Summer Update
6.29.2020
While I don't normally provide updates over the summer, this year I will. I know that the uncertainty of the fall may cause anxiety and I want to relieve that anxiety by providing you with timely information.
These bi-weekly updates will not only provide you with information, but will also provide you with voluntary opportunities to provide feedback, participate in planning, and check-in with members of the administrative team. Thank you in advance for your participation in these efforts. If you have any questions related to the information I am providing, feel free to reach out.
If ever you need to access previous important information emails, please click here. This link will take you to a Google Doc that contains previous weeks' information. Enjoy your day.
Shout outs!
Do you have a message of congratulation, support, or appreciation that you would like to share? If so send it my way and I will include it in the staff shout out section of the important information email.
Updates
FYI-
Virtual Conferences:
I have asked for and received permission to continue to explore the possibility of providing our families with a flexible conferencing experience next year. This experience would provide us with the ability to host virtual conferences for the upcoming school year.
As you recall, this idea came out of our recent need to host conferences virtually this past spring. I believe we could better serve our school community if we offered virtual conferencing opportunities to families this fall and winter. The dates and times of conferences would not change, but the need for families to come into the building would. One thing to note is that teachers would host these virtual conferences in the building and not at home.
Assuming we return in an in-person form, our first of each fall and winter and our team conferencing options would be virtual with the student’s advisory teacher, or teacher team in the case of the team conference. The second would be in person. See the potential schedule pictured to the right. Our stakeholder feedback can be found here and this along with building leadership feedback indicates that it would be supportive of our families.
The next steps for this process to gather more feedback from families and you as we work to design an experience in which staff members are accessible and approachable to families and allows us to sustain positive relationships with our families. Please be sure to respond to the feedback request included in the next section. This feedback opportunity is open to all staff and will remain open until August 10th. Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide feedback.
Fall Scenario Planning Update:
In an attempt to provide you with an update on the planning work being done for the opening of school this fall, I have included status updates to the Fall Planning Consideration spreadsheet we worked together on this spring. Within each cell of the status update column, I have added what phase of planning the items is in. The phases are: completed, in-progress, or not started. There may also be comments included in the cells as well. If you ever have any questions about the information included in this spreadsheet, please let me know and I will assist.
Summer Check-Ins:
If you have a need or desire to check in with Mr. Berg, Ms. Dale, or me, please free to do so. Our weekly check-in availability and GoogleMeets information is outlined below.
- Mondays from 9-10, Ms. Dale
- Tuesdays from 9-10 Mr. Berg
- Wednesdays from 9-10 Ms. Bledsoe
Please connect with the individual needed if there is a necessity to connect outside of these time frames. Please note that we will be on vacation during the time frames indicated below.
- Mr. Berg: 7/9-7/20
- Ms. Bledsoe: Out of the office on Thursdays and Fridays between 7/2 and 8/21.
- Ms. Dale: 6/29-7/17
Open Positions:
Outlined below are the positions we posted during the staffing process and their current status.
- 0.5 EL: Filled by Morgan Ammermann
- 0.417 FACs*: Filled by Vena Jones
- 0.67 DAPE: Filled by Monica Getchell
- 0.584 Tech ED**: Open
*Note: Ms. Jones's transition into FACs will leave a 0.417 vacancy in the Special Education department. This will be posted shortly.
**Note: MDE allows any licensed teacher to teach this course because of the shortage of CTE teachers.
Summer Food Service:
The Food & Nutrition Services department will be continuing their current curbside meal service model at NVMS through Friday, August 21st. Previously the end date for these services was June 30th but was extended due to extended USDA waivers. The district website and printed materials have been updated to reflect the continued meal service.
District Level Communications:
The resources found here have been compiled for Osseo Area Schools employees regarding the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. An HR-related COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions document will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
Feedback Please
Virtual Conferences:
The purpose of this is form is to collect feedback from staff to improve our school community's virtual conference experience. One item to note is that this is not an anonymous survey, and the form will collect email addresses. I have chosen to collect email addresses in case there is a need to follow up on an idea. This one question feedback opportunity is open to all staff and will remain open until August 14th. Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide feedback.
In an effort to support students and families in the digital learning environment, I asked Marie Lundt to mock-up Schoology course options that have the potential for implementation across all NVMS Schoology classrooms. Please take a look at the options found here and provide us with your feedback here as to which design would best support students and families in a distance learning environment. This feedback opportunity is open to all staff and will remain open until July 17th. Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide feedback.
Invitation to take the Staff Fall Planning Survey:
This survey will provide you with opportunities to share your insights from this spring and your suggestions for how we can best prepare for this fall. We expect the survey to take you about 10 minutes to complete, and it is available here. Your response would be most helpful if it is completed by 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 2nd.
Resources For Staff
CONSCIOUSNESS DEVELOPMENT
Important Links
You can manually add the links below to your desktop. If you do not how to do manually add these links to your desktop, please watch the video found here.
Pacific Interpreters
- Interpreting services information can be found here.
If you have questions about:
- Your work responsibilities between now and May 4: contact your direct supervisor.
- Your pay: contact Payroll at payroll@district279.org.
- Your benefits: contact Human Resources at HR@district279.org.
- How to access confidential support during these challenging times: take advantage of our Employee Assistance Program.
Flocabulary Login Link
Click here to access the district Flocabulary account.
BrainPop Password:
The BrainPop user id and password are below and case sensitive.
- User Id: NVMSBRAINPOP
- PW: knights7
Google Nods
If you haven’t already done so you might want to add Google Nod to your list of Chromebook extensions. It provides quick emoji reactions for muted team members during virtual meetings. It is also very helpful to the facilitator because it allows us to gauge real-time feedback as were are speaking. This is just a suggestion, not a requirement.
Professional Development Articles for Staff
If you would like to use this time for professional development consider visit the site found here using the log included below. This site is filled with a variety of information on a wide variety of topics that impact educators.
- User Id: bledsoed@district279.org
- PW: nvms279
Virtual Reppin’ Knight Pride Certificates
The form found here has been created to provide you with an opportunity to positively acknowledge our students who are showing Knight Pride in this distance learning environment. Students who are acknowledged by staff will be sent a certificate, a sweet treat, and will receive a positive phone call home to share this acknowledgment with their family members. Please consider nominating a student next week.
PBIS Distance Learning Incentives
Looking for a way to positively recognize your students during distance learning? If so click here for more than seventy-five incentive ideas.
COVID-19 Resources
I am worried about COVID-19. What resources are available to me?
Here are some of the specific resources included in the HR FAQ (the most updated FAQ is posted on my279).
- District 279 website: https://www.district279.org/covid-19/
- Employee Assistance Program: https://www.district279.org/human-resources/51-services-departments/human-resources/573-employee-benefits?start=7 (24 hour, anonymous employee access for general needs or concerns)
- Tips for dealing with the Coronavirus: https://www.district279.org/human-resources/51-services-departments/human-resources/573-employee-benefits?start=7
- Education MN: Coronavirus resources
- National Education Association: http://neatoday.org/2020/01/06/schools-and-coronavirus/
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/getattachment/Press-Media/Press-Releases/2020/COVID-19-and-Mental-Illness-NAMI-Releases-Importan/COVID-19-Updated-Guide-1.pdf?lang=en-US
- Minnesota Dept. of Health COVID-19 public hotline: 651-201-3920; open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mon-Fri.
Our Commitments:
We, the staff at North View Middle School, commit to…
- Providing challenging academic opportunities that are relevant, engaging, culturally responsive, and rigorous.
- Providing a meaningful, encouraging and safe environment that fosters the whole child, and focuses on student strengths.
- Including data driven best practices and instruction that meets the academic and individual needs of our students, improves student achievement, and promotes growth.
- Engaging in continued professional development to ensure that we are aware of our students’ racial perspectives, challenge our biases, and include practices that serve our diverse student population.
- Providing effective collaborative partnerships with the entire school community by ensuring that we encourage multiple opportunities for involvement, communication, and access.
- Modeling and implementing daily engaging multi-level reading and writing strategies within our classrooms.
- Accepting responsibility for each student’s success and celebrate that success with our school community.
Our Mission!
Committed to furthering the lives of each student by using the best practices available.
Email: bledsoed@district279.org
Website: http://schools.district279.org/nvms/
Phone: 763-585-7200
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nvmsknights/
Twitter: @NVMSPrincipal