Culture and Climate Coordinator - Update
Good day Julian Jayhawk families! I am so excited to join the Jayhawk family this year as your Culture and Climate Coach. My work will be with the staff and students as we cultivate a climate of belonging, community and inclusion. As Dr. Fitzgerald mentioned during Curriculum Night, we have quite a few School Wide Initiatives going. One of them is our Second Step social emotional learning curriculum which is done during students Advisory period. Middle school years are such a big time of learning to navigate emotions and these lessons support our students in developing their emotional intelligence.
I am thrilled to share that we will be rolling out a Restorative Practices initiative with our entire 6th grade teams. All of our 6th grade students will be introduced to Circle practices. A big part of creating a restorative culture is founded in creating community and connection. In circle students will have the opportunity to learn listening skills, empathy, and sharing that promotes community. We will keep you updated on the process as we move along. Here are a couple of links to articles that provide more information on the effectiveness of restorative justice practices.
https://www.parenttoday.org/bringing-the-lessons-of-restorative-justice-home/
Please feel free to contact me! I am excited for a GREAT year with our outstanding students!
Peace and love,
Gina
School Wide Behavior Expectations - Culture and Climate
The 3 overarching expectations we have at Julian Middle School is to Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe. Please check out the Julian Middle School Behavior Matrix that has been shared with all of our students and staff. Here is a list of different school wide initiatives we have going on to improve the culture and climate at Julian Middle School.
- School Wide Expectations - Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe
- School Wide Behavior Matrix
- Posted in all classrooms
- This is the common language within our school
- All classroom norms connect to these expectations
- School Wide Welcome Week
- School Wide HERO - Positive Reinforcement tool
- School Wide Advisory - 2X per Week
- School Wide Second Step
- School Wide Trimester All Student Celebrations
- School Wide Away for the Day
- School Wide System for Collecting Discipline Data
- School Wide Tardy System
- School Wide Hall Pass System
- Partnership with DePaul University
- Teacher Student Mentor Program
- Student Advisory Committee
- 3 Full Time Hallway Supervisors
- Full Time Culture and Climate Coordinator
- Culture and Climate Committee
- Full Time Reading Interventionist
School Wide System Tardy System
In an effort to support students in developing good habits and being on time for class, we are continuing with our School Wide System for addressing students that have multiple tardy infractions every week. Here are a few reasons “Why” it is important to be on time for class:
- We can’t learn from our teachers and peers if we are not in class.
- Learning objectives are set in the first 3-5 minutes of class so students that show up late miss out on critical material.
- Arriving late disrupts the learning of the students that are on time and ready.
We have been encouraging students to establish a routine and work toward figuring out the best way to navigate the building in order to be on time for class. For students that have difficulty figuring this out, we provide them support by looking at their schedule and determining when they should make stops at their lockers, we help them plan out which route they should take to get from point A to point B, and we remind students to walk and talk so they are moving and not standing around as the minutes go by between classes. If your student needs additional support, please reach out to a teacher or administrator so we work with him/her. Starting next week the following will occur:
- Assistant Principals will track tardy infractions each week.
- Advisory teachers will receive tardy data on Thursday evening or Friday morning.
- Advisory teachers will email the parents/guardians of student(s) that had 5 or more tardy infractions during that week.
- Students with 5 or more tardy infractions will attend a Lunch Reflection session the following week.
This reflection is designed to help the student identify what is causing them to be tardy. The goal is for the student to either determine how he/she can address the issue independently or get support from a staff member. Any support you can provide your student as it relates to being on time for class is appreciated.
Attention 8th Grade Families - OPRF Freshman Placement Exam
Here is some important information regarding the freshman placement exam for OPRF.
Author Visit for 6th Grade
6th grade is having an author visit on Wednesday, October 2. Robin Stevenson will come to Julian to talk with our students about her new book Kid Activists: True Tales of Childhood from Champions of Change.
Thanks to MS. Winchell, our media center specialist, for organizing this opportunity.
The presentation will focus on writing and activism, and will be about 45-60 minutes long, including time for questions. She will use powerpoint slides to share photos of herself as a kid, book covers, art from the KID ACTIVISTS book, quotes from activists, etc. Key points she will emphasize will be the importance of activism being grounded in hope- in the belief that change is possible and worth fighting for; and the idea that there are many different ways to be an activist. She will talk about her writing process, share some stories from the book, discuss how writing itself can be a form of activism, encourage kids to think about what issues they care about, and how they might use their own voices to take action on those issues.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Dr. Todd Fitzgerald
Principal, Julian Middle School