The Curriculum Associates (i-Ready) team continues to be eager to support your work with the Prescriptions with Ready in Reading and Math. If your school needs PD to help support this work with our Ready resources, please reach out to Elaine Price, Marty Pettigrew, and Mike Ricci (EPrice@cainc.com, MPettigrew@cainc.com, MRicci@cainc.com)

• SCS i-Ready Ready Toolbox RTI2 Best Practices 22-23

Special projects are designed to provide prescriptive support by customizing courses and class days/times to meet the specific needs of your school. 

Complete the special projects form before October 5 to request a PG Special Project course for your school. Limited slots for spring special projects are available through Project Graduation for all high schools

 CLICK HERE for more information and detailed steps. 

Every school should have a strategy to respond proactively to a loss that may impact students and staff. Review the Death of a Student or Staff Member and Memorial Protocol for a detailed step-by-step guide.

The TN Department of Education's TN Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act will impact our current 3rd graders this school year. On August 30, the school board members approved the rules and regulations regarding policy #5013 with the additional guidelines for 3rd and 4th grade as outlined by the state. Therefore, our current 2nd-grade students will not be held to any success criteria for retention purposes; however, academic support and intervention must continue for those students.  

Chief Carson will provide the details of our new "Literacy Commitment" next week for all elementary principals, K-8 principals, and 3rd-grade teachers. Please see the attached flyer for sessions for your 3rd-grade teachers. This information can also be found in this week's SCSWeekly.

Additionally, principals, please see the meeting options below for next week. Although we know you have busy schedules, we ask that you select the best day and time to join next week's session for updates on the MCSC Literacy Commitment. 

• Principals Session 1: MSCS Literacy Commitment- September 28th @12:30pm
• Principals Session 2: MSCS Literacy Commitment- September 29th @12:30pm

If you have any questions, please email LaTosha Wiseman and Audra Smith.

It has come to our attention that some schools have been utilizing self-made/unofficial forms of suspension. Please remember that schools are mandated only to use the District’s standardized official suspension letter. Suspensions must be entered in Incident Management within 24 hours of the incident (business days). NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please see the steps for printing an Official Letter of Suspension. Moving forward, only principals, assistant principals, vice-principals, and select central office staff from the SEED department will have the ability to enter suspensions. 

If you have questions regarding discipline data entry, contact June Nickols, Discipline Advisor, at NICKOLSJL@scsk12.org. If you need additional clarity regarding TCA-related obligations concerning discipline implementation, contact Dr. JB Blocker, Manager of Equity Discipline & Intervention (EDI), at BLOCKERJ@scsk12.org or 901-314-9157.

As we continue to embrace our Re-Think, Reset & Restore initiatives district-wide, we will be identifying schools that have shown tremendous growth and improvement within the areas of behavior and attendance! After careful data review and restorative practices, one school will be highlighted monthly. A total of ten schools will be individually identified (one per month) as our highlighted TOP performers within the areas of attendance and discipline! The lucky highlighted school will receive an On-Air TV spot on WKNO/PBS Kids channel 10! Each broadcasted spot will air for one week!

Our first school to be highlighted is WOODSTOCK MIDDLE! Since the start of this year, their Year Over Year Comparison rates has represented excessive growth that cannot be ignored! 

Woodstock Middle’s data yields:

• A 13% drop in their suspension rate
• A 20% drop in their chronic absenteeism rate (compared to now)

They have shown DRASTIC improvements in attendance, and progressive discipline supports. Great Job, Woodstock Middle; keep up the excellent work!

As a reminder, state law requires all districts and schools to implement the truancy intervention process with fidelity. Per state law and MSCS Policy 6016, schools must ensure that truant students with five (5) or more unexcused absences receive a Student Attendance Review Team (SART) meeting. Failure to conduct a SART meeting impedes the truancy process and can result in truancy cases being dismissed from court. Please refer to Truancy Flow Chart to ensure each step of the SART process is completed. All truancy actions must be documented in PowerSchool, and the PSAP be entered in BrightBytes. 

Several trainings will be offered this semester around the SART process. School clerical and administrators responsible for attendance and truancy should attend. The dates are listed below. Participants should register in PLZ using course code #31824.

• October 4
• October 27
• November 15
• December 1

Your assigned truancy specialist can provide onsite support and additional training. Contact Thomasena Stuckett at stucketttd@scsk12.org or Gail Cotton at cottongd@scsk12.org if you have any questions or need further information.

Self-Paced Virtual Learning Sessions for counselors and teachers who need assistance teaching Explicit SEL lessons from the Rethink platform.

The Way to ReThink: School Administrator’s Guide to Compliance. The session is designed for school administrators and lead designee for monitoring school compliance. Principal Virtual Rethink Training via MS Teams.

Teachers will learn to:   

• Navigate through ReThink’s Platform from Clever log-in.
• Access the three components of a lesson required for district implementation.
• Utilize resources available to build SEL capacity and nurture classroom culture and climate.

To access the recorded video stream, please click The Way to Rethink

If you have trouble logging into Rethink, please email Riletta Williams at williamsRW@scsk12.org, Kelley Greene at greeneKP@scsk12.org

The Tennessee Valley Authority is currently providing a total of $1 million in grants to schools for the purpose of developing science, technology, engineering, and math education programs. The lessons these programs can provide are very important and may help students on their way to becoming the professionals of tomorrow. 

Through October 17th, educators can apply for grants of up to $5,000 for the 2022-2023 school year. Teachers are encouraged to visit TVA.com/STEM and consider submitting an application for one of these grants. 

It is important to remember that the KID Team staff is limited and serves all of our elementary school populations. The KID Team protocols require that Tier 1, 2 and 3 supports are exhausted before one of the three KID Team specialists are deployed for one-on-one student supports. Please review the attached KID Team manual prior to making KID Team referrals. For additional guidance or KID Team assessment, contact Pamela Jones, Advisor JONESP@scsk12.org or at 901-416-8343. Please click here to review the KID Team manual.

The ESL Department will be hosting Virtual Monthly Department meetings for all ESL teachers in the district to share important updates and information. 

Meetings are held on Wednesdays and teachers can register using PLZ #31871. 

The next departmental meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 19 with three options for attending:

 8:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. 

Leaders, we ask for your support in allowing your teachers to attend. All ESL teachers are sent meeting links via email prior to each monthly meeting. 

Magda Sakaan
Manager, English as a Second Language Department

Northeast Regional Office | 920 N. Highland | Memphis, TN | 38122 

Phone: 901-416-4231 | Email: Sakaanm@scsk12.org

Registration/Enrollment:

• Enrollment for kindergarten students closed as of September 19, 2022, with the following exceptions:  Displaced, homeless, foster, immigrants
  • Students must have been previously enrolled in an accredited kindergarten program transferring from other districts, states, or countries
  • Students who were 6 years old on or before August 15th

 Centralized Withdrawal:

• School staff should complete a withdrawal application for all students being withdrawn due truancy.  Ensure the SART process is completed and annotated in PowerSchool.
• High School staff should ensure they are receiving a valid written records request (document on the institute’s letterhead) for all students who transfer out of district.  This document is needed for the purpose of COHORT.

Centralized Withdrawal and Attendance Trainings:

• To ensure office staff is fully knowledgeable please sign up for the trainings in PLZ.  These sessions will equip you with better understanding the process from start to finish.
• Attendance Trainings:
  • September 28, 2022 – (Elementary) 9:00 am – 11:00 am
  • September 28, 2022 – (Middle & High) 1:00 am – 2:00 pm
• Centralized Withdrawal Trainings:
  • October 05, 2022 – 9:00 am – 10:00 am
  • October 05, 2022 – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
  • October 19, 2022 – 9:00 am – 10:00 am
  • October 19, 2022 – 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

General Choice Transfer – Rescind:

• Schools can begin sending GCT rescind requests for students who are non-compliant with grades, attendance, and behaviors beginning October 10, 2022.

Elementary & K-8 Principals:

The TN Department of Education's TN Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act will impact our current 3rd graders this school year. On Tuesday, August 30, 2022, the school board members approved the rules and regulations regarding policy #5013 with the additional guidelines for 3rd and 4th grade as outlined by the state. Therefore, our current 2nd-grade students will not be held to any success criteria for retention purposes; however, academic support and intervention must continue for those students.  

Chief Carson will provide the details of our new "Literacy Commitment" for all elementary principals,   K-8 principals, and 3rd-grade teachers. Please see the attached flyer for sessions for your 3rd-grade teachers. This information can also be found in this week's MSCSWeekly.

Additionally, please see the meeting options below for the upcoming weeks. Although we know you have busy schedules, we ask that you select the best day and time to join the session for updates on the MSCS Literacy Commitment.

Principals Session 1: MSCS Literacy Commitment- September 28th @12:30pm

Principals Session 2: MSCS Literacy Commitment- September 29th @12:30pm

Principals Session 3: MSCS Literacy Commitment- October 4th @4:00pm 

Principals Session 4: MSCS Literacy Commitment- October 5th @4:30pm 

If you have any questions, please contact LaTosha Wiseman and Audra Smith.

Thank you for ordering your PSAT 8/9 tests. As a reminder, districtwide administration of the PSAT 8/9 for ninth graders will occur on October 4, and 100% participation is our district goal.

Please contact James L. Smith if you have questions.

Please share with your AP students:

AP Student Saturday Review will be held on Saturday, October 1, from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. at East High School. Students can sign up by clicking this link. Please contact James Smith if you have questions.

October 3rd- 7th is National Customer Service Week. As we continue to focus on culture and climate within our great District, our team would like to recognize our employees on the front lines! Please see below:
 

Customer Service Week (October 3-7, 2022) is an international celebration of the importance of customer service and the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis. In honor of Customer Service Week, MSCS will highlight two front-line employees (e.g., clerical staff, secretaries, clerks, administrative assistants, etc.) each day from schools and/or Central Office who go above and beyond to provide 5-star customer service. 

Nominate your front-line staff member here.  Nominations will be accepted through Monday, September 26, 2022.  If selected, these employees will receive a certificate of recognition, a MSCS swag bag, and featured on our MSCS media platforms with pictures and personal quotes about customer service.

You are encouraged to celebrate your front-line employees by spotlighting staff on school marquees, providing breakfast/lunch/snacks, posting pictures of staff on school website, sharing customer service best practices, etc.