LS Weekly Memo
Week 7, September 19-23, 2016
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Congratulations on making it through the first full week of the year. Our systems around lunch, recess and transitions are improving. Next week the duty schedule becomes real with all of us doing the actual duties we signed up for. Be sure to review the Transitions Document to know updated transition details. Best of luck with our new approach to BTSN.
Building Updates
Donor Celebration Last Night
Saturday Night we hosted over 100 community members in our building and thanked them for making it all possible. Our guests enjoyed exploring the building (all classrooms were open) and taking part in mini-classes.
- Let me know if anything was left behind in your room. We did our best to clean it all up.
- Leftovers are in the teaching kitchen refrigerator and to be enjoyed. All are welcome to take home items at the end of the day Monday.
Windows and Doors
I discovered several windows that were not properly functioning and some doors that are not closing properly. Please complete maintrequests for any of these issues in your room.
Shades - Check to be sure yours are completely operable and can close all the way
Lights - The lights are motion activated. Maintrequest if your motion sensor is not set right so lights are always on or go on whenever someone passes by your window.
Daily Operations
- All windows need to be fully operable to support cooling of the building. As you are setting up be sure to keep your windows fully operable.
- All blinds and shades need to be fully operable for safety. Be sure to keep sills clear of obstructions.
- The exposed concrete plays a critical role in heating and cooling the building. Keep it exposed.
- The building was designed to be our most energy efficient building on campus. Please limit the electricity demands you are adding to the building:
- Personal refrigerators are particularly inefficient
- CFL and LED
- Turn off lights
COMMUNITY
Maintenance and Facilities Appreciation
If you are interested in bringing in a treat on Monday morning as a thank you for our amazing Maintenance and Facilities colleagues feel free to bring it by Lara’s library office and she can bring it up to their workspace along with a thank you card. She is planning on bringing coffee cake, etc., but fruit or other yummies would be nice if you are interested (totally optional!).
Upper School Student Help
Beginning Thursday, September 22, Robin will have a new team of Upper School students available to perform all types of on-campus service:
Every Wednesday, 10:20-10:50 (note that this is only half an hour & adjust your expectations accordingly!)
Every Thursday, 10:50-11:50
They’ll do anything—indoors, outdoors, office work, classroom work, you name it.
See Robin Schauffler’ semail fro details.at I can. Email me, and I'll let students know of your request and have them contact you directly.
Buddies
At your weekly team meetings Kirstin and Chris hope to gather some input from you about potential for buddy classes. A survey will come out next week to solicit your interest in focus areas as well as your feedback about buddy pairings.
Library mindfulness
The library is open for 2-5 recess on F and D Days and we will be offering an opportunity for our students to practice mindfulness for about 15 minutes. I would love if you could pass word onto your students about this choice-We will start close to the beginning of recess and ask that students arrive with the need to be restful and mindful.
Please let Lara know if you have any questions/suggestions.
Educational Support for Students
See Ari to review files of students with known learning differences.
Epi pens are no longer kept in the first aid kits for walks to the wetlands or for field trips. Many of you do this already, but it will be important to always gather any student prescribed epi pens for your outing to carry with you just in case of an emergency. There are two stock epis kept in the small project kitchen-soon to be moved to the kitchen when a cabinet is installed.
Food from Home
We are fortunate to have a food service that is so committed to tending to the dietary needs of our students. Rarely, we find ourselves in a situation where a student needs to bring food from home rather than use the school’s food service. We will consider this option only we have done the following:
- Worked in partnership with the parents and Bon Appetite to test in-school options
- Had a parent meeting including a Bon Appetite representative and the OES Nurse
- Received doctor’s statement about the medical issue and proposed interventions
Sub Hiring
We interviewed several great substitute candidates last week and have one more interview this week as well as reference and background checks. Stay tuned!
New Substitute Procedures 2016-2017
- We are no longer using the substitute cell phone number-do not call or text
- Do email requests to lssub@oes.edu
- Kathy will check this email box at 6:00pm and 6:00am. You may send the email as soon as you know you need a sub.
- Kathy will email teachers and subs as soon as the assignment is made.
- Only for morning of emergency on the way to work needs-after 6:30am. Send a text to Kathy Finn-Brennan at 503-989- 3737
PROGRAM
BTSN
Full details in BTSN 2016 doc
The Rotation:
Time
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Homeroom in Classrooms
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Specialists in Dining Commons
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State of LS in
LS Library
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6:00-6:25
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Parent coffee social on LSP
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6:30-6:55
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Session 1
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PK, K, P
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1st, 2nd
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3rd, 4th, 5th
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7:00-7:25
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Session 2
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3rd, 4th, 5th
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PK, K, P
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1st, 2nd
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7:30-7:55
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Session 3
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1st, 2nd
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3rd, 4th, 5th
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PK, K, P
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8:00-8:25
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Session 4
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Open
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Open
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Open
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Heather and Callie’s Roles
A couple of folks have expressed some confusion about what Callie and Heather each do. The confusion is understandable as in years past the LS Chaplain has taken on both responsibilities. While Callie and Heather each have distinct roles they are also collaborating in their planning so some common themes will be explored in Chapel and in religion class.
Heather Wenrick - LS Chaplain
She is responsible for Chapel, supporting our Lower School community through pastoral care, and tending to the spiritual development of the community. She is a member of our student support team.
Callie Schulman - LS Religion Teacher
Callie is teaching religion in PreK - 5th grade. She is a specialist teacher and part of the Religion Department. Let David know if you have questions.
Religion Classes and High Holidays
Callie will be away from school for Rosh HaShana (10/3) and Yom Kippur (10/12); please note if your schedule is affected and let Callie know if you’d prefer to cancel or reschedule your class.
Author Visit
Thanks to Green Bean Books we are welcoming (once again!) Mac Barnett to our Library. Grades 1-2, please let Lara know if you would like to bring your class just before 10:00 on October 11th to the Library to hear him speak. If you are coming, we will get you the optional pre-order forms to be sent home and then returned to us by September 26th.
Volunteer Needs
Next step will be for your room parent to contact you and coordinate a time to meet, discuss and plan your volunteer needs.
Extention
Professional Library
Our professional collection has found a new home in the Lower School Conference room. There is a clipboard where you can check-out materials. Please return them to us in the library so we can check them back in and we will reshelve them for you!
As a result of paring the collection down to fit the space, there is a cart in Project Room A in the Library (right next to the tech office) of books which would love to find a home with you. There are some really good books to pick from so come by when you have a chance! It will be there for the duration of the week.
Service Learning Materials
If you found any materials (gloves, etc.) that belong to Service Learning (gardening gloves, garbage bags, etc.) in the course of the move, please let Kristen know where they are, and she will come collect them and consolidate them into the Service Learning storage area. She would like to begin an inventory of supplies next week. Thank you!
October 14 PGD Day
If you plan to attend the NWAIS Fall Educators' Conference, please notify Jean Verheggen by September 25, as Jean has kindly volunteered to register all OES attendees.
PGD Opportunities
A terrific Executive Functioning workshop that Ari was able to attend last year. Sarah Ward returns to Portland, OR, by popular request to present two Executive Function Seminars at the DoubleTree/Hilton. November 1, 2016 - From School to Home and Back Again: Executive Function Skills Across the Day
Faculty Meetings
Monday, 9/19 - FLG/ PGD - See John Holloran email for details
Thursday, 9/22 - NO Meeting. A break after BTSN
OPERATIONS
Transitions and Duties
This will be our first week with everyone on their regular duties! Please remember not to leave children unattended if you don’t see a duty person to hand them off to. With the large playground spaces, every duty matters. It is part of your schedule and responsibility to find coverage for your duties. Please find a replacement if you have a duty conflict--begin by looking at the duty schedule to see other teachers who may be available at that time and then approach them in person or with individual or small group emails instead of emailing all LS.
Please review the duty schedule as well as the transitions document. We have added some information to the duty schedule to help provide clarity.
All recess duty teachers need to identify who will lead students, monitor the middle and sweep the playground.
3/4/5 Lunch and Lunch Recess now has an early bell for kids who want to get 5 extra minutes of lunch, this is also to help stagger lunch access in the Dining Hall. It worked well on Friday and Kelly was pleased as well with the flow. Let’s keep an eye on time. Bells should arrive early next week to help signal students.
2/3/4/5 Afternoon Recess has been modified. Extra duties have been added.
1:50-2:05 2nd/3rd have recess while 4th/5th have snack, water, restrooms
2:05-2:20 4th/5th have recess while 2nd/3rd have snack, water, restrooms
2:05-2:20 Additional duties have been added to support 2nd/3rd teachers who have started CPT but have students returning for snack. One teacher will walk in other grade level while other two teachers will gather students in Performance commons for snack, water, and bathrooms before PE.
2nd/3rd enter playground through the side stairways and return to classrooms through the side stairways.
4th/5th enter playground through the main entry and around the building and return to classrooms through the side stairways.
Duty teachers greet students on the playground and walk students back to their classrooms
We have added extra duties to help with Prek-P lunch recess and BY Loop Road. We need all duty spots filled and as you can see from the schedule there are holes. Extra thanks to Laura FF, Julie M, Amy R, Katherine, and Shelley who have already taken on extra duties. Please review and let Chris know what extra duties you can cover.
Please note there is a separate morning duty schedule for Late Start Thursdays. Assistant teachers staff the before school duties on Thursdays so we can meet.
Importing Duties to Google Calendar
Chris Thompson made a great screencast of the process of creating a "My Duties" calendar. In it she mentions being careful about loading the CSV file to your personal calendar (in my case Jeffrey Sprague). The safest route is to put it in a separate calendar that you can use every year called "My Duties". If you need help doing this let Chris or Jeffrey know and you can walk through it together.
(With written instructions if you prefer)
Lincoln Logs
Please supervise carefully.
Forts will be periodically dismantled.
Forts will may be built to be in or on top of but not both for safety reasons.
Special Lunch Requests
Kelly Cowing and her staff need special lunch requests, such as sack lunches, 7 days in advance of when you need them. 3rd-5th grade has an interesting alternative that Tonya proposed. With 4 business days notice, 3rd - 5th graders can come to the lunchroom and make their sandwiches and sack lunches. Why such a long lead time? Kelly works hard to limit waste so has food orders calculated to expected demand. She needs enough lead time to place your food order.
Siblings at Car Pick Up
Just a reminder that older siblings should join their youngest sibling in his/her car pickup area. If the younger sibling is absent or in a class, the older sibling still goes to the place they are usually picked up. There are a few exceptions for sibling pickup:
- Students with PreK siblings should wait with any K-4 younger siblings or in their own car pickup area until the guardian signing out their PreK sibling comes to retrieve them.
- K-5 students with Middle School siblings meet Ari or Lyn on the front walkway and then proceed to the Middle School waiting area.
Instrument Storage
If students take the bus or otherwise will not have a parent escorting them to the chapel basement, they will need to store their instrument in their regular classroom.
Maintenance Requests
Rod would like us all to return to the usual maintrequest@oes.edu protocol for maintenance requests. The Maintenance Log will become a view only document.
Safety/ Security Issues
If you have any issues related to safety or security be sure to do a maintrequest and note that it is a safety or security issue. You can help by being sure doors and windows are closed and locked when you leave.
Storage
- Please use the clear plastic storage bins for items placed in storage
- Rolls of paper, colored paper and poster board are getting moved from Room 10 and old LS Library to our storage area.
Safety
- Post your emergency evacuation route in near an exit in an obvious location
- Post your Emergency Procedures flip chart with your clipboard near your desk in an obvious location. Remember your clipboard should have the green/yellow sheet as well as your class list.
- Bathroom Storage - no permanent storage in any of the classroom bathrooms due to ADA and emergency guidelines. Temporarily putting wet boots and hanging wet jackets in the bathroom is fine.
Cheese
In an effort to reduce the number of mini-refrigerators in the new building we will store cheese in the following areas
PK, K, P - Teaching kitchen refrigerator
1st, 2nd, 5th - mini refrigerator near sink
3rd, 4th - mini fridge has been requested
Your Announcements
Send any announcements you have for faculty to Kirstin, Chris or David by Thursday each week and we will include them in the Weekly Memo. This should help reduce the number of emails we are receiving, and maximize our time to collaborate during meetings.
Archive
Utilize the archive for previous Weekly Memo.
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