The Grass Valley WAG
Week at a Glance: 9/14 - 9/18
A note from Casey...
Welcome to Week 6 Grass Valley Staff,
This week we keep our focus on CONTENT, while beginning the lift of Enrichment. We know that Enrichment is an important EQUITY piece for Grass Valley because it assures our students have access to important learning opportunities that they might not otherwise. While Enrichment is OPTIONAL for families/students, they are highly encouraged!
Teachers, this week you should CONTINUE to focus on:
- Content - You should be fully lifting content during Class Meeting and small group instruction. This should be in full swing!. Consider - What areas do you need to spend more time planning this week to be fully prepared? What areas do you need to collect more data in so you are fully aware of students' needs?
- Communication - You should have a consistent system for communicating your Weekly Family Newsletter to your class (ie. Class Dojo or email). You should have completed regular two-way communication with all families though Class Dojo. Consider - What kinds of questions are you getting regularly from families? How can you begin to predict those questions and have information ready for families, before they need it?
- Collaboration - You should have established a regular Grade Level Planning meeting day/time (ie. K/1, 2/3, 4/5) and should have shared a calendar invite/Zoom link with Casey. Consider - What norms and structures are in place to support your work together? How do you need to focus as a team to best support one another in planning?
- Calm - You should be conveying a sense of calm to your families; reminding them about the need for flexibility and demonstrating compassion, while asking for it for yourself, as well. Consider - How are you reassuring families and students about our focus on learning during this difficult time?
Please continue to strive for balance between your personal/work lives as we continue into this new and unknown time. I know things are anxiety producing because of the unknown, but remember our rocks and the supportive community we have around us - lean on one another!
As your principal, I promise...
- honesty & transparency in sharing all information with you as quickly as I can
- flexibility in being understanding about where each of you are during this crisis and how this impacts your work
- support in finding the balance that best supports you AND our students
- a continued focus on equity as a school so we can serve ALL of our students to the best of our abilities
- a continued focus on team as we all lean in in new and different ways to support our greater community this year
Thank you for all you do for our students and please reach out with any questions or needs!
Respectfully,
Casey
Grass Valley, You know!
Carson T...
Congrats to our Superheroes of Week 5!
Even from a Distance, We Soar!
Inspiration for the Week!
Week at a Glance
Monday
- 10a COST
Tuesday
- 10a Attendance Team Meeting
Wednesday
- 3:00p SSC Establishment Meeting
- 6:00p PTA Meeting
Thursday
- 5:30p Perfect Attendance Party
Friday
- 2:30p Superhero Circle: Be SAFE
Important Reminders (Teachers)
- Faculty Meeting/Office Hours/Committee Meetings: We will have Faculty Meetings on the 2nd Tuesday from 1-2p and Committee Meetings on the 4th Tuesday from 1-2p. I will NO longer hold Office Hours, but if you are interested in meeting, please send me an invite!
- Family Newsletter: These should be shared via Class Dojo/Email each week BEFORE Monday at 8:30a (it would best support families if they were available Friday evening)
- COST: We have addressed attendance in COST during the first 3 weeks, and will now shift our focus to academics. I will share the COST referral form with you soon.
Important Reminders (ALL STAFF)
- Technology Support: If you or students need support with technology - call Grass Valley (9a-2p) for real time/immediate support OR call/text Paula Mitchell (Distance Learning Lead) at 510-214-3230 (include name, teacher, and issue in message).
- Distance Learning: A reminder that all OUSD students/families may choose to enroll their scholars in Distance learning for the entire 20/21 school year, even if we return to in person learning at any time.
- Safety on Campus: Wear a mask outside of your classroom/office space; Sanitize as you enter/leave (sanitizer at the front door); Sign in/out (front office - we MUST have a record of who is on site); Restrooms - ONLY use the staff bathrooms INSIDE; When using the restroom, flip the sign over to “needs to be cleaned” when you exit; Copier - add your name on the list on the whiteboard (office), if you’d like to walk through the door to the copy room - let us know and we will open it!
- ZOOM bombing - this is when someone unknown to you enters your ZOOMroom. Screenshot as much of the information about the person as possible and email the information (screenshot, time, date, etc.) to Casey for follow-up.
CREW
- All staff members will lead a Crew (small group advisory) this year. We will begin Crew on October 5.
- Purpose: This is an opportunity for students/staff to build deeper relationships. The structure of crew allows for relationship building, academic progress monitoring, and character development.
- TEACHERS: you have all been assigned additional Crew Leaders for their class (see cell H1 on your class tab here). By 9/30, teachers should work to name the Crew leader (of those adults available to your class) for each student in Column H.
- The first 12 weeks of Crew will focus on Toolbox through slide decks found HERE (curated by Julie Slater - K/1 here, Alexa McDougal - 2/3 here, and Rasheedah Jones - 4/5 here)
Upcoming Dates
- 9/16: SSC Meeting (3p)
- 9/16: PTA Meeting (6p)
- 9/17: Perfect Attendance Party
- 9/24: Parent Corner with Coach
- 9/24: Student of the Month
- 9/25: PD Day
Staff Communication Expectations
This year will be one that is dramatically different in a number of ways, especially in regards to communication. In order to best support our students and our greater community, ALL staff are expected to:
- Email - check OUSD email at the beginning and ending of each day; all emails should be responded to within 24 hours
- WAG - review the "Grass Valley WAG', which is sent out weekly by Casey by Monday morning; complete any required action within stated time frame
- Class Dojo - use Class Dojo for tracking positive student behavior and communicating with families; register for your account at classdojo.com
- Zoom - use Zoom to participate in staff and student functions
- Whole School Community Meeting - participate daily in whole school community meeting with our students from 2:30-2:45p
- Crew - lead a small group (4-12) of students daily in learning about Toolbox and the Grass Valley Way from 2-2:30p
- Class Meeting (Teachers & Classroom Support Staff) - participate in a daily class meeting with your students at the beginning of each day
It will be critical that we communicate clearly across all staff, students and families this year, and these pieces will be an important part of that. Please reach out with any questions!
Appreciations!
Kudos to Monique staying late on Friday to make sure all my guided reading books were in order!
Shout out to the K-1 team being my motivation!
Thank to Casey for just being there and supporting us in every way possible.
I appreciate Ms Jones, Ms Hodge, and Coach for helping to assure that kids get their work materials and technology!!!! Thanks for ALL of the running back and forth!!!
Julie for sending helpful ideas and resources to teachers, often on Sunday morning! Her dedication shines.
Thank you to Debra for always having something positive to say, even when class seems completely out of control!
Sundra for being so thoughtful and kind, and always saying hi with her big smile!
Coach for getting down to the floor and doing exercises with the kids, and encouraging them the whole time!
Casey for letting me vent and for recognizing and respecting my feelings of frustration and despair!
I appreciate Julie for always being supportive!
Shout out to Tammie for always asking how I'm doing!
Thanks to Casey for always being here for me.
Kudos to GV Teachers and all staff members for being AWESOME people!!!
Paula for being so supportive, patient and kind. No matter what else she has going on, she always helps me out!!
Casey for spending so much time with me this week, answering all of my questions and helping me brainstorm solutions. You are amazing!
Llaima for how clear, calm and patient he is with his students as he's trying to help them login and join the class. He is an inspiration!
Sundra and Shamon for making our school so clean and shiny!
Want to include an appreciation for a colleague in the next WAG? Add it HERE!
Useful Links
Grass Valley Info
EL Education
General