Team -
Thank you all for your continued partnership. We appreciated the feedback from the Collective Leadership team on Monday afternoon as we seek to create more clarity to address our climate and culture.
Current Situation: Recent behavioral data (Qualitative and Quantitative) indicates an increase in the number of infractions both minor as well as some more serious across all grades and in all environments. On Thursday, February 3, 2022, the union leadership met with the HU admin team to express concerns as well as a willingness to assist with some persistent behavioral/conduct expectations issues from grades 7 - 12.
Solution: Beginning February 14, 2022, operations Kratos will go into effect to address the issues presented. There are three basic principles that support this transition that will uphold and support the 5 year goal presented.
Please see the plan : Operation: Kratos (Greek entity of strength, fortitude and resolve) here. This includes:
Collective Effort will continue to be our most effective tool in creating the climate and culture we seek at Harwood. We can all do this by:
using our bag of tricks to engage students in learning and thus keep them in class
being in the hallways during passing time
using the student bathrooms and helping moving students along
connecting with students in the hallways with laughter
flagging students MIA from their assigned classes
As we seek to ensure clarity we want to again invite everyone to tomorrow’s coffee chat to ask questions. Please see the zoom below:
Join Zoom Meeting
ID: 87004492637
Passcode: 7e0Ji6
With ongoing partnership,
Laurie, Meg and Duane
Calendar:
Staff Spirit Fridays - Get in the OLYMPIC SPIRIT by dressing to rep your favorite country or sport!
Appreciations:
Staff Member | Appreciations |
TEAM work makes the DREAM work | Thank you all for your incredible vigilance and follow up regarding students missing from class. The combination of teacher follow up and then front desk and student support follow up is GREAT and can only strengthen our community. |
Brian Moody | For his vigilance and care in supporting his students and taking necessary steps to file a DCF report |
Ryan, Cullen, Jon, Kendall, Alex and Ray | For their quick efforts to install hand dryers, respond to the harm done to bathrooms and generally work in partnership with us to keep our community clean and in good working order |
Phil Stolz | For his incredible skill of de escalation and remaining calm and caring in the midst of several challenging situations |
Angela | For holding down the cafeteria during the medical secure the halls with songs and a smile - Bangela sang - “ Can’t smile without you” Angela is a Star! 7th grade review stated - “two thumbs up” “ She knocked it out of the cafeteria”, Rolling Stones says - “Angela elevated beyond Barry into the next century - she is Barry”. Mari - I wept and smiled at the same time, Mr. B - who is Barry??? |
Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:
Topics | Information/Links |
After school Detention update
| Thank you for the communications on class cuts. We are navigating the complexity of the number of students and specific student cohorts for our after school detentions. We sent home emails to 11 students/caregivers for this weeks’ Wednesday after school detention. We will continue to move with additional students for next weeks and are working on a clear process and steps to communicate to our community and staff. Thank you for your patience as we work to roll this out, and continued collaboration and vigilance! |
A message from a Harwood student | Dear Harwood faculty and staff,
I would like to take the time to bring to light the triggering aspect of hangman. I know you may be thinking “hangman? The kids game, how could that be triggering?” But I ask you to really consider the triggering connotations connected to the term and game “hangman.”
On November 4th 2021 my cousin hung himself. So you can imagine the horror of watching my teacher draw a hanging on the white board, of hearing my classmates chant “hangman, hangman, hangman!'' or listening to my peers joke about nooses and limp bodies. The impact of these jokes and games on me personally are immense. Over the past three weeks I have had to leave class in tears four separate times due to the playing of the game hangman. I know I am not the only student at Harwood that is negatively impacted by the connotations of this game. Hangman is offensive and potentially harmful to the black community, to any person who has been effected by suicide in general, and to people who have been affected by hanging specifically.
I understand that games are a fun way to engage students and make class time more enjoyable, but I urge you to think next time. Maybe choose a different game that would be just as fun but with reduced risk of triggers.
“So I ask you to be kind. Be compassionate. Be respectful. Be selfless. Because without kindness what’s the point?” -Marry Harris
Thank you for your time, Sincerely, A Harwood Student |
DCF report 
| Friendly reminder that if you need to make a DCF report to follow these procedures per the DCF Reporting Checklist:
1 ) Notify building administrator(s). The building administrator(s) will know if the information you are reporting may be linked to any other report made recently. 2) Complete a written report using the tab on the blog titled: DCF intake form. Completing the written report in advance of making a verbal report helps insure you have all the necessary information and supports you in making a fact-focused report. You should only report facts and information which you have direct knowledge of- do not make assumptions based on what you have heard or seen. ***The form you need to complete is located on Harwood.org under the staff pull down menu - Faculty and Staff Forms; type in DCF and it is the Template DCF Form Report Child Abuse 2021 - 2022
3) Complete a verbal report by calling 1-800-649-5285. Refer to the information recorded on your written report -- stick to the facts noted there. 4) Record the intake # (provided by the DCF intake worker) on the form. 5) Once a verbal report has been made, fax written report to DCF at (802) 241-3301 6) Submit the written report to the building administrator(s).
If you have any questions about the procedures, please see a building administrator |
Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:
Topics | Information/Links |
Staff Meeting 2/15/22
 | Objectives: To begin identifying who in our community has frequent opportunities to see themselves reflected in the imagery, literature, language, cultural celebrations at Harwood?
Where: Zoom *link coming from your PLC facilitator (PLC groups) When: 7:30 - 8:20 Prep sheet
Staff Meeting Calendar |
ELO and Flex Block and Courses oh my
| Calendar Announcement: The first day back to school after Winter Break (3/2) will not be an ELO day. Instead it will run as a 7-block full-class day in the order of blocks 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4, 7.
ELO Gratitude: Thank you to everyone for working hard and attending to details to help this new ELO structure run successfully. Specifically, SHOUT OUT to all teachers who have specifically offered enrichment opportunities and pre-booked students who would use the positive feedback and push to the next level. Thank you for helping ALL of our students find meaningful bookings on ELO Wednesdays.
Flex Block: Pink sheets and a copy of the 10.02 rubric for self-reflection were put in mailboxes yesterday. This Friday could be a good opportunity to have students do their first self-reflection of their engagement in Flex Block Q3 so far.
Semester 1 Course Score Changes: If a score from a semester 1 course changes for any reason (i.e. a student completes work for an NYC, or otherwise improves their score through a plan with the teacher), please email me (Jess Deane). I will take it from there in terms of updating their JumpRope progress report and Harwood transcript. Thanks! |
Awesome Professional Development opportunity this summer | We are happy to announce that Luke Foley will be joining us again this summer to offer an opportunity for teachers and staff to reflect upon their work and reimagine the ways that you can continue to create a positive impact in the lives of our students! Foundations of Experimental Learning is a three credit, week long course that will be offered on the trails and in the library right here at Harwood. We will take on a variety of topics, ranging from the philosophy of experiential education to the practicalities of risk management and supervision, and from social-emotional learning to designing rigorous academic coursework. For more information and to indicate your preference for a date, please refer to this document.
|
Positive school climate and culture:
Topics | Information/Links |
TA Next week
| Can you believe that March 17th is the midpoint of quarter 3! This is an important time to do your academic check-ins with students. So, what do you do with your other students while you are holding individual meetings?
Here are a few ideas: Bring a board game or cards to TA. Students can rotate in and out when it is their turn to meet with you. There are quite a few board games that Geneivieve has graciously stored in her library office (thank you Genevieve!) Have some brain teasers ready for the group to solve. Have students organize (appropriate) Youtube fun or informative videos Offer the decision about what to do to the group. Perhaps they could play heads up, charades or other games that get them laughing and moving. Need other ideas? Please reach out to me. I’m happy to work with you to find something that works.
In the near future (after a break near you!)... Over the past two months 5 skilled youth facilitators have been providing dialogue facilitation training to 50 of their peers. This is to build capacity to hold all school, TA dialogues that are youth led and supported by the adult TA partner. With one more training to go they have made the following plans: Topic School Climate: considering student perspectives on school safety. The dialogue will progress from perspectives about how safe students feel, to what do we need for Harwood to be a welcoming and safe space and how we as a community can build a school that is caring and welcoming to all. Next Steps March 8th Staff Meeting (TA focus): The lead facilitators will work with high school TA groups in a short dialogue. This will be followed by Q&A as needed as well as developing clarity regarding the role of the facilitator and their teacher partner. (the remainder of the meeting will be to prepare for the upcoming weeks of advisory) March 9 during one of the ELO blocks: All school dialogue with TA groups. |
No comments:
Post a Comment