Please register for your support needs by clicking here ReThink SEL Support.

Review the MANDATORY Discipline Training on Threats & Fights  (i.e., Counselors, administrators, teachers, etc.). The previously posted link was damaged and has been restored for your review.

The new Teacher Disciplinary Act will become effective on January 1, 2022 (TCA 49-6-2803). This Tennessee Code Annotated revision will allow teachers to request classroom removals for students who exhibit extreme disruptive behaviors to the learning environment, as in times past; however, in addition to requests for removals, teachers can now appeal to the school principal and district to review a principal’s decision to refuse the removal. A mandatory presentation has been developed and submitted into the Safe Schools training que for appropriate staff. Please ensure that your staff participates in this mandatory training, once it is sent out district-wide. This training video will explain the expectations for teachers, administrators, and district leaders when implementing and reviewing classroom removals and appeals. Appeals will be required to be reviewed first by the executive principal and can possibly be appealed beyond the principal to the Office of Student Equity, Enrollment & Discipline. District-level appeals can be submitted by accessing the following link: Electronic Teacher Disciplinary Referral Form

If you have questions regarding the Teacher Discipline Act, contact Dr. Blocker, the Manager of Equity, Discipline & Attendance at BLOCKERJ@scsk12.org. 

Prepping for the 2nd Diagnostic? Leverage the following resources to prepare for the Winter i-Ready Diagnostic.

• Professional Development 
• Teacher Assistant PD 
• Session: December 14 from 3:30-5 p.m.

Check PLZ for other, ongoing trainings. Plenty more to come in January as well!

Although we strongly encourage and require to readmit conferences for students returning from out-of-school suspensions, please remember that students cannot be held out of school beyond the suspension’s end date. If parents are not able to meet for re-admit conferences during your designated time slots due to work or other unavoidable circumstances, students should still be allowed to return to the instructional environment and an alternate meeting time should be scheduled for the re-admit conference. 

If parents arrive for late check-ins with multiple school hours remaining in the day, they should not be turned away. Turning students away from the instructional environment will detrimentally affect your school’s chronic absenteeism and academic achievement rates. The state law allows students to return to the school building during school hours. If you need additional clarity about equitable attendance and discipline practices, please contact SEED support at 901-416-6007.

The Division of College, Career, and Technical Education (CCTE) has partnered with the City of Memphis’ Office of Youth Services to offer the 2022 MPLOY Summer Youth Program. As SCS  continues to Reimagine 901, the City of Memphis has worked diligently with the District to ensure that students in the specialized CCTE track are eligible to earn an industry certification and/or licensure hours. Additionally, junior and senior students are eligible to earn a work-based learning credit by participating in MPLOY.

The MPLOY application period will occur through December 31. Please visit  www.cityofmemphisyouth.org for more information and to apply.

MPLOY participants will only be compensated for their time worked, up to the maximum allowable hours permitted by the program. Ages 16-18 will be compensated for up to 30 hours per week at six (6) weeks, not to exceed 180 hours during the program. Ages 14-15 will be compensated for up to 21 hours per week at six (6) weeks, not to exceed 126 hours during the program. In order to participate, the student must be 14 years old by December 31. 

IMPORTANT: In order to be placed in the CCTE pool of candidates, on Question #19 – “How did you hear about us?,” the student must select “College, Career and Technical Education (CCTE-SCS).”

Action Items:

1. Distribute the attached MPLOY letter from Dr. Terrence Brown and the MPLOY flyer to your students by Tuesday, December 14.
2. Notify the CCTE students on the CCTE Pre-Qualified spreadsheet that they do not have to submit a new online application but are REQUIRED to submit verification documents to the MPLOY Office (315 South Hollywood). The verification document drop off will be held in the MPLOY parking lot (315 S. Hollywood St.) and is scheduled for: Thursday, December 16, 1 - 4 PM and Saturday, December 18, 9:30 AM - 2:30PM

• MPLOY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

If you have any questions, please contact Cherith Minnis, Work Based Learning Coordinator, at 901-416-8049 or minniscl@scsk12.org.

In accordance with the District's safety compliance plan for CCTE labs, CCTE teachers and
students are REQUIRED to complete the CareerSafe OSHA 10 General Industry training.

The following schools should have completed OSHA 10 Training by October 8, 2021:

• Bolton HS; BTW 6-12; Central HS; Cordova HS; Craigmont HS; East HS; Germantown HS; GW Carver; Hamilton HS; Kingsbury CTC; Kirby HS; Melrose HS; Ridgeway HS; Sheffield CTC; Southwest CTC; Southwind HS; Trezevant CTC; Whitehaven HS

If training was not completed by the October 8, 2021 deadline, teachers should continue testing until this requirement is fulfilled. For additional information, contact CCTE Senior Academics Manager Tanika Lester: lesterts@scsk12.org.

Please review the Grading Protocol Deck with your staff that includes a summary of the grading expectations for each respective grade band. Additionally, use the self-paced grading trainings found on the last slide to build your staff's capacity about the SCS Grading Protocols. The videos are self-paced and may be viewed in a whole-group setting or individually. The learning sessions were created by teachers for teachers, and we are very appreciative of the time they put in to expand the knowledge about equitable grading strategies to their colleagues.

CCTE Industry Certification Formative Assessment was implemented this school year for the following exams:

• CompTIA IT Fundamentals
• Microsoft Office Specialist
• ServSafe Food Manager
• TN Board of Cosmetology & Barbering-Cosmetology and Master Barber

This is a reminder that students should complete Formative Assessment 1 & Formative Assessment 2 in Mastery Connect by Tuesday, December 14. Formative Assessment Infographic

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact CCTE Senior Academics Manager, Tanika Lester: lesterts@scsk12.org.

The Central Office Professional Learning Series will continue on Monday, December 13, 4 - 6 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. Dr. Casey Jackson will present, “Get Yourself Together:  Get Organized for Your Success and Sanity!”  Register in PLZ using course code #29418. The full series can be seen on this flyer.

Professional Learning and Support is excited to expand our offerings for your teacher assistants on the resources and supports that are available through i-Ready and Illuminate FastBridge. In addition to the new sessions from Illuminate FastBridge, we have added morning sessions to accommodate various scheduling needs. During these sessions, we will take a deep dive into supporting instruction using the Teacher Toolbox and how to leverage materials to support instruction or interventions with students.

Please encourage your teacher assistants to register and attend the sessions from the series. Session times and registration information can be found in the chart below. All sessions will be held virtually and registrants will receive the link to join via email before the session.

We look forward to supporting your teacher assistants through this learning opportunity. Please reach out to Professional Learning and Support at professionallearning@scsk12.org  if you have any questions.

December Principals' Meeting presentations and materials can be found here.

The 3rd Grade Commitment is a collaborative effort between schools, parents, and the community towards ensuring we all work together to best help SCS students reach reading readiness before the third grade.

As a part of our continued commitment to supporting students' reading readiness 3GC, Winter Break Support Packets are being provided for students in K-2. These support packets are designed to provide additional literacy practice during the winter break. 

Schools are encouraged to print the packets for students in grades K-2. Additionally, parents will be able to access the support packets via the district's Third Grade Commitment webpage. To encourage the completion and return of the support packets, schools may want to consider low to no cost incentives like uniform-free day, homework pass, popcorn party, etc.

Save the Date! The Principals' Business Meeting is January 11.

During the weeks of January 10-21, 2022, schools will host a 3GC-2nd Grade Mandatory Parent Meeting. This meeting is to inform parents about the progress of their child as it relates to meeting the success criteria. No later than Thursday, December 16, please use the following link to identify the date and time you plan to host your in-person and virtual 3GC Mandatory Parent Meetings 3GC Parent Meeting Link. Each school will provide 2nd-grade parents with information on their child's progress and the projected summer learning pathway based on the current progress of their child. Principals and 2nd Grade Teachers will receive more information on the Summer Pathways next week. 

Each school is asked to provide an overview of the 3rd Grade Commitment and host one-on-one parent meetings. These meetings should be structured like Parent-Teacher Conferences. Parents are expected to sign off on their child's progress during the one-on-one parent session. To assist schools with planning this meeting, the Office of Academics will provide documents and resources by December 10, via email and LeaderBoard. 
 

We want to ensure as a district that we consistently communicate the progress of our students to parents. Please reach out to Director Monica Jordan, Ms. Latosha Wiseman, or Ms. Audra Smith if you have any questions.

Winter break is fast approaching! SCS is committed to ensuring a strong academic partnership with our parents and community. Due to the urgency of the Third Grade Commitment, we are asking that all schools communicate 3GC before the winter break. All 2nd-grade teachers must communicate to parents the progress of their child during the week of December 13th. 

Schools can determine how to communicate with parents (email, physical letter, text, phone call, conference, etc.), but schools should keep a record that they have communicated the progress of the child with his or her parents. 

We have provided a 3GC Parent Progress Communication Log.docx. This document is an additional resource, but it is not mandatory that your school use this document if you already have a parent communication tracking system. Please reach out to Director Monica Jordan, Ms. Latosha Wiseman, or Ms. Audra Smith if you have any questions.