P.D.

October 16, 2023

By Allan | 2023/10/13 20:47 Posted in Announcements, P.D. | Comments Off

Salutations Bolts,

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• 4-hour Title EA Job Posted – Our 4-hour Title EA Job Posting is now posted and closes Tuesday. Please encourage any awesome people to please apply!

• 6.5-hour Title EA Update – We had some solid candidates we interviewed on Monday and we’re still waiting for HR to make a job offer. Hopefully it happens soon!

• BEST Begins, MONDAY – BEST begins Monday. Students will report to the cafeteria. And a big thank you to Elizabeth for being willing to take on the BEST Academic Coordinator position!

• ESYO String Class Begins MONDAY – The Eugene Springfield Youth Symphony (ESYO) String Academy 1 Class for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Classes are Monday and Wednesdays right after school. I haven’t gotten a list of who all is signed up, but I will give that to teachers if I get one between now an then.

• Wednesday PD: Upbeat & Data Team Follow-Up – We will not meet this Wednesday and this will be time for teachers to complete your Upbeat Survey and the Teacher Data To Review section of the 100% Data Team Meeting Sheets from last Wednesday’s meeting. Links to those docs can be found on the Data Team Slideshow.

On a related note, remember that the Upbeat Survey is about our building and not about district policy, PD, support, communication, etc. Also, the survey window closes on Friday.

• Book Nook Starts THURSDAY – Just like last year, Book Nook will be during first recess in the cafeteria. Kids can bring in a gently used book to trade for another or can bring in 25¢ to buy a book.

• Holt Night Out: MOD Pizza, THURSDAY– Remind your kiddos Thursday is a Holt Night Out at MOD Pizza on Coburg Road. They just need to bring the MOD Pizza Fundraiser Flyer when they order or use the coupon code “MODGIVES25” if ordering online. 25% of purchases will go to the Holt PTO.

• Scholastic Book Fair 10/23-27 – The Scholastic Book Fair starts next week. A student and teacher preview will be on Monday, Oct. 23. The Fair will be open from 7:30 to 7:50 in the morning and after school from 2:30 – 3:30. During the day, students can come down during recess and anytime there is free time during class.

• Nov. 9 Mid-Term Grading Day – The short version is this is essentially a planning day. The longer version principals were told at our meeting last week is that 3.75 hours will be ELA planning. It will be self-directed and admin are not allowed to provide PD or ask people to gather as a larger district-led group. Downtown will provide resources and guidance but people don’t have to follow it. Teaches will also have 3.75 hours of planning for conferences.

• Leadership Positions – The Holt Leadership Plan is now complete. I connected with the folks involved and the TBA positions will be filled by:

PBIS & SEL Collaborator (K-2) – Lisa Z.
Grade Level Team Leader 2nd – Jenny B.
Student Voice/Council/Leadership Collaborator – Debbi
Girls on the Run Coordinator – Heidi
Girls on the Run Coordinator – James

JCAC will review plans on Oct. 26th, so we’ll know after that if it’s approved or if we have to revise anything.

• Student Affinity Groups – Mandra has stepped up and offered to run a Holt BIPOC student group. I have reached out to the 4J Affinity Coordinators for guidance on starting up our group. More info to come!

• Licensed IEP/504 Time Log (2023-24) – A reminder that teachers should use the IEP/504 Time Log to request payment for up to twelve hours of additional compensation for participating in IEP or 504 meetings during planning days, prep time, or outside the workday. You’ll need to be logged onto your 4J Google Account to view the form.

• Annual Permissions Form – Downtown finally has the 23-24 Annual Permission Forms, which usually come out in August with the Back-to-School Policy Memo, which we still haven’t gotten this year and I wonder if we’ll get at all this year. We’ll plan to print the permission sections for teachers to share at conferences.

• District Admin Update – Director of School Safety and Emergency Management Kari Skinner will be leaving 4J at the end of this month to take on the role of public safety administrator at Beaverton School District. Her last day with 4J will be October 26. See this email 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.

• Holt Resource Map (add your info) – Add your info to the Holt Staff Resource Map, which Downtown wants all school to complete, listing all licensed staffs’ degree, endorsements, certifications, areas of expertise, etc.

• Join the Superintendent’s New Advisory Committees – If you have opinions you’d like to share, downtown is looking for 4J staff to serve on advisory committees convened by the superintendent to hear from both classified and licensed staff. Apply Here!

• 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

• Sunshine Requests – Please take a second to fill out the Sunshine Requests Form if you have drink/snack requests for the staff room!

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Grade Level Meetings – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Grade Level Team Meeting, which we’ll resume now that we have team leaders:

Grade Levels
Meetings:
Grade levels hold meetings on Tuesdays after school. No other meeting should be scheduled on Tuesdays to the greatest extent possible to avoid disruption to the team meeting and planning schedule

Meeting Template:
All grade levels should fill out the template each week and share with the staff following their meeting. (Team Meeting Minutes Template – make a copy)

• 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 16 (M)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:25, BEST Program Begins (Cafeteria)
2:25, Strings Academy Begins (Music Room)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

October 17 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, PBIS / SEL Meeting (Library)

October 18 (W)
1:10, Strings Academy Begins (Music Room)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey & Data Team Follow-Up
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 19 (H)
Holt Night Out – MOD Pizza
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

October 20 (F)
Upbeat Survey Closes
7:30-8:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Affinity Meeting (RMS)

October 23 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach Staff Room Duty Staff Room Duty
Scholastic Book Fair Begins
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (if we get into from downtown)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

October 24 (T)
9:15-1:00, KG Pumpkin Patch Field Trip
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden

October 25 (W)
7:30-8:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Stop, Walk, Talk Rollout (Library)

October 26 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:30? PTO Costume BINGO Night (time is TBA)

October 26 (F)
8:00-11:00, OSEA Membership Drive (Staff Room)

If any of you have grumbled about last week’s PD, remember, it could have been worse. You could have been teaching on Friday the 13th!

Allan

October 9, 2023

By Allan | 2023/10/07 19:11 Posted in Announcements, Equity, Grants, P.D. | Comments Off

Hello Holt Bolts,

Twenty items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Small SPED FTE Increase – Sheryl was previously 0.5 FTE at Holt and 0.25 FTE at EOA, but part of her EOA time is being shifted to Holt, so she is now 0.65 at holt and only 0.10 at EOA

• Carol Leaving Us – Carol let me know last week she is resigning from her Title EA position, so I have submitted to HR to post for her vacancy, which I think should go up this week. Carol’s last day will be this Friday, so be sure to wish her well!

• Title EA Interviews, MONDAY – Jenny, Lisa G., and I are interviewing three candidates (we had 30 applicants!) this Monday after school for Lisa P.’s replacement. Let me know if any of you are interested in joining us and I will email you the interview materials.

• Wednesday PD: 100% Data Team Meeting – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library, we will participate in our first 100% Benchmark Data Review Meeting. The primary purpose will be to engage with your grade level team to assess how likely it is your core instructional materials (Heggerty, Fundations, and Wit & Wisdom) will meet your students’ needs and then make a plan together about where to focus your time and energy. Next you’ll get a chance to look at your classroom and student data to determine which students are likely to succeed with just core instruction and who may need more time and targeted support to be successful. The goal is to then connect you with the resources and support you need to best meet the needs of your group of students.

• Friday PD Day Schedule – On the Staff Zimbra Calendar and linked here is the October 13 PD Schedule, with times and locations. For specialists, refer to the emails from your presenter.

• UPDATED (Title EA PD Info): Oct. 13 Assistance Requests (EAs, Add Your Names) – If staff are needing assistance from EAs with anything on the Friday PD day, add those tasks to the Oct. 13th EA Assistance Form. Kinder and BBSAs, please add your name to the sheet where you can help and connect with the requesting staff member. Title and SPED EAs are scheduled to attend PD.

• 4J Professional Development Expectations – Downtown asked principals to share the following. Principals were also told we’re to help take attendance after all breaks and lunches during the Friday PD:

Professional Development is a major component of your continued growth as an educator. Professional Development is where you not only get the opportunity to continue your learning, but it is the beginning of shifting from learner to professional practice. Because of that, you will be expected to display professional behaviors during professional development training.

Professional behavior is also a component of your supervisor’s evaluation of your performance during the school year and therefore directly related to your advancement and continued employment in Eugene School District 4J.

Eugene School District 4J would like to introduce the following principles and expectations for professional behavior during all district and building-based professional development experiences:

1. Attendance and punctuality: arriving before the appointed time; registering your attendance; being prepared to engage as a working professional; providing your administrator prompt notification of tardiness or absences.

2. Respectful demeanor and interactions: demonstrating respect and deference to a speaker(s)/peers; conducting oneself in a manner consistent with the values and ethics of our district and the professional standards.

3. Professional language and communications: demonstrating professional oral and written (including electronic) communication skills; using discretion and appropriate professional language in addressing speaker/peers; “filtering” language to limit emotional reactivity/content; being very selective in communicating, during the training, with individuals outside of the regular training (emails).

4. Appropriate effort and initiative: collaborating with one’s peers to identify and complete training activities and expectations. Following through on appointed tasks and activities; showing a genuine interest, initiative, and engagement on the day’s topic(s) while demonstrating intellectual and professional curiosity and insightfulness.

5. Accountability and integrity: being accountable to the trainers and training participants; completing tasks and activities in a professional, high quality, and timely manner; maintaining professional integrity and honesty in all activities/interactions; accurately documenting training hours worked and tasks completed.

6. Emotional self-regulation: attending to one’s emotional reactivity and triggers; taking responsibility for one’s feelings/behavior and avoiding blame; managing the expression of raw emotions; being personally and professionally centered when engaging with the speaker(s) and other attendees; using appropriate professional language (spoken and written) to filter emotional content; demonstrating a willingness to resolve difficult conversations, relationships and modify one’s behavior accordingly.

7. Responsiveness to feedback: demonstrating non-defensive receptivity to feedback and suggestions; showing a willingness to be self-reflective and self-corrective.

This message makes me think I must have missed some fiery, emotionally charged PD sessions!

• BEST Begins, 10/16 – We’ve sent invites to families and will communicate out who is officially enrolled in BEST, but the start date is still Monday, Oct. 16th. We’re still looking for an Academic Coordinator, so let us know if anyone is interested in a little extra cash!

• Wednesday PD, 10/18: Upbeat Survey – We will not meet Wednesday, Oct. 18 and this time will instead be time for staff to complete the Upbeat Survey, which should be emailed out this week.

• Book Nook Starts 10/19 – The PTO is starting Book Nook Thursday, Oct. 19. Just like last year it’ll be during first recess in the cafeteria. For folks new to Holt, “Book Nook” is a book exchange run by our parent group. Kids can bring in a gently used book to trade for another. Kids can also bring in 25¢ to buy a book.

• Holt Night Out: MOD Pizza, 10/19 – Remind your kids that Thursday, Oct. 19 is a Holt Night Out at MOD Pizza on Coburg Road. They just need to bring the MOD Pizza Fundraiser Flyer when they order or for online orders use the coupon code MODGIVES25. 25% of purchases will go to Holt!

• Leadership Positions – Linked here is the Holt Leadership Plan I’ll submit to JCAC, which will include names of the folks assigned to each position. On the Leadership & Teams Sign-Up Sheet, we had a few positions with more than one name, so I will connect with those individuals this week before making a final decision. Positions so far are:

Equity & Inclusion Facilitator – Emily
Equity & Inclusion Facilitator – Carla
Equity & Inclusion Collaborator (Primary) – Lesli
Equity & Inclusion Collaborator (Intermediate) – Marissa
Equity & Inclusion Collaborator (SPED) – Kelsey
Equity & Inclusion Collaborator (Specialist) – Jenny
Equity & Inclusion Collaborator – Lisa Z.
Equity & Inclusion Collaborator – Kendallyn
Assembly & Enrichment Activities Coordinator – Ashley R.
Non-Monthly School Wide Assemblies – Ashley R.
Student Voice/Council/Leadership Coordinator – Ashley R.
Parent Group Liaison – Leslie
PBIS & SEL Collaborator (K-2) – TBA
PBIS & SEL Collaborator (3-5) – Geoff
Building Scheduling Facilitator – Lesli
Communications Coordinator – Debbi
Sunshine (Staff Wellness) Coordinator – Elizabeth
TAG Coordinator – Caitlin
Grade Level Team Leader KG – Lesli
Grade Level Team Leader 1st – Heidi
Grade Level Team Leader 2nd – TBA
Grade Level Team Leader 3rd – Kendallyn
Grade Level Team Leader 4th – Ashley R.
Grade Level Team Leader 5th – Liz
Specialist Team Leaders (SPED Rep & Other Licensed Specialists) – Kim
Specialist Team Leaders (SPED Rep & Other Licensed Specialists) – Kelsey
Literacy Leader – Leah
Sunshine (Staff Wellness) Collaborator – Robin S.
Student Voice/Council/Leadership Collaborator – TBA
Attendance/Family Outreach Coordinator – Kim
Girls on the Run Coordinator – TBA
Girls on the Run Coordinator – TBA
Girls on the Run Collaborator – Kim
Evening Family Event Coordination – Jenny
Evening Family Event Coordination – Kendallyn

• Student Affinity Groups – Please let me know if there are any staff interested in running a monthly BIPOC student affinity group. There is a $1,000 stipend for elementary schools, which can go to one person (classified or licensed) or can be split between two or more staff members. If I don’t hear from anyone by the end of the week, I’ll plan to reach out to the LaneESD for assistance starting a group.

• Send Home Fruit & Veggies DAILY – A reminder teachers are to send home the fruits and vegetables from FFVP home with students at the end of each day. Do not hold them over until the next day. If you have left overs, feel free to pass out extras as kids leave or just send the entire bag home with one lucky kiddo.

• Holt PTO Updates – The PTO met last week (here’s the agenda), approving funding three school-wide assemblies for later this year, sharing Budget updates, approving the PTO Bylaws, and sharing out committee reports. Their next big event will be Costume BINGO Night, which will also feature a Trunk or Treat. One reminder that came out of the meeting is if teachers have requests for funds to support enrichment activities, contact Lesli and she will connect with the PTO for approval.

• Employee Report: Aggressive Student Behavior – Principals were emailed the new Aggressive Student Behavior Form that is to be used to document threatening interactions and extreme behavior by a physically aggressive student. Related, if a staff member sustains injuries beyond basic first aid, an Incident Report needs to be completed as well. Both forms are on the HR Forms Webpage and the Holt Staff Dashboard. All completed forms should be submitted to me.

• Join the Superintendent’s New Advisory Committees – There is no shortage of opinions here at Holt and people willing to share them, so if you missed it in the latest 4J Educator News, downtown is looking for 4J staff to serve on advisory committees convened by the superintendent to hear from both classified and licensed staff. Apply Here!

• October Library Lowdown Choice Board – In case you missed it, the October Library Lowdown Choice Board has some good resources for Fire Safety Week, Bully Prevention Month, Halloween Activities, and more.

• October SSD Newsletter – If you’re interested, here is the October SSD Newsletter, which has mostly nuts-and-bolts SSD info, with Abbreviated School Day info being the main one of interest. See the Newsletter Archive for past newsletters.

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EEF Grants Due FRIDAY – EEF Grant Applications are due Oct. 13 deadline. 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).

• Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct. 9 – Monday, October 9 is Indigenous Peoples’ Day is Monday and many can be found at NEA, WeAreTeachers, The Smithsonian, Educators 4SC, and this 4J Doc.

• National Hispanic Heritage Month – It’s the last week of National Hispanic Heritage Month and a couple resources are Learning for Justice and also the 4J K-5 Social Studies Newsletter.

• 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

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

• Holt Resource Map (add your info) – Add your info to the Holt Staff Resource Map, which Downtown wants all school to complete, listing all licensed staffs’ degree, endorsements, certifications, areas of expertise, etc.

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

Communication
Office Staff:
Notifying the office staff of changes in your schedule, field trips, guest speakers, any classroom activity that is “out of the ordinary”, etc. will allow the office to support your activities and better address questions that may arise.

All Staff:
Email is our primary mode of communication so checking your email “in box”, daily, is important. Our school website is another resource that not only includes information for the general public, but it contains links for both our learners and our staff.

Our website is http://holt.4j.lane.edu

Bertha Holt has a group agreement that if action is required by staff members and the notification is sent through email, staff should have 24 hours notice lead time on the action. Staff also recognizes that occasionally this will not be possible. The goal is to avoid same-day notification and action items

A leadership role has been designated to facilitate communication with all staff

Parents:
Please provide the office with a copy of all written and electronic communication (ie newsletters) sent home with your class (this does not include notes to individual parents). This will enable office staff to answer parent questions in an intelligent and informed manner. It is highly recommended that, prior to sending written communication home, a minimum of one other person proof the document. Any note that may cause controversy should be shared with the principal prior to distribution. Please keep parents informed frequently of what is happening at school and in your room. Each classroom teacher is responsible for providing regular updates to parents

Teachers should do their best to ensure each parent receives either a written note or a telephone call at least once during each report period.

FERPA – Under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), parents shall have access to their child’s educational records. FERPA regulations presume equal access for both parents, unless there is a court order or legal document to the contrary. If a non-custodial parent requests records or a conference, the principal or principal’s designee will inform the custodial parent that the school will grant the request unless the custodial parent produces the required document. If a non-custodial parent requests copies of report cards, newsletters, etc., teachers may request stamped, self-addressed envelopes from that parent. However, if parents have joint custody, the law states the school must provide copies to both parents.

Administration:
Weekly, the Parent Board, in conjunction with the Principal will generate a school newsletter (Quick News) that will be emailed to families on Mondays, in both English and Spanish. If teachers need hard copies for families without internet, the teachers alert the office.

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

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

October 9 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:30-3:40, Title 1 EA Interviews (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

October 10 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden

September 11 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)
4:30-7:00, Allan to Bias & Triggers PD (Zoom)

October 12 (H)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
4:30-6:00, Allan to Bystander Intervention PD (Zoom)

October 13 (F)
No School – PD Day
EEF Application Deadline
8:00-1:30, Licensed Staff PD
1:30-2:00, Travel Time
2:00-4:00, Planning Time
2:00-4:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)

October 14 (SA)
5k/Fun Run for 4J- EEF Event

October 16 (M)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
2:25, BEST Program Begins (Cafeteria)

October 17 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, PBIS / SEL Meeting (Library)

October 18 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Time for Upbeat Survey
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 19 (H)
Holt Night Out – MOD Pizza
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

October 20 (F)
Regular Day

Enjoy your four-day week, now with a bonus early-release Wednesday!

Allan

Meme credit to Lisa G.

October 2, 2023

By Allan | 2023/09/30 21:47 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, P.D. | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Title EA Job Posting – Lisa Phillips, currently student teaching in Robin Seno’s classroom, is planning to sub after she gets her teaching license, so she has resigned her EA position, which means we’ve posted her position. If you know anyone good out there looking for a 6.5 hour Title EA job, the Title EA Job Posting closes this Wednesday.

• Back-Up TalentEd Info by Tuesday – Super late notice from downtown on this, but they are performing BusinessPlus updates starting Tuesday and will continue to Oct. 8. During this time, downtown is asking everyone to not upload any new information into their TalentEd accounts. They do not anticipate any information being lost during the updating process, but out of an abundance of caution, they recommend people save, print, and/or download any recent information already completed (e.g., Self-Assessment, Goals) in the event information becomes unretrievable. Because of this, the Self-Assessment deadline has been extended to Oct. 30 and the deadline for Goals to Nov. 3.

• Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY – Remind your kiddos that Wednesday is Walk+Roll to School Day, where all students are encouraged to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school.

• Wednesday PD: SafeSchools/Vector Modules – Wednesday’s PD will be time for staff to complete the SafeSchools/Vector Modules. Unless something super pressing comes up, I’ll plan to give staff one more Wednesday to complete the modules.

• Picture Day & Health Screening Schedule, THURSDAY – This Thursday is picture day for all grades and also health screening for kindergarten. See the linked Picture Day-Health Screening Schedule Lesli created for these two events.

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY @8:20 – Our first monthly School Spirit Assembly is this Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. See the Assembly Map and Directions for details, but get your kids excited for prizes, games, and fun!

• Kona Shave Ice, FRIDAY (@1:30 for bus riders) – Kona Ice is coming one last time and it’s short notice, but it’ll be this Friday and the same as in the past. They’ll be here after school, but bus riders can come out early at 1:30 if they have money. We have some free tokens if you have any kiddos you think will feel left out, so just let me know if you’d like one.

• Leadership & Team Sign-Ups, DUE FRIDAY – Now that staff approved our Leadership Plan and are awaiting for a stamp of approval from JCAC, licensed staff can add your name to the Leadership & Team Sign-Up Sheet (2023-2024), which I updated to add our new PBIS and Girls on the Run Collaborator positions. Deadline to add your name is this Friday. I will connect with folks early next week.

For Team Sign-Ups (scroll down lower), Site Council can still use 3 classified reps and 3 licensed reps. Site Council is separately compensated for licensed staff and classified staff can bank these meetings to trade time.

• Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct. 9 – Monday, October 9 is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, replacing Columbus Day in Oregon and most of the country. If you’re looking for resources, many can be found at NEA, WeAreTeachers, The Smithsonian, Educators 4SC, and this 4J Doc.

• Oct. 13 – Classified Staff Training – Title EAs and BBSAs will have training available this day. Additional details to follow. Other EAs will have time to complete building tasks (see next Item) as well as time to the Upbeat Survey (if it gets sent out), Vector Training, and the TalentEd Self-Reflections.

• Oct. 13 EA Assistance Requests – If staff could use help from EAs with anything on the Friday, Oct. 13th PD day, please add tasks to the Oct. 13th EA Assistance Form. I already added a task for one or two EAs to help box up 4th and 5th grade ELA materials that are swapping around.

• Book Nook Starts Oct. 19th and is now Thursdays – The PTO is worried with shorter recesses on Wednesday kids won’t have enough time to pick a book, so they are moving Book Nook to Thursdays. They are also changing the start date to Thursday, Oct. 19th.

• Halloween Costume Blurb – Here’s what I’ll plan to put in the Quick News mid-October. Let me know if you have any suggestions to make things more clear.

Halloween Dress-Up Rules

Tuesday, October 31st is Halloween and students are allowed to come to school dressed up, but the following costume dress code will be enforced:

• 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

Individual teachers will determine if parties will take place in their classrooms. A fun alternate activity will be provided for any students who do not celebrate this holiday.

• Phone Times (not clocks) for Specials & Recess – Mentioned at last week’s Staff Meeting, go by the time on your phones and not the building clocks for dropping off and picking up classes from recess and from specialists. Clocks are not consistent throughout the building and they also “drift” over the year, needing to be reset multiple times a year.

• Grant Approval Form – The new Director of Finance emailed that he is requiring ALL grants to get approval from the Finance Department and sumbit a Grant Approval Form. In the past it was only $5,000 grants or larger that required approval (which is what’s still on the 4J Grants Website). EEF grants are the only exception. I asked if this even included $250 mini grants and it does (a waste of time and resources IMO). Note that DonorsChoose are not considered a grant, so this form is not required there.

Staff now need to email the form to finance@eugene4j.freshservice.com at least 2 weeks prior to the grant application deadline for review & approval. This form is not on the 4J website, but I have added a link to the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• Great Body Shop Student Magazines – Downtown’s current student numbers may be different from the forecasting numbers from last Spring, so if you are short student magazines email Jocelyn Mendelssohn at mendelssohn_j@4j.lane.edu and provide how many you need.

• Don’t Slap Parking Signs – Another of our Pause Parking Signs has bit the dust thanks to boys needing to jump up and tap high things. Please remind students not to jump up to touch or slap the parking signs or door frames for that matter.

• National Hispanic Heritage Month – I shared earlier that Sept. 15-Oct. 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, but a couple additional resources are Learning for Justice, a great landing page for teachers to learn more about celebrating the month, and also the 4J K-5 Social Studies Newsletter.

• October is Dyslexia Awareness Month – Downtown asked principals to share this flyer for opportunities to watch some great films about literacy and science of reading. Need inspiration around literacy instruction? You should definitely come see one or all of these films!

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• 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

• Math Adoption Survey – Have your say on this Math Adoption Survey emailed to teachers earlier.

• EEF Grants Due Oct. 13 – EEF Grant Applications are due Oct. 13 deadline. 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).

• Holt Resource Map (add your info) – Add your info to the Holt Staff Resource Map, which Downtown wants all school to complete, listing all licensed staffs’ degree, endorsements, certifications, areas of expertise, etc.

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – Let me know a 5-10 minute block of time I can come visit sometime this month to introduce myself and read a story to your class.

• 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 2 (M)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, Allan & SPED Team Meeting w/SSD Admin

October 3 (T)
8:15, Allan Meeting w/SMART
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meeting

October 4 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – SafeSchools/Vector Modules
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 5 (H)
Picture Day (Gym)
Health Screening (Gym)
9:00, Holt Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

October 6 (F)
Fall Benchmarking Window Closes
8:15, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)

October 9 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

October 10 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden

October 11 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)
4:30-7:00, Allan to Bias & Triggers PD (Zoom)

October 12 (H)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
4:30-6:00, Allan to Bystander Intervention PD (Zoom)

October 13 (F)
No School – PD Day
8:00-1:30, Licensed Staff PD (Locations TBA)
1:30-2:00, Travel Time
2:00-4:00, Planning Time
2:00-4:00, Allan to MAPS Meeting (Zoom)

One more 5-day week until we get a nice 4-day week, which I’m calling a 3-day week since Wednesday is now the early release day.

Allan

September 25, 2023

By Allan | 2023/09/23 20:25 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D., Technology, Video | Comments Off

Hi Holt Bolts,

I think the above quote describes Holt’s school culture pretty darn well! This was especially evident this past week with everyone pitching in to help with our many challenging new students. I loved hearing from a first-time sub last week who said, “I love working here. I feel so welcome and feel like I can just be me.” Go, Team Holt!

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• Curriculum Night, TUESDAY – Holt Curriculum Night and the Title 1 Annual Meeting is this Tuesday, with childcare provided in the gym and free pizza from 5:30-6:30.

5:00-5:25, Grades K/1
5:30-5:55, Grades 2/3
6:00-6:25, Grades 4/5

• Wednesday PD: Leadership Plan – I’m postponing the Stop, Walk, Talk review I’d originally planned and instead this Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we’ll look at our Draft 23-24 Leadership Plan and see if we can come to a 75% agreement on a plan to forward to JCAC for final approval. The above linked doc has a new tab (Draft 9-27) with the feedback from JCAC. The jobs highlighted in green are approved. Those in yellow need revised. Many schools has similar leaderships jobs, so to calibrate duties and compensation, they created a Common Jobs spreadsheet, which I also added to the above spreadsheet.

Most Holt jobs match the 4J Common Jobs, but there were a few where I added additional details to the job description that I think will justify our slightly larger compensation. The only two that I had trouble with were Communications and Girls on the Run, where I wasn’t sure what duties to add to justify our larger allocations, so let me know now or on Wednesday if you have ideas or if you have ideas how to reallocate the difference ($2000) to other positions or have ideas to create new positions (possibly adding collaborator positions?). I added this as an agenda items for Thursday’s Staff Meeting if we need more time. We can also push a final decision to the following Wednesday if needed.

• Leadership Role Sign-Ups – HR said teams for approved positions can start meeting right away once we have people assigned to those positions. I tweaked the Team Sign-Up Sheet (2023-2024) to include the compensated leadership positions if anyone wants to put your name down for any of these positions. There may be some changes in level of compensation and/or job descriptions after we meet this week, but I figured we can get the ball rolling. If more than one person is interested in a position, it’s ultimately the principal’s decision, though I will plan to connect with individual staff to discuss if there are multiple folks really wanting a position. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on this.

• DoughMo’s Cookies Fundraiser, THURSDAY – Remind your kids this Thursday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at DoughMo’s Cookies. Owned by a Holt family and located in Downtown Eugene at 980 Oak St. under the Overpark Parking Garage (free parking), grab some cookies and just mention Holt when ordering and a percentage of your purchase will go back to Holt!

• Friday Assembly Moved to Next Week – We are postponing this Friday’s assembly until next week, Friday, Oct. 6th. Sorry for the short notice, but stay tuned for assembly details. UPDATE: Ultimate Holt Spirit Day is still this Friday. Will announce this on Monday Zoom announcements.

• Carla’s Instructional Coaching Request Form – Carla has created a Request for Instructional Coaching survey if you are in need of an instructional partner. The survey lists all the ways in which Carla can help with Instructional Practices and Student Learning. The survey is linked here and is on the Holt Dashboard and in the Care Team’s Request for Assistance. Carla is excited to be at Holt and to work with both licensed teachers and Educational Assistants.

• Possible Meetings Next Week – If our teams are in place by next week, we can start some of our regular meetings:

• Team Meetings, Oct. 3 – The first two Tuesday of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Team Meeting times. If we have our Grade Level Team Leaders in place in time, 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.

• Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting, Oct. 5 – If we have our Coordinators and Collaborators in place by Thursday next week, we’ll plan on Thursday, Oct. 5th at 2:45 in the library.

• Walk+Roll to School Day, Oct. 4 – Remind your kiddos that Wednesday, Oct. 4th is Walk+Roll to School Day, where all students are encouraged to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school. If kids live a long way from school, they could park a ten minute walk from school and walk the rest of the way. Older students can walk on their own. Younger students will need to walk or bike with an adult. The goal of this day is to reduce traffic and pollution around our school and to promote physical activity for our students. Students who ride the bus are doing their part by participating in the biggest carpool of all!

• Book Nook Starts Oct. 4 – The PTO is starting Book Nook Wednesday, October 4. Just like last year it’ll be during first recess on Wednesdays in the cafeteria. For folks new to Holt, “Book Nook” is a book exchange run by our parent group. Kids can bring in a book and trade it for another. They can also bring in 25¢ to buy a book. If kids want to buy or trade a book, they just send them down the hallway to the cafeteria when it’s your morning recess time.

• October 13 PD Day – All classroom teachers will have Wit & Wisdom writing PD from 8:00-1:30. SPED staff (both classified and licensed), Title teachers, counselors, PE/Music, etc. will also have PD this day. The 8:00-1:30 time will include a 30 minute lunch on your own. You’ll have 30 minutes of travel time from 1:30-2:00 and then planning time from 2:00-4:00. Downtown said they will have more specific details about the locations soon.

• Inside Recess Plan – I spoke to some Holt veterans how inside recess was covered for combined 2/3 and 4/5 recesses in the past, which has EAs circulating between classrooms, so the plan will be:

2nd and 3rd Recess
Rabourn / Gullekson – Margaret
Norton / Bemiller – Kelly
Talley/ Harshbarger – Annie
Ball – Lisa P. Sub

4th and 5th Recess
Reich/ Cobb – Margaret
Benavides / Longoria – Annie
Ayres / Parks – Tasha
Heinrich – Carol

There will always be at least four staff members on these recesses, but if additional staff are available, we may be able to get more coverage.

• Licensed Optional SMART Goals – Here are some Optional Licensed SMART Goals related to class morning meetings teachers can feel free to cut-and-paste into TalentEd if you would like. The target population for one goal must be for ALL students in your class and the second goal can be for a subgroup of students (i.e. students with IEPs, BIPOC students, student in Title, etc.). This means your goals to be exactly the same, but only change the target population on the second goal. Teachers can also choose to have two different goals. There are also two choices of professional goals. One is related to morning meeting and the other is a more general of SEL goal (the same we used last year). Feel free to cut-and-paste, make changes, or to come up your goals.

• COVID Protocols Really are Gone – I shared earlier that COVID protocol are gone (no quarantine, no notifications, etc.) and we are back to it simply being if staff feel ill, stay home. HR clarified with principals this means COVID positive staff can come to work as long as they do not have a fever or are vomiting and may return when they are fever-free (greater than 100.5) and have not thrown up for 24 hours without medication.

• Golden Ticket Table, Thursday & Fridays – The Cafeteria “Golden Ticket Table” will be out on Thursday and Fridays for students who win this reward or who earned it by saving up 10 Zaps.

• BEST Academic Coordinator (Classified or Licensed) – If you missed it in Levi’s BEST Email, Jenny agreed to take on the data coordination portion of the Academic Coordinator, but were still looking for the day-to-day small group coaching portion of the Academic Coordinator position, which can be filled by either classified or licensed staff. The position is 1.5 hours a day, but only requires consistent physical attendance at BEST from 3:15-4:15 Monday through Thursday to oversee small group instruction. Let me or Levi know if you might be interested or have any questions.

• Mandt Training Opportunity – The Mandt Training are being held each month this year, both the 1-day recertification and the initial 2-day training. This is open to any staff who are in need of Mandt Training (SPED staff, EAs, teachers, etc.). Here is the 2-day Initial Mandt Training Sign-Up. The link will allow you to chose a date that works for you. Subs will be provided and if you have any questions about the training let me know.

• Fire Drill Reminder, Close Classroom Doors – Remember to close you classroom and office doors when we have a fire drill. When we swept the hall for any stragglers, we found a few rooms with open doors.

• EEF Grants Now Open – EEF grants are now open with an Oct. 13 deadline. 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). They do have a new online application that requires you to set up an account, but it looks like they’re asking for pretty much the same info they have asked for in the past. Linked here is PDF I made of the form if you want to take a peek. Schools can submit as many grants as they want, so feel free to start writing! See the EEF 2023-24 Grant Application Webpage for details.

• Social Studies Materials Coming Late Fall – As part of a grant from ODE, downtown has social studies materials that will be coming to buildings soon. Downtown said they know that for some teachers, this is a welcome addition to their instructional materials while for others this might bring with it some concerns about when to make space for these materials. For now, they want people to have the materials and those who want to use them can and those who don’t can set them aside for now. Teachers will receive an email in late fall with more information about the materials. Downtown is also working on creating PD for January related to implementing the materials. For K-3, there are 5-10 lessons throughout the entire year while for 4th and 5th there are more resources and lessons.

• OSHA Inspections – The Feds made a substantial investment of over $16 million into OSHA and workplace safety, underscoring his commitment to employee safety. This commitment is becoming increasingly evident as there have been hefty fines imposed on major corporations for safety violations just this month. What’s more, it has come to 4J’s attention that Oregon OSHA has been undercharging, and we’ve heard from Brown and Brown that OSHA fines are set to surge by a staggering 3000%—yes, you read that correctly.

Brown and Brown anticipates that OSHA will be conducting inspections in every city with an OSHA office, including Eugene, and any city housing sizable businesses, such as 4J. To proactively mitigate risk and safeguard district finances, downtown is planning to participate in as many site-based safety committee meetings as possible, to provide support tailored to each building’s specific needs. Furthermore, downtown is taking proactive steps to ensure that all secretaries are well-prepared in the event of an OSHA visit and will have access to a concise 16-minute video that guides them on the appropriate actions to take when OSHA inspectors arrive.

• Teacher uses AI for conversations with historical figures – This WGBH Article shares how some educators are embracing artificial intelligence tools in the classroom, including Character.AI, an app that allows students to have simulated conversations with notable figures. I set up a free account and think could be a pretty engaging way for teachers to let your class to “interact” with a historical characters (Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King), fictional characters (Hermione Granger, Super Mario), and other personalities (Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey).

On a related note, the AI I shared last week, MagicSchool.ai, added a new tool where you can paste in a YouTube link and it’ll give you a one paragraph summary of the video!

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• TalentEd Self-Assessment Due FRIDAY – All staff, both classified and licensed staff, need to complete the Self-Assessment/reflection in TalentEd by this Friday.

• SELCO’s Educator Grants, Due FRIDAY – SELCO’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grant Program offers grants up to $1,000, which are due Sept. 30th.

• Kid Art for CASA of Lane County – Email Jacque Barton <jacqueb@casa-lane.org> or she can pick-up kid artwork CASA of Lane County would like to use for thank you and holiday cards . See Jacque’s Email for details.

• Holt Resource Map (add your info) – Add your info to the Holt Staff Resource Map, which Downtown wants all school to complete, listing all licensed staffs’ degree, endorsements, certifications, areas of expertise, etc.

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – Let me know a 5-10 minute block of time I can come visit sometime this month to introduce myself and read a story to your class.

• Rainy/Smokey Arrival Plan – We have rain in the forecast, so take note that our Rainy Arrival Plan is:

KG & 1st in Cafeteria
2nd & 3rd in the Gym
4th graders Library
5th under covered play area (or Library if smokey)

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Staff Room Agreements – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Staff Room Agreements. I’ll plan to add who has Staff Room Duty to the Zimbra Calendar later this week, but the rotation for the year is posted in the Staff Room now.

Staff Room:
The staff room is available for teachers, guest teachers, and visiting volunteers. Students should not eat or be in the staff room.

Cleaning schedule:
The communications leadership member will create a staffroom duty schedule. The schedule is posted and emailed at the beginning of the school year. Cleaning the staff room involves wiping tables, loading, starting, and unloading the dishwasher daily, cleaning the microwaves and sink. Notify office staff if cleaning supplies are low. The team in charge will be responsible for a 1 week period.

Agreements:
• Everyone should assist in keeping the staff room areas clean by:
• Staff should rinse their own dishware and add to the dishwasher
• Grey bucket upside down means the washer is ready for loading; grey bucket right side up means washer is running and dishes may be rinsed and added
• Covering food in microwave; wipe up own spills
• Remove their own leftover food and drink from the refrigerator before it spoils
• Teachers may use the outer tables to display unwanted materials. They may be displayed for 1 week, after which the teacher is required to remove all leftover items. (Discuss this policy)

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

September 25 (M)
Dynamos/Title 1 Groups Begin (tentative)
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:15, Allan Reading to Class
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

September 26 (T)
Dynamos/Title 1st & 2nd Reading Groups Begin
5:00-6:30, Curriculum Night
⁃ 5:00-5:25, Grades K/1
⁃ 5:30-5:55, Grades 2/3
⁃ 6:00-6:25, Grades 4/5
⁃ 5:30-6:30, Pizza in the Cafeteria

September 27 (W)
Happy Birthday to Me!
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Leadership Plan (Library)

September 28 (H)
Dynamos/Title 3rd-5th Reading Groups Begin
Holt Night Out – DoughMo Cookies
10:15, Monday Announcer Tryouts (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)

September 29 (F)
8:00, Allan Reading to Class
2:45, Allan & SPED Team Meeting w/SSD Admin

October 2 (M)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up

October 3 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meeting

October 4 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – SafeSchools/Vector Modules
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 5 (H)
Picture Day (Gym)
Health Screening (time is TBA)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Library)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

October 6 (F)
Fall Benchmarking Window Closes
8:05, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)

Here we go, team!

Allan

September 18, 2023

By Allan | 2023/09/16 17:37 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, P.D. | Comments Off

Hello Holt Staff,

It was a long week, but we’re building up our stamina, right?

Twenty-seven items of note for this week:

• New Building Behavior Support Assistant, Julie Zybach – We’re pleased to announce that Julie Zybach will be our new Building Behavior Support Assistant (i.e. Behavior EA), who many of you already know from a long-term sub job last year and this year subbing for Lisa P. in Title. Julie is also a Holt parent of a 5th grader, so we have a new member of the Holt Parent/Staff Member Club. Julie’s first official day in her new position will be Wednesday and Jenny and I are working on securing another EA Sub to take over. Please welcome Julie to Team Holt!

• Wednesday PD: Shared Staff Goals Development – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library will be an optional meeting to brainstorm shared building goals teachers can cut-and-paste into TalentEd as your goals for the year if you choose. With the district push for morning meetings at the elementary level, I was thinking that could be one area of focus. We might also possibly look at some of our equity based goals on our SCIP. I’ll try to draft a few ideas ahead of the meeting to get the ball rolling, but let me know if any of you have ideas as well.

• Fire Drill, FRIDAY, @8:20 – This Friday at 8:20 will be our first Fire Dill of the year. It’s fine for teachers let students know about the drill ahead of time to do pre-teaching before it happens, since this is our first one of the year.

See the Holt Staff Handbook for complete details on Fire Drill Procedures, but highlights are:

• Students and staff clear the building, following the Evacuation Routes Map.
• Teachers should take their Emergency Binders (let me know if you do not have one).
• Classes walk single file to their marked spot at soft play/playground (see map).
• Students at specialists (PE, Music, Title, ELD, SPED, etc.) return to their homeroom teacher for attendance
• Teachers take attendance and raise their green card once all children are accounted for.
• Notify the admin or designee or of any missing/additional children in your line by raising the red card.
• Admin or designee running the drill will announce the all-clear when classes may return to the building.

On a related note, I’m planning on holding a “Safety Week” the week of Oct. 30th to review all the most common safety drills.

• Dynamo Math Groups Delayed – Due to staffing issues, the start of Dynamos math groups will be delayed until late October or early November. Dynamos reading groups start:

1st-2nd grade start Tuesday, Sept. 26
3rd-5th grade start Thursday, Sept. 28
Kinder will start mid-October

• School Spirit Assembly, Sept. 29 @8:05 – We’ll have our monthly School Spirit Assembly on Friday, Sept. 28 in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:10, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:05. Stay tuned for details! The first spirit day theme will be “Ultimate Holt Spirit Day” where we encourage kids and staff to deck themselves out in Holt Colors (purple and green) or Holt Gear!

• PTO Updates – Here is the PTO Event Calendar for the year. The first big event is the Costume BINGO & Trunk-or-Treat event for Thursday, October 26th, which will take place during the Book Fair. They might also have some food trucks come. The Spring Carnival is planned for April and the Holt Bolt Jog-a-Thon will be in May (so we can better avoid fall rain or bad air quality)

• YMCA Student Roster – Not on my blog, but attached to my announcements email is a list of all the students enrolled in YMCA.

• Hispanic Heritage Month Resources – Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. Helpful resources can be found on the Library Lowdown Hispanic Heritage Month Slide, Hispanic Heritage Month Collection on Sora, Common Sense Media, and the US Gov Hispanic Heritage Month Teacher Site.

• Stop, Walk, Talk Reminder – Staff decided last spring to teach Stop, Walk, Talk for common language for kids to solve minor (non-phsycial) problems on their own. I’ll put this on a futrue Wednesday PD to review with teacher, but if people want to teacher want to review this with student earlier, we we agreed last year to use lessons 1 and 2 of the Stop, Walk, Talk Bully Prevention Lessons. Lesson 1 takes about 50 minutes and lesson 2 takes about 30 minutes. Lessons 3, 4, and 5 offer additional practice for specific situations (Gossip, Inappropriate Remarks, and Cyberbullying) if teachers would like to cover these as well.

I’m also a fan of this short Stop, Walk, Talk YouTube Video done in the style of a silent film to teach kids how to use it.

• Visitors & Volunteers – With COVID restrictions on visitors and volunteers gone, I’d asked for clarification on the current 4J Volunteer/Visitor Policy and I got the answer I was hoping for, which is that any parent, guardian, or adult coming into the building (whether a visitor or volunteer) needs to sign-in at the front office and also have completed a background check.

For volunteers, we are no longer limited to volunteering only for safety or instruction.

For visitors, a change from pre-COVID rules is we are no longer allowing the flood of parents in the morning to walk their children to class or breakfast, without first signing in at the office and having a completed background check on file.

The only exception to this is for scheduled meetings (IEP, 504, conferences, etc.) or large school events (open house, curriculum night, family night, PTO meetings, school carnivals, book fairs, etc.).

• Student Head Injury Reporting – Not new, but a reminder that 4J policy requires parent notification for all student head injuries. Linked here is the Head Injury Notification Letter and below are the steps to follow:

1. Student experiences head injury
2. Staff member completes letter and notifies guardians.
3. School nurse receives email notice of letter to guardian
4. If child is diagnosed with concussion or activity restrictions, guardians notify school.

More info can be found on the 4J Students with Concussions Webpage.

• FREE White Board Easel (broken wheel) – Does anyone want a free white board easel? The only catch is it has a broken wheel, so it probably needs to be stationary for the most part.

• School Board Policy AAC: Racial Harassment – Schools are required to inform and instruct students on School Board Policy ACC – Racial Harassment. District staff are working to take the policy and turn into a kid friendly presentation for elementary schools to use with students. More info can be found on the 4J Hate & Bias Resources Webpage.

• Use 4jdesktop or Freshservice for Tech Support – Please do not grab Rob in the hallway if you need tech support. Instead, put in a ticket by emailing 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu or using the 4J Freshservice Website. This documents what all is being asked of Rob at Holt and is what determines future TSS staffing levels at our building. On a related not, Erica Bowman is taking over for Rob this week. She may not be on site as much, but if you put in a ticket, she will come out if it’s something she can’t take care of remotely from downtown.

• Raptor Alert App on Pause – For folks not at the Staff Meeting or who missed it in the minutes, principals were emailed last week that use of the Raptor Alert App is on pause to address some tech issues. I’l keep folks posted for when we’re ready to try it again.

• Raptor Alert on Personal Devices – It was asked during inservice week the rules around installing the Reptor Alert App on personal vs. school devices. Principals were told building staff can choose to add this app to their personal device, however it is not a requirement. In my opinion, the app loses most of its usefulness since staff do not carry their laptop or iPad with them at all times, and even if they did you’d lose wifi as soon as you left the building. Downtown is working on a new training for staff on Raptor Alert, so we’ll see if they address this issue or not, but I’m thinking reunification situations would most likely rely on paper/paper and not the app.

• Equity & Inclusion Administrator Draft Job Description – If you’re interested, here is the Draft Equity & Inclusion Administrator Job Description, which takes the place of SSD Admins, though Angela Crum is still the district admin for Sheldon Region.

• Kid Art for CASA of Lane County – Former Holt teacher Jacque Barton is looking for student artwork that could be used for thank you and holiday cards for CASA of Lane County. See Jacque’s Email for details, but the short version is:

Thank-You Ideas: Ocean scenes, birds, cats and dogs, family, nature, abstract, etc.

Holiday Art Ideas: Fall trees, pumpkins, scarecrows, winter scenes, snowmen, penguins, mittens, hot coco, etc.

No Pokemon, but email artwork to Jacque Barton <jacqueb@casa-lane.org> or she can pick-up them up at the office.

• 4J Air Quality Info – Downtown emailed principals the current air quality guidelines they are following. Nothing seems different than before except I noticed they said schools will provide staff with N95 masks for any staff wanting one when AQI goes over 100.

• WREN Newsletter & Workshops – The latest WREN Newsletter has several new PD opportunities for both classified and licensed staff. Most of them are virtual and most of them offer a stipend if you attend. Check them out!

• UO Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Study – See this flyer if you’d be interested in doing a 30-60 minute Zoom interviews on DEI and then receive a $25 Amazon gift card for completing the interview.

• Holt Resource Map (add your info) – I’ll put this on a future Wednesday PD or Staff Meeting, but downtown wants all school to complete a “Resource Map” that lists licensed staff members’ degrees, endorsements, certifications, areas of expertise, etc. If you’re so inclined, add you info now to the Holt Staff Resource Map.

• SSD September Newsletter – If you are interested, here’s the September SSD Newsletter that was send to SPED teachers and principals. Lots of info in this one on info about Abbreviated School Days, meeting types, IEP timelines, mental health, and a newly created position.

• MagicSchool.ai Educator AI Tool – Here’s an educator specific AI tool called MagicSchool.ai. You can use it to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, create rubrics, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more. I tired it asking “Raina” to write a SMART Goal for elementary morning meetings and got a far better result than I did from ChatGPT.

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• TalentEd Self-Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed staff, need to complete the Self-Assessment/reflection in TalentEd by Sept. 30.

• PBIS Common Area Rules Review – If you haven’t already, review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow with your class.

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – Let me know a 10 minutes block of time I can come and visit sometime this month to introduce myself and read a story to your class.

• SELCO’s Educator Grants, Due 9/30 – SELCO’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grant Program offers grants up to $1,000, which are due Sept. 30th.

• Holt Spirit Gear Sale Deadline, TUESDAY – See Ashely’s Email for details, but the limited edition Holt Spirit Gear Sale ends Sept. 20.

• Team Sign-Ups – Feel free to add you name to the Team Sign-Ups Spreadsheet.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Inside Recess – Since we very nearly had to do inside recess last week due to poor air quality, this week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook seemed timely, which is on Inside Recess. Teachers should note of posting above your door your inside recess expectations/choices for students:

Inside Recess:

Indoor recess takes place in individual classrooms under the supervision of EA personnel. Having quiet activities available to students (board games, cards, coloring materials, hopscotch, manipulatives, etc.) is important.

Expectations:
• Students may not go in the cubbies
• No electronics. This includes iPads or classroom computers
• Students should choose a seated activity
• Games and activities should be provided and taught
• Students must stay in their own classroom
• Permission is needed by supervision staff to use the bathroom
• When the lights turn off turn and look at the adult by the door
• Classroom expectations/choices should be posted above your classroom door
• A trial plan is in place for allowing some access for under cover supervision during recesses
• Classroom teachers will have expectations in Guest Teacher binder and post on the wall (near or above the door) what room expectations are.
• All certified staff will teach their students what appropriate activities are prior to the first indoor recess.

Supervision:
• EAs and additional staff will be assigned to hallways and classrooms for supervision
• Teachers will take inside recess as their regular break time and are not required to supervise classes

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

September 18 (M)
Dental Packets Due
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
9:00, Allan to Parent Meeting
2:45, Allan to 504 Plan Meeting

September 19 (T)
Talk Like a Pirate Day
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Library)

September 20 (W)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Optional Staff Shared Goals Planning
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

September 21 (H)
Regular Day

September 22 (F)
Regular Day

September 25 (M)
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

September 26 (T)
Dynamos/Title 1st & 2nd Reading Groups Begin
5:00-6:30, Curriculum Night
⁃ 5:00-5:25, Grades K/1
⁃ 5:30-5:55, Grades 2/3
⁃ 6:00-6:25, Grades 4/5
⁃ 5:30-6:30, Pizza in the Cafeteria

September 27 (W)
Happy Birthday to Me!
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Stop, Walk, Talk Review

September 28 (H)
Dynamos/Title 3rd-5th Reading Groups Begin
Holt Night Out – DoughMo Cookies
10:15, Monday Announcer Tryouts (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)

September 29 (F)
Regular Day

And we’re three weeks away from our first four-day week, but who’s counting?

Allan

September 11, 2023

By Allan | 2023/09/09 21:02 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, P.D. | Comments Off

Hello Team,

We made it through our first week of school in one piece!

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

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

• Morning Announcements, Monday @8:00 – I’ll start doing Monday morning announcements this week at 8:00 on Zoom. The Zoom link is on the Staff Zimbra Calendar. I’ll do them at this time each Monday until we have our usual student news crew in place. I’ll do a few short announcements and end with the Pledge of Allegiance. Add you name to the Pledge of Allegiance Sign-Up if you’d like some students from your class to lead the pledge.

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) Begins Monday – The FFVP program will start Monday. 5th grade student volunteers will deliver snacks to classes in the morning. Nutrition Services never gave me the official procedures, but going off past experience with the program:

• Raw fresh fruits or vegetables will be delivered each morning in bags.
• Staff or students passing out snacks should wash hands or wear gloves.
• Fruits or Vegetables should be served daily (not saved overnight)
• Leftovers should be sent home with students

There were some supply chain issues last year that resulted in no snacks on short weeks, but I haven’t heard if that’s the case this year or not, but there’s a short week Oct. 9, so we’ll find out in a four more weeks.

• N.E. Parking Lot on Monday – Be aware that four spots in the north eastern part of the parking lot along Calvin St.will be coned off for Facilities and EWEB work on an underground water pipe leak. I can’t remember the exact amount (Jeremy knows), but it’s a pretty massive amount of water continuously leaking.

• Short Recesses on Wednesdays – A reminder, now that Wednesday is our early release day, this is also the day we have shorter 15-minute recesses, so remember to blow the while and to pick up your classes 5-minutes early.

• Wednesday PD: SafeSchools Modules – I’ll probably keep our Wednesday PD times limited to business times until our Leadership Plan is officially approved and the Equity & Inclusion Team and Leadership Team have time to plan our PDs for the year. This Wednesday will be one of three Wednesdays where staff will be given time to complete the Vector/SafeSchools training modules. PRO-TIP: If you didn’t know already, the modules allow you to take the test first, if you’re feeling cocky. ;)

• Behavior EA Interviews Wednesday – I’m screening candidates this weekend and will set up interviews for this Wednesday after school if anyone would like to help in hiring our second Building Behavior Support Assistant (BBSA). We had 19 applicants, so that’s hopeful for finding someone good!

• Wednesday PD Next Week: Optional Staff Shared Goals Planning – Wednesday next week will be time for any staff interested in drafting shared licensed SMART goals folks have the option of cuttting-and-pasting into TalentEd. For reference, here are the 22-23 Optional Shared Staff Goals, which were a little light on the “Measurable” part of SMART, but we had an okay from the Licensed HR Admin since SEL was still a mandated focus from ODE.

• CORRECTION: Fall Benchmark Testing – See Debbi and Jenny’s Emails for details, but the short version is ~~Title 1 EAs will begin pulling students next week to administers individual easyCBM assessments for falll benchmarking, though teachers can choose to begin testing earlier on your own.~~

CORRECTION on EasyCBM fall benchmarking:

Week of Sept. 11-15: Title EAs pull last year’s Title students to hallway for Title screeners (NOT EasyCBM)

Week of Sept. 18-22: Title EAs monitor classrooms while teachers pull all students to hallway for EasyCBM testing one on one

Remember to check 504s and IEPs for accommodations. A schedule for for the week of Sept. 18 is coming soon.

• Title EA Support – Be aware that although Title 1 groups have not started yet that EAs are scheduled for push-in and other duties. It’s fine to ask someone on the fly for help, but be aware they may need to say, “Sorry, I can’t help, I’m supposed to be doing ______ right now.”

• Building Meetings Prior to Leadership Plan Approval? – I put this on the Thursday’s Staff Meeting Agenda, but do we want to go ahead and hold meetings such as Leadership and PBIS/SEL before knowing if our Leadership Plan has been approved and before we officially know who’s on those teams? I’m fine either way, cancelling until the plan is approved or going ahead and meeting with interested staff, but I wanted folks to know our first of these building meetings are on the calendar for next week with PBIS/SEL on Tuesday and Leadership on Thursday.

• EA TEAC3H Training Opportunity – Shared at the Back-to-School Classified Staff Meeting, there’s a PD opportunity for EAs to learn strategies for student behavior support. It is asynchronous, takes 20-25 minutes a month for STEP 1 and 2 for each module (there are 8 modules over the course of the year). Step 3 and 4 are practice-based and take about 5 minutes each within Canvas (outside of “practicing” the skill with kids). It takes 2-3 weeks to complete each module. Participants will receive a $40 (VISA or Amazon) gift for a pre-and post-survey, as well as a $20 (VISA or Amazon) gift if you do a brief interview in the spring. See the Pilot Program Intro Video for details and let me know if any of you are interested.

• Request for Student / Classroom Support – A reminder we combined our assistance forms, so staff should complete the linked Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to request a CARE TEAM staff member to connect with you about a student’s attendance, academics, behavior, classroom management, instructional support, mental health, counseling, basic needs, etc. Also, Kim sent out the Scheduled Break Sign-Up Form to set up scheduled breaks, which will start the week of Sept 18, though right now most of Calming Room team is currently occupied with some new high flyer friends.

• Mental Health Therapist for Elem Schools – Based on current needs, downtown is prioritizing elementary schools for their Care & Advocacy (C&A) efforts to provide direct, on-site, mental health support one day a week. The C&A team will be providing mental health case consultation with administrators and counselors, meeting with referred students up to 3 times to help them build skills and strategies that will support their return to learning, and advocating for community resources as needed. I’ll keep folks posted when this will start, but referrals can be made through the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form.

• DHS Abuse/Neglect Reporting on Dataport – As a reminder, staff are to use Dataport to report all incidents of child abuse and/or neglect. This link can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard. Do note that you cannot view Dataport unless you are connected to the 4J Network at school or logged on with a 4J VPN from home. Step-by-step instructions for reporting can be found on the 4J Instructions and Forms for Reporting to DHS Webpage, but directions are more clear on the 4J Student Safety Website, which actually links to Dataport. Linked here are DHS Reporting Training Slides that were presented to counselors. And don’t forget the DHS Call Pro-Tip for skipping the long hold time. When you call, once you start hearing the recording, press 1 and then 6, which will skip you ahead in line to the next screener.

• Start of the Year Feedback – The first week of school seemed to fairly go well besides some high intensity new friends, but let me know your thoughts on anything we should do different so I can make note of that for next year.

• Free LGBTQ+ Books – District admin shared with principals you can Request a FREE Set of LGBTQ+ Affirming K-12 Books from GLSEN. There are four grade-range options: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, or 9-12. LGBTQ+ students at schools with an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum, which includes LGBTQ+ affirming books, have higher GPAs, are less likely to hear anti-LGBTQ remarks at school, and are less likely to report missing school due to feeling unsafe. Resources are limited and will be prioritized in part on a first come, first served basis.

• Staff Walk-Up Song Quiz RESULTS! – Ashley R. is the lucky winner who correctly guessed the most Staff Walk-Up Songs with 6 right answers! Here’s a Spotify and YouTube playlist of all the songs and here is everyone’s song picks in the order of submission. Thanks for playing along, everyone!

1. Allan Chinn – No More Mr. Nice Guy (Alice Cooper)
2. Allan Chinn – The Boss (James Brown)
3. Lesli Harmon – Almost There (Princess and the Frog)
4. Ben Duncan – I Still Believe (Tim Cappella)
5. Annie Carpenter – HYFR (Drake)
6. Katharine Ankeney – Roam (B-52’s)
7. Katie Gulewich – Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N Roses)
8. Desiree Talley – if I were a fish (Olivia Barton)
9. Jenny Potter – Beautiful Day (U2)
10. Kim McManus – The Champion (Carrie Underwood)
11. Tracy Zehner – Crowd Chant (Joe Satriani)
12. Leah Willow – ME (Taylor Swift)
13. Caitlin Benavides – Energy (Beyoncé)
14. Caitlin Benavides – Come on Eileen (Save Ferris)
15. Ashley Reich – September (Earth, Wind & Fire)
16. Kelsey Hicks – Let me Clear My Throat (DJ Kool)
17. Emily Henson – Lip Gloss (Lil Mama)
18. Sharon Alberts – Treat People with Kindness (Harry Styles)
19. Lisa Zluticky – Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen)
20. Debbi Henrich – What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger (Kelly Clarkson)
21. Molly Beick – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
22. Ben Duncan – Triumph Song (Wu-Tang Clan)

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details, but take note of:

• PBIS Playground Rules Round-Up MON & TUES – The Playground Rules Round-Up will be Monday at 8:15 for 1st and 2nd grade and Tuesday at 1:45 for 3rd, 4th, & 5th Grade. See the station assignment and maps for where classes start and the rotation order.

MONDAY, Sept. 11 @8:15
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:

1. Structures (Gori)
2. Swings & General rules (Willow)
3. Hard Play, Boundaries (Zluticky)
4. Four Square, Kickball, Wallball, Gaga Ball (Bemiller, Rahborn)
5. Equipment, Lining Up, Restrooms (Gulleckson, Norton)

TUESDAY, Sept. 12 @1:45
5-Minute Rotations (4 min. talk, 1 min. transition)
Classes start at:

1. Structures (Ball, Harshbarger)
2. Swings & General rules (Talley, Longoria)
3. Hard Play, Boundaries (Benavides, Cobb)
4. Four Square, Kickball, Wallball, Gaga Ball (Reich, Heinrich)
5. Equipment, Lining Up, Restrooms (Parks, Ayres)

Reviewing the stations are #1 Vicki, #2 Ben, #3 Felicia, #4 Allan, and #5 Annie, though other available staff can come out to help review the Playground & Recess Supervisors Guidelines.

• PBIS Common Area Rules Review – If you haven’t already, review the PBIS Common Area Rules Review Slideshow with your class.

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – Let me know a 10 minutes block of time I can come and visit sometime this month to introduce myself and read a story to your class.

• SELCO’s Educator Grants, Due 9/30 – SELCO’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grant Program offers grants up to $1,000, which are due Sept. 30th.

• Holt Spirit Gear Sale Deadline, Next Week – See Ashely’s Email for details, but the limited edition Holt Spirit Gear Sale ends September 20th.

• Team Sign-Ups – Feel free to add you name to the Team Sign-Ups Spreadsheet.

• Insurance Open Enrollment Deadline, FRIDAY – 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.

• Love Food Not Waste Resources – Kids are doing pretty good sorting food in the cafeteria, but it would be great if teachers can review the food waste sorting route by showing the 3-minute video 4J Loves Food Not Waste. If it’s helpful, there’s also a Teacher One-Pager and also a Slideshow, which can all be found on the 23/24 Elementary Love Food Not Waste Resources Folder.

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

Monday Mailers:
• All school based flyers MUST go home on Mondays. Do not send school information home on other days of the week. This is to provide consistency for families.
• Flyers will be in staff boxes by Friday at noon if they are intended to go out the next week
• K-4 will use same Monday envelope; 5th will use a folder in their binder

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

September 11 (M)
Fall Benchmarking Window Opens
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) Begins
Library Lessons Begin
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:15-8:45, PBIS Rules Round-Up, 1st & 2nd (Playground)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

September 12 (T)
10:35, Allan Reading to Class
1:45-2:15, PBIS Rules Round-Up, 3rd, 4th, 5th (Playground)

September 13 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – SafeSchools/Vector Modules
1:30-2:45, Behavior EA Interviews (Library)

September 14 (H)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, Holt PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

September 15 (F)
OEBB Open Enrollment Deadline

September 18 (M)
Library Checkout Begins
Dental Packets Due
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:05, Allan Reading to Class

September 19 (T)
Talk Like a Pirate Day
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Library)

September 20 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Optional Staff Shared Goals Planning
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

September 21 (H)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Library)

September 22 (F)
Regular Day

Let’s get ready for our first full week of school, everyone!

Allan

August 28, 2023

By Allan | 2023/08/26 19:40 Posted in Announcements, Articles, P.D., Technology, Video | Comments Off

Greetings Holt Bolts,

It was great seeing licensed staff last Friday and I’m looking forward to seeing the whole team back together again later this week!

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Behavior EAs TBA – We have two strong candidates we’re waiting on HR to make a job offer. Hopefully our new folks can start soon!

• ALL Licensed Staff to Conscious Discipline PD – Downtown asked principals to clarify that all licensed staff (counselors, PE, Music, SPED, Title, SSC, Library, Coaches, etc) and not just classroom teachers are supposed to attend.

• Snacks to Expect at Meetings – Monday we will have snackey types of food and coffee. Thursday we’ll have breakfast burritos, coffee, and my usual assortment of breakfast snacks. Friday is a shorter meeting will be leftover snacks.

• Master Schedule Notes – Two items on the 23-24 Master Schedule.

• EA Schedules – The 2023-2024 Master Schedule now includes the EA Schedule, though if folks spot anything that looks off, we can adjust.

• Specialist Schedule Corrections – We noticed the PE/Music/Library Specialist tab on the 23-24 Master Schedule is off for a few grades, so we’ll be working this week to make sure the specialist tab matches the times on the main tab.

• ParentSquare Info – If you were taken aback and surprised by the 4J Email and 4J Staff Update that went out to staff and families saying “All district and school, grade level and classroom information” will now come via ParentSquare, principals and Elementary Directors were also taking by surprise. We haven’t heard a training timeline or rollout plan yet, but it is live now if staff want to try it out. The Tech Department linked to resources below, but it’s pretty intuitive and user friendly, so I was able to figure it out without reading any directions and will use it from now on for parent and family communications. It really is a pretty slick app and gives you all sorts of information views, languages selected, types of devices, and other stats. Teachers don’t have to use it yet until we get rollout information, but you can feel free to try it if you’d like.

ParentSquare Training Videos
ParentSquare Training Materials
ParentSquare Teacher Guide

• Classroom Newsletters to Allan – I’d like to have copies of classroom newsletters when teachers send them out to families. I’m not positive you can CC on ParentSquare, but you can in Synergy. 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! Let me know if anyone tries ParentSquare. I may be able to see posts as the building admin on the app.

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – As teachers start planning, I’d like to do my annual 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 10 minutes block of time I can come and visit sometime this month. Thank you!

• easyCBM Assessment Windows – The current easyCBM windows have been 6 weeks at each benchmark assessment. There has been some discussion on a district team that this is too wide of a window and measurable growth happens in that 6 week window, so downtown is shortening that window to 3 weeks and will bring us a draft schedule soon. Stay tuned for more info.

• TalentEd Self-Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed staff, need to complete the Self-Assessment/reflection in TalentEd by Sept. 30. Licensed Staff need to complete the Goals Development Form by Oct. 30. Once school gets started I’ll plan to again put a team together to create some optional building goals licensed staff can use if they would like.

• Self-Evaluation and Goals Guidance – For the self-evaluation, when you score yourself between Ineffective, Area for Growth, Effective, or Exemplary, most people will be in the Area for Growth or Effective range. If you score yourself Exemplary, that’s an area you should be teaching others across the district. It’s also totally fine to mark ineffective if that’s where you think you are.

For goals, I would say don’t make extra work for yourself and pick a goal you’re actually planning to work on. Licensed staff need to come up with a measurable SMART Goal, but for classified staff pick something like committing to trying Conscious Discipline practices or working on learning more kids names or working to keep your small group materials better organized. Essentially, make it a practical goal.

• BIPOC Mental Health Support – If you know of any BIPOC students in needs of counseling or mental health support, Looking Glass is now offering free services to families. I’ll put this in the Quick News, but keep this in the back of your mind for students who might benefit. See Megan, Kim, or Allan to make a referral or use the CARE Team Request Form.

• Ed Tech Update Highlights – I wanted to highlight an EdSurge Article in the latest 4J Ed Tech Update about using ChatGPT. Make a free account with your 4J or personal email and try it out! Use it to answer a tricky parent email (“Write an email reply saying why elementary kids should not wear Crocs to PE.” or “Write a lesson plan for a hands on activity teaching double digit subtraction.” or “Write an elementary parent newsletter article telling them only heathy snacks are allowed.” I started trying it last spring and it was a great timesaver. I always had to edit what it somewhat, but AI did most of the heavy lifting. Also noteworthy in the update, the Back to School Resources from ShakeUpLearning looked worth checking out.

• Beginning of the School Year: Safety/Injury Prevention Message – Risk Management asked principals to remind staff to stay safe while setting up your classroom; using safety ladders instead of chairs, using carts or hand trucks to move heavy items, consider stretching first, and using the “Green Zone” versus yellow or red zones for lifing heavy items. See the Risk Management Email for details.

• On the Road w/Steve Hartman: Kindness 101 – Here’s a cool news story about a 5th grade teacher who for 15 years has tried to promote kindness by showing a different On the Road with Steve Hartman segment each day (a revival of the old old Charles Kuralt segment us old timers might remember). This prompted CBS to create a Kindness 101 Facebook Group for Teachers. If you want to check out some of the segments or possibly show them to your students, here’s a CBS Evening News YouTube Playlist, which has over 500 segments, and a CBS Sunday Morning YouTube Playlist, with nearly 300 more. Segments are only 2-3 minutes and could be an easy way to show kids stories of kids and adults working to make the world a better place.

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details, but take note of:

• Holt Spirit Gear Sale Deadline, Sept. 20 – See Ashely’s Email for details, but the limited edition Holt Spirit Gear Sale ends September 20th.

• Inservice Week Schedule – Linked here is the 4J Elementary Inservice Week Schedule.

• Team Sign-Ups – Feel free to add you name to the Team Sign-Ups Spreadsheet.

• Staff Walk-Up Songs – Add your “Walk-Up Song” to the Staff Walk-Up Song Survey.

• Holt Staff Fun Facts – Add or update your info to the Holt Staff Fun Facts Spreadsheet.

• Breakfast Burrito Orders Due MONDAY – Fill out the Breakfast Burrito Google Form by 12:00am, Monday, August 28th to get one at the 8/31 Staff Meeting.

• Make Sure Your Voicemail is Set Up – All teachers should ensure your 4J voicemail is set up and working. See the Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for how to set it up.

• Class List Email Friday Afternoon, Sept. 1 after 3:00 – Teachers should plan on message families through Synergy or ParentSquare a welcome letter to families of all students in your class on Friday, September 1st after 3:00.

• Elementary Testing Coordinator – Anyone interested in taking over as the testing coordinator (easyCBM & OSAS) for a 2% salary stipend? Let me know if you are interested or have any questions. I’ve done testing coordination before and can help whoever takes on this duty.

• SPED EA Professional Development – SPED EAs will attend a Zoom PD session this Friday from 12:30-2:30 to learn about a new intervention curriculum, UFLI Foundations. If this is outside of anyone’s normal work hours, balance your hours over the course of this week. The Zoom link will likely come in an email and/or will be posted on the Inservice Week Schedule.

• Insurance Open Enrollment Deadline, Sept. 15 – 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.

• 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 28 (M)
8:00-11:00 – Building PD – Leadership Plan, Licensed Staff Nuts & Bolts
12:00, Breakfast Burrito Orders Due
12:30-4:00 – Conscious Discipline PD (Holt Gym/Cafeteria)

August 29 (T)
8:00-11:30 – Teacher Prep
12:30-4:00 – Conscious Discipline PD (Holt Gym/Cafeteria)
6:00-7:00 – Holt PTO Board Meeting (Library)

August 30 (W)
Classified Staff Report Back
9:00-11:00 – 4J Welcome Back Event (Sheldon HS Track)
11:00-12:00, Lunch and Transition Time
12:00-4:00 – Grade Level & Specialist PD (See LINK for locations)

August 31 (H)
7:30-11:15 – Building PD – SCIP, Equity, Nuts & Bolts (All Staff, Cafeteria)
7:30-8:00, Snacks and Socializing
8:00-11:15, Meeting Time
11:45-3:30 – Building PD – Structured Collaboration

September 1 (F)
8:00-10:00 – Building PD – BEPA, SEL (Licensed Staff, Library)
10:00-11:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
11:00-12:00, Optional New Staff Orientation and Q&A (Library)
12:30-2:30, SPED EA Training (Zoom)
12:30-3:30 – Teacher Prep

September 4 (M)
Labor Day – No School

September 5 (T)
7:30-9:00 – Staff Meeting, If Needed (Library)
2:00-3:00, Meet Your Teacher (Classrooms)
2:30-3:30, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Playground)

September 6 (W)
Kinder Starts
Grades 1-5 Structured Collaboration & Support of Kinder Smart Start

September 7 (H)
All Grade Levels Start

September 8 (F)
1:30-2:00, Welcome Back Assembly (Gym or Outside)

See you, all, soon!

Allan

August 14, 2023

By Allan | 2023/08/12 09:14 Posted in Announcements, P.D. | Comments (1)

Hi Everyone,

Keep on summering, like you’ve never summered before!

Twelve items of note for this week:

• 7-hour EA Job Posting Update – The 7-hour EA position I mentioned in my last announcements that all schools are getting has been changed by downtown to a 6.5-hour Building Behavior Support Assistant (BBSA) Position (i.e. Levi’s position). This means we’ll have two Behavior EAs next year. The job posting is a pool hire and I’m not quite sure how the hiring process will go, but I’ll keep folks posted.

• Class List Email Friday, Sept. 1 after 3:00 – 4J is continuing the practice of classroom teachers emailing families class placement instead of posting class lists outside of the office. Teachers should plan on sending a welcome email through Synergy to families of all students in your class after 3:00 on Friday, September 1st.

• Holt PBIS Incentive Programs – A reminder for Holt veterans and an explanation for newbies, linked here is an explanation of Holt’s Positive Incentives, which includes ZAPs, Orange Tickets, Spirit Tickets, the ZAP Fairy, and prize explanations. See the Holt Staff Dashboard Behavior Column for more info, including the ZAP Prize List, the ZAP Drawing Nomination Sheet, and others.

• Elementary Testing Coordinator – Since there are no longer ESCs, we are in need of someone to take over test coordination. The EEA contact offers a stipend of 2% of your total salary for whoever takes over this duty, which covers both easyCBM benchmark testing and OSAS. Let me know if you are interested or have any questions. I’ve done testing coordination before and can certainly help whoever takes on this duty.

• Air Quality Index (AQI) Correction – An AQI greater than 150 (not 200) is when we move recess and any other outdoor activities inside and we are to use using PurpleAir (not AirNow.gov).

• New Student Screening Coming: SAEBRS – Downtown shared the following with principals about a new Social, Academic, Emotional, Behavioral Rating Scale (SAEBRS) we’ll have students take three times a year:

As part of our MTSS journey, and in alignment with best practices in supporting our students’ mental and behavioral health, we will be adding a social/emotional benchmark screener to our activities this year. The Social, Academic, Emotional, Behavioral Rating Scale (SAEBRS) is a research-based, nationally-recognized rating scale that teachers use to capture a snapshot of student behaviors, and older students can even rate themselves. Much like an academic benchmarking tool (like easyCBM), the SAEBRS is simply one piece of data that building teams can use when determining how to provide supports to their students. Four of our schools piloted the SAEBRS in 2021 and found the results to be very helpful in understanding student needs. The ratings will happen three times per year, starting in mid/late October, will take 2-3 minutes per student, and can be completed entirely through Clever. There is nothing that you need to do now. More information to come!

• Safe Schools Training Modules – The normal training courses are scheduled to publish on August 21. They will include AED, BBP, Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting, Understanding Boundaries, and a new one called Influences of Unconscious Bias in the Classroom. There may be more added, but these will be available when staff return to the building.

• State Law for Students on Abbreviated Days – I mentioned in my last announcements that all elementary schools are getting additional EA time as a result of changes in state law that could lead to more students on shortened school days coming back full time. If you are interested linked here is an Abbreviated School Days: Impacts of SB 819 Slideshow that contains more info. We only have one student on a shortened scheduled, but this new law is going to greatly impact high schools and online programs. The short version is that schools now need to hold a meeting every 30 days for any student with an IEP or 504 or who are in the process of being evaluate for either to decide on a shortened day (unless the parent signs off on meeting every 90 days). Parent can now opt out of a shortened day at any point versus prior rules where it was a team decision. Also, the superintendent must now personally review the complete records of every student on a shortened schedule and if a district is found not in compliance the superintendent’s license will be sanctioned.

• Student Teacher Laptops, Email, Badge, etc. – See Step #3 at the bottom of the 4J University Student Placement Process webpage for how to get your student teacher a 4J laptop, email, badge, Synergy, and/or Seesaw access.

• Math Adoption Coming – 4J is beginning a two year math adoption process. The adoption will be K-10, which is a first for 4J.

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details, but take note of the following:

• Inservice Week Schedule – Linked here is the Elementary Inservice Week Schedule.

• Optional New Staff Member Orientation and Q&A, 9/1 @10:00 – Friday, Sept. 1 at 10:00 in the library I’ll share some Holt nuts & bolts logistics, answer questions, and provide any assistance for new folks.

• Draft Leadership Plan – Linked here is a Draft 23-24 Leadership Plan. We need to submit a draft plan to JCAC by Sept. 1. Take a look and let me know your ideas ahead of the 8/28 Staff Meeting.

• 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 on the 23-24 Master Schedule for Library, PE, and Music.

• Team Sign-Ups – Feel free to add you name to the Team Sign-Ups Spreadsheet.

• Artist in Residence Survey – Pick your top five artists for the Artist in Residence Survey.

• Staff Walk-Up Songs – Add your “Walk-Up Song” to the Staff Walk-Up Song Survey.

• Holt Staff Fun Facts – Add or update your info to the Holt Staff Fun Facts Spreadsheet.

• Welcome Back Burritos, Coffee, & Supplies! Friday, 8/25 @9:00! – Burritos, coffee, school supplies, and socializing Friday, August 25th at 9:00 in the School Garden from Project Hope!

• Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/28 – Fill out the Breakfast Burrito Google Form by 12:00am, Monday, August 28 to get one at the 8/31 Staff Meeting.

• Make Sure Your Voicemail is Set Up – All teachers should have your 4J voicemail is set up and working. See the linked Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for instructions.

• 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 25 (F)
Licensed Staff Report Back
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Welcome Back Burritos, Coffee, & Supplies! (School Garden)

August 28 (M)
8:00-11:00 – Building PD – Leadership Plan, Licensed Staff Nuts & Bolts
12:00, Breakfast Burrito Orders Due
12:30-4:00 – Conscious Discipline PD (Holt Gym/Cafeteria)

August 29 (T)
8:00-12:00 – Teacher Prep
12:30-4:00 – Conscious Discipline PD (Holt Gym/Cafeteria)
6:00-7:00 – Holt PTO Board Meeting (Library)

August 30 (W)
Classified Staff Report Back
8:00-11:00 – 4J Welcome Back Event (Sheldon HS Track)
11:00-12:00, Lunch and Transition Time
12:00-4:00 – Grade Level & Specialist PD (See LINK for locations)

August 31 (H)
7:30-11:15 – Building PD – SCIP, Equity, Nuts & Bolts (All Staff, Cafeteria)
11:45-3:30 – Building PD – Structured Collaboration

September 1 (F)
8:00-10:00 – Building PD – BEPA, SEL (Licensed Staff, Library)
10:00-11:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
11:00-12:00, Optional New Staff Orientation and Q&A (Library)
12:30-3:30 – Teacher Prep

September 4 (M)
Labor Day – No School

September 5 (T)
7:30-9:00 – Staff Meeting, If Needed (Library)
2:00-3:00, Meet Your Teacher (Classrooms)
2:30-3:30, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Playground)

September 6 (W)
Kinder Starts
Grades 1-5 Structured Collaboration & Support of Kinder Start

September 7 (H)
All Grade Levels Start

September 8 (F)
1:30-2:00, Welcome Back Assembly (Gym or Outside)

Keep enjoying your summer!

Allan

May 15, 2023

By Allan | 2023/05/13 20:53 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, P.D., SEL, Technology, Video | Comments Off

Greetings Bolts,

This Monday is National Speech Pathologist Day, so a big shout out to our awesome SLP, Katharine, who we are so lucky to have here at Holt!

Twenty-five items of note for this week:

• 23-24 Staffing Updates – Two updates:

0.5 SPED TEACHER VACANCY – After previously changing their mind, SSD is once again moving Sheryl Carroll to Holt, where she will be 0.5 at Holt and 0.5 at YG. Sheryl is currently a SPED teacher at Edison.

SECRETARY & 0.2 PE/MUSIC – We held secretary interviews last Thursday and are waiting on HR to make a job offer. The part-time PE and Music Job Postings are now up and we have at least one solid candidate applying for each position, so we should be good for next year!

• Raptor & Fire Drill, THURSDAY @8:05 – Staff should now be able to log onto the Raptor app (iOS and Android) with your 4J email and password. Staff are not required to use the app for the May 18th fire drill at 8:05, but I’m going to initiate an evacuation on the app so staff can see how the app works during an emergency. Do note that staff are not required to install this app on your personal devices, but may do so if you choose. Next year, I think we should have all teachers use the app to account for students, so we are practiced using the app if there ever were a real emergency, especially for evacuation/reunification situation such at what happened at SEHS last week. Teachers not wanting to install the app on a personal device could install it on their district issued iPad and if you were out of wifi range could have a colleague mark your students accounted-for for you. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

• Holt Spring Carnival, FRIDAY, 6:00-8:00 – Remind your kids to bring the whole family (adult must be present with kids) to the Holt Spring Carnival this Friday from 6:00-8:00. There will be games, a cake walk, food trucks, free pizza (one slice per person), and a car bash! This is a free event.

• Friday PD: Curriculum – The 4J PD Calendar lists “Curriculum” and “SPED Educator Training” as the topic for this Friday’s PD, but nothing else has been shared with principals. If downtown doesn’t pull anything together, plan on this being additional individual and team prep time.

• Class Lists Due May 24th – Grade level teams should complete your 23-24 Class Lists by Wednesday, May 24th. After Team Meetings that day, lists will be available for classified and licensed staff to review and share feedback ahead of the June 6th Staff Meeting were grade levels will meet to share individual student information.

• Fundations + Math Student Consumable Order Due, May 26 – See this email for details, but remember that consumable orders for Fundations and Math are due Friday, May 26th. One person from each grade level should place your order.

• Holt Spirit Day, May 26th – Friday, May 26th is a Holt Spirit Day. We stole Wacky Hat Day for last month’s Spirit Day since Recycle Day didn’t quite play out, so stay tuned for the official theme. How about Mix-Up / Clash Day, where kids wear crazy mismatched clothes? That’s an easy one for all kids to participate. Stay tuned!

• 4th & 5th Assembly Monroe Victory Tour Performance – Monroe Middle School Band and Choir are performing for feeder school 4th and 5th graders. We’re waiting for confirmation, but we’re tentatively expecting the assembly to happen Friday, May 26th, 9:15-9:45 in the gym.

• Friday PD: Staff Choice – Friday, May 26th is Staff Choice. I plan to ask at the next prinicpal meeting if the ULD trainings are still happening. Seems the last few times they did not share out the Zoom links and I’m not sure they actually happening.

• Staff Social! Friday @4:00 on May 26th! – Location is TBA (don’t ask me to choose or else we’ll end up at The Embers on HWY99), but mark your calendar for our final Friday at 4:00 of the school year!

• May Spirt Assembly & Talent Show Combo Assembly, June 1 – Rather than hold two separate assemblies so close to one another, we’ll combine the May School Spirit Assembly and the Talent Show Assembly. May 26th will still be a spirit day (stay tuned on the theme since we moved up Wacky Hat Day), but we won’t have an assembly that day and will shift it to the Talent Show Assembly Date on Thursday, June 1st, doing drawing between acts and such.

• Responding to Racial Slurs Follow-Up – On the Zimbra Calendar, the Google Drive, The Staff Dashboard, and linked here is the Responding to Racial Slurs Slideshow. This slideshow contains a lot of ready-to-go activities and slides teachers can use. There’s also several links embedded in the slideshow including the Little Spot SEL Books, Indigenous People’s Day Resources, and videos of Don’t Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller and Marvelous Max – Autism Awareness for Kids. A future PD following next fall might be looking at what are the words and common language we might use for bias incidents.

On a related note, the 4J Equity Department added a page containing Specific Topic Resources for responding to issues of hate and bias.

• 23-24 Master Schedule Updates – Reps met last week and although it may not be a “Dream Schedule” it seems to at least be an “I Can Live with this Schedule.” This will be on the agenda for Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, but linked here is the Draft 23-24 Master Schedule. A couple caveats on the schedule are one, Title & SPED need to make sure Tier 3 times when there are two grade levels being served at the same time that they are not both heavy caseloads, and two, we are continuing to look at changing around the library schedule where we would do weekly 30-minute Library lessons and weekly 15-minute checkout time (most classes checking out on Wednesdays and a few on other days). Feel free to let me know ahead of Tuesday’s Staff Meeting if you have any questions.

• SEAL (i.e.Summer School) Classroom Use – Downtown needs 4 classrooms for KITS, and for SEAL needs 2 classrooms at each grade for rising 1st through 5th (this year’s 5th graders will go to the middle school program). I think we should exempt any classrooms from hosting if there is a new classroom teacher moving into that space. I also tried to rotate out teachers who hosted last year when possible (kinder classes and a few other don’t get a break). I’ve put this on the staff meeting agenda as a discussion/decision item, but linked here is my Proposed Summer School Map as a starting place and for reference here is Last Year’s Summer School Map.

• Playground Supervisor Reminders – Two Playground Rules reminders:

• No Pushing Kids on Swings – Students need to swing themselves and should not be pushed by other students or staff.

• No Tag/Chase/Monster Games – Tag and other chase games are not allowed, which can too easily lead to unintentional injuries and student conflicts.

• No Sidewalk Chalk on Building – If you are doing any sidewalk chalk activities with students, do not allow them to write on the building. Rain does not wash it off, so it’s pretty much there for good when kids do this. The same happens when kids do sidewalk chalk underneath covered areas, though foot traffic will eventually remove them, but it takes much longer than one good rain, so covered areas should be avoided too.

• Check That Exterior Doors Latch – It’s that time of year when there are air pressure changes and the doors don’t always latch. It’s important that all exterior doors remain locked and are secure, so when going in or out of the building, make sure the is latched shut. Jeremy has put in a work order to have the doors adjusted by the kinder wing and by the bike cage, so let me know if you notice any other doors that need fixed.

• Last Day Lunch Plan – Deb is already planning our last day of meal service, which will have grade levels coming to the cafeteria to simply pick up a sack lunch on a 5-minute rotating basis, which they will put in their backpacks to take home (bus riders included).

10:25 – Kinder
10:30 – 1st
10:35 – 2nd
10:40 – 3rd
10:45 – 4th
10:50 – 5th
11:10 – Early Dismissal

• Seesaw Renewed for 3-Years – I learned on Friday that 4J has renewed the Seesaw district license for 3 more years. I’ll put on a future Friday or Staff Meeting agenda whether we want to use Seesaw or another common communication tool with families next year.

• Volunteers Policy Change – One small change in the 4J communicable disease management plan is that individuals with a vaccine exemption are no longer required to wear a mask. I’ll let downtown communicate this out to families, but I thought staff would want to know.

• Free Bike Locks, Lights, and Helmets – If you know of any students in need, Safe Routes to School is offering free bike locks, lights, and helmets. Just let Felicia know you need any. See this email for details.

• Safety Inspection Rescheduled Again, May 31st – I was emailed that our annual inspection date got rescheduled again and is now Wednesday, May 31st at 10:30.

• Airblade Hand Dryers – If you haven’t noticed (and I’m sure you have), but the new restroom hand dryers are extremely loud. To help minimize the noise, teachers might show kids how you’re supposed to use the new hand dryers by showing the video below. Kids are often using it wrong and that means they’re using it longer and making more noise for nearby classrooms (not to mention if they’re trying to talk over it).

• District Admin Updates – Three district admin updates for next year. One, Kevin Gordon will be the new principal of Chavez, replacing Deirdre Pearson, who took an admin job out of district. Two, Ed Mendelssohn is the new College and Career Readiness / Career and Technical Education Administrator, replacing Tia Holliday, who is retiring. Three, Eric Anderson, 4J Director of Instruction, has taken a job as assistant superintendent at the LaneESD. See these emails (one and two) for details.

• 38 Awesome Team-Building Games and Activities for Kids – We may be nearing the end of the year, but cooperative team building games are great for SEL and community building any time during the year. This WeAreTeachers Article has 38 fun activities to give you ideas. Feel free to take a break in class or take your kids out in the sun! Some personal favorites on the list that I’ve done or looked fun were #16 Hula-Hoop pass, #22 No-hands cup-stacking challenge (probably more for older kids), #27 Caterpillar, #32 Zip, Zap, Zop, and #34 Newspaper Fashion Show.

• 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 15 (M)
PAHS Can & Bottle Drive – Final Week
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Upbeat Survey Open Until May 22nd
Final Library Checkout Week
Library Week #1 Classes
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

May 16 (T)
8:45-12:15, 4th & 5th Holt/WillaG Track Meet (Sheldon Track)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library) Give a Staff Shout Out!

May 17 (W)
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
2:45, Staff Talent Show Video (Reich’s Room)
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 18 (H)
National Speech Pathologist Day (Title)
8:05, Fire Drill
1:30-2:30, Allan Meeting w/Risk & Safety Dept. (Office)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

May 19 (F)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Curriculum/SPED Training (TBA)
6:00-8:00, Holt Spring Carnival (Hard Play, Cafeteria)

May 22 (M)
Upbeat Survey Closes
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #2 Classes
SPED Staff Room Duty
Scholastic Book Fair BOGO Sale
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

May 23 (T)
10:45-11:45, Math Acceleration Testing (TBA)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL/Equity Meetings (Kelsey’s Room)

May 24 (W)
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
10:45-11:45, Math Acceleration Testing (TBA)
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
2:45-3:30, Team Meetings – Class Lists Deadline

May 25 (H)
Towel Day
10:00-1:30, 4th Grade School Garden Project (Garden)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

May 26 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Theme is TBA
Fundations + Math Student Consumable Order Due
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
9:15-9:45, 4/5 Monroe Victory Tour Performance (tentative)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Staff Choice
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
4:00, Holt Friday at 4:00! (Location TBA)

Just two more 5-day weeks left!

Allan

May 8, 2023

By Allan | 2023/05/06 15:01 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, P.D., Video | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

A big shout-out to the amazing Nurse Eden for School Nurse Day happening this Wednesday! Not only do you take care of the daily barfs, nose bleeds, bumps, and bruises, you do it all with a smile and a sense of humor. We’re lucky to have you here, Eden!

Nineteen items of note for this week:

• 23-24 Staffing Updates – Four updates:

2ND GRADE – Jenny Bemiller has been hired for our 2nd grade vacancy. She’s currently teaching 2nd grade at Chavez and before that taught 1st grade in Bethel. Please welcome Jenny to the team and to the “Holt Staff Same-Name Club,” which here’s the list for next year: Amber & Amber, Ashley & Ashley, Carol & Carol, Debbi & Deb, Elizabeth & Liz, Jenny & Jenny, Katie, Katherine & Kathy, Kelly & Kelly, Lisa, Lisa & Lisa, Rob & Robbie, Robin & Robin, and Tracey & Tracy.

SECRETARY INTERVIEWS THURSDAY – We’ll conduct interviews for next year’s secretary this Thursday after school. If any of you would like to volunteer your time to help with interviews, let me know and I’ll send you the interview questions and candidate applications.

0.2 FTE PE & MUSIC – I’ve submitted requisition to hire for these positions.

BEST EA JOB POSTINGS – 2.5 and 3-hour BEST EA Job Postings for next year have been reopened if anyone is interested. The posting closes Wednesday.

• Classified Sick Leave Bank Open Enrollment Help Session, TUESDAY – Not this week, but next week 4J Classified Benefits Coordinator will be in the staff room on Tuesday, May 9th from 10:30-12:00. They will be available to answer questions about the Sick Leave Bank as well as provide information on how to enroll, but feel free to ask any benefit related questions you may have.

• 23-24 Master Schedule Meeting, TUESDAY – Reps will meet this Tuesday at 2:45 in the library to compare our grade level dream schedules for next year. Make sure you team has entered your schedule onto the 23-24 Skeleton Master Schedule Spreadsheet. We’ll see how schedules match up, make adjustment, and plan next steps (we’ll see if we’re close or if we need to do a lot more work).

• Class Lists Pre-Meeting, WEDNESDAY– For Team Meetings this week we’ll meet in the library for a pre-class list meeting so receiving grades can meet with sending grades before teachers begin adding creating next year’s 2023-24 Class List Placement Form. We’ll start with K/1, 2/3, and 4/5 meeting, and when teams are finished 1/2 and 3/4 will meet. I think we will forgo teams filling out the 2023-24 Class List Placement Form for this month. Following this meeting, grade should work on building next year’s lists. Let me know if any teachers want student cards to help with sorting. We can print some basic ones that look like Student ID Cards or if you want cards with all the information on the spreadsheets, we can print either or both. We’ll hold grade level transition meetings at the June 6th Staff Meeting.

• Friday PD: Upbeat Survey – The Friday is listed as Building Based PD, though downtown is pulling all kindergarten teachers for a separate meeting. Downtown is also planning to have all staff complete a second spring Upbeat Survey to provide building and district admins feedback. The survey is supposed to be emailed to staff on Monday and Friday will be the designated time for staff to complete the survey.

• Raptor & Fire Drill, May 18 – Staff should now be able to log onto the Raptor app (iOS and Android) with your 4J email and password. Staff are not required to use the app for the May 18th fire drill at 8:05, but I’m going to initiate an evacuation on the app, so staff can see how the app works during an emergency. Next year I think we should have all teachers use the app to account for students, so we are practiced using the app if there ever were a real emergency or an evacuation/reunification situation such at what happened at SEHS last week. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

• Updated 23-24 Class Assignments – A group of interventionist reps met last week and made some updates to the 23-24 Class Assignments Map. Changes from the earlier map have Title moving into the counseling office and the small SPED classroom across the hall. A-02 will be the part-time SPED teacher’s classroom, who currently serves 3rd graders primarily. The counselor would move into the E53 Calming Room (counselor could use the current Quarantine Room to meet privately with students), alone with the SSC (Kim), FRC (Felicia), BBSA (Levi), and Instructional Coach (Carla). I’ll put this on the agenda for the next Staff Meeting, but feel free to share your thoughts with me before then.

• 150 Minute Weekly PE Requirement – 4J elementary schools have been out of compliance with OAR 581-022-2263 in regards to Physical Education instruction for the past few years. In order to meet this state requirement for the 23-24 school year, each school will need to provide 150 minutes of instruction connected to the Oregon PE Standards. At least 50% of these minutes need to be physical activities. The 4J PD Compliance Plan at the elementary level will combine Morning Meeting activities (15 minutes/4 times a week) that are designed to help students exhibit responsible personal and social behavior (PE Standard #4–Social and Emotional Learning) and scheduled physical movement breaks aligned to the PE standards (10 minutes/4 times a week). The district will be providing materials, training, and support for both of these areas during in-service week.

• Elementary Math Adoption – The School Board approve a timeline for the elementary math adoption. The general timeline is to form a team between now and the fall (two reps from each building, plus specialist reps), evaluate programs next school year (23-24), pilot the programs in the fall and adopt a curriculum in the spring (24-25), and begin implementation of the new program the following year (25-26). See the linked Process for an Elementary Math Curriculum Adoption Doc for details.

• Specialist Last Days – PE, Music, and Library will go through the end of the year, but the final week for Library checkout will be May 15-19. Title groups will end on May 8th, the Thursday before Grading Day. SPED pull-out will also go through the end of the year.

• Lunch Reminder (All Students Take Lunch) – More for upper grades, please remind students they may not opt-out of lunch and that all students are expected to take a school lunch if they did not bring a lunch from home. They’re not required to eat it, but they are expected to take a lunch. Even when kids say they’re “not hungry” or “don’t like any of the food” they usually end up eating some of their food after they have a tray of food in front of them.

• Stop, Walk, Talk Refresher Videos – Teachers can use these videos below to as a refresher lesson on Stop, Walk, Talk. The first done in the style of a silent film. The second one is more for older grades and explains how to use Stop, Walk, Talk and also what to do if someone uses Stop, Walk, Talk towards them. The last one is from the Start With Heart YouTube Channel, which has a TON of SEL videos for K-5 students, which features a pig puppet.

• Sample 23-24 Meeting Schedule Coming – Principals asked at our meeting last week for a sample monthly meeting calendar, given that the proposed addition of required PLCs, MTSS meetings, Wednesday PD, along with building committee meetings, safety team meetings, grade level team meetings, etc. are sounding like more required meetings than the contract would allows (only 1 all-licensed staff meeting per week is allowed, though PD is not considered a meeting). I’ll share more info once I get it on this topic.

• Norovirus Cleaning in Effect – We’re seeing a jump in kids vomiting and GI issues, so Jeremy and Richie are starting Norovirus cleaning protocols in an effort to head off illness before things get so bad we have to contact Lane County Public Health. Classrooms should all have Purell Spray if staff want to more frequently sanitize as well. If you are out or need a replacement bottle, let Jeremy know.

• Leadership Plan & SCIP Timelines Extended – Principals were emailed (Leadership & SCIP) that district admin and EEA are still ironing out details on Leadership Plans, so school will not be working on Leadership Plans until the fall. We’re finished with our SCIP, but other schools are being given another month to wrap up plans.

• May SSD Newsletter – Linked here is the May SSD Newsletter that was sent to SSD Staff and administrators. This issue has info on Transition Services, Progress Reports, CMA services, and Playgrounds. You can always review this and prior newsletters on the Google Drive:SSD Newsletter Archive.

• Electronics Recycling Competition Results – Holt came in 6th place out of 13 schools with 1,340 pounds of electronics recycled. If you’re curious, see this email for details.

• A Note on Mother’s Day – With Mother’s Day this Saturday, keep in mind our goals around creating an inclusive environment for all students. We have quite a few students who either don’t live with their mothers, have lost their mothers, are being raised by their dads, or have difficult relationships with their mothers.If you’re planning to do projects or activities to celebrate mothers, consider shifting to a “Love Makes a Family” or “Family Day” theme instead. Creating an inclusive environment means we intentionally create space for students to be given choice about which adult they’d like to celebrate, regardless of gender or their role in their life. This Welcoming Schools Article shares information and resources about creating an inclusive experience for students.

• 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 8 (M)
Upbeat Survey Open Until May 22
PAHS Can & Bottle Drive Continues (4/26 – 5/19)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #2 Classes
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
7:30-3:30, PreK-Kindergarten Transition Meetings
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up

May 9 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
10:30-12:00, Classified Sick Leave Bank Help (Staff Room)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL/Equity Meetings (Kelsey’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Master Schedule Committee Rep Meeting (Library)
7:00, Reverend Horton Heat (Whirled Pies Downtown)*Who wants to join me for a psychobilly freakout!

May 10 (W)
School Nurse Day (Office)
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
9:00-12:30, Kinder Field Trip (Seno & Gulewich)
9:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Nearby Nature
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
2:45-3:30, Class List Meetings (Library)

May 11 (H)
Twilight Zone Day
9:00-12:30, Kinder Field Trip (Harmon & Vaughan)
9:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Nearby Nature
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
10:00-1:30, 4th Grade School Garden Project (Garden)
2:45-4:30, Secretary Interviews (Library)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Library & Zoom)

May 12 (F)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Building Based (Upbeat Survey)

May 14 (SU)
Mother’s Day

May 15 (M)
PAHS Can & Bottle Drive (4/26 – 5/19)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #1 Classes
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Class Sign-Up
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

May 16 (T)
8:45-12:15, 4th & 5th Holt/WillaG Track Meet (Sheldon Track)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 17 (W)
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
2:45, Staff Talent Show Video (Reich’s Room)
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 17 (H)
National Speech Pathologist Day (Title)
1:30-2:30, Allan Meeting w/Risk & Safety Dept. (Office)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

May 18 (F)
8:15-10:00, Math Acceleration Testing (Dynamos Classroom)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Curriculum/SPED Training (TBA)

Only three more full weeks, then it’s only short weeks left in the year!

Allan

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