Weekly Memo
Weekly Memo 3, August 31 - September 7, 2018
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We apologize for BY/IY meetings Thursday. We have heard clearly from faculty, that especially with so many new teams, this week felt overwhelming. We welcome your feedback as we make notes for next years opening meetings.
LS Faculty Agreements
*Do what is best for the students
*Assume we are all doing our best at the moment and our intentions are positive*Do what is best for the students
*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
COMMUNITY
Open Classroom
*Early open for new families at 8:30
*Open Classroom 9:00 - 11:00
*Faculty meeting in BDH Art Room at 11:00
Open Classroom Locations
LS LIBRARY
*LS Art
*LS Music
*Librarian
PE - LS Main Lobby by the tall glass windows
Beginning Studio, Science and Spanish – respective classrooms
Chaplain and Student Support Team – area 36
Opening Day
Bell Tower Ceremony starts at 8:15
Typically it last until 9:00
Opening Day assignments
Specialists and support staff, you can find your Opening Day assignments here.
Specialists and Our First Week
The first day of school - students do not go to specialist classes, however, your specialist classes that day should check in with you and may join in the class for an activity or read a book.
Thursday and Friday - students will go to specialist classes unless the homeroom teacher and specialist teacher have made other arrangements.
1st Week Lunch
Homeroom teachers are asked to join their class for lunch and recess for the first week.
We ask ALL teachers to help with pick up at the end of the day for the first week. It is a all hands on deck to help make sure students are getting to the right place.
Dining Hall Health Alerts
Elaine has updated the allergy alert folders in the dining areas. She reminds us to review class allergies so you can check the allergen listing at the front of the line and help students choose safely.
Kate McClellan will be out the first 3 weeks of school
Joel Whitmore will work Thursday, 8/30 and Friday, 8/31.
Clara Baker will work 9/4 - 9/14, though on 9/6 she is only available from 7:30 - 10:00.
The All School Employee Directory has names and faces of each OES employee, searchable by name, department or office.
Substitute Teachers - Training Completed
Thanks you Chris, Kirstin, Lyn.
If you know anyone seeking a substitute teaching position, please direct them to the OES Employment page so they can apply.
Guest Teacher Folders
Make sure that in your Guest Teacher folder you have:
* a copy of your schedule, please add your duties
* a copy of your class health alerts
*a copy of the building operation instructions
*a copy of safety instructions
If you know anyone seeking a substitute teaching position, please direct them to the OES Employment page so they can apply.
Guest Teacher Folders
Make sure that in your Guest Teacher folder you have:
* a copy of your schedule, please add your duties
* a copy of your class health alerts
*a copy of the building operation instructions
*a copy of safety instructions
Teacher Websites and Blogs
We are researching communication tools for teacher sites and the Weekly Memo in hopes of finding a common user friendly platform. We are going to remove access to teacher sites in the parent portal until we have a new tool to use. Please do not spend a lot of time beautifying your current site as it may change. Do share access to your site with parents as needed or simply email them with important information
PROGRAM
LS Faculty Meeting
Monday, 9/3 - Holiday. No Meeting
Tuesday, 9/4 - Meeting in BDH Art Room, 11:00 - 11:45: Check-in on opening week, Recess Rodeo
Thursday, 9/6 - No formal meeting this Thursday. Chris, Kirstin and David will be in LS Conference Room Thursday for open check-in.
Monday, 9/10 - no meeting, BTSN preparations
Thursday, 9/13 - no meeting, BTSN recovery
Wednesday, 9/12, Back to School Night, 6:30 - 8:30pm
We will have a similar format to last year with 3 rotations for all parents which includes 55 min in classrooms, 25 minutes w/ specialists and 25 minutes for a state of Lower School address.
The Rotation:
Time
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Classroom
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Classroom
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Specialist
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State of LS
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Classroom
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Classrooms
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Dining Commons
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LS Library
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6:30-6:55
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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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PK, K,P
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3rd, 4th, 5th
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1st, 2nd
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7:30-7:55
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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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1st, 2nd
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3rd, 4th, 5th
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PK, K, P
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Announcements Summary
Jeffrey's Schedule - M, W, F mornings and T,Th afternoons in Lower School. Inverse in EC3. Sign up to spend some time with Jeffrey.
Building Heating and Cooling - Rod's reminders
EC3 invite - come check it out
Library- Lara's invitation to come during open library times, author visit
Extension - invitation to teach classes, recognition of evolution of program
Ari Announcement
All classroom teachers should have received an email from Ari with information about students with known learning profiles, some diagnosis information if and when appropriate, links to learning and support plans, history and summer information if he knows about it - tutoring, OT and SLP. Kirstin added some notes for her division.
When you can - He does need replies from many of you about collaborating times with and without students. Once he has all 19 teachers desired times he will start scheduling with an eye to begin by the end of September.
Continuing Calendar Fun
Several people have asked for the chapel csv or for Chapel to be added to their classroom google calendar. Please reach out to Chris for support in adding this event.
Chris can also help you set up a planning calendar by printing directly from your google calendar, if interested.
If you see errors, please let Chris know.
Classroom Set-up Guidelines
Several people have asked for the chapel csv or for Chapel to be added to their classroom google calendar. Please reach out to Chris for support in adding this event.
Chris can also help you set up a planning calendar by printing directly from your google calendar, if interested.
If you see errors, please let Chris know.
Classroom Set-up Guidelines
As you begin to set up your classroom, remember the guidelines we created for safety, energy efficiency and program support.
2018-19 Calendar
OES Administrative Calendar is updated.
PGD Days
As Peter mentioned in his opening remarks, all faculty are expected to be on campus in inquiry and design thinking workshops on October 12 and April 1.
As Peter mentioned in his opening remarks, all faculty are expected to be on campus in inquiry and design thinking workshops on October 12 and April 1.
Cultural Forces Inquiry Groups
Thank you for your good work at the retreat last week. Chris, Kirstin and David are taking your feedback and designing our monthly faculty meetings around it.
Summer Stipends
Please complete the Summer Stipend Follow-up Form to share your stipend work and request compensation for your days. Forms need to be completed by September 14.
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.
OPERATIONS
Emergency Preparedness
Thank you for your participation in Disaster Camp. I am glad to know we all have a better understanding of how to provide fro basic needs in the event a major disaster.
Hanging by your classroom door there should be a orange "Emergency Procedures" booklet with direction for initial emergency response. For emergency drills, you should also have a clipboard with your class list and a laminated green/yellow piece of paper.
Building Cleaning - Requests from Trent:
*Accumulate recycling near recycle bin so it is clear
*Gigi Sanden and Debby Harder will be regularly cleaning the LS Building this year. Introduce yourself when you see them - Employee Directory has their pictures.
*Accumulate recycling near recycle bin so it is clear
*Gigi Sanden and Debby Harder will be regularly cleaning the LS Building this year. Introduce yourself when you see them - Employee Directory has their pictures.
Parking
Starting on Open Classroom Day please plan on parking behind the gym or at SPARC. We need to leave the upper lot in front of the LS free for parent parking. See David if you have questions.
Volunteer Sign-ups
Welcome back to school! LS PAL is working on confirming all of your Room Parents. We are hoping to have them all secured by early next week. In the meantime, we would like you to start thinking about your volunteer needs for the year. April Gilster has sent a spreadsheet that will make it easier for your Room Parent to transfer your classrooms volunteer needs in to Sign Up. Below is a list of deadlines for submitting volunteer requests that we hope you can honor. We set the deadlines according to the LS RP Training and Back to School Night.
September 4– Teacher Responsibility
All classroom volunteer needs for the month of September only should be emailed directly to your class room parent. Please use linked spreadsheet.
September 21 – Teacher Responsibility
All classroom volunteer needs for the remainder of the school year should be emailed directly to your class room parent. Please use attached spreadsheet.
Thank you for all you do! Your Grade Level Reps and Room Parents are here to help in any way they can. Please let April know if you have any questions. April Gilster, LS PAL Chair 2018-2019, gilstera@icloud.com
Room Parents
Here is the list of LS Room Parents
Orders
From now on please use the LS Order Form to request new order requests.
The Order Form can be found in the Weekly Memo. You can also track information on your request through the Order Tracking Form.You all have access to your grade level, supplies and new teacher budgets. Please plan your purchases accordingly. Know we also have LS curriculum and LS supplies budgets which are intended for purchases to be used beyond a single grade level.
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 taller
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. Shelves and other free-standing vertical elements need to be less than 48” tall. If an item is 48” or taller
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.
Be aware of the carpet trip hazards. Any carpeting with curling potential needs to be clearly out of paths of travel.
Manage your cord tripping hazards carefully
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
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.
