https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=11807
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 SenoFriday
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 useEvents:
Fourth grade runs a curriculum project with the gardens beds
Buddies classes often sign up for picnics or use at end of the yearExpectations:
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 GradeApril 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 HouseMay 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 CATMay 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
