https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/madisonstaff/2020/01/12/january-13-2020/
We survived the first week back from break! Hopefully the kids remembered most of what you taught them last year 🙂 This is our only full week in January. If you’ve been keeping an eye on the weather, either through teacher friends or the NOAA forecasts, this might be an unexpectedly short week. Let’s make it a good one!
- School Choice Events: January is school choice month where families are invited to events to learn more about 4J schools. We will host a few events for our building and to introduce 8th grade families to North Eugene High School. Here’s the schedule:
- Monday, Jan. 13, 6pm – NEHS presentation to Madison families
- Tuesday, Jan. 14, 6pm – Madison school choice event
- Wednesday, Jan. 15, 9:30am – Madison school choice event
- Student Care Team Referrals Due FRIDAY – The Student Care Team consists of 4J staff and DHS staff. The purpose is to connect families in need to resources in the community. It is not a “gotcha” to get the family in the system. It’s designed to be positive and preventative. The team can discuss real family situations, as long as the family has signed a 4J Release Form (English & Spanish) so DHS can research the family situation to see which services they would qualify for. If families can’t or won’t sign, the team can also discuss “hypothetical” student or family situations. If you have questions, please let me know, but if a family situation is weighing on you, it might be worth referring to the team. Common referrals, though not limited to, are:
- Homeless or impending homelessness
- Medical concerns about the child or family members
- Extreme behavior issues – additional supports needed outside of school
- Mental health concerns (child or family member)
- Death of a parent
- Incarcerated parent – concerns about recent incarceration or pending release
- Unknown if open child welfare case, but staff has concerns that were called in
- Domestic violence
- Specific resource needed but unknown where to refer
Please send referrals to me by Friday at 9am. Thanks!
- Winter Testing Window – Technically the winter testing window is open. It runs from Jan 1 through Feb 10. I haven’t heard anything yet from downtown about what schools piloting the new systems should do, so please know I’m working on it! I’ll let you know the expectation as soon as I figure it out. If you are a math or ELA teacher, please plan 2 days toward the end of the month for the FastBridge assessment. For ELA, there are a series of assessments that will automatically load after the initial assessment. Students should take those as well. The system will tell them when they’re done. I’ll send out some more info about this soon. Additionally, we will create a plan to catch kids who were absent so we don’t miss assessing them.
- Talent Ed To Do List – If you haven’t yet completed the beginning of the year tasks in Talent Ed, please take the time this week to get those completed. Your Self-Assessment and Goals Development Forms were due before Winter Break. They should be listed as #1 and #2 in your list on Talent Ed. If you have any questions, please ask. Peter and I are happy to help in any way we can! We will start reaching out personally this week if you still have unfinished tasks. FYI – If you’re on Year 1 this year, we will be touching base soon to schedule your formal observations. Those on Year 2 are only required to have one informal observation this year.
- Tier 3 Academic Conferences – The Justice League Executive Team (Peter, Anne, Erin, and Rachael) are going to try conducting Tier 3 academic conferences with a few 8th graders who have established a pattern of failing 3 or more classes. The goal is to get student and parent perspective on what’s going on, help the student develop a plan to improve, and work with them to help them implement the plan. We will reach out to 8th grade team when each student’s plan is created. We are starting small and each taking on one student. Our hope is that this conference will become something we can scale to help more students.
- Broken iPad Screens – We’ve now turned in our 3rd shattered iPad screen. Please remind students to be aware of their iPads. Each screen costs about $250 to replace. The cases are rated for a 10 foot drop, however the common story is that iPads are falling off desks.
- Fire Drill, Jan. 24 @ 10:10 – Not this week, but next Friday, we will have a fire drill during 1st period. At the staff meeting this Wednesday, I will hand out the new emergency folders for each classroom and share how we will report missing students during emergencies.
- Better Laptop Volume Control – From a techie friend – On a Mac, if you hold option-shift while pressing the volume up and down buttons, you can adjust the volume in quarters. You’re welcome 🙂
- Schedule of Upcoming Events:
January 13 (M)
Erin out until 10:30am
1:00, Erin and Anne to Parent Meeting
6:00, NEHS School Choice Presentation
January 14 (T)
7:45, TLC Meeting (conference room)
Anne teaching Naviance in 7th grade Social Studies
9:00-11:30, Peter and Erin to All Admin Meeting (downtown)
6:00, Madison School Choice Event
January 15 (W)
8:00, Staff Meeting (library)
Anne teaching Naviance in 8th grade Social Studies
9:30, School Choice Event
12:00, Erin to 2 truancy meetings
7:00pm, Board Meeting
January 16 (H)
8:15-11:30, Peter to MS Principal’s Meeting (downtown)
January 17 (F)
2:45, Building-Based PD – Behavior Framework
3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
January 20 (M)
NO SCHOOL, Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
January 21 (T)
Regular Day
January 22 (W)
3:45, Climate Team Meeting
January 23 (H)
7:30, Justice League (Anne’s office)
10:00, Peter and Erin meeting with Rob Hess
January 24 (F)
10:10, Fire Drill
2:45, Building-based PD – PLCs
3:30, Grade Level Team meetings
