Old Adobe Educator Weekly Round-Up
Monday 1/18/21 - Friday 1/22/21
MESSAGE FROM SUPERINTENDENT LOWERY
We Must Double Down on the Principles of Social justice and Equality
Dear Educators,
As we honor Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic work in advancing the Civil Rights Movement, we must encourage one another to reflect and recommit to the principles of social justice and equity, and honor Dr. King’s legacy through life-long learning, advocacy and service.
We must believe that poverty, violence, and racism are not necessary or inevitable. Humanity can overcome them within a generation, and realize Dr. King’s dream by committing to getting after it to undo and heal generations of violence, trauma, and racial and economic inequities. This requires us to stand shoulder to shoulder, side by side, recognizing and loving the humanity in all.
In his brilliant speech “A Talk to Teachers,” the American essayist and novelist James Baldwin told educators that we are trying to undo “many generations of bad faith and cruelty, when it is operating not only in the classroom but in society.” This type of truth telling is needed in equity work because just to simply promote another task force or another report would be hollow without taking direct aim at the generational harm done to marginalized communities.
Are we ready to move beyond buzzwords and radically reimagine schools? We must first look to change hearts and minds as we aspire to change practices and policies in pursuit of equity and social justice. We have to be ready to teach our children to do this work, to hold our neighbors accountable for doing this work - this lifelong and generational work of anti-racism, anti-oppression, and intersectional justice. “Intersectionality,” a term coined by law professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, acknowledges the multiple and overlapping forms of oppression that an individual can experience at once. (Ex. poor, black, queer women, experience oppression stemming from racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.) Of course, understanding anti-racism is crucial and essential in order to destroy and dismantle racist systems. However, in order to ensure equity, schools and educators should consider an approach to justice that seeks to eradicate all forms of oppression.
We can't just go back to normal. Our opportunity is so great. A paradigm shift is needed in this moment. Our teaching must shape, emancipate, nurture, heal, liberate, and love each and every child. Dr. Sharokky Hollie calls this outrageous love.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” MLK
#eachandeverystudent #OldAdobeStrong
Superintendent Lowery
CHILD DEVLOPMENT
Kids Care is excited to welcome Retha Healy as the newest Instructional Assistant in the Kids Care Distance Learning Support Program! Retha jumped in feet first as a substitute for the position and has been a wonderful addition to the program. The Kids Care team is excited to have her on board. Welcome Miss Retha!
COVID-19 NEWS
REQUIRED FRONTLINE DAILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT FOR ALL STAFF
The following information is intended to help clear up any misinformation or misinterpretations concerning all employees completing the required daily health assessment.
1) All staff are required to complete the daily health screen assessment via the frontline health portal each day.
2) Whether you come to a school site/office or are working from home, all employees scheduled to work and are not on leave of absence, must take the daily health assessment.
3) The health assessment is to be completed BEFORE coming to school site/office and must be submitted daily unless the employee is on a leave of absence.
4) If you check any boxes (other than "none of the above") please stay home and call your supervisor and report that you did not pass the health screening. Please expect a phone call from Cynthia Granato, the COVID-19 Technician, to discuss next steps to take according to the Department of Public Health guidelines and requirements.
If you encounter any issues with registering or with completing the Frontline daily health screening, please contact Covid-19 Technician Cynthia Granato at cgranato@oldadobe.org.
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If you have traveled outside of the state over the winter holidays, please remember that current Public Health guidance recommends that you practice self-quarantine for 14 days after your arrival home, and limit interactions to your immediate household during that time. More information about how to practice self-quarantine can be found here.
CURRICULUM AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DEPARTMENT
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the other webinar trainings Nearpod offers, you can find those trainings HERE. Make sure to check out our presenters’ resources in our shared Drive folder from the January 5th professional learning day! You can find the resources HERE.
Have you heard of Equitablemath.org? Check it out for a toolkit full of math resources. Here is an example of one of the available resources, A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction: Fostering Deep Understanding - for deepening student conceptual understanding through orchestrated math discussions that build on and connect multiple strategies.
Sonoma Story Sharing Project - The Sonoma County Office of Education and CoBUILD19 Maker Educator Collective invite Sonoma County students in grades TK-12th to share a story of how the COVID19 pandemic has impacted you personally or impacted your community. Storytelling provides a powerful and authentic opportunity to integrate cross-curricular learning standards in ELA, science, social studies and arts education. Individual student participants, or a whole class may choose to share a story of the impact of the COVID19 pandemic visually, orally, digitally or through a combination of multiple mediums of expression. Teachers may choose to participate in the story sharing as a class project and submit a class story. To sign up, head HERE.
EQUITY CORNER
Equity Coalition Update
On your radar: Do you know any Black students who would benefit from a Black youth leadership program? Petaluma Blacks for Community Development is offering a unique leadership and learning opportunity to black students between the ages of 10 and 14. Those accepted to the program's coveted ten spots will attend six sessions starting January 20th. Each session features a Black professional presenting a hands-on activity addressing an area of leadership related to higher education and future careers. Interested in learning more or sharing this with families?
Contact: kristy@boblitt.com
APPLICATION FORM https://forms.gle/afYPzKvpjPQATA548
CONSENT FORM: https://forms.gle/421xR63YFwHpK6H59
Also, check out the Metamorph Mentorship, an outdoor adventure program for queer teens and allies starting in the Spring.
Trauma resources: Feeling unsure about how to address the seemingly endless parade of local and national disasters and events with your class in their immediate aftermath? Wishing there were both general trauma-informed and event-specific resources at your fingertips in this time of need? Well, SCOE has you covered with the many resources listed in this document found on their website (thank you to site principals for sharing as well).
Here are a few more:
PBS resource for educators (came out 1/6/21)
Sesame Street In Communities for younger students
KQED (Local News) article that addresses teachers’ responses to the events at the Capitol.
(Important note: some teachers/ students may be too traumatized initially to discuss the issue and importance, if giving the option to choose.)
Also, stand by for more general resources from our dedicated school counselors.
A few business items:
1. If you need to reach the Equity Coalition to share resources, express concerns or ask questions, you can now email the group at equitycoalition@oldadobe.org. We are also happy to add you to the alias if you are interested.
2. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, January 27th at 3pm. We are trying to keep it to about 30 minutes but it will sometimes end up being 45 minutes. Hope you can join!
FACILITIES
The old cafeteria table and benches were removed at Loma Vista and recycled this week, making room for the insulation of the new ones that were ordered. These will be much safer and easier to use.
FOOD PANTRY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Sign Up Today:-)
We need more volunteers to ensure that we can continue this service and provide this much needed resource.
Please sign up by clicking the button below.
HUMAN RESOURCES
The Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) which also included the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act were effective April 1, 2020 and applied to leave taken between April 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Those benefits were not extended beyond December 31, 2020, and are no longer available. However, if you have need of additional leave, you may refer to the OATA/CSEA contracts and/or the MOU agreed to by the unions and the district for details. You can also reach Sonya Wasden in Human Resources at 707-765-4327 or by email at swasden@oldadobe.org for further information.
TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
The Superintendent's Office and the Tech Department will be bringing an update at the next Board meeting to highlight the unveiling of the new Old Adobe School District Website. Our new template will provide easier navigation, functionality and user experience. Additionally, as our District continues to evolve this redesign will serve to attract and engage all stakeholders.
Chromebook purchases should prove to have leveled out upon the arrival of the new fiscal year. In communication with our vendor, there should be a consistent supply, giving us the ability to pull faulty devices from the eld.
OAUSD EVENTS SCHEDULED THIS WEEK:
January 18, 2021 - January 22, 2021
January 18, 2021 - January 22, 2021
Monday, 1/18
Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, 1/19
Old Adobe School Virtual Tour 9:00 AM
Superintendent's Student Advisory 2:30 PM
La Tercera ELAC Meeting 6:30 PM
Board Study Session Equity and Social Justice Training 5:30 PM
Wednesday, 1/20
Loma Vista Whole School Assembly 8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
Old Adobe School Community Meeting 8:30 AM - 8:45 AM Sonoma Mtn School Community Gathering 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Thursday, 1/21
La Tercera School Virtual Tour 6:30 PM
Friday, 1/22
Videos to Share about MLK for All Ages!
Old Adobe Union School District
Website: https://www.oldadobe.org/
Location: 845 Crinella Dr, Petaluma, CA 94954, USA
Phone: 707-765-4321
Twitter: @OAUSD_Super