Greetings Principals,

In serious and/or urgent situations school leaders may consider banning a parent or other individuals from a school campus. Before a ban is carried out, please carefully review and adhere to the AOSS Manual protocol for Banning Individuals from a School Campus.

Greetings.

Please sign up in PLZ for the Open Science Labs if you need additional support executing the science prescriptions, as explained during the January LDW and TDW.

The Curriculum & Instruction Science team will be available on the days provided to answer any lingering questions and assist you in successfully implementing the science prescriptions and the 5Es.

Open Labs Overview:

Participants will know how to plan using the Science Prescriptions and the 5Es. Each participant will have an opportunity to have questions answered pertaining to the utilization of the new Science Prescriptions and the 5E Instructional Model as explained during January LDW and TDW.

Click the link to view: Upcoming Support Open Labs

Next Steps for viewing i-Ready Data after Winter Window:

·         Growth

o   View the Diagnostic Growth Report in i-Ready (Reports > School/District (Class if you are a Teacher) > Diagnostic > Diagnostic Growth)

·         Performance/Proficiency Changes from Fall

o   View the Diagnostic Results Report in i-Ready  (Reports > School/District (Class if you are a Teacher) > Diagnostic > Diagnostic Results)

·         Instruction – monitor for fidelity (an average of 30+ minutes of online instruction per week/subject, along with average lesson pass rates of 70% or higher)

o   View the Personalized Instruction Summary Report (Instructions attached)

·         For additional info, visit i-Ready Central - https://www.i-readycentral.com

Please encourage your teachers to take advantage of the upcoming calculator sessions, Algebra 1 support sessions, and Eureka Math Open Lab sessions.

Tennessee Literacy Success Act

Effective August 1, in accordance with the Tennessee Literacy Success Act (2021), all educators who hold specific endorsements that allow them to teach reading in grades K-5 must complete an approved foundational skills course to renew their license.  

MSCS is working to ensure our educators, school leaders, and district staff meet this requirement. Please complete this brief survey and upload your certificate of course completion for either asynchronous ERT Course 1 or SLT Course 1.

https://forms.office.com/r/WbJLZ1fnW8
 

For questions, please contact the Early Literacy Department at 901.416.4801 or email EarlyLiteracyDept@scsk12.org.

For more information on the TN Licensure Requirement, click the link below.

TN_LSA_Training_and_Licensure_Requirements.pdf

The C & I English/Language Arts Department is excited to share the January-February issue of MSCS Literacy Curriculum Spotlight, our e-Newsletter highlighting valuable curriculum resources, opportunities, and updates for K-12 ELA teachers and leaders. This e-Newsletter can be viewed HERE. 

Learn more about the K-12 Classroom Library Challenge, the Literacy Hub (our new Teams Channel for K-12 Literacy), and the Spring 2023 Professional Learning Series for Wonders and myPerspectives. Click the link to read about some of the great things happening with literacy in our District.

Direct link to the e-Newsletter: https://www.smore.com/c56r3

Please see the updated card calendar tool to use when calculating suspension days. This calendar correctly reflects January 2 as a day of absence, as opposed to its previous format. If you have questions regarding date calculations, please reach out to June Nickols, Discipline Advisor at Nickolsjl@scsk12.org.

New administrators and behavior support, if you have not received Discipline Training. Please click here to view course and sign up via PLZ.

ALL students are required to complete online registration for 2023-24 school year.  

• Online Registration will launch Tuesday, January 17, for all new and returning students in Memphis Shelby County Schools.
• School Choice (General and Optional) application will open Tuesday, January 31, at 10 a.m.
• Enrollment, Registration and Attendance training will be offered to school staff during the month of January and February.
• Students who do not register will not be considered enrolled for the 2023-24 school year.
• Yearly updates to demographic data, opt-in/out, and health information are required for all students.

We've got exciting news! Rethink has refreshed some of its January lessons. Click here to access the most updated scope and sequence.

Please complete Wellness Center Referral Form and email it to wellnesscenter@scsk12.org to notify pertinent individuals of students who are referred for alcohol and drug counseling or who are referred to the Wellness Center. 

REMEMBER to click the identified behavior/purpose of the referral.

The Greater Memphis Chamber has partnered with MSCS to offer Principals, Assistant Principals, and Counselors an opportunity to tour manufacturing facilities operating in the Memphis area. Administrators and Counselors are encouraged to sign up for tours to Stryker and Rich Foods which will take place on Wednesday, March 8.

The tours are scheduled to increase the collective knowledge base of employment opportunities that exist in Memphis and surrounding areas. 

Stryker and Rich Foods offer entry-level wages from $15 - $22 per hour and students may be eligible for employment at the age of 17.

Please share the attached tour agenda and sign-up information with your administrative team.

Tour Agenda: https://scsk12-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/youngbh_scsk12_org/EQ2HBWh_DjdLs5DYVocp760BqMh53SXmr9lNHpDznPqqLw?e=GOtFee 

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/yU8hAAKzGwieThL4A

All students enrolled in AP Computer Science Principles must submit the Create Performance Task required by College Board, which counts toward their final score on the AP exam.

AP Coordinators must share a screenshot of the Create Performance Task submission profile for their school by April 15 to verify that students have completed it for their AP exam.

Please contact James Smith if you have questions.

Mandatory 3rd grade Parent Meeting:  All elementary and K-8 schools will host a mandatory 3rd grade parent meeting during the window of January 23 - January 31.

The TN Department of Education requires that parents are informed by February 1 if their child is “at risk” for retention as outlined by the 3rd grade retention law. This includes any student below the 65%ile on the I-Ready Assessment.

The “at risk” letter has been provided in the MSCS Literacy Commitment Resource Folder 2022-2023 along with PowerPoints, parent acknowledgment page, and other pertinent resources to share. 

If more information is needed, please contact LaTosha Wiseman and Audra Smith at thirdgradecommitment@scsk12.org.

MSCS Literacy Commitment Dashboard:  The Literacy Commitment dashboard was released on Friday, January 13th.  The DAIM department has hosted training sessions to assist in navigating the site. The recordings from previous training sessions will be available on the DAIM SharePoint site at the end of the week. We are asking that you share this information with your teachers and admin staff.  

Please see review the available resources:  

• PowerBI Dashboard Click here-> Literacy Commitment - Literacy Commitment - Power BI
  • Note: If you cannot access this app, please send an email to daim@scsk12.org or ask your Principal or AP/VP to grant you access using the Power BI Access app.
• And here’s the user guide -> Literacy Commitment: Overview (sharepoint.com)
• Instructions for using this app are recorded in our digital walkthrough video library from a previous Virtual Office Hours session: Watch 'Virtual Office Hours: Power BI Access App (Session 1)' | Microsoft Stream

Please contact the DAIM department at daim@scsk12.org for updates and additional information.

The annual WIDA ACCESS Assessment window will open on February 13. In preparation, a BTC and Lead ESL Teacher WIDA ACCESS Meeting will be hosted virtually via Teams by the ESL Department on Tuesday, January 24 at 3:30 p.m. All BTCs and Lead WIDA ESL Teachers have been invited and should plan on attending this meeting to review important information regarding the WIDA ACCESS, Alternate ACCESS, and Alternate ACCESS Field Test Assessments. 

If your BTC/Lead teacher has not received a link to this required meeting, please reach out to your school's ESL Advisor.

Please keep the following dates in mind as you plan for the administration of this state-mandated assessment: 

• January 27 - Initial Technology Verification should be complete.  All testing devices must have the DRC Insight App installed and updated, and students will need headphones with microphones to complete the assessment. 
• February 3 - Deadline to send ESL Parent Flyers home to provide information about WIDA ACCESS. 
• February 6 – Schools/District should receive testing materials and teacher testing schedules are due. 
• March 29-31 - WIDA Intake of assessment materials will take place at the MSCS BOE. 

Carol Richardson, Director

English As A Second Language

Northeast Regional Office

920 North Highland
Memphis, TN 38122

The Blended Learning and Educational Technology Team will host virtual, in-person, and Canvas professional learning sessions throughout the spring. Please see the linked flyer for all course offerings. 

Please see the flyers for details regarding the new and novice principal training sessions for January.

New Principals will meet in person in the TLA Multipurpose Room on January 31st.

Novice Principals will meet virtually on January 30th.

Please see the flyer regarding upcoming science professional learning sessions.

Blackboard Messenger New User Training

The next Blackboard Messenger New User Training is scheduled for:

Jan 25: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

This training will be a live, virtual, and interactive session led by an expert at Blackboard. It will cover:

• Logging into the Mass Notification site
• Account management
• Creating messages for email, phone, and text/SMS
• Sending messages in multiple languages

***ATTENDEES MUST HAVE A BLACKBOARD MESSENGER ACCOUNT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS TRAINING SESSION. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ACCOUNT, PLEASE CONTACT KYLE BULLOCK (bullockkd@scsk12.org) SO ONE CAN BE CREATED FOR YOU***

Sign up for the session in PLZ to receive PD credit.  The course number is 27735. There are only 15 available slots for this training session. 

The training session will be held on Zoom. Access the session here: https://finalsite.zoom.us/j/97345014444#success

Guidelines for Student Growth Portfolio Exemptions are listed in the TEAM Student Growth Portfolio Guidebook for Administrators and Teachers. If any of your school's NTGS Portfolio Teachers meet any of the qualifications for exemptions and would like to submit a request, please have him/her reach out to his/her Content Advisor for next steps.  

The deadline to submit Student Growth Portfolio Exemption Requests is January 20, 2023, or 5 school days after returning from a Leave of absence.   If you have questions about exemptions or the Portfolio process, you may reach out to the District Portfolio Lead, Ayodele Hall.  

The Fall Student Perception Survey data has been distributed to administrators and site coordinators by Panorama.  

Leaders are asked to check their Spam folder if the results are not visible in their Focus email.  

For issues or questions, email Courtney Skipper at skipperc@scsk12.org.

The window to complete all NIE Mid-Year Conferences in PLZ is now open! The deadline to finalize ALL NIE Mid-Year Conferences is February 17th.  

Important Reminders:

• ALL required fields should be completed in its entirety before finalizing.  
• Need a refresher? Please see the resource links below.
  • NIE Mid-Year Conference Tutorial
  • NIE Step Guide – Employee 
  • NIE Step Guide – Evaluator

Questions? Please reach out to eps@scsk12.org. 

Principals, be on the lookout for an email from the District URS-AGM lead, Ayodele Hall. The email will contain teachers who have been rostered as the ELA Teacher of Record for KK-2nd grade classrooms to use as their final Student Growth score for SY22-23.  

You and/or your designee, will review the roster and submit any corrections or deletions by Friday, January 20.
 

Click here for guidance on the usage of the Universal Reading Screener as the Growth Measure for KK-2nd Grade ELA teachers.  

The TEM TEACHer Training Series is now open for ALL teachers. The series aims to identify teacher and student actions that guide effective instruction at performance levels 3-5 of the TEACH indicators. 

Register in PLZ, course #26177.

Registration is open for SY22-23 Professionalism Training. 

Click here for additional information, including how to register.

The MSCS Compass is a new one-stop shop for all your PowerBI reports, including the new and improved Student Profile, which is now called Student Data 360. Watch our introduction and navigation video here - Intro to MSCS Compass
 

What’s in PowerBI? Check out all of the reports we have available, here.

NEW Releases and Features

• Check out our release plan, available here!
• Reports that are now available:

• Literacy Commitment: See the User Guide and Training Video!
• Ready Graduates: Industry Certifications
• System Optimizations: Student Data 360 reports have been optimized to load at a much faster rate. These include:
  • Student Attendance – Avg Load Time: 9 seconds
  • Student Assessment – Avg Load Time: 9 seconds
  • Student Discipline – Avg Load Time: 10 seconds
  • Student Enrollment – Avg Load Time: 8 seconds
  • Student Grades – Avg Load Time: 9 seconds
  • Student Immunization – Avg Load Time: 6 seconds
  • Student Snapshot – Avg Load Time: 4 seconds
  • Student Surveys – Avg Load Time: 4 seconds

Trainings 

• Virtual Office Hours: This week (1/24 and 1/26), we will have another Open Floor Q&A. Next week (1/31 and 2/2), we will look at Industry Certifications in the Ready Graduates dashboard. 
  • UPCOMING: February 14th and 16th – Need a BrightBytes refresher?
    • We will have a guest VOH session with a representative from BrightBytes on hand to answer any questions.
  • VOH is held every week on Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 PM
  • The format alternates every other week between an Open Floor Q&A session and an overview of a new and/or relevant report.
  • Recordings of any tutorials go out to everyone on the calendar invite and will be available on our Support Page.
  • Sign up at this link today!

Under Construction

• Ready Grad - ASVAB – Coming Late-January
• Digital Citizenship – Coming Early February
• Advanced Course Scheduling – Coming Mid-February
• We are working on optimizing performance on as many reports as possible and your feedback is crucial. Please reach out if you experience any issues so that we can identify major pain points. Email us at DAIMSUPPORT@scsk12.org
• Does something in a dashboard look wrong? Check our Data Quality Updates.

ATTENTION Counselors – We need your help! Please go in and check your intervention plans in BrightBytes and remove the “Protected” access flag. This is very important and impacts the ability to see accurate RTI-B compliance and Progressive Discipline information in PowerBI.

For more information on how to remove the Protected flag, look here.

Support

• Power BI Access: Principals can give school staff members access through the PowerBI Access App. If you see someone in the Access App that should be removed from your school, contact DAIM Support (DAIMSUPPORT@scsk12.org) and we can assist.
• Support Resources: Check out the DAIM Support SharePoint site, complete with additional video tutorials, walkthrough guides, and more!