Video

March 4, 2024

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

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

Eighteen items of note for this week:

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

If you have any questions you can reach out to:

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

 

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

 

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan

 

 

February 26, 2024

 

Howdy All,

Nineteen items of note for this week:

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

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

 

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

Confidentiality

Building Spaces:

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 8 (F)
Staffing Allocations Given to Principals

 

Four weeks until spring break!

Allan

@schooledbyarturo

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

♬ Vogue (Edit) – Madonna

January 8, 2024

 

Greetings Bolts,

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

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan
 

December 11, 2023


 

Hello Holt Bolts,

The week before winter break is always a tough one for kids (and adults), and although kids do well with routines, give yourself permission to just have some fun throughout the week. It’ll likely make things easier for you and the kids.

Eighteen items of note for this week:

• Holt Night Out Fundraiser – Papa’s Pizza, MONDAY – Monday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Papa’s Pizza on Coburg Road, so remind your students to bring the flyer and Papa’s Pizza will donate 50% of all purchases to Holt! Take out and dine in only. Beverages and delivery orders are excluded. See you there!

 

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

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

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

 

• Wednesday PD: Post Winter Break Team Planning – I’ll call it out. We’re all going to be super tired that last week before winter break, so let’s just make this day a time for teams to plan for what you’re going to do when kids return after winter break. Teams choose if it’s more useful to work as a group or individually.

 

• Classified Meeting WEDNESDAY – We’ll hold a Classified Staff Meeting this Wednesday after school at 1:30 in the library to plan our post-winter break PBIS Rule Round-Up. Lesli is working on a schedule and this time, to avoid being rushed and so kids will hear better in smaller groups, we will only teach to two grade levels at a time our first week back. Following the meeting, since we have several new classified staff member, I’ll go over the new staff orientation I did at the start of the school year, reviewing referrals and other building procedures. Veteran EAs are welcome to stay for this as well to pass along any wisdom.

 

• Holt Spirit Day – Pajama Day, FRIDAY – This Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Pajama Day! Tell your students to wear their comfy PJs, sweats, or robe, or just wear their Holt spirit gear!

 

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY @8:20 – The December 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 linked Assembly Map and Agenda for details.

 

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

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

Sign up now before the good sessions fill up!

 

• Wednesday PD: Team Collaboration – Since you just had 5 hours of PD the day before, let’s set this time aside for teams time to connect and collaborate following the PD from Tuesday.

 

• Stop, Walk, Talk Refresher – When we return from the break, teachers should review Stop, Walk, Talk with students. You do not have to use the Stop Walk Talk Bully Prevention Lessons, but may use that or the Lesson 1 & 2 Slideshow shared last year if you choose. Linked here is the Stop Walk Talk Resource Folder that’s on the Staff Google Drive, but it may be easiest to watch one of the videos below and have a class discussion.

 

 

 

• Rules Round-Up and School Rules Slideshow – Mentioned above in the Classified Staff Meeting, we’ll hold a Rules Round-Up Refresher when we return from winter break. Lesli is working on a schedule that will have 2 grade levels going out at a time, which will hopefully make it easier for kids to hear and also not making things feel as rushed. After getting input from Classified Staff, I’ll also make a slideshow teachers can review with students playground hotspots, as well other reminders of different rules inside the building (i.e. walking, hoods indoors, zero voice in hallway, etc.). Feel free to let me know of anything you feel needs covered.

 

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting Dates & Referral Form – With Data Teams now focused on Tier 1 and 2, teacher decided to hold monthly old-school SST meetings to track and review new and current referrals for SPED evaluation. I put these meetings on the Staff Zimbra Calendar the same date and time as the first Grade Level Team meetings of each month. April/May is the only month were dates got a little funky:

Tuesday, January 9, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, February 6, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, March 5, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, April 2, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, April 30, 2:45-3:30
Tuesday, June 4, 2:45-3:30

For initiating a referral to the team, I’m thinking it’s easiest to add this to our current Request for Student / Classroom Support Form and added a checkbox for “Academics – Student Support Team – SPED Referral” and teachers can put pertinent details in the textbox below. This may change once we find the old SST Referral Form. I also changed the form so that it will email teachers a copy of what you submit.

 

• Wit & Wisdom Grade Level Teams Opportunity – Teachers will receive an email Monday morning, but I wanted to highlight for folks that downtown received a grant to create grade level teams to dig into Wit and Wisdom. The goal is to develop guidance of what to teach and what to skip to help make the curriculum manageable for each grade level. They’ll also focus on how to support students with the complexity of the texts. Teachers will be compensated $1200 for their work and will be asked to join 6 days between January and June. Downtown will provide subs and there will be a sign up link in Monday’s email.

 

• Book Nook Coupon – Here’s an updated Book Nook Coupon (single coupon and sheet of coupons) for students to get a free book at the Book Nook on Thursdays at morning recess. We’ll get copies in teacher mailboxes and put extra in the workroom.

 

• FOSS Science Student Books – If teachers would like to use FOSS Science Student Books, you can request them by filling out the linked FOSS Kit Resupply and Material Request Form. This link is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard. Credit to Leah for finding this out!

 

• SSD December Newsletters – Here is the December SSD Newsletter. This month’s topics include the importance of prior written notices, confidentiality reminders, a census update, and where to find key information. See the Newslette Archive for past issues. 

 

• Virtual Walks Video Links – A fair amount of teacher play calming videos throughout the day, so I thought I’d share some links to a new genre of experiences that’s emerged on YouTube, where a bunch of channels offer quiet walks in high resolution. The creators hold a stabilized high def camera with binaural audio and walk around Tokyo at night, or Times Square in snow, or London in the rain, or the back alleys of New Delhi, all without narration. You can hear the ambient sounds and see all the ordinary things usually edited out of sizzle reels.  It really feels like you are there and allow you to travel without traveling. A few to start get you started: Nomadic Ambience (NYC, Japan, Iceland), Virtual Japan (Japan),  Watched Walker (London, Paris, Spain), Keezi Walks (India, China, Vietnam, South America). Google “quiet virtual walk” for more destinations. Some may be too distracting, but they’re all quite interesting.

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EA Paid Time for Childcare at Jan. 4 PTO Meeting – There were no takers from last week, so let me know if any EAs are willing to oversee childcare from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the gym for extended contract . Should be a pretty easy time since there are usually only about 10 kids at most. 

• ‘Gnome’ and Away – Walking Challenge Starts Soon – Join the “I’ll be Gnome for the Holidays” challenge in the Walker Tracker App. Once you’re in the app, find Holt and join the team. Make sure you open the app daily to log your steps!

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

 

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

Absences:
Staff members who will be absent from work due to illness, personal reasons, or to attend training need to use Absence Management (formerly AESOP) to document the absence and request a guest teacher, if needed. Please try to schedule as early as possible to make arrangements. If it is too late to schedule a substitute, contact office staff immediately so arrangements can be made. If a longer term absence is anticipated, please contact the administrator for help with the process. Additional info, forms, and links can be found on the 4J Leaves Website.

 

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

December 11 (M)
3rd Grade, Staff Room Duty
7:30-8:30, Allan Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser
2:00-3:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

December 12 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:30-2:00, Allan to BAT Team Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Emily’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

December 13 (W)
National Cocoa Day
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Post Winter Break Team Planning
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 14 (H)
International Monkey Day
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
1:20-2:05, 4th Grade Junior Achievement
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kendallyn’s Room)
4:00-8:00, Holiday Shopping
     4:00- Pick up students
     4:30 – Papa’s Pizza
     5:15 – Target
     Holt – Hot Cocoa, Cookies, and Wrapping
     8:00 – Kids should be home

December 15 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Pajama Day
8:30, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Group

December 16 – January 1
No School – Winter Break

January 2 (T)
National Science Fiction Day
4th Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00-1:00, Licensed & Classified PD (Various Locations)
2:00-3:00, Allan to Multi-Cultural Group Meeting (Zoom)

January 3 (W)
Classes Resume
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Team Collaboration
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

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

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

 

It’s almost winter break!

Allan

 

November 13, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

My 98-year-old dad peacefully passed away Friday morning. My mom and I had the idea of playing him Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade, one of his favorite songs from his youth (he saw them live many times in 1930s NYC), and as the song ended he quietly passed. Thank you, all, for understanding my having to leave unexpectedly last week. I’ll be back to work Monday and don’t feel you need to treat me with kid gloves. Feel free to pile on, just like normal, which is what works best for me. 

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Lead Water Testing, MONDAY/TUESDAY – A 4J environmental consultant, PBS, will be onsite this week to conduct ODE-required drinking water lead testing throughout the school. PBS will arrive Monday evening before testing to place “Do Not Use” tags on fixtures to ensure water stays stagnant for the required 8-12 hours before sample collection. They will then return Tuesday morning to conduct testing on the required fixtures. All tag placement and sample collection will be completed during off hours, so it should have no impact on fixture use throughout the school day. See this email for details, but unless you’re staying late or arriving early, you won’t even notice.

 

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

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

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

 

• Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, TUESDAYRuby Bridges Walk to School Day is Tuesday so please encourage your kiddo to walk, roll, or carpool this day. Shared earlier are some resources including the Day of Dialogue Teachers’ Project Guide to Supporting Changemakers.

 

• Holt Night Out – Panda Express @VRC, THURSDAY – Thursday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Panda Express at Valley River Center, so be sure to talk it up to your students. Bring the Panda Express Event Flyer (English or Spanish), paper, or smartphone, when you order, or use the fundraiser code “363024” if ordering online. The PTO also wants folks to save their receipts and submit them at shopandlog.com/VRC or turn them in at the office for the PTO School Cents Fundraiser (English or Spanish).

 

• Holt Spirit Day, FRIDAY, Backwards Day! – Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Backwards Day! Get kids excited to wear everything backward; backward shirts, pants, hats, backpacks, etc. or kids can simply wear their Holt spirit gear (maybe backward).

 

• Magic & Balloon Sculpting Assembly, FRIDAY – The November monthly School Spirit Assembly is a combo assembly with a fun Magic & Balloon Sculpting Assembly this Friday The K-2 assembly is 8:05-8:55 and the grade 3-5 assembly is 9:05-9:55.

 

• Conference Info – Since we didn’t meet this past Wednesday regarding conferences, I wanted to highlight the following:

• Individual Contact of Non-Scheduled Families – Teachers should make individual contact with any families not signed up for a conference yet. A phone call or text would be best. Google Voice or TextNow are good options if you don’t want to text using your real cell number).

• Share w/Families “Conscious Discipline Parent Nights” – If it comes up at conferences that parents are struggling with behavior at home, share with them the parent education series coming up in January being led by Jenny, Kendallyn, and Keri Sage called “School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights.” We’ll put some fliers in the staff room for folks to have on hand, but it will be every Tuesday for 8 weeks, Jan. 9 – Feb. 27. Parents should reserve a spot by contacting Jenny at (541) 790-6173 or potter_je@4j.lane.edu or teachers can pass parent contact info to Jenny as well.

• Prep for Kids & Siblings – Make sure you have some toys, paper, drawing/coloring, games, or other materials outside your classroom to occupy any students and/or siblings who come to conferences.

• Zoom Option – I’m still not advertising Zoom, but I am putting a note in the Quick News that this is the only time we are offering conferences, but for families to contact their child’s teacher if they cannot attend on either of these dates so alternate plans can be made. If families do reach out saying they cannot come on these dates, that’s when teachers offer them Zoom, but just so we’re all on the same page, we are not to meet with families outside of Nov. 20 and 21. Interestingly, NYC exclusively did Zoom conference last year and saw a 40% drop in parent participation according to this ChalkBeat Article.

 

• Know Your Role During Inclement Weather – Principals were asked to share the 2023–24 Hazardous Weather Conditions Information (i.e. snow days). The short version is school cancellations will be made on the 4J Website, Facebook, X (@4Jweather & @4Jschools), and local news stations, though FlashAlertEugene always seems to announce it first. If there is no announcement, it means school is happening like normal. If school is canceled, only the principal, secretary, and custodial staff report to work. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

 

• Harassment Reporting Forms – If you ever wondered, “Where do the Harassment Forms on our technology desktops ‘go’?” This HR Email says the forms are reviewed at the district (Instruction) and then routed to the building principals for action/follow-up.

 

• Exploding Whale Date Correction – My calendar last week was incorrect. The infamous Exploding Whale Incident happened November 12, 1970, so Sunday is the official day to celebrate this important day in Oregon history. This article points out it’s also the same date infamous Oregonian figure skater Tonya Harding was born.

• Join the Holt Walker Tracker Team! – I’ve been using the Walker Tracker app (iOS and Android) for a while to complete against other 4J staff on who can get the most steps, but I just realized there’s a Walker Tracker Holt Team, so if you’re so inclined, join the team and let’s compete in the “Where’s Waldo” challenge that starts today (Nov. 12). Winning teams get $300 for their school and one category is simply which team signs up the most new members, so sign up today!

 

• Thanksgiving Lessons Reminder  – Here’s my annual reminder about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Staff should keep in mind that student conceptions of Native Americans often come from classroom activities around the First Thanksgiving. These conceptions of Native Americans gained from such early exposure are often both inaccurate and potentially damaging. When planning activities, be aware that what most of us learned in school about the “Pilgrims” and “Squanto” and the “First Thanksgiving” is a mixture of both history and myth. Thanksgiving activities should avoid reinforcing historical myths and should also avoid stereotypes (ie. no warbonnets) It’s often best to shift the focus away from the “First Thanksgiving” and instead focus on items children can be thankful for in their own lives and on their families celebrations of Thanksgiving at home. Some resources on what to avoid and what to teach can be found at the National Museum of the American IndianLearning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance), and Education World. This Google Doc links to a ton of read-aloud stories, primary sources, sites, and other information about Native and Indigenous People. Here is a good article with a Native American Perspective on Thanksgiving as well as one on The True Story of the First Thanksgiving. Also, the 4J Natives Program is available for classroom presentations year-round and can offer an accurate picture of Native American culture. See last week’s announcements for links on American Indian Heritage Month.

EDIT: Added a few more resources. 4J Indian Education-SB13 Tribal History, History and Culture of the Mashpee Wampanoag, Brittanica School Wampanoag Article (log on through Clever), critically reviewed selection of books at Social Justice Books and North Central Regional Library.

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Mandatory Bus Training – The Annual Bus Safety Training is due by the end of December. Teachers should review the following two handouts:

Riding the School Bus Safely in English and Spanish
Emergency Exits Handout

Let me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit downtown. There are videos teachers can show in addition to the handouts.

 

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

Threats by Students
Schools are required to notify the parent of a student when another student makes threats of violence or harm or the student’s name appears on a targeted list that threatens violence or harm to the students on the list. The law requires verbal notice within 12 hours of learning of the threat and written notice within 24 hours, so staff should report threats to the principal as soon as 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:

November 12 (SU)
Exploding Whale Anniversary (KATU & Raw Meaty Footage)

November 13 (M)
Kinder, Staff Room Duty
7:30, Allan Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
9:00-2:00, 4th Fish Creek Field Trip (Benavides & Cobb)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

November 14 (T)
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
November Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:00, Allan Meeting w/Angela Crum (Office)
9:00-2:00, 4th Fish Creek Field Trip (Longoria & Reich)
9:30-12:10, 3rd Grade Music Field Trip
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 15 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Conferences Prep
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 16 (H)
Holt Night Out – Panda Express @VRC
Picture Retakes (Library)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
12:05, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

November 17 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Backward Day
8:05-8:55, K/1/2 Balloon & Spirit Assembly (Gym)
9:05-9:55, 3/4/5 Balloon & Spirit Assembly (Gym)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Meeting (Roosevelt)

November 20 (M)
ALL STAFF, Staff Room Duty
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences

November 21 (T)
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences

November 22 (W)
No School – Conference Comp Day

November 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

 

Hope everyone had a good 3-days off!

Allan

 

@gerrybrooksprin

Good try, but no! #parent #parenting #parentingtips #booktok #books #education #schoollife #funny #fun #delta #candy #sweet #sweets #swifties

♬ original sound – Gerrybrooksprin

 

November 6, 2023

Hi Everyone,

We survived Halloween and are now being rewarded with a nice short week. 

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• New Title 1 EA (Timmy Beick) – Timmy Beick has been hired as our new 4-hour Title 1 EA, filling Carol’s position, which he’s been subbing in for the past couple weeks. And if you didn’t know, Timmy is the son of SPED EA Molly Beick and also plays volleyball with our Family Resource Coordinator, Felicia, so we are keeping it in the family. Please welcome Timmy to the team!

• SPED EA Job Posting – I’ve modified our 7-hour SPED EA job posting to 6.5 hours and have shifted 30-minutes of that vacancy to Denice, who expressed interest in moving to 7-hours instead of 6.5 hours. I’ve asked HR to simply modify the job posting, but they may require us to post all over again, which will stretch the hiring process out longer, but Tiffany is planning to continue to subbing in this vacancy and is also planning to apply once it goes up.

 

• Stop, Walk, Talk Lesson 1 & 2 This Week – Teachers this week should teach Lessons #1 and #2 of the Stop Walk Talk Bully Prevention Lessons. The subsequent lessons are optional. The first lesson is on how to use Stop, Walk, Talk (you can skip the candle portion of the lesson) and the second lesson is on how to respond when someone tells YOU to stop. I forgot to share a Lesson 1 & 2 Slideshow shared last year, which anyone can feel free to use. Linked here is the Stop Walk Talk Resource Folder that’s on the Staff Google Drive, which has the poster I’ll get up around the school and other items.

 

 

 

• TAG Testing TUESDAY – Caitlin will notify teachers if you have any students who will be tested, but district TAG testers will be here Tuesday to conduct testing. I’m still working on a space for testing, but it may end up being in my office.

 

• Wednesday PD: 11/8 Staff Meeting – Wednesday at 1:30 will be a Staff Meeting instead of PE since we had to shift the November Leadership Meeting around due to all the non-school days. Let me know if you have any agenda items.

 

• Mid-Term Grading Day, THURSDAY – Downtown shared with principals that for Nov. 9, staff are expected to report to the building and be available to colleagues, with 3.75 hours of ELA Planning and 3.75 hours of Assessment and Conference Planning On a related note, their plan for the April 12 Mid Term Grading Day is for 3.75 hours of ELA Planning and 3.75 hours of Strategic Family Outreach.

 

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

 

• Classified Staff Meeting, THURSDAY @9:00 – I’ll hold a Classified Staff Meeting at 9:00 to review Stop, Walk, Talk, do a supervision checking (make sure we are aligned on rules), and any other topics the group would like to discuss. Let me know if you have any agenda items. I know there is a district PD during this same time, but I’ve heard most EAs are not signing up for it since many EAs have already gone though Conscious Discipline and the others are Life Skills focused, but let me know if you are attending because I will reschedule the meeting to a later time if a number of staff are attending.

 

• Grade Level Team Meetings, Nov. 14 – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:

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

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

 

• Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, Nov. 14Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is Tuesday, Nov. 14, so please encourage your kiddo to walk, roll, or carpool this day. Share earlier are some resources including the Day of Dialogue Teachers’ Project Guide to Supporting Changemakers.

 

• Holt Night Out – Panda Express @VRC, Nov. 16 – Thursday, Nov. 16 is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Panda Express at Valley River Center, so be sure to talk it up to your students. Bring the Panda Express Event Flyer (English or Spanish), paper or smartphone, when you order or use the fundraiser code “363024” if ordering online. The PTO also wants folks to save their receipts and submit them at shopandlog.com/VRC or turn them in at the office for the PTO School Cents Fundraiser (English or Spanish).

 

• Holt Spirit Day, Nov. 17, Backwards Day! – Friday, Nov. 17 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Backwards Day! Get kids excited to wear everything backwards; backwards shirts, pants, hats, backpacks, etc. or kids can simply wear their Holt spirit gear (maybe backwards).

 

• Magic & Balloon Sculpting Assembly, Nov. 17 – The November monthly School Spirit Assembly is a combo assembly with a fun Magic & Balloon Sculpting Assembly on Friday, Nov. 17. The K-2 assembly is 8:05-8:55 and the grade 3-5 assembly is 9:05-9:55.

 

• Elementary Admin Curriculum Updates – The linked 4J Elementary Admin Curriculum Updates aren’t required reading for staff, but if you’re interested, there’s info on upcoming LETRS Trainings (now including a Nov. 9 PD date), a  SWIS CICO (Check In Check Out) Zoom Training, and K-5 Health PD offerings on Jan. 2.

 

• Behavioral Support Shared Drive – The District Behavior Team compiled an impressive Behavior Support Folder of Resources for buildings to assess and support behavioral and SEL needs. They only gave principals access, but I downloaded a copy of it that I put in the PBIS folder on the Staff Google Drive for anyone interested. 

 

• ODE 2022-23 School Profile Reports – If you’re interested, ODE At-A-Glance School and District Profiles are available on the 4J website, which include data on school enrollment, class size, student and teacher demographics, teacher retention, assessment info, and other details from the 2022–23 school year, but due to a technical issue, the staff data in the reports are not accurate. Corrected reports will be published when they become available.

 

• Mandatory Bus Training (tell Allan when completed) – I was thinking downtown forgot about this again, but the Transportation Dept. Emailed principals about the required annual bus safety training, which is to be given to all students, even non-bus riders by the end of December. In the past teachers were asked to show a video, but this year teachers are being asked to review the following two handouts:

Riding the School Bus Safely
Emergency Exits Handout

If teachers choose, they may also show students the videos on the 4J Transportation Website. Sadly, this no longer includes the quaint 90s bus safety relic, The Safest Way Out. Let me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit to downtown.

 

• Remind Families to Sign Up for Conferences – This week, teachers should send a whole class reminder to families about signing up for conferences. I will have a reminder in the Quick News as well.

Next week, teachers should follow up with individual outreach to families, preferably a text or phone call, but email works as well. And if you’re like me and do not like to share your personal cell number for texting, Google Voice is a good option, which allows you to kill off your Google Voice number at any point and then get a fresh one. Google Voice is unfortunately turned off as a feature for 4J, so you have to use a personal Google account. There are other apps you can also use for anonymous texting, such as TextNow, that do the same thing, but I prefer Google Voice since you can easily do it on your laptop.

 

• October SSD Newsletter – If you’re interested, here is the November SSD Newsletter, which has info about ELD teachers in IEP meetings, when to consider reevaluation, where BSPs “live,” and how DHS caseworkers participate in special education meetings/processes. See the Newsletter Archive for past newsletters.

 
• American Indian Heritage Month – Last Wednesday was the first day of American Indian Heritage Month. The latest Library Lowdown has some good resources, including a curated list of titles available in Sora and a collection of resources in Destiny Discover. The Eugene Public Library has a great list of books too. Other resources are:

 
•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related reminder:

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

• Items to Review at Conferences – Teachers should review the Title 1 Compact, the Annual Permissions Form, the Student Tech Contract (K-2 and 3-5) if you haven’t already, and if you would like, you can also use the Synergy Family Report, which has attendance, benchmark, and OSAS info.  NEW INFO: I’ll have copies of the compact, permission form, and Synergy report in teacher’s mailboxes before the Nov. 15 Wed. PD Conference Prep time. I won’t print the Tech Contract since I don’t know who’s done it and who has not, but teachers should print it or I can print it if you let me know you need it. 

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

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

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

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

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

• Scientist Guest Speaker, Nov. 17 – I have one taker so far, but let me know if anyone is interested in having a scientist guest speaker. A friend from high school, Luke Wackler, is in town Nov. 17 offered to speak to any class that’s interested. He’s worked on NASA satellites, Mars rover analysis, GPS satellites, communication satellites, and electronics systems.

 

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

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

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

November 8 (W)
TAG Testing Day
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Staff Meeting (Library)

November 9 (H)
Exploding Whale Anniversary (KATU News & 10 min. of raw meaty footage)
No School – Mid-Term Grading Day
8:30-11:30, EA Pathways PD
9:00-10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

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

November 13 (M)
Kinder Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
9:00-2:00, 4th Fish Creek Field Trip (Benavides & Cobb)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

November 14 (T)
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
November Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
9:00-2:00, 4th Fish Creek Field Trip (Longoria & Reich)
9:30-12:10, 3rd Grade Music Field Trip
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 15 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Conferences Prep
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 16 (H)
Holt Night Out – Panda Express @VRC
Picture Retakes (Library)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

November 17 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Backward Day
8:05-8:55, K/1/2 Balloon & Spirit Assembly (Gym)
9:05-9:55, 3/4/5 Balloon & Spirit Assembly (Gym)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Meeting (Roosevelt)

 

Start planning your 3-day weekend!

Allan

 

October 23, 2023

 

Hello Bolts,

Twenty-five items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• 4-hour Title EA Interviews – We’ll hold interviews for our 4-hour Title 1 EA this Friday after school. Let me know if you are interested and I’ll send you the interview materials. We had 18 applicants, which is pretty darn good for a 4-hour position.

• 6.5-hour Title EA (Stephanie Chan) – I’m pleased to announce we’ve hired Stephanie Chan as our newest Title 1 EA, taking Lisa Phillips’ position, which Adrian Monty has been filling the past few weeks. Stephanie was previously a Life Skills EA as Gilham, but took time off to raise her kids, who are Holt kiddos in 3rd and 5th grade. Please welcome Stephanie to the Holt Team!

 

• Scholastic Book Fair THIS WEEK – Starting Monday, the book sale 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 or anytime there is free time during class. Robbie will continue to teach Library Lessons this week in classrooms.

 

• Wednesday PD, 10/25: SafeSchools/Vector Modules & Elementary Inclusive Beliefs Survey – I owe staff one more Wednesday to complete your SafeSchools/Vector Modules, which are due next week on Nov. 1. Principals were also tasked with giving staff time to complete a 10-minute Elementary Inclusive Beliefs Survey.

The Inclusive Beliefes Survey is a joint 4J and EEA survey intended to gather baseline data on current staff beliefs surrounding inclusive education in our district. In order to better develop guidance and training around what inclusion should look like in 4J, district and union leadership have agreed that it is necessary to have a current and comprehensive picture of the current state of inclusion in the district. In my opinion, I love the collaborative relationship between general education and special education staff here at Holt, which is not something you see in all buildings.

 

• Holt PTO Costume Bingo & Trunk-or-Treat, THURSDAY – The Holt PTO’s  Trunk-or-Treat Event (5:30-6:15 on the blacktop) and Costume Bingo Night (6:15-7:30 in the Cafeteria) is this Thursday, so get kids pumped and feel free to join yourselves!

 

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY @8:20 & Thriller Flash Mob Sign-Up – Our 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! And don’t forget to add your name to the Thriller Flash Mob Sign-Up if you’d like to join in a little extra fun.

 

• Holt Spirit Day, FRIDAY, Wacky Hat Day! – This Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hat Day! Dig out your favorite or wildest hat or headwear this day to show your school spirit!

 

• Safety Week Info, Oct. 30 – Nov. 3 – Next week we’ll hold our Safety Week, which is a good way to bring awareness to staff, students, and families about the various school safety procedures.

Monday: Evacuation (fire) Drill
Tuesday: Room Clear & Hold
Wednesday: Secure Drill & Playground Emergency Whistle
Thursday: Lockdown
Friday: Shelter (earthquake) & Fire Drill

Teachers should pre-teach the drills to students ahead of time and can either use the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) Poster, which should be posted in every classroom (let me know if you don’t have one and I’ll get you one) or you could use the linked Safety Week Slide Show, which I plagiarized from another school. For your own edification, here is a link to the Complete SRP Guide and the SRP Folder on the Staff Google Drive. With the exception of Monday’s Fire Drill, I will plan to get on the intercom to give a brief overview of each drill.

MONDAY @1:15 – Evacuation Drill (fire drill): We’ve already done one Fire Drill this year and I will simply pull the alarm to start the drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map. Teachers should explain that an Evacuation Drill can be more than a fire drill and that there are times we might need to evacuate to a specific locations, such as an announcement saying, “Evacuate! To the church across the street.” or to another location or part of the building. Staff should remember to lock and close doors behind you.

TUESDAY (or any day this week teachers choose) – Room Clear (for a danger in the classroom) & Hold (for when students need to stay in classroom for minor issue outside): These drill will be pracitced and reviewed with students anytime this week, but there are no other drill scheduled for Tuesday. Room Clear Drills will happen at a time determined by classroom teachers. Students should know where to go in the event of a situation requiring a room clear, either another classroom, the commons areas, the library, or other nearby space, preferably supervised, since in most cases the teacher would need to remain in the classroom while the rest of the students move out of the room.

A Hold is used when there is a situation in the hallway, such as a medical emergency or an escalated student, and we want students to remain in their classroom continuing business as usual. 

WEDNESDAY @10:00 – Secure Drill (for a danger outside the building) and Emergency Playground Whistle: For the Secure Drill (formerly knows as a “lockout”), I will announce “Secure! Get Inside, Lock outside doors.” All exterior doors are to be locked. No one will be let in or out of building. It will be business as usual inside the building until the all-clear signal is given, which I will do 5 minutes into the drill. This drill is done if there was something unsafe in the neighborhood.

For the Emergency Playground Whistle, cafeteria supervisors at lunchtime will remind students if they hear one long continuous whistle at recess, they need to FREEZE and then LOOK AT AN ADULT for directions. This will be practiced at lunch recess. 

THURSDAY @1:15 – Lockdown Drill (for a danger inside the building): I will announce, “Lockdown! Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.” Classroom doors are to be locked, curtains closed, lights turned out, and students moved out of sight. Classrooms should appear unoccupied and remain locked until a first responders unlock doors. For the drill, myself or staff will unlock classroom doors to announce all clear. In a real emergency situation where there is an immediate threat, staff and students would in almost all situation want to self-evacuate.

FRIDAY – Shelter (earthquake) & Fire Drill @8:20: For the Shelter/Earthquake Drill, teach students to “Drop, Cover, Hold,” meaning drop to the ground (so you don’t fall over), cover yourself by going under a desk (to protect yourself from falling objects), and hold onto the desk legs (so you stay under cover and don’t get bounced out). There are many resource on The Great Oregon Shake Out website for you to teach students about Drop, Cover, Hold and earthquake preparedness. See the above linked Evacuation Map & Lines for where classes should line up for the Fire Drill following the Earthquake Drill when you hear the fire alarm go off.

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

 

• Wednesday PD, 11/1: Stop, Walk, Talk Rollout – Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 1:30 in the library go over Stop, Walk, Talk and how we will roll this out to students. Last year staff decided last spring to teach Stop, Walk, Talk for common language for kids to solve minor (non-physical) problems on their own, but if people want to teach this to student earlier, we we agreed 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. 

 

• Title 1 Math Groups Being 11/2 – Title 1 Math Groups will begin Thursday, Nov. 2.

 

• Formal Observations – I’m going to start making the rounds for Formal Observations, so if you are probationary or are a contract teacher on an observation year, watch for an email later this week to set up a time to observe a Wit & Wisdom lesson.

 

• Assisting Escalated Students (ask if they need assistance first) – Walking down that hall and spotting a staff member working with an escalated student is not uncommon, and while we appreciate folks willingness to help, we ask folks to first check with the staff member working with the escalated student if they need help before intervening. Giving the staff member a silent thumbs-up to ask if they need help is a good unobtrusive way check if they need help or not.

 

• Grab-and-Go Breakfasts Available – If students did not get breakfast in the cafeteria in the morning, they are welcome to walk to the office between 7:55-8:00 to get a Grab-and-Go Breakfast. Even if the kids who grab one of these don’t eat them, it can be a nice way to build up a classroom stash of extra snacks.

 

• Leadership Team Minutes – Linked here are last week’s Leadership Team Meeting Minutes. Several items will be brought to this week’s Staff Meeting to be decided on, including Gingerbread Houses Holiday Party, Student Technology Agreements, Conference Logistics, and Hallways & Pod Expectations.

 

• Monday Morning Announcement Recordings – Leadership discussed whether we wanted to continue doing Monday Morning Announcements on Zoom or switch to pre-recorded announcements or switch back to using the PA system. It’s nice to see all the classes, so for now we’ll continue Zoom, though I’ll also drop a recording of the Zoom into the Staff Google Drive in a folder labeled Monday Morning Announcements (if I remember to hit record).

 

• HEPA Filters Off at Night – I recently learned that the HEPA Filters are not meant to be turned off at the end of the day, so staff who have one of these in your room should turn them off before you leave each day.

 

• Student Tech Contract (K-2 and 3-5) – If you haven’t already gone over these with students, linked here and on the Holt Staff Dashboard are the K-2 Holt Student Technology Contract and the 3-5 Holt Student Technology Contract. Teachers should review this document with students, using it as a teaching tool, and then have students and parents/guardians sign the agreement (conferences are a good time for that).

 

• Staff Photos – Anyone hate their school picture on the Holt Staff Webpage? If you do, I have access to digital versions of this year’s schools photo if you’d like me to update your picture or if you want to first take a peek at this this year’s photo.

 

• Grant Approval Form Update (only for $5,000+ grants again) – Downtown thankfully saw reason, and we are going back to only using the Grant Approval Form for larger grants, which according to the 4J Grants Webpage is for grants $5,000 or more.

 

• 4J SEL Resources – Three resources that have been shared before, but I wanted to re-highlight are the Second Step Pacing Guide (don’t fee bad if you’re behind, but it is a good way to make sure you’re hitting each topic area), Morning Meeting, Engagement Strategies, and Closing Activities on the 4J Learning Hub, and also the 4J SEL PE Booster Plan & Resources 2023-2024, which has a bunch of links on Morning Meetings, Closing Meetings, and other class SEL resources.

 

• Elementary Curriculum Updates – The Elementary Curriculum Update sent to principals didn’t have anything too critical, but if you are interested it has info about 504 Meetings and Conferences, the Elementary Teacher VOICE Survey on the math adoption, Math Workbook print orders, Eugene Science Center opportunites for 3rd and 5th grade, Library Resources, and MANDT trianing opportunities.

 

• Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) PD Opportunity – See the ASIST Outreach Letter if there are any licensed or classified staff are interested in attending this 2-day training Nov. 2 and 3. Registration is first come, first serve and space is limited.

 

• WREN Newsletter & Paid PD Equity Zooms – The latest WREN Newsletter has a Zoom PD titled “Bystander Intervention for Educator” in December. I attended two Zoom PDs this month and it was kind of like listening to a good podcast, except you got paid $60 at the end! See the above linked newsletter for how to sign up!

 

• Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day Resources – It’s not until Nov. 14, but the Day of Dialogue Teachers’ Project Guide to Supporting Changemakers has lessons teachers can use to coincide with Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day.

 

• JUST FOR FUN: New Words – The online Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary regularly adds new words based on usage and 690 words were recently added. Here is just a sample list of them, including new slang and words made popular by online culture, like edgelord noun, slang : someone who makes wildly dark and exaggerated statements (as on an internet forum) with the intent of shocking others. Also the word “hallucination” has an new definition meaning “a plausible but false or misleading response generated by an artificial intelligence algorithm.” Worth checking out to stay in the know, especially if you’re an aging uncool Gen-Xer like me.

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

October 23 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach Staff Room Duty Staff Room Duty
Scholastic Book Fair Begins
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:00-2:00, Allan to Synergy Training (Zoom)
2:45, Allan to Parent Meeting
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 – SafeSchools & Elem Inclusive Beliefs Survey
4:30-6:30, SPED Parent Info Session (Ed Center)

October 26 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
5:30-6:15, PTO Trunk or Treat (Blacktop)
6:15-7:30, PTO Costume Bingo (Cafeteria)

October 26 (F)
8:00-11:00, OSEA Membership Drive (Staff Room)
8:20, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)

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

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

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

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

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

 

Just one more 5-day week after this week and then we get a nice 3-day week to look forward to!

Allan

 

September 25, 2023

 

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 FRIDAYSELCO’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

 

August 28, 2023

 

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

May 15, 2023

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