HRHS Faculty Newsletter
July 2019
Happy Summer!
I hope that everyone has had a wonderful and relaxing summer so far! There are many great things happening at HRHS this summer! Kirsti, Chalam, and Kim Hallett did an amazing job with credit recovery with middle and high school students for the past three weeks. All students who attended credit recovery completed their work and earned back credits for 12 different courses. Jason, Starr, Beth, Alison, and Ala have worked tirelessly with our life skills students this summer. Bob Smith and Jacob Gold (both special education teachers at Norris) helped our incoming 7th graders get acclimated to HRHS and made sure they have the tools to have a smooth start in September.
The admin team spent last week at the MSAA Summer Institute, and we are feeling rejuvenated, energized, and inspired for the 2019-20 school year! It was exciting to have the opportunity to collaborate with principals and assistant principals from schools across Massachusetts. In addition to going to workshops about leading engaging professional development, social-emotional learning, pineapple charts, AP testing, vaping, evaluation, and students' First Amendment rights, we also presented our own workshop on school reunification to a group of school administrators from across the state. Needless to say, we are so excited to get back and start incorporating some of these ideas into our plans for next year!
Summer Calendar
8/21, 12pm-2: 7th Grade Tours and Locker Practice
8/22: Fall Sports Begin
8/26, 9am-3pm: Senior Breakfast & Parking Lot Painting
8/28, 8am-3pm: Professional Development
8/29, 8am-3pm: Professional Development
8/30: 7th Grade Orientation
For Your Information and Action
2019-20 Schedules & Logistics: Documents for 2019-20 school year are listed in the section below.
Staff Photos on Website & Email: The PTSO has given feedback to administration about ways to improve communication between the school and the family for this upcoming school year. One request was to have all staff upload their photos to the school website and to their google account so they can put a face to the names of their children's teachers. By the end of the day on Wednesday, August 28, please upload a photo of yourself to the website and to your google account.
To change your Google picture:
- Open Gmail.
- In the upper right corner, click "Settings" (the image of a gear that is below the HRSD logo and to the left of the calendar image).
- In the "My Picture" section, click "change picture."
- Select or upload a new picture.
- Select the portion of the photo you want to show.
- Click "apply changes."
To change your website picture:
- Go to hrhs.net.
- Click "login" in the upper right corner.
- Click "Sign in with Google."
- Log into your Google account.
- Once you are logged in, click on your name again in the top right corner.
- Your account information should pop up below. Click on "Information."
- Click on the blank photo and add your own photo.
Advisory: Some of the feedback that we heard about advisory this year is that the daily activities feel disjointed and disconnected from each other. To build coherence and continuity within advisory, we will be running with monthly themes this year:
- September: Goal Setting & College month
- October: Civic Engagement & Community Service
- November: Social Justice & Human Rights Month (anti-violence week included)
- December: Building Your Personal Toolbox (communication, soft skills, self-advocacy)
- January: Career Month
- February: Stress Management
- March: How the Brain Works
- April: The Arts
- May: Celebrations (including Commitment Day)
- June: Choose Your Own Adventure
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.
Tours and Locker Practice Hosted by Student Council: Student Council will host their annual tours and locker practice for incoming students on Tuesday, August 13 from 9:30-12 and Wednesday, August 21 12-2pm.
7th Grade Orientation: 7th grade orientation will take place on August 30. 7th grade teachers should received correspondence from Mark about expectations and the schedule. If you plan to be at school and you see students looking lost in the morning while you are setting up your classroom, please assist them with finding their classes. Thanks!
School Council: If you are interested in being elected as a faculty representative on the HRHS school council this year, please email Kristen by September 3.
Para Support: In completing the master schedule this year while looking at student support needs, Nancy and HRHS admin are concerned that para support is being scheduled for more and more students. The special education department is going to work on developing a procedure to qualify students for para support and also look at how to collect data to determine if para support is appropriate for students. Our paras are an important part of the community, and we don’t want to spread them too thin because too many students need their support. For example, with this year’s schedule, it will be difficult for paras to be in guided academics classes or middle school team meetings due to the growing number of student needs on IEPs. We hope to work together this year to put a more formal process in place to determine para support for students.
Building and Fire Inspection plus Fire Prevention Brochure: Soon, the Building Inspector and the Fire Chief will complete their annual school walk through. Some recommendations that they have suggested before include:
All windows need to be clear of any material.
Tops of cabinets should not have items on them. There needs to be an 18 inch clearance between the ceiling and any storage or additional material for the sprinkler system operate effectively.
All paint needs to be in a vented, locked cabinet.
All fire extinguishers need to be clear of any furniture or other items that may block it.
Fridges and microwaves are permitted, but must be plugged directly into the wall.
Extension cords and surge protectors are not permitted.
All means of egress from classrooms need to be clear.
Heaters should not have anything on top of them and should be free of debris.
Bean bag chairs must meet fire code regulations (Chief Norris will provide additional language around what this means).
All mats in the gym need to be clear of the door.
There should not be anything hanging from the ceiling including mobiles or banners.
All science room wash stations should be clear.
It is your professional responsibility to make sure your classroom is meeting these expectations. In addition, we will have a fire drill within the first three days of school, per the state law.
Documents
Detention Schedule (everyone is listed at least once, and some are listed for two dates)
August PD
Wednesday 8/28:
8:00-9:00: Staff Track Meet- Wear comfortable clothes and meet out on the track at 8am!
9:15-9:50: Turning Over a New Leaf
10:00-10:30: What If?
10:30-11:00: Technology Trainings
11:00-11:30: Faculty Handbook
11:30-12:00: Lunch
12:00-3:00: Classroom/Individual Time
Thursday 8/29:
8:00-9:00: Faculty Meeting
9:10-11:30: Lynn Lyons Presentation
11:30-12:00: Lunch
12:00-3:00:
- 504 Case Managers and SPED Liaisons: Work with Lynn Lyons
- Classroom/Individual Time/Access 504s & IEPs/IEP Meetings
New Staff
Marissa Axtell: Melissa will be teaching 7th grade science. She is coming to HRHS from Chestnut Middle School in Springfield.
Melinda Conway: Melinda will be a para educator in the high school.
Reilly Griffin: Reilly will be a para educator in the middle and high school.
Mariana Lara Albert: Mariana will be teaching Spanish 3. She previously taught at Richmond Consolidated School in Richmond, Mass.
Summer McAuslan: Summer will be a 1:1 para educator.
Rachael Philbrick: Rachael will be teaching Algebra I. She previously taught at Forest Park Middle School and Balliet Elementary School in Springfield.
Dylan Rickles: Dylan will be teaching 8th grade special education. He previously taught at Kiley Middle School in Springfield.
Samantha Young: Samantha will be a life skills para educator.
Postings
Spanish Teacher: If you know anyone looking for a Spanish position, please have them apply on Schoolspring ASAP!
Class of 2023 Advisor(s): The class of 2023 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 a lot 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 for directly working with students, $35/hour for prep time (1 hour of prep time given for every three hours of contact time with a student), $15.00/hour for paraprofessionals (student contact and prep)
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.