Harwood Staff Blog Update - April 14, 2022

 Team -

Hopefully the sun will shine and if not - enjoy some quiet indoor activities.  

Much needed for all - thank you for all you do.  Your patience, your perseverance and your partnership,

Meg, Laurie and Duane 

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Calendar:

• April 18th - 22nd - NO School - April Vacation 

• May 2nd - 20th - SBAC testing window

• May 23rd - 27th - Spirit week 

• May 12th - Family Conferences

• May 18th - Family Conferences 

• May 30th week schedule:

• Monday - NO school (Memorial Day)

• Tuesday – Gold Day

• Wed – Black

• Thurs – Gold

• Fri – Black

• June 11th - Graduation 

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Appreciations:

Staff Member	Appreciations
Jess Deane	For your strong facilitation skills
Lynda Cummings	For your sage and candid insight to support growth and a positive school climate
Kristi McKnight	For your support of your colleagues and help ensuring coverage and sub plans were distributed
Jacki McCarty	For your constant positive attitude and hard work in supporting all our students
Adam Sargent	For your courage in hosting our new Superintendent in a 10th grade Harkness

Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:

Topics	Information/Links
Health Office Updates	Traveling internationally for the break The Centers for Disease Control recommend that all individuals test 3-5 days after return from international travel.   Get tested with a COVID-19 viral test 3–5 days after travel. Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms; isolate and get tested if you develop symptoms. Here are some ways to keep your family and others healthy during break: Get a test for COVID-19 when symptoms occur; testing locations and other information can be found here. You can make an appointment to pick up an antigen or a LAMP test at many locations.  Stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations. Consider masking in indoor spaces, especially if someone you live/spend time with is immunocompromised or is more likely to get very sick with COVID-19. If you are recovering from an illness, consider masking until symptoms have completely resolved.
Project Kratos Update    Detention Update	Kratos update ---- Link here:   Kratos)  Presence - All administration and Staff will become more present with holding students accountable as well as physically present during identified transitions during and after the school day. Perseverance - Reported and encountered behavioral issues will be addressed in a simple and achievable manner.    Plan implementation review and adjustment - Weekly reviews and adjustment based on feedback (formal and informal) will guide our forward progress. We continue to hold our weekly Friday morning meetings beginning around 8:00  in the library as a place where staff can create, connect and be curious about how things are going in general.  Reminder:  IMPORTANT:  Discipline issues that occur during supervised time must be logged in powerschool and the teacher must make a call home or email to the student’s parents (s) to indicate that a discipline infraction  occurred and the teacher is requesting a student serve an afterschool detention.  We hope by doing this some of the recent inconsistencies with parents/families not understanding or not knowing their student is to serve a detention will be cleared up.  Detention Update This past week we connected (email and/or phone calls) with families/students regarding behavioral/attendance issues which resulted in afterschool detention for many.  Please note we schedule detentions based on students/grouping and other issues (students who can’t be together, etc)  Going forward we will send out notices to students/families who fail to attend these afterschool detentions informing them if they miss 2 consecutive afterschool detentions they will receive a out of school suspension on the Thursday after their 2nd miss.         Discipline Consequence  Update High School  Suspension issues and served  1 out of school  Duane will update this next week..  Thanks for your patience  Current Hazing, Harassment, Bullying investigations in process 2 completed The student support team is following a well articulated process for conducting and determining whether or not an offense occurred with appropriate remedies offered and followed  Detentions issued and served  11 issued 6 serviced (most who did not serve were absent from school)  Detentions were issued for late/skipping class Middle School  Suspension issues and served  1 out of school  The middle school did not have any students suspended this week.   Detentions issued and served  none this week  Students will serve detention on Friday for being late to class  and one for acting out in class and the rest are for refusals
TA update	Appreciation!  To the lead TA teachers for all of their work to organize and communicate with their groups. I can never thank you enough for the work you do! EOYR Conferences! This is our big focus for the next few weeks. When we return from break, all TA teachers should send correspondence to their student’s parents/caregivers. I have created this letter if you find it helpful. The letter also has a link to a google doc scheduler, if this is the method you prefer to use with families.  If you have not heard back from families by May 4th, please reach out by telephone to make every effort to provide the conference experience for every student. Should a parent/caregiver decline to attend, ask your student to invite another significant adult (school counselor, special educator, another adult relative or community mentor, etc.) to support them as they reflect on the year.  Please reach out to Ellen if I can support you in any way!

Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:

Topics	Information/Links
Staff Meeting	Objectives:  To identify as Departments teaching assignments for 22-23’. *Please await location and agenda from your Department heads. Staff Meeting Calendar
Harkness Workshop Opportunity	Are you new to Harkness student-driven inquiry? Are you looking to start the year with a clear plan for scaffolding Harkness instruction? This summer Kathy Cadwell and Adam Sargent will be offering a two-day intensive Harkness workshop on August 15th and 16th.  Participants will learn how to create the classroom climate for Harkness learning and they will learn how to design and lead Harkness discussions in their classes. Time will be built in for people to plan individually (or with team members) as to how to begin Harkness in the 2022- 2023 school year. Veteran teachers will be able to refresh and renew their Harkness practice and new teachers will be introduced to the building blocks of student-driven inquiry.  Participants will receive a stipend of $50 per hour for a total of $750 for the two-day workshop.  Sign up here if you are interested.

Positive school climate and culture:

Topics	Information/Links
FY 23’ Hiring Update	This week: Offer out to Hallway Monitor Offer out to 7th grade History LTS  After break: Second interview Special Educator  3 interviews for 8th grade Math