https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=6950
Howdy Roadrunners,
Thank you, everyone, for making our first week back such a good one for students and families, and also for going with the flow on the unexpected inside recesses the first couple days due to hazardous air quality.
Twenty-nine items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Bridgette Blakesley is sadly leaving us at the end of this week, which means SSD will be filling her CLC 1:1 EA position ASAP. I’ll keep staff posted once we know who fill be taking Bridgette’s spot or if it’s going to be posted. SSD also filled a 1:1 EA position for a 1st grade student last week with Kittie Stratton, who has been a CLC-B 1:1 EA at Awbrey Park, but her student moved out of district. Please wish Bridgette well on her new adventures and please welcome Kittie to the Howard Family!
• Updated 2017-2018 Master Schedule – Linked here is an updated 2017-2018 Master Schedule (XLS and PDF). There was a mistake on the 5th grade lunch schedule and this also has the updated library schedule.
• Howard Staff Handbook Review – Linked here is the updated Howard Staff Handbook. All staff must review the handbook and sign & return the acknowledgement form to the office by Friday, September 29th. I’ll place hard copies of the acknowledgement form in mailbox on Monday. For Howard veterans, I haven’t made any changes outside of updating PBIS to match our current practices, the lockdown section to match ALICE practices, and a few other minor tweaks. Let me know if you have any questions.
• REPEAT: District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff – If you haven’t already reviewed the District Back-to-School Memo (link or PDF) and returned the acknowledgment form to me, make sure you turn it in to my mailbox no later than Friday, September 29th. See the 9/4 announcements for a summary of policy changes.
• LearnZillion Unit 1 Begins This Week – To stay on track with the LearnZillion Pacing Guide, all classes should begin with Unit 1 this Thursday. It’s important teachers keep up with the pacing guide so that all material is covered by the end of the year, and that grade level teams stay in the same place so Title 1 and SPED can better support core. Pacing guides can be found on the 4J LearnZillion website. I’ve also linked them here; KG, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade.
• LearnZillion Student Workbook Distribution Plan – After some confusion last week over whether we’d received our Unit 1 Student Workbooks and since we will continue to receive individual units over the course of the year, I wanted to have a clear plan for when they arrive. Each time we receive a delivery, we will email howard_cert that the boxes will be delivered to the commons area and placed against the exterior wall of the middle classroom for grade level team to distribute.
• Dreambox Info – In addition to Erin’s Dreambox Email Tips for leveling your student up to their current grade level and changing their passwords to pictures clues (and thank-you, Erin, for making the class names something more recognizable for kids), I wanted to make sure everyone had the school login code, which is q22w/nu8g. Also, to save teachers time finding it, linked here are the Dreambox Invitation Letters to Parents (English and Spanish), explaining how families can access Dreambox at home.
• 2017-2018 Leadership Plans – HR just sent an email to principals that Elementary Leadership Plans will be due November 8th and will follow the same process as in the past, so I was wrong to say we should hold off to see if something new gets bargained. The current contract gives us 22 teacher release days not to exceed 7 teachers. Linked here is last year’s plan, which compensated teachers for School Climate, Technology, Math, ELA, and Science leadership roles. If you have thoughts on this year’s plan, please let me know. I’d like to share Leadership Plan proposals at the September Staff Meeting in a couple weeks and then vote on a plan at the October Staff Meeting.
• Fire Drill Info – Our September Fire Drill will be later this month on Wednesday, September 27th (my birthday) at 8:45, but just in case we need it earlier, linked here is an updated Building Evacuation Map. The evacuation routes from the different wings are the same as last year, but I’ve updated the spots where classes line up to include new classrooms and teachers. Evacuation procedures can be found in the Howard Staff Handbook. Let me know if you have any questions on this.
• Playground Recess Lines – We were thankfully able to have recess last Friday and I placed the T-squares with teacher names along the playground number line to show kids where to line up. I’ll plan to put these out again on Monday and Tuesday, but would like teachers to remind students where they are supposed to line up at recess. These spots are important for the before school recess when we have students 1st through 5th grade all out on the playground at once. Teachers are welcome to choose other spots for recesses during the school day, but for the before school recess classes should line up as follows:
1. Chunn
3. Corliss
5. Kerins
7. Lawson
9. Pond
11. Swift
13. Larsen
15. Robinson
17. Niccum
19. Peterson/Kreider
21. Gaston
23. Groshong
25. Frank/Zimmerman
27. Callihan
29. Rock
31. TorresThe Building & Grounds Maintenance Supervisor said extending our playground number line was supposed to have gotten done on Thursday and would try to get it finished soon, so hopefully we’ll have actually numbers on the ground past 20 for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.
• Howard Google Team Drive – I over estimated the amount of time I would have last week, but you should all now have received an invitation to the Howard Google Team Drive. Everyone has access to add to the drive, so feel free to add resources. I kept the organization fairly simple, so let me know if you’re not sure where to add or find something. “Curriculum/Instruction” has a resources organized by subject area or topic (including Math, ELA, Science, trauma informed practices information, kid friendly CCSS posters, and more). “Teams/Meetings” has a folder for each of our building teams to add minutes and other information (most are empty now, but IPBS has CICO info and referrals forms, Site Council has our CAP, and Student Care Team has an enormous folder of community resources that I’ve shared over the past few years). The “Technology” folder has a mix of instructional technology resources (such as ISTE Technology Standards, SAMR information, and the Howard Student Technology Agreement) as well as more technical of items (like how to set up your voicemail or quick sheets on how to run reports in Synergy). Last, there is a “MISC” folder that’s a grab bag of handbooks, schedules, safety drills, and other procedural items. Feel free to explore and let me know if you run into any issues or have any suggestions or questions.
• Trauma Informed Practices Materials/Resources – Linked here are the Slides from the Trauma Informed Practices Training during in-service week. And linked here is a partial List of Trauma Resources, which includes books, video clips, and online resources/websites, etc.
• Tech Department Troubleshooter Available 9/13 & 9/25 – Misty Jackson from the Technology Department will be at Howard all day on Wednesday, September 13th and on Monday, September 25th to help troubleshoot, train, or assist staff one-on-one for any technology related topic. Continue to send any tech issues you have to our TSS, Peggy, at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu, but if you’d like to work with Misty on 9/13 and/or 9/25, email her directly at jackson_misty@4j.lane.edu
On a related note, James Grubic let me know Peggy’s hours this year. She will be at Howard 10:00-1:30 MWF and 7:30-10:30 TH.
• Team Sign-Ups – Don’t forget to sign-up for Building Teams in the Staff Room. We have our first IPBS meeting this week, with a TLT meeting soon after, and need to make sure we have grade level reps. Sign-up today!
• PTO Meeting Next Week – Not this week, but next week on Tuesday, September 19th from 6:00-7:00 will be the first PTO Meeting of the year. It’s typically the best attended meeting of the year by families, so it would be great if any staff can volunteer their evenings to come show support for parents who made time to come be involved in their child’s school. Mark your calendars and hope to see you there!
• New Slider Door Badge Reader – You may have missed it, but there is a new card reader between the two slider doors if you want to bypass walking through the office to go down the hall. On a related note, a card readers is in the process of being installed on the elevator and will be finished soon. We will have elevator passes for upstairs classrooms to give students carrying lunch baskets, library book wagons, or other large items.
• Class Name Plate Template – Teachers, feel free to use the linked Classroom Name Plate Template I made last year if you want something to go outside your classroom door with minimal effort.
• TAG Identified Students – Teachers, if you have any TAG identified students in your class this year, you’ll have already received an email naming the kiddos and what you need to do. If you didn’t see an email, you’re off the hook.
• Sub Folders to Office – For both classified and licensed staff, if you haven’t already, be sure to give your completed sub folders to Lori. If it helps in completing your folder, linked here is a list of suggested sub folder information/items HR said staff should consider when making lesson plans. Lori has extra folders if you don’t have one.
• SSD Health Services Info – SSD sent principals an email with several pieces of information related to school nurses and health services, but I wanted to highlight a couple points. One is that nurses need adequate notice for field trips (10-14 days) so that they can train persons to cover the field trips, have medications ready, etc. Often they are asked to go on field trips with no notice and this puts other students and schools at risk. And two, for teachers to require that permission slips be received back to the school 3 days in advance of a field trip so that the nurse and teacher has adequate time to review the list of students participating for critical medical concerns. Nurses serve multiple buildings and need adequate lead in these matters.
• AESOP Absence Data – HR sent principals an email about AESOP Absence Data that was interesting. The one thing I wanted to highlight for staff, particularly for teachers, is that if an absence related to PD was entered within 4 days of the PD, the chance a sub would pick up the job starts is much higher. If it is entered within 2 days the chance of a sub taking the assignment drastically drops. So if you have any planned absences, please don’t wait to put in for a sub and prearranging with one of our regular subs, both classified and licensed, is always the best way to go.
• REPEAT: Principal Visits to Classrooms – I’d like to again visit every classroom sometime during the first few weeks of school to greet students. I’ll read a favorite story to your class and chat with the kids a bit. Teachers, please let me know a good 10-15 minutes block of time I can come and visit. Thank you!
• REPEAT: Classified & Licensed Goals and Self Assessment – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment before the end of September. Licensed staff need to complete their self assessment in TalentEd. Classified staff need to complete the Classified Employee Self Assessment form, unless you completed one at the end of last year.
• Enrollment Updates – As usual, we had a number of student no-shows and also some last minute move-ins, which in the end only brought our enrollment down by 7 students from last week’s 495 to 488 ( we’re still 10 over our projection). The breakdown by grade level is PK (16), KG (72), 1st (84), 2nd (83), 3rd (80), 4th (85), 5th (84), so including preschoolers we can still say we’re a school of over 500 students (and a school with more staff than any other elementary or middle school in 4J).
• DACA Info Night – Monday, Sept 11 @ River Road Elementary – Quick notice on this if you know of families to share this with. The 4J Office of Equity, Instruction and Partnership is coordinating a DACA information night Monday, September 11th from 6-7pm at River Road Elementary. This night is open to all families and students who are interested from 4J and neighboring districts. The organization CAUSA will be providing Information followed by a question and answer time facilitated by a local lawyer. This is the first of several information nights for our immigrant and undocumented families that 4J will be hosting this year around the district. Linked here is a bilingual flyer for staff and others in the community to distribute as they feel is most respectful to our families and students.
• eScrip, SmileAmazon, Fred Meyer Rewards – We’ve shared this with families in the newsletter in the past, but to also share it with staff, an easy way you all can support Howard is by signing up for eScrip and Smile Amazon. With eScrip, you link you debit and/or credit cards and when you make purchases around town at places like Market of Choice, Sizzle Pie, El Tapatio, or Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, it supports Howard. eScrip also supports purchases through a number on online retailers including Best Busy, Target, and Amazon if you first go through escrip.com. And speaking of Amazon, if you link your Amazon account to the “Howard Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization” through Smile Amazon, a small percentage of you Amazon purchases support Howard. Fred Meyer also has their own rewards program that Howard is a part of. Sign up for the Fred Meyer Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to Howard Elementary School. You can search for us by our name or by our non-profit number #88934.
• A Phone Call Home Makes All the Difference – You don’t have to reserve phone calls to parents or guardians for bad news. Try the tips in this article to deepen communication with families, which include introduce yourself by your first name, begin the conversation with a positive, describe only actions— avoid labeling, ask questions seeking support, calling with good news, and tips on sending texts and emails.
• The Impact of Students Reading Culturally Relevant Texts – In this Teachers College Record article, Kathleen Clark reports on her study of the impact of African-American elementary school students reading books featuring culturally familiar characters and settings. The study compared a study group and a control group (reading books without African-American characters and settings) over a semester of instruction. What were the results? Students who used culturally relevant texts significantly outperformed students in the control group. See the above link for more details.
• 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:
September 11 (M)
Library Begins
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Begins
Morning Announcements Begin
9:00, Allan to SSD Meeting (Conference Room)
9:00, Allan to Preschool Fire Inspection
2:30, Allan to BEST Meeting (BEST Room)September 12 (T)
8:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ MeetingCANCELLED
2:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, Room 23)
2:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)September 13 (W)
Cookie Dough Fundraiser Begins
Misty Jackson from Tech Department Available for Troubleshooting
2:30, PBIS Meeting (Rae’s Room, Room 1)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)September 14 (H)
12:00-3:30, Allan to ILT (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, TLT Meeting (Angela’s Room, Room 24)
2:30-3:30, Allan to KG Transition Meeting (Conference Room)September 15 (F)
9:00-1:00, OSEA Site Visit w/Members (Staff Room)September 18 (M)
Lori’s Birthday!
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)September 19 (T)
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
9:00-11:30, Allan to Zaretta Hammond PD (LaneESD)
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Gym)September 20 (W)
1:30, Allan to 504 Plan MeetingSeptember 21 (H)
2:30, Optional Building SMART Goals Meeting (Conference Room)September 22 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
1:30, 4/5 Strings Recruitment Assembly (Gym)
Have a great first full week back and let’s make our kids’ hopes for the year come true!
Allan
