Hello Wave-riders,
I hope you all had a great week. I look forward to seeing all of you in person on Monday. I hope you get a chance to get out and recharge your batteries.
To Do
October 18th – Over these next few days please read emails from Human Resources and Paul Dean very carefully. There will be critical information in each communication regarding vaccination status and next steps for your staff. I know that some of you have more than one person on the “list.” Let me know if you want to brief about next steps.
From Lora Nordquist
School Design Plans’ Process
This week at our learning leadership meeting, we discussed the timeline for school design plan processes and submission. Members of our team proposed a permanent shift in our timeline: instead of developing these to launch a school year, develop plans to run from the start of second semester each year through first semester the following year.
Lots of things make sense about this. School leadership teams can plan professional learning, staffing, budget priorities, scheduling, etc. for the following year based on the priority actions in their plans.
SO…we’re going to launch this new timeline. For those schools that are well into plan development or implementation, this requires no changes. full speed ahead. For those that need additional time, you will have it.
November/December(Dates and times determined by level leaders): drafts of plans are due for peer review. January: Plans for February 2022-January 2023 due.
This & That
From Lora
District administrators will be meeting with BEA leaders next week to discuss temporarily reducing the number of required observations of certified staff, as well as identifying “focus standards” for observation and evaluation.
Also, while the media headlines about emergency sub licenses sound great, the change is not helpful for us. The district must manage the subs (not the HDESD), sub licenses are taking approximately 7 weeks to process (so that would be January), and they expire March 31.
From Kinsey
Family Workshop: We will be offering our families a workshop in preparation for conferences. This workshop (designed and delivered in partnership with our Latino Family Advisory, with input from our Equity Coalition) will cover family rights and responsibilities, how to prepare for upcoming conferences, and in particular how to navigate our high school systems.
Spanish-language event: Thurs, Oct 21Chinese-language event: Wed, Oct 20
Please see the invitation for details (the middle page is English for your convenience). Language Dept staff are promoting this event with our multilingual families, but please share with them from your office as well!
From Tami Pike
Because contact tracers do not have the capacity to call close contacts, and automated calls from the district were being ignored, schools are encouraged to use their own automated voice messaging system to reach parents about their student being quarantined. The script can say something like “Hi. This is Pacific Crest Middle School. Your student has been identified as a close contact in Mr. Smith’s class or on the bus. Your student is required to quarantine at home. Please check your email that you have on file with the school for more detailed information”.
More from Tami Pike
We will be starting our vision and dental screenings for our students starting November 1st. For any questions about scheduling, please reach out directly to Matt Phillips for vision screening and Tiffany for dental screening.
From Garra Schulter
Please share in your newsletters. Now Hiring Flyers
From April
This is your friendly reminder that leave sheets are due on Monday, October 18th. The dates we are recording for this period are 09/20/21 – 10/17/2021. Those with electronic calendars (administrators) can fill in their calendar and let me know when they are done. Everyone else (paper leave sheets) can send me their leave sheets or email me with their dates of leave and I can fill them out for you. If you did not take any leave during this period (09/20 – 10/17) just let me know and I will note it. We are required to turn in a leave sheets whether we have taken leave or not.
Reminders
Sub reminder
Here is a reminder about our sub process. Please do not try to prearrange a district sub. They are to be used the on day-of for unfilled positions. Additionally, if you need someone to supervise a class (not teach) you can utilize a classified staff member. This sometimes might be needed if a sub is arriving late. Doubling classes can also occur but should be a last resort and should only be done with like-grade levels or content areas. Also be aware of class size limitations when doing this.
Face covering reminder for all – From the Oregon Health Authority: “A “face covering” means a cloth, polypropylene, paper or other face covering that covers the nose and the mouth and that rests snugly above the nose, below the mouth, and on the sides of the face. The following are not face coverings because they allow droplets to be released: a covering that incorporates a valve that is designed to facilitate easy exhalation, mesh masks, lace masks, or other coverings with openings, holes, visible gaps in the design or material, or vents.”
It is the responsibility of the building administrator to ensure that all staff are wearing an approved mask and wearing it appropriately.
For patrons who do not comply with masking mandate: policy KK-AR
Here is the agenda for Monday’s Horizontal meeting.
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 (agenda) 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…
