HULT Update November 15, 2019

Listening Session

This week’s topic has focused on our three year PD plan. Given the importance of this topic, we will continue with this topic for another week. All Listening Sessions will take place in the Faculty Lounge. As always, coffee and snacks will be provided! 

Community Celebration

If you read last week’s blog post, you may have noticed -- under Upcoming Events -- that we switched our Learning Community meeting scheduled for 11/26 to a “Community Celebration.” Our rationale was simple: It’s a busy time of year when stress levels are often at their highest. 

The plan is as follows: Gather in the Middle School Commons Area at 3:00. After snacks and drinks, we will have a staff wide trivia event hosted by our very own Jess Deane. Groups will be created randomly and prizes will be given to top finishing group.

Open House should be one of the most important events in the school calendar. For many families, it is the only time they will meet their child’s teachers or, possibly, set foot on our campus. For staff, it is a unique opportunity to meet families and showcase the values of our community. In light of this, the LT has been searching for ways to get more families to participate. 

Having gathered feedback through surveys and Listening Sessions, we recently put together two proposals that reflect that main currents of the feedback we received. Both proposals are now before the Harwood Administration, where any decisions about changes will ultimately be made. 

Many thanks to those of you who took the time to share your perspective. We will keep you updated with any news we hear.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

11/18: Listening Session: Harwood’s Three Year PD Plan (3:00 - 3:45)

11/19: ELO-X

11/20: Listening Session: Harwood’s Three Year PD Plan (7:30 - 8:10)

11/26: A community celebration. Instead of our planned Learning Community meetings, meet in the Middle School Commons. Details to follow. 

12/3: Department Meetings

12/17: Learning Community: Summative work session

Harwood Leadership Team Update, November 4, 2019

News from the LT

One of the most important roles of the Leadership Team at Harwood is to plan, facilitate and sometimes lead professional development (PD) throughout the year. Much of our efforts on LT over the past two weeks have been directed at PD. Not limiting ourselves to the 2019-2020 school year, we have begun laying out a vision for what PD might look like for the next three years. It’s an ambitious undertaking, but, ultimately, we think this will allow us to present a more coherent and complete professional development program. It will also allow us to schedule (and budget for) outside consultants if and when necessary. 

We are also reexamining our traditional assumptions about when PD happens. At Harwood, professional development tends to occur during monthly Learning Community meetings or during Inservices at the beginning or end of the school year. We wonder whether there may be better ways to deliver PD throughout the school year.  

In a few weeks, we will be hosting a ‘listening session’ devoted to PD. Please consider attending as we are eager to hear your thoughts. Stay tuned to this blog for information about when that Listening Session will occur. If you can’t wait till then, feel free to email us: huleadteam@huusd.org

Listening Sessions:  

Speaking of Listening Sessions, thanks to the many faculty and staff members who have already participated in one or more of these gatherings. Last week we heard lots of great ideas about how to improve Open House. We are using the feedback to develop an Open House proposal. Though this proposal won't be able to incorporate ALL feedback, we feel that it will make for a more productive and relevant Open House for everyone. Stay tuned, as we'll share this proposal out for feedback.

This week’s topic focused on technology use at Harwood and the potential harm technology poses to adolescent psychological well-being. Given the magnitude of the question, we are going to continue with this topic for one more week in hopes that more faculty and staff will share their perspectives. Although the Leadership Team will not be directly responsible for any changes in our technology policy, we will facilitate the conversation and pass along the information we collect to the HU Administration. 

Please note that we are changing the location of our Listening Sessions from the Senior Cafe to the Faculty Lounge. As always, coffee and snacks will be provided! 

Upcoming Events:

11/6: Listening Session: Technology and Psychological Well Being of Adolescents (7:30 - 8:10)

11/26: A community celebration. Instead of our planned Learning Community meetings, we’d like to facilitate a community celebration. Details to follow. 

12/3: Department Meetings

12/17: Learning Community: Summative work session.