Office of
Catholic Schools
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Giving Thanks For Summer
Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer!
Thank you for the warmth of the sun and the increased daylight.
Thank You for the beauty I see all around me and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation.
Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family, and for the more casual pace of the summer season.
Draw me closer to You this summer.
Teach me how I can pray no matter where I am or what I am doing.
Warm my soul with the awareness of Your presence and light my path with Your Word and Counsel.
As I enjoy Your creation, create in me a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.
- Author Unknown
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Next editions of the Office of Catholic Schools Newsletter:
June 18, 2021
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Look for topics in previous editions:
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Archive of Superintendent’s emails:
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June 8 PowerSchool User Group
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
June 15 WRISA Accreditation Workshop: Accreditation Basics 10:00-12:00
June 16 WRISA Accreditation Workshop/Self-Study 9:00 AM-11:30 AM
WRISA Accreditation Workshop/Team Visit/Action Plan 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
June 30 Meemic Foundation Grants due
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Conscious Discipline Conference |
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Conscious Discipline Conference is being offered at St. Ignatius Catholic School in Kaukauna. If you are interested in attending, please contact Nathan VandeHey, headmaster@stignatiuskaukauna.org The conference/training is June 14th and 15th all day. There is room for approximately 100 more participants.
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Continue to monitor your WCRIS email Current Events for the latest updates on EANS and other programs.
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Please remember to close your vacancies as you hire new faculty/staff. Contact Lisa Gruber if you have questions or need help.
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WRISA Accreditation Webinars |
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Dear Presidents, Superintendents, & Principals,
The Office of Catholic Schools will be hosting a number a webinars related to WRISA Accreditation. If you are new to WRISA Accreditation or just need a refresher, sign up via the registration buttons below. The webinars offered are:
• WRISA Accreditation Basics - June 15, 2021 from 10 AM to Noon
• WRISA Accreditation Self-Study Basics - June 16, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
• WRISA Accreditation Team Visit and Action Planning - June 16, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
If you cannot attend, but are interested in the content, please know that we will be recording these webinars.
Thank you for all that you have done to make this school year such a success!
Sincerely,
Todd A. Blahnik
Superintendent of Catholic Schools
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Remember your WRISA annual reports will be due in the Office of Catholic Schools by October 1, 2021. Summer is a good time to update your staff qualifications (including the number of professional development hours), your goals (including progress made), waivers and exceptions. If you complete these parts early you won't have much to do in the first month of school for this report!
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Catholic Charities mental health counseling staff are teaming up with GRACE to offer a series of one-hour discussions beginning next school year. We recognize the mental wellness challenges of our youth, their families, and educational staff are on the rise and we want to partner with you in finding solutions and strategies that may help ease this stress. The sessions will be aimed at conversations around mental health needs in our schools and will target school administrative staff, paraprofessionals, and school counselors.
The format would be 20-30 minutes on a specific topic led by a licensed mental health counselor, followed by 20-30 minutes of Q&A addressing specific needs and sharing with others on resources and solutions. To assist with planning, we are seeking your feedback on topics you’d like to address. Please complete the following questionnaire. It will take only a few minutes. Please contact Lori Paul with questions or if you’d like to look at having a session for your staff.
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Traumatic Event Crisis Intervention Workshop |
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CESA 6 is offering a crisis response training November 1 and 2. This is the model that Xavier uses as part of our membership in a local consortium of schools that help each other respond to situations like a death of a student/parent/teacher. Here is a link to that training. The cost is $295 per participant. This is a great opportunity to build a network of people to help one another.
This course will provide participants with knowledge, protocols and materials designed to facilitate
- competent, thorough and proactive pre-incident (traumatic event) preparation,
- subsequent day (after students and staff have returned to school) deployment of crisis response team members and management of the building response, and
- familiarity with a variety of intervention strategies and documents specifically designed to strengthen building response following a traumatic event.
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Article: The Remedy for Canceling and Division
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In the midst of media coverage on “woke”, “cancel culture”, and “critical race theory” the Cardinal Newman Society published a very reflective article referencing our Catholic worldview of truth, beauty and goodness. I believe it is worth keeping for future discussions with staff as well as a way to look at curriculum resources that reflect Catholic worldview.
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We have several teachers who have individual subscriptions to SeeSaw as well as some schools where the whole staff is using it. SeeSaw is a great tool for in classroom learning as well as when students are out. I met with our rep, Ellen Teel last week and she went over the usage. You will find in the slide deck some resources including a professional development opportunity to learn about using SeeSaw when students are doing center work and general classroom help. EANS funds will pay for a SeeSaw subscription and it can be extended for three years. SlideDeck Link.
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Elementary School Teachers |
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The Computer Science Talent Ecosystem Youth, in partnership with CESA 7, is paying the $500 registration cost through grants from Microsoft, The Nelson Family Foundation, The American Family Foundation, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Hence, making it FREE to the attendees. The trainings are being held at the NWTC Campus. The specific room number will be sent to the participants a week prior to the training.
Teachers will learn how to bring Computer Science principles into their classroom and begin to implement them this next school year. Did I mention it was FREE????
If you have any questions at all, please feel FREE to contact me!
Jeff
Jeffrey P. Dickert, Agency Administrator
Cooperative Educational Service Agency # 7
595 Baeten Rd.
Green Bay, WI 54304
920-617-5612
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Currently, we are in the process of evaluating several vendors for a possible change in our Student Information System (SIS). However, some schools have already chosen to use another provider. Please note that we will not give administrative access to PowerSchool to an outside source and that Becky is not available to support other platforms besides PowerSchool. If you have any questions, please contact Lori Paul. |
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Many of our schools have welcomed families from the public-school system over the course of this year. Please do not let them fall off the radar! Retaining these families, especially those who have yet to start, should be a priority. Here a few suggestions for retaining our newest families over the summer:
- Send them a welcome care package and/or a letter with a schedule of communications they will receive over the summer.
- Offer to pair them up with a host family.
- Mail welcome letters or start a pen pal program between new families and their classmates!
- Host informal playgroups or bike rides at parks.
So many of our public school transfer families have said how wonderful the school year has been. This is an opportunity to keep them in our school and bring them closer to a relationship with Christ.
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Courtesy of our friends at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, here are some brief tips to keep in mind over the summer.
- If you are looking to still increase enrollment, consider planning a couple summer events (such as a Welcome BBQ in early August) that will attract new families to enroll at your school.
- Make a list of community events happening over the summer, and have school visibility at these events (such as a school float in a holiday parade or a table at a local farmers market). When you are promoting your school in your community, make sure to collect parent information such as name, phone, email, and ages of children so you can follow up with them to tour your school. Collecting their contact information is so important to obtain leads that you can follow up with.
- Reach out to families that left your school in previous years and invite them back to attend your school in the fall.
- Consider having a joint school advisory board meeting with your pastoral council so your school and supporting parish/es can collaborate and partner together on initiatives.
- Before summer break, be sure that parents know when and how to reach the school office:
- Ensure there is a staffing plan in place for summer office hours/enrollment
- Post summer office hours on the school website
- Set an outgoing message on the main office phone regarding enrollment and availability of office staff. The message should include:
- Days/times that office staff are available
- Basic enrollment information: who to contact about enrollment and days/times for help with Choice paperwork
- Days/times staff are available for tours
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Online Calendar Opens June 7
Dates: First Come, First Serve Basis
Confirmation Masses for Fall 2021/Spring 2022 will be celebrated in-person with Bishop Ricken. Mass dates will be scheduled online, starting Monday, June 7th. Use the link to read the letter of instructions, see the available dates and the Vicariate plan of which parishes will be joined together for each Confirmation Mass.
Further information or answers to your questions/concerns may be obtained by contacting Tania LeFevre, Executive Assistant to the Bishop.
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CESA 6 Needs Information from Your School |
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On Wednesday, May 26, 2021, around noon all schools that were accepted into the WI EANS Program were sent an email with the following subject: Anne Kirk sent you "4 XXXX-School Name". The email originated from PandaDoc.
This is a legitimate request as they will need this information to set your school up as a vendor and process reimbursements associated with the WI EANS Program. PandaDoc is SOC 2 Type II certified platform so you can rest assured your data is transmitted using secure protocols.
If you have any questions or need assistance with the ACH Authorization Form or W9 Form please reach out to eans@cesa6.org.
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Final allocations and allowable expenses are now available on the DPI website.
As required in Federal law, allocations are based primarily upon school-level enrollment for 2019-20.
- Federal law also requires that states prioritize services or assistance to private schools that enroll low-income students and are most impacted by COVID-19. Wisconsin is committed to serving all schools in the EANS program and accordingly all accepted schools receive Federal funding. Here’s generally how allocations are determined: the base rate for a school is the total 2019-20 enrollment x $495;
- The amount increases 2x based upon the percentage of low-income students in the school (i.e., low-income students contribute 2 x $495 for the school).
- We set aside 20% of available EANS Funds to distribute to schools in regions most impacted by COVID-19. To determine the impact of COVID-19 on schools, we used data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to determine the average incidence rate of COVID-19 by district over the time period of October 2020-May 2021. If that rate met or exceeded the state average rate (8%) over the same time period, the school receives an additional contribution to its allocation. We equally distributed the set-aside (approximately $15.4 million) to schools that qualified, based again on total enrollment.
If there are specific items you think are missing, you may email EANS@cesa6.org.
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EANS program management now shifts more directly to CESA 6 |
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Now that allocations have been released and the direct service and reimbursement processes are open, you will likely hear more from CESA 6 and less from DPI regarding the EANS program. In particular, questions pertaining to direct services, or past or future reimbursements, should go to CESA 6.
CESA 6 did send an email earlier this week to let schools know that the email you received indicating that Anne Kirk was sending you a document via PandaDoc is a legitimate request to gather ACH and W-9 information so that CESA 6 may process reimbursement requests in a timely manner. The email was sent to the point of contact identified in your school’s EANS application. The request may be forwarded if you need someone else in your school to provide the required information.
As a reminder, CESA 6 has hosted a number of helpful webinars to provide information about the EANS program. If you haven’t been able to participate, recordings are available. You can also access the presentation slides if it would be easier for you just to scan through those.
We encourage EANS Program schools to bookmark the CESA 6 EANS webpage, as this will be an important starting point for all reimbursements and to access direct services from your CESA.
We hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please email EANS@cesa6.org.
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Father’s Day at the Shrine |
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Esto Vir will be holding a special Father’s Day at the Shrine in honor of the year of St. Joseph. Please pass this information onto your families.
The events of the day are free, including the speaker, so they are not requiring registration; however, if participants wish to purchase lunch on site, there is a fee of $5.00 per person and they can either pre-register and pay for the lunch at the above site where there will be an upcharge OR they can call us at 920-866-2571 to register to pay on site on the day of the event.
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The Green Bay Packers have an educational grant program. The Foundation will accept a maximum of one grant application from an eligible organization during each three-year cycle. If an organization addresses multiple focus areas, that organization must choose one year to submit a grant application in the three-year cycle. Grant applications are accepted online May 1 to July 1 each year and must be submitted with a project/program that addresses one of that year's specific focus areas. For 2021 the focus is on education, arts and culture and athletics. See complete details at:
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All students can take advantage of a special promotion to attend Lifest - $10 off a one day ticket! Order online at www.lifest.com or call 800-955-5433 and use code DIOCESE21.
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For schools that are going to be new to Superkids and any of our schools that are already using this resource, there will be PD training August 17 and 18 at St. Nicholas School in Freedom. The schedule is as follows:
August 17: 8:30-11:30 Kindergarten
12:30-3:30 First Grade
August 18 8:30-11:30 Second Grade
12:30-2:00 Administrators
Virtual Phonemic Awareness (K-2)
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On Monday, August 23, 2021 there will be a Diocesan wide administrator in-service. The topic of this in-service will be the re-launch of our Foundational Catechetical Certification (FCC) program.
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The Diocesan Celebrate Catholic Schools Mass will be held November 3. The tentative location is Assumption Blessed Mary Virgin Parish in Pulaski. Details will be outlined at a later date.
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There will be a Discipleship Seminar for all parish staff, school principals and system presidents on Thursday, October 21, 2021 at the new Resch Complex.
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Parish Life Line:
Wednesday Mornings @ 9:30; via Zoom
Parish Life Line: June 16
Summer Schedule: Once monthly
Looking for some creative ministry ideas? Hoping to re-connect with colleagues and parishioners? The Parish Life Line is a forum where connections are made and best practices are shared. Gather virtually with parish leaders throughout the diocese on June 16, from 9:30 to 10:30am to pray together, network, and share creative ideas.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2021
9am-3pm
No Fee (incl. breakfast, lunch)
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Thursday, August 12, 2021
9am-3pm
No Fee (incl. breakfast & lunch)
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At These Workshops:
- Inspirational presentations by two dynamic presenters
- Teacher-written and tested supplemental resources
- Catered breakfast, lunch and opportunities for collaboration, prayer and reflection
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Offer from Newsela
Newsela is launching a new program. In order to help alleviate some of the stress of this crazy year, we’re offering “Bridge Pilots” through the end of the school year.
A “Bridge Pilot” will give a district full access to Newsela ELA, Social Studies, Science, and SEL along with asynchronous PD sessions through June 30th. This is an opportunity for your teachers and curriculum team to dive into Newsela resources to see if it will be a good fit going forward into the 21-22 school year. You'll need to activate the offer this month (March) so that we can be up and running coming back from Spring Break.
Mark Gallo wants to make sure that you’ll have the best experience possible with this Bridge Pilot and have built in two guardrails:
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District Form - Mark put together a few questions around your district (school) goals and what you would be looking for from Newsela. This will help frame our…
- Solution Map/Path to Partnership meeting - We’ll schedule a short meeting to discuss rollout and make sure your teachers have everything they need to be successful with Newsela. We’ll also create a basic timeline with check in calls throughout the course of the year
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
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Curriculum review and connections: |
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Please fill out the form in order that as schools/systems are looking at reviewing curriculum resources, they might be able to collaborate with other schools/systems. You could also use this resource to connect with other schools using different resources at which you might be looking.
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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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