Star Staff News
August 25, 2017
Welcome Back!
Pre-Service & Professional Development Week Agenda
*Monday, August 28
*8:30-10:00 Morning breakfast treats, welcome back, summer slide show, introductions, theme & poster sharing, team building
*10:00-12:00 Gender Diversity in K-12 Settings - Workshop
*12:00 - Catered lunch by the PTC
12:30 - 4:00 Work in your rooms and team meetings
*Classified staff are always invited and encourage to attend PD. Classified not scheduled to work that day will be compensated for their time or may trade time for conference days for attending professional development.
What you need do or to bring:
- Make sure you have emailed or texted me your pictures for the slideshow well before today!
- Complete and bring the enclosed Rock Fish poster. (This letter and the poster will be mailed 8/22.) There will be prizes for the coolest posters!
- Bring your laptop to every meeting.
Tuesday, August 29
8:00am to 4:00pm Elementary Math & Literacy PD
All K-5 Teachers, Resource Room, SCC & ELL Teachers
K - Oak Hills
1 - Findley
2 - Nancy Ryles
3 - Rock Creek
4 - Greenway
5 - Sexton Mountain
Elementary PE Teachers - Location TBD
Elementary Counselors - Location TBD
Elementary Music - Nancy Ryles
4:00 - 7:00 Potluck @ The McNamee's House - ALL STAFF
Pick up your family and something at the store after your day of PD and head on over to my house! We will have hamburgers, veggie burgers and hotdogs ready.
A-M Bring a side dish, N-Z salt or sweet. BYOAB - Bring your own adult beverages. Pop and juice boxes provided. I will send out an evite later this week. :-)
14828 NW Matomandy Court. Portland 97229. Cell phone: 503-701-6248
What you need to do or bring:
- Classroom teachers: Send a personalized email welcoming students to your class to Susan Boos. If you are not able to do so, Susan will send a simple generic welcome email from you. Try to send it today or at the very latest, first thing Wednesday morning. (Sample email is below the PD week schedule.)
- Everybody: Pick up your family and something to eat/drink at the potluck at Kalay's house. Kids can bring their swimsuits and floaties or life vests if they are under 4 feet tall.
Wednesday, August 30
9:30-12:00 Pre-Service PD (See possible topics below)
12:00 Lunch on your own
12:00 - 4:00 Work in your rooms & Team planning
3:00-4:00 Webinar Introduction to FrontRow - Location TBD
Teachers new to FrontRow or those who need a refresher
What you need to do or bring:
- Bring your laptop to the FrontRow Webinar.
- Bring your laptop or iPad to PD.
Thursday, September 1
9:00-4:30 Work in your rooms & Team planning
12:30-4:00 Specialist Teacher PD - District Level
4:30-5:00 Meet and Treat - Students meet teachers in their classroom, drop off school supplies and get a cool treat out on the playground. Specialists on playground.
5:00 Kalay - New Families to West TV Welcome - cafeteria
(Not for kindies who came to January orientation)
What you need to do at the Meet and Treat: Introduce your-self, retrieve school supplies, and shoo families out to the playground. Specialists mingle on the playground.
Friday, September 2
8:00-4:00 Work in your rooms & Team Planning
10:00 Stand up Staff Meeting - if needed
Professional Development Topics
Gender Diversity in K-12 Settings - Workshop
On Monday we will have some welcome back and team building time followed by a workshop given by a speaker from the TransActive Center. The work shop "Gender diversity in a K-12 Setting will explore gender myths and stereotypes that have an impact on gender diverse and transgender children in a school setting. This is a very timely and important workshop for our staff this fall.
Classified staff - Classified staff normally assigned to work Aug. 28 will be attending the workshop. If your start date is not until Sept. 6, please try your very best to attend. This is an important topic for us to learn about and discuss before school starts this year. I will do comp. time trade for conference days or pay you for your time.
Other possible Topics (but not all!)
Meeting Agreements, Vision and Mission
Team Building
Specials Schedule
PYPCollaboration/Early Release
Culture of Care
- Restorative Practices
- Community Circles
Staff Website
- Handbooks
- Resources
- Safeschool training
Application Tools and Resources
- Dreambox
- Seesaw
- Frontrow
- Fosnot
- Zearn
- Schoolpace
- Other subscriptions
Welcome email to Students - Sample email
If you want -- send a personalized email to Susan by Tuesday, August 29. She will send this generic one out on your behalf if she does not get one from you on Wednesday.
Dear West TV Family,
Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year! This email is to let you know that your child will be in my class beginning next week. I hope you have a chance to bring your child to our Meet and Treat on Thursday, August 31, from 4:30-5:00pm. I am excited to meet all of my students and say hello. You are welcome to drop off school supplies in the classroom and then get a cool treat on the playground.
I am very excited to to meet my new students! If you cannot come, I look forward to meeting your child on the first day of school, Tuesday, September 5, at 8:30am.
If you are brand new to West TV this year and did not attend Kindy Orientation in February, Mrs. McNamee will be holding an optional welcome and Q & A in the cafeteria at 5:00pm.
Sincerely,
Important Information
Theme
Our theme this year is In Our School - You Be You. (The book You Be You is authored by Linda Krantz.) We are intentionally creating a school environment that embraces a culture of care. We will explore themes of diversity, individuality, and acceptance, with an emphasis on the development of empathy, acknowledging similarities and differences, kindness, and taking action to make our world a better place. Please complete the rock fish that will be mailed on Tuesday, August 22. Bring it ready to share Monday, August 28.
Send Three Photos for Slideshow
Please send me three of your favorite summer photos for a slideshow Monday morning. Put them in this google team drive or text them to me at 503-701-6248.Staff Handbook 2017-2018
Staff Directory
Please add or make corrections to your personal information in google docs. All information is confidential and should not be shared. Thank you!
Link to Staff Confidential Information
BSD IT Changes
Please visit this information page to learn how to log in your computer and personal devices to the new BSD intranet. There is also information about several other BSD updates like our telephones, Microsoft Office, how to get IT help, etc.
Welcome New Staff Members
Amy McAdams - Fifth Grade Teacher
After teaching internationally for 4 years in Kuwait and South Korea, Amy is ready to come back to the USA to join the 5th grade team at West Tualatin View. She attended Lewis and Clark College, where she got her masters degree in teaching. Afterwards, Amy moved overseas and gained experience teaching Preschool and Kindergarten. Growing up in the Portland metro area, Amy is looking forward to exploring Portland again as an adult and being around family and friends. She loves to participate in Zumba classes, as well as traveling and learning about new cultures. Amy is excited for this new adventure in her career and for the new school year!
Cassidy Zusman - Kindergarten
Cassidy is thrilled to be joining the West TV Staff. This will be her first year teaching after completing her MAT program from Lewis and Clark. She attended the University of Oregon to obtain her Bachelor's degree - Go Ducks! - and loves returning to Eugene for football games. Cassidy enjoys biking around Black Butte Ranch, reading, and spending time with her friends and family. She is very excited to begin her journey in teaching!
Nicole Bright - School Psychologist
Nicole is returning to West TV after 3 years at the middle school and feels very well prepared to support our students as they transition from 5th to 6th grades. Nicole has been a school psychologist for 12 years with the last 8 years in the Beaverton School District. She University of California, Sacramento with a degree in School Psychology. Nicole loves pedicures, coffee, reading, and curling up in front of the fireplace with my cats.
Andrew Paul - First Grade
Andrew has been working with children for more than 25 years, teaching everyone from 3 year-olds to 4th graders. Most of his 20+ years in Beaverton (at McKay, Sexton Mountain and Barnes) have been with first graders, a special and amazing year of learning. He has a master's degree in Early Childhood Development from Loyola University in Chicago and has additional training as a reading specialist. His wife and two children, ages 11 and 7, can often be found with their noses in books when they aren't out in the forest or on mountains or beaches. Andrew loves to read, write, backpack, bicycle and make music. He is looking forward to becoming a part of the community at West TV!
Jared Johnson - PE Teacher
Jared is eager to join the staff at West TV and start his teaching career in the BSD. He is a recent grad of Oregon State University, earning his teaching degree, Master’s in Kinesiology, and endorsement in Adapted Physical Education. Jared attended Barlow High School, where he lettered in basketball, golf, tennis and track and field. During his time at Oregon State, Jared traveled and competed for the club volleyball team, and was twice named the Pacific Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Player of the Year. Jared also enjoys hiking, working out, the company of his family and friends, and country music! He is looking forward to his first year in education, meeting the staff, and joining Nicole in the Physical Education department!
Amy Hoffert - Instructional Assistant
Amy is excited to return to West TV after a few years of temporary positions, she is ready to join the ranks for a permanent position. Amy started her career in the Beaverton School District as a parent volunteer and when the opportunity arose to join as an Instructional Assistant she jumped on the chance. Amy has worked and volunteered in many grade levels and special education classrooms. Amy loves to ski in the winter, walk on the beach anytime of year, crochet to keep those hands busy and spend the summers at Girl Scout camp.
Crystal Gassert - Third Grade
Crystal Gassert is excited to be returning to West TV! This will be her third year of teaching third grade and her fourth year in the Beaverton School District. After five years of teaching in Washington, DC, Crystal and her husband decided to move to Portland to be near family when starting their own. They have an active three year old daughter named Catherine and a four month old baby named Molly. Passionate about inquiry and student engagement, Crystal is eager to blend her experience with the principals of PYP. She is sure this will be a great year of teaching and learning!
Farhat Khan - Special Education Program Assistant
Farhat is joining us as a Special Education Program Assistant in Mrs. Benventano's class. She has an academic background in math and science and is looking forward to sharing her math and science passion with children. Farhat has been a substitute and one on one aide for several Beaverton students in the past year. She has two grown boys of her own.
Heather Harbert - Special Education Instructional Assistant
Heather spent more than 7 years volunteering and running the art literacy program for her kids elementary school. She emphasized her efforts in the schools SRC classes.
In her spare time she loves to read, garden (with not much luck), and spending time with her kids. Heather and her husband have been married for 21 years and have 4 awesome children.
Chris Sonnichsen
Chris will be joining us as our school counselor while Rashawn is out on maternity leave. Chris is a reitired elementary counselor who spent many years at Chehalem. We are fortunate to have her join us for the fall.