Communications
First Day of School
Does your. school have any big plans or activities for the first day of school? If you do, please contact Sharita Hutton with your opening day plans so we can cover the stories for the day.
Teacher Wishlist Creation – T-Mobile Charitable Event
T-Mobile has launched an initiative to support and highlight Teachers’ efforts in the current educational climate. The initiative involves donating supplies to Teachers/Schools in need.
Kansas City Kansas Public Schools has been chosen as one of the three school districts to engage and assist with creating a Teacher Wishlist. This list will be used for T-Mobile Wholesale associates to purchase school supplies they have requested to help them in their classrooms.
So, this is our ask of you as the Principal: can you help us identify the most needed supplies and how much is needed for teachers in your school? We can’t make this possible without your assistance.
T-Mobile will need each school’s Wishlist back by Wednesday, August 18th. Please send responses to Edwin Birch via email.
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: Elementary Principals
Re: Amplify Science Material Distribution Reminder
As a reminder, new science materials for Amplify Science were distributed to buildings last spring. This document has information and links to aid in the process of Amplify Science material distribution, as well as what to do with previous National Geographic science materials. If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Beyer cheryl.beyer@kckps.org.
Attn: Elementary Principals
Re: Professional Learning for August 6, 2021
Professional Learning for Friday will be provided remotely and links will be provided by Lindsey Schneider. Content will be around the new resources for science and social studies. Staff will engage in a ½ day of learning around each, 8-11 and 1-4. During the social studies time, there will be an opportunity for teachers to gather together in PLCs to work on a task. This task may be done individually, but it would be more beneficial for teams to complete it together. More information will be sent out to staff this week. If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Beyer cheryl.beyer@kckps.org.
Attn: Elementary Principals
Re: Delivery of Eureka Math and CKLA Consumable Workbooks for 2021-22 School Year
Eureka Math and CKLA Consumable Workbooks have all been delivered at this point. Please remember that there will be boxes with mixed units and/or grade levels. The best practice is to unpack and inventory ALL boxes now so that if there is a discrepancy it can be resolved quickly. 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.
Attn: Middle and High School Principals
Re: Names of Textbook Liaison for Secondary Schools
Please confirm who the Textbook Liaison will be in your building for the 2021-2022 school year.
I have attached the list of names from last year and any updates received so far this year.
If you have any changes please contact tresia.hassan@kckps.org as soon as possible.
Thank you to those who have already reached out to provide this information.
Federal Programs
AUDIENCE: All Principals
Subject: Required Documents Compliance Checklists
All KCKPS Principals use the Required Documents Compliance Checklist to organize and document their building has completed all Title I and Title IX annual requirements. The checklists are located on the Annual Staff & Student Mandatory Training and Title I Schools resource pages in the Principal Handbook. Principals should submit their annual Required Documents Compliance Checklist by Friday, September 10, 2021.
Please contact Lisa Walker with questions.
AUDIENCE: All Principals & Department Directors
Subject: Approved Donation Platforms
Principals and Department Directors, please be aware that Amazon Wish Lists and GoFundMe are not approved platforms for KCKPS staff members seeking donations, as they do not allow for tracking to ensure all items are delivered to classrooms to benefit KCKPS students.
If building, district, or federal funding is not available to support requested items, please direct teachers to the Donors Choose platform, for which tracking systems are in place. Teachers utilizing this resource should document principal approval of Donors Choose Projects using the Intent to Request Donations Form prior to submission.
Additionally, gift cards are disallowed by funding procedures. Please inform your staff that they should not be included in Donors Choose projects, and do not approve projects that include them.
Other Resources:
KCKPS Grants and Donations Webpage
Contact: Juli O’Mealey Simmons, 913-627-2465, juli.omealeysimmons@kckps.org
IIOs
**Attention Principals**
Principals will need to do the following:
- Log in to iObservation
- Review their building roster in iObservation
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- Click on Observations
- Click on Conduct to review your roster **please note** scroll to the bottom of the page to view additional pages
- Place any corrections on the google form and click submit
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- If no changes are needed please click the form and confirm that you have reviewed your roster.
Link: https://forms.gle/qnaCN649KSMJh74y9
The deadline for these submissions is Friday, August 6, 2021 end of business. Starting next week these corrections will be made in iObservation.
For Elementary Administrators:
ASQ Professional Learning
All Kindergarten teachers are asked to complete Module 1 of the ASQ-3/ASQ SE-2 canvas course Tuesday, August 10th within the 1:00-4:00 timeframe. The module (approximately 60 min.) is designed to explain the purpose for administering ASQ, and the administration process. We acknowledge the administration process may be familiar to most teachers, however, understanding the purpose for screening is important as we move forward this year with using the screening results.
Please share this link to the course with teachers.
NEA-KCK
Please read and distribute this flyer for the VESI program. This allows accumulation of grad credits for any staff in KCKPS that is a NEA member.
Professional Development
District Content PD Locations/Links
Principals, please send the following link to all your staff by Thursday, August 5.
- 21-22 District Content PD – Locations/Links
- This will be the link we will use all year. Encourage staff to save it to their favorites, so they may find it throughout the year.
- Curriculum ICs and Department leaders will update their pages.
- If Departments choose to have meetings in-person, they will secure a location that will accommodate social distancing, and masks will be worn at all times, for participants and facilitators.
- A Zoom link will be provided for staff who choose not to attend in-person.
- The district will not reimburse staff for mileage to travel to District Content PD. (See Zoom link option.)
IDP Reps
Principals, please complete the following survey by Friday, August 6.
IDP Representative responsibilities:
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Track Building PD in Frontline
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Ensure all staff take the mandatory trainings listed in Frontline annually
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Compensated at $289/semester
Mentor Program
Student Services
Welcome Back Everyone!
I hope you had a great summer and were able to get some rest in preparation for this busy time of year! A few updates from the Trauma Sensitive Schools Initiative! Administrators, please share the information below with your staff!
Universal Training
We still have a few staff members who were not able to get the Universal Trauma Training completed before the end of the school year (but only a few). I will be reaching out to those staff later this week.
I read the feedback and have moved the course into Canvas for a more user-friendly experience. All new teachers who attend the August 4 training do not have to do the online modules (they will receive the Universal training during their pre-service time).
As always, staff must view the modules, complete the learning checks and the final course evaluation to be marked complete.
Universal Trauma Training Canvas Course: Alternatively, they can sign up at https://kckps.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: 7XDHMD
STAT Program TrainingOur Strategic Plan initiative around staff wellness calls for more professional development regarding secondary traumatic stress. We are asking that staff work this year to complete the STAT (Support for Teachers Affected by Trauma) training. Comprised of 5 modules, this course takes around 2 hours of seat time to complete. Middle and Elementary school buildings have the option to use August 10 from 1-3:15 as time for their staff to complete this training. This course is housed in a third-party site (www.statprogram.org) and once staff have their certificate of completion, they will upload it into the Canvas course.
STAT Training Canvas Course: Alternatively, they can sign up at https://kckps.instructure.com/register and use the following join code: NE6ND9
As always, please feel free to contact me, Brittany Talley (brittany.talley@kckps.org), with any questions. Thank you for commitment to making Trauma Sensitive and Resilient Schools who we are a district!