South East Update
January 2023
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADMINISTRATIVE NEWS AND UPDATES
Daily Announcements
Daily announcements are read each day, and broadcast into classrooms at the beginning of first period.
Announcements can also be found on the South East Jr High website.
Daily Announcements
▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲
Upcoming Dates
Jan 16- No School- District Offices Closed
Jan 19- Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:15-7:45 *virtual
Jan 23- No School
Feb 17- No School
March 2- End of 2nd Trimester
March 3- No School
SmartPass
Our implementation of SmartPass has been going very well!
A few benefits of this system include:
- Ability to limit the overall number of students in the hallways at one time during class time.
- Ability to open passes back up to students during all periods of the day, including 3rd and 4th period since we can limit the number of students out.
- Ability to locate where a student is in case of an emergency (fire, tornado, safety concern, etc)
- Economically friendly as we reduce paper waste.
- Less disruptive to teaching since the student fills out the pass and the teacher simply has to enter a quick pin to approve.
- Ability to follow up and problem solve with students who are missing a substantial amount of class time.
- Ability for parents to have access to information about where their student goes to the day if they wish. ** more info to come later.
- Ability for teachers to create passes for students that will pop up on their device letting them know that a particular teacher wants to meet with them at a certain time.
2nd Trimester Conferences
We will be having virtual parent teacher conferences on January 19th from 4:15-7:45. You will be receiving an email from Rachel Hills with instructions on how to sign up for conferences. All of the conferences will be held via zoom and are intended to be short 5 minute check ins. If you feel you need a more lengthy and detailed meeting with a teacher, please email them directly to schedule an alternative time.
Please remember that conferences are not the only time you can check in! We encourage you to follow along with your student's progress through Infinite Campus, Canvas and emailing teachers when necessary. If you do not have questions or concerns at this time, do not feel obligated to schedule a conference. We are here to provide support and partner with you at any time.
Registration
It's hard to believe we need to start thinking about next school year already when it feels like we just started this one! After we return from winter break SEJH counselors and administrators will begin visiting 7th grade classes to discuss registration for 8th grade. High school counselors will be coming in January to visit 8th grade classes to discuss 9th grade registration. We will send more information with specific dates as it gets closer. Please remember if you are an 8th grade family attending on a voluntary transfer and do not intend to attend your home school for high school, a new transfer form will need to be filled out and turned into the ESC. If you need help getting a form, please contact the guidance office. Counselors from both City High and West High will be at SE for 9th grade registration as we have students who will attend both schools.
It's getting cold outside!
Dear parents,
Our clothes closet is in need of gently used items. Donations can be dropped off at the SEJH main office. We would greatly appreciate the following items!
Please only send adult sizes Small-XL
Winter coats (especially womens), stretch gloves, hoodies, sweatpants or leggings, new female underwear.
Thank you! Mrs. Spear & Mrs. Gabriela, Student and Family Advocates
Inclement Weather Guidelines
With the weather changing please find the district inclement weather guidelines
HERE.
Cell Phone Policy
Cell Phone Policy
Students are allowed to use their cell phones before and after school, in the hallways during passing time and during lunch.
At the beginning of each class period, teachers will ask students to “secure their devices.” This means that all phones are placed in pockets, backpacks, etc. and are out of sight/not on the student desk or table.
If there is inappropriate or unauthorized use, the device may be confiscated by staff.
Any student who photographs or records someone else without their permission will be subject to disciplinary consequences and may have their phone confiscated by staff.
Any student who videotapes a fight/disruption, or actively encourages inappropriate behaviors will be subject to disciplinary consequences up to suspension from school.
Infraction Protocol
1st offense- verbal warning by teacher *per student not per day
2nd offense- Ask for the phone and keep until the end of the period. Make sure you have a secure location to put the phone, if you do not or are not comfortable, call the office and someone will come down and get it.
3rd offense- Ask for phone and bring to the office for the student to pick up at the end of the day.
4th offense- Ask for phone and bring to the office. A parent may be required to pick up the phone per admin discretion.
** Student may be placed on cell phone restriction at any point during this process as determined by administration.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each week we share a newsletter with staff and highlight a staff shoutout for someone who has gone above and beyond. Staff are shouted out by colleagues, admin and parents.
We are excited to share these with our families and will begin including the shoutouts from each month so you can see the incredible team that works with your students! Below are the shoutouts from December.
If you or your student would like to shoutout a staff member from South East, please fill out the form HERE. We will include in our next weekly staff newsletter, as well as the next month parent newsletter.
Infinite Campus
Please book mark the I
nfinite Campus website, and/or download the app- Infinite Campus Parent or Infinite Campus Student so you can access schedules, grades, attendance information, etc. Students, you will use your school district gmail address and password to login by clicking "sign in with Google". Parents, you have an account that you will use for username and password. If you are unsure what this is or need help, please email
Rachel Hills
-------------------------------------------------------------------
South East Junior High After School Clubs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports at South East Junior High
Our PBIS team is focusing on High Reliability Schools (HRS) leading indicators 1.1, 1.2 and 1.7.
1.1-The faculty and staff perceive the school environment as safe, supportive and orderly
1.2-Students, parents, and the community perceive the school environment as safe, supportive, and orderly
1.7-The school acknowledges the success of the whole school as well as individuals within the school
The Iowa City Community School District issued a survey to parents, staff and students about this HRS leading indicators. Our South East community survey responses to these identified indicators was positive, but there is still work to be done. Our PBIS team is focusing on continuing to gather more feedback from our stakeholders, sharing that information and using data to inform our school-wide PBIS decisions. Recently, student and staff data indicated that hallways could use more supervision, re-teaching of expectations, and reinforcement of positive behavior. Our staff signed up to provide coverage in different parts of the hallways, and had used a combination of PBIS SOAR tickets and PBIS reward points to acknowledge the positive hallway behaviors we taught during homeroom. We have also ended class with an optimistic closure, and reminder about student and staff hallway expectations.
So far this year, we have given out more than 100,000 PBIS points/tickets to students. Our students can spend their SOAR points/tickets at our SOAR store. If you would like to donate to our SOAR store, please email salter.kelsi@iowacityschools.org
Instructional Leadership Team
Our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) meets weekly to discuss and plan for our building-wide goals and teacher professional development. As part of our High Reliability Schools structure, this team is focused on HRS indicator 1.4- Teacher teams and collaborative groups regularly interact to address common issues regarding curriculum, assessment, instruction, and the achievement of all students. The four questions we hope that all collaborative groups will eventually address include 1) What do we want all students to know and be able to do? 2) How will we know if they learn it? 3) How will we respond when some students don't learn? 4) How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient? ILT has been working to establish collaborative teams for the building, determine where each team currently is, and what is the next step in this process for each team.
Race Matters
Race matters is a group of South East staff members meeting to pursue to following vision and mission:
Vision: We strive for racial justice in a school system that is free of white supremacy and all forms of oppression as it serves all students, staff, and community stakeholders.
Mission: We are committed to recognizing the brilliance of every child and listening to where the hurt is. We will withhold nothing as we find anti-racist interventions to recognize, label, disrupt, and challenge white supremacy and all forms of oppression within our school system.
--------------------------------------------------------
PSTO Meeting Dates
All PSTO meetings will be held via zoom beginning at 7:00p.m. Zoom links will be sent to all parents prior to the meeting, and also posted on the SEJH PSTO website- found
HERE.
Meetings:
January 23
April 17
October Meeting Minutes Below
South East Junior High Non-Fundraiser
We are extremely excited to finally be able to offer so many opportunities that were lost during "the Pandemic Years" including field trips, the SOAR store, guest speakers, extra-curricular clubs and more! Your generous donations make these opportunities possible- we could not offer the rich experiences without this support! Thank you for your partnership and support- we love our eastside community!
From the DPO
ICCSD Districtwide Parents Organization (DPO) 2022-23 Calendar
The Iowa City Districtwide Parents Organization (DPO) promotes active engagement and awareness at the school and district level through monthly open meetings that include speakers on matters related to education as well as opportunities to interact directly with the ICCSD administration, foundation, and school board.
DPO meetings are your opportunity to:
Connect with parents and caregivers from other schools’ parent organizations
Find out what is happening in our district directly from the school board and administration
Learn from experts about important matters related to children, youth, and education
Exchange ideas and gain information on local, state and national legislative issues
General meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month, September-May, at 6:30-8:00 PM. Meetings will be held via Zoom through 2022. Additional information is available on the ICCSD DPO web page.
Jan 11
Strategies to Lead an Effective PTO: Organizational Effectiveness in Nonprofit Leadership
TBD
Feb 8
Student Mental Health in the Post-Covid Era
Allison Bruhn, Ph.D., Professor and Executive Director of the Scanlon Center for School Mental Health, University of Iowa, College of Education
March 8
Youth Substance Abuse Prevention
Dr. Carrie Hough, PhD Prevention Specialist, Community and Family Resources - Johnson County Prevention Partner
April 12
PBIS in the Context of Social Emotional Learning
TBD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East Junior High Fine Arts
SEIBA Honor Band
On January 7th, 17 of our SEJH musicians took their last Saturday of break to audition for the SEIBA Honor Band. We are so proud of everyone who auditioned; they've been working on this very difficult music since September and have all become better musicians in the process.
13 of our students were accepted into the honor band! They are:
- Louisa Berry-Stoelzle, Adrianna Coiner, Naomi Downing-Sherer, Alice Edelen, Aissa Erkel, Madeline Fischer, Toby Friday, Lucas Iverson, Jason Lippe, Lucy Sherburne, Maxim Tchernoraenko, Henry Vande Berg, David Whittaker
We also had four of our 8th graders make it into the IBA 8th Grade Honor Band, which is like All State for 8th graders. This means they were the best musicians on their instrument at the audition!
- Naomi Downing-Sherer, Madeline Fischer, Toby Friday, and Jason Lippe as an alternate.
If you see any of these students around, please give them a big congratulations for their hard work. We are so glad to have them represent SEJH and ICCSD!
Wrestling
Wrestling season is just around the corner! This year we will have both boys and girls wrestling. The wrestling meeting will be held on January 17th, at which point Coach Madsen and Coach Wilcox will give out specifics for the season(Girls coaches still being finalized). The schedule can be found
here. Meets will fall on the same days, at same venues for both programs, further communication will come out on this from coaches in the near future. If you haven't signed your child up yet please do so on the google form found
here. Reminder that all those who participate need a valid sports physical and the online permission to practice form filled out which can be found
here.
Track and Field
Track and field will begin March 20th. More details about sign up will be coming soon!
South East 2022-2023 Bell Schedule
********************************************
