Harrison Park Post

Thank you to our Equity team for putting on our PD today!  Over the break an elf spent four hours cleaning up teacher work areas. Please be mindful of the workroom and be sure to clean up any messes you may make. This is a common area and needs to be maintained by everyone.  The fire marshall was in over the break as well and shared that we need to ensure nothing is being placed on heaters. This is ALL objects, but especially paper. A note was placed in the workroom near the heater to remind people of this and we have already had paper placed on top of the heater. This is a safety issue and we need to be sure to comply.  Staff if you are in need of securing the Conference Room for meetings etc. please be sure to contact Shannon to schedule. We have several people who are using it regularly for groups, etc. and want to avoid any conflicts.  Our lost and found is overflowing. Teachers as you are in the hallways with your classes, please stop and see if any of the items...

Welcome Back! It was good to see many of you looking a bit more relaxed today. I hope your day went well. Please remember to turn in your conference attendance to me, or Shannon. Thank you to those who have already done so. We are not doing annoucements to release students over the intercom any longer. As a reminder the first bell at 3:10 is for our bus riders and students attending Champions. Please be sure to get these students out the door at that time. We had some stragglers today and as a result had a bus that needed to return to the school to drop of a student who could not be dropped off because their sibling did not make the bus. We are trying to get the buses on their way by 3:18 as it helps with traffic. Please take a minute to remind your bus riders they need to HUSTLE. Thank you to those of you who went over expectations with your students today. Please make sure to do a double dose tomorrow and a booster would not hurt on Wednesday! Staff meeting is tomorrow. We wi...

Monday the 29th ASERT @ 3:30 Tuesday the 30th Staff Meeting @ 3:30 Wednesday the 1st ILCT @ 7:55 Thursday the 2nd Leah Out @ Meetings (Afternoon) SEGC Meeting @ 6:00 Friday the 3rd It looks like the Blog is having some formatting issues (okay it is probably the Blogger). I hope you all had a peaceful fall break and Thanksgiving. I know the hours of conferences are a lot and they can defintely be draining. With that said, several of you reported positive interactions and this makes all of the work worth it! I know our parents appreciate your work with their kids. On to three weeks of instruction and another vacation. I have found the next three weeks can be difficult instructionally, or they can be a sweet spot.This is a time of year we may feel down a bit and find ourselves "flying by the seat of our pants". I admit I did this a few years while teaching and the weeks between Thanksgiving and winter break were not fun. The years I buckled down and focused on planning and...

I hope conferences are going well. I see that there are many families that may not have made appointments. I am hoping if you use some time tomorrow to reach out to these families through phone calls, or even email, to let them know they were missed. I know these days can be exhausting, but communication with families is key in our partnership.    Kim Jarvis, our TAG Coordinator, sent this out today but it bears repeating:  Dear Colleagues,  Sorry for the late notice, but this is the link to the Google Form you are supposed to give to the parents of your TAG students during conferences. https://docs.google.com/ document/d/ 1ZuyDYTsIsBA37icFgwWLmtKArrPUG sgGNEGyvNiSocs/edit?usp= sharing Emily will be working from home tomorrow. I am in meetings for much of the day and will not be available on Tuesday after 6:00. I am up in the air about when I will be in the building, but it will most likely be from 12:30-3:30. Just letting you know.  We would like to welcom...

 Monday the 22nd Conferences from 8:00-11:30, 12:30-4:00, 5:00-8:00 Tuesday the 23rd Conferences from 8:00-11:30, 12:30-4:00, 5:00-8:00 The building will be open on Wednesday the 24th from 8:00-4:00. However, unless it is imperative you need to be in the building we are asking people try not to come in. The first reason is YOU NEED A BREAK. The second reason is I would like for the custodians to have some time to accomplish work and to get out as early as possible. For those working from the building during conferences please make sure you turn off lights, close windows and exit the building by 8:15.  Thank you to those of you who let me know if you were planning on coming into the building for conferences. I have shared this information with our custodians and the people from facilities who will be in on Monday to do some planning/work. If you have decided to come in and didn't let me know shoot me an email so I can keep them updated.  K-5 Conference forms should have be...

Tomorrow is a FRIDAY. It is a full moon tonight. Kids are off a bit because of the break...we are off a bit because we are all feeling pushed to our limits. Take some time tonight to relax. We got this. Our Lock Out Drill is tomorrow at 2:30. Students should remain inside the school and things should be "business as usual" within the building. We do ask students remain in the room as much as possible but in the event a student has to use the restroom etc. they may go. If you have a recess at this time we ask that you are in by 2:25 to alleviate any issues. Per the protocol if you were outside we would bring you in. Teachers should be alert to any situations in the building and outside their room. We do ask you take attendance. If you have a student missing please call the office and let them know. Admin/Support staff will secure the premises and will let everyone know when the drill is over.  I will potentially be here from 7:45-8:45 tomorrow morning and will then be leaving ...

Emily and I will be in Leadership today. It is virtual so we are in the building, but in the event of an emergency we will be available.  We will be changing the Lock In Drill to 2:30 on Friday. We will have families coming to pick up food boxes on this day.  Shannon sent out the retake schedule. There are extra copies available in the office. Please have your kids ready at the stated time. We will work to have someone come and pick your kids up (K-3) for their pictures and help return them to class. 4th grade and up please send students on their own to the auditorium. 

 We will be doing a Lockout Drill on Friday. We plan to do this drill at 2:45 on Friday afternoon. As a reminder a Lockout Drill means we secure the perimeter. Students should remain in their classrooms and access to hallways, bathrooms, etc. should be limited. The goal is to keep danger from outside of the building from entering. This could be police activity in the neighborhood etc. We are choosing to do this at this time as another way to keep the halls clear at the end of the day on Friday before a long break. Let me know if you have concerns. When setting up your Google Link for conferences you will need to take a step to ensure you have a "waiting room" for those who scheduled to see you. This would be in the event they are early, or your other conference is running a tad late. Monica can guide you through this process, but here is a quick go by:  Google Meet doesn't actually call it a waiting room, like Zoom does.  You'll go into the gear/cog on your Google Mee...

One of the biggest weights of my job is often having information that is partial or is yet to come. Do you share this information and add to people's anxiety? Wait until there are more details? There is never an easy answer. Over the last two weeks there has been some discussion around boundary changes among district folk, the school board, the SEGC, principals etc. One of the things that has come up is pausing the work of the last 18 months. I want to share with you that it was brought to my attention late this afternoon that this is on the agenda for  tomorrow night's school board meeting. I know there are varying opinions on staff in regards to this shift. I have my own opinions, but as the leader of the building want to ensure you are all aware of this. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Here is the link to the district's page as well:  https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/915?meeting=504935   As you are scheduling conferences pleas...

  Monday the 15th SIT @ 3:30 Tuesday the 16th Staff Meeting @ 3:30- Details will be announced  Wednesday the 17th ILCT @ 3:30 Thursday the 18th Leah & Emily @ Leadership (Virtual) SEGC 6-9 (can view on YouTube) Friday the 19th I hope you had a solid weekend. I was able to address a lot of emails/paperwork on Friday and feel like I can get through another week. I hope you felt Friday was productive and the extra time for conference prep  was helpful.  Our staff meeting on Tuesday is slated for additional time to prepare for conferences. We may have a short check in at 3:30 and will definitely be available to answer any questions in regards to conferences. We have made a big push to schedule our families who need interpreters and sent out messaging directly to those families over the weekend. A message will go out to families tonight, or tomorrow morning that do not need interpretation to begin scheduling. I know some of you have already reached out to your fa...

I will be out of the building until approximately 12:30 tomorrow. Emily will be leaving around 1:30. An admin will be on site throughout the day, but wanted you to be aware of this.   Safety Team meeting met this morning and brought up the red lights on air filters. There are several filters in each unit. One filter is easy to remove and can be cleaned by the user. We are not asking you to do this, but are sharing this information. Some units were placed in your room with instructions, while others were not. We did send out the instruction manual earlier. If you are in need of this let Shannon know. With all of that being said, there is no clear information at this time on who will be servicing these units. Tino is working on getting some answers and we will do the same. Some units have been in use since last April, while others have only been in use since September. Unfortunately, this is not something that was clearly tracked. We will keep you updated on any information we r...

  Monday the 8th ASERT @ 7:55  Tuesday the 9th Safety Team Meeting @ 8:00 Staff Meeting @ 3:30 PTA Meeting @ 6:00 Wednesday the 10th Thursday the 11th No School-Veteran's Day Friday the 12th No Students- Staff PD Day Lunch Service- Kempster, Wickstrom, Kunz, Schulze I hope Friday was a productive day for all of you and you were able to catch your breath and get a few things accomplished. I was able to celebrate the weekend with my family and honor my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was a busy weekend and I am hoping to use today to catch up on a few things myself. May this next week fly by! As you know Friday has been added as a staff PD day. Teaching staff and para educators are scheduled for PD in the morning. School directed PD is to take place for one hour in the afternoon, with the rest of the afternoon being work/collaboration time for staff. We will be using our hour as time for conference preparation. More details to follow.  Tomorrow is the first day of...

Tomorrow is a work day for all employees. In the event you can accomplish your work at home the district has said that is fine. Staff who are unable to complete tasks at home should report to work. PFSP staff please let me know if you have questions. I know I did check in with most of you. As a reminder middle school grades are due on the 8th. Conference forms/notes that need to be translated have to be completed by 10:00 on November 12th. This is to ensure we have time to review them. We need all Conference Forms done by the 17th of November.   Please remember if you are sending students out of your class during your class time that they have a blue pass. We are finding many students in the hall without a pass. It is imperative with our contract tracing that we know where students are at all times. If you need more blue passes they are in the office.

 Just want to make sure all staff is aware that Conference Forms that need to be translated have to be completed by 10:00 on November 12th. We need all Conference Forms done by the 17th of November.  The counselors are hoping to carve out some time tomorrow to work on student schedules for the new term that begins on Monday. Please be aware their availability tomorrow may be limited.  Lindsay sent out an email about letting her know if students need winter coats. Please reach out to her if you see a need for resources your students may need.  Please make sure you have sent picture packets home.  I will be sending a notice home over the weekend about toys at school. Our policy is that students should not bring them. I am hearing Bay Blades (no idea how to spell that) are causing some issues. Just letting you know.  I feel like there are several other items I am forgetting right now...

I am having some issues with the Blogger formatting. I apologize for how clunky it is today.  Please see the link in the email in regards to Conference Forms/Folders.    If you have your emergency sub folders/binders done all of this should be included in this, but I wanted to share what was sent out by the district as well: REMINDERS FOR PREPARING FOR SUBSTITUTE EDUCATORS As you may know, PPS and many other surrounding districts are experiencing a shortage of substitute educators. We are in the process of hiring emergency substitute educators. Setting substitutes up for success in your absence will help us retain them. Below are some reminders for planning for a substitute educator and should be included in your substitute folder or your Guest Teacher CLASSROOM Support Plan. Please share with your teachers. Seating Chart: Please print out a seating chart from Synergy with names and faces of your students. This will help the substitutes keep better track of who’s wh...

K-5 teachers please take time this week (maybe more, if needed) to review with your class lunch (page 1) expectations (before they leave for lunch) and PM recess (page 2) expectations (before or during recess time). Lunch Duty and Lunch Recess Duty will also be going over these expectations with students during their lunch and recess. Teachers, if you are noticing that a student is not coming to school with a mask or is going through lots of masks, please reach out to their families to remind them of sending them to school with a mask and some extras. We are going through many masks and our supply is running low. The matrix is attached in this the email. Hello! It's TAG nomination time! Here is the link for the Teacher form for TAG nominations this year. Parents have been given access to parent form, so they might be nominating some of your students! Remember all nominations need to be in by Dec. 3, 2021! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpezeI7Bf4jQHi-KZOGmUDkels...