Happy Friday Giants! It is hard to believe we are now peering into May. In a school year already characterized by challenges, April did not disappoint. Having all students return together while cases are spiking has been tough. It would be one thing if we were simply responding to the needs of our students, but our own team members and their families have been significantly impacted as well. Thank you so much for the compassion and support you have shown to one another on both professional and personal fronts. As needs have emerged for coverage and planning, I am humbled to see our team step up and have each others’ backs. I also appreciate your willingness to be flexible and compassionate with our students who have had to quarantine.

As we head into the weekend ahead of teacher appreciation week, I want to express my gratitude for our amazing team of teachers. Under normal circumstances, your dedication to our students is unassailable, and this past year it has been nothing short of heroic. Our students and families are truly lucky to have such a talented group of educators helping them navigate such a tumultuous year. Thank you for all you do to support our school community!

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Calendar Items:

• Monday, 5/3
  • Rotation B
• Wednesday, 5/5
  • SIW (Classroom staff – State testing information 3:15 in Mary’s Webex)
• Friday 5/7
  • Stand-up meeting in the cafeteria to round-out teacher appreciation week (10:00 AM)
• Monday 5/10
  • DCDL and BLO programs close for new enrollments

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To-do’s:

• Teachers, make sure you check-in regularly to break-rooms for snacks and goodies next week 🙂
• Teachers, please continue to enter summative scores in Synergy as they become available. This will help parents stay informed and it will make posting at the end of the term quicker.
• Teachers please reach out to me if you would be willing to be a resource for your content area for students in quarantine. (1hr/day of your daily pay rate outside of student contact time)
• Teachers please circle back to the strategies we/you outlined in the SLGG related to connecting with students to establish trust. We have seen significant progress with several students who had been identified as at-risk and want to continuing working on these relationships right up through to the end of the year.
• Everyone, please take Lyndsey up on her invitation to get out in the building and see some of the great visual displays of our MYP curriculum and learning our students have been engaged in.

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On the radar . . .

Next week, Mary and I will be working with grade level teachers from ELA and Math to help identify students who might benefit from SPARKS (summer learning), and it is possible that we might reach out to a broader group for more context if necessary.

In addition to SPARKS, all middle school students will be able to access BLO learning options for free throughout the summer. This may be something that can be passed along to parents if you have conversations around how to help students who may have missed significant portions of learning due to COVID.

Reminder from Heather, that the last day to spend your department level supply money is Friday, 5/14, and that me be cutting it close. With shipping so unpredictable, if items are not received within the fiscal year (by June 30), then they automatically get returned.

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Shout outs . . .

Kudos to all the individuals and departments that are stepping up to help with advisory content. If you haven’t, make sure to check in with Mr. Z on what it means to leave everything out on the kickball field ;).

Good Monday Morning Staff. I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and that the cooler, wetter weather did not deter anyone from getting out and being active. I apologize for the tardy blog update. There are a few items to consider as we head into this last week of April, so please take a look and check in with me if you have any questions.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• April 26
  • Rotation A (remember PM advisory)
  • Fire Drill during advisory
• April 27
  • MAC survey
• April 28
  • SIW (Individual/PLC time)

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To do’s:

Here is a reminder from the email I sent last week regarding how we can support students and families as COVID-19 related absences increase:

• We still need to be posting assignments and resources in CANVAS. 
• Please be as available as possible for students and families in the extended prep time in the morning should the need arise. 
• Please consider working with students and families to limit the number of non-essential tasks they need to complete while out. 
• If needed, consider alternate means of students showing progress.
• Please be flexible on the back end of an extended absence in terms of due dates and any other issues related to helping students stay caught up.
• We need to have a caring and supportive disposition when working with families that have been affected. 

On the Radar . . .

Teaching staff, please reach out to me individually if you are interested in hosting/supporting a student-teacher in your classroom next fall.

Shout Out’s . . .

A birthday shout out this week goes to Jessica Hillier (4/27) . . . Enjoy your day Jessica!

Good afternoon staff. I hope you enjoying the sun and finally some warmth to go with it. Conferences in the evenings always makes for a little bit of long week even with the day off. I appreciate everyone’s willingness to engage with families and work with this new scheduling tool and for your flexibility in giving families opportunities outside the evening blocks. Please reach out if you need support in the coming days with regard to any flex time you still have scheduled.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday, April 19
  • Rotation B (Pds. 4-7)
• Wednesday, April 21
  • SIW (individual/PLC day)
• Thursday, April 22
  • Principal hiring process listening session (9:15 am in the cafeteria)

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TO DO’s:

• Teachers . . . Heather emailed this out earlier in the week, but I feel compelled to re-share it. Taking the time to familiarize yourself with this information now will make the process easier to navigate should the need arise. It would be hard to overstate the impact it has on morning operations when the process is not followed correctly. So, again, please carefully consider the following information:

1. Hours for certified staff are 8:45am-4:45pm.
2. Sub jobs can only be either 4-hour or 8-hour jobs, which means you can only take 4 or 8 hours off.
3. You must use the “custom” feature in Aesop to manually enter either a 4-hour or 8-hour sub job.  It can be whatever time works for your classes depending on the rotation as long as it is either 4 or 8 hours.  Do not use the “full” or “half” day option.  Even the “full” is not correct in the system.  You will need to change the time always now that our schedules have changed, so please look at your day and enter a 4- or 8-hour timeframe that works to cover all of your classes for that day.  
4. If you have any of the Low or High Risk illness symptoms at all, you need to stay home.
5. If you are staying home due to an illness, you must remain home until a district nurse has given you instruction and permission to return back to work.  They will be calling you to discuss your illness, so please wait for their call.
6. When you are going to be absent for any reason (whether illness or personal leave), please enter the job in Aesop immediately (again, using the 4- or 8-hour guideline).  There are times that I am also out, so please do not wait for me to do this for you.  The sooner you enter the job in the system yourself, the higher the chance of getting coverage.

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ON THE RADAR . . .

Due to having bumped to high risk status, BLS secondary schools will be required to provide on-site testing for symptomatic students and staff. The state has shipped our rapid-test kits, and we will have a number of staff members trained on using the kits. Families or staff who would prefer to take care of the testing off-site will be offered that option as well.

The last week of school will be Monday through Wednesday on a regular schedule, and then Thursday will be an SIW schedule.

Click here for more information on summer school.

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SHOUT OUT’s . . .

Huge thank you to Tennille and Kristy for the long hours and hard work helping us communicate with families this week. These are often very difficult conversations to have, and we appreciate your patient and compassionate approach to keeping everyone safe!

Our custodial crew also needs a big thank you. Having all students back means that we have doubled, at least, the volume of students who’ve occupied our isolations rooms not feeling well, and these rooms must be cleaned every time they have been occupied. This means that all of the regular aspects of their daily routine get put on hold many times during the day. Thank you Jess Ron, and Larry!

Happy sunny Friday afternoon to all! I hope the week went well for everyone! As we have moved towards a return to “all-in,” many of you have approached us with great ideas and things for us to consider. We are grateful for this willingness to help make this next phase as safe and productive as possible.

As a staff, let’s be prepared to field and support a variety of new needs that may emerge as a result of bringing all of our students back together. We have been consistently supportive and understanding of what students have experienced during the pandemic, and I expect us to have new and unique opportunities associated with this next phase. In normal times, the end of the year can lead to a heightened sense of urgency around “getting through” everything. I think we need to collectively resist that urge, meet students where they are, and continue to build connections. I know that both collectively and individually we are committed to helping all students regardless of how or in what circumstances we encounter them. Thank you for all you have done and will do in this regard.

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Calendar Items

• Monday, 4/12
  • Start of “all-in” instruction
• Tuesday, 4/13
  • Board meeting (5:00 pm)
• Wednesday, 4/14
  • SIW (3:00-4:30)
  • WebEx conference block time (5:00-8:00 pm)
• Thursday, 4/15
  • Grab ‘n go burritos (4:30 pm in the cafeteria)
  • WebEx conference block time (5:00-8:00 pm)
• Friday, 4/16
  • No school/non-work day

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To-Do’s:

• Teachers, please have your videos uploaded to the folder today.
• Teachers, please fill out this assignment preferences form by 4/16.
• Teachers, please connect with Mary or me if you have any questions about conference scheduling or protocols.
• All staff please review this document as a refresher on supporting student behavior issues that may emerge as we bring back all students together. Please also bookmark the referral form.

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On the Radar . . .

On Wednesday 4/22, Jim Boen and Juan Cuadros will meet with staff from 9:15-10:15 in the cafeteria to talk about the process and priorities associated with the principal search.

Here is the latest newsletter from Kinsey Martin and her team at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It leads with some great ideas for framing our conference conversations.

Looking ahead to the May elections, here is some guidance for public employees.

Here is the latest version of Special Program’s blog.

From the district office: When staff members visit another school they need to enter through the front door, sign in, and wear their badge in a visible place. This is especially important because, with masks, it can be harder to identify even staff that are familiar. 

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SHOUT OUT’s . . .

Huge thank you to Mary’s leadership in making the conference sign-up times readily and easily accessible to families. I think we may have encountered a model/program that will help conferences be more effective in the future regardless of our ability to meet in-person.

Birthday love for next week goes to . . . Aracely Peddycord (4/16), enjoy your day!

Happy Friday staff! I think I may have run out of superlatives to describe the emotional rollercoasters we board from week to week. As I stated this morning, I am so grateful for your patience and grace as we continue to navigate rapidly changing information flows and quickly developing parameters on how we approach all aspects of doing school.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend! In typical Stancliff fashion, we bought Easter candy on sale way ahead of time. What that means is that all family members, adults included, have been grazing on a steady diet of chocolate for weeks now, and there may well be nothing left to hide in eggs this weekend.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday 4/5
  • Start of last hybrid rotation B
  • Start of football and x-country practices
• Wednesday 4/7
  • All-staff meeting @ 1:00 PM
  • No students
  • All-in prep
  • No SIW
• Monday 4/12
  • First day of “all-in”
  • Rotation A starts
• Wednesday 4/14
  • Conferences (teachers available by WebEx from 5:00-8:00)
• Thursday 4/15
  • Conferences (teachers available by WebEx from 5:00-8:00)

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To Do’s:

• Teachers please finish and upload your conference videos to our Drive by 4/9.
• Teachers please use this form to let Mary know when you want us to schedule your 2 flex hours of conferences. We need this information no later than 4:30 on Monday, 4/5.
• Teachers please plan to integrate a quick discussion of content-specific info. students may include in their take-home conference slide deck as part of your warm-ups next week. (This ought to be fairly quick, but advisors have fielded some questions on content that they aren’t sure how to answer. It could be as simple as pointing kids to the slides that are in the advisory module and asking them what questions they have about your class.)
• All staff please use this form to submit names for our “Excellence in Education” staff awards. In the past, our admin teams have been the primary source of input for this process, but this year we would like to put it out there for everyone. As a reminder, nominees need at least three years of experience (including this year) in the district to be eligible. I will submit nominees to Andrea Wilson not later than Wednesday afternoon.

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On the Radar:

For all-in instruction, we plan to move our advisory to the back end of the day. We have already cleared it with Patty Givens and Scott McDonald downtown, so barring any new objections on a technical front, we plan to move forward with a PM advisory. This may mean, however, that on the first day of all-in we do some essential announcements and brief sharing of expectations and safety reminders at the beginning of the 1st period.

Mary will be issuing guidance early next week on conference logistics, and we will be communicating with families this week and next on a range of issues related to returning to all-in instruction in addition to families accessing take-home conferences and WebEx slots.

State testing will move ahead this year, but in a dramatically reduced format, including length and type of assessments as well as what is required at each grade level. We will be working on the logistics, but as a heads up, we will likely leverage advisory classes as the primary venue for administering these assessments. This will require a little bit of training for teachers, but we will streamline that to the extent that we can.

During next week’s staff meeting at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, we will highlight some of the new safety measures we are taking as well as other logistical developments associated with the all-in model. Please forward me individual questions you are hoping to have addressed in that meeting ahead of time, and I will get them on the agenda.

Now that the district has processed ACRs and settled on our FTE numbers for next year, Mary, Belén and I will be sitting down to work on the master schedule for next year. As we do every spring, we will send out a form soon that will allow you to submit assignment preferences.

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Shout-outs:

. . . go to Dan Potts and his army of track volunteers! Dan has been invaluable in helping our school community navigate rapidly changing realities associated with athletics and has consistently advocated for our students having safe access to opportunities. Thank you to Dan as well to everyone who has supported out virtual track meets! It has been super fun to watch our kids get out and be active even if they haven’t had a ton of time to hone their skills.

Birthday wishes go out to Stacy Welsh who will be celebrating tomorrow (4/30) Happy birthday!