https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=11705
Howdy Bolts,
My crystal ball tells me we will see “interesting” behaviors this week. Between spring break and masks becoming optional, I think it’ll be important staff do A LOT of pre-teaching of behavior expectations this week and not count on “They should know this by now.”
Seventeen items of note for this week:
• Staff Allocation Updates – We’re still waiting for Student Service Department (SSD, i.e. special education classified and licensed staffing) allocations, but we did get our English Language Development (ELD) allocations, whis is the same as this year (0.8 FTE) and we also got our SIA (Student Investment Act) 1st grade EA allocation, which is 3 hours per 1st grade classroom, which downtown projected us for three 1st grade classrooms, meaning 9 hours.
• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:10 – Tuesday at 1:10 is our March Fire Drill. Linked here is the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line Map.
• REPEAT: Lockdown Instruction Before Fire Drill – Related to the above, downtown is requiring schools to review Lockdown and Evacuation Drills with students. ALICE is no longer being used in 4J and it’s replacement is not in place yet, so in the meantime, teachers should simply do a short review with students off of the 4J Safety Poster (below), which says the following for each drill:
STUDENTS
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the doorADULTS
Recover student form the hallway if possible
Lock the classroom door
Turn out the lights
Move away from sight
Maintain silence
Do not open the door
Prepare to evade or defendEVACUATE! (A location may be specified)
STUDENTS
Leave stuff behind if required to
If possible, bring your phone
Follow instructionsADULTS
Lead students to evacuation location
Account for students and adults
Notify if missing, extra or injured students or adults.
• TIME UPDATED: Staff Social, Bowling at Emerald Lanes, THURSDAY! – Don’t forget we have a staff social this Thursday at 4:00 at Emerald Lanes! Come visit with work friends, have some beverages, show off your bowling skills (or non-skills if you’re like me, but I can show off my rad bowling shirts). See you there!
• COVID Updates – Five COVID related updates:
• Drinking Fountains & Legionaries Disease – I mentioned at Friday’s Meeting that we’re now allowed to use drinking foundation again. However, do not let students use the classroom drinking fountains until they have been flushed for a full 5-minutes (a good job for a kid). Since that water has sat stagnant for over a year, we don’t want anyone getting Legionaries Disease.
• Mask Up in Nursed Office & Isolations Room – The state has determined that school health rooms and isolation rooms are healthcare settings. This means if staff are interacting with students closely or for a sustained period of time, masks will be required for staff in the health room. If the interaction is brief or contact is not close, masks are only strongly advised. Masks should be offered to students that will be in the health room for a sustained amount of time. If students are symptomatic or sick, they will be required to wear a mask. Examples;
• A student comes into the health room briefly for scheduled medication–no masks required for staff or student.
• A student comes into health room for injury or illness that requires some observation or close contact (observation after a head bump or inhaler use)–Staff required to mask, mask offered to student.
• A student comes into health room not feeling well or is symptomatic–masks required for both student and staff. Student should be moved to isolation space until picked up to go home.• Rapid Tests if Symptoms at School – Although we’re not doing test-to-stay for close contacts any longer, we can still administer rapid tests for any student or staff who start exhibiting symptoms while at school.
• Teaching Kids to Respect Others’ Mask Choices – If teachers haven’t already, be sure to take some time during your Monday Morning Meeting time to remind students to respect individual choices when it comes to masking or not. If you want a canned slide show about this, the Adams principal shared this Student Masking Slide Show.
• COVID Flowchart – This is more for front office staff, but if you’re interested, linked here is the latest COVID Flowchart for when a student tests positive, shows signs of illness, or is exposed to COVID.
• iPads Staying at School – Starting Monday, most students will leave their iPads at school. Only BEST/YMCA kids will take them home, but please remind those students iPads at dismissal are to be in backpacks and not walking and iPad-ing at the same time.
• Holt Bolt, Thursday, May 18th – PAHS settled on Thursday, May 18th as the date for this year’s Holt Bolt. It’s on the calendar and that’s the date we’ll stick with unless something unexpected comes up.
• Check Lost & Found – Remind kids to check the Lost & Found this week. Anything left at the end of the day Thursday will be bagged and donated.
• Artist in Residence Schedule – Linked here is the Fiddle Artist in Residence Schedule (PDF or XLSX). I believe Lesli has checked in with grade level teams, but let us know if you have any questions. The residency title is The Art of Fiddling and the Mystique of Louisiana and Kelly Thibodeaux is the musician leading the lesson in the Music Room. Regular Music classes will be in classrooms during three week residency.
• ACTION REQUIRED: Claim You 4J Account – 4J Technology Emailed staff a RapidIdentity Quicksheet how to update your password and account security. The short version is go to this link and follow the directions.
• REPEAT: Erin’s Law, Lesson #5 BEFORE SPRING BREAK – 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. 4J purchased only one kit per grade level, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.
• REPEAT: ACE Award Nominations Open – Nominate a teachers or licensed specialists, administrator or supervisor, classified staff, or volunteer. Nominations are due by March 31st. See the 4J ACE Awards webpage for more info.
• REPEAT: March 18th Expectations – Teachers may work from the building or in another location. If teachers are not going to be in the building they need to let me know. Downtown has not given this flexibility to classified staff, but classified folks can utilize trade time this day to shorten your work day. I’ve scheduled a Classified Staff Meeting at 9:00 for this day, so let me know if you have any agenda items you’d like discussed.
• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Recesses – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Recesses:
Recess
• Students are walked by teachers from the building to the asphalt/red curb at the beginning of recess. Students are released once EAs signal readiness. Please be on time, so that students receive a full recess.
• Students are picked up from recess on time. It would be very much appreciated if teachers would please review with students and reward them for staying on their spot in line (on the asphalt) and not move around once line up has begun. A significant percentage of physical aggression issues occur after the recess whistle has blown as kids are lining up.
• Recess supervisors will blow the whistle in soft play a minute prior to the 2 minute warning bell.This gives kids time to walk back from soft play to hard play and line up. The warning bell is a time for hard play students to return equipment and line up.
• Student Classroom Volunteers during recess:There will be NO VOLUNTEERS allowed in the classroom during any of these recess periods. If students approach a teacher about volunteering, the teacher needs to send them back to the appropriate place they need to be at that time. The only exception to this is if volunteering in another room is a part of a designed student support plan.
• Students Inside at Recess: Students are not to be in classrooms during recess. District policy is that students are to be out of the building during recess times. An occasional opportunity (not daily or weekly), is permitted, but students must be SUPERVISED. Students cannot be left alone in classrooms. A reminder also that students cannot be kept from recess for behavioral reasons or work completion.
• All classes need to have an assigned line for the end of recess times. Please work with the teachers/grades to assign class to lines. Consider flow, entrance to buildings etc when determining lines. A copy should be given to the office so that supervision staff can be informed.
• Recess Supervisor PBIS Guidelines
• PLAYGROUND GUIDELINES – General Rules for all• ODE Continuing Care and Connection Next School Year – An ODE Announcement to administrators that school districts are next year to continue to focus on care and connection. More info will be coming from ODE, but note they have quite a few resources on the ODE Care and Connection webpage.
• NASA Artemis I, Send Your Name to Space – Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come. NASA is offering people a chance to have your name included on a flash drive that will fly aboard the space craft to the moon. I thought kids would find this fun and it also might spark an interest in space and science studies if any of you are doing that this spring. I got my NASA Boarding Pass!
• 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 14 (M)
Melanie Out, Katie Covering
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #5
National Pi Day
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, 5th Grade Outdoor School Family Information Night (Zoom)March 15 (T)
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
1:10, Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)March 16 (W)
Staffing Plans Due to HR
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
5:30, School Board Meeting (Zoom)March 17 (H)
St Patrick’s Day
Dental Clinic (sealants) – Time/Location TBA
8:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
9:20, 5th Philosophy with Paul Bodin
2:45-3:25, Leadership Meeting (Debbi’s Room)
5:00, Staff Bowling! (Emerald Lanes)March 18 (F)
No School — Staff Work Day
9:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
10:00, Optional Classified Staff PD (Zoom)March 19 – 27
No School — Spring BreakMarch 28 (M)
Classes Resume
Artist in Residence Begins
Kinder Staff Room Duty
6:00-8:00, Allan to 4J Equity Action Team Meeting (Zoom)March 29 (T)
Regular DayMarch 30 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, School Board Work Session (Zoom)
6:00-8:00, Allan to 4J Equity Action Team Meeting (Zoom)March 31 (H)
6:00-7:00, Mental Health Parent Night: Suicide Prevention & Awareness (Zoom)April 1 (F)
Holt Spirit Day, Sports Day
April Fools’ Day!
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – OSAS Test Security Training (Cafeteria)
Just four kid days until spring break!
Allan
