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OLL Middle School Communication

SAC Parents Review and Input

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 December 15th. There will be a virtual information session on the IMET tool for the SAC parent on January 10th from 5-6:30 pm. 

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.

GRACE Program – Updates Added

As shared, language regarding the GRACE Program has been added to the 21-22 SPP. This guidance document was also developed to assist schools in planning for the program. Additional helpful information on partnering with Pasco eSchool for GRACE has been added. It is important to read the SPP language first and use the guidance document as a companion to the policy language. Please reach out to Samantha Del Valle or Lynn Young with questions.

Clinical Educator Cohort 2: Recommendations Due by Friday, December 17th

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.

Together We Lead/FASA Discover

This year’s Together We Lead/FASA Discover is scheduled for June 7th – June 9th at the Omni Championsgate in Orlando, Florida.  The Office for Leading and Learning will cover the cost for school and district leaders’ FASA membership and conference registration for those that will be attending.  Please take a few minutes to RSVP to let us know if you will be attending.  Schools and departments will need to cover the cost of hotel and travel expenses.  Hotel registration will open on January 17th and the cost is $209 per night.  The conference is schedule to begin mid-day Tuesday and will run all day Wednesday and Thursday.  Hotel information will be sent out in January so you are ready to reserve your room on the 17th.

RSVP here.

Pasco Pathways Expo Thank you & Feedback

We want to thank you and your school for your support of the Pasco Pathways Virtual Expos! We couldn’t have done it without you. We have had overwhelming positive feedback from the events. We had over 1,200 participants over both nights. The playlist for all the recordings has been linked to the school choice webpage. These videos are housed in YouTube which will allow you to post on social media, your school website, or to share with families as they reach out. Please take a minute to complete the Pasco Pathways Feedback Survey to share your experience with us to help us continue to make informed decisions for next year:

Click here to access the survey. 

January Early Release Updated Times

Included in this spreadsheet are the new start times for your school’s early release PD beginning in January. These times reflect all new bell times and we are hopeful that they will work for your schools. We share that there will be some schools who will have the school-based PD and work time BEFORE the ERD session instead of at the end in order to maintain the wave and grouping structures, so please be sure to look closely at the impact for your site. Should you have any additional questions, please reach out to Lea Mitchell

ELA End Of Unit Test Information

MS window 12/6-12/17

The End-of-Unit assessments are required and were designed to be taken in one instructional period unless specific extra time accommodations are required for a student.  These assessments will be available in myProgress the first day of the testing window.  This is when students can start having the test released to them for online testing and when schools will have access to the test to start printing both the tests and answer sheets for paper-based administration.  All scanning of the answer sheets should be completed by the end of the provided testing window.

You can find all information about these assessments here, including:

  • Testing Window
  • Courses Included (expected to take assessments)
  • Test Naming Convention in myProgress (including Test ID)
  • Standards Assessed

If you have additional questions about the content of the assessment, contact Cassie Hernandez in OLL (crhernan@pasco.k12.fl.us).  If you have questions about myProgress and the administration of the assessment, contact Amanda Phillips in ARM (aphillip@pasco.k12.fl.us).

 

Steps to Administer Assessment

Below are the specifics steps needed to administer these assessments.  For additional information about Using myProgress to Administer Assessments, view the OneNote here.

  1. Access myProgress through myPascoConnect.
  2. Go to Test>Test Center and find the test to print the test and answer sheets.  Use the ellipses icon on the far-right side of the test row to access the options to print the test and answer sheets or released the test for online testing.  See more information about managing tests in Test Center here.
    1. If a student is to take the exam online through myProgress the test must be released to them via Test Center instead of an answer sheet used. Once released, these assessments are only available to the students during school hours.
  3. Students complete the test.
  4. If taken paper-based, use RICOH Copier to scan answer sheets.  See UPDATED directions on how to scan answer sheets here.  When scanning, it is necessary to wait until a previous batch is processed in myProgress before scanning another batch to avoid overriding the previously scanned batch.  You can monitor your scans in ScanView in myProgress.  Adding a timestamp after inputting the file name will help to avoid this issue.
  5. Once answer sheets are scanned or online test is submitted, the results can be viewed via the Student Item Analysis report in myProgress (Reports>Student Item Analysis) within 15 minutes of the test being submitted or answer sheet being scanned.  If the results are not showing up in the Student Item Analysis report within this time frame, have your assessment coordinator contact Amanda Phillips in ARM (x. 42340, aphillip@pasco.k12.fl.us).
Reading Endorsement Update

This is the most recent list of staff who are currently reading endorsed or reading certified. If you have staff members who are still seeking an endorsement, they have several options for obtaining an endorsement:

  • The district offers courses throughout the year, with new sections starting in January.
  • The UF Literacy Matrix is still enrolling participants, they can use this link to enroll.
  • They can also take  the K-12 Reading Test (035), we have a reading endorsement preparation course section 30847 to help them prepare.

If you have any questions you can contact Danielle Varcardipone.

Secondary Science Showcase Paperwork

Just a reminder that all project forms and paperwork are due by Dec 17th. If you’re coming in a little late to the game, all necessary information and a recording of the coordinators meeting can be found on the Showcase webpage (https://pasco.k12.fl.us/PascoScienceShowcase).

School fair winners can be registered in zfairs as of now and all paperwork can be uploaded when ready. To register your winners to compete at the district competition, simply go to the zfairs site (https://fl-pses.zfairs.com/) and click “create an account:” at the top of the page. Select student and then follow the onscreen instructions. Make sure teachers have a teacher account prior to registering students so that they can be linked to them.

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) are the nation’s highest honors for teachers of mathematics and science. The PAEMST program is pleased to announce that the 2021–2022 nomination and application cycle for K-6th grade science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers is currently open.

The Awards were established by Congress in 1983 and are administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The President may recognize up to 108 exemplary teachers each year. Presidential Awardees receive a certificate signed by the President; a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities; a $10,000 award from NSF; and join a prestigious cadre of more than 5,100 teacher-alumni from across the nation.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for this cycle, teachers must

  • be full-time employees of a school or school district,
  • teach at the K–6th grade level at least 50% of the day, and
  • have at least five years of K–12 teaching experience prior to this school year.
  • And should teach science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science.

Please consider nominating a talented Pasco teacher using the PAEMST website today. If you are interested in applying yourself, you can begin an application at www.paemst.org. The 2021–2022 nomination deadline is January 7, 2022, and the application deadline is February 6, 2022. Also, please send any nominees’ names to Bobbi Starling so we can recognize these teachers as well.

Should you have any questions about the program or the nomination process, please contact info@paemst.orgor 855-723-6780 or you can reach out to the Sr. Curriculum Specialist in your content area at the district.

Math Instructional Materials Adoption Update

With full consideration for the tremendous work put forth by the narrowing team in addition to an in-depth review of all data sets brought forth by the steering team,  below is the official recommendation of math  vendors to move forward: 

Level 

Publishers 

High 

1. Cengage 

2. McGraw Hill 

3.  Savvas 

Middle 

1. Carnegie 

2. Math Nation 

3. Savvas 

 

The school selected trainers will meet the evenings of December 1st , December 7th and December 8th  to review their roles and responsibilities: 

  • Decide with your administrators how you would like to share the rubric, materials and sample lessons with your teachers (virtually or in-person)​​. 
  • Try and Apply January 5th to February 16th 
  • Facilitate PLC discussions regarding the vendors using the IMET ​​ 
  • Vote no later than February 18th(more info to come). 

OLL is requesting that schools please consider using the planning day to launch the math adoption training and planning at the building level. 

Sample materials from each vendor will be mailed to each school by December 15th  and addressed to your designated trainer.​   All resources can be found  here.  If resources are not received by 12/15, please contact Francesca Howard or Kim Hedgspeth 

Civics Seal of Excellence Endorsement K-12

In the Summer of 2021 Governor DeSantis launched the National Model Civic Literacy Initiative which included the Florida Civics Seal of Excellence. This Seal allows for a $3,000 bonus for educators who complete a training to earn the endorsement. The Florida Department of Education has begun to release additional information on the number of teachers statewide who will be eligible and will be sharing specific details on training dates in the coming months.

Information will be forthcoming about the required state professional development; prioritized teachers to receive the summer trainings; and funding for the seal requirements in the Spring from the Commissioner’s office. The Office of Leading and Learning will be the point of contact for questions, as more information is released from the state we will communicate in our administrator and teacher newsletters. Please contact Tina Stavrou or Samantha Del Valle with questions.

Optional SIPPS Overview PD- January 3rd

SIPPS is a Tier 3 Reading Intervention intended for students with significant phonological and phonics deficits that need explicit and systematic instruction.  This intervention could be in addition to Lexia PowerUp and would need to be delivered by a teacher 4-5 times a week. You all received a full SIPPS Plus and Challenge intervention kit in the fall.  Now that systems are in place, we wanted to provide professional learning on this intervention resource, so we have scheduled an optional SIPPS overview session with one of our Collaborative Classroom Consultants, Robin Pfieffer.

Please let interested support facilitators, reading teachers, and coaches know that registration opens on Wednesday, December 8th in myPGS-Course 2624, Section 30932.

Winter SIPPS 101 Introduction (2022)

January 3rd 12:00-3:00PM (Teacher Planning Day)

This is a blended learning opportunity, so teachers will attend 3 hours face-to-face on Zoom and be asked to complete 3 hours of myLearning modules to earn 6 hours of PD points.

Please reach out to Courtney Lough if you have any questions.

Code HS Certification Exam Prep

We are all very excited for the opportunity below for teachers to engage in learning around computer science and get ready to take AND PASS the Florida K-12 Computer Science Certification exam.

What: Self-Paced, Online Computer Science Certification Prep course through CodeHS
When: Dates – Teachers may work at their own pace but, need to take and pass the certification exam by June 16th, 2022.
Where: Online
*Teachers will get:
• A self-paced course
• Stipend Rate for the time spent on course (37.5 hours)
• CS K-12 Certification Exam fee reimbursed, 2 attempts
• $1,000 Bonus if they participate in on-line training and pass the K-12 Computer Science Exam by June 16th, 2022.
• Please complete this form for those teachers you would like to engage in this opportunity no later than 1/30/22 so we may complete and pay for the registration due to limited number of spaces. We will prioritize registration for teachers who will be teaching computer science courses in 22-23. If you have teachers you determine are interested or in need of this training after 1/30/22 they can still be considered as long as there are open spots.

If you have any questions, please contact Bobbi Starling.

The First 20 Days BACK! Creating a Compassionate Classroom After a Break Resource

Do you have classrooms that could use an extra boost of Social Emotional Learning supports?

Or classrooms that could use a reset of routines, and procedures?

This resource is for admin and teachers to support classroom Social Emotional Learning and behavior after a long break.

It includes activities and routines that your teachers can use to promote a compassionate classroom.

 First 20 Days Back.docx

This resource will also be shared directly with teachers in the teacher newsletter.

If you have any questions or need support, please reach out to the intervention services behavior team,

Larry Porter, Susanna Haberle, and our newest member, Deedra Mitchell!

100% submission on the PBIS Mid-Year Implementation Checklist

Shout out to Pasco County Schools for a 100% submission on the PBIS Mid-Year Implementation Checklist!

Congratulations Pasco for earning a GOLD star! Your hard work and dedication are certainly recognized and appreciated!

12 Days of Tech-Mas

Watch all Tech Mas videos on the PD hub  in case you missed them.

We will add videos each day as they are published.