Points of Pride
April 13, 2020
Benefits Open Enrollment...
It's going to be more difficult to remind everyone in person to do this, so let's "knock this out" this week.
Phishing and Cyber Attacks...
GPS has seen an increase in the number of phishing and cyber attack type emails around the district. Hackers know that we are all working on computers at this point, and opening one of these would cripple us.
If it looks suspicious, don't open it and contact the technology department.
GPS is currently adding some software that will be a button in the shape of a fish hook on our email set up. If you think something is suspicious, you would click that button so that district could investigate. News on this program should be coming shortly.
New Art Teacher...
She has taught for a number of years in the district and most recently she has worked at Harris and Houston.
We are excited to bring her to the Settler's Point family.
Classified Updates...
- There will be no evaluations for classified employees for this school year.
- By Wednesday, I am looking to send out some assignments for employees to begin working on at home. GPS has put together a fairly extensive list of trainings that can be done during this time. I am currently vetting them to see what is going to best meet our needs.
- Thank you to everyone that volunteered to help make copies for our students, I really appreciate it.
- Please continue to check your email once a day for updates.
- Maria and I have to have all classified hours turned into the district by April 24. Around then you should be getting word from us regarding hours for next year and something to sign regarding your hourly wage.
- If you know that you are not coming back for the 20/21 school year, please contact me ASAP.
- Miss you all!
Paper Copies Plan for Remote Learning...
Please know that as a grade level we don't need to provide paper copies, but I am trying to get as many of our students learning as possible.
The paraprofessionals will start coming in this week to prepare for next week's Monday copy pick up, so start sending them what you want. Again, you don't have to send anything, but this is here as a support.
Here is the procedure that we are going to follow:
K-4, please read carefully and be in communication with the paraprofessional that's been assigned.
25 Year Employees...
Student Belongings/Packing Up Rooms...
You will hear many different things in the coming weeks with how different schools are handling this. Some schools are already done packing up classrooms, while others are going to wait until the governor's orders are lifted. The district has made this a site-based decision.
Please know again that this is all pretty fluid, but I hope you can see that I tried to make staff health and safety the priority when coming up with this schedule.
I know that the governor is requesting that people stay home until the end of the month. I reviewed MANY different calendar options, and I feel like this is the best option for all involved.
From April 14 until the day you are assigned to come into the building, you need to be in communication with your families. In this communication, you are going to ask if there is anything specific they want returned (pencil box, crayons, personal books, spring pictures, etc.). Let the families know that you will do the best you can to locate any/all materials. If they want everything from their desk, we can do that. If they don't want any of it, we can accommodate that too.
Starting April 27, teachers will start coming in to collect and bag these items (the exact procedure has not been established, as I want to hear what worked well and didn't work from the schools that have already done this). This will also be your day to "pack up your room."
I have made a schedule in which there will not be a person in the same hallway as you. I feel that this will best encourage social distancing practices. I opted to start a little earlier than the governor's request, so that we could maintain a schedule that will limit the amount of people in the building. If I waited until May to start, we would have had to have more people in the building at a time.
It is my goal that this will be completed and I will start scheduling parents to pick things up during the week of May 11.
In summary, I hope that you can see that I tried to be mindful of health concerns while still ensuring that things are done before teacher contracts are finished. Please communicate with your parents early and often about when you will be going in, so that there are no "surprises." An actual procedure for how we are going to pack things up will be coming. If you absolutely cannot make your assigned date, please let me know ASAP.
Screencastify...
I know that around the district, there were some concerns about taking a lot of time to make/use this tool and not be able to use them next year.
Continue to use/play with this resource.
No Report Cards...
All report cards will automatically populate with a statement about schools being closed due to COVID-19. So there is a silver lining for you :)
New Employee Calendar...
In this calendar, they "swapped" the teacher day immediately after Fall Break, and placed it at the beginning of the school year. All returning teachers are scheduled to return on July 31.