Weekly Memo
Weekly Memo Week 42, June 12-16, 2017
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Can you believe we are actually at the week of parties and promotion. Best of luck ending the year with reflections and celebrations. Remember our 9:00am Promotion start time on Friday.
The 5th graders are finishing their Lower School days with two wonderful gifts. Last week’s Art Sale raised over $1,600 to support refugees entering Portland. Last Friday, the 5th graders finished building the GaGa court. It is now open for play. The 5th graders will be posting rules this week.
Thank you to the PE Team for three fun and miraculously rain free field days.
As a collaborative professional community Lower Faculty Employees will strive to:
- 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
COMMUNITY
Art Fair to Benefit Refugee Care Collective
What an amazing, high spirited exercising of our power for good. Thank you to Tash, her class and all the artists and supporters.
Important Documents!
GaGa Court on ACP
The 5th graders finished building the GaGa pit on ACP Friday afternoon. The GaGa Court is their farewell gift to Lower School. They were inspired by the fun they had playing GaGa at Camp Orkila. As a part of their gift, they will teach classes how to play the game. We have posted the game rules on the side of the GaGa Court. More copies have been made and we are waiting for more cold laminate so the rules will be displayed on multiple side of the pit. Game rules will also be delivered into homeroom teacher’s boxes.
Common Areas Reminder
Assessment Season is upon us and that means many teachers are reading with their students in the halls. If you could please remind your students as they walk from place to place to do so with quiet feet - that would be very appreciated. And like always - if you would like a second pair of eyes on an assessment Ari is always happy to provide those eyes.
Summer Building Use
Kati has figured out which spaces will be use for what camps this summer. She is spreading use around the whole campus. Review the speadsheet link and let Kati or David know if you have any questions. She tried to let teachers teach camp in their own rooms.
Packing Up for Summer
While many rooms are not planned to be used this summer, everyone should do some basic packing as it is possible that additional rooms may be needed as the summer progresses.
- Electronics secures
- Personal items stored away
- With only one lockable closet in each room, we can supply zipties if you need to secure additional closets.
Student Support
Some of our First Grade students need some extra support. We would like to ask that you keep a particular eye out for Alex Ji, Aaron Stein, Andy Bryant and Juliette Bull. Specialists, these children will also require heightened supervision in your classes. See Kirstin’s email for more details. Please check in with Katherine or Kirstin if you have questions or observations.
Major Lower School Rules
The following infractions are considered serious and could result in a range of consequences including dismissal from the school. Unless otherwise stated, these rules apply to conduct at all school-related events both on and off campus.
Verbal abuse, physical abuse, bullying, or inappropriate physical touch.
Lying, deceit, or other dishonest conduct
Destruction of property belonging to the School, its personnel, or another student
Stealing
Inappropriate language
Possession or use of weapons or any object that is used in a threatening manner
PROGRAM
EOY APPRECIATION BREAKFAST - Place your order reminder!
EOY Faculty Meeting Agenda - posted in the faculty lounge
Open Space--End of Year Meeting
You may have noticed the sign-up sheets in the LS Faculty Lounge. These are for an Open Space time during our LS Meeting on 6/20. 8:45-10:00 will be a time for teachers and Assistant Teachers to learn from and dialogue with each other in two 30-min. sessions. There will be 8 offerings to choose from during each of the two rotations. Please consider hosting a 30 min. session by writing your topic/question up on the Marketplace Wall in the Faculty Lounge.
End of Year Assessments to Pass up
Please only pass out these assessments. All other student work should go home.
- A grade level agreed upon EoY math assessment
- DRA/F&P reading assessment
- Writing Sample--unedited. If edited, please attach 1st draft.
- Words Their Way Spelling Inventory (grades 1-4)
DRA/Fountas-Pinnell Assessment Entries
When you are done with the spring DRA (and Fountas and Pinnell) assessment, kindly enter your students’ DRA & Fountas & Pinell Scores - spring 2017 in the specified entry sheet with your name on it. Find your name by scrolling the arrow to the left or to the right.
Report Process
- Support long term subs
- We will have to turn in laptops on Wednesday morning - complete your laptop survey
- Jeffrey needs to review PCR formatting beginning at 9:00 am
- Jeffrey, Chris, Kirstin and David will need to have access to your original reports (in Google) and contact information in case there are corrections to be made
Report Proofing Plan
PCR locks at 9 am on Wed. 6/21, so please make sure your reports have been submitted and double checked to make sure each child has the correct information.
- Grade Level Classroom Teachers - proof each others
- Primary - Shelley proofs Chris O's
- Art - Chris proofs Margaret’s grades 3-5, Kirstin proofs Laura’s and Margaret grades 1-2
- Music - Kristen and Amy proof each others
- PE - Proof each others
- Spanish - Kelola proofs Alfredo’s. Chris proofs Kelola's.
- Science - David proofs Jane’s
- Look for a reporting checklist form to come from Jeffrey to guide you in your reporting deadlines.
- PreK, K, P, you will email your reports to parents between 4-5 pm on Friday 6/23. You will need to note the need for a loaner on your tech survey since laptops are due before that day. Tablets will also need to be turned in.
Laptop Turn In
Task
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Dates
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Laptops backed up by Faculty or Faculty with Tech Coordinator Assistance
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Now through 6/20
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Laptops turned in to divisional Tech Office
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6/16 through 8:00am 6/21
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Processed by Tech Department
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6/21 through completion
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Tested and Ready for Pickup
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By the end of June
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Summer Stipends have been assigned. Kindly enter your Summer Stipend dates here. Lyn will refer to this spreadsheet when you are submitting your summer stipend completion form for payment in the fall. There are two documents you will need to submit to Lyn when you return in August in order to be paid for your time:
- Summer stipend completion form
- Summer report
End of the Year Library Info
- Everyone can check out for the summer during the week of June 12-16.
Duty Schedule 2017-2018
Chris is playing with a possible new duty schedule that could increase consistency and reduce the amount of duties. One duty everyday. Please fill out the form to let her know your choice of duties and feedback.
- Monday, 6/12 - No Faculty Meeting. Calendar Task Force, 3:30 in Tina’s Room
- Thursday, 6/15 - No Faculty Meeting
- Tuesday, 6/20 - LS FAculty Meeting 8:00am - 12:30pm
- Wednesday, 6/21 - LS Meeting 11:00am - 3:00pm
Office White Board
Please make sure you write your class location when leaving the building. This is for field trips, walks to wetlands/woods, visiting other divisions, etc. Thank you.
OPERATIONS
Drinking Fountain Issue
There has been a plumbing problem cropping up in the gym because of children washing their sandy hands in the drinking fountain outside the gym, causing the pipes to back up. The fountain is for drinking only--hand washing or filling sandbox containers should not happen in the drinking fountain. Thanks for your help in supervising this area.
Schedule for Days After School Closes
Friday, 6/16
- School Dismissed at 11:00. All to help with dismissal duty.
- Report writing in afternoon
Monday, 6/19
- Reports Writing/ Proofing Day
Tuesday, 6/20
- Reports Due 8:00 am
- LS Faculty Meeting - 8:00 - 12:30pm
- Report Proofing - 1:00 - 4:00pm
Wednesday, 6/21
- Reports loaded into PCR by 9:00 am
- AS Chapel 11:00
- AS Closing Lunch, 12:30 - 3:00
Safety Update - Active Shooter
- Are the shades too transparent? Can you see through them when the lights are out? May be particularly important in rooms adjacent to exterior stairwells.
- Shades are very effective - JVB, DL tested
- Does everyone know how to turn off their motion-sensor lights?
- JVB Research
- Doors are hard to lock from the inside.
- Practice - follow arrows
- Mudrooms/classroom doors and PreK/Kindergarten/Primary bathrooms don’t lock. Can high bolts be installed so kids don’t lock anyone out but teachers can bolt them as needed from inside?
- JVB - Looking into solution for securing
- Interior lock needed in storage room
- JVB - lock for door
- Teachers would like a copy of the standard response protocol (4 icons) for reference. Add to emergency clipboards?
- How do inner and outer gym doors lock?
- JVB checking options
- Do we need more silence in our drills or cues for emergency quiet?
- Practice
Some of the safest locations may be:
- Bathrooms (in-class bathrooms can be double locked by locking both bathroom and closet door; adult bathrooms on each floor are large and have no windows)
- Storage room on first floor (for kids in dining commons)
- Gym (Boys locker room locks from the inside--does the girls’?)
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
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.
Reminders: (New section for still-relevant information that was posted last week)
Resources About Upstanding
Some of you may be wondering how to address the tragedy and violence on the MAX line if or when it comes up in your classes this week. The question What helps people do the right thing when it’s hard to do? may be a good one for Community Conversations. We thought you might also appreciate these resources for talking to kids about what it means to be an upstander vs. a bystander:
- Edutopia’s 5 Min. Film Festival has short films for all ages on kindness and standing up to unkind behavior
- Teaching Tolerance’s Teacher Guide for educators who want to speak up
- For grades 3-8, Teaching Tolerance’s Dealing with Dilemmas: Upstanders, Bystanders and Whistle-Blowers lessons
- Here’s a particularly clear 4 min. animated video for all ages on being an upstander with four specific strategies (also included in the 5 min. film festival link)
- And here’s a powerful student-produced video for older students on the power of words and the small actions that can help those facing injustice (also included in the 5 min. film festival link)
Dori put together further resources:
Kira Newman outlines why and how we should talk to students of all ages about events like this one.
Offers activities to rehearse reacting to situations in the moment.
Another way to have students conduct role plays.
Define the term upstander.
Resources from Dori
Kira Newman outlines why and how we should talk to students of all ages about events like this one.
Lower School
Offers activities to rehearse reacting to situations in the moment.
Another way to have students conduct role plays.
Define the term upstander.
This guide offers some suggestions and a pocket guide to give adults some suggestions and strategies for speaking up about biased language.
Time to Read
Making Does Not (Necessarily) Equal Constructionism...interesting article as we consider the possibilities of Fariss Hall!
A Level is a Teacher’s Tool, Not a Child’s Label...so fascinating to see this article appear on the Fountas and Pinnell website! Since we are considering an all LS switch to F&P assessment, this is worth reading, particularly if you utilize leveled libraries in your classroom.
Any essay that contains this line really vaults up to the must-read list: “Collecting data on human learning based on children’s behavior in school is like collecting data on killer whales based on their behavior at Sea World.” This one should stir up some opinions for lively conversation at your team meetings! The essay is called “A Thousand Rivers” by Carol Black, and although (because?) you might not agree with all of it, you should read it.
Faculty Meeting Follow-up
If you missed it or need the link for the resource slides that Kirstin shared at the last LS Faculty meeting, you can access it here. Here are links to the books she referred to:
Additionally, a number of faculty across divisions are reading Thanks for the Feedback, which may also be of interest to you. (If you are on the Essential Competencies Task Force a copy has already been ordered for you).
A helpful tool is created 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.
