Articles

January 29, 2024

 

Hello Bolts,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Please any questions you may have directly to Lily Gold.

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan

 

January 15, 2024

 

Hi Everyone,

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

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

• Key Dates – Note the following dates:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Think snow, everyone!

Allan

 

November 27, 2023

Howdy Bolts,

I hope everyone had a restful holiday weekend. I know I enjoyed my downtime!

But be ready to do lots of pre-teaching and re-teaching of rules and expectations. Between kids having 9 days off of school and rising excitement/stress with the coming holidays, kids are going to need LOTS of reminders over the next few weeks. 

Twenty items of note for this week:

• New SPED EA, Tiffany Chambers – Please welcome Tiffany Chambers to the team as our newest SPED EA! Tiffany has been working as a long term sub in this position and been a fabulous addition to the primary SPED team. Tiffany is also a Holt parent of a 1st grader, adding to our club of Holt Staff/Parents, which by my count is now up to thirteen!

 

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

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

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

 

• Wednesday PD, 11/29: Conferences Feedback – Principals were asked to dedicate some time for staff to provide feedback regarding conferences, which were somewhat different this year. We’ll plan to do this Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 in the library during our Wednesday PD time. Kim also has a post-winter break PBIS proposal, and after the meeting EEA reps asked for time.
 

• Dental Sealants Clinic, FRIDAY – Stay turned for detail from Nurse Haley, but this Friday will be the Dental Sealants Clinic for certain grade levels.

 

• Danceability Assembly, 12/4 – We have a K-2 and 3-5 assembly schedule on Monday, Dec. 4 in the gym for DanceAbility, a local disability advocacy group who’s mission is to create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to dance and move together. They have a great message and this is probably one of my all-time favorite assemblies. We’ll put out grade level cones for where to site and times are:

8:30-9:10, K-2 Danceability Assembly
9:30-10:10, 3-5 Danceability Assembly

 

• Data Team Meetings 11/5 & 11/7 – Data Team Meetings are in two weeks, but I had kinder and 5th grade times flipped, so the correct dates/times are:

Tuesday, Dec. 5:
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15

Thursday, Dec. 7:
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45

 

• Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day, 11/6 – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so encourage students to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school.

 

• Wednesday PD, 12/6: Building System – Wednesday, Nov. 6 will be to review building systems and structures (requests for assistance, team structures, referral processes, etc). Principals got information about the “Intervention Team” (see item below) which is somewhat different from the past. My general thinking is we hold monthly IPBS meetings for Tier 2 and 3 behavior discussions as we have in the past (now compensated), PBIS meetings to address Tier 1 school wide behavior, Data Team for Tier 1 & 2 academics, and possibly look at creating an old school SST team to specifically manage and track SPED referrals, with changes in Tier 3 services (Title and SPED) being discussed during Grade Level Team meetings, connecting with appropriate staff during those times. If there are specific systems you want to make sure we discuss, let me know ahead of time, but I think this is the main one we want to get agreement around. The following Wednesday PD, the last one before winter break, will be a review of the Upbeat Survey Results.

 

• Fire Drill, 11/7 @1:15 – Our final Fire Drill of the year will be Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.

 

• Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event, 11/7 @5:30 – See Debbi’s Email for details, but mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 for the annual Staff Holiday Party. One person from each team should let Debbi know by Dec. 1 how many team members you have so Katie and Melanie can plan.

 

• Artist in Residence Update – I realized last week I never heard back from LaneArts regarding our Artist in Residence request, so I called them to get that going. We can’t get our first of December, since that’s too fast, but they said we should be able to get our first choice of artists. However, they said Larry Meyer’s Mask Making is for older grades, so we’ll have Mask Making for 4th and 5th grade Feb. 5 – 16, and Five Clay Friends with Lily Hamilton for grades K-3 at a date to-be-determined. LaneArts is still getting back to be about a date for Clay with K-2 and Fiddling with Kelly Thibodeaux for K-5, but they know we want to avoid the end of the school year when schedules start to get complicated.

 

• Intervention Team Meetings – The following was sent to principals about “Intervention Teams” which downtown gave conflicting messages whether it was for academics or behavior or both:

Ideally, you should be engaging your staff in intervention team meetings to address academic and behavior concerns for students requiring Tier 2 and 3 interventions. This should be prioritized into your building meeting schedule and data team reviews (you have already been provided release time for data team). However, if you are finding it difficult to fit these meetings into your regular cycle of meetings, you can provide extended contract time. In order to be eligible for extended contract, staff would have already have attended a weekly meeting. Ex. Teacher A attended a grade level team meeting on Tuesday and also needs to attend an intervention team meeting (iPBS) on Thursday. This staff member would be eligible to fill out the extended contract form. Teacher B does not have a building scheduled meeting this week and needs to attend the intervention team meeting (iPBS) on Thursday. This staff member is not eligible for extended contract. Please let us know if you have any questions.

So this means we will be able to compensate staff who attend IPBS meetings, because there’s other required meetings most every week. We can discuss at the Wednesday PD who we thing should attend these meetings, though I imagine there will be core members at every meeting and other staff who attend as needed.

 

• Winter Break Food Assistance 2023 – Goign out in the Quick News is a link for families to sing up for food boxes over winter break. We have paper copies to go home in Monday Mailers and here is a blurb teachers can feel free to cut-and-paste into your classroom newsletters:

 

Winter Break Food Assistance 2023

If your family depends on school-provided breakfasts and lunches, Harlow Serves would like to provide your child with food assistance over Winter Break. This program is for students currently enrolled at Holt Elementary. Food Boxes need to be picked up from Holt Elementary School on Wednesday, Dec. 13, or Thursday, Dec. 14, 7:30 am – 3:00 pm. The deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 8 for returning paper applications to the Holt office OR signing-up at https://bit.ly/feedhope2023

✶Any food not picked up by 3:00 pm Thursday will be reallocated for other programs.✶ 

 

• Field Trip Process Update – Principals got to meet with the person in charge of Field Trips and they scaled back on one step, no longer requiring teachers to upload scans of signed permission slips and instead only require one copy of the permission slip be submitted before sending them home with students. Students will still need to have permission slip turned in two weeks before the trip for Low Risk/Day trips, so there is sufficient time for the school nurse to adjust medical plans as needed. Linked here are the latest version of the permission slip (English and Spanish), which are also linked on the Field Trip Info Page.

 

• Check Lost & Found – Remind kids to check the Lost & Found because everything will go after winter break. I’ll put a reminder in the Quick News about this as well. 

 

• Retirement Planning Seminar – Shiloh Powers, a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones who left us a bunch of scones in the Staff Room a couple weeks ago emailed me about a free retirement panning seminar happening Jan. 23 at 4:30pm. Click the Registration Link to sign-up.

 

• Professor says coding, SEL boosts elementary-school math – Introducing coding principles and social-emotional learning into third- through fifth-grade math lessons helped enhance student interest in the academic subject, according to Lindsay Gold, an associate professor at the University of Dayton. Gold shares research that found coding and SEL helped increase engagement, improve understanding of math concepts and enhance problem-solving skills among students See this EdWeek Article for details. 

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should teach lesssongs 1-4 of the Second Step Child Protection Unit to the state Erin’s Law requirement. See Erin Gaston’s Email for details, but each grade level has their own kit and linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides (here’s a District Link that has additional files).

• Computer Science Education Week Dec. 4-8 – Resources for Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code  include The Hour of Code Games, Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, Angry Birds, The Grinch, Google Hour of Code Activities, Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code Escape Estate, and Khan Academy.

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

November 27 (M)
1st Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
3:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

November 28 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 29 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results

November 30 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

December 1 (F)
Dental Sealants Clinic (time is TBA)

December 4 (M)
2nd Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:30-9:10, K-2 Danceability Assembly (Gym)
9:30-10:10, 3-5 Danceability Assembly (Gym)

December 5 (T)
10:30-2:30, Data Team Meetings (4th, 2nd, KG)
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)

December 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00-8:30, Allan to Upbeat Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Building Systems
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 7 (H)
8:00-11:45, Data Team Meetings
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee OSHA Training (Office)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
4:30-6:00, BEST Open House
5:30-7:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)

December 8 (F)
National Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day

Here we go! Just three weeks until winter break!

Allan

@schooledbyarturo

Teacher CD Compilation #teachersoftiktok #teachertok #teacherlife #teacherproblems #teachersbelike #teacher #fyp

♬ original sound – Schooled By Arturo

November 20, 2023

 

Hello Bolts,

The best conference advice I have is to convey to parents that you know their child (share a story or two) and that you care about their child (speak well of them and that you believe in them), which makes it far easier for parents hear about areas for improvement. My other favorite tip is to start conferences by asking parents, “How do things look from your end?” which ensures you have enough time to talk about anything on their mind. 

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• PTO Conference Pot Luck – The PTO is providing meals for staff Monday and Tuesday. They will load up food at lunch and then leftovers for dinner. Looking at the PTO Potluck SignUpGenius it looks like a Taco Bar Monday and Soup & Salad Tuesday.

 

• Fire Marshall Re-Inspection, WEDNESDAY – The Fire Marshall will be back this Wednesday to make sure all areas of concern have been fixed. The three main areas cited were:

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

If Jeremy or I spoke with you earlier, make sure your areas have been corrected.

 

• Wednesday PD, 11/29: Conferences Feedback – Principals were asked to dedicate some time for staff to provide feedback regarding conferences, which were somewhat different this year. We’ll plan to do this Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 in the library during our Wednesday PD time. 

 

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

 

• Erin’s Law Parent Notification – Not this week, but next week I will send the following notification to families about Erin’s Law:

Erin’s Law and Child Abuse Prevention Lessons

Oregon law requires all students are educated about child abuse and what to do if it is happening to them or someone they know. All students participate in 4-6 developmentally appropriate lessons each year regarding personal safety. This includes lessons in general safety and specific information about recognizing, responding to, and reporting child sexual abuse. The lessons are spread out across the year to ensure students consistently receive messaging about keeping themselves safe. See the linked Erin’s Law Parent Information for additional informaiton. 

 

• Second Step Pacing Guide – Related to the above, I wanted to re-highlight the Second Step Pacing Guide, but don’t fee bad if you’re behind. The guide is good to make sure you’re hitting each topic area.

 

• Data Team Meetings – Data Team Meetings are coming soon and this year downtown is having them focus on Tier 1 classroom whole group instruction and Tier 2 classroom level groups. We’ll have roving subs on the following dates:

Tuesday, Dec. 5:
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG – 1:15-2:15

Thursday, Dec. 7:
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45

 

• Computer Science Education Week Dec. 4-8Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code  is in a couple weeks, Dec. 4 – 8. This is an annual call to action to inspire students to learn computer science and here are a few resources you could use with kids that week:

The Hour of Code Games
Minecraft
Star Wars
Frozen
Angry Birds
The Grinch
Google Hour of Code Activities
• Microsoft MakeCode Arcade
Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code Escape Estate
Khan Academy

 

 

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

 

• Spanish Versions of Major Referrals – It’s not a frequent occurrence, but know that we have Major Referrals in Spanish in the office if you have to write a referral for a student where the home language is Spanish.

 

• WREN Newsletter & Paid Zoom PDs – The latest Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter has some new Zoom PDs. I signed up for one titled “Regulate, Relate, Reason” in January that’ll pay you $260 to attend all three 2-hour Zooms. See the above linked newsletter for how to sign up!

 

• Schools “Can’t Sit Out” AI – Assistant Secretary  at the US Department of Education Roberto Rodriguez emphasizes that school districts should integrate artificial intelligence into education because avoiding it could disadvantage students in a future dominated by technology. Rodriguez highlighted the importance of teacher-led decision-making and collaboration between AI developers and educators. See this EdWeek Article for details. 

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

• Share w/Families “Conscious Discipline Parent Nights” – If it comes up at conferences that parents are struggling with behavior at home, share with them the parent education series, “School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights.” It will be every Tuesday for 8 weeks, Jan. 9 – Feb. 27. Parents should reserve a spot by contacting Jenny at (541) 790-6173 or potter_je@4j.lane.edu or teachers can pass parent contact info to Jenny as well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

•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 20 (M)
ALL STAFF, Staff Room Duty
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences
11:00-11:40, K-2 Lunch
11::20-12:00, 3-5 Lunch
5:00-5:40, 3-5 Dinner
5:20-6:00, K-2 Dinner

November 21 (T)
8:00-8:00, No School – Conferences
11:00-11:40, K-2 Lunch
11::20-12:00, 3-5 Lunch
5:00-5:40, 3-5 Dinner
5:20-6:00, K-2 Dinner

November 22 (W)
No School – Conference Comp Day

November 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 27 (M)
1st Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
3:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

November 28 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

November 29 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey Results

November 30 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

December 1 (F)
Dental Sealants (time is TBA)

 

Happy conferencing and enjoy the holiday weekend!

Allan

 

November 13, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

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

Fifteen items of note for this week:

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 22 (W)
No School – Conference Comp Day

November 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

November 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Holiday

 

Hope everyone had a good 3-days off!

Allan

 

@gerrybrooksprin

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

♬ original sound – Gerrybrooksprin

 

November 6, 2023

Hi Everyone,

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

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

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

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Riding the School Bus Safely
Emergency Exits Handout

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 
•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related reminder:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Start planning your 3-day weekend!

Allan

 

October 30, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

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

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

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

 

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

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

See Last Week’s Announcements for details.

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

• Nov. 9 EA Pathways PD is Optional – The EA Pathways PD Email that went out to classified staff wasn’t super clear, but signing up for this PD appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

• Fall Conferences Reminders – Several conference-related items:

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

SUBJECT: Fall Conferences Sign-Up

Dear Families,

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

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

ADD CALENDLY LINK HERE…

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

Thank you,
TEACHER NAME

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Have a good week, Bolts!

Allan

 

October 23, 2023

 

Hello Bolts,

Twenty-five items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

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

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

 

• Scholastic Book Fair THIS WEEK – Starting Monday, the book sale will be open from 7:30 to 7:50 in the morning and after school from 2:30 – 3:30. During the day, students can come down during recess or anytime there is free time during class. Robbie will continue to teach Library Lessons this week in classrooms.

 

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

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

 

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

 

• Spirit Assembly FRIDAY @8:20 & Thriller Flash Mob Sign-Up – Our monthly School Spirit Assembly is this Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. See the Assembly Map and Directions for details, but get your kids excited for prizes, games, and fun! And don’t forget to add your name to the Thriller Flash Mob Sign-Up if you’d like to join in a little extra fun.

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

• Wednesday PD, 11/1: Stop, Walk, Talk Rollout – Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 1:30 in the library go over Stop, Walk, Talk and how we will roll this out to students. Last year staff decided last spring to teach Stop, Walk, Talk for common language for kids to solve minor (non-physical) problems on their own, but if people want to teach this to student earlier, we we agreed to use lessons 1 and 2 of the Stop, Walk, Talk Bully Prevention Lessons. Lesson 1 takes about 50 minutes and lesson 2 takes about 30 minutes. Lessons 3, 4, and 5 offer additional practice for specific situations (Gossip, Inappropriate Remarks, and Cyberbullying) if teachers would like to cover these as well.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

October 23 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach Staff Room Duty Staff Room Duty
Scholastic Book Fair Begins
8:00, Morning Announcements Begin (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
1:00-2:00, Allan to Synergy Training (Zoom)
2:45, Allan to Parent Meeting
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

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

October 25 (W)
7:30-8:30, Allan to MAPS Meeting
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – SafeSchools & Elem Inclusive Beliefs Survey
4:30-6:30, SPED Parent Info Session (Ed Center)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan

 

October 2, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Halloween Dress-Up Rules

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

• EEF Grants Due Oct. 13 EEF Grant Applications are due Oct. 13 deadline. EEF prioritizes grants that focus on Enrichment (ex. STEM, arts, experimental learning), Ready to Learn (ex. literacy, SEL, accessibility solutions), and Pathways (ex. CTE, SPED, TAG).

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan

September 25, 2023

 

Hi Holt Bolts,

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

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

• EEF Grants Now Open – EEF grants are now open with an Oct. 13 deadline. EEF prioritizes grants that focus on Enrichment (ex. STEM, arts, experimental learning), Ready to Learn (ex. literacy, SEL, accessibility solutions), and Pathways (ex. CTE, SPED, TAG). They do have a new online application that requires you to set up an account, but it looks like they’re asking for pretty much the same info they have asked for in the past. Linked here is PDF I made of the form if you want to take a peek. Schools can submit as many grants as they want, so feel free to start writing! See the EEF 2023-24 Grant Application Webpage for details.

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here we go, team!

Allan