Equity

February 7, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/02/05 21:28 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Literacy, P.D., Technology  |  Comments Off on February 7, 2022

 

Greetings Holt Staff,

This week is National School Counselor Week, so I just want to give a shoutout to Mr. Max, who’s done a great job stepping up as our school counselor this year. I’d also like to give a shoutout to Ms. Darla, who’s generously continued to stay connected with Holt and helped with a variety of matters, so thank you for not dropping us like a hot potato. Both of you are amazing and your work is much appreciated.

Twelve items of note for this week:

• February Fire Drill, Tuesday @1:10 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be the February Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map. If it raining, we’ll try again next week.

• Bertha Holt Birthday Assembly, FRIDAY! – See the linked Assembly Agenda for details. The Zoom begins at 7:40, winners announced at 7:50, assembly REALLY begins at 7:55, and will end at 8:10.

• Friday PD Cancelled – Downtown emailed principals they do not have ELA info ready for this Friday and have to reschedule. Be sure to complete the Teacher PD Survey if you haven’t already. If you have already completed it, enjoy your extra hour of of prep!

And if you’re interested, Expeditionary Learning (EL) and Wit & Wisdom are the two curriculums that are being considered.

• Classified Staff Meeting Friday 2/18 – Teacher PD this day will be async, so I’ve added the February Classified Staff Meeting to the calendar for this date. We can talk recess, PBIS, and start planning for the Gaga Ball Pit rollout (probably after spring break).

• School Nurse Update – Hailee Ritter is our new school nurse and will be here on Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

• Dismissal Car Traffic Policing – Drivers are starting to slack again of following pause parking rules at dismissal, not pulling forward, getting out of their car, or blocking traffic in some other manner. It’s not an expectation staff police the pause parking line, but it’s much appreciated if you can remind parents to keep it moving.

• Staff Gear Order Form – Ashley already emailed folks, but (UPDATED) order at the NEW ONLINE STORE for a Holt Staff t-shirt or hoodie.

• District Admin Updates – See the linked emails for details, but Brooke Wagner is the new Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, taking Jose Salgado’s spot after he resigned in December. Filling Brooke’s Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services position temporarily is former Albany superintendent Melissa Goff. Lastly, Morgan Christensen is temporarily taking over Title IX Coordinator, which Dawn Strong was previously doing along with her COVID duties for HR.

• TECH TIP: Adding 4J Calendar in Zimbra – If you want to add the district calendar (which has Zoom links for all their public meetings) to your own Zimbra Calendar, you can do that by Click your Calendar tab > Click the gear icon at the top of your list of calendars > click Find Shares > Check the box next to 4J Calendar and then click Add.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Copy Room & Copying – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook is on Copy Room & Copying (note that the “Parent Help” section is not happening right now):

Copy Room & Copying
Agreements:

• Save big copy jobs (grade level projects or multi-page packets) for days other than Monday mornings.
• Please continue to use the copy machines wisely, sparingly, and in accordance with copyright laws. Use both sides of each piece of paper, along with half sheets, whenever possible.
• For copies over 100, please use the Riso.
• Students are not allowed in the IMC
• Cardstock must be loaded in the “free” side feeder only
• White paper: Drawers 1 & 2
• Colored paper: drawer 3
• Oversized paper: drawer 4
• Please do not put construction paper in the copier, use the Riso instead.
• Baskets are located in each copy room for copies that are left on machines
• Staff should make an effort to scan/thumb through what they grab off the copiers to avoid mistakenly taking copies belonging to other staff members
• The wrapping paper the copy paper comes in is NOT recyclable. There is a waxy coating on the inside.
• If white-out is used, it must be COMPLETELY dry before using on the copier. White correction tape is preferred to avoid residue being left on the glass
• Color copies can only be printed by the office. General guidelines are for a few pages, not whole class sets. If you need color copies printed, please send your document to Katie or Melanie with your request. This will require lead time to allow the staff to have time to print
• If the copier jams, do not walk away!! It is staff responsibility to fix the machine. Do not leave it for the next person. If you cannot solve the problem, notify the office immediately and put a sign on the copier
• If a code appears, let the office staff know.
• Norms are posted in the copy rooms.

Supplies:

• Supplies in the cupboards are for teacher use only, not classroom supplies
• If supplies need to be reordered, use the white board in the large IMC to list what is needed. Add your name for reference. Office staff check periodically to see what needs to be ordered. This would be only for supplies needed in the IMC rooms, not classrooms
• Exception: Pencils located under the sink are also for student use.

Training:

• It is the teacher’s responsibility to train their student teacher, practicum students, or parent volunteers on proper use of the machines and procedures
• Office staff should be asked if help is needed
• Replacement of staples or toner must be done by office staff

Clean up:

• Staff should clean up any papers or other materials used to complete a project
• Staff should replace die cut letters and shapes to their locations

Parent Help:

• PAHS have created a mailbox in the workroom where staff can place a work order
• Staff should fill out the form indicating what they need done
• Lead time is required
• Staff may also select to have their own classroom volunteers use the copy room and resources. Volunteers need to be trained by teachers on all copy machines and procedures

• Look Beyond the Struggle to Celebrate Black Achievement – In addition to recognizing the civil rights movement, teachers can use Black History Month to call attention to the achievements of Black Americans in other areas. See this Edutopia Article for ideas on who to celebrate outside of the civil rights movement.

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

February 7 (M)
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
National School Counselor Week
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

February 8 (T)
International Clash Day (sorry, one of my all-time favorite bands)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, PBIS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, Conscious Discipline Parent Nights (Zoom)

February 9 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:40-3:25, 1st Grade Data Team
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiation Session (Zoom)

February 10 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

February 11 (F)
7:40-8:10, Friendship Day & Holt Celebration Assembly (Zoom)
1:30-2:20, 2nd Grade Data Team
1:30-2:25, Friday PD: Complete the PD Survey
2:25-3:25, KG Data Team

February 14 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
4:00-5:00, All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

February 15 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

February 16 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Mobile Food Pantry (Cal Young)
2:40-3:25, 4th Grade Data Team
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 17 (H)
Regular Day

February 18 (F)
Winter Benchmark Testing Closes
SJ Visits Her Class!
1:30-2:20, 5th Grade Data Team
1:30-2:25, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – High Leverage Strategies
2:25-3:25, 3rd Grade Data Team

February 21 (M)
No School – Presidents Day

FYI – Someone let me know last week there’s only 86 kid days school until summer. :)

Allan

 

January 24, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/01/22 20:18 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Grants, P.D., SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on January 24, 2022

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for being out last week. In normal times, I would have just come to work, but since my vaccinated middle schooler tested positive and since I had primary COVID symptoms (sore throat, congestion, minor fatigue), I figured I needed to follow the rules and stay home from work. In the end, I never tested positive and burned a few regular ol’ sick days.

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Staffing Update – Please welcome (back) Margaret Maddy as our newest 2.5 hour Title 1 EA. You may recognize Margaret because she previously worked at Holt in the kitchen. Welcome to the team, Margaret!

• COVID Updates – In COVID news…

• Contact Tracing Resumes – The state is now requiring schools to contact trace for all UNMASKED situations (breakfast, snack and lunch), but not recesses. This means the pause on contact tracing is over.

I asked if this meant specialists (PE, Music, SPED, Title, ELD, etc.) no longer needed to maintain seating charts, since those are always masked situations, but was told they should continue to maintain seating charts just in case rules change or if any unusual situations come up. See this 4J Communication for additional info on changes in contact tracing, isolation ,and quarantine.

As a reminder, the best way to avoid close contacts is to keep breakfast and snack in the classroom to less than 15 minutes total or create two different seating charts for breakfast and snack.

• KN95 Masks Available – Downtown is giving all schools KN95 Masks and is ordering more. One mask is good for 5 days and can last good longer if cleaned and disinfected. Come by the office if you want one.

• Staff Notifications – Teachers will get a notification from the district if a student in your class tests positive AND was in school during their infectious period. If a student developed symptoms over the weekend and was not infectious while at school, there would be no notification. However, I will continue to notify teachers of positive students so you have the quarantine dates for sending out assignments.

• Temporary Paid Leave (TPL) – If staff test positive for COVID, you will qualify to TPL. Staff Sick Leave into AESOP and after 4J Staff Contact Tracer Dawn Strong contacts you, she will authorize TPL. Also, staff caring for a child who is positive and if the staff member is not fully vaccinated (booster), they would qualify for TPL because they are now a close contact. If you are booster, however, you’d have to use sick days for child care. (I know. I know. Not my rule there.)

• January Virtual Assembly, THURSDAY @7:40 – The January Virtual Winter Wonderland Assembly is this Thursday. See the above linked agenda for details, but log on early at 7:40 and the festivities will begin at 7:50. Zoom links are on the Staff Zimbra Calendar.

• Science Assembly, THURSDAY @8:30 & 1:15– Ashley emailed details earlier, but this Thursday will be a very cool Extreme Science Assembly. See the link for some videos you might show your kids ahead of time to get them excited! Zoom links are on the Holt Staff Calendar.

Grades K-2: 8:30-9:15
Grades 3-5: 1:15-2:00

 

• REPEAT: Holt Winter Wonderland BINGO Night, THURSDAY – Get your student’s pumped! Not this week, but next week on Thursday, January 27th is a Holt Virtual Event and this time it’s Winter Wonderland BINGO Night!

• Asynchronous EA Learning – FRIDAY – SPED and Title EA were emailed info about Asynchronous EA Learning happen din this Friday, which may have missed a number of building EAs. More details and session descriptions are coming this week, but newer staff are encouraged to attend specific foundational sessions that they have not been able to join previously. These sessions will be highlighted with guidance.

• Report Card Info & Reminders – Three items of note:

• Print on Friday – Report cards cannot be printed until Friday morning. Melanie will send out an email after she’s updated the attendance.

• Parent Reports – The 4J Parent Reports (easyCBM, OSAS, attendance) need to go home and will not be available to print until Thursday. Gloria will get them to staff as soon as she can that day.

• Friday Teacher Work Day Expectations – Although teachers need to come in to print report cards, downtown emailed principals the official expectations for Friday’s Teacher Work Day, which is:

The staff work day is a regular work day. Teachers are allowed to work from home if they notify their administrator in advance. However, teachers should plan ahead if they need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading or student issues. Please be aware that teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception of how this day is used.

• Staff Meeting Location Survey DUE FRIDAY – With only 13 votes it’s a dead heat between switching Staff Meetings to Zoom or remaining in-person. Please fill out the linked Future Staff Meeting Location Survey by the end of the week.

• Student Semester Changes – Last Thursday, I emailed the list of students switching pathways. If teachers haven’t already, do the following as soon as possible:

1. Decide who is taking the new students.
2. Notify the office who is taking the new students (so we can put them into your Synergy).
3. Send new families a Welcome Email by Tuesday, which can simply be your fall welcome email.

We had 12 students returning to in-person and 11 students moving online. Here’s the grade level breakdown.

Returning
KG – 2
1st – 3
2nd – 3
3rd – 1
4th – 1
5th – 2

Leaving
KG – 1
1st – 2
2nd – 0
3rd – 0
4th – 5
5th – 2

I’ve emailed returning families the following Welcome Back – Quick News.

• Bertha Holt Celebration, Gift of Hope Project, Coming in February! – As part of an ongoing tradition, the student of Holt are raising money to support an international family using the Gifts of Hope Catalog through the Holt International Organization. See the linked Gifts of Hope Project Flyer, but we are asking student to find a way to earn $1 that they contribute. These will go home at the semester change and the deadline to return funds raided is Thursday, Feb. 10th. We will announce the gifts chosen on Feb. 11th, Friendship Day at Holt.

• Classroom Buddy Activity – At the request of Student Council, the PBIS Team emailed teachers a Classroom Buddy Activity we’ll do for the Feb. 11th Friendship Day. See the above email for details and classroom buddy assignments, but be sure to following the timeline:

• Complete All About Me activity AFTER the start of the new term (Monday 1/31) and with enough time to meet and exchange with your buddy teacher.
• Meet with your buddy teacher to match kids up and then exchange papers.
• On Friendship day (Friday 2/11) hand the papers out to your class so they can “get to know” their buddies. Make sure you explain what classroom buddies are because it has been awhile and some kids might not have been here when we did them last.

 

 

• Parent Education Series – Jenny and Max are leading a parenting titled “School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights” starting next month. Please help promote this event. I’ve created a Facebook Event and Jenny made a Program Flyer (English & Spanish).

 

Parent Education Series
School to Heart to Home – Conscious Discipline Parent Nights

Let’s face it, being a parent is a hard job! It has been even harder since the beginning of the pandemic. At times, our emotions get in the way of our ability to access our own parenting brilliance. Wouldn’t it be nice to respond to conflict with rational thinking and problem-solving? Join us as we learn to regulate our emotions and stop reacting out of impulse or tradition, so we can help our kids regulate their emotions and reactions.

Come learn, connect, and explore parenting with Conscious Discipline

This series, led by 4J staff on Zoom, is based on the School to Heart to Home parenting education curriculum from Conscious Discipline.

Tuesday, February 8 at 6:00p-7:00pm – Brain States: A new way of understanding yourself and your children
Tuesday, March 8 at 6:00-7:00pm – Composure: Being the person you want your children to become
Date TBA – Assertiveness: Setting limits respectfully
Date TBA – Encouragement: Noticing, accepting and connecting with children

Dinner! Make & Take Materials! Free!

Following each session, attendees will receive:

• a gift card to a local restaurant (to replace the meal we’d provide if able to meet in person)
• printed material related to content covered.
• a copy of Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline, a parenting book that covers much of the content we will discuss.

RSVP here:

Registration Form Or email Jenny Potter potter_je@4j.lane.edu Limited to 25 families!

Once you’ve registered, we will send you a link.

For more information about Conscious Discipline, visit the Conscious Discipline Website or this short Conscious Discipline Video.

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be the January Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the • REMINDER: Teacher PD Survey – During last week’s cancelled Staff Meeting, I asked teachers to use the time to complete the linked Optional Teacher Curriculum Trainings Survey (which was revised the following day on 1/19). Be sure to complete the survey by the end of the week if you did not do so already.

• REPEAT: Final School Choice Tour TUESDAY – The last school choice tour of the year is this Tuesday at 12:30, but wanted staff to know I’m planning a Zoom tour of the school at the end of my presentation, so you may see me walking around hallways and classes Zooming with my iPad or laptop.

• EEF Grants Due Feb. 4 – EEF is now accepting grants for round two of the school year. See the EEF Email or EEF Website for details. Unlike in the past, staff may directly submit grants without first going through Site Council. This year, after the Feb. 2 deadline, all submitted grants will then go to Site Council for rank ordering.

• Optional Morning Meeting PD (Virtual) WEDNESDAY or 2/2 – Jan. 26th and Feb. 2nd 4:15 to 5:15 pm, SDS staff will present how you might help to meet the Social Emotional Learning needs of your students while developing a better sense of community, belonging and classroom culture. RSVP using this Google Form as soon as possible. SPOTS for this session are limited to 50 participants. Extended Contract will be provided.

 

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

Medications:

• It is the policy of the Eugene 4j School District to cooperate with parents to dispense medication that has been prescribed by a physician during the school day. Confidentiality should be practiced regarding individual student medication.
• All medication should be kept locked in the office and must be in the original container issued by a registered pharmacist. Parents must sign an authorization form granting the school permission to administer medication.
• Students are only allowed to carry inhalers if there is an authorization form in the office to do so. This is very rare at the elementary level. Otherwise, students should not have medication with them, including over the counter medications. Cough drops are not permitted in class and should be immediately sent to the office.

• Black History Month Resources – February is Black History Month, so I wanted to pass along this list as a starting point for resources. There are, of course, many other resources available; Rethinking Schools, the Zinn Education Project, and Facing History and Ourselves to name a few.

Info on BHM origins:
• Awesome Video: How Black History Went From a Week to a Month
• Article: Black History Themes
• Article: The Man Behind Black History Month

On Teaching:
• How to Be an Anti-Racist White Educator
• What Anti-Racist Teachers Do Differently

Black Youth Leaders and Activists:
• Past: Youth in the Civil Rights Movement
• Present: Young Black Activists, Young Black Leaders and Creators Making History Today, Amanda Gorman

Black History Month 2021
For 2021, the BHM theme is The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. There’s obviously such a wealth of resources to work with here, but these are a few books related to this theme:
• Read-aloud: Me and Mama
• Sony Animation: Hair Love
• Read-aloud (there are a bunch of other great ones on this YouTube channel): We March

Lesson plans, etc.:
• Virtual History Journeys
• PBS Learning Resources

Keep in mind that black history and teaching the story of historically of marginalized groups should be a year round-activity and not just a sidebar or novelty to the American history typically taught in U.S. schools. It should be viewed as a central part of the American story.

• MegaMillions Lotto Pool – Time to dream big! The MegaMillions Jackpot for Tuesday’s drawing will be $396 Million. If you want to join the pool, get me $2 (cash or Venmo) by 3:00pm on Tuesday!

• 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 24 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues

January 25 (T)
12:30-1:10, School Choice Presentation & Tour (Zoom)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
7:00-8:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)

January 26 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:15-5:15, Optional Morning Meeting PD (Zoom)

January 27 (H)
Holt Spirit Day, Winter Wonderland!
7:40-8:10, Winter Wonderland Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:30-9:15, K- 2 “Extreme Science” Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
1:30-2:15, 3-5 “Extreme Science” Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Library)
6:30, Holt Winter Wonderland BINGO Night! (Zoom)

January 28 (F)
No School – Staff Work Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
9:00, Allan to SSD Meeting (C1)

January 31 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Report Cards Sent Home
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
4:30-6:30, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

February 1 (T)
Black History Month
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiations (Zoom)

February 2 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:15-5:15, Optional Morning Meeting PD (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 3 (H)
5:00-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiations (Zoom)

February 4 (F)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – PBIS / SEL PD

February 5 (SA)
1:00-2:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)

Have a good week, everyone!

Allan

 

January 17, 2021

By Allan  |  2022/01/15 20:25 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Grants, Literacy, P.D., Science  |  Comments Off on January 17, 2021

Howdy Everyone,

Nineteen items of note for our 3-day student week:

• COVID Updates – Here are eight COVID reminders and updates:

• Fully Vaccinated Definition Change – The CDC, State of Oregon, and Lane County Public Health now consider “Fully Vaccinated” for adults 18 years and older to mean you’ve received your booster and the two weeks to take effect. This means if a staff member is a close contact, they would need to quarantine if they are not boosted. Fully vaccinated staff DO NOT need to quarantine if they are a close contact, including even if a COVID positive person is in their home, as long as they do not have any COVID symptoms.

• Close Contact & Contact Tracing Change – Schools are not contact tracing at this time for students, but are for any positive staff member. Student grade level cohorts are notified by downtown if a student in their cohort tested positive and to watch their child for symptoms. This also means that Test-to-Stay is also paused until we resume contact tracing.

• Testing for Staff – Schools are now allowed to administer rapid tests to staff members who develop symptoms while at school.

• If you are sick, STAY HOME! – Do not be the person who tests positive and then tells the 4J COVID Team, “I had a sore throat all week, but went to work not thinking it was anything.” If you have any of the following symptoms, STAY HOME:

• Fever of 100.4° F or higher
• Sore Throat
• Chills
• Cough (non-persisten, dry coughs are okay, but congested coughs are not)
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing
• New loss of taste or loss of smell
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting

• COVID Positive, Same as Vaccinated for 90-day – If a student had COVID in the last 90 days, they are treated as if they’re fully vaccinated, so if they were a close contact to someone positive in that time, as long as they have no symptoms, they can come to school.

• COVID Call Script – If you’re curious, here’s the COVID Call Script schools are using when a parent calls to report their child was either a close contact, tested positive, or their child in sick. It’s more invasive than what we do during normal times, but we do need to collect all this info from families.

• Seesaw Tip for Students in Quarantine – A good idea for managing workload. Send a Seesaw lesson for the first day of a student’s quarantine, but wait to see if they complete it before sending subsequent days. Some kids are too sick to do their work, so don’t create more work for yourself.

• COVID Testing for Educators – WVT Lab in Corvallis is offering free weekly COVID testing for educators, where they’ll mail you a test each week. With tests in short supply, thought folks may want to sign up. And starting Jan. 19th, Every home in the U.S. can order 4 free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests at covidtests.gov. The tests will be completely free—there are no shipping costs and you don’t need to enter a credit card number.

• Holt Winter Wonderland BINGO Night, Thursday, Jan. 27th – Get your student’s pumped! Not this week, but next week on Thursday, January 27th is a Holt Virtual Event and this time it’s Winter Wonderland BINGO Night!

 

• Report Card Info – Four Report Card items of note:

• Report Card Printing – Teachers are NOT to print report cards until the secretaries work their Synergy magic or else the attendance data on the report cards will not be accurate. I haven’t connected with Melanie or Sharon on this, but I believe teachers can print starting Thursday, Jan. 27th.

• Report Card Completion Deadline – Downtown wanted principals to tell teachers they shared with EEA that teachers will have until 11:00AM on Friday, January 28 to complete report cards, as they want to ensure staff who are interested in attending the Superintendent Staff Forum on their grading day from 9:00-10:30am are able to do so.

• REPEAT: Report Card Dates – See the Report Card Email send earlier for details, but please note the following dates.

• Elementary Grading Day – Friday, January 21
• Elementary Staff Work Day – Friday, January 28
• Elementary Staff Work Day – Friday, January 28
• Report Cards Sent Home – Monday, January 31

• REPEAT: Working from Home – Grading day is a regular work day, but HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify me in advance. Plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading.

• Science Kit Restocking – Holt has permission to keep out kits and downtown will restock whatever materials we need. Teachers should let me know by Thursday if you need anything for your winter science kits. Jamie Tait said she’ll get us whatever it is we need.

• 2022-2023 Enrollment Projections – We got our budget for next school year and buried in that document is our enrollment projection for next year, which has us at 529 students for next year. That is the same as what we were projected for this year and it looks like downtown did the same for all schools. If downtown sticks with these projections and staffing ratios are kept the same, we shouldn’t see any staffing reductions.

• Student Semester Changes – With the extension of the survey window, downtown anticipates having lists of students transitioning between programs by Wednesday. Buildings that were significantly impacted by additional enrollment have already been communicated with and Holt was not one of those schools, so I expect our numbers to remain relatively the same. I shared this earlier, but this is the count for Holt students who are currently online:

KG: 5
1st: 9
2nd: 7
3rd: 5
4th: 4
5th: 10

• EAs can get a sub on Day #1 – HR is now allowing all EAs to get a sub on the first day of an absence, so please put in for a sub if you are out. In the past, only SPED and Title EAs could get a sub the first day of an absence and Kinder or Building EAs had to be out three days before they could get one.

• Jan. 28 EA Extravaganza – Downtown is putting together some learning for EAs for Friday, Jan. 28th in the morning. Due to limited capacity among presenters, most/all of the offerings will be asynchronous, so stay tuned for more info later.

• Teacher PD Survey – I’ll give teachers time at a future Staff Meeting or a Friday PD to complete the linked PD Survey, but if anyone wants to give their input how, feel free.

• Shoe Donations for PE – I’m putting the article below in the next Quick News about donating used shoes, particularly for KG – 2nd grade sized shoes, but feel free to ask your students and/or include this article in your next classroom newsletter.

Shoe Donations for PE

Holt’s Physical Education teacher, Mr. Alex, is looking for donations of used shoes. We particularly need kindergarten through 2nd grade sized shoes. These shoes are for students who come to PE with shoes that no longer fit, break, or are not the proper shoes for PE activities.

• EEF Grants Due Feb. 4 – EEF is now accepting grants for round two of the school year. See the EEF Email or EEF Website for details. Unlike in the past, staff may directly submit grants without first going through Site Council. This year, after the Feb. 2 deadline, all submitted grants will then go to Site Council for rank ordering.

• BEST Updates – The BEST After School Program at Holt is set to start Monday, February 7th. The program will run Monday – Thursday from 2:25-5:25 and will partner with the YMCA. They will use the gym, cafeteria, playground, and library and Title 1 areas for small group instruction. The academic focus will be on math. Students will have enrichment opportunities in addition to academics. They will also be given dinner. The program will start small with 20 something students, but will hopefully grow from there. Aubrey Bulkeley is the Holt BEST Site Coordinator is you have any questions, though you can check in with me as well.

• ELA Pilot Information – If you’re interested, the ELA adoption team leaders emailed teachers participating on the pilot last week, which included updates to the schedule, info for K-2 EL teachers, and helpful links.

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, Tuesday @1:10 – This Tuesday at 1:10 will be the January Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map. If it’s raining, we’ll reschedule for Tuesday the following week.

• REPEAT: 4J Superintendent Selection – Fill out the Superintendent Selection Survey by Jan. 25th. Make your opinions heard. There’s also a series of staff and community forums you may want to attend:

Community Forums
Thursday January 13, 5–6:30 p.m. — Online via Zoom
Tuesday, January 18, 7–8:30 p.m. — Online via Zoom
Thursday, January 20, 5–6:30 p.m. — Online via Zoom
Saturday, January 22, 1–2:30 p.m. — Online via Zoom
Tuesday January 25, 7–8:30 p.m. — Online via Zoom

Staff Forums
Friday, January 21, 9–10:30 a.m. — Online via Zoom
Friday, January 21, 3:30–5 p.m. — Online via Zoom

• REPEAT: School Choice Tours – I’m holding virtual school presentations and tours starting this Tuesday, Jan. 11th (12:30PM) and later on Jan. 20th (6:00PM), and Jan. 25th (12:30PM), but I did want teachers to know I’m planning a Zoom tour of the school at the end of my presentation, so you may see me walking around hallways and classes Zooming with my iPad or laptop.

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

Principal (Quick News):
Weekly communication sent to families electronically with school news & events. PAHS can contribute their information here as well

Classroom Teacher:
Teachers communicate with either electronic or paper newsletters. Teachers have discretion as to how often communications go home, however, communication with families on some level is the expectation. Some grades coordinate newsletter, others do not. Currently there is not a standard electronic platform.

PAHS:
Our parent group communicates through flyers, Quick News, and Facebook

• A More Equitable (and Engaging) Way to Teach Writing in Elementary School – When teachers tie writing instruction to what students are reading, learners begin with a more level playing field. We discussed some of these ideas back on Jan. 3rd and our adopted writing curriculum, Being A Writer, does tie writing to literature, but see this Edutopia Article for details.

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

January 17 (M)
No School — Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 18 (T)
KG Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)
7:00-8:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)
January 19 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

January 20 (H)
2:45-3:25, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation & Tour (Zoom)

January 21 (F)
No School – Grading Day
9:00-10:30, Superintendent Staff Community Forums (Zoom)
3:30-5:00, Superintendent Staff Community Forums (Zoom)

January 22 (SA)
1:00-2:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)
January 24 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues

January 25 (T)
12:30-1:30, School Choice Presentation & Tour (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
7:00-8:30, Superintendent Selection Community Forums (Zoom)
January 26 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:15-5:15, Morning Meeting Professional Learning Opportunity (Zoom)

January 27 (H)
Holt Spirit Day, Winter Wonderland!
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Library)
6:30, Holt Winter Wonderland BINGO Night! (Zoom)

January 28 (F)
No School – Staff Work Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
9:00, Allan to SSD Meeting (C1)

Enjoy the short week!

Allan

November 8, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/11/06 19:40 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Equity, P.D.  |  Comments Off on November 8, 2021

 

Greetings Bolts,

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• School Counselor Update – Max Taylor, our Behavior EA, was selected to take over as our school counselor for the rest of the school year. He’s already made great connections with some of our toughest kids and should be a great match for the position and for our school!

The transition plan is for Darla to stay on at Holt through conferences and to use the following Monday to have some closure with students and pass the torch to Max.

• 2.5-hour Title 1 EA Interviews, Wednesday – Let me know if you are interested (and available) in being part of interviews for a small 2.5-hour Title 1 EA Position we’ve created with our remaining Title funds. Interviews will be the Wednesday, 10:10-12:00 in the library.

• CLD EA Vacancy – We’re still waiting on HR to get back regarding their job offer to a candidate to fill Jason’s vacant CLC EA position.

• November Fire Drill, 11/16 @1:10 – Not this week, but next week on Tuesday, November 16th at 1:10 will be our November Fire Drill. Linked here is theBuilding Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.

• Conferences Updates & Reminders – Seven parent/teacher conferences updates and reminders:

• Conference Schedules to Office – If you haven’t already, send a copy of your schedule to Melanie.

• Seesaw and Families – Make sure families are signed up with Seesaw Family at conferences. You can see which family members are connected by logging into your Seesaw account and clicking on the ADD families button.

 

 

• Resources for Families – Should any families request tutoring, the Eugene Rotary (WEBSITE and FLYER) offers free virtual tutoring and the NAACP (WEBSITE and FLYER) also offers a free in person tutoring program for all BIPOC students. Teachers should NOT suggest tutoring, because that puts the district on the hook to provide or pay for tutoring.

• Allan’s Conference Tips – Parents generally just want to see that teachers “know” their child and care about them. If you can convey that at your conference, usually by sharing a story or two, mission accomplished! My other advice is to start conferences off with “How do things look on your end?” or other open ended question so parents to share anything that’s on their mind, rather than making them wait until the end and possibly running out of time.

• REPEAT: EA Extravaganza, WEDNESDAY – Educational Assistants should attended the EA Extravaganza on Wednesday from 8:00-12:00 via Zoom. See the above link for sessions, times, descriptions, and Zoom links, and see Marlee Litten’s Email for additional details.

• REPEAT: Title 1 Compacts & Conferences – Title 1 Compacts (English and Spanish) should be reviewed with all families at conferences. For the signatures, the teacher and student should sign the form and for parents review the permission section at conferences and then just date the form in the parent signature line that the parents agreed to do their part.

• REPEAT: Wednesday PAHS Lunch – PAHS is planning to provide a big lunch for staff on Wednesday, with enough to be left over for dinner if staff are still working in the building then, so I’ll need to get a head count at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting of how many people will be in the building this day.

• Recess and New Kickball Rules – Linked here is the Recess Equipment and Activity Rules Doc, which is a living document of the most current recess rules. Most recently we added Kickball Rules to the doc, which Kim and I will come around to review with grades 3, 4, and 5. Teachers should email us a good date and time to come in for a 10-15 minute block of time to go over the “official” kickball rules.

• Referral Reminders – When writing a referral remember to:

• Press Hard with a Pen – Minor and Major referrals are on NCR paper, so use a pen and press hard so what you write goes all the way through the three layers.

• No Student Names in Description – Major referrals are sent home to parents, so do not include other student names in the description section. On major referrals, there is a spot on the second page of the NCR paper to include this information.

• List Just One Behavior Type – SWIS, the system we enter minor referrals, only allows for one violation/behavior type, so check off the most egregious behavior if an incident has multiple offense types (i.e. if a student called someone a name and then pushed them, check off just “Physical Aggression”).

• Parent Requests for SPED Eval – Any time a parent requests their child get an IEP or wants them tested, make sure you notify me or our school psychologist, Kelly Kirk, immediately. A legally mandated timeline starts from the moment parents make that initial request.
• Artist in Residence – Our first Artist in Residence, Glass Fusing Fun with Rachell Jarvis, is finally set-up and will be Nov. 29 through Dec. 17. See Lesli’s Email if you have any scheduling requests (though no promises).

• Staff Directory Photos Update? – Anyone hate their picture on the Staff Directory Webpage? Let me know and I can update it with this year’s photo. If you don’t have a photo on the school website, be sure sure to get your picture taken on Picture Retake Day next week on Wednesday, November 17th. BONUS FUN: If you log onto Adobe with your school email and password, you can have some fun removing your school picture background to make some much more fun of backgrounds.

 

• Language Arts Adoption Updates – If you’re interested, Expeditionary Learning (EL) and Wit & Wisdom are the two curriculums that will be piloted this year. One of them will be adopted for implementation next school year. Linked here is an Adoption Update Email that gives an overview of what’s happed so far in the adoption process as well as a timeline for next steps.

• Franz Bakery Virtual Field Trip – Franz Baker is offering a virtual field trip and will give classes bakers’ hats and a voucher per. If you’re interested, linked here is their Franz Bakery Virtual Field Trip Email, but you just need to email a few dates and time to Jodie Kelly FranzBakeryTours@usbakery.com

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Head Injuries – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Head Injuries. See the 4J Students with Concussions Webpage for additional details, including the letter that is to go home with students who’ve had a head injury:

Head Injuries:
• Any students who has incurred a head injury must be sent to the office for evaluation.
• Students should be escorted
• Parents must be informed of any head injuries, even if minor

• 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 conception of Native Americans gained from such early exposure is 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 Indian, Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance), and Education World. This Google Doc links to a ton of read aloud stories, primary sources, site, 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.

• 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 8 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
2:30-3:30, Allan to Care Team Meeting (Zoom)

November 9 (T)
3:25-7:35, Parent/Teacher Conferences (Zoom)
4:00-8:00, Holt Night Out Fundraiser – Chipotle Mexican Grill4:05, Allan to Conference (Zoom)
5:30-6:30, 4J Parent Info Session: COVID-19 & Schools (Zoom)
November 10 (W)
No School – Conferences
8:00-12:00, EA Extravaganza (Zoom)8:00-8:00, Parent/Teacher Conferences (Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
10:10-12:00, Title EA Interviews (Library)

November 11 (H)
No School — Veterans Day

November 12 (F)
No School — Parent/Teacher Conferences Comp Day

November 15 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Melanie Out – Katie Subbing
Darla’s Last Day
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

November 16 (T)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)

November 17 (W)
Picture Retakes
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

November 18 (H)
K-3 Vision Screening
K-5 Dental Screening
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)
6:00-7:00 PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)

November 19 (F)
Regular Day

And remind students about the Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Chipotle this Thursday, 4:00-8:00!

Allan

October 11, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/10/09 19:10 Posted in Announcements, Equity, Literacy  |  Comments Off on October 11, 2021

Hey Holt Bolts,

Here’s your good news for the week. Teachers and school staff can get a free Thank You Meal starting Monday through Friday at McDonald’s during breakfast hours! The McGriddle is sadly not on the list, but you can get a FREE sandwich with hash browns and a medium coffee. Just show a school ID!

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three Staffing Updates:

• SPED Classified Changes – SSD partway through last week transferred Ganell from our CLC to Spencer Butte Middle School to work in their Learning Center. Taking her place is a new SSD hire, Dylan Johnson, who is set to start this Wednesday.

• COVID Utility EA (Rosie Lenker) – Our new COVID Utility EA started last week, but I told everyone the wrong first name. I shared her legal name and not her preferred name, which is is Rosie, so please welcome Rosie to the team!

• Potential District Staffing Shifts – Downtown emailed the following to principals on Friday, which sounds like they may be shuffling teachers to balance class sizes:

Variance in class size – We continue to have some large class sizes across our elementary schools and the luxury of some small classes. We will be revisiting building staffing allocations following the impact of the October 18 vaccine mandate to address any teacher shortages or to ameliorate our large classes across the district.

• Leadership Plan Meeting, Wednesday @2:45– This Wednesday at 2:45 in the library, I’ll hold an optional meeting for any licensed staff interested in drafting a third Leadership Plan scenario for staff to consider. As discussed at last week’s Staff Meeting, this plan will separate the Leadership Team from the Leadership Plan, redistributing those 7 days. In this scenario, staff taking on extra leadership duties will be compensated in the Leadership Plan and the Leadership Team will be a voluntary committee, similar to those who volunteer to be on PBIS, Safety or other teams and committees. If you’re unable to attend this meeting, but wish to share your thoughts, let me know before Wednesday. I’ll plan to share the new draft with all staff following this meeting.

• PAHS Potluck Lunch This Friday! – Our fabulous parent group is planning a Staff Appreciation Potluck for staff this Friday, so be on the lookout for some good food to be delivered by 10:00!

• Conference Reminders – Conferences will be Tuesday, Nov. 9th, 3:25-7:25 and Wednesday, Nov. 10th, 8:00-8:00 (minimally in 15 minute blocks), with no school that Thursday for Veterans Day or on Friday for the comp day . Once you have your conference schedule, share a copy of it with the office for when parents call the office forgetting their times. One option for scheduling conference is Calendly, which SJ shared at last week’s Staff Meeting, which will email parents the Zoom links and also reminders of their scheduled meeting time. If you need a translator, let me know the date, time, and Zoom link and I’ll put in a request for a district translator to join your Zoom. Still no answer from downtown if teachers may telework or not during conferences. Jenny and I will also keep you posted if Title 1 Compacts will be a Google Form or paper.

• District Calendar Updates – Three items of note:

• October 15th – Work Day – Now that all building and district PD (not including Data Teams) is paused through at least January, this Friday is all yours for planning and prep. The Tech PD on accessing the pre-made Seesaw and Nearpod lessons at 9:00 on Friday is now optional (watch for forthcoming Zoom links). See the linked District Email and Principal Email for additional details.

• October 18th – Work Day – Teachers are to receive at least 5.5 hours of planning time this day, but I’m not planning to hold any meetings this day unless something comes up.

• November 5 & 19 – Downtown has said Friday, November 5th and 19th, teachers will have an additional hour of prep time to compensate for missed prep time on November 12 and 26. If you’re asking yourself, “Weren’t all PLCs and PDs already cancelled these days?” I was wondering the same thing.

• School Bus PBIS & Positive Slips – Bus drivers have their own version of a PBIS positive slip, which teachers should honor just the same as our Zap Tickets for weekly drawings and such. Below is an example of the Bus Positive Slip.

• REMINDER: Set Up Your Voicemail – If you haven’t already, by this Friday set up your 4J voicemail. See the linked 4J Phone Voicemail Manual or this Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for how to set it up. If you have questions, please contact Brian at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu

• REMINDER: K-5 iPad Cart Survey (and Allan speculation) – If you haven’t already, classroom teachers should complete the K-5 iPad Cart Survey James Grubic sent to all elementary teachers last week, which will help downtown identify what teachers need. What wasn’t said in that email, rumor has it they are considering allowing us to keep iPads at school instead of having kids take them home every night.

• REMINDER: On Time Recess Pick-Up – Teachers, be sure to pick students up on time from recess. Most EAs are scheduled to leave the playground right at the end of recess.

• 4J TAG Updates – If you’re interested, principals and building TAG Coordinators were sent the 4J October TAG Newsletter and an email about Fall TAG Testing. The short version is schools sign up for a testing block and that’s when we test any TAG referrals.

• ELA Adoption Updates – Another if-you’re-interested item, I volunteered to be the Sheldon Admin rep for the K-5 ELA adoption because I’m nosy and like to be in-the-know, so if you’re curious, here is the Adoption Committee Handouts last week. I had a link to the slide show, but that link is no longer sharable. I did grab a screenshot of the four programs being considered, which are ARC Core, EL Education K-5 Language Arts, Wit & Wisdom, and Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA).

• SSD Updates for Principals – One last only-if-you’re-interested item, SSD shared the following SSD Slide Show Updates covering various SPED related topics.

• United Way Ruby Bridges-Hall Event – Save the Date – United Way is organizing a virtual event with Ruby Bridges-Hall, happening 10:00-10:30 on Thursday, October 28th, specifically for Lane County students and schools. There will be a 10-minute presentation, and 20-minute Q&A session led by students. Linked here is the Event Flyer. As you likely know, Ruby Bridges helped launch the desegregation of New Orleans public schools at the age of 6, in 1960. The event theme is “the power of using your voice for racial justice.” There will be more to come soon regarding this opportunity.

 

• 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 11 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

October 12 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)
4:00-6:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)

October 13 (W)
2:45-3:25, Optional Leadership Plan Meeting (Library)

October 14 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

October 15 (F)
No School — Planning Day
8:00-2:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Roosevelt MS)
9:00-10:00, Optional District Tech Webinar – Pre-made Nearpod and Seesaw lessons (Zoom)
10:00, PAHS Staff Appreciation Luncheon Delivered (Staff Room)

October 18 (M)
No School — Teacher Work Day
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-4:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting

October 19 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)

October 20 (W)
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 21 (H)
Regular Day

October 22 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)

 

And if you missed it on KEZI last week, Holt is now TV news file footage! They did a story on Oregon ‘Care and Connection’ Campaign Eases Return to In-Person Learning and reused footage from when they came out the first day of school. Check out the video below and feel free to share it with students.

Have a good 4-day week everyone!

Allan

 

October 4, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/10/02 21:03 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, P.D.  |  Comments Off on October 4, 2021

 

Howdy Holt Bolts,

The above meme has been floating around quite a bit this past week, but also keep in mind it’s been 3 years since staff have had a normal school year. Don’t forget to take care of yourselves!

Seventeen items of note for this week:

• PBIS Updates – From your PBIS team. Please review to understand process and procedures this year.

ZAPS
• Green tickets given to student for following a rule, showing kindness, etc
• Frequency: A LOT – give these out!!
• Tickets are placed in the red spinner by the teacher
• Name and room number need to be written legibly.
• During weekly announcements on Mondays, Allan will announce winners from the drawing. (2 students from each grade)
• ZAP’S may also be drawn at an Assembly.
• Some ZAPS have an Electra Instant Winner and those students can instantly pick a Prize (see the office schedule below)
• Students are given a menu of choices for their prize (in the office). More info on menu below.

ORANGE TICKETS
• Given to a class for doing an exceptional job – walking quietly, helping out, listening, etc
• Frequency: as needed but we are trying to earn the prize each month
• Tickets are placed on the Orange You Fantastic wall by teacher (Wall is by the Calming Room)
• When the school earns a particular amount (50 right now) they earn a prize. They are earning an extra recess at this time.
• Sometimes we will work together as a whole school and sometimes by class in which the teacher can choose the reward.
• Allan will announce what prize we are earning and Kim will send out an email to remind teachers as well

HOLT BOLT AWARD
• Given to an individual for outstanding demonstration of character that goes above and beyond just following rules
• Frequency: this is a VERY SPECIAL award that is not given all the time.
• Student receives a certificate to go home

PRIZE MENU
• We know that trinket prizes have some impact and certainly bring happiness to students for a short period of time.
• We also know that experiential rewards can have a longer period of positive reinforcement and the district is moving that direction.
• ZAP winners will go to the office to pick out one of these “non-tangible” prizes at the office. PRIZE COUPON You can use this link to show students what they can earn if their name is drawn.
• Ideas for additional rewards are more than welcome
• OFFICE SCHEDULE: 9 AM and 2 PM (Fridays until 12 PM). No more than 2 students at a time.

GOLDEN TICKET TABLE
• Working within the COVID guidelines for tracking and our capacity to provide the Golden Ticket Table, the following is a starting approach that may be adapted as go along.
• The GOLDEN TICKET is a prize option on the PRIZE COUPON list for the ZAP drawing each Monday.
• The GOLDEN TICKET table is available on Fridays.
• The ZAP drawing will include 2 students from each grade who can choose from the PRIZE COUPON list. If they choose the GOLDEN TICKET, they can choose (2) friends to eat with them at the GOLDEN TICKET TABLE on that Friday. They will also be released first to go to recess.
• GOLDEN TICKETS can only be earned this way. We are not able to accommodate other options (like turning in 10 ZAPS) due to the tracking necessary for COVID.

• October 15th PD Update – I shared last week the PD plan for this day was, “Professional Development (5.5 hours), Guest speaker – Race/Equity, SEL Building Specific, Teacher Planning Day” so I asked for details at a last week’s principal meeting and found out downtown got busy did not scheduled a guest speaker and instead are doing a 1-hour district tech webinar and turning the rest of the day over to principals. The ELA adoption committee is meeting, so I won’t be in the building to lead any PD (I’m sure you’re devastated), so the plan for the day will be:

8:00-9:00, Team Collaboration
9:00-10:00, Tech Webinar – Pre-made Nearpod and Seesaw lessons
10:00-12:00, Team Collaboration
12:00-12:30, Lunch
12:30-2:00, Team Collaboration
2:00-4:00, Prep

For collaboration team, teams can choose what’s useful for you; planning lessons for students on quarantine (since TOSAs are no longer providing canned lessons), review the library of pre-made Seesaw and Nearpod lessons, begin looking at fall benchmark data, or other tasks useful to your team. I’ll add this to Tuesday’s Staff Meeting agenda to make sure this plan works for folks. I’ll keep you posted if downtown changes anything.

• Monday Announcements Begin This Week – I’ll do announcements this Monday at 8:00, announcing Zapp Winners, the Pledge of Allegiance, and reminders of upcoming events. We have auditions for student announcers this week, so hopefully we’ll have kiddos doing it soon!

• School Picture Day, WEDNESDAY – Shared earlier, lined here is the Picture Day Schedule. Grade levels have been assigned times and teams should decide who takes which of your grade level spots (or if you want us to choose, we can do that too). A few classes had to be given specific times to work around specialists.

• Quarantine Student Lesson Option– I heard another idea one principal gave teachers for students in quarantine. Since the direction states “Teachers send the essential components of their daily in class learning and activities as a Seesaw assignment.” one school has teachers simply sending that day’s Journeys story and/or activity through ThinkCentral and the LearnZillion video for that day’s lesson. Other options shared earlier are using the TOSA created 10-day lessons, which are good through October 15th (found on the 4J Student Quarantine Extended Absences K-5 doc) or sending out the Monthly Library Choice Board from District Librarian Amy Page.

• Site Council Reps – Our first Site Council Meeting of the year is next week. There are 5 licensed reps and 3 classified rep positions. Rep positions are 2-year terms, though I don’t recall who was on year-one or year-two, but I do know we have at least one classified and one licensed rep opening. There were only two classified reps last year and Kristina was one of the licensed reps. If other reps can let me know if you are on year-one or year-two, we can decide how many open positions we have. Classified reps were Jackie and Lisa. Licensed reps were Geoff, Jenny, Kristina, Leslie , and Liz. I’ll add this to the Tuesday Staff Meeting Agenda as a check-in item.

• Classified Meetings are Back! – I’d originally had these on the calendar for the first Friday of each month, but then took them off when Friday PDs got scheduled on top of them, but since those on pause I’ve added Classified Staff Meetings back to the calendar, though it’ll be the second Friday for October. See a separate email for that agenda.

• 2019-2020 Mandatory Elementary School Bus Safety Training – The state requires all students, even non-bus riders, to receive instructions on bus safety before the end of December 2021. Linked here is a Bus Training Info Sheet (English and Spanish) and Emergency Exits Handout sent to principals, but all classroom teachers need to do is show a bus safety video. There’s the  Newer Bus Evacuation Training Video or the quaint 1990s relic The Safest Way Out. Teachers then let me know the date you showed the video for the report I have to submit to Transportation.

• Walk+Roll to School Day, WEDNESDAY – Get your students pumped for our first Walk & Roll to School Day! All students are encourage to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school. If they live a long way from school, they could try parking a ten minute walk from school and walking 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 is to reduce traffic and pollution around our school and to promote physical activity for students. Students who ride the bus are doing their part by participating in the biggest carpool of all.

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• Kyla Lenker (COVID Utility EA) – Kyla is set to start this Wednesday. She’ll work out of the Calming Room with Kim and Max.

• Emergency Sub Licenses – Classified subs now only need a high school diploma, so if you know of anyone interested in applying for the sub pool, please refer them to the 4J Jobs website.

• TalentEd Professional Goals – There’s been talk by downtown about reducing TalentEd tasks, so I’m going to ask at the principals’ meeting on Monday if licensed goals are required or not. If they are required, I’ll schedule a time for a group of interested teachers to come up with optional building goals teachers can use if they want. Stay tuned.

• Safety Week Feedback – Let me know if you have any feedback that would make any drill we did last week go smoother, whether it’s changing around evacuation lines, flow exiting the building, or anything else.

• 4J Nutrition Services Updates – This Nutrition Services Update was shared with principals in response to last minute menu changes. The short version is there are supply chain issues and menus are having to unexpectedly change when items aren’t getting delivered. The other piece of info is they are not taking any requests from buildings at this time while they sort through their current set of problems (I was one of the troublemakers who last week contacted them about bringing back chocolate milk for kids).

• Student iPads Potentially Staying at School – Principals got fired up last week about having to send home iPads daily and the issues it’s creating. In response, downtown is now looking at how best to address these issues. More to follow.

• Updated 4J COVID Reporting Process – If you’re interested, the linked COVID Reporting Email and Docs were sent to principals and office staff regarding how and when to report suspected COVIC cases. The short version is we report if a student is COVID positive or has been a close contact to someone who is COVID positive, but we DO NOT report if a student has primary COVID symptoms or if a student is taking a COVID test and does not have any symptoms.

• Taking Small Steps Toward Equity – It can be difficult to know how to keep going with equity work, but starting with culturally responsive teaching is helpful in getting past, “Okay, I get it… what do I do now?” See this Edutopia Article for ideas on diversifying explicit the curriculum as well as diversifying implicit curriculum. Making small changes can make a big difference.

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

October 4 (M)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

October 5 (T)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria)

October 6 (W)
Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00-1:00, School Pictures (Gym)2:45-3:45, Asynchronous Content Prep Time
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 7 (H)
4:00-5:30, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)
5:30,6:30, 4J Virtual Job Fair (Zoom)

October 8 (F)
1:25-2:25, Asynchronous Content Prep Time
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

October 11 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

October 12 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)
4:00-6:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Zoom)

October 13 (W)
2:45-3:45, Asynchronous Content Prep Time

October 14 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

October 15 (F)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00-2:00, Allan to ELA Adoption Meeting (Roosevelt MS)
8:00-9:00, Team Collaboration
9:00-10:00, Tech Webinar – Pre-made Nearpod and Seesaw lessons
10:00-12:00, Team Collaboration
12:00-12:30, Lunch
12:30-2:00, Team Collaboration
2:00-4:00, Prep

Have a good week, y’all!

Allan

 

September 20, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/09/18 22:52 Posted in Announcements, Equity, Technology  |  Comments Off on September 20, 2021

 

Greetings Holt Staff,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Five staffing updates:

• CLC Teacher Interviews Monday – Kelsey and I are interviewing a candidate for our CLC Teacher opening on Monday at 2:40 in the school garden if any of you would like to join us. Let me know and I will get interview materials ready for you.

• Behavior Support EA – We had a surprisingly strong pool of candidates and I’ve forwarded a name to HR for hire. Hopefully they make the offer early this week so they can start sometime this week, but I’m predicting they won’t start until next week.

• COVID Utility EA – Just like last year, downtown has decided to staff schools with a 6.5-hour COVID Utility EA. Since this position is so similar to the Behavior EA, HR gave me permission to hire someone from the above pool of candidates we interviewed, we had a strong candidate for this position who I’ve also forwarded on the HR for hire. Fingers crossed they can start later this week, but more likely next week.

• 2-hour Night Custodian – Please welcome Robert Bolden as our newest night custodian. Robert is primarily at Monroe, but when he’s finished over there comes to Holt to help out for 2-hours.

• BEST Coordinator Hires and BEST EA Openings – Our very own Ben Duncan has been hired as Holt’s BEST Coordinator, so congratulations Ben. In my experience, BEST functions better when the coordinator is someone who also works in the building during the day, so I’m glad we were able to get Ben for this job. BEST is tentatively set to start in mid to late October. And speaking of BEST positions, the BEST EA Job Posting was reposted if there are any classified staff members interested in adding 2-3 hours to their day. The posting closes this Thursday, September 23rd.

• Recesses Shorter on Fridays – A reminder that according to the 4J Standard School Schedule, morning and afternoon recesses are 5-minutes shorter on Early Release Fridays. This is noted on the Master Schedule on the supervision tab, but not on the main master schedule tab, which created some confusion around this.

• September PLC Meetings – Downtown has given principals leeway to prioritize building operational needs over starting up PLCs, which I was already planning for one of our PLC dates. The plan for our next to PLC times will be:

• September 22 (W) – Vector (formerly SafeSchools) Training Time Part !
• September 29 (W) – Review & Discuss Leadership Plan Survey
• October 6 (W) – Vector (formerly SafeSchools) Training Time Part 2

• Rain & Smoke Morning Arrival Plan – Kim and I (but mostly Kim) came up with a tentative plan for if we have to let kids inside early in the morning. I’ll bring this to a future meeting for staff approval, but if we HAVE to bring kids in from a downpour, we will put 5th under the covered blacktop area, 4th into the gym through the exterior gym doors, 3rd into the cafeteria through bike cage doors, 2nd into the library though their normal entrance, and K/1 will be seated in the hallway in C and D wings. For smoke days, we’d likely split the gym between 4th and 5th grade. We’re working on EA location assignments, but should have that ready to go soon.

• Curriculum Night – Talking with other principals, it doesn’t sound like many schools are doing a virtual Open House or Curriculum Night Events, instead letting the fall Meet Your Teacher events and sharing class info by email. I think Holt should follow suit, but let me know if I’m reading the room wrong and teachers DO want to hold a Curriculum Night and I’ll add this to a future meeting agenda.

• Artist in Residence – Lane Arts informed me the artist for “Bold & Bright Murals” is not on their roster anymore, but they are reaching out to the “Glass Fusing Fun.” Below is the survey from earlier in the year, but I’ll put this on a future agenda for us to decide our Term 2 Artist. See the Lane Arts Artist in Residence webpage for their complete list of artists.

 

• Digital Second Step Curriculum – Our online Second Step subscription just got activated this Saturday and I added all licensed staff. Let me know if you did not get an email from Second Step and you wanted access

• iPad Request for Students – If you have a new student who needs an iPad, you do not need to put in a ticket to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu. You just need to let the office know which student you need the iPad for and we will check it out through the Learn21 checkout system. For students who have lost or damaged their iPad, they too can get a replacement iPad through the same method. The district policy is the first lost or damaged iPad is free, the second incident requires families cover half the cost, and a third incident families must cover the entire cost. However, I checked with the Tech Department and families who are unable to pay the replacements costs are to be given another without restriction. My hope was that families who continue to lose or damage iPads, we would issue an iPad that stays at schools, but was told that is not what we are to do.

• COVID News – In the first week of school 4J already has one class that’s been on quarantined for two days while they contact trace, so be vigilant about masks and 3-feet. Here are several other updates:

• COVID-19 Case Dashboard – Downtown created a COVID-19 Case Dashboard that tracks the number of positive on-site COVID student and staff cases by school.

• Assigned Seat Documentation – Do know that if a class goes on quarantine, district contact tracers will need to collect seating charts for classrooms, any small groups classrooms or specialists may have (including Title and SPED), and also cafeteria assigned seats. Please have these ready to scan and email at a moments notice.

• Classroom Cleaning Updates – Ritchie shared an email with me that custodians were directed to change their nightly cleaning of student desks and small group tables. This is interesting because it conflicts with what’s on the district COVID-19 Communicable Disease Plan and the COVID-19 Infection Prevention Cleaning and Disinfecting Protocols posted on the district website. I’ve emailed the district Custodial Service Managers, but haven’t heard back yet, and I also plan to bring this up Monday’s principals’ meeting, so stay tuned.

On a related note, a few teachers have asked about cleaning desks after m meals. It’s not required this year, as we focus on hand sanitizing instead, but teacher are welcome to clean desks if they choose.

• Chairs Put Up at Dismissal – Kind of COVID cleaning related, It’s best if teachers can have students put chairs up on their desks at the end of the day.

• Quarantine & Tech – I’ve already share this, but In order to respond to quarantine at a moment’s notice, Student iPads need to be traveling from home to school daily. If you need of additional headsets, please submit a ticket at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu

• Lessons for Students Quarantine – Principals are supposed to get information on Monday at our All Admin Meeting regarding Seesaw and students in quarantine, but a good tip I got from the BV principal is for teachers to simply send out the Monthly Library Choice Board from Amy Page for students in quarantine, asking them to complete X-number of activities each day.

 

 

• Reimbursement Updates – For staff turning in receipts, a reminder that checks are no longer being written by schools and reimbursements go on your next paycheck. Melanie has to submit all reimbursements to Financial Services by the sixteenth of each month, so staff need to give her receipts by the 13th if you want the reimbursement to appear on your next paycheck.

• Air Quality Updates – We had some bad air last Friday and the new 4J standard is when the air quality index rises into the range considered “unhealthy,” with the AQI just over 150:

• Keep outdoor activities to a minimum. Students may eat outside, and recess may be held outside, but activity should be limited—no high-exertion activities like running games. (This is a change given the needs of the current year, instead of requiring indoor recess in this air quality range.)
• We should keep all students inside if AQI is 200 or greater.
• The district monitors air quality conditions to guide decision-making around school-sponsored outdoor student activities using AirNow.gov

• SPED Referral Process – I already shared this with SPED teachers, but SSD emailed principals How to Refer a Student for Special Education if you’re interested in the current process, which is essentially the school team fills out a Referral Packet, gives it to the school psych, who reviews it and gives it to a district referral review team, who make a recommendation, that is brought back to the school team, and then an Evaluation Planning Meeting takes place to decide whether or not to move forward with an evaluation for special education.

• Calendar Request Form (Electronic Version!) – You can still use the paper version of the Calendar Request Form I shared last week, but Gloria made an Electronic Calendar Request Form you can use instead. Be sure to notify Melanie you complete the form after submitting it.

• 4J NATIVES Program – Linked here is info and sign-up forms for the 4J NATIVES Program. There won’t be a presentation at a staff meeting as there has been in the past due to a new coordinator to replace Brenda Brainard has not yet been hired.

• Holt Water Bottle Update – Water Bottles didn’t start getting printed until last week, which means they will should here sometimes the last week of the month.

• K-5 Connect & EOA Update – Downtown has experienced many delays moving forward with the waiting list for K-5 Connect. Families are now being offered slots in the program and they are still taking students from the waiting list at grades where they have room. Families that are contacted on the waiting list have 24-hours to make a decision before they lose the seat. They hope to have this ironed out in the coming week.

• Google Apps Student Permission Form – I know not many classrooms are using Google Apps, but principals got an email from the Tech Department saying for any students who do not have Google Apps permission, we can now get verbal permission from a parent and complete the form for them.

• SSD Scheduling Ideas – SSD emailed principals and SPED Teachers Scheduling Ideas doc for when buildings are short staffed due to unfilled subs jobs or unfilled job postings. Holt is better off than most schools, but we are down two positions right now (a sub for Jason and a 1:1 for a kinder).

• REPEAT: Safety Week, Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 – Safety Week is next week. See the schedule below and see Last Week’s Announcements for details.

• Monday – Directed Evacuation (i.e. Fire Drill) – 1:45
• Tuesday – Lockdown Drill – 8:35
• Wednesday – No Drill or Weather Make-Up Day
• Thursday – Room Clear – Time decided by teachers
• Friday – Earthquake/Fire Drill – 8:35

Please let me know if you do not have a manual or if you have any questions or suggestions.

• REPEAT: Principal Visits to Classrooms – If you haven’t already, let me know a good 10-minute block of time I can come to visit sometime this month to introduce myself to kids and read a book.

• Education Appreciation Days at Autzen Stadium – The Oregon Ducks are hosting two upcoming Education Appreciation Days at Autzen Stadium. They’re offering a 30% off discount for you, your friends and your family. This discount can be used at the October 30th game against Colorado. Go to www.goducks.com and buy tickets using the code “2021EDU”

• 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 20 (M)
Schools can begin 1:1 easyCBM measures
8:30, Allan Reading to Class
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
12:45, Allan Reading to Class
2:40, CLC Teacher Interviews (School Garden)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

September 21 (T)
10:20, Allan Reading to Class
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Library)

September 22 (W)
2:45-3:25, Vector Training (formerly SafeSchools) Training Time
7:00-10:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

September 23 (H)
Regular Day

September 24 (F)
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
12:10, Allan Reading to Class
2:30-3:25, ACT Aligned Activity (Email Coming Sunday Monday)

September 27 (M)
Safety Week
Allan turns 50 and gets an AARP Card!
9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
1:45, Fire Drill

September 28 (T)
8:25, Lockout Drill
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Library)

September 29 (W)
No Drill or Weather Make-Up Day
2:45-3:25, PLC Meetings – Repurposed for Leadership Plan Discussion (Library)

September 30 (H)
Room Clear Drill – Time decided by teachers

October 1 (F)
8:35, Earthquake/Fire Drill
1:30-2:25, Building Based PD – Repurposed for Leadership Plan Discussion (Library)

After a full week of school with all students in-person for the first time since March 2019, those memes about “There’s no tired like teacher tired” never seemed so relevant, but I’m sure we’re building up our stamina.

Have a good week, everyone, and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Allan

September 6, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/09/04 19:45 Posted in Announcements, Caring for Kids, Equity, Grants, P.D., Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on September 6, 2021

 

Hey Everyone,

Hope you all had a good 3-day weekend.

Twenty items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Title 1 EA Updates – Lori Tingue was hired last week as a 2nd grade teacher at Gilham, so instead of reposting for her position, we’ve taken her hours and reallocated them to Annie, Ben, and Iris and have shuffled the EA schedule around a bit.

• Behavior EA Vacancy – Our 6.5-hour Behavior EA Job Posting closes this Tuesday, September 8th, so please encourage anyone you know who’d be good (or even someone who is simply teachable) to apply.

• Classified Sub Shortage – We have one unfilled EA sub job in AESOP are if you know any subs who are available. It’s for Jason Martinez in the CLC while he’s on his parental leave.

• Virtual Meet Your Teacher, WED (KG) & THURS (1-5) @12:00 – The Zoom link is on the Staff and Family Zimbra Calendar. Kinder does theirs on Wednesday at 12:00. Grades 1-5 will be Thursday at 12:00. My plan is to welcome families, have teachers introduce themselves (and maybe name a favorite book to read to students), do a review of arrival/dismissal procedures, what to bring to school, and some covid safety procedures. Next I’ll send people to breakout rooms for 15-minutes, at the end of which I’ll close all breakout rooms, do a short wrap up (GO, BOLTS!), and then I’ll stay on to answer any questions.

• Kinderzone Plans – The Kindergarten Team has already connected with staff where you’ll be helping this day, but linked here is the Fall 2021 Kinderzone Plan.

• Enrollment Updates – At the start of August we were 104 students below our projection of 529, but now we’re around 60 under projection and downtown will hopefully release the 9 kinders on our wait list. Nearly every school in 4J is under projection and we are far from the lowest. If you’re interested, linked here is the District Enrollment as of 09/03/2021.

• Meals Change of Plan – Principals got a message late Friday that 4J is pivoting to eating meals outdoors and that more details are forthcoming. That’s about all I know, meaning we don’t know if this means both breakfast and lunch, for how long we’ll be doing this, what’s the plan when it’s raining, what’s the plan when air quality is hazardous, and not to mention how kindergartners would make it from the cafeteria to the covered play area without spilling their trays. There’s an Elementary Principals’ Meeting Wednesday morning, so hopefully we’ll get additional details then (the day before kindergarten’s first day). Stay tuned.

• Transportation Updates – Schools do not have their morning bus arrival times yet, but 4J’s Find My Bus Stop website is now live for families. I’m planning to call Transportation on Tuesday if I don’t hear from them over the weekend about bus arrival times. More to come.

• Meeting Schedules – Due to the above two items and the “Golden Hour” of prep moved to Fridays and PLCs to Wednesday, on the Leadership Team agenda for Tuesday is to look at revising our meeting schedule. We need to shift our Wednesday meetings to either Tuesday or Thursday (I lean toward Tuesdays). I’m also going to propose we go down to one Staff Meeting a month. Since we’re now meeting twice a week, I figure we can add some business items to those meetings. Also, so that teachers get their guaranteed amount of prep, the length of afternoon meetings may be shortened depending upon when buses arrive and when teacher begin supervision students in the morning. Downtown is requiring teachers get 20-minutes of prep at the start of the day before supervising students. So more to come on this topic as well.

• Tech Updates – Four technology related updates:

• iPads Distribution for New Students – Teachers will give students new to Holt their iPads and chargers on their first day of class. If students new to Holt are coming from another 4J school, they should already have an iPad. Student devices are tracked using Learn21, the districtwide device management system. Brian has a bunch of iPads ready to go. Our plan is to checkout iPads to the new student in Learn21, put a sticky note with their name on it, and give those to teachers to distribute the first day of school. All kindergartners will get new iPads and all 3rd graders will get a new iPad with a keyboard case once they return their 2nd grade iPad (grade 3-5 iPads have a keyboard case).

• Headphones Replacements – Brian has a stash of headphones for all new students as well as for students who lost or broke their headphones over the summer. I’d advise students keep their headphones at school, but teachers may send them home if you choose.

• Seesaw Updates – Justin Huntley and his team were able to go into Clever to activate the Seesaw tile district-wide. This means if a student logins in using their QR code, they’ll be able to see the Clever page and the Seesaw title is back on there. Furthermore, Justin will be setting up our specialist in Seesaw this week.

• EdTech Subscriptions & Tools – If you missed it in the flurry of last week’s tidal wave of PD, here are all of the district purchased EdTech Subscriptions and Tools. Not on the list, we also have a subscription to BrainPOP through December, which is a pretty rad website. Be sure to check that one out and maybe the district will get BrainPOP Jr. and BrainPOP Español if enough people use it. Also, don’t forget GoNoodle Plus is free to educators this school year if you sign-up.

 

• Missing Classroom Materials Inventory – In the spring, teachers filled out a Materials Inventory Survey. If you have any updates, additional missing materials or or newly discovered excess curriculum materials, please submit an update in the above survey or email me directly with your update. If you need to review what you submitted in the spring, here is the Spring Materials Inventory Results.

• Wear Your Holt Shirt FRIDAY! – The normal spirit day is Wednesday for wearing your Holt shirt, but everyone should wear your new green Holt shirt this Friday for the first day of school where we’ll have all K-5 students in the building!

• Updated School Map – Linked here is an Updated 21-22 Holt School Map of where folks are working this year. Let me know if you spot anything that looks wrong. This doc can also be found on the Staff Google Drive under MISC > Maps.

• Skipped Videos from Friday PD – The COVID Protocols went longer than I’d expected, so I skipped a couple videos at Friday’s Staff Meeting, but if you’d like to watch them or the two documentaries that were mentioned during Learning for All, see below!

“Inside the AC360 Doll Study”

CASEL: SEL 101: What are the core competencies and key settings?

“In the Shadow of Fairview” – Full Documentary (OPB Webpage)

“Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” – Netflix Full Documentary

 

• Care and Connection Resources – SSD Collaboration Facilitators put together these Care and Connection Resources for teachers to use with students during the first week of school. Some are a little too worksheet-like for my taste, but there’s also some really good stuff in there worth checking out.

• Color Printing – If teachers need to print in color, please contact Melanie. The office copier is the only one in the building that prints in color, but this printer hasn’t been added to staff laptops because the office copier is often loaded with labels, special paper, or is needed to copy materials for parents waiting to register children and we don’t want large jobs being sent to it. Also try to avoid printing class sets in color unless it’s a for special purpose or event.

• K-5 Connect & EOA – Families who submitted interest in the online pathways have until Thursday, September 9th to confirm they are enrolling.

• Updated District Retention Policy – 4J has unofficially used this process the past few years, but linked here is the updated 4J Grade Placement and Retention of Students Policy. In the past it was simply principal decision, but the new policy makes it more of a team decision, similar to an IEP eligibility process.

• REPEAT: Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th, which later next month we can develop some optional building goals people can use.

• REPEAT: EEF 2021-2022 Grant Applications DUE OCT 1st – EEF Grant Application are due October 8th, 2021. Before submitting grants online, let me know your grant title and idea so Site Council can rank order grant submission (no need to do a full write up for this step). Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.

• VIDEO: Starting Each Class With A Warm Welcome – One last video I passed over during our PD last Friday is a really good one, so I’m ending this week’s blog to highlight it. Keep in mind that a good welcoming activity is also a proactive classroom management strategy. It builds class community, establishes a sense of shared values, and makes everyone feel included. It can be as simple as a smile and greeting students by name as they enter the classroom, but it makes a HUGE difference. :)

 

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

September 6 (M)
Labor Day, No School

September 7 (T)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
8:00-9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meetin (Zoom)
9:00ish, Optional Q&A Session for Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
12:00-12:30, Virtual Meet the Kinder Teachers! (Zoom)

September 9 (H)
Transition Day – KG First Day
12:00-12:30, Virtual Meet Your Teacher (1st – 5th)
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom) – Checking w/PAHS if they are really meeting

September 10 (F)
Classes Begin for All Students
YMCA After School Care Begins

September 13 (M)
Regular Day

September 14 (T)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library) TENTATIVE

September 15 (W)
2:45-3:30, PLC Meetings (Library)

September 16 (H)
Regular Day

September 17 (F)
2:30-3:30, Building Based PD (Library)

 

Two days to prep for two days of students!

Allan

May 31, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/05/29 14:16 Posted in Articles, Equity, P.D., Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on May 31, 2021

 

Hey Bolts,

I hope everyone enjoyed their 3-day weekend.

Twenty items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Our 6.5-hour Kinder EA, 4-hour EA, and 3-hour EA positions are now posted and close Thursday, June 10th. I’ll plan to conduct interviews the last week of school for these positions. Our 6.5-hour Library position hasn’t posted yet and regarding Katie’s position, HR is not allowing us to post for a second secretary and are only allowing us to post for an 8-hour Office Assistant, but the good news is that Sharon is interested in the position, so we know we have at least one good candidate. Hopefully these positions get posted soon.

Music Teacher interviews will be Tuesday from 1:30-4:00. I have enough volunteers for the committee, but let me know if any of you would like to join. The more the merrier!

• Masks & Vaccination Verification – Please note in the Face Mask & Vaccination Verification Email that staff must continue with current mask protocols until your vaccination status is verified. I’m not sure if that verification will come as an email to staff or if it will come to me first when I pass out the verification stickers to put on your badges (which principals haven’t gotten yet).

• Last Week Plan & Field Day – I shared earlier this linked email with the official plan for the last week of school:

June 14 (M) – Cohort A attends in-person, regular hours
June 15 (T) – Cohort B attends in-person, regular hours
June 16 (W) – Regular Online Wednesday
June 17 (H) – 7:55-10:10, K-4 Async/5th A & B attend in-person
June 18 (F) – 2nd Grade iPad Return, 8:00-2:00

Field Day will be Monday (Cohort A) and Tuesday (Cohort B). Linked here is the Field Day Details. We’ll discuss the plan Wednesday’s Staff Meeting, but I did have some questions about the K/1 and 2/3 times overlapping with the recess and also the K/1 lunch time. I’m thinking we will close the field during field day activities and potentially part of hard play area if we need that for field day. For lunches, I’m thinking we can maybe get classes a heartier snack or maybe schedule a second snack time, and then eat lunch after Field Day, but let me know if teams have a better idea or have any questions. 

4/5 – 8:10-9:10
2/3 – 9:25- 10:25
K/1 – 10:50 – 11:50

• 2021 James Brown Award Nominations – James Brown was one of the first custodians at Bertha Holt. He worked extremely hard to make our school a safe, clean, and beautiful place to be. Throughout his 13 years at Holt, he was a hard-working, dedicated, humble, and kind member of the staff. Each year, a staff member is recognized who exemplifies the characteristics resembling James. We would like your help in awarding this year’s recipient. Use the Google Form to nominate a staff member you think deserves to be the 2021 award recipient.

• Report Card Updates – Downtown has not made a decision how and when these will go home, but word on the street is we will send home report cards with hybrid students Monday for Cohort A and Tuesday for Cohort B, and they will be mailed home by schools for SSO students. There has not been guidance on things like the “completes assignments” line on the report card, whether we consider online work AND in person work or do we focus on in person. My suggestions would be to consider both, using the 1-4 scale accordingly, and then provide any explanation for the grade in the comments.

Four other report card items of note:

When are specialist reports due? The staff agreement according to the Staff Handbook is that specialist reports (PE, Music, Title, SPED, Parent Reports) are due to classroom teachers the Wednesday following grading day, thought that doesn’t work this year since report cards need to go home Monday and Tuesday, so specialists need to make sure classroom teachers have reports by the end of Grading Day. Let me know if anyone has concerns and we can add this to the Staff Meeting Agenda.

Is the Report Card website updated? The 4J Elementary Report Card website has not been updated, but it still has some useful resources including the Report Card Bridge Document, as well as printing instruction and information on Synergy Grade Book. Take special note of the Performance Key for grading students, where a 3 is the target, students consistently meeting grade level expectations (scoring in the 74.88-98.99%) and a 4 represents consistently exceeding grade level expectations (scoring in the 98.99%-100%).

Will there be Parent Reports? I’ve emailed 4J data folks, but haven’t heard back yet.

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

• Journeys Book Collection – Here’s what I’m putting in Monday’s Quick News if you can remind students and families on these dates:

Reading Book Return + FREE BOOKS!

Families may keep the standard school supplies (pencils, crayons, glue, etc.) including headphones, but reading books should returned on the following dates:

Cohort A – Bring books to school Monday, June 7th
Online Students – Bring books to office Wednesday, June 9th, 8-2
Cohort B – Bring books to school Thursday, June 10th

Teachers will let students and families know if there are additional items that need returned.

As an incentive to return materials, students will receive a FREE book purchased by our Title 1 program.

• 2nd Grade iPad Collection – Downtown has decided all students will keep their iPads over the summer, except for 2nd grade, who will different iPads in 3rd grade. They will return iPads after the last day of school on Friday, June 18th between 8:00-2:00. If we get the charger and cord, great! If we don’t, the district is not worrying about it. Downtown will notify families about this, but I’ll also include it in the Quick News.

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time (Antiracism PD) – This Wednesday is the next module in the 4J Antiracism PD. This will begin immediately following the 1:40 Staff Meeting.

• Bus Safety Training – The state still wants schools to cover the annual bus safety training, but downtown says we can meet this rule by simply giving students this Bus Safety Handout, which I’ll send as a Seesaw Announcement to students and families on Tuesday.

• Input on ESSER Funding, DUE MONDAY – If you missed the district email, Monday is the deadline to give input on how 4J should spend ESSER funds. Smaller class sizes and facilities to support those smaller classes are options being considered, so let your voice be heard on the ESSER Survey!

• Staff Photos – I’ve updated our website Staff Directory for folks who didn’t have a photo earlier, but if any of you don’t care for your current photo on the webpage, let me know and I can replace it with this year’s LifeTouch photo. (PS: I had some fun with my picture and remove.bg)

• REPEAT: Fire Drill Tuesday & Thursday @8:30 – Our June Fire Drill is on Tuesday and Friday at 8:30 for each cohort. See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up and that will be it for safety drills for the year!

• Send Me Your Summer Reading Picks! – What are you going to read this summer? What should your colleagues read? Send me your picks and maybe a short description if you want and I’ll share them in my final staff announcements for the year. Another one on my list is The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike. I never read any of his books as a kid, but the director of the smart and incredibly scary Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House is adapting this novel, so I want to read the book first.

• REPEAT: 2021-2022 Class Lists, DUE June 11th – Teams should build 2021-2022 Class Lists for next year by Friday, June 11th. This will give past teachers, specialists, and other staff a week to check lists for any potentially bad student combinations or other concerns. See the linked Class List Directions Email for details, but let me know if you have any questions.

• REPEAT: Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser, THURSDAY – The final Holt Night Out Fundraiser of the year is this Thursday at the Coburg Road Papa’s Pizza. Get your kids excited and make sure they have the flier.

• Flyers for Community Resources – Below are some community resources of note that were shared with counselors and principals:

Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program Info File (take a close look, lots of info)
Abbie Lane Rental Listing Flyer (Homes for Good) – please note dates
Looking Glass Parent Support Group (Cafecito en Casa)
BIPOC Support Group through Looking Glass for Young Adults (18-30)
Updated FMR Rental Listings – ENGLISH & SPANISH
Lane County Systems of Care – Tech Resource Flyer
Families Connected (parent advocacy and support)

• District Admin Updates – Buena Vista principal Melissa Ibarra is the new temporary Co-Elementary Director (taking over for Brooke, who is taking over for Cydney as assistant sup, so these are all temporary appointments since Cyd is interim sup and has rights back to her old job) and also Language Immersion Administrator. Jeff Johnson is continuing as Co-Elementary Director and will also oversee Federal Programs (i.e. Title 1), taking over for David Jacobsen, who downtown is not replacing. The new principal at Buena Vista will be Stephanie Randall, who has been the assistant principal at Willagillespie and Gilham. For next year, Gilham is getting a full-time assistant principal (I’ll pitch for the same if our numbers are close) and WillaG is getting a full-time Student Success Coordinator. Lastly, the principal positions for both Adams and Charlemagne are now open. See this email for details as well as for some assistant principal shifts. 

• NYTimes Education Briefing on Retention – Since there’s been a number of discussions regarding retention of students with chronic absences, this New York Times Education Briefing seemed timely. Research on elementary school students during the pandemic provides some support for Chicago’s promotion plan: An analysis by T.N.T.P., a nonprofit that helps districts improve teaching, and the online math platform Zearn found that students whose teachers began the 2020-21 school year teaching them grade-level content in math — going back to fill in content they had missed in the spring when needed — did better than similar students whose teachers started the year by teaching them the material they had missed from the previous grade. This also falls in line with recommendations from the National Association of School Psychologists.

• JUST FOR FUN: Web-Based Music Toy – Beepster is a website that lets you make synthesizer music through experimentation. It has four tracks. You can change the waveform, speed, volume, pitch, and scale by clicking buttons. It’s configured in such a way that anything you do produces a pleasant tune. It might be fun to share with students.

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

May 31 (M)
No School — Memorial Day

June 1 (T)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Continues
2/3- Staff Room Duty
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort A
1:30-4:00, Music Teacher Interviews (Volunteer’s Classroom)

June 2 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Anti-Racism PD, Part II (Library & Zoom)

June 3 (H)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Final Day
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser

June 4 (F)
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort B
1:00, Allan to Transition Meeting (Zoom)

June 7 (M)
K/1- Staff Room Duty
2:00-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

June 8 (T)
easyCBM Testing Window Closes

June 9 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Materials Collection (Front Office)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Leadership Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Learning for All – ACT (Library & Zoom)

June 10 (H)
Last Day for Dynamos
Summer Camp Out 2021! – SPIRIT DAY
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting – If Needed (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

June 11 (F)
No School – Grading Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
9:00-12:00, State Testing – EOA and Make-Up Testing (Locations TBA)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

June 14 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor- Staff Room Duty
Hybrid Cohort A – Last In-Person Day
8:10-9:10, Field Day, 4/5
9:25-10:25, Field Day 2/3
10:50-11:50, Field Day K/1
12:45, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)

June 15 (T)
Hybrid Cohort B – Last In-Person Day
8:10-9:10, Field Day, 4/5
9:25-10:25, Field Day 2/3
10:50-11:50, Field Day K/1

June 16 (W)
Regular Online Wednesday
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting – If Needed (Library & Zoom)

June 17 (H)
Last Day for Students – Early Release
Last Day for 192-Day (most) Classified Staff
7:55-10:10, K-4 Async (Hybrid & SSO)
7:55-10:10, 5th Grade Hybrid Cohort A & B Attend In-Person

June 18 (F)
Last Day for Licensed Staff

 

Just 12 more kid day!

Allan

 

May 10, 2021

By Allan  |  2021/05/08 15:11 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Assessment, Equity, P.D.  |  Comments Off on May 10, 2021

 

Hi Everyone,

Only three more 5-day weeks this year!

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – No new candidates applied for our Music opening the second round of the Job Expo, so I’m waiting to hear from HR if we get someone from the first round or if we can post the position externally. I also found out on Friday that SSD is placing Melanie Pinto into Cole’s CLC position for next year. Melanie is currently a special education teacher at Coburg Charter and Twin Rivers Charter School. Before that she was a teacher at Chavez. Please welcome Melanie to Team Holt!

FYI – If you’re keeping track, we now we have not only an Ashley & Ashley, a Debbie & Deb, a Jackie & Jacque, a Jeff & Geoff, a Katie & Katie, a Katherine & Cathy, a Kelly & Kelly, a Lisa, Lisa & Lisa, a Liz & Elizabeth, and a Mandy & Mandy, but now we will have a Melanie & a Melanie to add to the list of same-name-staff-members!

• Yellow Day, Tuesday & Friday – Yellow Day is this Tuesday and Friday. Supplies are in the copy room. It’s an easy-to-do flower craft to post on your classrooms windows (facing out). Jacque has books for you too. Dress in yellow on Tuesday and Friday. See the earlier emails for details.

• Earthquake & Fire Drill 5/18 & 5/21 @12:15 – Not this week, but next week we will conduct our May Fire Drill and our one required Earthquake Drill for the year on Tuesday and Friday at 12:15 for each cohort. For the Earthquake Drill, teach students to “Drop, Cover, Hold” meaning drop to the ground (so you don’t fall over), cover yourself by going under a desk (to protect yourself from falling objects), and hold onto the desk legs (so you stay under cover and don’t get bounced out). There are many resource on The Great Oregon Shake Out website, for you to teach students about Drop, Cover, Hold and earthquake preparedness. My plan will be to get on the intercom and make a short announcement about the earthquake drill and will shortly after announce “EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE! EARTHQUAKE!” at which point students will Drop, Cover, Hold. We will pull the fire alarm to signal when the Earthquake Drill is over, at which point classes should evacuate the building (in a real earthquake, you’d evacuate when the quake stops). See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up for the Fire Drill following the Earthquake Drill, which will run the same as last month. Don’t forget your Emergency Binder!

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time – Downtown asked principals to hold this Wednesday’s PD/PLC time for a potential meeting and/or training. I’ll email staff if we do have something, so continue to hold this time free, but if you do not see an email from me, consider the meeting cancelled. I’d instead suggest staff use this time to complete any outstanding TalentEd tasks (CLASSIFIED: 4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form, LICENSED: End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection)

The only other district mandated Wednesday PD dates are 5/25 for part two of the Anti-Racist PD and 6/9 for a “Learning for All” PD (see my announcements a few weeks ago for info on that). I’ll plan to leave other Wednesdays for planning and prep unless something comes up that can’t wait for a Staff Meeting.

• Café Yumm Fundraiser Wednesday – Remind students there’s a Holt Night Out Fundraiser Wednesday at the new 5th Street Market Alley Café Yumm location, 4:00-8:00. 20% of all sale will go to Holt!

 

 

• Last Week of School Semi-Update – The Elementary Operations Committee is reconvening on May 14th to discuss and make a recommendation for the last week of school. Elementary principals suggested Monday Cohort A, Tuesday Cohort B, Wednesday a longer online day with both Cohorts (like a MTHF during CDL), and Thursday is a short online day like Wednesdays are now. Stay tuned for a final decision.

• iPad Collection Semi-Update – No official decision has been made on this, but right now downtown is thinking they WILL NOT collect iPads and students will keep them over the summer, which principals were told is what many other 1:1 school districts are doing. Elementary principals had concerns about this, so we’re meeting with the Director of Technology soon. Stay tuned on this one as well.

• 2021-2022 School Supplies Update – Schools next year will not do supply fees or supply lists. Instead, downtown is developing a comprehensive list of school supplies, which the Financial Service Department will work with school secretaries on ordering. If there are specific things schools need that aren’t on this list, that will need to be figured out at the building level (i.e. we pay for it or ask families for a “donation” but not say it’s for school supplies or say it’s a “supply fee”).

• Staff Room Duty Reminder – I’ve added Staff Room Duty to the Staff Zimbra Calendar. Teams should take care of daily cleaning, wiping crumbs off surfaces so the custodial staff can sanitize, wrap up/clean up/throw away food, wipe microwave, and load/start/unload dishwasher as needed.

5/10 – ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor
5/17 – 4/5
5/24 – K/1
5/31 – 2/3
6/7 – SPED/Office/Library
6/14 – ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor

• Holt Staff Dashboard Reminder – Don’t forget about the Holt Staff Dashboard, which we hope has all the varios links staff need. And let me or Kim know if there’s another link you think we s hold add. The dashboard is also permanently linked along the left column of my blog.

• OSAS Opt-In/Out Counts – If you’re interested, linked here is the Number of Students Participating in the 2020-21 State Assessment. Holt is right about in the middle when it comes to the number of families requesting tested, but ‘m still kind of surprised how many wanted testing.

• District Admin Updates – Dr. José Salgado from Mississippi will replace Charis McGaughy as the new Assistant Superintendent for Instruction. The new temporary Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services will be Brooke Wagner. That position is temporary because this was Cydney’s position and her superintendent position is interim, so she had rights back to her old job, which was left vacant this school year. See the linked email for full details.

• “1000 Hopes” Activity – An optional activity for classes, the 1000 Hopes Art Installation is outside at the downtown Eugene Public Library all May and students are invited to express (on a bookmark sized piece of paper) a hope, dream, prayer, write a loved one’s name, or unburden a sorrow or worry. If teachers would like to do this, let me know and I will have the organizers deliver the papers to school. The papers will be picked up from the school on May 21st, and will be added to the installation. See this email for full details.

• Teaching Elementary Students About the Concept of Injustice – Students gain a rich understanding of civil rights when they build from their ideas of fairness to the larger issue of justice. See this Edutopia Article for age-appropriate ways to teach the concept of injustice.

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

May 10 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor – Staff Room Duty
10:00-12:00, Darla to Counselors’ Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

May 11 (T)
Wear Yellow for Yellow Day!

May 12 (W)
8:38, Allan Reading to Class (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
10:30-11:00, 4th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Library)
1:40-2:40, Leadership Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Held for Potential District PD
4:00-8:00, Cafe Yumm – Holt Night Out Fundraiser

May 13 (H)
4:00-5:30, Understanding Your PERS Benefits Presentation (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

May 14 (F)
Wear Yellow for Yellow Day!
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)
11:00-3:00, Allan Testifying for DHS Court Case (Zoom)

May 17 (M)
4/5 – Staff Room Duty
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

May 18 (T)
8:10-11:45, School Pictures – Cohort A (Gym)
12:15, Earthquake & Fire Drill, Cohort A

May 19 (W)
8:00-1:00, School Pictures – SSO Student Drop-In (Gym)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort A (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Building PD if Needed (Library & Zoom)

May 20 (H)
8:10-11:45, School Pictures – Cohort B (Gym)

May 21 (F)
Online Scholastic Book Fair Begins
12:15, Earthquake & Fire Drill, Cohort B

UNPOPULAR OPINION: Insomnia Cookies are better than Crumbl.

I learned about this one late, but Insomnia Cookies on campus is honoring all school staff through Monday at 3:00 pm with free cookies! Just bring your school ID and get one free cookie OR buy one of anything and get 6 FREE COOKIES! There’s your reward for reading my announcements early in the week. Tell your educator friends!

Allan