Quote to consider:
“I bent until I darn near broke. But that’s the thing about resilience: it shows up just as your soul begins to cry, and catapults your strength into overdrive.” ~Alfa
To Dos:
END OF TERM: The end of this term is Thursday, April 15 (instead of Wednesday, April 14). If you give final marks for quarter three, these need to be submitted no later than Sunday, April 18 by 5:00pm.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Stand up staff meeting in the new auxiliary gym on Monday (4/12) at 10:00am.
FROM THE HDMS ELL DEPARTMENT (with support from admin): We are close to our all-in launch and most, if not all of us, have made lesson plans. Please consider using day one of week nine as a re-orientation (minus showing 6th graders where to go). In the last twelve months, we have seen some ELD students get farther behind… and we know it is not just ELD students. Launching into important curriculum and graded material on the first day(s) will expand the gap. We are predicting, based on hybrid, some ELD students, and others, might not attend right away. At the beginning of hybrid, we saw confusion and errors with transportation. Despite our continued efforts to accommodate, some families who do not use email and/or who cannot read missed important communication. We suggest treating this upcoming Monday as a “soft opening.” This will allow more students to get on the same page and benefit from being in our classrooms. Reach out to Jane and Clarissa for ideas, questions, venting, etc
Bits and Bobs:
2021/2022 STAFFING UPDATE: Due to the boundary change, we are down in enrollment for next school year. As you know, enrollment is directly connected to our staffing plan (certified and classified positions can be impacted). As we begin building the master schedule for next year we are considering the following: projected enrollment numbers, staff survey results, belief in continuing our programs, electives and opportunities as the best way to support the whole child. While the good news is that the district has added some behavioral staffing to all middle schools (some certified hours for the Den as well as an EA to support students with lagging skills), these additions don’t make up for what our decreased enrollment means for our overall staffing plan. We are looking at options and creative ways to continue all the great programs we offer at HDMS and enrollment numbers may still shift and continue to adjust our staffing plan. We will continue to update as we know more, but we felt it important to give everyone this information as next year could look a bit different due to these decreased student enrollment numbers.
STATE TESTING UPDATE: We expect more communication from the district in the coming weeks. In a nutshell:
- OSAS is happening, but the tests are shorter (ELA and Math tests have been shortened by almost 70% and there are no performance tasks) and not all grade levels are required to take all subjects…but all subjects normally given at a grade level are available for families who want their child to take those tests.
- Opt-out procedures are the same as other years—it applies only to ELA and Math. Science remains a separate exemption process. Opt out forms have already been sent out to all families in English and Spanish. Any forms you receive must be turned into Gina.
- Test window is April 13 – June 11.
- Training requirements are similar to previous years.
- Data will be reported publicly but not used for accountability.
Click here and here for more details from the state. We will begin to plan for testing dates/logistics soon with ICCL input. Connect with your ICCL liaison if you’d like to give suggestions.
CANVAS: In order to make the transition to all-in school as smooth as possible, please continue to name your Modules in Canvas with the color, week number and dates (for example, our first week ALL-IN should be labeled “Purple Week 9: April 9-12”). In addition, please attempt to organize your modules as close as you can to the way you currently have them set up in order to minimize student confusion.
In addition to labeling modules with the color, number, and dates for each week, please remember that Modules should be in order of the most recent at the top of the page, last week’s next, etc. This makes it easier for students to locate current and past assignments.
Lastly, GREAT NEWS! Canvas has added a “Reassign Assignment” button so you can reassign an assignment to a student who did the assignment incorrectly, turned in the wrong assignment, turned in a blank page, etc. You need to leave the student feedback in order for the button to become clickable. Connect with a Canvas coach (Freeman, Meredith, or Wardle) if you have questions or need support.
FYI: Our district-wide implementation of the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) was accelerated by the pandemic. However, the need for a consistent LMS was recognized pre-pandemic, and training and implementation had started prior to last March. Canvas is our new LMS and will stay with us after the pandemic is in the rearview mirror.
BLOCK SCHEDULE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES: Here are three resources (link one, link two, link three) to consider reviewing as we move into all in instruction with 75 minute classes. Please connect with your content PLC and/or any member of the ICCL team if you’d like to collaborate on instructional best practices given the longer than typical class periods.
TEACHER CANDIDATE HOSTS: We’ve been asked again to re-up OSU’s request to consider being a cooperating teacher by hosting a teacher candidate next school year; they are looking for placements in math, science, language arts, and social studies. Thanks for considering. Please email Wendy, Nole, and Heather if you are interested in hosting a teacher candidate next school year.
CHANGING LOCATIONS: If you are taking your class(es) to a different location (ex: outside), it is expected that you follow these guidelines.
WEB CONNECTIONS: April 28th and May 26th WEB connections are cancelled. Thank you so much everyone for your continued support of WEB. WEB Recruitment is on its way and we greatly appreciate your participation, be on the lookout for more WEB recruitment information coming soon!
STAFF MEETING SLIDESHOW: For your reference, here is the slideshow that we shared during 4/7’s staff meeting.
YOUTH SUSTAINABILITY OPPORTUNITY: Click here for details and a flyer to the first ever Youth Climate Change Summit on 4/9/21 presented by Central Oregon youth and the High Desert Museum. Please pass along this opportunity to interested students.
Reminders:
SAFETY TEAM REMINDER: To promote student distancing during passing periods, please remember to be in the halls per our duty schedule and whenever else possible within your schedule. This is especially important as we re-open for all-in learning.
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.
HDMS EQUITY WORK: We will be revisiting this previously shared resource on microaggressions in future. Please continue to refer back to this resource and be reflective in your practice in this area. Also, for your reference, here is the HDMS equity statement.
High Desert Highlights:
Click here for a hilarious antidote April Fool’s antidote from Ingrid H.
