TD&E Information; Title I Presentation Template; Email Signatures; BlackBoard Connect; Opening Week Schedule; Nutrition Services; Kindergarten Programming Transition; Discovery Club is Hiring; PAR Session; PLCs for Pre-K; Upcoming PD
August 14, 2019
The Principal's Playbook is a collaboration between the Office of Leadership Development 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.
Departments should not directly email principals and must submit items to the Playbook at spps.org/principalsplaybook by following these guidelines:
Provide quick, key points in less than 200 words.
Provide links to additional information or documents if needed.
Limit attachments and use links to Google Docs when possible.
Apply directly to principals/school leaders (other staff information should be submitted to The Bridge).
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 Administrator Handbook.
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.
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 TD&E cycle information for the 2019-20 school year.
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.
Administrators planning their school’s Title I Annual Meeting should customize the updated Title I Annual Meeting Presentation to share with stakeholders.
As a reminder, all Title I schools must hold an annual meeting before the end of November.
All staff should incorporate the official SPPS email signatures into their Office 365 email settings.
This will help provide consistent branding when communicating with colleagues, families and partners. Instructions are available on the School Marketing Toolkit.
Please note: The SPPS logo changed in January 2019. Please ensure your email signature is similar to the one below.
Your preferred pronoun is optional.
Training for Blackboard Connect
Blackboard Connect is the district's system for communicating with families through automated phone calls, email and text messages. You may review the guidelines for use at spps.org/toolkit under "Blackboard Connect".
Please designate two staff members to be your school's Blackboard Connect managers. If they are not familiar with the system, two training sessions are available. Users will not receive access to Blackboard Connect until they complete training.
For assistance sending a phone, text or email message to your families or staff, contact shawn.hogendorf@spps.org at 651-744-5660.
GOOD TO KNOW
Opening Week Schedule
Please see this document with information regarding professional development during Opening Week and key SPPS Achieves professional development.
Note: This also includes information about prioritized professional development (pages 3-5) and a summary of professional development for the year (page 6).
All of this information will be posted on the Office of Teaching and Learning's professional development webpage: https://www.spps.org/Domain/14393
If you have issues accessing this information please reach out to Leanne Crowley at leanne.crowley@spps.org or 651-767-8139.
Nutrition Services Moves to SchoolCafe
Saint Paul Public Schools has launched a new service called SchoolCafe for lunch payments, free and reduced-price meal applications, menus and allergen information.
View menus including ingredients, nutrition and allergen information (replaces NutriSlice)
Complete the Application for Educational Benefits/Free or Reduced-Price Meal Benefits
Things to note:
Funds in previous PayPams accounts have been transferred to SchoolCafe.
Parents will need their student's IDs to add a student to an account. Student IDs are the same as the PIN numbers that students enter on the keypad in the cafeteria.
Please share the flyers below for step-by-step instructions on how families can create a SchoolCafe account.
For questions or additional support, please contact Nutrition Services at
ns@spps.org or 651-603-4950 or Lynn Broberg, Assistant Director of Nutrition Services at
Lynn.Broberg@spps.org or 651-523-6325.
Kindergarten Programming Moves to Office of Teaching and Learning
Programming for Discovering Our World kindergarten classrooms will transition from the Office of Early Learning to the Office of Teaching and Learning.
Discovery Club is looking for teaching assistants (TAs), educational assistants (EAs), teachers and other school staff who are interested in adding an hour or two onto their workday by working for Discovery Club after school.
Discovery Club is especially interested in hiring staff who work at schools that are released at 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.
Hiring additional staff helps reduce waitlists so families in our community can get the childcare they need. Please help us recruit by including this message in your next staff email.
Peer Assistance and Review (PAR)
All tenure-track teachers receiving Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) support this school year are required to attend an introductory session during Opening Week.
Districtwide Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for all Pre-Kindergarten Teachers
The Office of Early Learning will be hosting districtwide Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in the 2019-20 school year. All Pre-K teachers are expected to participate in the PLCs. Teachers will sign up for their PLC at the Aug. 28 Pre-K kick-off meeting. Further information can be found in the document, Pre-Kindergarten PLC Offerings.
NOTE: Children's House teachers are not included in the districtwide PLC's.
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.