November 13, 2020

By barsotti_p  

Hi Monarchs,

Below are the updates for the coming week. This week is mostly reminders and little updates about things we’ve got in process.

Next Week’s Schedule:

Mon, Nov 16
A- Day
Tue, Nov 17
B-Day
Wed, Nov 18
Flex Day
Thur, Nov 19
A-Day
Fri, Nov 20
B-Day
8:00 TLC

3-5pm, Peter and Gina to Admin Meeting

Student-focused GLT Meetings: send FLEX day invites GLT – business, Staff Mtg/PD (watch for more info) 8:30-4:30, Team to Threat Assessment Training 

 

 

8:00 Justice League

   Madison INFORMATION

  • Celebration:
    Happy National School Psychology week to our amazing School Psychologist, Rachael Krause! For years, Madison has had the honor of hosting the BEST of the school psych interns. Rachael was an incredible intern last year, but unlike her predecessors, she decided to stay in 4j and was officially hired as a School Psychologist. Now we’ll fight anyone who wants to suggest that she work somewhere other than Madison (and Kelly – did you know that School Psychologists work at multiple sites?!). 
    When you work with Rachael, her strengths shine through immediately. She is incredibly smart, funny, flexible and organized. When families contact her because they are concerned about their student, they leave the conversation feeling heard, supported and assured of what steps Rachael and Madison staff will take to support their student. Rachael provides an important voice and perspective on Justice League, where she is often called upon to think creatively about how to serve kids at the tippy top of our triangle. And though it’s invisible to many of us, Rachael is constantly working to maintain IEPs, meet with families, support students who need testing and collaborate with teachers to make sure kids are getting what they need. And she does all of this at TWO schools!! 
     
    Thank you Rachael – we’re so glad you’re part of the Madison family!

      

  • EasyCBM Update: Thank you to everyone who has helped out with easyCBM testing over the past several weeks. At this time, we still have 30-40 kids at each grade level who haven’t completed their easycbm. I’ll be emailing parents of impacted students on Monday to schedule their kids for a morning make-up session, later in the week, in an effort to catch as many kids as we can. Having said that, Peter and I also recognize that, this year in particular, these assessments are not going to yield tremendously helpful data, so we want to make sure that teachers are not stressing about missing some kids. We’ll do the best we can, but we want the priority to be the time and energy that kids are spending with you, learning core standards. If you have any particular questions or concerns around fall assessment, please feel free to email Gina.

 

DISTRICT INFORMATION         

  • Zoom Recording: Teachers now have permission to record lessons on Zoom to post for student review or for lessons.  
  • Updated ODE guidance and 4J safety plan regarding social distancing – Please watch for a district communication, likely mid-week, that will share some updates to guidelines around masks and social distancing when on-site. For now, please continue to follow current guidelines.
             
  • Guest Teachers: If you have names of subs who are capable of doing CDL work, please let me know. The district will pay them to be trained up in how we do CDL. They’ll get to shadow a few teachers in our building so they’re ready to help out as needed.
    • FYI – There is a new agreement that if teachers are going to be out for a max of two days in a row, you can plan and provide asynchronous learning for up to two days in a row. Families need to know ahead of time and kids need to be prepped so they know what to do so they’re ready to go. However, if you’d prefer a sub, you’re welcome to have a sub as well. If you take two days without a sub and provide asynchronous learning and end up needing a third day, a sub will need to come in and provide synchronous instruction.
    • Another option a few teams have landed on is that one colleague will take the other colleague’s class for the day so kids still get their synchronous time with someone who understands the system and the material. A sub could join in to help supervise or provide supports, but isn’t required. This is completely optional and up to grade level colleagues to determine if it will work for them.
           
  • 504 Reminder: Section 504 protection is civil rights law protecting students who have a physical or mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more major life activities. There is a two step process in which students are first identified as having a disability that qualifies for 504 protection and then it is determined whether or not students need a 504 plan because their disability does not limit their ability to access education. New learning for me this week is that a student with 504 protection isn’t automatically owed a 504 plan. The 504 plan should only be initiated if the student’s impairment is impacting their ability to access their education. There is now a district-centralized process for 504 plans. If a parent indicates they are interested in a 504 plan, please refer to this document or connect the parent with Anne. To qualify for 504 protection and a plan or renew a plan, a team including the counselor, parent, teacher, and administrator must consider:
    • Multiple pieces of data – diagnosis of condition PLUS impact on school setting. Look at discipline, class data, attendance, etc to demonstrate a need. Cannot require families to provide medical documentation. If families can provide it, it’s great, but we can’t ask them to go and get the paperwork. “If you have any medical documentation, we would love to have that.” If we require it, we are legally responsible for the medical bill.
    • Being eligible for 504 protection DOES NOT guarantee the student gets a 504 plan! The data has to indicate there’s an impact on the 
    • Students can qualify and then, when re-evaluated, may no longer need a 504.
    • If a student doesn’t qualify for an IEP, a 504 plan isn’t a consolation prize. They must still go through the 504 identification process.
         
  • SSD Newsletter: If you’re interested, linked here is this month’s SSD Newsletter. 
       
  • PLC Update: PLC’s were initially slated to begin in January, but are being postponed given the need to plan for the possibility of returning to hybrid learning. They aren’t disappearing – just pushed back.
      

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION

  • What the Pandemic is Illuminating about Implicit Bias and Racism in Schools: In this opinion piece from the New York Times, families of children of color reflect on how distance learning has highlighted things they don’t miss about in-person learning, specifically racism, micro-aggressions, and bias. While not every student of color is thriving at home, “for some of those for whom virtual school is viable, the current disruption has opened up a new world: education without daily anxiety about racism.”  Given that our schools should be the safest, most welcoming place for every single student and family member, climate team will be taking a look at this article at an upcoming meeting and then sharing out with teams. We owe it to our students and it’s simply the right thing to do. The work isn’t easy – it’s uncomfortable to examine our practices and unintended consequences, but the work is too important. 

 

What’s Coming Next Week: 

Mon, Nov 23 Tue, Nov 24 Wed, Nov 25 Thur, Nov 26 Fri, Nov 27
1:30-3:30, P&G to MS Admin Meeting  Student-focused GLT Meetings:  Nearpod PD  Happy Thanksgiving

No School

 

No School

Wishing everyone a rejuvenating weekend.

Gina and Peter


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