https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=4200
Hello Howard Roadrunners,
I hope you all had a relaxing three day weekend that will carry you through the last two and a half weeks of schools (9 1/2 student days, but who’s counting).
Fifteen items of note this week:
• Staff Summer Reading List! – If you would like to participate, I’d like to do our annual Howard staff summer reading list. Email or tell me a book or books you’d recommend or ones you’re planning to read this summer. Feel free to include a review or description if you’d like. I’ll share the list at the end of the year. Certainly not a “have-to-do,” but I think it’s fun hearing what all people are planning to read or recommended. Send me your picks by the end of next week! And if you’re curious, here’s Bill Gates’ summer reading list. I’m currently reading one book on his list.
• Fire Drill, Monday at 1:25 – The weather forecast looks good for Tuesday, so we’ll plan to hold our May Fire Drill on Tuesday, May 26th at 1:25. If we’re unexpectedly rained out, we’ll try the same time later in the week.
• PRIDE Awards Wednesday – This Wednesday is the final PRIDE Awards for the school year if you have any deserving students left who have not yet been recognized. PRIDE certificates and invitations to families are located in the office. When 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.
• Year End Checklist – With the school year winding down, I’ll be putting the end-of-year checklists in mailboxes early this week. This is a list of tasks to complete before you leave for your well deserved summer vacation. It’s pretty much the same as in the past, but please let me know if you have any questions. I’ll also be posting a sign-up sheet in the mailroom for staff sign up for checkout times.
• Staff Technology Summer Checkout – Related to the above items, if you are planning to take home any of your technology (laptop, iPads, etc.) over the summer, be sure to fill out and turn in a signed copy of the 4J Technology Equipment Checkout Contract (MS Word or PDF) to the office.
• Last Days of School Calendar & Schedule – To help make sure everyone knows what’s happening the last three weeks of the schools year, attached and below is a calendar of events from May 25 – June 11. I’ll include an updated one in next week’s announcements if anything is changed or added, which I’m sure will happen.
• 2015-2016 Class Lists Due Next Week – Class lists are due to the office Friday next week. If your grade level hasn’t done it already, attached is the class list form (MS Word or PDF) to create your class lists.
• Construction & Furniture Updates – Attached are the minutes from the last Owner/Architect/General Contractor (OAC) Meeting and notes from the previous Design Team meeting. I didn’t attend the OAC meeting due to the Tech Trot, but the minutes didn’t look like there was anything all that interesting, though here are a few items of note:
• Construction Tours – Since the year is winding down, the window for getting a tour of the new school during this stage of the construction process is quickly closing. If teachers would like to take their class out to the site, let me know at least a day or two ahead of time and I will see if the site superintendent can accommodate.
• Classroom Mock Up in Room 7 – Erin sent out an email about this, but her classroom will soon be the mock up classroom with most all of the furniture we’ll be selecting from for classrooms in the new school. It was supposed to be here last Friday, but is now set to arrive this Friday. Be sure to check it out once it comes, so you can let your Design Team Reps know your preference.
• CLC Location Change – The location of the CLC in the new building has been changed. We’d been making the case that the CLC needs to have a “break room” and downtown finally agreed to this. The break room would need to be permanently installed, so it can’t go in the front wing with Kindergarten and Life Skills because we would run out of kinder classrooms in that wing if our school ever did reach capacity and required four kindergarten classes. The new location will be in the 5th grade wing.
• Entry Tack Panel – Another rather silly battle is over whether we can have a tack panel somewhere in the front entry area for community groups to post flyers. Architects feel that the flat panel screen out front is for this, though my thinking is that we’re still going to have flyers for various event that we need to post and that posting them on windows and walls would look far messier than on a tack panel. To be continued.
• Physical Education Expansion K-8 (PEEK-8) Grant – Not much of an update yet, but I did want to let people know that I’ve been working with Kay Fullerton, the 4J Grant Writer, on applying for all year PE again. ODE has yet to announced PEEK-8 grants for next year and we’re waiting to hear back from them as to what will be the timeline for applications.
• Writing & Math Consumables Coming – A few people have asked, but just so everyone knows, this summer we’ll be getting additional Being a Writer and Investigations Student Workbooks to replenish consumables that were used this year and to add to grade levels that will have increased student number. On a related note, the SDSs are also putting together the list of building needs for the Journeys reading curriculum and working on getting those out to schools this summer as well.
• Spring Writing Work Sample Reminder – Writing work samples are due this Thursday for the May 29th PD/Planning day. Linked here is the teacher script and directions and also the K-2 writing prompt. Let me know if you have any questions.
• United to End Racism Events – 4J is presenting an exciting series of events this week that are going to be happening in our schools and community between May 26 – 29. Please see the attached flyers for a community event, an in-house event and a visit with Gyasi Ross.
• What Do You Do With A Student Who Fidgets? – Here’s a recent story from NPR that Rachel shared with me. It’s actually a follow up to a report they did on a small study in which students with ADHD performed better on memory tasks when they were allowed to spin and move around in a swiveling chair. Following that story, they got hundreds of comments, tweets and emails with suggestions for fidgets, including one quite clever one involving wrapping bike inner tubes around the legs of a chair, allowing kids to bounce their legs during learning.
• How has technology changed the face of learning? – Technology already has changed K-12 education forever, asserts Matthew Lynch, dean of the School of Education at Virginia Union University. In this commentary, he writes that technology has revolutionized classroom collaboration, information gathering, remote learning and teacher preparation.
• 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:
May 25 (M)
No School – Memorial DayMay 26 (T)
Library Movie Week
Tail Feather Challenge Continues
Artist in Residence Continues (see schedule)
Reading & Math Spring Benchmark Testing Continues
Final Week for Spring Writing Work Sample
1:25, Fire Drill
2:30-3:30, Site Council (Staff Room)May 27 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Construction Progress Meeting (Construction Trailer)
10:55-12:30, PRIDE Awards at Lunch (Cafeteria)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Staff Room)
4:00-6:00, Allan to Nutrition Services Community Advisory Meeting (Ed Center)May 28 (H)
Last Day of BEST
Last Day of ELD
10:55-12:30, May Birthday Lunches with Mr Chinn (Library)
2:20-2:50, Allan to Summative Evaluation Meeting
2:30-4:00, Design Team Meeting (Library)May 29 (F)
No School – PD Planning Day
Report Card Comments for Translation Due to Bianca
8:00-12:30, Professional Development (Library)
12:30-4:00, Planning Time
1:00-1:30, Allan to Summative Evaluation MeetingJune 1 (M)
Artist in Residence Continues (see schedule)
EEF Grant Reports Due
Reading & Math Spring Benchmark Testing Continues
9:00-12:30, 1st Grade to Mount Pisgah
2:00-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)June 2 (T)
Tail Feather Challenge Continues
Reading & Math Spring Benchmark Testing Continues
9:05, 4th Grade Play for K/2/5 (Cafeteria)
10:00-11,00, KG End of Year Celebration
1:00, 4th Grade Play for 1/3/LS (Cafeteria)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Hop Valley)June 3 (W)
All Library Books Due
9:00-11:00, Allan to Construction Progress Meeting (Construction Trailer)
8:15-9:30, Field Day – K – 2 (Track)
10:15-11:30, Field Day 3 – 5 (Track)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)June 4 (H)
Library Basket Giveaways
8:15, Fire Drill
10:55-12:30, June & July Birthday Lunches with Mr Chinn (Library)
1:00-1:45, Tail Feather Reward (Track)
1:40-2:00, Kelly Students Teaching in 5th Grade
2:30-3:30, TLT Meeting (Room 6)
2:30-4:00, Design Team Meeting (Library)
5:00-8:00, School CarnivalJune 5 (F)
Grading Day – No StudentsJune 8 (M)
9:00-1:30, 3rd/4th/5th to SplashJune 9 (T)
Last Day for 5th Grade and Kindergarten
8:30-11:00, Room 3 & 17 Bowling Field Trip (Firs Bowl)
1:00-1:45, 5th Grade Graduation (Gym)
1:50-2:05, 5th Grade Clap Out (East Wing Hallway)June 10 (W)
Last Day for Students
“Grab & Go” Sack Lunch (see times below)
11:05, Dismissal
11:30-12:00, Staff End-of-Year Ice Cream Celebration (Cafeteria)
12:00-4:00, Staff Checkouts with Allan“GRAB & GO” SACK LUNCH SCHEDULE
10:10 1st grade
10:25 2nd grade
10:35 3rd grade
10:45 4th gradeStudents will enter the cafeteria through the doors closest to the office. They will put together their own sack lunch, assembly line style. As students pass through the line, they should form a new line at the doors exiting to the breezeway. Once all the students have gotten their lunches, the class can leave the cafeteria. This process should take 5-8 minutes.
If staff, not supervising students, are available to help during this time, that would be terrific ☺.
June 11 (H)
Last Day for Staff (Classified and Licensed)
7:30-4:00, Staff Checkouts with AllanJune 12 (F)
Budget Reduction/Unpaid Furlough DaySept 1 (T)
Teachers Report Back (Classified calendar has not been published yet, but likely Sept. 2)
Have a fabulous week, everyone!
Allan
