Principal's Playbook - September 11, 2019

September 11, 2019

MONTHLY CHECKLIST

Click on the link below for a list of important tasks for school leaders that affect students and families, budgeting, communications, professional development, building operations and more. All checklists can be found in the 2019-20 Administrator Handbook.

September To-Do List

ACTION ITEMS

Monitoring and Verifying Enrollment Counts for School Year 2019-20

Student enrollment counts as of Friday, Sept. 20 will be the basis for current enrollment and fall adjustments.

It is the responsibility of school staff to maintain accurate student enrollment records. Please use this timeline to guide the process of cleaning and verifying enrollment counts.

Bus Safety Videos

Please show these five videos about school bus safety with your students.

Please also share this 1-pager on bus safety with your students.

If you have questions, please contact thomas.saunders@spps.org.

Reminder: Teacher Development & Evaluation

Timeline for 2019-20 School Year

The Teacher Development & Evaluation (TD&E) Oversight Committee suggests this timeline for implementing TD&E components. It is highly recommended that administrators work with their leadership team and Saint Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) steward(s) to determine the specific schedule for their school/department. A timeline specific for your school/department should be communicated to staff and shared with Amy Steele ( amy.steele@spps.org ) before September 30 .

Reminder: Teacher Development & Evaluation

Summative Evaluations for 2019-20 School Year

Each year, administrators must review the list of summative evaluations in PeopleSoft and conduct each one by its due date. Administrators who have direct reports connected to them in PeopleSoft can export a list of TD&E tenured Summative Evaluations that need to be completed for a specific school year (please see directions here) . The column 'Next Revw' in PeopleSoft reports the next summative review date. Please review T D&E cycle information for the 2019-20 school year.

Questions about TD&E can be directed to amy.steele@spps.org.

Reminder: Teacher Development & Evaluation

Administrators New to Their Role Must Complete a Schoology Course

Administrators new to their role are expected to complete TD&E training through Schoology. The purpose of this course is to provide information and resources regarding TD&E in Saint Paul Public Schools. This course is self-paced and is estimated to take three hours. The course should be completed by Sept. 20.

Schoology access code: 29BRZ-WZTNB

Resource on how to join a Schoology c ourse.

Questions about TD&E can be directed to amy.steele@spps.org.

Designate Staff for Teaching Digital Citizenship

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) regulations require that all students receive a minimum of three lessons on digital citizenship, online safety and privacy, and cyberbullying every year.

Principals will designate and notify teachers/staff responsible for teaching digital citizenship CIPA lessons by September 30 and throughout the year for newly enrolled students. More information on process, lessons, and recording is available here.

GOOD TO KNOW

New Materials in the School Marketing Toolkit

New templates are now available in the School Marketing Toolkit including:

1 newsletter template
3 flyer templates (including a celebration invitation)

School Marketing Toolkit

Send a Tip Through the MySPPS App

On Thursday, families and staff will receive the Happening Now email newsletter with information about the "Send a Tip" feature in the MySPPS app and spps.org/safety.

This feature allows users to send an anonymous tip without fear of embarrassment or retaliation.

Learn more here.

Download this flyer to promote the feature at your school.

Materials Distribution Requests

As a reminder, agencies or organizations requesting to distribute flyers and other publications must have permission for distribution from the Office of Family Engagement and Community Partnerships .

If approved, the organization will be provided an email approval letter that should accompany any materials delivered to schools. The approval process for partners is from Sept.16 – May 15.

For more information on the approval process and requirements, visit spps.org/flyers .

ACCESS 2.0 Student Reports

ACCESS 2.0 student reports will be delivered to the ACCESS coordinator in your school during the week of Sept. 23. These reports will be distributed to parents by the English Learner (EL) teachers during the fall parent/teacher conferences.

Please contact your Multilingual Learning (MLL) Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) if you have questions.

Office of School Support

School Attendance Matters (SAM) Fall Attendance Kick-Off Meetings

The School Attendance Matters (SAM) team will be hosting fall attendance kick-off meetings. Please make efforts to ensure at least one member of your school's attendance team attends.

Elementary Meeting:

Mon., Sept. 16

8:30 - 11:30 a.m.

360 Colborne, Rooms J & K

Secondary Meeting:

Fri., Sept. 20

8:30 - 11:30 a.m.

360 Colborne, Rooms A & B

Clever Portal for Teachers and Students

This fall, all students and teachers have access to the Clever portal. Clever is a way to streamline the login experience for educational accounts and resources.

Students and teachers will log in to Clever with their Active Directory account. This single sign-on will log you in to other apps connected to Clever and eliminates the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords. For more information about Clever, click here .

For questions, contact nick.kurtz@spps.org .

Seesaw Account and Login Information for

K-2 Teachers

Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers and elementary specialists have a new, simpler way to sign in to Seesaw this fall. Staff can sign in using their employee Active Directory information using the Clever portal. For detailed login instructions, click here .

When adding co-teachers, staff should use the @stpaul.k12.mn.us email address, NOT @spps.org. All building principals will have administrator access to Seesaw and will be able to access their accounts using Clever by Sept. 6.

Benefits of the new Seesaw login method include:

Automatic class rostering and updating: Class lists update from Campus each night - similar to Schoology.
District Activity Library: This space is for the Office of Teaching and Learning staff to post resources and materials for all schools to access. School staff should not post materials to the district library. Materials may be removed if posted to this location.

If you have questions or difficulty logging in to your Seesaw account, please submit a Service Desk Ticket using the ‘Seesaw’ category.

For questions, contact nick.kurtz@spps.org .

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

New Leaders Meeting

Mon., Sept. 16

4 - 5:30 p.m.

360 Colborne, Rooms J/K

Audience: 1st-year principals and 1st-year assistant principals

Leadership Academy

Wed., Sept. 18

8 - 11 a.m.

360 Colborne, Rooms A/B

Audience: Principals and Division of Academics leaders

Wed., Sept. 18

1 - 4 p.m.

360 Colborne, Room A

Audience: Assistant Principals - Cohort A

Wed., Sept. 25

8 a.m. - 12 p.m. (Your calendar invite says until 11 a.m.; most likely this meeting will be extended to 12 p.m.)

Location: 360 Colborne, D/E/F

Audience: Principals and Division of Academics leaders

Wed., Sept. 25

1 - 4 p.m.

360 Colborne, Rooms D/E/F

Audience: Assistant Principals - Cohort B

IMPORTANT DATES

Important holidays, no school days, special religious days and family engagement events are available online at spps.org/calendar.

Sept. 29-Oct. 1 - Rosh Hashanah

Jewish New Year and holy days. Days of renewed responsibility. The first of the High Holy Days marked by solemn religious observance.

Sept. 29 - First Day of Navaratri

A nine-day Hindu festival to the glorification of the Hindu mother of goddess Shakti.

Oct. 8-9 - Yom Kippur

Jewish Day of Atonement. Begins at sunset, Oct. 8 and ends at sunset, Oct. 9. Devoted to prayer, fasting and repentance.

Oct. 13-20 - Sukkot

Feast of Tabernacles, Jewish festival of thanksgiving, harvest and the remembrance of the Jews who wandered in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Begins at sunset, Oct. 13 and ends at sunset, Oct. 20.

Oct. 14 - Indigenous Peoples Day

A City of Saint Paul resolution that honors Native American culture.

Oct. 17-18 - No School (PreK-12)

Teacher professional development - statewide teacher meeting.

Oct. 20-21 - Shemini Atzeret

Begins at sunset, Oct. 20 and ends at sunset Oct. 21. Closing day of the Jewish festival Sukkot. A day of prayer.

Oct. 21-22 - Simchat Torah

Begins at sunset, Oct. 21 and ends at the sunset, Oct. 22. Jewish holiday. Reading of the law (Torah) is concluded and begun anew in the synagogue.

Oct. 25 - No School (PreK-5 / PreK-8 schools)

Conference preparation.

The Principal's Playbook is a collaboration between the Office of Leadership and the Office of Communications. The Playbook is the main source for communicating with principals. This weekly newsletter includes department action items, professional development opportunities and other updates that directly affect principals and other school leaders. Each Playbook also includes communications and marketing content to help schools communicate with their families.

Jada Wollenzien

Program Manager, Leadership Development

Office: 651-744-5074

jada.wollenzien@spps.org

Pepe Barton

Communications Consultant

Office: 651-744-5660

pepe.barton@spps.org