bunch of money, which was not at all pleasant.

• 2022-2023 COVID Info for Families – Below is the district message to families on COVID protocols this year, which I’ll put out in the next Quick News:

We are pleased that COVID-19 cases are declining in Oregon; however, we must remain vigilant as the virus is still widespread throughout the state. Masking is optional. If your student tests positive, please call your student’s school to let the staff know. Students who test positive are required to isolate at home for at least 5 days before returning to school. To calculate the 5-day period, Day 1 is the first full day after the symptoms developed or the positive test result is received. Isolation may end after 5 days if the individual is fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine and other symptoms have improved. It’s recommended, but not required that individuals should wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public, including at school, for 5 additional days (Day 6-10) after the end of the required 5-day isolation period.

Brush Up on COVID-19 Protocols: Masks are optional—either way is OK! COVID-19 vaccines are readily available and encouraged, but not required. Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds regularly can keep you healthy and prevent the spread of germs. 4J will offer free rapid COVID testing onsite at all schools for students who develop symptoms. Parent consent is required and forms are available at all schools. coming-up: We are again partnering with the Oregon Health Authority and the University of Oregon to offer free weekly COVID-19 testing to all 4J students during the 2022–23 school year. Information on how to opt-in will be shared with families as soon the program reopens, sometime next week. Check with your school or the district website.

• Color Paper Shortage – 4J has more colored paper on order, but as of right now, the colored paper schools have is all the paper there is. Try to use white paper if you can and please don’t hoard colored paper like it’s toilet paper circa spring 2020.

• Large Print Orders to InstaPrint – If you are doing a large print order (i.e. a grade level class set), you’re encouraged to put in a print order through InstaPrint. Just complete the Print Work Order Form found in the main staff workroom and give that to Melanie.

• Field Trip Info – I shared earlier that field trips are once again allowed, but wanted to remind staff of the linked 4J Field Trip Approval Process. See the link for full details, but you need to submit a Field Trip Request Google Form to HR 30 days before a trip. Linked here is a PDF of the Google Form if you want to see what all info you need to collect before submitting a request. It’s fairly extensive, such as needing to include your volunteers (though HR said you can add that later closer to the field trip date). Also, due to the bus driver shortage, all bus field trips need to start after 8:30 and return to school by 1:15, so drivers can run their regular bus routes. This is a pretty onerous process and was new the year before the COVID shutdown, so I’ve put this on the Back to School Staff Meeting agenda if people have any questions. These links can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard and on the left column of my blog under District & State Links.

• 4J Tech Subscriptions – Linked here are the current 4J Technology Subscriptions. Sadly there is no BrainPOP or Mystery Science this year, but let me know if there are others you think we should consider purchasing as a building or looking to write some grants for.

• Pizza Parties (Not allowed, but…) – This rule isn’t new, but Nutrition Services is cracking down on Pizza Parties, which are not allowed at school because they compete with the school meal program. However, teachers are allowed to do a pizza part if you purchase pizza through the school kitchen. Staff are also allowed to have a pizza party if it happens after a grade level’s regular lunchtime. Check in with me or Deb if you’re planning a food related party to make sure it’s within guidelines.

• VISITOR vs VOLUNTEER Badges – When a non-4J employee signs in at the office, they should have a visitor or volunteer sticker, though at this point, we are not allowing visitors and are only allowing approved volunteers, so if you spot anyone with a “Visitor” sticker, send them back to the office.

• Medication Lock Boxes Available – 4J schools are receiving 5-6 medication lockboxes (they look like cash boxes) that are to hand out to a family that would like to securely store medication. See the linked email for details, which also contains information on obtaining free gun lockboxes as well. Let me, Darla, or Felicia if you know a family in need of one of these and we’ll get them connected.

• REPEAT: Welcome Back Burritos, Coffee, & Supplies! Tuesday @8:30! – Join us for burritos, coffee, school supplies and socializing with school friends! Brought to Holt Staff by the amazing group at The Hope Project on Tuesday, August 30th at 3:30 in the School Garden!

 

• REPEAT: 2022-2023 Class Lists – Here’s the link to the 22-23 Class Lists that were created last spring, which are now all in Synergy. Please adjust this document as needed for any rebalancing of classes.

• REPEAT: Holt Staff Fun Facts – If you haven’t already, be sure to fill out or update your info on the Holt Staff Fun Facts Spreadsheet.

• REPEAT: Class List Email Friday Afternoon, Sept. 2nd – Teachers should plan on sending a welcome letter to families of all students in your class the afternoon of Friday, September 2nd. We can decide at our BTS staff meeting on a general time teachers will send the email, but you may want to start writing or updating your letter now.

• REPEAT: ArtSpark Artist in Residence Survey [LINKS FIXED] – Please fill out the linked Artist in Residence Survey to help start the conversation for when we make a decision at our Back-to-School Staff Meeting or which dates and artists we want. ALSO, I got a hot tip from another principal that Jen Hernandez’s Story Crafters & Comics was super good!

• District Admin Updates – See the linked email for details, but Jenna McCulley is the new Director of Communications, Matt Brown is the new Director of Finance, Lisa Fjordbeck is the new Department Operations Coordinator, and Steve Roberts is the new Warehouse Supervisor.

• Melissa & Lori Love Literacy Podcast (Wit & Wisdom Episode) – Candace found a podcast, Melissa & Lori Love Literacy, hosted by a couple teachers who talk about when their school district switched to Wit & Wisdom. Here’s a link to Episode 69 where they talk specifically about the rollout and the shifts they had to make in their teaching. I asked the trainer on Friday if she knew about this podcast and she gave it a thumbs up as good practical information. If you scroll through their episodes, there are several that involve Wit & Wisdom.

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

August 29 (M)
8:00-4:00, Wit & Wisdom ELA PD – Day #2 (K-3 @Zoom, 4-5 @Cafeteria)

August 30 (T)
Protected Teacher Planning
Classified Staff Report Back
8:30, Welcome Back Burritos, Coffee, & Supplies! (School Garden)
8:30-12:00, SPED EAs to SSD PD (Zoom)
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
9:45-11:45, Title 1 EA Interviews (TBA)

August 31 (W)
8:00-8:30, Breakfast Stacks & Socializing (Cafeteria)
8:30-12:00, Holt Back to School Meeting (Cafeteria)
4:30-7:00, Learn to Ride a Bike – Family Event (Ed Center)

September 1 (H)
7:30-8:30, 4J Staff Back-to-School Gathering Social Time (Churchill HS)
8:30-10:00, 4J Staff Back-To-School Gathering (Churchill HS)
1:00-3:30, EAs (Title, SPED, KG) Wit & Wisdom PD (Zoom TBA)
1:00-4:00, Health for Grades K-2 (Zoom)
1:00-4:00, Math for for Grades 3-5 (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, KG Teachers & EAs to Kidnerzone Meeting (Zoom)

September 2 (F)
9:00-12:00, Classified & Licensed Universal Design for Learning PD (SEHS Auditorium)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Library Planning Meeting (Chavez)
1:00-4:00, Health for Grades 3-5 (Zoom)
1:00-4:00, Math for for Grades K-2 (Zoom)

September 5 (M)
Labor Day – No School

September 6 (T)
Collaborative Planning Time for Lang Arts Adoption
8:00-10:00, Staff Meeting – If Needed
10:00-11:00, Optional New Staff Orientation and Q&A (Cafeteria)
2:00-3:00, Meet Your Teacher
2:00-4:00, Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser (Hard Play)

September 7 (W)
Classes Begin – First Day of School
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

September 8 (H)
Regular Day

September 9 (F)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Individual Educator Choice

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Allan

 

FUN FACT! Leonard Skinner was a no-nonsense, flat-topped basketball coach who didn’t even like rock ‘n’ roll and often sent students to the principal’s office because their hair was too long.

 

June 13, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/06/11 20:28 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Math, P.D., Science, SEL  |  Comments Off on June 13, 2022

 

Hello Holt Staff,

We’re almost at the finish line! 

Twenty-four items of note for this final week:

• Two Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• 4-hour Title EA Updates – HR has filled our two 4-hour EA vacancies. Lori Tingue, who was a Title 1 EA at Holt last year before taking a temporary 2nd grade classroom position at Gilham this year, is filling one, and Lisa Neeley, a Title 1 EA from Family School, is filling the other. Please welcome Lori and Lisa to Holt, though both are applying for teaching positions, so we may have vacancies to fill later on.

• Want to be the Holt Summer School Admin Intern? – Downtown can’t find any assistant principals interested in doing the second part the summer SEAL program, so they changed the job to a licensed position, so teachers or any licensed employees can apply. I’ll be principal the first two weeks to get things started, July 12 – 22, also working with this person, and after that they would be in charge though August 12th (though I actually report back to work the following Wednesday, so there’s only two days where I’m not there). If any of your are interested in some extra summer mad money, feel free to find me and here’s the Job Posting.

• SEAL Room Assignments – SEAL officially need 12 classrooms and the Music Room, and KITS needs two kinder classrooms. I’ve come up with the following Summer School Classroom Map, which doesn’t require us to move desks and chair to match the different sized students and also allows Holt teachers teaching summer school to remain in their classrooms. However, I am open to discussion, so let me know if you have other ideas or if you can twist the arm of a colleague to volunteer their room.

• General Summer Cleaning Schedule – I’ve only gotten general details that the summer deep cleaning will happen before summer school and a quick refresh clean will happen after summer programs. I’ll add details to the calendar once I know of any off-limits days. I’ve heard the hold up is the carpet cleaner vehicles are being fixed up in Portland right now and they don’t know for sure when they’ll be ready to start.

• 22-23 Master Schedule Coming Soon – The schedule is still being worked on, but we should have a draft ready to share out with staff before the end of the week. Stay tuned!

• REPEAT: Schedule Your Gaga Ball Rules Lesson – If you haven’t already, let me know a good 10-minute block to go over the Gaga Ball Rules Slideshow with your class sometime before Field Day.

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit, THIS WEEK – If you haven’t already, teach lesson 6 of the Second Step Child Protection unit this week. Linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides.

• UPDATED – REMINDER: Field Day Details – See the linked Schedule for Field Day for details and the Field Day Map for the layout of the event, which Alex emailed out earlier. UPDATE: There are no PE or Music classes this day. 

There will be 8 minute rotations. Teachers, see the schedule where you will start and be sure to have your students divided into 4 color groups before field day:

• Red
• Blue
• Green
• Yellow

• Keep or Send Home Reusable School Supplies – Since 4J paid for school supplies, we can keep any reusable or unused school supplies, but it’s also okay to send stuff home with kids. Do note we’re not ordering more book bins or pencil boxes replacements, so hold onto those if you want them for next year.

• End of Year BBQ Sign-Up – Don’t forget to sign up for the Staff End of Year BBQ happening this Friday.

• Return School Radios to Office FRIDAY – All school radios should be returned to the front office on Friday, so Facilities can do their yearly maintenance.

• REMINDER: Consumable Ordering – Teachers should place orders for Math and Science Consumables you (or your replacement if you are leaving your grade or classroom) this week:

2022-2023 Math Consumables Order (Due Wednesday) – Jamie’s Email

2022-2023 Science Kit Consumables Restocking (Due Friday) – Jamie’s Email

• REPEAT: Report Cards Go Home Friday – Report cards are to be send home with students this Friday. If any students are absent, you can bring their report card and belongings to the office.

• Technology Checkout Contract 2022-23 – If you are taking home your school laptop, iPad, or other equipment over the summer, complete the linked 4J Technology Equipment Checkout Contract 2022-23.

• REPEAT: End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022. This needs to be completed by all staff in charge of an area before you start your summer and need both mine and Ryan’s sign-off. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

• REPEAT: ELA Materials Packing Directions – Linked here is the list of ELA Materials to Keep or Discard, as well as Eric Anderson’s Email.

• Teachers will get 6 boxes per classroom.
• Most Journeys and Being A Writer materials: Box and attach this Label Template on each box.
• Leveled Readers: Box separately and use the Leveled Reader Label Template ere.
• Trade books and big books: Keep them for 4J use. If your building does not want them, please send them to Bailey Hill using this label.

• REPEAT: Diverse Classroom Libraries Inventory – Teachers (or Title staff if you connect with Jenny) will inventory the SIA Diverse Classroom Library Book Sets. There are two processes depending whether you are teaching the same grade next year or if you are moving grade levels or schools.

If not moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, keep books in your room.

If moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, leave bins in classroom, and write the bin barcode number on the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022.

• UPDATE: June 20th, Juneteenth Expectations – This HR Email sent to staff explains how Monday, June 20th is the last regular workday for licensed staff, but it is also a new Federal Holiday, so staff have the option to work extra days prior to Juneteenth and not work this day OR you can take June 20th off and work on Tuesday, June 21st instead.

 

• 22-23 Arrival Plan – For anyone who missed it at the Staff Meeting or in the minutes, the morning arrival plan for next year (assuming we are no longer cohorting) will have students eating breakfast back in the cafeteria. 7:25, buses arrive and students are supervised in the cafeteria. 7:35, students are release to line up at the same grade level entrances we used this year and K/1 going out to hard play (they like to run). Students arriving late who want breakfast can go to the cafeteria until 7:50, when the first bell rings for students to go to class, with all doors closing at the tardy bell at 7:55.

• Fall PD Plan – If you’re wondering what the PD plan is for when teacher report back early, so are principals. I asked about this at a principals’ meeting a couple weeks ago and still haven’t gotten an answer what the plan is yet.

• No “Huggy Wuggy” Talk – I’m old and uncool and did not know about this, but if you hear kids talking about Huggy Wuggy, it’s a fairly scary and inappropriate character from a horror survivor video game, so tell kids that’s not something to talk about at school.

• EOA School Choice Process for Next Year – The back and forth between online and brick-and-mortar has been frustrating to say the least, but next year downtown has made the decision to treat EOA as it’s own school and that parents will have to go through the regular school choice process, which will hopefully cut back on the back and forth we’ve seen this year.

• Fox Hollow Redesign – SSD’s Fox Hollow program is being redesigned to be more of a temporary placement and not as much of a permanent placement. Linked here is the Fox Hollow 2.0 Redesign Slideshow that was presented ot principals last week if you are interested.

• FREE Summer Camps – I’ll share this in the Quick News but feel free to share this list of FREE 2022 Summer Camps with kids and families.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the school year:

June 13 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6
8:00, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Ayres)
8:15, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Barton)
8:30, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Gori)

June 14 (T)
8:00, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Vaughan)
8:15, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Seno)
8:50, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Reich)
9:50, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Lovato)
11:45, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Harmon)

June 15 (W)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5 (Field)
9:00-10:00, Allan Skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2 (Field)
7:00-9:00, Sheldon HS Graduation (Hult Center)

June 16 (H)
10:30-10:50, Kinder Lunch Outside (Bike Cage Area)
1:15-2:15, Kinder Bubble Party (Hard Play)
1:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (Office)

June 17 (F)
Summertime Tie-Dye Day
Last Day for Students
Last Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
10:15-10:30, 4th & 5th Grade Recess
10:45, Grab-n-Go Lunches Delivered to Wings
11:10, Early Dismissal
Staff Social – End of Year BBQ

June 20 (M)
Juneteenth
Last day for licensed staff
8:00-4:00, Allan to I Love U Guys Training (Ed Center)

June 21 (T)
8:00-4:00, Allan to I Love U Guys Training (Ed Center)

June 26 (SU)
4:00-8:00, “Holt Night” at the Ems!

August 26 (F)
Licensed Staff Report Back

August 29 (M)
Classified Staff Report Back

Have a fabulous summer, everyone!

Allan

 

 

 

STAFF SUMMER READING PICKS

 

JENNY

The Overstory by Richard Powers – It was recommended by two different friends, who don’t know each other, so it must be good!

 

 

MANDRA

Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

The Kite Runner by Khaled Husseini

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

 

 

ALLAN

Shogun by James Clavell – I loved the Richard Chamberlain 1980s TV mini-series, but am curious to read to the book

V.C. Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic – A horror staple I never read, though I did see the terrible movie version, but feel I should read it since it’s such a pop culture icon of horror. 

Consumed by David Cronenberg – David Cronenberg has made some of the most seriously weird movies you’ll ever watch (The Fly, Dead Ringers, Videodrome, Scanners, etc.), so when he’s not limited by budgets or special effects, I’m curious what kind of story he’ll tell. 

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O’Neill – I’m not usually a true crime kind of guy, but this is supposed to be THE definitive book on Manson, so I have to read this. 

Mark Harris Books on films of the 50s, 60s, and 70s – I heard Quentin Tarantino talk about Mark Harris as a terrific writer on the behind the scenes history of Hollywood, which piqued my interest, so I bought a few of his books. I’m planning to start with Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood.

June 6, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/06/04 20:48 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Science, SEL, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on June 6, 2022

 

Howdy Bolts,

We’ve almost made it!

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Ryan Moving to Washington – Our fabulous Lead Custodian, Ryan Brown, is moving to Washington at the end of the month, which sadly means we are now on the lookout for hiring a new lead. Wish Ryan well on his new adventures!

Facilities will post the position soon, but custodial jobs have been very hard to fill this year, so over the summer we’ll likely have a lead custodian from another building fill in during SEAL and KITS. If you know any good custodians out there, please encourage them to join our awesome school!

• New 2nd Grade Teacher, Myah Rahbourn – We had a strong pool of candidates for our remaining 2nd grade opening and have hired Myah Rabourn. Myah student taught this year with Ashley, but before that was an EA in Lebanon School District and at the end of last year taught 3rd grade on an emergency license. Watch for Myah subbing at Holt this week and welcome her to the team!

• Job Posting Updates – Our Human Services Coordinator position and possibly our 4-hour Title 1 EA position will go up this week. We have two 4-hour opening and HR is likely bumping someone into at least one of these positions. They emailed me one person was bumping into one of the openings, but when I sent that person a “Welcome to Holt” email they told me HR offered her a job at Howard instead of Holt. I emailed HR about this, but haven’t heard back, so at this point I’m not sure if we have one or two openings. If you know anyone good out there though, please encourage them to apply.

• REMINDER: PE/Music On-Time Pick-Up – With PE and Music out on the field, make sure you’re out there on time to pick up your class, so that Alex and Ashley get their breaks.

• ELA Adoption: Wit & Wisdom – Staff were emailed that Wit & Wisdom was officially adopted last week by the school board. Due to delays in the pilot process and delays in obtaining school board approval, we will not have materials until August. However, staff do have digital access if you go the Wit &Wisdom Teacher Review Site and use the password: elafororegon

Scroll down to access a 10-minute “Welcome to the ELA Review Page” video.

Additionally, there is a Wit & Wisdom Introduction Slide Show teachers may want to check out, which goes over what models you will teach, as well as links for further exploration.

• ELA Materials Open House TUESDAY & FRIDAY – If you want to preview materials now, there is an open house this week. Here are the details:

Tuesday, June 7, 2:30-5:00
Friday, June 10, 9:00-4:00

Bailey Hill Instructional Center
2295 Four Oaks Grange Rd.
(off of W 18th, west of Churchill)

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit, THIS WEEK & NEXT – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. Teach lesson 6 right before summer break, within the last two weeks of school. Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are the Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

• Earthquake/Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – We’ll conduct an Earthquake/Fire Drill this Tuesday at 1:10. I’ll get on the PA an announce the earthquake drill, reviewing Drop, Cover, Hold, and will launch the drill by saying EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! We’ll pull the alarm to signal when to evacuate the building. There are many resources for teaching Drop, Cover, Hold at The Great Oregon Shakeout. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

• Allan Job Shadow TUESDAY – Beth Kruzki is going to job shadow me on Tuesday. Beth will be the SEAL/KITS principal for the second part of this summer. I’ll be principal for the first couple weeks of summer school to get things going and Beth will take over for the remainder of the program, although I report back a couple weeks later on July 27, so I’ll be around most of the program anyhow. Beth wanted to job shadow me to get a sense of how things look at elementary (she has mostly secondary admin and online admin experience).

• REMINDER: James Brown Award Nominations, DUE WEDNESDAY – See Ashely’s Email for details, but complete your nomination for the 2022 James Brown Award by Wednesday at 9:00pm. Here are the past James Brown winners:

2018 – Jincy and Heidi
2019 – Lisa Goff
2020 – Jenny Potter
2021 – Kelsey Hicks

• REPEAT: Kona Ice, WEDNESDAY at 1:45 – Kona Ice is coming to Holt THIS WEDNESDAY. Bus riders who bring money can be dismissed at 1:45 if they brought money for shave ice, so they have time to buy and eat their shave ice before getting onto the bus. Supervision of students will be provided.

 

• REPEAT: FRIDAY Report Card Grading Day Expectations – This Friday is a regular work day for both classified and licensed staff. For licensed staff, HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues this day. Also, 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. For classified staff, this is a good day to cash in any accumulated trade time you’ve built up, but remember you need to notify me before you begin accumulating time.

• REPEAT: Report Card Printing & Envelope Stuffing – Since grading day is before the last day of school, like normal, 4J elementary schools are going back to normal report card procedures, where teachers print report cards and stuff envelopes, which will be sent home with students the last day of school. Melanie will do the “Update Attendance” procedure in Synergy the Thursday before grading day, so wait until grading day to print report cards.

• REPEAT: Schedule Your Gaga Ball Rules Lesson – Gaga Ball is going to be one of our Field Day stations, which I’ll be running, and I’d like to teach kids the rules ahead of time. Let me know a good 10-minute block to go over the Gaga Ball Rules Slide Show with your class sometime before Field Day on Wednesday, June 15th. The closer to Field Day the better, but email a time that works well for you.

• EA Help Boxing Materials this FRIDAY & Next Week – Title 1 EAs will be available this Friday and next week to help box up ELA Materials (Journeys & Being A Writer) and also to inventory the SIA Diverse Book Library Kits. Just let Jenny know and she will send someone your way.

• ELA Materials Packing Directions – Linked here is the Full ELA Materials List to Keep or Discard, as well as Eric Anderson’s Email.

• Teachers will get 6 boxes per classroom.
• Most Journeys and Being A Writer materials: Box and attach this Label Template on each box.
• Leveled Readers: Box separately and use the Leveled Reader Label Template ere.
• Trade books and big books: Keep them for 4J use. If your building does not want them, please send them to Bailey Hill using this label.

• REPEAT: Diverse Classroom Libraries Inventory – Teachers will inventory the SIA Diverse Classroom Library Book Sets. There are two processes depending whether you are teaching the same grade next year or if you are moving grade levels or schools.

If not moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, keep books in your room.

If moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, leave bins in classroom, and write the bin barcode number on the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022.

• REPEAT: End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022. This needs to be completed by all staff in charge of an area before you start your summer and need both mine and Ryan’s sign-off. Let me know if you have any questions.

• REMINDER: 3/4/5 Climate Survey  – If you missed the deadline, the survey is still open for 3/4/5 teachers to have students complete the student climate survey. See the email I sent earlier for details, but first show the video and then have students complete the survey.

English version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4jelementaryclimate2022
Spanish version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ambienteprimaria4j2022

• REPEAT: June 20th, Juneteenth Expectations – HR was supposed to send something out, but principals got the succinct graphic below. Monday, June 20th is the last regular workday for licensed staff, but it is also a new Federal Holiday, so staff have the option to work extra days prior to Juneteenth and not working this day or you can take June 20th off and work on Tuesday, June 21st instead.

 

• REPEAT: Science Kit Restocking – If you need additional materials for your science kit, be sure to complete the Science Kit Restock Order Form before the end of the school year.

• 2022 Direction Service Summer Directory – The 2022 Direction Services Resources for Youth and Families is an annual resource containing recreation, respite, support, and service opportunities that families of children with disabilities can access. I’ll share this in the Quick News, but wanted to share with staff as well.

• District Admin Updates – Paula Nolan, current EOA principal, will be the new principal at Spencer Butte Middle School, replacing Peter Tromba who is moving back east. Also, Andrea Belz, Director of Financial Services, Holly Langan, Director of Support Services, and Christine Nesbit, 4J General Counsel, are all leaving 4J at the end of the school year. See this email for full details.

• Is Silent Ball the Best Classroom Management Tool You Never Knew Existed? – I used to play this game all the time when I taught 2nd and 3rd grade, except I called it “Quiet Ball” and this was back in olden times before GoNoodle or even projectors. This WeAreTeachers Article shares why it’s a great tool to have in your classroom-management toolbox.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the school year:

June 5 (SU)
3:00-7:00, Barbara Kitterman Retirement Celebration

June 6 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6
8:00, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Ayres)
9:50, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Heinrich)
3:45-4:45, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

June 7 (T)
Beth Kruzki Job Shadowing Allan
8:00, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Parks)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:00-1:00, Allan to KG Transition Meeting (Zoom)
1:10, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 8 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:45-3:15, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
9:00PM, James Brown Award Nominations Due

June 9 (H)
Last Day for Title 1 & ELD Groups
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
2:45, Allan to SPED Planning Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

June 10 (F)
No School – Grading Day

June 13 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6

June 14 (T)
9:50, Allan Teaching Gaga Ball Rules (Lovato)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

June 15 (W)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5 (Field)
9:00-10:00, Allan Skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2 (Field)
7:00-9:00, Sheldon HS Graduation (Hult Center)

June 16 (H)
1:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (if needed)

June 17 (F)
Last Day for Students
Last Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
10:15-10:30, 4th & 5th Grade Recess
10:45, Grab-n-Go Lunches Delivered to Wings
11:10, Early Dismissal
Staff Social – End of Year BBQ

June 20 (M)
Juneteenth
Last day for licensed staff
8:00-4:00, Allan to I Love U Guys Training (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

August 26 (F)
Licensed Staff Report Back

August 29 (M)
Classified Staff Report Back

8 1/2 days to go!

Allan

 

May 30, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/05/28 21:19 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Science, SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on May 30, 2022

Greetings Bolts,

That was fun seeing folks on Friday at Roadhouse and at Top Gun: Maverick. My capsule review of the film is that it was the perfect mix of nostalgia (buzzing the tower, Danger Zone, shirtless beach sports, etc.) and an entertaining original story that was able to stand on its own. No deep subtext. Just a fun summer popcorn flick. 3 1/2 starts out of 5. 

Twenty-five items of note for this week:

• Safety Reminders (Doors & Visitors) – For those not at Friday’s Staff Meeting, a few key safety reminders:

• Doors – All exterior doors are to remain locked at all times. Do not prop doors open. Also remember that this time of year the doors don’t always properly close on their own due to pressure differentials, so make sure they are fully latched shut behind you.

• Visitors – All visitors need to go through the main office entrance. Do not let anyone in through a side door, even if they are a 4J employee.

• TUESDAY Staff Meeting – Not exactly a standard Staff Meeting, but as shared earlier, we will meet in the library this Tuesday at 2:45 for sending and receiving grade level teams to discuss students of note (not enough time to discuss all students).

• 2nd Grade Interviews, WEDNESDAY (Avoid Staff Room) – We’re holding interviews for our 2nd grade classroom this Wednesday at 2:40 in the Staff Room. Please avoid the Staff Room after school that afternoon if possible. If you’d like to join Lesli, Kim, Jenna, Ashley R., and Lisa Z. when we interview, just let me know and I’ll share applications and interview materials.

• Bricks & Minifigs Fundraiser, THURSDAY – I forgot to put this in the Quick News last week if you can share this with kids, but Bricks & Minifigs is doing a fundraiser for Holt this Thursday. Just bring the flyer, which I’ll include in Monday’s Quick News, and Holt get’s 20% of all sales!

 

• FRIDAY PD Cancelled – Double Prep – To make up for the missed hour of weekly prep next week on the Grading Day, there is no meeting this Friday, which will instead be a “Double Prep” Friday.

• End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022. This needs to be completed by all staff in charge of a school area before you start your summer and needs both mine and Ryan’s sign-off. It’s the same as last year with the following exceptions:

• ELA Materials Boxed-Up – Downtown is sending all classroom teachers six boxes to pack up ELA materials (Journeys and Being a Writer). Teachers can keep any books or pieces you want to keep for future use. Classified staff can help with packing on the June 10th, Grading Day. Leave the boxes outside your classroom for Warehouse Staff to pick-up in August.

• Diverse Classroom Libraries Inventory – Teachers will inventory the SIA Diverse Classroom Library Book Sets. There are two processes depending whether you are teaching the same grade next year or if you are moving grade levels or schools.

If not moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, keep books in your room.

If moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off of the inventory list, leave bins in classroom, and write the bin barcode number on the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022.

• Friends/Family Allowed to Help End of Year Packing – For the last week of school, when students are not in session, downtown is allowing friends and family of staff members to be “essential visitors” to help with end of year packing. The only requirement is they check-in at the Raptor Kiosk in the office (if  you’re packing on a weekday) and limit their movement throughout the building.

• Report Card Grading Day Expectations – Friday, June 10th is a regular work day for both classified and licensed staff. For licensed staff, HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues this day. Also, 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. For classified staff, this is a good day to cash in any accumulated trade time you’ve built up, but remember you need to notify me before you begin accumulating trade time.

• Report Card Printing & Envelope Stuffing – Since grading day is before the last day of school, 4J elementary schools are going back to normal report card procedures, where teachers print report cards and stuff envelopes, which will be sent home with students the last day of school. Melanie will do the “Update Attendance” procedure in Synergy the Thursday before grading day, so wait until grading day to print report cards.

• CORRECTION: Kona Ice, June 15th 8TH at 1:45 – Kona Ice is coming to Holt the SECOND TO last week of school and this time, as we discussed at a Staff Meeting a few months ago, bus riders who bring money will be dismissed early if they brought money for shave ice, so they have time to buy and eat their shave ice before getting onto the bus. Kona Ice will be here Wednesday, June 15th 8TH at 1:45, so teachers can send out at that time, where they will be supervised.

• UDPATE: “Grab & Go” Sack Lunch DELIVERY – To simplify some scheduling issues and I think also to make it easier on teachers, Deb agreed to deliver Grab & Go Lunches to each wing at 10:45 the last day of school instead of the schedule I shared last week. 

• June 20th, Juneteenth Expectations – HR was supposed to send something out, but principals got the succinct graphic below. Monday, June 20th is the last regular workday for licensed staff, but it is also a new Federal Holiday, so staff have the option to work extra days prior to Juneteenth and not working this day or you can take June 20th off and work on Tuesday, June 21st instead.

 

• End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection;- I’m hoping to finish everyone’s observations over the next two weeks, but one final step probationary licensed staff need to complete in TalentEd is the End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection. You do not need to write a novel. A few sentences reflecting on how you did towards your goals is fine, but please complete these before the end of the school year. Let me know if you have any questions.

• YMCA/BEST iPads Stay at School – Starting this week, students who attend YMCA/BEST can begin leaving their iPads in class and no longer need to take them home each night.

• Schedule Your Gaga Ball Rules Lesson – Gaga Ball is going to be one of our Field Day stations, which I’ll be running. I’d like to teach kids the rules ahead of time, so let me know a good 10-minute block to go over the Gaga Ball Rules Slide Show ahead of June 15th.. The closer to Field Day the better, but email me a time that works well for you.

• Summer SEAL Update – Downtown emailed principals and Title 1 Coordinators an update on SEAL, which included a count of the current number of students enrolled by grade level and region. Looking at these low numbers, it doesn’t seem likely we’ll use many classrooms. We’ll also host at least two middle school classes and one classroom for KITS. I’ll keep staff posted on how many classrooms are needed, but I estimate it’ll be no more than 8-9 classrooms at most. Stay tuned!

• UPDATED: 22-23 Classroom Map – Semi related to the above, linked here is the 22-23 Classroom Map (Dynamos & Calming Room change over summer) we came up with a couple months ago. I’d actually forgotten some of our shifts, so I figured others may want a reminder as well. I’ve also updated the map with some of our new hires.

In order to help the Calming Room with alternative recesses and to also find a spot for our new Human Services Coordinator, I’d like to move:

• Dynamos (Title 1) stay where they are this year instead of Stimler’s room.
• Calming Room moves to Stimler’s room.
• 0.5 SPED (Whitney) moves to the Calming Room (this year’s location)

The back grass area by Stimler’s old class would work well for alternative recesses and the exterior door allows one person to supervise both the outside area and also the Calming Room. That room is also large enough to house our new Human Services Coordinator

 

 

• REMINDER: Science Kit Restocking – If you need additional materials for your science kit, be sure to complete the Science Kit Restock Order Form before the end of the school year.

• ELA Updates (Adoption, SIA Kits, PD Options) – The district ELA TOSA’s shared the linked ELA Update Slide Show with principals last week. They are going to email teachers additional details, but here it is is you’re curious.

• Wellness Policy Reminders – Nutrition Services emailed principals a reminder about food at end-of-year parties. For quick resources and answers, see the 4J Wellness Policy, including guidelines for snacks and parties. Note that families can provide special foods, but make sure they are commercially prepared and are not served at the same time as school meals. Kitchen staff need at least two weeks advance notice if students will not eat school breakfast or lunch. Shellfish or nut products are discouraged.

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. Teach lesson 6 right before summer break, within the last two weeks of school. Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

• Safety & Lagging Skill Planning Resources – 4J Behavioral Safety Assessment Coordinator, Sheri Hoyland, emailed principals a reminder about the 4J Safety & Lagging Skills Planning webpage, which lists safety interventions and educational components for a student’s safety plan. I’m not sure staff were aware of this page or the larger Student Wellness & Safety Resources website, which has some useful resources and tips for creating plans for students with unsafe behaviors. 

• REPEAT: Summer Reading Staff Picks! – Email or let me know in person any summer book recommendations you have for colleagues and I’ll post everyone’s picks in my final weekly announcements of the year. Another book I’m considering reading this summer is Consumed by weirdo horror movie filmmaker David Cronenberg (The Fly, Dead Ringers, Scanners, Videodrome). Let me know your summer reading picks!

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

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 rest of the school year:

May 30 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

May 13 (T)
Kinder Staff Room Duty
3/4/5 Climate Survey DEADLINE
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:50-2:05, K/5 Buddy Recess
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:30, Parent PD: Teen Substance Use & Coping (Churchill)

June 1 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:35-1:50, 1/3 Buddy Recess, Barton/Gori/Talley, Longoria
1:50-2:05, 1/3 Buddy Recess, Cobb/Benevides
2:40-5:00, 2nd Grade Interviews (Staff Room)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

June 2 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:50-2:05, 2/4 Buddy Recess
2:45-3:25, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
6:30-7:30, 4J Math Education Parent Information Session (Zoom)

June 3 (F)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD Cancelled – Double Prep

June 5 (SU)
3:00-7:00, Barbara Kitterman Retirement Celebration

June 6 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
3:45-4:45, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

June 7 (T)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
1:10, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 8 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:45-3:15, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)

June 9 (H)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

June 10 (F)
No School — Grading Day

June 13 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6

June 14 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

June 15 (W)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5 (Field)
9:00-10:00, Allan Skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2 (Field)
7:00-9:00, Sheldon HS Graduation (Hult Center)

June 16 (H)
1:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (if needed)

June 17 (F)
Last Day for Students
Last Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
10:45, Grab-n-Go Lunches Delivered to Wings
11:10, Early Dismissal
Staff Social – End of Year BBQ

June 20 (M)
Juneteenth
Last day for licensed staff
8:00-4:00, Allan to I Love U Guys Training (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

 

12 1/2 days to go!

Allan

 

May 16, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/05/14 21:27 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Science, Video  |  Comments Off on May 16, 2022

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• 2nd Grade & CLC Hiring Updates – Last week we interviewed candidates from the 4J Early Hire Pool. The are external hires by HR done early this year to secure experienced teachers before other districts hire them. Schools with openings first interview from this pool and then have the option to hire someone or to post external. I’m pleased to say we did find one strong candidate for our full-time CLC position and one strong candidate for one of our two 2nd grade opening. I’ve notified HR to make a job offer and hope to announce these folks soon!

• Bruce Hale, Virtual Author Visit, TUESDAY @1:10 – Author of the Bruce the Shark series of books, Bruce Hale, is doing a virtual author visit at Holt on Tuesday at 1:10. If you’d like to get kids excited, he has on his website some Fun Activities and Curriculum Tie-ins.

• Holt Bolt, THURSDAY – The Holt Bolt is this Thursday (weather contingent). See Lesli’s Email for details, but here are the highlights:

Times – K/1/2, 8:45-9:45 and 3/4/5, 10:30-11:30. Classes report to hard play 10 minutes before running begins.

Holt Bolt Shirts – Shirts will be put into mailboxes on Monday. Fabric markers are in the Staff Room if you’d like for your kids to decorate their Holt Bolt shirts. See Ashley’s Emails for details. And remember, DO NOT send shirts home. Keep them until the Holt Bolt.

Map/Supervision – Kids will follow the path on the map below. We’ll have staff strategically stationed along the path to supervise/cheer students.

Recess Changes – All morning recesses are canceled. 1st-5th grade teachers are welcome to take their morning break during their jogathon time. Kinder and 1st grade lunch recesses will be in the gym. Kids should move through the hallway to get to the gym. K/1 teachers need to pick up from the gym. 2nd grade lunch recess will have to be soft play only while things get finished and cleaned up.

Prizes – PAHS is providing a number of prize drawings. Kids will enter their name into different buckets, which will be stationed around hard play. Winners will be announced after running and prizes will be announced later in the day.

QR Codes – Teachers will receive the lanyards with the QR codes early this week. These lanyards will be reused please ask students to take care of them. There will be a video coming from Jackie that you can share with kids on how to scan their badge.

No Spectators – If parents ask, we’re not allowed to have spectators.

Extra Fun – PAHS is also going to have a mister for kids to run through if they choose. At the end of the run, PAHS will have Otter Pops for everyone. Also, we’ll have Electa AND Sluggo at the run!

 

• Friday PD, Class List Prep – We’ll discuss and decide the 22-23 Class List process at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, but this Friday will be time for teachers begin entering students on the 22-23 Class List Spreadsheet.

• Staff Social, Movie Night, Friday, May 27th – Stay tuned for details from the Sunshine Committee, but there’s a Staff Movie Night Social a week from this Friday. And if I might be so bold as to make a suggestion, maybe we should get together this Friday and order tickets to watch Top Gun: Maverick! And maybe stop at Original Roadhouse before to get a beverage.

 

• Last Day of School Dismissal @11:10 – Principals were told this week the dismissal time for early start schools this year will be at 11:10, which is what it has been in the past during normal times.

• 4J Science Kit Update – STEM TOSA Jamie Tait emailed principals the following email and Science Kit Slide Show Update regarding some changes how kits will be handled next year. Rather than read the slide show to you at a meeting, I’ll let folks read it here on your own and find me if you have questions. The main points are:

• Each classroom teacher with have their full year of science curriculum (3 modules).
• Science kits will no longer be returned and restocked at the district level.
• Storage and maintenance of science kits will be managed at the building level.
• District will support restocking of consumables and live materials.
• Teachers Submit a Spring 2022 Restocking Form to replenish consumables.
• Continue to uee the 4J Science website for the prioritized lessons & standards (since there’s not enough time to teach ALL lessons).
• Additional kits will be delivered to schools over the summer.
• Kits need to be cared for as if you were passing them along to another teacher.
• Keep items in the boxes that they belong in. Use the list on the front of each box to keep track.
• Kits are stocked for multiple uses, but you will have the opportunity after each use to fill out a Kit Restock form.

 

• No Reimbursements for Teacher Pay Teachers – The Finance Department emailed secretaries they were told by the Instruction Department they may not reimburse teachers for any purchases made from Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m planning to ask about this at the next principals’ meeting. I understand there’s a lot of garbage on TpT, but there’s also some really good stuff there as well. I’m failing to see how this is any different from being reimbursed for an Amazon purchase, which also has some terrible quality teaching materials as well as some excellent materials.

• No Helium Balloons in Gym or Cafeteria – Facilities figured out there was a helium ballon in the gym that set off our hale alarms last week, so be sure you never take any balloons in there.

• REMINDER: School Supplies for Fall 2022 – A reminder the 4J is again purchasing supplies for all students next year, but if there are additional items your grade levels needs, let Melanie know ASAP. Linked here is what is being ordered.

• Summer SEAL Update – As of last Wednesday, only 205 K-5 students signed up for SEAL out of 840 spots districtwide. The program continues to be understaffed, but downtown is forging ahead as planning. I will keep staff posted if they decide to combine the Holt and River Road SEAL programs. If that happens Holt will host the ESD Migrant Ed Program.

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

Staff Mailboxes
• Staff mailboxes are found in the main IMC (workroom). District, classroom, office mail, notices for families will be placed here. Flyers to go home in Monday mailers are to be placed in boxes before noon on Friday; understanding that occasional exceptions will need to be made
• [DURING NORMAL TIMES] PAHS has a work request box. Staff can fill out a form for volunteers to help with copying, stapling, etc.

• Moments of Zen – If you and/or your students need a little Zen in your lives these days, here are some live streams that might help:

• Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otters
• All of Monteray Bay Aquarium’s Live Cams
• Multiple live cams of different areas in an African nature reserves
• San Diego Zoos Live Cams
• Smithsonian Zoo Live Cams
• Aquarium of the Pacific Live Cams

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

May 16 (M)
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
8:30, Allan Meeting w/Garden Way Church
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade O Heroes Program Visit
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

May 17 (T)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
11:00, Allan to SEAL Admin Interviews (Zoom)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS
1:10-1:55, Bruce Hale, Virtual Author Visit (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 18 (W)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 19 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
8:45-9:45, K-2 Holt Bolt (Hard Play, arrive 10 min. early)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
10:30-11:30, 3-5 Holt Bolt (Hard Play, arrive 10 min. early)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS

May 20 (F)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – 22-23 Class List Prep

May 23 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
4:30-6:00, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

May 24 (T)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)

May 25 (W)
Towel Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:30-6:00, 4J Annual Retirement Celebration (ATA)

May 26 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:30-4:30, 2nd Grade Interviews (In-Person & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

May 27 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Superhero Day!
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
7:40-8:10, Spirit Day – Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD
1:30-3:30, SPED Teacher Interviews (In-Person & Zoom)
~5:00, Staff Social, Movie Night (Cinemark 17)

May 30 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

22 1/2 kid days left!

Allan

March 14, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/03/12 20:55 Posted in Announcements, P.D., Science, SEL  |  Comments Off on March 14, 2022

 

Howdy Bolts,

My crystal ball tells me we will see “interesting” behaviors this week. Between spring break and masks becoming optional, I think it’ll be important staff do A LOT of pre-teaching of behavior expectations this week and not count on “They should know this by now.”

Seventeen items of note for this week:

• Staff Allocation Updates – We’re still waiting for Student Service Department (SSD, i.e. special education classified and licensed staffing) allocations, but we did get our English Language Development (ELD) allocations, whis is the same as this year (0.8 FTE) and we also got our SIA (Student Investment Act) 1st grade EA allocation, which is 3 hours per 1st grade classroom, which downtown projected us for three 1st grade classrooms, meaning 9 hours.

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – Tuesday at 1:10 is our March Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.

• REPEAT: Lockdown Instruction Before Fire Drill – Related to the above, downtown is requiring schools to review Lockdown and Evacuation Drills with students. ALICE is no longer being used in 4J and it’s replacement is not in place yet, so in the meantime, teachers should simply do a short review with students off of the 4J Safety Poster (below), which says the following for each drill:

STUDENTS
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the door

ADULTS
Recover student form the hallway if possible
Lock the classroom door
Turn out the lights
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the door
Prepare to evade or defend

EVACUATE! (A location may be specified)

STUDENTS
Leave stuff behind if required to
If possible, bring your phone
Follow instructions

ADULTS
Lead students to evacuation location
Account for students and adults
Notify if missing, extra or injured students or adults.

 

• TIME UPDATED: Staff Social, Bowling at Emerald Lanes, THURSDAY! – Don’t forget we have a staff social this Thursday at 4:00 at Emerald Lanes! Come visit with work friends, have some beverages, show off your bowling skills (or non-skills if you’re like me, but I can show off my rad bowling shirts). See you there!

• COVID Updates – Five COVID related updates:

• Drinking Fountains & Legionaries Disease – I mentioned at Friday’s Meeting that we’re now allowed to use drinking foundation again. However, do not let students use the classroom drinking fountains until they have been flushed for a full 5-minutes (a good job for a kid). Since that water has sat stagnant for over a year, we don’t want anyone getting Legionaries Disease.

• Mask Up in Nursed Office & Isolations Room – The state has determined that school health rooms and isolation rooms are healthcare settings. This means if staff are interacting with students closely or for a sustained period of time, masks will be required for staff in the health room. If the interaction is brief or contact is not close, masks are only strongly advised. Masks should be offered to students that will be in the health room for a sustained amount of time. If students are symptomatic or sick, they will be required to wear a mask. Examples;

• A student comes into the health room briefly for scheduled medication–no masks required for staff or student.
• A student comes into health room for injury or illness that requires some observation or close contact (observation after a head bump or inhaler use)–Staff required to mask, mask offered to student.
• A student comes into health room not feeling well or is symptomatic–masks required for both student and staff. Student should be moved to isolation space until picked up to go home.

• Rapid Tests if Symptoms at School – Although we’re not doing test-to-stay for close contacts any longer, we can still administer rapid tests for any student or staff who start exhibiting symptoms while at school.

• Teaching Kids to Respect Others’ Mask Choices – If teachers haven’t already, be sure to take some time during your Monday Morning Meeting time to remind students to respect individual choices when it comes to masking or not. If you want a canned slide show about this, the Adams principal shared this Student Masking Slide Show.

• COVID Flowchart – This is more for front office staff, but if you’re interested, linked here is the latest COVID Flowchart for when a student tests positive, shows signs of illness, or is exposed to COVID.

• iPads Staying at School – Starting Monday, most students will leave their iPads at school. Only BEST/YMCA kids will take them home, but please remind those students iPads at dismissal are to be in backpacks and not walking and iPad-ing at the same time.

• Holt Bolt, Thursday, May 18th – PAHS settled on Thursday, May 18th as the date for this year’s Holt Bolt. It’s on the calendar and that’s the date we’ll stick with unless something unexpected comes up.

• Check Lost & Found – Remind kids to check the Lost & Found this week. Anything left at the end of the day Thursday will be bagged and donated.

• Artist in Residence Schedule – Linked here is the Fiddle Artist in Residence Schedule (PDF or XLSX). I believe Lesli has checked in with grade level teams, but let us know if you have any questions. The residency title is The Art of Fiddling and the Mystique of Louisiana and Kelly Thibodeaux is the musician leading the lesson in the Music Room. Regular Music classes will be in classrooms during three week residency.

• ACTION REQUIRED: Claim You 4J Account – 4J Technology Emailed staff a RapidIdentity Quicksheet how to update your password and account security. The short version is go to this link and follow the directions.

• REPEAT: Erin’s Law, Lesson #5 BEFORE SPRING BREAK – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

• REPEAT: ACE Award Nominations Open – Nominate a teachers or licensed specialists, administrator or supervisor, classified staff, or volunteer. Nominations are due by March 31st. See the 4J ACE Awards webpage for more info.

• REPEAT: March 18th Expectations – Teachers may work from the building or in another location. If teachers are not going to be in the building they need to let me know. Downtown has not given this flexibility to classified staff, but classified folks can utilize trade time this day to shorten your work day. I’ve scheduled a Classified Staff Meeting at 9:00 for this day, so let me know if you have any agenda items you’d like discussed.

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

Recess
• Students are walked by teachers from the building to the asphalt/red curb at the beginning of recess. Students are released once EAs signal readiness. Please be on time, so that students receive a full recess.
• Students are picked up from recess on time. It would be very much appreciated if teachers would please review with students and reward them for staying on their spot in line (on the asphalt) and not move around once line up has begun. A significant percentage of physical aggression issues occur after the recess whistle has blown as kids are lining up.
• Recess supervisors will blow the whistle in soft play a minute prior to the 2 minute warning bell.This gives kids time to walk back from soft play to hard play and line up. The warning bell is a time for hard play students to return equipment and line up.
• Student Classroom Volunteers during recess:There will be NO VOLUNTEERS allowed in the classroom during any of these recess periods. If students approach a teacher about volunteering, the teacher needs to send them back to the appropriate place they need to be at that time. The only exception to this is if volunteering in another room is a part of a designed student support plan.
• Students Inside at Recess: Students are not to be in classrooms during recess. District policy is that students are to be out of the building during recess times. An occasional opportunity (not daily or weekly), is permitted, but students must be SUPERVISED. Students cannot be left alone in classrooms. A reminder also that students cannot be kept from recess for behavioral reasons or work completion.
• All classes need to have an assigned line for the end of recess times. Please work with the teachers/grades to assign class to lines. Consider flow, entrance to buildings etc when determining lines. A copy should be given to the office so that supervision staff can be informed.
• Recess Supervisor PBIS Guidelines
• PLAYGROUND GUIDELINES – General Rules for all

• ODE Continuing Care and Connection Next School Year – An ODE Announcement to administrators that school districts are next year to continue to focus on care and connection. More info will be coming from ODE, but note they have quite a few resources on the ODE Care and Connection webpage.

• NASA Artemis I, Send Your Name to Space – Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come. NASA is offering people a chance to have your name included on a flash drive that will fly aboard the space craft to the moon. I thought kids would find this fun and it also might spark an interest in space and science studies if any of you are doing that this spring. I got my NASA Boarding Pass!

• 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 14 (M)
Melanie Out, Katie Covering
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #5
National Pi Day
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, 5th Grade Outdoor School Family Information Night (Zoom)

March 15 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

March 16 (W)
Staffing Plans Due to HR
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
5:30, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

March 17 (H)
St Patrick’s Day
Dental Clinic (sealants) – Time/Location TBA
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45-3:25, Leadership Meeting (Debbi’s Room)
5:00, Staff Bowling! (Emerald Lanes)

March 18 (F)
No School — Staff Work Day
9:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
10:00, Optional Classified Staff PD (Zoom)

March 19 –  27
No School — Spring Break

March 28 (M)
Classes Resume
Artist in Residence Begins
Kinder Staff Room Duty
6:00-8:00, Allan to 4J Equity Action Team Meeting (Zoom)

March 29 (T)
Regular Day

March 30 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, School Board Work Session (Zoom)
6:00-8:00, Allan to 4J Equity Action Team Meeting (Zoom)

March 31 (H)
6:00-7:00, Mental Health Parent Night: Suicide Prevention & Awareness (Zoom)

April 1 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Sports Day
April Fools’ Day!
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – OSAS Test Security Training (Cafeteria)

Just four kid days until spring break!

Allan