Wave Riders,
I hope you all had a great week. I know there are some challenges out there, but hang in there and rely on each other for support. The work you are doing is amazing and I appreciate all of what you are doing for students and families. Be sure to read to the end of this blog. I hope the “fish on” motivates you! Have a restful weekend.
Best~Juan
To Do
School Visits
Please check out the school visit schedule. As you look at the schedule, be thinking about what classroom(s) we ought to visit. The purpose of my classroom visits with you are to calibrate our instructional lens. School Visits Schedule
The weather is changing – as the temperature begins to drop it’s time to review the outside lunch policy:
- K-8 students will come inside for meals at 45-degrees.
- If outside temperature + windchill is lower than 40-degrees, move meals inside.
- For example: If the air temperature is 48 degrees and there are sustained winds at 25 mph, then the wind chill temperature is 40 degrees = Meals inside
Encouraging students to dress in layers will be important as well on days where it will be close to the minimum threshold.
Subs and PD – just a reminder that you should not be scheduling any professional development or teacher meetings that involve getting a sub. Subs are in such short supply we can’t afford using them for this purpose. Sorry!
From Tami Pike
Hi Health Team!
Starting tomorrow, 10/6, IT will no longer be sending automated telephone messages to families when notification letters are sent. Families will still receive the email notifications. If individual schools wish to make calls to close contacts, they can do this at their discretion by using the automated School Messenger or make individual phone calls. Nurses/contact tracers are directed not to make close contact calls unless approved by Tami Pike. (I do not want this extra step placed on the nursing or contact tracing team.) Principals can request assistance from their own staff (assistant principals, office managers, secretaries, teachers, etc.).
For positive cases in middle and high school classes, notification will be sent via General School Notification Letter. Notification to BLS sponsored clubs/sports/activities will continue to be sent with a cohort letter.
No change to transportation notifications.
Contact Tracers – There is no change to the BLS Message email process for letter notification distribution.
Level leaders will be sending this information out to their schools in their weekly blogs Thursday and Friday. Due to time constraints and capacity, we are needing to start this process tomorrow, 10/6. Feel free to let your administrators know of this change if needed before then.
Please email me directly if you have any questions/concerns.
Collective Efficacy work for cert and classified staff: Next week is our first Educator Network Day (formerly know as District SIW.) The goal of these meetings if for teachers and some classified staff to connect and discuss topics related to their disciplines and job alike responsibilities. Each MS Administrator is assigned to one of these meetings (some in person and some virtual.) Your role is:
- Be there for the leaders and provide them supports as needed. This includes keeping the conversations on track and intervening, as needed, with anyone stuck in a non-helpful spiral. The expectations are that teachers/classified staff engage in productive conversations and not be grading papers etc. Cameras should remain on during virtual meetings.
- You will be asked to track attendance at the Educator Network and submit that information to Dean. This is so that we can track PDUs for teachers. Next week Dean will send you a list of possible attendees. We realize that some teachers would fit in several of the available meetings. Hopefully anyone who is unsure about where to go can work through that with their department and admin for guidance.
If you have other questions please reach out to Dean or me.
This & That
From the Culture of Care Team
The Culture of Care Team put this document together regarding the recent TikTok challenges and way to support students.
From Lora Nordquist
Student Teachers
I recognize we’re all desperate for substitute teachers, but TSPC has sent a directive to all teacher prep programs in the state reminding them of their liability if they allow their student teachers without substitute licenses to sub in schools. As a result, at least one of our program partners has directed their student teachers to LEAVE THE BUILDING if they are asked to cover a class without a certified teacher present in the room. Student teachers CAN be asked to present a lesson if there is a certified teacher in the room, as well.
After we finish the intense process of verifying vaccinations, HR can move forward on requesting emergency sub licenses for all our student teachers. Once that process is complete, (and we will notify you when that is done), student teachers CAN sub in their cooperating teachers’ classes without anyone else present. They should not be asked to sub in other classrooms.
Virtual Conferences
Parent teacher conferences will be virtual. Teachers have asked if they need to hold their conferences in the building. They are not required to hold conferences in the building. They may if they so choose. Teachers need to be mindful of their background setting if they conduct conferences outside of their classrooms.
More on conferences
Kinsey sent out communication earlier in the week about interpreters. Here it is again.
Thanks for prioritizing the scheduling of multilingual families who need interpreters. ELL/Language Specialists know which families need interpreters and for which languages, and can help teachers coordinate requests, blocking these appointments together to the extent possible. Specialists can input the blocks of time into Linguist Link for your building, to avoid duplicate requests.
If an interpreter is not available for a teacher’s appointment or the family can’t make the appointment time, we need to provide an alternative time they can access the conference with trained, qualified interpreters.
For bilingual staff who are interested and willing to serve as interpreters for this, there will be more information soon about this option. Family Liaisons are not interpreters for pre-scheduled conferences–they will attend as advocates for families and cultural brokers for staff, but will be available for emergencies if an interpreter no-shows. (Speaking of that, here’s what to expect from an interpreter–please communicate any concerns to your Language Specialist.)
Using conferences as a mini-observation for teachers? These tips for culturally-responsive conferences are helpful look-fors and debrief topics.
Secondary Blog
Walking Field Trips – the COVID response team decided we would begin allowing walking field trips if the following conditions are met:
- The field trip should start and finish at the school and should be directly related to curriculum standards.
- Students must wear masks.
- Students must keep 3 ft apart to the extent possible.
- Management and instruction of students has to be done by school staff – no parent volunteers can be utilized.
- Notify parents of the walking field trip but be careful not to over advertise it. We don’t want parents “accidentally” showing up at the location. This would be subverting our current policy on visitors and volunteers.
- Indoor music concerts and drama performances: we will allow indoor music concerts and drama performances and will be sharing specific guidelines in the coming days. One required addition is for students to submit a completed COVID Activities Participation Agreement. This is the same document athletes must submit prior to being allowed to participate in their sport. I shared this information with Keith Chaiet and Luke MacSween who are leading on this. They intend to share this with their counterparts during the Educator Network Day October 13. Please work with your music/drama teachers to ensure this doc is submitted by each student and kept at the school.
Congratulations to Stephen DuVal
Stephen DuVal has accepted a position at the Education Center as the Director of College and Career Readiness. He will not be leaving Cascade Middle School immediately. We are in the process of finding his replacement. When this becomes finalized a transition period will begin for both leaders. Meanwhile, Stephen will continue to lead Cascade and be available as a resource principal. Congratulations Stephen!
Reminder
A friendly reminder about 3 feet distancing – one of the questions that will be asked during contact tracing is “were students 3 feet apart?” As you walk your school and observe classrooms you might want to pay particular attention to this rule and give students and staff a friendly reminder about the 3 feet rule and masking.
Calendar
M.S. Horizontal Meeting Schedule
- October 14 & 15 Juan out of office (available by phone or Text-Limited email) For immediate assistance reach out to Dean Richards, or Katie Legace.
- October 18, @7:30 am Horizontal at High Desert Middle School- Read pgs, 1-5, complete Water the Bamboo Assessment, & read chapter 1 and complete Water the Bamboo Uncover Your Core Values-Be prepared to discuss the values and pare the list down to 5 for our team.
- October 29-Civil Rights Training due
- October 29-SRP videos must be viewed by staff and students
- October 27-28 Work day and conferences
- November 1, 7:30 am Horizontal Ed Center (Draft of school design due) Be ready to share.
Fish On…
When you feel alone, or overwhelmed. Remember we are a team and we are in this together!