Harwood Staff Blog, Update February 12, 2021

Oh the places you will go during the upcoming break! (Eric - this is what we call humor)

The YEWs working at spreading the groove of valentine stress scrunchi (this is French for those who dont know)

Team Harwood; 

The work of cultivating a community where all feel safe - seen, heard, respected and understood starts with physically being present at school.

Upcoming Assembly informtion:  TA on Wednesday 2/17 at 9am...  

Here is the link:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwfzjB2gkGQGtnegEeDr02dyGKy3SdIZi

While this year has been filled with challenges and struggles there are many successes happening as well:

• This week 2 of our students returned to school after being truant since November.  After a true wrap around CSP meeting the team was successfully able to identify what the family needed in order to feel safe coming back to school while maining clear expectations about attendance.

• Last week 23 athletes missed their Wednesday TA.  As per our attendance policy - this resulted in their not being able to participate in practice that night.  This week only 6 student athletes missed practice.

• Another student had 11 days of attendance between 9/16/20-1/8/21; and now, after a CSP meeting has been in attendance 18 days including the last 11 straight and is now making academic progress!

 

• One truant student who had not been marked present until 12/8 had the CSP and has only been absent 3 times since!

 

• A Harwood Middle Schooler didn't attend a day in person between 10/30- 12/21, had a CSP and since returning on 1/4 from break, has only missed 1 in person day due to illness. 

 

• Another High School student missed 16 in-person days between 10/8- 1/15 and after a meeting has made every day in-person since.

 

A HUGE shout out to the incredible work being done to support our students in walking through the doors and being marked in attendance!  The system of tracking students who are or not present is allowing us to ensure we are identifying who isn’t here and what we need to do in order to get them to Harwood.

Additional shout outs for the week:

• Tedin Lange, Kate Stauss, Tari Priddy, and Alex Rawson for supporting students through Course Completion blocks during Semester 1.

• Katie Pike, Chelsea Turley, and Matt Henchen for going above and beyond class time to support additional course completion for students.

• Genevieve and Erin for creating a beautiful message to express our care of one student whose serious health condition means he can’t be with us right now.

• Ellen, Alex, and Genevieve for leading the charge to bring to fruition the 9th grade transition video for our rising class of 2025!

• Rachael Potts for all her work through TA lessons to promote a community where all feel safe - seen, heard, respected and understood and honor the work of MLK.

• For Duane's wisdom, and wonderings around the building.. (what does he do again?)

With ongoing gratitude for your partnership,

Meg, Laurie and Duane

Curious  

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Plans for February break	Please reach out and let Duane, Meg and/or Laurie know if you will need to quarantine after February break so we can plan accordingly.	Meg, Laurie or Duane
What will our 3/3 schedule look like - given that it’s the first day back from break?	Please sign students up for ELO in advance of break and ensure they are informed.   Prioritize students who would benefit from some pre-teaching or are in need of remediation or making up work as we return from break.     When planning to meet with students, please make sure they are rostered in Adaptive Scheduler.  This data is critical in the discussion of ELO use.

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Plans for February break

Please reach out and let Duane, Meg and/or Laurie know if you will need to quarantine after February break so we can plan accordingly.  

Meg, Laurie or Duane

What will our 3/3 schedule look like - given that it’s the first day back from break?

Please sign students up for ELO in advance of break and ensure they are informed.

 

Prioritize students who would benefit from some pre-teaching or are in need of remediation or making up work as we return from break.  

 

When planning to meet with students, please make sure they are rostered in Adaptive Scheduler.  This data is critical in the discussion of ELO use.

Caring 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Free Meals For Children 18 & Younger	Did you know you can get free breakfasts and lunches for your children 18 and under? That includes littles not yet enrolled in school! Sign up for meals here.  Free meals are not only for families in need, and you won’t be “taking away” a meal from someone in need if you decide to get a meal for your child(ren).   Please take advantage of this wonderful benefit, the more meals served, the better it is for the HUUSD Food & Nutrition Program.	Paul Morris
Teacher Advisory	And now for something truly special from the YEWs! Fitting with the theme of kindness and love for February; the YEWs have created a small gift bag for every Harwood student to support their theme of “Love Yourself”! Here’s what they would like TA teachers to do On Monday, 2/15 please pick up the gifts for your TA students who attend advisory in the Wellness Center before TA. Show this very short video before you share the gifts with your TA Optional...have a conversation with your students about why it is important to love yourself and how they can do this. Please be sure to thank your Harwood YEWs for all of their kindness and work to make everyone feel special! 2021 MLK Activity Update! The heart hands have proven to be a very time consuming project for our volunteer students so they are taking a bit longer to get to all of you. We appreciate your patience with this. As we know our students are busy humans and this is above and beyond. You should have these in your mailbox on Monday in order to complete the second prompt on Tuesday with your black cohort.  As a reminder, here is the activity... In response to the “I Have a Dream Speech” You should have received Stars (yellow) and squares (red, white and blue) to respond to this prompt: Based on inspiration from the speech and your experiences in the past, please share some examples of times when you have participated in nonviolent resistance, volunteer/service work, and/or racial justice AND Why you participated. You will receive heart hands (different shades of brown) to respond to the second prompt: What can we do at Harwood to make sure everyone feels a sense of belonging to our community? (All members are seen, heard, valued and respected). And… protest signs (red rectangles) are for the third prompt: How can students get more involved in social justice work right now? We encourage you to take time to discuss your responses to the prompts (we are hoping staff will add their responses too!) Please leave completed pieces in Rachael or Ellen’s mailbox by Friday 2/19. The amazing sophomore committee will be creating the remainder of the mural with your contributions. Remote Wednesday Resources It was great to hear folks share ideas for our Remote Wednesday advisory. It would be great if we could “crowd source” these ideas for one another. I have created a Google Doc with a few of these ideas. If you have a moment please add some of your greatest hits. We are far greater as a community when we share ideas! Questions of the week: What are you looking forward to for February break? What destination is at the top of your list to visit? If you could have the attention of the world for one minute, what would you say? If you had to walk away from one technology in life, what would it be? What is one thing you wish you could do more often? What do you wish you had spent more time doing when you were younger?	Ellen Berrings
Health Office Updates	Below are the HUUSD food expectations we will have after February break:  Families should contact their child’s teacher/teachers to notify them that food will be sent in with their child. Foods that are prepackaged can be sent in for consumption at school.  Food should be consumed during snack time or regular lunch time or could be set home for consumption.  No homemade treats may be sent in for sharing with students. Teachers/staff must distribute the prepackaged goods to students.  Non-food items can be sent in for celebrations and are encouraged as an alternative to food/treats. Per the Strong and Healthy Start guidance, classroom share tables to include foods that were served for breakfast and lunch are permitted.   Share tables may be used for unwanted food items that are wrapped, have peels, or can be re-washed before serving. Follow all regular share table guidance. During the 2020-21 school year, wrapped items or fruits with peels do not need to be sanitized between being placed on the share table and being taken by students. However, items with edible peels such as apples and pears should be returned to the kitchen for washing before being offered for consumption. Items that are not wrapped, peelable or washable should not be placed on the share tables at all. (p.35) Classrooms share tables can also include prepackaged snacks brought in by teachers and staff for students who do not have a regular snack for the day. Classroom allergies should be considered when these items are brought to school.  Staff may not bring in self-serve foods.   Any food brought in for staff must be individually packaged and distributed to staff.  There should be no congregating around food (i.e. staff workroom or office displays of food).  This document can be minimum and we work from here.	Amanda & Tracy

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Free Meals

For Children 18 & Younger

Did you know you can get free breakfasts and lunches for your children 18 and under? That includes littles not yet enrolled in school! Sign up for meals here.  Free meals are not only for families in need, and you won’t be “taking away” a meal from someone in need if you decide to get a meal for your child(ren).   Please take advantage of this wonderful benefit, the more meals served, the better it is for the HUUSD Food & Nutrition Program. 

Paul Morris

Teacher Advisory

And now for something truly special from the YEWs!

Fitting with the theme of kindness and love for February; the YEWs have created a small gift bag for every Harwood student to support their theme of “Love Yourself”! Here’s what they would like TA teachers to do

• On Monday, 2/15 please pick up the gifts for your TA students who attend advisory in the Wellness Center before TA.

• Show this very short video before you share the gifts with your TA

• Optional...have a conversation with your students about why it is important to love yourself and how they can do this.

Please be sure to thank your Harwood YEWs for all of their kindness and work to make everyone feel special!

2021 MLK Activity Update!

The heart hands have proven to be a very time consuming project for our volunteer students so they are taking a bit longer to get to all of you. We appreciate your patience with this. As we know our students are busy humans and this is above and beyond. You should have these in your mailbox on Monday in order to complete the second prompt on Tuesday with your black cohort. 

As a reminder, here is the activity...

In response to the “I Have a Dream Speech”

You should have received Stars (yellow) and squares (red, white and blue) to respond to this prompt: Based on inspiration from the speech and your experiences in the past, please share some examples of times when you have participated in nonviolent resistance, volunteer/service work, and/or racial justice AND Why you participated.

You will receive heart hands (different shades of brown) to respond to the second prompt: What can we do at Harwood to make sure everyone feels a sense of belonging to our community? (All members are seen, heard, valued and respected).

And…

protest signs (red rectangles) are for the third prompt: How can students get more involved in social justice work right now?

We encourage you to take time to discuss your responses to the prompts (we are hoping staff will add their responses too!)

Please leave completed pieces in Rachael or Ellen’s mailbox by Friday 2/19. The amazing sophomore committee will be creating the remainder of the mural with your contributions.

Remote Wednesday Resources

It was great to hear folks share ideas for our Remote Wednesday advisory. It would be great if we could “crowd source” these ideas for one another. I have created a Google Doc with a few of these ideas. If you have a moment please add some of your greatest hits. We are far greater as a community when we share ideas!

Questions of the week:

1. What are you looking forward to for February break?

2. What destination is at the top of your list to visit?

3. If you could have the attention of the world for one minute, what would you say?

4. If you had to walk away from one technology in life, what would it be?

5. What is one thing you wish you could do more often?

6. What do you wish you had spent more time doing when you were younger?

Ellen Berrings 

Health Office Updates

Below are the HUUSD food expectations we will have after February break: 

• Families should contact their child’s teacher/teachers to notify them that food will be sent in with their child. Foods that are prepackaged can be sent in for consumption at school. 

• Food should be consumed during snack time or regular lunch time or could be set home for consumption. 

• No homemade treats may be sent in for sharing with students.

• Teachers/staff must distribute the prepackaged goods to students. 

• Non-food items can be sent in for celebrations and are encouraged as an alternative to food/treats.

• Per the Strong and Healthy Start guidance, classroom share tables to include foods that were served for breakfast and lunch are permitted.  

• Share tables may be used for unwanted food items that are wrapped, have peels, or can be re-washed before serving. Follow all regular share table guidance. During the 2020-21 school year, wrapped items or fruits with peels do not need to be sanitized between being placed on the share table and being taken by students. However, items with edible peels such as apples and pears should be returned to the kitchen for washing before being offered for consumption. Items that are not wrapped, peelable or washable should not be placed on the share tables at all. (p.35)

• Classrooms share tables can also include prepackaged snacks brought in by teachers and staff for students who do not have a regular snack for the day. Classroom allergies should be considered when these items are brought to school. 

• Staff may not bring in self-serve foods.  

• Any food brought in for staff must be individually packaged and distributed to staff. 

• There should be no congregating around food (i.e. staff workroom or office displays of food). 

This document can be minimum and we work from here.

Amanda & Tracy

onnected 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Attendance Reminder	Please remember that we are monitoring attendance to keep all students healthy and safe. We need everyone to take attendance to make the system work. It is important that everyone takes attendance during TA and in the first 10 minutes of each class. Remember to mark students: P - Present  UX - Unexcused absence TU -Tardy unexcused Adaptive Scheduler reminder for attendance for Flex and all ELO:  Choose the 2nd P (present) to mark appropriately.
Upcoming Dates	DATES  2/22 - 3/2 - No School - Winter Break 03/04 - Black cohort day 03/05 - Gold cohort day Please note the cohort day switch when we return from February break!. March 23 - 9th virtual grade parent night Staff Meeting Calendar	Duane and Laurie, Meg
2/17  Staff Meeting 8-9 a.m.	Objective:  To identify the use of Dep’t time between now and the end of the year To identify scheduling priorities to drive scheduling for 21-22 Running Agenda Zoom Information:   Meeting ID: 858 1626 1603 Passcode: 9M1Hus	Meg, Duane and Laurie
Please Welcome Bernadette Bloom - our new Student Specialist	Hi there! My name is Bernadette and I’m excited to be a part of the team at Harwood. I have lived in Waterbury with my husband and six daughters for the past 18 years. Four of our daughters have graduated from Harwood, we have one daughter at Harwood now, and the youngest will be starting high school next year. We have two awesome, but crazy dogs named Nala and Lilli, a cat named Cabot, who thinks he’s a dog, and the newest addition to our family, a Russian Tortoise named Cheeseburger. After spending many years at home with our kids, I started working at CBMS as a substitute and then became a para-educator. While working at CBMS, I discovered a passion for working with students that had unique, and sometimes, challenging personalities. It was through this passion that I decided to earn my Bachelor of Science in Psychology with the intent to acquire a position that would allow me to help students that may be struggling. When I’m not working, one of my favorite things to do is hang out with my husband, our kids, and our pets. I’m not a huge fan of winter or the cold, so why do I live in Vermont?? Good question, and my answer is because it’s a great place to raise our kids. In the summer, there is no doubt that you will either find me down by my pool enjoying the sun’s rays, or in Maine either at the beach or visiting my family – when COVID restrictions no longer apply, of course! All in all, I’m super excited to be joining the Harwood team and I hope to be a resource that everyone is able to utilize.
Tech Updates	The IT techs need to take a physical inventory of all students devices by getting the barcode on the bottom of their devices. We have a list of the students in each TA and will be stopping by to confirm it with the students. It will be a s easy as asking Billy - what does your barcode say? This will be a 5 minute or less process but is a necessary one. Thank you for your cooperation with this task.	Taggert and Justin Batman and Robin

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Attendance Reminder

Please remember that we are monitoring attendance to keep all students healthy and safe. We need everyone to take attendance to make the system work. It is important that everyone takes attendance during TA and in the first 10 minutes of each class. Remember to mark students:

P - Present 

UX - Unexcused absence

TU -Tardy unexcused

Adaptive Scheduler reminder for attendance for Flex and all ELO:  Choose the 2nd P (present) to mark appropriately.

Upcoming Dates 

DATES 

• 2/22 - 3/2 - No School - Winter Break

• 03/04 - Black cohort day

• 03/05 - Gold cohort day

Please note the cohort day switch when we return from February break!.

• March 23 - 9th virtual grade parent night

• Staff Meeting Calendar

Duane and Laurie, Meg

2/17  Staff Meeting 8-9 a.m.

Objective: 

• To identify the use of Dep’t time between now and the end of the year

• To identify scheduling priorities to drive scheduling for 21-22

Running Agenda

Zoom Information:  

Meeting ID: 858 1626 1603

Passcode: 9M1Hus

Meg, Duane and Laurie 

Please Welcome Bernadette Bloom - our new Student Specialist 

Hi there! My name is Bernadette and I’m excited to be a part of the team at Harwood.

I have lived in Waterbury with my husband and six daughters for the past 18 years. Four of our daughters have graduated from Harwood, we have one daughter at Harwood now, and the youngest will be starting high school next year. We have two awesome, but crazy dogs named Nala and Lilli, a cat named Cabot, who thinks he’s a dog, and the newest addition to our family, a Russian Tortoise named Cheeseburger.

After spending many years at home with our kids, I started working at CBMS as a substitute and then became a para-educator. While working at CBMS, I discovered a passion for working with students that had unique, and sometimes, challenging personalities. It was through this passion that I decided to earn my Bachelor of Science in Psychology with the intent to acquire a position that would allow me to help students that may be struggling.

When I’m not working, one of my favorite things to do is hang out with my husband, our kids, and our pets. I’m not a huge fan of winter or the cold, so why do I live in Vermont?? Good question, and my answer is because it’s a great place to raise our kids. In the summer, there is no doubt that you will either find me down by my pool enjoying the sun’s rays, or in Maine either at the beach or visiting my family – when COVID restrictions no longer apply, of course!

All in all, I’m super excited to be joining the Harwood team and I hope to be a resource that everyone is able to utilize.

Tech Updates

The IT techs need to take a physical inventory of all students devices by getting the barcode on the bottom of their devices. We have a list of the students in each TA and will be stopping by to confirm it with the students.

It will be a s easy as asking Billy - what does your barcode say?

This will be a 5 minute or less process but is a necessary one.

Thank you for your cooperation with this task.

Taggert and Justin

Batman and Robin