Contents
New Items
Anniversary Pins – for All Administrators
Previous Items
Horizon Award Nomination Deadline Extended – 10/4 @ 5:00 p.m. – for All Administrators
Website Audit Reminder – for All Administrators
Behavioral Health Social Workers – for All Principals
2018 Continuing Education Fair – for All Administrators
United Way Pre Campaign – for All Administrators
SIT Coordinators – for All Principals
New Items
Anniversary Pins
From Jody Mitchell
The district is revitalizing the Anniversary Pin Program for staff reaching a milestone work anniversary. At the end of each month, all locations will receive an interoffice envelope containing employee letters from Dr. Foust and the associated anniversary pins. This week, you will receive your letters/pins for employees who reached an anniversary from July 1st ??? Sept. 30th, 2018. Any employee who has reached a milestone in the past and did not receive a pin (5, 10, 15, 20, years etc.) can reach out to Michelle Lynn in the HR office.
Administrators will continue to disperse the letters and anniversary pins for their employees through way of special recognition. If you are in need of ideas how to recognize your staff, please reach out to the HR Directors for assistance. The HR staff will participate in the recognitions throughout the year, and will be in contact with you to gather specifics for your building/department.
Please contact HR with any questions. Thanks you!
Previous Items
Horizon Award Nomination Deadline Extended – 10/4 @ 5:00 p.m.
From Amy Jo Troyer
The Kansas Horizon Award program offers Kansas school districts an excellent opportunity to honor exemplary first-year teachers.
The program, sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, recognizes and rewards teachers who have served as outstanding representatives of excellent teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state during their first year of teaching.
Horizon Award winners receive special recognition during the KEEN State Education Conference, which takes place each February in Topeka.
Nominated teachers must have completed their first-year of teaching and be starting their second year.
Please provide your nominee with the attached application packet. Once their application is complete, please submit the paper copy and all required attachments to Amy Jo in HR no later than October 4th at 5:00 p.m.
One EC-5 and one secondary nominee will be chosen by a selection committee to move forward at the state level and represent the district; their applications will be checked for accuracy and submitted/postmarked by the deadline by the HR team. HR will notify the selected nominees and their administrator in late October!
Website Audit Reminder
From Mike Keener
In an effort to help catalog the existing information we have on the public website, and also in the interest of keeping the site as up-to-date as possible, the Communications and Marketing Department is conducting a quality control audit of the public school district site, as well as making any and all changes possible to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the site???s content. In order to expedite this, the Communications and Marketing Team needs the administrators of departments with pages on the public site to inform us of any changes that need to be made. These could be date-based changes, personnel changes, or program changes. In order to expedite this, a sitemap has been created to usefor quick reference. In the coming weeks, the web/graphic design specialist will be contacting departments as needed when he review pages.
If you know your department has pages on the public site (including, but not limited to, Student Services, Student Health, Special Education, Early Childhood, ESOL, Curriculum and Instruction, and Human Resources), please take a look at the sitemap and let us know what needs to be updated, and send Mike Keener the new information by Friday, October 19. Anything not updated by the time the new public site is due to be launch will not initially be included on the new site.
You can find the sitemap here:
http://www.kckps.org/index.php/2-uncategorised/1014-sitemap
Additionally, please review your department’s information on the staff intranet to make sure that all contact information, general information, and work forms are also up to date.
Behavioral Health Social Workers
From Angela Dunn
As the new Behavioral Health Coordinator, I have enjoyed spending time with Social Workers in all of the schools, and meeting many of you as well.?? I am excited about the behavioral health expertise and support these Social Workers are able to provide and have been in constant communication with them regarding suicide assessments, behavioral interventions and connections with community resources.?? The Social Workers are licensed under the Kansas Behavioral Regulatory Science Board.?? Their code of ethics, scope of practice and licensure requirements are quite different than educators.?? Assessing clinical judgement, which is critical to safety, will be an essential part of their growth and evaluation.?? Because of these unique attributes, the district has recommended we do their evaluations together.?? I am looking forward to collaborating with you and discussing their progress with you. I will reach out soon to schedule these initial evaluations.
The Social Workers will be evaluated on the Instructional Support (Non Classroom). Below are some areas that will help align the work of the Social Workers in a school setting.
Domain 1-Tracking progress: Tracking student progress, and celebrating success
Student progress can improve when student’s social and emotional needs are met.?? Studies show that students who have mental health diagnosis are more likely to get poor grades, not graduate, and drop out of high school.?? By addressing their mental health, we are setting a foundation where they can have improved academic performance.
Domain II??? Needs of Participants Who Lack Support for Schooling
Relationships are the catalyst for change.?? If students feel connected to teachers, administrators and family members, these individuals can have an impact on their success.?? Social Workers are the connection between home, school and community.?? If a student is struggling with their relationships, the Social Worker can be the liaison to improve this.
Domain I ??? Demonstrating ???Withitness???:
Students can meet higher expectations when their needs are met.?? Social Workers align their work with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which suggests that individuals cannot learn if their physical needs are not met, if they do not feel safe, if they do not feel a sense of love or belonging, and if they have no positive esteem.?? Social Workers assist students, families and the school system by helping to get these needs met so that a student can learn and meet higher expectations.?? (Some information about Maslow’s hierarchy is located here if needed????https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html??)
2018 Continuing Education Fair
From Shelly Beech
This week, I will send out the attached flyer to all buildings regarding our upcoming continuing education fair. The envelope is addressed to building secretaries, so please thank your secretaries for me, for distributing the flyers to all staff!
We have invited 17 Universities and Colleges to Central Office for a Continuing Education Fair. This is an excellent opportunity for certified and classified staff to receive information from multiple colleges about continuing education opportunities (some colleges offer discounted tuition rates). There will be representatives available to speak with staff interested in the following programs:
- Continuing Education Courses for Licensure
- Adult/Accelerated Bachelors and Masters Programs
- Programs for adding additional endorsements to current teaching license (Ex. ESOL, SPED)
- Programs for adding leadership endorsements (Ex. School Leadership)
- Alternative Routes to the Classroom/ Transition to Teaching Programs
- Para/Aide to Teaching Programs
- Programs for Associate Degrees
- Dual Bachelors and Masters Programs
- Terminal Degrees
- Non-Degree Seeking Professional Development Opportunities
Please share this information with your staff. We would like to garner support for this event by having great district-wide attendance!
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact a member of the Professional Workforce Development team.
2018 Continuing Education Fair Flyer PDF
United Way Pre Campaign
From Raquel Ayala
A huge THANK YOU in advance from United Way???s CEO as we approach October 1st campaign kick-off.
Pre-Campaign Letter from the United Way (Word Document)
SIT Coordinators
From Sean Demaree
The SIT process is part of our tiered approach for ensuring that all students have access to the supports they need to meet our high expectations.?? As teachers track and monitor student progress, they are able to identify students who may need support beyond the classroom, and this is where the SIT process becomes needed. A SIT Coordinator becomes the leader for each school’s SIT process, and will be the main contact for training, data collection and support to the classroom teachers. For the 2018-2019 school year, the SIT Coordinator will continue to be an instructional leader from the classroom who has a strong grasp on interventions and student support. Each school will be allotted the same number of Coordinators as they had in the 2017-2018 school year. For ideas on how to best utilize your SIT Coordinator, follow the link below, or for additional support or planning, contact Sean DeMaree, sean.demaree@kckps.org.
Coordinator names due by October 3.??
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F4FjLx8b_kMrpNfivZ6D49v_RlqkebptgNFq9z1PPYQ/edit?usp=sharing