Introduction

YG Staff Newsletter – May 30, 2022

YG Staff Newsletter – May 30, 2022

Dear YG staff,

It’s actually 12.5 days, since the last day is a half-day. Speaking of the last day, Takako asked me if lunch would be served on that final Friday. In the past, we did not serve lunch, but students could take “grab-N-go” lunches. I will check with Brynn Richardson to find out if that’s the plan for this year. If the “grab-N-go” lunches are not available, I will ask for the “robust” breakfasts that include extra items that kids can eat as a snack later in the day.

I hope you are enjoying a restful 3-day weekend and a good Memorial Day.

Items of Note

June 7th Staff Meeting – Potential Reschedule

I have our last staff meeting scheduled on Tuesday, June 7th. I may need to reschedule the meeting either to Thursday, June 9 or to the following week on June 14th. I may need to move the staff meeting in order to schedule kindergarten teacher interviews. Check your email for further information.

North Region Vision Meeting

Meeting to be Rescheduled – The meeting that was scheduled for Friday, May 27th was rescheduled to a time that has yet to be determined. Because the board wanted the North Region Vision committee to be a board sponsored meeting, they needed to provide public notice, and the subsequent meetings will be open to the public. In addition, parent and student representatives will be added to the committee. It’s not official, but I did see a draft document describing the purposed of the committee. The North Region group will focus on determining the future of Kelly and YG. Then, after that is determined, plan for the future of the rest of the North Region. Again, this was just a draft. It’s not official.

Tour of 850 Howard – There was also a planned tour of the building that Brooke and Cyd were going to take, but now two board members want to be included on the tour. I will let you know when the tour and the next North Region meeting is scheduled. I will let staff know when the tour and the next North Region meeting gets scheduled.

Staffing Updates

Kindergarten English Teaching Position – The Kindergarten English teacher position closed last Thursday, and we have 11 applicants. There are a few candidates who look promising. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for June 9th.

Remaining Funds this Year

Risers – The stage was set up for the 5th grade promotion, and a 4th riser was found. That means we will have enough risers for our play performances and it would not be necessary to purchase new ones. We had talked about buying the new risers so that they could be used as steps from the gym floor to the stage. Mariko and I talked on Friday, and we think it would be better to have someone custom build a set of stairs instead of buying expensive risers.

Supply BudgetsPrincipals were informed that next year, schools will have $10k each in ESSR III funds for supplies.

Supply Requests – Please use the Google sheet to let Laura know how many, if any, of the supplies on the YG Supplies by Grade Level you think you would need at the start of next fall. We don’t know how much of the supplies will be provided by 4J, but we would like an estimate of what we might need to start the year. It’s better to have the items now than to wait until fall and have a potential delay as the district orders in mass quantities.

Books for the Library – Laura and I had planned on using what was left of our discretionary funds on stocking up on paper and related supplies for the IMC; however, we will be receiving ESSR funds once again next year. Instead of stocking up on supplies, we will be purchasing additional titles for the library. We still have close to $1000 in our budget for library materials, so Maran can work with Amy Page to add more titles and to add more copies of titles that are very popular and circulate a lot. Laura and I will estimate what funds we have remaining after the end of May, and allocate what’s left to library materials, playground equipment, and recess games.

Field Day Information

I got word from Caleb Kosteschka that they are planning on having 20 different stations for our field day; however, we need to make sure we have the necessary supplies or equipment. See the list of potential games and the items we will need for them. If you happen to know where we can locate some of the items below, please let Laura know. I have shared this list with Laura and Michelle Lampe, but I may have to assign someone, like Michelle Melvin, to find the items and package them so they will be easy to access on the actual day.

See items below:

Cookie Face (1 cookie per student) – We will purchase
100 m dash races (stopwatch or timers & 4 cones)
Hopper Ball Race (4 hopper balls & 4 cones)
Sack Race (5 sacks & 5 cones)
2 Jumbo Ostrich Egg & Spoon Races (6 jumbo eggs, 6 spoons, 6 rubber black foam nests & 6 cones)
Flying Chickens (12 rubber chickens, 4 cones, 4 laundry baskets, 4 large hula hoops)
Hula Hoop Frisbee Toss (15 frisbees, 15 hula hoops, 5 cones)
Parachute (1 small parachute, yarn balls or dodgeballs)
Buddywalker Relay (5 sets of buddy walkers, 5 cones)
Velcro Catch/ Scoop & Balls (velcro ball sets & scoops & balls)
Soccer Kicks (4 soccer balls, multiple soccer cones for dribbling through)
Limbo (limbo stick)
Sponge Relay (4 buckets, 4 sponges, 4 small containers)
Waterfall (4 water bottles, 4 buckets of water, 4 plastic cups, timer)
Pool Noodle Javelin Throw (5 pool noodles and 5 cones)
Potato Hockey (4 hockey sticks & potatoes & 4 cones)
Beach Ball Relay (4 large Beach balls + 4 cones)
Jumping rope (4 long jump ropes + 4 smaller K-2 ropes + 4 smaller 3-5 ropes)
Chicken Sticks (10 small pvc sticks, 5 rubber chickens & 5 cones)

* AFTER 10 CHECKED OFF STATIONS: Students get Otter Pop/Popsicle (1 otter pop per student) – We will purchase

 

Here’s the schedule:

Grades 4-5 – 9:30-10:30
Grades 2-3 – 10:40-11:40
Lunch for 9th graders – 11:40-12:00
Grades K-1 – 12:00-1:00

For more information, see the Field Day Information Google doc, located in the shared drive: 371 YG Staff>Events>Field Day

End of Year Classroom Pack-Up 

While our rules and expectations for visitors and volunteers continue unchanged for the remainder of this year, there is another exception. As staff work to pack-up their classrooms, we have heard from some campuses that it would be helpful for staff to have the assistance of a friend or family member to do so. For the last week of school, when students are not in session, 4J will allow friends and family members to assist on campus with packing classrooms.

Let me know if you plan on inviting friends or family to help on that last week. Make sure to have every visitor log-in to Raptor and limit their movement throughout the building. Let me know if you have questions.

ELA Materials Boxed-Up – Downtown is sending all classroom teachers six boxes to pack up all ELA materials, Journeys and Being a Writer. Teachers may keep any books or pieces you want to keep for future use. Classified staff can help with packing on the June 10th grading day. We will store the boxes over the summer for Warehouse Staff to pick-up in August.

Diverse Classroom Libraries Inventory – Teachers will inventory their Diverse Classroom Library Book Sets. Principals were informed that teachers would receive an email with directions, but here is a brief slidedeck with instructions. In brief, there are two processes depending if you are teaching the same grade next year or if you are moving (grades or schools).

  • If not moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off the inventory list, keep books in your room.
  • If moving: Inventory books, cross any missing books off the inventory list, leave bins in classroom, and write the bin barcode number on the End of Year Checklist 2021-2022.

 

Report Card Grading Day Expectations – Friday, June 10th is a regular work day for both classified and licensed staff.

  • For licensed staff, HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues this day. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.
  • For classified staff, I had planned on holding an EA meeting the morning of Grading Day, but I have to attend a required Mandt training. Since we have much packing to do, I’m going to give our EAs the entire day to help with packing and moving items.

 

Site Council Parent Representatives

Last Thursday, we cancelled the site council meeting since both parent representatives could not attend. At that time, we did not have anyone apply to serve as a parent representative. At the end of the prior week, though, I received one from Marisa Kettelhodt. See her Site Council Application MK. Last week, I received another Site Council Application – MB from Mark Blaine. And yet another parent, Sarena Cook, expressed interest and I sent her an application. We will consider Marisa and Mark for site council membership at our June meeting, along with Sarena if she also applies.

REPEAT – Teacher Pay Teachers
We have been asked by the Instruction Department to send a reminder that we are not allowed to purchase materials from Teacher Pay Teachers due to potential copyright violations, adoption procedures, etc. Please make sure your staff understands they will not be reimbursed by the District and we will not pay Teacher Pay Teachers directly.

REPEAT – Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit

All classroom teachers should use the Second Step Child Protection Unit for meeting the state Erin’s Law requirements. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year, with Lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break (within the last two weeks of school). Each grade level has their own kit, but linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides if that makes things easier.

REMINDER: 3/4/5 Climate Survey DUE May 31

A reminder for 3/4/5 teachers to have students complete the student climate survey by the end of the month.

English version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4jelementaryclimate2022 Spanish version: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ambienteprimaria4j2022

Directions for administration:

  1. Please show the 7-minute video linked here, Learning About Bullying Pt 1, before administering
  2. Assure students that their answers are completely confidential and others will not know how they responded
  3. Administer the survey to grades 3-5 ONLY (No K-2)

FOSS Science Kits

This information is mostly a repeat, but the Spring 2022 Restocking Form is now hyperlinked for your reference.

  • FOSS Kit 1:1 Rollout Slidedeck
  • Main points:
    • Each classroom teacher with have their full year of science curriculum (3 modules).
    • Science kits will no longer be returned and restocked at the district level.
    • District will support restocking of consumables and live materials.
    • Teachers Submit a Spring 2022 Restocking Form to replenish consumables.
    • Continue to use the 4J Science website for the prioritized lessons & standards (since there’s not enough time to teach ALL lessons).
    • Additional kits will be delivered to schools over the summer.
    • Kits need to be cared for as if you were passing them along to another teacher.
    • Keep items in the boxes that they belong in. Use the list on the front of each box to keep track.
    • Kits are stocked for multiple uses, but you will have the opportunity after each use to fill out a Kit Restock form.
    • Storage and maintenance of science kits will be managed at the building level, but I will be talking with my director about finding other options for storage.

REPEAT – iPad Collections

The district has made the decision to collect all student iPads K-8 at the end of the 2021-2022 School year.  While some schools have continued with a true 1:1 where students take iPads home daily others have chosen to keep devices at school.

Most schools already have enough carts to accommodate this, but the technology department is currently working on inventory and moving carts from middle schools to support this initiative.  Once you have all of your cows in place you may start requiring students to maintain iPads at school. Starting May 31st after Memorial Day,  all devices at all elementary schools need to be stored at school.

4J Weekly Library Connection: May 31 – June 3

PD on the Fly – Here is the link for this week’s PD on the Fly.

Guest Teachers and Substitutes

Tuesday-Thursday, Outdoor School – 5th grade teachers along with Takako and Scott will be going to Outdoor School. Jody will substitute for Takako on Tuesday and Wednesday; Alison will substitute on Thursday. Anne Gilles will substitute for Scott

TuesdayMachiko is out for the day; Izumi will be covering her supervision duties.

WednesdayMaran is out in the afternoon, and Matt Houser will be her substitute.

ThursdayJody will be teaching second grade instead of Naoko.

Hearing Screening on Friday – There will be a hearing screening for Kindergarten and First Grade students on Friday, from 9AM to 12:15-ish. A team from the UofO will take students a few at a time to do a screening in the conference room. Susan, our speech pathologist, will work in the space outside Room 9 during that time. If you are interested, here’s a copy of the Hearing Screening Schedule.

Intern Appreciation

Dessert – As we discussed at the last staff meeting, our intern appreciation will be on June 3rd. Instead of a luncheon, we will be holding a dessert from 2:00-3:00 in the cafeteria. The YMCA will be staying in the gym until after 3PM. We will need to wait until after the middle school students are finished with their lunch and the cafeteria tables are cleaned before we set up.

Lunch – During the day, Izumi will bring either Subway sandwiches or pizza for the interns. I’m told that some of the interns had never had Subway sandwiches before, and that might be preferred over pizza.

Jeanne Cooking – Not related to the Intern Appreciation, but Jeanne will not be working her usual schedule; instead, she will be cooking for first grade.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zETkRoeqeuRRyTEl41udYs32kXB-jh57wbjR_LGIo-s/edit?usp=sharing

Miscellaneous Items for Information

Wellness Policy Reminders – Nutrition Services emailed principals  Wellness Policy Reminders about food at end-of-year parties. For quick resources and answers, see the 4J Wellness Policy, including snacks, parties, and school store guidelines. Note that families can provide special foods, but make sure they are commercially prepared and are not served at the same time as school meals. Kitchen staff will need at least two weeks’ notice if students will not be eating school breakfast or lunch. Shellfish or nut products are discouraged.

Safety & Lagging Skill Planning Resources – 4J Behavioral Safety Assessment Coordinator, Sheri Hoyland, emailed principals a reminder email about the Safety and Lagging Skills Planning webpage, which lists safety interventions and educational components for a student’s safety plan. I’m not sure staff were aware of this page or the larger Student Wellness & Safety Resources website and thought I would share it with everyone.

Summer Office Hours – The following are the summer office hours that all elementary schools will be following. We will put this information in the next newsletter.

  • June 20 Office Closed
    June 21-24 Office hours 8-12, 1-3 daily
    June 27-29  Office closed, by appointment only
  • August:  Offices reopen with limited hours on August 17 and 18. Contact your school for open hours.
  • Regular hours resume on Monday, August 22

2022/2023 Teacher Report dates – In case you missed the email from Rob Hess, the two dates for professional development added to the start of the year are August 26 and 29th. Tuesday August 30th is the usual start day and continues to be a protected planning day.

Upcoming Events

May 30 (M) – National Memorial Day  – No School

May 31 (T) – First Day of Outdoor School for 5th Grade
National Smile Day
3/4/5 Climate Survey Due

June 01 (W) – National Say Something Nice Day
9:00-11:00, Tom to Elementary Principal Mtg
3:15-4:00, Tom and Mary to Kindergarten Transition Meeting for Incoming Kinder
7:00pm, School Board Meeting Location: (Zoom)

June 02 (Th) – Last Day of ODS for 5th Grade
10:35, Fire Drill
National Leave the Office Early Day

June 03 (F) – Intern Appreciation
National Donut Day
Jeanne will be cooking for first grade
2:00-3:00 – Intern Appreciation Dessert

June 6 (M) – Day Day
3:15-4:00, 504 Meeting for First Grade Student (may reschedule)

June 7 (T) – Happy Birthday, Ashley!
National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
Bilingual Store
Day for Primary
3:30-5:30, Kindergarten Teacher Interviews (tentative)

June 8 (W) – Bilingual Store for Primary
National Best Friends Day
9:00-11:00, Tom to Elementary Principal Mtg
10:15-11:15, Howard 5th Graders Visit Kelly MS
3:15-4:00, Data Team Meeting

June 9 (Th) – Field Day
– 9:30-10:30 – Grades 4-5

 – 10:40-11:40 – Grades 2-3
Lunch for 9th graders – 11:40-12:00
 – 12:00-1:00 – Grades K-1
3:30-5:30, Kindergarten Teacher Interviews (tentative)
6:30-8:00, Kelly MS Holding Band/Orchestra Performance

June 10 (F) – Grading Day – No School
9:00-10:00 – EA Meeting in Staff Room (cancelled)
Tom to Mandt Training All Day

June 13 (M)

June 14 (T) – Flag Day

June 15 (W) – National Smile Power Day
9:00-11:00, Tom to Elementary Principal Mtg
5:00pm – 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony

June 16 (Th) –
9:00-9:30, 5th Grade Breakfast (tentative)
3:15-4:00, Site Council Meeting
6:30-7:30, PTO Meeting on zoom
6:30 – 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony for Kelly MS
Note – 8th Grade Celebration will be using YG Gym

June 17 (F) – Last Day of School
Early Release – 11:45

 

 

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