September 19, 2022

By Allan  

Howdy Holt Bolts,

Okay, I’m getting my announcements down to a reasonable length this week.

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Optional Shared Staff Goals Committee, WEDNESDAY @2:45 – This Tuesday at 2:45 in the library is an optional meeting to develop shared building goals staff can cut-and-paste into TalentEd as your goals for the year if you choose. I got permission to make the SMART Goals less data driven and more soft if we want to make them more SEL focused, which is a focus of our school improvement plan. See you Wednesday if you’d like to help draft some goals.

• NEW TIME: Fire Drill, FRIDAY @10:00 – I messed up on the time last week, so the new time will be 10:00 this Friday, which is our shorter day for recesses and will be in the five minutes in between 4th and 3rd grade recess. 4th grade can pick their kids up regular recess lines and after the drill 3rd grade can go straight to recess.

I have this on the Staff Meeting agenda this Tuesday to make sure everyone is on the same page, but see Holt Staff Handbook for complete details on Fire Drill Procedures, but highlights are:

• Students and staff clear the building, following the Evacuation Routes.
• Teachers should take their Emergency Binders (let me know if you do not have one).
• Classes walk single file to their marked spot at soft play/playground (see map).
• Students at specialists (PE, Music, Title, ELD, SPED, etc.) return to their homeroom teacher for attendance
• Teachers take attendance and raise their green card once all children are accounted for.
• Notify the admin or designee or of any missing/additional children in your line by raising the red card.
• Admin or designee running the drill will announce the all-clear when classes may return to the building.

Since this is our first drill of the year, it is fine for teachers let students know when it is happening and to do pre-teaching before the drill happens.

I was also told that A and B wing spots in the past were swapped, since A wing gets to the playground first and B wings second, which makes sense.

 

 

• Friday PD: 4J Policy Memo & Checklist Due Oct. 30 – This Friday’s PD is “Building Based,” so instead of meeting, staff can use this time to review this year’s District Back-to-School Memo. Section 1 is the portion staff are required to review and return to me a singed Staff Orientation Checklist by Oct. 30th. Let me know if you have any questions regarding these policies. Copies of the checklist were put in staff mailboxes and extra copies are in the Staff Work Room.

• REPEAT: Back to Schoo Night (i.e. Curriculum Night) – Back to School Night, is Thursday next week, Sept. 29, 5:30-6:30. I’ve included in the Quick News that specialists (SPED, ELD, Music, PE, and Library) will also be available to meet with families. The schedule will be:

5:30-6:00, Free Pizza & Title 1 Presentation (cafeteria)
5:30-6:30, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class Visits
5:30-6:30, Kinder Meetings
6:00-6:30, Free Pizza & Title 1 Presentation (cafeteria)
6:00-6:30, 4th & 5th Meetings
6:30 Back to School Night Ends

• PAHS Updates – Our parent group met last week and items of note included planning for the Oct. 19th Holt Bolt (i.e. jog-a-thon). They mostly brainstormed ideas for prizes, so stay stay tuned for more info to come. They are also planning an in-person BINGO Night Oct. 27th at 6:00 in the cafeteria.

• Operation School Bell – Holt was given way more slots for Operation School Bell this year, where families receive vouchers for back to school clothing. Not on my blog, but attached in my email is a list of student already signed up. Let Felicia know if there are families not on the list who you think could use this program.

• Grab-and-Go Breakfasts in Cafeteria Only – Not by our choosing, but Nutrition Services is requiring us to only serve late students grab-and-go breakfasts out of the cafeteria, so please direct any hungry late students in that direction.

• Food at Recess (snack okay, not at lunch) – Kids are allowed to eat snack in their designated areas at recess, but at lunchtime are not allowed to eat at recess. Students need to finish eating in the cafeteria. Students can save any part of their lunch that is “shelf stable,” meaning it comes in a wrapper or is a whole fruit, but students are not allowed to eat these at lunch recess.

• Staff Room Cleaning & Freebies – I now have the Staff Room Duty Schedule added to the calendar, so take note when it’s your turn. On a related note, if you are leaving freebies in the staff room (supplies, curriculum, food, etc.) only leave it in there no more than a week. I’ll plan to clear out all items from last week this Wednesday. 

• Wit & Wisdom Name Tags Can’t Be Laminated – We figured out the Wit & Wisdom name tags have a film on them that melt and ruin them if you try to laminate them, so learn from your colleagues misfortune.

• High Holy Days – Schools should avoid scheduling major events, tests, or assessments of any kind during major religious holiday. I’ve added these dates to the staff calendar, but see the 4J Religious Holidays & Accommodations website for full details.

• No Large Attachments in Synergy Emails – The Technology Department is asking staff not to attach large files (I’m guessing they mean 500MB large videos and such) to email messages sent via Synergy, which is causing problems for the 4J Network. Instead, save the file to your Google Drive and then include a link to the document in your email.

• REPEAT: Leadership Survey, DUE MONDAY – Shared at the back-to-school Staff Meeting is the linked Leadership Plan Survey. This will be on the agenda for Tuesday Staff Meeting and filling out this form will help focus that discussion.

• REPEAT: TalentEd Goals and Self Assessment – All staff, both classified and licensed staff, need to complete the self assessment/reflection in TalentEd by October 1st. The optional shared staff goals will be more geared towards classroom teachers, but ODE posted Sample Goals for Teachers, all grades and specialties, that folks are also welcome to use.

• REPEAT: Principal Visits to Classrooms – Teachers, if you haven’t already, let me know a good 10-minute block of time I can come and visit sometime this month. Thank you!

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

September 19 (M)
5th Grade Staff Room Duty
International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
Pastini Fundraiser Continues
Fall Benchmarking Continues
8:10, Allan Reading to Class
2:45, Optional Eli Pen Training (Library)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom or Ed Center)

September 20 (T)
School IT Professional’s Day (Speech/ELD)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)

September 21 (W)
2:45-3:15, Optional Building SMART Goals Meeting (Library)
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)

September 22 (H)
1:00-5:00, 4J Flu Shot Clinic (Ed Center)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00, PAHS Holt Bolt Planning Meeting (Cafeteria)

September 23 (F)
10:00, Fire Drill
1:25-2:25, Friday PD – Building Based (4J Policy Review)

September 26 (M)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
Pastini Fundraiser Begins (Sept. 12 – Oct. 16)
Fall Benchmarking Continues
3:00-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals Meeting (Ed Center)

September 27 (T)
Title Groups Start, 3rd – 5th
Happy Birthday to Me!
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL/Equity Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)

September 28 (W)
1:00-5:00, 4J Flu Shot Clinic (Ed Center)

September 29 (H)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)
5:30-6:30, Back to School Night
• 5:30-6:00, Free Pizza & Title 1 Presentation (cafeteria)
• 5:30-6:30, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class Visits
• 5:30-6:30, Kinder Meetings
• 6:00-6:30, Free Pizza & Title 1 Presentation (cafeteria)
• 6:00-6:30, 4th & 5th Meetings
• 6:30 Back to School Night Ends

September 30 (F)
8:15, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
1:25-2:25, Friday PD, 3-5 Social Studies / ELA (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Friday PD, Geodes (Zoom)

FYI, three full weeks of school until our first 4-day week. ;)

Allan