Month: February 2023

OSD student-developed equity surveys available; update on equity policy focus groups

/ susangifford

The Olympia School District’s Equity Policy Steering Committee (EPSC) is pleased to announce the launch of the OSD Student Developed Equity Surveys for OSD secondary students, educators and families.

In partnership with OSD Board Members, the Superintendent’s Office, the Teaching and Learning Department and supporting team members from across the district, student board representatives met over the last few months to develop and refine the survey questions. Survey questions are directed at topics and issues directly affecting students daily lives; some questions may be difficult to answer.

The survey data collected is anonymous and all questions are optional. Honest opinions and thorough participation in these surveys and the data collected will be used to help Olympia students and the EPSC inform the development of our district’s Equity Policy this spring to serve ALL interested parties districtwide.

Participate in the OSD Equity Policy Surveys by March 31, 2023:

Submit questions to the OSD Equity Team. For more information on this process, or should you have any additional questions, please email Equity@osd.wednet.edu.

In-Person Equity Policy Focus Groups Update:

March 4, 2023: Open-Registration Focus Group

  • Location: Garfield Elementary School
  • Room: Library
  • Time: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
  • Registration

March 18, 2023: Open-Registration Focus Group

  • Location: Lincoln Elementary School
  • Room: Library
  • Time: 2-3:30 p.m.
  • Registration

Virtual Equity Policy Focus Groups Update:

Students, Parents/Families, and Community Members can now sign up for virtual equity policy focus groups to share your thoughts with the District to help inform the development of the District’s equity policy.

To be added as a participant to an upcoming virtual focus group, select an available date and time here or select the link below. The virtual focus groups are scheduled as follows:

  • Dates: 3/2, 3/8
  • Start Time: 6 pm – 7:30 p.m.
  • Format: Zoom
  • Maximum # of Participants per Focus Group: 20
  • Registration: Google Form

After you sign up, the Zoom meeting invitation will be sent to the email address you provided. Please try to join the meeting a few minutes early to ensure the Zoom application is up-to-date and so we can honor each other’s time.

Don’t miss the February Spotlight on Success district newsletter

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Basketball players and fans in the crowds are all smiles on the court at Olympia High School during the annual Pack the Gym game.

Be sure to click the link below for our most recent edition of the monthly Spotlight on Success district newsletter.

This issue is filled with articles, photos and videos about students and staff throughout the school district, including McLane Elementary School’s Jalissa Jones being named OSD Teacher of the Year, the Olympia Unified Pack the Gym event at Olympia HS, local Artist Nikki McClure’s virtual visit to McLane ES, and the launch of a Transitional Kindergarten program at Madison Elementary.

View Spotlight on Success

Scenic photo of the week

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Black and white image of the Space Needle including a mirror image in a building window reflection
“Time for Some Reflecting,” by Nadine Owen, Restorative Justice Coordinator, Thurgood Marshall Middle School

OSD employees are encouraged to email the Communications department a photo of their artwork portraying nature (e.g., landscapes, sunrises or sunsets, an interesting cloud formation, a close-up of a flower) for consideration in this staff blog. Your image can be something you captured on canvas, in a photograph, on a textile, in a pencil, charcoal or pastel drawing, with wire — the possibilities are endless!

Please remember, you can be a novice or a professional. You can submit photos taken with your phone or a fancy camera. The goal is for as many employees as possible to participate!

Guidelines:

  • Nature/scenic images only (no people or pets please).
  • Attach a photo of your original art in jpeg or png format to an email and send to communications@osd.wednet.edu. The higher the resolution, the better.
  • Photos must be in-focus and cropped so the art is visible.
  • Include your name, title, work location, and if applicable, where the image was taken (you can name the city, for example, or provide even more specific details (e.g. sunset taken from Long Beach, WA). This information will be included with each image published.

Depending on the number of images submitted, we will print one or more in each issue of the staff blog.

Thumbs up for our newest Everyday Hero

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Everyday Heroes Logo with the words: Celebrating OSD Employees

Everyday Heroes is a regular feature in this staff blog. Remember to submit names of employees districtwide who have done something deserving of encouragement and praise. Give a shout-out to one of your colleagues at your school or support building and watch for it to appear in an upcoming Everyday Heroes blog post.

Here are our newest honorees:

Everyday Hero
Nick Edwards, PE Teacher, McLane Elementary

Nick, The staff at McLane would like to know how much we appreciate all you do for our school.  There are so many things that we are grateful for. You are ALWAYS so happy and positive.  Your music and bright greetings make a difference in the morning for our kids and staff. 

You always have a hero’s attitude, helping kids feel positively about PE and their bodies.  You run an “adapted PE” session for the Life Skills classroom and our afternoon preschoolers giving some of our most impacted students the opportunity to experience gym time.

You host students who need leadership opportunities. These are individuals who have a challenging time during certain parts of the day and you willingly open your doors to them.  You have multiple students who support younger grades during P.E. each week giving them a chance to learn leadership skills and compassion.

In addition to all you do during the school day, you also lead after school sports, which provides enrichment activities for our students. And then you coach soccer with most of your team being from McLane.

You truly are our Hero and it is an honor to be working here with you.
Submitted by Denise Morrison and the McLane staff

How to nominate an Everyday Hero

  • Email the Communications and Community Relations Department (communications@osd.wednet.edu) a few sentences, and no more than 200 words, about why the person deserves recognition. It’s easiest to write as if speaking directly to the colleague, such as “Thank you for helping with…” or “I really appreciated when you…”
  • Write “Everyday Heroes” in the subject heading of the email.
  • Include your first and last name as the person submitting the comments.
  • Include the first and last name of the OSD employee you are recognizing.
  • Include the job title and work location (school or department) of the person you are recognizing.

All submissions will be posted in this blog on a weekly basis and archived each week.

Paraeducators: 12 Fundamental Courses of Study (FCS) requirements

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A mirrored image of colored pencil points on a table

Attention Paraeducators!

Are you in need of fulfilling any of the 12 Fundamental Courses of Study (FCS) requirements? To see which courses you still need you can view your credits tab in Employee Access in Skyward and/or check in with your Human Resources representative. For elementary paraeducators, contact Laura Emmil at lemmil@osd.wednet.edu, for secondary paraeducators, contact Aja Dale at adale@osd.wednet.edu.

The first day of FCS training will be on-site at Knox on March 2 for two separate course offerings:

The remaining FCS training dates and courses will be communicated in upcoming Educator Connections, so stay tuned!

Flags lowered to half-mast February 22 in memory of correctional officer

/ susangifford
American flag waves in the wind against a blue sky with white clouds

Governor Inslee is deeply saddened by the death of Washington State Department of Corrections Correctional Officer Jay Miller, 52, and directs that Washington State and United States flags at all state agency facilities, including schools and support buildings, be lowered to half-staff in his memory on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. Officer Miller died in the line of duty on Saturday, February 11, 2023.

Flags should remain at half-staff until close of business or sunset on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

A memorial service will take place on February 22 at The Church for All Nations in Tacoma at 1 pm.

Countdown to Kindergarten is Saturday, March 4

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Student writes with a colored pencil on a worksheet at a desk in a classroom setting.

DATE: Saturday, March 4, 2023
TIME: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (Doors will open at 9:40 a.m)
LOCATION: Capital High School (2707 Conger Avenue, Olympia)

We would like to welcome the students and families from the Class of 2036 to join us at our annual Olympia School District ‘Countdown to Kindergarten’ event. This exciting and informative event is open to all parents/guardians who have children entering kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year.

Parents/guardians and incoming kindergartners are encouraged to attend. Also, please feel free to invite your friends and neighbors. Families will have an opportunity to learn all about transitioning to kindergarten in our district. There will be a brief presentation followed by a period of time to meet and greet school staff, enjoy activities, climb on board a school bus and much morel

If you would like to enroll your student during the event, district staff will be on site to assist you.

For more information (or to RSVP) simply complete this Google Form. You are also free to call (360) 596-6113 should you have any additional questions. We hope to see you all on March 4!

February 17 is deadline to submit OEF grant application

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olympia education foundation logo, including word Olympia in different colors with a heart above the Y,

A limited amount of Olympia Education Foundation grant funding is available this school year for Olympia School District staff who work directly with students. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 17.

These grants, available via a simple application, are enhancing student learning, addressing opportunity gaps and funding opportunities that the district and individual schools cannot, including:

  • library and classroom books
  • musical instruments that are used in K-5 schools by all students
  • intervention tools for students who need assistance catching up as a result of the pandemic
  • art projects
  • school gardens
  • sensory tools to center students so they can engage in learning

Last month the Olympia Education Foundation Board of Trustees approved $38,400 in Teaching & Learning, SEL/Mental Health and Browsers Books grants. This is in addition to the nearly $70,000 in grants approved in October.

You can find a list of grants awarded during the 2021-22 school year here. And you can learn more about how these grants are transforming students’ lives by watching this video.

Questions? Contact Olympia Education Foundation Executive Director Katy Johansson at info@olyedfoundation.org.

Congratulations to this week’s Everyday Heroes!

/ susangifford
Everyday Heroes Logo with the words: Celebrating OSD Employees

Everyday Heroes is a regular feature in this staff blog. Remember to submit names of employees districtwide who have done something deserving of encouragement and praise. Give a shout-out to one of your colleagues at your school or support building and watch for it to appear in an upcoming Everyday Heroes blog post.

Here are our newest honorees:

Everyday Heroes
OSD Social Work and Counseling Teams

OHS would like to nominate the OSD Social Work and Counseling Teams that came in and supported us over the first two weeks in January.  That was an incredibly difficult time as we started each week with an emergency staff meeting announcing the death of another very well-loved student.

The Social Workers provided ongoing support by hosting a Staff Care Room, where we were able to safely access this location for care. Our Social Workers/Counselors also staffed a Care Room for our students. Students were able to grieve, talk to peers, grab a snack, and process with a safe adult about their loss. This was a highly emotional time with lots of tears and to have other schools give up their counselors to come help us went above and beyond. Our students reported that this room was critical in providing necessary support. We simply can not thank our own Social Worker Jen Gould enough along with Ruth Middlebrook and her amazing team for caring for us over those two weeks when we simply couldn’t.

While we hope that none of us ever has to utilize this resource again, it was comforting to know that it’s there and that these amazing individuals go above and beyond.
Submitted by Olympia High School Staff

How to nominate an Everyday Hero

  • Email the Communications and Community Relations Department (communications@osd.wednet.edu) a few sentences, and no more than 200 words, about why the person deserves recognition. It’s easiest to write as if speaking directly to the colleague, such as “Thank you for helping with…” or “I really appreciated when you…”
  • Write “Everyday Heroes” in the subject heading of the email.
  • Include your first and last name as the person submitting the comments.
  • Include the first and last name of the OSD employee you are recognizing.
  • Include the job title and work location (school or department) of the person you are recognizing.

All submissions will be posted in this blog on a weekly basis and archived each week.

Scenic photo of the week

/ susangifford
Lake with coot in the foreground and trees in the background
“Can you spot the coot?” by Emily Hamilton, Elementary Instructional Coach, Boston Harbor and McKenny elementary schools

OSD employees are encouraged to email the Communications department a photo of their artwork portraying nature (e.g., landscapes, sunrises or sunsets, an interesting cloud formation, a close-up of a flower) for consideration in this staff blog. Your image can be something you captured on canvas, in a photograph, on a textile, in a pencil, charcoal or pastel drawing, with wire — the possibilities are endless!

Please remember, you can be a novice or a professional. You can submit photos taken with your phone or a fancy camera. The goal is for as many employees as possible to participate!

Guidelines:

  • Nature/scenic images only (no people or pets please).
  • Attach a photo of your original art in jpeg or png format to an email and send to communications@osd.wednet.edu. The higher the resolution, the better.
  • Photos must be in-focus and cropped so the art is visible.
  • Include your name, title, work location, and if applicable, where the image was taken (you can name the city, for example, or provide even more specific details (e.g. sunset taken from Long Beach, WA). This information will be included with each image published.

Depending on the number of images submitted, we will print one or more in each issue of the staff blog.