Category: Administrators’ Desk

The Principals’ Office newsletter has a new name:

Curriculum & Instruction

All Principals

Re: Student-Centered Coaching Professional Learning

Session 4: Goal-setting and Using Learning Targets is set for January 14 from 8:30 – 10:00. Instructional coaches are required; principals are invited to attend.

ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88529477019?pwd=SGZPSFptT1k5RXc4SzBackN6d3ArUT09

 Passcode: kckps

Session 4: Goal-setting and Using Learning Targets

• Learn how to set goals and develop success criteria for coaching cycles
• Understand how to use student evidence to drive coaching conversations

Homework for coaches: 

• Before the session, read chapter 2 fromThe Essential Guide for Student-Centered Coaching
• After the session, practice developing a goal and set of learning targets. 

**Student-Centered Coaching info can be found in Canvas. 

• https://kckps.instructure.com/enroll/WEHA47

Elementary Principals

Re: 3rd Quarter Curriculum Resources

In an effort to support teachers as they continue to provide high-quality instruction in the remote environment, the C&I department has compiled suggestions and materials needed for 3rd quarter instruction. For schools that choose to offer another material pick-up day, the material lists should help streamline the process. The suggestions and materials listed below are resources for students that will assist in continued progress as we continue to inspire excellence.

ELA- Fourth Grade teachers will need to send home CKLA Student Workbooks for Unit 5 (if not sent with Q2 materials), Unit 6, & Unit 7. Fifth Grade teachers will need to send home CKLA Student Workbooks for Unit 5 (if not sent with Q2 materials), Unit 6, & Unit 8. Please note, 5th grade Unit 7 has been relocated to the end of 4th Quarter due to remote learning. This unit is best suited for in-person learning. Both grade levels should refrain from sending home hard copy Student Readers, as they are not consumable. All Readers for Q3 Units are available digitally on the CKLA Student Hub. 

Q2 Note: The 5th Grade Unit 4 Reader: Don Quixote is not in the CKLA Student Hub due to copyright issues. However, teachers can download the reader from the 2nd edition site and upload it to a shared access platform like Canvas, Google Classroom, Seesaw, etc.

Math- The Math Materials for 3rd Quarter document provides suggestions for materials teachers may choose to send home for math instruction for quarter three. These supplies are based on standards for the 3rd quarter within the GVC and the Learn Anywhere Plans within Eureka Math in Sync.  Eureka Math in Sync is an available resource for remote learning that mirrors the primary resources while providing adaptations for remote learning.

Science- The Science Materials for 3rd Quarter document provides suggestions for materials teachers may choose to send home for Mystery Science units for the third quarter. These supplies are based on suggestions for adjusting for remote instruction in the  Distance Learning Guides from Mystery Science.  Mystery Science is available this school year as a supplemental resource for remote learning, however, materials for the units have not been purchased.  Teachers may use/modify supplies based on what is available in the schools’ science supply closets.  

If you have additional questions please do not hesitate to contact the C & I team (allison.rice@kckps.org– ELA, marica.rhone@kckps.org– Math, and cheryl.beyer@kckps.org– Science/Soc. Studies) for additional support.

High School Principals

Re: Second Semester – Distribution of ELA Consumables for myPerspectives

High schools (grade 9-10 only) received two consumables per student (Vol.1 and Vol. 2.).   

• High school building leadership teams will have to determine how to distribute Vol. 2 to grades 9-10.  
• Many PLCs and teachers have indicated they are relying quite heavily on the use of the consumable during remote learning. 
  • If your building chose not to distribute consumables for the first semester, mid-year would be an ideal time to consider whether or not to send consumables home with students for the next quarter.
    • Please note that if the entire consumable is distributed, and we return to in-person learning, then students must be responsible for the book.  No replacements will be ordered by the Curriculum and Instruction Department.  
• Consider reviewing this initial Q&A document that includes topics your team might be experiencing with the new resource.  This document is also housed in the GVC in the Table of Contents for each grade level. 

Please reach out to Kristi Chalk (kristi.chalk@kckps.org) with any questions.

Diploma+

Diploma+ Newsletter – 12/15/20– PDF Link

Connector

The great Connector race is on and Quindaro is in the lead. You will remember that our goal is to have 25% of our elementary teachers using the Connector in a live session BY Jan. 22^nd. The Connector is that awesome tool the Board of Education approved that connects our students to industry professionals. The building which reaches 25% first will be receiving a special treat for each of their teachers.

The current percentages for the leaders are:

Quindaro             21%

Lindbergh            14%

Silver City            13%

Noble Prentis      12%

Quindaro has a strong lead but these other three schools can quickly take over. The prizes this contest offers are so good I can’t even share it with you yet. Encourage your teachers, counselors and librarians to host a live session for students and you may be the hard working recipient of the treats.

ESOL

In person pre-screening testing will pause for ESL students until January 11th, 2021. An updated list of students that are still in need of pre-screening testing will be sent out in the following weeks. Buildings will need to continue to monitor newly enrolled students that need pre-screened and make accommodations for testing to follow the state requirements of testing two weeks after enrollment. More information to come regarding testing in January.

KELPA Testing: The KELPA testing window begins February 16^th through March 31^st. The KELPA must be administered in a face to face setting and we are still seeking guidance from the state regarding protocols for the 2020-21 testing. We are also still waiting to receive test scores from the State for the 2019-20 school year but will plan to have training sessions in January and continue to provide updates as we have more information.

Federal Programs

District KESA Accreditation Cycle Year 3 Outside Visitation Team (OVT) Presentation Video – ALL Building and Department Administrators

Our KCKPS KESA District Leadership Team (DLT) facilitated the KESA OVT Year 3 presentation on Friday, 12/4/20.  The KESA DLT facilitated an overview of the progress occurring on the district’s Relationships and Relevance goals during 2019-20, followed by updates regarding strategic work occurring in each of the outcome areas in 2019-20.  Champions for each outcome area supported the KESA Outcome Leaders by presenting evidence of the work happening at individual campuses, followed by updates from district staff pertaining to noncompliance and foundational structures in our KCKPS organizational framework.

KCKPS KESA DLT Members and Presenters:

• Matt Andersen and Lisa Walker, KESA Co-Leaders
• Kimberly Shaw, Kindergarten Readiness Outcome Leader
  • Lori Cooper and Dr. Tom Sowers, Kindergarten Readiness Champions
• Troy Pitsch, High School Graduation Outcome Leader
  • Terrence Sanders and Lynnae Knipp, High School Graduation Champions
• Sean Demaree and Tracie Chauvin, Social-Emotional Learning Outcome Leaders
  • Bobbi Henderson and Dr. Sharon Walker, Social-Emotional Learning Champions
• Lindsey Schneider, Individual Plan of Study Outcome Leader
  • Cindi Thomas and Kelley James, Individual Plan of Study Champions
• LaShonda Bilbo-Ervin, Postsecondary Success Outcome Leader
  • Mary Stewart and Edward Franco, Postsecondary Success Champions
• JaKyta Lawrie, KESA Noncompliance Areas
• Lisa Garcia-Stewart, KESA Foundational Structures

Our District KESA Year 3 Report will be submitted to KSDE through the Authenticated Applications by 12/18/20 and our OVT Chair will send the draft Year 3 OVT report to our team for review and feedback by the first week in January, 2021.  Once both reports are reviewed and finalized, an update will be given to the Board, tentatively scheduled for 1/26/21.  Monthly meetings with the KESA District Leadership Team will continue to plan, implement, support, and monitor the systems-level work identified in our district’s KESA Accreditation framework.

THANKS to ALL who contributed to the success of this work and event! We appreciate YOU!

The KESA Year 3 Presentation video is located in the Federal Programs Shared Drive/KESA subfolder.

Fine Arts (IARC)

The Principals’ Office newsletter has a new name:

Chief of Staff/IIOs

KCKPS Leaders of Excellence Academy
We are thrilled to launch this new initiative designed to develop and empower current leaders within the Kansas City Kansas Public School District. It is our goal to provide leaders of excellence with the knowledge and skills necessary to be a highly effective building leader within our system.

If selected, you will join a group of motivated and passionate educators committed to providing game changing instructional leadership within our schools. Below you will find all of the relevant information to help you be on track to join this first cohort of future KCKPS Principals.

The Ideal Candidate
This program is designed for individuals already serving in a leadership capacity within KCKPS whose short-term goal is to become a principal within our district. The program has been developed with current assistant principals, instructional coaches, coordinators, deans, and department leaders as the target audience.

Requirements
Applicants must possess a current building leader license, or provide documentation that they are currently enrolled in a degree program. Applicants must submit the following: a letter of interest, a copy of your resume, and two letters of recommendation. The letter of interest should provide the selection team with insight into who you are. This includes sharing what motivates you, your goals and aspirations, your strengths and opportunities for growth as a leader, as well as how you have impacted student achievement in your current role. You should also include what you are uniquely suited to bring to this founding cohort of future principals. The letters of recommendation must be from: current principal or supervisor, and a current colleague.

Intent to Apply
Send an email to Noemi Sanchez, Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff indicating your intent to apply by 5 pm Thursday, December 17, 2020. Once your intent to apply is received, you will be sent directions on how to submit your application documents.

All documents must be submitted by 5 PM Monday, December 21, 2020.

Incomplete files will not be considered for this cohort.

You will be notified by 6 pm Friday, January 8, 2021 if you are selected. The first
cohort meeting will be held Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 4 PM – 6 PM.

Attendance is mandatory.

We are thrilled to support you on your journey to becoming a principal of excellence!

Leader of Excellence PDF

Curriculum & Instruction

ATTN: All Building Principals

Building Principal and Coach Partnerships Session Reminder

Reminder that Diane Sweeney will be virtually in-district on Thursday, December 17th from 8:30am-10:00am to work with building principals and instructional coaches. 

SESSION 3: Building Principal and Coach Partnerships

• Learn how supervision and coaching fit together
• Understand how to build a culture for coaching  
• Align coaching with school improvement processes

Please read the following two texts prior to Thursday’s session:

• Pave the Way for Coaches (Heineke and Polnick) and Creating Powerful Principal and Coach Partnerships (Sweeney and Mausbach)

Zoom Link for the session:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85263334697

Information and materials for all sessions with Leanna Harris and Dianne Sweeney can be found within the Canvas Course for Student Centered Coaching.  Below is a link to a video and google slides presentation tutorial that will support you in getting enrolled in the course.

Here is a link to the video: https://www.loom.com/share/0e81694a4cf64f75bc4dd76a574b0cc3  

And here is the link to google slides used in the video:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yHYikBSNRmzL-UU2Xjdd6R3QEyC5Z_vgzBHpJ_-5_1w/edit?usp=sharing

Human Resources

Above and Beyond Letter

As of today we still have 2,864 staff members who have not gone into TalentEd and digitally signed the Above and Beyond Letter that was sent out November 11, 2020.  Please send a reminder to your building staff that this needs to be done.  If staff need help with resetting their TalentEd password they can email DeAndre Tuggle.

Wichita State  – Graduate Certificate in Mentoring and Coaching 

Please share this information with teacher leaders or those who might be interested in your buildings.

WSU Certificate PDF

Park University – Masters’ Programs for Teachers

Please share this information with your staff regarding Park University Master’s Programs for Teachers.

Park University PDF

Tuition Discount – MidAmerica Nazarene University

Please share this information with your staff regarding MidAmerica Nazarene University tuition discount to everyone who begins a new qualifying accelerated degree program or certificate in January, 2021.

Instructional Technology

December 15, 2020 KCKPS Mobile Minute – please take a few minutes to look through this week’s Mobile Minute. It includes information regarding the Canvas rollout, training opportunities and much more! This week’s Mobile Minute will also be posted in Canvas and emailed to all staff Wednesday.

The Principals’ Office newsletter has a new name:

Curriculum & Instruction

Attn: Secondary Administrators

Re: Curriculum & Instruction Cadre Updates (ELA, Social Studies, World Language)

Cadre work is valuable to the refinement and revision of GVCs in order to ensure student success and to support all teachers in continued planning and instruction.  Currently, three content areas at the secondary level are engaging teachers in a high-level of collaboration to refine and revise both middle school and high school GVCs.  Please refer to this document for pertinent information and updates regarding the cadre work for ELA, Social Studies, and World Language.  Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or concerns regarding this cadre work and how it impacts secondary teachers across our system.  

Attn:  Secondary Administrators

Re:  Secondary ELA myPerspectives Learning Journey

Are we there yet?  Secondary ELA educators have been tasked with understanding, interacting, and utilizing our new literacy curriculum resource, myPerspectives.  During our first semester, we engaged in this new resource in diverse ways.  Through this short video presentation created for the lens of a building administrator, revisit the beginning of our learning journey into myPerspectives and gain an awareness of where we are in our stage of development and how we can continue to navigate different challenges and opportunities together. You will find many helpful resources throughout this presentation.

Link to Video Presentation (approximately 30 minutes) 

Link to Slides    

Attn:  EC – 5 Administrators 

Re: Elementary Module 2A Mandatory Dyslexia Training 

Module 2A: 

General education teachers, special education teachers, and administrators must complete Module 2A of the mandatory KSDE/KCKPS Dyslexia training series.  This will need to be completed asynchronously between December 14 and January 22.  Paraprofessionals and instructional aides are also encouraged to complete the training.  

This Canvas link to enroll for Module 2A provides: 

• Recorded professional learning session for Module 2A 
• 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. 

Attendance/completion for this professional development should be recorded in Frontline by each individual building once teachers complete the module and the exit slip.  Frontline and exit slip completion records are used as data for KSDE.  

Module 1: 

General education teachers, special education teachers, and administrators should have Module 1 completed.  Each participant must complete the exit slip at the end of the Module.  We are providing the link to the Exit Slip Google form spreadsheet for your reference to determine if members of your staff still need to complete this first training. 

We are also providing the Canvas link to the Module 1 training resources for those who still need to complete the process. Note this is the same link as for Module 2A.  Curriculum and Instruction has set up an Elementary Dyslexia Training course in Canvas where all training modules will be housed. 

Please contact Tracy Cooper (tracy.cooper@kckps.org) with any questions.

12.8.20

Attn:  Middle School Administrators and Head Custodians

Re:  Middle School Amplify Science Materials Delivery

Each middle school will be receiving an additional shipment of Amplify Science Kits prior to winter break.  By adding these kits, it will minimize the need to share materials across so many different classrooms.  

Delivery carriers will be contacting the head custodian/school to schedule a delivery date.  These materials will be delivered on pallets. Delivery drivers will bring a pallet jack in order to bring the materials into the building at a single drop point just inside the school.  This shipping information sheet will provide more specifics on the number of pallets and number of boxes (see rows 32 and 33 on the first tab) that will be included in the delivery.  Once materials have arrived, please use the shipping information sheet and the packing list for the shipment (found in a clear plastic envelope affixed to the outside of one of the boxes) to confirm receipt of the expected materials.  Please email Tresia Hassan (tresia.hassan@kckps.org) and Spencer Martin (spencer.martin@kckps.org) to confirm delivery and report any discrepancies.  

Please ensure that your science teachers are also made aware of when these materials arrive so that they can access any needed materials for upcoming units of study and store materials that may not be needed until next school year.  

Please reach out to Spencer Martin, Secondary Science Instructional Coach (spencer.martin@kckps.org)  or Suzie Legg, Curriculum Coordinator (suzie.legg@kckps.org) with any questions.

ESOL

In person pre-screening testing will pause for ESL students until January 11th, 2021. An updated list of students that are still in need of pre-screening testing will be sent out in the following weeks. Buildings will need to continue to monitor newly enrolled students that need pre-screened and make accommodations for testing to follow the state requirements of testing two weeks after enrollment. More information to come regarding testing in January.

Human Resources

The following policies have been updated for the 2020-21 School Year:

*HAE
*IC
*IJ
*JCDAA
*JQKA
*KMA
*KN
*CF
*DFE
*GAAD
*GAOC

If you have not done so already, please print these off and post them in your staff break room or main office.  Once they are posted please take a picture of them and email the photos to DeAndre Tuggle.

Next Power Hour

Thank you for attending our 1^st HR Power Hour.  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 December 22, 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.

Please use the below link to join the zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89268219477?pwd=T3hUTjk5Z1p3QWFSUldHd0E4Q3N4dz09

Meeting ID: 892 6821 9477
Passcode: 2K1ga7

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