MSCS is hosting the 4th annual Back-to-School Unity Run/Walk & Interactive Community Health Fair. 

The Health Fair will provide a valuable service to our community. We will have basic screenings and health checks, as well as a variety of informational booths designed to help promote awareness of the many health/safety-related programs, services, and providers located in our surrounding community.

Come on out as we build momentum heading into the 2023-24 school year!

MSCS schools and departments are encouraged to build teams, show off their spirit wear, show off their mascot and engage in some friendly competition (awards for fastest team, and overall spirit award). 

Register yourself or a team here: 

https://raceroster.com/events/2023/77153/back-to-school-unity-run

Greetings, School Leaders! 

Does your front-line staff need to replenish their “toolbox” with easy and practical ideas to provide excellent customer service?  Do they want their improve customer confidence in MSCS as a service provider? We’ve got you!  The FACE Department will host a series of customer service interactive sessions to learn and share evidence-based practices to foster a culture of trust and strengthen customer experience.  “Creating Welcoming Environments” will be offered several times in August. Please encourage your front-line staff to attend one of these sessions. Click here to register in PLZ.  

Course: #34563 

Dates & Times:  

Mon., August 21, 2023 – 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. 

Thurs., August 31, 2023 – 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. 

Location:  Teacher and Learning Academy           

                  2485 Union Avenue 

                  Memphis, Tennessee 38112  

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact our Constituent Services Team - Karla Galleguillos (galleguilloskv@scsk12.org) or Dr. Kemmashela Conner (smithkt@scsk12.org).

We are thrilled to participate in this year's Germantown International Festival, and we extend a cordial invitation to all MSCS families to join us Saturday, August 19, 2023 from 11a.m. to 5p.m.

Featuring delectable food options, vibrant vendors, and captivating performances from 28 participant countries, this festival presents an excellent opportunity to foster learning, sharing, and meaningful connections with individuals from diverse backgrounds worldwide.

To document their cultural journey, we kindly request all students to bring an international fest passport. Passports can be downloaded by clicking on the following link: https://bit.ly/GIFestPassport

We look forward to seeing you there!

Greetings, Outstanding School Leaders:  

We hope your summer was enjoyable. As we prepare to serve students and families for the upcoming school year, we want to inform you of some essential information related to student clubs and organizations. On Monday, July 31, 2023, you should have received a toolkit for your teams to utilize to obtain parent permission for students to participate in clubs and organizations. This toolkit reflects information presented during the July Principals' Meeting. As mentioned during the meeting, this process must be in place and implemented for the coming school year under the law. 

For more information regarding the policy in the toolkit, please contact the Policy Office at 901-416-4730. For more information from the Office of Family and Community Engagement, please visit their website at Family Community & Engagement (scsk12.org). 

If you have any questions or need support, please contact Director Dr. F. Kevin Malone at malonefk@scsk12.org or 901-570-8955. 

Thank you for your continuing partnership. I look forward to continuing to serve you. 

Winning Together, 

Overage for Grade Interventions and Supports: For the 2023-24 School Year, we will continue to provide intervention/support for students who are overage for grade. School Counselors have received information and are aware of the processes for this school year. Please see the Assessment for Overage-for-Grade Guidelines. 

For more information, contact Counseling Services and Registration/Enrollment 

• Rhonda Hill, hillre@scsk12.org
• Sherenda Moss, mosssi@scsk12.org
• Constance Certion, certioncb@sck12.org
• Stacey Davis, daviss2@scsk12.org

Attention High School Leaders: Project Graduation is currently open for Fall 2023 enrollment. Courses offered in the fall are synchronous distance learning with a certified teacher. Professional School Counselors have until August 17th, to enroll students in Part I & October 19th, for Part II classes, and they have already been trained on the process.

If you are looking for in-person opportunities, Project Graduation will offer traditional in-person classes in the Spring of 2024. The PG super sites are Craigmont HS, Hamilton HS, and Kirby HS.

For questions about how you can use Project Graduation at your school, contact Manager Jacques Hall (halljh@scsk12.org or 901.416.9041).
 

Elementary and K-8 Principals,

As outlined in the state law, the following categories of current 4th graders must participate in yearlong tutoring:

•  Students that scored below are required to participate in tutoring.  
• Approaching students that did not attend SLA
• Approaching students that attended SLA but did not attend 90% of SLA
• Approaching students that did not make adequate growth of the post assessment this summer

Once you have received the spreadsheet of the required students, click on your school's tab at the bottom of the page.  You will see all of the students that are REQUIRED for in-school tutoring. To assist in providing support, please designate a SEA and an alternate SEA that will assist in this process by using the following link:  4TH GRADE SEA TUTORS' NAMES

Lastly, please see the following key dates and deadlines:

Thursday, August 10 - Microsoft Form must be completed and students must be assigned

 Week of August 14 (Exact date TBD:  SEA Tutoring Training Session 1:

Week of August 14 (Ensure all students are uploaded into PowerSchool tutoring course)

Week of August 21:  4th grade tutoring begins 
 

If you have any questions and/or concerns with 4th grade tutoring, please let me know.  We are here to support.  Thanks for your dedication!

Attention: Building Leaders

The Division of Virtual Education and Logistics would like to thank all building leaders and their leadership team for collaborating with our office to complete the 1:1 Classroom Teacher Device Reconciliation Project.  The completion rate for the Teacher’s Device Reconciliation Project was over 82% for the district.  Our office has received several requests for additional 1:1 classroom device for teachers and eligible staff. We would like to extend the opportunity for building leaders who completed device reconciliation last school year to request additional devices as needed for eligible staff who did not previously receive a device. Requests will not be processed for schools whose reconciliation is currently “In-Progress”.  Please contact Mrs. Lisa Fletcher at fletcherl1@scsk12.org if there are any questions regarding the reconciliation status for your school.   

Please complete the FORM to submit a device request.  Remember that administrators, clerical staff, educational assistant, CCTE, PreK, or SPED are not eligible roles. Please be prepared to attach a current 2023-24 staff roster (teachers’ name/grade/subject) when completing the request form.

 Thank you for your support!

Attention Building Leaders:

Please return previously assigned devices to the same teacher from last year if they are still serving in an eligible position. Ensure that each teacher completes the Computer/Device Checkout Form upon device assignment or redistribution. Scan all completed forms as one PDF file and attach the file HERE.  An Ivanti workorder should be submitted for any devices with physical damage or a technical issue. Physically damaged devices are covered under the accidental protection plan, and claims will be filed by IT Field Support. Please follow MSCS district policy for reporting lost or stolen/unreturned devices.  

Link: Professional Learning & Support Fall 2023 Professional Learning Catalog .pdf

Exciting news! The Fall Professional Learning Catalog is now available. It's organized by content area for your convenience, making it easier to find relevant professional development opportunities. Hyperlinks in the table of contents enable quick navigation. Thank you for your continued support. Let's grow together!

Recordings along with participant materials will be available on Friday, August 4 by 5:00 p.m. August 2023 DLD Content Folder.  Teachers who have multiple content preps are encouraged to review these materials and recordings so that they can see curricular updates in action and review any associated materials.  

*ATTN: ALL District Supervisors and School Leaders eligible to participate in the RECERTIFICATION process to conduct TEM, TEAM, and/or NIE evaluations for SY2023-24 will need complete modules by August 31, 2023.  

Returning observers who do not complete by the deadline must participate in the track for new observers.
 

Please see the information below regarding Evaluator Certification for SY2023-24:

Non-Instructional Evaluation Certification - Per MSCS Board Policy 4020, "Supervisors are responsible for adhering to the evaluation process and providing timely feedback to improve the performance of evaluated employees."

• Click Here for guidance on NIE Certification.  

• SY2023-2024 NIE Evaluator Certification Training Calendar

Instructional Evaluation Certification- According to Tennessee State Board of Education policy 5.201, all educators must be evaluated annually by a certified evaluator.  

• TEM - Click  HERE   for guidance on becoming TEM Certified. 

• TEAM (Managed by the TDOE) - Click HERE for guidance on becoming TEAM Certified. *Be sure to select TRAINING FOR ADMINISTRATOR certification.  (Please forward a copy of the completed TEAM Certificate to eps@scsk12.org)

ACT testing will be online this year beginning with the senior ACT window in October.

So we can begin training and provide access to the ACT Pearson site, please let us know who your school's ACT Coordinator will be for 2023-2024 by completing the brief survey found here by Monday, August 14. Communications from ACT and from our department will go to the ACT Coordinator for your school. Please be aware that the ACT Coordinator may be different than the person you designate as your ACT Specialist. The Coordinator, the person our department is asking you to designate, manages the logistics of testing students, whereas the Specialist role is typically more involved in ACT prep.

Also, please note that the window for requesting ACT accommodations and EL supports for fall testing is currently open but closes in a few weeks on August 25. Please be aware that for accommodations to “roll over” from last year, someone from your school will need to go into the TAA site at success.act.org and associate the fall 2023 window with the accommodation(s) approved last year. For EL supports you must submit updated documentation each year. Questions about accommodations and EL supports can be addressed to the ACT Accommodations group at 800.553.6244, ext. 1788, or ACTStateAccoms@act.org.

Announcements:  

 
Attention Principals – if you added or requested that a teacher or non-administrative staff member get Power BI access last year and you want them to still have access, you will need to re-add them using the PowerBI Access App
 
As part of the maintenance process and for security reasons, we have reverted access only to select groups at each school building. These include - Principals, APs/VPs, Counselors, PLCs and Instructional Facilitators, Behavior Specialists, Social Workers, Interventionists, Family Engagement Specialists, Clerical Assistants/Financial Secretaries, and Curriculum Coaches. 

Additional roles, such as teachers, will need to be re-added. 
 
For more information, contact us at DAIMSUPPORT@scsk12.org 

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School Improvement Plans – the School Performance Details page in School Profile has moved! 

You can now find it in the new School Snapshot dashboard. You can use this page to complete the SIP. Check out the user guide for more information!

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Chronic Absenteeism business rules have changed! 

In Student Attendance, Chronic Absenteeism rates will not start populating data until January 2024. 

This is due to the new calculation rule, where a student MUST be enrolled for 50% of the school year before being considered Chronically Absent. 

You will be able to see students At Risk of being Chronically Absent (attendance rates at 90% or lower) prior to that time. This is just a preliminary projection and not the official rate.

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BrightBytes is no longer available for the 2023-2024 school year. If you have any questions, reach out to the SEED team for more information at 416-6007.

Because of this, some reports will be unavailable. These include RTI-B, BrightBytes Intervention in Student Discipline, and the OAG Compliance Report in Student Grades. 

Historical progressive discipline data from BB will still be visible for past years.

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New Features:

Check out our new page of all updated features and recent releases on our DAIM Support Page!

Highlights Include:

• Updated Chronic Absenteeism business rules.
• Cross-filtering on student groups.
• Toggling between Current and Total Enrollment.
• Expanding Truancy reporting options.
• The new School Snapshot dashboard.

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Training and Support Resources:  

Virtual Office Hours sessions are returning the week of August 15th and 17th. During this session, we will go over the basics of Power BI navigation and support resources. You will also have an opportunity to ask any questions you have. 

Sign up today! For more information on Virtual Office Hours, check out this flyer! 

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New User PowerBI training sessions are coming soon! Stay tuned to Leaderboard for more information. 

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You can also reach out to us at DAIMSUPPORT@scsk12.org if you need support.