Friday, May 28, 2021

Administrators' Desk logo

Communications

NOTICE: New Summer-Only Schedule for the Administrators’ Desk Newsletter

Due to next week’s four-day workweek due to the holiday, the four-day summer workweek following that, and the large number of staff off-duty in the summer time, the Administrators’ Desk Newsletter will only publish once a week until the first week of school. Your next newsletter will publish on Friday, June 4, 2021, and then on Tuesdays after that.

Additionally, from June 16 to July 19, the newsletter will be on hiatus; any urgent admin-only news postings should go to either Edwin Birch or Sharita Hutton for that month. As usual, anything that needs to post in the newsletter should be sent to Mike Keener.

Re-Enrollment Information

Principals, please share this very important re-enrollment information with parents and students:

Enrollment Flyer – English PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Spanish PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Burmese PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Hmong PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Kinyarwandan PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Nepali PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Swahili PDF

Also – we have video instructions for parents at this public link, which can also be shared.

COVID Guidelines for Gatherings

Hello Everyone,

As we prepare to close out the school year, we know that some of you are planning activities at your school campuses for your students and their families. Many of you may have questions about what are the most updated restrictions and guidelines for planning events.

We have provided a list of guidelines that will need to be followed to help ensure that we mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during these gatherings as much as possible.

Indoor Activities/Events

  • Limited to students only
  • Masks required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Soloists only for choir and woodwind performances
  • Can be held during or After school hours

Outdoor Activities/Events

  • Can be held during or after school hours
  • May include family spectators (Limit 2 per student)
  • Masks Required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Band and Choir may perform with social distancing

If you have any questions, please contact your Instructional Improvement Officer.

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

Principals,  please share this pledge page with your staff – and ask them to share it with students and parents.

Curriculum & Instruction

Attn: All Principals

Re: Instructional Coach Return Dates

Early Childhood Instructional Coaches will return on Monday, July 26th so that they may attend Conscious Discipline Training.

Returning K-12 Instructional Coaches will return on Tuesday, July 27th. 

**New Instructional Coaches will return on Monday, July 26 so that they may attend New Instructional Coach Training. 

Attn: EC-5 Principals

Re: EC Program Expectations

Updates to the EC Curriculum Guide will be made live on the district website by June 1. This includes the revised 2021-22 EC Program Expectations and aligned GVC documents.  The program expectations document will also be accessible from the C&I folder in the EC Leadership Team Drive.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact Ellen Bartels (ellen.bartels@kckps.org).

Attn: 6-12 Secondary Principals 

Re: myPerspectives Student Consumables 

(Previous Communication) 

As we approach the end of the school year, please be aware that student consumables will be replenished for the 2021-2022 school year.  Quantities for consumables will be replaced per site based on enrollment numbers in Infinite Campus. Any unused consumables from this school year should be inventoried by textbook liaisons. 

  • Consumables will be delivered for the 2021-2022 school year in July.  Delivery information will be shared with textbook liaisons.
  • Middle schools will receive one consumable per student.  
  • High schools (grades 9-10 only) will receive two consumables per student (Vol.1 and Vol. 2.)  

This year, students can (and are encouraged to) keep their consumables and take them home!  

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact Kristi Chalk (kristi.chalk@kckps.org).

Attn:  6-12 Secondary Principals 

Re:  Updates Regarding Secondary ELA Elective GVCs 

Beginning spring 2020, ELA cadre work began to focus on updating and revising all ELA elective courses.  Throughout this school year, many teachers across the system participated in this work.  As a result of this work, Secondary ELA added a new course for middle schools for the 2021-2022 school year.  In addition, the course title for HS Forensics was updated to Competitive Speech and Debate.  For more detailed information regarding revisions to ELA elective courses, please see the table below. 

High School ELA GVC Electives—Revision Work 
2020-2021 Course  Key Updates/Revisions 
Speech 
  • Revisited previously identified vocabulary 
  • Added suggestions for enrichment
Debate

Creative Writing 

Forensics

  • The title of this course has been updated to Competitive Speech and Debate. 
  • Updated to 2017 KSDE ELA Standards
  • Grouped standards by units of study
  • Created essential questions and big ideas for each unit
  • Identified 3.0 Learning Goal Targets 
  • Identified Priority Standards
  • Identified additional resources
  • Identified Student Evidence Statements  
  • Provided suggestions for enrichment
Composition

Film and Literature

Shakespeare 

  • Updated to 2017 KSDE ELA Standards 
  • Grouped standards by units of study
  • Created essential questions and big ideas for each unit
  • Provided suggestions for pacing
  • Identified vocabulary 
  • Identified additional resources  
  • Elective courses will be updated on the KCKPS website by early June.  This information will be communicated to ELA teachers.  
  • Secondary ELA elective GVC revision work will continue during the 2021-2022 school year to further enhance and support Tier 1 planning and instruction. 
  • The GVC is a living document and will continue to be updated as needed. 
Middle School ELA GVC Electives—Revision Work 
2020-2021 Course  Key Updates/Revisions 
***NEW:  Intro to Speech Communication 
  • Updated to 2017 KSDE ELA Standards
  • Grouped standards by units of study
  • Created essential questions and big ideas for each unit
  • Identified 3.0 Learning Goal Targets 
  • Identified Priority Standards
  • Identified additional resources
  • Identified Student Evidence Statements  
  • Provided suggestions for enrichment
  • Elective courses will be updated on the KCKPS website by early June.  This information will be communicated to ELA teachers.  
  • Secondary ELA elective GVC revision work will continue during the 2021-2022 school year to further enhance and support Tier 1 planning and instruction. 
  • The GVC is a living document and will continue to be updated as needed. 

Attn:  6-12 Secondary Principals 

Re:  Updates Regarding Secondary ELA myPerspectives and CANVAS

Teachers will now be able to assign work from Savvas/myPerspectives within Canvas.  Please note that Savvas will continue to make updates and improvements over the summer.  By August, this new feature should be fully functioning.  

Below are two links teachers will walk through in order to understand the process of using this integration feature with Canvas.  This information has been communicated to ELA teachers. 

mySavvasTraining: LTI-A Teacher’s Guide

mySavvasTraining: LTI-A FAQ

If you have questions concerning Savvas/myPerspectives and Canvas, please contact Wendy Elkins. 

Attn:  6-12 Secondary Principals 

Re:  Updates Regarding Secondary ELA myPerspectives (Savvas Pause Period) 

Savvas Realize will experience a Pause Period this summer. This timeframe allows our district the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming school year without impacting access to the current school year’s data, etc.

The Savvas Pause Period for KCK will begin June 30th and end August 1st. During the Savvas Pause Period, you will still have access to Savvas Realize for planning purposes. You will not have access to student rosters, etc., until on/after August 1st.

For additional information regarding this Pause Period, please see the information provided from Wendy Elkins.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MYdVjTYtLK-kr5mNNWDUYZFRL45PSUUe9cYZeD5Kk2Y/edit?usp=sharing

If you have questions or concerns regarding this, please do not hesitate to reach out.  This information has been communicated to ELA teachers. 

Attn:  K-5 Elementary Principals

RE: Delivery of Eureka Math and CKLA Consumable Workbooks for 2021-22 School Year-UPDATE 

We wanted to let you know that there has been a printing delay for our workbooks (CKLA & Eureka) that has then caused a delay in shipping.  We have been told that the majority of schools will receive shipments by the end of the day on Thursday, June 3rd.  We will communicate directly with individual principals as needed towards the end of next week for any materials that will arrive later than June 3rd. If you have any questions, please contact Suzie Legg, Curriculum Coordinator.

Attn:  6-12 Secondary Principals 

RE: World Language GVCs 

World Language Middle School, Spanish/French and Heritage Speakers cadres have been working on all GVCs for all World Language courses.  The following GVCs will be available on the following dates for the courses listed below.  The creation of the student evidence document will be part of the professional learning implemented next school year as we navigate through our new adopted resources.

June 15th – GVCs aligned to the new Wayside/VISTA resource, learning scales, priority standards and suggested pacing calendar 

  • French/Spanish Levels 1, 2 and 3 
  • Middle School Exploring Spanish

July 15th – GVCs aligned to the new VISTA resource, learning scales, priority standards and suggested pacing calendar

  • Heritage Speakers 1, 2 and 3
  • Middle School Intro to Heritage Speakers

Professional Development

Park University will be hosting weekly Information Sessions for their Master’s and Ed.S. programs for Teachers and Administrators.  Please pass this information on to your employees.  Thank you.

Park University Info PDF

Learning Science International (LSI) is hosting a Free virtual PD workshop on June 9, 2021 at 4pm EST.  The live virtual session is titled “ TEAM-Together Everyone Achieves More”.  Please pass this information on to your employees.  Thank you.

Purchasing

Reminder about upcoming financial deadlines from Finance:

The last date to encumber funds for the current school year was April 10. Purchase requisitions will now be denied.

All funds encumbered under PO’s that are not PAID on or before June 15, 2021 will be disencumbered, and funds will return to the District to use for districtwide projects.

“Paid” means that a check has been printed and mailed by Accounts Payable, receiving a PO in BusinessPLUS (POUPRC) DOES NOT pay an invoice. Please review the status of all open POs in your budget regularly to ensure invoices are received so payment can be made no later than the last board meeting in May.

THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT INVOICES TO AP FOR PAYMENT WILL BE JUNE 15, 2021 (NOON)!

If invoices are not received, it is the responsibility of the school/department to contact the vendor to get the invoice to AP before the June 15 deadline. If you miss this deadline, invoices presented late must be paid from your FY2021-22 funds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PO’s CLOSING

In order to help you get prepared for upcoming check out, we have some helpful things for you to be addressing now:

• Run your KCPO5001 Open PO Report in Business Plus. This is a list of all PO’s in PP (partial paid) or PO (not used) status.

• On each of those PO’s listed, you can drill down into the PO number and see your PO3001 Purchase Order Status Inquiry. Look under the ‘Open Hold Activity’ section to see all the payments made on this PO.

• If you find this is all correct, we’ll talk at checkout about closing these.

• If you find you have an invoice/s that is NOT listed here, please contact the vendor for a copy of that missing invoice and address during check out.

Reminder: By following this process every couple of months, it will eliminate this big push at the end of the year; it will free up $$’s earlier for you to spend before the end of the year; it will find missing invoices earlier keeping our vendors happy and it will eliminate searching old items when there is a change in the Treasurer’s position.

Student Services

Summer Series - Mask On

Join us for the 3rd and Final Summer Series! We have some extra spots for folks who are interested in attending our Trauma Sensitive Intensive June 7-10. To join us, please register here:

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/kckss2021/register

(your m account is not necessary if you’re not part of this current cluster, so just put n/a)

Please reach out to Brittany Talley (Brittany.talley@kckps.org) with any questions.

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Administrators' Desk logo

College & Career Readiness

Please join me in congratulating Monica Randle and her team at Eugene Ware Elementary. They hit home runs the entire math week by accumulating MORE hours using the math learning games than any other elementary school across the nation! Yes, I said nation. Heather Calvert and her team at Grant Elementary did a fine job, as well, coming in second place. Way to go!!

Communications

KCKPS Notification System Strategic Plan: Engaging all Families Across All Teams with One Plan

KCKPS communicates to students, parents, staff and the community at large in various ways and through different communications platforms. One common platform in particular is through the BrightArrow automated notification system. This system is designed for emergency notifications, attendance calls, informational messages and a variety of other school related alerts and messages.

The District added Flyer Connect during the 2020-21 school year to improve engagement with parents. Flyer Connect is a two-way translated communication app designed to be accessible and easy for all families to use. Flyer Connect syncs with IC to keep families in their sections and in touch with all District and school academic apps and SEL Resources.

Since implementing this second notification system, we had to ask the question. Are we overcommunicating to our parents? And is so…

“How do we streamline communication across a large district without overwhelming our families?”

Flyer Connect has heard this question from large and small districts nationwide. Schools want to share regular updates from teachers, school offices, district, social workers, nutrition, transportation, counselors and the list continues to grow. There is some truth in the wisdom that it is better to overcommunicate than undercommunicate. However, if families inundated, they feel overwhelmed and may tune out important information. Sometimes our communication can become more districting than useful.

This is why we have created a strategic plan to help us as an organization to be more strategic and make better decisions on how we communicate with our internal and external audiences.

End of the Year Plans

If any school has end of the year activities plans, please email Sharita Hutton with the location, date, time and what is being planned.

Re-Enrollment Information

Principals, please share this very important re-enrollment information with parents and students:

Enrollment Flyer – English PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Spanish PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Burmese PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Hmong PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Kinyarwandan PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Nepali PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Swahili PDF

Also – we have video instructions for parents at this public link, which can also be shared.

COVID Guidelines for Gatherings

Hello Everyone,

As we prepare to close out the school year, we know that some of you are planning activities at your school campuses for your students and their families. Many of you may have questions about what are the most updated restrictions and guidelines for planning events.

We have provided a list of guidelines that will need to be followed to help ensure that we mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during these gatherings as much as possible.

Indoor Activities/Events

  • Limited to students only
  • Masks required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Soloists only for choir and woodwind performances
  • Can be held during or After school hours

Outdoor Activities/Events

  • Can be held during or after school hours
  • May include family spectators (Limit 2 per student)
  • Masks Required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Band and Choir may perform with social distancing

If you have any questions, please contact your Instructional Improvement Officer.

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

Principals,  please share this pledge page with your staff – and ask them to share it with students and parents.

Human Resources

Board Agenda – Summer Staff

In an effort to ensure that all summer staff are submitted for board approval I ask that you complete the Excel document “Summer Employment – Board Agenda” if you have not already done so.  Email this completed file to Jared.Alexander@kckps.org.

Attachments: Summer Employment – Board Agenda Excel File

Blackout Days

The Last 8 Days Based off of your Duty Days are considered Blackout Days

186 Day – May 19th – May 28th

196 Day – May 26th – June 4th

211 Day – May 26th – June 4th

216 Day – June 2nd – June 11th

221 Day – June 9th – June 18th

226 Day – June 16th – June 25th

231 Day – June 14th – June 23rd

To receive a paid absence you would have to provide a doctor’s note, jury duty summons, military leave notice or an obituary.  Any other absence would be considered an unpaid absence.

If you have any questions please email HRLeave@kckps.org

Retirement Celebration

Save the Date: As KCKPS gets ready to say goodbye to those men and women that have done so much for this school district, we ask that you save the date for our upcoming Retirement Celebration. The event is set to take place on Thursday, July 8th in front of Schlagle High School from 2:30 to 4pm. More details to come soon.

Certified Salary Adjustment Window May 1 – July 31, 2021

Leaders –

This year’s Certified Salary Adjustment window is open from May 1st  – July 31st. The electronic form is used to request a salary adjustment based upon the following; completion of additional college hours, a combination of college hours and PD points, and/or add a National Board Certification Stipend. The Certified Staff Salary Adjustment Request form can be found in TalentEd Records under Available Forms. If approved for salary adjustment, a salary increase would go into effect beginning with the August 15, 2021 paycheck and onward.

Official transcripts and/or proof of National Board Certification can be uploaded directly to the submission form or sent to transcripts@kckps.org. All Official documents are due to Human Resources by July 31, 2021. If you or your staff have any questions,  encourage them to reach out individually to Shaunteh Jones at shaunteh.jones@kckps.org or Ana Perez-Sievert ana.perez-sievert@kckps.org. Please share this information with all of your Certified staff.

Stay Well!

IIOs

’21-’22 School Supplies 

Building Principals:  Please be advised that student/teacher supply kits WILL NOT be provided by the District for the ‘21/’22 school year.  This means that you will be responsible for purchasing school supplies for both students and teachers from your building from your ‘21/’22 budget.  No supplemental or additional funding will be provided by the District.  You are to use the instructional supply budget that is allocated to your building.  As a reminder, we are NOT to ask students or their parents to buy school supplies.

Supplies for students and teachers may be purchased from: Staples, Office Products Alliance, Amazon, Sam’s Club, or any other vendor that is registered with the District.  Budgets will be open to begin ordering when administrators return on July 12th.

Credit Card Shut Down and Access
Building Administrator and Student Activity Credit Cards of non-summer school sites will be shut down on May 27th.  Summer site administrators will continue to have access to their credit cards.

Professional Development

Updates

21-22 District PD Calendar

Summer Conference Action Item:

Mentor Program Action Item:

Summer District PD Calendar

Please note, changes to the 21-22 PD Calendar

  • Dec 17 has been corrected to reflect changes made to the District Calendar. Dec 17 is a .5 day for teachers to complete Records prep; no District Content PD will be scheduled for this day.

  • Elementary schools – Dates for 8:30 and 9:00 elementary schools’ ‘Building PD’ and ‘District Content PD’ have been switched. This change will allow for more effective facilitation of our K-12 content areas. The amount of time/days remains consistent.

Purchasing

Reminder about upcoming financial deadlines from Finance:

The last date to encumber funds for the current school year was April 10. Purchase requisitions will now be denied.

All funds encumbered under PO’s that are not PAID on or before June 15, 2021 will be disencumbered, and funds will return to the District to use for districtwide projects.

“Paid” means that a check has been printed and mailed by Accounts Payable, receiving a PO in BusinessPLUS (POUPRC) DOES NOT pay an invoice. Please review the status of all open POs in your budget regularly to ensure invoices are received so payment can be made no later than the last board meeting in May.

THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT INVOICES TO AP FOR PAYMENT WILL BE JUNE 15, 2021 (NOON)!

If invoices are not received, it is the responsibility of the school/department to contact the vendor to get the invoice to AP before the June 15 deadline. If you miss this deadline, invoices presented late must be paid from your FY2021-22 funds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PO’s CLOSING

In order to help you get prepared for upcoming check out, we have some helpful things for you to be addressing now:

• Run your KCPO5001 Open PO Report in Business Plus. This is a list of all PO’s in PP (partial paid) or PO (not used) status.

• On each of those PO’s listed, you can drill down into the PO number and see your PO3001 Purchase Order Status Inquiry. Look under the ‘Open Hold Activity’ section to see all the payments made on this PO.

• If you find this is all correct, we’ll talk at checkout about closing these.

• If you find you have an invoice/s that is NOT listed here, please contact the vendor for a copy of that missing invoice and address during check out.

Reminder: By following this process every couple of months, it will eliminate this big push at the end of the year; it will free up $$’s earlier for you to spend before the end of the year; it will find missing invoices earlier keeping our vendors happy and it will eliminate searching old items when there is a change in the Treasurer’s position.

Student Services

  • Responsive Classrooms is having a SALE! Use the code INSPIRE21 on Responsive Classroom or Fly Five websites from May 24 – 31 and receive 25% off any Responsive Classroom publication or Fly Five’s The Mindful Student lessons!

Recommended books:

Yardsticks (HIGHLY Recommend)
The First Six Weeks of School (Elementary)
Building an Academic Community (Middle)
The Power of Our Words
The Morning Meeting Book
The Responsive Advisory Meeting Book
Morning Meetings
Closing Circles

  • Universal Trauma Training

Thank you all so much for your hard work in getting this training completed! If you are still having trouble accessing the evaluation, please use the tutorial below or contact me: brittany.talley@kckps.org. We still have a few folks left who need to complete the training, or who just have to finish the evaluation.

Here’s a short video tutorial on how to access the evaluation. 

Each school has their own Frontline Activity. If staff have already completed the training (either in-person or live-virtually) they should have a certificate. If anyone is experiencing issues with these trainings, or locating their certificate, please contact Brittany Talley: brittany.talley@kckps.org

Friday, May 21, 2021

Administrators' Desk logo

Communications

End of the Year Plans

If any school has end of the year activities plans, please email Sharita Hutton with the location, date, time and what is being planned.

Re-Enrollment Information

Principals, please share this very important re-enrollment information with parents and students:

Enrollment Flyer – English PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Spanish PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Burmese PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Hmong PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Kinyarwandan PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Nepali PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Swahili PDF

Also – we have video instructions for parents at this public link, which can also be shared.

COVID Guidelines for Gatherings

Hello Everyone,

As we prepare to close out the school year, we know that some of you are planning activities at your school campuses for your students and their families. Many of you may have questions about what are the most updated restrictions and guidelines for planning events.

We have provided a list of guidelines that will need to be followed to help ensure that we mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during these gatherings as much as possible.

Indoor Activities/Events

  • Limited to students only
  • Masks required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Soloists only for choir and woodwind performances
  • Can be held during or After school hours

Outdoor Activities/Events

  • Can be held during or after school hours
  • May include family spectators (Limit 2 per student)
  • Masks Required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Band and Choir may perform with social distancing

If you have any questions, please contact your Instructional Improvement Officer.

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

Principals,  please share this pledge page with your staff – and ask them to share it with students and parents.

Curriculum & Instruction

Elementary Principals

RE: GVC Updates for 21-22 School Year

Updates to the GVC will be made live on the district website by June 1. This includes revised content area pacing guides and pacing calendars. The instructional minutes recommendation document has also been revised as follows:

  • ELA: 150 minutes (5 days per week) *90 minutes uninterrupted
  • Math: 75 minutes (5 days per week)
  • Science: 50 minutes (3 days a week/minimum 150 minutes a week)
  • Social Studies: 50 minutes (2 days a week/minimum 100 minutes a week)

Elementary Principals

RE: Delivery of Eureka Math and CKLA Consumable Workbooks for 2021-22 School Year-UPDATE

Deliveries should begin arriving next week if they have not already been delivered.  Please reference the previous communication (copied below) regarding the procedure for receiving materials and reporting discrepancies.

PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION

Please expect vendors (Great Minds and Amplify) to contact your school to schedule delivery dates for shipments in the next couple of weeks.  Vendors have been provided with school, principal, and head custodian contact information. Deliveries will arrive on box trucks with lift gates to unload the pallets from the truck to the ground.  Materials will be brought inside over the first threshold.  The carrier will not break down pallets to carry materials inside nor will they bring pallets up steps. Due to COVID-19, some carriers still have stipulations in place limiting inside delivery considering the health and safety of their employees as well as the receiver.

To ensure prompt and accurate reporting of missing or damaged items delivered from vendors, we have established the following procedure to ensure all inventory is received and in good condition.

  • The person (Custodian, Admin Support etc.) receiving the items will check to ensure all items being signed for (#of Boxes, packages, or items etc.) are received before signing for the delivery.  We cannot dispute receiving a total quantity of boxes/packages with the vendor if the school has signed for the order.
  • To ensure all items are received, boxes will need to be opened and verified according to the packing slip(s).  If items are missing/damaged, notify Tresia Hassan via email at tresia.hassan@kckps.org within 10 days of delivery.  Include a copy of the packing slip and notation of what is missing or damaged. 
  • Please note that Vendors nor the Curriculum and Instruction Department will be responsible for replacing damaged/missing items when notification is not received in a timely manner.  

For reference, this linked google sheet indicates the number of books requested by your site.  Please contact Suzie Legg, suzie.legg@kckps.org with any questions.

Federal Programs

AUDIENCE: ALL SCHOOLS

Subject:  Directions for Submitting SIPs in KansaSTAR, May 25th-28th

All principals should submit their SIPs in KansaSTAR to KSDE between May 25th-28th.

Directions for Pre-Checking, Conducting Final Updates, and Submitting your SIP in KansaSTAR can be found in the Federal Programs shared drive folder: All Schools: School Improvement Planning Modules & Resources 20-21.

There are TWO DIFFERENT submission choices –

  • Elementary/Middle Schools: Indicators of Effective Practices – (Title I Schoolwide Annual Submissions)
  • ECH/High Schools/Alt Schools: Indicators of Effective Practices – (All Other Schools)

Still have some additional work to do in order to move your School Improvement Plan categories to Approaching or Transforming? Here are two SUPER quick videos that will show you how!

Contact Lisa Walker or Kacie Olson if you need to phone a friend for SIP advice!

Instructional Technology

Please click here to view the latest edition of the KCKPS Mobile Minute. This edition includes Canvas updates for the 21-22 school year, updates around Seesaw and Google Classroom, training opportunities, and much more!

Professional Development

Updates

21-22 District PD Calendar

Summer Conference Action Item:

Mentor Program Action Item:

Summer District PD Calendar

Please contact Lindsey Schneider, Director of Professional Workforce Development, with any questions or concerns. Thank you!

UMKC School of Education Information Session

UMKC School of Education is hosting an Information Session on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 5:00pm for anyone interested in learning more about UMKC’s Doctoral Program in Educational Administration.  Please post this flyer and pass this information on to your employees.  Thank you.

Purchasing

 Reminder about upcoming financial deadlines from Finance: 

The last date to encumber funds for the current school year was April 10. Purchase requisitions will now be denied. 

All funds encumbered under PO’s that are not PAID on or before June 15, 2021 will be disencumbered, and funds will return to the District to use for districtwide projects. 

“Paid” means that a check has been printed and mailed by Accounts Payable, receiving a PO in BusinessPLUS (POUPRC) DOES NOT pay an invoice. Please review the status of all open POs in your budget regularly to ensure invoices are received so payment can be made no later than the last board meeting in May. 

THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT INVOICES TO AP FOR PAYMENT WILL BE JUNE 15, 2021 (NOON)! 

If invoices are not received, it is the responsibility of the school/department to contact the vendor to get the invoice to AP before the June 15 deadline. If you miss this deadline, invoices presented late must be paid from your FY2021-22 funds. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

PO’s CLOSING 

In order to help you get prepared for upcoming check out, we have some helpful things for you to be addressing now: 

• Run your KCPO5001 Open PO Report in Business Plus. This is a list of all PO’s in PP (partial paid) or PO (not used) status. 

• On each of those PO’s listed, you can drill down into the PO number and see your PO3001 Purchase Order Status Inquiry. Look under the ‘Open Hold Activity’ section to see all the payments made on this PO. 

• If you find this is all correct, we’ll talk at checkout about closing these. 

• If you find you have an invoice/s that is NOT listed here, please contact the vendor for a copy of that missing invoice and address during check out. 

Reminder: By following this process every couple of months, it will eliminate this big push at the end of the year; it will free up $$’s earlier for you to spend before the end of the year; it will find missing invoices earlier keeping our vendors happy and it will eliminate searching old items when there is a change in the Treasurer’s position. 

 

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Administrators' Desk logo

Communications

End of the Year Plans

If any school has end of the year activities plans, please email Sharita Hutton with the location, date, time and what is being planned.

Re-Enrollment Information

Principals, please share this very important re-enrollment information with parents and students:

Enrollment Flyer – English PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Spanish PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Burmese PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Hmong PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Kinyarwandan PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Nepali PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Swahili PDF

Also – we have video instructions for parents at this public link, which can also be shared.

COVID Guidelines for Gatherings

Hello Everyone,

As we prepare to close out the school year, we know that some of you are planning activities at your school campuses for your students and their families. Many of you may have questions about what are the most updated restrictions and guidelines for planning events.

We have provided a list of guidelines that will need to be followed to help ensure that we mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during these gatherings as much as possible.

Indoor Activities/Events

  • Limited to students only
  • Masks required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Soloists only for choir and woodwind performances
  • Can be held during or After school hours

Outdoor Activities/Events

  • Can be held during or after school hours
  • May include family spectators (Limit 2 per student)
  • Masks Required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Band and Choir may perform with social distancing

If you have any questions, please contact your Instructional Improvement Officer.

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

Principals,  please share this pledge page with your staff – and ask them to share it with students and parents.

Curriculum & Instruction

ATTN: K-5 Administrators

Re: Amplify Reading K-5 Pilot Contest

I am excited to announce that LINDBERGH ELEMENTARY is the winning building for our Amplify Reading K-5 Pilot usage competition, with 86% of their students activated and using the digital program! Way to SOAR Pilots! They will receive an assortment of Amplify teacher swag for the building.

The winning grade level team hails from JFK ELEMENTARY. Congratulations to their 5th GRADE TEAM, with an impressive 20,000 minutes of usage. They will receive Amplify Bluetooth speakers!

Federal Programs

AUDIENCE: ALL SCHOOLS

Subject:  Window for Submitting SIPs in KansaSTAR, May 25-28th

All principals should plan to submit their SIPs in KansaSTAR to KSDE between May 25th-28th.

There are TWO DIFFERENT submission choices – ONE for Title Schools (Elementary/Middle) and ONE for ALL OTHER Schools (ECH/High Schools/ALT Schools).  Lisa Walker will do a quick demonstration at the 5/20/21 Principals’ Meeting.

In the meantime – looking to move a few of your School Improvement Plan categories to Approaching or Transforming? Here’s two SUPER quick videos that will show you how!

Contact Lisa Walker or Kacie Olson if you want some 1:1 KansaStar/SIP assistance for you, your team, or your process manager.  We’re happy to help!

Human Resources

Certified Salary Adjustment Window May 1 – July 31, 2021

Leaders –

This year’s Certified Salary Adjustment window is open from May 1st  – July 31st. The electronic form is used to request a salary adjustment based upon the following; completion of additional college hours, a combination of college hours and PD points, and/or add a National Board Certification Stipend. The Certified Staff Salary Adjustment Request form can be found in TalentEd Records under Available Forms. If approved for salary adjustment, a salary increase would go into effect beginning with the August 15, 2021 paycheck and onward.

Official transcripts and/or proof of National Board Certification can be uploaded directly to the submission form or sent to transcripts@kckps.org. All Official documents are due to Human Resources by July 31, 2021. If you or your staff have any questions,  encourage them to reach out individually to Shaunteh Jones at shaunteh.jones@kckps.org or Ariel Kittling at ariel.kittling@kckps.org. Please share this information with all of your Certified staff.

Stay Well!

Purchasing

 Reminder about upcoming financial deadlines from Finance: 

The last date to encumber funds for the current school year was April 10. Purchase requisitions will now be denied. 

All funds encumbered under PO’s that are not PAID on or before June 15, 2021 will be disencumbered, and funds will return to the District to use for districtwide projects. 

“Paid” means that a check has been printed and mailed by Accounts Payable, receiving a PO in BusinessPLUS (POUPRC) DOES NOT pay an invoice. Please review the status of all open POs in your budget regularly to ensure invoices are received so payment can be made no later than the last board meeting in May. 

THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT INVOICES TO AP FOR PAYMENT WILL BE JUNE 15, 2021 (NOON)! 

If invoices are not received, it is the responsibility of the school/department to contact the vendor to get the invoice to AP before the June 15 deadline. If you miss this deadline, invoices presented late must be paid from your FY2021-22 funds. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

PO’s CLOSING 

In order to help you get prepared for upcoming check out, we have some helpful things for you to be addressing now: 

• Run your KCPO5001 Open PO Report in Business Plus. This is a list of all PO’s in PP (partial paid) or PO (not used) status. 

• On each of those PO’s listed, you can drill down into the PO number and see your PO3001 Purchase Order Status Inquiry. Look under the ‘Open Hold Activity’ section to see all the payments made on this PO. 

• If you find this is all correct, we’ll talk at checkout about closing these. 

• If you find you have an invoice/s that is NOT listed here, please contact the vendor for a copy of that missing invoice and address during check out. 

Reminder: By following this process every couple of months, it will eliminate this big push at the end of the year; it will free up $$’s earlier for you to spend before the end of the year; it will find missing invoices earlier keeping our vendors happy and it will eliminate searching old items when there is a change in the Treasurer’s position. 

Special Education

Please be advised that parents/guardians of students with exceptionalities will need to be emailed this link: www.ksde.org/ParentSurvey (This online version is offered in English & Spanish).  We have paper versions of the survey in English as well that the SPED Department is willing to print for parents who may request them.  However, we strongly encourage case managers and teams to consistently share the link and QR code with parents.

Attached is a copy of the parent survey in English that can be shared so administrators will know what information is being garnered.

Pertinent Information about Survey: 

What is Indicator 8 for special education compliance (parent survey)? 

  • Indicator 8 is the IDEA federal requirement to survey parent to determine the percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities. IDEA federal requirement to survey parent to determines the percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities.

What is the data source for Indicator 8? 

  • Districts survey a stratified, representative sample of parents of students ages 3-21 receiving special education services during the previous school year.
  • Parents are sent a letter by email or mail that provides a URL for them to go online to complete the survey; paper copies are also available through our WyCo/KCKPS Special Education Department.
  • Once every five years, the census year, the entire special education parent population will be sent a letter to collect their feedback regarding their participation in the special education process.

When is the deadline for parents to complete surveys?

  • May 31, 2021

QR Code for Parent Survey:

This information (as well as the QR code) is also available on the district website here.

Friday, May 14, 2021

Administrators' Desk logo

Communications

End of the Year Plans

If any school has end of the year activities plans, please email Sharita Hutton with the location, date, time and what is being planned.

For High School Principals: Senior Shout-Outs

There are only seven more days for parents to send a video shout-out to their graduates – the form closes on May 17. Please send out this link to parents and guardians of graduates.

Re-Enrollment Information

Principals, please share this very important re-enrollment information with parents and students:

Enrollment Flyer – English PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Spanish PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Burmese PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Hmong PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Kinyarwandan PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Nepali PDF

Enrollment Flyer – Swahili PDF

Also – we have video instructions for parents at this public link, which can also be shared.

COVID Guidelines for Gatherings

Hello Everyone,

As we prepare to close out the school year, we know that some of you are planning activities at your school campuses for your students and their families. Many of you may have questions about what are the most updated restrictions and guidelines for planning events.

We have provided a list of guidelines that will need to be followed to help ensure that we mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during these gatherings as much as possible.

Indoor Activities/Events

  • Limited to students only
  • Masks required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Soloists only for choir and woodwind performances
  • Can be held during or After school hours

Outdoor Activities/Events

  • Can be held during or after school hours
  • May include family spectators (Limit 2 per student)
  • Masks Required
  • Social Distancing Required
  • Band and Choir may perform with social distancing

If you have any questions, please contact your Instructional Improvement Officer.

Enough is Enough Sign-Up

Principals,  please share this pledge page with your staff – and ask them to share it with students and parents.

DERA

  • FastBridge Window 
    • 5/10/21 – 5/21/21
  • Quickest way to see your building’s FastBridge assessment completion.
    • Student Data Download Report – Specialist Users Only
      • See attached 
    • Class List Report or Screening Tab.
      • See attached
    • Please provide plenty of notice as first come first serve.

 

IIOs

Summer School and Technology
Administrators, as you prepare for the end of the school year, those students who are attending summer school will need to keep their technology.  At the end of summer school, their technology will be collected.

Professional Development

There are still several available slots for those that might be interested in the Kansas Leadership Insititute.   Please share this with your staff,  We’d love to take advantage of the free tuition for this great opportunity,  If you have anyone interested, please have them contact sherrie.piedimonte@kckps.org.    Thank you so much!

Principals

Principals should have received a box(s) and a white envelope from me.  The boxes have sets of Expo markers and the envelope has certificates.  Both of these are for your first- and second-year teachers. Please distribute these items to them.  If there are any errors, please report them to me, so I can rectify the errors.  Thank you for your help!!  …Sherrie Piedimonte

Student Services

All Principals:

2021-2022 School Pictures
The school district has contracted with Strawbridge Studios for the 2021-2022 school year.  Please  reach out to them to schedule dates at your convenience.  Contact information is:
Michael Adamo
(757) 944-1086
or
Jennifer Adamo
(757) 803-6574

All Audiences -Principals, Assistant Principals, Registrars, Attendance Secretaries, Principal Secretaries

A2A Truancy Updates

The Attend to Achieve (A2A) Parents Workshops and Truancy Diversion Classes are designed to give parents and students the basic facts around what the truancy law is, what the school is required to do and how they can avoid future referrals. Although truancy court is not in session, we wanted to give our families as much support as possible, especially considering the extra difficulties this past year has brought. A large portion of these classes/workshops is designated to share about the numerous resources available to families, both from our district and in the community. We had about 170 students/parents complete either a diversion packet, individual meeting or virtual diversion class since the beginning of March! 98% of participants indicated they learned something new and found the information helpful.

This week we offered the last Truancy Diversion Classes and Parent Workshops for the current school year. However, we will continue to accept truancy referrals until the last day of school. Please make sure all students who qualified as Truant, up to May 27, are referred to the A2A team. This will not only assure we have accurate data, but will help us find those students during the summer and help them set attendance goals before the new school year begins. If you have any questions or need more information, please reach out to Naomi Tolentino, naomi.tolentino@kckps.org / 913-568-0147.