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Upcoming Dates
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Nov. 7
Middle School Conferences- MS Early Release
Nov. 8
High School Conferences- HS Early Release
Nov. 12
Veterans' Day Holiday
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No School
Nov. 15
Know Our Schools Tour
Nov. 21
Early Release- All Students
Nov. 22-23
Thanksgiving Holidays- No School
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News from the Assistant Superintendent
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Principles of Effective Empathy Education
Effective empathy education requires seven core principles guided by strong, empathetic school leaders.
1. Ongoing
Educating for empathy is not a one-time lesson, but a continual focus.
2. Woven-In
Empathy competencies are integrated into content and interactions, not tacked on.
3. Meaningful
Instruction is authentic, touches the heart and mind, and stretches "me" to "we."
4. Internalized
The goal is for students to adopt empathy competencies as lifelong habits.
5. Student-Centered
Students' needs, not curriculum, drive the lessons and experiences.
6. Respectful Relationships
Empathy breeds in a culture of respect and caring.
7. Empathic Leadership
Empathy is modeled, expected, and core to vision, purpose, style, and interactions.
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From Nine Competencies for Teaching Empathy
by Michele Borba. October 2018, Alexandria, VA: ASCD. © 2018 by ASCD. All rights reserved.
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Additional Wall Calendars Available!
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Has your school run out of the district wall calendars/family handbooks?
Additional copies are available for new families in English, Spanish and Russian. Please contact Gary Sabol at [email protected] or ext. 1217 if you need more copies.
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A message from Superintendent Sweeting
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Dear Staff,
October has raced by and November will be here this week. November brings many opportunities for us to continue supporting the learning of EACH Arlington student by engaging them in high levels of learning. Thank you for your commitment to cultivate their growth in learning in all situations, in the classroom, on the playground, in the lunchroom, on the bus, and in the hallways.
The Washington State Leadership Academy (WSLA) team, which is comprised of teachers, administrators and a community member, met recently to revisit actions identified last year to increase student learning and achievement in mathematics. One of these actions includes developing a positive growth mindset especially in the area of mathematics. Examples of positive growth mindset statements include:
- Improvements can ALWAYS be made.
- This will take time to master - practicing will help!
- I understand this because I have been practicing.
- If something is difficult, it means I am learning.
- Mistakes help me learn!
- I can't do this yet!
- This was the first attempt - I will get there eventually.
Here are some great growth mindset quotes:
- Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all. (Dale Carnegie)
- Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. (Samuel Johnson)
- It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. (Confucius)
- Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. (Thomas Watson)
- It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. (Theodore Roosevelt)
- Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. (Albert Einstein)
- Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. (Joshua J. Marine)
Thank you again for EVERYTHING you do to support our students and each other!
Please take the opportunity to vote on the upcoming bond! If you haven't seen the five informational videos on the district website, check them out. They are short, informative and highlight some of our amazing students.
Chrys
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Ballots for the Nov. 6 General Election were mailed on Oct. 18. Arlington Public Schools is running a bond on this ballot to build a new Post Middle School, add classrooms to Arlington High School, and improve safety and security at all schools. Make sure to return your ballot by Nov. 6!
Here are a couple of videos that talk about the impact bond passage would have on safety and security and traffic safety.
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| How the Arlington Public Schools Bond Proposal Improves Safety and Security |
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How traffic safety can be improved with Arlington Public Schools Bond Proposal
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Pilchuck Audubon Society grants available to elementary teachers
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Applications are now being accepted for the Pilchuck Audubon Society Classroom Conservation Grant for elementary school teachers. In the past 11 years, the Pilchuck Audubon Society has given out more than $35,000 to over 100 teachers in Snohomish County to help fund conservation and science projects in their classrooms. The deadline for applications is Nov. 1, 2018.
Learn more about the grant at the following
link.
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Arlington teacher named Washington Traffic Safety Education Association Teacher of the Year
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Arlington High School Special Education Teacher and Traffic Safety Coordinator James Brooke has been named the Washington Traffic Safety Education Association Teacher of the Year. The "Cliff Boyce Teacher of the Year in Traffic Safety" award is given each year to a traffic safety education teacher in the state who goes above and beyond to make a difference in the area of traffic safety. Learn more here.
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Get tickets now for AHS Drama's fall production "The Game's Afoot"
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Tickets are now on sale for Arlington High School Drama's fall production of "The Game's Afoot" by Ken Ludwig. The play is the winner for the 2012 Mystery Writer's of America Edgar Allen Poe Award for best play.
The first production will be held Nov. 2-3 at 7 p.m. Showings will be held the following week Nov. 9-10 at 7 p.m. All showings will be held at the BPAC. Tickets are $8 for students and seniors and $10 for all other adults. Tickets can be purchased here.
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Do you have something special planned for your students? Is your school doing something fun? Let the Public Information office know by using the following form on the district website. Let us know so we can visit your school and take pictures of your students involved in fun activities!
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Check out the latest community flyers
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Here is a link to our
Community Flyers where non-profit organizations are able to promote events and activities through flyers on the district website. Some of the events are community wide and worth checking on.
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News from Human Resources
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Using Leave on Early Release Days
Early release days (including the day before Thanksgiving) count as full work days for staff, and are paid as such. This is true even when staff are released early as is the case on the day before Thanksgiving (this is a bargained item for certificated staff; classified staff can use comp time or restructured time to leave early with approval from their supervisor). Therefore, when an employee uses leave on an early release day it counts as a full day. Please talk with your supervisor if you have questions about leave use.
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Staff Attendance Matters!
Our district and schools continue to emphasize student attendance as a key component for student achievement. Staff attendance is no less important and having our employees with students on a daily basis is critical to their success. Substitutes, while necessary at times, simply cannot replicate what our regular staff members do for students. So far this year (36 days as of the writing of this article), we have had 757 certificated absences and 527 classified absences. That is about 21 and 15 absences per day respectively.
Friday is consistently the day with the most staff absences. So far this year, 27% of certificated absences and 25% of classified absences have been on a
Friday. While we understand that there are days where staff
may need to stay home
due to an illness or other situation, we also want you here working with our students because you are the key to student achievement! Let's show our students what good attendance looks like!
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