BSD Staff Updates
2020-21 Issue #3: Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Fall 2020: Reunite. Re-imagine. Relaunch.
We appreciate our principals!
Korene Calderwood
Teneka Morley Short
Allyson Cundiff
John Welsh
Karen Rommen
Melissa Rohr
West Hills STEM Academy
Kelli Andrews
West Hills STEM Academy
Shani Watkins
West Sound Technical Skills Center
Carre Potis
Mt View Middle School
James "Jim" Capecchi
Mt View Middle School
Victoria "Tori" Fairweather
Mt. View Middle School
Monica Zuber
Bremerton High School
Mark Mayfield
Bremerton High School
Ryan Nickels
Asst. Principal
Bremerton High SchoolJeff Streck
Bremerton High School
Kristen Morga
Renaissance High School and
Open Doors Career & Academics Program
Richard Brownell
Washington Youth Academy
FYI: Navy security training on NBK-Bremerton Oct. 9-10
Public queries or comments about noise may be sent to pao.nbk.cnrnw@navy.mil or https://go.usa.gov/xfrhJ.
Board Highlights - October 1, 2020
Policy News
Three important Policies are being updated. The Board approved them for first reading as presented. The final reading will be at the October 15th meeting where the revisions will be officially adopted.
· Policy 3241; Classroom Management, Discipline, and Corrective Action (now Student
Discipline)
· Policy 3510; Associated Student Bodies
· Policy 3205; Sexual Harassment of Students Prohibited
The mark-up drafts are all attached below for your review. The clean copies are available at https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wabrsd/Board.nsf/Public#, and will be provided on Board Briefs when posted for the upcoming October 15th meeting.
Specifically for Board meetings, procedure 1400P, Meetings Conduct, Order of Business and Quorum, was updated.
Appreciation goes out to our Principals and Assistant Principals who are the key figures in helping to create strong school communities. The Board proclaimed October 2020 as Principals Month in Bremerton School District. This is also a good time to welcome and congratulate those new administrators at Mountain View Middle School (Carre Potis and Tori Fairweather) and West Hills STEM (Melissa Rohr and Kelli Andrews).
October also highlights our Child Nutrition Services program, and the Board took time to honor our CNS staff as well. The District joins the School Nutrition Assn. in proclaiming October 12-16, as National School Lunch Week. The last several months have certainly accentuated their strengths, and most importantly their compassion for students and the community.
Some good news that was shared by Dr. Steedman was that the October student enrollment counts followed historical patterns and increased approximately 150 FTE from the September count.
The Board finished out its book study on How to be Less Stupid about Race by Crystal Erin Fleming. They will continue their racial equity journey and choose another book on this topic.
Study Session
The Board’s study session focused on data-mining with Panorama and sharing ideas to increase Board visibility to the public by enhancing the website and using the District’s Facebook page. .
To view any of these documents, visit https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wabrsd/Board.
Compiled by Ioanna Cossack, Board Secretary
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Fall 2020 Panorama Survey
Please watch for details from your principal about the survey.
Information on the survey, including some resources to support families helping their kids take the survey at home are available at www.BremertonSchools.org/Survey.
October is National Disabilities Awareness Month
Did you know that we've been providing face-to-face (in-person) services for some of our students with IEPs since early September?
The District currently has 85 students in all grades participating in face-to-face learning. Students, teachers, and para educators are attending for mostly 2- to 3-hour blocks of time with student cohorts up to 5 at a time (but mostly groups of 2 or 3) in all buildings. All services are being done with safety and social distancing in mind.
The brief in-person hours lend themselves to more efficiency and stamina for students, and attendance and engagement has increased, according to Jon Bell, Director of Special Education.
Teachers have said that one of the greatest benefits of the blended/hybrid model has been the improved communication and relationships with families. Preschool teachers have indicated that they believe students are learning more in shorter periods of time than in previous years due to the increased attention within smaller cohort sizes.
Our Psychologists, SLPs, OTs, and PT are successfully evaluating students in person and teachers have requested more in-person opportunities.
Moving forward, we are continuing to expand in-person opportunities to students who have continued to demonstrated increased challenges to accessing virtual instruction and support. Teachers are assessing their student engagement and participation rates to identify the needs, and are communicating with the District Office in order to coordinate transportation and scheduling that allows for continued hybrid supports, appropriate health and safety protocols, and effective need-based intervention.
National Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 - October 15
Maribel Pelayo
She was born in Orange County, CA and raised in Mexico with her two sisters. The rest of her family lives in Mexico and she visits them in the summer. Maribel learned English in three years (during high school) and was knighted at BHS. She was also the female Senior of the Year.
"Maribel is our youngest ELL staff member, but her experience and expertise is beyond her years! Maribel is a product of Bremerton High School, go Knights! While working full time for the district, Maribel is also working on her degree so she can be a teacher in the near future." --Julie Fairall, District ELL Coordinator
Maribel's "Why" for working in education: "I like sharing with others my knowledge and helping our Hispanic community."
Octavio Bojorquez
Octavio holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Universidad de Sonora in Mexico. He earned his teaching certificate at City University of Seattle.
"Octavio is kind and compassionate to all. He supports his students and their families in a multitude of ways. A few years ago he started Club del Sol at BHS so that he and his students could be of service in our District and throughout our community. Octavio and Team Club del Sol attended be Bremerton, A Day of Service. He also brought the team to volunteer at Math Blast STEM to help out in a variety a ways from translating for families to the dreaded clean up after the event." --Joyce Cowdery, District Volunteer Coordinator
Octavio's "Why" for working in education: "Helping students reach their dreams and discover new horizons just like some teachers helped me. Helping students realize their American dream, just like I am realizing mine. I am proud to be part of the Bremerton School District family."
Silvia M Soto
“It has been my honor to work alongside Silvia at MVMS. She is not only a Community Liaison and talented co-teacher, she puts her heart into her work. If ever she hears a student say, ‘I don't care,’ she has something to say to them, yet she says it with so much compassion and empathy. She reminds them, to think of ways to be grateful, despite hardships, and to work through adversity. She teaches resilience and is a role model for the students, because she herself has experienced what they continue to experience. She is a Shining Star.” -Leona Parks, Reading Teacher, MVMS.
“Silvia is such an asset to our team here at Mountain View. She is talented, courteous, and very hard working. She is an incredible team-member and works hard to support students here. As a bilingual paraeducator, she has been spending the past weeks answering countless phone calls and helping students get connected to remote learning. Beyond her knowing Spanish, Silvia is invaluable for the energy she provides, the relationships she builds with kids and families, and how she is able to communicate ideas with students and help them learn. I am very thankful to be on a team with Silvia.” -Erin Locke, English Language Arts Teacher, MVMS
“Sylvia is so thoughtful to boost the spirits of her co-workers, whether it is to dress up as a Twin to Irene Torrella or bring her colleagues candy or Pumpkin Spice Lattes, while keeping her own family afloat with virtual learning and the best Mexican food restaurant around.” -Francey Frampton, Spanish & French Teacher, MVMS
Silvia's "Why" for working in education: "It is an opportunity to help my community."
Are you of Filipino descent?
Thanks!
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October/November dates to remember
Feel free! Just "right click" the graphic and "save image as." Additional graphics and stock images are available here.
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Kitsap Strong launches the 3rd Annual Resiliency Summit!
In the hopes of making an engaging and inclusive virtual education experience, we have arranged for a full month of Lunchtime Learning sessions during the Month of October!
This month-long (Monday - Friday) lunch and learn series will be a hope-filled experience in connecting, learning, and growing together to build a more resilient community.
In addition to virtual presentations, we will also be hosting community conversations each Friday to process and discuss the week's offerings.
These will be coffee shop conversations with local leaders to help us process and explore the content from the full week.
Each week will focus on different domains/perspectives on Resiliency including:
Week 1 - Cultural Resilience
Week 2 - Community Resilience
Week 3 - Individual Resilience
Week 4 - the Intersections between these different domains of resilience
Click the link below to register.
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Download the flyer in English or Spanish flyer at www.BremertonSchools.org/Clinic
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Join the State of Innovation Challenge (coming November 2020)
Help Your Students Help Our State - State of Innovation Case Challenge (Sign-up now)
Join the State of Innovation Challenge (coming November 2020)
In Fall 2020, the State of WA wants to know – Can your students help our state?
Join middle school, high school, and Open Doors classrooms; along with student and community organizations from across Washington State in tackling some of the state’s toughest challenges. Starting in November, we will ask students to help the state solve problems like…
- How can we find a better way to get food from farms to homes and food banks in need?
- How can we keep teenagers mentally healthy while social distancing?
- How could our urban centers foster community connections while keeping residents virus-free?
The State of Innovation Challenge aims to connect the content teachers are already teaching in class to the problems students see all around them, and encourages students to use their imaginations and skills to create their own solutions.
Sign up to learn more about the State of Innovation Challenge and how your students can be involved, and please forward this email to educators, nonprofits, and employers throughout our state who may be interested in participating.
For questions/info contact: Julia Reed (julia.reed@kineticwest.com; 202-445-8252)
More information
Who: The State of Innovation Challenge is a partnership of the Washington STEM Education Alliance, OSPI, WSAC, ESD, Career Connect Washington, and the Governor’s office. It is open to students in grades 7-12, students in Open Doors programs, and WIOA-eligible youth. It is also open to Career Technical Student Organizations and community-based youth programs.
When: The Challenge will be open November-February. The Challenge Cases will be released in November, and throughout the Challenge students will have opportunities to join interactive discussions with industry leaders and learn about post-secondary pathways tied to the case topics.
How: The Challenge is customizable depending on the needs of teachers and students. There are ways to use the Challenge cases to engage students for an hour, a week, a month, or an entire quarter. Students can choose to submit their answers to our statewide response forum, where the most creative solutions will be recognized at the end of the challenge event in March 2021.
Support: Teachers and program leaders will have access to videos introducing the cases and an instructional guide with topical research to support lesson plan creation. Sample lesson plans will be available in the “lesson bank,” an open educational resource where teachers can also upload their own plans and projects to share with their peers statewide. Teachers will also be able to access one-on-one support throughout the challenge period.
How can I learn more?: Sign up to receive updates about engaging in the Challenge
New: FieldSTEM Notebooks for Secondary Educators
New workshop alert!
The teachers have spoken, and we are offering to you for the first time, "FieldSTEM Notebooks for Secondary Educators." Have you ever wanted to start using notebooks in your classroom? Join PEI FieldSTEM Coordinators, Julie Tennis and Megan Rivard, on an exploration of the use of the notebook as a tool for middle and high school student learning, as well as a tool to assess student learning. Workshop participants will learn how to set up a notebook, explore different entry types, make outdoor observations, and how to utilize the notebook as a formative and summative assessment tool.
Virtual Sessions: October 27-29, 4-6pm
Participants who attend all sessions will receive:
- 6 Washington State approved STEM clock hours
- A $125 participation stipend
To learn more about this, check out the attached flier. Ready to register? Click here!
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Follow BSD on Social Media!
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- Submit ideas or content for the Staff Updates newsletter to: Karen.Bevers@BremertonSchools.org
Website: www.bremertonschools.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BremertonSchools/
Twitter: @BremertonSD