Weekly Forecast for April 24th-28th

 Monday the 24th

Leah @ District Office until 12:00

Tuesday the 25th

AVID 8th Field Trip

5th Grade OSAS Testing (Science)

3/4 DLI Testing

Cadres @ 3:30

Wednesday the 26th

Administrative Assistance/Office Staff Appreciation Day

Leah @ Learning Walks until 1:00

Gardening w/ Max

3/4 DLI Testing

Thursday the 27th

Safety Team Meeting @ 8:00

3/4 DLI Testing

Friday the 28th

Jill's Last Day @ HP

3rd Grade Monthly Awards @ 10:00

Optional OSAS Set Up Meeting @ 7:55

Lunch Service- Jarvis, Cardwell, Kempster

I am getting an early start on this as I am in the building for Madagascar set building. Thank you to Cami, Mike and Kelly F. for coming to support set building.  It is fun to see Taborvilla Little League in action as well! I miss those days. I also want to thank staff for warmly welcoming Tara. She is excited to begin her work with us. 

• If you have not looked at the weather report for next week I advise you to do so. It is going to be amazing. This has been a cold and wet spring thus far and we all need some vitamin D. I encourage you to use this weather as a positive incentive for your students towards the end of the week when it is supposed to hit 80. Feel free to have kids earn an extra 15 minute recess OR an additional 15 minutes tacked on to their usual class recess. With that being said, a few reminders as we head into better weather and the last month and a half of the school year:

Please do not take classes out when others are scheduled for the playground. If there is a conflict in time you are welcome to take your entire class to the baseball field to the north of the school (our property still), the school garden, the large courtyard, etc. We want to avoid having too many classes out at any given time. 

Be aware of the noise level of your class. Classes whose windows are along the playground get a lot of excess noise during the day. As we head into state testing we want to ensure they are able to focus if this is the case.

Extra recess should be a reward and at most happen every so often (think once a week at most or every other week). If we do this all the time the novelty wears off....plus we have learning to do!

If you are taking a class out for a recess, learning walks, etc. outside of your regularly scheduled times you need to call the office to let them know of your whereabouts and post a note on your door. This is to ensure we know where you are at in the event a parent comes to pick up a student and for safety reasons. 

Walks to the park (Harrison Park), or off campus, need to be approved by administration and the appropriate number of adults present. This is one adult for every ten students. Walking field trip permission slips need to be on file and parents made aware. Again, this is a safety and liability issue. 

Please be aware if you are taking kids out for an extra recess it does not impact Reading Intervention, ESL time and other push ins/pulls outs.

Finally, middle school teachers need to coordinate this type of reward.  If four of the six teachers give students a 15 minute extra recess/reward it equates to an hour. This also can send a message that we are easing up on things and the mentality can quickly turn into the year is over. We encourage you to talk to your grade level teams and collaborate in the event his is something you decide to do. 

Again, we want to give students some sun time, but we have to be mindful of "burning" ourselves on this slippery slope. I would say a good rule of thumb is once a week at most for K-2, every other week for 3rd and up.

• We will begin utilizing our schedule for support staff this week. Support Staff Schedule . Office staff will be using this schedule to dispatch support to classrooms. When calling the office please be sure to share the name of the student and the purpose of support (and any other necessary information). Office staff will determine who to send based on availability. Prior to calling the office we ask you lean on Tier I supports/interventions within your classroom (Calming Corner, Buddy Classroom, etc.). Behaviors and emotional needs of concern that are not in need of immediate support should be shared with the appropriate person via email, text or phone call directly to that person. Please bare in mind at any given time several large issues may need attention and office staff will do their best to dispatch calls based on the highest need.

• As a reminder when sending students in need of support to another staff member you should call that person directly to determine if they are available. Do not send students to another staff member unless you have made contact. 

• K-5 classes we will be putting a copy of your notes from Tuesday's staff meeting in your boxes and will be checking in with you at some point this week around this. 

• Mary Del Rio’s celebration of life will take place Thursday May 4 2023. It will be at 11:00 am with a Rosary at 10:30 am @  St Henry Catholic Church. The address is 346 NW 1st St, Gresham, OR 97030. After the Mass if you would like to attend the burial, it will be at Forest Lawn Cemetery and Mausoleum. The address is 400 SW Walter's Dr, Gresham OR 97080. 

• This is from district Nutrition Services: A kind reminder for school staff to alert the kitchen as soon as they know there will be an upcoming field trip.  Kitchen staff plan their menus and food orders at least two weeks in advance, not only for preparing sack lunches but to also help reduce the amount of food made during the regular lunch periods if they know classes or grades will be on a field trip.  The Nutrition Services team will also check in with staff about the field trip about pick up times, method of serving the meals and food safety (cooler/refrigeration available), etc.