August was spent preparing for the start of the new school year, specifically processing our new hires and helping plan New Educator Training week. On the first day of the training, our new hires were greeted with welcoming gifts from some of our local businesses. Papa Murphy’s, Luckman Coffee Company, Antony’s Pizza, Hi-School Pharmacy, IQ Credit Union, Dairy Queen, Los Pepe’s, U.S. Bank and Burgerville all donated items to our 21 new certificated hires. The week was spent helping the new employees become familiar with the processes of the district and equip them with information to help them be successful members of our team. They also had time to work with their administrators to create lesson plans and prepare their classrooms. It was exciting to spend time with the new hires and I look forward to refining our training time each year.
I also spent August making sure certificates were in place for our current staff as well as our new hires. Since some of the new hires came from out of state and fingerprints are taking up to two weeks to clear, staying on top of this was a priority for me. Chelsea Jacobson, who is the certificate specialist at ESD 112, was wonderful in helping with making sure staff were on task in the certification process.
With school starting, I have shifted my focus to communicating with administrators evaluation lists and timelines for both certificated and classified employees to comply with the state and collective bargaining agreements. I continue to interview and process new substitutes to build our pool and respond to verifications of experience from previous employees. I was also invited back to Washington State University to talk to the students in the teaching program to go over the Code of Professional Conduct and talk about collective bargaining agreements and policies. I will go back in the spring before the career fairs to talk about how to navigate the hiring process. This connection with WSU helps keep Woodland Public Schools in front of the new students as they prepare to graduate.