District Staff News
February 10, 2020
I hope all is well in your world. The dark days of February can be tough!
We’ve been spending a lot of time engaging with the public on both the Student Success Act and a potential bond. Our SSA Committee meets again tonight. We’re working to prioritize initial plans, projects, and programs that are based off of the feedback we received, and the goals in our district Continuous Improvement Plan. The next steps in the process include the opportunity for public comment at Board Meetings on February 20 and March 5, assuming the group has a draft plan ready by that time. We’ll update you as we make progress.
The Bond Development Committee met several times in the past few weeks to prioritize projects for a potential bond recommendation for the Board. The group expressed strong interest in developing a long-term facilities plan to address the needs of aging buildings over the next couple of decades. There is a community meeting to review the initial projects and their scope tomorrow from 6-8pm in the Ackerman Library. We hope to see you there.
Enjoy the week!
We held K-12 staff professional development on Friday, January 24, 2019 to introduce the updated 504 manual, forms, and procedures. Sixteen staff members and administrators took part in the training, which will allow us all to have consistency K-12, in how we are engaging in 504 planning for students across the District, to assure that we are giving them the supports they need to be successful.
You can access the updated 504 manual by clicking the button below!
- Kathy
A Common Sense approach to Social Media
As you might know, the Canby Technology Advisory (CTAC) meets monthly to discuss and provide information on items critical to the technology department’s operation. This advisory is comprised of teachers from all CSD schools. We wanted to take an opportunity to share a snapshot of what this team is doing and provide a resource that is extremely valuable to our work:
In January’s CTAC meeting, we discussed online safety, digital citizenship, parent involvement, and the value of social media resources like TikTok and Instagram.
This conversation was spurred by Trost third grade Teacher, Whitni Bonner, learning about her student’s personal use of TikTok. Whitney researched just how easy it is to use the app to determine a random user’s personal details. Whitni, in just a few minutes, became a TikTok user and viewed a recommended video featuring another user who lives in Oregon. From this video, Whitni saw that the user (a school age student) was playing basketball and wearing a sweatshirt with a mascot. Simply Googling the mascot determined: the school the student attended, the fact that they played basketball for that school, the student’s general age, and the student’s first and last name. This information, in the wrong hands, is of course, extremely troubling.
Conversely, TikTok can serve as a method for students (and even teachers) to create meaningful, exciting messages in a platform students find relevant. Across the country, a small number of schools are leveraging TikTok and other social media platforms, often thought of having no value in the classroom, for instructional purpose. These teachers believe there is power in working with students using their language, even if, for them, that language is new and uncomfortable.
Ultimately, everyone who’s reading this knows that there are two sides to this story and neither is right or wrong. Technology is a tool, and tools are only effective when used properly and safely. The Technology Advisory knows that providing our students instruction, examples, and resources for creating safe and appropriate online lives is key to their success in a time with ever-changing technology. To that end, CTAC would like to reiterate the power of Common Sense Media’s digital citizenship online tools. These resources provide teachers, staff, parents, and administrators information that help us all understand the risks and rewards of technology. Resources are available in both English and Spanish. If you haven’t browsed it, please do: https://www.commonsense.org/education/. This resource will be key to the work our group is planning in the near future. We’re very hopeful that we can provide helpful resources as an internal group for this very complex conversation.
If you don’t know what TikTok is or have interest in learning more, here’s a detailed video.
If you’re interested in a much better summary of the good, bad, and ugly of TikTok in the classroom, here’s a detailed article.
- Bret
The State of Oregon made changes to their requirements with the new federal W-4 form. If you submit a new federal W-4 form and want your Oregon election to remain the same, you must submit a new Oregon W-4 form. If a new form is not submitted, the district is required to change your Oregon withholdings to a flat withholding percentage of 8 percent.
W-2 forms were sent to buildings on January 29th and are also available on the employee web portal to reprint if you happen to misplace the original copy.
Happy Tax Filing!
- Denise
Be your best in 2020! Tune into webinars with your OEBB-dedicated wellness advisors.
From wellness topics to program strategy, you’ll leave actionable tips and takeaways for improving your own health as well as ways to inspire wellness in your workplace. The wellness webinar series is available to all staff.
They will be hosting a webinar every second Wednesday of the month at 3:30 pm PST. Here is what is coming up for February 12: Budgeting, Planning & Empowerment for Financial “wellth”.
To sign up, email: oebbwellnessadvisors@modahealth.com.
- Michelle
In Case You Missed It...
The Canby Center gave a huge shoutout to the Canby High School Football Team for serving at the food pantry earlier this month. The Facebook post read: "How encouraging to see the youthful faces of our community happily serve!" Way to go, CHS Football!
An eighth grade cross country member nominated Anne because she "builds community."
Over the Bridge... to Bilingualism
Ice, Ice Baby
All students. All abilities. All opportunities.
Email: fostera@canby.k12.or.us
Website: www.canby.k12.or.us
Location: 1130 South Ivy Street, Canby, OR, USA
Phone: 503-266-7861
Facebook: facebook.com/canbyschooldistrict
Twitter: @canbyschools