OLL Middle School Communication

OLL would like to invite your SAC parents to review and provide input on the narrowed mathematics instructional materials under consideration for adoption and implementation in the 22-23 school.  Please use  this form to submit your interested SAC parent names by January 10^th at noon. There will be a virtual information session on the IMET tool for the SAC parents on January 10^th from 5-6:30 pm. We will send out a zoom link to parents on January 10^th at 4pm.

Parents are encouraged to attend the vendor night which will take place on January 20, 2022 from 5:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M via Zoom.  Please contact Francesca Howard with questions.

Please see the Pasco County Math Adoption At a Glance document for login information for all vendors, padlets for questions and concerns, and upcoming important adoption timeline events. Please contact Francesca Howard or Melissa Caruso for any questions.   More information about reaching consensus and voting will be given during the January assistant principal meeting.

 Pasco County Math Adoption at a Glance.docx

The course adoption process for the 22-23 year takes place through the Secondary Design Team. To request a course to be reviewed at the February 9^th meeting, please complete this form by January 21, 2022. Please reference the course catalog  prior to submitting a course adoption request to ensure this course would be needed in the content area. For courses outside of these subject areas (CTE, ESE, AICE, IB, etc.) please reference the course catalog in myStudent to see what is currently adopted. The course is only adopted for use in brick and mortar schools if there is a Z suffix on the end of the course code number and it is listed as active in the system.  If you are unsure of how to access the course catalog reference these directions.  Please contact Melissa Caruso with any questions you may have.

As you hire new teachers for the second half of the year, please be sure to go to myPGS to pair them up with a mentor. Please use this instructional guide for assistance. Don’t forget to finalize the pairing and add the start date of the mentorship. This will ensure that the mentor will get paid for the time they have logged and mentored.

If you need to change a mentorship, please remove the original pairing. Use this quick guide on how to remove a pairing. Please note that this will not effect their pro-rated amount for the time they mentored. Then just simply add the new mentor with the instructions above.

The Pasco Pathways Innovative Programs and School Choice application process will open on January 6th.  This email is being sent to provide administrators information as we prepare for the Controlled Open Enrollment School Choice window.

The school choice window will be open from January 6 @ 8:00 am through January 20, 2022 @ 4:30 pm.  The dates of the window for applications and for notification of outcome to families that has been published to the school choice website.  Flyers were sent to school campuses in early December.  The flyers can be printed if additional copies are needed, or you would like to link to your website or other communication during the window.  In addition to these marketing materials, you can share the Pasco Pathways Catalog to showcase many of the options in our county.  We have updated the district website to have all information in one place regarding the options available as well as information about the 22-23 application window.

We are asking that schools send school choice FAQ link ​to their support staff and other staff members as needed so that staff can answer questions families may have about school choice. We are also asking all principals to use this script which can be modified to meet the needs of each school, to inform families of the school choice window. In addition to phone calls home, please share/retweet all social media posts you see about the application process. If you have any questions about school choice, please contact Francesca Howard, or Samantha Del Valle.

It’s time to celebrate literacy!

Celebrate Literacy Week will be held from January 24^th to January 28^th. The theme this year is “Launch Into Literacy: Blast Off Into New Worlds ” To celebrate, @PascoLiteracy has created a week of    themed activities that celebrate literacy and what it means to launch into literacy and blast off into new worlds.

Join the Office for Leading and Learning as we celebrate literacy our love for literacy by participating and tweeting your pictures to @PascoLiteracy. Be sure to tag #PascoLiteracy. We can’t wait to celebrate alongside you!

We still have plenty of room! Please check out this flyer for a list of teachers that are already Clinical Educator trained. Recruit teachers that are not and would be great candidates for this leadership role.

Please remember that all host teachers and teachers that mentor PDCP teachers with certain certificates need to be both Clinical Educator trained and have their Reading Endorsement. Check out this list of Reading Endorsed teachers that are not Clinical Educator trained. Let’s make sure we have enough teachers that have both requirements to fulfill the 22-23 state statute. 

Requirements for Clinical Educator:

• Minimum of three years “highly effective or effective” teaching experience
• Demonstrated emphasis on personal professional development and advancement of the education profession 
• Demonstrated effective skills related to: 

• • designing, delivering, and assessing high-impact learning activities for ALL students
  • building a compassionate classroom
  • communication, collaboration, and organization 

• Demonstrated effective leadership skills, qualities, and experiences  

 Once the form is complete, please email to Charlotte Kralik. All recommended teachers will be registered in myPGS.

Beginning in late January, OLL and our MTSS Specialists will facilitate 2 virtual PLC Facilitator Trainings.  Participants can choose from our New/Aspiring 1-session PLC Facilitator training or the 3-session PLC Facilitator training.  See attached flyer for more information.

Here is a one-stop shop for all of Pasco County’s Coaching Events and Support Structures.

January Highlighted Event

Pasco County’s Instructional Coaching Conference – January 25^th 8-4pm (required for all coaches).  This session will contain a train-the-trainer session for Early Release Day.  Any admin or coach that joins in these events is invited to the conference and our session.

 Coaching Pool Interviews

We currently have a number of open instructional coaching positions and are looking to systematically add highly qualified coaching candidates to our pools for Learning Design Coaches and Instructional Trainer Coaches.  If you have teacher leaders or folks who are looking to apply for coaching positions, please communicate our Coaching Pool Interview plan and dates.  Thank you.

Aspiring Coaching and Aspiring Leader Courses are opening for registration.  Here is our flyer!

Trail Blazer Cohort:  Winter 2022

Coaches and teachers team up in our fourth Trail Blazer Cohort!

Create learning environments in which all students are engaged, challenged, feel safe to take risks, and are supported to learn

Demonstrate expertise in content knowledge as well as pedagogical techniques

Share knowledge and new learning with colleagues

Exhibit flexibility, responsiveness, and a commitment to continuous learning

Check out  our flyer with the details and dates.

Participants can sign up at this link:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPage.aspx?fragment=FormId%3DaaJT4khSVE6bZ7duOoYiIMZgN9a_mNdLrvXwMcNuUx5UODZYQUFTRDdKT1I0UDdWOTRZRFRXOFExRC4u%26Token%3D417b7a2e5b5d40a5b20df5b2bf8045c7

Coaches can sign up for 1:1 connection w/ Craig week of Jan 17-21   Shareable Calendar

Cohort 3 Launch w/ both Teachers and Coaches will be 2/7 virtually 5:30-7:30PM

Zearn

Research has shown that students who complete 3 Zearn lessons per week (outside of tier 1 instruction) show substantial growth in math proficiency. That is because Zearn is a scaffolded, supplemental program that students can use to help them outside of tier 1 direct instruction. Here’s how it works: When starting a new unit, students can also start the same mission in Zearn. They will continue consecutive lessons while still receiving tier 1 direct instruction. Because it’s scaffolded, the students will be getting a double dose of learning, help at the time they need it, and the tower of power allows them to work on grade level problems with immediate feedback. When changing units, they would change to the new mission to match the unit that is being taught even if they didn’t complete the previous mission. Students can do Zearn at home, before school, when finishing early or anytime they have extra time in the classroom.

Keep in mind this work is not replacing Grade Level Tier 1 Instruction but used as a supplement outside of classroom instruction.

To help motivate students, here’s a collection of ideas ZEARN has seen used this year to build excitement and momentum around weekly lesson completion: Zearn Digital Lesson Incentive Ideas.

IXL

Great news – after reviewing school reports with our IXL Representatives before the Thanksgiving break, schools whose students are up to date in their weekly diagnostics and completing 2 skill lessons per week with a smart score of 80%, were seeing on the average 8 months student growth. This is a great win for these students and teachers. Keep in mind this work was not replacing Grade Level Tier 1 Instruction but used as a supplement outside of classroom instruction.

IXL is a skill-based intervention used for practicing skills whereas Zearn is a conceptual-based intervention that replicates the IM lesson.

If you have any questions or need help getting started, please don’t hesitate to email Jan Anderton at janderto@pasco.k12.fl.us.

Please share with new teachers that did not attend the kickoff on Monday, July 26th or make-up session on September 18th. Use this spreadsheet to see who attended from your school.

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting the mid-year hire new teacher on-boarding session in person at the District Office in Building 2, Oak room from 8:30am-4:00pm. We will cater lunch for you to enjoy while having a moment to connect with our certification team. They will be available to answer all of your questions. Since this training is on a Saturday we will be paying you $25 an hour for learning with us. 

This course is required for all new hires to Pasco whether you are coming in with experience or not. In the morning, we will review information about the Pasco Way of Work as well as our systems, platforms, evaluation systems, and orient all new hires to Pasco County Schools. In the afternoon, we will begin our journey with building a compassionate classroom.  We will engage in an activity to understand the six pillars of a developmental relationship and the importance of building trusting relationships with their students. We will emphasize that setting clear expectations, rules, and procedures is essential to maximize learning. All new teachers will begin to build out their classroom success plan for the year including these elements and much more.

Please register in myPGS:

Course #4107

Section #29935

We will send communication and directions prior to the session. We are looking forward to meeting you!

If you have any questions, please email Charlotte Kralik.