PRESCOTT WEEKLY!
Welcome to our Prescott Weekly Newsletter for staff!
September 4th - September 8th
Forms to Complete:
- Prescott Emergency Information Form
- 23-24 Committee Sign-Up Form
- 23-24 My Favorite Things
- Prescott Culture of Appreciation
What's Included:
- Staff Introductions
- Culture of Appreciation
- Caring School Community
- Restorative Discipline
- Collaborative MTSS Process
- Prescott Student Intervention Process
- Curriculum + Instruction
- AVID at Prescott
- Reading Data Chat
- Mathematics Data Chat
- Coaching
- Campus Communication
- External Website
- Playworks Coach
- New Arrival Process (Drop-off line)
- Parking at DO
Here is a link to the slides that I shared with all of our shining faces! If I do not have a picture of you, please feel free to send me one so I can update the presentation. I will use this presentation (or something similar) for Back to School Night. If you strongly oppose your photo, feel free to send me an updated one. Please know that things are super busy so I may need several reminders to get it updated.
Cultivate It!
I believe Prescott strives to be such a community. But, what we know is that the persistence of racism and pressures of a biased system often make the “community” part hard to feel. Especially when we’re in a stressful time of year.
The beginning a school year can be stressful to many of us. So, treat each other with care over these next few weeks, Prescott. Go the extra mile for one another. Do that kind thing. Let that harsh tone go. Forgive that rude gesture. Give grace to that slow teammate. Leave some room for that teammate who rushes. Expect the short reply early in the morning. Don’t Reply-All to that email.
If we begin our school year in a position to expect humanity to show up, perhaps we won’t be so impacted when it does. Our ability to show up for others, first begins with how we show up for ourselves. So, BE KIND TO YOURSELVES FIRST! It is essential, to first give yourself some grace and kindness to understand you’re doing the best you can! You will hear me say this often. Because it’s become a mantra to myself that even if that thing is not done, or it’s not perfect or it’s not turning out the way I hoped, I’m still doing the best I can!
Culture of Appreciation is something we started at Prescott a few years ago. This year, I am hoping we are even more intentional with how we appreciate each other for the small (and big) things we do everyday to cultivate Beloved Community.
Here is a form to capture your applause. I will share a few highlights at every staff meeting. And perhaps we need a place on our Prescott Intranet to feature the month’s shout-outs?!
…Do we have to?
For our new staff, Caring School Community is our approach to building a positive school community that is drastically different from PBIS. PBIS is a compliance-based system that centers dominant framing in its approach to discipline and behavior management. To better understand the framework, we tried to look at our PBIS system though a culturally responsive lens. We put the “CR” in front of PBIS (CR-PBIS) remind us of the need to do things radically different.
After the pandemic, in the 2021-22 school year, we used the opportunity to reposition ourselves around behavior management. One of our first efforts to reframing our approach to school-wide discipline was to rethink our beliefs about walkie-talkies, referrals, restrictions to recess and our overall language about kids. Black kids to be specific.
We replaced our referrals with Situation Reports that shifted how we reported behavior on campus. We moved away from weaponizing our documentation, and embraced a more inclusive belief about social interactions, conflict and repair.
Our Educational Assistants have been MASSIVELY valuable throughout this reframing at Prescott. As they spend a considerable amount of time with our babies during their social interactions, it has been widely felt (by all of us) the tremendous role our EAs play in establishing a climate where our children can be fully human. And where no incident is above repair and healing.
Additionally, we spent the year developing common language in our Tier 2 meetings and the overall process for how we respond to discipline; and how we (as a team) respond to staff reported discipline. We called it Restorative Discipline.
After considerable work to shift our framing, we implemented Caring School Community last year (2022-23). CSC is managed by Megan and the Climate, Culture and Community (CCC) Team. You’ll often hear it referred to as 3C. She and I work closely to connect the BIG blocks that make up our school climate.
The responses to discipline, Spirit Weeks, monthly assemblies, Wednesday Electives, Student Leadership, Pi Day etc., contribute to the overall energy of our campus. As we create enriching moments for our babies, we must also do the very hard work of dismantling merit-based systems that thrive on incentives and exclusionary practices.
Because, we know who school works well for. And who it doesn’t.
As we gear up for our second year of implementation, Megan and I will work closely together to shore up any loose ends that we discover. As you implement the curriculum in your classrooms, please let either of us know if you stumble upon any ah-ha's or ideas.
We welcome your feedback as we kick off year two!
From Megan: SEL + Schoolwide PD Recap
Month One: CSC Curriculum + Life Skills
Here is a link to our Caring School Community folder. In here you will find the lesson weekly breakdown(by grade level), Life Skills scope and Sequence AND a list of activities that you can do for the first two weeks of school.
In that document, you will also find a link to the RULER approach and Mood Meter documents. I created a quick video here to walk you all through the basics of the meter and some ideas for visuals for your rooms!
Classroom Buddies
Here you will find your classroom buddy assignments. I will add the dates to our school calendar so that you feel prepared for buddies. Buddies are to meet at least twice a month on Wednesdays, and you can add more days if you would like.
Buddy Time is on Wednesday's 1:10pm - 1:45pm. This is on the Wednesday tab of the schoolwide schedule.
Winter/ Spring Electives
Electives will start shortly after Winter Break! Nichole shared the Google Form for you to sign up. The deadline for signing up will be in November and we will send out more info as we get closer. Be thinking about what you want to teach! Everyone always loves electives!
Reporting Protocols
Here you will find the reporting protocol that I placed in teacher packets. Please read this document thoroughly and reach out to myself, Nichole or Jen with any questions!
Push In Lessons
I will push in monthly for classroom lessons. Some lessons will taylor to our Life Skills scope and sequence and some will pertain to various topics, like Sexual Education. I am always happy to co teach and collaborate on any SEL lessons, so please reach out! I will connect with each of you later on to establish the best monthly times for lessons.
For the first week of school, I will push in for quick Introduction lessons (about 15 minutes). I tried to check in with as many of you as I could around time. I will be sending calendar invites, so please let me know if the time next week does not work.
If student needs support
If a student is needing to check in with me, they will be able to fill out a Counselor Pass and place it in my mailbox (there is one in the annex as well). I will go over this process durng intro lessons.
If you are wanting me to check in with a kiddo, please reach out to me via email, google chat or contact the office.
Woah! I know that was a lot of words and info, but I hope it was helpful. Remember to find all this info on our Intranet as well. CAN"T WAIT for next week and to be with all of you and our amazing kiddos!!!!
-Megan Davis
Please keep your "glasses" with you and bring them to staff meetings and professional developments as requested.
Free Glasses Templates:
Prescott Discipline Framework
“Restorative Discipline is a schoolwide approach to building a school climate and addressing student behavior that fosters belonging over school exclusion, social engagement over control and meaningful accountability over punishment.”
Dr. Marilyn Amour
It has become customary to develop an “if this/then that” flowchart for behavior in elementary settings. In place of a behavioral flowchart, this document is a guidance for staff to navigate wrongdoings that happen on campus.
Our overall approach is student centered and case-specific. Rather than developing a “if this/then that” code of ethics, we would rather a commitment to fostering accountability and ownership in meaningful ways. We hope our students feel an obligation to repair because they feel apart of a community that loves and cares for them - even when there is harm.
Behavior is communication. Our goal is to better understand the needs our students have by the ways they communicate.
As we continue to understand our Caring School Community framing, we will revise this document. If this work interests you, please consider joining the CCC (Culture, Climate and Community) Committee that is led by Megan Davis.
Prescott Collaborative MTSS Process:
MTSS stands for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support; and began as a component of RTI (Response to Intervention) and PBIS. Here is an article from We Are Teachers that came out last spring. While our thinking and implementation of MTSS has shifted quite a bit, this article does a great job of explaining its origins and where it all began.
Note: Our thinking and use of MTSS is very different than what is outlined in the article. The article is a great place for initial thinking and foundational framing.
Prescott Student Assistance Team is how we refer to our overall collaborative process in problem-solving student/adult needs, in addition to our service model.
- Prescott MTSS
- Prescott ISM
At Prescott, we have essentially two teams who meet to provide additional support for students. PR-MTSS (Prescott MTSS) is our developmental component. And PR-ISM (Prescott ISM) is our academic component.
Prescott MTSS (PR-MTSS), formerly called Tier 2, will be the space where we gather to collaborate and problem-solve about students who receive Additional Support. Likewise, these meetings will also be the space where we discuss student's being referred to the team. These meetings will be hosted weekly on Thursday mornings from 9:30am-10:30am.
Prescott ISM (PR-ISM), formally called SWIFT, will be the space where we gather to touch base about our servicemodel, PLCs, S.O.S. process, and data. We will lean to Jen who will facilitate much between these two brave spaces. These meetings will be hosted monthly on Wednesday mornings from 8:45am-9:45am.
I Need Help!
Classroom teachers, please refer to this document as you begin to establish classroom routines and expectations. Essentially, challenging behavior is a collective concern and this process will help us shift our perspective.
Curriculum + Instruction
- Ready Mathematics
- Ready Reading
- Ready Writing
As we discussed during Pre-Service, we must talk in greater length about integration and how we are enveloping science, social studies and health into our school day.
This year, we aim to provide the following instructional minutes per day:
- 90 minutes - Reading
- 60 minutes - Mathematics
- 40-60 minutes - Integrated Writing (Incl. Science + Social Studies)
- 30 minutes - Caring School Community (SEL)
Note: This is in addition to Enrichment, Lunch, Recess, Morning Meeting and Closing Circle.
For the upcoming school year, we will be focused heavily on Mathematics and Integrated Writing.
AVID at PRESCOTT!!
Critical Thinking!
Our Preschool team will continue to focus on Habits of Mind.
Higher-level thinking, elicited by skilled inquiry, should be both teacher- and student-driven. Teachers pose questions and guide students into deeper levels of thought. Students use questioning processes to probe the meanings of texts, solve problems, or design investigations. Ultimately, higher-level thinking is revealed through questioning, analyzing, and constructing of knowledge and understanding.
Using these resources and strategies, we'll be able to:
- Use effective questioning techniques in the classroom to promote students’ critical thinking or higher order thinking skills
- Create a classroom culture that nurtures thinking and inquiry
- Engage students in using Costa’s Levels of Thinking to think more deeply and broadly
- Teach students to identify and employ the strategies and skills of successful learners
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)
Through the use of VTS, we will be able to engage student in higher-level thinking that builds their capacity for level one, two and three questions of analysis using Costa's and/or Habits of Mind.
To access Prescott's subscription of Visual Thinking Strategies please do the following:
- Visit vtshome.org
- Sign Up for a new account
- My Account: Redeem Group Subscription
- Subscription Code: group_76855 (case sensitive)
- Subscription Password: 3jDBN0yclofh (case sensitive)
- To access curriculum, simply click the curriculum tab
Sign Up!
Redeem Group Subcription
Curriculum
2022 Fall Reading Diagnostic
- 24% of our students were at-or-above grade-level (green); and
- 37% of our students were only one grade-level below (yellow); and
- 40% of our students were two-to-three grade-levels below (red)
Of the 252 students tested, 60 of our babies (24%) were at-or-above their current grade level. 92 of our babies (37%) were one grade level below. And, 100 of our babies (40%) were two-to-three levels below their current grade.
2023 Spring Reading Diagnostic
- 41% of our students tested at-or-above grade level (green); and
- 35% of our students tested one grade level below (yellow); and
- 23% of our students tested two-or-three grade levels below (red)
Of the 273 students tested, 114 of our babies (41%) tested at-or-above grade level. 95 of our babies (35%) tested one grade level below. And, 64 of our babies (23%) tested two-to-three levels below their current grade level in their spring diagnostic.
Mathematics Data Chat!
2022 Fall Math Diagnostic
- 10% of our students were at-or-above grade-level (green); and
- 43% of our students were only one grade-level below (yellow); and
- 47% of our students were two-to-three grade-levels below (red)
Of the 238 students tested, 24 of our babies (10%) were at-or-above their current grade level. 103 of our babies (43%) were one grade level below. And, 111 of our babies (47%) were two-to-three levels below their current grade.
2023 Spring Math Diagnostic
- 29% of our students tested at-or-above grade level (green); and
- 44% of our students tested one grade level below (yellow); and
- 27% of our students tested two-or-three grade levels below (red)
Of the 271 students tested, 77 of our babies (29%) tested at-or-above grade level. 120 of our babies (44%) tested one grade level below. And, 74 of our babies (27%) tested two-to-three levels below their current grade level in their spring diagnostic.
Welcome Coach Carrie
Prescott: Wednesday + Thursday
Carrie will spend two days a week at Sacramento (Monday/Tuesday) and two days a week at Prescott (Wednesday/Thursday). Friday’s will be spent fluctuating between the two campuses as-needed.
For the upcoming year, Carrie’s time will mainly be spent in the following areas:
- Supporting New Teachers
- Supporting Building Needs
All new teachers at Prescott, regardless of experience, will receive a coaching cycle with Carrie this year. If you are joining us with more than three years experience, your cycle with Carrie may be different than someone who is in their first or second year in the classroom. As Renée shared during our Pre-Service Week, although she’s a veteran, she greatly valued her time with our Instructional Coach last year.
Contact Coach Carrie:
carrie_perez@parkrose.k12.or.us
Prescott Office: 14A (near Library)
CAMPUS COMMUNICATION
Prescott Intranet
As this site is an internal resource, please do not share the link with anyone other than Prescott staff.
If there is something you would like added to the Intranet, or you see a correction that is needed, please use this form to let us know.
Prescott Weekly News
Likewise, I am hoping that our Committees, Instructional Leadership Team and Student Assistance Teams will begin using this newsletter to communicate campus-wide information about the projects we’re working on together. More to come on this!
COVID Dashboard Evolved!
As our priorities have shifted, so has our dashboard! Please feel free to bookmark our external site and share with families during communications the first few weeks of school.
Introducing Coach Santina
New Playworks Coach!
Hey Prescott!
My name is Santina and I will be your new Playworks Coach this school year! I am super excited to meet you all and continue this partnership. My goal is to keep the same structure Coach M has set up, and I have been working with her, so this can be an easy transition for all of you and the kiddos!
Some little things about me is that I went to George Fox University down in Newberg and graduated with a psychology degree in 2021. I have grown up in Beaverton and loved playing soccer growing up, as well as playing golf in high school. Currently, I have been snowboarding up at timberline and ski bowl during the winter seasons, and very excited for that to start back up. I love attending Portland Timber games, OSU football games, and Hillsboro Hop games whenever I get the chance too!
Important info:
- During the first week of school I will be conducting 2 official site visits on September 7th and 8th to observe your 3rd grade recess.
During these site visits I will be conducting a GRF (Great Recess Framework).The GRF is essentially a tool designed to assess the quality of a school's recess, and to help gauge whether students are engaging in safe and healthy play. The GRF is divided into three sections: Safety, Engagement and Empowerment. This will help us get a good picture of things that are going well and also things we might need to focus on during the school year.
- No CGT will be happening that first week
- Here is your school's rotation schedule up until winter break.
Please make sure to put this in your calendar so you know when I will be at your school. I will send out a separate schedule for you all to sign up for Class Game Times after my initial site visit.
September to December
- Sept 25th - Sept 29th
- Oct 30th - Nov 3rd
- Dec 4th - Dec 8th
If you have any questions please feel free to email me at
ALL Students Enter Thru Cafeteria! (Expect Preschool)
PRESCOTT HAS A NEW DROP-OFF LINE DURING MORNING ARRIVAL!
Our arrival process has changed for the 2023-24 school year!
This change will impact all students Kindergarten through 5th Grade!
This change does not impact Preschool!
School arrival bell rings at 8:00am
Students will be permitted to enter through the Cafeteria at 7:50am
School dismissal bell rings at 2:00pm
Students will not be permitted to leave campus until 2:00pm
*unless otherwise arranged by a parent/guardian
ARRIVALS K-5
- All students in Kindergarten through 5th grade will enter at the Cafeteria Entrance near 105th Street
- Students will eat breakfast in the Cafeteria at their classroom table
- Breakfast will be available until 9:15am everyday
- If students decline breakfast, they will head directly to their classroom
PARKING AT PRESCOTT
No Parking on Prescott Street!
There are three options for parking during our school hours:
- District Parking Lot (10636 NE Prescott St)
- MHCC Parking Lot (Near 102nd/Primary Playground)
- Along 105th Street
District Parking Lot
I strongly encourage you to park in the District Office parking lot as it has high visibility, security cameras and heavy traffic flow to deter burglars. Please be mindful that all of our district staff park here as well. Including maintenance and transportation. If you park in the DO lot, please respect the directional arrows and take up only one space.
MHCC Parking Lot
Prescott staff and families have been parking in the MHCC lot for years at their own risk. If your classroom is near the Primary Playground, the MHCC lot will appeal to you. Talk to Liz and Chelsea about access to the West Gate.
Things to note about MHCC:
- It is a public space and belongs to the college so sometimes it attracts lots of attention.
- Never leave anything visible on your seats or in your trunk (NO Exceptions)
- Unfortunately, the cameras on the Primary Playground are not able to see activity on the MHCC lot (figured this out the hard way -_-)
Along 105th Street
A lot of us that have classrooms and/or offices near the Annex, like to park along 105th. Please talk to Liz and Chelsea about the small entry gate that's near the Annex Entrance.
Sidebar: PLEASE remember to shut and lock that gate when you leave at the end of the day.
Thing to note about 105th St.:
- It's a busy street. Tuck your side mirrors in if you are able to do so.
- Please do not block or obstruct a neighbors' driveway or mailbox
- Never leave anything visible on your seats or in your trunk (NO Exceptions)
- You might get lucky with a neighbor's Ring camera because none of our cameras pick up activity along 105th street.
- Be careful of students and families when arriving as many of our students walk to campus from 105th street
- Do not block the Bus lane or the large gate entrance
As they say in Hunger Games ... "May the odds forever be in your favor."