https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=3636
Hello Roadrunner Staff,
That was fun doing some end-of-the-week art therapy last Friday.
Fourteen items of note this week:
• United Way Drive Forms Due Wednesday – The United Way drive kicked off at last week’s staff meeting. United Way is a great program that directly benefits our students in many ways. Please consider donating a small amount this year. United Way is the largest community support network in our community and makes a huge difference in many lives. If you choose to participate, forms are due to the office by this Wednesday. Remember that you can even donate directly to your own school, grade level or classroom, which may be a good thing to do since the “Educator Expenses Tax Deduction” ended last year, but a donation through United Way is still tax deductible.
• PRIDE Awards Wednesday – Quite a few of these have already been turned in, but Wednesday at lunchtime will be the November PRIDE Awards. Teachers should pick a letter (Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Discipline, Excellence) to honor students and fill out the PRIDE certificates located in the office. Invitations to families are also in the office. There is no minimum or maximum number of PRIDE recipients per class, but the general rule of thumb is 2-3. And remember, as you turn in your PRIDE nominations, be sure that you let Lori know who and why each student is being recognized so she can put their name up on the board.
• December 1st PD Day – I’ll send the final agenda on Monday, but after our staff meeting last week when teachers expressed a desire to have more time to collaborate at grade levels on CCSS rubrics and related assessments, I’m going to shorten my parts of the day to give grade levels this time. We’ll do a bit of business at first (let me know if you have any agenda items) and then move into an equity related exercise involving actual incidents that have happened in 4J schools, followed by a technology integration discussion, sharing some information from the Apple event I attended two weeks ago, primarily looking at the SAMR model for examining technology integration developed by Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura.
• Smarter Balanced Sample Tests & Accommodations – Kerri Sage said she’d send these, but I haven’t seen the email yet, so here is a link to the 4J Curriculum website, which contains the CCSS and assessment information she shared (install VPN on your laptop if you’re accessing this website from home or outside the 4J network). Also, here is a link to the Smarter Balanced website if you’d like take your students though the practice tests or look at it yourself. I also added this link to the 2-3 and 4-5 “Links for Learners” on the school website earlier this year so teachers can have students practice taking the sample tests before doing the real thing. A number of folks also asked about testing accommodations. I’m sure 4J will put their own spin on these in terms of what is acceptable, but here is a link to the ODE webpage regarding the statewide assessment accessibility supports (formerly the Accommodations Tables).
• Construction Updates – This past week the district and architects had our first meeting with the construction company, Todd Construction who just completed Parkrose Middle School in the Portland area, at a pre-construction meeting. Here’s a list of their sub/suppliers for those interested. Most of the meeting was a lot of uninteresting information along the lines of permits, prevailing wage requirements and such (here are the complete minutes if you’re interested), but there were a few interesting items of note.
• Schedule and Work Hours – Construction hours will be 7:00-3:30 daily. I’ve asked them to not have trucks coming and going during arrival and dismissal times. Attached is a schedule for the next three weeks if you’re interested, though the main focus is setting up the site and beginning work on the piping and plumbing. Regarding long-term scheduling, Feb. 1st is the “substantial completion” date. The preference of Todd Construction is for us to move into the new school over Spring Break so they have more time to demo the existing building. I reminded district facilities staff that Howard staff will need paid work days on both ends of Spring Break to do this; with days to pack on the front end and then more days to unpack on the back end. I get the sense that 4J wants to make this work because it’s also in their interest to not move two school over the same summer, because Roosevelt MS will be moving this same summer. More to come on this. August 14th is the site completion date (building, parking lots, fields, landscaping and everything else).
• Fencing Changes – There’s been a changeover in responsibility for the fencing around the construction site, so the timeline for access to the track is now looking like the first week of December. Todd Construction is taking over responsibility for the fencing and is working with their subcontractor. Also, the fences behind the east wing will be moved closer to the building to provide enough space for equipment and materials, though there will still be egress around the building, which is required by code.
• Class Visits to Site – The construction staff are fine with teachers taking students onto the new building site during the construction process. They just ask that you send me an email at least two days prior. One change since I went through this process at Cal Young is that students are now being required to wear hardhats, high visibility vests and closed toes shoes. 4J is checking into getting us a class set of hardhats and the construction company said they have plenty of vests.• Kelly MS Naming the New Track – Kelly Middle School is working on a process to name the new track after someone. Since the track is officially Kelly’s, our part is really as interested community members, but I did think folks here would like to know this is in the works.
• Hour of Code, Dec. 8-14 – A few classes participated last year, but if you’d like your class to participate, you can register on the Hour of Code website, where you can find resources and even self guided tutorials that you can simply have your student go through the day of the Hour of Code. I also recently read an article about how ‘Frozen’s’ Anna and Elsa are part of a latest campaign to get girls to code. This is actually one of the tutorials on Code.org
• PTO Meeting Updates – To keep you all updated on PTO happenings, here’s the latest.
• Holiday Bazaar, Saturday, Dec. 6, 9:00-4:00 – The PTO is selling tables for local crafters and other sellers for a Holiday Bazaar that will be in the Gym. They are teaming with two other Holiday Bazaars (Emerald Park and Trinity) who are also running bazaars the same day to help maximize foot traffic.
• Wayback Burger Fundriaser, Dec. 8, 5:00-8:00 – The PTO organized a fundraiser with Wayback Burger (who’s owner’s son used to be in my classroom), with Howard getting a percentage of all purchases made between these times (no flyers needed). Related to this, the PTO is also working to schedule a fundraiser with Growler Guys.
• Other Future Events – The Jog-a-thon and Penny War are tentatively set to happen in May with the School Carnival happening on Thursday, June 4th, 5:00-8:00. The PTO doesn’t have anything scheduled for January or February, so they are currently deciding on whether to do another movie night or a craft night.• Grant Opportunities – Here are a couple grant opportunities I’ve recently come across that I thought I’d share.
• Three Rivers Foundation – Online grant applications for grants up to $7,000 (they said they expect most applications to be between $2,000-$7,000 though there is no minimum). The application period opens Dec. 1st and runs though Dec. 31st.
• Association of American Educators Grants– Classroom grants can be used for a variety of projects and materials (average amount $500), including but not limited to books, software, calculators, math manipulatives, art supplies, audio-visual equipment, and lab materials. Classroom grants are available to all educators with an deadline of March 1st. I got this second one from an email Rachel forwarded to me from Grants 4 Teachers.• Safe Routes to School Classroom Surveys Due Monday – I have quite a few of the surveys already in the office, but if you have any of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) classroom or student surveys, please turn them in this Monday. We’ll announce the student winner of the bike helmet Tuesday morning.
• Student Art Submissions Requested for Eugene Airport – The Eugene Airport is currently undergoing construction as part of a major terminal expansion project. Temporary construction walls will be installed and they are in need of colorful student artwork. See the flyer for details.
• District PBIS Newsletter – 4J Behavior Consultants, including Howard alumni Kim Reinhardt, have started putting out a newsletter that was shared with ESS licensed staff and principals. The November Newsletter is attached, and it has some good information that that I thought staff might be interested in reading as well.
• Rob Saxton Op-Ed on Kindergarten test results – Rob Saxton, the Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, recently wrote an op-ed on the kindergarten readiness testing, which I though staff might find interesting. For people who work in schools, there’s no big revelations, but we can maybe gain some hope that people at the state level are talking about investing more in primary education and in underserved populations.
• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
November 24 (M)
Referral Free Window Continues
Reading and Math Progress Monitoring 5
Safe Routes to School Surveys Due to Office
2:30-3:30, Site Council Meeting (Staff Room)
7:00-8:30, Allan to CCSS Information Night for Spanish-Speaking 4J Parents (Ed Center)November 25 (T)
9:00-9:30, Allan covering a classroom
10:00-11:00, Allan to Facilities Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP MeetingNovember 26 (W)
Classroom/Grade-Level Referral Free Parties
10:55-12:30, PRIDE Awards at Lunch (Cafeteria)November 27 (H)
Thanksgiving Holiday – No SchoolNovember 28 (F)
Thanksgiving Holiday – No SchoolDecember 1 (M)
8:00-12:00, Professional Development (Library)December 2 (T)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Room 7)December 3 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Favorite Color Day!
8:30-9:00, Native American Storyteller K-2 Assembly (Gym)
9:20-10:05, Native American Storyteller K-2 Assembly (Gym)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals Meeting (NEHS)December 4 (H)
2:30-3:30, Allan to Evaluation/Planning Meeting (Room 9)December 5 (F)
Regular DayDecember 6 (S)
9:00-4:00, PTO Holiday Bazaar (Gym)
Have a fabulous (though I’m sure crazy) three-day week!
Allan
