https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=12742
Greetings Bolts,
This Wednesday is Administrative Professional’s Day, formerly known as Secretary’s Day, so a BIG, BIG, BIG shout out to our awesome front office staff, Melanie and Sharon! You both are a critical part of our school that holds things together! We couldn’t do it without you!
Twenty-three items of note for this week:
• 23-24 Staffing Updates – Three updates:
1ST GRADE – If you were not at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting for the announcements, Leah Willow, currently our ELA TOSA, will return to Holt as a full-time 1st grade teacher. This was originally posted as a job-share with Gloria, but Gloria was snapped up as a Title 1 Teacher at Awbrey Park for next year. Please welcome Leah back to the Holt Team!
0.5 SPED TEACHER VACANCY – SSD is moving Sheryl Carroll to YG instead of Holt, so our part-time special education teaching position is vacant and I’ve asked SSD if I’m allowed to post for the position or if they are still working through their bumping process.
SCHOOL PSYCH – SSD emailed the School Psychologist and Consultant Assignments for next year and we get to keep Kelly. Next year she’s taking on more of a leadership role with the psych group, so we’ll be her only building and we’ll get to see her around Holt more often next year.
• Master Schedule Revised Timeline – Mentioned at Friday’s PD Meeting, we’re pushing back the Master Schedule Timeline in order to include interventionist times on the “Skeleton Schedule” for grade level teams to build their dream schedule. We’ll get the skeleton schedule to teams early this week, which will only have recess/lunches and interventionist times. If teams can plan around these times, it will make it more likely we’ll be able to combine grade level dream schedules. Specialist time are the one part we may need to rework, since morning times are the less popular time, so we’ll need some compromise in that area. The revised meeting schedule will be:
April 24-May 9: Team Build Dream Schedule
May 9 – Reps Meet
– Combine schedule
– Plan next stepsMay 16: Staff Meeting Discussion
• NEW DATE: Earthquake/Fire Drill, TUESDAY @8:05 – We got rained out last week, but this Tuesday at 8:05 looks like better weather. We’ll start with an Earthquake Drill and then move into a Fire Drill. I’ll get on the PA to announce the earthquake drill, reviewing Drop, Cover, Hold, and will launch the drill by saying “EARTHQUAKE! DROP, COVER, and HOLD!” We’ll pull the alarm to signal when to evacuate the building. In a real earthquake, you could evacuate once the earthquake is over. There are many resources for teaching Drop, Cover, Hold at The Great Oregon Shakeout. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.
• Team Meetings, WEDNESDAY– The first two Wednesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Team Meeting times. Teams should:
• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.eduThe Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
Hopefully we’ll have the skeleton master schedule template out for teams to start working on by this day.
• 2023-24 Kinder Parent and Kids Meet & Greet – If you missed it in the Quick News, I’ve invited incoming kinder families for a casual meet-up on the playground this Wednesday at 3:30. I’ll be out there to schmooze and PAHS reps will be there to get incoming families started on the volunteer background check process.
• REPEAT: Kona Ice Fundraiser, THURSDAY @1:45 – Kona Ice is coming to Holt Thursday, April 27th at 1:45. Teachers should send bus riders who brought money to hard play at 1:45, so they have time to buy and eat their shave ice before having to get onto the bus. And remember, all staff get a free shave ice! Just show your badge!
• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hat Day, FRIDAY – This Friday is the monthly Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hat Day! Wear your favorite or wackiest hat or headwear, or simply wear your Holt spirit gear. Get kids pumped!
• REPEAT: School Spirit Assembly, April 28 @8:05 – We’ll have our monthly School Spirit Assembly on Friday, April 28th in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:10, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:05. Watch the Staff Zimbra Calendar for the Assembly Map & Details!
• Classified Staff Meeting, FRIDAY @1:30 – Classified staff will meet in the library at 1:30 to review the Neurodiversity and Behavior Presentation that Emily & Kelsey shared at last week’s Friday PD and also information about the Raptor app. Here’s are the iOS and Android links to download the app to your smartphone ahead of the meeting. Let me know if you have any additional agenda items.
• Friday PD: Staff Choice – This Friday’s PD time is designate as “Staff Choice.” Plan on doing whatever it is you signed up for on the Elementary Staff Choice PD Sign-up Form last time.
• Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week, May 1-5 – Not this week, but next week is Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week. PAHS is planning on showing their love and appreciation bringing various goodies all week and currently has a parent sign-up if you want a peek at their plans.
• Data Team Meetings, May 3rd – We are set to have roving subs cover classrooms Wednesday, May 3rd for grade level Data Team Meetings. Here’s the schedule:
1st – 8:00-8:55 (Guest Teacher Time 7:50-9:00)
5th – 9:05-10:00 (Guest Teacher Time 9:05-10:00)
3rd – 10:20-11:15 (Guest Teacher Time 10:15-11:15)
KG – 11:25-12:29 (Guest Teacher Time 11:10-12:20)
2nd – 12:55-1:50 (Guest Teacher Time 12:20-1:50)
4th – 2:05-3:00 (Guest Teacher Time 2:00-2:25)• Neurodiversity and Behavior Presentation – A big shoutout to Emily and Kelsey for their presentation last Friday on Understanding Function, Replacement Behaviors, and Shaping for Neurodiverse Students. And here’s a direct link to the Behavior Intervention Ideas Doc that’s linked within the slideshow, though Emily did share it’s from her prior school, which was K-12 and she didn’t get a chance to delete all of the secondary info yet.
We’ll also share this same information at Friday’s Classified Staff Meeting, but I wanted to highlight the two slides below, which may be worth printing and hanging up as reminders, about Key Phrases & Language to Use with Escalated Students and the Function & Replacement Behavior Chart. Also linked below is the Rethinking Power Needs Poster.
And take note of the following key takeaways.
● Our students are changing. It is not their fault. They are still learning how to be human.
● Universal Design for Learning helps ALL students succeed and makes your life easier
● What skill does this student need to learn?
● Understanding function is key
● Replacement behaviors serve the same function more efficiently
● Use shaping to mold behavior over time
● There’s nothing wrong with extra motivators. It’s temporary.
● Take pride in the little victories: progress is progress• UPDATE: Safety Inspection Now May 23rd – Our annual inspection date got rescheduled to Tuesday May 23rd at 10:30.
• End-Of-Year Purchasing Deadlines – the cutoff for purchase orders is Monday, May 15th. The cutoff for school credit card purchases is Wednesday, May 31st. If you need to order something by PO or credit card, it must arrive by June 20th.
• Field Trips Payment, 1-Week Notice to Melanie – If you are going on a field trip and there is a payment required let Melanie know at least one week before the trip.
• Be Descriptive on Behavior Referrals (Avoid Being Vague) – When writing referrals, be descriptive when writing up incidents. Instead of writing “Student was disruptive & defiant” or “Student used inappropriate language,” write “Student continued to talk out and interrupt the teacher after three reminders” or “Student called another student the B-word.” This makes things more clear to parents what happened and leaves kids less wiggle room to make excuses for their behavior.
• Licensed IEP/504 Time Log – As a reminder, the Licensed IEP/504 Time Log is for teachers to record times you’ve attended IEP and 504 meetings during your prep time or beyond regular work hours. The deadline is to complete the form is June 8th and payment would be on your June 30th paystub. Teachers can receive up to 12 hours compensation.
• Raptor (Emergency Drill) App – Downtown wants principals to rollout the Raptor App (iOS and Android) with staff before the end of May, so I will add this to a future licensed and classified staff meeting. Click the link above if you’d like to add the app now to your phone or iPad. The Tech Department should have everyone entered into the system and attached to Holt when you log in with your 4J email and password.
• Interior Classroom Blinds – Facilities asked me to share the following with staff for increasing the lifespan of the interior classroom blinds facing the hallway:
• Use Swivel Stick to Open (Not Pull String) – To open your classroom blinds, use the swivel stick to rotate the blinds open instead of pulling the drawstring to pull them up and down. The weight of the larger blinds is too much for the string and the mechanism.
• Avoid Item Pushed Against Blinds – Please do not have items on the ledge next to the blinds, which can then get pushed against and damage the blind.
• District Admin Updates – See this email and this email for full details, but here are a few admin moves for next school year. Jim Moore, principal at Edgewood, will be the new South Eugene Athletic Director. Peter Barsotti, principal at Madison, will the new North Eugene Athletic Director. Sarah “Poppy” Campbell (who I’ve been friends with since pre-school), assistant principal at Spencer Butte, will be the new principal at Charlemagne. Brian Watson, assistant principal at Monroe, will be the new principal at Kennedy, whose current principal, Jen Hebard, will be the sole principal for Chinese Immersion instead of both CI and Kennedy. And a couple out-of-district folks, Nain Muñoz is the new principal at North Eugene and Kee Zublin is the new principal at South Eugene. This leaves unfilled principal jobs at Chavez, Edgewood, YG, and Madison, along with a few AP jobs.
• May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month – Next month is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. If you’re looking for teaching resources, check out NEA, WeAreTeachers, ReadWriteThink, and the US Library of Congress for loads of ideas. There’s also quite a few stories on Sora.
• 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 24 (M)
PAHS Can & Bottle Drive (4/26 – 5/19)
Spring Benchmarking Window Opens
Library Week #2 Classes
3rd Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom)
3:00, Allan to Parent Meeting
3:45-5:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)April 25 (T)
8:05, Earthquake/Fire Drill
8:30-1:30, 4th Field Trip to UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History (Cobb & Reich)
5:45-7:15, Conscious Discipline Parent Night (Library)April 26 (W)
Administrative Professionals Day (KG)
8:30-1:30, 4th Field Trip to UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History (Benavides)
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
1:45-2:45,3rd Grade Delgani Strings Assembly (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
3:30-4:30, 23-24 Kinder Parent and Kids Meet & Greet (Soft Play)April 27 (H)
8:00, Allan Meeting w/Amy Page & Justin Huntley (Office)
10:00-1:30, 4th Grade School Garden Project (Garden)
1:30-3:00, Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser (Hard Play)
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Library)
4:00-7:00, Allan to Elem Job Expo Round #2 (Zoom)April 28 (F)
School Spirit Day – Wacky Hat Day
8:05-8:35, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Staff Choice
1:30-2:30, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)May 1 (M)
Teacher Appreciation Week
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
PAHS Can & Bottle Drive (4/26 – 5/19)
Spring Benchmarking Window Continues
Library Week #1 Classes
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom)
3:45-5:15, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)May 2 (T)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)May 3 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00-2:50, Data Team Meetings
8:50-10:45, Book Nook, During AM Recesses (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:15, 4th Grade Storyteller (Classrooms)
7:00-9:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)May 4 (H)
Holt Night Out – Elkhorn
5:00-7:00, ACE Awards Celebration (SEHS)May 5 (F)
School Lunch Hero Day (2nd)
8:45-9:45, 5th Grade Monroe MS Tour (Walking Field Trip)
1:30-2:30, Friday PD – Friday PD – Building Based (Equity)
Only 8 more Mondays until summer!
Allan
