CAO’s ThoughtsText |
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We think that your time is worth it on THESE items: October Superintendent’s Leadership Academy Pre-Work (Action Req’d by 10/20)From: Paula Shannon, CAOSuggested Owner: All Principals, Vice Principals, Administrative Interns During the week of October 20th, we will launch the 2014-15 Superintendent’s Leadership Academy. We are excited to partner with SUPES Academy and believe that this collaboration will yield relevant, high quality leadership training for you. As sessions progress, you will see a consistent focus on leading change and how to address both the adaptive and technical aspects of doing so. In addition, building strong communication and feedback strategies and skills will also be addressed. SUPES master teachers are designing sessions to be grounded in scenarios relevant to SCSD, to provide time to apply new learning to school specific situations and to allow for practice and feedback. VPs and Admin Interns will attend half day sessions on Monday, October 20th. Principals will attend a full day session on Tuesday, October 21st. A full agenda will be included in next Friday’s SL Memo. In the meantime, I’d like to share high level goals to contextualize the pre-work. As a result of this day, school leaders will:
A key to making Leadership Academy Days productive is preparation for the sessions. We will work hard to keep pre-work to keep preparation at two to three hours. We ask that you take the time to engage in the pre-work so that you are prepared to participate and engage with your colleagues. Modeling starts at the top. Let’s be prepared to engage in rigorous learning as leaders. Action requested for Principal/Vice Principal/etc.: Please reserve 2 to 3 hours to complete pre-work:
Common Planning Time Planning Calendar Tool (Action Req’d by 10/24)From: Paula Shannon, CAO Suggested Owner: Principals at ELT schools Attachments: Common Planning Time Planning Tool Master Excel file Common Planning Time represents a tremendous opportunity to leverage structured collaborative time to build knowledge, pedagogical skills and assessment literacy. At a school-level, it is critical to have a long-term plan for how this time will be focused and support instructional priorities. As a district, we must gather information on how we are using this time so that we can learn from what is working and build supportive structures across all schools. Thus, the team has created a planning tool designed to capture high level information on how this time is being programmed across the year to build knowledge and skill and foster collective learning and improvement. Action requested for Principal/Vice Principal/etc.: Please reserve 90 minutes to two hours to do the following:
Redesigned SAT (Read and Cascade Communication)From: Nate Franz, Executive Director of Teaching and LearningSuggested Owner: High School Principals, VPs, Guidance Councilors Attachments: Redesigned SAT NYSED Memo, Redesigned SAT College Board Presentation The College Board announced significant changes to the design of the SAT to mirror the demands of college and career readiness. Many of these changes are also reflected in the CCLS and the newly designed Regents Exam. Both these attachments will be useful in communicating the shifts to staff, students and families. Action requested for High Principal – Please reserve <15 min.> to do the following: · Read the memo and presentation · Share information with guidance counselors and staff in weekly communication Community Summit: Keeping Kids in School Please include in any upcoming newsletters and other communications with parents the following details regarding the Community Summit: Keeping Kids in School to be held on Saturday, October 25, 2014: Date: Saturday, October 24 Time: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (registration and breakfast 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.) Place: Fowler High School RSVP: by October 20 to summit@scsd.us or call 435-4161 From: Michael Hennesy, Coordinator of Communications Suggested Owner: All Principals, Vice Principals, Administrative Interns Action requested RSVP Priority: by October 20th · Read the memo and presentation · Share information with guidance counselors and staff in weekly communication 2014-2015 Teacher Observations From: Clyde Cole – Deputy Executive Director, Educator Effectiveness Suggested Owners: Principals, Vice Principals, and Admin Interns Teacher observations may begin on Wednesday, October 15, 2014. Workflows in Teachscape will be updated and accurate by that date. If you have any questions, please contact Clyde Cole at CColeII@scsd.us Upcoming Calibration Event From: Clyde Cole – Deputy Executive Director, Educator Effectiveness Suggested Owners: Principals, Vice Principals, and Admin Interns The first calibration event for both Teach & Learn and Danielson is Wednesday, October 29, 2014. Sessions are 8:30-11:30am and 12:30-4:00pm at the Professional Development Center. All building administrators must attend one of these sessions. |
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FYI:Administrator Technical Support MeetingFrom: Patty Clark Attachments: None There will be a Technical Support Meeting for Administrators on Tuesday, October 14th from 4:30-6:30 at the PDC. Frequently Asked Question – Code of Conduct, Character and Support From: Patty Clark Attachments: None 1. Will students receive a copy of the new code? Yes. All students will be receiving a copy of the Code of Conduct, Character and Support by mail. All buildings will receive copies of the code for staff. The code will be available for all stakeholders and will also be available electronically. 2. How will students learn about the code? All buildings will receive a detailed plan for implementation and five lessons to use with students. 3. How will parents learn about the code? Parents will learn about the code through Parent University “Lunch and Learns” and night meetings scheduled throughout the year. Four sessions have already taken place. There are more scheduled through the month of October. Parents will also learn about the code through PTO meetings, parent nights, and other special events scheduled at individual schools. 4. How will staff members that have not been trained receive the training? Training will be provided for all staff that have missed training. A list of trained staff will be forwarded to principals. Trainings for teachers and teaching assistants will be scheduled for the Superintendent’s Conference Half Day on November 4, 2014. 5. Will all staff have access to Educators Handbook? Yes. Staff members not able to access Educators Handbook should submit a helpdesk ticket. 6. What are we to do when students refuse to report to the Behavior Intervention Center? Locate an adult in the building that is that student’s significant adult or support coach to work with the student to do the right thing. Significant adults are the best support for students in crisis and can persuade students to take responsibility for their actions and make a wrong a right. 7. What does persistent look like? Persistent is defined as “a behavior repeated over a period of days after interventions have been implemented and given ample time to be implemented.” Glossary Section of Code 9. How will the most egregious incidents be handled? The most egregious incidents will be addressed individually and in accordance with the code. Students who commit a Level 3A or 3B infraction are subject to the most serious consequences including short and long term out-of-school suspensions and placements in alternative settings. At the present time we have suspended 476 students from school with 1,806 days of lost instructional time. 10. How will an administrator be aware of interventions done prior to a referral? The individuals implementing the interventions are to log and inform the lead social worker. It can also be documented in the observations notes and/or referral in Educator’s Handbook. |