This and That:
Staffing: I am happy to announce that Lizzy Katz is our newly hired 5-hour Educational Assistant. Lizzy is an awesome addition to our staff and I am excited for you all to get to know her.
MAC Survey Training (From Heidi): This year, MAC training will be a little different (like everything else đ). Here is the link to the training and assessment so you can take it at your convenience. Here is a link to a recorded Webex training that Mara did last Spring (password: MAC2020fan). You can listen to Mara as you click through the MAC online training/assessment, or you can have two windows open and see both screens. If you have never done the training before, I am happy to meet with you and help you through it.
Mini Observations: My first mini observation of the year will be during a team planning session. Each grade level team, please invite me to a team planning session in the next two weeks. I still need a meeting time with grades K, 1, and 4.
TLC Update: Here is the link to this week’s TLC Update. Please be sure to advertise/ encourage the Lexia training for parents with your families.
Dreambox and Lexia: Now that we have iPads in all students’ hands, we must focus on getting each student logging into Lexia and Dreambox each day and meeting their individualized weekly usage goals. Lexia and Dreambox are a critical part of our assessment, instruction, and intervention plans for the year. School-wide Lexia usage during the week of 9/21 was 74%. During the week of 9/28, Lexia usage was 65%. I would like to see participation at 90% or higher each week. Please do everything you can to encourage daily usage with your students.
Meetings: Our meeting schedule for the year is starting to take better shape. Our staff meetings have been moved (more permanently) to Thursdays at 2:30. Grade level EBISS meetings (about four for each grade level this year) will be on Tuesdays at 2:30. QPS/IPS meetings will happen on Wednesday mornings (you will be invited to these meetings as it pertains to students in your class.)
Art Support: Frank and I met with Karen Williams on Friday to discuss what art support for Elk Meadow might look like during this crazy year. First of all, Karen will continue to create a weekly video for you to use with your students. Additionally, please feel free to reach out to her ([email protected]) to collaborate on ideas that will tie to your grade level curriculum or any other crazy art idea you need some help pulling off.
WebEx News: Through the efforts of Scott McDonald and Vince Valenti, there will be a big change coming with how Webex is set up that will improve security for teachers using Webex with their students. This change has not occurred yet, but it is expected within the next week. It may be a good idea to begin sharing this information with your teachers. This is whatâs happening with the changesâŚ
- The students will log in to Webex in a similar fashion to how teachers log into Webex.
- The teachers will have âhostâ accounts. These accounts allow them to schedule and create sessions.
- The students will have âattendeeâ accounts. These accounts will only allow them to attend sessions.
- Users from outside the district will not be able to attend Webex sessions that are created by teachers.
- Look for new instructions for how students will join Webex meetings in the next few days. By the way, the next update of Webex will also have the most requested item by teachers. A mute button that students canât unmute!
Metrics Information: Here is a link to metrics information on our district website that would be a nice one to bookmark. Recently added to this page is a straightforward and clear metric chart that highlights the individual metrics per week and the potential first day we could return in a Hybrid format.
A special ODE meeting earlier this week didnât reveal any new changes to state metrics or ODE guidance related to schools opening. However, in the Portland Tribune on Oct. 7, 2020, Governor Brown was quoted as saying: âOur Oregon health experts together with school administrators will be reevaluating our school metrics in the coming weeks, and weâll have an update for you on that very soon.â Asked if âreevaluatingâ meant lowering the benchmarks for schools to reopen, Brown indicated the answer is yes: âWeâre still exploring this issue, but I think itâs fair to say that the statewide metric, frankly, is quite challenging for communities around the state. And my top priority is to make sure that we get our kids back into school safely.â Hmmmmm.
**COVID/ Safety related information- READ COMPLETELY and CAREFULLY. A couple new topics are being added each week:**
Questions/Concerns about COVID-19 related matters?: Please follow this flowchart. If in doubt about what to do, you can always check with Frank or Kelle. Frank is our Safety Team Lead, and Ann Hollenberg is our School Nurse.
School Specific Functions/Facility Features:
â˘Steps have been taken to cancel, modify, or postpone field trips, assemblies, athletic events, practices, special performances, school-wide parent meetings, and other large gatherings to meet requirements for physical distancing.
â˘Students will be discouraged from bringing personal property to school (e.g., school supplies, headphones/earbuds, cell phones, books, instruments, etc.). If personal items are brought to school, they must be labeled before entering school, and use should be limited to the item owner.
â˘Because BLS will close non-bottle-filling water stations, we decided that refillable water bottles are okay if labeled with a studentâs name.
â˘We will limit staff rooms, common staff lunch areas, elevators, and workspaces to single-person usage at a time, maintaining six feet of distance between adults.
â˘We will establish and clearly communicate procedures for keeping caregiver drop-off/pick-up as brief as possible.
â˘We have partnered with our buildingâs BEA and/or OSEA reps to verify that any new responsibilities related to cleaning, supervision, and/or student lunches donât conflict with collective bargaining agreements around breaks and preps times. If necessary, we will communicate with HR if an issue arises.
To Do:
â˘Share Eagle News on Monday (classroom teachers) – this is the last reminder I will have in the newsletter about this one.
â˘MAC Training (all staff)
â˘If you haven’t already, invite Kelle to a team planning session happening in the next two weeks (certified staff)
Important Dates:
Tuesday: Core EBISS Team Meeting
Wednesday: Grade 5 distribution, fire drill (MORE DETAILS COMING)
Thursday: Grade 5 distribution, staff meeting
Friday: Safety Team meeting, Kindergarten distribution