MONDAY SUPERINTENDENT E-MAIL - 10/10/11
The Monday E-mail contains information on the following KDE-related topics:
- Improving Productivity in Kentucky Schools and Districts Conference
- Mobile APP for Infinite Campus (Attachment)
- Kentucky ACT State Organization Education Summit (Attachment)
- Nomination period open for Grissom, Kelly awards
- Kentucky Safe Schools Week – Oct. 16-22
- USDA’s Final Rule regarding the Geographic Preference Option in School Food Procurement (Attachment)
- Classified Employee Survey October 3-28
- KSBA Student Discipline Conference—October 27, 2011—Clarion Hotel-- Lexington
- National Middle School Association’s 38th Annual Conference and Exhibit
- Outstanding support of the arts in education could garner $10,000
- Avery® Sticky Notes Mark the Spot sweepstakes
- NCCAS launches standards writer application process
If you have questions about the specific items, please see the contact information for each item.
KDE Items
Improving Productivity in Kentucky Schools and Districts Conference
Registration for the November 10 Productivity Conference, featuring a keynote address by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, is now open to all. If you haven’t registered yet, I strongly encourage you to register your team soon. Secretary Duncan’s keynote address will discuss the NCLB Flexibility Waiver, which may be of interest to both building-level administrators and teacher organizations.
Click here to register your team and take advantage of the discounted team registration rate of $200 per team of three. Individual registration is $75. Register soon to ensure your participation.
For more information, contact David Cook, director of the Division of Innovation and Partner Engagement, at david.cook@education.ky.gov or via phone at (502) 564-4201.
Mobile App for Infinite Campus (Attachment)
The next release of Infinite Campus will include the functionality for the parent and student Mobile App. The app works with iPhones, iPads and iPods. The app is available now through the App Store. Districts do not need to “opt in” for parents and students to use the app, but they do have a choice on whether to use the “push notification” functionality. We encourage district leadership to discuss internally how they want to utilize and promote this functionality. Specifics are provided in the attached Infinite Campus Notification. A press release will go out next week as a public announcement.
For more information, please contact Dede Conner at dede.conner@education.ky.gov.
Kentucky ACT State Organization Education Summit (Attachment)
The Kentucky ACT State Organization, a group of educators and business leaders throughout Kentucky, is sponsoring a one-day conference on Friday, November 18, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency, Louisville, KY. The focus is on the academic preparation of our high school students and the programs and support to prepare them for success in college and the workplace.
Academic rigor is being increased in all grades, high school graduation requirements are changing, and more attention is being given to the way teachers and administrators are being trained.
Kentucky has partnered with ACT, Inc. to provide educators with crucial information on where our students are excelling and where they are falling short.
The conference registration deadline is Friday, November 11th. For more detailed information, please see the attached flyer.
Nomination period open for Grissom, Kelly awards
The Kentucky Board of Education is accepting nominations for the Dr. Johnnie Grissom Award, which honors a Kentuckian or a Kentucky organization for outstanding dedication to improving student achievement and for closing the achievement gap; and for the Joseph W. Kelly Award, which honors a businessperson who has offered outstanding leadership and service toward promoting school improvement and equity of educational opportunity for all Kentucky children.
The deadline for nominations for both awards is November 14. Click on the links for details and nomination forms for both the Grissom Award and Kelly Award.
OTHER AGENCIES
Kentucky Safe Schools Week – Oct. 16-22
The theme for this year’s Kentucky Safe Schools Week (October 16-22) will be “Cyber- Survivor.” The theme covers current Internet safety topics such as cyber-bullying and social networking.
The Kentucky Center for School Safety (KCSS) realizes that the cyber-world offers unique learning opportunities, face-to-face communication and skills to ensure jobs for our Kentucky students, but along with cyber-world “treasures,” we must watch out for “quicksand” such as cyber-bullying, sexting, online predators and inappropriate use of social networking.
KCSS encourages every school across Kentucky to join in and participate in this week-long observance, which will be used, in part, to bring together all Kentuckians in a concerted effort to improve online safety skills that impact the educational process.
Interactive online pledges are available on bullying, cyber-bullying and respect. This year, a new pledge called “Cyber-Survivor” will encourage everyone to Surf Smart, Share Less and Think First as they explore the treasures of the cyber-world.
Pledges, posters and prompts are available on the KCSS website for teachers to use in classrooms. An array of resources focus on online safety, with lesson plans and activities for students, parents, educators and the whole community.
Visit http://www.kysafeschools.org/ for more details.
USDA’s Final Rule regarding the Geographic Preference Option in School Food Procurement (Attachment)
Attached is information on the USDA’s Final Rule regarding the Geographic Preference Option in School Food Procurement.
For more information, contact John H. Cain, State Co-Chair, Kentucky Action for Healthy Kids at jhcain0@uky.edu .
Classified Employee Survey October 3-28
On Monday, October 3, the Kentucky Education Association (KEA) began the first-ever statewide survey of education support professionals/classified school employees in the Commonwealth. Never before in Kentucky has anyone attempted to gather the opinions, attitudes and ideas of all the staff who play such vital roles in educating our children. Just as with teachers, classified employees’ working conditions are the learning conditions of Kentucky's children.
All Kentucky classified employees will be asked to submit their perceptions on a variety of issues, including the adequacy of facilities and resources, time, empowerment, school leadership, student conduct, induction services, and professional development.
By documenting and analyzing how public school employees view working and learning conditions, this initiative will provide each Kentucky school district with its own data that can become a part of the ongoing planning processes in our school districts and at the state policy making level.
It is important for every education support professional/classified employee to complete the survey and share their opinions.
There will be two formats available for completing the survey. Starting October 3 through October 28, employees may complete the survey online at www.kea.org or they may complete a paper and pencil Scantron survey available at their worksites. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Visit the KEA website at www.kea.org to review the survey questions. For more information, contact Michelle Duke at KEA at 800.231.4532, ext. 321 or via e-mail at mduke@kea.org.
KSBA Student Discipline Conference—October 27, 2011—Clarion Hotel-- Lexington
Do you understand how you get immunity if you are sued by a student due to a disciplinary action? Do you understand the latest rules regarding discipline of public school students? It is crucial for school officials to stay abreast of current law and district policy in this area in order to have legal protection should a student challenge your actions. Topics: Student harassment and cyber bullying; update on new KSBA Student Discipline Desk Reference; Special Education and Section 504 issues; statute-board policy crosswalk; and Discipline and off-campus issues. Speakers are: Teresa T. Combs; Jon Akers; John Fogle; and Janet Jeanes.
See our website www.ksba.org under the Legal Training and Services Tab for more information and to register.
National Middle School Association’s 38th Annual Conference and Exhibit
Kentucky will host the National Middle School Association’s (NMSA) 38th Annual Conference and Exhibit in Louisville, November 10-12, 2011. This is an opportunity for middle grades educators (grades 4-9) in Kentucky to obtain in-depth professional development specifically related to the academic and developmental needs of young adolescent learners.
The 2011 NMSA conference will be held at the Kentucky Convention Center and will feature 400 sessions in more than 59 topics ranging from achievement to urban issues. Keynote speakers include Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Actor/Child Advocate Henry Winkler.
Please share this announcement with those administrators and teachers for whom this conference would be appropriate.
For more information on this conference, go to www.nmsa.org/annual or call 1-800-528-NMSA.
Outstanding support of the arts in education could garner $10,000
The Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network (KCAAEN) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) will present an award recognizing a local school board for outstanding support of the arts in education.
The winning school board receives a plaque presented at the NSBA Annual Conference along with a cash award of $10,000 to use for its arts education programs.
For more information and to apply for the KCAAEN and NSBA Award, please visit http://bit.ly/SchoolBoardAward2012.
Avery® Sticky Notes Mark the Spot sweepstakes
In a time when school budgets are tight, many businesses are recognizing the need for extra funding and are stepping up to help. Avery is no stranger to this concept and is passionate about helping schools through various programs.
The newest offering is the “Avery® Sticky Notes Mark the Spot” sweepstakes launched on October 3.
Twenty-thousand people who register for the sweepstakes will randomly be selected to win a free pack of Avery® See-Through Sticky Notes. Five of those winners will be randomly selected to receive 100,000 Box Tops coupons (valued at $10,000) that will be applied to a school of their choice. The selected schools of the “Avery® Sticky Notes Mark the Spot” promotion will be presented with credit for the 100,000 Box Tops for Education®.
To enter, go to the Avery Facebook Page (facebook.com/avery), then register to win a free pack of Sticky Notes. Choose the school to which the money should go.
The contest ends on October 25.
NCCAS launches standards writer application process
The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards next-generation arts standards project is moving forward. NCCAS has launched the online application process, hired a project director, and named writing chairs for the four content areas of dance, music, theatre and visual arts.
NCCAS is committed to developing a next generation of voluntary arts education standards that will build on the foundations created by the 1994 National Arts Standards and, more recently, the 2005 Standards for Learning and Teaching Dance in the Arts, to help guide curriculum designers, teacher training programs, funders and federal and state policy makers in their Pre-K-14 arts education decision-making.
For more information about NCCAS and the arts standards project, go to http://nccas.wikispaces.com.
The coalition is seeking teams of 10 content experts for each of the discipline areas of dance, music, theatre and visual arts to help develop the next generation of voluntary arts standards. Each discipline writing team will include a balance of members across specific areas of expertise, geography, diversity and experience. Individuals interested in serving on a writing committee can apply at http://tinyurl.com/67lxbtd.
Writers will be chosen by the NCCAS discipline organizations from the pool of applicants. The application process will close October 27.