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Charter School Institute
Main Line: 303-866-3299
Fax Line: 303-866-2530
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Dear School Leaders,
For better or worse, spring breaks are over so I hope you were able to enjoy some time off in order to gear up for these last couple months of the school year. As I think of what April brings us in school life (besides April showers), my thoughts turn to administering assessments and surveys, applying for grants, anticipation about attrition of staff and students, avoiding apathy and agitation, and living with a high level of ambiguity as we look towards the next school year. How's that for a little alliteration for the month of April?
Here at CSI we have been incredibly busy with the legislative process. As you heard about the CSI mill levy equalization fund, we were successful with the Joint Budget Committee a few weeks ago which was an amazing feat that was due to the power of many people working together on behalf of CSI. The Long Bill passed through the House last week with the CSI MLO dollars included, so it's now on to the Senate. We still have some more gates to get through, but our resolve and commitment for funding equity for our schools is unwavering.
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Rest assured that we'll keep you updated on our legislative efforts and we'll share specific funding amounts with you as soon as we have them. Keep
your fingers crossed that our legislators will do the right thing.
Two weeks ago
we held Senate Confirmation Hearings for three CSI board members, and their confirmations were approved by the entire Senate.
It was wonderful to see many CSI schools and students visit the Capitol on the League's Advocacy Day. Also, New Legacy brought students down to the Capitol last week which was coincidentally on the same day as the confirmation hearings. Many thanks to all of you for helping to keep CSI and charters front and center for our legislators.
I also want to thank you for the great attendance and participation at last month's All School Leaders Meeting, Board to Board Training, and the League Conference. It was wonderful to see all of you and your engagement in these activities is truly appreciated.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Terry
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4/2:
- Perkins: Voucher 2 deadline
4/3:
- SpEd Discipline Training available
4/5:
- Industry-Recognized Credential Initial Template due
4/9:
- CSI Board Committee Meetings
4/9-4/27:
4/10:
4/10-4/12:
- PSAT 9th & 10th Grade testing dates
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4/11-4/20:
4/17:
4/20:
- Industry-Recognized Credential Error Clearance deadline
4/24:
4/26:
- Industry-Recognized Credential Signed Certification due
5/1, 5/2, 5/4:
- Regional Meetings and Board Trainings
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Evaluation and Assessment
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CMAS Testing Windows
- April 9th-27th: Paper-based testing, all subjects
- April 9th-27th: CMAS Elementary and Middle School Science/Social Studies (computer and paper-based)
- Between March 26th and April 27th, depending on school assessment calendar: CMAS High School Science
ALL CMAS materials due to CSI offices by April 30
th
!
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Colorado Springs WIDA Screener/ELL Training
When:
May 8
th
Time: 8:30am-3:30pm
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Denver Metro UIP Training
When: May 9
th
Where: Englewood, CO
Time: 9:00am-3:30pm
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Western Slope WIDA Screener/ELL Training
When: May 11
th
Where: Eagle, CO
Time: 8:30am-3:30pm
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Denver Metro WIDA Screener/ELL Training
When: May 16
th
Where: Denver, CO
Time: 8:30am-3:30pm
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May 18
th
: READ file due to CSI (Filezilla upload)
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Earlier in March we had Senate Confirmation Hearings for three of CSI's Board members, namely Eric Lerum and Kristi Pollard who were being confirmed for their first term and Liz Aybar Conti who was being confirmed for her second term. These three board members spoke intelligently and passionately about why they serve on the CSI Board. Their confirmations were approved by the Senate Education Committee and approved by the entire Senate last week. Only one Senator voted against the appointments, Senator Merrifield, which he does every year because he does not believe CSI is constitutional. He definitely won't be convinced otherwise. This proves that we can't be complacent about the need for our advocacy.
On March 20, 2018, CSI held its monthly Board Meeting at the Daniels Fund in Denver. The CSI board heard from Bill Kottenstette from CDE regarding the CSP grant application. The Board was also given updates on the CSI Unified Improvement Plans (UIPs). Action items the CSI Board approved included multiple contract and bylaw amendments as well as two assistance fund applications.
Visit the
CSI BoardDocs page for up-to-date school policy and procedures and to view prior CSI Board Meeting Minutes.
The next CSI Board meeting will be held on Tuesday,
April 17, 2018 at 10:00am at the Daniels Fund - 101 Monroe St., Denver, CO.
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Welcome to the CSI Family, Lylah Jean Marks!
We are excited to announce that CSI Director of Evaluation and Assessment, Ryan Marks, and his wife Christina, welcomed a healthy baby girl on March 2nd. Lylah and family are doing well!
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Check out Chalkbeat's article on the mill levy
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CSI Graduations
It's almost graduation season! Please share your graduation information with us as CSI staff would like to attend as many ceremonies as possible.
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Register Today!
CSI Spring Regional Meetings & Board Trainings
Focus Area:
Data Submissions, Reporting, & Finance
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Denver
Tuesday, May 1
st
Crown Pointe Charter Academy
2900 W. 86th Ave.
Westminster, CO 80031
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Colorado Springs
Wednesday, May 2
nd
Pikes Peak Prep
525 E. Costilla St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
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Western Slope
Friday, May 4
th
Caprock Academy
714 1/2 Rd.
Grand Junction, CO 81505
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Professional Development Outside of CSI
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Workshop: Accessing Higher Education for Highly Mobile Students
When:
dates vary between April 4
th
-30
th
Time:
9:00am-3:00pm
Where:
locations vary
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Best, First Instruction Summer Institute
When
: June 4
th
-6
th
, 2018
Grant Application Deadline
: April 6
th
Where
: Embassy Suites, 4705 Clydesdale Pkwy, Loveland, CO 80538
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Title I, II, &III ESEA CDE Meetings
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Summer English Language Development Professional Learning Opportunity
Space is limited so sign up early to reserve your spot!
A WiDA-facilitated professional learning opportunity for content and classroom teachers will be held June 18
th
and 19
th
in Loveland. Participants must attend both days of this "
Scaffolding Learning through Language
" workshop to receive full CDE certificate hours.
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Professional Development Opportunities
For professional development opportunities concerning twice-exceptional (2e) students, check out CDE's
2e webpage
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Keep up to date with school highlights and more by liking
CSI's Facebook page
and sharing your highlights with us!
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Data Submissions Boot Camp - Feedback Requested
The CSI Data Submissions Team is considering offering an in-person training opportunity this fall to data submissions contacts and school registration staff and would like to gauge school interest in attending one or more of the proposed half-day sessions. Please
click here to learn more about the proposed Data Submissions Boot Camp, review a draft agenda, and share your level of interest in attending some or all of the sessions. We look forward to your feedback.
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Four-Day School Week Requests for SY2018-2019
Schools interested in operating on a four-day school week (less than 160 days per school year) are required to submit a formal request to CSI for approval. Requests should include: day of the week not in session, number of student-teacher contact days, number of scheduled hours (for elementary and for secondary), date the 18-19 school calendar was adopted by your board, and a rationale for this request.
Please submit these requests to
Julie Eddy
no later than Tuesday, April 24, 2018.
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Funding/Award Opportunities
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Grant Reminder
Once again we are in the midst of grant application season. To ensure that all of our schools are able to submit complete and high quality applications, please ensure the following when applying for competitive grants.
- CSI notification: Schools are required to notify Marcie Jackson of their intent to apply for a grant as soon as they are aware of their plans to apply.
- Application deadlines: CSI's application deadlines are always earlier than CDE's. The additional time is required in order to review applications and secure all CSI required signatures. Please be sure to submit your applications to Marcie Jackson by the CSI deadline included in the CSI grant notification emails.
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Impact Aid Update
We have been informed by our federal Impact Aid contract that
we need to identify about 10 more federally connected students (and specifically those with active duty or reserve parents/guardians) enrolled at CSI schools on 10/2
in order to be eligible for impact aid funding. We have been informed that we are able to amend our application over the next several months should additional surveys come in, which is our opportunity to meet the eligibility threshold. In terms of how you can help, please consider each of the following requests if they apply to your school:
- School-wide Survey: For those who may not have sent the survey out to all families at the school in the fall, please consider doing so now. As part of CSI's review process, we'll pull out any students that weren't enrolled as of October 2nd.
- Targeted Outreach to Families: If you are aware of families with military connections or families who have identified themselves as military connected (as identified in your SIS), please consider asking whether they'll complete the survey.
Thank you for your continued support in this effort!
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Universal Screening Grant 2018-2019
CDE has released the application for next year's Gifted Universal Screening Grant. Administrative units (districts, BOCES and CSI) are eligible for the grant, so CSI will apply on behalf of all elementary and middle schools by the April 16
th
deadline. Schools are not allowed to apply for this grant directly. In early April, CSI will conduct our own internal grant application process to determine allocations for any funds awarded by CDE.
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For further information regarding these funding opportunities, contact
Marcie Jackson
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Transportation Updates and Resources
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Participate in the 2018-19 ASCENT Program
Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment
(ASCENT) is a fifth-year high school program that allows students to participate in concurrent enrollment the year after the 12
th grade. Interested schools should:
- Review the CDE webinar recording,
- Complete the CDE Intent to Participate Form by May 1st, and
- Inform Kim Caplan at CSI
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Colorado's Menu of College and Career-Ready Demonstrations
The State Board of Education approved three updates to Colorado’s Menu of College and Career-Ready Demonstrations for Graduation Guidelines. As a reminder, all graduation guidelines take effect for the graduating class of 2021.
- ACCUPLACER - The Sentence Skills subtest is now an option for demonstration of career and college readiness in English. Students can achieve a qualifying score in Reading Comprehension (minimum score - 62) or in Sentence Skills (minimum score - 70).
- ACT Compass- Because ACT has eliminated this test, this option is no longer available to students or part of the college and career-ready demonstrations menu.
- SAT- Scores have been updated to align with College Board’s revisions to and norming of the new SAT test in 2016. New qualifying subscores apply in both English (minimum score - 470) and Math (minimum score - 500).
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Charter School Institute
1580 Logan Street Suite 210
Denver, Colorado 80203
303-866-3299
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