Quote to consider:
“What makes people resilient is the ability to find humour and irony in situations that would otherwise overpower you.” ~Amy Tan
To Dos:
FROM THE ELL DEPT: Check out this great article to help you get to know your ELL students better. Many of the items in the article also pertain to equity and building trusting relationships with students, which we know are two core values at HDMS.
CURRICULUM ORDERS: Heather is coordinating curriculum orders for the 2021-22 school year. You can view this document’s HDMS tab to see what was purchased last year. Please email Heather by May 14th if you plan on making any purchases so that information can be input into the database.
STAGGERED RELEASE UPDATE: We are no longer doing staggered release times by grade level at the end of the day.
Bits and Bobs:
SPRING STAFFING UPDATE: We are excited about a few additions to the HDMS staff in substitute roles for the remainder of the year:
- Karina Munch will be filling in for the rest of the year in the main office as the curriculum/data secretary.
- Kara Jokerst is a district roving sub who has been assigned to HDMS (when not subbing elsewhere). She will be supporting students and staff in the admin office as substitute dean, as well as supporting with classroom teaching when needed.
- We held interviews today for the current math opening in Teri Johnson’s classroom and we are excited to announce that Mekenzie Salas won the day! She will start Monday teaching math for the remainder of the school year.
- We are in the process of finalizing the open SRC EA position.
SAFETY DAY & FIRE DRILL: Friday, April 23rd, we will be conducting a fire drill during 7th period along with In Class Safety Reminders & Discussions each period. A slideshow will be available and sent out ahead of time with safety guidelines to share with students; please plan on approximately 5-10 mins of safety review in each class period. It is important that students are reminded of their important role along with staff of practicing safety during this pandemic so that we are being safe for ourselves, our families, and community.
STATE TESTING: Please mark your calendars for the following testing dates at HDMS:
- May 10th-21st:
- Lang. Arts: 6th & 7th grades
- Science: 8th grade
- May 24th-June 4th:
- Math: 7th and 8th grades
Testing continues to be discussed at the state and federal level, so we are making plans with the information we have as of now; thanks in advance for your flexibility if these plans have to be adjusted in the future. For those interested, here is an article from OPB related to recent communication around the US Dept. of Ed. approving ODE’s assessment amended waiver request.
SUMMER LEARNING: The planning for summer instruction continues and is becoming clearer day-by-day. Please see this flyer regarding summer learning work opportunities for all employee groups. Temporary employees are also welcome to apply to postings once they are advertised.
And speaking of summer instruction, the grades 6 – 12 programming has a name: Sparks. Wendy has created a very helpful and informative document that provides behind-the-scenes information regarding what this summer will look like for students and staff. Please see this document for more information.
PRONOUNS: You have likely noticed many staff include their pronouns in their email signature. I (Nole) include my pronouns in my email signature as a way to communicate my commitment to inclusivity. Click here for a letter from district admin with more details on the topic of pronouns including a link to directions for editing your email signature if you’re interested in adding your pronouns in it.
Whether or not you choose to note your own pronouns in your emails, remember that it is expected that we all use students’ identified pronouns and chosen name in daily interactions as this promotes belonging, wellbeing, and trust, which we know are prerequisites to learning.
EQUITY LENS: With acceptance being one of HDMS’s core values, we will continue to aim to make decisions with this equity framework at the forefront of our minds.
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, & IDENTITY NEWSLETTER: Check out this document, which is chalk full of valuable information and resources. Please spend some time reading it and reflecting on the important guidance on page one regarding conferences ahead of your student-family-teacher conferences this month.
DISTRICT COVID UPDATES: If you’re interested, click here for a list of Return to School updates from Paul re: guest speakers, community gatherings, and fundraising.
Also, because Deschutes County was over 200 cases/100K in the latest metrics, secondary schools (not elementary) are required to offer rapid COVID-19 tests to symptomatic students/staff. The safety team will be discussing how HDMS will implement this at our next meeting on 4/21 at 9:00am; all are welcome to attend.
IPAD UPDATE: It was verified this week that iPads will not be turned in this June. Due to summer learning opportunities, we will ask our students to hold on to their iPads just like they did last spring. (And, thanks to Jill who is continuing to work tirelessly on iPad check-in/check-out system for all our students!!)
END OF YEAR SCHEDULE: Now that we are all-in, and assuming we stay all-in for the remainder of this year, we will be following the original calendar for the end of the year. Specifically, during the last week of school, Monday and Tuesday are “regular” days, Wednesday is a “regular” (full-length) day, Thursday will be an “SIW release” day, and Friday is a work day for teachers and their last day.
Reminders:
SEATING CHARTS: Please continue to have accurate and up-to-date seating charts to help with contact tracing if/when a student tests positive for COVID. And remember that seating charts must remain the same one week at a time with no adjustments made once the seating chart is set on Mondays.
SAFETY FEEDBACK: Here is this week’s optional safety survey for staff to provide feedback to the safety team. And here are the results from last week’s survey.
BUILDING ALARM: Click here for a reminder on how to arm/disarm the building alarm. This document is also linked in the hot links section of the blog.
FROM ALANDRA: Reminder on Elected Officials and Candidates in our schools: If an elected official would like to visit your school or speak with a class, please send them to Alandra or Julianne before you confirm the visit. Please also ask clubs and classes who would like to host elected officials or candidates for elected office to run the visits through the Comms Dept. first. A lot of unintended consequences.
In advance of the May election, this is also a great time to share and review our handy dandy Election Guidance document, which outlines key dos and don’ts for public employees related to elections. Please share this resource with your staff.
When staff members visit another school, they need to: Enter through the front door; sign in; 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. Let me (Alandra) know if you have any questions!
High Desert Highlights:
Personal Logo Design and Working with Vinyl student work on display in the CTE wing from Iverson’s class:
