https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=9940
Howdy Friends,
A big congratulations to Howard’s ACE Award Nominees, Charissa, Justine, Jessy, Allison, Linda, Ashley, Rebecca H., me (Pond made me add myself), and Bruce the Gardener! This is the most nominations I think we’ve ever gotten at one time and Howard was by far one of the most nominated schools this year. I know families definitely appreciate the hard work and efforts of ALL staff, especially durning this time, but these sorts of public recognitions are nice affirmations we don’t always receive. Keep up the great work, Team Howard!
Seventeen items of note for this week as well as notes from last Thursday’s Staff Meeting:
• Job Expo Updates – HR only filled some of our vacancies. Bryan is filling the 5th grade vacancy, Savannah was hired into her current kindergarten position but has since moved into Jessy’s vacant 1st grade position, and HR placed Crystal Thomas, who is coming off a leave and who previously taught at Edison and YG, into our other 1st grade vacancy. SSD has also placed Kim Sullivan, Camus Ridge CLC-B Teacher, into our Learning Center position left vacant by Bryan. Congratulations to Imelda, who was hired into the Spanish Immersion Program at Kelly, and congratulations to Jessy, who was hired as the new counselor at Willagilespie. For round two of the Job Expo, we will have a vacancy at kindergarten and two vacancies at 4th grade.
• Required Staff Meeting – Staff decided our next required staff meeting will be the first Thursday of the month, which is only one more meeting for this year, June 4th at 12:30.
• Summer Clean Out and Summer Prep – Downtown is having schools begin “Phase II” of closing out for the school year, packing up so custodial staff can begin summer cleaning. We want to avoid too many people in the building at once, so we have two immediate action items:
1. Teachers and other staff in charge of school areas should sign up for the dates & times you are planning to come into the building on the linked Packing Schedule – Phase II Spreadsheet by Monday, May 11th. I have to submit this to downtown so make sure your dates/times are on the list. If too many people are in at one time, I may ask staff to choose a different date/time.
2. Classifies staff should also sign up on linked Packing Schedule – Phase II Spreadsheet regarding your availability to assist with closing down classrooms if teachers & staff need an extra hand.
For the next two weeks, we will follow similar guidelines as when we bagged up student belonging; staff entering only through the main entrance, sign in at the office, only use office restrooms, and sign out when you leave. Gloves and masks are not required. You can bring help (family or otherwise) if you’d like, but continue to maintain social distancing.
Friday, May 22nd is the deadline to close out your area and complete the linked Howard Checklist for Closing 2019-2020. I’ll put hard copies of the checklist in staff mailboxes and extras on the counter. Staff will need to turn in your completed form to Allan’s mailbox. If anything is left unfinished, you will be called back to complete tasks.
UPDATE: Linked here is the Technology Equipment Checkout Contract 2019-20 that was sent to principals 5/12.
Teachers will still need to provide lessons to students on the days you are closing down your classroom, but on the days you are working in your classroom you can assign supplemental types of activities (Dreambox, Epic!, etc.) that you do not need to correct, review, or give feedback on.
A decision has not been made if SSD’s Extended School Year (ESY) Program is cancelled, delayed, or happening on schedule in Howard downstairs classrooms. My advice for downstairs teachers would be don’t worry about “locking down” your classroom for ESY. My guess is it will not happen this year, but if it does happen, teachers can come back later to secure your rooms.
Let me know if you have any questions.
• SSD Documentation Consult/SDI – Linked here is the SSD Documentation Consult/SDI Log that was said to be forthcoming at Thursday’s Staff Meeting. We’re not required to use this format, but we do need to include this information in our meeting notes. Our current note format looks like it captures all the same info shown in the sample SDI Log (dates, times, teachers, students, etc…), although the sample did have more extensive of notes. Still, I think we can stick with what we’re currently doing and be within policy, as long as we continue to include in the notes that case managers are staying in weekly contact with families and document if any accommodations or modifications were made or not for students with an IEP. On a related note, if you’re interested, linked here is the Admin Presentation on SDI. Password: #bettertogether2020 and here is the latest SSD Newsletter.
• Distance Learning Packets Assistance – Downtown said principals can assign classified staff to check in with families choosing to do the ESD Packets instead of the online distance learning if teachers would like assistance. If you would like assistance, let me know the student name.
• Classified Help Contacting Families – Related to the above, if there are classified staff interested/willing to contact families doing paper/pencil distance learning, let me know.
• Others from Staff Meeting – A few others that came up at Thursday’s Staff Meeting:
• TAG Update – Charissa shared that info will come soon on how to finalize TAG Plans. There will be no spring TAG testing, but students who missed this window will likely get tested in the fall. More info on that is coming in the fall. For more info, see the linked TAG Guidance from ODE and also see the 4J TAG Coordinator’s Email.
• Teachers Pay Teachers School Access – Educator Relief Program – The Howard subscription to TpT School Access is good through June 30th. We have a total of 160 resource licenses, which means teachers should access no more than 4 resources each (4.7 exactly, but tell a teacher friend they can use your 4.7 if you don’t want to use the downloads). You can view how many resource licenses are left on the TpT School Activity webpage. I’ll plan to make it a free-for-all for anything left starting June 8th, the last week of school.
• Class Lists – A committee of admins, teachers, and EEA reps are working on a process for class lists. My guess is it’ll be similar to what we’ve done in the past, with grade level teams creating class lists for the next grade up and then making the lists available for other staff to view and to provide any input on. More info to come on this.
• Report Cards – A different committee of admins, teachers, and EEA reps are working on a revised report card, timeline, and process. The report card itself will look different and report cards will again be mailed to families, but the process of how that is done will also likely look different from last year. More info to come on this too.
• Optional Staff Meeting, Thursday @12:30 – Our weekly Optional Staff Check-In Meeting is this Thursday at 12:30. On my email and on a forthcoming Zimbra calendar invite, but not on my blog, are the Zoom Meeting Invite links. Video courtesy of Rae:
• PBIS Events – See Mellissa’s Email, but remember to let her know if you’re willing to be a Zoom Bouncer for the dance party this Thursday at 7:00PM. And a reminder, that all of our PBIS community building activities are optional for staff, students, and families, but teachers should communicate event info to all students and families.
• Want to work at ESY? – Mentioned in the above SSD Newsletter, we do not know if the SPED Extended School Year program is happening this year or not, but SSD needs to plan as if it is happening so we aren’t behind the eight ball if we do end up having it. If any teachers or EAs are interested in working at ESY, please email KC Clark <clark_k@4j.lane.edu>.
• Classified Professional Development – See David Jacobsen’s Email for details, but classified staff with unassigned paid work time will complete online training courses. You should by now have received an email from SafeSchools.com that will include the link, the list of online courses, and the requirements for completion. Let me know if you need assistance with your workload or access to technology. If you need assistance using SafeSchools.com, please contact Melissia Olin at olin_m@4j.lane.edu
• Technology Support for Families – Website and Forms – The Tech Dept is asking teachers to share the following information with families (not the GIF though):
Technology Support for Families
Website with documentation and quicksheets
https://technologysupport.4j.lane.eduSupport Request Form
https://technologysupport.4j.lane.edu/student-support/Families should feel free to continue emailing or leaving a voicemail with 4J Tech Support, but the above link will get the fastest repose. The most common support solutions will be in PDF form and linkable from the above website.
• Learn360 is Free – Learn360 (a subscription you may remember we had as a district several years ago) has offered their resources listed below, free until June 30th. They have over 330,000 full educational videos, clips, interactives and non-video resources. I know many teachers were disappointed when we lost access to this resource…now is your chance to grab some of these resources to use now and/or save for use later. See Misty Jackson’s Email for details.
• REPEAT: Fun Friday! – Go to the Beach Day – Friday is a Fun Friday! Even though we’re not together, feel free let your students know that they can still dress like they’re spending the day at the beach or if you want to do any beach related activities with your students this day.
• District Admin Updates – Dan Sterling, principal at Holt Elementary School, will be retiring at the end of the school year. This position will be posted for internal and external applicants soon. Trinity Welch-Radabaugh has been appointed interim principal at North Eugene when Iton departs. Trinity has been assistant principal at North for three years and previously served as an assistant principal in Corvallis.
• Yes, Low-Income Students Lose the Most When Learning Goes All Online – I think we all knew this to be true going into distance learning, but this EdSurge Article presents some data to back up that gut feeling. No one knows how much—or how little—students have been learning as U.S. families began “sheltering in place” in March, but data is starting to emerge showing that students in families with low median annual income are taking a bigger hit than others.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
May 11 (M)
Twilight Zone Day
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V FamiliesMay 12 (T)
9:00-11:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting
11:00-12:00, Free MealsMay 13 (W)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
1:00-1:30, Kindergarten & Interventionist Meeting
1:45-2:15, 1st Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:30-3:00, 2nd Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:45-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Eval Committee MeetingMay 14 (H)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
12:30-1:00, Optional Howard Check-In Meeting
1:00-1:30, 3rd Grade & Interventionist Meeting
1:45-2:15, 4th Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:30-3:00, 5th Grade & Interventionist Meeting
4:00-7:00, Allan to Job Expo Zoom Interviews
7:00-7:10, Howard Zoom Dance Party!May 15 (F)
Fun Friday! – Go to the Beach Day
8:00-9:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendanceMay 18 (M)
Virtual Walk & Roll to School (or Anywhere) Week
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V FamiliesMay 19 (T)
11:00-12:00, Free MealsMay 20 (W)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
1:00-1:30, Kindergarten & Interventionist Meeting
1:45-2:15, 1st Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:30-3:00, 2nd Grade & Interventionist MeetingMay 21 (H)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
12:30-1:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting
1:00-1:30, 3rd Grade & Interventionist Meeting
1:45-2:15, 4th Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:30-3:00, 5th Grade & Interventionist MeetingMay 22 (F)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendanceMay 25 (M)
Memorial Day – No School
Four and a half weeks left!
Allan
