The November session for the Central Office Professional Learning Series will be held on November 2nd. Central Office managers, directors, executive directors, assistant superintendents, and chiefs are encouraged to register in PLZ using course #31731 for either the morning or afternoon session for the November 2 training.

October TDW will be held on October 24th, 25th and 26th at Teaching & Learning Academy. Please ensure that your designees attend on the appropriate date for your grade band. 

Monday, 10/24: Elementary Schools

Tuesday, 10/25: Middle and K-8 Schools

Wednesday, 10/26: High Schools

The agenda can be accessed here.

Also, be sure to confirm a date and time for redelivery between October 31st - November 17th. Teachers will have 24 hours from their time at TDW to upload the date and time.

If you have questions, please email Geneva Gordon at gordong@scsk12.org.

The New Principals' October Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 25th. Check out the flyer for more details. If you have questions, contact Dr. Tameka Lewis, at lewistd@scsk12.org.

PL&S is excited to offer virtual professional learning for teacher assistants in partnership with Curriculum and Associates staff.  Please share the following information with teacher assistants in your building who support students and teachers using Ready Reading, Ready Math, or Teacher Toolbox.  All sessions will be offered virtually via Microsoft Teams during the school day.  If you have questions, please contact Emily Vuoso, at vuosoeb@scsk12.org. 

Please share this professional learning needs assessment with all teacher assistants in your building.

The purpose of this is to collect information from teacher assistants regarding their professional learning needs for the 2022-23 school year which will inform professional learning opportunities that are available to them for the remainder of the school year.  The form can be submitted here.

The form will close on Friday, October 28th at 5:00 p.m.

If you have questions, please contact Emily Vuoso, at vuosoeb@scsk12.org.

The PL&S Leadership Advisors will be delivering content for all PLC coaches and instructional facilitators on real-time feedback, based on the book, Get Better Faster, by Bambrick-Santoyo. Please be prepared to be enlightened and engaged. We look forward to seeing you next Thursday, October 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. via TEAMS (link below)! 

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NjQ1Y2E0N2QtN2Q5Yy00MmUyLWJjZmQtZDNiNTFkOTA5YjU1%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%222b291c94-5eb0-44b7-89ea-4baf16ecc4a9%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22caa289b9-46e9-4335-a79f-737f2e688797%22%7d

Please share the flyer upcoming professional learning sessions for new teachers.

Our 1st parent attendance event for the year is scheduled for Thursday, October 27 at White Station Middle School from 5:30-6:30pm. The Office of Student Equity Enrollment & Discipline (SEED) and Family Community Engagement (FACE) will be co-hosting this session aimed at students who are chronically absent. There will be numerous district and community partners represented to assist with issues such as utilities, housing, health, and other community supports.  In addition, district departments and social emotional learning supports will be available to help eliminate barriers to school attendance. 

 We are asking your Attendance Lead to identify ten students within your school building who are chronically absent and/or truant whose parents would benefit from this meeting.  Please contact SEED at 416-6007 for questions.

Please CLICK HERE to complete the following form for classroom teachers who were not assigned a 1:1 device in the spring or had not been previously requested. This opportunity will be extended to ALL ELA, MATH, Social Studies, Science, ESL, Foreign Language, Exploratory, Music, Art, and Physical Education. A request may be submitted for Professional School Counselors and Librarians; however, those positions will receive a device if inventory allows. Request for a device will not be processed for administrators or clerical staff. The DEADLINE for submissions to be considered for additional 1:1 teacher devices is Friday, October 28, 2022.

• It is important to note that after this final distribution of devices, schools will make future purchases for teacher and staff laptops as needed.
• Do not submit a request for a teacher device if one was previously submitted in August 2022.
• Make sure to complete the two required Action Items before requesting additional teacher devices
  • Extra Teacher Device Inventory Report. CLICK HERE
  • Collected, Scanned, and Uploaded all Computer/Device Agreement Forms for teachers who were previously issued a 1:1 Teacher Device during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. CLICK HERE

A growing body of research shows that students of color do better when they have at least one teacher of the same race. These teachers can be role models for students of color, and they have been shown to have higher expectations and a better cultural understanding of these students.

With too few men of color going into K-12 education, see how MSCS is working to diversify AND retain our educators and address teacher shortages. We are learning about teacher observations and what to look for and how to score their highest on all measures of our evaluation process, and we are working to recruit, retain, and support teachers to best support our students.

This Secure the Chalk session will work on retention strategies for our Men of Color.

Click here to view the Secure the Chalk flyer!

The November DLD will take place on Tuesday, November 8 for a total of six (6) hours of professional learning.  All attendance will be credited in PLZ by November 14, 2022. Registration in PLZ for November DLD will open on Monday, October 24, 2022 and will close on Monday, November 7, 2022. Details will be available in the DLD Guidebook October 27th.

K-12 ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, and ESL teachers will report to their school of record and engage in planning as outlined on individual school agendas from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. School administrators are asked to submit a school agenda by Thursday, November 3rd as to how this time will be spent in grade level, content, vertical planning, or a combination, applying to practice learning that has been provided to date. Submit agendas here for your school by Thursday, November 3rd.  

All K-12 teacher types regardless of content or department must complete the TDOE required Dyslexia Training via Canvas. Register in PLZ to gain access to this three-hour course. Time is allotted on November 8th to complete the course from 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted for a department, but the course will officially close on Thursday, November 10 at 11:59 p.m. to ensure that all teachers have ample time by which to complete the modules.

Non-core content teachers will meet as outlined in the DLD Guidebook which will be published on October 27th. 

If you have questions, email Emily Vuoso, vuosoeb@scsk12.org.

As a next step regarding our voter registration and mobilization project and a continued step in our partnership with the ‘I am a Voter’ (IAAV) Collaborative, we will provide a voting field trip for eligible student voters in your building at no cost to families on Tuesday – Thursday, November 1-3, 2022. Please respond to this email with the preferred date for your school no later than Tuesday, October 25 by 4PM. 

Please submit your response following the example below: 

NAME OF SCHOOL 

VOTER REGISTRATION/ MOBILIZATION LEADER 

PREFERRED DATE 

Please submit a confirmed list of participants by Wednesday, October 27, 2022. 

We will schedule bus transportation to the early voting site closest to your building. Voter registration leads and an appropriate number of chaperones may accompany students to the voting site and back to school. As a reminder, to vote, registered voters must present a form of ID. Details are listed below:  

What IDs are acceptable? 

Any of the following may be used, even if expired: 

• Tennessee driver’s license with your photo (A real ID is not required to vote.) 
• United States Passport 
• Photo ID issued by the Federal or Tennessee state government 
• United States Military photo ID 
• Tennessee handgun carry permit with your photo 

What IDs are not acceptable? 

College student IDs and photo IDs issued by other states or cities cannot be used. 

We look forward to hearing back from you soon and supporting our students.

The Department of Student Affairs is asking that all students in grades 4-12 complete the Student Voice Survey 

October 24 - November 4, 2022

Learning, Leadership, and Life Student Voice Survey link: https://forms.office.com/r/3jhxwiW92n

The purpose of this survey is to provide students with an avenue to share perceptions and voice their opinions of their learning and overall school environment. This makes the process of teaching and learning more reciprocal and can address issues of inequity by allowing students to participate in and influence decisions that will affect their lives and those of their peers. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Are you a highly impactful certified teacher? If so, your talents are needed to provide after-school tutoring and homework help for elementary, middle, and high school students Monday-Thursday each week from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. 

Again this year, we have partnered with Homework Hotline to offer tutorial and homework support via the telephone and internet for K-12 students. If you are interested in serving as a teacher in this program, please review the linked Job Description. The application deadline is Friday, November 4, 2022. If you are contacted for an interview, please be prepared to take and pass an ELA and math skills test to tutor students.

If you have questions about this opportunity, please contact Dr. Erin Luster at lusterey@scsk12.org. If interested, please email a resume to Homework Hotline at aldridgea@homeworkhotline.info.