https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=12176
Greetings Bolts,
Twenty-five items of note for this week:
• Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program (FFVP) Starts TUESDAY – The Sheldon Region Nutrition Services Food Manager never got back to me about an required procedures for starting the program, so I’m making up my own guidelines:
• Bags of raw fresh fruits or vegetables will be delivered to classrooms each morning in bags.
• Staff or students passing out fruits or vegetables should wash hands or wear gloves.
• Fruits or Vegetables should be served daily (not saved overnight)
• Leftovers may be sent home with studentsAnd if there are any teachers willing to volunteer a 2-4 of your students for deliveries, let me know.
• Gaga Ball Pit Install TUESDAY – Facilites let me know they’re installing the Gaga Ball Pit this Tuesday. They’ll need to cone off part of hard play, but the rest of hard play will be open. They think it will take two days at the most and possibly just one.
The Gaga Ball Pit will be closed until I’ve had a chance to meet with Recess Supervisors (see the item a couple below) and all classes at your grade level have gone over the Gaga Ball Pit Rules.
• Optional Library Schedule Meeting, TUESDAY @2:45 – Downtown Library folks emailed the final word on the library schedule, which is classes will have library twice a week every other week and once a week for checkout on the off week. I’ll plan to hold an optional meeting on Tuesday after school for anyone who wants to help develop a schedule. I’m thinking we’ll do a rotation of K-2 goes twice a week for Week #1 and grades 3-5 go twice a week for Week #2 and then rotate, but I haven’t looked to see if that works yet, though if there are any go-getters out there who want to draft something ahead of time, that would be fabulous! Here’s a link to the current Library Schedule.
• Optional Shared Staff Goals Committee, WEDNESDAY @2:45 – This
Tuesday(correction) Wednesday 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 drafted a few SEL Related SMART Goals to get the conversation going, but my thinking is to make goals for things we’re already doing, such as teaching Second Step, holding morning meetings, and such. See you Wednesday if you’d like to help!On a related note, Here are some ODE Sample Goals for teachers and specialists at all grade levels if any staff want to use them.
• REPEAT: Back to School Night, THURSDAY – Back to School Night, is Thursday next week, 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
5:30-6:00, 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• Holt School Spirit Assembly, FRIDAY @8:15 – This Friday at 8:15 in the gym is the Monthly School Spirit Assembly. Add your name to the Hungry Hungry Hippos Sign-Up Sheet if you’d like to participate! Watch for details coming soon! UPDATE, linked here is the Assembly Map & Directions.
• Classified Meeting Friday @1:30 – This meeting was originally schedule for next week, but I wanted to meet sooner since we have the Gaga Ball Pit coming soon. I’m thinking we should have one supervisors assigned to Gaga Ball, one more for hard play (depending on how many kids are there), and one for soft play, but I want recess supervisor input on this since you’ll be the ones out there each day. I also want to go over the Gaga Ball Pit Rules to make sure we’re all on the same page and if there’s anything we want to change about the rules before we teach them to students.
• Friday PD: K-2 Fundations, 3-5 Wit & Wisdom – Linked here is the Elementary PD Doc for this Friday, which includes Zoom links and other info. Please note the time changed for K-2:
• Grades K-2, Fundations, 2:30-4:00
• Grades 3-5, Wit & Wisdom, 1:25-2:25
• October Staff Potluck, Oct. 3rd – Not this week, but next week is the first Monday of the month, which is when we celebrate that month’s birthdays with cake provided by Sunshine in the Staff Room. Staff are encouraged to bring an item to share if they wish potluck style. If you’d like to bring something, you can add your name to the Potluck Sign-Up Sheet.
• Professional Development Calendar – Related to the above, downtown is now using just one PD calendar to avoid another Friday PD debacle like last week. Linked here and on the Holt Staff Dashboard is the 2022-2023 District PD Calendar for Instructional Staff, which they continue to update, but at least they’re all working off of the same document.
• Leadership Plan Proposal – Linked here is the Proposed 22-23 Holt Leadership Plan. For comparison, last year’s allocations are included, but the only change was to reduce the Equity position to 2 days from 3.5 day and moving that to a new position for assemblies that are not the regular monthly assemblies, such as author visits or other performers. The thinking behind this is that although we all agree the equity position is important, we got pretty minimal support from the district TOSAs when we tried to get some things starts, so the amount of work for this position is still a bit unknown, and for the assembly position, the non-monthly assemblies are more involved since there dealing with finances, coordinating with PAHS, contracts, and working with the assembly folks. Let me know if anyone has other plans you’d like to propose and I can add them to the document. Here’s the remaining steps in our Leadership Plan process:
10/4 – Share plan(s) and discuss at Staff Meeting
10/5 – If needed, subcommittee meets to add/modify plans.
10/18 – Plans (w/out name) discussed and voted on.
10/19-10-22 – Staff sign-up to fill the leadership positions.
11/2 – Staff vote on plan with names attached.• Classified Self Evaluation and Goals – I heard there’s some questions about the classified self-evaluation and goals, so I wanted to share that for the self evaluation when you score yourself between Ineffective, Area for Growth, Effective, or Exemplary, most people will be in the Area for Growth or Effective range. If you score yourself Exemplary, that’s an area you should be teaching others across the district. It’s also totally fine to mark ineffective if that’s where you think you are. For goals, I would say don’t make extra work for yourself and pick a goal you’re actually working on. So don’t feel obligated to commit to learning sign language or something big, but pick something you’re already doing, such as committing to attend Conscious Discipline PD or working on learning more kids names or working to keep your small group materials better organized. Essentially, make it a practical goal.
• Sub Plans and Notebooks – Germs is staring to work it’s way around the school, so make sure your Sub Plan Notebook (different from the Emergency Binder) is up to date. Notebooks should include the following:
• Class list
• Student Health Information
• Behavior Support Plans
• IEP and 504 Plan Accommodations
• Emergency generic sub plans with your scheduleThere should be a notebook for this in every classroom, but if yours is missing, see Melanie or Sharon.
• Classroom Cleaning Every Other Day – Facilities has still not staffed our 2-hour night custodian, but Richie is still required to do electrostatic cleaning, which is cutting into his time for emptying garbages and sweeping classrooms. Facilities has given Jeremy an hour of overtime to clean classroom each day, so one day he is cleaning A & B wings and the next day cleaning C & D wings. If I remember right, A & B wing is being cleaned this Monday.
• No School Purchases Shipped to Your Home – If you place any online orders for school, DO NOT have them delivered to their home address. 4J Financial Services may potentially deny any reimbursements for purchases if they are shipped to your home instead of school.
• PAHS Printing Parent Volunteer – Holt parent Stephanie Gibson is resuming her role as the Holt Parent Production Assistant. Look for the Copy Order Mailbox in the main workroom for a Copies Form if you have any jobs. I’m not sure which day Stephanie is coming in, but I believe she’s planning to start this week. .
• Non-Essential Volunteers Allowed – Although I announced last week I was willing to go rogue on the above parent volunteer, Risk Management emailed principals later in the week that non-essential volunteers are now allowed. Volunteers still need to complete a background check and must also provide a proof of vaccination, though downtown is checking with legal counsel if that is still required.
• Seesaw Optional, but Great for Family Involvement – I think most teachers know this, but to just put it in writing, teachers are not required to use Seesaw. However, it’s a great way for to involve families and see what their kids are doing at school. You don’t necessarily have to do assignments on Seesaw, though you can, but having kids recording themselves reading something or taking a picture of their work and posting it for their parents to see if a pretty easy way for teachers to involve (and to ingratiate yourself to) parents. Linked here are a number of 4J Seesaw Resources if you’re new to the app or want to review the basics.
• EEF 2022-2023 Grant Applications DUE OCT. 7TH – Applications will due October 7th and EEF did not say anything about Site Council rank ordering grants, so just submit your proposal on the EEF 22-23 Grant Application. Below is a graphic od their funding priorities. Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.
• Comp Time & Trade Time Tracking – HR is asking classified staff to use forms they created for Classified Compensatory Time (PDF or Word) and Classified Trade Time (PDF). Trade Time is what is used most of the time, but to clarify the difference between overtime, comp time, and trade time:
Overtime: When a classified staff member works in excess of 8 hours one day or 40 hours a within a week, they are paid 1.5 times their regular rate for the additional time.
Comp Time: When a classified staff member works in excess of 8 hours one day or 40 hours a within a week, they earn time at 1.5 times amount of time worked in excess that they must track on the Comps Time Form, which can be banked to use at a later date by mutual agreement with their supervisor.
Trade Time: When a classified staff member works in excess of their regularly scheduled time any day, they must track the time on the Trade Time Form, which can be banked to use at a later date by mutual agreement with their supervisor.
Note that staff must notify me prior to accumulating hours.
• BEST Coordinator Job Reposted – Downtown has been unable to hire a new BEST Coordinator for Holt (and for other schools) and are reposting the vacancy, which means our start date for BEST is currently on hold.
• Save Our Schools Opt Out Form – A heads up there’s a Save our Schools Opt-Out Form circulating online and in our community made by Heritage America. If you receive this form, simply thank the parent or guardian and let them know you’ll give it to your principal. The form cites OARs with a loose interpretation of them, but don’t engage in a discussion about the opt-out form or any actions you’ll take regarding the form. If you’re interested, here are Talking Points that were given to principals, though we too were told to not engage parents regarding the form if we get one.
• Red Cross Classroom Presentation – Red Cross is offering free classroom presentations on disaster preparedness for K-5 classrooms. If you’re interested, see the linked Email, Handouts, and Registration Link.
• Relationship Matter More Than Rules – An oldie, but a goodie from Edutopia. Community building in the classroom starts on day one. See this Edutopia Article for strategies to begin forging strong relationships.
• 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 26 (M)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
Pastini Fundraiser Continues (Sept. 12 – Oct. 16)Fall Benchmarking Continues
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals Meeting (Ed Center)September 27 (T)
Title Groups Start, 3rd – 5th
Happy Birthday to Me!
8:10, Allan Reading to Class
2:45-3:30, Optional Library Schedule Meeting (Library)September 28 (W)
1:00-5:00, 4J Flu Shot Clinic (Ed Center)
2:45-3:15, Optional Building SMART Goals Meeting (Library)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)
• 5:30-6:00, Kinder Meetings
• 5:30-6:30, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class Visits
• 6:00-6:30, Free Pizza & Title 1 Presentation (cafeteria)
• 6:00-6:30, 4th & 5th Meetings
• 6:30 Back to School Night EndsSeptember 30 (F)
8:15, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
1:25-2:25, Friday PD, 3-5 Wit & Wisdom (Zoom)
2:30-4:00, Friday PD, Geodes (Zoom)
UPDATED! 4:00, Friday @4:00 (Public House)October 3 (M)
SPED Staff Room Duty
School Custodian’s Day (ALL)
Pastini Fundraiser Continues (Sept. 12 – Oct. 16)
Fall Benchmarking Continues
10:40-12:40, Staff Potluck Luncheon (Staff Room)
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals Meeting (Ed Center)October 4 (T)
Title Starts, 1st – 2nd
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)October 5 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School DayOctober 6 (H)
9:00-9:30, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00, PAHS Holt Bolt Planning Meeting (Cafeteria)October 7 (F)
10:00, Fire Drill
1:25-2:25, Friday PD – Staff Choice (Zoom)
Go, Bolts!
Allan
