Friday, October 6, 2017

Contents

New Items

PTA Play – for K-5 Administrators

Previous Items

Bully-Site Action/Suicide Prevention Plans – for All Administrators
Nominations for Pittsburg State University College of Education Distinguished Service Award — Deadline October 27! – for All Administrators
P3 TIPS App – for All Administrators
Grand Canyon University Open House – for All Administrators
National Bullying Prevention Center E-News Bulletin – for All Administrators
Grading English Learners and Special Education Students – for All Administrators

New Items

PTA Play

From Stephanie Dickson
PTA Play is once again around the corner. This years??? performance by Theatre for Young America is a brand-new musical based on Doreen Cronin???s latest book in the wildly popular series that began with Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (performed by TYA last season). It???s Halloween time at Farmer Brown???s farm and the literate farm animals want an old fashioned Holiday Celebration. One problem: Farmer Brown does not like scary things???no haunted house or creepy ghosts for him. But the clever, well-read cows, poultry and pigs create a party more fun than fright with apple-bobbing, costume parades and hilarious musical performances. This performance is suitable for all K-5th graders.
Curriculum Connections: Musical theatre adaptation of award-winning literature, farm life, personification of animals, holiday customs, humor.
Dates are Tuesday, Nov. 14th 9:45 showing will only be for early schools and 11:15 open to all.
Wednesday, Nov. 15th one showing at 9:45 open to all schools.
The show will run about an hour. The cost will be $2.50 per student.
Please contact Teresa Kloiber at IARC 627-6850 or Teresa.kloiber@kckps.org to schedule your school.
Any questions call or email Stephanie.dickson@kckps.org 913-627-6862.

Previous Items

Bully-Site Action/Suicide Prevention Plans

From Tina Richardson
Please submit your plans to Tina Richardson in Student Services by October 31, 2017 via email.??Tina.richardson@kckps.org

Action Plan Word Document

Nominations for Pittsburg State University College of Education Distinguished Service Award — Deadline October 27!

From Karen Lasota
One of the major events in the Pittsburg State University College of Education is the recognition of great teachers and school leaders and their contributions to the profession. We would like your help in nominating your teachers or administrators for our distinguished service award:

  • The College of Education Distinguished Service Award goes to a teacher and an administrator in Kansas whose careers have been characterized by exemplary service. To be eligible for this award, the educator must be employed in a Kansas school system and be a Pittsburg State University alumnus. You may nominate both a teacher and an administrator by accessing this link: http://www.pittstate.edu/dotAsset/c7d09c0a-fd07-4694-9a51-b3349f6325ff.pdf.

Pittsburg State University College of Education will select the distinguished service award recipients this fall and they will be recognized at our fall student teacher recognition ceremony. Nomination instructions may be found on the form and the deadline for nominations for the Distinguished Service Award for the fall 2017 ceremony is Friday, October 27, 2017. Nominations may be sent by email to klasota@pittstate.edu in place of mailing paper forms.

Nominations for distinguished service this fall will remain active until Fall 2019. Nominations made in the Spring 2016 will remain active until Fall 2018. Nominations for distinguished service service in Spring 2015 will remain active this Fall 2017 and then will be removed from the list unless they are re-nominated.

P3 TIPS App

From Melissa Fears

There is a new resource for students to help maintain our safe school environment.
The P3 Tips app is FREE and can be used to report online safety-related information, such as the whereabouts of missing persons, bullying, and suspicious activities etc. The tips are anonymous and can be accompanied by uploading videos and photos. There is also the ability to review and update submitted tips.

KCKPS has created a marketing piece that will be available soon. Click the PDF below to see the P3 app information.

P3 App Information PDF

The P3 Tips app is easy to use. Here???s how to get started:

  • Download P3 Tips app from App Store????or??Google Play
  • Create a numeric passcode ??? a minimum of four digits is required. This can be used to access future reports in this app.
  • Select a location
    • United States
  • Select a State
    • Kansas City, Kansas (Select this option.)
  • Select an Organization

Students can report tips at their high school by selecting their school???s organization from the list. If a student???s school is not listed under the list of organizational choices, they can report tips by selecting the USD 500 District or Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers organization on the list.

  • Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers
  • Harmon Hawks
  • Schlagle Stallions
  • Sumner Academy Sabres
  • Washington Wildcats
  • Wyandotte Bulldogs
  • USD 500 District
  • Report the tip
  • Submit the tip

After the tip is submitted, the information will be reviewed by law enforcement for appropriate action.

For more information about the P3 Tips app, please contact Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Police Chief Henry Horn at henry.horn@kckps.org.

Grand Canyon University Open House

From Taneka Brown
Greetings KCKPS Staff,

KCKPS has a special arrangement with Grand Canyon University that allows eligible participants to earn a degree, certificate, or take a single course with special benefits.

Grand Canyon University is a private Christian university offering bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs both fully online and on campus in Phoenix, AZ. This partnership provides the KCKPS district a variety of benefits, such as:

  • 10% scholarship for all KCKPS employees
  • 5% scholarship for spouses KCKPS employees
  • 5% scholarship for parents of students
  • 100% online classes and certification options
  • Continuing Education courses
  • On Site Advising

YOU ARE INVITIED!!!!!!!

We will be hosting our first GCU Advising Day.

When: Thursday, October 12th
Time: 3:30-5:30pm
Where: Central Office, Room135

DINNER WILL BE PROVIDED!

This is an opportunity for both Certified and Classified Staff.

To learn more go to www.gcu.edu/KCKPS or attend the open house on Thursday, October 12th from 3:30-5:30pm. Contact GCU advisor for KCKPS, Micki Reed at 816-491-4533 or micki.reed@gcu.edu to learn more.

Please note that if you are a current GCU student, the scholarship will apply to all of your future classes as long as you are continuously enrolled in your program. Please contact Micki Reed to confirm your scholarship and enrollment.

KCKPS/GCU Partnership Flyer PDF

KCKPS/GCU Open House PDF

National Bullying Prevention Center E-News Bulletin

From Tina Richardson

Click here to read.

Grading English Learners and Special Education Students

From Kristen Scott
This communication is to clarify grading of EL and SPED students in our system.

The information below can be used for Early Childhood through 5th grade in reference to the grade card system at that level:

  • The purpose of the grade card is to be a communication tool with parents.
  • If the student is not performing on grade level, the parent should know that ahead of time.
  • If the accommodations do not change the level of the standard achievement and the student achieves the standard, ???Meets Expectations (M)??? would appropriately communicate their achievement. With accommodations, if the student is performing at the level for which the teacher has taught to??the standard, then the student would receive a “meets expectation”.
  • If the student’s work is aligned to the standard but not at grade level, ???Progressing Toward Expectations (P)??? would appropriately communicate their achievement.
  • If the accommodations change the level of the standard achievement and the student is successful, ???Progressing Toward Expectations (P)??? would appropriately communicate their achievement.
  • If the student is given modified work which has adjusted the standard and even with multiple prompts, examples, etc is still only somewhat successful, then ???Not Progressing at this Time (N)??? would appropriately communicate their achievement.

Success cannot be defined with a percentage. You must know your students as a learner. ESL and SPED staff should be involved in the creation of scales with those they co-teach with to show how to meet the needs of the diverse learners. It is the charge of the teacher to utilize strategies and supporting materials (graphic organizers, visuals, adapted text,e tc.) that will make it possible for the student to access the standard/content/information at the language level they are at. It is the teacher???s responsibility to make the accommodations in the delivery, adaptation of materials, (not having a student translate for the child, or giving the student low level activities because they do not speak English).

The report card is NOT a punishment to students for receiving ESL or Special Education services. ????It is, in fact, an accurate representation of the supports that the student is receiving and their level of achievement with those supports in place. ??If a parent questions the supports given, then as teachers, we ought to be able to clearly define what those supports are, and explain our work with the student, through progress monitoring and work samples.

The same information that is listed above can be used at the Secondary level as general education teachers modify and accommodate EL and SPED students through the use of the scale. Understanding that at Secondary the terms ???not progressing at this time??? and such are not part of the grading system. The information above can guide a general education teacher around how to provide the necessary supports for EL and SPED students around the standards.

We want to draw special attention to the information ???Criteria for Grading English Learners??? document was put out to Secondary administrators last week; we do want to clarify that this is only in place for EL students who receive the direct ESL services in EL1 and EL2 courses; it is not for any other teacher/course. The service delivery model for EL students is different from EC5 to Secondary; therefore, this criteria for grading at Secondary cannot be compared to EC5. Our EL students at the secondary level receive their English language services through an actual course (EL1, EL2, EL3); based on the English Language Proficiency Standards with scales to show the progression of learning around English proficiency.

We hope that this answers any questions you may have around grading our EL and SPED students. If you have further questions you may reach out to Dr. Michelle Colvin, Kristen Scott, Alan King, or your Executive Director.