Weekly Forecast for December 13th-17th

 Monday the 13th

Tuesday the 14th

Staff Meeting @ 3:30

Wednesday the 15th

Midweek Dessert Bar 10:45-4:30 

ILCT @ 3:30

Thursday the 16th

Safety Team Meeting @ 8:00 (note day change)

SEGC  Meeting 6-9 (Available on YouTube)

PAT Boundary Change Forum/Input Session @ 4:00 (I will get details as this has changed)

Friday the 17th

Annual Winter Carnival All Day (See Schedule)

No Specials, ESL, or Reading for K-5 students

All Probationary Evaluations Due

Lunch Service This Week-Jarvis, Holt-Seavy, Steeves, DaRosa

I hope you were able to accomplish a lot this weekend around your homes and got some fun in as well. This week will drag on and fly by at the same time. Hold on tight a well deserved break is coming. 

• We have talked about this recently but it bares repeating. Keep things as consistent in your classrooms this week as possible. Time and time again we have learned our students do best when there is a schedule and they know what to expect. Avoid down time, free time, choice time, etc. as much as possible this week. Keep minds active and have students engaged in instruction. Friday is the one day we can let down and send students off on a positive note. Along the same vein, be mindful of discussion and language you are using with our students. Remember many may not be looking forward to two weeks away from school and are anxious about the unknown. Our kids may face food insecurity, heat issues etc. over the break and family discontent. If students bring this up take the time to talk to them about it and let the counselors or Lindsay our Social Worker know. Students anxiety may come out in behaviors, so be aware of this and ask yourself about the function of the behavior this week. 

Installment #3 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break" 

In the last installment, I advised everyone to make a list of EVERYTHING you need to accomplish for work this next week. Take a second to prioritize this list. This week focus on being productive and accomplishing items on your list. PLCs won't be meeting, for the most part, so use this time to check something off your list. Get to work at 7:45 and FOCUS during this time. This may mean shutting your door or setting boundaries with coworkers (THIS IS SOOOOO HARD). It is okay to say, "I am really trying to get this done and need to focus. Can we talk later?" 

Look at your schedule for the week and identify one day you could potentially stay later than normal to get things done. When I was teaching I tried my hardest not to take work home and to leave it at school.  I found one or two days a month I would stay at work until 6:00 to get things done. I would leave at the end of the contract day, go grab a treat and return to my classroom shut the door and spend a solid four hours catching up. Please know I am not asking you to do this, but in my opinion spending one or two days a month doing this is way better then letting the job consume your evenings at home several nights a week. Investing a few extra hours this week may allow you to have two weeks of relaxation. 

 Departures and Changes

• I don't want to put this in writing because it makes it official. Grady Holt-Seavy's last day at Harrison Park will be Tuesday. As you may know he has been coaching at Franklin and they had a Social Studies position open up. He interviewed for the position and was hired. Grady has had a big impact on his students here at Harrison Park and will be missed. He is a steady force in our middle school and I wish him luck on the next step in his journey. 
• We have hired for his position, but the candidate is in a contract in Southern Oregon until the end of the Semester. I have secured a guest teacher, Laurie O'Melia,  who will begin on Wednesday and be with us through the end of January.
• Dave Molloy will begin teaching Grady's 6th period Tech Team Elective for the remainder of the year.
• Starting after Winter Break Tavares Hubbard, our Therapeutic Intervention Coach, will begin focusing on middle school students. He remains in the same position, but will address needs at the middle school level. Danelle Hauth, will step into a new role as a Therapeutic Intervention Coach for students in K-5. 
• We are finishing up the hiring process (I have a candidate identified) to fill Danelle's current position. This person will continue to do planned/earned breaks, check in and check outs, etc. with students. 
• And now I can focus and finalize hiring for a .5 EA who will help cover lunch/recess duties and work with students who need more academic support. More details once this person is in place. 

All Things Carnival

• Speaking of Friday, please remember all students get to attend this event. The purpose is to send kids off with something positive. No student should be sidelined or put in another classroom while your class attends. If you have any questions or concerns please see Leah or Emily.
• There will not be specials, reading or ESL for students in grades K-5 on Friday. The middle school schedule will remain the same, however we will be shoring up the 6th grade attendance time. 
• K-5 teachers we ask that you bring your class down at the stated time promptly. If you arrive early, your class will have to wait in line to enter. I strongly encourage you to attend this event with your students and believe everyone should have their mandatory planning time for the week. If you need to use the restroom, grab a few copies, etc. you are welcome to do it during this time. 

4th-9:10-9:45

1st-9:50-10:25

2nd-10:30-11:05

5th-11:10-11:45

Kinder-11:50-12:25

3rd-12:30-1:05

Please note we will be working on a middle school lunch, carnival transition plan and will share with the MS team this week

6th-1:15-1:50

7th-1:55-2:30

8th-2:35-3:05 

• ESL, Specials and Reading teachers plan on attending your normal duties. We will be sharing your schedule for the day directly with you. 

Non-Carnival Announcements

• Lindsay Alex is working to get food and some additional items ready to send home with families at the end of this week. 
• Please be sure to turn in all receipts, leave forms, extended hours, etc to Shannon as soon as possible this week. She would like to get things taken care of and caught up before she leaves for the break. She has a lot of book keeping to do this week and the sooner she can have these things the better. 
• Theresa has sent (or will be sending) info on PLCs this week. We will meet shortly with K/1 but otherwise the time is yours to take care of things on your school to do list. 
• Harrison Park was asked to pilot the district's new contract tracing plan. I worked with this team on Friday to go over how we are currently contact tracing in the building. This team is supposed to take the work of contract tracing off administration/office staff's plate. I am interested to see how this plays out. Anyway, I expressed to the team that emailing teachers is not always the best way to contact teachers, especially when we are trying to get information quickly. I explained that texting or calling teachers was usually a faster and more effective way. This is especially true in the event of a case we have to trace over the weekend. Please let me know (via email or text) if you do not want me to share your information with the contact tracers. Please note I would only share it out IF there was a case they needed to contact you with. 
• Shannon will be sending information out about infractions from our fire inspection report to people that need to address things directly.  If you receive an email from her please address any of the issues mentioned. I had one in my office...wait two. 
• SUN classes have ended for the Fall and will reconvene in January. More information to come. 
• Thank you Georgie for spreading holiday cheer and organizing the exchange. I know it will bring smiles to many faces this week. 
• Emily and I have been working hard to wrap up the first round of probationary evaluations. We will meet the deadline of this Friday. Please note this may take us off line a bit this week.
• I have a few district meetings/appointments outside the building this week and will share out in the Nightly in regards to these. 
• As a reminder if you are an employee who does not put into ASEOP for a substitute please be sure to communicate with Shannon and/or Leah of your absence. There were a few times this week we did not know of someone's absence until later in the day. Also, please try your best to reach out to others to help cover duties. It is a good idea to have these people as your go tos in the event of an emergency.