Harter Educator Advisory Committee Joint Statement

The Harter Educator Advisory Committee met for the first time via Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 16th from 2:45-4:15. The following topics were discussed:

-Welcome and purpose of the committee, including logistics, meeting times, and intended goals and structures

-The following staff members are on the committee: Marci Lapinskas, Taylor Lehmann, Michael Livorsi, Pattie Pattermann, Bradley Staker, Rachel Rebsom, Suzanne Satterfield, Heather Ahlgren, Shannon Shanahan, Phillip Bellino, Kerri Jass, Kelsey Miller, Alyssa Galvan, Charri Trembley, Elsa Glover, and Lindsey Huettemann

-Groups worked on formulating a definition for our committee as to what shared leadership/ownership looks like. Common themes were open, two-way communication between Harter staff and the Educational Services Director, joint accountability, shared and equal voices, and joint decision making when applicable

-A review of the Decision Making Continuum was had and we discussed the intent behind using the DMC

-We outlined goals for the committee as well as potential topics for future discussion. It will be the goal of this committee to work within state and local guidelines to collaboratively decide how these mandates will impact Harter Middle School

-The committee outlined communication expectations and will finalize our norms at the next meeting in March.

-The committee shared balanced feedback on the pros and cons of teaching in the COVID era- while we can be as responsive as possible, the need to address SEL concerns was a common theme in the discussion

-Our next meeting will be tentatively scheduled for March 25th at 2:45. This meeting will be held virtually.

Seeking Summer School Enhancement Proposals

Details regarding 2021 summer school course offerings for each grade span are being finalized. Information regarding teaching opportunities for summer courses will be sent by the end of February. We are NOT yet seeking teachers for our summer courses, so please hold your interest at this time. 

We ARE seeking proposals for summer school enhancement, "camp" type sessions. Please complete this form, Summer School Enhancement Proposal Form, if you are interested in offering an enhancement course over the summer. Courses can be offered for any topic and are non-graded. Courses can be proposed by a single teacher or you're welcome to co-teach with a colleague. Compensation information can be found in the KEA negotiated agreement, under summer school. If co-teaching a course, the compensation would be split equally among teachers. Summer School will run Monday-Thursday, June 7-July 1. You are welcome to choose the frequency and duration of your course, but it must fit within the June 7th - July 1st window. 

ALL PROPOSALS ARE DUE BY FEBRUARY 26th

Thank you for considering this opportunity!

EC-5 Asynchronous Date Change- IMPORTANT

 In order to provide more flexibility to staff members at the EC-5 level to sign up for the second dose of the vaccination, we will shift the March 24th asynchronous day to March 10th.  Please mark your calendars for this process, shift this in any communication you have had with parents, and share the shift with students.  We will move the A student attendance and the March 10th exploratory sessions from the 10th to the 24th.   

Here are the remaining Wednesdays for your reference:

March Wednesdays:

3-3: Asynchronous

3-10: Asynchronous

3-17: B Day

3-24: A Day

3-31:  Spring Break for the District

April Wednesdays:

4-7: Asynchronous

4-14: A Day

4-21: B Day

4-28: Asynchronous

May Wednesday: 

5-5: A Day

5-12: B Day

5-19: Asynchronous

K-5 Spring Open House Structure

 Due to the ongoing regulations from COVID-19, we will be doing a virtual Open House this Spring.  The Open House will be "held" on April 8th.  Staff will not need to be on campus during this time but rather will be using the contractual after school time prior to the 8th to prepare a video open house for families.  Please carefully review the guidelines below to plan and complete the video for your class.  The guidelines were co-constructed with Educator Advisory Council.  There is both a Teacher and Student component to the Open House, so please be sure to share and assign the relfection with your students.  We will also be hosting a Spring Online Book Fair from April 8th to the 22nd.  Please help us promote this event as well. 

We will be creating a sample of the Teacher video to share in the next two weeks.   

Link to Video Guidelines 

5Essentials Survey Reminders

 Please remember to take your Teacher 5Essentials Survey on or before March 3rd.  Here is the Teacher Survey link.

lso be sure to assign the survey to your students on or before March 3rd by using these directions and attaching the PDF sent in email on the 11th with how to access your State ID:

Student Directions:

This year the school district is asking all 4th to 12th grade students to complete the 5Essentials State Survey.  Please use this link to complete your survey.  You will need to use your State ID and birthdate to complete the survey.  You can find your State ID in the Tyler Student Information System by following the attached directions.  Please complete this task on or before March 3rd.  

Changes for I-Ready Professional Learning

 Due to some date and learning structure shifts, we needed to cancel and rearrange some of the I-Ready sessions.  Please see these available dates.  Please let Sarah Mumm know if interested in attending any of the sessions.  The sessions are geared to K-8th grades using I-Ready. 

March 3rd

1:00 - Teacher Toolbox and Remote Teaching Strategies

9:00 Goal Setting: 

2:00 - Goal setting : 

April 5th (during SIP DAY)

1:00 - Teacher Toolbox:

 2:00 - New Teacher:

May 19th

9:00 - Teacher Toolbox

1:00 - New Teachers