This and That:

Oregon Statewide Educator Survey – deadline extended (From Dr. Cook): The deadline to complete the educator survey has been extended to Friday, March 24th.  This extension will allow Oregon educators additional time to share their experiences and provide essential feedback that will be used to help inform local and state school improvements. 

Classified Staff Appreciation Week: This week is officially “Classified Staff Appreciation Week.” For those of you that are new to Elk Meadow, I want to make sure you know that since we are all part of ONE staff, at Elk Meadow, we celebrate STAFF appreciation week in May (instead of separate certified and classified weeks). In the meantime, please know that you are SO appreciated for all you do for our students and our Elk Meadow community.

Art Workshops: There are a few classrooms that are interested in going forward with a scaled-down version of Art Workshops. Please reach out to Kelle if you’d like to be included in the initial planning, and we can figure out an adjusted version for all who want to participate.

Students in the Office: Please remember to give the office a call when you send a student to the office for behavior support. We need to know if they are there for a “break,” a “time out,” to get work done, etc… how long, and any other important details. We have had increasing numbers of students showing up in the office with unknown plans and it makes it hard for us to support you and the student well when we don’t have the information we need.

Common Classroom Fire Violations (From Dan Dummit): Check out this document for information on common safety violations found in classrooms and what the Fire Marshal looks for during inspections.  Please ensure you are following these fire rules.

New Oregon TAG Rules: In January 2022, the Oregon State Board of Education adopted new TAG identification rules that are intended to uproot a system of prescribed inequitable outcomes. These newly designed and adopted rules have created new learning curves for districts and educators throughout Oregon. BLS created a TAG Advisory Team to evaluate our current TAG systems and assimilate these new rules. The team is currently working on a Core Beliefs document and learning about the new rules. Next year, the team will recommend changes to our assessment, identification, and instructional services. This year, our TAG systems will look the same as in previous school years.

Notifying Nurses About Field Trips (From Tami Pike): There have been instances this school year where nurses have not been notified of field trips in a reasonable amount of time. Currently, nurses should be notified at least 2 weeks before a field trip to allow time to ensure that staff are appropriately trained in medication administration in both scheduled and emergent situations. This time will also permit the nurse to make certain that medications are labeled and secure and to identify any student health conditions. As we slowly start moving toward warmer weather and possibly more field trips, please ensure you follow this critical step in the planning process.

Family Newsletter: This newsletter was sent to families on Friday.

Monday Committee Time: Our staff meeting time is committed to committee work time. Committee leads – please communicate with your team about where you will be meeting.

Focus on Excellence and Equity:

TLC Update: Here is a link to the March 1 TLC Update. This week’s update includes:

Coaching Support: Here is a link to schedule support from Anna.

To Do:

Curriculum Adoption Timelines: If you are in a role impacted by curriculum adoptions, please take a few minutes to give feedback on possible curriculum adoption timelines. 

Spring Conferences: Start talking with your team about how conferences at your grade level might look. Student-led? What information might you be sharing? Other? Family letters will be ready by next Monday.

Parent Volunteers: Before a volunteer can begin, you must get official confirmation from Nicole or Chris that the parent has passed the background check. Once they say yes, you will need to add them to this weekly google document letting us know who to expect each day.

Important Dates:

SIW Schedule: