A Message from Dr. Pam Wells

Th e health and well-being of each and every Region 4 team member is very important to me. If you have any needs due to the current stress of COVID-19, or for any other reason, please take advantage of the readily available resources for employees. There is a Region 4U Stress Management program that can be accessed any time by clicking here . In addition, you can access our Employee Assistance Program via the EAP App or the Employee Assistance Program website. As always, our Human Resources team members are available to assist you if you have questions.

On Friday, April 17, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that school facilities will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year. Although we will miss the face-to-face contact with our traditional districts and charter schools, we understand his decision will ultimately benefit our 1.2 million students and all Texans. As the school districts continue to provide remote learning for their students through the end of the school year, we will continue with our practice of work-from-home through, at least, Saturday, June 6, 2020, to support our schools and the over 99,000 educators through virtual learning sessions. Region 4 is very proud to be doing whatever it takes to make available professional development for teachers, administrators, and all school personnel. We will continue to provide updates on these sessions and how Region 4 team members are positively impacting instruction with our many professional development workshops and classes.

On behalf of the entire Region 4 team, I would like to take this time to extend special thanks to all of our support staff team members and wish each of you a Happy Support Staff Appreciation Day ! Each of you serves an important role whether you are secretaries, facilities staff, work in the print shop, Braille, or technology, and we could not be successful without you. Thank you for all the support you provide to the students and staff in our 48 school districts and 37 charter schools, as well as all that you do for the Region 4 team members. We appreciate you!

Staff SPOTLIGHT

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING Dr. Allegra McGrew, director of Publishing and Digital Learning Solutions (PDLS), and her department team have not let COVID-19 stand in the way of hosting more than a dozen online professional development sessions this month, and even more are slated for the coming weeks.

PDLS has now trained 616 teachers and staff members this month from over 60 districts and charter schools. They have over 1,200 registered participants for upcoming sessions this month, with requests for three more sessions. “We are hosting the sessions as a result of feedback that we received from district representatives in our Educational Technology Specialists and Educational Technology Leaders Networks,” said Dr. McGrew. The purpose of professional learning is to support districts as they work to achieve instructional continuity. As the use of online tools and resources has expanded due to COVID-19, it is critical that Region 4 supports teachers and staff as they provide instruction in the distance learning environment.

“The first week we provided two online sessions facilitated by Sherri Powell, educational specialist, Publishing and Digital Learning Solutions, and Monica Nahas, distance learning project specialist, Data Center and Network Solutions. They covered screen casting tools and virtual presentation tools,” explained Dr. McGrew. “Sherri created and facilitated an online session that drew over 200 attendees and another with 378.

"Our customers learn so much from our sessions, and I feel like Sherri and the team are a big reason why we have increased participation.” PDLS recently hosted sessions that were created internally and others that were collaboratively presented with our partner Microsoft Education. These sessions range from supporting participants as they use Google’s Remote Learning Features to using Microsoft Teams for Collaboration. In the coming weeks, PDLS will offer sessions to support the librarians in Region 4’s districts and charter schools thanks to information gathered through our Library Leaders Network. To showcase your team's work in this newsletter, contact solutions@esc4.net .

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Community Impact Survey has been designed to assist non-profit and philanthropic organizations better understand the economic and social impact of COVID-19. The Kinder Institute’s Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice University is conducting the analysis of this survey.  Click the link above to complete this survey. Feel free to distribute it to educators and parents. Region 4 understands that taking care of ourselves both physically and mentally during this time is more important than ever, especially since many of us are also caring for others. Being mindful and aware of our own levels of stress is one way to begin promoting positive well-being. To take advantage of the available social and emotional learning supports, visit the Region 4 Wellness page.

Family Food Resources Families in need of food are encouraged to visit HoustonFoodBank.org to see distribution sites for picking up food and meals from the City of Houston. Some distribution sites are open on Saturdays. To see the Houston Food Bank map, click here. To find distribution dates and times, open the map on the website and click the locator pin of a distribution site near you.

The Houston Food Bank also welcomes individuals and groups who wish to volunteer. There are a variety of volunteer opportunities available such as inspecting and sorting food, repackaging dry food into family-sized bags, stocking or cleaning the pantry, and many more! If you are interested in volunteering at the Houston Food Bank, click here.

Working Out Safely At Home

Engaging our muscles and joints every day helps us live a healthy life. Every step or jump puts us on the path toward a more active routine. Simple exercises such as sit-ups, lunges, and toe touches can be just as important as getting in a daily quota of steps. If you are working out at home, you should take steps to minimize injuries and get the most out of your routine. Read more from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to exercise safely, click here.

COVID-19 Resources 4 Schools Update

The Region 4 COVID-19 resources page is becoming a go-to source of information for fellow Texas education institutions and the nation. As of April 19, our COVID-19 main page received more than 17,136 page views, and an additional 59,592 views on the individual instructional resources page. This is more than a 27% increase for the web page and a 33% increase for the instruction page in just under two weeks. The website features resources dedicated to Instruction, Child Nutrition, Health and Wellness, and Business Operations. Many thanks to all Region 4 team members who continue to contribute to this timely and useful information!

REGION 4 COVID-19 WEB PAGE

Virtual Technical Assistance Just-in-time subject-area assistance from the following departments is available on the Region 4 COVID-19 page. Click the links below for details.