https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=10663
Hello Team Bolts,
This week is Classified Employee Appreciation Week, where we honor our hard work and efforts by our fabulous classified staff. Without you all, our school could not function and you will be even more important very soon once students return. Thank you, all, for your dedication and tireless work here at Holt!
In honor of your hard work, classified staff should look for some surprises in your honor this week. One you can mark on your calendar is to swing by The Human Bean across from Costco on Tuesday for a free drink of your choice, courtesy of PAHS. Just mention you are a Holt staff member. PAHS is also extending this offer to all staff, both licensed and classified.
Thank you, Holt Classified Staff! You rock!
Seventeen items of note for this week:
• Hybrid Return Updates – Linked here is the Superintendent Email, Brooke’s Follow-Up Email, and the 4J Parent Communication about all the hybrid updates. Here’s my CliffsNotes version:
March 15-19: K/1 CDL stops and this week is an on-site kinder orientation for small groups of students scheduled over the course of the week.
March 15-19: Grades 2-5 will shift into hybrid classes, but will continue following the current CDL schedule.March 22-26: SPRING BREAK
March 29-April 2: K/1 begins full hybrid schedule with in-person students.
March 29-April 2: Grades 2nd-5th continue with hybrid classes and continue following the CDL schedule.April 5: All grades in full hybrid schedule with in-person students.
PE/Music and interventionists (Title, SPED, ELD) will follow the CDL schedule through April 2nd and will start the hybrid schedule April 5th.
SSD knows this may cause an interruption to services the weeks of March 15 and 29 for some students, but said we do not need to adjust IEPs or write any PWNs.
• Which Staff Report for On Site Work? – Everyone, minus SSO teachers, will need to work in the building starting Monday, March 29th. We very likely will need to call in other individuals to assist getting the school ready before then, so I wanted give people that heads up now.
If for some reason you are not comfortable or able to work in the building in-person, contact me IMMEDIATELY. We will need to contact HR and begin either an ADA or leave process.
• Hybrid Instructional Options – At Friday’s Optional Hybrid Model Discussion, I believe there were two good takeaways to share with everyone:
• Instructional Models – There was no support for “Same Page for All” for a variety of reasons, but there was a good discussion on the differences between “In Person Focus” and “Teacher and Practice.” Although the wording is a big clunky, we interpreted them as:
In Person Focus: Teacher makes two sets of lessons for the on-site students and the off-site students do work that is not necessarily connected to the on-site work, such as choice boards, Dreambox, Lalilo, independent reading, etc.
Teach and Practice: Teacher makes two sets of lessons for the on-site students and when that cohort goes off-site the next two days, they will have assignments that provide additional practice for what they learned on-site. Where we got hung up was the last sentence of this description “The work students do pfff-site is important and should be completed to be ready for their in-person time.” We decided this did not mean there was new material being covered off-site days or that kids would be behind if they did not complete all of off-site assignments, but that the work they did these days was additional practice to help get them closer to mastery, which is what the group on Friday preferred.
We’ll discuss more at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting, but it’ll be important to have a shared understanding before we make a decision which model we want to follow.
• Intervention Models – I’d previously mentioned my preference for interventionists to remain online to provide students consistency four days a week and for scheduling purposes. However, there were some legitimate concerns about students trying to Zoom from the classroom, so Jenny hatched a plan where we think we could space students out in the library (1st choice) or the gym (2nd choice) and Zoom to their groups from there, which allows both the on-site and off-site students to meet four days a week and to cover more material, while not disrupting the gen ed classroom when they need talk and participate.
For your reference, linked here is my Wednesday Hybrid Presentation and below are links to the primary source documents I pulled all that information from.
Instructional Options
SAMPLE DISTRICT Hybrid (In-person only) Schedule
Holt DRAFT Hybrid Schedule (largely plagiarized it from Howard)
Elementary Hybrid Planning/Prep
Preparing Your Space for In-Person Learning
4J Return to In-Person Protocols Voice Over Presentation
4J Return to In-Person Protocols source presentation with live links• Schedule & Instructional Model Survey – Linked here is a Schedule & Instructional Model Survey to do a barometer test of what people are thinking when it comes to the Draft Master Schedule and the Instructional Model Options for classrooms and interventionists.
• Hybrid/SSO/COVID Updates – Several hybrid/SSO/COVID items of note and follow-up to questions from meetings last week:
• Science Kits – Let me know by Friday if you’d like your science kit delivered to your classroom. Any kits left after Friday will be shipped back to the warehouse.
• Talking at Lunch – I’d gotten some bad information on this. Students ARE allowed to talk while eating breakfast & lunch. Now we don’t need to break kids spirit like they’re in a Pink Floyd Music Video.
• Tech Wipes – Brian is getting Tech Wipes for each classroom, the front office, and extras to have on hand.
• List of Teacher Responsibilities – I’m working on a Quick Sheet of all the teacher responsibilities in terms of cleaning, contract tracing, student screening, etc. I’ll have it by next week.
• Loose Paper Towels – Ryan has about 12 packs of loose paper towels and is ordering more. If you’d like some for your classroom, send Ryan an email.
• Alternate Locations – If your room becomes unavailable because a student is exhibiting COVID symptoms or you need to room clear for any other reason, classes will need to relocate for about 30 minutes while your classroom is cleaned. Each wing will need a designated “Alternate Location” for their class to go to. My thinking is there is one SSO classroom in each wing (and use Gloria & Kim’s room in the 5th grade wing), which we can set up desks and chairs if a classroom ever needs a relocate temporarily.
• Badge Access – I’ve emailed Facilities to reactivate badges a few days before hybrid starts. I’m assuming this will happen, but I haven’t heard an official answer back yet.
• Seesaw-Clever Cohort Sync – Justin Huntley Emailed me back on this question. The short answer is, yes, Seesaw and Clever will will sync and classroom teachers will have two new classes in both Seesaw and Clever for each cohort. See the above linked email for details. One unknown he mentioned is they are not sure what a midyear change like this will do to student progress in every app (especially if they are not district purchased and supported.)
• Electrostatic Spray Schedule – I checked with the Custodial Service Supervisor and classrooms will be sprayed down nightly, so it’s important that anything you consider valuable is safely stored or covered. Linked here is his email with more detail on the cleaning plans.
• Class Lists Parent Notification, Friday – The latest 4J Parent Communication says that elementary families will be notified of classroom and cohort assignment this Friday. Stay tuned for details on how and what time on Friday we will send this email. Downtown is also providing an optional email template (in English and Spanish) teachers can use if they would like.
• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:
• Hybrid Utility Support EA Posting – Elementary schools are getting a temporary 5.5-hour classified “Hybrid Utility Support EA” to help wherever we need. My initial thought is this person will be helping with a lot of supervision and then helping in the younger grades during non-supervisory times, as well as helping with any sick students or other out of the ordinary hybrid situations, such as supervising Title 1 students while they’re online spread out in the library. This is a temporary position through the end of the year, but please tell any excellent people the posting closes this Tuesday.
• YMCA After School Openings – If there are any EAs wanting more hours, YMCA is hiring for after school child care. The posting is linked here as AFTER SCHOOL TEACHER – Youth Development. The program will run here at Holt until 6:00 and Holt’s very own Ben Duncan is the new YMCA Site Director for our after school program.
• Recess Supervision EA Interviews , 3/10 @2:00– I now have the applications for our Recess Supervisor EA Position. I’ll plan to hold interviews on Wednesday, March 10th from 2:00-3;30. Interviews will be over Zoom. Let me know if any of you are interested in volunteering your time to help with interviews.
• Supply Distribution Thursday – This Thursday is the March Supply Distribution from 8:00-3:00. If you are available to help, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet. This will be our final school wide distribution and starting April 1, we’ll just do SSO Supply Distributions.
Pleas remind you class we’ll be passing out Jumpathon T-Shirts and Holt Bolt Jump Ropes and don’t forget to stop outside between 11:00-1:00 for a FREE Kona Ice Shave Ice! Just show your school ID and it’s on the house!
• School Supplies for Hybrid – For on-site students, we have a set of school supplied provided by downtown that we held back from handing out to students earlier in the year. Katie and Melanie will start counting out the following supplies for classes:
• Rulers
• Pencil Boxes
• Pencil Pouches
• Primary Composition Notebooks (K-1), 2 per child
• Wide Rules Composition Notebooks (2-5), 2 per child
• Manual 2 Hole Sharpener
• Sheet Protectors, 3 per child
• Book Bins
• Colored Pencils
• Washable Markers
• Ticonderoga Sharpened Pencils
• Glue Sticks
• Scissors
• Dry Erase Marker
• Pink Pearl Eraser
• White Glue
• CrayonsSchools are not to ask for supply fees or give parents supply lists, so let me know if there are essential supplies you need for the remainder of the year.
• Student Health Alerts – Now that students will be returning in person closer to spring break, Nurse Cathy will email any relevant student health alerts that teaches and staff need to be aware of. Most teachers already know if they have a student with needs because she’s already talked with you, but she’ll make sure you get any information you need to know, so watch for that email.
• Childcare Resource List – Buried in Cydney’s hybrid update email, was the linked Childcare Resource List, as well as a link to Employment-Related Day Care program (ERDC), which helps eligible staff pay for childcare while they are working. Downtown is also working on a program to provide partial subsidies for childcare costs for 4J staff using federal funds, and will share more information if this becomes available to help staff with school-age children.
• February Student Services Newsletter – If you’re interested, linked here is the February SSD Newsletter that was sent to SPED Teachers and principals.
• REPEAT: Read Across America – This week is Read Across America. This year’s theme is “Create and celebrate a nation of diverse readers.” See the above linked NEA Website for loads of resources for this annual event. Don’t forget about Jacque’s Virtual Reading Corner (here’s a link to an editable version)
• It’s Time to Talk About Dr. Seuss – In this article from Teaching for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance), author Gabriel Smith discusses a study done 2 years ago that analyzed Dr Seuss’s writing from an anti-racist lens. The findings highlighted a number of concerns in Dr Seuss’s work, especially in how people of color are depicted. The author does not suggest abandoning Seuss’s work entirely, although there have been serious calls in the last few years to pull Seuss back from the relative idol status he currently holds in education. The author instead recommends we closely analyze the materials we provide students to determine if a) it should be presented at all given the students’ age and b) if it is presented, what kind of critical conversation students should engage in around the text.
• Anti-Racism Over “Tradition” – Alternatives to Dr. Seuss and Racism – This article from Kaitlin Kamalei Brandon at Colorful Pages elevates anti-racist texts that fill the same needs people have when they turn to Dr Seuss books – namely rhyming patterns, ease of reading, and illustrations. Included are texts like Ada Twist, Scientist and No Kimchi for Me along with many more suggestions.
• White House: Testing to go forward this year – I shared earlier that ODE applied for a waiver for federally required state testing, but the Biden administration said last week that states must administer federally required standardized tests this year, but schools won’t be held accountable for the results — and states could give shorter, remote, or delayed versions of the exams. See this ChalkBeat Article for details and stay tuned for what Oregon decides testing will look like this year.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
March 1 (M)
Classified Appreciation Week
8:00-9:30, Allan to Hybrid Walkthrough w/Joyce & Dawn Strong
12:30-1:00, SSO Team Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)March 2 (T)
Read Across America
Human Bean Classified Staff Appreciations (Free drink for ALL staff!)
8:00, Allan Meeting w/Facilities RE: Evacuation Plan
12:30-1:00, Interventionist Team Meeting (Zoom)
1:00, PBIS Video Creation for Hybrid
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Zoom)March 3 (W)
Elementary Transitional Prep Day
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
1:00-2:00, Classified Recess Protocols Meeting (Zoom)
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)March 4 (H)
8:00-3:00, School Supply Distribution (Front of School)
11:00-1:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Front of School)March 5 (F)
Elementary Transitional Prep Day (Async Only)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)March 9 (M)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)March 10 (T)
12:30-1:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Zoom)March 11 (W)
Elementary Transitional Prep Day
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
1:00, Holt Jumpathon! (Zoom)
2:00-3:30, EA Interviews (Zoom
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)March 12 (H)
11:00-10:00, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream – Holt Night Out Fundraiser
2:30-3:30, IPBS CDL Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)March 13 (F)
Elementary Transitional Prep Day (Async Only)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)
Two more Mondays until spring break after this week!
Allan
