October is National School Principals Month
Every October, National Principals Month shines a spotlight on the importance of school principals within our educational system. School Principals have immense responsibilities in instructional leadership, safety and security, management and operations, finance, student well-being, staff hiring, supervision, and evaluation, parent engagement, implementation of policy, communications....the list can often feel endless. A day in the life of a principal often begins before dawn and concludes late after evening events. They must balance the needs of all stakeholders (community, parents, teachers, coaches, staff, students) while holding true to our mission and focus on student learning. It takes heart, resilience, and a laser-focus on doing what is best for students to stay in and also see success in the role of a principal. I hope you will take a moment to pause to thank our dedicated principals we have here in Mendon-Upton.
Looking for ideas? Here are some recommended ways tocelebrate your principal from NASSP and NAESP. Thanks for a FantAstic PD Day last friday!
Last Friday educators across the district had a chance to CONNECT and COLLABORATE with each other in workshops that ranged from providing feedback on PBL units, to participating in data inquiry, to sharing ideas for goal-writing for IEPs, to analyzing student writing together, and much more. Many thanks to those who planned and organized and made our afternoon nice including Kim Lowther and Dianne Mucci! If you have not yet, we'd love your feedback, so click on the appropriate link here: Nipmuc PD feedback, Miscoe PD feedback, Elementary PD feedback, District department PD feedback
Student SEL and Well-Being Surveys
Like we have done in each of the last several years, we will be collecting student SEL self-reports through Panorama. The SEL survey window is opening soon for our students. Students will access the survey via the Panorama link in Clever. When prompted, students will enter their 4-digit student ID number to access their survey. The survey is estimated to take between 14 -16 minutes. Based on previous survey implementation, Grade 3 students may need additional support to read and comprehend the questions.
Although we did not complete the survey for students in grades K-2 last year, we will be doing so this year. Because the K - 2 SEL survey is completed by the classroom teacher, teachers will have a bit more time to get to know their students and complete the survey on their behalf. A link to your survey will be emailed to you by Panorama in the next week or two. It may be helpful to review the survey and even ask parents for their input at conferences. K-2 teachers do not need to complete all students' surveys in one sitting but must click submit at the end of each student's survey for the data to be logged. Survey dates and logistics will be communicated to you within the next week. New educator Workshop #2 at 3:45 today
Andrea Rutkowski and I are looking forward to seeing all educators in their first year in MURSD this afternoon at the Miscoe Hill Staff room. The focus of today's workshop will be on family engagement. We'll be joined by Denise McGovern one of our amazing EL teachers to share some strategies for connecting with families. Let Andrea or I know if you have any questions.
--Cheryl Learning Walks for Educators in Year 2
This week will be the first in a series of Learning Walks organized for our educators in their second year in MURSD with our partner districts, Ashland and Milford. These professional learning days provide educators with a chance to visit classrooms and discuss how to apply what they see with their colleagues. This week Ashland will host, next week Milford will host and on October 24th, MURSD will host. If you would be willing to open your classroom up to visitors on October 24th, please let Kim Lowther know ([email protected]). Observing teaching is some of the best professional learning and an amazing gift to give by opening your classroom!
Cybersecurity Awareness Month
"Phishing" is the most common type of cyber attack that affects organizations like ours. Phishing attacks can take many forms, but they all share a common goal – getting you to share sensitive information such as login credentials, credit card information, or bank account details.
Although we maintain controls to help protect our networks and computers from cyber threats, we rely on you to be our first line of defense. We’ve outlined a few different types of phishing attacks to watch out for:
COVID and FLU Clinic
MURSD will be hosting a COVID-19 and flu vaccine clinic for staff, students and families on October 23rd, from 2:30pm-5:30pm. Click here for details and a QR code for pre-registration (required). Click here for FAQs regarding both vaccines. annual trainings
Many of you have already completed the district annual trainings. Well done! For those who have not yet, this is a reminder that we have asked everyone to complete them this month. Most of you can complete them by passing short quizzes for each module. For those who are new to MURSD, it will take a bit longer, so don't delay. Here is a link to the Vector Solutions login page. Here is a link to instructions on the Annual (mandated) Training website.
Professional Learning Workshops
Promoting Resilience and Positive Outcomes for LGBTQ and Gender Expansive Students
October 11, 2023 11AM – 1230PM No Cost This presentation will highlight policies, best practices, and resources for supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students and families, with a focus on transgender students. As some students are socially transitioning their gender as early as preschool, this session will feature the experiences of students, parents, and educators who have successfully navigated this terrain. By the end of the session, participants will: -Be able to articulate and use correct LGBTQ terms and definitions; -Understand the experiences of LGBTQ students and families; -Have reviewed ESE policy guidance as it related to students, families, and staff; -Be aware of the factors that promote resilience and positive outcomes for LGBTQ students; -Recognize and respond to bias-based bullying and harassment: -Formulate next steps for creating a gender-inclusive school community. Presenters: Landon Callahan and Jeff Perrotti, Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ Students, MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education REGISTER HERE
Supporting English Learners Professional Development
What School Leaders Need to Know About English Learners: A Book Study (Re-licensure credits) December 11, January 8, February 12, and March 11 4:00PM – 6:00PM $175/person Facilitators: Lisa Alonzo and Kristin Strapko, SEEM Educational Collaborative This 15-hour professional development course (which fulfills the 15 hours ESL Relicensure requirements) is designed for school district administrators. This book explores the crucial role in creating a culture of high expectations and an environment of support so that English learners can succeed. This book equips school leaders with effective, research-based strategies and best practices to not only improve outcomes for English learners, but to create rich multicultural and multilingual school environments which benefit all students. It also includes a Professional Development Guide and a rich array of “Grab and Go” online resources. The structure of this course is 15 hours of synchronous and asynchronous tasks including chapter-based questions, discussion prompts, and an action plan. Participants will attend four Zoom sessions (2 hours each). For the final product, participants will evaluate their district’s capacity for supporting English Learners, make recommendations, and create an action plan for moving forward. The text book is available for purchase in both electronic and hard copy. https://bookstore.tesol.org/what-school-leaders-need-to-know-about-english-learners-products-9781942799849.php REGISTER HERE
Collecting and Using Mental Health, Social Emotional and Behavioral Data - 5 session webinar series.
Participants will engage in an in depth overview of the data collection systems and practices. This series will focus on supporting proactive identification of students’ needs, progress monitoring and more advanced measurement based care practices, and program and system development and evaluation. Participants will learn to implement universal mental health screening using a continuous quality improvement approach. Additionally, methods for conducting progress monitoring and embedding this practice into the delivery of evidence-based therapeutic services will be reviewed. Systems level topics will also be addressed, including conducting needs assessments and resource mapping and using the associated data to inform action planning. To register click here: REGISTER and log into MPY (see September To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must attend all 5 sessions and successfully pass a quiz following Session 5. Following the live webinar, registrants will be emailed a link to view the recorded webinar. The recording will be made available for 7 days after each session. SESSION 1: Needs Assessment and Resource Mapping Data to Support System Design - 10/23/23 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Participants will learn how to collect and use needs assessment and resource mapping data to support development of a comprehensive school mental health system (CSMHS). This session will also discuss the use of data to generate action plans and assess staff readiness to implement evidence based practices. SESSION 2: Universal Mental Health Screening - 11/06/23 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the major components of universal mental health screening, including how to pilot implementation on a small scale using and engaging in iterative cycles of testing to ensure safe and effective implementation. Participants will leave with access to a comprehensive guide to implementing universal screening, including effective tools and resources. SESSION 3:Using Data to Monitor Student Progress and Design Counseling Interventions - 11/20/23 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm This session will focus on the use of social emotional and mental health data to measure student growth relative to counseling interventions. Participants will gain knowledge and skill to effectively collect progress monitoring data and use this data to measure student growth and inform adjustments to practice. Participants will leave with specific tools and processes to support implementation. SESSION 4: Designing Measurable Goals and Service Delivery for Students with and without IEPs - 12/04/23 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm This session focuses on designing counseling goals and service delivery that incorporate quantitative progress monitoring approaches. Participants will enhance their knowledge of ways to draft and design both general and special education counseling goals, benchmarks, and service delivery that will support delivery of evidence-based therapeutic services. SESSION 5: Using Aggregated Data, Fidelity Data and Improving Counseling Practice with Data - 12/18/23 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Participants will gain an understanding of how data can be used to support program evaluation and system design and assessment. Collection and use of aggregated psychosocial data will be discussed throughout the session. Fidelity measurement and use of data to improve counseling practice will also be discussed. WIDA Professional Development
WIDA professional development provides great information and strategies to support multilingual learners in Massachusetts public schools, and WIDA PDPs satisfy educator licensure renewal requirements. These DESE Sponsored courses are available at no cost to participants and are perfect for teams of teachers seeking impactful collaboration to support students' access to rigorous course content.
WIDA Self-Paced workshops can be accessed directly by Massachusetts educators with a WIDA Secure Portal account. Facilitated WIDA workshops are prioritized for high needs districts. Registration for all other MA educators will be available 3–4 weeks before each workshop begins. There are also WIDA facilitated webinars. Here's an upcoming one: Scaffolding Learning through Language Will encourage educators to consider a dynamic set of classroom practices that support multilingual learners as they move toward increasing independence and expertise in grade-level content. Participants will explore how rigorous, well-sequenced curriculum within the context of meaningful, shared experiences contribute to rich classroom interactions that mediate learning. Time Commitment: Three 90 minute webinars, all of which run 3:30-5:00 11/1/2023 11/8/2023 11/15/2023 A WIDA Secure Portal account is needed to access all WIDA workshops. An account can be obtained by a district WIDA account coordinator, whoc in MURSD is Debby Coyle ([email protected]). Please take advantage of these great opportunties, and know they satisfy licensure renewal requirements, something that many of you ask for. You Inspire Me NominationsLaughter is the best medicine
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