WOAH… HUGE UPS!!!
It gives me great pleasure to share that our very own Lynda Beauchamp is a 2024 Educator of the Year Finalist!! 🤯 This is a really big deal (check out that link!), and I think we can all agree that Lynda is a very worthy finalist!
Congrats Lynda and Good Luck!!
On a similar note, Friday morning I shared with the high school staff this year’s Realms Excellence in Education honorees are Heidi & Jae! Below are just some of the glowing words that you all shared about these two…
Heidi is dedicated to students and her work. She strives to bring science alive and make it real for students. She frames every unit with the objective of making her students think like scientists. She is passionate about her content and models what it’s like to have an inquisitive and creative mind when she learns alongside her students (like with getting the hydro greenhouse up and running).
Jae is a huge asset in the classroom. They not only support individual students with their IEP accommodations, but they also contribute to the classroom environment. They do this by engaging with students in conversation that is relevant and deep. They push students to do better work and reach their goals. They are an advocate for so many students who have minimal support at home. Finally, they are many of our student’s go-to adult in the building. I appreciate working with Jae so much and we are all better teachers when we have them in our classroom!
Upcoming Dates
This week
- Mon May 13th – 6th Gr Rainshadow Organics Fieldwork (coverage plan)
- Tues May 15th – Fri May 19th: RHS Intensives, Round 2 (parent-student site)
- Tues May 15th – Fri May 19th: SBAC 8th Grade Math
Looking Ahead
- Mon May 20th – Thurs May 22nd: 8th Gr Travel Study
- Thur May 23rd – AP Physics 1 Exam 12:00-4:00 in Mary’s Room
- Tues May 28th – Wed May 29th: 10th Gr Newport Overnight Fieldwork
- Thurs May 30th – Senior Expo Night 6pm-8pm
- Tues June 4th – Thurs June 6th – Tentative 8th Gr Passages
- Wed June 5th – Last Day of Classes for RHS Seniors
- Tues June 11th – RHS Class of 2024 Graduation, 7PM
- Thurs June 13th – RMS 8th Gr Promotion, 6PM
- Tues June 18th – Last Day of School, 2:30 Release
- Thurs June 20th – Last Staff Work Day/Check Out Day
3rd trimester fieldwork overview calendar!
iPad Roll In (6th, 7th, 8th, 12th)
Middle schools are collecting iPads this year, mostly for the purpose of weaning students off their iPads during the summer. Here is our roll in plan:
- 12th Grade: Wednesday, 6/5 (last day of classes) during Lit & Comp 4, Periods 1 and 2
- 8th Grade: Wednesday, 6/12 during Period 2 (Art or Mind & Body)
- 7th Grade: Thursday, 6/13 during Period 3 (Math Workshop)
- 6th Grade: Thursday, 6/13 during Art (Period 5 or 6)
Lisa is our lead on this process, and she and I will be working together to give the relevant staff more details. I wanted you all to know the timeline for planning purposes.
Job Postings/Vacancy Updates
Our 0.5 RMS Humanities and 0.5 RHS ELA positions are now posted and accepting applications! These are both positions that I intend to change to full time if the Levy passes.
In the next week or so we will post our RHS College & Career position (so sad to see Jen go!!), which I also intend to be full time.
The Fieldwork Coordinator & Campus Monitor position is in HR-Approval Land… hoping to get that one posted soon as well!
Spread the word through your networks!
Late Policy
The middle school will be activating the district Late to Class (Tardy) Policy starting Monday.
If you have given a student multiple warnings already, you may skip to Lunch Detention & Contact home on the next incident (since this change in practice will be in the announcements), but don’t skip that step please!
Teachers are in charge of tracking this for now. If it seems like the policy is effective but we need more tracking support then we can revisit this!
High School Staff – you absolutely can activate this policy in your classroom, but please do give a warning that you are changing your practice before going straight to step 2.
RMS Bell Schedule
I sent this email to the RMS teaching staff on Wednesday and didn’t hear any negative feedback so I’m planning to move forward with the change!
Hi RMS team,
If you haven’t seen it yet, the new bell schedule draft includes two major changes:
- 45-minute Crew first thing in the morning
- 20-minute snack/passing from 10:35-10:55, between Periods 2 and 3
- All teachers (full-time or not) would be assigned 1 day per week of “recess duty” meaning 2 teaching staff (plus campus monitor & admin as available) to monitor this time.
This would change MTThF… Wednesday schedule would not change.
I have done the calculations and believe that this is still justifiable, minutes-wise. Still, I will have to have HR and the Union look at it, so I am taking a couple days to pause before I send it to those folks.
If you have any input, especially concerns, I need to hear from you in the next couple of days! Ultimately, I will make this decision, but it is a big enough change that I want to make sure that your voices are heard.
Here are some of the possible benefits of having a second recess:
- Regular breaks help students process and retain information better (cognitive reset and memory consolidation)
- Physical health
- Mental health – breaks can reduce stress and help students manage anxiety.
- Sunlight/Vitamin D/Fresh air!
- Behavior – if students can expend their energy in a positive manner this could reduce disruptive behavior in the classroom.
Here are some possible challenges:
- Supervision and safety logistics.
- Weather dependence – This time of day overlaps with HS PE Period 2, so if it is rainy/smoky/etc. they won’t be able to play in the HS gym.
- Additional transitions into and out of play time can be disruptive for some students. It might take time for them to settle down and refocus on learning after an energetic recess break.
Thank you in advance for your input, and I apologize for running this one via email rather than in person!
Reminders Reminders
I sent a reminder of the reminder system to 9th grade staff on Thursday (the 9th graders are struggling at the moment…) that I think could be useful for all staff to refresh on for a unified end of year push:
Please use the reminder system as closely as possible. This is most effective when used consistently across classrooms. At this point in the year, if a student is sent to the office for 3 reminders…
- They will receive a lunch detention that same day or the next day.
- They will fill out a reflection form during that detention (or immediately upon arrival to the office).
- Parents will be contacted.
- Teachers are invited/encouraged to come by during the lunch detention to close the loop with that student.
- We (Caleb, Kat, and I) will do our best to get that student regulated and back to class during that same period unless we explicitly hear that you do not want them back.
The reminder system only works if…
- Reminders are tied to a specific, clear expectation that is not being met, such as work time guidelines (outlined on this expectations doc).
- Reminders are given to individual students, not blanket to the whole class.
- 2nd reminder is in a separate space. Feel free to ask them to wait in the hall for you to be ready to check in with them (both emotionally and logistically) – it doesn’t need to be right away. Keep this conversation solution based.
I acknowledge and appreciate that you are all doing a TON already to support student behavior! I hope that this feels like a supportive tool.
Finally, and in honor of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, check out this poem, “Swell,” by Hoa Nguyen, a Vietnamese American poet.
Have a great sunny weekend! ☀️