Friday Focus
For Information and Inspiration
Our Collective Work
Consistent Curriculum Implementation In All Classrooms
Meaningful Feedback- to Students, Teachers, and Principals
Attendance Practices that Improve Regular Attendance
Social Emotional Learning
Weekly Message
The highlight of my week has been meeting with staff and the community. I was able to meet so many new people. Everyone has been warm, kind and supportive. I appreciate how willing you all have been to give up a part of your summer to help me get started on the right foot at RHK8. I also very much enjoyed the opportunity I had to attend a local 4th of July Bike Parade. It was such a fun way for me to meet parents and students and just reinforced my perception of the close knit community that exists at RHK8.
Staffing is something I want to address immediately because I know it has been on everyone's minds. I was able to reach all of the staff members who I considered moving. The main changes are listed below. They are still subject to HR approval because it was a strange week with the 4th of July cutting the week short, but I feel as though HR will agree with the moves.
- Megan Kreitzer will go to 1st grade
- Krisit Al-Rashidi will go to 2nd grade
- Susannah Fennell will go to 3rd grade
- Kelly Muskat will go to 6th grade
I am attaching a roster that shows how the school looks currently. You will notice that Debbi Gubbins has accepted a job in Portland Public and therefore will not be with us next year. She will be a Principal's Secretary which is a great move for her. I know she will be sorely missed. Our Assistant Principal position remains open. You may have seen the announcement that Kayla Bell will join the Teaching and Learning staff at district office. This leaves a principal vacancy at Nancy Ryles. Once that position has been filled, district leadership will begin to think about how to fill our open position. I anticipate learning who will be joining us sometime in August.
Finally, above our Collective Work, I have attached a weekly bulletin. This is where it will normally reside even though I am aware that in the past you have received this information in a different format. Julie and I will work together to decide how this will look in the fall, but for now, please use the bulletin to see what I will be working on in the summer. You will notice that I have included the dates and times that I will be working on various items like the schedule. If you would like to give input, and you are available, please feel free to stop by. I would love to have as many eyes on these things as possible before the fall.
Hope your summer continues to be fun and relaxing!
Warm regards,
Jennifer
Meeting Sign Up Sheet
Meet Our New Staff!
Laura Richter will join 3rd grade
Pamela Jacobsen will join the ESL team
Laura Tomlinson will join the Resource team
Bryan Cummiskey and Jacob Begansky will be our school psychologists
Laura Richter
Hi! My name is Laura Richter, and I am really excited to be teaching third grade next year at Raleigh Hills! This will be my twentieth year in the district, having previously taught at Barnes, Raleigh Park and Cooper Mountain during my tenure at BSD.
I grew up in Eugene and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1989. I received my MAT from Pacific University in 1992 and taught for two years in Hillsboro before coming to Beaverton. I have spent my career teaching grades 1-4, most recently teaching third grade at Barnes.
We are a blended family, and I have two sons, two stepsons and a stepdaughter. My oldest son, Justin, graduated from ISB in 2017 and will begin his junior year at the University of British Columbia in Canada in the fall. He is studying Electrical Engineering. My youngest son will be a junior at Southridge, and basically just wants to skateboard with his friends all the time…
My oldest stepson just graduated from ACMA last month and is an accomplished pianist and jazz musician. My step-twins are incoming sophomores at Health and Science School. We love our options schools and REALLY love that they can get there by school bus!
Although we stay busy as a family with four kids still at home, we also love to travel! I had the opportunity to travel to the Anchorage area with my parents and niece last week, and had a wonderful time. No whole-family adventures are planned for this summer, but last summer all of us went south for a week to visit Diamond Lake, Crater Lake, the Oregon Vortex, the Oregon Caves and the redwoods in California – mostly camping! A hobby of mine is genealogy, and I always enjoy learning more about my extended family, past and present. On that note, I can’t wait to meet my new “family” at Raleigh Hills!
Pamela Jacobsen
Kindergarten JumpStart
Working with Challenging Students
I spend a lot of time in the car going to baseball and I also water my lawn by hand in the evenings (long story involving and exploding pipe in my backyard) and these have been the perfect time to listen to this wonderful podcast. If you have any multi-tasking times like these, I highly recommend giving the episodes a listen. They are fast-paced and only half an hour long. https://www.brianmendler.com/podcast-blog/
Caring for Our School - Tape on the Walls - UPDATE
- The gold standard is only using the tack boards and bulletin boards
- If you must use an adhesive in an area with no bulletin board use, 3M putty or blue tape
- It is also acceptable to put a layer of blue tape on the wall and then attach your heavier duty tape to the blue tape.
I know that working together, we can keep this building in tip top shape and keep everyone safe.
Ruth Gooding reminded me about a great product - blue tape - sold at Lakeshore that adheres really well, is strong enough to hold posters, but will not damage the walls! Look for it and I will also try to get a couple of rolls to put in the supply closet. Thanks for the info Ruth!