A replica of The Commercial Appeal- e-Appeal is now available for MSCS teachers and librarians to use with students in the classroom. The e-Appeal’s easy navigational tools allow teachers to move from article to article, page to page, and to print and e-mail articles. 

If you have any questions regarding e-Appeal, please contact Meryl Isabel, textbook manager via phone:  416-5870.

Directions for Registering for E-Appeal – October 2023

Please note the dates for October Leadership Development Week: 

• Tuesday, October 17: PLC Coaches
• Tuesday, October 17: DLAs (Evening Session)
• Wednesday, October 18: Principals
• Thursday, October 19: Vice Principals/ Assistant Principals
• Thursday, October 19: DLAs (Evening Session)
• Friday, October 20: Professional School Counselors

The Digital Citizenship course is now accessible to all K-12 students via Canvas, and is located on each student's Canvas Dashboard. 

Our district goal for Digital Citizenship course completion is 95% and the initial checkpoint is Friday, October 27, 2023. We kindly request your assistance in ensuring that students complete the course and acquire the necessary tools and skills to utilize technology in secure learning environments. You can monitor your school's progress via the Digital Citizenship Dashboard in PowerBI. 

Please contact Dr. Robert Davis, II at davisr6@scsk12.org  if you have any questions. 

We hope you are having a successful Rethink Implementation at your school! There were some changes to the October Scope and Sequences. Check it out to be sure you are in the know!

If you would like to sign up for the mobile mammogram, please see flyer with all the necessary information about the mobile service that will be at Gray's Creek on October 19th, provided we have at least 10 ladies who need the service. If you're interested, please register as soon as possible per the instructions on the flyer.

This is a great opportunity to take advantage of this mobile service and care for your health. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. If you're interested, please register as soon as possible per the instructions on the flyer.

This is a great opportunity to take advantage of this mobile service and care for your health. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns to Caroline Earnest at earnestc@scsk12.org

• Schools may submit General Choice Transfer (GCT) rescind requests for students who are non-compliant with grades, attendance, and behaviors. Rescissions will not be processed until the end of the current semester.
• Please notify parents before submitting a rescind request and wait for confirmation of approval before submitting a centralized withdrawal or notifying parents of a rescind to home school.

Note: All special education (SPED) and displaced students must be vetted according to IEPs standards and McKinney Vento Law.

• Please submit all rescind requests through the following link: S.E.E.D. Request to Rescind GCT

**All rescind dates are aligned with MSCS grading periods.

October is Adopt-A-School Month. MSCS and the Greater Memphis Chamber are issuing a CALL to ACTION to businesses to See the Future by becoming school adopters.  Here are a few tips you can use to gather ideas to celebrate in your school. 

Businesses have the opportunity to support schools, impact student learning and have meaningful volunteer opportunities. During this campaign, school leaders can engage in activities like inviting active and potential adopters to their schools and highlighting them on your school websites, social media pages, marquees, etc. Click here for more information.  

Adopt-A-School Recognition Luncheon Details: 

AAS Luncheon will be held Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at the Holiday Inn- University of Memphis. This program recognizes those adopters who have provided exceptional service to your school. 

Principals will: 

• Nominate one (1) adopter who is highly active and goes above and beyond. 
• Choose a category and briefly share why this adopter has been nominated. 
• The winner of Adopter-of-The Year will be revealed at the Adopt-A-School Recognition Luncheon. 
• The principal or administrator is required to attend. 

Please access the link to nominate one adopter by Wednesday, October 4, 2023. 

https://forms.office.com/r/MpFKiL6X3a 

New Releases:

• Instructional Practices is now updated and available!
  • See the user guide for more information!
     
• A new filter is available in Student Attendance! You can now filter by Days Absent, using the Filter Pane on the right side of the page. You can use this to easily identify students hitting a set number of absences for the year.
   
• Student Attendance Overview KPIs have been updated to include Chronic Absenteeism - High Risk! This metric allows schools to go ahead and identify students with attendance rates less than or equal to 90% regardless of how long they have been enrolled. You can also see this within the on-page Report Builder filters under Select a Metric.
  • See the user guide for more information about Attendance Overview and this guide for more context about the Chronic Absenteeism business rule changes!
     
• Student Enrollment: Enrollment Details Report now includes a new data table visuals with the ability to break down enrollment by student demographic, intervention, and priority groups!
  • See the user guide for more information!
     
• Student Enrollment: Projected Enrollment Report is now available! This report highlights comparisons between projected enrollments and current enrollment YTD.
  • See the user guide for more information!
     
• Ready Graduates has updated AP exam results from the 22-23 school year!
  • See the user guide for more information!
     
• Feeder Pattern now has updated graduation rates and Loss/Gain information!
  • See the user guide for more information!

-----------------------------

Coming Soon:

• Characteristics of Dyslexia business rule updates – aligned with DIG and state compliance.
• Quarter 1 Report Card Grades will be available October 26th.
• Tutoring Dashboard – 4th grade tracking; attendance and enrollment for all grades.
• Student Reports in both Student Enrollment and Student Assessments

-----------------------------

Training and Support Resources:  

Virtual Office Hours sessions this week (10/17 and 10/19) will be an Open Forum Q&A session. So, please bring any questions you have and we will be there to help.
 

Next week (10/24 and 10/26), we will talk about Student Grades. 
 

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

----------------------------

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

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

----------------------------

Power BI Access:

Principals can give school staff members access through the PowerBI Access App. For more information about how to use the app, see this user guide! 
----------------------------

Be a Power BI Power User!

Be on the lookout for our new campaign highlighting MSCS staff members who use Power BI the most.

Our Power Users will win the chance to be featured in a short video and on our Hall of Fame site.

-----------------------------
 

• Students can self-carry inhalers if the health care provider and the parent sign the plan
• Coaches should always be made aware of students with asthma as well as students who are self-carrying inhalers.
• Students with severe allergies who require the use of an epi-pen are to have a plan completed each year by a healthcare provider.
• Anyone who volunteers to administer the epi-pen is to be trained on how to use it and document this.
• Anyone who agrees to administer any medication is to be trained annually
• Each plan is to be renewed each school year

If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Exceptional Children & Health Services for additional assistance.

 Resources

• Severe Allergy and Asthma Infographic
• Severe Allergy and Anaphylaxis Plan
• Asthma Action Plan

Coming Soon!

It’s time to begin the Annual Physical Inventory of equipment at your site for the 2024 school year. Per the BOE Policy 3013, all sites are required to conduct an annual physical inventory.  You should be receiving more information very soon.  The Office of Asset Management is in the process of training all designated school users on the new Frontline-Hayes Asset Management System (F.A.M.S.) and how to perform their physical inventory audit, submit disposal request, check-out devices to staff, etc.  If you have any questions regarding the new system and/or the upcoming annual physical inventory, please call Asset Management at 901.416.2830 or via email at AssetManagement@scsk12.org. Thanks.

The window for completing Growth and Achievement selections for the SY 2023-24 is open from October 2-27.  Please find the guidance for EDUCATORS and EVALUATORS, which can also be found in PLZ under the "Resources" tab for completing the selections for Growth and Achievement. 

Any Questions? Reach out to the EPS office by phone,  at 901.416.2475 or via email at eps@scsk12.org. 

• The Fall Student Perception Survey is vastly approaching. The survey window will run from October  30 - November 9.
• Site Coordinator Training Dates:   All Site Coordinators should register for one of the virtual sessions in PLZ.  Course #32320. The training dates are October 5, October 16, and October 18. 

Informal Observations

The 23-24 Instructional Practice Classroom Walkthrough Tools are available here.  You can use this link (bit.ly/2324Walkthrough) to submit your walkthrough tool which will feed data to the Power BI on the Instructional Practice Dashboard.  Please download a PDF copy of your entry for your records.

Formal Observations

One Informal Observation must be completed in PLZ prior to completing the Formal TEM Observation. The step sheet on how to upload to PLZ the PDF from what you submitted in the Microsoft Form is linked here. 

If you have questions regarding the 23-24 Classroom Walkthrough Tools, the submission link for the walkthrough tool, or the PLZ step sheet please email professionallearning@scsk12.org.  For TEM questions, please contact eps@scsk12.org.

New TEAM Observers:

(Managed by the TDOE) - Click HERE for guidance on becoming TEAM Certified. 

*Be sure to select TRAINING FOR ADMINISTRATORS' certification!

Please forward a copy of the completed TEAM Certificate to eps@scsk12.org.

The TEM TEACHer Training Series is now open for ALL teachers. The focus of the series is to identify teacher and student actions that guide effective instruction at performance levels 3-5 of the TEACH indicators. Register in PLZ, course #26177.