In my interactions with Venture staff this week, I am profoundly moved by the courage it takes to forge new pathways seeking better outcomes.  Trying new things that might fail, seeking connections that may be thwarted, making plans that could be upended all require a quiet, courageous determination. Thank you for your willingness to live with the uncertainty and discomfort and pushing ahead day after day.  

District-Wide Professional Learning

On October 3rd, we will have our first cross-district collaboration meeting with:

• SECONDARY certificated staff beginning at 7:00 AM at Lake City High School

• Please plan on being in the session at 6:50am so we can begin promptly at 7:00 am

• Oct. 3 District-Wide Professional Learning Agenda
  

I know that we were not supposed to be in session on this day. We will flex the time on Oct. 31 and end at 2:00

Here are the life value terms that we all selected when we worked together on TBRI training.  Along with the terms are definitions that are included so we can all use and explain the terms in the same way.  Thank 

Venture’s Life Value Terms

Accept  “No”  

Although it is important to show students that we care about their desires, it is necessary that

we also teach them how to handle occasional disappointments without a behavioral meltdown.

A student may ask to do something special, and the teacher responds in a kind but firm voice, 

Thank you for asking but today we are going to have to accept the no. Praise them for accepting the no.

Give them something you can say yes to.  I can’t say yes to **** but I can say yes to ***.  

Active Engagement 

The teacher reminds the students they need to be actively engaged in their work and in their classroom. 

This means phones away, making eye contact, asking questions, responding to others, etc.  

Be Kind 

Students from hard places can be prone to rough and unkind interactions with others. Therefore, it

is important to practice being “ kind” in order to help them increase their self-awareness and learn to

modulate their behavior. Being kind is physical, hands to ourselves.  Being kind is verbally, kind words

towards others.  

Show Respect 

Students need to learn to treat themselves and others with respect. Teachers must be consistent not to

tolerate disrespect of any kind. Respectful behaviors include respectful voice, respectful facial

expressions and attitudes, respecting others’ personal space and respecting others’ belongings.

If a student is disrespectful, teachers can redirect with the short statement, “Try that again with respect.”

When a student is respectful, reinforce with, “Thank you for showing respect!”

Our actions have consequences 

Everything we think and say and do has consequences for ourselves and for others.

Like ripples on a pond our actions spread out and affect others because everything is

interconnected.  And we need to remember that our actions are irreversible.

Bus/Parking lot duty: Higgs and Levy

Monday 9/26:  PD Day - Certified Staff: Agenda

Tuesday  9/27: Kaiser out@am

Wednesday 9/28: Kaiser out@am

Thursday 9/29: Extended learning,

Friday 9/30: 1st Wellness

Bus/Parking lot duty: Eastman and Mahoney

Monday 10/3:  District-Wide Professional Learning 6:50am@LCHS

Tuesday  10/4: 

Wednesday 10/5:

Thursday 10/6: Extended learning    

Friday 10/7: No School- Flex day

Bus/Parking lot duty: Hook and Fehling

Monday 10/10:  PD Day - Certified Staff: Agenda

Tuesday  10/11: 

Wednesday 10/12:

Thursday 10/13: Extended learning    

Friday 10/14: 2nd Wellness

 

Attendance: Tracking Student Absences and Makeup Time

Gayle will be tracking student unexcused absences again this year. Each student can have up to three Unexcused absences per trimester.  We will not be tracking excused absences, Students who miss school for legitimate reasons, are expected to proactively make-up their work during advisory or extended learning.  They are alway welcome to stay after school with you or with Gayle, or to make up work at home.

The following are Gayle’s Procedures for Unexcused Absences:

Upon the third unexcused absence, Gayle will generate an email to both parent and student reminding them of the attendance policy and warning that any further unexcused absences will need to be made up either after school, or during lunches.

Upon each subsequent absence,Gayle will generate an email to both parent and student reminding them of the attendance policy and requesting they respond with their choice of make-up times.  She will include lunch and after school hours through Friday of the week following the email.

Emails will be tracked for receipt and followed up with phone calls/hand-delivered invitations if no timely response is received.

Gayle will offer an occasional Monday make-up day for those students who work after school.

Gayle will track student make-up hours as they are served, and record them on the Attendance Tracker Spreadsheet. The Current Hours Due Tab will give you the summarized information you need on any student. Feel free to sort it  by teacher or student as needed.  

Because we want to emphasize the importance of regular class attendance, students who do not make up their absences within a week of their return to school will be given lunch detention with Mrs. Mangis until their time is made up.

How You Can Help.

• Some students may need teacher input to be able to make up missed work, please make sure students know how to access missed instructional material/assignments for your class.

• Some students  may prefer to make up their work  with their teacher during lunch or after school. Please let Gayle know if you oversee student make-up hours, so she can credit those hours. You can email her or leave a note on the Attendance Tracker.

• Do not tell your students that they do not need to make up their time without first communicating with Gayle so that we can present a united front.

From Trent...IPLP Timeline: Note:  IPLP must be uploaded into Homeroom by 10/1/2022

1. Instead of having to write a SMART Goal for each domain (all four) in the Danielson Framework, we are changing this for teachers to simply identify a component in each domain that they will be focused on and how they will focus on growth in that component and not requiring a SMART goal for each domain.  This is to allow teachers to focus on instruction as opposed to focusing on specific data points to meet their SMART goal.

2.  Each teacher will still need to identify a student academic growth SMART goal.  This is the measurable where teachers who qualify for the APE money must meet the 75% requirement (ex.  75% of my math students will score a 70% or above on their end of year assessment).  Those teachers who don't qualify for the APE money will only need to meet the 50% benchmark on their student growth goal.

Schoology:

At a minimum, Coeur d’Alene Public School teachers will use Schoology, our Learning Management System (LMS), to post assignments and communications for students, and email for communicating with parents. Additional communication tools should not be used unless expressly permitted so as to streamline and provide consistency for families. Students and families are also recommended to log into the LMS to set their communication preferences, including whether they desire to have texts or emails sent.

During periods of fully face to face classroom learning, teaching staff should continue to communicate regularly with families and students via the following:

• Schoology should be leveraged as the main online hub for each classroom, with resources, links, assignments, etc. posted as needed, and not posted on other platforms;

• Secondary instructors should post at least one weekly assignment in Schoology for each class as a way to reinforce online skills and routines (this could be a simple check-in, a formative assessment, homework, a mini lesson for discussion the next day, etc.)

Schoology Flowchart

A Reminder about EOCA's:

EOCAs Not Required Beginning in 2022-2023

Our district has finalized changes in administrative procedures, removing the requirement for secondary teachers to administer an end-of-course assessment (EOCA) starting next school year. Instead, language now gives content teachers the choice to use a summative final exam as any percentage of their chosen grading calculations - provided that it is clearly articulated in the syllabus.

As the current EOCA procedure has also determined whether credit would be removed for a student not meeting attendance thresholds, language has been changed allowing a teacher to provide a "competency exam covering the standards of the course/semester" of their choice - similar to previous practices.

Procedures on the district website and student handbooks are being updated and will be sent out shortly.

Bus/Parking lot duty: Gonzalez and Gaynor

Monday 9/19:  Non Work Day

Tuesday  9/20: 

Wednesday 9/21:

Thursday 9/22: Extended learning begins

Friday 9/23: Picture Day

Bus/Parking lot duty: Higgs and Levy

Monday 9/26:  PD Day - Certified Staff

Tuesday  9/27: 

Wednesday 9/28:

Thursday 9/29: Extended learning,

Friday 9/30: 1st Wellness

Bus/Parking lot duty: Eastman and Mahoney

Monday 10/3:  District-wide PD

Tuesday  10/4: 

Wednesday 10/5:

Thursday 10/6: Extended learning    

Friday 10/7: No School- Flex day

Throughout the past few days, I could feel the impact of the connections each of us built with students.  My favorite part of this week was sitting and listening with a group of students and their teacher as they problem-solved a conflict in their community.  My heart swelled as I witnessed the collective capacity of these young people to find solutions within themselves.  Watching them courageously share their own perspectives and experiencing with them the positive synergy of the group reaffirmed my belief that ours is sacred work.  For me, in that moment, my "deep gladness met with the world's deep need."

Wellness:  Start thinking about what you'd like to share for Wellness this term.  Because so many of our Fridays are used up, there will only be four available dates:  9/30, 10/14, 10/21, and 11/4  Kevin will give us an update on Monday during our PD time.

Extended Learning:  Begins on Sept. 22

Phenomenal Teaching:  We will do a new chapter in Phenomenal Teaching each month. This Monday we will be discussing Chapter 1: Stance.  Please read through pages 1- 12 before we meet on Monday.

Early Release:  Beginning 9/13:

Tuesdays: Freshman and sophomores are released at 11:50 for lunch

Wednesdays: Juniors and seniors released at 11:50 for lunch

Please, don't release them early - Thank you!

Monday Morning Collaboration:

• 8:00 - 10:00    All certified staff 

• 10:15 - 12:15: Dept. meetings

• CTE, Math, Science, Health, Special Ed.

• 1:00 - 2:00     Annual Health training for Venture- in Library - all certified staff

Bus/Parking lot duty: Posey and Penske

Monday 9/12:  PD Day - Certified Staff: Agenda

Tuesday  9/13: 

Wednesday 9/14:

Thursday 9/15:

Friday 9/16:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Gonzalez and Gaynor

Monday 9/19:  Non Work Day

Tuesday  9/20: 

Wednesday 9/21:

Thursday 9/22: Extended learning begins

Friday 9/23: Picture Day

Bus/Parking lot duty: Higgs and Levy

Monday 9/26:  PD Day - Certified Staff

Tuesday  9/27: 

Wednesday 9/28:

Thursday 9/29: Extended learning    

Friday 9/30: 1st Wellness

 

Some journeys are direct, and some are circuitous; some are heroic, and some are fearful and muddled. But every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.    Parker J. Palmer

I feel honored to begin the journey of a new school year with each of you.  Without question, we are meeting a deep need in our community. My hope for each of us is for that need to intersect with our own deep gladness.

We currently have 185 students - the most we've had in several years.  This means classes are full.; however, we often lose a few students at the beginning of the year.  If you need additional desks or tables, please email Autumn so we can begin tracking some down.  Conversely, if you have too many desks, let Autumn know so they can be reassigned.  Thank you for your flexibility!

Sixth Period Opportunity:  We are required to offer sixth period classes as part of our responsibilities as a four day per week school.  This term, Tony will teach a sixth period P.E. class.  Students who would like to earn an extra credit can join the sixth period PE class.  

Extended Learnings:  Extended Learning will begin on Sept. 22.  

Wellness:  Wellness will begin on September 30.  Because of the many events and days off scheduled for first term, we will only have four days available for Wellness.  9/30, 10/14, 10/21 and 11/4.  Please start thinking about what you'd like to teach/do with students during those four days.

Fire Drills:  We will have a fire drill in the first two weeks of school and a lockdown drill soon.  Please teach to those two events during the first two weeks of school.

Trust-Based Relational Intervention Review:  Our two mornings of TBRI training was filled with content and I thought it would be helpful to review and discuss the principles throughout the year.  The following is  taken from: Reid, Mark J.; Proctor, Angela M.; and Brooks, Thomas R. (2018) "The Early Promise of TBRI Implementation in Schools," School Leadership Review: Vol. 13: Iss. 2, Article 2.

Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/slr/vol13/iss2/2

The three main principles of TBRI protocol: Empowerment, Connection, and Correction.

Empowering students helps to relieve unnecessary stress in the classroom by giving voice to the students, and manipulating the classroom environment so that students do not become overstimulated. This approach creates a space where fear can be overcome before it can overtake a student. 

The connecting principle, which has been highlighted as the most important aspect of any trauma-informed intervention centralizes the relationship between the student and the teacher. The ability of teachers to connect with their students helps them grow both emotionally and socially, but also academically. Teachers have many tools at their disposal to help develop connections with their students. By utilizing those tools, teachers make an investment in not only the success of the current school year, but also, perhaps more importantly, the future school years of those children. The connecting principle represents a key element in the success of TBRI implementation in a classroom.

The correcting principle requires knowledge of how to respond to behaviors and also an understanding of how to teach more appropriate responses. Using the correcting principles can prevent poor choices by students and help children be more successful with their expressions of need. The correction principles include TBRI proactive strategies such as role play, self-regulation techniques, and social skills practice. These proactive strategies routinely decrease behavior issues when working with students who have experienced trauma. 

However, even with these strategies in place, some students may lose control of their emotions and act inappropriately. When a child is highly dysregulated like this, she or he needs immediate intervention. TBRI’s IDEAL Response  provides guidelines to interact with an agitated student in calming, nurturing ways in an attempt to discover and meet the need of the student. For example, a teacher working with a dysregulated child can use the IDEAL response to guide them through how to match the intensity of the behavioral reaction with appropriate responses that maintain a nurturing connection that assures the child that he is safe, his needs will be met, and strengthens the relationship with the adult.

Bus/Parking lot duty: Doering and Mazhan

Monday 9/5:  Labor Day

Tuesday  9/6: First Day of School

Wednesday 9/7:

Thursday 9/8:

Friday 9/9:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Posey and Penske

Monday 9/12:  PD Day - Certified Staff

Tuesday  9/13: 

Wednesday 9/14:

Thursday 9/15:

Friday 9/16:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Gonzalez and Gaynor

Monday 9/19:  Non Work Day

Tuesday  9/20: 

Wednesday 9/21:

Thursday 9/22:

Friday 9/23: Picture Day

 

Many of you have spent your summer planning for the new school year, but I hope you are also taking time for fun, friends, family and the activities that rejuvenate your spirit and renew your own joy. I also hope that you will forgive this brief interruption of your summer relaxation for this reminder of the Registration BBQ on August 24th.  The work day will be from 10am to 6:00 pm and the BBQ will be from noon to 6 pm.  This is a required workday for certified staff.

 

The registration BBQ will be organized much the same as in previous years with all of us in the commons greeting and interacting with families.  We will likely get some new applicants and I will try to interview them as they come in.

Here is our layout: Map

Here is a list of everyone's roles: 2022 Registration BBQ  If you don't see your name, please plan on moving around the commons helping direct families and giving breaks to colleagues.

Rundown of dates and times:

8/24 - 10:00 - 6:00   Registration BBQ Open house- For all certified staff

8/29 -  7:30 - 9:30    District-wide Kick off at LCHS  - For all staff

           10:00 - noon  Staff meeting in the library- For all certified staff and instructional paras; rest of day is for                   classroom time and planning   

8/30 -  7:30 - noon    TBRI - All Certified Staff and instructional paras Breakfast provided 

           12:30 - 3:00   Classroom time

8/31 -  8:00 - 12:30  TBRI - All Certified Staff and instructional paras lunch provided 

           12:30- 3:30  Classroom time: All Certified Staff

9/1 -   10:00-12:00    Staff Meeting in Library - All Certified Staff

           8:00- 3:30  Work day

9/6  First day of school

Enjoy the rest of your summer!