Literacy

May 23, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/05/21 21:27 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, P.D., SEL  |  Comments Off on May 23, 2022

 

Howdy All,

It’s out last 5-day week of the year!

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Four staffing updates:

• 2nd Grade Hire, Michael Dempsey – We hired Michael Dempsey for one of our two 2nd grade opening. Michael is an experienced teacher who’s taught since 2004, starting our teaching high needs primary grade students in the Bronx, New York to teaching at the Hong Kong International School (check out their website to see a SERIOUSLY swank school!) and currently at the Ruamrudee International School in Thailand.

• SPED Hire, Emily Henson – For our full-time SPED teaching position, Emily Henson will join Kelsey and Whitney Oliver (our 0.5 SPED teacher) next year. Emily is coming to us from Utah where she’s taught in a self contained classroom at an autism charter school.

• School Nurse Resignation – And another one bites the dust. Our new school nurse lasted a week before she resigned. Student Health Services is working to hire a replacement, but this is a problem across the district right now, which you can read about on this SSD Email to principals last week.

• CORRECTION (date fixed) 2nd Grade Job Posted (Closes Tuesday) – If you know anyone good, please encourage them to apply for our 2nd Grade Job Posting. The job closes Tuesday. If HR gets me candidates quickly, I’ll plan to hold interviews next week on Wednesday, June 1st, 2:40-5:00. Let me know if any of you (both licensed or classified staff) would like to volunteer your time to help find us a newest staff member!

• Holt Spirit Day – Superhero Day, FRIDAY! – Get your superhero outfits, shirts, or gear ready for this Friday’s Superhero Day! Get kids pumped and don’t forget to log onto the Virtual Assembly at 7:40.

• Friday PD, Class List Input Session – We will meet in the cafeteria this Friday at 1:30, where specialists, prior year teachers, receiving teachers, and other staff will review the draft 2022-23 Class List Placement Form to provide input. Specialists may want to look at the lists ahead of time since you’ll be looking at all of the class lists.

It was suggested we have a schedule, though I’m also fine if we want to keep it looser and staff can just float between teams, which was my original plan. If folks want something more structured, below is my initial thinking, but input is welcome.

1:30-1:35, Review Process

PE/Muisc specialists meet with:
1:35-1:40, KG
1:40-1:45, 1st
1:45-1:50, 2nd
1:50-1:55, 3rd
1:55-2:00, 4th

Interventionists (SPED, Title, ELD) meet with:
1:35-1:40, 4th
1:40-1:45, KG
1:45-1:50, 1st
1:50-1:55, 2nd
1:55-2:00, 3rd

Sending & Receiving Teams will meet:
2:00-2:10, K-1, 2-3, 4-5
2:10-2:20, 1-2, 3-4
*Prior year teachers can also float to other grade levels at this time

2:20-2:25, Wrap-Up, Next Steps, Others

• Friday @4:00 and Top Gun: Maverick! – A reminder the Sunshine Committee has scheduled a Friday at 4;00 this Friday at the Original Roadhouse in Springfield, followed by Top Gun: Maverick across the parking lot at Cinemark 17. Bring your family and order your tickets now!

• REMINDER: 3/4/5 Climate Survey DUE May 31 – A reminder for 3/4/5 teachers to have students complete the student climate survey by the end of the month. See the email I sent earlier for details, but first show the video and then have students complete the survey.

English version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4jelementaryclimate2022
Spanish version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ambienteprimaria4j2022

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

• Report Cards – Grading day is Friday, June 10th and report cards will be sent home with students the last day of school, Friday, June 17th. Melanie will do the “Update Attendance” procedure in Synergy the Thursday before grading day, so wait until grading day to print report cards.

• iPad Inventory & Collection – Four iPad related updates:

• BEST Student iPads Stay at School – Students attending BEST/YMCA should keep iPads at school, just like everyone else. The plan for next year will be for BEST to have their own set of iPads.

• Email Melanie if any iPads are missing – If there are any students who have not brought back their iPad email Melanie. 

• Email Melanie Charger/Cord Info (if you have it) – We know that most teachers did not track who returned their iPad charger and cord, but if you happen to have that info, please email it to Melanie. If you don’t have that info, don’t worry about it.

• Inventory Last Week of School – Melanie is planning to begin inventorying iPads the last week of school, so it would be helpful if teachers can have iPads stored in a COW Cart or all in one location.

• Summer Reading Staff Picks! – Since summer is almost here, it’s time for me to put together my annual end-of-the-school-year Summer Reading Staff Picks! Email me or let me know in person what your summer reading list looks like and I’ll post everyone’s picks in my final weekly announcements of the year. I love hearing what other are planning to read and have found some good books this way. For my picks, I’m going old school and thinking I want to read couple 70s pulp classics I never read before, James Clavell’s Shogun and V.C. Andrews’ Flowers In The Attic. Let me know what you’re reading to join the fun!

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Staff Mailboxes – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Bicycles, Inline Skates, and Skateboards:

Bicycles, Inline Skates, and Skateboards:

According to Oregon helmet law, any child under the age of 16 must wear a helmet when riding a skateboard, scooter, skates, or a bicycle in a public place. Once on campus, bikes, skates, scooters, or skateboards should be walked to the storage area (classroom keys will open the lock), bicycle racks, or the skateboard/scooter rack. School is not responsible for lost or damaged items.

• District Admin Updates – Linked here is an email with a few district admin updates. Spring Creek principal Sebastian Bolden will be the new Director of Middle School Education. This is a new position and a bit of a restructure. Currently there are two elementary directors and one secondary director for middle and high. Prior to that, there were two directors of K-8 and one director of high schools. Now each level will have their own director or directors. The other admin updates were secondary assistant principals if you’re interested.

• Virtual Public Works Week! – The city isn’t doing an in-person Public Works Day this year, buy they are offering a Virtual Public Works Week instead. If you’d like to show your class, they created a series of eight videos, targeted towards children and from a child’s view. They feature a local kid talking with staff about different public works services.

• Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program – Sure it’s a marketing ploy, but kids can earn a free book by picking any book to read, completing the linked reading journal (English or Spanish), listing the book title and their favorite part, and after eight books, redeem their journal for a free book at Barns & Noble. See the linked website for more details.

• COVID-19 Free Test Kits – In case you missed it, every home in the U.S. is eligible to order a 3rd round of free at-home tests, 8 kids the time. Order yours here: https://special.usps.com/testkits

• Future-Proofing Students – When they’re adults, more than half of today’s students will work in jobs that don’t yet exist, says author/psychologist Michele Borba in this Educational Leadership article. Her research has identified seven skillsets that are vital to success in this ever-changing world. “These strengths are not fixed nor based on scores, IQs, or ZIP codes,” says Borba, “but teachable abilities that can be woven into daily lessons and help prepare kids for life.” See this ASCD Article for details on the strengths, each with several associated abilities:

• Self-confidence: Self-awareness, strength awareness, finding purpose
• Empathy: Emotional literacy, perspective taking, empathic concern • Self-control: Attentive focus, self-management, healthy decision-making • Integrity: Moral awareness, moral identity, ethical thinking
• Curiosity: Curious mindset, creative problem-solving, divergent thinking
• Perseverance: Growth mindset, goal setting, learning from failure
• Optimism: Optimistic thinking, assertive communication, hope

“Our moral obligation,” Borba concludes, “is to equip this generation with the content and abilities they will need to handle an unpredictable future and thrive. Doing so may be our most important educational task.”

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

May 23 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
4:30-6:00, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)
7:00, 5th Grade Graduation Parent Planning Meeting (Zoom)

May 24 (T)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)

May 25 (W)
Towel Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

May 26 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:30-6:00, 4J Annual Retirement Celebration (ATA)

May 27 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Superhero Day!
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
7:40-8:10, Spirit Day – Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – Class List Calibration (Cafeteria)
4:00, Friday at 4:00 (Original Roadhouse)
5:00, Staff Social, “Top Gun: Maverick” (Cinemark 17)

May 30 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

May 13 (T)
Kinder Staff Room Duty
3/4/5 Climate Survey DEADLINE
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 1 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
2:40-5:00, 2nd Grade Interviews
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

June 2 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)

June 3 (F)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD Cancelled – Double Prep

June 5 (SU)
3:00-7:00, Barbara Kitterman Retirement Celebration!

June 6 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS

June 7 (T)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
1:10, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 8 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

June 9 (H)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

June 10 (F)
No School — Grading Day

June 13 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6

June 14 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

June 15 (W)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5 (Field)
9:00-10:00, Allan Skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2 (Field)

June 16 (H)
1:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (if needed)

June 17 (F)
Last Day for Students
Last Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees
Spring Benchmark Testing Closes
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
10:00, Grab-n-Go Lunches (Cafeteria)

10:00 Kindergarten
10:10 1st grade
10:20 2nd grade
10:30 3rd grade
10:40 4th grade
10:50 5th grade

11:10, Early Dismissal
Staff Social – End of Year BBQ

June 20 (M)
Last day for licensed staff

17 1/2 kid days left!

Allan

May 16, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/05/14 21:27 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Science, Video  |  Comments Off on May 16, 2022

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• 2nd Grade & CLC Hiring Updates – Last week we interviewed candidates from the 4J Early Hire Pool. The are external hires by HR done early this year to secure experienced teachers before other districts hire them. Schools with openings first interview from this pool and then have the option to hire someone or to post external. I’m pleased to say we did find one strong candidate for our full-time CLC position and one strong candidate for one of our two 2nd grade opening. I’ve notified HR to make a job offer and hope to announce these folks soon!

• Bruce Hale, Virtual Author Visit, TUESDAY @1:10 – Author of the Bruce the Shark series of books, Bruce Hale, is doing a virtual author visit at Holt on Tuesday at 1:10. If you’d like to get kids excited, he has on his website some Fun Activities and Curriculum Tie-ins.

• Holt Bolt, THURSDAY – The Holt Bolt is this Thursday (weather contingent). See Lesli’s Email for details, but here are the highlights:

Times – K/1/2, 8:45-9:45 and 3/4/5, 10:30-11:30. Classes report to hard play 10 minutes before running begins.

Holt Bolt Shirts – Shirts will be put into mailboxes on Monday. Fabric markers are in the Staff Room if you’d like for your kids to decorate their Holt Bolt shirts. See Ashley’s Emails for details. And remember, DO NOT send shirts home. Keep them until the Holt Bolt.

Map/Supervision – Kids will follow the path on the map below. We’ll have staff strategically stationed along the path to supervise/cheer students.

Recess Changes – All morning recesses are canceled. 1st-5th grade teachers are welcome to take their morning break during their jogathon time. Kinder and 1st grade lunch recesses will be in the gym. Kids should move through the hallway to get to the gym. K/1 teachers need to pick up from the gym. 2nd grade lunch recess will have to be soft play only while things get finished and cleaned up.

Prizes – PAHS is providing a number of prize drawings. Kids will enter their name into different buckets, which will be stationed around hard play. Winners will be announced after running and prizes will be announced later in the day.

QR Codes – Teachers will receive the lanyards with the QR codes early this week. These lanyards will be reused please ask students to take care of them. There will be a video coming from Jackie that you can share with kids on how to scan their badge.

No Spectators – If parents ask, we’re not allowed to have spectators.

Extra Fun – PAHS is also going to have a mister for kids to run through if they choose. At the end of the run, PAHS will have Otter Pops for everyone. Also, we’ll have Electa AND Sluggo at the run!

 

• Friday PD, Class List Prep – We’ll discuss and decide the 22-23 Class List process at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, but this Friday will be time for teachers begin entering students on the 22-23 Class List Spreadsheet.

• Staff Social, Movie Night, Friday, May 27th – Stay tuned for details from the Sunshine Committee, but there’s a Staff Movie Night Social a week from this Friday. And if I might be so bold as to make a suggestion, maybe we should get together this Friday and order tickets to watch Top Gun: Maverick! And maybe stop at Original Roadhouse before to get a beverage.

 

• Last Day of School Dismissal @11:10 – Principals were told this week the dismissal time for early start schools this year will be at 11:10, which is what it has been in the past during normal times.

• 4J Science Kit Update – STEM TOSA Jamie Tait emailed principals the following email and Science Kit Slide Show Update regarding some changes how kits will be handled next year. Rather than read the slide show to you at a meeting, I’ll let folks read it here on your own and find me if you have questions. The main points are:

• Each classroom teacher with have their full year of science curriculum (3 modules).
• Science kits will no longer be returned and restocked at the district level.
• Storage and maintenance of science kits will be managed at the building level.
• District will support restocking of consumables and live materials.
• Teachers Submit a Spring 2022 Restocking Form to replenish consumables.
• Continue to uee the 4J Science website for the prioritized lessons & standards (since there’s not enough time to teach ALL lessons).
• Additional kits will be delivered to schools over the summer.
• Kits need to be cared for as if you were passing them along to another teacher.
• Keep items in the boxes that they belong in. Use the list on the front of each box to keep track.
• Kits are stocked for multiple uses, but you will have the opportunity after each use to fill out a Kit Restock form.

 

• No Reimbursements for Teacher Pay Teachers – The Finance Department emailed secretaries they were told by the Instruction Department they may not reimburse teachers for any purchases made from Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m planning to ask about this at the next principals’ meeting. I understand there’s a lot of garbage on TpT, but there’s also some really good stuff there as well. I’m failing to see how this is any different from being reimbursed for an Amazon purchase, which also has some terrible quality teaching materials as well as some excellent materials.

• No Helium Balloons in Gym or Cafeteria – Facilities figured out there was a helium ballon in the gym that set off our hale alarms last week, so be sure you never take any balloons in there.

• REMINDER: School Supplies for Fall 2022 – A reminder the 4J is again purchasing supplies for all students next year, but if there are additional items your grade levels needs, let Melanie know ASAP. Linked here is what is being ordered.

• Summer SEAL Update – As of last Wednesday, only 205 K-5 students signed up for SEAL out of 840 spots districtwide. The program continues to be understaffed, but downtown is forging ahead as planning. I will keep staff posted if they decide to combine the Holt and River Road SEAL programs. If that happens Holt will host the ESD Migrant Ed Program.

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

Staff Mailboxes
• Staff mailboxes are found in the main IMC (workroom). District, classroom, office mail, notices for families will be placed here. Flyers to go home in Monday mailers are to be placed in boxes before noon on Friday; understanding that occasional exceptions will need to be made
• [DURING NORMAL TIMES] PAHS has a work request box. Staff can fill out a form for volunteers to help with copying, stapling, etc.

• Moments of Zen – If you and/or your students need a little Zen in your lives these days, here are some live streams that might help:

• Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otters
• All of Monteray Bay Aquarium’s Live Cams
• Multiple live cams of different areas in an African nature reserves
• San Diego Zoos Live Cams
• Smithsonian Zoo Live Cams
• Aquarium of the Pacific Live Cams

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

May 16 (M)
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
8:30, Allan Meeting w/Garden Way Church
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade O Heroes Program Visit
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

May 17 (T)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
11:00, Allan to SEAL Admin Interviews (Zoom)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS
1:10-1:55, Bruce Hale, Virtual Author Visit (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 18 (W)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 19 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
8:45-9:45, K-2 Holt Bolt (Hard Play, arrive 10 min. early)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
10:30-11:30, 3-5 Holt Bolt (Hard Play, arrive 10 min. early)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS

May 20 (F)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – 22-23 Class List Prep

May 23 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
4:30-6:00, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)

May 24 (T)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)

May 25 (W)
Towel Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:30-6:00, 4J Annual Retirement Celebration (ATA)

May 26 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:30-4:30, 2nd Grade Interviews (In-Person & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

May 27 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Superhero Day!
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
7:40-8:10, Spirit Day – Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD
1:30-3:30, SPED Teacher Interviews (In-Person & Zoom)
~5:00, Staff Social, Movie Night (Cinemark 17)

May 30 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

22 1/2 kid days left!

Allan

May 9, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/05/07 21:39 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Literacy, P.D., Video  |  Comments Off on May 9, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

My 91-year-old father-in-law had to go to the hospital Friday afternoon and has been in the ICU with intestinal bleeding since then, so I didn’t get as much time to get school work done this weekend as normal. He’s stable now and I hope to get the Site Council agenda and Draft School Improvement Plan out by Monday, as well as a draft plan to Leadership for the 22-23 Class List Process. Stay tuned!

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing & Expo Updates – Four updates:

• 0.5 SPED Position – Whitney Oliver has been hired as our 0.5 SPED Teacher (shared with 0.5 SPED at Gilham). She’s an experienced special education teacher who is currently the CLC teacher at Chavez. She had excellent references and should make a great addition to our school! Please welcome Whitney to to Team Holt!

• 1.0 SPED Interviews Friday – Our 1.0 SPED Teaching job was not filled at the Expo, but Kelsey and are conducting interviews this Friday at 1:30 to try to hire someone from the 4J Early Hire Pool. Let me know if any of you would like to volunteer your time to join us.

• 2nd Grade Interviews Thursday – Our two 2nd grade classroom positions are also both unfilled. HR wants us to interview some of their early hire candidates before posting externally (I do know of some strong external candidates), so I’m conducting interviews this Thursday at 2:30. Let me know if you’d like to join me for these interviews.

• New School Nurse – Please welcome our new school nurse, Jill Klinko. He schedule isn’t set just yet, but we are sharing her with and Cal Young, so she’ll hopefully be there three days a week like our prior school nurses. Please welcome Jill to the team!

• Region Equity Manager Visit Tuesday – Alma Reyes Guillen, the Sheldon Region Equity Manager emailed principals she is planning to visit all schools in our region this week. She’s visiting Holt on Tuesday at 11:00, so don’t be surprised if you see her in your classroom or around the school.

• Friday PD – Watch for a separate email for this Friday’s PD, which will be async so I can conduct SPED teacher interviews.

• Bruce Hale, Virtual Author Visit, May 17th – Author of the Clark the Shark series of books, Bruce Hale, is doing a virtual author visit at Holt on Tuesday, May 17th at 1:10. I don’t have a Zoom link but will add it to the calendar once I get it. We’ve ordered some books for the library by Bruce, so hopefully we’ll get those this week. If you’d like to get kids excited, he has on his website some Fun Activities and Curriculum Tie-ins.

• Holt Bolt, Thursday, May 19th – The Holt Bolt is on the calendar for Thursday, May 19th at the following times:

K/1/2, 8:45-9:45
3/4/5, 10:30-11:30

The event this year is a “Fun Run” and not a fundraiser. PAHS is going to test out a new digital tool for counting laps, where all students will have a QR code sticker, which volunteer will scan with an app on their phones that keeps track of all participating students. If it works well, we may try it for the Fundraiser Holt Bolt next school year. Students will run around the building. We’ll have a map we will share soon. There will be prizes (TBA on details) and also Otter Pops (or something similar) for kids at the end of the event. There will also be t-shirts for all students and staff! This is my first jog-a-thon at Holt, so let me know if I’m missing anything or if you have any questions.

• CORRECTION (times were swapped): Field Day, Wednesday, June 15th – Holt’s annual end-of-year Field Day will be Wednesday, June 15th. Grades 3-5 will be 8:45-10:15. Grades K-2 will be 12:00-1:30. Linked here is the 2022 Field Day Plan, including station direction, where classes will start, and map of the stations. Thank you, Alex, for coordinating all of this!

• COVID Updates – Two COVID updates:

• When to Stay Home w/Symptoms – We are almost back to regular-times standards for when staff need to stay home, which is fever or vomiting. The only new wrinkle is if you have symptoms on the COVID list you need to have a negative test, which I can administer to you here at school. The HR COVID person said staff, “need to stay home if they are sick – that goes without question. If it is congestion and runny nose, and they test negative they can come to work. As always, they must be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to work (if they had a fever).” COVID symptoms are:

• Fever of 100.4º or higher
• Chills
• Cough (non-persistent, dry coughs are okay, but congested coughs are not)
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

• iHealth Rapid Test Expiration Dates – If families ask about the expiration date on the iHealth tests that were sent home with all students, the date have been extended to 9 months instead of the 6 currently listed on the boxes. Also, the date is likely to be extended to 12 months. Also, we still have extra tests if you know of any families needing rapid tests.

• G.I. Outbreak Update – Unfortunately the barfing continues, so we aren’t able to lift the LCPH safety measures just yet. Keep washing those hands!

• ELA Adoption Update – The ELA Adoption Team meet last Friday to review their independent scoring of the two pilot programs. If you’re interested in seeing the final scores, see the linked LA/ Literacy Materials Adoption Pilot Wrap Up & Celebrations Slide Show. I checked in with Robin S. and she said the team is moving forward with recommending Wit & Wisdom for adoption.

• TSPC PDU/PEER Form Temp Change – TSPC is suspending PDU Reporting through the end of next year, December 2023. HR is not requiring licensed staff to turn anything in, but continue to track PDUs, since you’ll need to have those ready for any renewals for January 2024 and beyond (if nothing else changes). Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• Self-Harm Event Recording – Linked here is the Self-Harm Video Recording from the community event about self-harm that was held April 25th at Sheldon. It could be a good resource if families reach out about self-harming behaviors.

• Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Activities – May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. If you are looking for activities to recognize the challenges the AAPI community has faced and celebrate their part in the American story, see these resources at Houghton Mifflin, NEA, Education Northwest, and the official Asian Pacific American Heritage Month website.

• 5 Super Common End-of-Year Behavior Issues (Plus How to Address Them!) – This WeAreTeachers Article was already shared by Kim, but I wanted to highlight it. Excessive talking, incomplete work, defiance, drama, and no motivation. Read on for tips how to handle these situations.

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

May 9 (M)
Yellow Day
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
TAG Testing Window Opens
8:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT

May 10 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, Conscious Discipline Parent Night (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, ACE Awards Celebration (Facebook)

May 11 (W)
School Nurse Day (Office)
8:30-1:30, Allan to Superintendent Interviews (Ed Center)
9:00-11:00, Allan skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)

May 12 (H)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:30-4:30, 2nd Grade Interviews (In-Person & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

May 13 (F)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
1:30-2:25, Friday PD
1:30-3:30, SPED Teacher Interviews (In-Person & Zoom)

May 16 (M)
SPED/PE Staff Room Duty
8:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade O Heroes Program Visit
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

May 17 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – Math CAT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT
1:10-2:10, Bruce Hale, Virtual Author Visit (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 18 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – Math CAT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 19 (H)
8:45-9:45, K-2 Holt Bolt
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – Math CAT
10:30-11:30, 3-5 Holt Bolt
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT

May 20 (F)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, Math CAT
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

Just 27.5 kid days left. Here’s a link to some Summer Countdown Actives to relish your final days with your kids. You’ve got this, people!

Allan

 

May 2, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/04/30 16:18 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Technology  |  Comments Off on May 2, 2022

 

Hello Holt Staff,

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, but let’s take time to appreciate ALL Holt staff members and everything you do each and every day. To honor everyone, our fabulous parent group, PAHS, is organizing a food train for Holt Staff on Monday and Wednesday (I’ll bring donuts on Tuesday and Thursday). You all are a RAD staff to work with, who make me glad to be part of Team Holt!

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Expo Updates – No updates yet from HR regarding last week’s Job Expo. Stay tuned!

• REPEAT: Staff Pockluck, Monday – The Sunshine Committee May Staff Pockluck is happening this Monday, though PAHS is also feeding us. Feel free your name to the Staff Potluck Luncheon Sign-Up. Sunshine will provide Birthday cake for May Birthdays!

• Friday PD: 22-23 Master Schedule Planning – This Friday’s PD time will be for staff wanting to give input on next year’s Master Schedule. If you’d rather share your input over email or before the meeting, that’s fine too.

• 2022-2023 Elem Content Minutes Schedule Guide – Related to the above, downtown made a 2022-2023 Elementary Content Minutes Schedule Guide, which has the suggested (not required) amount of minutes for each content area for when schools develop their master schedules. Holt is already pretty aligned with these guidelines, with the exception that the guide lacks a math intervention period and the ELA times vary a bit. Also, the guide has a 15 minute morning recess instead of 20 minutes, which I pointed out is different from 4J’s Standard School Schedule. District admins said that was a mistake and 5 minutes will have to be pulled from somewhere else.

• 3/4/5 Annual PBIS Student Climate Survey – Traditionally the climate survey has been administered to 3rd-5th grade in early spring. However, this year the Instruction Department revamped the survey to administer to all students in grades 3rd-12th and it is almost ready to share all the details, including the link. 3rd-5th grade teachers will need to pick a date and time to administer the survey during the month of May. Be on the lookout for additional details, coming out soon.

• GI Outbreak Update – See the linked email for an update on our suspected Norovirus / GI outbreak from the head of 4J’s Health Services. The short version is cases are down by a lot and we may be able to lift current protocols this week. A big shout out to Ryan and Ritchie who’ve had A LOT of work added to their plates as a result of this outbreak.

In related news, this stomach thing seems to be making the rounds as I got a notification my own kids’ school about an outbreak at their schools.

• No Toys or Other Items at Recess – Outside of book (but not a library book), kids are not to bring toys or other items out to recess. We’re starting to see more items snuck out to recess if staff can remind students and keep an eye out for smuggled items.

• Gaga Ball Update – Facilities came out last week to survey our Gaga Ball Pit FIP (Facilitates Improvement Proposal). It’s not official until the Facilities Team meets, but it sounds like they will approve our plan. They’re a bit reluctant about it because they know that as soon as one school gets a Gaga Ball Pit, then ALL elementary schools will want one, but I like laying claim that we’re THE FIRST school in 4J with a Gaga Ball Pit. They did make a couple changes to our original proposal. One, the location needs to be on a hard surface, so it will be on hard-play next to the covered play area (see map below). The second change is we need to add rubber matting below the pit, which makes sense to avoid scraped knuckles. Facilities will install the pit, but that probably won’t happen until over the summer. However, we’ll plan to bring out the Gaga Ball Pit as a Field Day stations so kids will at least have one day with it this year. If you’re interested, linked here is a Gaga Ball Rules Slide Show I made and got classified staff input on.

• Field Day Updates – We got an okay from downtown last week to do K-2 and 3-5 Field Day, complete with parent volunteers to help run stations. We’ll hold Field Day the last week of school Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. We’ll decide on a date a a future Staff Meeting.

• 4J Summer Seal Program Updates – Downtown is hoping to add an incentive to get more staff to fill summer school vacancies. Class sizes will be increased if they do not have enough staffing and the Sheldon/North regions will be combined. I volunteered Holt to NOT host the SEAL program and to instead host Migrant Ed, which ends earlier and operated fewer days in the building.

I also asked about the summer cleaning schedule for schools hosting the SEAL program. District admin were not sure, but believed Facilities is planning on cleaning these buildings prior to the summer use, but are going to confirm that.

• Library Media Services Info – District Librarian, Amy Page, shared the linked Library Media Services Slide Show with principals, which links out to a wealth of resources for teachers, including safe search engines, the district digital book collection Sora (USER: 4J username, PASS: 4J email password), and the underused research website PebbleGo (USER: holt1 PASS: school). She also shared that she is available to create curated research sites, such as the one on slide #4 about Exploring Penguins. Just contact her at page_a@4j.lane.edu

• Next Level Sports Flag Football Staff Discount – Next Level Sports partners with the University of Oregon to bring a co-ed youth Flag Football league to Eugene  June through July for grades K-7. I share this here because they are offering a coupon code for staff, so let me know if you’d like that code. 

• Teacher Appreciation Week Freebies – Check these RetailMeNot and WeAreTeachers articles containing lists of all the freebies and discounts educators can get this week. Applebee’s free lunch or dinner, 20% off at Buffalo Wild Wings, 15% off J.Crew, 15% off at Michaels, 20% off at Pieology Pizza, or a free cheeseburger with any purchase at Sonic! I’m bummed Insomnia Cookies isn’t on there, but there’s some good stuff here. Also, McDonald’s has free coffee or soda if you show your ID, but wasn’t on either list.

• Celebrating Inclusive Mother’s Day & Father’s Day – As we celebrate and honor caregivers in schools, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be opportunities to recognize the diversity of family structures. See this Welcoming Schools Article for how to inclusively celebrate these holidays.

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

May 2 (M)
Teacher/School Staff Appreciation Week
May Staff Potluck
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)

May 3 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
10:00-11:30, Allan to Superintendent Interview Panel Meeting (Zoom)
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 4 (W)
Star Wars Day!
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
12:30-12:55 – Delgani Strings Visit to Longoria
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:00-1:25 – Delgani Strings Visit to Benavides
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)
1:30-1:55 – Delgani Strings Visit to Talley
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 5 (H)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT

May 6 (F)
School Lunch Hero Day (2nd Grade)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Superintendent Interview Panel Meeting (Zoom)
10:10-12:00, 5th Grade Monroe Visit
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

May 8 (SU)
Mother’s Day

May 9 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
TAG Testing Window
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT

May 10 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:00, Conscious Discipline Parent Night (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, ACE Awards Celebration (Facebook)

May 11 (W)
School Nurse Day (Office)
8:30-1:30, Allan to Superintendent Interviews (Ed Center)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

May 12 (H)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS, ELA PT
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

May 13 (F)
11:30-12:30, 5th Grade OSAS, ELA CAT
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

And May the 4th be with you, always…

Allan

 

April 25, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/04/22 20:35 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Literacy, P.D., Video  |  Comments Off on April 25, 2022

Hello Holt Bolts,

This Wednesday is Administrative Professional’s Day, formerly known as Secretary’s Day, so a HUGE shout out to our AMAZING front office staff, Melanie and Sharon! Be sure to let them know how appreciated they are, because we all know that the above image is true.

And if you need a reminder that Holt is a pretty great school, I had two different visitors on two different days last week remark how Holt has such a welcoming, positive, and calm feel to it compared to other schools they’ve been. This is a nice reminder since it’s sometimes easy to lose perspective, especially this time of year when it’s easy to get frustrated with things, so although you may not always realize it, you all have created a pretty rad school here!

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• Expo Updates – Shared at last week’s Staff Meeting, SJ took at job at Adams and Ashley Wolf took a job at Gilham. Since that announcement, Elizabeth Cobb is moving into the 3rd grade vacancy, which means Holt will have two 2nd openings and 1.5 SPED openings at this week’s Job Expo.

• COVID Utility EA Update – Rosie is no longer with 4J, so we will have subs in this position for the remainder of the year since building are not be staffed with COVID Utility EAs next school year. Our sub from this past week, Carol Eicher, has agreed to be our regular sub for the remainder of the school year Mondays through Thursdays, so please welcome Carol to Team Holt!

• REPEAT: Allan Out MONDAY – I’m attending a COSA Conference and will be out of the building this Monday, but I’ve asked the Monroe principal, Sun Saeteurn, to be on call if anything out of the ordinary comes up.

• UPDATE: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – We got rained out last week, so we’ll try again for this Tuesday at 1:10. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.

• Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser THURSDAY – Kona Ice it coming to Holt this Thursday at dismissal, so remember,  shave ice is always free to all staff members! Remind your students and start thinking about what flavor you want (Lavender Lemonade is my fav)!

• K/1 Hearing Screening, THURSDAY & FRIDAY (hallway closed) – Kindergarten and 1st grade students have their hearing screening this Thursday and Friday. UO speech language pathologists will run the tests out of the Speech and ELD classroom, which means classes should not use this hallways as an entrance/exit Thursday and Friday during testing, which is scheduled for the following times:

Thursday
10:30-11:00 Barton
11:30-12:00 Harmon
12:00-12:30 Seno

Friday
8:30-9:00 Gulewich
9:30-10:00 Vaughan
10:00-10:30 Cobb
10:30-11:00 Gori
11:30-12:00 Stimler

• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Wear Day, FRIDAY! – Start planning your outfits for this Friday’s Wacky Wear Day! Get your kids pumped and don’t forget to log onto the Virtual Assembly at 7:40.

At the assembly we’ll play a game of Pictionary and are also presenting a special Holt Hero Award, which I’m told was something put into place pre-pandemic, but hasn’t been used yet. For folks like me who weren’t here for that discussion, linked here is the Holt Hero Award Nomination Form, explaining how it’s a special award for student community service outside of school that goes above and beyond. Maybe only one or two students a year would get this award, but we had a student who last week alerted their parents to a fire at a neighbor’s house in the middle the night, who was then able to contact the fire department before the fire spread.

• Friday PD: School Improvement Planning – Site Council met last week and have decided upon two umbrella School Improvement Goals; Attendance and Equity/Inclusion. Our next step is to develop strategies and action steps to improve in these areas, which I would like to get staff input on.

Some of the ideas discussed at Site Council for attendance were to focus on more Tier 1 school wide strategies, such as attendance challenges, or to create a strategies to reduce barrier for families, such as partnering with Safe Routes to School for carpools and walking groups. For equity/inclusion, we discussed ideas such as starting affinity groups, reinvigorating parent involvement after two years of mostly virtual parent involvement, and also taking a particularly close look at supporting ELD students, who are stood out when we looked at attendance, discipline, and academic data.

Start brainstorming ideas in these areas and come prepared to share on Friday.

• Friday at 4:00 @PublicHouse – Here’s a great way to end your week! Join colleges for a beverage at PublicHouse in Springfield! There’s pizza, Hawaiian food, Fisherman’s Market, Indian & Latin fare, and all sorts of good food to choose from, as well as a variety of beverages. Bring your family along if you’d like and hope to see you there!

• Staff Pockluck, May 2nd – The Sunshine Committee May Staff Pockluck is happening a week from Monday. Add your name to the Staff Potluck Luncheon Sign-Up! Sunshine will provide Birthday cake for May Birthdays!

• Next Year’s Master Schedule Update – Downtown is providing schools with guidance on master schedules and suggested/required times for content areas, so we need to wait until we get this official guidance before we can begin working on the master schedule for next school year. Principals may get more info this week, which I’ll share out once I get it.

• Digital Access to New ELA Curriculums – I wanted to highlight one item from the FAQ for the ELA Adoption, which is that staff can access everything digitally from for the two programs being considered for adoption starting next school year.

For EL Education, log on to their website. Fill out form to create account. Check email for confirmation. Create password using link from confirmation email.

For Wit & Wisdom, log onto their website and use the password: elafororegon More info on what you can access can be found here. (Shhhh. Insider info leads me to think Wit & Wisdom will be the adopted curriculum)

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

Garden
Schedule:
A Zimbra calendar is created for garden use

Events:
Fourth grade runs a curriculum project with the gardens beds
Buddies classes often sign up for picnics or use at end of the year

Expectations:
Garden tour before garden time
Benches are to be sat on
Brenda’s Rock is meant to be observed

• What Role Does Vulnerability Play in our Classrooms? – I quite liked this Brene Brown video that came from the Spring 4J TAG Newsletter.

It’s hard to find someone in our field completely unfamiliar with shame researcher & author, Dr. Brene Brown. She’s written a good number of books outlining her research on shame, vulnerability, courage, resilience, leadership, and the list goes on. As teachers we know that our students learn best in classrooms where the teacher has created a culture of courage and belonging. Creativity and learning take place when children feel safe to risk and try to learn something new.

Gifted learners are not the only ones who find it especially difficult to appear vulnerable in the classroom, but the truth for all of us is that learning IS inherently vulnerable – by definition. How does our own personal “baggage” effect our teaching? How can we grow as human beings to better serve our learners? Watch this video of Dr. Brene Brown speaking to an audience made up entirely of teachers and see how it makes you feel. Listen to how she describes empathy as the antidote to shame. You just might find yourself inspired and even braver than before.

• 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 25 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Allan at COSA Conference
9:15-5:30, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
6:00-7:30, Self-Harm Community Event (Sheldon HS)

April 26 (T)
9:15-5:30, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

April 27 (W)
Administrative Professionals Day!
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:15-1:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

April 28 (H)
Max Out, but with Sub Covering
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:30-12:30, K/1 Hearing Screening (SLP & ELD Rooms)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:15-3:00, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)
4:00-7:00, Allan to Job Expo (Zoom)

April 29 (F)
Max Out through May 6th, but has Sub
Holt Spirit Day, Wacky Wear Day
7:40-8:10, Spirit Day Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:30-12:00, K/1 Hearing Screening (SLP & ELD Rooms)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD
1:30-2:20, 4th Grade Data Team Meeting
4:00, Friday at 4:00 @Public House

May 2 (M)
Teacher/School Staff Appreciation Week
May Staff Potluck
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)

May 3 (T)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

May 4 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT
11:20-12:20, 5th Human Growth & Development (Henrich & Parks)
12:30-12:55 – Delgani Strings Visit to Longoria
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
1:00-1:25 – Delgani Strings Visit to Benavides
1:10-2:10, 5th Human Growth & Development (Lovato & Ayres)
1:30-1:55 – Delgani Strings Visit to Talley
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

May 5 (H)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS – ELA CAT

May 6 (F)
School Lunch Hero Day (2nd Grade)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

It’s the last week of April and then just a month and a half until summer!

Allan

 

 

April 18, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/04/16 20:50 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, P.D., SEL, Video  |  Comments Off on April 18, 2022

 

Greetings Bolts,

Hope you all had a good semi-three-day weekend.

Twenty items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates:

• Darrin Update – I know lots of folks are concerned and have been asking about Darrin. He’s asked us not to share too much, but we can share that he will be out the rest of the school year for medical reasons, but that he’s getting better daily and plans to come back in the fall. HR is having us put in for subs for the remainder of the school year.

• School Nurse Update – Martin McCarthy, RN has agreed to stay with Holt to support the current illness outbreak as well as providing nursing coverage. We will continue to have Hallie Ritter, LPN continue to be the one to provide on-site nursing services. SSD has already hired a new RN who starts early May and they’ve asked Maxim for another LPN who could help cover for absences, so we will have more staffing options soon.

• Job Expo Update – I was not notified of any changes from round one of last week’s Job Expo, so as of Saturday night, we still have 1.5 FTE special education teaching positions vacant for next year and no other staffing changes.

• REPEAT: Volunteer Appreciation Week, THIS WEEK – This week is Volunteer Appreciation Week. See the linked Sunshine Committee Volunteer Appreciation Doc for details and sign up on the Treat Table Spreadsheet to celebrate our volunteers and student teachers, bringing teats each day this week!

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – As long as the weather cooperates, this Tuesday at 1:10 will be our April Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.

• Friday PD – Watch for a separate email regarding this Friday’s PD, which will focus on the ACT area of High Leverage Instructional Strategies.

• Allan Out April 25th – Not this week, but Monday next I’m attending a COSA Conference and will be out of the building, but I’ve asked the Monroe principal, Sun Saeteurn, to be on call if anything out of the ordinary comes up.

• 2022–23 School Calendar Dates Pending Approval – If you didn’t catch it in the 4J Family Email shared with staff, the 22-23 School Calendar for next school year is posted online. Key dates include:

• First Day of School (Except Grades 7 & 8): Wed., September 7
• Winter Break: Mon., Dec. 19–Mon., Jan. 2 + Tue., Jan. 3 (staff work day)
• Spring Break: Mon., March 27–Fri., March 31 + Mon., April 3 (staff work day)
• Last Day: Thu., June 15 (or later if weather makeup days are needed)

• FRIDAY PD Follow-Up – As a follow-up to Friday’s PD, here are links to the:

• Second Step Training Modules
• Second Step K-5 Pacing Guide
• Kelso’s Choice Slide Show
• Printable Pocket-Sized Kelso’s Wheel
• SB 13 Update for K-5 Slides and Zoom Recording (Passcode: iK56V=S2)
• LETRS Introduction Slides and Zoom Recording (Passcode: iK56V=S2)
• LETRS Sign-up Form
• ELD Adoption FAQ, answering questions from the February ELA Update Video

Lastly, please enjoy the cringy Kelso’s Choice music video.

• SSD Learning For All PD – Related to the above, linked here is the SSD Slide Show shared with licensed SSD staff last Friday, as well as a Recording of the Zoom (access code: 8Uyz9i?Q)and the questions/comments from the chat.

• Kindness Rocks! – See the Kindness Rocks Email for details, but show your kids the Student Council Bertha Holt Kindness Rock Project Video to get the excited.

– Grade level rocks are outside Ashley’s room (B5).
– Paint them anytime. Could be a Buddy Activity!
– Give finished rocks and leftover paints & pens to Ashley by May 11th

• Bruce Hale Author Visit, May 11th – Also mentioned at Friday PD, we will have an optional Virtual Author Visit from Bruce Hale, author the the Bruce the Shark series among others. If you want to introduce your kids to Bruce Hale before the visit, here are some Fun Actives & Curriculum Tie Ins with the author visit and also s a collection of Bruce Hale Videos on Writing from his website.

• Fiddle Pictures? – Did anyone get good pictures or videos of Kelly fiddling with your class? If you did, can you email them to me?

• iPad Cords & Charger Order Cancelled – Tech Department got wind of our order, so we do not have our off-the-books extra chargers and cords coming. However, the Tech Department is planning to order additional cables and chargers, so hopefully we’ll get those soon. For now, continue to put in tickets to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu if you need additional chargers so you stay on this list, but eventually, COWs will have a full set of chargers.

• Nut Products at Snack Time – I finally got an answer about how to handle nuts and allergies during snack time. Downtown said teachers should have a nut free space for students that require it. Also wipe down before and after any food break. You can say that a room is nut free, especially in a room where there is a significant medical need. You have to look at medical plans so the messaging will be different for different classrooms. Medical staff should weigh in for students with sensitivities to nut products.

• Summer Job Opportunities w/KITS – KITS emailed that they are looking for KITS Site Supervisors, KITS Lead Educators, and KITS Parent Group Facilitators. Job posting close this Sunday, but if you missed that deadline, let me know and I can reach out to the KITS Coordinator on your behalf.

• Self-Harm Community Event – 4J is hosting a Self-Harm: Suicidal/Non-Suicidal Self Injury Community Event on April 25 from 6-7:30pm in the Sheldon Auditorium to learn what to do when your child exhibits signs of cutting, what it means, and where to seek help.

• April is National Poetry Month – This month is National Poetry Month. If you looking for any classroom resources, you can start at Reading Rockets, Read Write Think, or Edutopia.

• District Admin Updates – Coming from Springfield, David Hulbert has been hired at the new principal for Edison starting next school year. Also, Peter Tromba, principal of Spencer Butte Middle School, has accepted a high school principal position in Asheville, North Carolina. See this email for details.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Class Placements – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Class Placements. This topic is going to be revisited at the next Leadership Team Meeting and brought to rest of the staff if we want to tweak or change any parts of this process:

Class Placements
Procedure:
• Each spring our staff works to place students currently in Grades K-4 into balanced classes. Staff uses an electronic matrix to configure classes for the following fall. Point values were assigned to various attributes in an attempt to equalize the classes given a variety of factors. Our Grade 5 teachers work to complete transition paperwork for our middle school. All placements go to the front office and administration at the conclusion of this process. The administrator(s) then review the lists, verifying that there aren’t extenuating variables which need to be considered.
• Kindergarten teachers, along with Administration, meet following the first full week of school in September to configure the classes for the school year.
• Administration makes the final decision on all classroom placements, considering the needs of the teachers, educational assistants, students, parents, and school.

Moving students
Prior to school start and during the year:
• Classroom placements are an administrative decision. We do the best to include teacher feedback in all decisions. Requests for classroom changes by families will not be considered until the second full week of school. All requests should be directed to the building administrators. No classroom changes will be considered until Friday of the second full week of school. If a change can be made it will be made the following Monday. Any changes made after the initial two week request are an administrative decision. Medical and Emergency moves are determined as needed.

Parents:
• Parents MAY NOT make requests for classroom/teachers through you. If parents have information about their student they feel is important for placement for the following grade, the office has a form that is due at the end of May for them to use. Those forms will be given out by office staff to teachers when placement time comes, to the grade level. Please disregard any emails or notes you may have received from parents regarding placements.

Staff Responsibilities:
• Please remember to use neutral comments like “wears glasses”, “seat close to teacher”, or “see me for more information” in the comment section of the grid. Back of the cards are now left blank
• Some students will be assigned to classes based on need (ELD, SPED). These decisions are made by staff in those areas and administration.
• Card comments: please remember anything written on a student card is public record. Please keep comments helpful, but neutral. If you feel you have specific information that a teacher needs to know about a student, mark the “see teacher” field
• Class lists are created using the “green” and “blue” cards, as well as an electronic matrix. As you build each class, it is helpful to keep in mind these characteristics and details:

⁃ SPED- CLC, LC, 504,
⁃ Behavior challenges, CICO, and IEPs
⁃ Academic skills, Title, should be in Title but not enough room
⁃ Speech
⁃ Gender
⁃ Parent volunteers
⁃ Personality conflicts between students
⁃ Parental needs (how frequently does parent contact teacher)
⁃ TAG
⁃ Medical issues

• When your team has finished creating classes:

⁃ Make a master list (ideally alphabetical by last name) of each class created, wrap it around the cards and secure it with a rubber band. These go to Melanie asap.
⁃ NO information about class placements may be shared with families- not even that they have been created.

• A New Resource for Free Digital Field Trips – This Edutopia Article share how the Museums for Digital Learning was developed in partnership with teachers and provides curated material on a variety of subjects. They have resource kits and ebooks sourced from museums across the country. It has materials for kids at all grade levels. Create a free account and check it out!

• 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 18 (M)
Volunteer Appreciation Week
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
3:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

April 19 (T)
11:30-12:20, 5th Grade OSAS – Science
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)
5:30, 22-23 Kindergarten Orientation (Zoom)

April 20 (W)
Oingo Boingo Day
8:15-9:00, Allan to Retention Meeting (Office)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:30-12:20, 5th Grade OSAS – Science
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
3:00-4:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-6:30, School Board Work Session (Zoom)
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

April 21 (H)
11:30-12:20, 5th Grade OSAS – Science
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)

April 22 (F)
Earth Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD

April 25 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Allan at COSA Conference
9:15-5:30, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)

April 26 (T)
Allan Potentially Testifying at Custody Hearing
9:15-5:30, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

April 27 (W)
8:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:15-1:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

April 28 (H)
Max Out, but with Sub Covering
K/1 Hearing Screening
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:15-3:00, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)
4:00-7:00, Allan to Job Expo (Zoom)

April 28 (F)
Max Out, but with Sub Covering
Holt Spirit Day, Wacky Wear Day
K/1 Hearing Screening
7:40-8:10, Spirit Day Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD
1:30-2:20, 4th Grade Data Team Meeting
4:00, Friday at 4:00 @Public House

Lots of rain in the forecast this week. Fingers crossed it’s not during school hours!

Allan

 

February 21, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/02/19 19:05 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Video  |  Comments (1)

 

Hello Holt Bolts,

Hope you all a good 3-day weekend!

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Four Staffing Updates:

• CLC Staffing Updates – Melanie Pinto (CLC Teacher) and Andy Raasch (CLC EA) have resigned their positions. Andy resigned last weekend and Melanie’s last day in the building was Friday. She’ll be working out of the SSD office downtown to finish paperwork. Both positions should get posted this week on the 4J Jobs website for five days. Regular Holt sub Richard Schminke is taking over for Melanie starting this week and is interested in applying for the CLC teaching position for the rest of the year, so that’s great news! I don’t have any leads for the 5.5 hour CLC EA position, so if you know of anyone out there, please encourage them to apply.

• 22/23 Staffing Info – Principals will get 2022-2023 Staffing Allocaitons for licensed, classified, Title 1 and SSD staff this Wednesday. I’ll email information to staff Wednesday evening and will meet with the Leadership Team on Thursday ahead of meeting with all staff on Friday. I know classified staff do not typically attend the Friday PD, but you’re welcome to attend this meeting and use trade time if the 1:30 meeting is outside of your normal work hours. Linked here is the HR Staffing Timeline sent to principals, but Building Staffing Plans are due to HR by Wednesday, March 16th, so between now and then we’ll process staffing scenarios and discuss different options. As I shard earlier, we are being projected for same number of students as this year, which should mean we’re staffed at a commensurate amount of FTE. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• 22/23 Staffing Survey – To help me with next year’s staffing plan, I’d like staff to complete the linked 2022-2023 Staffing Survey. I’d like to know staff members’ individual 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.

• TSS Schedule Update – Brian has already shared that he’s been hired to work as part of the Synergy Team downtown, but he’s continuing here part-time as our TSS until they can hire someone permanent. He will continue to respond to tickets and will be on site Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays in the afternoon. He’ll be able to do some work remotely when he’s off site and if there’s ever an emergency, other TSS staff will be on call to be dispatched to our building.

 

 

• REPEAT: Gifts of Hope Project – Ashley already emailed details, but note the following dates:

WEDNESDAY = Money Due
THURSDAY = Choose Items to Purchase (with your grade level)
FRIDAY = Announce items at assembly

Remember to record totals on the Gifts of Hope Collection Counter Google Sheet. The 4J Communications Department got wind of this from a Holt International Facebook Post and is working on getting us some media coverage!

• REPEAT: Holt Spirit Day – PJ Day, FRIDAY – This Friday is a Holt Spirit Day and it’s Ultimate Cozy Pajama Day! Get kids excited and remind them they can earn Spirit Tickets for participating. Also, be sure to plan your own PJ Day outfit! I’m pretty excited about my Captain Kirk PJ Onesie that just came in the mail.

• Friday PD – This Friday’s PD time will be dedicated to sharing and discussing 2022-2023 Staffing Information. Staff will have an opportunity to discuss the staffing process, staffing scenarios, and a chance to ask any questions.

• REPEAT: Staff Social, Friday at 5:00! – This Friday is our first Friday at 5:00 at the PublicHouse in Springfield. There’s pizza, Hawaiian food, Fisherman’s Market, Indian & Latin fare, and all sorts of good food to choose from (I’ll be getting a bratwurst from Pig & Turnip), as well as a variety of beverages. Bring your family along if you’d like and hope to see you there!

• Anti-Bullying BMX Virtual Assembly, Feb. 28 @8:30 & 1:15 – Monday, Feb. 28th will be a very cool BMX Virtual Assembly from Guinness World Record Holder, Matt Wilhelm. Zoom links are on the Holt Staff Calendar and times are the same as the prior virtual assembly.

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

Ashley emailed info about the assembly earlier, but Matt Wilhelm has won three X-Games medals, two World Championship medals, and two United States National Championships. The assembly will include some amazing bike tricks, but more importantly will focus on an anti-bullying message told through Matt sharing his story of beating the odds en route to becoming a BMX National Champion. Linked below are a couple of his appearances on America’s Got Talent if you want to get kids excited ahead of the assembly.

(Short version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW0mwKTVJ5s

(Longer Version)

• Contact Tracing Resumes for Breakfast/Snack/Lunch – Contact tracing resumes this week for maskless meal times. Teachers, make sure students are not sitting by the same people for both breakfast and snack, which add up to more than 15 minutes and will lead to a quarantine for any unvaccinated students. Also make sure you do not have students sitting by the same people in class and in the cafeteria. Cafeteria Supervisors, continue to have students mask up and dump their trays at the 15 minute mark, so we don’t have any close contacts at lunchtime. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• Referral Reminder – Whether in the classroom or at recess, when you address student misbehaviors be sure to document incidents with a referral, even if you were able to handle and address the situation in the moment. It’s important we track behavior patterns, as well as ensuring parents are notified. If staff feel parents do not need contacted, write DOCUMENTATION ONLY on the referral.

• Remind Kids “Take Your Coat to Recess” – It’s going to be pretty cold this week, with one day in the teens, so be sure to remind students to bring their coats to recess. Students are not be allowed to go back to class for coats, though we may in rare circumstances escort a younger student back for a coat if temperatures are in the teens, but will otherwise stick with the natural consequence of being cold for a short time.

• FREE Coats in Office – If you know of any students who cannot afford a winter coat, we have a good number in the office they can choose from.

• Responding to Students Making Suicidal Gestures and ideations – If staff ever become aware of a student making a suicidal attempt, gesture, or ideation (i.e expressing statements around wanting to die), whether on or off campus, immediately notify me, Kim, or Max, who will use the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale to assess the situation before notifying parents.

This is at the process 4J is having schools follows, which helps assess situations and can also help parents see the seriousness of what their child is doing or saying. For student who make flippant comments around wanting to die, this process can also have the impact of conveying to them the seriousness of such word and that it is not a joking matter. See the 4J Suicide Prevention website for full details, but let me know if you have any questions on this

• Kids Not on Library Circulation Computer – A reminder that students are not allowed to use the library circulation computer to check out books themselves. Checkout needs to be done by an adult.

• Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Challenge is Back – I’ll assume all classrooms want to participate in this program and am planning to request materials for all classrooms, but it is optional if your grade level does not want to participate. If you’re unfamiliar, teachers set a reading goal for students and when they meet that goal they receive two FREE tickets to a Eugene Emeralds baseball game. One change this year is schools have to turn in their final totals earlier, by April 15th. I’ve requested Monday, March 7th at the same K-2 and 3-5 times as our BMX assembly, but haven’t gotten confirmation on those date/times yet. See the Ems Email for additional details.

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

Absences:

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

• Read Across America, March 2nd – NEA’s Read Across America is next week on Wednesday, March 2nd. This is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading with the theme: Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers. For some ideas and resources, check out NEA (National Education Association), The Book Wrangler’s Month Long Reading Calendar (which includes Google Slides linked to books on Epic!), and Reading Rockets.

• 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 21 (M)
No School – Presidents Day

February 22 (T)
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Classroom)

February 23 (W)
Gifts of Hope Money Due
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Mobile Food Pantry (Ed Center)
5:30-10:30, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

February 24 (H)
Gifts of Hope Grade Level Purchase Decision
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)

February 25 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Ultimate Cozy Pajama Day
7:40-8:10, Gifts of Hope Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – 22/23 Staffing Discussion (Cafeteria)
5:00, Staff Social! Friday at 5pm (PublicHouse)

February 28 (M)
ELD/Speech/Title/Counselor Staff Room Duty
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
8:30-9:15, K- 2 Virtual Assembly – Matt Wilhelm BMX Show (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:15-2:00, 3-5 Virtual Assembly – Matt Wilhelm BMX Show (Zoom)

March 1 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Cafeteria or Library)

March 2 (W)
NEA’s Read Across America
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

March 3 (H)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin

March 4 (F)
1:10-2:00, Kona Ice – Holt Shave Ice Fundraiser! (Hard Play)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – ACT SEL/Self-Care (Async)

18 days until spring break!

Allan

 

February 14, 2022

By Allan  |  2022/02/12 20:45 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Math, P.D., Video  |  Comments Off on February 14, 2022

Howdy Everyone,

Twelve items of note for this week:

• State Mask Updates – Staff were sent the 4J COVID Update, but linked here is the ODE Update if you want to more nitty gritty of the rules that go into place if a school district does eliminate the indoor mask mandate. The short version is we are status quo until March 31st, at which time 4J will work with Lane County Public Health to decide if indoor mask rules will change or not.

• Friday PD – Downtown said they are creating an ELA Adoption Infomercial Video for teachers this Friday. They also said there will be an optional Zoom Q&A with the district ELA Adoption Team for teachers to join if they choose. Principals don’t have the video or the Zoom link or times yet, so I’ll email and post them on the Staff Zimbra Calendar before Friday.

• Gifts of Hope Project – Ashley already emailed details, but the short version is:

1- Collect dollars, along with the slips of paper stating how they earned their dollar.

2 – Keep a record of who has turned in a dollar on the class list on the front of the envelope.

3 – Visit the Gifts of Hope Collection Counter Google Sheet to update the total amount of dollars your class has collected. Ashley will use this to update the fundraiser thermometers on the wall.

4 – On February 24th, your grade level will come up with the gifts of hope item that they would like to purchase.

• Holt Spirit Day – PJ Day, Friday, Feb. 25 – Not this week, but next week on Friday, Feb. 25th is a Holt Spirit Day and hit time it’s Ultimate Cozy Pajama Day! Get your kids excited and start planning your own PJ Day outfit!

• Staff Social, Friday at 5:00, Feb. 25 – The Social Committee emailed info earlier, but Friday next week will be a Friday at 5:00 at the Public House in Springfield. There’s pizza, Hawaiian food, Fisherman’s Market, Indian & Latin fare, and all sorts of good food to choose from (pretty sure I’ll get a bratwurst from Pig & Turnip), as well as a variety of beverages. Hope to see you there!

• Data Team Options for Missed Prep – For Data Team meetings on Fridays, we’d previously given teachers the option to skip the PD in order to make up for the missed prep, but downtown is also offering extended contract. Teachers can choose either of these options. If you choose extended contract, just fill out the linked Extended Contract Form and give it to me to get signed for payroll.

• Free UO Basketball Tickets – Holt had free basketball tickets donated for the UO vs USC men’s game on Saturday, Feb. 26th. I’ll put 10-12 tickets in each teacher’s mailbox teachers can use with students as incentives, rewards, or however you see fit. If you don’t want them, put them in my box and I’ll redistribute them. Thank you, Ashley R., for scoring these!

• K-8 Summer Enrichment and Academic Learning Program – See the linked 4J New Summer Programs Doc if you’d like to learn about some of the new student summer programs being offered this year. If you have questions about programs or summer job opportunities, contact Casandra Kamens at kamens@4j.lane.edu

• Superintendent Search Update – If you didn’t catch it in The Register Guard, The school board last week met with Alma Advisory Group, the firm hired coordinate the superintendent search, who recommended the board extending the timeline, citing board dysfunction as a reason why 4J did receive many quality applicants. The board did not make a decision regarding the timeline, but this will likely be discussed at this week’s board meeting. Linked here is a video of last week’s meeting.

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Library – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Library. Teachers, please note it is an expectation to stay with your students to help with supervision during your library time:

Library

Schedule:
• A Library schedule is created each year, posted in the library, and given to staff via paper. Staff sign up for times based on their availability

Expectations:
• All classes will visit the library each week for a story/lesson as well as for check out.
• Some classes will have access to the media specialist and some will not depending on the time their class is scheduled.
• Students are expected to talk with a level 1 voice, walk, use shelf markers, and sit at tables quietly following their check out.
• Class periods are 25 minutes.
• Teachers are expected to monitor students and be present during their scheduled time.
• Classes should arrive and leave at their scheduled time.
• Classes can trade times should a conflict arise. Please notify the media specialist of the change.

• Get Ridiculous! – From Ian Byrd’s blog Birdseed:

I used to aim for “real world” problems when planning lessons. But this was often a pathway to the mundane. I mean, how many times did I ask students to calculate how much paint they’d need for a wall? Real world? Yes. Interesting? Not even close. Our brains are drawn to the unusual and the unexpected. Let’s take advantage of that and purposefully seek out weird outliers, oddball examples, and unexpected constraints. Let’s get ridiculous!

Get ridiculous with Math:

If you’re writing a fraction problem, PLEASE don’t make it about pizza! No one uses fractions when eating pizza. But if your question has to be about a pizza, then make that pizza unbelievably huge. Make it the size of a football stadium. Or have Tiny Tim eat just 2/999 of the pizza. Make the numbers weird!

Get ridiculous with Language Arts:

Rather than pushing kids to write 500 word stories, we’d practice very very very short stories. Or ask students to rewrite sentences or paragraphs without using a particular letter.

See the full Byrdseed Article for more ideas on how to get ridiculous and grab kids’ interest. If you’re intrigued by this, you can subscribe to the Brydseed Newsletter.

• 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 14 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
Winter Benchmark Testing Continues
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

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

February 16 (W)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Mobile Food Pantry (Cal Young MS)
2:40-3:25, 4th Grade Data Team
5:30-7:30, School Board Work Session (Zoom)

February 17 (H)
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiation Session (Zoom)

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

February 21 (M)
No School – Presidents Day

February 22 (T)
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)

February 23 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Mobile Food Pantry (Ed Center)

February 24 (H)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
5:30-7:30, 4J/EEA Negotiation Session (Zoom)

February 25 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Ultimate Cozy Pajama Day
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – High Leverage Strategies
5:00, Staff Social! Friday at 5pm (Public House)

Have a good week and an even better 3-day weekend!

Allan

February 7, 2022

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

 

Greetings Holt Staff,

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

Twelve items of note for this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copy Room & Copying
Agreements:

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

Supplies:

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

Training:

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

Clean up:

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

Parent Help:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 17 (H)
Regular Day

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

February 21 (M)
No School – Presidents Day

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

Allan

 

January 17, 2021

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

Howdy Everyone,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shoe Donations for PE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy the short week!

Allan