Harwood Staff Blog, October 24, 2021

Team Harwood

No one expected that this year was going to be harder and more exhausting than last year -

but it has been.

There is much about this year that is outside of our locus of control.

As we continue to move forward to collectively support our students and each other we can only start with that which we do have the power to change.

Thus far we have heard:

• Concerns about students waiting outside after being dropped off by their buses and as a result started opening the doors at 8:15 to ensure students were able to enter as soon as buses arrived.

• Wonders about when to offer club options given that we didn’t have an after school bus before 5:45 and as a result initiated a 4:45 bus.

• More time to complete tasks related to inservice and teaching demands result in two staff meetings where you chose your own adventure.

• The Wellness Center is extending their hours!!! The Wellness Center is now ALSO available Monday and Tuesday during Lunches! (Block 3)

In order to create a community where all feel seen, heard, understood and respected let’s ensure our lines of communication are open and strong.  We can take a page from Ted Lasso’s book:

 

Consider this our suggestion box. 

What are the needs of our community that are within our control, and how can we as a team find the solutions to these needs?

In ongoing partnership,

Laurie, Meg and Duane

Important Information 

Friendly reminder re: Goals	Please remember to send your goals to your supervisor.
School day	Based on the dep’t feedback from our last inservice day we will move our official staff day to 7:45 - 3:30.  Please reach out to Meg, Laurie or Duane if you have questions or needs.
Staff Meeting	Based on the feedback we will be sticking with our 7:30 - 8:30a.m. staff meeting.  Please reach out to Meg, Laurie or Duane if you have questions or needs that need to be collectively problem solved.
ReadySub Updates	In order to add further clarity to your leave time recorded in ReadySub, please note the addition of the following categories as the reason for time off:  Field Trip, Coaching, In-house coverage (use this for when you are in the building but have a meeting that takes you out of class).
New staff sign in/out	There is an iPad set up to the left of April’s desk for staff sign in/out.  Please use this whenever you are coming/going within the school day.
The week of 11/1	There is no ELO on Wednesday 11/3. Because 11/2 is inservice (no school for students), Wednesday 11/3 will run like a Tuesday.

Calendar Update

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri
Morning		7:30 - 8:30 Staff meeting
Afternoon		11:20 & 11:50  Assembly
Evening

Appreciations: 

Staff Member	Appreciations
Susannah & Kristi	For your incredible coordination and attention to detail to bring to fruition a Living Tree field trip for the entire 10th grade!
Sarah and Becky A.	For your attention to detail and advocacy for your colleagues.
FieldTrip Thanks	To all of the high school teachers - Thank you for your flexibility and support for the 10th grade field trip to Living Tree Alliance on Thursday.  From disruptions to your classes due to large numbers of students missing, to covering Science classes so we could chaperone, and to patiently supporting students who arrived back to school for afternoon classes soaking wet, we appreciate all that you did to make this possible.
Tedin	For asking questions that led to us getting the 4:45 bus rolling.
Lynda	For agreeing to be the sub coordinator when we were up a creek without a paddle and for doing it with a smile and the amazing energy you bring to everything.
Dana	For your continued care and support of your students - even during the most difficult of times.
Elizabeth Managan	For the calm tone and positive language you bring to every interaction you have with students.
Meghan McCarthy	For your creative interdisciplinary lesson of graphing fall leaves.
Paul, Sarah, Jonah, Marcus, Alex, Kate, Tedin, Vicki, Adam & Jess	For your continued commitment to leading our PLC groups and book club discussions and for helping build a safe space.
Rob	For flagging concerns about congregations in the bathroom and proactively using the bathroom himself as he moves forward to support our collective effort in ensuring students are where they should be.
Our Paraprofessional Team	We appreciate your dedication to supporting our students everyday!
Brian McCarthy	A person who truly holds the spirit of Harwood close to his heart.  The revolutionary war had the minutemen - we have Brian - always ready to take on the any challenge we have. Thank you Brian!

Curious

Topics	Information/Links	Contact(s)
Buses after school	Starting on Monday October 25th we will have 2 after school buses at 4:45 and 5:45	Duane, Meg and Laurie
ELO & Flex updates	Adaptive Scheduler Attendance - Very short but very important (and really bizarre!) - When you are taking attendance in Adaptive Scheduler (for either ELO or Flex block), please use the second “(P) Present” option. This is the one that actually records present in the attendance system (otherwise nothing is recorded at all). I know, bizarre and annoying, but important. Flex Block - There are two sessions left (one of them includes an assembly). Stay tuned for an end-of-quarter-1 email from me later in the week. Flex blocks for quarter 2 are being booked into Adaptive Scheduler for 11/3 (which is a Wednesday but will run like a Tuesday) right now. If students have change requests, they should email me at jdeane@huusd.org. I will accept requests through Friday 11/5.	Jess Deane
Assembly	Assembly Calendar	Steve Rand and Molly Clark
ID badges FYI	The new IDs that were placed in the teachers mailboxes are not replacements for their access badge. The access badge is the official ID for this school district. As such, when the state police need to be in the building they will be looking for staff to have the access badge and anything different will be suspect.	Ray Daigle

Caring 

Topics	Information/Links	Contact(s)
Staff Handbook task	We want to recognize that the impact of the sign off we asked staff to complete for the Staff Handbook did not land the way we intended.  To that point, we have changed what we are asking staff to acknowledge by signing off on the handbook - specifically that “acknowledge that the Staff handbook is a reference document to look to when I have questions regarding procedures or expectations and will use accordingly.” We appreciate your feedback in order to help us ensure clarity moving forward.	Laurie, Meg and Duane
Student Support Team Update SSTeam EMAIL		Melody Frank and Jon Berliner, Bernadette Bloom, Skylar Bradley (AKA Mr. B), Mari Pratt
Attendance Updates		Melody Frank and Jon Berliner
Special Education	Gentle reminder re: IEP and 504 Meetings.  Please attend these important meetings to support our students.  In the event you are unable to attend, please submit written input to the respective case managers.  Thank you! :)	Vicki Hummer, Jon Berliner, Melody Frank
Updates from our Health Office	COVID surveillance testing for staff and students continues on Monday, October 25th.  We will follow the same process as last Monday: Staff testing:  7:30-9:00 in front of the HS gym  High school student testing (In front of HS Gym) 9-11AM Middle School student testing (in common room) 11-11:45 If a student or staff member misses their designated time, they can still come down to test.  High School:  I sent TA's a list of their students who have signed up to test.  They will be giving these students a pass.  Students with a pass should be allowed to leave class at their designated time.  Please write the time the student is leaving on the pass, and we will do the same when they have completed the testing process.   Middle School: I sent  you a list of students who are signed up to test.  They will not need a pass since we will be in the Middle School to test them.  HUMHS Staff Flu Vaccination Clinic Rina from Kinney Drugs in Waterbury is coming on 10/29 for a flu vaccination clinic.   Please sign up for a time slot on 10/29  by Tuesday, October 26th Please print and complete this form BEFORE you arrive at your appointment. The vaccination clinic will take place in the Main Office Conference Room We have a new Health Office email:  HUHS-nurses@huusd.org.  Using this email ensures that both of us see it.   Please reach out with any questions or concerns.	Magge & Phil

Topics 

Information/Links

Contact(s) 

Staff Handbook task

We want to recognize that the impact of the sign off we asked staff to complete for the Staff Handbook did not land the way we intended.  To that point, we have changed what we are asking staff to acknowledge by signing off on the handbook - specifically that “acknowledge that the Staff handbook is a reference document to look to when I have questions regarding procedures or expectations and will use accordingly.”

We appreciate your feedback in order to help us ensure clarity moving forward.

Laurie, Meg and Duane 

Student Support Team Update

SSTeam EMAIL

Melody Frank and Jon Berliner, Bernadette Bloom, Skylar Bradley (AKA Mr. B), Mari Pratt

Attendance Updates

Melody Frank and Jon Berliner

Special Education

Gentle reminder re: IEP and 504 Meetings.  Please attend these important meetings to support our students.  In the event you are unable to attend, please submit written input to the respective case managers.  Thank you! :)  

Vicki Hummer, Jon Berliner, Melody Frank

Updates from our Health Office 

COVID surveillance testing for staff and students continues on Monday, October 25th.  We will follow the same process as last Monday:

• Staff testing:  7:30-9:00 in front of the HS gym 

• High school student testing (In front of HS Gym) 9-11AM

• Middle School student testing (in common room) 11-11:45

• If a student or staff member misses their designated time, they can still come down to test. 

High School:  I sent TA's a list of their students who have signed up to test.  They will be giving these students a pass.  Students with a pass should be allowed to leave class at their designated time.  Please write the time the student is leaving on the pass, and we will do the same when they have completed the testing process.  

Middle School: I sent  you a list of students who are signed up to test.  They will not need a pass since we will be in the Middle School to test them. 

HUMHS Staff Flu Vaccination Clinic

Rina from Kinney Drugs in Waterbury is coming on 10/29 for a flu vaccination clinic.  

1. Please sign up for a time slot on 10/29  by Tuesday, October 26th

2. Please print and complete this form BEFORE you arrive at your appointment.

3. The vaccination clinic will take place in the Main Office Conference Room

We have a new Health Office email:  HUHS-nurses@huusd.org.  Using this email ensures that both of us see it.  

Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Magge & Phil 

 

 

Connected 

Topics	Information/Links	Contact(s)
Staff Meeting  10/25 7:30 - 8:30	Objective: Dep’t time to ensure all new Course proposals are complete. Please wait for location and agenda from your dep’t head. Staff Meeting Calendar	Duane, Laurie or Meg
Fire Drill follow up	After reviewing the Fire Drill feedback survey and debriefing with the safety team we have made some edits to the locations and drill directions.	Meg and Lisa T.
Thank you!	I just wanted to thank everyone for a great first week! You have all been so friendly and helpful. When you come into the office, keep saying hello and telling me your name. There are a lot of you to remember! Overall, I’m very excited to be here and to make friendships with you. As a little side note: my mailbox, instead of moving everyone around, will just be the very last box at the bottom (after Youngdahl-Stauss).	April Rule
Advisory	Appreciations! All of the TA teachers for your support of this week’s surveys. This student feedback is incredibly important to add student voice to decisions that are being made at school and to guiding the mission of the VSAC Aspirations Project.  One more survey for a while… On Tuesday we are asking students to complete a survey to support the work of one of the Harwood student journalists. He is writing an article on the school bond. This survey will help him to learn about the awareness and level of student engagement with this bond process. Here is the link to this survey . Lead TAs will be adding it to your slideshows, students will receive the link Tuesday morning in their emails and you will receive the link in case a student does not have the link.   Connection Activity of the Week: Here are a few thought provoking questions to try on your Monday check in: If you could wish one thing to come true this year, what would it be? If I gave you $10,000 right now, how would you spend it? If you could live in any period of history, when would it be? Community/Teambuilding Activity of the Week: Once Upon a Time (Another group storytelling activity) Each person thinks of either the name of a person, a place or a thing. Invite them to share this with the rest of the group. Select one of your group to begin a story. However, within 10 seconds they must mention the person, place or thing they have thought of. After 10 seconds (use a stopwatch or kitchen timer) the story is continued by the next person who must also mention their person, place or thing within the 10 seconds. Continue until everyone has made a contribution. The stories can get really weird, but that's part of the fun! Archived: Connection and Fun Friday ideas Advisory Slideshows Middle School           9th Grade       10th Grade          11th Grade          12th Grade	Ellen B