Parking Lot Gate: In response to your requests, Zach will leave the parking lot gate open in the mornings up to 7:15 to make it a little easier to enter while carrying your materials. If you are ever entering slightly after 7:15 and he has not yet locked it, then please lock the gate behind you. We all need to help maintain the secure perimeter from 7:15 to 3:15.
Conferences
- After consultation with BEA, we have landed on the following times. If a teacher has 25 or less students, their conferences need to be between 25-30 minutes to accommodate for transition times as needed (25 min gives time for a quick restroom break, time in case one goes longer, etc.). If a teacher has 26 or more students, their conferences can be 20 minutes, giving the teacher the ability to have a few longer ones as well as building in transition times if needed.
- As for scheduling, I am still advocating for the use of google sign up forms to allow families to choose times that work best for their schedules. If you need help setting up and sharing one of these with your families, just let me know. If you have not already shared your sign ups, then please get those shared by the end of the week.
- Ashley worked with our PTO board members to provide food for Wednesday and Thursday. There will be a variety of dishes and options for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. There will also be some volunteers coming in to do the set up, transitions and clean up. We are also trying our best to help make sure we have enough food for everyone’s unique tastes without having a lot of left over food go to waste.
School-Wide Plan for Halloween: After some thoughtful discussion with our leadership team we reached the following decision(s);
- We will not be dressing up for Halloween Day on Monday the 31st, however we hold “Costume Day” on Friday, October 28th. This can be either all day or part of the day depending upon teacher’s/team’s preference.
- For any classroom parties or festivities, please use culturally inclusive language and activities that are not completely centered on Halloween. You do not need to completely throw out Halloween. See resources below.
- For costumes, we are discouraging weapons and full face masks.
Here is the “Why”;
- It is our goal as a public school to create the most inclusive and culturally responsive environment as possible for all students/families.
- This move is very much aligned with our district equity stance. It may not seem like much, but it’s a really good step in a direction that can grow into a very inclusive and educational experience for students and adults.
- Celebrating Halloween as a school creates a school environment that is not inclusive of all students. Our population is changing and we should not wait until we accidentally exclude or offend a family before we make a change for the better. (Approximately one-third of the US popluation does not celebrate Halloween)
- Separating our costume day from Halloween provides better separation between the public school and not-so-secular Holiday, allowing us to have the celebratory fun without the direct connection to the holiday.
Resources: The following links were shared by Kinsey Martin and may prove useful, however this is not an exhaustive list.
- Here are some considerations and talking points on that (page 2 might be more applicable).
- Here is a mini-lesson on cultural appropriation and costumes.
- Here’s a poster/flyer for student/family reflection.
- Here are some other autumn holidays celebrated around the world. An essential question such as, “How do different cultures explore/represent the relationship between life and death?” could help tie together a unit on different Autumn holidays.
- When studying holidays that might not be part of our local dominant culture, authenticity and respectful representation is important. (Teachers Pay Teachers packets aren’t great here.) Is there a family in the class who could come do a guest presentation? Or a read-aloud written by an author from that culture?
- LEAD Coaches would love to help teachers with any of these!
Picture Day – Wednesday 10/12 – see email from Ashley with schedule.
SRP Staff Training: This is tentatively rescheduled for 10/27 at 2:30, however I am still waiting on confirmation.
Follow up survey: I did not get the opportunity to complete the survey from our Monday meeting as hoped this week, so I plan to get this out next week. Thanks for your patience.
From Lora re: Subs – As many of you know, we’re still facing challenges with getting substitute teachers in our schools. While we want to support professional learning and field trips, we also want to be cautious for now. So, for the time being, we ask you to do the following:
- If you have staff that require subs who are taking students on a field trip, please make sure these are only scheduled Tuesday-Thursday. Any exceptions need the approval of your level leader!
- If you have staff that require subs engaged in school business (grade level or department planning, ICCL retreats, etc.), you need to get the approval of your level leader IF more than three subs are needed. Again, these should be scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday.
From Instructional Tech – October brings a refreshed emphasis on digital citizenship. Most of us agree that digital citizenship skills are important but are unsure how to fit teaching them into our already full schedules. Rather than recreating the wheel, Bend La Pine Schools leans on the expertise of Common Sense Education and their vast resources, including ready-made free digital citizenship lessons for all grade levels. To get started, check out Digital Citizenship Made Simple. These skills will carry our students into the future; please take a few minutes to highlight their importance in your school this month.
SLGG Guidance – More info coming soon. (More user-friendly info.)
From Heidi Thomas and Highland’s Culture of Care Team:
- Staff Shout Outs are back! Please fill out this form and we will announce them once a month at our staff meetings!
- Here is our assembly plan and sign up. We are looking for a class or grade level to sign up for our November Assembly Video (Responsibility).
- October’s discussion sentence starter is: I aspire to be…
- Character Trait: Courage/Passion
- SEL Focus: Self Awareness
- Brian and I got to attend the first of two Restorative Practices Trainings on Wednesday. We are already putting a lot of this into practice and that is exciting. Below is one of the slides from our training. It is a great reminder that the restorative process begins with active, non-judgmental listening and expression of feelings and impact. This allows for students and staff to build strengthened relationships by genuinely presenting oneself as someone who cares and has feelings. This authentic expression offers one the opportunity to learn and reflect on how their behavior has affected others.
Key Links:
Shout Outs – Back by popular demand – take a few moments to provide a Shout out for the great work you witness.
2022-2023 Staff Meetings – Agendas & Notes
Week Preview: PLC Week – PLC Form – ICCLs please use this during your PLC meetings this week.
- Monday 10/10
- 10:00-10:30 Fire Drill
- Tuesday 10/11
- Wednesday 10/12 – Picture Day – Please see email from Ashly for your time.
- 1:15-1:45 Staff Meeting
- 1:45-3:15 SIW – Teacher Prep
- Thursday 10/13
- 2:30-3:15 Culture of Care Team Meeting
- 7:00-8:00 PTO General Meeting – Webex
- Friday 10/14
- 9:30 Bus Evacuation Drill – 1st group
- 9:40 Bus Evacuation Drill – 2nd group
- 10:00 Skip Visit – 3 classrooms
