HRHS Staff Newsletter
August 2018
August 28-29 PD
August 28: Day One Theme: Bringing Us Together
8:00-8:30 - Welcome
8:30-10:30 - Team Builder- we will be moving around in and outside, so dress accordingly!
10:30-11:30 - Grounding our work- "I am Hampshire" activity
11:30-12:00 - Lunch
12:00-3:00
- Classroom time
- 504/IEP access and planning
- IEP meetings
- Small team meetings
August 29: Day Two Theme: Nuts, Bolts and Putting on our Work Boots
8:00-11:30
- 7th grade orientation
- Classroom set up time
- Access 504s and IEPs
- IEP meetings
11:3-12:00 - Lunch
12:00-12:30 - New Policies and Procedures Review by Admin Team
12:30-2:30 - Mandated Trainings:
- Health Training
- IEP/504
- Bullying/Confidentiality
- Culture of Hampshire
2:30-3:00 - Goal Setting
Happy Retirement, Maureen!
Maureen will be replaced by Jen Reagan in the main office. Sarah Jablonski has been hired to replace Jen Reagan in the guidance office. Both positions had a large number of applicants, and after review, we are happy to report that our best candidates were in-house and very excited for their new posts.
New Staff
In addition to the new staff announced in last month's newsletter, please welcome the following new hires:
- Jennifer Glenowicz will be a paraprofessional. Jennifer has worked as a recovery coach at Swift River and has worked with special education students in Whately and Greenfield.
- Ty Dickinson will be a paraprofessional. Ty is coming from JFK Middle School in Northampton where he was a para.
- Linda Sickler will be a paraprofessional. Linda has most recently worked in Belchertown and Palmer schools as a long-term substitute teacher.
- Beth Illingsworth will be a paraprofessional. She has previously worked with special education students in Easthampton.
- Ashley Figueiredo will teach chemistry. Ashley previously taught chemistry at Chicopee High School, Holyoke Catholic High School, and Mt. Holyoke College.
- Sarah Jablonski will be the guidance admin assistant. Sarah has been a para here at HRHS and is excited about her new role in the building.
- Elizabeth Caretti Ramirez will teach Spanish. She taught Spanish at the Springfield Renaissance School for the past two years and before that taught in other schools around the world.
- Joyce Dragon is our new van driver (along with Julie Abel). Joyce had students go through the Hampshire School System and is a part of our local community.
Shout Outs!
- Intellectual Curiosity and Academic Achievement: Thank you to the guidance department and Tara Winters, special education coordinator, for working so diligently and thoughtfully on student schedules and logistics. Amy, Sarah, Katie, Patti, Jen, and Tara have strategically and purposefully created and revised schedules that will allow students to be successful both socially and academically.
- Responsibility and Perseverance: Our custodians have worked tirelessly all summer to make our building a beautiful and functional space for all. It has been a hot and humid summer and despite the temperatures in the building, they continue to push forward without ever complaining. Thank you Gary, Sully, Chris, Tramaine, Dave, Dante, Chris, Brian, Lane, and Aiden for making HRHS a beautiful place to work!
- Thank you to all who came in to participate on interview committees this summer! Hiring is such a huge responsibility--finding the right match is extremely important to maintain high standards for our students and community. Thank you to: Shelley Seymour, Laurel Christoferson, Billy Broaddus, Amy Scully, Patti Richmond, Sarah (Wollschlager) Pietrzak, Jan Sniffen, Leslie Giordano, Katie Watkins, Jen Reagan, Tara Winters, Cindy Streker and Laura Pompei.
- Additionally, a responsibility shout out to students Colin Boyle, Becca Beuhler, and Gideon Touchette who took a time out from their summer to come to Hampshire to interview candidates for teaching positions. They clearly took their role as student representative seriously and took on the great responsibility of giving feedback to hire the best candidates for positions.
- Collaboration and Engagement: 9th grade teachers came in for a two-day (and for some, three!) retreat to plan for our new 9th grade experience! Thank you to Kirsti, Geoff, Tonya, Todd, Tara, Amy, Matt, Mike, James, Chalam, and Sarah for digging in and collaborating on 9th grade expectations, consistencies, and lesson planning, and for your enthusiasm and commitment to this new endeavor.
- Respect and Compassion: Katie Watkins showed respect and compassion for our students when she carefully dissected the list of 9th graders and shared pertinent information with all of the 9th grade teachers. She shared each of their individual stories with such kindness and empathy and gave teachers strategies and tools to work with particular students.
Calendar Information
Sharing Classrooms
College Signs on Doors
As we work towards our goal of preparing students for college and the workforce, we still want to include college/universities that staff attended on their classroom doors. Since there were some moves and new hires, please contact SUE if you need a new college sign.
Tape on Floor
If you need to use tape on the floor, please only use the blue painter's tape. The other tapes, even masking tape and scotch tape, are very hard to remove and leave a glue film behind. Thank you!
Save The Date
Due to a number of factors, Open House is scheduled to be Tuesday, September 25 this year. We acknowledge that Tuesday is not an ideal day, but Thursdays in September were not possible. Please save the date!
Postings
Para Educator
If you can recommend a person who likes working with students, please let Kristen know ASAP! We still have one para position open, mostly working in the high school in 9/10th grade.
Para Educator Leader
Due to the number of new para educators this year, administration is seeking a para leader to provide support to all new paras in the form of individual mentoring and group workshops. The para leader is expected to meet with new paras at least monthly and provide at least one support workshop each quarter on a topic that is relevant to para educator work. Letters of interest should be submitted to Kristen. The stipend for this position is $1,000.
Class of 2022 Advisor(s)
The class of 2022 is seeking one or two advisors for the next four years.
Please submit letter of interest to Kristen.
Tutors wanted throughout the year
*As student medical needs arise, the district is required to provide tutoring for students with documentation that supports their need. Instead of posting for each tutoring position as they come up, I keep a running list of people who are interested in tutoring for the year. This way, I can assign tutors immediately for the student’s need instead of waiting 14 days after the student has been identified as needing a tutor for a posting (which requires missing alot of school).
Requirements: Teacher Certification preferred, knowledge of variety of content
Flexible schedule to work out between student and tutor
Payment: $40.00/hour for teachers, $20.00/hour for paraprofessionals
To Apply: Submit letter of interest to Kristen detailing:
- subjects/grade levels you are comfortable with
- general availability
Translators wanted throughout the year
By law, we are required to send home documentation in a student’s home language. As documents need to be translated, it is best practice to have a running list of translators available for this need in house instead of contracting outside.
Requirements:
- Fluent in a foreign language
- Flexible schedule-documents translated as soon as possible
Payment: $40/hour
To Apply: Submit letter of interest to Kristen. Please include fluent language.