Harwood Union Staff Blog 2022-23 : Harwood Staff Blog Update- January 12, 2023

Team -

Harwood Hacks (check-in idea)

The “if you.,,” prompts: “If you were a weather pattern...”, “If you were a color,,,”, “If you were a

spice...”, “If you were a body of water...”, “if you could choose a superpower today, which one

would you choose and why?” or, related: “what weather did you travel through to get here

today?”

The latest edition of Common Ground, ROC students at Moretown Elementary School and what - money from Bernie’s office!?

Take a look below!

Calendar:

01/13 - Last day of Quarter 2/Semester 1
01/16 - No School for students (Staff inservice)
01/19 - Assembly 1:35 p.m.
01/20 - Mid-year JumpRope reports emailed
02/03 - No School for students (Staff inservice)
02/16 - Rising 9th grade Family Transition Night

*Please note a change of time - the assembly will be 1/19 at 1:35 in an attempt to promote 12th grade attendance ;)

Appreciations:

Staff Member	Appreciations
Curtis, Danielle and Allie	For your work to both create and upload all icons for PowerSchool and the information they house in order to increase access. Knowledge is power ;)
Wendy, Nathaniel and Krista	For your amazing work to create a beautiful Art Show with a HUGE turn out!
Meg McCarthy, middle school core teams, and student support	“Amazing, Amazing and Amazing” - word on the street about the first ever Middle School ski and ride day at Sugarbush. Thank you to Meg McCarthy for her amazing leadership, work and commitment to making sure this was successful and will continue to be!
Scott Mead	For providing school district tissues to Duane for the Cowboy’s recent disastrous loss. Really supportive and nice.
Tim Gershon and Ellen Parent	For supporting students in improving Learning Expectation scores through quarter 2 ELO series - thank you!

Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:

Topics	Information/Links
Health Office Updates	We were delivered a box of COVID rapid tests that are expiring at the end of the month. Stop by the office if you want a few of them.
TA update	Renewal and Reflection - The theme for January! As we close out Semester 1 and look forward to semester 2, one strategy to use is the Mid-year reflection. This serves as a precursor to helping students to reflect on their November goals. Here is the ongoing reflection document if you used the WOOP format with your students. Reflection should also be considered as students look ahead to next year. Registration for grades 9-11 is underway! Refer to your TA slideshow to see the activities that your students will be engaging in and when. Much appreciation for School Counseling for all of their hard work in supporting this process!! TA SLIDESHOWS Middle School Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12
	You may have already noticed new icons on the top of student pages but for those that haven’t yet check them out. The icons indicate important information you need to know about our students - if they have an IEP for example. And, if you click on the icon they give you even more information if necessary.
	Students from ROC Racial Justice read Mama’s Nightingale by Edwidge Danticat to 3rd and 4th grade students at Moretown Elementary. They had great discussions about immigration and family separation and concluded with a letter writing activity.
	Students from a social-justice club at Harwood called ROC (Rooted Organized Collective) have begun an equity audit by conducting observations of classrooms and other HUUSD school spaces using this document based on Rebecca Haslam’s work. Some of the students involved had these comments to share about the process so far: one stated that our efforts so far feel “positive because it shows that our district cares about equity and it shows that schools in our district are trying to be more inclusive.” another added, “I think it is positive for us to conduct an equity audit because it is extremely important for kids to see themselves in these components around them.” reflecting on the observations he has conducted so far, another student stated that “I think it's positive that we do the audits so everyone feels welcome when they walk in the school and not like they are different from all the people on the walls.”

Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:

Topics

Information/Links

Staff Meeting

Objectives: To prepare for TA during the month ahead

Staff Meeting Calendar

Where: Designated space by TA lead

When: 3:30 - 4:30

Federal funds from Senator Sanders Office will provide an opportunity to expand current travel studies and create more exchange opportunities at HUHS. We plan to partner with public schools around the country and around the world with a focus on collaborative storytelling projects. Initially, funds will be used to identify and establish new relationships, plus we'll be hiring ethnographers and filmmakers to train staff and students and design collaborative storytelling projects at Harwood and elsewhere. We plan to use the Rwanda Program as a model for immersion experiences at home and abroad.

And, yes, one of the first international exchanges we will offer is for Rwandan students to travel to Vermont for several weeks.

This is an opportunity for all students to participate and have cultural exchange experiences, not just the adventurous souls who travel abroad. Essentially, this funding is meant to jumpstart this new program. Ideally, we would like to introduce new partnerships each year over the next several years.

End of Semester Information

As we wrap up Q2/semester 1, here is the slideshow with instructions/checks to make sure that course scores are finalized and comments are updated.

Please read through the entire slideshow carefully and, as always, be in touch with Jess Deane with any questions. I'm happy to meet on a 1:1 basis if you need any help!

Here are a few important reminders and dates to keep in mind:

Semester 1 ends Friday, January 13 (tomorrow). Semester classes are ending, while year-long classes continue.
All updates in JumpRope, as well as turning a printed copy of your grades to school counseling, must be completed by the end of the day Thursday, January 19.
Please DO NOT enter any scores for new assessments (those with a due date after 1/13) in JumpRope until we have notified you (by email) that JumpRope scores are downloaded and score reports have been sent.

*Please remember to update your sub binders with your new attendance!!!

ELO

Semester 2

ELO will run very similarly in semester 2 to how it has run in semester 1, with two exceptions:

Assemblies will be on Thursdays. The dates for assemblies are 1/19, 2/9, 2/23, 3/22, 4/13, 5/11, 6/8.
Most high school teachers’ schedules have changed slightly to equalize prep time between the 40- and 50-minute ELO blocks. Here is the (admittedly rather confusing) spreadsheet that outlines teacher schedules for ELO.

Adaptive Scheduler blocks for next week are in, and I’ll be working over the next week to add blocks through the end of the year. If you have any questions or see any issues, please reach out to Jess Deane.

ELO Series

Last chance! If you have a proposal for an ELO series for Quarter 3, make sure it is entered in this table by the end of the day tomorrow. Check out this document with more information on ELO series. Quarter 3 ELO series will begin the week of 1/30.

Reach out to Jess Deane if you have any questions!

Our next inservice day is 1/16.

Please find the schedule for the day here.

Positive school climate and culture:

Topics	Information/Links
	REMINDER FACULTY FUN! Let’s Go Bowling!!! When: January 20th, right after school, Twin City Family Fun Center in Barre. RSVP: Email Becky Allen ASAP if you have not already, so she can have a rough idea of how many lanes to reserve. If you don't think you can come but are able to make it at the last minute, please do! Participants will also receive 10 PATH points for participating!
	The latest edition of the Harwood Common Ground has just been released. Check out articles including: Proficiency Based Grading Update on the Gym And much more…
Gym Floor Update	Danaher Floor Restoration is expected to have the floor installed by the end of this week. The bleacher company notified us of a delay for the installation of the bleachers. They will be delivered on the 23rd and they are planning on 2 weeks for the installation. Then Danaher will come back in and apply urethane, paint the lines, and apply finish. That will take approximately 3 weeks. At this time the completion date is 2/24/2023.