Attention High School Leaders and Professional School Counselors:

Due to the recent inclement weather the PowerSchool registration portal is available to enroll students in Project Graduation for Part 1 (Semester 1) courses until January 24, 2024. Via remote enrollment in PowerSchool, Professional School Counselors can enroll students in Project Graduation for credit recovery or new coursework.  The PG in-person super sites are Craigmont HS, Hamilton HS, Kirby HS, and Southwind HS.  If you have questions or need additional information, please email scsprojectgraduation@scsk12.org.

• In-person training and onboarding for NEWLY appointed Digital Device and Digital Support Ambassadors will occur on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. This will be the final onboarding for DDAs and DSAs this school year. A calendar invite will be sent to all newly appointed DDAs/DSAs with information regarding the training location, date, and time.  
•  If you need to appoint a new Digital Device or Digital Support Ambassador due to a resignation or leave absence for your previous DDA or DSA, please CLICK HERE to complete the DDA/DSA Leave of Absence/Resignation Form. 

For questions, please email device_support@scsk12.org. 

Let's begin 2024 by continuing to successfully implement our Rethink curriculum and provide our students with the social emotional skills needed for success. Please preview the upcoming Rethink Scope and Sequence for the upcoming months. Be sure to pay close attention to the date for data collection each month: 

• Data for January Compliance Month will be collected Friday, January 26, 2024 EOD.
• Data for February Compliance Month will be collected Friday, February 23, 2024 EOD.

Attendance clericals are required to attend one of the upcoming attendance clean up sessions to ensure that our student data is accurate for district and state reporting purposes.  These sessions are crucial for identifying and correcting attendance errors, as well as reflecting changes in enrollment and scheduling.

Mark your calendars for:

• East High School: January 23rd -26th 9:00am to 2:00pm

Session Schedule:

• January 23rd: Zones 4, 5, 6
• January 24th: Zones 7, 8, 9, 10
• January 25th: Zones 11, 12, 13, 15
• January 26th: Zones 1, 2, 3 and Make-Up Sessions
• Attendance is mandatory to ensure integrity of our student data and reporting to the state. Please report to East High during your designated zone time or attend the open session on January 26th.

    *** Please make sure your attendance clerk brings the following items:

• Charged laptop.
• Sign-in/out forms
• Parent notes

• Save the date! The online School Choice transfer application will open on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, at 10:00 AM. Parents and guardians can access the application portal at www.scsk12.org.
• Apply online anytime and from anywhere using any device with an internet connection. 
• Current MSCS students: Please use your PowerSchool ID to apply.
• Students can apply for up to two General Choice options.

Get ready to show up and show out at the MSCS School Choice Showcase! 

Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Memphis Sports and Events Center, the annual Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) School Choice Showcase returns to illuminate the 901 community with the incredible opportunities available within our district.

This unique event provides a chance to explore the diverse academic pathways, engaging displays, and enriching extracurricular options waiting for students across our district. But wait, there's more! This year, we're thrilled to introduce the Student Entrepreneurship Fair, showcasing the innovative ideas and businesses of our future leaders.

• School administrators must ensure teachers record attendance daily and input grades in Power Teacher Pro. Do Not use paper forms.
• School office staff should process and reconcile daily attendance codes submitted by teachers.
• Each school should have an attendance administrator who can assist and verify the accuracy of attendance data.   
• Please contact Mildred Avery at 416-6007 with any questions.

• Please note that the district’s Centralized Withdrawal form will be closed when school is not in session. The upcoming dates are as follow: 
  • February 19th (President’s Day)
• Please contact Justin Doss at 416-6007 with any questions.

• Online registration will officially launch on Tuesday, March 19th for the 2024-25 school year.
• Enrollment, registration, and attendance training for school staff will be offered from January through March. These training sessions will equip staff with the knowledge and resources to effectively support students and families during the registration process.

Enrollment, Registration, and Centralized Withdrawal Process

Course #: 34911

Location: TTC - 3772 Jackson

Registration is open! Please sign up in PLZ.

• Please note that completing online registration is mandatory for all students seeking enrollment in Memphis Shelby County Schools for the 2024-25 school year.
• Failure to register during the designated period will result in students not being considered enrolled for the upcoming academic year.
• Please contact Mildred Avery at 416-6007 with any questions.

Principals, 

This is a friendly reminder that the Physical Activity Compliance Report will be emailed to you from Heather Piergies. She is the Physical Activity Manager of Healthy Schools at the Tennessee Department of Education. The reporting period will start February 1 and will remain open through March 1. You will be reporting data on the integration of required Physical Activity into the instructional school day and the minimum elementary physical education instruction as they relate to TCA 49-6-1021.

Your timely reporting of your school-level data is appreciated, as it will also support the Coordinated School Health reporting process.

If you have any questions, please contact Sudie Cushman, Manager Coordinated School Health at cushmanss@scsk12.org or 901-416-6707.

Per Board Policy #6047 (School Fees and Debts), report cards, diplomas and transcripts of students who take MSCS property or who have incurred a debt to a school, shall be withheld until the student makes restitution in full. Holds should be placed on report cards, diplomas and transcripts requested by the parent or student until the device is returned or payment for the device has been satisfied.

• Please communicate to all staff with access to PowerSchool that removing a record hold prior to a fine being satisfied is a violation of Board Policy #6046. Holds should not be removed until it has been verified that the fine has been satisfied.
• School-based clerical staff should connect with their school's Digital Device or Digital Support Ambassador for all 1:1 device related holds on student records. 
• If your school does not have a Digital Device or Digital Support Ambassador, please email device_support@scsk12.org for questions regarding fines and holds associated with 1:1 student devices. 

A review of OAG students should occur once per 9-weeks or a minimum of twice per school year. The School Administrator(s) may use an existing school team to conduct the review (e.g. RTI 2 Data Team, Leadership Team, PLC, etc.). Review the OAG Plan for additional details and utilize the Student Enrollment Dashboard, located in Power BI, to identify and track student’s academic status.  

For more information, contact your Counseling Services Manager or Chief Page.

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

New Releases:

The Master Scheduling process has begun! Our Advanced Course Scheduling dashboard is designed to assist with this. See this user guide for more information!
 

District 360 is now available! This is our new dashboard with District and State accountability metrics. Currently, Enrollment and Attendance are available with additional data domains available soon. See the user guides here.

We want your feedback on District 360! Take our feedback survey, linked here.
 

The Winter I-Ready window is open! Track your i-Ready participation rates for the Winter window using the i-Ready Participation Report. See the user guide here.

In RTI-A, track i-Ready screener progress with the Universal Screener, Characteristics of Dyslexia, and Written Expression reports. All the RTI-A report user guides are available here.
 

You can now filter to Economically Disadvantaged students in Student Data 360! In the Group Type filter, look for Economically Disadvantaged under Priority Groups. For more information on filtering, see the user guide here.

Student Surveys has updated Fall Insight Data in the Insight Survey Report! See the user guide here.

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Coming Soon:

• District 360: Discipline – Available January 22nd 
• Student Data 360: Student Grades - Q2 Grades Available Next Week

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Training and Support Resources:  

This week (January 23rd and 25th), Virtual Office Hours will be on the District 360 Dashboard – with emphasis on the Enrollment, Attendance, and Discipline pages.

• Jan 31 & Feb 1: Advanced Course Scheduling Dashboard
• Feb 6 & Feb 8: Advanced Course Scheduling Dashboard
   

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

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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.  

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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! 

The Spring Student Perception Survey window is February 26th - March 8th.
 

Site Coordinator Updates:  

• Change in Site Coordinator. Principals are asked to use this link to update and/or make changes to the Site Coordinator for the spring administration.
• Site Coordinator Training. Training for Site Coordinators will take place virtually on February 5th, February 8th, and February 13th.   All Site Coordinators should register for one of the sessions in PLZ. Course #35888

Should you have any questions, please reach out to the District lead, Courtney Skipper by

phone, 901.416.2475 or via email,  skipperc@scsk12.org. 

The Mid-Year Conference container is now open in PLZ! The DEADLINE to complete ALL NIE Mid-Year Conferences in PLZ is February 23rd. 
 

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:    

• ALL required fields should be completed in its entirety before finalizing.   
• The Goal Setting Conference should be completed within 30 days of an NIE employee’s hire/contract start date AND should be completed BEFORE completing the Mid-Year Conference in PLZ. 
• The Mid-Year Conference is NOT required for NIE Partial plans and will not appear as a container to complete. 

Need a refresher? The following resources are also found in PLZ under the Resources tab.  

• NIE Mid-Year Conference Tutorial 
• NIE Evaluator Step Guide 
• NIE Employee Step Guide 

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

NOTE:  THOSE DESIRING TO UPDATE THEIR OCTOBER CHOICE AND/OR DID NOT MAKE A PREVIOUS G&A SELECTION.  THIS IS NOT REQUIRED FOR ALL EDUCATORS.   

By January 12th, an additional growth and achievement container will be visible for educators in PLZ under the "My Evaluation" tab inside the Growth and Achievement tab entitled "Revised Growth and Achievement".  Any educator who desires to update their October selections or make a selection for SY2023-24 will be able to do so until January 31st.  

Be reminded both the educator and evaluator must sign off in the new container to indicate the desire for a change.

For additional questions contact EPS at eps@scsk12.org or 901.416.2475.

We are 2 weeks away from the School Choice Showcase! Click for here for flyers.

This year’s showcase will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2024, from 11:00am-2:00pm at the Memphis Sports Event Center (995 Early Maxwell Blvd.) The Showcase will feature ALL the great options and resources MSCS has to offer our 901 families.

This year we will feature a student entrepreneur fair. Please share the following flyers on your school website and encourage your students and families to attend the showcase and sign up and participate in the Student Entrepreneur Fair. Students interested in the student entrepreneurship fair can sign up HERE!! 

Students must have a business license to participate.​​ 

We are looking forward to an awesome event!  

The Department of Family & Community Engagement will host a two-generational college and career fair on Wednesday, January 25, 2024 at Kingsbury High School from 4p.m.-7p.m. The goal of this program is to inform families about college and career options and opportunities specific to students of diverse backgrounds.  
 

Information provided will include:   

• Public and private colleges & universities will provide information to students and families about the application, admissions process as well as special programs and support for first-generation and culturally diverse scholars and their families.   
• Representatives will be available to explain the FAFSA process as well. 
• Local organizations that offer employment opportunities to those desiring to enter the work force upon graduation will be present to share information about available pathway options. 

Our local higher education partners include the University of Memphis, Southwest Community College, Christian Brothers University, Rust College, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center and others.  The presentation will be offered in three languages:  English - Spanish – Arabic.