Madison Middle School

Hi Madison Family,

This is the week where we celebrate all of YOU! Thank you so much for all you’ve done this year. It’s been one for the history books (literally) and we’ve made it almost to the end together. I hope you know how much we all appreciate each one of you.

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION              

• Focus Slides
• Thanks for a good PD.  It was fun to play with you and it will be fun to watch you play with your students during the last 6 weeks.

DISTRICT INFORMATION                                    

• Sora Reading App: Amy Page (district librarian), reminded the admin group that Sora is open for kids to use 24/7. Unlike Epic, which closes access for kids at 4pm, Sora will let them log in from home as well. Kids just need their 4J username and password and they can access books anywhere at anytime. If you’d like to learn more about Sora or other district sponsored apps (like Pebble Go), Amy Page is happy to come to your class and model for kids. Just send her an email and she’ll schedule a time to come to your class.
  
       
• Climate Survey Coming: The district has revamped their climate survey. It will be administered to all 3rd-12th grade students in May. I’ll share the link as soon as we have it. 
       
• EasyCBM Spring Testing: The EasyCBM Spring testing window opens this week and remains open through June 17. We are waiting until later in May to begin our testing. Please look for more information from Carla in the coming weeks. 
       

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

• A Note on Mother’s Day: With Mother’s Day approaching, this is a good opportunity to reflect on how we can continue to create an inclusive environment for all of our students. We have quite a few students who either don’t live with their mothers, have lost their mothers, are being raised by their dads, or have difficult relationships with their mothers. As Mother’s Day approaches, if you’re planning to do projects or activities to celebrate mothers, please shift to a “Love Makes a Family” or “Family Day” theme instead. Creating an inclusive environment means we intentionally create space for students to be given choice about which adult they’d like to celebrate, regardless of gender or their role in their life. This article from Welcoming Schools shares information and resources about creating an inclusive experience for students.  

Next Week at a Glance:

I hope you have a great week!

Peter and Gina

Hi Madison Family,

We have officially hit the part of the year when things start to happen fast and furiously. Please make sure to check the calendar and team meeting notes each week; there’s lots going on!

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION              

• Focus Slides: Teachers, please make sure that you are projecting the Focus slides, so that kids know exactly where to report for this week’s assemblies.

• Updated State Testing FAQ Document – Dorothy and I have updated the Madison FAQ document. Please see updates in red. Questions? email  Gina and Dorothy and we’ll notify everyone about answers.

• Momma Barsotti Update: Last Friday, the doctors let my mom know that they have found a bone marrow donor.  My mom’s spirit was very high and ready to welcome the anonymous donor into our family.  We think the donor is from Europe but do not have any other information about the donor except it is a male and they are international.  She has also started a Caring Bridge Site if you want to follow along from a distance. If you have never heard about Caring Bridge, it is a pretty cool website where families can keep family and friends up to date on what is happening.  Also, if you are new to Caring Bridge – it is a nonprofit that is always asking for money.  I choose to ignore those requests but they do get annoying.

• Climate Team Meeting Notes

• Safety Team Meeting Notes

DISTRICT INFORMATION                                    

• District Admin Update: David Hulbert has been selected as the principal of Edison Elementary School next year. Dave is currently the principal of Maple Elementary in Springfield. 
       
• Self-Harm Event, April 25: The district is hosting a Self-Harm: Suicidal/Non-Suicidal Self Injury Community Event for parents and guardians on April 25 from 6-7:30pm in the Sheldon Auditorium. 

Next Week at a Glance:

We hope you have a great week!

Gina and Peter

Hi Madison Family,

Can you believe it? We’re nearly half way through April! Thank you for the work you do every day.

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION              

• Focus Slides: I 

• April 15 PD/Prep Day: The tentative plan for April 15 is State Testing Training from 9 to noon.  Testing subjects and EA should attend this training.  Non-testing subjects will start to think about how we want to communicate grades next year.  The school wide PD will run from 12:30 to 2. 2pm to 4 is your planning time.   I have been told by the powers above me that staff need to be in the building during the PD time.  My understanding is the work offsite past practice is for grading and planning days (not professional development days).  Peter Thoughts… although working off site has it advantages, I think hard conversations like grades, etc will be better in person.
•  

DISTRICT INFORMATION                                    

• 4J Expo Process: The email from HR linked here details the process for the expo this year. The expo will again be held virtually to fill vacancies at all levels and provide staff who are returning from leave, have been displaced, or are looking for a new opportunity or building to shift to open positions. Secondary and district office vacancies will have interviews on Tuesday, April 12 and Tuesday, April 26. Elementary interviews will be held on Thursday, April 14 and Thursday, April 28. Vacancies will be sent via email on Tuesday, April 5. To interview for a position, staff must complete 2 steps: 1) apply using this Google form anytime before the due date for that round of the expo and 2) complete a job interest form which will be linked in the vacancies email. Candidates must meet the following requirements:
  • part-time or full-time job rights
  • 0.5 FTE or greater
  • contract or probationary
  • temporary employees working 0.5 FTE or greater, hired into their temporary assignment prior to November 1, 2021, working in a position that has been determined hard to fill (SPED, Counseling/Social Work, Dual Language positions) and whose assignment continues through the Job Expo
              
         
• Suicide Alert Meeting Info: This email from Lane County shares information about suicide prevention that applies to students as young as 4 years old. There’s a slide show, resources (including crisis support, counseling, support groups, bereavement services, and general websites), and a Toolkit for Schools. Just a reminder that if students report or make comments about suicidal ideations or threats of suicide, to immediately reach out to me and Dani so we can intervene.
     
• Repeat: Claim Your 4J Account: 4J Technology emailed staff a RapidIdentity Quicksheet on how to update your password and account security by April 15. This will ensure your usernames and passwords are consistent across all 4J systems and make it easier for the tech department to integrate new systems. The short version is to go this link and follow the directions.
            

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

• How to Counter Learned Helplessness: This article from Edutopia shares how learned helplessness can be a by-product of things like past experiences or over-scaffolding and provides tips for shifting students into shouldering more of the load of their learning. Learned helplessness can look like:
  • Refusal to accept help, even if the teacher repeatedly offers it
  • Frustration leading to easily giving up
  • Disengagement from effort
  • Lack of motivation
  • Diminished self-worth and self-efficacy (such as providing a myriad of reasons why solutions will not work)

Next Week at a Glance:

We hope you have a great week!

Peter and Gina

Hi Madison Staff,

If you’re anything like me, in the midst of the incredibly heavy load you’re all carrying everyday, the hard stuff overshadows the growth, progress, and achievements that have happened. I swear I’m not aiming for toxic positivity :). Instead, I just hope you are able to take a moment and see all you’ve accomplished, the connections you’ve made, the student learning you’ve helped make happen, and the growth students have made in your care.  

Here are this week’s updates:

• March 21-25, Spring Break

MADISON INFORMATION                

• Propping Doors open: A note from facilities: Room … has door damage caused by a wedge or block of some sort placed in between the hinge side of the door and the door frame.  It’s also $2,187 just for the door. When done with the repairs its probably in the $2500-3000 range due to our temporary work required in the interim and labor associated with replacement. If you are seeing this elsewhere in Madison, we would love it if you could share a message with staff to not wedge doors open in this fashion. If they ever need to wedge a door, which we don’t recommend, doing so at the floor level is appropriate and prevents damage like this from occurring.
• Covid Updates: We’re shifting in the next phase where Covid becomes part of all the other illnesses we regularly see
  • Masking Required in Health Room: Masks are still required in health care environments, which includes our health room. Students and staff should plan to mask when visiting the health room for illness related needs. Students coming in for meds aren’t required to mask.
         
  • Rapid Tests Available: We can still rapid test kids and adults even though we aren’t contact tracing. Additionally, if you know a family could use tests for home, please let me know. The district has a lot of take-home rapid tests and I can send them home with families in need.
         
  • COVID Flowchart: If you’re interested, linked here is the latest COVID flowchart for when a student tests, positive, shows signs of illness, or is exposed to COVID.
    

DISTRICT INFORMATION                                   

• Claim Your 4J Account: 4J Technology emailed staff a RapidIdentity Quicksheet on how to update your password and account security by April 15. This will ensure your usernames and passwords are consistent across all 4J systems and make it easier for the tech department to integrate new systems. The short version is to go this link and follow the directions.
            
• Repeat: ACE Award Nominations: Nominations for the 2022 ACE Awards opens on Tuesday, March 1. Visit this link to nominate A Champion in Education. Nominations will close March 31 and the award ceremony will be held Tuesday, May 10 at 6pm.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

• Need a Pick Me Up? If you’re needing a little pick me up, students from an elementary school created a pep talk line. Call (707) 998-8410 and choose the number that describes the pep talk you need. You’ll then get a series of recorded pep talks from some elementary students. It’s the best – and if you’re like me, you’ll get a little weepy.
       
• Who’s Doing the Work?: This article from Achieve the Core discusses strategies to step out of kids’ way and let them dig into rigorous work without over-scaffolding or providing support before they’ve even tried. Some examples are included in this table. As the self-proclaimed queen of restating things for kids, the second bullet really hit home for me.
  

Next Week at a Glance:

I hope you have a great week!

Peter and Gina

Hi Monarchs,

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION   

• FOCUS Slides –
  • Beginning this week, based on teacher feedback, we are flipping the weekly circle time and grade checks.
  • In light of this week’s announcement, I’ll be adding in some slides about the changes to the mask mandate, to be delivered likely on Wednesday

• This week is Classified Appreciation Week! Please join us in celebrating our amazing staff members, who make Madison a better place for kids, every day! Classified staffers will enjoy a variety of treats throughout the week. 

• EasyCBM Training Date: This year we will be training T.A.s for state testing on Friday, 4/8, during our scheduled time for building PD. That way, this isn’t an extra training for folks. More details to come about the test schedule and who will need to attend that training.

• Grading and Teacher Work Day –   As a reminder, teachers are allowed to work from home on these days, provided they let us know in advance, so that we know who is likely in the building in the event of an emergency.  Administrative and classified staff are expected to report to work unless some form of leave is taken. 

DISTRICT INFORMATION                               

• Mask are Optional Beginning 3/14 – 

  • Masks will be optional for all students at school and on school buses. Masks may still remain required for some staff.

  • Contact tracing will no longer be required. Because omicron spreads so quickly, by the time a COVID exposure is identified and detailed contact tracing is performed, transmission has already occurred.

  • Quarantine will no longer be required when a student or staff member is exposed to COVID, regardless of vaccination status, as long as they are asymptomatic. 

  • Isolation will still be required for a person with COVID. Students and staff must stay home when they have symptoms or a positive case of COVID. 

  • Staff and families will still be notified if a COVID case is identified in their classroom. This will allow them to take additional precautions according to their family’s particular health needs.

  • COVID-19 testing will still be available  when students and staff are exposed to a positive case of COVID-19. The optional weekly testing program also will continue.    

• Repeat: Staffing Timeline: Here’s the rundown of how staffing will run this year.
  • February 23 – Building principals receive staffing allocations
  • Early March – Early Hire Pool Interviews begin
  • March 15 – Deadline for teachers currently on leave to indicate if they are returning
  • March 16 – Staffing plans due to HR
  • April 1 – Deadline for licensed staff to notify HR of retirement
  • April 12-28 – Job Expo Window (Elementary interviews on Thursdays)
  • April 18 – Classified staff receive initial notice of assignment
        
• ACE Award Nominations: Nominations for the 2022 ACE Awards opens on Tuesday, March 1. Visit this link to nominate A Champion in Education. Nominations will close March 31 and the award ceremony will be held Tuesday, May 10 at 6pm.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

Next Week at a Glance:

I hope you have a great week!

Peter and Gina