May 23, 2022

By Allan  

 

Howdy All,

It’s out last 5-day week of the year!

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Four staffing updates:

• 2nd Grade Hire, Michael Dempsey – We hired Michael Dempsey for one of our two 2nd grade opening. Michael is an experienced teacher who’s taught since 2004, starting our teaching high needs primary grade students in the Bronx, New York to teaching at the Hong Kong International School (check out their website to see a SERIOUSLY swank school!) and currently at the Ruamrudee International School in Thailand.

• SPED Hire, Emily Henson – For our full-time SPED teaching position, Emily Henson will join Kelsey and Whitney Oliver (our 0.5 SPED teacher) next year. Emily is coming to us from Utah where she’s taught in a self contained classroom at an autism charter school.

• School Nurse Resignation – And another one bites the dust. Our new school nurse lasted a week before she resigned. Student Health Services is working to hire a replacement, but this is a problem across the district right now, which you can read about on this SSD Email to principals last week.

• CORRECTION (date fixed) 2nd Grade Job Posted (Closes Tuesday) – If you know anyone good, please encourage them to apply for our 2nd Grade Job Posting. The job closes Tuesday. If HR gets me candidates quickly, I’ll plan to hold interviews next week on Wednesday, June 1st, 2:40-5:00. Let me know if any of you (both licensed or classified staff) would like to volunteer your time to help find us a newest staff member!

• Holt Spirit Day – Superhero Day, FRIDAY! – Get your superhero outfits, shirts, or gear ready for this Friday’s Superhero Day! Get kids pumped and don’t forget to log onto the Virtual Assembly at 7:40.

• Friday PD, Class List Input Session – We will meet in the cafeteria this Friday at 1:30, where specialists, prior year teachers, receiving teachers, and other staff will review the draft 2022-23 Class List Placement Form to provide input. Specialists may want to look at the lists ahead of time since you’ll be looking at all of the class lists.

It was suggested we have a schedule, though I’m also fine if we want to keep it looser and staff can just float between teams, which was my original plan. If folks want something more structured, below is my initial thinking, but input is welcome.

1:30-1:35, Review Process

PE/Muisc specialists meet with:
1:35-1:40, KG
1:40-1:45, 1st
1:45-1:50, 2nd
1:50-1:55, 3rd
1:55-2:00, 4th

Interventionists (SPED, Title, ELD) meet with:
1:35-1:40, 4th
1:40-1:45, KG
1:45-1:50, 1st
1:50-1:55, 2nd
1:55-2:00, 3rd

Sending & Receiving Teams will meet:
2:00-2:10, K-1, 2-3, 4-5
2:10-2:20, 1-2, 3-4
*Prior year teachers can also float to other grade levels at this time

2:20-2:25, Wrap-Up, Next Steps, Others

• Friday @4:00 and Top Gun: Maverick! – A reminder the Sunshine Committee has scheduled a Friday at 4;00 this Friday at the Original Roadhouse in Springfield, followed by Top Gun: Maverick across the parking lot at Cinemark 17. Bring your family and order your tickets now!

• REMINDER: 3/4/5 Climate Survey DUE May 31 – A reminder for 3/4/5 teachers to have students complete the student climate survey by the end of the month. See the email I sent earlier for details, but first show the video and then have students complete the survey.

English version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4jelementaryclimate2022
Spanish version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ambienteprimaria4j2022

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – 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 (within the last two weeks of school). Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

• Report Cards – Grading day is Friday, June 10th and report cards will be sent home with students the last day of school, Friday, June 17th. Melanie will do the “Update Attendance” procedure in Synergy the Thursday before grading day, so wait until grading day to print report cards.

• iPad Inventory & Collection – Four iPad related updates:

• BEST Student iPads Stay at School – Students attending BEST/YMCA should keep iPads at school, just like everyone else. The plan for next year will be for BEST to have their own set of iPads.

• Email Melanie if any iPads are missing – If there are any students who have not brought back their iPad email Melanie. 

• Email Melanie Charger/Cord Info (if you have it) – We know that most teachers did not track who returned their iPad charger and cord, but if you happen to have that info, please email it to Melanie. If you don’t have that info, don’t worry about it.

• Inventory Last Week of School – Melanie is planning to begin inventorying iPads the last week of school, so it would be helpful if teachers can have iPads stored in a COW Cart or all in one location.

• Summer Reading Staff Picks! – Since summer is almost here, it’s time for me to put together my annual end-of-the-school-year Summer Reading Staff Picks! Email me or let me know in person what your summer reading list looks like and I’ll post everyone’s picks in my final weekly announcements of the year. I love hearing what other are planning to read and have found some good books this way. For my picks, I’m going old school and thinking I want to read couple 70s pulp classics I never read before, James Clavell’s Shogun and V.C. Andrews’ Flowers In The Attic. Let me know what you’re reading to join the fun!

• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Staff Mailboxes – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Bicycles, Inline Skates, and Skateboards:

Bicycles, Inline Skates, and Skateboards:

According to Oregon helmet law, any child under the age of 16 must wear a helmet when riding a skateboard, scooter, skates, or a bicycle in a public place. Once on campus, bikes, skates, scooters, or skateboards should be walked to the storage area (classroom keys will open the lock), bicycle racks, or the skateboard/scooter rack. School is not responsible for lost or damaged items.

• District Admin Updates – Linked here is an email with a few district admin updates. Spring Creek principal Sebastian Bolden will be the new Director of Middle School Education. This is a new position and a bit of a restructure. Currently there are two elementary directors and one secondary director for middle and high. Prior to that, there were two directors of K-8 and one director of high schools. Now each level will have their own director or directors. The other admin updates were secondary assistant principals if you’re interested.

• Virtual Public Works Week! – The city isn’t doing an in-person Public Works Day this year, buy they are offering a Virtual Public Works Week instead. If you’d like to show your class, they created a series of eight videos, targeted towards children and from a child’s view. They feature a local kid talking with staff about different public works services.

• Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program – Sure it’s a marketing ploy, but kids can earn a free book by picking any book to read, completing the linked reading journal (English or Spanish), listing the book title and their favorite part, and after eight books, redeem their journal for a free book at Barns & Noble. See the linked website for more details.

• COVID-19 Free Test Kits – In case you missed it, every home in the U.S. is eligible to order a 3rd round of free at-home tests, 8 kids the time. Order yours here: https://special.usps.com/testkits

• Future-Proofing Students – When they’re adults, more than half of today’s students will work in jobs that don’t yet exist, says author/psychologist Michele Borba in this Educational Leadership article. Her research has identified seven skillsets that are vital to success in this ever-changing world. “These strengths are not fixed nor based on scores, IQs, or ZIP codes,” says Borba, “but teachable abilities that can be woven into daily lessons and help prepare kids for life.” See this ASCD Article for details on the strengths, each with several associated abilities:

• Self-confidence: Self-awareness, strength awareness, finding purpose
• Empathy: Emotional literacy, perspective taking, empathic concern • Self-control: Attentive focus, self-management, healthy decision-making • Integrity: Moral awareness, moral identity, ethical thinking
• Curiosity: Curious mindset, creative problem-solving, divergent thinking
• Perseverance: Growth mindset, goal setting, learning from failure
• Optimism: Optimistic thinking, assertive communication, hope

“Our moral obligation,” Borba concludes, “is to equip this generation with the content and abilities they will need to handle an unpredictable future and thrive. Doing so may be our most important educational task.”

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the school year:

May 23 (M)
Office/Library/Music Staff Room Duty
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
4:30-6:00, Allan to Conscious Discipline PD (Zoom)
7:00, 5th Grade Graduation Parent Planning Meeting (Zoom)

May 24 (T)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (Debbi’s Room)

May 25 (W)
Towel Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

May 26 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:05-9:50, 3rd Grade OSAS
9:10-10:10, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
10:40-11:40, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
12:45-1:45, 4th Grade School Garden Project Lessons (Garden)
2:45-3:25, IPBS Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
4:30-6:00, 4J Annual Retirement Celebration (ATA)

May 27 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Superhero Day!
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
7:40-8:10, Spirit Day – Virtual Assembly (Zoom)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD – Class List Calibration (Cafeteria)
4:00, Friday at 4:00 (Original Roadhouse)
5:00, Staff Social, “Top Gun: Maverick” (Cinemark 17)

May 30 (M)
No School – Memorial Day

May 13 (T)
Kinder Staff Room Duty
3/4/5 Climate Survey DEADLINE
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 1 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
9:00-10:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade
2:40-5:00, 2nd Grade Interviews
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

June 2 (H)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
2:45-3:25, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)

June 3 (F)
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS
1:30-2:25, Friday PD Cancelled – Double Prep

June 5 (SU)
3:00-7:00, Barbara Kitterman Retirement Celebration!

June 6 (M)
1st Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6
8:45-9:25, 4th Grade OSAS

June 7 (T)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
1:10, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:45-3:25, Staff Meeting (Library)

June 8 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
12:45-2:25, Storyteller, 4th Grade

June 9 (H)
11:00-12:00, 5th Math Advancement Test (Location TBA)
6:00-7:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

June 10 (F)
No School — Grading Day

June 13 (M)
2nd Grade Staff Room Duty
Erin’s Law Lesson #6

June 14 (T)
2:45-3:25, PBIS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

June 15 (W)
8:45-10:15, Field Day, Grades 3-5 (Field)
9:00-10:00, Allan Skipping Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:30, Field Day, Grades K-2 (Field)

June 16 (H)
1:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:25, Leadership Team Meeting (if needed)

June 17 (F)
Last Day for Students
Last Day for 192 & 196 Day Classified Employees
Spring Benchmark Testing Closes
8:30-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast & Celebration (Cafeteria)
10:00, Grab-n-Go Lunches (Cafeteria)

10:00 Kindergarten
10:10 1st grade
10:20 2nd grade
10:30 3rd grade
10:40 4th grade
10:50 5th grade

11:10, Early Dismissal
Staff Social – End of Year BBQ

June 20 (M)
Last day for licensed staff

17 1/2 kid days left!

Allan