Weekly Memo
Weekly Memo 1, August 10-17, 2018
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Austin, Chris, Kathy, Kirstin, Lyn and David are back and have begun preparations for the new school year. I hope you are still enjoying your summer. Read this when you are ready or before the opening of school on 8/27, whichever comes first.
COMMUNITY
Lower School Office Staff
We are back and the office is open 8:00 - 4:00 each day. Kathy Finn-Brennan will be working Mondays and Tuesdays once the school year begins. Austin Schock will start the year covering the office Wednesday through Friday.
WELCOME!
As everyone begins to come back in, please keep an eye out for our new faculty to say hello and introduce yourself! We are pleased to welcome:
Erin Moulton to Kindergarten (from OES 3rd grade)
Anthony Villaseñor to First Grade (note that Anthony's email is villasenoran@oes.edu )
Heather Humphrey to Second Grade
Sharon Kottler-Decker to Third Grade
Adelaide Wainwright to Fourth Grade
Leah Wyllie to Fifth Grade
We look forward to seeing who we become as a learning community with these new minds and hearts in our midst.
New Responsibilities:
Welcome back, Janet Schilling - returning to 2nd grade after her sabbatical.
Welcome to Kindergarten Erin Moulton - job sharing with Colesie Tharp.
Welcome Suzanne Lee - full time teaching in 3rd grade.
Welcome Austin Shock to three long term substitute positions - LS Office Administrative Assistant, Student Support Assistant and Technology Specialist
They may have questions or need resources as they set up their rooms--thanks for offering help as needed!
Assistant Teacher Schedules: Start of Year
Because of our retreat and All School trainings, there have been some minor changes in AT hours for the start of the year. Please review and contact Lyn or your Kirstin with any questions:
.75 FTE AT Employees:
8/27: optional Family BBQ at OES playground, 5-7 pm, unpaid
8/28: 9-4 Emergency Training, mandatory (optional 8-9 continental breakfast, unpaid)
8/29: 8-4 LS Retreat at Oregon Garden, all faculty and staff (see information in WM)
8/30: 8:45-11:00 All Employee Training, mandatory; 12:30-2:00 work in classrooms
8/31: 6 hours of work with classroom teachers, times TBT with classroom teachers
9/4: 6 hours of work with classroom teachers including Open Classroom
1.0 FTE AT Employees:
8/27: optional Family BBQ at OES playground, 5-7 pm, unpaid
8/28: 9-4 Emergency Training, mandatory (optional 8-9 continental breakfast, unpaid)
8/29: 8-4 LS Retreat at Oregon Garden, all faculty and staff (see information in WM)
8/30: 8:45 - 11:00 All Employee Training, mandatory; 12:30-4:00 work in classrooms
8/31: 8 hours of work with classroom teachers, times TBT with classroom teachers
9/4: 8 hours of work with classroom teachers including Open Classroom
Summer Building Use
8/13-8/17 is the last week of camp. Many rooms have been cleaned. Rooms used during summer programs will be clean by 8/22. The exact schedule is still being worked out.
Class Placement
There were a few enrollment changes over the summer due to family relocation; we will finalize placement this week.
- 8/17 - class lists sent to teachers
- 8/24 - class lists released to parents
- 8/29 - teachers mail letters to students
Just a reminder that it is very important all families receive their class placement information at the same time--please take care not to mention or post any placement information before 8/24.
9/4: Important: Change in Open Classroom
This year we're going to try inviting families new to OES to Open Classroom at 8:30 so they have a little extra/quieter time to connect with their classrooms. Please be prepared to welcome new families beginning at 8:30, and everyone else 9:00-11:00 am.
Substitute Teachers
Chris and Kirstin began interviewing candidates for substitute teaching last week and, along with Lyn and Kathy, will be training our subs on August 31st. If you know anyone seeking a substitute teaching position, please direct them to the OES Employment page so they can apply.
Plants
Great thanks to Austin Schock for being master plant tender this summer. He wanted to let you all know that the plants of the LS are vibrant and growing.
Nursing Moms
You’ll notice that the Teaching Kitchen doubles as our official nursing/pumping room. Look for a sign in the window of the Teaching Kitchen to let you know if it’s a good time to enter or if you should return at another time. The small under-counter refrigerator in the Teaching Kitchen is reserved for milk only. Thanks!
PROGRAM
As you begin to set up your classroom, remember the guidelines we created for safety, energy efficiency and program support.
Opening Week
Note that Tuesday - Thursday are full days of meetings. Monday and Friday are available fro classroom set-up.
8/27: Department Chair Retreat, Classroom Set-up
AS Family Barbecue, 5:00 - 7:00pm, optional
8/28: All School Opening Meeting
8.30 - 10.00 am: Opening All-School Chapel (PK for 20 minutes on ECs and next steps)
10.00 - 10.15 am: Break
10.30 - 12.00 pm: Inclusive School Discussion (Dori)
12.00 pm: LUNCH
1.00 - 4.00 pm: Emergency Preparedness
8/29: Lower School Retreat - Oregon Garden, 8:30 - 3:00
PLEASE FILL OUT THE SURVEY REGARDING RETREAT TRANSPORTATION
PLEASE FILL OUT THE SURVEY REGARDING RETREAT TRANSPORTATION
8:30 - Breakfast
9:00 - Morning session
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 - Afternoon session
3:00 - end
Creating Cultures of Thinking
Be sure to bring your copy of CCoT to the retreat.
8/30: All School and Department Meetings
LS Operations - 7:45 - 8:45
LS Operations - 7:45 - 8:45
All School Mandatory Training, 8:45 - 11:00am
Department/ BY/IY meetings 1:00 - 3:00pm
Student Conversations
PK to K, 1st to 2nd, 3rd to 4th - 11:00-12:00
K to P, 1st and Primary to 1st, 2nd to 3rd, 4th to 5th - 3:00 - 4:00
8/31: Classroom Set-up
2018-19 Calendar
OES All School Calendar is updated.
Please submit changes to the LS Events Calendar by 8/31.
LS Events Calendar
The draft of the LS Events Calendar is in the LS Conference Room. During your stipend days take some time to look at your student’s, parents’ and colleagues’ experience across the year. Adjust your events as you see appropriate. Talk with others as is helpful. Complete updates by 4:00pm on 8/30.
Schedules
Schedules
Schedules have been updated and finalized. There is a "Schedules" folder in LS Common Forms and Procedures in "Procedures." We hope this helps create one place to look for all scheduling documents. Your google calendars should be updated with the current year's schedule, some calendars needed to be deleted and restocked, please check your email for updates. See Chris T with any questions.
Duty Schedule 18-19
Rotating events on Calendar--18-19: Instructions and video tutorial have been updated for new Google Calendar settings. Please see Chris or Jeffrey with any questions.
Chapel and Gathering
Phillip will be coordinating our gathering as a Lower School community. Please note:
- Lower School Chapel will be on Tuesdays, 8:10 -8:40
- Lower School Gathering will be on "A" Days from 2:20 - 2:50( PK, K, P will join once a month for Buddy gathering). We moved gathering to the afternoon to provide more consistent class time in the morning.
Cultural Forces Inquiry Groups
Teachers and Assistant Teachers, if you didn't have a chance to sign up for a Cultural Forces Inquiry Group at our closing meeting, please do so by adding your name to this document. If you need a copy of Creating Cultures of Thinking, please contact your Assistant Head. Our commitment was to reread the chapter of CCoT related to your inquiry group topic--consider the 8/29 retreat the deadline for that assignment unless you have yet to receive a copy of the book. Looking forward to digging in deeper!
Summer Stipends
Summer Stipends are wrapping up. Look for a Google Form to share your stipend work ad request compensation for your days.
Year at a Glance Plan
Year at a Glance Plan
During your stipend time, we ask grades 1-5 create Year At A Glance (YaaG) plan. A YaaG document helps to think about unit planning and timing for the school year. This is helpful as many of us have experienced a year in Bridges, we can see how the timing has worked and areas where we struggled to stay on target. Hopefully outlining a timeline for the year can help us hit and align all of our academic units and project highlights/milestones as best we see fit. Here are 2 examples of YaaG planning documents I have used: YaaG 1 and YaaG 2.
Beginning Years faculty, please continue to check the BY Odds and Ends (see tab at the top of the WM) for ongoing announcements and resources related to Beginning Years. Feel welcome to add your own announcements and questions.
Budget information
Furniture Safety Reminders
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. Put in a maintrequest to get it done. Know that once maintenance secures the furniture they will not move it.
- We need to maintain clear pathway(s) of 42” or more in the commons.
- Be aware of the carpet trip hazards. Any carpeting with curling potential needs to be clearly out of paths of travel.
Cooling the Building
In an effort to realize the energy efficiency of our building, here are the basics of keeping your room cool. Remember that part of the building design is to provide a wider temperature range, as low as 66 during heating season and as high as 76 degrees in cooling season.
1. Nighttime air flush to cool building down. Automatic, no teacher action required.
2. Open windows in am to cool room further
3. Press green light button, after opening windows, to increase airflow, cooling
4. After green light goes off, close windows and let building manage cooling.
5. Pull blinds on any sun facing windows
5. Pull blinds on any sun facing windows
Important Information
In the sidebar on the right of your screen you will see the link for LS Common Forms & Other Relevant Information. Please familiarize yourself with the contents available at this link particularly in these folders:
Budget – Reimbursement Request Form & Other Financial Information
New - the Business Office released a new reimbursement request (RR) form to be used by all employees this year. Follow the guideline when submitting reimbursement request. Discard all past reimbursement forms.
Budget Folder – each grade level is assigned to a budget folder in “Team Drives” not “My Drive”. Track your expenses and know your grade’s budget to avoid a negative balance. Each grade budget folder should start with LZ for sorting purposes, for example‘LZ BUDGET – PK’. If you need assistance accessing your budget folder in Team Drives, contact Lyn.
Curriculum Purchases – consult your Division Assistant Head before putting an order for curriculum materials. An approval from Head of Lower School is needed for all curriculum materials order requests.
Ordering materials – order requests are submitted through the ORDER form online.
LS VISA – ordering items using the LS VISA is done in the LS Office. Always email the confirmation order or receipt to Lyn. If possible, no paper copy.
PGD – submit a proposal for a professional growth development through the online PGD form. An approval from the Head of Lower School is necessary before registering for any professional growth development opportunities.
LS FORMS are accessible through the Weekly Memo’s “Important Links”: LS Common Forms & other Relevant Information
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.
A helpful tool can be found in the OES website for employees to save time searching different sites when you need to access the basic forms like check request, catering, maintenance requests and other resources.
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