AVHS Staff Newsletter: October
Updated October 30
Looking for the November Staff Newsletter?
Important Upcoming Dates at AVHS
October 26: ALL FACULTY Meetings 7:05 am or 2:35 pm*
October 28: EAGLE DAY: Connections and Collaboration
November 2: Fall Play Preview
November 4: NO SCHOOL Staff Development Day
November 11: Veterans Day 9-10 am
*Required for licensed staff. Non-licensed staff are welcome to attend.
Information Included In This Update:
- Links for this week's Eagle Day (Friday, October 28)
- REMINDER - Faculty Meeting on Wednesday, October 26: snack provided by Vital Nutrition
- Hallsweeps: Proposed Changes & Updates
- Employee Pledge Program Open to Wednesday, October 26
- Advisory Slides
- Upcoming Field Trips
- Upcoming Meetings
Connect & Collaborate Eagle Day is October 28th
What Faculty and Staff Need to Know document.
Friday, October 28th will be our 2nd AVHS Connection & Collaboration Eagle Day. Our Eagle days have been designed as blocks of time for academic and social-emotional support to meet the needs of students during the school day. During this time, students will receive academic support, participate in relearning, makeup labs or tests and quizzes, study quietly and collaborate with classmates on group projects.
CLICK HERE for the direct link to the Eagle Day Student Request Form
*Teachers should invite a minimum of 5-8 students for intervention/support
CLICK HERE for the direct link to the Eagle Day Spreadsheet for advisory
Staff can view the most up-to-date details and documents (image below) by CLICKING HERE
OCTOBER FACULTY/STAFF MEETING: Wednesday, October 26th
Licensed faculty are required to attend either the morning or afternoon session. All other staff members are welcome to attend the meetings, but are not expected to do so.
NEXT MEETING Date/Time: Wednesday, October 26
7:05 am/2:35 pm
Location: Choir room
Tea and protein bites provided by VITAL NUTRITION: "Vital Nutrition is a local restaurant where you can come and grab a quick, healthy breakfast, lunch or snack! Need energy? We have amazing energy teas and iced coffee as well! We are a small family owned business who has a mission and passion to bring health and wellness to our community through nutrition and healthy active lifestyles."
September 28th was our first ALL STAFF MEETING. Our slide deck from the meeting is LINKED HERE.
Hallsweeps: Proposed Changes & Updates
Thank you to all that provided feedback with regard to where we are at with hallway sweeps. In our conversations, hallway sweeps as a whole have wide support in our building for a number of reasons. In order to improve upon what we are doing now, we would like to continue to utilize this tool to get students to class, ready to learn.
Some changes/modifications that we would like to implement moving forward, at the suggestions from staff feedback are listed below:
Continue with hallway sweeps
Establish a calendar of dates of hallsweeps (below)
Email reminders at least 24 hours in advance
Loudspeaker announcement to shut doors after the bell has rung.
Again, thank you for the feedback and our hope is a continued improvement to keep our hallways safe and to support our Valley Vison.
Jeff Flugum
Social Studies Department/Attendance TOSA
Upcoming Dates for Hallsweeps
- Thursday, October 27
- Tuesday, November 1st
- Wednesday, November 9th
- Monday, November 14th
Employee Pledge Program Open to Wednesday, October 26
We have 4,000+ employees, together we have the power to make a big difference in the lives of those in need. To date, just 54 of you have given back and shared. It’s easy, it takes just 36 seconds! Your donation can be a payroll deduction from each of your checks beginning January 2023, a one-time payroll deduction, or be done with a credit/debit card. Give back and share. Make your pledge today.
Advisory Slides (week of 10/24)
Below you will find an overview of next week’s slides and the link. Please reach out to an Advisory team member if you have questions. We’ve been getting quite a bit of positive feedback from the school year so far, as well as activities teachers would like to see us include. We have those on a list! Have a great weekend and enjoy your mini break.
Monday: Announcements; Honoring Native American Heritage Month
Tuesday: Veteran’s Day Letter Writing Activity (Nick Erickson will get you the supplies for this)
Wednesday: Eagle Connection Day Prep and Info
*There will be an OPTIONAL organization sheet to use with your students; A digital copy will be on the slides, but paper copies will be available by the mailboxes
Thursday: Our FIRST EaglEye of the year (Episode #214)
Friday: NO ADVISORY……. But students will check in from 7:35-7:45 for attendance
SLIDES LINK: CLICK HERE
Have a great weekend!
Brenda, Kristin, Lisa, Michelle, Nichole, and Zach
Upcoming Field Trips
Information Included in Previous Updates
- Advisory Slides from Weeks Gone By...
- Academic Award Distribution
- Pickleball?
- Coffee & Conversation
- Advisory Slides
- Discounted Vikings Tickets for Educators
- October 10th is Indigenous People's Day
- Bus Safety Drill Memo
- District 196 Sponsored PD for suicide prevention &/or positive behavior interventions
- Coffee & Conversation
- Advisory Slides
- Connect & Collaborate Eagle Day is October 28
- Upcoming Field Trips
- Upcoming Meetings
- Picture re take day
- Academic Award Tri 3 21-22
- Fall Conferences Info
- PTCFast Setup for Fall Conferences (A few actions required!)
- Clarification of "late work" dates
- Why You Should Consider Becoming a SWEL Educator
- September Staff Meeting Slides
- AVHS Site Goal
- Coffee & Conversation
- Advisory Slides
- Upcoming Field Trips
- Upcoming Meeting/Event Info (District 196 Foundation 2nd Annual Celebration October 14th; ALL STAFF monthly meeting 10/26)
- Connection & Collaboration Days Schedule
- What Faculty & Staff Need to Know
- How to Find a Case Manager in Campus
- 2nd Floor Gender-Neutral Restroom
Advisory Slides from Weeks Gone By...
Advisory Slides (week of 10/10) CLICK HERE
Advisory Slides (week of 10/3) Slides Link: CLICK HERECoffee & Conversation: OPTIONAL staff meetings
Where - STEM Classroom
What - Come for the coffee - stay for the conversation
We'll check in and I'll plan to answer questions about the upcoming Eagle Day and discuss whatever is coming up for our staff. See you there or reach out to me directly. Thanks!
ACADEMIC LETTER AWARD
Pickleball?
Our HPE department is holding our annual all-school pickleball tournament on Thursday, October 27. This will be a doubles tournament so line up that partner and let any HPE teacher know to sign you up. If you don’t want your reputation or self-esteem to get ruined, don’t play…but come and watch! It is serious fun.
Carla and the HPE department
The French (Kids) Are Coming!
I’m happy to announce that our programs are back and that we will be hosting 10 students from the Aix-en-Provence area of France soon. These French teens will be here from October 15th- November 1st.
Our 10 French friends will be following around their host students in the building for 6 total days. (10/17, 10/18, 10/25, 10/27, 10/31, 11/1)
They are expected to follow along in class and participate to the best of their abilities. These students are all around the age of 14/15 years old, and they have been studying English for several years. Our host students will be approaching their teachers on Wednesday/Thursday (10/12-10/13) with a sign-off sheet similar to those that we see from the sports coaches.
If for some reason you are not able to accommodate another student in your class, I need to know. I will make other arrangements for these kids- but ideally you would welcome them with AVHS hospitality.
I do not foresee them being a major disruption to your class, and you can even work them into your lesson if it works out! We are really excited to restart our exchange program, and we look forward to the great friendships and connections that we can make with our new partner school.
If you have questions, please message me!
Miranda Godfread
Discounted Vikings Tickets
The Minnesota Vikings are extending a special discounted ticket offer specifically for educators.
Please CLICK HERE for a direct link if are interested in acquiring tickets to three remaining home games in December:
· Vikings vs. Jets | Sunday, December 4th @ Noon
· Vikings vs. Colts | Saturday, December 17th or Sunday, December 18th @ TBD
· Vikings vs. Giants | Saturday, December 24th @ Noon
Indigenous Peoples' Day is Monday, October 10th
Monday October 10th is Indigenous Peoples Day – a holiday that celebrates and honors Native American peoples, their sovereignty, culture and gifts to Turtle Island (North America).
On this day, District 196 wants to acknowledge that our community resides within Mni Sota Makoce - A Dakota Place. This land has been the homeland of the Dakota people and the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fire) for every generation since their creation at Bdote.
Mni Sota - the land where waters reflect the skies - is indigenous land.
Mni Sota is also the home of the Anishinaabe and many other Indigenous Peoples who have and do contribute to the overall foundation of this region.
We encourage all members of the District 196 community to join us in learning more about the people, sovereignty, and treaty rights of the Dakota, the Anishinaabe, and the over 574 Indigenous communities who continue to thrive and celebrate their culture and resiliency. Please CLICK HERE to access the District 196 newsletter.
District 196 has a growing Native American community. Currently, we have over 500 Indigenous students across the district representing over 55 different sovereign nations. To learn more about how District 196 supports our Indigenous students and families, please visit our American Indian Education Program website which is found under “Academics” at district196.org
Transition Days Survey & PD Interest Survey
The survey consists of two required questions (multiple choice/checkbox) and can be accessed by CLICKING HERE
PICTURE RETAKES: Oct 12, F155
STAFF PICTURES: start at 7 am and anytime before 11:30 am
PSAT STUDENTS: 7 - 7:30 am (test begins at 7:40 am)
STUDENTS NEEDING RETAKES FOLLOW THIS SCHEDULE:
Period 1 – Last names A – D
Period 2 – Last names E – K
Period 3 – Last names L – P
Period 4 – Last names Q – Z
STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE A PASS TO RETURN TO CLASS.
Bus Safety Evacuation Day Memo
CLICK HERE for specific details for ALL ADVISORY TEACHERS on Wednesday, October 12 and for TEACHERS OF 9TH AND 10TH GRADE STUDENTS IN 3RD HOUR on Thursday, October 13.
District 196 Sponsored PD for suicide prevention &/or positive behavior interventions
In partnership with Dakota County Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) we are pleased to share these professional development offerings for educators to meet the suicide prevention or positive behavior intervention categories for PELSB licensure renewal.
This 2.0 hour workshop meets the PELSB licensure requirement for suicide prevention strategies. Pre-registration in Keep Certified is required and will be open until Monday, October 10th 2022. Please note registration is limited to 45 participants per workshop.
Session 1:
Tuesday, Oct 11, 4:30pm--6:30pm at the School of Environmental Studies (SES)
Session 2:
Wednesday, Oct 12, 3:30pm--5:30pm at Falcon Ridge Middle School (FRMS)
The Present Teacher Restoration Project (PTRT)
This self-paced, online adult social and emotional learning (SEL) and healing professional development program focuses on providing educators and educational caregivers (all staff members working in educational settings) with experience and evidence-based healing practices in mental health and emotional resilience for sustainable well-being in the midst of a global pandemic and our collective mission of social justice for our schools.
Module 1: Prioritizing your well-being.
Module 2: Banishing time stress
Module 3: Taming the toxic stress impact
Module 4: Teacher self-compassion
Module 5: Teacher joy!
Module 6: Trauma & teaching
Module 7: Teacher restoration as social justice work
Module 8: Establishing your well-being manifesto
- Go to https://www.presentteacher.com/dakotacountyptrp
- Use your firstname.lastname@district196.org email address to gain FREE access.
Fall Conferences - Thursday, Oct 6th & Friday, Oct 7th
Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, October 6 (4pm-7pm) and Friday, October 7 (7:30am-10:30am). Families meet via Zoom in or in person.
- Sign-ups for Fall Conferences were shared with families on Friday at 4 pm through the following link https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/AVHSConferences
- As we've done in the past, please use the "Focus on the 15%" strategy (those who are in the bottom 15% of your grade book) for your initial outreach and scheduling priorities.
- Teachers will send individual Zoom links to families and will update a spreadsheet with your zoom link so Main Office staff can assist anyone having trouble locating a Zoom room or physical location.
- Contact Bill Blatzheim with questions about PTC Fast, Chris Borman for rooms, and Pete Buesgens for other logistics.
Clarification of "Late Work" Dates
Why should you consider becoming a SWEL Educator?
Staff Meeting Slides
We’ve been asked to collect and share data after our Trimester One Eagle Days. Please take a minute to complete this exit ticket. https://forms.gle/sF3JcAqvnS4HTAz1A
AVHS Site Goal: ACT Reading Benchmark
The percentage of all students in grades 11 and grade 12 at Apple Valley High School who meet or exceed the College Readiness Reading Benchmark composite score (22) as measured by ACT will increase from 32.0% in 2022 to 40.0% in 2023.
19 students= 41%
42 students= 47%
NEXT STEPS - 11/4/22
We will be having our next meeting on our Staff Development day, November 4th. Sign-Up Sheet
Meeting Dates:
9/30/22, 11/4/22, 12/2/22, 1/13/23, 2/10/23/ Fair (more information coming soon!), 3/1/23 Wrap Up.
Please reach out to Aimee Tanner-Podmers if you have any questions or concerns! We look forward to getting this important work started.
How to Find a Case Manager
Questions? Please contact Melissa Buhr.
2nd Floor Gender-Neutral Restroom
Any staff-issued keys can be used to unlock the restroom, but students will only be issued an "R" key (restroom). To access the gender-neutral bathrooms, students must first meet with their counselor or assistant administrator to obtain a key.
A School-wide Approach to Cell Phones
Our AVHS school-wide approach allows students the flexibility to use cell phones to stay connected to their family and friends during passing time, lunch, and before/after school, but also to keep them from becoming a diversion from the learning in the classroom. This is how it works:
Expectations: What We Do During the School Day
During all class periods, cell phones and personal devices are turned off or on airplane mode and stored out of sight.
Students may use personal cell phones and mobile devices before and after class, during their lunch periods, and between classes.
To prevent usage in hallways and restrooms, students will exchange their cell phones for a pass to leave the classroom during instructional periods. If a student does not have a cell phone, they may exchange their student ID.
Non-Negotiables: What We Don’t Do
It is never acceptable to send threatening or harassing messages or phone calls.
It is never acceptable to take photos or videos of others without their permission.
It is never acceptable to take pictures or videos of fights or dangerous situations.
It is never acceptable to use your cell phone or electronic communication devices with messaging or picture-taking options to be visible in locker rooms or restrooms.
Students who violate this policy regarding cell phones and electronic devices are subject to appropriate disciplinary consequences.
Formal warning. Teacher notifies parent/guardian of the violation (email or call).
The teacher notifies the parent/guardian of the violation with a phone call. Referral to document call in Infinite Campus.
Referral to Student Support Office. The administrator will meet with the student and contact the parent/guardian to establish appropriate consequences.
NOTE: If a student refuses to surrender an electronic device to an administrator they are subject to additional consequences.
EXCEPTION: Students who use a personal mobile device to monitor a medical condition (i.e. diabetes, epilepsy) may carry devices with them at all times.
Hall Passes
Three quick reminders on pass-related items as we look to maintain consistent and structured expectations that promote a positive learning environment:
- Passes – Students should always have a pass when they leave your room
- Do not give students a pass in the first five/last five minutes of class.
- Students should exchange their phones for your bathroom lanyard
- If they are working outside of your room, a pink pass with their names and time/date is sufficient.
- Advisory passes –
- If you want to give a pass for a student to leave their advisory and come to you, no problem.
- Please do not write passes for a student to leave your advisory and go to another teacher’s advisory as they are dealing with their own advisory students and activities.
- Prayer Pass- If a student is interested in Friday prayer, they may pick up a participation form from Teresa. You will be notified when the parent has given permission and a pass has been given to the student. The student must have the pass with them to leave class and participate.
COVID-19 Operational Plan for Employees for 22-23
The 2022-23 District 196 COVID-19 Operational Plan for Employees, along with the plan for families and students, follows all current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our primary focus continues to be the in-person participation of students and employees, while integrating health and safety responses into our existing pre-pandemic public health support.
Highlights of Health Guidance
- Anyone exposed to COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, does not need to quarantine anymore. Instead, they should wear a mask for 10 days following the exposure but wait to take a test until day 5. If the person becomes symptomatic, they should test immediately and continue to wear a mask for 10 days after the onset of symptoms.
- Anyone who tests positive must isolate for at least 5 days and wear a mask after returning to work through day 10. You may return to work on day 6 if your symptoms are improving and you are fever-free, and you wear a mask through day 10.
- Employees are required to report their positive tests. Employees who test positive must complete a self-reporting questionnaire and send positive test results to Human Resources by emailing HR-Leave@district196.org.
- COVID-related absence pay is no longer available. Staff need to report their absence in their regular manner and use their own paid leave as desired.
PTCFast Setup for Fall Conferences (A few actions required!)
At Wednesday morning’s staff meeting a question came up about our current Zoom meetings being limited to only 40 minutes per session. Currently, this is true. But you can easily make a change that will remove that limit.
Perfect right? Just in time for conferences. At your convenience, please go to Collab and Zoom to upgrade your account. It’s easy, just (follow this link for instructions.)
Need help? Stop and see one of our tech team members in B109, Media Center, or B144. We can help you through the process. Let’s work together to make sure you connect and collaborate, but not get cut-off.
Adult Wellbeing at School
Access to district-provided meditation resources
- This Virtual Calming Room was designed to assist in identifying different strategies for managing emotions.
- Smartphone mental health apps
Access district-provided to hotlines and other resources
- Associated Clinic of Psychology (ACP). At no cost to you, call 612-455-8646 to schedule confidential phone coaching sessions to support you. Please mention the Educator Resilience Program in a VM and two dates/times you are available to talk. You will receive a call back confirming your session.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your EAP can help with almost anything you can think of. EAP services are confidential and available 24/7 at no cost. District 196 employees can utilize this program by calling 866-326-7194 or logging on to hpeap.com (password ISD196)
Who Do I Go To For Help?
Technology. Click here for AVHS Tech Help. The AVHS Tech Help page is for parents and students and is for issues with Schoology, Campus, iPads, internet support, and more.
Contacting counselors. Click here to find your student’s counselor. Counselors are available to assist with concerns about scheduling, academic progress, and mental health.
Contacting administrators. Click here to contact an AVHS Assistant Administrator. Assistant Administrators assist with questions about attendance, behaviors, credit recovery, and school climate/safety concerns. Ms. Moren works with students with the last names A - K and Mr. Tinder supports students with the last names L - Z.
Apple Valley High School
Website: avhs.district196.org
Location: 14450 Hayes Road, Apple Valley, MN, USA
Phone: 952-431-8200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avhsscholar
Twitter: @avhsacademics