https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=13061
Hi Everyone,
Here I am interrupting your summer again. If you’re just catching up now, be sure to read the Back-to-School Staff Announcements and the August 14 Announcements.
Twenty items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Five staffing updates:
• School Nurse (Haley Ingalls, RN) – Haley Ingalls will be our new school nurse. I haven’t had a chance to meet her yet or know her background, but SSD was happy with her hire.
• 2-hour Night Custodian Returns – Robert Bolden, our 2-hour night custodian, is back from his leave. He’s primarily at Monroe, but when he’s finished over there he comes to Holt to help out for 2-hours.
• BEST Coordinator (Levi Thompson) – Our very own Behavior EA, Levi, has been hired as our new BEST Coordinator. SSD also added an hour of SPED EA time to his position, so part of his day will be assisting the SPED Team. This leaves us with two Behavior EA vacancies, but we should be able to hire out of the Behavior EA Pool job posting that closed last week. I know of at least two good candidates who have applied, so we should be in good hands.
• Kitchen Staff Updates – Kyrsten Potterf has moved to McCornack and Diana Lyons has moved to Buena Vista. Nutrition Services has added Cindy Leighton from Roosevelt to join Deb, Kathy, and Amber in the kitchen.
• BEST EA Job Postings – BEST EA Job Postings for this year will be posted soon if anyone is interested in additional hours.
Welcome these fine folks to Team Holt!
• Inservice Week Agendas – Attached to my email, on the Staff Google Drive, and linked here are the Staff Meeting agendas for the building time on Monday (Leadership Plan & Licensed Staff Nuts & Bolts), Thursday (All Staff – SCIP, Equity, Nuts & Bolts), and Friday (Licensed Staff BEPA 2.0, SEL/Morning Meeting Info, and Classified Staff Meeting). Let me know if you have any additional agenda items. At the meetings, feel free to bring a comfortable chair if you don’t want to sit on library stools (Monday & Friday) or a cafeteria bench (Thursday). Also feel free to bring your laptop if you want to reference some of the documents we’ll be referencing at meetings (Draft Leadership Plan, SCIP, 4J Racial Harassment Policy, etc.)
• Inservice Week “Structured Collaboration” – If you’re wondering about the “Structured Collaboration” time on Thursday of Inservice Week, the 4J Back to School Agendas and Links document now has a menu of activities teams and/or individuals can do, but basically it’s prep time.
• SPED EA Professional Development – All non-Life Skills SPED EAs will attend a PD session on Friday, September 1st from 12:30-2:30 via Zoom. You’ll be learning the foundations of UFLI, one of the new reading intervention curricula that was just purchased. As a reminder, SPED EAs do not attend the August 30 session with SPED teachers. Also, there is no extended contract available, so if this is outside of anyone’s normal work hours, please balance your hours over the course of this week so you can attend this training. I’m guessing the Zoom link will be posted on the 4J Back to School Agendas and Links doc, which can also be found on the Holt Staff Zimbra Calendar.
• Draft Leadership Plan Additional Ideas – Linked here is a Draft 23-24 Leadership Plan, which we need to submit a draft of to JCAC by Sept. 1. Take a look and let me know your ideas ahead of the 8/28 Staff Meeting. If you want to see some additional ideas, linked here is a Leadership Plan Brainstorming Sheet some elementary principals used to share their initial ideas.
• Welcome Back Assembly Friday, Sept. 8 @1:30 – Linked here is the Assembly Map and Directions for our Welcome Back Assembly on Friday, September 8th at 1:30. If the AQI is good, we might try doing the assembly outside this year to mix things up. I have this on the 8/28 meeting agenda for us to work out the details.
• Request for Student / Classroom Support – We combined what was Gloria and Darla’s request for assistance forms, so now complete the linked Request for Student / Classroom Support form to request a CARE TEAM staff member to connect with you about a student’s attendance, academics, behavior, classroom management, instructional support, mental health, counseling, basic needs, etc.
• Kindergarten Smart Start – The Kinder Team has already gotten this info, but you may have seen in the Quick News that downtown is changing Kinderzone, which is now called Kinder Smart Start. Linked here is the Kindergarten Smart Start Resources & Guidance, but as with Kinderzone, all staff will be expected to help with kinders on their first day, Wednesday, September 6th. More info will come on after the Kinder Team has attended the Smart Start PD inservice week.
• Nutrition Services Updates – Nutrition Services shared with principals a couple changes coming this year:
• Field Trip Sack Lunch Request Change – When classes need lunches for a field trip, instead of letting our kitchen staff know, we now need to email nutrition@4jlane.edu three weeks before the field trip, letting them know:
▪ # of students
▪ Type of meals
▪ Dietary restrictions
▪ Packaging requirements
▪ The Draft itinerary
▪ Point of ContactThe Field Trip Request Form has been updated to include this change. For details, see the linked Nutrition Services FAQ and the 4J Travel & Field Trips Webpage.
• Free & Reduced Meal Forms – 4J has to renew its Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) application, which allows Holt and a few other schools to offer free meals to students without parents being required to fill out any paperwork. However, in order to collect the required information for the application, we DO need to have families fill out the Free and Reduced Meal Forms this year. Downtown is working on a communication we will send out, but I’m thinking this is something we hand out to families throughout the year; during enrollment, at conferences, at Family Nights, Quick News, etc.
• Human Resources FAQ – HR sent principals an HR FAQ and I wanted to highlight three points:
• Unpaid Leave Days – Employees must request this time in advance from their supervisor (me). Supervisors will work with their Directors to gain approval. HR may contact Directors to discuss any potential hardship on the program, before final approval of the leave. To request unpaid leave, the employee should visit the HR Leaves of Absence webpage.
• Leave Request Required for 6 Days or More Absence – If an employee is going to be fully off work for more than 5 consecutive days, they are required to request a Leave of Absence through Human Resources, which includes being out sick more than 5 days, in which case you’d request a leave the 6th day you are out sick. Request forms can be found on the HR Leaves of Absence webpage.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – All staff are eligible to use the EAP program. The District offers EAP benefits through Uprise Health. EAP is a free and confidential service to our employees and their dependents and provides a wide variety of benefits. To access services call 866-750-1327 or go online to uprisehealth.com and use the access code: OEBB.
Employee Assistance Program Services include the following:
Counseling Services – 1 to 6 Visits per incident (ends 09/30/2023)
Counseling Services as of 10/01/2023 – 1 to 8 Visits per incident• Face-to-face counseling
Counseling by phone
• No copays
• 24-hour crisis assistanceWork-Life Balance Resources
• Legal & Mediation
• Childcare, Adult & Eldercare Services
• Online Will Preparation
• Mediation Services
• Identity Theft
• Financial
• Home Ownership Program
• College Planning Program
• Free Resilience Webinars
• 4J Discipline Matrix – The 4J Discipline Matrix is finally finished and ready to be shared. I’ll plan on this being a topic for a future Wednesday PD, but thought I’d share it now for anyone who wanted a sneak peek. Besides the matrix, it includes links to resources for prevention and intervention, response protocols, safety and wellness resources, and board policy. If you want to do an even deeper dive, here’s the 50-page of Discipline Matrix Supporting Document (the matrix links to various sections of this doc), which includes guiding principles, a description of the matrix, guides to classroom climate (prevention), and intervention practices, responses to minor/major referrals, and administrator tools for decision-making and planning around both ISS & OSS.
• Menchie’s Bookmarks – In the Work Room on Monday will be Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt “Sweet Reading Rewards” bookmarks you can give your class if you want. Kids read 10 books, the teacher signs it, and the kid gets a free frozen yogurt!
• Lift Furniture, Don’t Drag It – When rearranging or setting up your spaces, if you don’t want your floor scraped and scuffed, remember to lift furniture instead of dragging or pushing it across the floor.
• ELA & Math Materials Coming – Wit & Wisdom Student Books have been delivered and will be brought to each grade level’s wing this week. Coming later this week will be the updated Wit & Wisdom teacher guides (you can keep your old ones if you choose), along with complete sets of curriculum materials for grade levels where we’ve added a section. Math workbooks from Central Print are also coming this week, which we’ll deliver to wings, but it’s not everything for the entire year. There will be three more deliveries arriving over the next several months – October 12th, December 4th, and January 23rd.
• No Holt Water Bottles this Year – We used ESSR funds to buy these the last three years, but we do not have ESSR funds this year and did not purchase them for students.
• Technology Support – You are still able to request technology support by sending an email to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu, but be aware this will be changing. The preferred approach is to login to the Freshservice Portal to create the request tech support, so you might want to bookmark this webpage. It’s also linked on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• Insurance Open Enrollment Deadline, Sept. 15 – A reminder that you need to choose your insurance plan by September 15th, or else you will lose your health insurance benefits for this year. See the 4J Open Enrollment 2022-23 Website for details.
• WREN Newsletter & PD Opportunities – Linked here is the August Western Regional Educator Network (WREN) Newsletter, which includes online PD opportunities regarding Addressing Microaggressions, Bias and Triggers, Equity Foundations, and others. Sessions are open to all staff!. Note that participants do get a stipend for attending trainings, which range from $100 for a 2-hour virtual PD to $800 for multi-session PDs. Pretty sure I’ll sign up for some of these since I can do them after school from home!
• Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details, but take note of:
• Inservice Week Schedule – Linked here is the Elementary Inservice Week Schedule. It’s also on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• Optional New Staff Member Orientation and Q&A, 9/1 @10:00 – I’ll be available Friday, Sept. 1 at 10:00 in the library to share some Holt nuts & bolts logistics, answer questions, and provide any assistance for new folks.
• Who is A/B and C/D on the Schedule? – Grade-level teams should let me know which classes will follow the A, B, C, or D schedules on the 23-24 Master Schedule for Library, PE, and Music.
• Team Sign-Ups – Feel free to add you name to the Team Sign-Ups Spreadsheet.
• Artist in Residence Survey – Pick the top five artists for the Artist in Residence Survey.
• Staff Walk-Up Songs – Add your “Walk-Up Song” to the Staff Walk-Up Song Survey.
• Holt Staff Fun Facts – Add or update your info to the Holt Staff Fun Facts Spreadsheet.
• Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/28 – Fill out the linked Breakfast Burrito Google Form by 12:00am, Monday, August 28th to get one at the 8/31 Staff Meeting.
• Make Sure Your Voicemail is Set Up – All teachers should ensure your 4J voicemail is set up and working. See the linked Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for how to set it up.
• Welcome Back Burritos, Coffee, & Supplies! Friday, 8/25 @9:00! – Burritos, coffee, school supplies, and socializing Friday, August 25th at 9:00 in the School Garden!
• Class List Email Friday Afternoon, Sept. 1 after 3:00 – Teachers should plan on emailing through Synergy a welcome letter to families of all students in your class on Friday, September 1st after 3:00.
• Elementary Testing Coordinator – Anyone interested in taking over as the testing coordinator (easyCBM & OSAS) for a 2% salary stipend? Let me know if you are interested or have any questions. I’ve done testing coordination before and can help whoever takes on this duty.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
August 25 (F)
Licensed Staff Report Back
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Welcome Back Burritos, Coffee, & Supplies! (School Garden)August 28 (M)
8:00-11:00 – Building PD – Leadership Plan, Licensed Staff Nuts & Bolts
12:00, Breakfast Burrito Orders Due
12:30-4:00 – Conscious Discipline PD (Holt Gym/Cafeteria)August 29 (T)
8:00-12:00 – Teacher Prep
12:30-4:00 – Conscious Discipline PD (Holt Gym/Cafeteria)
6:00-7:00 – Holt PTO Board Meeting (Library)August 30 (W)
Classified Staff Report Back
8:00-11:00 – 4J Welcome Back Event (Sheldon HS Track)
11:00-12:00, Lunch and Transition Time
12:00-4:00 – Grade Level & Specialist PD (See LINK for locations)August 31 (H)
7:30-11:15 – Building PD – SCIP, Equity, Nuts & Bolts (All Staff, Cafeteria)
11:45-3:30 – Building PD – Structured CollaborationSeptember 1 (F)
8:00-10:00 – Building PD – BEPA, SEL (Licensed Staff, Library)
10:00-11:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
11:00-12:00, Optional New Staff Orientation and Q&A (Library)
12:30-2:30, SPED EA Training (Zoom)
12:30-3:30 – Teacher PrepSeptember 4 (M)
Labor Day – No SchoolSeptember 5 (T)
7:30-9:00 – Staff Meeting, If Needed (Library)
2:00-3:00, Meet Your Teacher (Classrooms)
2:30-3:30, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Playground)September 6 (W)
Kinder Starts
Grades 1-5 Structured Collaboration & Support of Kinder Smart StartSeptember 7 (H)
All Grade Levels StartSeptember 8 (F)
1:30-2:00, Welcome Back Assembly (Gym or Outside)
Relish your last days of summer, folks!
Allan
