May 24, 2021

By Allan  

Howdy Bolts,

This is the last 5-day weeks of the school year!

Seventeen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Holt’s Music Teacher Job Posting went through the Job Expo, so HR said it could go external right away, so it was posted last week and closes this Wednesday. Tell any music folks you know they should apply!

• Teacher Request Form – Melanie let me know Holt has in the past had a teacher request form of sorts where parents describe the type of classroom/teacher that’s the best fit for their child, without naming a teacher. I’m planning to quietly let this form disappear and not mention it to families this year. After checking with a few people I think there’s no love for this form and only a handful of families actually use it, but let me know if anyone thinks we should keep using it and I can add this to a future staff meeting or leadership agenda for discussion.

• Holt Enrollment Survey – In Monday’s Quick News we are asking every family of students who are currently in Kindergarten through 4th grade to complete the linked 2021-2022 Enrollment Survey. Teachers can feel free to cut and paste the article below into your own classroom newsletters. Having this information helps us know who all is for sure coming and going, which helps when I talk staffing allocations with downtown.

Holt Enrollment Survey for Next School Year

We are asking every family of students who are currently in Kindergarten through 4th grade to please complete this 2021-2022 Enrollment Survey. It will only take a minute or so to complete. https://forms.gle/nzKRHeoaj8QmQJsW9

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

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time (TalentEd & Class Lists) – This Wednesday’s PD/PLC time is building directed, so please use this time for any outstanding TalentEd tasks (CLASSIFIED: 4J Classified Staff Self-Reflection Form, LICENSED: End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection – if you used the optional building goals, linked here is the Optional End-of-Cycle Goals Reflection Language you can cut & paste into your reflection), for teams to work on 21-22 Class Lists, and for just planning & prep.

• Master Schedule Survey Results – The general consensus was to stick with a 20 minute AM recess and a 40 minute recess/lunch. There also was strong support for doing single grade recesses and lunches. We’ll also look to see if we can fit 30 minute Tier III times instead of 25 minutes. We’ll move forward drafting the master schedule and will share it out for feedback in the near future.

• Crazy Sock Day, Tuesday & Friday – Remind your kids and get them pumped for the May Holt Spirit Day, Crazy Sock Day! It’ll be Tuesday for Cohort A and Friday for Cohort B, so grab your wildest or craziest mismatched socks to join the fun!

• School Materials Collection – We need to collect student materials borrowed during CDL. I think the Journey’s books are the only thing we need back. Families may keep their standard school supplies (pencils, crayons, glue, etc.) including the headphones, but let me know if there are other items you think we need to collect.

Cohort A – Bring items to school Monday, June 7th
Online Students – Bring items to main office Wednesday, June 9th, 8:00-2:00
Cohort B – Bring items to school Thursday, June 10th

Let me know if the second to last week of school does not work, but I wanted to leave a little buffer to remind families who don’t turn things in on time. As an incentive to return materials, students will receive a FREE book purchased by Title 1.

• Fire Drill 6/1 & 6/4 @8:30 – Not this week, but next week we will conduct our June Fire Drill on Tuesday and Friday at 8:30 for each cohort. See the linked Evacuation Lines Map for where classes should line up and that will be it for safety drills for the year!

• Antiracism PD (if you missed it 4/21) – See the information below if you missed the Wednesday, April 21st Antiracism PD for a required online make-up.

[Full Email] Superintendent Cydney Vandercar has made anti-racism professional development a priority for all 4J staff this school year. With this in mind, you are invited to participate in our first district-wide anti-racism professional development module. This is an opportunity for you to learn and reflect on what it means to be anti-racist. This module will be completed at your own pace, during the workday, and using a device that can access the internet, such as a phone, tablet, or computer. Please let me know if you need access to a device. This module will take about 45-60 minutes to complete, and it is important that you complete the module in one session to make sure that your progress is saved and recorded.

Throughout the module, you will be asked to reflect on your learning through open-ended questions. The Anti-Racist PD planning team will read responses to inform future sessions. The last slide of the module will take you to a required Google Form, where you will complete a brief survey that serves as the official record of your participation.

Please complete this module by May 31, 2021. If you have questions, please contact me. If you need help finding time to complete the module, please work with your supervisor. The instructions are below and as an attachment. Here are the codes to access the module: (Please select the one that corresponds to your level)

Elementary schools:
WFPQ3

Middle schools:
589PZ

High schools:
WFPQ3

Take care,
Misael Flores Gutierrez
Curriculum Administrator for Equity, Instruction & Partnerships

INSTRUCTIONS (open attachment for more information)
To access the module on Nearpod, please follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to: https://nearpod.com/student/
  2. The screen will prompt you to enter a code to join a session. Enter the code in the box and click the “Join” button.
  3. On the welcome slide, please enter your first and last name in the first text box. You may list your department in the “other optional name”, but it is not required.
  4. Use the blue and white arrows on the left and right sides of the window to move forward (or back) in the presentation.

Caution: Your progress and completion will not be saved if you exit the session early or close your web browser in the middle of the session.

• Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser, 6/3 – The final Holt Night Out Fundraiser of the year will be Thursday, June 3rd at the Coburg Road Papa’s Pizza. Get your kids excited and I’ll get fliers printed for teachers this week since Cohort B may need to get them this week.

• New State COVID Guidance – 4J has not changed any rules at this point, but an ODE Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSL) Update included the following revised rules for face coverings:

Outdoors: Students, staff, volunteers, and visitors are not required to wear face coverings outdoors (including, but not limited to: Outdoor PE, outdoor music, recess, and arrival & dismissal). Until additional updates are provided, all RSSL physical distancing and other related requirements still apply.

School Staff Indoors: Fully vaccinated staff are not required to wear face coverings or physically distance inside school buildings when students are not present (such as before and after school or on weekends) only when vaccination status is checked by the school.

I emailed the 4J COVID Staff, asking if they are changing 4J’s mask rules, but have not yet heard back. Stay tuned!

• REPEAT: School Supply Distribution 5/26 – Wednesday is the May Supply Distribution for SSO classrooms, from 8:00-2:00. If you are available to help, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet.

• Summer Reading Staff Picks! – I know lot of folks who work in schools love reading, so how about sharing some books picks with your colleagues for their summer reading list! Email, text, or tell me a book you’d recommend or a book you’re planning to read this summer and I’ll compile a list that I’ll share in my final staff announcements of the school year. I love hearing what other are planning to read. One of my picks, which I intended to read last summer, is The Living Dead, an unfinished novel by George A. Romero (the man who invented the “rules” for zombies with Night of the Living Dead) and finished by Daniel Kraus, who wrote the Oscar Best Picture winner The Shape of Water. Send me your picks!

• District Admin Updates – Arthur Hart is the new Transportation Director, who’s worked in 4J for over 15 years, and the newest Student Services Administrator is Angela Crum, who was a SPED Director in the Brookings-Harbor School District. See this email for details.

• GoNoodle Plus FREE – GoNoodle Plus will be FREE for all educators starting July 1st. No action is required on your part. Anyone with a current account, whether you have a paid subscription now or not, will automatically get GoNoodle Plus!

• 4 Ways to Boost Elementary Students’ Working Memory – Kids with strong working memory tend to perform well in school, and teachers can help them strengthen this executive functioning skill. See this Edutopia Article for details, but the CliffsNotes version to boost students’ working memory is for teachers to keep in mind:

1. Predictability
2. Paper design
3. Language
4. Transitions

• JUST FOR FUN: What’s More Punk Than Teens Screaming In A Public Library? – If you want to show your students something fun, I caught this on NPR last week and my own kids loved watching this all-girl teen punk band, who’s ages range from 10-16, rock seriously hard at the LA Public Library. They kick things off with a rockin’ original song about Claudia Kishi from the Babysitters Club books. Their best song is the second to last, Rebel Girl, which is a cover of 90s all-girl punk band song, but it unfortunately has some naughty words in it, so enjoy that one on your own.

• 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 24 (M)
K/1- Staff Room Duty
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Continues
8:30, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
12:00, Allan to Formal
2:00-3:30, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

May 25 (T)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY
Towel Day (it’s a nerd thing)
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
12:10, Allan to Formal Observation
1:45-2:45, Allan to School Safety Focus Group (Zoom)

May 26 (W)
8:00-2:00, School Supply Distribution (Same School Online)
8:00-8:30, Allan Meeting with SMART Readers (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
10:00-11:00, Allan to Suicide & Threat Assessment Meeting
10:30-11:00, 4th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team (Tier 3)
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Library)
1:00-4:00, State Testing Day – Cohort B (Locations TBD)
1:40-2:40, PBIS Team Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – TalentEd, Class Lists, Planning & Prep

May 27 (H)
9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)

May 28 (F)
Crazy Sock Day – SPIRIT DAY
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
8:30, Allan to Formal Observation
9:00-4:45, 5th Grade to Outdoor School (Camp Lutherwood)
11:20, Allan to Formal Observation

May 31 (M)
No School — Memorial Day

June 1 (T)
Scholastic “Virtual” Book Fair Continues
2/3- Staff Room Duty
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort A

June 2 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:30, Lunch Bunch w/Ms. Darla (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Anti-Racism PD, Part II (Library & Zoom)

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

June 4 (F)
8:30, Fire Drill, Cohort B

Only two more Fridays with students!

Allan