Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Administrators' Desk logo

Curriculum & Instruction

Middle and High School Principals and Department Directors

RE: 2021-2022 Proposed Middle and High School Social Studies and World Languages Curricular Resources Sneak Peek

The Curriculum and Instruction Department is providing a sneak peak for all stakeholders (educators, parents, students, community members) of the proposed Middle and High School Social Studies and World Languages curricular resources for the 2021-2022 school year. Stakeholders will be asked to provide feedback about the resources and their implementation. Please click here for more information.

Elementary and Middle School Principals 

RE: Wyandotte County Spelling Bee

The Wyandotte County Spelling Bee was held virtually on February 6, 2021.   Below are the students who placed in the top five.  The champion is eligible to compete at the state level in the Sunflower Spelling Bee on March 27, 2021.   The County Spelling Bee Coordinator, Tracy Cooper, will make contact with the families of the champion and the runner-up to complete the registration for the state level bee.  The first place winner will attend the Sunflower Spelling Bee.  In the event that she is unable to attend,  the opportunity will be extended to the runner-up, who serves as the alternate.

1st place: Riya Ahir – Rosedale Middle School (KCKPS)
(Wyandotte County representative in Sunflower Spelling Bee, March 27)

2nd Place: Bivek Kalikote- Gloria Willis Middle School (KCKPS)
(Alternate for the Sunflower Spelling Bee, March 27)

3rd Place: Juan Ontiveros – Central Middle School (KCKPS)

4th Place: Desmond Campbell- Grant Elementary School (KCKPS)

5th Place: Hailey Jordan – Holy Name of Jesus School (Private)

Congratulations to the students who placed in the Wyandotte County spelling bee, and to all of the building winners, building sponsors and principals who participated in the building and county spelling bees.

Elementary Principals 

RE: CKLA Mid-Year Review

CKLA would like to conduct a mid-year review for KCKPS. It is an anonymous survey that takes less than five minutes. Please consider taking the Leader Survey yourself and passing the Teacher Survey along to teachers (gen ed, SPED, ELL, etc) who work with 4th and 5th grades. This information will also be emailed to instructional coaches. It will be used to help plan CKLA professional learning for the rest of this school year and into next school year. Both surveys will be open until February 17th. Please email allison.rice@kckps.org with any questions.

All Principals

RE: Student-Centered Coaching Reminder

Just a reminder that instructional coaches will participate in Session 5 with Leanna Harris on Thursday, February 11th from 8:30 – 10:00. Principals are highly encouraged to attend.

This session will address these objectives:

  • Learn how to get teachers ready for co-planning and co-teaching

  • Discuss the moves for co-planning and co-teaching in virtual and in person settings

Homework for coaches:

ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 831 1835 3973
Passcode: 127033

As a reminder, all information and resources for these sessions is also available in the Canvas course ~ enroll here.

DERA

  • Please remember that the FastBridge winter screening window closes on 2/12.
  • Please be sure test security and ethics forms have been signed and completed prior to testing.
  • High Schools Only:
    • Please go ahead and order your Pre-ACT materials from the CCRIS system, if you have not done so already.  Ordering instructions were sent in a forwarded email from Ben, from Lee Jones.
    • Please grant me access to the Validus Online Testing Realm for your building.  ACT/WorkKeys has verified that is the only way I can receive access to your online testing realm for WorkKeys.  If did not receive your email from Jan. 27 containing your log-in instructions for the Validus testing realm, please call ACT/WorkKeys support.
    • As ACT/WorkKeys/Pre-ACT testing windows and dates are approaching, please be sure you are referencing all three websites for KS testing for comprehensive information regarding all phases of these tests, and schedules of events:

ACT:   https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/state-and-district-solutions/kansas/the-act.html

WorkKeys: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/state-and-district-solutions/kansas/workkeys-online.html

PreACT: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/state-and-district-solutions/kansas/preact-8-9.html

Diploma+

As we prepare for the 2021-2022 enrollment season, Career and Technical Education (CTE) would like to make sure students, parents, and staff are all informed about the options available at each high school campus. The virtual CTE open house provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to learn about our CTE pathways. Please encourage your FA teachers to share the open house link with students during FA over the coming weeks so they can explore the pathways.

Human Resources

Power Hour

We will be having our next zoom session February 11, 2020 from 9:30am – 10:30am.  During this time any questions that Building Administrators or IIO’s may have they can ask our HR Staff.  Also, from an HR Standpoint, we will share any announcements or updates we may have.  We also have notes available from our last meeting on Thursday, January 28th  here.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82283481476?pwd=U1V2b3BGSTZlc1ZSbmR2M2J0LzNGZz09

Meeting ID: 822 8348 1476
Passcode: qR19G0

Evaluations

This is just a reminder that the following evaluations are due February 15, 2021:

*Administrator Evaluation Year
*Teacher – Year 3
*Teacher – Evaluation Year
*Teacher – Off Cycle Evaluation

Please make sure that you get these completed in both iObservation and in TalentEd.  If you have any issues please reach out to Jared Alexander for iObservation and DeAndre Tuggle for TalentEd.

Student Services

Family Advocate day is Friday, and we want to remind all staff that we will continue to provide interpreter support during Family Advocacy scheduled for Friday, February 12. We will be providing interpretation services via over-the-phone. Please share the attached instructions to utilize Propio over-the-phone services with your building staff. This will be active ALL week and no prescheduling is needed to use this resource. We want to highlight that staff can add a Propio interpreter to a Zoom, Skype, or Webinar Meeting (audio only).  Here are the instructions:

How to Add an Interpreter to a Zoom Meeting (Audio Only)

On-Demand (Not Pre-Scheduled)

  1. Launch the Zoom meeting on your desktop so that you can see your parent/student/patient.
  2. Put the Zoom meeting on mute.
  3. Prior to the meeting start time, use your phone to call Propio to connect to an interpreter.
  4. Add the 3rd party: family/student/patient/parent to the meeting (two options):
  • Option 1: Dial them in via 3-way call. With the interpreter on one line, tap “Add call” on your smartphone, call the webinar number, and then tap “Merge” to join the two lines. (On a landline, conference in the 3rd party.)
  • Option 2: Have the interpreter dial-in.* Ask the interpreter to do a 3rd party dial-out to the webinar and provide them dial-in instructions (dial-in number, meeting ID, and passcode). Make sure your original call with the interpreter is placed on hold to maintain billing.

For those staff who filled out the Interpreter Request form for video calls, a confirmation email with the interpreter information will be sent soon. We want to remind you that the deadline to fill out the Interpreter Request form for video calls was Friday, February 5th. However, we kept the google form active and accepted requests until Monday, February 8th, for additional support. We received around 100 requests, and we are excited to announce that all have been assigned to an interpreter. Sending a major THANK YOU to the ESOL/Migrant department for their support.

Thank you so much for all the hard work you and your team do to increase participation during FA. If you, or anyone in your building,  have questions or need additional support, please do not hesitate to contact me:

Naomi Tolentino
naomi.tolentino@kckps.org
Cell:  (913) 568-0147

FAQ OPI Zoom and Scheduling Propio 2020 PDF

Propio – FA Week PDF

2021 Hardship Application

Greeting High School Counselors and Administrators,

I hope this email finds you all doing well. We have now completed the 1st semester of the school year. We all have had challenges and obstacles facing us during this new normal; nevertheless, we have pushed through and are completing our obligations to the best of our abilities.

Here is a copy of the 2021 Hardship Graduation Application. It is very much the same as last year’s application. Please keep in mind that after the student has finished his/her rough draft of the Statement of Extenuating Circumstances, they MUST have it edited by a school staff member such as a teacher, counselor, dean, etc. The staff member editor must print and sign the Statement of Extenuating Circumstances rubric, which is included in the packet.

Due to the many tasks each of us are faced with, great consideration was given to omit some items from the application. The student’s service department determined that all items are essential for the review committee. Although no items were omitted, the deadline has been extended. 

The applications packets are due by Friday, March 12th. Completed application packets can be emailed to laderrick.collins@kckps.org.

If there is any help needed in the process, please feel free to reach out to the student’s service department.