Month: February 2021

Welcome to March!
What an incredible weekend of Spring-like weather. I had the great honor of celebrating my grandson Teo’s 3rd birthday at a cabin at Suttle Lake complete with hiking, sledding, camp fire, and bbq ribs–he loves his ribs!

A few notes for the week:
1) It’s Classified Employee Week! We are so lucky to have such an incredible support staff at Amity: Patti, Mindy, Nathan, Brad, and Karima! In their honor there will be some delicious treats in the staff room on Tuesday morning–come have a taste.

2) Staff Meeting on Wednesday, 2pm (in person). Lots of catching up to do!

3) Friday came and went with no update about our move back to Amity. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.

4) Mindy will be out on Monday.

5) We will have EBISS meetings on March 9 (Grade 4 and 5 on the 10^th, I’ll touch base this week)–please have some reading/writing/math data to share for students of concern. Brad will cover Kinder, Grade 2, and Grade 3. Grade 1 classes will be at music.
*Kinder: 10:00am
*Grade 1: 12 (Amanda), 12:30 (Sara) 
*Grade 2: 10:30am
*Grade 3: 1pm

6) We’ll have team meeting time at our March 17 SIW. I’ll share more info as we get closer. We’ll meet 2-3:30pm.

Upcoming
March 3: Staff Meeting, 2pm (in person)
March 17: Team meetings during SIW, 2pm
March 22-26: Spring Break, No School
April 14-16: Conversations

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning!
I hope you had an amazing weekend. It’s hard to believe but K-3 kiddos have been back in school for a month now! I want to thank you again (and again and again) for making the return to school so smooth, and for finding ways to keep the joy alive in these challenging conditions. Things are obviously so different, but I still see really happy kiddos every day!

A few notes for the week:
1) Lottery Info Night is this Wednesday from 5:30-6:30pm in my WebEx room. I was able to finish the video on Friday and post if for prospective parents to watch. I am including it below in case you want to see it–it’s 54 minutes long and I think it does as good a job as possible (given it’s a video) at capturing what Amity is all about. Thanks again for your contributions! Also, I am looking for a volunteer to monitor the chat for questions during the WebEx session, and to share the questions as they come up–just let me know if you are willing.

2) For your calendar, our next Staff Meeting is March 3 at 2pm.

3) Please take a moment on Monday morning to review some playground rules/guidelines with your kiddos (trying to avoid the “No, no, no” but some things are no, no, no):
*If you take out a ball, jump rope, or hula hoop please return it
*Please leave the zone cones where they are–we keep finding them spread out all over the playground
*Slides are for sliding down, please do not climb up the slides
*Walking on the play structure only–no tag games
*Please do not jump off the swings, slow down your swing and get off safely

4) Returning to Amity update…still waiting to hear a definitive plan. So sorry for this long wait, but the deadline keeps getting shifted due to delays in delivery of needed supplies. For now, let’s just enjoy the comfort of our North Star hotel stay and I’ll let you know when I have a definitive plan. Thanks for your patience!

5) Quick topic for our staff meeting next week: for Conversations April 14-16 would you prefer to do Wednesday and Thursday (with a long day on Thursday) and take Friday off, or use Wednesday for prep and do Conversations on Thursday and Friday? Historically we have opted for the option that takes Friday off, but the topic is up for discussion. Please consider your preference and discuss amongst yourselves over the next week.

Upcoming
February 24: Lottery Info Night (WebEx), 5:30pm
March 22-26: Spring Break, No School
April 14-16: Conversations

Here’s to another great week ahead!
Andy

Happy Holiday Monday!
I hope you are (or have been) enjoying the extra day off–3 day weekends are one of my favorite things during the school year! I don’t have a lot to share today, mostly just a few reminders. But first, I had a wonderful ski out to Tumalo Falls early Sunday morning that made everything in the world seem pretty darn great–here’s a quick view!

Also, before the few notes for the week I want thank you for the incredible efforts you are all making to follow safety guidelines and to keep us in school! I know it’s been difficult and draining, but the payoff–having our students back–is more than worth it! As time moves on we are naturally going to begin to relax our vigilance, it’s just something that happens when you have to exert so much extra energy on something. I am asking you to dig deep right now and stay vigilant–as I have said in the past, if there is an outbreak of any kind I want to know in our hearts that we have done everything we possibly can to keep kiddos and adults safe at Amity. Stay strong, and reach out for support when you need it!

A few notes for the week:
1) It’s our 4th week back in school–yahoo!

2) Lottery Info Videos–please have these to me by the end of the day Tuesday. You can text, email, or air drop them to me. Thanks!

3) QPR training this Wednesday at 2pm. If you have not yet registered please refer to my previous emails that contain the link.

4) Amity Update: The remodel is nearly complete–most everything is done and ready! There are a few ADA compliance issues that have to be addressed before the city can sign off on other permits related to the project. So, we’re still waiting for an official move in date, but we are SOOOOO close!

Upcoming
February 17: QPR Training, 2pm. PLEASE REGISTER!
February 24: Lottery Info Night (WebEx), 5:30pm
March 22-26: Spring Break, No School
April 14-16: Conversations

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning All!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I had the great pleasure of visiting my grand baby in Corvallis and it was glorious!

My meeting at Amity got pushed to this Wednesday due to a few punch list items not being completed yet, but I stopped by anyway to see how things are moving along. They are really close to finishing, and it’s likely they’ll share an official move in date with me on Wednesday! Here are some photos, enjoy…

Yes, they got the sod down!

A few notes to get things rolling:
1) I’m sure you’ve seen the email from Lora already–CDL on Friday. Let me know if you have any questions, and please communicate your plan for that day to parents early this week.

2) Fire Drill Tuesday at 8:40. Sorry for the last minute notification but I just found out that North Star has this scheduled. I’ll send evacuation info on Monday–please check for an email from me. In the meantime see if you can locate your red/green emergency guide. 😳

3) No School next Monday, Feb 15–President’s Day

4) I hope you have read my email about the Lottery Info Night video–thanks for your help! Please get me all your clips by next Tuesday, Feb 16.

5) As things have settled in with the pick-up times after school we know that we can start pick-up at 2:35 (and 1:05 on Wed) so please be sure you have students down in the gym/breezeway ready for pick-up at that time. Once most of the kiddos have cleared out we can have those that remain all hang out in the breeze way and you can all head back to your classrooms.

6) Upcoming staff meetings (2pm start time):
*Feb 10-No staff meeting
*Feb 17-QPR training (look for email this week)
*Feb 24-Lottery Info Night (5:30pm on WebEx)
*March 3-Staff Meeting
*March 10-No Staff Meeting
*March 17-Staff Meeting

7) Conference Days (Conversations) have been changed to April 14-16. It’s likely we’ll opt to do these on Wednesday/Thursday and take Friday off like we have in the past. We’ll discuss soon.

Upcoming
February 9: Fire Drill at 8:40am
February 12: CDL for all classes
February 15: President’s Day, No School
February 24: Lottery Info Night (WebEx), 5:30pm
March 22-26: Spring Break, No School
April 14-16: Conversations

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy