Office of
Catholic Schools
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Prayer for Black History Month
Spirit of Abundance, God of Grace, Mother of Hope,
We pause now to remember those stories that are all around us,
But so often passed over,
Those stories that when told are shared because
Of what someone is, not who they are.
This month in our nation's character
Is Black History month.
Help us to realize that Black history is
All our histories.
Bless us with your grace to know
We are most human when we see the humanity in others.
- Author Unknown
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Next editions of the Office of Catholic Schools Newsletter:
February 19 , 2021
March 5 & 19, 2021
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Look for topics in previous editions:
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Archive of Superintendent’s emails:
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Feb. 8 New School Administrators Workshop-virtual
Feb. 9 PowerSchool User Group 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Feb. 17 Ash Wednesday
Feb. 24 New Teachers/Methods B Faith Integration 3:30-4:30 (Virtual)
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SuperKids overview - February 9, 3:30 We have several schools successfully using SuperKids for their PK-2 grade students. Please join teachers to see how SuperKids might enhance your young students learning how to read and write. Flyer
Newsela overview - February 11, 1:30 Several of our teachers are using Newsela. Learn more about it.
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that publishes articles daily at five reading levels of complexity and is recommended for grades 3-12. Newsela partners with premier daily news sources and eminent nonfiction and fiction publishers to bring content to teachers of all subject areas. Newsela focuses on providing leveled content that is engaging, relevant, and culturally responsive. The tools in Newsela include annotations, embedded quizzes and writing prompts, data tracking, and more that will be helpful for this year and beyond.
Our meeting on 2/11 will explore Newsela's product suite, which includes Newsela ELA, Newsela Social Studies, Newsela Science, and Newsela Social Emotional Learning. For more information on each product, please click the embedded links. Here's the zoom link for the meeting at 1:30:
EWITC Happy Hour
February 11, 7:00 Join educators from around Northeast Wisconsin for casual, informal conversation.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 847 2386 7738
Passcode: 1234
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,84723867738#,,,,*1234# US (Chicago)
Lenten Resources
Black History Month
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
Library Media Specialists
The DLMA will meet virtually for a “check in” and conversation on Thursday, February 25 at 4:00.
Jane Schueller is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting
Topic: DLMA
Time: Feb 25, 2021 04:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 872 1397 6919
Passcode: 1234
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,87213976919#,,,,*1234# US (Chicago)
Article:
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Upcoming Virtual Conferences for Catholic educators |
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Forefront21 - March 4-6. Forefront 2021 is a virtual event created specifically for Catholic education with a focus on innovation and sustainability in an unpredictable future. For more information visit www.bit.ly/forefront21
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Wisconsin Education Recruitment Fair |
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The annual Wisconsin Education Recruitment Fair (WERF) is scheduled for Tuesday, March 23, 2021 from 3:00pm-7:00pm. Due to the current health crisis in the US, WERF will only be virtual in 2021 using the Handshake platform. This platform offers video one-on-one sessions and group sessions with students and alumni.
WERF will provide you with an opportunity to speak with teacher and administrator candidates from Wisconsin’s 33 public and private universities.
School system registration is now open and is accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
To register & reserve your virtual space at WERF, click HERE. If your school district is not yet on the Handshake platform, your organization will need to register.
Registration request fees are $100 per school district, which includes the participation of 20+ representatives (offering 1:1 sessions) and the ability to offer up to 12 group sessions.
If you have questions, please contact Career Services at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay at 920-465-2163 or peacockl@uwgb.edu
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Parish Life Line: February Topics
Wednesday Mornings @ 9:30; via Zoom
Tentative topics for February are:
- February 3: Jonathan Blevins, "Gaming & Evangelization"
- February 10: Elisa Tremblay & Dr. Jim Healy, "Healthy Relationships"
- February 17: Fr. Jim Neilson, Ash Wednesday Lenten Retreat
- February 24: Sr. Anne Marie Lom, OSF, "The Art of Spiritual Companioning"
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WRISA Executive Director Search |
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The Wisconsin Religious and Independent Schools Accreditation (WRISA) is a statewide accrediting association, organized as a non-stock/not-for-profit corporation, which accredits religious and independent schools across the state of Wisconsin. The Board of Directors is currently seeking an Executive Director with administration experience and who has an understanding of and experience with K-12 school accreditation. The Executive Director is the face of WRISA, works closely with the WRISA Board of Directors, and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization, ensuring that it is operating efficiently and effectively. The Board of Directors places a high priority on the Executive Director being aligned with the Vision, Mission and Core Values of WRISA and must be evidenced through consistent communication, transparency, and collaboration. The Board of Directors is searching for an Executive Director who is committed to supporting the strategic objectives and leading the WRISA organization into the future through positive leadership. |
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Training on the State’s New Threat Reporting System |
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You may not have noticed amid all the COVIDrama, but Wisconsin has a new threat reporting system where anyone (the public, teachers, students, relatives, etc.) can alert authorities to potential school violence or mayhem. It’s active and ready for use. To help school staff understand the new system, the Department of Justice Office of School Safety is hosting a “train the trainer” webinar on the new reporting system.
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Take this opportunity to register for the FREE virtual 6th Annual 2021 WISEdata Conference! This is a great way to understand what information is being required by DPI in regards to Choice students.
Where should you go to get the most up-to-date information regarding the conference? Right on the 2021 WISEdata Conference web page. Want to see what sessions are being offered prior to completing the registration process? Review the Agenda at a Glance to review the date, time, titles, presenter information, and a comprehensive description of each session.
For the Department of Public Instruction’s Customer Services team’s first time hosting a virtual conference, we will use Microsoft Teams to host sessions throughout the conference. Each session has set capacity limits. If you do not see a session that was of interest to you in the agenda as a selection option during registration, that is because the capacity limit has been reached. How can you avoid this? REGISTER early to ensure you are present and have the opportunity to interact with our presenters and support staff to get the information and clarifications you seek. We will also post all slide decks and recordings on our conference webpage.
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Question: Can a private school spend the money for items allowed under ESSER (the first Coronavirus federal aid package) and then get reimbursed for expenses from the district later?
Answer: No, ESSER funds have a public control of funds provision which prohibits public school districts from directly reimbursing private schools. Additionally, by law, private schools are not allowed to obligate (or spend) federal funds.
While there are school districts that are currently reimbursing private schools, this is not allowed under federal law. Even if your district is currently reimbursing you, the time will come when an auditor or new staffer realizes the district is violating the law and the practice will cease. When that happens, you may be left with an unreimbursed bill on your desk, for which there is no recourse. Your school will be stuck paying it or fighting for the district to keep its reimbursement promises (if that happens, you’d better have perfect documentation). Several WCRIS schools and principals (using their own funds) have encountered this. Spare yourself these unpleasant surprises by following correct practices now.
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Rural Life DRAWING OR ESSAY CONTEST DUE Feb. 12 |
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For students in Grades 1-8, create a picture or write an essay (200 words or less) on the topic: How do farmers and rural communities support their neighbors during a pandemic?
Include your name, address, grade and school/parish on the back of your 8.5 x 11 in. drawing or essay.
One entry per person. Please submit your drawing or essay by Feb. 12, 2021.
Send all entries to:
Peter Weiss
Catholic Charities & Living Justice Mission Team
1825 Riverside Dr.
P.O. Box 23825
Green Bay, WI 54305-3825
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Join other schools in learning how to create a targeted fundraising campaign. We will be joined by representatives from OSV who specialize in creating campaigns that help target new donors and build a comprehensive program for your school. They understand the importance of the parish and school working together. The call will be Friday, February 12th from 10-11. Please click here to register and the link for the call will be sent to you.
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Camp Tekakwitha is accepting applications for Summer Camp |
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Registration for Camp Tekakwitha is accepting registrations for Summer Camp. Please encourage your families to go to the Camp Tekakwitha website to register. camptekakwitha.org
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Center for Resilient Schools |
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The Wisconsin Center for Resilient Schools is a new statewide coaching center designed to help school and/or district teams bring comprehensive school-based mental health and trauma sensitive, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) to full scale implementation. This free resource is available to schools and districts in Wisconsin including private, charter, tribal and state schools.
If you have a school or district team working on comprehensive and systemic school-based mental health and/or SEL this center can help you to:
- Strengthen and align systems that support comprehensive school-based mental health and trauma sensitive social and emotional learning in order to promote academic success of each student
- Engage with data, resources and tools to create a sustainable plan to reach your desired outcomes
- Develop strategies for stakeholder engagement
- Explicitly position and communicate about trauma sensitive SEL as a lever for equity
Beginning on January 20, 2021, schools and district teams that are interested in coaching services can complete the service request form found here.
Check out the full press release here.
Please note that this center provides coaching for teams who are ready to fully implement School-Based Mental Health (SBMH) and trauma sensitive SEL. This is not a training opportunity. If you are just beginning to consider school-based mental health, social and emotional learning or trauma-sensitive schools, please see the resources from the Department of Public Instruction using the hyperlinks provided.
Thanks,
Chanell Crawford
Director, Parental Education Options
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Phone: 608-266-5880
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Automatically Re-enroll Your Students for 2021-2022 |
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Several of our schools are changing the way they re-enroll students for the 2021-2022 school year. Instead of sending enrollment packets to parents and waiting for the families to return everything, parents are instead being informed that their children have been automatically enrolled for the next school year. If parents do not plan on attending, they are required to notify the school. This is a huge opportunity to retain your students without having to chase everyone. For more information or assistance in drafting a letter for families, please contact Lori.
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Recommended Registration Information |
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As you prepare to begin registering students for the 2021-22 school year, DPI is asking schools to include some optional but recommended data elements to collect as part of your registration process. Some of these are new data elements, while others are a reminder of existing data elements that can be helpful in reporting for equity and educational outcomes. If you are able, we recommend that you add these questions to your parent portal or online registration forms.
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Digital Equity. Collecting data about students’ access to broadband internet and learning devices at home is vital to help target initiatives to increase broadband access for families statewide.
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Ancestry/Ethnic Origins and Tribal Affiliation. These new data collections are optional for both Choice and public schools to collect and report. This data is valuable for improving educational outcomes for small groups of students who otherwise would not be distinguishable in the aggregated data used for federal reporting. Including this information with registration can help provide families and students with more choices when identifying their racial or ethnic background, as well as help DPI to better understand the diversity of our students and families.
- DPI will use this information to report on the educational progress of groups of students, but never individual students.
-Tribal affiliation is also used to target grant funding.
These optional but recommended fields will be part of Powerschool in an upcoming release.
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8th Grade Diploma Ordering |
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If you need diplomas for your 8th grade students, you will need to order them from the Digicopy Portal. To access the portal and to order:
Enter your username and password - your username is your email and, if you have never used the Digicopy Portal, your password is 1234 and you will be prompted to change it. If you have difficulty logging in, please contact Sheryl Biersteker at biersteker@dcopy.net to have your password reset.
Click on the Blue Square labeled DIPLOMAS. Follow the directions while choosing the options you want.
If you chose the option to have the student name pre-printed on the diploma, you will be required to download and complete the diploma spreadsheet template.
When you check out you will be required to pay. If you do not have a school credit card, please contact DigiCopy to make payment arrangements.
Instructions are also included on the web page and all customer support information for DigiCopy is also included at the bottom of the web page.
If you have any questions or need assistance with ordering, please contact DigiCopy at greenbay@dcopy.net or 920-857-2208.
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Due to the uncertainty, disruptions and additional procedures and adjustments required by the current COVID pandemic we are waiving the ACRE requirement for 2021 for all parish religious education programs and all Catholic Schools. |
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Lent Invitation and Links |
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Catholic Relief Services offers some great virtual events, prayers and reflections (English and Spanish), even a downloadable virtual Rice bowl to make at home. |
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Sample Tuition Increase Letter |
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During the Financial Planning Webinar, we said that there would be a letter you could use as a template to inform your families of any tuition increases for the next school year. Please click here to download a WORD template.
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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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