Friday, February 19, 2021

Curriculum & Instruction

Attn:  Secondary Administrators 

Re: Secondary Module 2 Mandatory Dyslexia Training 

On January 25, secondary ELA and reading teachers had the opportunity to complete Module 2 (out of 3) of the KCKPS/KSDE Mandatory Dyslexia Training through district professional development. 

Attendance/completion for this professional development should be recorded in Frontline by the IDP rep in each individual building after teachers complete the training and the exit slip.   Your building IDP rep will have the attendance for January 25.  Any ELA or Reading teacher who was not able to complete the training during that opportunity, must complete the training asynchronously prior to spring break.  

Frontline and exit slip completion records are used as data for KSDE.   

This is the Canvas link to enroll for Module 2 provides: 

• Recorded professional learning session for Module 2 
• Participant Google slides.  These slides must be accessed from the KCKPS Google account and all participants will be asked to make their own copy of the slides in order to take notes and access links during the recorded training session.  There is also a required exit slip (used for attendance/completion) at the end of the training. 

Attn:  Secondary Administrators 

Re:  Secondary ELA

We would like to conduct a mid-year review with administrators for MyPerspectives, the new secondary literacy resource.  This is an anonymous survey that takes about 5-10 minutes.  The Leader Survey will help strengthen support and guide next strategic steps.  Teachers have already had the opportunity to participate in a mid-year review during the January 25th professional learning.  If you have any questions regarding this survey, please contact Kristi Chalk.  

MyPerspectives—Administrator Perspective 

This educational tool is intended for school administrators in their support of teachers using

myPerspectives instruction. This is not an evaluative tool.

Log-in credentials to access materials in myPerspectives: 

Go to:  Savvas Realize

Username: KansascityKansas

Password: Kansascitydemo1

Checklist for Anti-Biased Curriculum Supplements

On February 4th, the Office of Equity and Inclusion introduced a tool to help administrators and teams analyze supplemental resources and probe discussions with staff. The tool can be found here.  Specific to secondary ELA, this tool would be beneficial as buildings consider their current novel inventories.  

Updates to ELA Cadre Work

The following high school courses have been revised to reflect the updated KSDE 2017 ELA Standards:  Creative Writing, Debate & Forensics.  Links to the pacing guide(s) and all supporting documents can now be found live on the KCKPS website.  

Assessments in MyPerspectives

Savvas Realize integrates content, assessment, and student data. Through Realize Reports, you can view learning data and analytics in real time. You can also set custom mastery levels to drive student achievement. Usage data is available once teachers and students begin using Savvas Realize. Student progress data is available after students complete assignments.  If you are interested in more information regarding Realize Reports, please reach out to Kristi Chalk and Wendy Elkins.  

Topic: Kansas MTSS Education Resource and Initiative Inventory

Audience: ALL School Administrators

Principals- Please review the communication below regarding the Kansas MTSS Initiative Inventory. Information about the Initiative Inventory was shared with you at our January 7th Administrator Meeting.  The following communication is being provided to you to share with your teaching staff. If you have any questions, please contact Matt Andersen (matthew.andersen@kckps.org) and your IIO.

Message to Share

The Kansas City, Kansas Public School District is partnering with the Kansas Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Alignments Team to develop a framework that ensures alignment among all of the plans, systems, and initiatives within our district.  As an initial phase in this partnership, district leadership and Kansas MTSS and Alignment District Specialists are sending out the Kansas MTSS Education Resource and Initiative Inventory (KERII). The KERII is designed to determine what is taking place in the district and allows teachers to provide feedback to determine potential inefficiencies or focus areas in the system. Our ultimate goal is to use the data gathered from this inventory to determine what we need to expand within the system while creating a more efficient school district overall. 

What is an initiative?

Initiatives are strategies, programs, and resources that you use or are required to implement. These initiatives could include assessment, curriculum (academic or social-emotional), climate/culture, school improvement, social media, etc. Whether it’s a district, school, or classroom-based initiative, please list any when completing the survey.

Please use this link to access a short informational video on what the KERII is, how the data will be used, and how to complete the survey. When you are ready to begin, please use the following link: https://kerii.kansasmtss.org/. We appreciate your time to take this survey to provide the district with this vital information. 

The KERII survey will be open from Friday, February 12th until Friday, February 26th. 

Federal Programs

Audience: ALL SCHOOLS

Subject:  School Improvement Plans Submitted to KSDE, May 2021

An urgent reminder to make the switch from capturing Building Leadership/PLC Team notes from a Google Doc or Planning Sheet to KansaStar.  In order to make sure all of your AMAZING EFFORTS are captured and shared with KSDE, we need to move everything OUT of these separate sheets and INTO KansaStar!

At the end of this year, each of you will SUBMIT your SIP in KansaStar to KSDE.  Your submitted SIP will impact our District KESA accreditation, as well as our ability to move OFF of state improvement lists and access additional funding set aside for CSI and TSI schools.

Here are the benefits –

• A written plan provides clarity to all stakeholders – One plan, One effort;
• A written plan helps keep people grounded and focused on things that are important;
• A written plan will clarify the most important priorities;
• A written plan is an essential communication tool;
• A written plan keeps a team from spending time on tasks that won’t get them closer to their goal.

Here’s HOW to GET STARTED: DO THIS, Not That!

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

Audience: Title IX Coordinator Training Scheduled on March 3, 2021

Subject: TIME CHANGE for 3/2/21 Title IX Coordinator Trainings

Due to a scheduling conflict, the March 3, 2021 3^rd Quarter Title IX Coordinator training has been moved from 9:30-11:00am to 1:30-3:00pm. 

Zoom link will stay the same; however, please adjust your calendars accordingly.

3/2/2021: 1:30PM – 3:00 PM – Elementary Title IX Coordinator (Wash/Wyan)/Department Director

Human Resources

*The following signage should be posted in your building:

• Employee Rights/EEOC
• COVID Related Signage
• KN, AH, HAE, IC, IJ, JCDAA, JQKA, KMA, KN, CF, DFE, GAAD, GAOC Policy Signage
• No Smoking Signage
• COVID-19 Mask and Social Distancing Protocol (This is new.  We are asking that this is printed off and posted at each building location.  Please see attached entitled Mask and Social Distancing Protocol Employee Communication)  Please note that you can find the disciplinary form for this on the KCKPS Administrator’s Guide Website – COVID-19 Section – Under the Mask and Social Distancing Protocols Title

*This is a reminder that the following evaluations were 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 email Jared Alexander for iObservation and DeAndre Tuggle for TalentEd.

*HR Power Hour

Thank you for attending our HR Power Hour on February 11th.  We would encourage anyone who was able to attend to share with your colleagues that this is an available resource for them.  We will be having our next zoom session February 25, 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.

Topic: HR Power Hour

Time: Feb 25, 2021 09:30 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86051029702?pwd=cDN2V09VU0daU3Y2VzNqS2hxdm9SQT09

Meeting ID: 860 5102 9702

Passcode: vMg3eP

Nutritional Services

As the Kansas City, Kansas School district plans to enter the first phase of the re-entry plan, which will bring some of our students facing connectivity issues back into school buildings, we want to inform you of some changes to the Curbside Grab and Go lunch program and delivery service that will allow the district to better align with the students, as they begin to return to in person learning.

Starting on Monday, February 22^nd, the Curbside Grab and Go Meals will move to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. No meals will be served on Wednesday. Parents who have registered to pick up meals will not need to reapply, there will be no changes to locations of pickup, no changes to the hours of operation.

This new plan is the same for those students in-person, those that pick-up, and for those that have meals delivered. The plan:

Monday: Students will receive 1 breakfast and 1 lunch

Tuesday: Students will receive 2 breakfast and 2 lunches

• This to cover no Wednesday meals

Thursday: Students will receive 1 breakfast and 1 lunch

Friday:  Students will receive 2 breakfast and 2 lunches

• This is to cover Saturday

Reminder: times of service are 11am-2pm.

Student Services

Trauma Sensitive Tuesday – please share with all staff

We have another great TST coming your way on Tuesday, February 23rd from 12-1pm. This TST will be on empowerment ourselves through effective communication. Crowdcast signup here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/tst22321