Lincoln Lion's Local Buzz
August 28, 2020
Principal Post
I've been thinking about the closing circle from Wednesday's faculty meeting. It was really uplifting to hear the many things that each of you shared with the group. In reflection, I too am so very proud of the resiliency of our parents, students, and in our professional community as we have come together for this major educational lift. I sometimes wonder if in moments of stress the collective good is noticed or appreciated. Speaking totally for myself, and as this is my section of the newsletter I can do that, I really enjoyed listening to your reflections. It helped me get above all the gobbly gook of planning, answering questions, and making decisions, to hear about the great things that were happening around us daily.
This newsletter will have a lot of information regarding some of the other things that we haven't gotten to because we've been wrapped up in figuring out school with the influence of Covid. My apologies if this is overwhelming, but these are things that I think we need to have on our radar as we move forward but just haven't had time with all the other things going on at school. So here we go, buckle up, and breathe deep.
Behavior committee updates
- CICO folks will be in contact with you if they haven't already regarding people in your class who will be on CICO. It will all be digital. Teachers will need to have check ins with the CICO students to put in their behavior on the chart throughout the day as indicated by the chart. Remember that the conversations with our students will be the powerful element and the biggest driver in helping students improve their behavior.
- Stokely will provide a two week summary report to all CICO homeroom teachers to be sent home to share with parents. Please make sure that gets in student folders to go home, an alert on Dojo to let parents know it is there would also be helpful.
- We will have the fall screener for students during the week of the 21st of September. IF you have a child who needs support before we take the screener and is not on our current CICO list please complete this form. this from can be used all year if you need someone considered for CICO/extra support. The Behavior Committee will review the from, meet with you/team of teachers, and create a plan to address behavior concerns.
- We will continue to use the same system as last year if you need support for a student during the day. If you need someone to push in to your room to support please state "I have a Tier 1 in room ___. (Initials of child)." We would want to do this first to keep students in the classroom. If you need a student removed from a class to take a break it would be the same call on the radio but the person would call for a Tier 2.
- 9 weeks behavior celebrations will look different than in the past. We will have them, but they will not be in large groups. We will have a celebration for the first quarter and it will be scheduled for the week before fall break. We will likely be looking for a movie party with popcorn in your classroom, or Popsicle/ice cream treat. It would be have to be in family units. More information to follow.
- Speaking of 9 weeks party, we need all grade levels to set the criteria for what they will use this year in order to determine who is eligible for the event. It might be the same as last year, or could be different now that we are all using dojo. Please complete this form with your team by next Wednesday, September 2, 2020. When you are done please place it in the Lincoln Shared Drive in the folder called "Grade Level Behavior Plans".
- Below is the Lincoln Behavior Flow Chart. Take a moment and look over the document. It has been a while since we revisited the flow chart. If you have any questions please ask.
- We will have our 20-21 Google doc up and running soon. We'll let you know when it is ready.
Committee Work
We likely can't have a "math night" or a "reading night", however we need to think about what can we do to increase parents understanding of the curriculum or what they can do at home to increase student achievement using a different modality? Everyone must sign up for one committee, but you are welcome to help in more than one if you are interested.
Recess
Information From The Nurse
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cLgKM9zUkxAeqgqrD0uJP0RWsoaRL027m51C07MIpew/edit?usp=sharing
Helping students greet each other
FAQ Document
IAs and teachers are encouraged to add questions to this form and check it periodically to stay updated on information that may be helpful to you while you are at Lincoln.
PLCs
PLCs for the fall can be spent learning more about and digging into our new/"old" curriculum, reviewing student data and using that for instructional decision making (groups, materials, etc), or reviewing any professional articles/materials and discussing as a group. Eventually we can also use this time for planning PBL---but that is a ways off right now.
Please discuss with your group what you all would like to focus on this Tuesday and send that to Shasta, copying Suzanne and Jennifer. Our hope is for you all to send what you would like to focus on to Shasta, Suzanne and Jennifer by Friday of the week before. We know that being intentional in what we do will result in better traction with our kids/instruction.
For this week please let us know where you will be meeting so we can be there on time!
Masks and Distance
The other item to remember is that the yellow zone looks for 6 feet distance as much as it is possible. There will be times that that is difficult. But if we can avoid close contact at all times that would be outstanding. That includes us as adults. Please be vigilant with remaining 6 feet apart in PLC meetings, in the work room, or in any space in the building really so we can ensure as few contacts as possible between staff.
Breaking news that will be official to parents around 2:00 this afternoon:
KCS Procedures for mask wearing by students
Per the Kingsport City Schools Operations Manual - Framework for Opening the 2020-21 School Year, all students are required to appropriately wear face masks while indoors (exceptions could apply in courses such as wellness and band).
In the event a student is not wearing a mask:
Teachers/staff members should offer a face covering to students who do not have one.
If the student will not comply with wearing a mask when offered, please contact a school administrator and send to the office per school procedures.
Administrator will discuss with the student the importance of mask wearing and why the individual student is not wearing a mask or not willing to accept a mask to be worn. If a medical reason is given, verify with the student’s guardian. Administrators may need to ask for medical documentation to be provided if not currently on file in the clinic and deemed necessary..
If no medical reason is given, the administrator will offer the student a face covering. If the student accepts and wears the mask, the student will return to class. If the student continues to refuse to wear a mask, please request a guardian pick them up from school. This will be logged as a conduct entry in Aspen.
Inform the guardian and the student that face coverings are mandated and if not worn, students must remain at home.
Students who have ongoing issues with mask wearing may be transitioned to Remote Choice Learning.
Procedures for not wearing a mask at school:
First offense - Warning and home if non-compliant
Second offense - Warning and home if non-compliant
Third offense - ISS and home if non-compliant
4th offense - OSS 1 day
5th offense - Transition to Remote Choice Learning
Procedures for not wearing a mask on school bus
Offer mask
First offense of refusal - warning from driver
Second offense of refusal - Formal bus referral with warning - school to contact parent
Third offense of refusal - Formal bus referral with one day off bus - school to contact parent
Fourth offense - Formal bus referral with 5 days off bus - school to contact parent
Fifth offense - Transition to Remote Choice Learning and loss of bus privileges
Videos for next week's Canvas lessons
Data Binders
We are going to move to student lead conferences in the spring. More information will be coming soon regarding that transition. In the meantime, set aside time in the coming weeks to set up and organize your binders for this year with your students. We will need to store our RCL student binders until they join us again but for our F2F students we can get started on using them.