Happy Friday Staff! Last one with students here. The end of a school year always seems to sneak up on us, and while I’m not sure that’s how I would characterize this one, it is still hard to believe we are staring down the last week.

As I was in and out of rooms this week, there was a lot of cool, fun, and engaging things going on. Thank you for doing your best with our students right up through to the end! Enjoy this last weekend!

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Calendar Items:

• Monday – Wednesday, June 14-16
  • Regular B rotation classes and schedule
  • Staff meeting in the cafeteria at 9:30 on Wednesday, June 15 to honor staff who have reached important milestones in their school/district service
• Thursday, June 17
  • SIW start and end times but with all 7 classes (10:35 – 2:57)
  • 8th grade students eat lunch on lower field and then stay for remainder of the day
  • Students receive yearbooks during 1st period
  • Staff get together at Debi Alayan’s house after school. Food assignments to follow.
• Friday, June 18
  • Grades posted by 3 pm
  • If you have a new professional pursuit for next fall and you will not be at PBMS, please make sure you have checked in with Kasey or Lisa about getting your Laptop or iPad checked in.
  • Stancliff out in the PM (Nephew’s wedding in Montana, but I will be accessible if needed by cell)
  • Checkout list turned into Heather

Click here for a more detailed outline of the last week.

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To Do’s:

Teachers, please make sure that you have completed your SLGG tasks by Wednesday. See my email instructions if needed.

Please take a moment to fill out this short survey related to professional development, so that Mary and Chad can have some input for planning inservice, SIWs, and other PD/instructional opportunities.

Reminder to all staff, please complete your MAC training. This will be one of our admin checkout items. Please see the email Raquel sent for resources.

For probationary staff, please make sure you get your self-reflection completed in TalentEd by Tuesday, 6/15 or before your summative meeting, whichever comes first.

As you wind down next week, please make sure to remember to clear out any food items (dry goods or refrigerated) as well as making sure that on the last day everything in the room or office gets unplugged, glassboards are wiped clean, surfaces have been wiped down, and chairs are stacked. Here some info from the sustainability coordinator that can also guide you.

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On the Radar . . .

2 ICCL slots open for next year. Here are the forms if you are interested. Chad and Mary will likely work together on this and reach out to interested staff in early August. Here is the description. Here is the recommendation form.

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Shout out’s . . .

. . . To everyone who helped plan for and did not give up on the talent show!

. . . To Mrs. Crosby, who will continue on with us next year as well as Dani Zepplin, from Wisconsin, who will fill in for Aracely who will be working in the DI program at Bear Creek.

. . . To Mrs. Corson on the healthy arrival of her granddaughter Isabella!

. . . To the Staff kickball team that showed no mercy on the students!

. . . To Mr. Goldstein on the timely arrival of the yearbooks – – and what an incredible effort on his and the students’ part to produce a great book under very tough circumstances!

Birthday wishes go to . . . Kasey Cartmill (6/12), Dan Potts (6/15), and Gavin MacFarland (6/17), Enjoy your day!

What a week! Just when we thought it was shaping up to be a relatively quiet Friday . . . I appreciate your patience and quick action to keep our kids safe today! As I am sure you have heard by now, there was a robbery down off of 2nd, but the suspect was believed to have fled this direction. We were initially told to do a lockdown, but that quickly changed, and we tried to update you ASAP. I know there were some tender emotions, so thank you for tending to our kids and each other with care.

Thank you so much, again, for our surprise get together on Wednesday. Over the last couple of days, I was able to spend some time with the book you gave me, and you were very very kind in your well wishes. As I hope I made clear in my ramblings that day, I have so much confidence that our team at PBMS will continue to thrive and do amazing things for kids and for each other.

Speaking of doing amazing things for kids and each other, there is still plenty we will do this year though we are running out of time to do it. The next couple of weeks will not be as packed with activities relative to a normal year because we still have RSSL guidelines to follow, but we will definitely stay busy. A lot of you’ll find below will look similar to the post from Tuesday. In normal years, there was a tradition of issuing a paper copy of “The Last Two Weeks.” This blog post will effectively serve that purpose, though there is also a link below to a more detailed document.

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Calendar Items:

• Monday, June 7
  • Rotation A (last one!)
  • State testing (grades 7/8) during advisory
• Tuesday, June 8
  • State testing (grades 7/8) during advisory
• Wednesday, June 9
  • Touch base with students in quarantine where needed (We had several get bumped out this week.)
  • SIW – Individual/PLC time (if you wrapped up rotation B summatives this week, it would be great to get those entered into Synergy)
  • Finish up SLGG processing (data to follow, but feel free to fill in the reflection aspects of this form.
• Thursday, June 10
  • State testing (grades 7/8) during advisory
• Friday, June 11
  • Talent show assembly (during advisory; 2 assemblies organized by lunch of advisory teacher)
  • Last day for rotation A work to come in (unless you make arrangements with individual students)
  • State testing make-up
• Monday – Wednesday, June 14-16
  • Regular B rotation classes and schedule
  • Staff meeting in the cafeteria at 9:30 on Wednesday, June 15 to honor staff who have reached important milestones in their school/district service
• Thursday, June 17
  • SIW start and end times but with all 7 classes (10:35 – 2:57)
  • 1st period awards recognition slideshow
  • 8th grade students eat lunch on lower field and then stay for remainder of the day
  • Students receive yearbooks during 1st period
  • Staff get together at Debi Alayan’s house after school. Food assignments to follow.
• Friday, June 18
  • Grades posted by 3 pm
  • Stancliff out in the PM (Nephew’s wedding in Montana, but I will be accessible if needed by cell)

Click here for a more detailed outline of the last two weeks.

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To Do’s:

Look for a link from me or Raquel soon for the resources associated with completing our annual MAC training. Please consider this task one of your final check out items for the end of the year, and let the administrator who works with you know when you have completed it.

Several of you checked in to verify that you had connected with your advisory families, but we also did not hear from several of you. If you have not done so already, go ahead and let us know if that has been done.

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On the Radar . . .

Here is some info from the team at Teaching and Learning for teachers:

Greetings Teachers,

Our teaching and learning staff is once again excited to be planning the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference for this August.  The conference will be held Wednesday, August 25 and Thursday, August 26th, at Pacific Crest Middle School.  Like other years ITLC will be an energizing way to start the new school year!In light of many aspects of our current situation, ranging from unknowns about gathering size, vaccine distribution, and even interest – we are going to scale down and focus this year’s conference on several large topics with the hope of giving those who participate the chance to dive deeper into the areas of equity, grading practices, and social-emotional wellness.  Each day will include a morning keynote followed by afternoon breakouts around these topics. You can choose to attend as much as you’d like.  Mary Ehrenworth will be our featured presenter for Wednesday the 25th and the team from Creative Leadership Solutions will be leading us in work surrounding Equitable Grading Practices on Thursday, August 26th.

Registration is available now in Performance Matters (after logging in you should see it in “Recommended Training”, click there, then select the “sections” tab to register separately for each day).  

Friday’s edition of EdTech Bytes:

•   Tech Tip: How to quickly combine multiple pdfs
•   Reminder:Google Takeout for those leaving the district
•   Learn about Canvas on your own time

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Shout out’s . . .

To all of you! Thank you again for your kindness and thoughtful words!

Birthday wishes go to . . . Kimberly Flanagan (6/9), Have a great day!

Feels strange to have written the date above, and yet, here we are. One of our students recently remarked: “The only thing that was normal this year was the setting on the washing machine.” So astute! I think this definitely goes for our sense of time during the Pandemic. I apologize for the delay in posting. I was waiting on a couple pieces of information from this weekend.

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Calendar Items:

• Tuesday, June 1
  • Rotation B
• Wednesday, June 2
  • SIW (individual or PLC collaboration)
• Friday, June 11
  • Talent show assembly (during advisory; 2 assemblies organized by lunch of advisory teacher)
• Monday – Wednesday, June 14-16
  • Regular B rotation classes and schedule
• Thursday, June 17
  • SIW schedule but with all 7 classes (10:35 – 2:57)
  • 1st period awards recognition slideshow
  • 8th grade students eat lunch on lower field and then stay for remainder of the day
  • Students receive yearbooks during 1st period
  • See schedule

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To Do’s:

Teachers, to the extent possible, please keep your Synergy gradebook updated with summative scores. This will allow you, students, and families to have a clear sense of missing or otherwise unresolved items that will impact their grade. Families will receive communication that all missing summatives need to be completed by 6/11 unless otherwise arranged with a specific teacher. (Obvously, this would not apply to summatives folks have planned for the last week.) Keeping them updated now will also reduce your workload on the last day when it comes time to post grades.

Important: Please make sure that when you are doing attendance you actually have your screen up where you can verify that there are no C19 codes for that period. We have had some students going 2 or 3 classes into their day when they should be at home.

This is the week that middle school staff are beginning to set up two factor identification for signing on to the network. Please see instructions and more information in the email you should have received from Chad Brewer.

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On the Radar:

Over the course of this week, Mary will be working on organizing the remaining state testing make-ups, and she will reach out with what that will look like. We are trying to get most of these done during advisory next week, but we may have a few pull out scenarios as well.

Jim Boen wanted me to make sure that everyone is aware of this resource associated with employees receiving assistance associated with significant life events or changes that happen.

Mary, Belén and I will be working hard on the master schedule, even though we will likely not be totally done by the last day of school, we should have a solid idea of what your assignments will be, and we will communicate accordingly. Please bear in mind that we still have some moving pieces in the staffing plan, and there can always have a bit of a domino effect as they resolve.

We sent home communication today letting families know that students will be holding on to their iPads this summer, and that we are finalizing the process for issuing hotspots for summer programming as well.

Stand by for details on an end of the year staff social on Thursday, June 17 after school.

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Shout Out’s:

. . . to the all of the staff who participated last week in selecting students for awards and recognition! Thank you for your help on this!

When you see Brenda Berg working with our Life Skills students tell her congrats, as she interviewed for, and received one of our EA positions for the fall!

Birthday love goes to Mike LaTorre (6/2) . . . Have a great day!

“Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee (me) . . .” Having worked with nurses, families, and staff on the process of verifying whether or not one is fit to return to a public school setting after experiencing symptoms, I now have the opportunity to go through the process myself. I’ve had one negative rapid test, and will verify again Monday morning, and hopefully be back in action. Is there ever a convenient time to miss work? Probably not. Coming down the final stretch of the COVID-19 year certainly would not qualify.

I would have preferred to explain some of what follows in our meeting this morning, but I can circle up with anyone who needs it to clarify.

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CALENDAR ITEMS

• Monday, 5/24
  • Rotation A
  • 8th grade state testing (science) during advisory
  • Make-up night for families that missed the 5th grade move-up orientation back in March (5:30 in English; 6:00 in Spanish)
• Tuesday, 5/25
  • Principal hiring process (staff/community forum at 5:00 PM here: https://bls.fyi/pbmsforum)
• Wednesday, 5/26
  • Fire Drill at 8:30 AM.
  • 2:00 PM grade level deliberations on student recognition awards (This will be hard to do on Webex. Let’s have 6th grade meet in Ruth’s room, 7th grade in Kale’s room, and 8th grade in Nicole’s room.) Spread sheet to follow.
• Thursday, 5/27
  • 8th grade state testing (science) during advisory
• Friday, 5/28
  • 8th grade state testing (science) during advisory

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To Do’s

Teachers, please use this template to send out our 3rd advisory outreach email (or phone call if you prefer or feel it is needed) to your advisory students next week. Wednesday seems like a great day to do this unless you are inundated with calls from quarantined students. Please reach out to the admin you normally work with when this is complete. (No later than Friday 5/28)

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On the radar . . .

Everyone should have received guidance from Lora today regarding the updates to RSSL and mask requirements. Here it is, if you missed it.

For teachers, this is the time of year when we use Wednesdays to collaborate with our PLCs on assessment calibration/reflections and also updates to our course descriptions. Please consider using some of the unstructured Wednesday time to work with your peers on these topics. I will work with Lyndsey to let you know what the best format would be if you want to make updates. If you do not have an old copy you can start by viewing them here on our site.

Some staff have wondered why students that have had a C19 designation in attendance resolve quickly. Here is a link to the document that staff (including me 😉 get from district nursing crew when they have have to be out. You can see on the second page how symptoms are designated. In some cases where there is quick turnaround, students may have had a symptom that resolved right away and were able to quickly get a test with their doc’s signature.

The last week of school will obviously look a bit different this year. The student recognition slide show will be sent to families, and also viewed during school. Monday through Wednesday will be regular days and Thursday will be 10:35-3:00, and we will follow this schedule (that may be subject to minor changes). As you will see, we will do short versions of all classes. 8th grade students will stay down on the lower field for activities from lunch until the end of the day.

Middle School staff will be asked to set up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on Monday, May 31st. This communication will come from Chad in IT. Chad will also be reaching out to identify 1 or 2 people in our building to set up MFA and be a support resource for others in your building. The deadline for setting up MFA will be Monday, July 26^th.

From HR: Starting next week, and for the remainder of the year, we will not be approving any more personal days unless a substitute can be found.  If we have already approved a personal day, then we will honor that decision.  Moving forward, however, if an employee, either classified or certified, asks for a personal day, we need to know that positions will be covered before okaying the request.  As a reminder, there are special agreements with both associations that employees will be paid for unused personal days.

Here is a free summer learning opportunity. The topic is Trauma-Informed Engagement Practices through the process of continuous improvement.

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Shout out’s . . .

. . . to our awesome Web leaders who have been persistent in pushing for creative ways to keep school fun and positive. I get three to five email proposals a week! Please pass along the love!

Birthday wishes got o Mark Fierro (5/25). Enjoy your day!

Happy Monday to all. Short update here. I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. I was out in the sunny weather for hours and hours only to have the “enjoy” part of that equation usurped by a not quite finished paver project in the backyard. There is nothing like a daily equipment rental fee to motivate, and, unfortunately, I will have at least one more opportunity to rent some equipment I probably I have no business operating.

Thanks to all for a great week last week, between grinding out some state testing and trying to contain the energy of the 8th grade kickball final on Friday we me have inadvertently struck a balance between work and fun. I commend all who were involved on their positivity and can-do attitude.

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Calendar Items:

• Monday, 5/17
  • Rotation B
• Wednesday, 5/19
  • Principal applicant screening (see Mary for details if you are part of that group)
• Friday, 5/21
  • Staff meeting (9:00-9:30 in Stancliff’s Webex)

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On the Radar . . .

I/S and L/L teachers if you are willing, OSU-Cascades is fairly urgently seeking placements for student teachers, so please reach out if you are interested.

If you are fielding questions from students about relaxed mask mandates, you can let them know, that right now, Governor Brown as said that schools will still be requiring masks through the end of the year.

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Shout out’s . . .

. . . go to everyone who rallied last week to fill in for each other. We had a lot of positions that did not fill, and it took a full team effort to get things covered. Special thanks to Heather for organizing the daily scramble!

Happy Friday to all! It wouldn’t be a week in the COVID-19 year without an update to how we do school. Thank you for your patience and grace as we awaited the details of the Wednesday schedule. Below, you will find links to Wednesday programming and schedule.

I appreciate everyone who came out this morning to wind down our week of celebrating teachers. I am so grateful to be able to work with such a talented and committed group of educators. This year has challenged our profession at every level, and everyone has found unique ways to keep our students and our school moving in the right direction. As we head into the final month or so, I will thank you in advance for continuing to meet students where they are at both intellectually and emotionally, and for continuing to bring energy and positivity to your instruction.

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CALENDAR ITEMS:

• Monday, 5/10 – Rotation A; volleyball and wrestling begin
• Wednesday, 5/12 – New schedule (Click here)
• Thursday, 5/13 – BSH counseling visit for IB/ELL connections (afternoon pull out in library for students involved)

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TO DO’s:

All staff, please carefully review the following parameters associated with Wednesdays moving forward.

Teachers, please review the information from this flyer about ongoing opportunities to become nationally board certified. The district is eager to have teachers from the same buildings and levels work together.

Teachers, just a reminder to keep CANVAS as up-to-date as possible with assignments and resources to support students who have to quarantine.

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ON THE RADAR:

Look for confirmation from Mary via email that you are dialed in and set up for state testing. She will be bringing pencils, folders, and mints for your students.

Here is the most update guidance from OHA on gatherings.

As the weather warms up, here is some BLS guidance on fans and propping doors:

There is nothing in RSSL directly related to how to address proper use of fans and the safety of opening exterior doors during warm weather days (or for added ventilation) so our team of health professionals who meets on Fridays gave input into acceptable use.  

Fans can only be used if they are pulling fresh air in from the outside (stationed by a window or exterior door) not if they are only circulating existing air in the classroom (therefore, ceiling fans should not be used).

Any exterior classroom door that is within the fenced area of a school can be opened.  Exterior doors not within a fenced area can be opened but must be closely supervised (ie. closed when no adult is monitoring it).

Dean Richards and Michelle Oaks did an interview with Steve Cook in the Secondary Blog this week.  Here are the transcripts of their conversation:  

A Conversation with our New Superintendent, Dr. Steve Cook (part 1)

A Conversation With our New Superintendent, Dr. Steve Cook (part 2).

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SHOUT OUT’s . . .

Thank you again for all you do Teachers!

Thank you to Mary for organizing and getting us coached up on state testing and to staff for stepping up to support the effort in advisory!

To all of the mothers in our midst and for those that do a fair bit of mothering for our students here, have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Birthday wishes this week go to . . . Mrs. Perry (5/11) and Mrs. Stokes (5/12)! Enjoy your birthdays!

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!