Informational Item
For All Principals
Wednesday, March 23, 2022 – MTSS Day
from Professional Workforce Development
Wednesday, March 23 is scheduled to be an MTSS day. All EC, MS, and HS teams will still focus on MTSS data. Specifically, MS and HS will focus on course grade data and ensure plans are in place for students who may be failing. At the elementary level, LETRS is a major component of the overall MTSS work, therefore, we have scheduled the LETRS training for March 23.
Updated PD Schedule for Wednesday, March 23, 2022:
Early Childhood – MTSS
8:30 Elementary Schools – Unit 2 LETRS Asynchronous Learning
9:00 Elementary Schools – Unit 1 LETRS Synchronous (Zoom) Training – Unit 1, Part 3
Middle Schools – MTSS – Course grade data and planning for students who may be failing
High Schools – MTSS – Course grade data and planning for students who may be failing
The district PD Calendar has been updated to reflect these changes.
KAP Summative Documents & Info
from DERA
Please review the following information:
- KAP Summative: Monday, March 21 – Friday, April 29
- Kansas State Assessments Opt Out Form
- Testing Irregularity Report Form
- SC Code Information: Test coordinators enter the SC codes as seen in the attached chart via KITE Educator Portal. Codes marked “contact KSDE” must be approved by Julie Ewing or Juanita Anderson at KSDE.
If a student cannot take or complete a high-stakes, summative assessment, the Test Coordinator at the building or district level will need to enter the SC code in EP by performing the following steps listed in the SC code attachment. - Daily Access Code Information: Building Test Coordinators (BTC) will pull and provide each proctor the ‘Daily Access Codes.
Access Daily Access Codes by going to Manage Tests → Test Coordination → View Daily Access Codes → Select appropriate assessment → Search. See pp.71-73 of Test Coordinator’s Manual.
Building Testing Coordinators should be sure to pull DACs the day before in case they are out of the building. - Test Reactivations: BTC will complete test reactivations with a building administrator. Two staff need to be present when reactivating a student’s test.
All re-activations must be logged at the school and include
*Name,
*Student State ID,
*Grade Level,
*Test session name, and
*Reason to justify the reactivation to KSDE.Once a student’s test is marked complete, the student’s test cannot be reactivated. - If your building will not be following the below schedule be sure your building submits your plan to DERA at DERA@kckps.org.
* Building Prep Week: March 21, 2022 – March 25, 2022
* Official Testing Weeks: March 28, 2022 – April 15, 2022
* Makeup Testing Weeks: April 18, 2022 – April 29, 2022 - If your building did an in person Test Security and Ethics training instead of the Canvas Training, please provide DERA a list of staff who completed the in-person training and signed a paper copy of the Abide by Agreement kept on file at your building.
- We strongly recommend you have an alternative Building Testing Coordinator designated in the event the BTC is absent.
Advanced Restorative Practices Virtual Training Opportunity – April 19-22
from Student Services
As part of their spring virtual training series, The Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR), is offering an Advanced (Tier 2/3) Restorative Practices Virtual Training –” Beyond Tier 1: Repairing Harm in Schools ” – April 19 to 22 (4 half days, 8am to 12pm, virtual). Please see this flyer for registration information. Please note this training is geared for folks that have a foundational understanding and experience with Tier 1 Restorative Practices strategies.
For Elementary Principals
Connector Congratulations
from Diploma+
Congratulations to Colleen Dudley at Claude Huyck and Brett Bernard at Emerson Elementaries. These fantastic leaders have already reached the 100% live session Connector spring goal. WOW All of their teachers and counselor have shared a live session with an industry partner to deepen students’ engagement in the curriculum and/or introduce students to careers that may interest them.
Shout out to Dr. Heather Calvert at Grant Elementary. Grant elementary has hosted TWO Career Fairs this year using the Connector. Bringing relevance to our students’ learning never begins too early and Grant elementary students are getting all kinds of fantastic opportunities to begin dreaming and planning for their futures. Way to Go!
Our next spring progress goal is that 75% of our elementary teachers and counselors share a live session by March 30th.
Industry Chats are always an option. Please remind teachers to request a live session or find an Industry Chat and share with their students soon. Deadline to request a live session is April 29th.
Reminders
New Hire Orientation (revised)
from Human Resources
Beginning Friday, April 8th, the dates for new hire orientation will change. We will be providing the in-person orientation (day 1) on the Friday prior to the BOE meeting. Day 2 will be on Monday and day 3 will be on Tuesday. Days 2 and 3 will be Zooming for just the mornings. This change in schedule will allow the new employees to begin their actual job on site the Wednesday morning following the BOE approvals.
I would like to request that all supervisor/principals inform me of where you want any new hires to complete their Zoom trainings…at home or at the job site. I can then be specific in assisting the new hires where they should report. Additionally, I’d like to remind you that the other half the each of the three days will be at the location of your choice (likely at the job site). Again, I’m collecting that information to assist the new hires. Some of you have already given me this information, for which I am most appreciative.
NHO has been going quite well. I would love to have any feedback you may have or feedback from your new employee. Thanks again for your support and your patience as we strive to “perfect” the process!
NHO Schedule (Word document)
Non-Renewal Timeline – Update
from Human Resources
Please review the Certified Contract NonRenewals Timeline for the 2021-2022 school year. The timeline will also be posted on the Administrators Guide. Feel free to reach out to Ana Perez-Matthews if you have any questions.
Important Information about Grades in Canvas
from Curriculum & Instruction
The following information about grades in Canvas needs to be shared with your staff:
1. Official grades are found in Infinite Campus. Grades within Canvas are grades of individual assignments. This information should be shared with teachers, students, and parents. This is what is in the grading policy document – “**Please note, final grades will always be in Infinite Campus. Students and families can monitor assignments in Canvas, but grades should be checked in Infinite Campus.”
2. If a teacher has a year-long course, grades in Canvas will NOT reset at the end of the semester. If a teacher, student, or family member looks at a total grade within Canvas, it will not match infinite campus.
a. Teachers can turn off/hide totals in student grade summary within their Canvas courses. Here is a link to step-sheets demonstrating the process.
An announcement will be shared on Thursday 3/9/22 in Canvas and included in the most recent mobile minutes.
Celebrate National Social Work Month
from Student Services
March is National Social Work Month!
Social Workers are essential in helping students through behavioral health issues that may impact learning. Social Workers at KCKPS play a unique and valuable role in crisis intervention, assessing and treating mental health symptoms, providing suicide assessments, linking families with needed resources and serving as a liaison between the school, home and community agencies.
This month, please take a moment to write a note of thanks, celebrate your social worker(s) at a PD, or leave a small token of appreciation on their desk. KCKPS is seen as a leader in the state for providing mental health supports in schools, and I am so thankful to have these incredible professionals in each building supporting our students.
Thank you!
Angela Dunn, LSCSW
Behavioral Health Coordinator
Kansas City Kansas Public Schools
(913)954-0219NEW Parents-Right-To-Know Letters for LAPSED CERTIFICATION Classroom Teacher Letters
New Staff Intranet Launching Soon/Review of District Forms and Departmental Pages
from Communications
Due to new and ongoing issues with the old intranet system, we are launching a temporary (but more user-friendly and accessible) staff intranet for everyone’s use. The new, temporary intranet will also have a section titled “Administrators’ Corner,” with links to this newsletter’s homepage, admin-only form links, and more.
Before we launch this temporary intranet, however, we need a lot of old data updated or even removed. To start, there is a page that housed a number of all-purpose forms and manuals; if your department handles any of these forms (or used to), please visit this link and send any changes needed to forms or links directly to Mike Keener as soon as you can, as it will help speed along the live launch of this new intranet page. Additionally, let him know about any other content on either the live site (or old intranet) that needs to be edited for inclusion on the new site.
New District Letterhead
from Communications
Please use this letterhead template for district communications.
Spending Cutoff – April 1st
from Purchasing
Click here to view information via PDF about the April 1 spending cutoff.
Electronic Reporting Forms for Injuries and Incidents
From Communications & Marketing
Just a quick reminder that many of the forms you need when it comes to incidents are now electronic.
Student injury forms have now been included to the list.
To find the reporting form for students go to this link: https://form.jotform.com/212366215525047
To make the reporting of workman’s compensation accidents less time consuming, the Supervisors Accident Report is now an electronic form.
Regardless of severity, immediate supervisors & directors are required to report all work-related injuries within 48 hours to Risk Management.
To do so, please use the following link: https://form.jotform.com/212304621025035
The Incident Report helps document any incident involving non employees.
This includes our students, visitors, parents and guardians.
The incident form is to be filled out for a number of situations including: a child is missing, if a student is injured in a way that could require medical attention in the future, police have to be called during an incident, there is a fight, or even to report property damage.
An example of a fight that needs to be recorded- a fight that breaks out that others are around and it may have been recorded. A fight that someone may not realize they are injured immediately but could later on in the day. Fights that do NOT need to be recorded: two kids on the playground hit each other in the arm over a ball.
There may be other incidents that could also require use of this form.
If you have questions about whether an incident falls into this category, please reach out to your IIO.
Here is a link to the Incident Report form: https://kckps.org/incident-report/