https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=11107
Hello Fellow Holt Bolts,
Hope you’re enjoying your final two weeks of summer. Although I’ve been back at work since July, I’m still getting time in to read and watch some good TV & movies. Best book of the summer was Quentin Tarantino’s novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, best new shows of the summer were White Lotus and Brand New Cherry Flavor, though both are weird and I’m not sure are for all tastes, and the best movie was re-watching Edward Scissorhands as part of my “film appreciation” course for my children, which was the best received film so far. So although I’m sending you school info, please continue to rest and relax.
Sixteen items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Two staffing updates from last week:
• Temp 1:1 EA Update – SSD changed their mind on this position and decided our 6-week 1:1 EA will be a long term sub job instead of a temp position, but lucky for us Kristina found us a good sub she’s been working with at ESY, Shanen Wentzel-Sheeley, who we’ve secured for this sub job.
• 4-Hour EA Update – We held interviews last week and had a solid pool to pick from. I’m currently waiting for HR to make a job offer.
• In-Service Schedule – Principals now have most all the info for in-service week (minus COVID protocols), so I’ll work on agendas this week and will see how much I can compact the different topics we need to cover. I’ll send out agendas in next week’s announcements, but I should be able to keep things shorter than the district suggested time blocks currently on the calendar. My general plan is for Monday to go over items more relevant to licensed staff and on Friday to go over items relevant to both licensed and classified staff. For Tuesday the following week, I went ahead and deleted the afternoon meeting time, but will leave the morning meeting on the calendar just in case there are any lingering items we need to go over.
• Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/31 – Want a delicious breakfast burrito for our first meeting back the whole gang together? Fill out the linked Breakfast Burrito Google Order Form by 9:00am August 31st and I’ll have a hot burrito waiting for you Friday, September 3rd. You’ll need to log onto your 4J Google Account to complete the form. Also, I’ll have food for folks the first day licensed staff report back (8/30) and on the first day classified staff report back (9/2). Let me know if you have any trouble with the form and I can input it for you.
• Open House, Transition Day, Kinderzone, and COVID Protocols – These are all on the calendar, but principals haven’t heard yet how these will look (or if we’re even allowed to have an Open House), which will largely depend upon 4J’s COVID protocols. The latest Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework hasn’t been released, so downtown is having to wait before making a decision on our official COVID plans and protocols. My prediction is we’re going to end up with most of the same safety measures and protocols we followed last year, expect with all students in attendance five days a week and no masks outside.
I was really hoping to start this year with more certainty, but that’s our world right now. Please reach out if you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns.
• Building Access –
B, C, and D wings are now available and A wing rooms should be available by the end of the week.UPDATE: I spoke too soon. Furniture is being moved back into classrooms Monday and Tuesday, and hallways will be waxed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and dry on Saturday. Wings should be accessible after that.• Choose Kindness Grant – One of Holt’s three school rules is to Be Kind and the Eugene Kindness Campaign is offering grants to any school wide kindness projects, so get your wheels turning and share any ideas with me or the PBIS team.
• Mondays are the New Protected Prep Day – Principals found out last week the new “golden hour” of protected planning & prep for licensed staff is on Mondays. Early release will still be on Fridays and those days are now 2-hours of PD/PLC meeting time.
• New Student Synchronous Option – If you’re interested, the latest 4J Parent Newsletter, included information on a new synchronous option for families, separate to EOA, which is largely asynchronous. There’s not a lot of detail on how much synchronous time students will have in the new program, but students in either program will have rights back to their neighborhood school at trimester breaks.
• BrainPop Free for 4J! – Going through Clever, 4J has a free trial for BrainPOP, which is a great app. If you’re not familiar, it’s a collection of quality short animated educational videos on just about every topic you can imagine. The trial goes through December and 4J will most likely purchase a district license if teachers are using it. It’s a nice resource to supplement topics you’re already teaching and is also nice to show just kids during snack time. There are also quiz and response tools, but check it out!
• FREE Webinar: Dismantling Critical Race Theory in K-12 – Tuesday, August 24th via Zoom, 6:00-7:30 Mountain Time (5:00-6:30 Pacific Time) is a free webinar for educators to discuss the controversy surrounding critical race theory. Interested attendees must RSVP via Eventbrite to receive the Zoom Webinar link and password 24 hours before the event. See the above link for details.
• REPEAT: Report Back Dates – Most staff report back the last week of August. Here are the report back dates:
• Elemtary Secretaries – Monday, August 16
• Licensed Staff – Monday, August 30
• Classified Staff – Thursday, September 2 (196-day on 8/27)• REPEAT: 21-22 Master Schedule – Linked here is the 2021-2022 Master Schedule, which is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• REPEAT: Who is A/B and C/D on the Schedule? – Grade level teams should let me know which classes will follow the A, B, C, or D schedules and I’ll add names to the Master Schedule, as well as put names on the PE and Music Schedule.
• REPEAT: Holt Staff Handbook – The Holt Staff Handbook includes most every relevant building policy and procedure. Some of these may change depending upon COVID protocols, but please take time to review the handbook and let me know if you have questions or if you spot anything that possibly needs revised.
• Teacher-Parent Communication Strategies to Start the Year Off Right – By prioritizing communication with families at the start of the school year, educators can foster strong parent engagement, break down barriers, and provide support for all students. See this Edutopia Article for a TON of good ideas.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next few weeks:
August 16 (M)
Elementary Secretaries Report BackAugust 23 (M)
Office OpensAugust 30 (SA)
9:00-12:00, Project Hope – Holt Clean-Up DayAugust 30 (M)
Licensed Staff Report Back
8:00-10:00, Building Welcome Back PD (Library)
10:00-11:30, 4J Keynote – Keith Jones (Zoom)
12:30-4:00, A.C.T. & Learning for All (Library)August 31 (T)
8:00-11:30, 4J Instructional Tech (Zoom)
12:30-4:00, 4J ELA Adoption (Zoom)September 1 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)September 2 (H)
Classified Staff Report Back
8:30-9:00, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Treats! (Library)
9:00-11:00, District Kick-Off (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, 4J ELA + Math Acceleration PD (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, SSD Staff Meeting with SSD Dept. (Zoom)September 3 (F)
8:00-12:00, Principal Led PD, PLC, Instructional Strategies, SEL (Library)
1:00-4:00, Principal Led PD, PLC, Instructional Strategies, SEL (Library)September 6 (M)
Labor Day, No SchoolSeptember 7 (T)
8:00-12:00, Principal Led PD (Library)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)September 9 (H)
Transition Day
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom? School Garden? Library?)September 10 (F)
Classes Begin for All Students
Feel free to reach out if I can do anything for you and enjoy your last two weeks of summer!
Allan
