August 29th
Hello Awbrey Park Staff,
Here’s the first edition of my weekly announcements. For new staff, and as a reminder to returning staff, it’s my intention with these announcements to share informational and business items here rather than at staff meetings or multiple emails sent throughout the week. Typically, I send these out on Sundays and my hope is for staff read them by Tuesday evening.
Some items of note for this week:
2013-2014 Schedules and Calendars – I will be sharing several calendars and schedules for staff on Wednesday during the application period of our training. Mostly, I will share the building Master Schedule, Lunch/Recess Duty Schedule , PE/Music, Kindergarten EA Schedules, Assessment, Data, and IPBS Team Schedules. Classified staff will receive these at the Friday meeting in the AM.
Teachers: Once you receive the master schedule, I appreciate any feedback on specific content you will teach. This will help me greatly as I plan informal walk throughs and other Teacher Effectiveness Model Appointments.
We will need to create our Library Schedule, Staff Supervision Schedule and Coffee and Conversation schedule in pre-service week. Look for sign up sheets in the Staff Lounge.
Hiring Updates – Hiring has been very busy in the district in the last week. Kendra Brummett will be teaching kindergarten in the AM session. The ESS Dept. has changed our Pschool Psychologist to be Karen Apgar. In addition, we are interviewing for the head cook position this Friday. Debbie McDowell and Alexa Hackett will be in the CLB as EA’s this Fall. Please welcome all of these wonderful folks to Awbrey Park!
Sept. 4th District Teacher Training, 8:30-3:30 at SEHS
I’ve gotten the schedule for the Sept. 4th district training day. Classified staff are not required to attend, so please connect with your primary cooperating teacher beforehand on how you can help this day.
Be sure to bring your laptop. Please come with a fully charged laptop (required) and iPad (optional). I will be bringing our school improvement plan, some cohort data from easy CBM. I will also bring a skeleton of the pd work and collaborative time we have to help you plan professional practice work.
Awbrey Park will be in Room 410 (see the map) all day with Spring Creek staff and the trainers for the various topics will rotate between rooms. The 400 hall is half way between the auditorium and the library. Our schedule for the day will be:
| Our schedule in rm. 410 | |||||
| 8:30-9:30 | Synergy | ||||
| 9:30-10:30 | Synergy Gradebook | ||||
| 10:30-10:45 | Break | ||||
| 10:45-11:45 | Smart Goals Training | ||||
| 11:45-12:30 | Lunch | ||||
| 12:30-1:30 | SMART GOALS/ Joel shares schedule. | ||||
| 1:30-2:30 | Talent Ed Training | ||||
| 2:30-2:45 | Break | ||||
| 2:45-3:45 | Overview of Teacher Effectiveness Model | ||||
For staff who have already taken the optional TalentEd/Perform training, HR has provided a menu of options for teachers:
• You may assist your colleagues during the training session as they acquire new skills.
• You may begin completing your self-assessment within TalentEd/Perform.
• You may begin writing your SMART goals, exploring Gradebook and/ or Synergy.
• You may explore the Teacher Effectiveness and Professional Development Growth website for additional resources.
• District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff – This came out sooner than normal, so I’ll send it out now. Attached is the updated Back-to-School Memo . All staff must review the memo and sign & return the acknowledgement form to Kristie no later than Friday, September 27th. I’ll place hard copies of the acknowledgement form in staff mailboxes. There are not a lot of changes the over previous year’s memo.
• PE and Music Semester – We will have PE with Lisa Chinn teaching PE in Fall and Music with TBA in the spring. Sara Cramer is interviewing candidates this week.
• TSS Support Model –The district,as a result of budget cuts, has changed the TSS support model and here’s how it will work for this year. David Nelson will be in the building Monday and Wednesday afternoons, 12:30-4:00. If you require technology assistance, send an email to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu . If it’s urgent, put “URGENT” in the subject of the email. CIS will also have a Help Desk available at x7777.
• Counselor Schedule – Kristen will be doing 3rd Grade Facilitation from 8:00-12:00. She will be able to support students in a counseling manner 12:00-4:00 each day. Please respect this time slot so she can concentrate on academic instructional interventions and Title Math support for the 3rd grade team.
• enVisions Math Materials – Now that we are fully implementing Investigations, please bring any extra eVisions student book or teacher guides to the office. We can sell these to companies like Follett to help supplement our school budget.
• 13/14 Classroom Funds – I have decided to minimally increase classroom funds to $100 for this school year. Though we had an overall reduction in our budget, I feel that $75 is not adequate for classroom supplies. In addition, the goal of our October Jog-A-Thon is to raise money for adequate classroom supply money. The PTO and I have discussed a goal of creating a $200 supply fund with your classroom named in each account.
• Google Drive Forms for Teachers – I have included a Google Form to our user agreement. It is on the backside of the user agreement. This year, we have asked that only our 5th grade parents and students sign off on Google Drive access. Here is the attached permission form (K-5) This form must be resigned annually.
Classroom location changes:
Our new SMART Reading Zone will be Room 12.
ELD Support with Kim Kauffman will be in Room 22 near TSS Support.
3rd Grade Christina Powell will be in Room 8.
The Secretary’s (Melinda’s old office) Office will be converted into a conference room and confidential work space. Cum Files will remain in this space and the lock will be keyed to be a regular classroom key soon.
The old conference room will now become a business office for Kristie to have uninterrupted financial work time.
You may also notice the high quality craftsmanship of Claire’s husband Ray. He helped us move our furniture and create a very positive and efficient new workspace for Claire and Kristie. There will be future office improvements I will keep you updated on soon.
Schedule of Events for the Week –
Monday, September 2nd
Labor Day (Holiday)
Tuesday, September 3rd
Licensed Staff Return – Planning Day
Wednesday, September 4th
8:00-3:30 Required Training for Teachers
South Eugene High School Room 410
Thursday, September 5th
School Improvement Day at Awbrey Park
7:45 Coffee and Pastries served in the staff lounge
8:00-11:00 Teacher Pre-conferencing on goals meeting with Joel or planning
11:00-12:00 Optional Synergy Teacher Trouble shooting session
12:00-12:30 Yumm Bowl Lunch under the oak trees
12:30-4:00 Planning Time
Friday, September 6th
8:00-10:15- Back to School Meeting (Classified and Certified) and Caring for Kids
Kick- Off in Room 13
10:30-12:00 It3 Training for 3,4,5 (K, 1, 2 Meet Joel for conferencing or planning)
12:30-4:00- Equity and Access at Awbrey Park: A conversation about achievement and race. – (Classified and Certified) in Room 13.
Monday, September 9th
Planning Day
12:00-1:00 Open House
Tuesday, September 10th
The First Day of School, a full day
8:25 Classes Begin – Dismissal at 2:40
Thursday, September 12th
6:00-8:00 PTO Hot Diggity Dog Open House and Dinner Event Teachers available in their rooms from 6:00-6:3
Friday, September 13th
PBIS Welcome Assembly in Gym – 1:45 – 2:10
Enjoy your last moments of Summer!
Joel