TO DO:

• As field trip season comes into full swing, please remind your office managers and teachers to please use the district field trip permission slip – and not create their own. At this link (found in the portal if you search “field trip”) you will find one page that the teacher completes requesting the field trip and gives to you for signature, one page requesting to do a fundraiser (only if it is needed to pay for the field trip), one page of trip reminders, and two pages of actual field trip form that is sent home for parent signature.  This two-page parent permission form has already been translated into Spanish, which is another reason it is important to use this form. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this.
• For all of you super planners out there that may have missed Lora’s recent email, here are next year’s district SIW dates: 10/17/18, 12/19/18, 2/20/19, and 4/24/19. I will share these again next fall, so you don’t need to document them now. (I only underlined two of them in order to better read all four dates.)

THIS AND THAT:

• Look at the faces and see the personality of these kinders. Subbing in their class (I missed a few in this photo) was definitely one of the highlights of last week. They had spunk and a warmth that middle school kids take a bit longer to express. And, they were all accepted and cared for by their peers.  It made me wonder about the experiences children are exposed to during the next six years of life that change how they believe they should act and the protections they begin to build around them so their peers don’t see who they really are. It made me believe even more about the power we have in shaping young lives through the experiences (culture) we provide for them in our classrooms, during passing times and lunch, and through after school activities. Your role is an influential one – and one that carries a lot of responsibility. Thank you for the care, compassion, integrity and courage you bring to your job every day.
• I ran across a TED Talk this week entitled: How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime. Although there is some information that I am sure you have heard before (e.g. ACES), and some information has a strong medical treatment focus, I believe this is a talk that you will not only learn something from, but also one that you could (should?) share with your staff or other stakeholders. You have students in your building who have experienced trauma.  Do you know who they are? Are their behaviors often misunderstood or misdiagnosed (e.g. ADHD)? If they misbehave, do your discipline responses help or hinder a change in their behavior?  Can we better support these kids in her/his learning? These are not easy questions and I do not pretend to have the answers. I do hope you are aware of this dynamic (childhood trauma) when you ask yourself (or a child): “Help me understand why you … [respond that way]?”
• The TELL (statewide – certified) survey data is now available.  You should be receiving your building’s classified results soon as well.  (Remember, the state does not ask for classified employees to complete the TELL, so we created our own survey so we can capture the voice of our classified folks as well.) Please plan on sharing your site survey data in some way (e.g. work with ICCL to decide, share with site council, share with whole staff) with your stakeholders and use this feedback as a way to improve climate, operations, support, culture, etc. in your building.
• I will be away from the office next Thursday afternoon and all day Friday.  Christie and I (and our youngest) will be flying to LA for our daughter’s college graduation, which is on Friday. I’ll have my cell phone with me if you need anything during this time!

REMINDERS:

• Don’t forget to complete (in the next few weeks) the admin leadership survey that was sent to you earlier today. (See Jay’s email for details.)
• Thanks to those schools who have completed the Google doc regarding your elective offerings.  If you haven’t had an opportunity to do so yet, here is the link.
• If you think you might have any staff member interested in taking a Spanish conversation class offered through the district next year, please let me know.  I do not need names, just a head nod that yes, there would be some in your building interested.
• I’ve read some great ideas that have already been added to the “what can administrators do with/for a new teacher document” in Google doc. Please add your ideas and take a look at the creative suggestions that have already been added!