Weekly Memo
WM 7, September 25-29, 2017-18
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Thank you Lara (and Heidi) for arranging the Kathryn Otoshi visit. Her messages were so relevant to uor work creating a safe, kind, inclusive and courageous community. We are searching out the best home for our spirit bird.
This week starts off with full day reading assessment trainings for K-2 teachers on Monday and 3-5 teachers on Tuesday. Introduce yourself and offer support to the many substitute teachers who will be here on these days. The week ends with our fall Walk for Fun and Fitness. Thanks to the PE team for organizing this simple celebration of movement and fitness.
LS Faculty Norms
- Do what is best for the students
- Assume we are all doing our best at the moment and our intentions are positive
- Be present, participate, contribute, include many voices
- Create a safe space that encourages sharing different opinions, ideas, perspectives
- Seek understanding, be curious about what others think
- Express gratitude, joy and encouragement
- Communicate with compassion, clarity and effectiveness
- Demonstrate respect
Expectations for the WM
Some questions have arisen about the Weekly Memo.
- We will send it out by 2:00pm Sunday.
- You are not expected to read it the moment it arrives in your inbox.
- You are expected to have read it by noon on Monday.
We continue our new Weekly Memo format with repeat items in blue and new items in black.
COMMUNITY
US Helpers
Our seniors and freshmen have a half day Service Day on Wednesday, October 25 from 8:00-12:30. I would love to be able to connect our US students with LS students that day.
Would any of you be interested in having US students work with your children that day? My only request is that they connect with children that day.
Please let me know--how many students would you want and what would you like them to do?
Email Reminder
Double check the recipient before sending your emails, especially when sending confidential student information! We have a few tricky email addresses to remember:
Also Chris OT and Chris T continue to get each other’s emails!
Walk for Fun and Fitness- Friday, September 29
- 8:10 - Gathering
- 8:40 - All Lower School laps
- Track open all day long for walking, skipping, jogging and running
- The forecast is for warm and sunny weather. Remind your students to bring water bottles.
Renee Watson Visit
You may have noticed there is no Thursday morning meeting scheduled on Oct. 12th. This is to allow you time to attend the AS 3-5 pm Social Justice Framework workshop with author Renee Watson. You are also welcome at the 7-8 pm In Conversation with Renee Watson that is open to the community.
4th Grade Field Studies--Chaperones needed
Please consider joining the 4th grade for December 5, 6 & 7 at Mazama Lodge on Mt. Hood! We will be exploring snow science, Cascadia watersheds and sipping hot chocolate by a roaring fire! Chaperones will also be required to attend an evening training at OES this fall with the Mazama team (date TBD) and to do some teaching with small 'inquiry groups' on the trip. Also, we just secured these dates and have not yet informed 4th grade parents of the plans. Please give us a chance to do this before discussing the trip with families. Sign up here! Thanks for considering!
Lower School Fall Festival, Saturday, September 23, 3:00-6:00pm
Thanks to Desiree Bliss, Sarah Ellis, Pace Bowers, Tracy Bryant and Verity Goldstein for all their work taking this community building gathering from a great idea to even better fest. Special thanks to Coach Corris for coming and serving as a celebrity pie judge.
Equifax Data Breach and You
Gretchen checked with some of our financial advisors, and here's a synthesis of what they had to say about the Equifax data breach. Feel free to share this with any other OES employees that might have questions.
1. They are not aware of any history of identity theft in retirement accounts - from the institutional side (I'm sure some individuals have had their accounts stolen). Nonetheless, all the usual precautions about passwords, etc. apply to retirement accounts, just like other bank accounts.
2. There are no federal rules for retirement plans other than that plan sponsors should exercise diligence when hiring vendors. Accordingly, there is a whole section in our agreement with VALIC dedicated to data security, and Multnomah Group also has cyber security policies and trains its consultants. Of course, it's always hard to know what's possible, so we'll continue to monitor all our vendors with cybersecurity in mind.
Finally - one of our advisors sent Gretchen this helpful website from the Oregon Department of Justice. Definitely worth a quick scan, and maybe some follow up action.
Mindfulness
Claire is offering 20 minutes of mindfulness in her classroom each Wednesday morning, 7:30 - 7:50.
Gymnastics at Recess
A student fractured her wrist while doing gymnastics at recess. Please follow these guidelines to help the children be safe.
- Gymnastics on turf field or bark chips. Not on concrete.
- No student spotters. They are not qualified to do this.
- Encourage safe choices
Student Support Team
We meet every Monday morning to check in on students needing support. We will also offer Wednesday afternoon meetings for teachers Check in with an SST member if you have a student you wish to discuss.
Gathering and Chapel
Chapel and Gathering are required for faculty who teach the grades present at Gathering and Chapel. I want us to set the example for our students about the importance of having a strong and supportive community.
Lower School Gathering: Friday 8:10 - 8:30 Our weekly goal will be to start at 8:10 am sharp.
Lower School Chapel: Tuesday, 8:10 - 8:40 Our weekly goal will be to start at 8:10 am sharp.
For those of you who like to plan ahead, here are links to LS Chapel Resources:
Rosh Hashanah in LS Chapel on Tuesday, September 26th
Diwali in LS Chapel on Tuesday, October 24th
Ash Wednesday Chapel on Wednesday, February 14th.
LS Gathering is moving permanently to the Dining Commons, Fridays, 8:10 - 8:30
Upper School Helpers
Upper school students will be available on Wednesday’s from 10:15 to 10:45 and Thursday’s from 10:50 to 11:45. Your request should include the type of activity you need help with, the number of students needed, and the day(s) that you could use this help. Requests can range from one day to full-term assignments. We will fill as many requests as we can each week. Please send “help” requests to Sandi Lillevik’s email (lilleviks@oes.edu) and copy Ashley (scatesa@go.oes.edu).
Employee Giving to the OES Fund: A Community Endeavor
It is that time of year to consider making a gift to the OES fund. Please know that a gift of any amount is truly valuable as a statement of your support for this school, these students, and this community. Strong participation in annual giving inspires others to join in, and together we can make a significant investment in the work of OES.
As a new feature this year, you can designate your gift to a specific area, including Financial Aid, Athletics, Arts and Literature, Science and Technology, or Service and Community. If there is a particular focus that is dear to your heart, consider donating a gift to that program area.
The form is entirely online this year. Follow the link below to access it:
Again, your gift of any amount is valued and valuable. Please consider joining in giving to the OES Fund: A Community Endeavor. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you!
Kristen, your OES Fund LS representative this year
PROGRAM
Faculty Meetings
Monday, 9/25 - Department/ Team meeting - Look for details from Department Chairs
Thursday, 9/28 - Division Meeting. Continued rock work
Fountas and Pinnell Trainings Mon. and Tues.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the Fountas and Pinnell Training on Monday (K-2) and Tuesday (3-5). You can view the agenda for the day here (don't worry about the levels on the top of the page, as agendas are similar for different grades:
We will meet from 8-3 in the Charlton Room (7:45 arrival). Coffee and tea and some snacks will be available (you may want to bring your own cup and water bottle). We will break for lunch midday--Lyn has ordered us lunch platters. We will need to bring all sets of the Fountas and Pinnell Assessment Systems--Chris and Kirstin will come around early Monday morning to collect them and take them over.
You are also invited to bring any of your own Fountas and Pinnell assessments you may have completed, particularly running records for those students you have questions about. No worries if you haven't done assessments yet, but if you have them it may be useful to have your actual assessments for discussions.
PLEASE BE SURE YOU HAVE PUT YOUR DUTY RESPONSIBILITIES INTO YOUR SUB PLAN. Thank you!
The Confluence
The Confluence has been updated with an invitation for parents to consider some of the questions raised in Creating Cultures of Thinking, setting the groundwork for a context in which to place future posts.
Project Zero
This week the Project Zero Groups began meeting and diving into Chapter One of Creating Cultures of Thinking. Each group has a Project Zero coach--this week after six group members introduced themselves and briefly stated how they understand, assess and shape school culture, here is what one of the coaches summed up about her first impression of our school:
The benefits of mindfulness and brain research appear to be a strong contributor to learning at your school as well as thinking about thinking, making connections, moving slowly, devoting time for thinking, relationship building, the power of mistakes, engagement in thinking, reflecting on habits of learning, language of thinking conveyed to parents, sense of self as learners, questioning to unlocking more questions, listening, watching, looking for patterns, student voice, and pursuing work that speaks closer to their own selves as learners. WOW, you all have a lot to be proud of-lucky students!!
It was gratifying to hear so many of our ‘big rocks’ reflected back to us through even this brief exchange with someone outside our community. This Thursday we’ll all have a chance at our Faculty Meeting to think more about how our current practices may (or may not) enact these purposes.
Library
As we move forward with temporary help in the Lower School Library (while we search for Heidi's replacement), please keep these few things in mind.
- Austin will help with morning recess from 7:30-8:30.
- Michael Gundle will be in the library from 9:30-2:00.
Once we hire someone permanently for the position, the hours will be from 7:30-2:00. Please accompany your students to the library between 8:30-9:30 and after 2:00 pm. We have already had students in the space unsupervised or needing help when Lara is teaching. Whenever you send students, please remind them to check to see if there is a faculty or staff person in the space and to return to the classroom if the space is unsupervised. We do have parents who may be shelving during the day, but they are not expected to assist students.
Lara hopes to keep the level of service high. Email Lara if you have questions.
PGD Day, Friday October 13
As you know, our PGD Day is on Friday, 13 October. This year, there are two broad options:
- Option A: Attend NWAIS (or another off-campus)
- Option B: Attend ICC training on campus in the morning and division-specific training in the afternoon.
Below is information on the NWAIS conference and the ICC training provided by the ICC Team. Please fill out the FORM HERE which of the two options you would like to pursue. If there is sufficient interest, we may offer a bus to the NWAIS conference.
More Information:
- ICC Training Information: The ICC facilitators will facilitate employees in equity-informed dialogues. The equity-informed dialogue workshops will build on and complement the "Days 1 and 2" ICC training that many have received. The goal of this work is to further OES's organizational cultural competence and is based on best-practices in the field.
Workshop Organization
As many of you solidify your routines for Readers’, Writers’, Math and Story Workshops, you might find this brief blog post by Nancie Atwell about workshop organization inspiring.
OPERATIONS
Food Service Reminders
A reminder from the Business Office of a long standing policy as we start off the year. When the kitchen is in operation, OES provides one meal per day to every employee who works at OES. (Employee Handbook 8.11).
For most of us that is lunch. Above and beyond that, you are welcome to eat here on campus, but we ask you to pay by signing in at the keypad by the hot food line. Breakfast is $4.00. Dinner is by 24 hr reservation with an email to Kelly Cowing at cowingk@oes.edu, and is $7 most nights, or $9 on formal/family nights. You will receive a monthly bill from the business office if you charge to your personal account. (This same policy applies to day students.)
Guests may eat lunch or other meals in the dining hall - again - please use the keypad to sign them in and give either your name for your personal account to be charged, or the budget department to be charged, depending on the purpose of the guest(s) visit. If you or your department had guests, and you aren't sure if they signed in, you can email Lisa Kave in the Business Office kavel@oes.edu to confirm.
Reminder - this applies to coffee/tea and snacks. Those are generally available in the divisions and/or offices. We ask that you don't visit or take food or beverages from the dining hall other than at mealtimes.
Disease Prevention
We are having a few early illnesses making their way through LS
- Have your students wash hands
- Remind them not put their mouths on thee drinking fountains
- Remind them to sneeze into their elbows
LS Storage Room - Prevent Tragedy of the Commons
Take some time this week to move any of your things off the floor and onto your designated shelves. We need to move the rolling tables for the Performance Commons into the storeroom and right now there is no space.
Transitions and Timing
- All teachers are expected to help transitions students to their next class on time.
- Transitions are covered by specialists and homeroom teachers.
- Special plans need to be made when a teacher needs to move a class and receive a class at the same time. COntact Chris, Kirstin or DAvid if you cannot resolve this with the other teachers
Let Office Know When You Go Off Campus
Remember to let the LS Office know if you are going off campus. For safety reasons we need to know who is here throughout the day.
Snacks and Food Handling
Please follow all guidelines from your Food Handling training for serving snacks and lunch. This means washing your hands first and wearing gloves for all food service. Shirley sets gloves out in the common areas or they can be found in the dry goods cupboard (you can take a box to your room). Any students serving food should also wash hands first and then wear gloves. Thanks for your help keeping everyone healthy!
Google Sites
If you use Google Sites as your classroom website, please note that Google has changed the sharing settings and Sites is no longer private enough for us to use for student photos and information. Jeffrey is investigating solutions. If you have a Google Site, please change your settings to OES Only and know this will prevent parents from accessing your site. Google Communities, Blogger and Google Plus are all still okay for use. Look for more updates soon!
SmartFind Express Guidelines
- Use SmartFind Express to report all absences, whether a guest teacher is required or not. This includes leaving for an appointment, arriving late from an appointment, etc. It’s very versatile!
- If you forget your Access ID or PIN, please contact Lyn or Kathy.
- Classroom teachers, please make sure you have arranged for a guest teacher for your Fountas and Pinnell training. If your Assistant Teacher is taking over for you, check to make sure they have submitted their SmartFinder absence and indicated “subbing for lead teacher.”
- Because we require so many guest teachers for in-house trainings, we may have to switch their assignments around on the Fountas and Pinnell days, so make your plans clear enough for anyone to follow. Thank you!
Food From Home
Just a reminder that all food for students is provided by OES in order to support our efforts to be an allergy-aware campus. Any families hoping to send food for snacks or lunches from home with their child must have approval from the nurse or your Assistant Head. Please make sure you have obtained such approval before encouraging anyone to bring food from home.
TIME SHEET
- Time sheet is required for nonexempt employee. Fill out your timesheet digitally in ADP and approve it twice a month: 15th and the 30th
- Enter your absences in your digital time sheet – this also means these absences were reported in the Smartfinder.
- If a teacher asks that you work beyond your approved work hours, you need to notify Kirstin (PK – 1 AT) or Chris (2nd – 5thAT) about the request. Kirstin or Chris will submit the Lead teacher request to David for approval. Your division Assistant Head will email you and copy me once the lead teacher request has been approved. The Assistant Heads’ email is my record on file as a proof for the overtime hours I am going to submit for payment to HR.
- If you were a Lead Sub Teacher – you will need to check in and check out in the Sub time sheet binder in the office.
LUNCH and BREAKS:
- All nonexempt employees working 6 continuous hours or more in a day are required to take a 30-minute unpaid meal, preferably in the middle of a shift – page 17 in the Employee Handbook
- All nonexempt employees receive a 10-minute paid rest break for each 4 hours of work time… Break periods may not be used or skipped to extend a lunch period. Work overtime, arrive late
- 1.0 FTE AT – may take two 10-minute break: one in mid-morning and one in mid-afternoon
- .75 FTE AT may take one 10-minute break either in the morning or afternoon.
Budget information
These are your options when you are ready to purchase your classroom supplies:
- Through Kathy’s Lower School New Order Request 2017-2018
- LS Visa – to be used in the LS Office only so bring your laptop and have your order ready. Always email me or print a copy of the confirmation receipts stating the purchase amount.
Maintenance
As you go about rearranging furniture please keep the following in mind:
- shelves and other free-standing vertical elements need to be less than 48” tall. If an item is 48” or tall it needs to be secured to a wall to reduce earthquake hazard.
- We need to maintain clear pathway(s) of 42” or more in the commons.
- Be aware of the carpet trip hazards, so any carpeting with curling potential needs to be clearly out of paths of travel.
Your Announcements
Send any announcements you have for faculty to Kirstin, Chris or David by Thursday each week August-June 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.
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