Monday Morning Memo: Monday Morning Memo 3/15/21

WELCOME TO MICHELLE HERNANDEZ! She will be joining us this week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) to support social work needs at Stanton during Jessica Urban's maternity leave, which is starting soon.

A huge shoutout to Erica and Amanda for the amazing visuals. What a great way for anyone to step in anytime and know the process without being overwhelmed! So grateful you two work with us in our district!

and

Thank you to my “Copy Queen” partner. Couldn’t do all the Wednesday work without you! So grateful!!!

-From Cheryl Schuck

Kudos to our custodians, kitchen staff, and Burgee. They’ve kept our lots and sidewalks cleared, our buildings clean and warm, our kids fed, and materials ready for pick up through a long cold winter!!

-From Jeff Sefcik

Kudos to Natalie Miller and Emily Welsh- You are both amazing rock stars. In addition to being amazing team mates, you are inspiring as you both work your way through your masters. You handle your time beautifully and always show up for the kids and our team! I am so proud to call you colleagues, teammates and friends and I am blessed to be able to work with you.

-From Maureen DeVoss

Misty- your team work, positive attitude and smile make our team run. We appreciate everything you do and love having you on the team!

-From the Second Grade Team

Russ for all of his help with adjusting desks and delivering water.

and

The third grade team & Erica for the development of an action plan and getting started right away.

and

Natalie U., Spittler, and Snell for all of their support with students.

-From Michelle Jessop

I want to put a shout out in for Sherry Tietjen, Mollie Herchenbach, and Colleen Robinson. They felt my anxiety and could see I was buried today printing all of the report cards, state test family reports, and a couple other things that need to be stuffed into the report cards envelopes, and jumped in with huge smiles to help me!!!!! Each team also emailed me and asked what they could do to help me! I LOVE OUR STAFF!!!!!

-From Paula Kvacik

To Dani McCarthy for continuously modifying her students' i-Ready paths so that they are maximizing their learning!

and

To Michelle Serini for creating engaging and relevant learning experiences for her science students! The adopt-an-element projects turned out awesome!

and

To Kathleen Winkiel always looking for new learning experiences for the students in ILPA!

-From Stephanie Kaye

Shout out to Cindy Carlino, Joan Kantenwein, Grant Chapman, Lisa Werner, Maddie Hansen, Dan Olson, Rachelle Peters, & Marc Torio-Romo. Thanks for all your hard work completing an evaluation with a VERY fast timeline! Thanks to you all for your participation in the meeting and support you showed the family! YOU ROCK :)

-From Lynn Smolen

Matt Peters and Lynn Smolen for ongoing support and being trusted colleagues.

Mollie Herchenbach for doing such an excellent job of running the Spirit Committee.

Brittany Miller for assisting when needed in various situations.

ChrisTomasiewicz for stepping in to lead teach when needed!

Nurse Sharon for professionally and delicately communicating sensitive information to families.

Amber Mysliwiec for joining me on my positive office referral lunches for students this week to celebrate their success. It really made the students feel special to have so much undivided attention!

Erica Barraza for delivering successful mini lessons to our staff!

Tiffany McGranahan for running a successful mentor program with engaging events for our students.

-From Natalie Udstuen

Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me this week via text, email, and phone calls, for all the well wishes, all the positive thoughts and prayers, and ALL the help I have received! I am extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people! Colleen Robinson, Linda Rasmussen, and Shar Wade, you guys have been my life-savers! Thank you for taking such great care of the kiddos and keeping everything running! I could never have done it without you three!!!!

-From Michelle Magness

Thanks Deb Marienau for your help in library.

and

Thanks to the PBIS Committee for all your participation, awesome ideas and feedback. Lotus is lucky to have you.

and

Thanks to all the staff for supporting PBIS Rewards & CICO for our students.

and

Thanks Sue for donating all those masks. YOU are so amazing :)

-From Kim VanHoorelbeke

Thank you to Ms. Deb for sharing your smile, humor and enthusiasm each and every morning :)

and

Thank you Paula Kvacik and Sue Pinkawa for always being available for anything and everything that pops up throughout our days!

and

Thank you Cathy Jawnyj for helping me with a much needed task on Friday. :)

and

Thank you Molly Herchenbach for laminating a visual for me!

and

Thank you Mike Szotek for promptly helping me with a technology issue!

and

Thank you Mary Santi, Cortney Snell, Becca Strandberg, Brittany Mason, Lauren Nee and Sherry Tietjen for taking the time to collaborate with me! I am really excited at how much we have accomplished this year!!!

and

Thank you Matt, Lynn and Natalie for all your support and insight!

and

Thank you Kim VanHoorelbeke for promptly printing a report for the team :)

and

Thank you to the kitchen staff for helping with the backpack program during Grab & Go!

-From Kim Mack

Thank you to Stephanie Kaye and Erica Barraza for leading our teams through data discussions with iReady and helping our teams set next steps with the data. Thank you for helping us learn and use the teaching and learning cycle during CTT.

and

Thank you to Grant Chapman for being there for some students that really needed some extra support this week!

and

Thank you to Skyler Morley for being so flexible and just jumping in and helping out everywhere!

and

Thank you to our amazing para squad for being there for our students and staff every day.

and

Thank you to our fabulous kitchen staff for always having food ready for our students. You never skip a beat!

and

Thank you Sabi,Norm, and Eddie for going the extra mile to make Stanton the safest place.

-From Rachelle Peters

Thank you Paula Kvacik and Sue Pinkawa for organizing and coordinating the distribution of report cards this week and for all the hard work done with attendance reporting for the state.

and

Thank you Sherry Tietjen and Molly Herchenbach for assisting with stuffing report card envelopes.

and

Thank you Natalie Udstuen and Kim Mack for checking in on our students and going on home visits the past few weeks.

and

Thank you Cheryl Schuck and Deb Marienau for always checking in and seeing if there’s any task that need to be completed during your down time and for keeping the materials tidy and neatly organized each week.

and

Thank you Misty Madula for always bringing the positive energy day in and day out. Your energy is contagious.

and

Thank you Russ Xhemaili for coming back to work on such short notice to help out when we were short handed.

and

Thank you Eddie Villarreal for all the work you’ve put in between both Lotus and Stanton.

and

Thank you Colleen Robinson for always being flexible with your schedule and helping out wherever needed.

-From Matt Peters

Jenn Wenc for covering my class on Wednesday and making the process seamless for my students. Thanks for being a team player and showing great care to the kids you work with!

Russ, Mike & Matt- thank you for brainstorming ways that I can ditch the headaches and teach my students remotely with a better classroom set-up for my neck/back. I appreciate your last minute ideas and support. I think we will have a better week next week!

-From Tiffany McGranahan

A special thanks to Chris Brown for using her special "child whispering" abilities to help our kindergarten students! Chris is magical!

Thanks from Bridget and Nicole

Thanks to Lisa Huck for visiting our classroom at the end of the day and listening to all our kindergarteners read! They love it!

and

Kristine Gumm, I have no words for how valuable you are! You just instinctively understand our needs and your self motivation is commendable.

and

Maria Allen, Thank you for helping with a special kindergarten friend! The pictures of your puppies were pure genius!

-From Nicole Mild

i-Ready

🎉The average of lessons passed last week was 82%!!

🎉We had 73% of our students spend 30+ minutes on i-Ready last week. Let’s shoot for 80% of our students reaching 30+ min!!

*Ready Math has added fill in PDFs for the fluency pages in your Teacher Toolbox.

Our Goal:

85% of students engage for at least 30 minutes.

Vaccine Survey

Thank you to everyone who has logged data in this survey. Please KEEP THIS UPDATED. This means I'd ask you to complete the survey again when you have updated information. So, when you get shot #1 if you haven't yet, please complete the survey again. Same for getting shot #2. I'll clean that data--you just please keep it updated.

THANKS!

ISBE Updates

Please review the ISBE guidance document and/or this awesome FAQ document to make sure you are clear on the new updates. The GREAT news is that we are able to more fully open...and we can get more kids back onsite!!!!

All this factors into our next steps. The principals and I are working to determine what is viable, logical, and safest for us. I'll be sharing an update and recommendations with the Board on Tuesday, and I will share with you before that so there are no surprises. Thank you to the EAFL Board for making time to meeting with me on Monday to discuss.

Post-Vaccination Considerations--Repeat Info

IDPH released the document linked here to guide schools for how to handle it when employees have symptoms right after getting a shot. This is also updated guidance on handling close contacts. PLEASE REVIEW this document! Let me know if you have any questions!

What does this mean?

NEW:As I shared, IDPH has provided updated exclusionary guidance due to the vaccine.

In short there are two main changes:1) If you have received your COVID 19 vaccine within the

previous 72 hours and have mild symptoms (chills, headache, body ache, fatigue) that could be related

to the vaccine, you do not need to isolate.

2) If these are accompanied by a fever or last for longer

than 48 hours you will need to be evaluated. If you have any Covid symptom more than 72 hours

after receiving your vaccine, you need to be evaluated.

For the symptom screener - if you have ANY symptoms please select as appropriate, even if you think

they are related to the vaccine. We can then review with you to make sure you're a-ok to report onsite.

Updated dashboard data 3/14/21:

IAR Testing

We are moving IAR and ACCESS testing to as late in the school year as possible to maximize learning time. While we are required to give a good faith effort to the assessments, we will not stress out about make ups, nor will we test full remote students.

Facilities Work Requests

Please remember to complete a work request for any issues---big or small. It's a great way to get your request seen quickly!

Spring Break Meals--Repeat Info

Georgette and the kitchen teams have come up with a GREAT plan for meals for Spring Break. They are putting together meal prep boxes to cover at least 5 days but with cooking/meal plan directions (think Hello Fresh or those kinds of things). Families will be able to pick them up on Tuesday, March 23 at Lotus from 8-10AM and have plenty for the week. I'll share info in the Family Updates/Announcements, but please feel free to share with families, too!

Travel Guidance--NO CHANGES

CDC recommends that you do not travel at this time as it increases your chance of spreading and getting COVID-19. If you must travel, take these steps to protect yourself and others from COVID-19:

If you are eligible, get fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Wait 2 weeks after getting your second vaccine dose to travel—it takes time for your body to build protection after any vaccination.
Get tested with a viral test 1-3 days before you travel. Keep a copy of your test results with you during travel in case you are asked for them. Do NOT travel if you test positive.
Check travel restrictions before you go.
Wear a mask over your nose and mouth when in public settings. Masks are required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations.
Avoid crowds and stay at least 6 feet/2 meters (about 2 arm lengths) from anyone who did not travel with you. It’s important to do this everywhere — both indoors and outdoors.
Wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol).
Bring extra supplies, such as masks and hand sanitizer.
Avoid contact with anyone who is sick.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Do NOT travel if you were exposed to COVID-19, you are sick or you test positive for COVID-19.
Do not travel with someone who is sick.

There are no quarantine restrictions for domestic travel. However, upon your return, if you have symptoms, are diagnosed with COVID-19, or learn you have been a close contact to someone with COVID-19, please stay home and notify school immediately.

Additional recommendations apply to international travel. If you are planning to travel internationally at any point during the second semester, please report that to the Attendance Office or School Nurse prior to travel. A quarantine of 10 days upon return from international travel is recommended.

Your cooperation in following these recommendations closely, no matter where you may travel, is appreciated. In-person learning is going well and we do not want any upcoming spring break travel to derail those efforts. Thank you!

Picture Dates

Picture Dates Confirmation and Important Information

Monday, May 3: M/T Lotus in-person students (PreK-4)

Tuesday, May 4: M/T Stanton in-person students (Grades 5-7)

Wednesday, May 5: All remote only students for both schools. By appointment at either school. (PreK-7)

Thursday, May 6: TH/F Stanton in-person students (Grades 5-7)

Friday, May 7: TH/F Lotus in-person students (PreK-4)

Monday, May 17: 8th-grade promotion pictures for remote and in-person students.

Weather permitting, all pictures are scheduled to be taken outside. (ED Clark will provide and set up tents) In the case of inclement weather, pictures will be moved inside.
Masks must be worn until the photographer is ready to take the picture. Immediately after the picture is taken, masks must be put back on.
Remote students can schedule an appointment at either school by using the links below.
All picture orders must be preordered and paid for online with ED Clark Photography. No picture envelopes will be provided for PreK-7th grade. Follow this link to order and pay for pictures: http://edclarkschoolphoto.hhimagehost.com/2021FoxLakeSchoolDist
8th graders will have 2 pictures taken. One picture in a school appropriate outfit of their choice and one in their cap and gown. Students will receive their cap, gown, and ribbon the week of May 10. Students will receive picture proofs for ordering or orders can be placed online.

Stanton Remote Picture Appointment

Lotus Remote Picture Appointment

Employee Assistance Program

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR EAP PROGRAM.

Please remember that ALL employees are able to use the services in the EAP program. Any support is strictly confidential. These are DIFFICULT times, so please don't hesitate to reach out for help!!!

Women’s History Month

Check out this Women’s History Month virtual classroom loaded with texts and videos!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12noYK1hlveH2pIF5cQdwKbn-xckecHppWFrwvyXP7eQ/edit?usp=sharing

Take a look at some great Middle School resources to use in class this month!

Women’s History Choice Boards

Women in Arts & Entertainment Project

Women in STEM Project

Two Minute Tip -

📁Is your Google Drive filling up? Open the link below to see all your Drive files sorted by size. See if there are any large files you no longer need and delete them!!! 📁

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/quota

Lotus PBIS

Please remember to be reaching the minimum goal per day for students. (8 certified staff and 2 para professionals). Charts below show we are Not meeting this goal. Please reach out if you have any issues or questions. :)

Tips / INFO

* Log into your own account.

* SAFETY is key with more kids on-site. (our safety points should be sky high....)

* You can verbally tell the student (example great job staying your distance, I will be giving you a point). You can enter the point at a separate time if easier.

* All Star Cart open on Wednesdays.

* 3rd Trimester prizes ( 2 game sets of Spike Ball)

* Points given are tracked.

As always, THANK YOU.

Matrix for remote behavior expectations

Matrix for in person behavior expectations

Discipline T-chart

Stanton

Spring Cleaning? We are always taking donations for our Rewards Store!
New PBIS Store Hours: Tuesday after school → Wednesday @ 10:30am!
PBIS Raffle is open 24/7 until winners are announced on 4/1!
Don’t forget to meet your daily point goal to be entered into the Staff Raffle!
This Friday, 3/19 is our PBIS Celebration Day!

COVID-19 SAFETY PROCEDURES

Decision Making Tree for Post-Vaccine Symptoms

Safety Protocols

*If you have any COVID-10 like symptoms at all or are not feeling well, please DO NOT

come onsite UNLESS you have just gotten the vaccine (please see guidance above).

If coming onsite:

*You must continue to self-certify using Skyward.

*All staff must enter through the main entrance at each site.

*You must sign in using the sign in sheet, mark that you self-certified, and take and record your temperature. IF YOU HAVE A FEVER ABOVE 100.4 YOU ARE ASKED TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AND REACH OUT TO YOUR PRINCIPAL AND HEATHER.

*Once Sharon/Marc are onsite, they will review the sign in sheet and cross check with the

self-certification report. If anyone is NOT cleared or did NOT self-certify, they will meet with them to ensure they are safe to be onsite. If not, they'll refer that employee to Heather.

*If you arrive after Sharon/Marc are onsite, please will report to the Health Office to check in so we know you have self-certified. Your temperature will also be taken and recorded. Employees will know to do this because, when Sharon/Marc arrive, they will pick up the sign

in log and put out a sign that says "Please come to the Health Office to check in".

When you come onsite, you can work in your classroom/workspace. Please feel free to use it as your own. I'd just ask that you work in that space as much as possible and not travel out much. You can, of course you can use the bathroom, lounge, copiers, etc. as needed. Please do not congregate in the hallways or in other spaces. We simply want to keep you safe.

If you are alone in your workspace and the door is closed, you may remove your mask. If anyone enters that space, everyone in the space MUST wear a mask and stay 6 ft apart at all times.

When you DO leave your room, I'd ask that you strictly follow the 4 W's to help keep yourself and others around you safe:

1. Wash your hands.

2. Wear your mask.

3. Watch your space.

4. Wait your turn.

If you are concerned that you have COVID-19 or have been exposed to COVID-19 and

have been

or are scheduled to be onsite, please let your principal, and/or me know

immediately so we can partner with you for your safety and for the safety of others.

You can trust that we will keep all this information confidential, balancing staff privacy and

system safety needs.

All staff MUST wear masks AT ALL TIMES

when onsite and in public spaces.

If you are working in an office/classroom

with the door closed, you may remove your

mask. It must be worn when anyone enters

that space with you.

EAFL Spring elections:

We are going to be looking to replace 2 of our Board members in the next election. If you are interested in serving on the Union Board with an amazing group of colleagues, please touch base with any one of us.

NEA Teacher Quality Spring webinar learning series
March 8, 7-8pm ET
Hy-What? Teaching & Learning in (all kinds of) Hybrid Models
This live panel of NEA teacher-leaders will discuss what works for them virtually, in-person, both at the same time, (a)synchronously, and everything in-between. These PK-13 educators will share strategies and reflect on the challenges and opportunities faced with their varied hybrid models of classroom instruction.
https://www.mobilize.us/nea/event/376341/

March 22, 7-8pm ET
Rethinking Grading with Agency and Equity
Traditional grading practices often go unexamined despite their potential for harm. This webinar is designed to critically examine assumptions about grading, look at current grading practices, and imagine alternatives to the status quo.
https://www.mobilize.us/nea/event/376342/

April 12, 7-8pm ET
Phenomena-Centered Science in your Classroom
Centering your K-12 science instruction around phenomena can build student engagement and understanding. We’ll explore key aspects of science instruction, share NGSS-aligned resources for the new school year, and consider strategies (like Driving Question Boards) that support science in your K-12 (possibly virtual) classrooms.
https://www.mobilize.us/nea/event/376343/

April 26, 7-8pm ET
Building Slides for Accessibility: Why and How
Explore best practices for digital-visual accessibility. The majority of our time will be spent learning about practical tools and strategies you can implement immediately and efficiently into your lessons. The tool we will focus on for this presentation is Google Slides, but the principals can be applied widely to any digital content.
https://www.mobilize.us/nea/event/376346/