Office of
Catholic Schools
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Halleluia! May the glory of Your Resurrection be loved, embraced and proclaimed until the end of time and forever more! Lord, I offer You profound thanksgiving that I may join in the celebration of Your Resurrection! I thank You for loving me so much that I have been invited to participate in the new life won by You.
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Next editions of the Office of Catholic Schools Newsletter:
May 7 & 21, 2021
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Look for topics in previous editions:
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Archive of Superintendent’s emails:
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April 28 New Teachers/Methods B Faith Integration 3:30-4:30 (Virtual)
April 30 Spring MAP Testing Window Closes
May 3 New School Administrators Workshop 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
May 11 PowerSchool User Group 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
May 19 New Teachers/Methods B Faith Integration 3:30-4:30 (Virtual)
May 31 Memorial Day (HOLIDAY) Diocesan offices closed
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021
9am-3pm
No Fee (incl. breakfast, lunch)
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Thursday, August 12, 2021
9am-3pm
No Fee (incl. breakfast & lunch)
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At These Workshops:
- Inspirational presentations by two dynamic presenters
- Teacher-written and tested supplemental resources
- Catered breakfast, lunch and opportunities for collaboration, prayer and reflection
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Retiring Teachers and Administrators |
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Please fill out the form if you have teachers (and principals) who are retiring. The form requires home address and number of years of service to our schools.
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On behalf of the Office of Catholic Schools we will be providing funds for your school to use to purchase treats for your team. If your school has 100 students or less we will reimburse you up to $50. If your school has 101 students or more, we will reimburse you up to $100. All you need to do is purchase the treats and send the invoice or receipt showing the item and amount to Lori Paul. All reimbursements must be submitted by May 7th in order to make sure we process them before the end of the year. |
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All principals will be required to attend a Diocese wide event at the KI Center on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. The event will run all day. Please make appropriate arrangements for support and coverage at your school. Further information will be provided.
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Social Distancing Closes to 3 Feet |
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The CDC has updated their social distancing guidelines for schools by reducing the long-standing 6 feet to 3 feet. This change comes after scientists have found the damage of remote, isolated learning outweighs the potential risk of COVID exposure, paving the way for school re-opening. You’ll now need less space to house your students. Masks are still required. |
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IMPORTANT BUSING INFORMATION |
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Annually, by May 15, each private school must notify each school board in its attendance area of the name, grade level, and address of each private school student eligible to receive transportation benefits from the district, and who is planning on attending the private school for the ensuing school year.
A public school board can extend the May 15 deadline. However, do not rely on this possibility.
If you have students whose enrollment you are unsure of before the May 15 deadline, but know they will be eligible for busing and need it if they attend your school, include them on your list.
To ensure that students who enroll after the May 15 deadline receive transportation, you should add the following information after the last name on the list: Any student who applies for admission on or after May 15, 2021.
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You well know the struggles with keeping students safe and the unexpected costs that COVID has created, alongside the federal EANS funds dangling like a carrot before a starved rabbit. That’s why WCRIS is appealing to the state legislature for help in addressing this morass.
Please e-mail your school’s COVID story to the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee at the e-mail below. The JFC is taking comments about the impending state budget and how to deploy federal funds flooding the state. Your message should:
1. Tell your school’s story about EANS — Explain what you need and why you can’t get it, despite the (insert dollar amount) in EANS money allotted to your school.
2. Note that Federal Emergency Aid to Nonpublic Schools (EANS) provides $77.4 million that is largely useless to solve real problems because of restrictions set by Congress, the courts, and US Department of Education.
3. Ask state legislators to fix the problem by replacing the federal funds with state tax dollars that are less restrictive. Just like they did in 2017 with the school safety grants that provided doors, locks and alarms. It was a model program that received high marks from the Legislative Audit Bureau.
4. Make it clear: Nonpublic schools are NOT asking for more money. We are just asking the state to substitute EANS funds for state tax dollars that are more useable. We are seeking equity for the 10 percent of students who attend our schools, many of whom hail from low-income, minority communities whose vouchers enabled them to get in-person education during the pandemic.
5. Inform the JFC that if EANS is unused, it reverts to the Governor for public schools who are already getting hundreds of millions of dollars. It also means unused EANS money will be available to offset the state’s tax dollars in the state’s finances if they do as we ask.
Send your e-mail to this JFC-dedicated email address for input only:
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At a EANS meeting this week, some of the conversations were on allowable uses and curricular material. In the coming weeks more guidance will be available. Curriculum materials are allowable under the 12 allowable uses. However, CESA 6 is still working on the vendor list. Please feel free to reach out to the vendors with whom you work to encourage them to get on the list. Continue to monitor your Current Events from WCRIS and the EANS website for more information.
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Ahrens Educational Resources |
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Ahrens Educational Resources is a CESA partner and has created the following documents with curricular materials in which you may be interested especially in the area of literacy. If you are working on updating or adding to a “book room” there are several resources available. Resources Resources Overview
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Curriculum Resources
Health and Theology of the Body
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At this time of the year, we have requests and conversations about talk to children about their bodies. The Diocese of Green Bay www.gbresources.org has compiled some great resources to use with your parents and students in which the focus is on how God created us. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or need anything additional. The vendor www.ruahwoods.org has some great resources for Theology of the Body across the grade levels.
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April is Child Abuse Prevention Month |
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This is a good time to revisit lessons from the Safe Environment Curriculum provided by the Diocese of Green Bay and VIRTUS. It is also a good time to remind your teachers to read their bulletins.
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PRIVATE SCHOOLS LEAD THE WAY |
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The first analysis of COVID-19 related K-12 virtual learning in Wisconsin was released this week by the non-partisan, non-profit Wisconsin Policy Forum. Here are some highlights:
“Public versus Private Schools. We looked at which schools had regular in-person instruction – defined as schools where students were typically either all or almost all attending in person with fewer than 10% choosing a virtual learning option if one was available. In December 2020, at least three out of every five private schools had students in every grade (kindergarten through 12th grade) receiving regular in-person instruction. Conversely, that was only the case in about 35% to 45% of public schools…”
“Private school instruction was also less likely to shift to a virtual setting as COVID cases rose. The percentage of public schools with 12th graders regularly attending class in person declined from 48.3% in September to 35.8% in December – a 13 percentage point drop; private schools sent their 12th grade classes to school buildings at a rate of 63.2% in September and 60.5% in December, a drop of just 3 percentage points.”
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Letter from Father Luke Regarding Equity Act |
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As you may be aware, the US House recently passed a bill titled H.R.5 or “The Equality Act.” The purpose of the bill is to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes. Bishop is encouraging the faithful in the diocese to educate themselves on the bill. We have provided talking points (click here) in the event you or anyone on your staff gets questions. This document is for internal use, please feel free to share it with your staff.
If you have further questions, feel free to contact Peter Weiss at 920-272-8321 or pweiss@gbdioc.org.
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Green Bay Youth Conference
Registration, Promo Materials NOW AVAILABLE!
June 5, 2021 | Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help
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Registration Deadline: May 17, 2021. After May 17th, registrations will be limited. Please email mcabey@gbdioc.org or ckowalski@gbdioc.org for any questions! Payments are due one week prior to the event.
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Parish Life Line:
Wednesday Mornings @ 9:30; via Zoom
April 21: "A Parish on Mission: Most Blessed Sacrament, Oshkosh"
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Office of Safe Environment Survey |
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It is once again time for the Annual Safe Environment Survey for all parishes and schools. Your designated LoSEC will receive the Annual Safe Environment Survey link April 16, 2021. I am asking you to please ensure your LoSEC gathers the proper data and completes the survey online by Friday, May 14, 2021. We are asking that you, as School Principal/Administrator, sign the Survey acknowledging that you have reviewed the information provided and the data is accurate to the best of your knowledge. As in the past, we are also requiring each school to send in an accompanying spreadsheet that lists the names of the employees and volunteers reflected in the survey data.
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Every year each school must file a Form 5578 – Certification of Racial Nondiscrimination with the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by the appropriate May 15th. The form and instructions on how to complete can be found here. Please make sure your business office is aware of this filing.
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The MAP window for spring is April 12-April 30
Apologies for the confusion dates may have caused. Our test window is April 12-April 30. The window will stay open through the first week of May for make up tests.
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Any student graduating from a Wisconsin high school takes a civics test comprised of 100 questions that are identical to the 100 questions that may be asked of an individual during the process of applying for U.S. citizenship by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the student must correctly answer at least 65 of those questions. For 2020 graduates the requirement was waived. However it has been reinstated for 2021 graduates. Here is the link with all the information and test and answer key. https://dpi.wi.gov/social-studies/laws/civics
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School Choice Provides Training Videos |
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Open enrollment season can be both exciting and exhausting, in order to support your efforts we have put together a couple of tutorials on how to complete the Wisconsin parental choice programs application.
Filling out the choice program application can be an intimidating process for some parents. We have created a tutorial video that guides a parent from screen to screen on how to fill out the application. This tutorial doesn't intend to replace personal assistance but to serve as a tool to simplify the process.
School Choice Wisconsin has both the English and Spanish version of the tutorials, please feel free to use at your convenience. You can find the videos HERE. Some other resources for the open enrollment period HERE.
If you have any questions, comments or requests please contact Tammy Olivas 414.319.9160
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Upcoming School
Choice Dates
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April 23 - PSCP
Early May - PSCP
- WISEdata Spring Demographics Snapshot: All schools must complete 2021-22 Assessment Demographic student data reporting in WISEdata. Correctly report the English Language Proficiency, Race Ethnicity, and student economic status. • Log in to view WISEdata Validation messages (check these regularly).
May 1 - PSCP
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Deadline for continuing schools that selected the surety bond option in a previous school year to Page 11 of 13 provide a surety bond equal to 25% of the schools expected 2021-22 PSCP payments if the school has not yet been notified by the DPI that it is longer required to provide the surety bond (see Training 3-5: Surety Bond and New School Budget & Cash Flow Report).
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Masking Update and Medical Exemption Reminder |
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Dear Presidents, Superintendents, and Principals,
As a general reminder Emergency Order #1:Relating to Stopping the Spread of a New Highly Contagious Variant of COVID-19 by Requiring Face Coverings, is still in effect until March 20, 2021. Presently, all of our sixteen counties are at a high level according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services data.
Once the mask mandate is lifted, the Office of Catholic School is requiring the continued use of masks in the Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Green Bay, until such time as the county in which your school resides is at a moderate level as determined by the Case Count (Burden) reported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Service. Once that level has been maintained for 4 consecutive weeks, there will be new directives for the schools and masking.
Until the new directives are issued, please keep in mind the following:
- Post signs on your entry doors noting that "a mask is required to enter."
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In your current communication like a weekly newsletter, remind parents that "to promote public and employee health, you can't enter many stores without shoes, shirt and a mask. The same is true for "INSERT YOUR SCHOOL NAME."
- Have a supply of disposable masks at the entry doors, so people without a mask can get one. You may have to have a monitor stationed at the entry, offering free masks to visitors, and inviting people who won't take a mask to leave and get one of their own -- if they don't like the ones the school is offering.
- If a student, staff or visitor has a health reason for not wearing a mask, have a plan of accommodation in place, such as:
- having a portable physical clear divider that can be placed at any desk/table for the non-masked person to have a meeting, observe a class or event, etc.;
- having a "drop-off" bin where items can be left at the school by a non-masking person and then delivered within the school by a masked volunteer/staff;
- allowing adults with no mask to volunteer outdoors
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Todd or Lori.
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Offer from Newsela
Newsela is launching a new program. In order to help alleviate some of the stress of this crazy year, we’re offering “Bridge Pilots” through the end of the school year.
A “Bridge Pilot” will give a district full access to Newsela ELA, Social Studies, Science, and SEL along with asynchronous PD sessions through June 30th. This is an opportunity for your teachers and curriculum team to dive into Newsela resources to see if it will be a good fit going forward into the 21-22 school year. You'll need to activate the offer this month (March) so that we can be up and running coming back from Spring Break.
Mark Gallo wants to make sure that you’ll have the best experience possible with this Bridge Pilot and have built in two guardrails:
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District Form - Mark put together a few questions around your district (school) goals and what you would be looking for from Newsela. This will help frame our…
- Solution Map/Path to Partnership meeting - We’ll schedule a short meeting to discuss rollout and make sure your teachers have everything they need to be successful with Newsela. We’ll also create a basic timeline with check in calls throughout the course of the year
Go to Next Vista for Learning https://www.nextvista.org for great ideas. See student videos demonstrating their learning and webinars. Developed by a Catholic school educator.
As part of the CARES Act, the DPI is offering free access to webinars, resources and networking for teachers to learn how they can support their students in a virtual classroom.
You can learn more about the program and what resources are available here.
CARES Act free professional learning through DPI and CESA 7
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Curriculum review and connections: |
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Please fill out the form in order that as schools/systems are looking at reviewing curriculum resources, they might be able to collaborate with other schools/systems. You could also use this resource to connect with other schools using different resources at which you might be looking.
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2021-22 Contract Information |
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On the teacher contract this year the main change is on line item 14 the additional sentence, “Administration will determine how instruction will be taught, whether virtually or in person, due to illness, school closure, snow days or any other type of emergency that may require the school to close.”
When looking at the total informational packet, you will see that the Diocesan Code of Personal and Ethical Conduct for Employees is taken from the Parish/School Employee Handbook of August 2019.
Contract forms, directions, and information are found on the diocesan school Google site ( http://bit.ly/3bftdSp), under "Governance and Leadership" then “Administrators” heading.
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Please pass this link for MAP Resources to your teachers. There is a lot of information available to them for using the data to drive instruction and do goal setting with students.
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Office of Catholic Schools Weekly COVID-19 Data Report |
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Here is the link to the report.
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NCEA Newlsetter Link
Click on icon below to read the latest issue of Catholic School Matters Newsletter from NCEA and Dr. Tim Uhl.
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Office of Catholic Schools
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