Principal News and Notes
#TerrificTuesday!
Happening This Week!
- Wednesday - Grade level teams gather in Media Center to begin creating 16-17 Class List. Safety Nets Staff (ELD, Title/Skills, SEL/Behavior, etc.) should plan to be in media for consultation.
- Wednesday - ENVoY coaching throughout the day (Nancy or Nati)
- Unannounced Safety Drill this week - please review both Fire Drill procedures with students
- Remember #FinishStrong! We are focusing on 10:1 positives to negatives AND Learning Responsibly this week!
- Remember to laugh and smile!
Principal Message/Equity Corner: Prologue to the 2016 - 2017
From my observation I thought the staff development went well. I would have liked more time to dig deeper and use more of the equity strategies we have learned this year; particularly Mindful Inquiry. Given the length of time we had I appreciated the fact that teachers (and ESP teachers on Friday) fully engaged in the activities and reflected deeply on our data and the following quote.
"Public education has successfully shifted the blame for the failure of schools to meet the needs of minority students on to the shoulders of the clients they purport to serve. They have pulled off the perfect crime, for they can never be held accountable, since the reason for failure in schools is said to be the fault of poor homes, cultural handicaps, linguistic deficiencies, and deprived neighborhoods. The fact that schools are geared primarily to serve monolingual, white, middle-class and Anglo clients is never questioned.” - Tomas A. Arciniega [Special Assistant to the Chancellor of the California State University system/expert on multicultural education].
While the quote was short, it is powerful and challenges assumptions. The quote forces us to examine our personal, local, and immediate, isolate race, and questions our convictions about education. The quote simply makes us more aware or more conscious about our racial equity work. As we gain more consciousness around our racial equity work we can better examine school patterns and systems that impact learning, climate, behavior, and engagement. We can also begin to examine our own mental models (mindsets) that sustain patterns and systems that lead to over representation of black students in our ODR and suspension data.
Last weeks staff development was the prologue to our work next year. Thank you for staying engaged and sharing your voice.
David
Staffing Update
Please welcome Meghan Booke to the Garden City 4th Grade Team. Meghan is new to Osseo but has taught 4th grade 9 years in St. Paul and Stillwater.
Interviews continue this week for our 1.0 and .5 Special Education Resource Teacher positions.
Josh Harrison has accepted a position at Maple Grove Senior High School. He will be responsible for running their new Alternative To Suspension room next year. He will finish the school year at GC. Josh works closely with several students so please give him to opportunity to communicate to them that he is heading on new adventure.
ENVoY Summer Learning Opportunties
SPACE IS LIMITED FOR EACH OF THESE COURSES. We have site funds to pay for the summer PD but they are limited (approximately 3-4 staff per workshop). There is a link below to the registration forms. Please turn your registrations into Jill. LICENSED TEACHERS TAKE PRIORITY FOR THESE COURSE.
- A Healthy Classroom: June 14-17, 2016 - Northdale School Coon Rapids - $500 per person.
- ENVoY in the Small Group June 28-29, 2016 - New Brighton Community Center $350 per person
- ENVoY Beyond the 7 Gems June 30, 2016 - New Brighton Community Center $150 per person. (this does not count as an Advanced Course to achieve ENVoY Demonstration Teacher status.)
- Michael Grinder Perception Camp - July 25-29, 2016 Location TBD, $850 per person.
Here is the this link - ENVoY Summer 2016 to register. You must use your Osseo Apps email address. Remember turn your registration form into to Jill. In order to complete your registration you will need to complete a district workshop/conference request form. Jill will have those for you.
David Branch, Principal
Email: branchd@district279.org
Website: http://schools.district279.org/gc/
Location: 3501 65th Avenue North, Brooklyn Center, MN, United States
Phone: 763-561-9768
Twitter: @principalbranch