Staff Blog Update- November 3, 2022

 

11/3/22

Team -

Thank you to everyone for a creative and fun Halloween!

Don’t forget to turn back your clocks this weekend,

Duane, Meg and Laurie

 

---

Calendar:

• 11/4 - Stepping Stone Leadership Retreat

• 11/9 & 11/15 - 3:30 - 7p.m.  Family Conferences 

• 11/11 - NO school for students (staff in service day)

• 11/15 - College & Training Fair

• 11/20 - National Honor Society Induction ceremony

• 11/21 - Blood Drive

• 11/23 - 11/25 - NO School Thanksgiving Break

• 12/6 - Socrates Cafe 6 p.m. (led by Harkness leaders)

*Please note the schedule for next week based on inservice on 11/11.

---

Appreciations:

Staff Member	Appreciations
Tedin Lange and Kate Stauss	For the endless hours of advising, refining and giving advice to our seniors on how to write powerful personal essays for their college applications.
All Faculty and Staff	All Faculty and Staff who wrote letters of recommendation for our seniors - Thank you for taking the time and energy outside of your regular work day & responsibilities to help our seniors achieve their post-secondary goals.    Check out the Instagram post if you haven’t seen it already!
Bruce, Molly and Chris	For the incredible Battle of the Bands event last Friday night - it was beautiful to see so many students feel such a powerful sense of belonging on that stage!
Kevin Quigley	For his attention to detail in all aspects of his day - which brings smiles to many, and positive energy to the community
Eric Bloom	For being a support to ALL students, being their person, listening, and impacting them in ways that may be life-changing.

Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:

Topics	Information/Links
Health Office Updates	Detention Process Reminders: What constitutes a detention? Detentions will be held for class cuts, behaviors, and any student with 3+ TUs.  Please share out these procedures and expectations during your TA. They should be in the announcements all of next week. Teacher Communication with Families: Please communicate home with families when there are challenging situations that lead to detention, to ensure they are aware. Student support will continue to email students and caregivers with expectations for detention and the date they will be served.  Per the Student-Athlete Handbook: Students who serve an afterschool or lunch detention will miss one practice. For more serious incidents, students who receive consecutive detentions or its equivalent will miss 2 practices or one Game/match/meet within the week following the infraction. This will be determined in concert with the coach. In both these cases students must attend, but not participate in practice. Update on PowerSchool and Log Entry Access for Teachers: Log report access is ready to roll!   These reports are created using our new MBA Report Creator app in PowerSchool. Access to these reports and more to come are through the MBA Report Creator App in PowerSchool or through "Student Reports".   Existing Reports in PowerSchool built using the PowerSchool report generator are still available through "Print a Report", "Reports", "System Reports" and other various native PowerSchool report menus.   Student Log Report for Teachers This doc shows teachers how to access the Log Reports. The teacher report only includes logs from the current school year. Teachers will only be able to view logs for students assigned to them in course/sections. National Life Group and Sodexo are proud to continue to serve the community in collaboration with area organizations and volunteers offering a free Thanksgiving meal. Please pass the word!  I am a big fan of chia pudding. Chia seeds are high in antioxidants, minerals, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids in chia seeds may promote heart health, support strong bones, and improve blood sugar management. It’s easy to make, and adaptable to fit your taste.
TA update	The theme for the month of November is Gratitude! TA leads will be sharing a gratitude activity in our slideshows to engage in as we approach the Thanksgiving break. If anyone is seeking some resources to increase your own practice of gratitude or to share with your students here are a few short articles to check out: How to Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude (happify.com) Can Expressing Gratitude Improve Your Mental and Physical Health (mayoclinichealthsystem.org) Are you interested in embarking on a practice of Gratitude? Here is a link to Discover Gratitude through a 30 day supported program. TA SLIDESHOWS Middle School Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12

Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:

Topics	Information/Links
Staff Meeting	Objectives:  Identify the nuts and bolts of preparing a Universally Designed Lesson The Teaching and Learning collective is excited to lead two more full staff UDL modules on 11/08 and 12/06 during our staff meetings.  After that we will be differentiating our monthly staff meeting time to provide workshop options.  Stay tuned for more.  Staff Meeting Calendar  Where: Library When: 3:30 - 4:30
11/11 Inservice schedule	Next Friday’s district inservice will be focused on our continued work around fostering belonging. There will be workshops offered at different times of the day to provide choice to meet your individual needs.   Where:  Harwood Middle/High School When 8 - 3:30 Who - ALL staff - including support staff and teaching staff Please bring: Computer device, water bottle, and other materials as needed for yourself and the workshops you choose Meals:  Lunch will be provided = sandwich bar!

Positive school climate and culture:

Topics	Information/Links
	Apologies, due to staffing challenges we are not going to be able to offer dinner during conferences.   Please plan accordingly by bringing food to keep yourself going.
	Mason Jar Kit Update: Unfortunately, PATH has run out of grant money already this year, so we are unable to provide the Mason Jar Kits at this time. We are hopeful additional funding will be allocated, and we can host this event later this school year. More information on our next PATH sponsored event and the 2023 PATH Adventure “Out of this World” will be coming soon!