TO DO:

Here is a date to add to your calendar… There will be a results training (how to view and interpret) for the YouthTruth survey on Feb. 11, from 1:00 – 2:30. Here is the link for attending: https://zoom.us/my/youthtruthjimmy. ________________________________________________________________________________

I believe you have all seen this – but it may have been a while, so I’m sharing it with you again as it may become more relevant as we draw nearer to the reopening of schools to our students. This chart was designed as a tool for navigating who decides (or who needs to be asked) Covid-related questions. It would be great if your staff was aware of whom to contact if they have a question – so please share it with them in an upcoming communication from you. _________________________________________________________________________________

Please check your classrooms and other doorways to make sure all areas of your building comply with the fire code, including that no obstruction (like a student desk) is within a 3 ft x 3 ft area in front of each classroom door (interior or exterior facing). _________________________________________________________________________________

I’m not sure, at the time of writing this, if this will be the first time you are receiving information regarding Inclement Weather during CDL, or if you’ll have already received it from HR by this time. Either way, please read over this one-pager and communicate it with your staff (again, if HR has not already shared it with all district staff). _________________________________________________________________________________

Here is another document to share with your certified staff. The SLGGs, observations, and evaluation process this year has been modified to better accommodate distance learning. And speaking of SLGGs, principals, please plan on having your goals turned in to me no later than Monday, February 1st. You will find this year’s SLGG form for administrators in TalentEd/Perform after the break. In the meantime, here is a preview of what it will look like. (Thanks to Skip for personalizing this form for admin!) _________________________________________________________________________________

If you haven’t already (and about 1/2 of you have), don’t forget to add your three (Admin PD) equity goals to the spreadsheet, under the tab that corresponds to the facilitator of our last training (Ryan or Julie). Again, two of these goals should be pretty attainable (and maybe even already attained) and one a “stretch” goal. Having this completed by today is ideal (so you don’t have to complete it over the break) before we have you reflect on other’s goals in early January.

THIS and THAT:

Coming soon! Jon will be communicating with you (soon) regarding third year probationary letters. As a reminder (principals), each year you write a letter for any current third year teacher, that then is shared with the School Board as part of the process used to determine whether to move that employee to contract status. Letters are due to HR by January 22. Jon will also be interested to know (if he doesn’t already) the names of any employee that needs to be supported more formally. ________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget that the YouthTruth survey window is from Jan. 4 – Jan. 22. I’m sure you are all on it in terms of scheduling and communicating this. For this survey, we are not requiring there to be a consent form sent to parents. Information was shared with parents in the latest district newsletter. In essence, this is a universal, voluntary survey that can be accessed by anyone (if the link is shared). A parent’s verbal or written communication that they don’t want their child to take this survey will suffice. Please notify your parents, if you haven’t already, that they may preview the questions being asked on this survey. Here is the document that has the survey questions and can be shared with parents. MS questions begin on page 10. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this and I’ll work to find you an answer! _________________________________________________________________________________

Remember our conversations regarding Student Success EAs? (These are the positions that will be part of our future BRYT classrooms – supporting kids both academically and with mental health – and we had hoped to post positions for prior to this break.) We just recently got word that the job description has been approved and a salary schedule attached to it (column K in the OSEA contract). We are now ready to get these posted in early January. Sean R. is working on a generic posting that you can all use to create this posting for your school. The goal will (now) be to hire these positions prior to the end of semester 1. One role this person can take – until students are back in our buildings on a more regular basis – is that of LIPI support. _________________________________________________________________________________

From Dean Richards and Michele Clements…

So far, the survey feedback is trending towards keeping these blog posts as a weekly fixture for the foreseeable future, and towards sending it straight to staff via an email list that includes you and your staffs.  If you didn’t get a chance to provide your feedback, please follow this link – you’ll be in an out in less than a minute: Distribution and Frequency Survey.

This week’s post contains a session cut from Mountain View.  Joel Clements, long-time English teacher and BEA rep at MVHS has used a no-zero grading policy for many years.  He hosted two sessions to help educate and field staff questions and support making the change. We have the best ten minutes of that session on the blog.  Also, an annotated chart showing the different grade outcomes in a variety of scenarios.  And finally, a couple of supplemental resources for those wanting more. Can We Live Without Zeros? ________________________________________________________________________________

Last week I shared a comic regarding some abridged versions of Fairy Tales. This week I wanted to share some abridged versions of Christmas Classics. ‘Tis the season, after all! Hope you enjoy them…

REMINDERS:

We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 5 @ 2:00 for our next Horizontal. Because this is the first Tuesday of the month, Dave VL will be facilitating a workshop/discussion around our BLS instructional framework. _________________________________________________________________________________

Here are a couple of documents that may be nice to review as we inch closer to bringing students (in larger numbers) back into our buildings. Both of these relate to physical distancing requirements in schools. This one is a one-page FAQ document from Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance. And this one pulls a few aspects of social distancing requirements from this same document and comes complete with a photo!