Thank You
I want to start by thanking all of you for the amazing work you do each day. I hear time and time again from our students how much they are enjoying their days at Pacific Crest and that is 100% because of the work you are doing and the care you are providing. Additionally, I live in our community and have been told multiple times in the past few weeks by neighbors or my boys’ friends’ parents how surprised they are by the positive attitude their child has towards middle school, as they cannot remember having such a positive experience or attitude. Again, THESE GOOD FEELINGS ARE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT BECAUSE OF YOU. Thank you.
Conference Update
We have received enough votes to say that conferences will be held on Wednesday and Thursday (October 27 and 28) and you will have October 29 off. Work hours for those two days will be 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM for full-time staff. Part-time staff, we can talk as conferences get closer so that Renee can set up your conference schedules in Sign-Up Monkey (not the name of the platform we use).
Vaccine/Exemption Reminder
A reminder that ALL staff MUST have submitted either a vaccination record or an exemption request to Frontline by October 5th. If you do not submit proof of vaccination or sign an exemption by 10/18, “you will no longer be employable.”
If you have your documentation ready, please submit it as soon as you are able to do so, as it is a cumbersome process of checking people off lists and 5 minutes of your time will save a lot of time for others (me included).
Expectations Tracking Form
Anne-Marie created a Google Form to track when students are not meeting expectations. This form will be used to track any “minor” incidents with students so that we know what is going on and can track any patterns that develop. For those of you who were here two years ago, this is a similar structure to what we did that year. If you are having issues with students meeting the expectations, please let Anne-Marie and the student’s counselor know via email so an intervention can begin. We’re all here to improve student learning, and that includes learning what behaviors are/are not appropriate for school.
Personal Days
Due to the current sub shortage , personal days will only be granted if you pre-arrange a sub ahead of time and communicate that when you submit your request. This is for all personal days moving forward; if you have already submitted a personal day request, this does not apply (though, if you can work to find a sub for those days, I’d be grateful).
Clubs
Yes, we can have clubs again. The way I see clubs working is for you (the Advisor) to host clubs outside and eat lunch with the students in the club. Or, if you want to have the meeting inside, you can have them eat their lunch outside for 15 minutes an THEN come to your classroom for the club meeting. We will share the club sign-up sheet next week in Advisory.
iPad Replacement
Speaking of next week, some students will be receiving new iPads next week. We will have them do much of the prep work in Advisory on Monday and then they will be sent to the library on Tuesday (6th graders), Wednesday (finish 6th grade, start 7th grade), and maybe Thursday (finish 7th graders) in their Math class.
Advisory Update
Speaking of Advisory, the slide content produced for Advisory is a “must-do” in that you MUST show the slide deck and engage in the content each day. As we work to build an effective Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) to support struggling students, we need to be able to clearly outline what content and supports everyone is getting (this is our Tier 1); Advisory is included in this, as it provides us with the opportunity to share school-wide learnings, build community, and provide practice on academic skills.
Extra Duty Positions Still Available
We still have a need for a Yearbook Advisor and some lunch supervisors. These positions are great ways to get to know students outside of a typical learning environment and can be split among people if you’re reluctant to take on the full load of the role. In years past, we have had two Yearbook Advisors to share the responsibility and have had situations where teachers only spend one day per week at lunch to help with supervision. The Yearbook Advisor position is posted online, see me with any questions about the lunch supervisor position.
PPE Needs
If you have any PPE needs for your classroom (hand sanitizer or masks), please let Tami know and she will help you re-stock.
Updates from BLS Nutrition Services
Adult Meal Pricing: To purchase adult meals, the cost for lunch is for lunch is $4.25 and breakfast is $3.00. Nutritional staff can accept payment from adults this year in the cafeterias, but BLPay is also an option and there are still no fees for that service.
Supper Meal Program Discontinued: Due to lack of staffing and supplies, Nutrition Services has discontinued the supper program at PCMS. The last day to order and receive the supper meal was Friday, 10/1.
From Teaching and Learning
Our TLC team is excited about increasing their support to teachers with our TOS with District-Level ICCLs in areas where we do not currently have teacher leadership. We hope to continue to support teachers to support other teachers by creating a collective efficacy mindset. To support Linda (Math TOSA) and Colleen (Science TOSA) in this work, they are seeking 4 Math ICCL (2 MS, 2 HS) and 5 Science ICCL (4 content specific in HS and 1 MS). Additionally, this week, Teaching and Learning added positions in the following areas: Band, Orchestra, Choir, Fine Arts, MS Social Studies, HS Social Studies, CTE, and Health/PE.
Emails went out to teachers in these areas last week; please let me know if you are interested in applying so that I can be prepared when/if they call me for my input.
From Lora Nordquist
The district has designated four SIW’s over the course of the school year “Educator Network” SIW’s to provide time for four-part districtwide trainings, district PLC meetings, etc.
A few examples include content-area meetings for high school language arts and science teachers, trainings in incorporating strategies to support multi-lingual students, early literacy best practices, training with Bruce Perry for our student success staff, and an overview of our instructional framework. Three things to know now:
- All certified and building administrative staff (and some classified EA’s) will be required to participate in a strand during the EN SIW’s: this is not individual prep time for any staff. For some staff, a particular strand will be required; for others, choices will be provided.
- Most trainings will be conducted on Webex; a few will be live.
- The teaching and learning and student services departments will be sharing more complete information and training descriptions very soon!
Reserving Rooms for Meetings
If you are interested in reserving a PCMS meeting room or space other than your classroom, please email Christina and copy Deb with the date, start time, end time and room/space you would like to reserve. Christina will reply to your email confirming if the space is available. Reservations will be added to the PCMS Staff Events calendar. Not sure how to view the staff calendar? Click here to see instructions for adding the PCMS Staff Events Calendar to your Outlook calendars.
Late Work and Canvas
Here is some language around late work and Canvas. Feel free to share it with your families in your family communication announcements.
When an assignment is due in class and a student does not turn in the assignment by the due date, our Canvas grading system automatically gives the student 50% of the total points (per district policy). If the student turns in the assignment late, the 50% grade will maintain until the teachers goes in and grades the assignment to update the grade (this may take up to a week, as teachers are very busy and late assignments do not always get priority attention). To double check if the assignment is missing or if the student received a 50% on the assignment, go to the Canvas course > Grades, then find the assignment to see if it has a red “missing” below it. Thank you for your patience with this!
Sparrow Update & Community Service Hours
Many of you have asked, “are we getting a Sparrow this year?” and I wanted to update you that we have been in communication with Nancy Childers, Sparrow Clubs of Central Oregon Director. She is currently wrapping up the application process and will soon have a Sparrow assign to PCMS! At that time she will provide us with a photo, video, bio, and community service vouchers. All of which will be shared during advisory within the next few weeks.
In the meantime, if you have any students that have begun community service hours, have them note it in their phone, sheet of paper, etc. When the voucher becomes available, they can refer to their notes when completing vouchers.
Helpful Links