Howard Staff

By jett_c 　https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/howardstaff/2024/04/14/april-15th/

 

STATIC BUILDING RESOURCES (HERE EACH WEEK)

Teacher Professional Development Unit (PDU) Tracking

Teachers, the LINK TO THIS TRACKING PDU SHEET – All staff, please feel free to access this to help track your professional development units (PDU’s) when it’s time to renew licensures. This is here to help you easily compile the hours you need to report when processing renewal.

 

Student Attendance Concerns Reporting

Teachers, please remember to report student attendance concerns HERE. Our front office team will follow up with families. Thanks!

 

Meeting Agendas and Notes from this past week:

LINK TO HOWARD SHARED GOOGLE DRIVE HERE  – To streamline access of information. The link to our Howard shared Google drive will remain here as a static feature on the blog each week. In this drive is a folder titled, ‘Meetings/Teams,’ which houses all the important meeting agendas and notes from various teams past and present. This week’s meetings included the following below. Please go to their respective team folders within the ‘Meetings/Teams’ folder to review the notes. Thanks!

• Meetings this past week, April 8th-12th, included:
  • 4/8 – Attendance Team
  • 4/9 – PBIS Tier 1 (Culture and Climate)
  • 4/9 – PTO Meeting – Link to Minutes
  • 4/10 – Certified Professional Learning about Wit & Wisdom – LINK TO SLIDE DECK

 

PTO Request for Funds

Teachers, our PTO wants to help you and your students! If you have a particular lesson, unit, or project you want to enrich and could use some additional funds to fulfill it, please fill out the request form from the PTO → LINK TO FORM! It is SUPER rare that the PTO denies funds to teachers, so please access this resource. The PTO appreciates you!

 

Monday Morning Announcements this Week:

 

Behavior Discipline Matrix Drill Down

At our recent certified meeting where teachers reviewed their fall Upbeat survey data, it was determined that the section on School Safety & Order was the most critical to begin actively addressing now in order to better improve our overall school climate, culture, and ultimately student and staff well-being.

While problem-solving, there was an ask for a list of different consequences we can implement with students for specific inappropriate behaviors.

This week, we are focussing on the introduction to the 4J DISCIPLINE MATRIX (linked here):

 

Use of Exclusionary Discipline

Punitive, subjective, and exclusionary approaches to discipline can often be damaging to students and undermine schoolwide SEL implementation. These types of disciplinary approaches include taking away recess, detention, suspension, or expulsion. Studies have consistently revealed that punitive discipline:

• Is not effective and often does not deter misbehavior (Mendez, 2003; Dupper et al., 2009).
• Often has a negative impact on students, including a loss of connectedness to school and instructional time, greater risk of academic failure, and higher levels of dropout and school violence (Allensworth & Easton, 2007; Allensworth et al., 2014; Fabelo et al., 2011; Balafanz et al., 2015; Skiba & Peterson, 1999; Perry & Morris, 2014). Source:https://schoolguide.casel.org/focus-area-3/school/establish-discipline-policies-that-promote-sel/

There will still be times when exclusionary discipline is necessary to maintain safety in the school setting. At these times it is important to consider the time out of class/school as a “pause” and opportunity to plan for the following:

1. Any restorative and re-entry work that needs to occur between the student and others in the community
2. Prevention and intervention to reduce the likelihood of incidents in the future

 

Mitigating Factors

In considering whether/ and/or for how long to exclude a student for disciplinary reasons, administrators should consider mitigating factors that may help them understand the student’s behavior better, decide on appropriate responses, and inform future interventions. These factors include:

• The age and developmental level of the student
• Whether the student has a disability and the nature of that student’s disability (see below)
• Whether the student is a member of a historically over-suspended and underserved group, including students of color, students with disabilities and students who identify as LGBTQ+
• Whether the student is currently or recently experiencing homelessness, foster care/ adoption or another serious disruption to basic needs/emotional safety
• Whether the behavior itself is a subjective category that is more susceptible to individual bias (defiance, disruption, disrespect)
• Whether the behavior itself was related and/or a response to bullying or harassment of the student
• The student’s disciplinary history and previous responses to disciplinary action, including the number of recent incidents of a similar nature
• How the exclusion would impact the student’s ongoing education and progress toward graduation

 

LINK TO SUSPENSION CONSIDERATION TOOL (we will look at this more closely later on, but the link is here)

In all instances where ISS or OSS occur, one of the following tools should be used:

• LINK TO ISS PROCESS/ SUPPORT PLAN

• LINK TO OSS PROCESS/ SUPPORT PLAN

 

Considerations for students with disabilities

School district disciplinary rules and expectations apply to all students, and behavior infractions sometimes lead to periods of exclusion from school.  In order to protect the civil rights of students with disabilities, and ensure that they are not being inappropriately excluded because of their disability, specific procedures and requirements are in place.  The 4J SpEd Procedural Manual section on Discipline and Manifestation explains and describes the procedures for proceeding with exclusionary discipline for students with disabilities.

 

Please remember, the first and best way to be proactive about our school climate is building positive relationships with students. We should be holding morning meetings, using our district adopted curriculum, Second Steps, and incorporating Conscious Discipline. Yes, these strategies will not work for all students, but they will work for a majority.

 

 

Sending Students to the Office

This is a reminder that If a student needs to come to the office, please make sure they have some sort of note, or a call is made to the office explaining why they are there. We’ve had a number of students arriving in the office without notes and no explanation as to what’s happening. We really appreciate this so we can all be on the same page and effectively support. Many thanks.

 

 

Friday, 4/19, is going to be a Busy Day!

1st, this Friday is PTO Popcorn Day. Please remind students to bring money for popcorn.

 

2nd, we have a special Campfire Assembly from Lane Arts Council coming to present TWO assemblies, one for K-2nd from 8:10-8:55am, and another for 3rd-5th from 9:15-10:00am in the gym. Big thanks to PTO for funding this presentation.

 

3rd, Charlie will be taped to the wall on Friday from 9:30am-12:50pm

The 2nd, 4th and 5th graders will get to tape Charlie to the wall in the main hallway across from the Family Recess Center this Friday, 4/19.

Here is how this will work:

Each of the three grades will detour through the main hallway after morning recess and each be given a piece of tape to hep secure Charlie to the wall. Teachers may get to tape too! This will take a bit of time to allow EACH student to get some tape and then actively place it. They will have to be FAST. Students can’t linger and brainstorm where they will put tape. They must secure the tape and move on.

We may want to have two classes go first while the other two return to classrooms and wait to be called down so there isn’t a crazy long line.

Expectations: Students may only secure Charlie’s core torso and limbs to the wall. Face, neck, hands and feet can’t be covered.

Schedule:

9:30am – 2nd graders 

10:15am approx – 4th grade (this will be after a slightly later recess due to the assembly)

10:40am – 5th grade

Once Charlie is secure to the wall, classes can choose to visit and walk past later in the day before 12:50pm. Charlie will come down off the wall at that time.

There will be somewhat of a bottleneck with 4th and 5th grades taping as kindergarten and 1st grade go to lunch. Those grades can enter the cafeteria through the side courtyard doors to alleviate congestion in the main hallway.

 

 

Other Building Business:

 

Tightening the Belt$ for remainder of the year:

We are really going to be cutting down on spending these final nine weeks. Teachers, if you haven’t already spent your allocated classroom amount, please see Charlie if you are thinking of purchasing anything. We will continue to purchase essential classroom materials, but little else. Also, please be mindful of the amount of copies being made on our copiers. Thanks so much.

 

 

PESTS

We are seeing evidence of little pests again in the building. Please make sure that all food items are stored in sealed containers and off of floors. We can’t have bags of chips, etc. sitting anywhere that aren’t properly stored. If you need a bin with a secure lid for classroom snacks, please let Becky know and we will get one for you. Health and safety is paramount. Thanks, everyone!

 

 

DISTRICT UPDATES

Elementary Curriculum Updates for Friday, April 12, 2024

• Math Single Subject Acceleration: All 5th graders are offered the opportunity to accelerate in math in middle school by testing out of 6th grade math. This entails parents signing their student up, the student taking a portion of the 6th grade OSAS math test, and scoring “Above Standard” in every area. All schools must offer students the opportunity to test, so below is information about the process. Please connect with Jamie Tait at tait_j@4j.lane.edu if you have any questions.

• • Review the Single Subject Acceleration for Math linked here. This reviews the process and the timeline.

• • Identify a testing coordinator & testing date.  In most buildings, the state testing coordinator would also do this testing as they have access to OSAS, however you may have someone else who normally does it. If your testing coordinator is a classroom teacher, another testing trained person would need to administer the test or the instructional coach could cover for the teacher so they can run the test.

• • Charlie will send communication to families next Friday (April 19). Copy the letter linked here, add your testing date to both the English and Spanish portions, add the link to your school’s RSVP form, and send it to all 5th grade families. Please cc your teachers on the email. Note: The document also includes the results email, so don’t send a link to the document 🙂

• • Test students – NEED TO DETERMINE TESTING WINDOW IN MAY.

• • Send results email in June. The results emails are also linked in the link above. All families who tested should receive a results email in a timely manner.

• • Additional Resources:
  • Single Subject Acceleration in Mathematics HUB staff facing only (which can also be found on the 4j Learning Hub, under middle school math)
  • Single-Subject Acceleration in Mathematics Process Overview which is a brief overview of the entire process with key dates for this spring

 

• New Heggerty Teacher Guides: This week, instructional coaches will have new Heggerty teacher guides delivered to them. We purchased updated books for any teacher who asked for one. Heggerty is a board approved part of our K-2 curriculum and it is expected that they are in use daily in classrooms.

• Please be sure to review emails sent by Sarah Knudsen this past week regarding Social Studies curriculum materials updates for Kinder, 1st, and 4th grades.

 

Eugene Education Foundation (EEF)

Applications for the Eugene Education Foundation’s 2024-25 school year Annual Grant Cycle are now open! All 4J staff are invited to apply. EEF offers grants up to $5,000 for classroom or school-specific projects and $10,000 for district-wide programs. Individuals are allowed a maximum of 3 submissions. All applications are due May 3rd by 11:59pm. To apply and/or read more about EEF’s funding priorities and grant requirements, visit here.

Please reach out if you have any questions. We look forward to reading all the exciting and innovative ways in which you will enhance the educational experience for your students! 

 

 

 

WEEK OF APRIL 15TH-19TH

Monday, April 15th

• 1:50pm – Fearless Flock
• 2:45pm – IPBS meeting in the Nest

 

Tuesday, April 16th

• 8:45am – FIRE DRILL
• 2:45pm – Certified Staff Meeting in the Library

 

Wednesday, April 17th

• 9:00am – Front Office Group (FOG)
• 12:15pm – Latinx Student Union for 4th and 5th graders in room 8
• 1:30pm – Certified Professional Learning in the Library

 

Thursday, April 18th

• 11:15am – Rainbow Alliance in room 19
• 1:50pm – “Beep! Beep! Winners” Activity
• 2:45pm – Grade Level Team Meetings

 

Friday, April 19th

• PTO Popcorn Day
• Charlie taped to the wall from 9:30am-12:50pm (schedule above)
• 8:10am – Campfire Assembly in the Cafeteria (K-2) until 8:55am
• 9:15am – Campfire Assembly in the Cafeteria (3-5) until 10:00am
• 11:45am – Black Student Union in room 27
• 1:50pm – “Beep! Beep! Winners” Drawing

 

 

WEEK OF APRIL 22ND-26TH

Monday, April 22nd

• No meetings this day

 

Tuesday, April 23rd

• 2:45pm – PBIS Tier 1 Team meeting in the Nest

 

Wednesday, April 24th

• 9:00am – Front Office Group (FOG)
• 12:15pm – Latinx Student Union
• 1:30pm – Classified Staff Meeting
• 3:30pm – Life Skills Meeting in Room 1

 

Thursday, April 25th

• 1:50pm – “Beep! Beep! Winners” Activity
• 2:45pm – Grade Level Team Meetings

 

Friday, April 26th – Community Day

• 8:15am – Community Day Assembly
• 1:50pm – “Beep! Beep! Winners” Drawing
• 5:00pm – District Kindergarten Event at River Road Elementary

 

---