Howdy Everyone,
Is anyone interested in 2 free tickets to see a super cool indie pop band Camera Obscura this Saturday in Portland at Revolution Hall? My wife and I were going to see it but now we can’t make it. They’re a pretty rad band and if you want a taste of what they sound like, here are a few of my favorites; Lloyd I’m Ready to be Heartbroken, French Navy, and Honey in the Sun.
Twenty-nine items of note for this week:
• Staffing Updates – Four staffing updates:
• SPED Teacher (Madison Kunzman) – Please welcome Madison as our new full-time SPED teacher for next school year! Madison comes to us from Howard where she taught 1st grade. Before teaching in the classroom, Madison was a Life Skills EA and just this spring got her SPED endorsement. Please give Madison a big Holt Bolt welcome!
• 5th Grade Placement (Carmelita Bradley) – Eugene Online Academy (EOA) has dissolved their elementary program and HR has placed EOA primary grade teacher Carmelita Bradley into our 5th grade vacancy left by Liz’s retirement, though I’ve also heard that Carmelita is planning on retiring, so I’m not sure where things stand with this placement. I emailed Carmelita last week, but have not heard back, so stay tuned.
• Assistant Principal (Rebecca Boyd) – For staff not at Friday’s Stand-Up Staff Meeting or who missed my email, Rebecca Boyd was hired as Holt’s Assistant Principal for next year. Rebecca is currently the Instructional Coach at Gilham, and before that was a 4J Staff Development Specialist (SDS), a kindergarten teacher at Spring Creek, a 1st and 2nd grade in North Carolina, and before all that taught kindergarten at River Road here in Eugene. Rebecca is also a National Board Certified Teacher, which means she’s a way better teacher than I ever was. Please welcome Rebecca to Team Holt!
• SPED EA Job Posting – Karen Apgar, 4J SSD 504 Admin, helped us get an additional SPED EA to support a student with some fairly intense diabetic and other medical needs next year, which means we are posting for a 6.5 hour SPED EA position. This position will be 1:1 part of the time, but will also support other primary grade students with IEPs.
• No Required Meetings June 3-7 – There are no required meetings or PD this week because Friday is a grading day.
• Holt Bolt Prize Schedule – See the PTO Holt Bolt Prize Email for details and the list of student winners by grade level, but below is the prize schedule for the next two weeks. The reward where kids get to cut off my tie was left off the email, but it’s happening Monday at lunches:
Friday (5/31)
Raffle tickets and individual prize tickets in teacher boxes.Monday & Tuesday (6/3 & 6/4)
Take classes through library to deposit tickets in the Raffle boxesMonday (6/3)
Tie Cutting Reward at Lunches (Cafeteria)Tuesday (6/4)
8:00, Breakfast with Mr. Chinn (Cafeteria)Wednesday (6/5)
Drawing of tickets (winners not announced)Thursday (6/6)
8:00, Zoom announcement of prize winners and prizes delivered to winners in their classroomWednesday (6/12)
8:10, Assembly on hard play to turn Mr. Chinn into an Ice Cream Sundae
• Music in Gym this Week – A reminder that Music classes will be in the gym this week for combined PE/Music kickball games while the Music Room is used as a staging area for Field Day.
• Spring Benchmarking Closes, WEDNESDAY – easyCBM Spring Benchmarking was extended to this Wednesday, so make sure any final stragglers have completed their required benchmark assessments.
• 0.2 PE Teacher Interviews, WEDNESDAY – This Wednesday from 1:30-3:00, Alex and I are holding interviews for our Temp 0.2 PE position left vacant by Jenifer, who is sadly not returning next year. Let me know if you’d like to join the interview committee and I will send you the interview materials.
• Holt Spirit Day – Tie-Dye, THURSDAY – The final Spirit Day of the year is this Thursday and this time it’s Tie-Dye Day! Remind kids to wear their favorite Tie-Dye attire or just wear their Holt gear to join the fun!
• Interventionist Last Day, THURSDAY – The last day for Title, ELD, and SPED groups will be this Thursday.
• Sheldon Grad Walk, THURSDAY @10:55 – Sheldon High School graduates are visiting their elementary alma maters this Thursday. Holt graduates are scheduled to visit 10:55-11:15. I’ll plan to walk graduates through the cafeteria, each of the wings, and then across the playground.
• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – The June Fire Dill is on Thursday, June 6 at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.
• Grading Expectations, 6/7 – Principals haven’t been sent anything new for Grading Day, so I’ll assume the expectations are the same as earlier this year:
Certified staff may work from home on this day, however they need to inform you as the building principal of their plan to work in an alternate location and how they’ll be available to their team members, if needed. Staff that have not communicated a desire to work from an alternate location will be expected to work on site. This is a working day and professional awareness is critical. Please be aware of the perception of community members if you are engaged in activities in the community instead of being at work. Classified staff need to report to the building, or use appropriate leave or trade time.
• Field Day, 6/11 – Field Day is Tuesday, June 11th. Grades 3-5 will be 8:45-10:15 and grades K-2 will be 12:00-1:30. See the linked Short-Version Field Day Doc for details, but the main thing teachers need to prep for is to divide students into 4 color groups before field day, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. Two related items:
• Missed PE/Music Prep – If teachers want their PE/Music prep time, let me know and we will work to have someone cover your class for a 30-minutes during your field day time.
• Recess Still Happening (Hard Play & Field Closed) – Recesses will still take place during their usual times, but only soft play will be open while Field Day is in progress.
• Ultimate Holt Spirit Day, 6/12 – Get your kids pumped! Wednesday, June 12 is our last monthly Holt Spirit Day and it will be an Ultimate Holt Spirit Day! Come to school in Holt-colored (purple & green) clothes, hair, face, etc., and/or wear your Holt Gear!
• Spirit Assembly 6/12@8:10 – Principal Sundae – The June School Spirit Assembly is on Wednesday, June 12 on Hard Play. This is the assembly where kids are going to turn me into a sundae as a Holt Bolt fundraiser reward. The assembly will start at 8:10, but all classes should be at hard play by 8:05. Stay tuned for details.
• Wednesday PD: Class List Review 6/12 – Wednesday, June 12 will be a time for sending and receiving teams will to discuss students, so let teams know your suggestions before then.
• 0.2 Music Teacher Interviews, 6/12 – Wednesday, June 12 from 2:30-4:00, Alex, Ashley, and I are holding interviews for our Temp 0.2 Music position left vacant by Tracy, who is sadly leaving us next year, though we hope she’ll be back soon. Let me know if you’d like to join the interview committee and I will send you the interview materials.
• Self-Manager Recess, 6/13 @1:30 – Next year these will only be once a month, but we’re doing them more often for this year’s Self-Manager Rollout. The final Self-Manager Recess will be Thursday, June 13th, 1:30-1:50. Kids can walk down the hall to the 2nd grade entrance door for their recess this day.
• “Grab & Go” Sack Lunch Schedule 6/14 – For lunches on the last day of school next week, students will enter the cafeteria as usual. 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 exit door of the teacher’s choosing. Once all the students have gotten their lunches, teachers can walk students back to class. This process should take about 5 minutes.
10:25 – Kinder
10:30 – 1st
10:35 – 2nd
10:40 – 3rd
10:45 – 4thIf staff not supervising students are available to help during this time, that would be super helpful!
• 5th Grade Clap Out, THURSDAY @11:00 – This came up at Site Council, but let’s try a “Clap Out” for this year’s 5th graders on the last day of school at dismissal. The plan will be for classes on Thursday at 10:55 to line the hallways, and starting at 11:00, the 5th grade will parade through our hallowed halls one final time while staff and students clap and cheer them on. See the linked Clap Out Map for the path, which will be D > C > B wing, and when the parade is over, all grade levels can dismiss students.
• End of Year Checklist – Linked here is the End of Year Checklist. Once teachers have completed all tasks on this list and have had both office staff and Jeremy sign off, you are free to start your summer. And that includes if you take care of everything on Friday, June 14th! I’ll put hard copies in mailboxes Monday.
• Summer Tech Checkout – Related to the above, if you are planning on bringing home your laptop or iPad over the summer, fill out the 4J Summer Tech Checkout Form.
• Class Lists Feedback – It’s now time for staff to give feedback on the proposed 24-25 Class Lists. I’m restricted access to the original spreadsheet with comments and rating scales (classroom teachers should all still have access) and am instead sharing a version with just teacher and student names. There have been more cooks in the kitchen this year than in other years, which has led to several uncomfortable situations, so a few reminders:
• Confidentiality – Student placements and information included on the document should not be shared with students, families, or anyone outside of Holt staff.
• Lists Not Final – With move-ins and move-outs over the summer, class lists will almost assuredly change, which is another reason not to share placements besides confidentiality.
• Staff/Parent Separation – With so many staff members who are also Holt parents, it’s important to separate the two when giving input and feedback on class lists, especially if it’s something related to your child’s grade level.The Leadership Team discussed the class list process last week and decided we should start a discussion winter term next year about a revised process, such as possibly having grade levels create balanced classes without a teacher name attached and then we randomly assigning the teacher. More to come on this in 2025.
• LICENSED: Goals Reflection Due & Sample Language – All licensed staff need to complete their Goals Reflection in TalentEd by the end of the school year. If you used the Optional SMART Goals shared in the fall, linked here is a 2023-2024 SMART Goals Reflection Sample you can cut-and-paste from if that’s helpful to folks. And remember, no shame or blame if you didn’t achieve all of your goals. Let me know if you have any questions on this.
• SEAL/KITS Room Assignments – We’ll finalize this at our last Staff Meeting of the year, but linked here is my Preliminary SEAL Classroom Map. SEAL needs 10 (possibly one more for Enrichment) and KITS needs 4 classrooms. On the map, I marked classrooms in grey that have someone moving into those classrooms, and we won’t place anyone in those classrooms, though kindergarten unluckily will host KITS in their rooms again because of furniture size needs. That leaves 8 classrooms that did not host last year and will host this year and we’ll need two more classrooms for SEAL, so let me know if anyone is willing to volunteer their classroom. If no one volunteers, we’ll do a Hunger Games lottery or something similar.
• Equity & Inclusion End-of-Year Wrap-Up – For staff unable to attend the Wednesday PD last week, linked here is the Equity & Inclusion Team End-of-Year Wrap-Up Slideshow, which covers our accomplishments and potential next steps for the 2024-2025 school year.
• Elementary Curriculum Updates – Linked here are the latest Elementary Curriculum Updates shared with principals. The only item is guidelines and suggestions for science kits:
• It is recommended that teachers restock their kits before summer break & store their science kits in their classrooms. Kits left in common spaces often get moved, damaged and mixed up during the summer cleaning. Teachers use this form to restock kits.
• Please do not store kits no more than 5 high or stack other materials on top of the boxes. .
• Please keep surplus kits (due to reduction in staffing) in buildings until August after numbers shake out. You can fill out this google form if that is a problem. This information went out to teachers earlier this month.
• District Admin Updates – Carmen Xiomara Urbina is returning to 4J as the Chief of Staff. Courtney Leonard has been named Secondary Curriculum Administrator. Mark Hinthorn is the new Principal at Buena Vista. K.C. Bodily has been named Assistant Principal at Willagillespie Elementary. Tamara Hughes will serve as Assistant Principal at Howard Elementary. They also shared Rebecca Boyd is AP at Holt, but you already knew that. See HERE and HERE for details.
•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:
• PTO Childcare EA Help in June – Any EAs interested in helping with childcare at this Thursday’s PTO meeting, 5:30-7:30? The PTO will pay extended contract or I can offer trade time if you’d rather bank some hours for a grading day. Let me know if you are interested.
• easyCBM Spring Benchmark Closes June 3 – The spring easyCBM Benchmark Testing Window closes June 3rd. See Debbi’s Email for details.
• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – There are only 2 short weeks of school left, but all classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit to meet the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break (within the last two weeks of school). Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.
• Staff Summer Reading Picks! – Tell me by Friday what you’re planning to read this summer or what you think others should read! I’ll share results in next week’s announcements. So far zero staff have shared, so that means you’re going to be stuck with my nerdy picks, like Aliens: Bug Hunt, a short story collection about the Colonial Marines featured in James Cameron’s classic 1986 film, though I’m also planning to read some quality stuff and channel my college days English Minor and finally read John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Play along! Let me know what you’re reading!
•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
June 3 (M)
4th Grade Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
Music in Gym
Raffle in Library (Mon/Tues)
10:30-12:45, Holt Bolt Tie Cutting Reward (Cafeteria)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Elem Principal Meeting (Ed Center)June 4 (T)
Raffle in Library (Mon/Tues)
8:00, Breakfast with Mr. Chinn (Cafeteria)
10:00-5:30, 5th Grade Outdoor SchoolJune 5 (W)
Happy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” Day
easyCBM Spring Benchmark Last Day
Holt BIPOC Affinity Group
10:00-5:30, 5th Grade Outdoor School Day
1:30-3:30, PE Interviews (Library)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)June 6 (H)
Holt Spirit Day – Tie Dye Day!
Last Day for Title, ELD, and SPED Groups
8:00, Raffle Winners Announced (Zoom)
9:00, Safety Committee Meeting (Office)
10:00-5:30, 5th Grade Outdoor School Day
10:55-11:15, Sheldon Grade Walk @HOLT
1:15, Fire Drill
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)
7:15, String Academy Finale Concert (Kelly MS)June 7 (F)
No School – Grading Day
2:00, Allan to Transition Meeting (Monroe)
3:30, Allan to 4J BIPOC Staff Affinity MeetingJune 10 (M)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
Dynamos Store
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:30, Allan to IEP MeetingJune 11 (T)
No PE or Music Classes
Birthday Drinks & Goodies in Staff Room
8:45-10:15, Field Day (3-5)
12:00-1:30, Field Day (K-2)
4:00, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)June 12 (W)
Ultimate Holt Spirit Day!
8:10, School Spirit Assembly – Principal Sundae (Hard Play)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Teams Review Class Lists
2:30-4:00, 0.2 Music Interviews (Library)June 13 (H)
8:30-10:30, Holt Kindergarten Park Field Trip
9:00-12:20, 5th Grade Walking Field Trip to Movies
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Ball’s Room)
6:00-7:00, Accessible Education Parent GroupJune 14 (F)
Last Day for Students, 11:10 Dismissal
Last Day for Classified Staff
Grab-and-Go Lunches
-10:25 – Kinder
-10:30 – 1st
-10:35 – 2nd
-10:40 – 3rd
-10:45 – 4th
11:00-11:10, 5th Grade Clap Out
11:30-12:30, Annual End-of-Year Staff GatheringJune 15 (SA)
1:00-4:00, Harlow Neighborhood Annual Block PartyJune 17 (M)
Last Day for Licensed StaffJune 28 – August 8
KITS at Holt, 7:30-3:30 (MTWH)July 10 – August 15
SEAL at Holt, 7:30-3:30 (MTWHF)July 24 (W)
Allan Reports Back (though I’m at SEAL July 1-19)August 12 (M)
Secretaries Report BackAugust 27 (T)
Licensed Staff Report BackAugust 28 (H)
Classified Staff Report Back
8 1/2 days to go!
Allan