A celebration for sure!  

Secretary Deb Haaland made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. She is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican. 

Team Harwood;

We usually send the blog out on Friday, however due to contact tracing we were a bit delayed.

IMPORTANT REMINDER :  It is vital that you maintain updated seating charts (daily) that are available within your classroom in the vent of a posiitice case that requires us to contact trace.  As well, taking attendance for your TA  and teaching blocks is essential to ensure we are following up appropriately.   

This past weekend reminded all of us that we need to take precautions, and be ever vigilant for the safety of our community!  

We would like to thank Amanda Brown, Tracy Taylor, Allison Conyers, Shannon Tremblay and Eric Larose for their help with our recent contact tracing event.  

We are working hard to balance ending this year safely, focused on our community’s wellness and in celebration with also readying for next year.  As we do this our 5 year goals are driving our decisions, actions and planning.  

HUMHS 5 year goals (2021 - 2026) Cultivate and maintain a community where all students, staff and families feel safe - seen, heard, understood and respected.   Strengthen and sustain a rigorous and robust academic program that provides access and meaning for ALL students.  Create and maintain a physical environment that reflects a positive school climate and culture.

We recognize that there are many different feelings and responses to the reality that we will in likelihood be increasing our days on site before the end of the year.  This is hard, it’s been hard and will continue to be hard.  And, we know we can do it as a community because we have been successful in every pivot we have made to date.

In the month ahead we will continue to plan with intentionality and thoughtful consideration.  Teaching and Learning and Wellness leadership teams will begin this work in earnest this coming week - picking up where Dep’t heads left off.  We will also consciously maximize our time during Dep’t meetings and 

whole staff time we will continue to allocate time for planning.  

We are grateful for your continued collaboration and partnership in this work.  Specifically:

• to Dep’t heads for your creative and thoughtful feedback and suggestions regarding the likely schedule change ahead.  

• to our hiring committees for their student centered approach and the generous giving of so much of their time.

• to the schedule team for their continued commitment to creating a schedule that provides equitable opportunities for ALL our students.

• the action planning of our 5 year goals by the Teaching and Learning Team and Wellness Team.

As we know more and more decisions are made we will continue to share out. 

Happy Solstice - enjoy the start of Spring this weekend by soaking up the sun, extended light and warmer weather.

Duane, Meg and Laurie

HUMHS 5 year goals (2021 - 2026)

1. Cultivate and maintain a community where all students, staff and families feel safe - seen, heard, understood and respected.  

2. Strengthen and sustain a rigorous and robust academic program that provides access and meaning for ALL students. 

3. Create and maintain a physical environment that reflects a positive school climate and culture.

Curious  

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
3/26 plan	Next Friday is a give to get day.  Staff are not expected to work - the hours of work will be put towards Family conferences in May.
Flex Block reminders and scoring	Round 1 of Flex Block ended today,  3/19.     TAs - Please take a couple minutes to have students check their change in schedule for the week of 3/22.   Scoring sheets are due back to Lisa by 3/29 (although sooner is always appreciated!).  Look for the BRIGHT ORANGE score sheet that was in your mailbox on 2/1.  If you need to make any roster adjustments, feel free.   Round 2 begins Monday, 3/22.  There have been a few last-minute adjustments to rosters (surprise!) so it would be worth a double check.  Let me know if there are issues.   Attendance: As always, the most important reason to make sure you have accurately recorded attendance in Adaptive Scheduler each day is to make sure our students are safe and well. Secondly, as you know, each student’s participation in Flex Block will be transcribed as an Elective experience.  Attendance (in all 3 rounds) is one part of the evidence that will be used to complete this experience and will be considered over the semester as a whole.	Lisa
Hiring Process	Hiring for 2021-2022 is underway. Please find the process we are using here and reach out with any questions or wonders.    Thank you to those who have graciously volunteered their time and energy to participate in this VERY important process.	Meg, Laurie and Duane
Interested in being on a Leadership team next year?	Please note:  Our apologies - the draft we sent out last week didn’t include asking your name.  So if you already expressed interest please email Meg to let her know so we can pair responses and names.  Thank you!   As we continue to plan for next year and begin to dig into the 5 year plan and create our work plan we are excited to solidify our leadership teams for next year.   If you are interested in this distributive leadership opportunity please complete this survey here.	Laurie, Meg and Duane
2021-22 School Calendar	Click here for the 2021-22 calendar	Laura Titus

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

3/26 plan 

Next Friday is a give to get day.  Staff are not expected to work - the hours of work will be put towards Family conferences in May.  

Flex Block reminders and scoring 

Round 1 of Flex Block ended today,  3/19.  

 

TAs - Please take a couple minutes to have students check their change in schedule for the week of 3/22.

 

Scoring sheets are due back to Lisa by 3/29 (although sooner is always appreciated!).  Look for the BRIGHT ORANGE score sheet that was in your mailbox on 2/1.  If you need to make any roster adjustments, feel free.

 

Round 2 begins Monday, 3/22.  There have been a few last-minute adjustments to rosters (surprise!) so it would be worth a double check.  Let me know if there are issues.

 

Attendance:

As always, the most important reason to make sure you have accurately recorded attendance in Adaptive Scheduler each day is to make sure our students are safe and well.

Secondly, as you know, each student’s participation in Flex Block will be transcribed as an Elective experience.  Attendance (in all 3 rounds) is one part of the evidence that will be used to complete this experience and will be considered over the semester as a whole.  

Lisa 

Hiring Process 

Hiring for 2021-2022 is underway.

Please find the process we are using here and reach out with any questions or wonders. 

 

Thank you to those who have graciously volunteered their time and energy to participate in this VERY important process.

Meg, Laurie and Duane 

Interested in being on a Leadership team next year?

Please note:  Our apologies - the draft we sent out last week didn’t include asking your name.  So if you already expressed interest please email Meg to let her know so we can pair responses and names.  Thank you!

 

As we continue to plan for next year and begin to dig into the 5 year plan and create our work plan we are excited to solidify our leadership teams for next year.

 

If you are interested in this distributive leadership opportunity please complete this survey here.

Laurie, Meg and Duane 

2021-22 School Calendar

Click here for the 2021-22 calendar

Laura Titus

Connected 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Student Support Specialist Team Update	A new piece of the blog moving forward will be this Student Support Team Update. The team consists of our Bernadette, John, Eric, Melody, Laurie, Meg, Michael and Duane. Each week, we will update you all with attendance data, positive student highlights, student support data, and important information staff should be aware of. Additionally, if there is something that hasn’t been followed up on, you can contact any member of the Student Support Team and we will work to prioritize an outreach to support you.  Moving Forward, our student support specialist will be working with specific grades, to maximize relationship building, effective intervention, and support for teams and students. Though John and Bernadette can support any student on any particular day, the following is the grade-specific breakdown: Bernadette - 8th, 9th, 10th John - 7th, 11th, 12th, HCLC	Melody
Harkness opportunity facilitated by our students	Six HUHS students will be taking the lead in presenting a workshop for the Tarrant Foundation for Innovative Education entitled How to Facilitate Healthy & Respectful Conversations (Online & Off).  on Thursday, March 23  from 3:30- 5:00 pm. The  workshop will focus on the question,  "How can we work with our students to engage in virtual discussions grounded in mutual respect, collaboration and trust?"   Students will share their experiences addressing the specific challenges of planning for and facilitating successful virtual discussions. They will describe how to create a functional classroom climate, how young people can work with teachers to set norms for online dialogue, and techniques and strategies to facilitate virtual discussions.   This is a great opportunity for our students to showcase their  leadership in working  to develop new roles for students and teachers and to facilitate  online dialogues!    Prior to the session, participants will be asked to read a short selection from White Fragility by Robin D'Angelo and students will facilitate a discussion of the text.   here is the link to learn more about this workshop and to sign up   SO proud of these Highlanders and the work that they are doing to transform teaching and learning.	Kathy Cadwell
When contacting information please follow these directions:	Check powerschool for custody information.  There is a new icon to indicate if you should only be contacting a specific parent Use JumpRope for most up to date contact information *work is actively being done so that starting next year you will be able to use powerschool alone for this information.
Important Information regarding connecting with students via the web….	Inappropriate content of an electronic communication. Inappropriate content of an electronic communication between an Employee and a Student includes, but is not limited to: Communications of a sexual nature, sexual oriented humor or language, sexual advances, or content with a sexual overtone; Communications involving the use, encouraging the use, or promoting or advocating the use of alcohol or tobacco, the illegal use of prescription drugs or controlled dangerous substances, illegal gambling, or other illegal activities; Communications regarding the employees’ or student’s past or current romantic relationships; Communications which include the use of profanities, obscene language, lewd comments, or pornography; Communications that are harassing, intimidating, or demeaning; Communications requesting or trying to establish a personal relationship with a student beyond the employees’ professional responsibilities; Communications related to personal or confidential information regarding employee or student that isn’t academically focused; and Communications between an employee and a student between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. An Employee may, however, make public posts to a social network site, blog or similar application at any time.
Upcoming Dates	03/23 - 9th  grade virtual Transition night - more details forthcoming 03/26 - No School (give to get day for Parent/teacher conferences in May) 04/09 - End of Quarter 3 4/19 - 4/23 - April Vacation - NO School 06/04 - All Summatives for S1/Q4 need to be complete  06/11 - Last day of school 06/12 - Harwood Graduation *details forthcoming Staff Meeting Calendar	Duane and Laurie, Meg
3/24  Staff Meeting 8-9am	Objective: To meet at Dep’t to prepare to end this year well and begin next year strong.   Please see zoom link from your Dep’t head	Meg, Laurie, and Duane
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

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Student Support Specialist Team

Update

A new piece of the blog moving forward will be this Student Support Team Update. The team consists of our Bernadette, John, Eric, Melody, Laurie, Meg, Michael and Duane. Each week, we will update you all with attendance data, positive student highlights, student support data, and important information staff should be aware of. Additionally, if there is something that hasn’t been followed up on, you can contact any member of the Student Support Team and we will work to prioritize an outreach to support you. 

Moving Forward, our student support specialist will be working with specific grades, to maximize relationship building, effective intervention, and support for teams and students. Though John and Bernadette can support any student on any particular day, the following is the grade-specific breakdown:

Bernadette - 8th, 9th, 10th

John - 7th, 11th, 12th, HCLC

 

Melody

Harkness opportunity facilitated by our students

Six HUHS students will be taking the lead in presenting a workshop for the Tarrant

Foundation for Innovative Education entitled How to Facilitate Healthy & Respectful Conversations (Online & Off).  on Thursday, March 23  from 3:30- 5:00 pm. The  workshop will focus on the question,  "How can we work with our students to engage in virtual discussions grounded in mutual respect, collaboration and trust?"

 

Students will share their experiences addressing the specific challenges of planning for and facilitating successful virtual discussions. They will describe how to create a functional classroom climate, how young people can work with teachers to set norms for online dialogue, and techniques and strategies to facilitate virtual discussions.

 

This is a great opportunity for our students to showcase their  leadership in working  to develop new roles for students and teachers and to facilitate  online dialogues!

  

Prior to the session, participants will be asked to read a short selection from White Fragility by Robin D'Angelo and students will facilitate a discussion of the text.

 

here is the link to learn more about this workshop and to sign up

 

SO proud of these Highlanders and the work that they are doing to transform teaching and learning.

Kathy Cadwell

When contacting information please follow these directions:

• Check powerschool for custody information.  There is a new icon to indicate if you should only be contacting a specific parent

• Use JumpRope for most up to date contact information

*work is actively being done so that starting next year you will be able to use powerschool alone for this information.

Important Information regarding connecting with students via the web…. 

• Inappropriate content of an electronic communication. Inappropriate content of an electronic communication between an Employee and a Student includes, but is not limited to:

• Communications of a sexual nature, sexual oriented humor or language, sexual advances, or content with a sexual overtone;

• Communications involving the use, encouraging the use, or promoting or advocating the use of alcohol or tobacco, the illegal use of prescription drugs or controlled dangerous substances, illegal gambling, or other illegal activities;

• Communications regarding the employees’ or student’s past or current romantic relationships;

• Communications which include the use of profanities, obscene language, lewd comments, or pornography;

• Communications that are harassing, intimidating, or demeaning;

• Communications requesting or trying to establish a personal relationship with a student beyond the employees’ professional responsibilities;

• Communications related to personal or confidential information regarding employee or student that isn’t academically focused; and

• Communications between an employee and a student between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. An Employee may, however, make public posts to a social network site, blog or similar application at any time.

Upcoming Dates 

• 03/23 - 9th  grade virtual Transition night - more details forthcoming

• 03/26 - No School (give to get day for Parent/teacher conferences in May)

• 04/09 - End of Quarter 3

• 4/19 - 4/23 - April Vacation - NO School

• 06/04 - All Summatives for S1/Q4 need to be complete 

• 06/11 - Last day of school

• 06/12 - Harwood Graduation *details forthcoming

Staff Meeting Calendar

Duane and Laurie, Meg

3/24 

Staff Meeting 8-9am

Objective: To meet at Dep’t to prepare to end this year well and begin next year strong.

 

Please see zoom link from your Dep’t head

Meg, Laurie, and Duane

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

Caring 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Health Office Update	It's time for COVID-19 surveillance testing again. We will test as a district on Tuesday, March 23rd.  Please read through this email prior to registering for full instructions. There is only one link (below) for the district.  Once you are in the registration system, you will be asked to select your respective school. Testing is optional for teachers and staff.  If you would like to be tested, we are asking that you complete registration by Friday, March 19th at noon.  This will give time for our nurse team to help troubleshoot registration before the hard deadline on Monday, March 22nd.  Registration Process The AOE recommends that before registering, staff should view this updated video walking through the registration process, or review these step-by-step slides.  You must register prior to 12:00PM on MONDAY, March 22. Walk-ins will not be able to test. You will be asked to select a LOCATION for testing. Choose Washington for the County and then hit search.  On the next page, choose HUUSD and your corresponding school on the right. Each school has its own set of labels, so please double check that you have chosen the correct school. In response to the question “What is the reason the attendee is getting tested?” Staff should select “Other” and enter “Teacher and staff testing” Insurance information will not be collected for this testing. In response to the question “Do you have insurance?” Staff should choose “Unknown” from the drop-down menu asking about insurance. Registration will ask for the staff to choose an “appointment time.” These times DO NOT matter for the self-administered teacher. Pick any time you'd like. If you are registering for the first time, you will complete Your First and Last Name, Phone, Email on the initial registration page. You will then receive an email to confirm your account.  Your Patient ID will be in that email.  You will need your Patient ID to complete registration. Click back on the registration link to confirm your account and follow the steps above to login and schedule an appointment. Here are step by step instructions for registering for the first time. REGISTRATION LINKS Registration link for users who have tested before:  https://vermont.force.com/events/s/login/?eventId=a41t0000000IPQT Registration link for new users who have not tested before: https://vermont.force.com/events/s/cp-registration?%3FeventId=a41t0000000IPQT IMPORTANT:  You should receive a confirmation email from VERMONT AHS once you are registered for testing.  If you do not receive this listing HUUSD as the testing location, you are NOT registered.  Please try again.  After watching the video and reviewing the step by step slides, you may email COVID19teachertesting@vermont.gov  or call 863-7240 if you are unable to resolve your concern with registration.   If you have symptoms, you are expected to stay home and contact your provider rather than coming to school to be tested.  Testing and Timing You will be expected to come to the designated location for your school to pick up a test. Your school nurse will share details on when and where to pick up and drop off your sample. Staff will follow a specific process to collect a nasal swab sample.  Please see the linked graphic on how you will self-administer the COVID test.  You may pick up a test, complete it at the pick up location with proper distancing or choose to go to a private location to complete the test.  The test should be brought back to the mobile collector as soon as possible for labeling and processing.   HUUSD will have two mobile collectors for the day.  We will work to stick to the schedule below, but would appreciate your understanding if the tests kits arrive later than planned. Testing opportunities will occur during these times at the respective schools.	Tracy & Amanda
Teacher Advisory	Great Fun from Farm to School! Get ready for March (Maple) Madness! It's sugaring season, and March's "Harvest of the Month @ home" will feature Vermont maple syrup. Hopefully everyone picked up their sweet treats on Friday to share with their TA students next week. This month's festivities will run a bit differently - with two rounds of delicious competition.  Brought to you by Harwood Farm to School.  ROUND 1 From 3/15 - 3/31, compete to become your TA's maple master. Source some local maple syrup, create a tasty dish, and snap a photo of the results.  Make sure to rep your local syrup producer in the pic. Vote to determine who will represent your TA is the school-wide competition during remote TA on Wed, 3/31 ROUND 2   Each TA must submit their winning entry into the school-wide competition by Sunday, 4/4.  An entry form will be sent out to TA teachers in the coming week. The FTS Club will select the winner at the April 7th meeting. The slide show and winner will be shared at the April assembly. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback following the faculty meeting.  Meg, Laurie and I met this week to review them and will be forthcoming with responses soon.  Grade Check Ins  Hopefully, you have had time to check in and had conversations regarding quarter three grades with your students. Quarter 3 ends in three weeks! Wellness Goal Check In This process should be completed by the end of March. Here is the outline of the Process, if needed.:  ~Return to the WOOP Wellness Goal developed from November conferences: Revisit Goal with guiding questions  Have you made progress toward your goal or achieved it? How do you know?  OR ~Is this goal no longer relevant? Did you work toward something else this year that supported your wellbeing? If so, what was it?  How did it help you? How do you know? Celebrate successes!!! ~What might be a goal to consider for the remainder of the year? Resource: Wellness Wheel And now...Questions of the Week: What do you wish you had learned 5 years before you did? Do you have a dream job in mind? What would it be? What do you hope to be an expert about at some point in your life? What is your definition of success? Has it changed over time? What makes you feel grateful? What has been the most enjoyable part of the week so far?	Ellen Berrings
Sunshine Committee Donations	Hello Harwood! Please remember that the sunshine committee is always collecting donations.  Donations can be dropped off to Shannon T. Thanks for your continuous support!	Sunshine Committee

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Health Office Update

It's time for COVID-19 surveillance testing again. We will test as a district on Tuesday, March 23rd.  Please read through this email prior to registering for full instructions. There is only one link (below) for the district.  Once you are in the registration system, you will be asked to select your respective school.

Testing is optional for teachers and staff.  If you would like to be tested, we are asking that you complete registration by Friday, March 19th at noon.  This will give time for our nurse team to help troubleshoot registration before the hard deadline on Monday, March 22nd. 

Registration Process

• The AOE recommends that before registering, staff should view this updated video walking through the registration process, or review these step-by-step slides. 

• You must register prior to 12:00PM on MONDAY, March 22. Walk-ins will not be able to test.

• You will be asked to select a LOCATION for testing. Choose Washington for the County and then hit search.  On the next page, choose HUUSD and your corresponding school on the right. Each school has its own set of labels, so please double check that you have chosen the correct school.

• In response to the question “What is the reason the attendee is getting tested?” Staff should select “Other” and enter “Teacher and staff testing”

• Insurance information will not be collected for this testing. In response to the question “Do you have insurance?” Staff should choose “Unknown” from the drop-down menu asking about insurance.

• Registration will ask for the staff to choose an “appointment time.” These times DO NOT matter for the self-administered teacher. Pick any time you'd like.

If you are registering for the first time, you will complete Your First and Last Name, Phone, Email on the initial registration page. You will then receive an email to confirm your account.  Your Patient ID will be in that email.  You will need your Patient ID to complete registration. Click back on the registration link to confirm your account and follow the steps above to login and schedule an appointment. Here are step by step instructions for registering for the first time.

REGISTRATION LINKS

Registration link for users who have tested before: 

https://vermont.force.com/events/s/login/?eventId=a41t0000000IPQT

Registration link for new users who have not tested before:

https://vermont.force.com/events/s/cp-registration?%3FeventId=a41t0000000IPQT

IMPORTANT:  You should receive a confirmation email from VERMONT AHS once you are registered for testing.  If you do not receive this listing HUUSD as the testing location, you are NOT registered.  Please try again.  After watching the video and reviewing the step by step slides, you may email COVID19teachertesting@vermont.gov  or call 863-7240 if you are unable to resolve your concern with registration.   If you have symptoms, you are expected to stay home and contact your provider rather than coming to school to be tested. 

Testing and Timing

You will be expected to come to the designated location for your school to pick up a test. Your school nurse will share details on when and where to pick up and drop off your sample. Staff will follow a specific process to collect a nasal swab sample.  Please see the linked graphic on how you will self-administer the COVID test. 

You may pick up a test, complete it at the pick up location with proper distancing or choose to go to a private location to complete the test.  The test should be brought back to the mobile collector as soon as possible for labeling and processing.  

HUUSD will have two mobile collectors for the day.  We will work to stick to the schedule below, but would appreciate your understanding if the tests kits arrive later than planned. Testing opportunities will occur during these times at the respective schools. 

 

Tracy & Amanda

Teacher Advisory

Great Fun from Farm to School!

Get ready for March (Maple) Madness!

It's sugaring season, and March's "Harvest of the Month @ home" will feature Vermont maple syrup. Hopefully everyone picked up their sweet treats on Friday to share with their TA students next week. This month's festivities will run a bit differently - with two rounds of delicious competition.  Brought to you by Harwood Farm to School. 

ROUND 1

• From 3/15 - 3/31, compete to become your TA's maple master.

• Source some local maple syrup, create a tasty dish, and snap a photo of the results.  Make sure to rep your local syrup producer in the pic.

• Vote to determine who will represent your TA is the school-wide competition during remote TA on Wed, 3/31

ROUND 2  

• Each TA must submit their winning entry into the school-wide competition by Sunday, 4/4.  An entry form will be sent out to TA teachers in the coming week.

• The FTS Club will select the winner at the April 7th meeting.

• The slide show and winner will be shared at the April assembly.

Thank you to everyone who shared feedback following the faculty meeting. 

Meg, Laurie and I met this week to review them and will be forthcoming with responses soon. 

Grade Check Ins 

Hopefully, you have had time to check in and had conversations regarding quarter three grades with your students. Quarter 3 ends in three weeks!

Wellness Goal Check In

This process should be completed by the end of March.

Here is the outline of the Process, if needed.: 

~Return to the WOOP Wellness Goal developed from November conferences:

Revisit Goal with guiding questions 

• Have you made progress toward your goal or achieved it?

• How do you know?

 OR

~Is this goal no longer relevant? Did you work toward something else this year that supported your wellbeing?

• If so, what was it? 

• How did it help you?

• How do you know?

Celebrate successes!!!

~What might be a goal to consider for the remainder of the year?

Resource: Wellness Wheel

And now...Questions of the Week:

1. What do you wish you had learned 5 years before you did?

2. Do you have a dream job in mind? What would it be?

3. What do you hope to be an expert about at some point in your life?

4. What is your definition of success? Has it changed over time?

5. What makes you feel grateful?

6. What has been the most enjoyable part of the week so far?

Ellen Berrings 

Sunshine

Committee Donations

Hello Harwood!

Please remember that the sunshine committee is always collecting donations.  Donations can be dropped off to Shannon T.

Thanks for your continuous support!

Sunshine Committee