February 7

Mr. Browne's Precept

"There is no shame in not knowing. the shame lies in not finding out." ~ Assyrian Proverb

Honey- Do List 

Select a time for me to read to your class in Feb.-January 31st

Apply for the interim assessment review team-Feb. 27th

 The Buzz in My Brain

I generally try to work on the Hive throughout the week so that I do not have the heavy lift on a Friday afternoon or forget to put some stuff in. I was feeling pretty depleted this morning. The budget and its impacts on people that I care deeply about and rely on every day, not knowing what the kids need to best help them, some family stuff and a low-grade cold have left me feeling like I am running on empty. At 10:00 this morning I honestly felt that I had nothing left to give anyone. 

Enter the children,  one of our puzzling friends was playing in my office. He told me that he was feeling elated. I asked him what does that mean? He replied that you are so happy you could cry. The same student was playing with T'Chala and Black Panther. He has not seen Black Panther yet. He renamed Black Panther 'Aggressive' and T'Chala 'Dr. King'.  Aggressive wanted to fight but Dr. King would always intervene and say thinks like "take 3 deep breaths like this" or "take a break". Through his play, this student was verbalizing the very strategies and concepts that we have taught him. 

I was walking in the downstairs hallway and walked into the aftermath of a fight. I intervened with the child closest to me and looked to the other child. One of you was already with him. I could focus on where I needed to be. 

One of our colleagues came by and asked for some tier 3 support for a student that was naked in the hallway. I held him as she redressed him. He then put his head on my shoulder and I borrowed a rocking chair in a quiet room and rocked him to sleep. I returned him to the class where he could rest with his friends. The trust that our students have in us is tremendous if they feel safe falling asleep in our arms. 

 I was not sure about sharing this moment of vulnerability with you because of the stereotype that leaders always need to be positive, never let them see the leaders sweat or I am a female leader and you will see this as a weakness.  I decided to share because I realized that how I felt was no different than how many of us feel on any given day. Being a true leader is acknowledging our humanity AND acknowledging that sometimes it is taking in the small moments that allow us to keep moving forward. There is always a way forward and a way to keep doing what is right! Find your small moment when things seem the bleakest. 

Budget Update

Despite the most valiant and best of efforts, the initial budget battle was lost. In order to balance our budget, three significant changes are currently in their initial stages.

1. We will lose the valuable services that Jen Mederios-Crabbe provides for our students for 3 days a week.
2. We will no longer be able to fund the amazing services that Alyce provides for us beyond the COSE position
3. There will be a significant cut in the principal's salary to make it more in line with the BPS principal salary. 

Jen and Alyce will continue to have full-time positions in BPS. Unfortunately, our budget cannot support these positions, in our community, at this time. 

The next steps are to work through the soft landing process. This will allow us to ask for additional funds to restore our lost positions. 

I have a call scheduled with the superintendent on Tuesday. 

Snacks for Students

We had a parent phone call this week because a student was given a Snickers bar as a reward. The student was allergic to peanuts. Clearly, I do not have a problem with food rewards. Please be mindful of providing students snacks with tree nuts. If you are unsure of a student's food restrictions check-in with Sam or me. We have a complete list. 

Homework

Thank you to those of you that stayed later on Thursday to talk about homework. K2 and Grade 1 are going to pilot a homework calendar with their friends during the month of March. They will provide updates at Huddle about how it is going. If any other grades want to pilot this please let me know. 

Intervention

From a faculty senate debrief, it was brought to my attention that the staff would like a more formalized process for intervention. Some of the questions/concerns raised were:

• There is a gap in second grade regarding intervention. 
• There is a lack of a structure for check-ins between the interventionist and the teacher
• The need to identify students who need intervention at the end of the year so that we can implement intervention immediately. 
• There is a lack of clarity around who is getting intervention and how they are identified. 
• Many of these seem like there is a need for better communication about what is actually happening.  
• We will have conversations as a community about this. As we prepare for this conversation here is a document that outlines the factors that our top-notch intervention team takes into consideration when assigning students to an intervention.   

Headspace

Last year as I was struggling with some things a friend gave me a copy of the book "The Four Agreements". I found the book to be very helpful. One of my meditation apps had this summary of the book and the agreements. I found it a really good read and thought I would share it.   

Requests from Mr. Bill

We are finding lots of food on the ground and in the stairwells. Things like orange peels, banana peels, half-eaten bagels etc. This food is a feast for our furry little friends with the hideous tails.  

• Please limit the amount of traveling around the building students are doing with food. 
• Continue to store any food in the classroom in glass or plastic covered containers. 

The smell in our yellow bathroom has been overwhelming lately. Bill reports that students are completely missing the toilet and peeing on the floor. He has asked if we could be a bit more vigilant about what our little friends are doing in the stalls.