Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Administrators' Desk logo

Action Items

For Elementary Principals

Connector Deadline Approaches

from Diploma+
The use of Connector is going very well this spring. Please remind your teachers time is almost up to submit their live session request-the deadline is Friday, April 29th. FA week for Diploma+ Careers is May 2nd so lots of fun Connector sessions are right around the corner.
Connector Goals (Word document)

Informational Items

For All Administrators

Leadership EDIT Summit

from Student Services

Hello!

We are thrilled to invite you to attend the Leadership EDIT Summit on Friday, June 17, 2022. Along with our partners from around the country, our goal is to create a cohort of building and district leaders who are focused on creating equitable and trauma-informed systems.

Leadership EDIT Summit poster

Participants will leave the Leadership EDIT Summit with increased capacity to engage in transformative change within their systems. Additionally, our networking sessions will build a foundation for building and district level leaders to consult, collaborate, and connect with one another.

This conference includes keynotes, multiple breakout sessions and two networking sessions for leaders. Highlights Include:

Opening Keynote: Mr. Jim Sporleder, Consultant and former Principal of Lincoln HS in Walla Walla, WA
Closing Keynote: Dr. Lateshia Woodley – Assistant Superintendent of Student Support, Kansas City (MO) Public Schools

Building Leader Networking Session: Led by Jim Sporleder, Consultant and former Principal of Lincoln HS in Walla Walla, WA
District Leader Networking: Led by David Spellmon, Behavioral Specialist, HipHop Pedagogy Coach, Positive Archer Solutions

Crowdcast Link

For Elementary Principals

CKLA Shipments

from Curriculum & InstructionCore Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) materials are shipping soon! Shipments are scheduled to arrive the week of May 2nd. Each elementary building will receive materials for entire classrooms K-3. These classroom kits ship as one giant box on one palette per teacher. The linked “Start Here Guide” will be a helpful tool for teachers to ensure they have received all materials. Buildings will also receive print teacher manuals for 4th & 5th grade teachers. Consumable workbooks for 4th & 5th will ship separately. Please remember these materials are intended for use during the 22-23 school year. Teachers will be given Wednesday PD time on either May 11th (9:00 schools) or May 18th (8:30 schools) to organize materials. Please be looking in the Administrator’s Office for guidance on F&P materials closer to these dates. If you have any questions, please contact allison.rice@kckps.org or suzie.legg@kckps.org.

Math Week May 9-13

from Diploma+

KCK is taking part, again this year, in an exciting national event called Remake Learning Days. Between May 6-16 fantastic opportunities to celebrate learning inside and outside of the classroom will be taking place all over the KC region.

KCK is joining in by Celebrating Math with a FREE week of Math games offered from May 9-13. You might remember these games from last year. Of course, we will have a little competition going on between the elementary schools to spice up the event. Last year Grant Elementary and Eugene Ware Elementary won the competition with the most minutes played. Can your building take the lead this year? More information and links will be coming soon so be on the lookout😊

Reminders

Responsive Classroom Panel: The Value of Mistakes

from Student Services

Building Leaders, please share with your staff:

Date: Thursday, April 21, 2022
Time and time zone: 6:00 PM (CST)
Target audience: Educators K-8

In a society driven by performance, how do we teach the value of mistakes? How do we teach our students that failing is a natural part of the process of improvement? In this webinar, learn from experienced educators how to reframe teacher language to support a growth mindset. These educators will also share ways to use assessments to help students learn from their mistakes.

Participants will…

  • Listen to educators discuss the value of mistakes
  • Learn how to reframe teacher language to support a growth mindset
  • Hear ways to use assessments as a learning tool for students

Webinar Link

Update to Bully/Harassment Protocol

from IIOs

There has been an update to the notification process for bully/harassment reports:

1. Report is submitted and goes out to the Principal, Assistant Principal/Title IX Coordinator, IIO, Title IX, and HR.
2. Title IX officer(s) will provide a response to each report regarding initial nexus to Title IX and advise on follow-up Title IX steps, if applicable.
3. The responsible administrator, Principal or Assistant Principal, responds and verifies they have received the report, they will be the designated administrator to investigate
4. Once they have investigated, or determined that additional assistance is needed from either Title IX or HR, they will respond, with all parties copied, with an update.

Possible ESL Student Report

from ESOL
Buildings should ensure that a staff member is pulling the “Possible ESL Student” report weekly. This is to ensure that we are meeting state compliance of screening new students before two weeks of attendance in school. There are still 88 students who have not been screened to see if they qualify for services and most of them enrolled in the first quarter. ESOL teachers have been given access to this report under the ESL Notification group. They should run it at least once a week to determine who should be given the KELPA-P. If teachers find out that any student on the report should not be on this list because their language information is wrong and the student and their parents only speak English, email Dasiel Suarez so we can remove that student from the report. At this point, the goal is that we can identify all the students on the report who may need ESL support before the school year is over.

Transition & Monitor Forms

from ESOL
Transition and monitoring forms are to be completed by May 1st. Forms can be accessed on the ESOL Website and need to be signed and sent either through email or inner-school mail to Dasiel Suarez. Forms are to be uploaded to the Person Documents section in Infinite Campus.
Reports can be run as follows in Infinite Campus to identify students:

  • Run the “Code 4 with Teacher” report. Fill out the Transition Year Form for all the students on that report to move them from code 4 to 6.
  • Run the “Code 6-7 with Teacher” report. Fill out the Year One Monitor Form for all code 6 students to move them to code 7 and fill out the Year Two Monitor Form for all code 7 students to move them to code 8.

    ILP Completion

    from ESOL

    Students who are coded as ESL will need a 2021-2022 Individual Learning Plan (ILP) re-visited and closed out for the academic year. The window for ILP has now opened and all ILPs are due May 6th. As a reminder, the process to complete ILPs has changed and is now done in Infinite Campus. The purpose of the ILP is to aid the teacher with their instruction and goal set for student growth in proficiency.

    Administrators will receive a Certify report indicating ILPs number of ILPs to complete and the number finished. This report is to assist with the monitoring of the compliance task.

    Questions regarding ILP process contact: Jacqueline Rodriguez
    Questions regarding Infinite Campus and ILP process contact: Connie Thao

    How to Revisit ILP in Infinite Campus (Word Doc)

HGSS Scoring Reminder

from DERA

HGSS assessment data collection should be well underway for all campuses. These scores should be collected and entered into Infinite Campus by the classroom teacher (click here to download instructions for score entry). We are still allowing the elementary and middle school scores to be added through Friday, April 22nd, 2022. The window for the high school HGSS assessment closes on Friday, May 20th, 2022. Please note that all K-12 students should be assessed using the HGSS scoring rubric before the window closes. Please contact the DERA Team with any questions you may have at dera@kckps.org.

Letters of Reasonable Assurance

from Human Resources

The Letters of Reasonable Assurance will be sent out by close of business April 19, 2022. Classified Staff, who this would apply to, will receive a notification from TalentEd that they have a task to review. If the user has an issue getting into TalentEd, please have them try the following to resolve the issue:

-Clear your browser, cache, cookies in your internet browser
-Use a different Internet Browser
-Use a different technology device to log into TalentEd
-On the TalentEd Log-in page, click the forgot your password link to reset your password

Intensive Assistance for 22-23 SY

from Human Resources

We are approaching the end of the school year and should have concluded all staff evaluations. During the evaluation process you might have found individuals who could benefit from Intensive Assistance for the 22-23 SY. Below are the dates associated to the IA timeline. Please follow the guide and instructions to assist your teachers for the upcoming school year.

Principal/IIO

Email Ronald Knight-Beck & Jody Mitchell with employee’s name and grade level/content.

4/19/22

Once the information is emailed, HR will give a confirmation and invite the principal to shared folder to house documentation.
—-

Principal/IIO

Provide supporting documentation inside shared folder for review.

4/22/22

Documentation must include all information relevant to their deficiency in the classroom and supportive measures you’ve put in place. Please also include any current year’s evaluation forms and a copy of the teacher’s growth plan from iObservation. Any other documentation about the teacher’s performance that has been shared with the employee should be submitted as well.

Must include: Current school year evaluations, Current school year observations, Current school year progressive coaching forms.
—-
Human Resources

Set up conference with Principal for decision on IA.

4/22/22

The conference can be done by Zoom or Teams. This conversation will denote the granting or denial of Intensive Assistance for the employee. If approved to place on IA, you will be sent a confirmation email with a letter template.
—-
Human Resources

Send confirmation email and letter template to Principal/IIO

4/22/22

This will be sent via email.
—-
Principal

Complete the template letter from HR and submit back to Ronald Knight-Beck and Jody Mitchell in advance of sending to the employee for final approval.

4/29/22

The approved document will go into the shared folder of the employee as well as added to Records within the TalentEd system.
—-
Principal

Send a 24-hour notice to employee of meeting about Intensive Assistance

You must extend a 24-hour notice allowing them the opportunity to invite union representation to the meeting. This meeting is, technically, considered disciplinary in nature.
—-
Principal

Provide the approved letter to the employee

5/6/22

You are required to deliver a copy of the letter to the teacher. You can offer to release the employee from duty for the remainder of the day, after you secure class coverage; if you feel they are unable to remain composed enough to return to the classroom. It is recommended that you meet with them at the end of the workday.

2022-2023 Elementary Instructional Minutes

from Curriculum & Instruction
The Curriculum & Instruction Department has prepared the 2022-2023 Instructional Minutes for elementary. Please note ELA minutes have been updated to accommodate our newly adopted K-3 resource, CKLA. The new minutes also reflect our district’s emphasis on MTSS.

Elementary ELA PD Opportunities

from Curriculum & Instruction
Building administrators are welcome to participate in the upcoming PD for Instructional Coaches, which will be focused on new elementary ELA materials. PD occurs on Fridays and begins at 1:00pm in Central Office Room 132. Here are the topics:
April 22nd: Getting to Know the Knowledge Strand
April 29th: Lesson Internalization & PLCs with CKLA
May 6th: Rachel from CKLA, Q&A Session
May 20th: Unveiling the New GVCs

Trauma Sensitive and Resilient Schools MiniGrant

from Student Services

Reminder about mini-grant funding:

– $500 to spend by August 1, 2022
– Funds must support your implementation of Trauma Sensitive and Resilient Schools.
– You must be able to articulate how these funds will help you achieve your TSRS Goal (or BSEL Goal)
You must request funds BEFORE you spend them. Student Services will no longer approve the use of mini grant funds without prior approval.

As always, please let Brittany Talley know what questions you have, or how she can  support your work!

Trauma Sensitive PD Scholarships (please share with your staff)

from Student Services

The Trauma Sensitive and Resilient Schools Initiative is offering PD scholarships this summer! Student Services will pay the registration fee for any staff member who is interested in attending a training related to: trauma, social-emotional learning, or diversity, equity and inclusion.

Trainings must be completed over summer break and attendees will provide a 15-20 minute presentation on their learning.

Please have staff complete this form if they are interested!

Art Uploaded – Digital Student Art Show

from IARC

KCKPS launched our digital art show – Art Uploaded. Please see the postcard for the link. This link will be shared on the district’s social media. Additionally, art teachers shared with their students. Please take time to view the show and share on your respective school platforms.

Use the menu in the upper left to quickly find your respective school.

Lump Sum Information

from Communications

Please share this with your certified staff:

This year’s Lump Sum Request/Rescind form is available now through April 29th. You can find the information at the top of the Staff Links page on the website.

3rd-5th Grade Student Surveys Open April 1 – April 30

from Federal Programs

The window is open for the 3rd-5th grade student survey!  Surveys will run 4/1/22 through 4/30/22 to gather data on culture, climate, equity & inclusion, and instructional programs.

DATA will be used for KESA, District Strategic Plan, and in your School Improvement Plans. It’s important for all elementary schools to have strong participation rates in order for the responses to be a valid data source.

Please work with your teachers to make sure ALL 3rd – 5th grade students have an opportunity to participate in the survey.  The first page of the survey includes drop down menus where students will select a language in which to complete the survey, their race/ethnicity, and also their school.

English, Spanish, Hakka Chin, Hmong, Kiswahili, Nepali, Somali, Arabic, Burmese Survey Link

Karen Survey Link

Thanks for your help in collecting this important data! For questions, email or call Lisa Walker.

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.

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/