September 26 Staff Meeting Update

Our next staff meeting will be Friday, September 26:

8:00–9:00 a.m. in the library. During this time, we’ll complete a self-assessment using the instructional framework.

9:00 - 9:30 a.m. School-connect in library (this is only for those who have been invited.  The company limited the number who can attend.

9:30 - 10:00 advisory in library

10:00 - 11:00 dept. mtgs.

11:00 - 12:00 - Leadership meeting. In the conference room: Kennedy, Mantz, Levy, Mires, Mahoney, Njoku

Several of us will be attending a School-Connect training on Friday. If you have particular questions about School-Connect that you’d like addressed, please email them to me so we can be sure your questions are included.

At this point, we do not yet have access to Homeroom Evaluations, so we will hold off on working on IPLPs. However, you are encouraged to continue talking within your departments about the goals you will set for this school year.

Thank you for the energy, thoughtfulness, and care you continue to bring to your work—it makes a real difference for our students and our community.

From Community to Discourse

Last week we looked at how routines, space, and relationships lay the groundwork for community. This week, let’s build on that idea by focusing on one of the most powerful outcomes of community: student discourse.

When students feel safe and connected, they are more willing to share ideas, listen deeply, and take intellectual risks. Discourse is where respect, belonging, and structure translate into learning. Wendy Ward Hoffer emphasizes, “When students are invited to do the thinking, they grow capacity and confidence.” Discourse is one of the key ways this happens—when students explain their reasoning, challenge one another, and build on peers’ ideas, they are constructing knowledge together.

When we design for discourse, we are doing more than shaping an academic routine—we are responding to a deeper human need. As Parker Palmer reminds us, “The human heart yearns for connectedness. We need connections to ourselves, to others, to the worlds of history and nature, to the circle of community, to the mystery of the universe.” Discourse in the classroom helps answer that yearning. It gives students a place to connect with ideas and with one another, transforming learning into something that is both intellectual and deeply human.

At Venture, we regularly use protocols—Chalk Talk, See–Think–Wonder, Save the Last Word—to amplify student voice, balance participation, and shift ownership of learning toward students. In October, we’ll have the chance to step back and reflect on how these moves connect directly to Domain 2 practices and the culture of learning we’re building together.

Between now and then, I encourage you to pause and notice:

• When students talk, are they mostly talking to you—or to each other?

• How might routines open space for more voices?

• Whose thinking is being highlighted, and how can it be expanded?

Just as routines create a culture of belonging, discourse creates a culture of shared thinking. Together, they transform classrooms into communities where every student has a voice—and every voice matters.

Reflective Question: As you look ahead to October, what is one way you might strengthen discourse so that students are talking to learn—not just talking to answer?

Credits, Credits, Who Wants a Credit?

Here is the registration link for Fall 2025 UI Professional Development courses.  Participants must register online through the link(s) provided below by December 19, 2025.  Please note that educators must first create an account in Keeplearning.uidaho.edu  to register and pay.

Venture Academy Fall 2025 PD

Supervision of Instruction (if your name is not on one of these lists, please let me know)

Kennedy will supervise instruction for:

English Dept: Levy, Hamilton, Cysewski, Blank, 

Social Studies:  Wilson, Tacke

Online: Mires, Doering, Smith, Mahoney, Orchard, Sewell, Vaughan

Zimmerman, Kayne, Durk

Mantz will supervise:

Math: Gonzalez, Knight, Mazhan, 

Electives: Hook, Cooley

Sp.Ed: Njoku, Kenner

Smotherman

Science: Penske, Nettles

Hernandez, Bond, Griffitts, 

In the next week we will send out a sign up sheet for observations.

Week of September 29
Bus Duty:  Blank and Knight
Monday:  
Tuesday: 
Wednesday:  
Thursday:  Custodian Appreciation Day - Thank you, Josh!!!
Friday: 7:00 am Cross District collaboration- certified staff

Week of October 6
Bus Duty: Tacke and Cooley
Monday:  
Tuesday: Kennedy, Mantz out @ am
Wednesday:  
Thursday: Kennedy out
Friday: Non Work Day

Week of October 13
Bus Duty: Hamilton and Hook
Monday:  
Tuesday: Kennedy and Mantz out am
Wednesday:  Kennedy and Mantz out am
Thursday: 
Friday: Non Work Day

Week of October 20
Bus Duty: Levy and Crysewski
Monday:  
Tuesday: 
Wednesday:  
Thursday: 
Friday:  Certified Staff Collaboration day