Grants

April 15, 2024

By Allan  |  2024/04/13 22:59 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Assessment, Grants, P.D., Video  |  Comments (0)

 

Hi Everyone,

A shoutout to Emily for organizing the Accessible Education Parent Group last Thursday! I think this is going to be a great support for families of students with IEPs and 504s and is a group that’s going to grow. Thank you, Emily!

Twenty-five items of note for this week:

• Self-Managers Rollout – Staff decided at last week’s Staff Meeting to bring back Self-Managers. The plan will be:

THIS WEEK:
• Teachers go over the Self-Manager Slideshow with kids

BETWEEN NOW & APRIL 26:
• Kids nominate themselves by filling out Self-Manager Application and get the required signatures (specialists, recess/lunch supervisors, attendance, principal, classroom teacher)
• Classroom teachers check the attributes on the form.
• Nomination forms will normally be due the first Friday of the month, but for this rollout will be due 4/26, 5/17, and 6/6
• Teachers can use the form as a teaching tool for students not qualifying for this round

I’ll leave a stack of copies of the Self-Manager Form by the mailboxes. Also, if you’re reading this on Sunday, the slideshow isn’t updated yet, but will be by Monday.

For folks not at the staff meeting, primary grades will have Junior Self-Managers, with fewer special privileges, and older grades will have regular self-managers with more special privileges, which may include:

• Purple self-manager badge and a lanyard (older grades)
• Name on announcements
• Group picture each month
• Pre-printed Postcard Home
• Walk to lunch or specials ahead of class
• Use a bathroom or drink at any time
• Library reading time
• Self-Manager Table at lunch
• Other jobs/tasks
• Possible: Inside classroom recess
• Possible: Help in Buddy Classroom
• Special Self-Manager Recess
• Self-manager salute in Assembly and/or sel-manager section

I’ll schedule a time to go over this with EAs at a later date.

Students can lose their Self-Manager status. Any major or minor referral results first in a warning. A second referral would mean losing Self-Manager privileges for a week. A third referral would mean losing their badge altogether and they would need to reapply.

 

• Orange Ticket Buddy Recess Reward – Kids met their Orange Ticket goal and we will reward them with an extra Buddy Recess. Calming Room staff and I will cover the 30-minute recess, but it would be great if teachers could help out in 15-minute shifts. The schedule will be:

Monday, 1:40-2:10 – 1st & 5th
Tuesday, 1:40-2:10 – 2nd & 4th
Thursday, 1:40 -2:10 – KG & 3rd

 

• Volunteer Appreciation Week Sign-Up – This is Volunteer Appreciation Week. Make sure you’ve brought in your treat listed on the Volunteer Treat Sign-Up Google Sheet.

 

• Fire Drill, TUESDAY@9:25 – I’m taking advantage of a couple classes being gone on a field trip to have our fire drill at a different time. The April Fire Dill is on TUESDAY at 9:25. 1st grade will be lined up outside already at the end of their recess and by the time the drill is over, 2nd and 3rd graders can just go straight to their 9:30 recess. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. We’ll reschedule if we get rained out, but right now the forecast looks good.

 

• Fire Drill Reminder, Close Doors – Several classroom doors were left open during the last fire drill, so remember to close them this time around. Keeping the doors closed helps prevent a fire from spreading.

 

• Wednesday PD: 4J Behavior Matrix – We will see this Wednesday to go over the 4J Behavior Matrix. If you’d like a preview, linked here is the Holt Discipline Flowchart for Teachers, which is actually a generic district template except for slide #3 where I added some Holt specific information, the 4J Minors/Major Behavior Definitions for Staff, and for minor incidents there is the Revisiting/Strengthening Classroom Climate & Practices and Implementing Classroom-level Interventions documents. Here’s a link to the 2023-2024 Behavior Matrix (longer version) that was shared with principals and if you’re interested, here’s the Admin Behavior Matrix Slideshow that was presented to building admins. 

 

• Scholastic Book Fair Opens, FRIDAY– Watch for details from the PTO and Robbie about hours and preview scheduling, but the Book Fair will open on Friday, April 19th and will also be open during the School Carnival. The Book Fair will run through Thursday, April 25th.

 

• Sheldon Mamma Mia Performance, Friday @1:15- The Sheldon High School Drama Department will perform an abbreviated version of their current musical, Mamma Mia, on Friday at 1:15. They will perform in the cafeteria and linked here is an Assembly Map with younger grades in the front and older grades in the back.

 

• Holt PTO School Carnival, FRIDAY, 5:30-7:30 – The Holt PTO has been hard at work on this year’s annual School Carnival. It will be Friday, April 19th from 5:30-7:30 in the cafeteria, gym, and playground. They’ll have games, food carts, the car bash, and this year are adding a silent auction. Remind your class and get them pumped to attend!

 

• Earth Day – Holt Clean Up Day! 4/22 – Monday, April 22nd is Earth Day and the Student Council invites classes to help clean up the school to celebrate. See Ashley’s Email for details, but sign your class up on the linked Earth Day Clean-Up Google Sheet.

 

• Administrative Professionals’ Day, 4/24 – Formerly known as Secretaries’ Day, Wednesday, April 24th is Administrative Professionals’ Day, so get ready to celebrate Sharon and Keri!

 

• Wednesday PD: Team Collaboration – We haven’t had a Wednesday without a meeting for some time, so let’s set this time aside for teams to connect and collaborate and/or take care of whatever you need to get done.

 

• Holt Spirit Day – 80’s Day, 4/25 – Friday, April 26 is the monthly Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s 80s Day Day! Just wear neon, bright colors, 80’s style clothes, or wear school colors or gear!

 

• Spirit Assembly 4/25 @8:20 – The April School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, April 25th in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

 

• BMX Anti-Bullying Assembly 4/25 @9:00-9:40 – Friday, April 25th at 9:00 (yes, following the Spirit Assembly) will be the BMX Anti-Bullying Assembly on hard play. I haven’t heard from the assembly folks what their setup will be, but I imagine we’ll be circled around their performance, so stay tuned for details.

 

• 24-25 Master Schedule Survey, Due 4/26 – As we get ready to work on next year’s master schedule, take a moment to complete the 2024-2025 Master Schedule Survey if you’d like to weigh on some ideas being considered.

 

• Master Schedule Guidance – Related to the above item, downtown provided updated Instructional Minutes Master Schedule Guidance for different subject areas. As with last year, there are not enough minutes in the day to meet the suggested minutes, which are also missing a time for Tier 3 math and the PE BEPA time, so again, this is merely a suggestion for grade levels to follow. I’ll put this on a future Staff Meeting agenda to review a couple of pieces on here that teams may want to consider.

 

• Fiddle Artist in Residence Schedule – Linked here is the Fiddle Artist in Residence Schedule, which will run from April 29 – May 17. Let me or Lesli know if you spot any conflicts.

 

• SAEBRS Spring Testing Window, May 1-31 – A reminder that we have the SAEBRS spring testing window coming up May 1 – 31, so I will schedule a future Wednesday PD to give teachers time to complete the teacher portion of the assessment. See the previously shared SAEBRS Slideshow if you want a refresher ahead of time.

 

• PTO Childcare EA Help May & June – Are any EAs interested in helping with childcare at the May 2 and/or June 6 PTO meetings, 5:30-7:30? The PTO will pay extended contract or I can offer trade time if you’d rather bank some hours for a future non-student day. Let me know if you are interested.

 

• Volunteers for District-Wide Kindergarten Event 4/26 – Principals were asked to forward an email to classified staff to recruit volunteers to assist with this second annual district-wide Kindergarten event on April 26th.

 

• SSD April Newsletter – If you’re interested here is the April SSD Newsletter. Topics include ESY, manifestation determinations, and timelines. The SSD Newsletter Archives has all prior newsletters.

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

• EEF Grants Due May 3 – EEF Grants are opening now and are due May 3. EEF prioritizes grants that focus on Enrichment (ex. STEM, arts, experimental learning), Ready to Learn (ex. literacy, SEL, accessibility solutions), and Pathways (ex. CTE, SPED, TAG). The application link is not live yet, but linked here is a PDF I made of the form from earlier this year.

 

• Meeting Students’ Needs for Emotional Support – A new survey finds that a large percentage of students don’t feel that they have an adult to turn to at school when they’re troubled. See this Edutopia Article for details, but try to be that person kids feel comfortable going to. They suggest seeing if your students are ready and willing to talk by asking these questions:

“Have you talked to anyone about what’s bothering you?”
“Do you want to talk to somebody about this?”
“Whom can you talk to about this?”
“When do you plan to talk to them about this?”

Asking these questions helps ensure that an action plan can be put in place.

 

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

April 15 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
Volunteer Appreciation Week
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:30-4:00, Girls on the Run
2:40, Talent Show Auditions (Reich’s Room)
3:30-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

April 16 (T)
9:00-1:00, 4th UO Museum of Natural & Cultural History, Reich & Longoria
9:25, Fire Drill
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:40, Talent Show Auditions (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

April 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 4J Behavior Matrix (Library)
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

April 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-1:00, 4th UO Museum of Natural & Cultural History, Benavides & Cobb
2:45, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:30-6:45, Kinder Reading Night (Classes & Cafeteria)

April 19 (F)
Scholastic Book Fair Opens
1:15 (tentative), Sheldon Mamma Mia Assembly/Performance (Cafetorium)
5:30-7:30, School Carnival (Gym, Cafeteria, Playground)

April 22 (M)
Title Staff Room Duty
Scholastic Book Fair Continues
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:30, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-10;30, Allan to 4J BAT Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Girls on the Run
3:00-5:00, Allan to SCIP All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

April 23 (T)
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)

April 24 (W)
Administrative Professionals’ Day (formerly Secretaries’ Day)
8:30, Allan to Formal Observation
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Team Collaboration Time
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

April 25 (H)
Scholastic Book Fair Ends
9:05, Allan to Formal Observation
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
10:15-12:30, 5th Grade Hult Center Field Trip
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)

April 26 (F)
Self-Managers Application Deadline
Holt Spirit Day – 80s Day!
8:20-8:40, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
9:00-9:40, BMX Anti-Bullying Assembly (Hardplay)

 

And if you didn’t catch it already, check out this year’s hype video for state testing! Thank you to everyone who participated in the video and thank you to Ashley for putting it together!

Allan

 

April 1, 2024

By Allan  |  2024/03/30 14:43 Posted in Announcements, Equity, Grants, P.D.  |  Comments Off on April 1, 2024

 

Howdy Everyone,

Hope you have a good spring break. I mostly stayed around town, but did go to the coast for a few days and found a novelization of Shafts Big Score and Zardoz at a funky Lincoln City used bookstore, so that was $3 well spent. Also picked up the out-of-print autobiographies of Mary Pickford and Ingrid Bergman and a first edition of Myrna Loy’s autobiography. And if you don’t recognize those names, do I have some movie recommendations for you!

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Library Restored to Full-Time – The school board is requiring district admin to reinstate the 3 full-time librarians at the pilot schools, which means Robbie will be full-time again next school year instead of being part-time at Holt and part-time at Chinese Immersion.

 

• April 1 PD Info – Here’s all the info for the Monday, April 1 PD:

Classified Staff:
BBSAs – Join SSCs from 8:30-1:00 at Holt Library
Kinder & Gen Ed EAs – Gen Ed EAs are invited to join SPED EAs at a screening of “The R Word” a Churchill HS, 8:30-10:00, but can also assist with prep work on the sign-up sheet linked HERE.
SPED EAs – Attend either the Mental Health and Learning Strategies (registration is closed, so only if you already registered) or attend a screening of “The R Word” at Churchill HS, 8:30-10:00.
Title EAs – Join Title Coordinators from 8:30-1:00 at Chavez.

EAs can also use some of this time to complete Vector trainings and/or the Self-Assessments in TalentEd if you haven’t already.

Licensed Staff:
Classroom & Instructional Coaches – Howard, starting at 8:30 (Info Here)

Schedule for April 1 for Classroom Teachers & Coaches:
8:00 – Meet at your building and get into carpool groups.
8:20 – Arrive at Howard Elementary
8:30 – 9:50 – Session #1
9:50-10:05 – Break/Transition
10:05-11:25 – Session #2
11:25-11:40- Break/Transition
11:40-1:00 – Session #3
1:00-2:00 – Travel back to your building and lunch on your own
2:00-4:00 – Planning Time

Elementary Licensed Specialists – Various locations, starting at 8:30 (Info Here)

 

• EA Assistance April 1 Sign-Up – If teachers could use any help with prep or other tasks, add your name and the task to the EA Assistance Spreadsheet. EAs should also add your name to the tasks you’d be willing to take on.

 

• Title 1 EA Interviews, 4/1 @1:30 – Jackie, Jenny, Lisa and I are holding interviews on Monday at 1:30 if anyone is interested in volunteering their time to help. Let me know if you are interested and I will email the interview materials.

 

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

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

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

 

• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting 4/1 – The April SST meeting will be on Tuesday, April 2nd, where the team will screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do a monthly check-in on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda will be emailed to teachers needing to attend the meeting.

 

• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library will be the Equity & Inclusion Team’s follow-up to last month’s PD.

 

• Spirit Assembly 4/5 @8:20 – The April School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, April 5th in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!

 

• Electronics Recycling Competition Drop-Off Week – Remind students and get them pumped for the annual BRING Recycling Electronics Recycling Competition. They can drop off old electronics (Anything with a plug or that takes batteries. Cell phones, monitors, computers, phones, cables, etc. They’ll take it all!) at NextStep (245 Jackson St. now until April 30 (making sure they tell them it’s for Holt) or drop them off at the collection site in front of the office the week of April 8 – 12. The school with the most “e-waste” collected wins a $500 gift certificate and a Next Step Robot made by a local artist.

 

• Solar Eclipse April 8th at 10:30 – We get a rare opportunity to observe a solar eclipse (it’s actually a partial eclipse) during school hours on Monday, April 8, starting at 10:30, peaking at 11:20 or 11:30, and ending at 12:15. Linked here are Directions for Making a Solar Eclipse Viewer and some notes about Eye Safety During an Eclipse.

 

• Data Team Meeting K-5, 4/9 – We’ll hold grade-level Data Team Meetings this day with roving subs. Watch for details coming soon from Carla.

 

• Wednesday PD: Science OSAS & Accommodations – Wednesday at 1:30 in the library we’ll review the Science standards and assessment, as well as go over how to input student accommodations into TIDE.

 

• ​Holt Night Out, Bangers & Brews, 4/10 – Wednesday, April 10th is a Holt Night Out at Bangers & Brews! ​Remind kids to stop by Bangers & Brews at 2506 Willakenzie Road, across from Sheldon High School, between 3:00-8:00 pm, and just mention Holt when ordering for our school to get a percentage of all sales.

 

• Accessible Education Parent Group, 4/11 @5:30 – Emily and Carla have started up an Accessible Education Parent Group to give families of students with IEPs voice and support, which will meet for the first time on April 11 at 5:30 in the library.

 

• Midterm Grading Day, 4/12 – This is a non-student day and the expectation from downtown is staff are to report to the building and be available to colleagues on this day. For classroom teachers, 3.75 hours is dedicated to ELA planning and 3.75 hours is for “Strategic Family Outreach.” Downtown hasn’t given guidance on what this outreach is supposed to be, but I’d suggest using this time to call, email, or text families you need to connect with for various reasons; improvements, progress, and/or struggles with attendance, academics, behavior, relationships, etc.

 

• EEF Grants Open 4/8 – EEF Grants are opening soon. They have not announced a deadline for applications, but usually, it’s about a month-long window. EEF prioritizes grants that focus on Enrichment (ex. STEM, arts, experimental learning), Ready to Learn (ex. literacy, SEL, accessibility solutions), and Pathways (ex. CTE, SPED, TAG). The application link is not live yet, but linked here is a PDF I made of the form from earlier this year.

Schools can submit as many grants as they want, so feel free to start writing! I saved a PDF version of Last Year’s EEF Grant Application if you want to start now. And remember that AI (MagicSchool.AI and ChatGPT) can save time doing a lot of the writing for you!

 

• Penny War Results – This was announced over the PA, but here are the final results of the Penny War:

 

• Vanilla Crunchies in Workrooms – I signed Holt up for the free cereal program offered by Food for Lane County, where schools can get free cereal snack packages of Vanilla Crunches to give students. There are two boxes in each of the workrooms, so feel free to grab what you want for your classrooms (specialists too). I remembered the boxes being larger, so I only ordered four, but for our April order, I’ll order a lot more.

 

• 6th Place on Walker Tracker Challenge – Did you see Holt got 6th place on the Walker Tracker Challenge out of 60 teams? We’re moving up the ranks! Download the app and start tracking your daily steps to help the Holt team with the next challenge!

 

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

Cafeteria Expectations:
Staff members will supervise students while entering the cafeteria, walking them along the stage or the window side. Do not release students at the doors. Grade levels sharing lunch periods may employ other structures to help the flow (example: 2 classes use the stage side & 2 other classes use the window side). Staff is expected to supervise for 5 minutes following the official start of the lunch period, or until their students are settled.

I would add, now that we are having students enter Lunch PINs, for teachers to help students enter their numbers until they have it down. 

 

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

April 1 (M)
April Fool’s Day!
No School – Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00 – 1:00, PD Sessions (Various Locations)
1:30, Title 1 EA Interviews
2:00-4:00 – Planning Time

April 2 (T)
Classes Resume
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
K-3 Clay Artist in Residence Continues
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Calming Room)

April 3 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
10:40, 4th Grade Storyteller
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team (Library)
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

April 4 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
2:45, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting, Rob Hess attending (Kelsey’s Room)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library & Zoom)

April 5 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Sports Day
8:20-8:40, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
9:30-1:30, 3rd Grade Eugene Science Center Field Trip

April 8 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach Staff Room Duty
Electronics Recycling Competition Drop-Off Week
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
7:30, Allan Monthly Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
9:00-10;30, Allan to 4J BAT Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Girls on the Run
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

April 9 (T)
Talent Show Application Due
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
Data Team Meeting K-5
10:15, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)
6:30-7:30, 3rd Grade Cultural Heritage Night (Gym & Cafeteria)

April 10 (W)
Holt Night Out – Bangers & Brews
7:30, Allan to 4J MAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – OSAS Science & Accommodations PD (Library)
1:30-3:00, Girls on the Run

April 11 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
5:30-6:30, Accessible Education Parent Group (Library)

April 12 (F)
No School – Mid-Term Grading Day
8:30-11:30, EA Pathways PD
4;30-6:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity Meeting

 

Aren’t we lucky this year that April Fool’s Day doesn’t fall on a school day?

Allan

 

February 5, 2024

By Allan  |  2024/02/02 21:47 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Grants, P.D.  |  Comments Off on February 5, 2024

 

Hi-Diddily-Ho, Holt Bolts!

This week is National School Counselor Week, so I’d like to take a moment to give a shout-out to Megan. Although new to Holt this year, she’s jumped right in and become a vital part of our team for supporting students, staff, and families! Thank you for all you do, Megan! 

Be sure to give Megan a thank you and some appreciation this week!

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Staffing Update: SPED EA (Annie Carpenter) – I’m pleased to announce that Annie, who has been subbing in SPED that past few weeks, has been hired as the newest member of the primary grade SPED team. This means we will have a 6-hour Title 1 EA vacancay, which I have sumbitted a requisition to post. 

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

• Wed. PD: 100% Data Team Meeting – This Wednesday at 1:30 in the library will be our 100% Data Team Meeting following winter benchmark scores.

 

• Myah’s Baby Shower, THURSDAY – Myah’s baby shower is this Thursday after school! See the email from Robin and the Sunshine Committee for details!
 

• Report Card Reminders – I emailed this earlier, but as a reminder:

Send-Home Date Monday, Feb. 12 – Downtown gave the okay for us to send home report cards on the date we’d originally planned and had on the calendar for parents.

Parent Reports in Mailboxes – Parent Reports from Synergy, with easyCBM, OSAS, and attendance info, are in teacher mailboxes and should be included in report card envelopes.

You May Print Now – Sharon has completed the attendance steps in Synergy, so teachers can print report cards when you are ready.

Use AI to Help with Comments! – Stuck on tricky language for comments for a particular student? AI can give you some very nice language as a starting point. Most folks like ChatGPT, but I prefer the education-focused MagicSchool.ai.

 

• Random Act of Kindness Week, 2/11 to 2/17 – Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week February 11-17! If you’d like to do something with kids, HERE, HERE, and HERE are some activity ideas.

 

• Friendship Day 2/14 – Teachers and teams should communicate to families your plan for Friendship Day. The staff agreement is to do Friendship Day as opposed to celebrating Valentine’s Day, though some grade levels did traditional card exchanges. February 14th should be referred to as “Friendship Day.” Grade levels need to have general agreement around what they will do, bring, create, etc., and are responsible for communicating expectations to families.

 

• Fire Drill, 2/14 @1:15 – We’ll reschedule our missed fire drill for Thursday, February. 14 at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.

 

• 24/25 Staffing Survey – Principals haven’t gotten a 24/25 staffing timeline yet, but I imagine we’ll get our staffing for next year around the end of this month, so to help me with next year’s staffing plan, I’d like both classified and licensed staff to complete the linked 2024-2025 Staffing Survey. I’d like to know staff members’ plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan, master schedule, or other thoughts. All answers will be kept confidential and let me know if you have any questions.

 

• Presidents Day/Make-Up (no official update, but likely day off) – District admin said they were going to decide last week if this date would be a make-up day, but nothing has been shared with principals. Since that date is so soon and since there was nothing in the latest 4J Parent News, I’m guessing this will stay a holiday. June, 14, 17, and 18 are still on the calendar for make-up days, so stay tuned for a decision on those dates.

 

• Equity and Inclustion Student Team – See Emily’s Email for details, but teachers should add the names of 1 student per class who are interested and/or you think would be good representatives on our Equity & Inclusion Student Team. Consider students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, students with food allergies, students who struggle with mental health, students who are learning English as a second language or whose parents speak another language at home.

 

• Safety Committee Items – Meeting minutes are in the Staff Google Drive and posted in the Staff Room, but two Items we wanted to highlight for staff:

Fire Drill (close doors) – Doors were left open during the last fire drill. Keeping the doors closed helps prevent a fire from spreading.

Remind Kids DO NOT press ADA Button – Remind your students to NOT press the ADA button near the bike cage exterior door. Tell them this created a safety concern because we do not want to give strangers access to get inside the building. This should also result in a referral. A minor the first time and a major for a repeat.

 

• Grant Approval Form Required (for awarded grants) – Downtown does not need a Grant Approval Form to approve/disapprove grant applications, but Financial Services does need this form to set up an account for any grant funds you are awarded, so if you are awarded a grant that awards funds (not stuff), complete the above form and give it to Sharon. I’ve added a link to this form on the Holt Staff Dashboard. 

 

• Girls on the Run Preview – Our Girls on the Run Head Coaches, Heidi and Leah, will share info at a future staff meeting, but if you’d like a preview, linked here is the current Holt Girls on the Run Plan, which will be March 18 through May 27 on Mondays and Wednesdays after school for girls in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.

 

• SEL Student Screener, SAEBRS – I’m putting this on the next staff meeting agenda, but below is info on a new SEL screener 4J is doing K – 12. Teachers will complete a 2-3 minute screener on each student and then students in grades 2-5 will complete an online version of the same questions. Here is the email sent to principals and below is the text we were asked to share:

Our district will be administering the SAEBRS (Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener) universal screening tool in two windows throughout the 2023–2024 school year. SAEBRS is a brief, norm-referenced tool for screening students to identify areas of potential school-wide growth. This universal screening tool is built to align academic and socio-emotional learning opportunities and interventions to increase well-being and developmental competencies. The initial screening window is between January 3rd, 2024 – February 29th, 2024. SAEBRS is administered by teachers or counselors in grades K–12 and takes approximately 2–3 minutes to complete each student assessment. MySAEBRS is the student version of the same assessment given to students in grades 2-12.

This survey is a valuable tool for schools to identify patterns and opportunities to teach lagging skills, and areas of growth to support social, academic, and emotional outcomes. We will be administering SAEBRS two times in the following windows January 3rd, 2024 – February 29th, 2024 and May 1st – May 31st, 2024. This data should be utilized to inform an understanding of school-wide social and cultural aspects that inform interventions that are not singularly student focused.

4J Background Research and Training Materials for SAEBRS

There’s a fair amount of info to wade through, which is why we’ll go over this at a Staff Meeting and provide staff a Wednesday to complete the teacher screener portion, but I figured some folks would want a preview ahead of time.

 

• Elem Principal Meeting Items – I’d added several questions to the meeting “Parking Lot” last week that I thought staff might find interesting, with the answers in blue:

4J Truancy Officer – Has a replacement for Mark Barr been hired? Are we able to submit a request for someone to go out to families of truant students? *No one has been hired. Earlier in the month, Kat and a few others were working on identifying a solution to this current need. We will see if there is an update.

Smart Start Planning – Is there a plan for a team of teachers and admins to plan Kinder Smart Start for next fall? *Plans to launch a K Smart Start team (made up of various stakeholders), will be shared as soon as we solidify a date for February. More details to follow in the coming weeks.

Staffing Timeline – Do we have a timeline for 24/25 staffing? *We hope to have more clarity on this timeline later this week to be able to share with principals.

Enrollment Projections – Can principals be emailed our enrollment projections by grade level for next year that staffing will be based on? *We can bring this up and share with the Data Team and HR as a request for staffing/budget season. [I’ll share this with staff if/when we get it]

 

• Monday Announcements Videos – A reminder that if you ever forget to log onto the Monday Morning Student Announcements, the videos are on the Staff Google Drive under HOLT STAFF DOCUMENTS > MISC > MONDAY MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS. And don’t forget to sign your class up to lead the Pledge of Allegiance if you have some kiddos who would like to do that.

 

• ESOL and DL Scholarship for Teachers, FREE! – See this email for details, but it’s an opportunity for teachers to add an ESOL Endorsement and/or Dual Language Specialization at no cost thanks to a grant. All courses are online. The deadline to apply is April 3, 2024.

 

• More Black History Month Resources – The latest Library Lowdown has some updated Black History Month Resources Slide along with the following links:

• GALE Celebrates Black Artists in History with activities and lesson plans
• NEA K12 Lessons and Activities
• We Are Teachers: 34 Activities for Black History Month
• Black History Month Podcasts
• Black History Month Choice Board

 

• Discounted Tickets for Ducks Education Day – The annual UO Education Appreciation Day for Men’s and Women’s Basketbal is offering folks who work in schools discounted tickets on on Feb. 10 (men’s basketball) and Feb. 16 (women’s basketball). Click the images below to order your tickets.

 

 

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

Housekeeping:
• Students should pick up scraps, books, pencils, etc. off the floor before being dismissed each afternoon.
• Similarly, chairs should be stacked each afternoon and all trash cans should be placed outside your door.
• No stickers should be placed on desks, chairs, books, cubbies, etc.
• Student work habits often reflect their surroundings. Maintaining a neat and tidy classroom serves as a positive model for children to emulate.
• While seemingly unimportant, housekeeping details can make a difference in school appearance and students’ respect and attitude toward learning.
• Trash cans should be placed outside the room each night.

 

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

February 6 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to District PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

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

February 8 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
2:45, Myah’s Baby Shower (Library)
6:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

February 9 (F)
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)

February 12 (M)
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
Random Act of Kindness Week
Artist in Residence – Larry Meyers (4th & 5th Grade)
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
Report Cards Sent Home
7:30, Allan Monthly Meeting w/Jeff Johnson (Office)
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-11:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

February 13 (T)
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)

February 14 (W)
Holt Friendship Day – Bomba Sicks Day
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 4J Behavior Matrix (Library)

February 15 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-11:40, 2nd Grade (Norton/Gulleckson) Jordan Schnitzer Field Trip
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:30-7:30, 4th Grade Invention Project Night (Gym)

February 16 (F)
9:00-11:40, 2nd Grade (Bemiller/Rabourn) Jordan Schnitzer Field Trip
12:25-12:45, OBOB Battles (Library)
12:50-1:50, OBOB Battles (Library)
4:30, Allan to 4J BIPoC Staff Affinity Meeting (Churchill)

February 19 (M)
No School* — Presidents Day (possible school closure makeup day)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

 

Two weeks until our next 3-day weekend!

Allan

 

January 29, 2024

By Allan  |  2024/01/27 19:26 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Assessment, Grants, P.D.  |  Comments Off on January 29, 2024

 

Hello Bolts,

Twenty-two items of note for this week:

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Please any questions you may have directly to Lily Gold.

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan

 

January 8, 2024

By Allan  |  2024/01/06 22:37 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Equity, Grants, P.D., Video  |  Comments (2)

 

Greetings Bolts,

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

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Allan
 

October 9, 2023

By Allan  |  2023/10/07 19:11 Posted in Announcements, Equity, Grants, P.D.  |  Comments Off on October 9, 2023

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

Twenty items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 20 (F)
Regular Day

 

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

Allan

 

Meme credit to Lisa G.

September 25, 2023

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

 

Hi Holt Bolts,

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

Twenty-four items of note for this week:

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here we go, team!

Allan

 

December 12, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/12/10 16:13 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D.  |  Comments Off on December 12, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

We’ve almost made it! Just 5 days until winter break!

Eighteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing Updates:

• Temp Part-Time Music Teacher, Tracy Zehner – Please welcome Tracy Zehner as our new temporary part-time music teacher. Tracy is an experience music teacher (and also a Holt parent of a 1st and 3rd grader) who’s taught since 2008 in Illinois, Connecticut, and most recently in Indiana since 2014. Tracy will take over 3rd grade classes starting after winter break, but she will start working this Wednesday prepping and planning, so please take time to welcome Tracy to Team Holt!

• Temp PE 0.2 Job Reposted – We have reposted our 0.2 FTE Temp PE Position and have paired it with Howard’s 0.2 position in hopes that a combined 0.4 FTE position will entice more candidates. The posting closes on Tuesday if you know anyone good who might be interested.

• BEST Update & BEST EA Openings (2-hr & 3.5-hr) – Downtown is deciding whether Holt or WillaG will re-open their BEST Program first this year. WillaG has a BEST Coordinator and an Academic Coordinator, which Holt does not, but Holt has more building EAs hired to work at our program. If any EAs want additional hours (either 2-hours or 3.5-hours), please visit the BEST EA Job Posting to apply. The job posting closes Tuesday. And if their are any teacher interested in being the Academic Coordinator (1-2 hours extended contract daily to review math intervention data and coach BEST staff on small group math instruction), let me know ASAP.

• REPEAT: Cozy Blanket Contest Entries, DUE MONDAY – In place of the annual Winter Coat Drive, we’re trying a Cozy Blanket Drive. See Ashely’s Email, Staff Flyer, and Entry Form for details.

• Holt Night Out Fundraiser – MOD Pizza, WEDNESDAY – This Wednesday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at MOD Pizza on Coburg Road! Remind your students to just bring the MOD Pizza Fundraiser Flyer when they order. To place an online order, use the coupon code MODF16980.

 

• REPEAT: Elf Jr. Performance, THURSDAY, 9:00-10:00 – Thursday from 9:00-10:00 is the Upstart Crow for our performance of the Elf Jr. Musical. Upstart Crow will begin setting up at 7:00, which will conflict with 3rd and 4th grade Music times. The 9-10 assembly time will also conflict with Kinder, 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade recesses. Those teachers can take their prep during the assembly and other staff will cover your class. Linked here is an Assembly Map & Directions. If Holt has used a different sating format for performances in the cafeteria, let me know and I can adjust.

 

• Holiday Shopping, THURSDAY – Those volunteering to help with the annual Holiday Shopping Program are already in the know, but for anyone new to Holt who this may be new, see the above linked overview. Thank you to everyone who was able to help with this!

• Holt Spirit Day, Cozy Sweats & Sweater Weather Day, FRIDAY – This Friday is the monthly Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Cozy Sweats & Sweater Weather Day. Get kids excited me to school in some cozy sweats or a warm winter sweater or just wear your Holt spirit gear!

• REPEAT: School Spirit Assembly, FRIDAY – We’ll have our monthly School Spirit Assembly on Friday in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:15 and all classes should be seated at that time. Winners from the Cozy Blanket Contest will be announced at the assembly. Stay tuned for details!

• REPEAT: Friday PD: Staff Choice – Principals haven’t gotten any details for Friday’s “Staff Choice” PD time this Friday, but I’m guessing plan on doing whatever it is you signed up for on the Elementary Staff Choice PD Sign-up Form last time. I’ll let you know if anything changes.

• Jan. 3 PD/Planning Day  – Shared earlier, the Wit & Wisdom PD originally planned this day has been cancelled, along with previously planned EA trainings, so this is now a building directed day. See my separate email for the meeting agenda, but we’ll plan to meet in the Cafeteria this day with the following schedule:

8:00-8:30, Breakfast Stacks & Socializing (Cafeteria)
8:30-11:00, Holt Back to School Meeting (Cafeteria)
11:00-1:30, Team Collaboration & Vector Training

• January Friday PD Days – Downtown let principals know that all district led Friday PD for the rest of the semester is now Building Based. I’ll add this to this Thursday’s Leadership Team agenda how we’d like to use these days.

 

• REMINDER: Kids in Hall Need a Pass – If you spot stray children walking in the hall, make sure they have a hall pass. If they do not have a pass, send them back to class and escort them if possible. And DO NOT believe students when they say, “But my teacher told me… [INSERT EXCUSE HERE].”

• Holt Bolt & Holtober Fest 23-24 – PAHS has officially decided, and I agree is a good idea, to go back to the Holt Bolt in the spring, when there’s no fires and AQI issues, and the school carnival in the fall (i.e. Holtober Fest). The plan for this year is to still do the spring carnival, but make the change for next school year.

• IEP Meeting Days Info – Principals were asked to share the following info:

As many of you know, one of the items bargained for to be included in our CBA was in regards to implementing a pilot this year where buildings worked to establish IEP/504 days where staff could be included in IEP’s or 504’s that didn’t impact their time before school, after school or during planning. A workgroup was developed at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year to discuss possibilities, and although there is still work to be done, here are some ideas about how we will be moving forward.

Elementary:
*All elementary schools that would like to participate in this pilot can identify IEP/504 days they would like to take and secure a sub for their classroom, as well as one floater to release general education teachers to attend the IEP/504 meetings.

*If you are looking to schedule these days, please be prepared to plan in advance so subs can be secured well ahead of time and CMA’s have ample time to schedule these meetings on the same day (this is something the special education teacher will do, but you will want to be prepared to have a sub in your class for that time and you should also be given ample notice so you have time to prepare).

*What this means for the general education staff is that the teacher, if chosen to attend an IEP or 504 meetings sometime throughout the day, will have to prepare for a sub to run their class for that period of time. It may be one period or a few hours depending on how many IEP’s or 504’s you are asked to be a member of.

Secondary:
*We are in need of more workgroup meetings to find a solution to the multiple intricacies that a secondary schedule brings with it. We are in hopes of collecting some feedback from teachers and problem solving a bit more as a group in the spring. If you have any ideas of ways to best cover for teachers who may need to be out of their class for a period or 2 for meetings, please feel free to share with your administrator or reach out to the SSD administrator in your building to share.

Next Steps:
*EEA and SSD are still working on a way to gather some data from teachers (gen ed and sped), parents, students, administrators and any other stakeholders so we know how the pilot is working.

*It is a busy time for all of our schools. Our hope in looking at this pilot is to see if we can help alleviate some of the stress that staying late or coming in early for IEP/504 meetings can cause. This will not alleviate any responsibility to attend before or after school meetings, but the hope is to reduce the frequency.

Thank you for your shared commitment to supporting our students and families by being a part of the team.

Linked here is the email sent to principals, which also include the email sent to SSD licensed staff.

• Electrostatic Spray Update – There was concern expressed at a past Staff Meeting about nightly electrostatic spray ruining papers. I got an Email Answer this week that it does need to continue, but can be limited to top tier touch-points, such as doorknobs, sinks, fountains, and small group tables, but not student desks, counters, or walls. So as long as your small group tables are clear, student and teachers papers and work should be safe.

• Grant Items – Two grant related items:

• Three Rivers Casino Grants, Due Dec. 31 – The Three Rivers Foundation is currently accepting applications through December 31st. Grants do not have any minimum or maximums amounts. Here’s the link to Apply and the grant FAQ.

• Notify Finance Dept. of Large Grants – In talking Finance last week about a different matter, I learned they now want schools to notify them of any grants you are applying for in excess of $1,000. For grants $5,000 or more, there is a formal process for board approval, which is not new, but for grants between $1,000 and $5,000, just notify me of what you’re applying for or send a short email to grants@4j.lane.edu. You don’t have to send them you actual application, just a link to the grant and one sentence what you’re asking for. See the 4J Grants webpage for details.

Do note there is a difference between “grants” and “donations,” so anything you get from DonorsChoose does not apply to what’s described above.

• December’s SSD Newsletter – If you’re interested, linked here is the December SSD Newsletter. The topic of the month is student reduced-day schedules. There’s the usual FAQ and also a special spotlight on Speech Language Pathologists.

• Is growth mindset effective? – Studies show varied outcomes of introducing growth mindset for students. Some students benefit from growth mindset interventions, but the approach is less effective for high-achieving students, according to an analysis by researchers. The research does conclude it’s useful for low-income and low-achieving students, so for a Title 1 school like us, Growth Mindset is a good thing, but I found this an interesting read. See this Article from The Hechinger Report 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:

December 12 (M)
Library Week #1 Classes
SPED Staff Room Duty
10:45, Allan to Formal Observation
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Holt Library)
7:00-9:00, Allan to Conan the Barbarian (The Art House) Come Join!
December 13 (T)
National Cocoa Day
2:45-3:45, PBIS/SEL/Equity Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:30, Feed Hope Food Box Prep (Cafeteria)

December 14 (W)
Holt Night Out – MOD Pizza
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
1:45-2:10, 1st & 5th Orange Ticket Recess
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

December 15 (H)
9:00-10:00, Elf Jr. Performance (Cafetorium)
2:45-3:45, Leadership Meeting (Library)
4:00-8:30, Holiday Shopping Event

December 16 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Cozy Sweats & Sweater Weather Day
8:15-9:45, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
1:25-2:25, Friday PD – Staff Choice

December 17 – January 2
Winter Break – No School

January 3 (T)
8:00-8:30, Breakfast Stacks & Socializing (Cafeteria)
8:30-11:00, Holt Back to School Meeting (Cafeteria)
11:00-1:30, Team Collaboration & Vector Training

January 4 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
Winter Benchmarking Window Opens
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)

January 5 (H)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)

January 6 (F)
1:25-2:25, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
1:25-2:25, Friday PD – Building Based – Team Collaboration

Don’t forget to keep you fingers crossed for a surprise snow day! It could happen!

Allan

 

 

November 21, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/11/19 22:01 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D., SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on November 21, 2022

Hi Everyone,

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Temp Job Posting, 1st, Music, PE – Our Temp 1st Grade, Music, and PE Job Posting is now up and close on Tuesday. The specialist jobs are 0.2 FTE jobs to provide some relief for Alex and Ashley now that we’ve added another 1st grade classroom, so if you know any part-time (or maybe retired) Music or PE specialists, please encourage them to apply.

• Book Fair Opens Tuesday – The Book Fair will set-up Monday and will be open for families before school (7:30-7:50) and after school (2:25-3:30). The Book Fair will also be open the evening of Wednesday, November 30th.

• Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event, Dec. 1 – See Debbi’s Email for details, but the Staff Gingerbread House Event is Thursday, December 1st from 5:30-8:00ish. Come if you have a team or if you just want to socialize! The gathering is at Katies’ house. Address is on the Staff Zimbra Calendar.

• Staff Workload Relief Day, Dec. 2 – The following was sent to principals regarding the December 2nd Workload Relief Day (which is referred to as a “transition day” below for some reason), which states that staff may work from home if you notify me ahead of time and also have a plan how you will connect with colleagues if needed.

December 2nd – This transition day should be treated much the same as a grading day. Staff may work from home on this day, but should be available to team members. Any staff that intend to work from an alternate location, will need to let you know their intentions. In that communication staff should also identify how they will communicate with their colleagues on this day. Staff that have not communicated a desire to work from an alternate location will be expected to work on site.

• Friday PD, Dec. 9 – Building System – Leadership discussed last week doing a review of all of our support systems, with a particular focus on behavior support systems. With many new staff members and with systems having changed and morphed over time, here are the system I’m planning on reviewing, but let me know if there are other you think we should go over:

• Major/Minor Referrals
• PBIS Tickets (Zaps, Orange Tickets, Spirit Tickets)
• PBIS Videos & Resources
• Behavior Supports Available
• Voice Levels
• Recess/School Rules
• Request for Support – Academic/Behavior
• Request for Support – Student/Family Needs
• Family Resource Coordinator Supports

• Elf Jr. Performance, Dec. 15 – I checked in with Leadership back in September, but Upstart Crow Youth Theater is offering performances of the Elf Jr. Musical Comedy to schools and finally emailed back last week. Dates and times aren’t confirmed, but they said they are available the last week of December before winter break, and I’ve asked for them to come Thursday, Dec. 15th, 8:30-9:30. I’ll keep you posted once date/times are solid.

• REMINDER: Orange Tickets – Progress is going slow for our school-wide Orange Ticket Reward. As a reminder, these tickets are whole class rewards for positive behavior around the school (i.e. cafeteria, hallways, gym, library, etc.), which are then added to the hallways display near the Calming Room.

• REMINDER: Classroom Buddies – One other PBIS reminder, linked here is the 22-23 Classroom Buddies List for the year. Buddy Classroom should do one activity each month together, which can be as simple a big buddies reading with younger students. If you’d like some ideas, here’s some form TeacherStarter.com and from Teacher.org

• EEF Grant Updates – Two grants were submitted for Holt and we got both of them!. 3rd grade’s “Hands on Art Materials for Third Graders!” and also our bigger $3,000 “Refill the Book Machine!” grant application were approved!

• Holt School Choice Guide – Principals were emailed our 4J School Choice Guide Descriptions last week to be updated by Friday next week. Let me know if you see anything on here you think we should update. Holt is usually closed to students living outside of our neighborhood, but this is our chance to advertise ourselves and retain families who might be looking to lottery into BV or another choice school.

• 2022/2023 Licensed IEP/504 Log – I’ve been asking about this since September and looks like HR finally posted this without telling anyone, but the Licensed IEP/504 Log Google Form is now live. This form is for licensed teachers to request payment for up to twelve hours of additional compensation based on your per diem rate for attending IEP or 504 meetings during your prep and/or outside of your normal workday. This link can be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard and also on the 4J HR Forms webpage.

• Building Behavioral Needs Assessment – If you’re interested, here is the Behavior Tool and Resource Kit that has been shared with the 4 elementary schools that are currently being supported with TOSA teams.

• 22 Videos To Help Kids Understand Gratitude – Just in time for Thanksgiving, here’s a List of Videos from WeAreTeachers for all age groups that will help your students to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

• 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 21 (M)
Library Week #1 Classes
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Artist in Residence Continues
4:00-5:30, Allan to All admin Meeting (Ed Center)

November 22 (T)
Book Fair Opens
2:45-3:45, Allan to IEP Meeting

November 23 (W)
Regular Day

November 24 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Break

November 25 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Break

November 28 (M)
Library Week #2 Classes
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
Book Fair Continues
Artist in Residence Continues
November 29 (T)
Regular Day

November 30 (W)
Picture Retake Day
PJ Day
Book Fair Evening Event

December 1 (H)
Book Fair Last Day
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
5:30-8:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)

December 2 (F)
No School – Staff Workload Relief Day
8:00-11:00, Allan to LTRS Training (Zoom)
1:00-2:30, Allan to SPED Parent Advocacy Group Listening Session (Ed Center)

17 student days until winter break!

Allan

 

October 3 2022

By Allan  |  2022/10/01 19:43 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D., SEL  |  Comments Off on October 3 2022

 

Hey Holt Bolts,

Hard to believe it’s already October.

Twenty-one items of note for this week:

• Job Postings Update – I submitted requisitions last week for a fourth 1st grade teacher and for an additional SPED EA. I’m hoping they get posted this week, but when I checked the approvals in NeoGov this weekend, no action had been taken by HR and Finance, so I sent an email to the HR admins in charge of classified and licensed hiring for them to see why approvals didn’t happen and that I want these posted ASAP. Hopefully they post this Tuesday or Wednesday. UPDATE: 1st Grade Job Posting is now live and closes 10/11 and the SPED EA Job Posting is also up and closed 10/12. 

• REPEAT: Monthly Potlucks, MONDAY! – The first Monday of the month is when we celebrate staff birthday for that month. Cake is provided by Sunshine in the Staff Room and anyone can add their name to the Potluck Sign-Ups Google Sheet if you’d like to share something.

• Optional Shared Staff Goals Committee, WEDNESDAY @2:45 – Third time’s a charm. Wednesday at 2:45 in the library is an optional meeting to develop shared building goals staff can cut-and-paste into TalentEd before the Oct. 31 deadline. I drafted a few SEL Related SMART Goals to get the conversation going, which I tried to base on things most teachers are already doing.

• Friday PD: Staff Choice – Downtown hasn’t shared the plan for this Friday. They said they planned to share info last week, but that they are “responding to feedback and making some adjustments,” so stay tuned.

• REPEAT: EEF 2022-2023 Grant Applications DUE FRIDAY – Applications will due October 7th and EEF did not say anything about Site Council rank ordering grants, so just submit you grants on the EEF 22-23 Grant Application. Below is a graphic to their funding priorities. Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.

 

• Library Schedule Reminder – We start our new library schedule this week. “Week #1” classes will have two sessions of library this week. “Week #2” classes will have one session of library this week. Groups will flip flop next week, with Week #2 classes having two library sessions and Week #1 classes having one library session. Highlighted time on the linked 22-23 Library Schedule are the times you’ll have Library every week. The non-highlighted sports are the library times you’ll have every other week. I’ve noted on the Staff Zimbra Calendar which week we’re on if anyone forget and note the calendar on page two of the above linked scheduled.

 

• Picture Day, Oct. 13th – Since our Leadership Plan is not yet finalized, we do not have an official “Scheduler” to make the Picture Day for Thursday, October 13th. Pictures will be in the morning and in the gym, but I’ll see what we can do about getting a schedule out by next week.

• October 14th PD/Planning Day – The only details principals have at this point for the Oct. 14th PD/Planning Day is what’s on the 4J 22-23 PD Calendar, which says “Lang Arts Adoption (5.5 hours).” There were some times on there earlier, but they have since been taken off.

• Site Council Rep. Openings – Site Council is coming up next week and we have 1 classified opening (Jackie finished her term), 1 classroom licensed opening (Liz’s term ended), and 1 licensed specialist opening (Jenny’s term ended). Here’s the current list.

Admin Rep: Allan Chinn
Classified Rep: Cheryl Yorges (year 2)
Classified Rep: Lisa Goff (year 2)
Classified Rep:
Licensed Rep (classroom): Candace Lovato (year 2)
Licensed Rep (classroom): Geoff Parks (year 2)
Licensed Rep (classroom): Lesli Harmon (year 2)
Licensed Rep (classroom):
Licensed Rep (specialist):
Parent Rep: Billie Jo Rodriguez (year 2)
Parent Rep: Jill Ritz (year 2)
Parent Rep: Sallie Lees (year 2)

Outgoing and past reps are welcome to re-join, but let me know and/or add your name to the 22-23 Team Sign-Up Sheet if you’re willing to volunteer your time to serve on Site Council. If there are multiple staff members interested, those folks can talk and/or those stakeholder groups can hold a vote.

• Gaga Ball Rules & Pit Opening Date – The Gaga Ball Pit is closed until all classes at your grade level have reviewed the linked Gaga Ball Pit Rules. I’m available to go over rules with classes, but teachers can also review the linked Gaga Ball Rules Slide Show. Try to find time to review the rules by the end of the week, but have your grade level let me know once all classes have reviewed the rules and I will notify recess supervisors that the Gaga Ball Pit is open!

 

• Holt Bolt, Wednesday, Oct. 19th – Linked here are the PAHS Holt Bolt Planning Notes from their last meeting. Highlights are:

• Teachers will pass out a raffle tickets. Tickets will be awarded for returning their envelope, earring a Holt shirt, running 1 lap, and bringing a water bottle.
• School prizes will be:
• $5,000 Costume Bingo (this is a gimme, since it is already planned)
• $10,000 Mr. Chinn will wear a funny costume
• $15,000 Tape Mr. Chinn to the wall
• $20,000 Buddy Dance Party
• $35.000 Buddy Dance Party extreme with Special Guests
• Class Prizes are not certain yet but will be things like Slime Party, Extra recess for a week, Lunch with the Irish, Kitchen Helper for a day, Host an Assembly with Ms. Reich…

Let me know if you have questions on any of this or if you have feedback you’d like passed along to PAHS or think we should discuss as a staff.

• EA Workshop Sign-Up – This SPED EA PD Email was sent to all folks currently on SSD’s email distribution list, but principals were asked to share this just in case they are missing anyone. These trainings will be on the No-Student PD Days on Oct. 14, Jan. 3, & April 3. These are required for SPED EAs and are optional for other EAs, though Title 1 EAs will have a different required workshop. See the above email or 4J Classified Pathways Sign-Up Link for details. Let me know if you have any questions, but a few of these workshops actually sound pretty good.

• Nightly Cleaning Resumes – The Facilities Dept. has adjusted the nightly cleaning closer to normal cleaning, so all classrooms will resume their nightly sweeping and garbage collection.

• Need a Volunteer Expedited? – If you have volunteers you want to start APAP, but who are still waiting for their 4J background check to clear, let me know and I can tell downtown to prioritize those volunteers. They have literally have thousands of backlogged applications.

• How to Access Wit & Wisdom via Clever – This was emailed to teachers earlier, but in case you missed it, here are directions How to Log Onto Wit & Wisdom Via Clever (slide show or video directions).

• Student Headphones – I’ve been asking about this since last spring, but the latest answer if downtown will provide students with headphones is that the Tech Department is working on it and that they have some headphones available if schools need any now, so if any teachers need them, let me know ASAP so I can get them before they get scooped up by anyone else.

 

• 4J TOSA List – I asked downtown for a list and job descriptions of all the TOSAs. This is only the instructional TOSAs and does not include all of the other SSD, equity, and manager positions. They said they are working on job descriptions, but here’s a list if you ever need to reach out to any of them for assistance:

SIA – Leah Willow, Sara Justice, Eileen Thomas, Liz Johnson – Reading Specialists
Title – Midge Greentree and Rebecca Boyd – SDS with 1/2 time reading specialist / SEL
SSD/Instruction – Jocelyn Mendelssohn – TAG/Health
Instruction .5 – Maggie Cline – Science
Instruction – Jamie Tait – Math
Instruction – Sarah Knudson – Humanities
SIA – Katie Stiles – K-3 Literacy
SIA – Mandy Brooksheer – SEL
Grant – Tana Shepard – EWEB/Sustainability
Instruction – Kellyclare Gardner – Tech

• Classroom Buddies Sign-Up – If you haven’t already, please complete this short (3 questions) Classroom Buddy Survey. The survey was set close last Thursday but sneak in your response ASAP if it’s still open or let Lesli know your preference.

• REPEAT: TalentEd Goals and Self Assessment – The self assessment/reflection in TalentEd for all staff was due last week, but please finish it soon as you can if you haven’t already. Licensed Staff Goals are due at the end of October, but you can feel free to use the cut-and-paste goals we’ll made at Wednesday’s optional meeting or you can use ODE’s Sample Educator Goals.

• Tapping Into Compassion When Students Push Your Buttons – Our brains are wired for knee-jerk responses—so how can you keep compassion and empathy front of mind? This Edutopia Article suggests looking behind the behavior, trying to learn something about every student, reaching out to the family, and also realizing that you are ther other half of the equation in these situations. See the article for additional 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:

October 3 (M)
Library Week #1 Classes
SPED Staff Room Duty
School Custodian’s Day (ALL)
Pastini Fundraiser Continues (Sept. 12 – Oct. 16)
Fall Benchmarking Continues
8:15, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
10:40-12:40, Staff Potluck Luncheon (Staff Room)
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals Meeting (McCornack)

October 4 (T)
Title Starts, 1st – 2nd
Yom Kippur (Major Religious Holiday)
8:05, Allan Reading to Class
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
5:00-6:30, 4J Health Insurance In Retirement Presentation (Zoom)

October 5 (W)
Yom Kippur (Major Religious Holiday)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:15, Allan Meeting w/Parent (Office)
2:45-3:15, Optional Building SMART Goals Meeting (Library)

October 6 (H)
8:05, Allan Reading to Class
9:00-9:30, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)

October 7 (F)
1:25-2:25, Friday PD – Staff Choice (Zoom)

October 10 (M)
Library Week #2 Classes
Office/PE/Music Staff Room Duty
Pastini Fundraiser Final Week (Sept. 12 – Oct. 16)
Fall Benchmarking Continues
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
4:00-5:30, Allan to Admin Equity PD (Ed Center)

October 11 (T)
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL/Equity Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

October 12 (W)
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

October 13 (H)
School Picture Day
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Cafeteria)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Cafeteria)

October 14 (F)
No School – PD/Planning Day
Lang Arts Adoption (5.5 hours)

Five-day week this week and a four-day week next week!

Allan