We survived a week of Halloween excitement, so now we just need to survive this week’s sugar crash.
Eleven items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:
• Molly Beick (CLC EA) – Molly has been subbing in the CLC most all of this year, but she has now officially been hired to fill Ganell’s 6.5 CLC EA vacancy, so please welcome Molly as our newest Holt Bolt!
• School Counselor Update – We interviewed three candidates for our Temp School Counselor opening this past Friday and will hopefully have a job offer out from HR by the end of the week.
• CLD EA Vacancy – The person HR offered Jason Martinez’s 5-hour CLC EA position never responded, so SSD had HR make the job offer to another candidate. Darrin has taken over Jason’s morning crossing guard duties, but hopefully we’ll get someone for the rest of the position soon. In related news, Jason is now working online with K-5 Connect.
• Conferences Updates – Five parent/teacher conferences updates:
• EA Extravaganza, Wednesday, Nov. 10th – Educational Assistants should attended the EA Extravaganza on November 10th between 8:00-12:00 via Zoom. See the above link for sessions, times, descriptions, and Zoom links, and see Marlee Litten’s Email for additional details.
• Title 1 Compacts & Conferences – Title 1 Compacts (English and Spanish) should be reviewed with all families at conferences. For the signatures, the teacher and student should sign the form and for parents review the permission section at conferences and then just date the form in the parent signature line that the parents agreed to do their part. This should be less work than sending the forms home for parent signatures and then having to collect and track them again. Title 1 staff will put class sets in teacher mailboxes this week.
• Wednesday PAHS Lunch – PAHS is planning to provide a big lunch for staff on Wednesday, with enough to be left over for dinner if staff are still working in the building then, so I’ll need to get a head count at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting of how many people will be in the building this day.
• 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 Zoom link and I’ll be there!
• REMINDER: Conference Dates – Dates for conferences are:
Nov. 9 (T), 3:25-7:25, Evening Conferences
Nov. 10 (W), 8:00-8:00, All-Day Conferences
Nov. 11 (H), Veterans Day – No School
Nov. 12 (F), No School, Teacher Comp Day
• PAHS Volunteer Request Form – PAHS is looking to help and volunteer however they can. Library is the only place volunteers are allowed inside the building, but if you have other uses for volunteers (prepping materials, grading, sorting, etc.), please filled out the linked PAHS Volunteer Request Form. Last week they set out pumpkins in the school garden for the Kinder Pumpkin Patch “Field Trip.”
• REMINDER: Mandatory Elementary School Bus Safety Training – If you haven’t already, be sure to show your students the required Bus Safety Training Video and then let me know the date you showed it.
• Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so please encourage your students to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school. If students live a long way from school, they can try parking a ten minute walk from school and walking the rest of the way. The goal is to reduce traffic and pollution around our school and to promote physical activity for our students.
• Campus Safety and Security Team Offer – Kari Skinner, Director of Student Wellness and School Safety, emailed principals that our new Campus Safety and Security Team (kind of the new SROs) are offering to be a sort of mentor and/or “seeing” a student to make a connection. If you know of a student who could use this kind of big buddy, let me know the student name and a brief description of what you’re hoping for.
• Seesaw Usage – The following was sent to principals on Friday regarding how teachers should use Seesaw, but I don’t think the first bullet (sending class newsletters over Seesaw) is right (there’s no formatting option and if you link or attach a newsletter, that’s one more click you might lose someone). I’m going to ask about this at my elementary principals’ meeting on Wednesday, so feel free to ignore that bullet for now. I think the other three bullets are nothing new:
Now that the year is well underway, we want to give some reminders on what should be happening in each teacher’s Seesaw account. Make sure that you start engaging in Seesaw walk throughs in the coming weeks. If you need Seesaw assistance, please reach out to Justin Huntley.
• Home communications from the classroom. Classroom newsletters should be disseminated through Seesaw. These are automatically translated into the home language.
• Each classroom teacher should have an asynchronous lesson, learning links, and/or choice board posted for students on quarantine.
• When students are on quarantine, daily assignments for students.
• Zoom links for grade level TOSA supports.
• 4J Care Teams – 4J has started Regional Care Teams to assist schools needing assistance when they feel they have exhausted their resources to assist a family. For additional info, here is the Sheldon Region Care Team Flyer and a Slide Show that was shared with counselors. For initial request for assistance for families, please connect with Darla. Referrals could be for assistance regarding, though not limited to:
• Death of a parent
• Incarcerated parent - concerns about recent incarceration or pending release
• Homeless or impending homelessness
• Unknown if open child welfare case but has concerns that were called in
• Domestic Violence
• Extreme behavior issues – additional supports needed outside of school
• Specific resource needed but unknown where to refer
• Medical concerns about the child or other family
• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Hoods off indoors, Hats OK indoors – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Hats and Hoods:
Hats may be worn on the playground, halls, and cafeteria at Holt. Teachers may ask a student to remove the hat if it becomes a distraction. Teachers may decide if hats may be worn in their own classrooms and guidelines for students must be clear and consistent. If hats become a distraction, the teacher may ask a student(s) to remove the hat. Continued disruption with hats may require teachers to communicate with parents about their classroom policy.
Hoods may be worn outdoors for warmth, but must come off once inside the building for visibility and safety; this includes halls, cafeteria, and classrooms.
• Team Building Activities for Kids – We all know that a sense of community and belonging helps kids feel safe, take risks, and (hopefully) make better, kinder choices. This list from WeAreTeachers offers a list of some ideas for helping students connect and cooperate with one another.
• 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 1 (M)
KG Staff Room Duty Ewok Appreciation Day
1:45-2:00, 4th Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
November 4 (H)
8:30-9:30, Allan to Safety Committee Webinar (Zoom)
2:00-2:15, 2nd Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
4:00-5:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)
November 5 (F)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
November 8 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
2:30-3:30, Allan to Care Team Meeting (Zoom)
November 10 (W)
No School – Conferences 8:00-12:00, EA Extravaganza (Zoom)8:00-8:00, Parent/Teacher Conferences (Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
November 11 (H)
No School — Veterans Day
November 12 (F)
No School — Parent/Teacher Conferences Comp Day
If you missed it in Saturday’s Register Guard, Holt made the local news gain. Check it out and feel free to share with students!
• Temp Counselor Interviews Friday – We’ll conduct interviews for our Temp Counselor Vacancy this Friday from 1:20-3:30. Let me know if any of your are interested in joining myself and Kim.
• October Virtual Assembly, Friday @7:55 – The October Spirit Day Virtual Assembly will be this Friday at 7:55. We’ll draw winners over Zoom (prizes will be delivered to classrooms) and then (keep this part a secret from kids) we’ll unveil our brand new BOOK VENDING MACHINE! Afterwards, grade levels can have a “field trip” to come see the vending machine according to the schedule below. Here’s the agenda for the event:
7:50
Start zoom meeting with each class.
Music will be played until start time.
7:55
Assembly begins! Live from the hallway! Mr. Chinn Starts us off!
7:56
Miss Kim pulled out 10 winners (Pre drawn) and adds to the wheel (pre-written)
THEY STAY IN CLASSROOM! Prize will be delivered!
Spin the wheel with all 10 names on it!
1st Spin = Fidget Game winner!!!!
2nd Spin = BIG Fidget Pop-It!
3rd Spin = RAZOR scooter!!!
BOLT WINNER DRAWING = First Helper at the Book vending Machine
8:00
SHOW the SPECIAL SURPRISE!
-Unwrap machine
-Mr. Chinn Cuts the ribbon!
-Student puts in coin to machine
8:04
End Assembly portion.
Start of the Field Trip Around the School!
8:15 – KG Field Trip to Book Vending Machine 8:25 – 1st Field Trip to Book Vending Machine 8:35 – 2nd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine 8:45 – 3rd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine 8:55 – 4th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine 9:05 – 5th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
• Elementary Director Visit Monday – Director of Elementary Education Services, Jeff Johnson is planning to visit Holt this Monday around 9:15. He said he wants to stop by some classrooms, so I thought people would appreciate a heads-up.
• Conferences Updates – Three updates regarding parent/teacher conferences.
• Teleworking Allowed – Principals have been given flexibility to allow teachers to work from home for conferences, which I’ll allow. Just send me an email if you are planning to work from home either of the conference days.
• Staff Not at Conferences – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday are regular work days for all staff who are not part of conferences and should work your regular hours at school. However, if you have accumulated trade time or are planning to accumulate trade time in order to not work any of these dates, email me your plan ahead of time.
• REMINDER: Conference Dates – Dates for conferences are:
Nov. 9 (T), 3:25-7:25, Evening Conferences
Nov. 10 (W), 8:00-8:00, All-Day Conferences
Nov. 11 (H), Veterans Day – No School
Nov. 12 (F), No School, Teacher Comp Day
• PE and Music Pick-Up – A request from Alex and Ashley, please be sure to pick up your students on time so specialists have time to prep for their next class.
• Teacher Recess Reminders – Two items of note:
• Morning & Lunch Recesses 5-Minutes Shorter on Fridays – Remember, according to the 4J Standard School Schedule, morning and afternoon recesses are 5-minutes shorter on Early Release Fridays (60 minutes total of Recess/Lunch/Break/Passing Time on regular days and 50 minutes total on early release days). This is noted on the Master Schedule on the supervision tab, but not on the main master schedule tab.
• No Snacks at Recess – Although this is allowed during normal times, we can’t have kids taking off their masks to eat at recess, so please make sure students are not taking food out to recess with them.
• Classified Emergency Sub Plans – EAs should write a generic set of “Emergency Sub Notes” to the office. Include schedules and other pertinent notes, but this will help for if folks are unexpectedly out.
• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. I believe 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier. I’m including the linked Erin’s Law Information in Monday’s Quick News and it’s recommended teachers follow-up with the linked Family Message (English & Spanish).
• Second Step Scope & Sequence – Speaking of Second Step, linked here is the recommended Second Step and Bully Prevention Scope & Sequence. I know the reality is it’s difficult to cover all of these lessons, but do take time to cover the high points in each of units over the course of the year.
• Leadership Plan Update – All of the leadership positions staff voted to compensate on our plan have been filled on the Leadership Sign-Up Sheet. Our final task to vote on the plan with the names attached, 2021-2022 Holt Leadership Plan, which we’ll do at our next staff meeting, which will require a minimum 75% licensed staff approval.
• COVID Protocol Updates & Reminders – Four items of note:
• What Symptoms Mean Staff Stay Home? – Staff should stay home If you are experiencing any primary COVID symptoms due to an unknown illness, which are:
⁃ Fever of 100.4° F or higher
⁃ Chills
⁃ Cough (non-persisten, dry coughs are okay, but congested coughs are not)
⁃ Shortness of breath
⁃ Difficulty breathing
⁃ New loss of taste or loss of smell
⁃ Diarrhea
⁃ Vomiting
As always, staff who feel unwell should stay home and use appropriate leave (sick leave).
• Holt Family Quarantine Letter Updated – Geoff spotted there was some incorrect info on the Holt Family Quarantine Letter, which referred to a slide deck (which was the TOSA created one that expired on Oct. 15) and a Home Learning icon in Clever that didn’t exist (Downtown made one after I asked, but it simply links back to the quarantine letter), so I deleted those two bullets on the letter.
• Check that your Clever is current – If you have students on quarantine, teachers should check your Clever page to make sure apps, resources, and other links are current.
• Vaccine Booster Clinics – I signed myself up for a booster this Friday, so to save you all research time, you can go to Lane County COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Clinic Operations webpage. They encourage you to schedule an appointment in advance for more rapid service at their clinics, but they also welcome walk-ins.
• UO EdF Practicum Students – The UO is looking to place undergraduate Education Foundation (EdF) students during winter (January 3 – March 18) and spring terms (March 28 – June 18). EdF students spend a minimum of 3 hours per week per term in a classroom setting. They can assist host teachers with individual and small groups for academics, art, PE, and STEM activities. More details are provided in the linked UO EdF Field Placement Flyer. If you are interested, complete the linked Seeking Teachers to Host an EdF Student Volunteer Survey Form by Friday, November 5th.
• Behavioral Safety Assessment Training Video – Sheri Hoyland, the 4J Behavioral Safety Assessment Coordinator (threats, suicide, safety, etc.), asked principals to share with staff the linked Behavioral Safety Assessment Training Video. Linked here is her full email, which also includes a link to the Student Wellness & School Safety Department website, which is your “one stop shop” for all things Student Wellness & School Safety Department, and also the linked Age Appropriate Sexual Behavior in Children and Young People, which delineate which behaviors are Age Appropriate, Concerning, or Very Concerning by age range (0-4, 5-9, 9-12, and 13-18).
• K-5 iPad Cart Survey – Holt actually has the best response rate of any 4J school on this right now, but teachers who haven’t already should complete the K-5 iPad Cart Survey by the end of the week.
• SSD Mask Flowchart – If you’re interested, linked here is the SSD Mask Flowchart for how to address situation when a student receiving special education is not wearing their mask properly on a regular basis.
• Child Welfare Reports – When you make child welfare calls, let me know and also complete an Abuse Reporting Form (make a copy and don’t edit the original), which helps me track dates, concerns, and how many calls we’ve made for individual student. To make a report, you can call either:
• Elementary TOSAs List – I’ve had a few different teachers asking who to reach out to downtown for different curricular supports, so linked here is an email of the 2021-2022 Elementary TOSAs that was sent out earlier this year.
• List of Social Services – Similar to the Parenting Now Resources for Families (English and Spanish) I shared in the past, linked here is a very comprehensive Relief Nursery Community Resource Guide that ranges from counseling, to anger management, to immigration assistance, with 48 pages of local resources for families.
• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: No Scents or Perfumes – Holt has a nicely comprehensive Holt Staff Handbook, which I’m planning to highlight a section of in each week’s announcements. For this week it’s Scents/cleaners/air fresheners:
Scents/cleaners/air fresheners: Perfumes, highly scented deodorants, air freshening spray and plug-ins altogether must be removed from classrooms and commons spaces due to staff and students sensitivity
• Buddy Bench Video – Since it’s been almost 3 years since kids have been in person, a number of kids have no idea how to use the “Buddy Bench” on the playground if teachers could take some time, perhaps at a Morning Meeting to review how it works. If it’s easier, here’s a 3-minute video one school put together on how the Buddy Bench works.
• 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 25 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
9:15, Jeff Johnson Classroom Visits
10:15, 4th Grade Rules School (Library)
10:40, 5th Grade Rules School (Library)
4:30-6:00, Health Insurance In Retirement Presentation (Zoom)
October 26 (T)
1:45-2:00, KG PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
October 27 (W)
Book Vending Machine Arrives!
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Kinder Pumpkin Patch in the Garden
1:45-2:00, 5th Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
October 28 (H)
8:45-9:00, 1st Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
9:10-10:10, Reich in School Garden
10:40-11:40, Dagget in School Garden
12:45-1:45, Robison in School Garden
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
4:00-6:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)
1:45-2:00, 2nd Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
October 29 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Dress-Up Day!
7:50-8:10, October Holt Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:15 – KG Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:25 – 1st Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:35 – 2nd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:45 – 3rd Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
8:55 – 4th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
9:05 – 5th Field Trip to Book Vending Machine
1:30-3:30, Temp Counselor Interviews (Library)
November 1 (M)
KG Staff Room Duty Ewok Appreciation Day
1:45-2:00, 4th Grade PBIS Bonus Recess (Playground)
November 3 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)
November 4 (H)
4:00-5:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)
November 5 (F)
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
Only 2 weeks until a short Conference Week. After that, just 1 full week until a short Thanksgiving week. Then just 3 weeks until a nice long winter break. There’s your good news of the day!
Our first two days of school seemed to go well. There’s a few tweaks we may want to make, but overall things seemed to run quite smooth, so nice work, Team Holt!
√ You are not experiencing primary COVID symptoms due to an unknown illness;
• Fever of 100.4° F or higher
• Chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing
• New loss of taste or loss of smell
• Note: Not all persons with COVID-19 exhibit primary symptoms, particularly in the less-likely breakthrough cases in individuals who are fully vaccinated.
√ You have not been identified as a close contact of a person who is COVID-19 positive;
√ You do not live with a person who is COVID-19 positive;
√ You are not awaiting the result of a COVID-19 test that was administered due to COVID symptoms; and
√ You have not been placed in isolation or quarantine by a health provider or by Lane County Public Health.
If in doubt, please call, text, or email me.
• Safety Week, Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 – In two weeks we’ll hold our Safety Week, which is a good way to bring awareness to staff, students, and families about the various safety procedures right at the start of the year. I like to do this when two months overlap within the same week, so we can take care of two monthly required fire drills all in one week. I’ll plan to go over this Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, but I tried to work around recess times and PE/Music times to avoid stepping on anyone’s prep time. I’m proposing the following times and also that on Tuesday and Friday the 8:10-8:40 PE/Music classes move up 5-minutes and the 9:45-10:15 PE/Music classes move 5-minutes later so everyone get’s their prep and we can squeeze the drill in between.
• Monday – Directed Evacuation (i.e. Fire Drill) – 1:45
• Tuesday – Lockout Drill – 8:35
• Wednesday – No Drill or Weather Make-Up Day
• Thursday – Room Clear – Time decided by teachers
• Friday – Earthquake/Fire Drill – 8:35
4J is looking to use a different program in place of ALICE, likely I Love U Guys, so schools were told to wait to practice those drills until staff have been trained.
All of the above drills are listed in the Emergency Procedures Manual, the rainbow tabbed spiral notebook (which is also in the process of being updated) that should be hanging in every classroom. I’ll make a short announcement before each drill, but it’s also good and encouraged for teachers to prep students prior to each drill.
MONDAY– Directed Evacuation (Fire Drill): Linked here is theBuilding Evacuation Map (same as last year) and an updated Fire Drill Line Map. The evacuation routes are similar last spring, but I’ve updated the spots where classes line up to include new classrooms and teachers. Let me know if you have any questions.
TUESDAY – Lockout Drill: I will announce that this is a lockout drill, where if there was something unsafe in the neighborhood we would lock all exterior doors (though right now they’re all already locked), we would not let anyone in or out of the building, but continue business as usual inside the building until the all-clear, which I will announce 10-minutes into the drill.
WEDNESDAY– No Drill – Weather Make-Up Day
THURSDAY – Room Clear: Room Clear Drills will happen at a time determined by classroom teachers. In normal times this drill would be done in cooperation with another classroom where students could go in the event of an actual room clear, but for this year because of distancing rules, I’d advise teachers to use their commons areas, the library, or an empty classroom if you have one nearby. The goal of this drill is for students to know where they would room clear to in the event of an actual emergency since in most cases the teacher would need to remain in the classroom when the rest of the students moved out of the room.
FRIDAY – Fire/Earthquake Drill: For the 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 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 do not have a manual or if you have any questions or suggestions.
• Meeting Calendar Update – Mentioned in the Leadership Meeting Minutes, wtih the added meetings and PDs this year, we had to revise our building meeting calendar. Regular meetings will be:
• Staff Meeting (1st Tuesday of the month, 2:45-3:25)
• IPBS Meeting (2nd Tuesday of the month, 2:45-3:25)
• Leadership Meeting (3rd Tuesday of the month, 2:45-3:25)
• PBIS Meeting (4th Tuesday of the month, 2:45-3:25)
In going down to one Staff Meeting a month, we figure since teachers are already meeting twice each week, we can probably take care of short business items at those meetings.
Also, I’m leaving September’s meeting schedule mostly as planned, except for swapping out the Staff Meeting on the 28th for an IPBS Meeting. The above schedule of meetings will begin in October
• Calendar Requests – Related to the above, staff needing to add any event to the school calendar must use the Calendar Data Entry Form found in the IMC. Please fill it out and turn into Melanie as soon as your event is planned. Prior to scheduling an event, check the school calendar for conflicts. If you’re planning an evening event that will be using the cafeteria you can’t start it before 6:30. The cafeteria is rented out to the YMCA until 6:00 each night and while they’ll help us set up before 6:00 we can’t have parents and guests in there until they’re out.
• No Evening Events on School Board Nights – This isn’t new, but a reminder that schools are not to schedule evening events that conflict with School Board Meetings, not that we’ll have as many evens due to COVID restrictions, but I’ve added Board Meeting to the Staff Zimbra Calendar (and also the Zoom link to the meetings if you want to listen in).
• easyCBM Fall Benchmark Testing Window – ODE guidance has been exceedingly clear on schools providing “Care & Connection” with students and families for the first two weeks of school. Schools should plan on starting the 1-minute 1:1 assessments the week of September 20th and the whole group measures starting the week of September 27th (my birthday!). The window will be open through October 14th.
• State Vaccine Mandate Reminder – Fully vaccinated staff must submit a copy of their proof of vaccine even if they received their shot from a 4J clinic and did the district vaccine verification process. OHA requires the district have a copy of employee vaccination documentation. The deadline for submitting the required OHA exception form is Monday, September 13th at noon. Linked here is the HR Vaccine Mandate Email sent earlier to all staff. Also. Lisa G. offered to deliver any paper verification form if you’re not doing the online form. She said to just put the paperwork in her mailbox if that is helpful to you.
• Seesaw and Students in Quarantine & Friday Prep – Downtown is continuing to work with EEA to reach an agreement regarding how to support students in quarantine. For now, teachers should post materials on Seesaw that a student in quarantine could have a window into activities occurring in the classroom. Additionally, downtown is asking principals to provide teachers time this Friday, September 17th to create a “bank” of asynchronous activities in case we need to take a break from in-person learning.
I’ll notify classroom teachers if a student in your class is on quarantine. Almost all cases this year have been due to a student being a close contact of someone who had COVID and not because they tested positive. Students officially put on quarantine will be flagged in synergy with a house icon like the ones below.
• Regular 3-Feet Student & Masking Refreshers – We need to be proactive in addressing three feet and masking requirements. You have probably already thought of this, but It will be important to have regular lessons and reminders in the first few weeks of school to address proper wearing of masks and ensuring 3-feet in the classroom, outside, and around the school.
• Attendance 15-Minutes After Tardy Bell – Downtown wanted principals to remind teachers attendance needs to be taken by 8:10, 15-minutes after the 7:55 tardy bell.
• Behavior EA Interviews Thursday at 2:35 – HR sent me our candidates list Friday afternoon, so interviews will be this Thursday at 2:35 in the school garden. We had 9 applicants and I’ll plan to interview 3-4 candidates. Interviews will be 25-minute each. Let me know if any of you are willing to volunteer your time to help serve on the interview committee. The more the merrier.
• Principal Visits to Classrooms – I’d like to visit every classroom sometime during the first few weeks of school to greet students and introduce myself. I’ll read a favorite story to your class and chat with the kids a bit. Teachers, please let me know a good 10 minutes block of time I can come and visit sometime this month. Thank you!
• Classroom Newsletters – I’d like to have copies (email is best) of classroom newsletters when teachers send or email them home to families. 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! If you missed it last week, Holt was in the news on KEZI on Thursday and on KLCC on Friday.
• FREE Table in Staff Room – The Staff Room FREE Tables is starting to get quite a pile. If you put something there, only leave it for a week and after that dispose of it.
• Wear Your Holt Shirt WEDNESDAYS! – We wore our Holt shirts last week on Friday to show school spirt for the first day of school, but our regular school spirit day is Wednesday, so remember to wear your Holt shirt, gear, or purple & green this day each week. Go, Bolts!
Speaking of school spirit, If you missed this Instagram & Facebook posts, check out this Level 10 hair tattoo school spirit!
• Upcoming SSD Changes – An SSD Email was sent to principals regarding changes to address significant SSD staffing shortages. Most of the changes involve reassigning duties for a lot of itinerant staff (nurses, consultants, etc.), but SSD admin are also looking at caseloads and may reassign building staff to understaffed buildings.
• Air Quality Info – It wasn’t too smokey this past week, but if you wanted to know the cutoff numbers, if the air quality is in-between 101- 149, kids are allowed to go outside, but we are advised to avoid over exertion for outdoor activities. Any air quality over 150 is when we need to bring kids in for inside recess.
• University Supervisors Allowed in Buildings – If you have a student teacher, HR has said university supervisors are now allowed to come into buildings to observe and meet with student teachers and practicum students. They just need to be sure to sign-in through the main office.
• K-5 Connect & EOA – All families that were offered spots in K-5 connect had to make decisions as of yesterday. Students that have elected to attend K-5 connect are in the program for the remainder of the first semester. We are still taking students from the waiting list at grades where we have room. Families that are contacted on the waiting list will have 24 hours to make a decision before they lose the seat. We hope to have this ironed out in the coming week.
• Mystery Science Subscription – If you know Mystery Doug, he also has a website Mystery Science, which I just found out 4J has a three year subscription to if you log in using Clever.
• REPEAT: Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th, which later next month we can develop some optional building goals people can use.
• REPEAT: SELCO’s Educator Grants, Due 9/30 – SELCO’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grant Program is now accepting applications for projects up to $1,000 that inspire curiosity, make learning accessible, and spark something new. Applications are due September 30.
• REPEAT: EEF 2021-2022 Grant Applications DUE OCT 1st – EEF Grant Application are available on their website and are due October 8th. No one has brought a grant to me yet, but before you submit one, let me know your grant title and idea so Site Council can rank order grant submission if we get multiple grants.
• 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 13 (M)
Regular Day
September 14 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)
September 15 (W)
2:45-3:25, PLC Meetings (Library)
September 16 (H)
2:30-4:30, Behavior EA Interviews (School Garden)
September 17 (F)
1:10, Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser (Blacktop Area)
2:30-3:25, Teachers Create “Bank” of Async Activities
September 20 (M)
Schools can begin 1:1 easyCBM measures
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
September 21 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)
September 22 (W)
2:45-3:25, PLC Meetings (Library)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)
September 23 (H)
Regular Day
September 24 (F)
2:30-3:25, ACT Aligned Activity (Library)
Gird yourself for our first full week with a full-house since March 2019, but look forward to rewarding yourself on Friday with a FREE shave ice from Kona Ice!
• Title 1 EA Updates – Lori Tingue was hired last week as a 2nd grade teacher at Gilham, so instead of reposting for her position, we’ve taken her hours and reallocated them to Annie, Ben, and Iris and have shuffled the EA schedule around a bit.
• Behavior EA Vacancy – Our 6.5-hour Behavior EA Job Posting closes this Tuesday, September 8th, so please encourage anyone you know who’d be good (or even someone who is simply teachable) to apply.
• Classified Sub Shortage – We have one unfilled EA sub job in AESOP are if you know any subs who are available. It’s for Jason Martinez in the CLC while he’s on his parental leave.
• Virtual Meet Your Teacher, WED (KG) & THURS (1-5) @12:00 – The Zoom link is on the Staff and Family Zimbra Calendar. Kinder does theirs on Wednesday at 12:00. Grades 1-5 will be Thursday at 12:00. My plan is to welcome families, have teachers introduce themselves (and maybe name a favorite book to read to students), do a review of arrival/dismissal procedures, what to bring to school, and some covid safety procedures. Next I’ll send people to breakout rooms for 15-minutes, at the end of which I’ll close all breakout rooms, do a short wrap up (GO, BOLTS!), and then I’ll stay on to answer any questions.
• Kinderzone Plans – The Kindergarten Team has already connected with staff where you’ll be helping this day, but linked here is the Fall 2021 Kinderzone Plan.
• Enrollment Updates – At the start of August we were 104 students below our projection of 529, but now we’re around 60 under projection and downtown will hopefully release the 9 kinders on our wait list. Nearly every school in 4J is under projection and we are far from the lowest. If you’re interested, linked here is the District Enrollment as of 09/03/2021.
• Meals Change of Plan – Principals got a message late Friday that 4J is pivoting to eating meals outdoors and that more details are forthcoming. That’s about all I know, meaning we don’t know if this means both breakfast and lunch, for how long we’ll be doing this, what’s the plan when it’s raining, what’s the plan when air quality is hazardous, and not to mention how kindergartners would make it from the cafeteria to the covered play area without spilling their trays. There’s an Elementary Principals’ Meeting Wednesday morning, so hopefully we’ll get additional details then (the day before kindergarten’s first day). Stay tuned.
• Transportation Updates – Schools do not have their morning bus arrival times yet, but 4J’s Find My Bus Stop website is now live for families. I’m planning to call Transportation on Tuesday if I don’t hear from them over the weekend about bus arrival times. More to come.
• Meeting Schedules – Due to the above two items and the “Golden Hour” of prep moved to Fridays and PLCs to Wednesday, on the Leadership Team agenda for Tuesday is to look at revising our meeting schedule. We need to shift our Wednesday meetings to either Tuesday or Thursday (I lean toward Tuesdays). I’m also going to propose we go down to one Staff Meeting a month. Since we’re now meeting twice a week, I figure we can add some business items to those meetings. Also, so that teachers get their guaranteed amount of prep, the length of afternoon meetings may be shortened depending upon when buses arrive and when teacher begin supervision students in the morning. Downtown is requiring teachers get 20-minutes of prep at the start of the day before supervising students. So more to come on this topic as well.
• Tech Updates – Four technology related updates:
• iPads Distribution for New Students – Teachers will give students new to Holt their iPads and chargers on their first day of class. If students new to Holt are coming from another 4J school, they should already have an iPad. Student devices are tracked using Learn21, the districtwide device management system. Brian has a bunch of iPads ready to go. Our plan is to checkout iPads to the new student in Learn21, put a sticky note with their name on it, and give those to teachers to distribute the first day of school. All kindergartners will get new iPads and all 3rd graders will get a new iPad with a keyboard case once they return their 2nd grade iPad (grade 3-5 iPads have a keyboard case).
• Headphones Replacements – Brian has a stash of headphones for all new students as well as for students who lost or broke their headphones over the summer. I’d advise students keep their headphones at school, but teachers may send them home if you choose.
• Seesaw Updates – Justin Huntley and his team were able to go into Clever to activate the Seesaw tile district-wide. This means if a student logins in using their QR code, they’ll be able to see the Clever page and the Seesaw title is back on there. Furthermore, Justin will be setting up our specialist in Seesaw this week.
• EdTech Subscriptions & Tools – If you missed it in the flurry of last week’s tidal wave of PD, here are all of the district purchased EdTech Subscriptions and Tools. Not on the list, we also have a subscription to BrainPOP through December, which is a pretty rad website. Be sure to check that one out and maybe the district will get BrainPOP Jr. and BrainPOP Español if enough people use it. Also, don’t forget GoNoodle Plus is free to educators this school year if you sign-up.
• Missing Classroom Materials Inventory – In the spring, teachers filled out a Materials Inventory Survey. If you have any updates, additional missing materials or or newly discovered excess curriculum materials, please submit an update in the above survey or email me directly with your update. If you need to review what you submitted in the spring, here is the Spring Materials Inventory Results.
• Wear Your Holt Shirt FRIDAY! – The normal spirit day is Wednesday for wearing your Holt shirt, but everyone should wear your new green Holt shirt this Friday for the first day of school where we’ll have all K-5 students in the building!
• Updated School Map – Linked here is an Updated 21-22 Holt School Map of where folks are working this year. Let me know if you spot anything that looks wrong. This doc can also be found on the Staff Google Drive under MISC > Maps.
• Skipped Videos from Friday PD – The COVID Protocols went longer than I’d expected, so I skipped a couple videos at Friday’s Staff Meeting, but if you’d like to watch them or the two documentaries that were mentioned during Learning for All, see below!
“Inside the AC360 Doll Study”
CASEL: SEL 101: What are the core competencies and key settings?
“In the Shadow of Fairview” – Full Documentary (OPB Webpage)
“Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” – Netflix Full Documentary
• Care and Connection Resources – SSD Collaboration Facilitators put together these Care and Connection Resources for teachers to use with students during the first week of school. Some are a little too worksheet-like for my taste, but there’s also some really good stuff in there worth checking out.
• Color Printing – If teachers need to print in color, please contact Melanie. The office copier is the only one in the building that prints in color, but this printer hasn’t been added to staff laptops because the office copier is often loaded with labels, special paper, or is needed to copy materials for parents waiting to register children and we don’t want large jobs being sent to it. Also try to avoid printing class sets in color unless it’s a for special purpose or event.
• K-5 Connect & EOA – Families who submitted interest in the online pathways have until Thursday, September 9th to confirm they are enrolling.
• Updated District Retention Policy – 4J has unofficially used this process the past few years, but linked here is the updated 4J Grade Placement and Retention of Students Policy. In the past it was simply principal decision, but the new policy makes it more of a team decision, similar to an IEP eligibility process.
• REPEAT: Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th, which later next month we can develop some optional building goals people can use.
• REPEAT: EEF 2021-2022 Grant Applications DUE OCT 1st – EEF Grant Application are due October 8th, 2021. Before submitting grants online, let me know your grant title and idea so Site Council can rank order grant submission (no need to do a full write up for this step). Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.
• VIDEO: Starting Each Class With A Warm Welcome – One last video I passed over during our PD last Friday is a really good one, so I’m ending this week’s blog to highlight it. Keep in mind that a good welcoming activity is also a proactive classroom management strategy. It builds class community, establishes a sense of shared values, and makes everyone feel included. It can be as simple as a smile and greeting students by name as they enter the classroom, but it makes a HUGE difference. :)
• 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 6 (M)
Labor Day, No School
September 7 (T)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
8:00-9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meetin (Zoom)
9:00ish, Optional Q&A Session for Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
12:00-12:30, Virtual Meet the Kinder Teachers! (Zoom)
September 9 (H)
Transition Day – KG First Day
12:00-12:30, Virtual Meet Your Teacher (1st – 5th)
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom) – Checking w/PAHS if they are really meeting
September 10 (F)
Classes Begin for All Students
YMCA After School Care Begins
September 13 (M)
Regular Day
September 14 (T)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library) TENTATIVE
September 15 (W)
2:45-3:30, PLC Meetings (Library)
September 16 (H)
Regular Day
September 17 (F)
2:30-3:30, Building Based PD (Library)
Welcome back to the 2021-2022 school year! If you hadn’t read my prior announcement from earlier this month, be sure to go back and review those for info about this school year.
Sixteen items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:
• Staffing Reduction – Last Thursday I was notified Holt was being reduced by one full-time teacher due to under-enrollment (nine other schools also lost 1-2 teachers each), but since Ashley Wolf is joining Eugene Online Academy (EOA), we do not have to displace anyone. However, we did need to shift someone into Ashley’s 2nd grade position. Downtown suggested and I agreed that one of our four 1st grade teachers should move into that position, so the 1st grade team met on Friday and Lisa volunteered to take Ashley’s spot. Thank you, Lisa.
In terms of overall enrollment, we were projected at 529 students and currently have 440 enrolled, which puts us 89 students under-projection. We only had 37 students request to go online (ten at 1st grade, four at KG, nine at 2nd, four at 3rd & 4th, and eight at 5th), which is fewer than most schools our size.
• Behavior EA Vacancy – Mandy has been offered a position with more hours at Spencer Butte Middle School, so we have a vacant Behavior EA position. HR said they would get the position posted this week, so if you know of anyone good who wants a 6.5-hour position, please encourage them to apply.
• BEST Updates – Holt is slated to open a BEST After School Program this fall, but 4J is having a hard time filling vacancies for even existing BEST programs. Right now there are five BEST Coordinator vacancies out of seven programs. If it comes down to it, downtown is rightfully going to prioritize existing programs over new ones, so it’s a possibility we may have to wait another year before we get BEST at Holt. I have mixed feelings on this. I’m disappointed we won’t have this additional support for students, but I’m also a little relieved at not having to coordinate one more new thing. I’ll update folks as I find out more. Job postings for a BEST Coordinator, Assistant, and EA positions are on the 4J Jobs Website if you or anyone you know is interested.
• Class Lists Update – Not in my blog, but attached in my email is a spreadsheet of of students who chose EOA or 4J K-5 Connect. 2021-2022 Class Lists should be updated by Wednesday at noon. Sending and receiving grade levels should connect regarding who, when, and how you want to update your lists. Let me know if you’d like me to be a part of any class list meetings or discussions.
• “Golden Hour” and Meeting Schedule Updates – I’ve added this to Monday’s agenda, but the “Golden Hour” is no longer on Mondays and is back on Fridays, but schools need to decide if they want the PLC and district PD to happen on Wednesdays or Fridays. Below is what was shared with principals on Friday.
Building Schedule – The feedback was exceptionally valuable in developing the following guidelines. Please note, the 60 minutes of continuous prep is being scheduled for Friday this year only.
• 60 minutes of continuous prep must be provided on Friday this year.
• At least 20 minutes of daily prep must happen prior to teachers supervising students.
• Building decides how much morning transition time is necessary to bring kids in the building, get them breakfast and off to the classroom. (At least 10 minutes)
• PLC weekly (Wednesday or Friday).
• Professional development in ACT and building priorities weekly (Wednesday or Friday).
• No administrator initiated meetings on Monday.
• Building and staff meetings can happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• School Supplies for 2021-2022 – School Supplies are being provided by downtown. They are in the library and teachers should take what you need, but not more (no hoarding). If grade levels need additional items not purchased by the district, connect with Melanie.
• COVID Protocol Updates – Six COVID Protocol updates of note:
• 2021-2022 Elementary FAQ – The school district as created a 2021-2022 Elementary FAQ. It’s a pretty exhaustive document, but let me know if you have any questions about protocols or if there are questions you have it does not answer. Additional info can be found on the previously shared 4J COVID Rules – Visitors, Volunteers & Field Trips.
• PE and Music Protocols – I’ve already shared this with Alex and Ashley, but if you’re interested in the guidelines for PE and Music this year, they are:
• Students must maintain 3-feet physical distance “to the extent possible.”
• Masks must be worn inside the building.
• Masks are not required outside.
• Staff do not need to clean surfaces or equipment between groups (We’re not seeing spread via surfaces).
• Every student washes hands or uses hand sanitizer leaving PE or Music (we’ll station a hand sanitizer station in the hall outside Music and PE hallway).
• No wind instruments in Music.
• Singing with masks on is allowed.
• Breakfast Update – Student will need to collect their breakfasts at the exterior building entrances and not at classrooms. This is due to 4J being out of compliance with Federal Meals Program rules and Nutrition Services likely being audited this year.
• Restroom Cohorting – Each wing should use the same restrooms they were assigned in the spring (see linked Cohort Map), but we do not need to use these restrooms during lunch or recess.
• COVID Testing Partnership with UO – I don’t yet have all the details yet, but 4J schools are participating in a voluntary COVID testing system with the UO where students can choose to be tested weekly at home. Our only role would be to distribute test kits and later ship the returned tests to the UO. Linked here is a Program Flyer.
• New Water Bottles – We did purple last year and this year we have green. They should hopefully arrive next week.
• Inservice Schedule Updates – I’ve sent updated Staff Meeting Agendas in a separate email for the principal led portions of inservice week. Zoom links are now all on the Staff Zimbra Calendar. Linked here is complete Inservice Week Zoom Links. For the all-district PD where everyone is joining the same Zoom (Keynote, ELA + Math Acceleration, and Literacy PD), downtown is hoping schools and/or grade level teams will watch one Zoom feed. Last spring when everyone joined separately, it caused some lagging issues. Here are some additional inservice week reminders and info:
• REPEAT: Report Back Dates– Here are the report back dates:
• Licensed Staff – Monday, August 30
• Classified Staff – Thursday, September 2
• REPEAT: K-1 & Title EA Heggerty PD – Any K-2 or Title 1 EA who have not participated in a previous Heggerty training should attend one of the Zoom sessions on Friday, September 3rd at 8:00-9:50 or 10:00-11:50. Zoom links are on the Staff Zimbra Calendar. I’d recommend attending the second session so you can attend the first part of the Staff Meeting on Friday.
• REPEAT: ArtSpark Artist in Residence Survey: DUE: SUNDY NIGHT – Teachers should fill out the linked Artist in Residence Survey by Sunday night to help start the conversation when we make a final decision at our Back-to-School Staff Meeting on Monday. Artist info is on the Lane Arts Website.
• REPEAT; Single Student Desk Raffle! – The single student desks are to arrive Tuesday morning. We have enough desks for 8 (maybe 9) classrooms. Add your name to the Single Desk Lottery Google Form if you’d like something other than your current desks.
• REPEAT: Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/31 – Want a delicious breakfast burrito on Friday? Fill out the linked Breakfast Burrito Google Form by 9:00am, Tuesday, August 31st (student teachers included). You’ll need to log onto your 4J Google Account to complete the form. Let me know if you have any trouble with the form and I can input it for you.
• Keynote Speaker: Keith Jones – See the YouTube video Keith Jones: Un-Rapping Disability to learn about this year’s Keynote speaker, Keith Jones, a musician and disability rights advocate.
• Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th, which later next month we can develop some optional building goals people can use.
• EEF 2021-2022 Grant Applications DUE OCT 1st – EEF usually accepts applications in the spring, but last year was not typical, so EEF made the decision to move the granting process to this fall. EEF Grant Application will be available on their website under the “Grants” tab at the top of the page by September 1st. Applications will due October 8th, 2021. Before submitting grants online, let me know your grant title and idea so Site Council can rank order grant submission (no need to do a full write up for this step). Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.
• GoNoodle Plus is FREE! – GoNoodle Plus is Free to all educators for the 2021-2022 school year. See the GoNoodle News Release for info, but just sign up for an account to get in on the deal.
• LTD Bus Passes for Students – This program is more utilized by middle and high school, but free bus passes are available for all 4J students. If you know of a student who could use this, let me know and I can arrange for them to get a free pass. Additional information can be found on the LTD Website.
• FREE Program: Architects in Schools – Free design program for 3-5th – Architects in Schools (AiS) provides free architecture and design programming to 3rd-5th grade students and teachers. AiS materials can link to almost any classroom subject and is proven to be most impactful among low-income students, ELL students, and non-traditional learners, and reinvigorates student interest in school. If teachers are interested in using this program, see the linked AiS Flyer, Application Info, and Teacher Application. The deadline to apply is October 22nd.
• REPEAT: Who is A/B and C/D on the Schedule? – If you haven’t already, grade level teams should let me know which classes will follow the A, B, C, or D schedules and I’ll add names to the Master Schedule and PE/Music Schedule.
• District Admin Updates – If you’re interested, linked here are a few District Admin Updates, including District Athletic Director (Patrick Brown), Health Services Supervisor (Joy Maxwell), Human Resources COVID Support (Heather Stein), and South Eugene High School Assistant Principal (Rhiannon Boettcher).
• Which Reading Strategies to Try, and Which to Ditch – Research shows that some popular activities for reading instruction don’t actually result in more fluent readers—so this Edutopia Article and video below round up the most classroom-worthy ones (and the ones to ditch).
• 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 30 (M)
Licensed Staff Report Back
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Treats! (Cafeteria)
8:30-10:00, Building Welcome Back & A.C.T. PD (Cafeteria)
10:00-11:30, 4J Keynote – Keith Jones (Zoom)
12:30-3:00, PLC Info & Business Meeting (Cafeteria)
4:00-5:30, Optional KinderZone PD (Ed Center)
August 31 (T)
8:00-11:30, 4J Instructional Tech (Zoom)
8:00-10:00, 2nd Grade Heggerty Phonemic Awareness (Zoom)
12:30-4:00, 4J ELA + Math Acceleration PD (Zoom)
September 1 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
8:00-9:00, Allan to Elementary Principal Meeting (Zoom)
8:30-9:00, Treats & Supplies from Project Hope! (Front of School)
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)
September 2 (H)
Classified Staff Report Back
8:30-9:00, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Goodies! (Library)
9:00-11:00, District Kick-Off Event (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, 4J Literacy PD (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, SSD Staff Meeting with SSD Dept. (Zoom)
September 3 (F)
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Burritos! (Cafeteria)
8:30-12:00, Principal Led PD – Learning for All, Anti-Racism Instructional Strategies, SEL (Cafeteria) September 6 (M)
Labor Day, No School
September 7 (T)
8:00-12:00, Staff Meeting, if needed (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
September 9 (H)
Transition Day
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)
• Staffing Updates – Our 6.5-hour Kinder EA, 4-hour EA, and 3-hour EA positions are now posted and close Thursday, June 10th. I’ll plan to conduct interviews the last week of school for these positions. Our 6.5-hour Library position hasn’t posted yet and regarding Katie’s position, HR is not allowing us to post for a second secretary and are only allowing us to post for an 8-hour Office Assistant, but the good news is that Sharon is interested in the position, so we know we have at least one good candidate. Hopefully these positions get posted soon.
Music Teacher interviews will be Tuesday from 1:30-4:00. I have enough volunteers for the committee, but let me know if any of you would like to join. The more the merrier!
• Masks & Vaccination Verification – Please note in the Face Mask & Vaccination Verification Email that staff must continue with current mask protocols until your vaccination status is verified. I’m not sure if that verification will come as an email to staff or if it will come to me first when I pass out the verification stickers to put on your badges (which principals haven’t gotten yet).
• Last Week Plan & Field Day – I shared earlier this linked email with the official plan for the last week of school:
June 14 (M) – Cohort A attends in-person, regular hours
June 15 (T) – Cohort B attends in-person, regular hours
June 16 (W) – Regular Online Wednesday
June 17 (H) – 7:55-10:10, K-4 Async/5th A & B attend in-person
June 18 (F) – 2nd Grade iPad Return, 8:00-2:00
Field Day will be Monday (Cohort A) and Tuesday (Cohort B). Linked here is the Field Day Details. We’ll discuss the plan Wednesday’s Staff Meeting, but I did have some questions about the K/1 and 2/3 times overlapping with the recess and also the K/1 lunch time. I’m thinking we will close the field during field day activities and potentially part of hard play area if we need that for field day. For lunches, I’m thinking we can maybe get classes a heartier snack or maybe schedule a second snack time, and then eat lunch after Field Day, but let me know if teams have a better idea or have any questions.
• 2021 James Brown Award Nominations – James Brown was one of the first custodians at Bertha Holt. He worked extremely hard to make our school a safe, clean, and beautiful place to be. Throughout his 13 years at Holt, he was a hard-working, dedicated, humble, and kind member of the staff. Each year, a staff member is recognized who exemplifies the characteristics resembling James. We would like your help in awarding this year’s recipient. Use the Google Form to nominate a staff member you think deserves to be the 2021 award recipient.
• Report Card Updates – Downtown has not made a decision how and when these will go home, but word on the street is we will send home report cards with hybrid students Monday for Cohort A and Tuesday for Cohort B, and they will be mailed home by schools for SSO students. There has not been guidance on things like the “completes assignments” line on the report card, whether we consider online work AND in person work or do we focus on in person. My suggestions would be to consider both, using the 1-4 scale accordingly, and then provide any explanation for the grade in the comments.
Four other report card items of note:
When are specialist reports due? The staff agreement according to the Staff Handbook is that specialist reports (PE, Music, Title, SPED, Parent Reports) are due to classroom teachers the Wednesday following grading day, thought that doesn’t work this year since report cards need to go home Monday and Tuesday, so specialists need to make sure classroom teachers have reports by the end of Grading Day. Let me know if anyone has concerns and we can add this to the Staff Meeting Agenda.
Is the Report Card website updated? The 4J Elementary Report Card website has not been updated, but it still has some useful resources including the Report Card Bridge Document, as well as printing instruction and information on Synergy Grade Book. Take special note of the Performance Key for grading students, where a 3 is the target, students consistently meeting grade level expectations (scoring in the 74.88-98.99%) and a 4 represents consistently exceeding grade level expectations (scoring in the 98.99%-100%).
Will there be Parent Reports? I’ve emailed 4J data folks, but haven’t heard back yet.
Can teachers do grading from home? Report card grading day is a regular work day, but HR does allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.
• Journeys Book Collection – Here’s what I’m putting in Monday’s Quick News if you can remind students and families on these dates:
Reading Book Return + FREE BOOKS!
Families may keep the standard school supplies (pencils, crayons, glue, etc.) including headphones, but reading books should returned on the following dates:
Cohort A – Bring books to school Monday, June 7th Online Students – Bring books to office Wednesday, June 9th, 8-2 Cohort B – Bring books to school Thursday, June 10th
Teachers will let students and families know if there are additional items that need returned.
As an incentive to return materials, students will receive a FREE book purchased by our Title 1 program.
• 2nd Grade iPad Collection – Downtown has decided all students will keep their iPads over the summer, except for 2nd grade, who will different iPads in 3rd grade. They will return iPads after the last day of school on Friday, June 18th between 8:00-2:00. If we get the charger and cord, great! If we don’t, the district is not worrying about it. Downtown will notify families about this, but I’ll also include it in the Quick News.
• Wednesday PD/PLC Time (Antiracism PD) – This Wednesday is the next module in the 4J Antiracism PD. This will begin immediately following the 1:40 Staff Meeting.
• Bus Safety Training – The state still wants schools to cover the annual bus safety training, but downtown says we can meet this rule by simply giving students this Bus Safety Handout, which I’ll send as a Seesaw Announcement to students and families on Tuesday.
• Input on ESSER Funding, DUE MONDAY – If you missed the district email, Monday is the deadline to give input on how 4J should spend ESSER funds. Smaller class sizes and facilities to support those smaller classes are options being considered, so let your voice be heard on the ESSER Survey!
• Staff Photos – I’ve updated our website Staff Directory for folks who didn’t have a photo earlier, but if any of you don’t care for your current photo on the webpage, let me know and I can replace it with this year’s LifeTouch photo. (PS: I had some fun with my picture and remove.bg)
• REPEAT: Fire Drill Tuesday & Thursday @8:30 – Our June Fire Drill is on Tuesday and Friday at 8:30 for each cohort. See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up and that will be it for safety drills for the year!
• Send Me Your Summer Reading Picks! – What are you going to read this summer? What should your colleagues read? Send me your picks and maybe a short description if you want and I’ll share them in my final staff announcements for the year. Another one on my list is The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike. I never read any of his books as a kid, but the director of the smart and incredibly scary Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House is adapting this novel, so I want to read the book first.
• REPEAT: 2021-2022 Class Lists, DUE June 11th – Teams should build 2021-2022 Class Lists for next year by Friday, June 11th. This will give past teachers, specialists, and other staff a week to check lists for any potentially bad student combinations or other concerns. See the linked Class List Directions Email for details, but let me know if you have any questions.
• REPEAT: Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser, THURSDAY – The final Holt Night Out Fundraiser of the year is this Thursday at the Coburg Road Papa’s Pizza. Get your kids excited and make sure they have the flier.
• Flyers for Community Resources – Below are some community resources of note that were shared with counselors and principals:
• District Admin Updates – Buena Vista principal Melissa Ibarra is the new temporary Co-Elementary Director (taking over for Brooke, who is taking over for Cydney as assistant sup, so these are all temporary appointments since Cyd is interim sup and has rights back to her old job) and also Language Immersion Administrator. Jeff Johnson is continuing as Co-Elementary Director and will also oversee Federal Programs (i.e. Title 1), taking over for David Jacobsen, who downtown is not replacing. The new principal at Buena Vista will be Stephanie Randall, who has been the assistant principal at Willagillespie and Gilham. For next year, Gilham is getting a full-time assistant principal (I’ll pitch for the same if our numbers are close) and WillaG is getting a full-time Student Success Coordinator. Lastly, the principal positions for both Adams and Charlemagne are now open. See this email for details as well as for some assistant principal shifts.
• NYTimes Education Briefing on Retention – Since there’s been a number of discussions regarding retention of students with chronic absences, this New York Times Education Briefing seemed timely. Research on elementary school students during the pandemic provides some support for Chicago’s promotion plan: An analysis by T.N.T.P., a nonprofit that helps districts improve teaching, and the online math platform Zearn found that students whose teachers began the 2020-21 school year teaching them grade-level content in math — going back to fill in content they had missed in the spring when needed — did better than similar students whose teachers started the year by teaching them the material they had missed from the previous grade. This also falls in line with recommendations from the National Association of School Psychologists.
• JUST FOR FUN: Web-Based Music Toy – Beepster is a website that lets you make synthesizer music through experimentation. It has four tracks. You can change the waveform, speed, volume, pitch, and scale by clicking buttons. It’s configured in such a way that anything you do produces a pleasant tune. It might be fun to share with students.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the school year:
May 31 (M)
No School — Memorial Day
June 1 (T)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Continues
2/3- Staff Room Duty
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort A
1:30-4:00, Music Teacher Interviews (Volunteer’s Classroom)
June 2 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Anti-Racism PD, Part II (Library & Zoom)
June 3 (H)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Final Day
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser
June 4 (F)
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort B
1:00, Allan to Transition Meeting (Zoom)
June 7 (M)
K/1- Staff Room Duty
2:00-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
June 8 (T)
easyCBM Testing Window Closes
June 9 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Materials Collection (Front Office)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Leadership Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Learning for All – ACT (Library & Zoom)
June 10 (H)
Last Day for Dynamos
Summer Camp Out 2021! – SPIRIT DAY
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting – If Needed (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)
June 11 (F)
No School – Grading Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
9:00-12:00, State Testing – EOA and Make-Up Testing (Locations TBA)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)
June 14 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor- Staff Room Duty
Hybrid Cohort A – Last In-Person Day
8:10-9:10, Field Day, 4/5
9:25-10:25, Field Day 2/3
10:50-11:50, Field Day K/1
12:45, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
June 15 (T)
Hybrid Cohort B – Last In-Person Day
8:10-9:10, Field Day, 4/5
9:25-10:25, Field Day 2/3
10:50-11:50, Field Day K/1
June 16 (W)
Regular Online Wednesday
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting – If Needed (Library & Zoom)
June 17 (H)
Last Day for Students – Early Release
Last Day for 192-Day (most) Classified Staff
7:55-10:10, K-4 Async (Hybrid & SSO)
7:55-10:10, 5th Grade Hybrid Cohort A & B Attend In-Person
• Staffing Updates – Holt’s Music Teacher Job Posting went through the Job Expo, so HR said it could go external right away, so it was posted last week and closes this Wednesday. Tell any music folks you know they should apply!
• Teacher Request Form – Melanie let me know Holt has in the past had a teacher request form of sorts where parents describe the type of classroom/teacher that’s the best fit for their child, without naming a teacher. I’m planning to quietly let this form disappear and not mention it to families this year. After checking with a few people I think there’s no love for this form and only a handful of families actually use it, but let me know if anyone thinks we should keep using it and I can add this to a future staff meeting or leadership agenda for discussion.
• Holt Enrollment Survey – In Monday’s Quick News we are asking every family of students who are currently in Kindergarten through 4th grade to complete the linked 2021-2022 Enrollment Survey. Teachers can feel free to cut and paste the article below into your own classroom newsletters. Having this information helps us know who all is for sure coming and going, which helps when I talk staffing allocations with downtown.
• 2021-2022 Class Lists, DUE June 11th – Teams should build 2021-2022 Class Lists for next year by Friday, June 11th. This will past teachers, specialists, and other staff a week to check lists for any potentially bad student combinations or other concerns. See the linked Class List Directions Email for details, but let me know if you have any questions.
• Wednesday PD/PLC Time (TalentEd & Class Lists) – This Wednesday’s PD/PLC time is building directed, so please use this time for any outstanding TalentEd tasks (CLASSIFIED: 4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form, LICENSED: End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection – if you used the optional building goals, linked here is the Optional End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection Language you can cut & paste into your reflection), for teams to work on 21-22 Class Lists, and for just planning & prep.
• Master Schedule Survey Results – The general consensus was to stick with a 20 minute AM recess and a 40 minute recess/lunch. There also was strong support for doing single grade recesses and lunches. We’ll also look to see if we can fit 30 minute Tier III times instead of 25 minutes. We’ll move forward drafting the master schedule and will share it out for feedback in the near future.
• Crazy Sock Day, Tuesday & Friday – Remind your kids and get them pumped for the May Holt Spirit Day, Crazy Sock Day! It’ll be Tuesday for Cohort A and Friday for Cohort B, so grab your wildest or craziest mismatched socks to join the fun!
• School Materials Collection – We need to collect student materials borrowed during CDL. I think the Journey’s books are the only thing we need back. Families may keep their standard school supplies (pencils, crayons, glue, etc.) including the headphones, but let me know if there are other items you think we need to collect.
Cohort A – Bring items to school Monday, June 7th Online Students – Bring items to main office Wednesday, June 9th, 8:00-2:00 Cohort B – Bring items to school Thursday, June 10th
Let me know if the second to last week of school does not work, but I wanted to leave a little buffer to remind families who don’t turn things in on time. As an incentive to return materials, students will receive a FREE book purchased by Title 1.
• Fire Drill 6/1 & 6/4 @8:30 – Not this week, but next week we will conduct our June Fire Drill on Tuesday and Friday at 8:30 for each cohort. See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up and that will be it for safety drills for the year!
• Antiracism PD (if you missed it 4/21) – See the information below if you missed the Wednesday, April 21st Antiracism PD for a required online make-up.
[Full Email] Superintendent Cydney Vandercar has made anti-racism professional development a priority for all 4J staff this school year. With this in mind, you are invited to participate in our first district-wide anti-racism professional development module. This is an opportunity for you to learn and reflect on what it means to be anti-racist. This module will be completed at your own pace, during the workday, and using a device that can access the internet, such as a phone, tablet, or computer. Please let me know if you need access to a device. This module will take about 45-60 minutes to complete, and it is important that you complete the module in one session to make sure that your progress is saved and recorded.
Throughout the module, you will be asked to reflect on your learning through open-ended questions. The Anti-Racist PD planning team will read responses to inform future sessions. The last slide of the module will take you to a required Google Form, where you will complete a brief survey that serves as the official record of your participation.
Please complete this module by May 31, 2021. If you have questions, please contact me. If you need help finding time to complete the module, please work with your supervisor. The instructions are below and as an attachment. Here are the codes to access the module: (Please select the one that corresponds to your level)
Elementary schools:
WFPQ3
Middle schools:
589PZ
High schools:
WFPQ3
Take care,
Misael Flores Gutierrez
Curriculum Administrator for Equity, Instruction & Partnerships
The screen will prompt you to enter a code to join a session. Enter the code in the box and click the “Join” button.
On the welcome slide, please enter your first and last name in the first text box. You may list your department in the “other optional name”, but it is not required.
Use the blue and white arrows on the left and right sides of the window to move forward (or back) in the presentation.
Caution: Your progress and completion will not be saved if you exit the session early or close your web browser in the middle of the session.
• Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser, 6/3 – The final Holt Night Out Fundraiser of the year will be Thursday, June 3rd at the Coburg Road Papa’s Pizza. Get your kids excited and I’ll get fliers printed for teachers this week since Cohort B may need to get them this week.
Outdoors: Students, staff, volunteers, and visitors are not required to wear face coverings outdoors (including, but not limited to: Outdoor PE, outdoor music, recess, and arrival & dismissal). Until additional updates are provided, all RSSL physical distancing and other related requirements still apply.
School Staff Indoors: Fully vaccinated staff are not required to wear face coverings or physically distance inside school buildings when students are not present (such as before and after school or on weekends) only when vaccination status is checked by the school.
I emailed the 4J COVID Staff, asking if they are changing 4J’s mask rules, but have not yet heard back. Stay tuned!
• REPEAT: School Supply Distribution 5/26 – Wednesday is the May Supply Distribution for SSO classrooms, from 8:00-2:00. If you are available to help, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet.
• Summer Reading Staff Picks! – I know lot of folks who work in schools love reading, so how about sharing some books picks with your colleagues for their summer reading list! Email, text, or tell me a book you’d recommend or a book you’re planning to read this summer and I’ll compile a list that I’ll share in my final staff announcements of the school year. I love hearing what other are planning to read. One of my picks, which I intended to read last summer, is The Living Dead, an unfinished novel by George A. Romero (the man who invented the “rules” for zombies with Night of the Living Dead) and finished by Daniel Kraus, who wrote the Oscar Best Picture winner The Shape of Water. Send me your picks!
• District Admin Updates – Arthur Hart is the new Transportation Director, who’s worked in 4J for over 15 years, and the newest Student Services Administrator is Angela Crum, who was a SPED Director in the Brookings-Harbor School District. See this email for details.
• GoNoodle Plus FREE – GoNoodle Plus will be FREE for all educators starting July 1st. No action is required on your part. Anyone with a current account, whether you have a paid subscription now or not, will automatically get GoNoodle Plus!
• 4 Ways to Boost Elementary Students’ Working Memory – Kids with strong working memory tend to perform well in school, and teachers can help them strengthen this executive functioning skill. See this Edutopia Article for details, but the CliffsNotes version to boost students’ working memory is for teachers to keep in mind:
1. Predictability
2. Paper design
3. Language
4. Transitions
• JUST FOR FUN: What’s More Punk Than Teens Screaming In A Public Library? – If you want to show your students something fun, I caught this on NPR last week and my own kids loved watching this all-girl teen punk band, who’s ages range from 10-16, rock seriously hard at the LA Public Library. They kick things off with a rockin’ original song about Claudia Kishi from the Babysitters Club books. Their best song is the second to last, Rebel Girl, which is a cover of 90s all-girl punk band song, but it unfortunately has some naughty words in it, so enjoy that one on your own.
• 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 24 (M)
K/1- Staff Room Duty
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Continues
8:30, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
12:00, Allan to Formal
2:00-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
May 25 (T)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY Towel Day (it’s a nerd thing)
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
12:10, Allan to Formal Observation
1:45-2:45, Allan to School Safety Focus Group (Zoom)
May 26 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Supply Distribution (Same School Online)
8:00-8:30, Allan Meeting with SMART Readers (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
10:00-11:00, Allan to Suicide & Threat Assessment Meeting
10:30-11:00, 4th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Library)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort B (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, PBIS Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – TalentEd, Class Lists, Planning & Prep
May 27 (H)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
May 28 (F)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
8:30, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
11:20, Allan to Formal Observation
May 31 (M)
No School — Memorial Day
June 1 (T)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Continues
2/3- Staff Room Duty
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort A
June 2 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Anti-Racism PD, Part II (Library & Zoom)
June 3 (H)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Final Day
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser
Did you know there’s only three more Fridays with students this year?
Fifteen items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – 4J has multiple Elementary Music Teacher openings, so HR is doing a “pool hire” for these positions, where principals of the schools with openings will interview candidates all at once and will then haggle over who gets who. Please tell any excellent music teachers you know they should apply!
HR also let principals know they are close to having all classified displacements finished and will soon allow schools to post classified vacancies. We currently have classified openings for Library (6.5 hour), KG EA (6.5 hour), and Title 1 EA (3 and 4 hour).
On a related note, I’m continuing to advocate for Holt to continue to have two secretaries. HR has given a little ground, allowing that we could post for a records clerk instead of an office assistant, which is just one pay grade below an elementary secretary. HR says disallowing two secretaries is not a cost savings measure (because it doesn’t save much), but is an equity issue between buildings that violates state rules. However, there are plenty of other classified positions where additional staffing is provided based on enrollments (i.e. custodial staff, kitchen staff, EA staffing, etc.), so I’m not completely buying this argument. More to come on this.
• Report Cards Open in Synergy – Waiting on Send Home Process – It’s early, but report cards are now opening Synergy. No word yet from downtown how printing and sending them home will work, but since the grading day is before the last day of school this year, I think we’ll likely send home hard copies with hybrid students the last week of school and mail home report cards for SSO students. Stay tuned for the final word on this, though I’m advocating for downtown print and mail all of them.
• 2021-2022 Curriculum Needs – Let me know if any grade levels are short materials for next year (ELA, Math, SEL, etc.). I know we’ll need a full set of kindergarten ELA, Math, and SEL and we need to get back the 5th grade Journeys materials we loaned to McCornack. Outside of those, let me know by Friday if your grade is missing anything and I’ll work on tracking them down.
• 2021-2022 Master Schedule Survey – Linked here is the 2021-2022 Master Schedule Survey. There’s only four questions, but I’d like to get some input in a few areas (2 questions on recess/lunch times, 2 questions on academic time blocks, and 1 for additional comments). Next year’s Master Schedule will be a discussion item at Wednesday’s Staff Meeting, so it may be best to complete this survey until after there’s been a staff discussion.
District Reading Guidelines recommend minimum of 90-minutes daily for Tier I & II (which includes writing) and 60-minutes or more for Tier III. There is no formal district recommendation for math minutes, though most schools have at least 60-minutes for Tier I & II, including Number Talks, and an additional Tier III time.
• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Protection Unit – The state mandates we teach the child safety lessons required by Erin’s Law. 4J uses the Second Step Child Protection Unit to meet this requirement. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year. The recommendation is to teach lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break. The hope is students will be reminded and empowered before they leave for a break. I’ll resend the Erin’s Law Parent Info (English & Spanish) in Monday’s Quick News, so please find time to cover Lesson 6 sometime between now and the end of the school year. Lessons can be found on the Holt Staff Drive in the Child Protection Unit Folder.
• TalentEd Wrap Up – I’m finally finishing up formal observations and there are a few tasks in TalentEd for both licensed and classified staff to also finish up.
Classified Staff: Complete your “4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form” by the end of the month if you did not complete it in the fall. I’ll use this for when I write up your end-of-year evaluation.
Licensed Staff: Complete your “End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection” by the end of the month. Many licensed staff chose to use the optional building goals, so if you used those goals, lined here is some Optional End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection Language you can use or adapt for your goals reflection. Since easyCBM data this year is sketchy at best, I’m completely fine with people using less rigid of language in your reflection (i.e. rather than saying 82% of students met the target, instead say “most students” or “a majority of students” met the target. This year is atypical, so atypical reflections are allowed.
• School Supply Distribution 5/26 – Wednesday, May 26th next week is the May Supply Distribution for SSO classrooms, from 8:00-2:00. If you are available to help, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet.
• Migrant Ed Summer Classroom Use – The Lane ESD Migrant Ed program is once again using our building this summer. They will move in Wednesday, June 23rd. Student begin Tuesday, July 6th and their final day is Thursday, July 29th. The program packs everything up Friday, July 30th. The program is planning to run five days a week, 8:30-12:30, and are planning to use all the classrooms (since COVID rules limit classroom capacity). Staff are welcome to access the building anytime over the summer, but as a courtesy we should avoid coming in while students are in the building.
Air conditioning is the main factor certain buildings host summer programs, so now that 4J has some new buildings coming being built, my plan is to convince downtown that Holt has done its tour of duty and it’s time for another school have a turn.
• Physical Distancing (COVID) Coordinator Meeting Notes – If you’re interested, linked here are the Physical Distancing Site Coordinator Meeting Notes from last Friday. Highlights include that face covers are still required regardless of CDC’s announcement, since schools are governed by RSSL and OHA, not the CDC. Also of note, the Technology Department will be sending out an update regarding iPad Turn-In soon. The recommendation will be that all students keep their technology over the summer.
• Meal Bags in Classrooms – [A reminder from Nutrition Services – Full Email] The meal bags must be provided in full to students in order for us to report as reimbursable from the state/federal grant. We must serve all of the things in the bags and in the quantities included. Students do not need to eat everything, but we do need to offer the entire bag. I realize this “hard serve” vs a student being able to choose their items is a challenge, and I am really sorry for the food waste that might result because students might receive items they don’t like. This is an unfortunate reality of this method of meal service.
• REPEAT: Earthquake & Fire Drill TUESDAY & FRIDAY @12:15 – We will conduct our May Fire Drill and our one required Earthquake Drill for the year on Tuesday and Friday at 12:15 for each cohort. For the 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. My plan will be to get on the intercom and make a short announcement about the earthquake drill and will shortly after announce “EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE!” at which point students will Drop, Cover, Hold. We will pull the fire alarm to signal when the Earthquake Drill is over, at which point classes should evacuate the building (in a real earthquake, you’d evacuate when the quake stops). See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up for the Fire Drill following the Earthquake Drill, which will run the same as last month. Don’t forget your Emergency Binder.
• Wednesday PD/PLC Time – Downtown has moved the Anti-Racist PD to 6/2 due to it overlapping with state testing, so this week and next’s PD/PLC time is building focused. Please use this time for additional planning & prep or for any outstanding TalentEd tasks (CLASSIFIED: 4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form, LICENSED: End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection).
• Can We Afford to Ignore the Science of Reading – This TEDx Talk from Melissa Hostetter, a former elementary teacher and current 7th grade teacher, shares what the science of reading means and why implementing it is a moral imperative if we truly want to ensure equitable outcomes for our students far beyond fifth grade. The video is about 10 minutes long.
• JUST FOR FUN: These balls are the same color – This post on BoingBoing shares how David Novick, a professor of engineering education and leadership at the University of Texas at El Paso, is breaking brains with his fantastic color illusions. The balls in the image below are the same color. Here’s why they look different.
• 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 17 (M)
4/5 – Staff Room Duty
12:00, Allan to Formal Observation
2:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
May 18 (T)
8:10-11:45, School Pictures – Cohort A (Gym)
9:00, Allan to Formal Observation
9:30, Allan to Formal Observation
10:00, Allan to Formal Observation
12:15, Earthquake & Fire Drill, Cohort A
May 19 (W)
8:00-1:00, School Pictures – SSO Student Drop-In (Gym)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
10:55, Allan to Formal Observation
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort A (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
May 20 (H)
8:10-11:45, School Pictures – Cohort B (Gym)
8:45, Allan to Formal Observation
12:10, Allan to Formal Observation
May 21 (F)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Begins
12:15, Earthquake & Fire Drill, Cohort B
May 24 (M)
K/1- Staff Room Duty
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
May 25 (T)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY Towel Day (it’s a nerd thing)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
May 26 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Supply Distribution (Same School Online)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
10:00-11:00, Allan to Suicide & Threat Assessment Meeting
10:30-11:00, 4th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Library)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort B (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, PBIS Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – If needed for building items
May 27 (H)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
May 28 (F)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
May 31 (M)
No School — Memorial Day
Having a rough Monday? I’ve got just what you need right here.
Last week seemed to go well and I think it shows that class size matters. And the break of sorts on Wednesday was quite nice.
Eight items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Four staffing related updates:
• 2021-2022 Staffing Plan & Expo Updates – With 4th grade going down one classroom, Ashley Wolf is planning to apply for an opening at the Job Expo. HR requires all current staff to be placed in open positions, so for the first round of the Job Expo, Holt will have a kindergarten and music opening. If Ashley gets a job at another building, we will have a 5th grade opening in the second round of the Job Expo. Linked here is a copy of the 21-22 Staffing Plan, which includes all FTE and funding sources.
• CLC EA Interviews Thursday – SPED staff are lined up to help with interviews to fill Clay’s vacancy, but if any other staff are interested in joining the interview committee, we”re conducting interviews this Thursday, 1:30-3:30 on Zoom. Let me know if you’d like to join.
• Hybrid Utility EA – Sharon Alberts has officially been hired as our Hybrid EA. She’s been subbing in the position up until this point, but is now officially with us through the end of the school year.
• Part-Time Night Custodian – Facilities changed their mind and Mark Elmore did start with us last week as our part-time night. Mark is currently Edgewood’s night custodian and is at Holt only a couple hours later in the evening, but please give Mark a “Howdy” if you happen be working late one night.
• Hybrid & Hybrid-SSO Handbook Updates – Fourteen hybrid updates and updates made to the Holt Hybrid-SSO Handbook:
• NEW: Hand Washing Before AND After Meals – Students are now supposed to wash their hands both before AND after they eat meals. This was shared with principals at Friday’s COVID Site Coordinator Meeting (lined here are the complete meeting notes).
• No Student Teacher Supervisors in Building – Also new as of last week, supervisors of student teachers are not considered essential visitors and are not allowed inside schools (see email for details). Student teachers will instead need to record themselves in some manner (ZOOM or camera) so university supervisors can evaluate the candidates.
• C-Wing Door Update – Facilities is going to re-key door near the gym that C-Wing is using as an entrance/exit to be opening with a classroom key. That’s the short term fix. For the long term they agreed to install a card reader, but that will likely be a summer project, though it could happen earlier depending upon the complexity of the install, crew workload, and parts availability.
• Child Face Coverings – If any students are wearing gaiters, face covering that are too loose, or need a replacement mask for any reason, the office has disposable child sized masks we can give students the day. Linked here is the 4J Mask Requirements.
• Recess Restroom Badges – Facilities wasn’t crazy about the restroom badges having multiple door access, so the new plan is for students on the playground to enter through the main front entrance, which will also allow for office staff to supervise students.
• Kickball at Hard Play Only – At the staff meeting I said we could do kickball at both soft and hard play in the grass, but after looking at the space they were closer than I thought, so soft play will not have kickball, but we will allow kids to play in the grass as long as there is sufficient supervision.
• Hybrid Model – FAQ’s – Downtown shared the Elementary Hybrid Model – FAQ with principals earlier, but we were told not to share it. However, we are now allowed to share it. They will continue to update the FAQ as regulations change. I’ve added this link in the left column of my blog under District & State Links.
• TAG During Hybrid – Debbi already connected with teachers who have students referred for TAG testing, but if others are interested, linked here is the TAG Email Update from the district TAG Coordinator.
• 24 Day Student Quarantine if COVID Positive Parent – If a student has a parent or family member who tests positive for COVID, they must quarantine for 24 days. They will be marked as an excused absence for contact tracing purposes, but the school should still provide instructional opportunities, which would be what we already do for off-site days and for on-site days providing them with some form of teacher directed learning, whether that a choice board types of activity (i.e. Dreambox, Lalilo, independent reading, etc.) or something else the teacher decides.
• REMINDER: Notify Allan of Positive COVID Cases – With case counts rising, remember to notify me if you become aware of any students or family member who have tested positive for COVID.
• REMINDER: Notify Office of Cohort Close Contacts – If students from different cohorts come into close contact with one another (i.e. within 6-feet for more than 15 minutes), contact the office so we can document this in Synergy.
• STAFF MEETING REPEAT: Late Arrivals Enter at Office – All doors will close at 7:55 this week and any students arriving after that point should enter through the office so we can begin recording tardies.
• STAFF MEETING REPEAT: Guest Teacher Start Time, 7:15AM – Normally 7:30 is our start time for subs, but now that students come into class at 7:40, please put 7:15 into AESOP for the sub hours start time. Katie has set 7:15 as the default start time, so make sure your sub plans match accordingly.
• STAFF MEETING REPEAT: Meals into Classroom Garbage Cans – Ryan was originally going to order more garbage cans, but decided instead that he’ll empty classroom garbages each morning after breakfast and after school for lunch.
Sound On and click image for video!
• Virtual Artist in Residence – LaneArts is offering for free to Title 1 Schools a virtual artist in residence. How it works is they have recorded lessons ready to go that teachers can do with their class in-person or push out as async work. Linked here is the ArtStream Access Instructions for Teachers.
They only ask that we DO NOT share the log-in information and that we DO only share the lesson URL with students and families.
• Teacher Observations – Now that we actually have children in the building, I’m going to start teacher observations. For teachers on the observation cycle this year, I’ll start with informal observations and later this week will email a proposed date & time for formal observations. For the second informal observation, I may just do an async Seesaw lesson, which won’t require anything on the part of teachers.
• District Admin Updates – Principal shuffling season has begun. The Adams principal, Teresa Martindale, is moving to be the principal at Family School, and the Family School/Chinese Immersion School principal, Jen Hebard, is following Chinese Immersion for when they relocate to Kennedy Middle School next year. Chris Benz, the current assistant principal at Kennedy MS, will be the new principal at Adams. For full details, see this email, which includes some secondary principal appointments of interim principals who are now permanent and some assistant principal shifts.
• COVID-19 Surveillance Project – Would you like to find out if you have Covid-19 antibodies now and again this summer? Linked here is an opportunity through the Oregon Health Authority to do a prick test to learn about your antibody load and help OHA learn more about Covid-19 antibodies around Oregon.
• “Why teachers should “go slow to go fast” – Despite pressures to focus on rigor and academic progress over the past year, educators should take time to rebuild relationships, establish communities and make connections, asserts the author of this EdSurge Opinion Piece. In this commentary, they suggest educators “go slow to go fast” and assert these foundations for learning will improve outcomes for students.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
April 12 (M)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
April 13 (T)
2:30-3:15, Allan to Referral Review Meeting
6:30, Holt Kindergarten Orientation for Fall (Zoom)
April 14 (W)
8:15-9:00, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Pool Interviews (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Leadership Meeting (Library & Zoom)
April 15 (H)
1:30-3:30, CLC EA Interviews (Zoom)
April 16 (F)
Regular Day
April 19 (M)
National Volunteer Appreciation Week
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
April 20 (T)
Regular Day
April 21 (W)
Administrative Professionals’ Day
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3 10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3 12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – SEL – Anti-Racism Training
April 22 (H)
Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day
3:00-7:00, Allan to Job Expo (Zoom)
April 23 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Board Meeting (Zoom)
Kids are finally coming back into the building this week. Guess that means it’s time to put away my “work slippers” and get out my principal ties.
Eight items of note for this week (though the second one is a long one):
• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates
• Recess/Title 1 EAs – Please welcome Lisa Phillips and Kelly Stapp as our two newest EAs. Lisa and Kelly interviewed for Ben’s old position, but we had enough funds left in our Title 1 budget to hire two new staff members. Lisa comes to us from Utah where she worked as a Title 1 EA and is currently in the process of getting her teaching degree. Lisa is also a new Holt parent this school year. Kelly comes to us from Redmond, OR where she was a Title 1 EA for almost 10 years before moving to the Eugene area. Please welcome Kelly and Lisa to Team Holt!
• Hybrid EA – None of our Hybrid EA candidates worked out, so we’re back to the drawing board. However, I’m wheeling and dealing with HR to get a reliable sub into the position who was not in the original candidate pool, so hopefully I’ll have something to good announce next week.
• 21/22 Secretary Staffing – One bit of upsetting news, which I’m not done pushing back on downtown yet, is that HR informed me they are not staffing Holt with two secretaries next year. Their rationale is this is an equity issue concerning other large elementary schools who only have one secretary. I’d agree this is an equity issues, but there seems to be some even more gross inequities when every middle school gets a program staffed secretary and registrar, when a majority of 4J middle schools are smaller than Holt. Size of school should really determine whether a school gets additional office staff program staffed. I’m not sure I’ll be able to win they battle, but I’m certainly going to try.
• Hybrid Updates – Several Hybrid related items of note:
• Holt Hybrid & SSO Handbook – Linked here is the Holt Hybrid & SSO Handbook. I don’t expect staff to read this cover-to-cover, but use this as a reference guide if you need to look up something specific. There is no new information in the above plan, outside of the items listed below. It’s really just a consolidation of all the emails, slide shows, meeting minutes, district videos, and various docs that have been shared over the past few months. Let me know if something is missing or wrong or if you have questions on anything.
• Snacks for Grade 2-5 Orientation – Nutrition Services is not providing snacks for the K/1 Orientation this week, but they will provide snacks for the grade 2-5 orientations. Deb said she would bag up a snack to simulate the morning breakfast pick-up when studnets first enter the building and which students can practice the meal protocols in their classroom later.
• Attendance/Contact Tracing – Student attendance is now less about tracking attendance and more about contact tracing. Classroom teachers will meet students at classroom door to complete the Visual Screener, looking for student symptoms of COVID.
• Unusual color
• Unusual behavior (behavior change, lethargy, unusual fatigue)
• New or significant coughing
• Respiratory symptoms not typical for student (noisy breathing, voice changes, nasal dripping)
• Shortness of breath
• Chills (shivering, teeth, goosebumps)
• Appearing ill (sweating, sunken eyes)
• Vomiting
Teachers will then ask ALL students the following two questions:
• Are you feeling okay?
• Have you felt anything that’s different for you in the last few days?
If students answer yes to either question, they are to be escorted by an adult to the office. Call the office if you need assistance.
Classroom teachers are expected to take attendance daily before 8:10. The district is working on logistic if this will be done through Synergy, paper/pencil, email, or other means.
• Routine Cleaning by Teachers – Teachers are responsible for spot cleaning throughout the day within the classroom. This includes items or objects students or adults touch that will then be handled by others, such as shared items or any object students touch that shouldn’t be touched. Teachers will also need to spray down student desks and wipe them down after meals. All classrooms will have disinfectant spray, rags, and “Tech Wipes” for teacher use (not for student use). Place dirty rags on the lip of your garbage can and a clean rag will be left for you near your sink.
• Outside Recess Protocols (UPDATED) – Students will get a daily 30-minute recess with their cohort group. Students are allowed to play all the usual playground games that allow for 6-feet distance (4-Square, Horse, Hopscotch, etc.), minus those where they would come within 6-feet of one another (i.e. soccer, basketball, tag, etc.). Masks will continue to be worn at all times.
Before Recess: Teachers will walk students from the building to either the soft play or hard play if it is their day in that area. Students are released once EAs signal readiness.
During Recess: One grade level will be assigned to soft play and the other to hard play. The next day, the grade levels will rotate.
Restrooms: If a student needs to use the restroom, they will use their wing’s designated entrance/exit and will use their designated cohort restroom.
Equipment: Each cohort will have their own set of balls, jump ropes, hula hoops, etc. which will be sprayed down nightly.
End of Recess: At the end of recess, students on hard play will line up on the tic marks. Students on the soft play will line up on their own sidewalk (up front next to the fence by the parking lot, middle by the tether balls, and next to fence by the buddy bench). Bolts will be painted on the ground where students will stand. Teachers will meet their class to walk them into the building, maintaining 6-feet distance.
All classes need to have an assigned line for the end of recess times. Please work with the teachers/grades to assign class to lines. Consider flow, entrance to buildings, etc. when determining lines. A copy should be given to the office so that supervision staff can be informed.
• Inside Recess – Each class must be supervised by an adult. An indoor recess supervision schedule will be drafted. Students must remain 6-feet apart. Students should not share items. Electronics are allowed.
• Students may not go in the cubbies
• Students should choose a seated activity
• Games and activities should be provided and taught
• Students must stay in their own classroom
• Permission is needed by supervision staff to use the restroom
• When the lights turn off turn and look at the adult by the door
• Classroom expectations/choices should be posted above your classroom door
• In the future we may allow some access for under cover supervision
• Classroom teachers will have expectations in Guest Teacher binder and post on the wall (near or above the door) what room expectations are.
• All certified staff will teach their students what appropriate activities are prior to the first indoor recess.
• Hybrid Meals (Breakfast & Lunch) Process – All students will be provided with a free breakfast and lunch, which they will eat in their classrooms. Students will eat meals at their desks and are allowed to remove their masks while eating. All meals are supervised by their classroom teacher.
Breakfast: Students will receive a bagged breakfast upon entry at their designated entrance.
Lunch: Lunches will be delivered to classrooms on a rolling cart. There will be a box of cold food (milk, fruits, veggie, etc.) and a warmer-bag of the individually packaged hot food (bagged pizza, hamburger, burrito, etc). The teacher will hand students one of each bag.
Extra Food: If there are extra breakfast or lunch bags, these may be given to students to take home. However, do not send home any hot items from breakfast, since that will go past their 4-hour lifespan.
Home Lunches: It’s encouraged that students eat food provided by the school but if students bring food from home, students should be able to open containers and bottles without staff assistance. Of course, we won’t allow a student to not eat because they can’t open their food and we can step in and help but we will want to follow up with the family to ensure they practice with their child so we don’t make a practice of touching students’ food/containers. Home lunches need to be nut-free.
• Lost & Found Cohort A & B – We will have two separate lost and found racks. One will be out for Cohort A on Mondays and Tuesday. The other will be out for Cohort B on Thursdays and Fridays. Custodial staff will move the lost and found racks between cohorts.
• Transportation Update – The Transportation Department has contacted all K-1 families eligible for bussing and will soon reach out to grade 2-5 families. The number of students allowed on buses is limited this year, so the Transportation Department is wanting to know who is riding the bus and who is getting to school by another method. Health and safety measures for riding the bus will be:
• Students will receive a visual screening before entering the bus
• Seats by the driver will be reserved for ill students and the school will be contacted
• Green dots will be marking places for students to sit. They are staggered left to right and on each row of seats.
• Drivers will assign a seat to each student
• Students will wear face coverings while on the bus.
• Students may not eat while on the bus.
• Drivers will use windows, fans, and roof vents to increase ventilation.
• REMINDER: IEP/504 Collaboration Log (UPDATED – Left of Unit Info) – The IEP/504 Collaboration Logs are to be completed each Monday by 5:00pm for the previous week of lessons or at the end of a unt. This has been the same all year and will continue into hybrid. You will complete a separate entry each week or unit for reading, writing and math instruction (for the entire week or unit, not for each daily lesson). One response is required for each content area you teach in which students with disabilities are receiving specially designed instruction or 504 accommodations. If you do not have any students with a 504 or IEP related to reading, writing, or math, you do not need to complete this form. Linked here is an SSD Slide Show w/Voiceover on this topic.
504 Documentation – Since 504 Plans are typically not content area specific, if a teacher completed at least one log entry for a student with an IEP in any content area, that will cover the requirement for students with a 504 Plan.
Social Skills Only IEP Goals – If classroom teachers are delivering the Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) to meet social skills goals, they would fill out the log form, but in most cases it is SPED staff delivering social skills instruction and they will be the ones documenting this SDI on their own log.
Grade Level Content Specializing? – If one teacher at a grade level is creating the math lessons for the entire grade level, they can also fill out the log for their entire grade level IF (and this is a big IF), all of the teachers at that grade level are proving the same accommodations (since IEP accommodations can vary widely).
• Contact Tracing and Attestation Google Forms – I will cover this at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, but if you want a preview, downtown is going to reactivate staff badges to work at all entrances. Swiping your badge will take the place of the paper/pencil sign-in we’re currently doing for contact tracing. For this switchover to happen, all staff will need to complete two Google Forms. One, the COVID-19 Attestation: Daily Screening and Reporting Requirements for Reporting to the Worksite form, and two, the Eugene School District 4J Contact Tracing form. Once all staff have submitted their forms, I will notify downtown, who will activate all of our building’s card reader access pads.
• Monday Mailer Pause – Leadership discussed continuing to primarily use digital communication over using paper. This is for reasons of being a green school, trying to avoid germ transmissions, and also making sure families during hybrid all get the same information at the same time, since we’d have to end up with Monday and Thursday Mailers for each cohort. There will be families with extenuating circumstances where will need to do paper communication, though that should for exceptions and not a family preference. We want families to get used to digital communication.
• Hybrid Master Schedule – Survey feedback on the hybrid schedule was generally supportive, ranging from I can live it (a 3) to it’s the greatest thing ever (a 5) and no 1s or 2s. After discussing with the Leadership Team, we are going to move forward with the Holt Hybrid Schedule. The schedule should be up to date, but let me know if you spot any mistakes or something that needs tweaking.
• Schedule the Next 4 Weeks – Will all the calendar changes, here’s the current plan:
Week of March 15: Kids shift into their new classes but nothing else changes. CDL schedule stays the same. K/1 zooms for blue time and does orientation events. 2nd-5th zoom as a whole group in their new class using the current CDL schedule. Interventionists continue to provide services.
March 22-26: Spring Break
Week of March 29: K/1 shifts into their cohorts and begins following the new hybrid/SSO schedule. 2nd-5th stay in their whole groups and continue to follow the CDL schedule, but each grade has an assigned day where they will do an in-person orientation (no optional Zoom orientation is required, as is for K/1). Grade levels DO NOT have any synchronous time on their orientation day. K-5 groups are canceled this week.
Week of April 5: 2nd-5th shift into their cohorts and begin following the new hybrid/SSO schedule.
• Synergy Rollover – The new hybrid cohort sections became “real” in Synergy Friday night. The SIS staff will be end-dating student class enrollments in the original homeroom sections. That should cause those original classes to drop out of Clever and probably anything that pulls data from Clever. The new cohort sections should be available in Clever as of Saturday. It may take a day or two (or three) for them to find their way into the other online applications that roster from Clever, depending on how often a vendor pulls data.
• Food Box Deliveries – Weekly food box deliveries will continue through the end of the year. Location for pick-up may change. If you become aware of a family needing food assistance, please contact Darla.
• Purell Professional Disinfectant Spray Product Literature – If you’re interest, linked here is an Email and Product Information for the replacement disinfectant products coming to schools. The Oxivir Five-16 Disinfectant spray bottles currently in classrooms will be replaced by Purell Professional Disinfectant Spray and the bottles in restrooms will be replaced by Oxivir Tb Wipes. Directions on using these products are in the above link, but will also be delivered to classrooms when you get your new products.
• Welcome Back Bolts Video – Here’s a short video covering some of the protocols we’ll follow when student return to in-person learning in the coming weeks:
• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Protection Unit – Even though we are in CDL, the state still requires we cover the child safety lessons required by Erin’s Law. 4J uses the Second Step Child Protection Unit to meet this requirement. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year. The recommendation is to teach lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break.
I’m not sure if each teacher has a copy of your grade level’s Child Protection Unit and since CDL makes sharing more difficult, I’ve posted scanned versions of Child Protection Unit in the Staff Google Drive. Holt Staff Documents > Curriculum/Instruction > Social Emotional Learning (SEL) > Second Step
• Changes to the Staffing Timeline – As an FYI, this year’s Staffing Timeline was revised. The main impact for elementary is the Job Expo dates got moved back a week.
• Single Desk Samples – I went over the Edison to check out the furniture samples they had. There were a couple single desks that kind of worked with Holt’s extra wide chairs. Below are a few pictures. School Specialty is getting me a quote on these to make sure they’re in our price range and will then bring us some physical samples for staff can check out. Ignore the wheels on the one desk. We’d get them without wheels. Also, desks come with different styles of book boxes; clear plastic, solid colored plastic, wire basket, or no basket.
• REPEAT: 2021 ACE Award Nominations – How about nominating a fellow Bolt! Nominations can be made in three categories: teachers and licensed specialists, administrators and supervisors, and classified staff. Nominations are due by April 15th. Linked here is the ACE Awards Email and the ACE Awards Nomination webpage.
• Mars landing engineer is Jaime Escalante’s former student – Here’s a cool inspirational education story. Decades before leading a team of more than 100 engineers responsible for The Perseverance Rover that landed on Mars recently, East L.A. native Sergio Valdez was a student of none other than Jaime Escalante at Garfield High. In case you’re too young to remember or so old you forgot, Escalante was such a bad-ass math teacher that they made a movie about him in the ’80s called Stand and Deliver. Guess he’s still got it.
• 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 15 (M)
K/1 Distance learning ends for K/1 Orientation Week
Grades 2-5 shift to hybrid class lists, continue following CDL schedule
12:00-1:00, Kindergarten Orientation
2:00-3:00, Kindergarten Orientation
2:00-3:00, 1st Grade Orientation
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom) & KG Orientation
3:15-4:15, 1st Grade Orientation
4:00-5:00, Allan to Admin Meeting (Zoom)
March 17 (W)
St Patrick’s Day
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
10:00, Allan to Title 1 Budget Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-3:00, Bolt Stencil Party (Playground and Sidewalks)
4:00-5:00, Allan to BusinessPLUS Training March (Zoom)
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)
March 18 (H)
12:00-1:00, Kindergarten Orientation
2:00-3:00, Kindergarten Orientation
2:00-3:00, 1st Grade Orientation
3:00-4:00, Allan to SSD Elem SPED Meeting (Zoom) & 1st Orientation
3:15-4:15, 1st Grade Orientation
March 19 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Board Meeting (Zoom)
10:45-2:00, Food Box Distribution (Cafeteria)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)
1:00-2:00, 1st Grade Orientation
March 22-26
SPRING BREAK!
March 29 (M)
K/1 Begins Full Hybrid
Grades 2-5 Orientation Week & continue hybrid classes on CDL schedule
2nd Grade Orientation Day (No Zoom this day)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30-6:00, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)
March 30 (T)
3rd Grade Orientation Day (No Zoom this Day)
3:00-4:00, PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
March 31 (W)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – SEL – Trauma Informed Module #3 (Library & Zoom)
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)
April 1 (H)
4th Grade Orientation Day (No Zoom this Day)
3:00-4:00, Allan to SSD Elem SPED Meeting (Zoom)
April 2 (F)
5th Grade Orientation Day (No Zoom this Day)
April 5 (M)
All Grades in Full Hybrid
It’s the first day of school again the last third of the year.
