Harwood Staff Blog Update - January 5, 2023

Team -

YOUR work to ensure our students feel cared for is powerful.  

From the History Department’s decision to have students complete a mid-year METIC to the Art Department’s upcoming show to display student’s work - it’s clear to most of our students that 

Thank you to Brian and Tara for leading us through a reflection to support us in our continued efforts to see ALL our students.

In ongoing partnership,

Meg, Laurie and Duane 

Calendar:

• 01/06 - Winter Ball Round Barn 

• 01/11 - Art Show 5:30 - 7:30

• 01/11 - Middle School First Ski program begins 

• 01/13 - Last day of Quarter 2/Semester 1

• 01/16 - No School for students (Staff inservice) 

• 01/17 - Assembly 

• 01/20 - Mid-year JumpRope reports emailed

• 02/03 - No School for students (Staff inservice) 

• 02/16 - Rising 9th grade Family Transition  Night 

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Appreciations:

Staff Member	Appreciations
Sarah and Jonah Ibson	For your thoughtful work and eagerness to support our community in thinking about how to bring Restorative Practices to our classrooms
Tara K and Brian W	For your creative and thought provoking connection activity
Skylar	For his incredible coordination to make the Winter Ball possible

Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:

Topics	Information/Links
	South End Bathrooms: South End Upstairs bathrooms will be locked. Student support team and the art department are working collaboratively. Please let the support team know if there are any issues or concerns.  Locker Rooms: Locker rooms and bathrooms outside the high school gym (south side) will be locked during the school day. Please do not allow your students to leave class to go to the locker room. If you have questions or need support, please contact a student support team member.  Detentions: Please continue to write up log entries and reach out to a student support team member if you have any questions or concerns. We continue to hold detentions every week, Tuesday and Wednesday after school.  Student Support Collective: We are continuing to meet and discuss next steps in our partnership with students and staff regarding “Non-Negotiables.” Our next staff meeting is not until February, and the collective is meeting weekly, and working on a timeline to present to you all regarding the work ahead. ELOs: Please ask students who are not signed up in your ELO to go to the assigned ELO. Please email student support if you have students in your class that are not supposed to be there. We will try our best to assist as speedily as possible.
TA update	The Big Focus for the next several weeks for grades 9-11 is COURSE REGISTRATION!     It's hard to believe, but it's time for GRADE 9-11 students to begin selecting courses for the next school year.  There will be a series of activities that all students will take part in during TA to help prepare them to make informed decisions about courses that will best prepare them for their future.   1.) Graduation Requirements Review with Jess Deane & School Counselors - Juniors, Sophomores and Freshman will each have a full grade level TA meeting in the auditorium to review the Harwood graduation requirements.   2.) Individual Graduation Plans in TA - Juniors, Sophomores and Freshman will be provided a blank Graduation Plan grid and their current transcript in TA to map out which graduation requirements they've met and what they'd like to take to fulfill any remaining requirements.    3.) Program of Studies Overview - School Counselors will review the Program of Studies with Juniors, Sophomores and Freshman during full grade level TA meetings.   4.) Course Selection Form in TA - All students will review the Program of Studies and discuss courses they'd like to take with their TA.   5.) Official Course Selection with School Counselors   - Juniors will have individual meetings with their school counselor to plan for senior year   - Sophomores will select courses with their school counselor during TA   - Freshman will select courses with their school counselor during an ELO
A message from TFAR	After much discussion and consideration, TFAR is beginning an equity audit across the district in each of our schools.  We will begin with a focus on Representation and Belonging; specifically who is and is not reflected on the walls of our schools and classrooms. Harwood High School ROC (Rooted Organizing Committee) students will be conducting the audits at each school.  Please welcome these students and feel free to stop, connect, and ask them about what they are doing.   TFAR is looking forward to analyzing this initial data. We will continue to consider how we can support fostering a HUUSD community where all of our students feel a sense of belonging.
	Please consider donating to our Sunshine or Coffee Funds!    It’s these funds that allow us to continue to have special coffee and breakfast treats and allows us to celebrate and honor individual staff members at celebratory times and times of need.

Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:

Topics	Information/Links
Staff Meeting	Objectives:  Collectively prepare as Departments for the course fair and registration process ahead. Staff Meeting Calendar  Where: 3:30 - 4:30  When: Library to start and then break out into Department locations
End-Of-Semester Updates (from Jess Deane)	As semester 1/quarter 2 comes to a close, here are a few things to note: The last day of semester 1 is next Friday, 1/13 Second semester courses begin on Tuesday, 1/17 JumpRope will need to be up-to-date, with comments entered and grade sheets turned into school counseling, by the end of the day Thursday, 1/19 I will share updates (and the slideshow) for scoring for the end of the semester (both for semester and full-year courses) next week
ELO Series	REMINDER - For quarters 3 and 4, staff throughout the building are invited to think about possibilities for flex-block-like optional enrichment options for students, which can be offered through what we are calling “ELO Series”. Check out this document with more information. Next week in department meetings, possibilities can be discussed. Proposals for quarter 3 ELO series need to be entered in this table by Friday 1/13. Quarter 3 ELO series will begin the week of 1/30. Reach out to Jess Deane if you have any questions!
	Reminder: Attendance needs to be entered for every block, including TA, within the first 10 minutes of class. Please do not wait until the end of the day to submit all your class attendances. This makes it very difficult for Yvette to be able to leave on time. Thank you!
	Our next inservice day is 1/16. Please find the schedule for the day here.

Positive school climate and culture:

Topics	Information/Links
	FACULTY FUN! Let’s Go Bowling!!! Thanks to Andrew Reid for this idea and to Tara Kelley for getting the ball rolling (haha) to make his idea a reality. When: January 20th, right after school, Twin City Family Fun Center in Barre. RSVP: Email Becky Allen by next Thursday, January 12th, 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! Our PATH Building Leaders (Nick Gordon, Meghan McCarthy, and Tara Cariano) are working to see if we can  get 10 PATH points for this activity! Stay tuned!
Semester 2  “wacky weeks”	In semester 2, four-day weeks will continue to have a shifted schedule, eliminating the 7-block day. We do this to ensure consistency of time for students in their courses, but we also know the wacky weeks can be challenging. Your understanding and flexibility is appreciated, as is any time you are able to proactively communicate these changes to our students! Here are the wacky weeks for semester 2: Week of January 16: Mon=inservice, Tues=gold, Wed=black, Thurs=gold, Fri=black Week of January 30: Mon=gold, Tues=black, Wed=gold, Thurs=black, Fri=inservice Week of March 20: Mon=gold, Tues=black, Wed=gold, Thurs=black, Fri=inservice Week of May 29: Mon=no school, Tues=gold, Wed=black, Thurs=gold, Fri=black All black, gold, and 7-block days are also noted in the facstaff Google calendar.