Office of
Catholic Schools
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Almighty and eternal God, who has granted to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit and has given us forgiveness all sins, be pleased to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear.
Amen.
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Next editions of the Office of Catholic Schools Newsletter:
June 4, 2021
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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May 31 Memorial Day (HOLIDAY) Diocesan offices closed
June 8 PowerSchool User Group 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
June 15 WRISA Accreditation Workshop: Accreditation Basics 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
June 16 WRISA Accreditation Workshop/Self-Study 9:00 AM-11:30 AM
WRISA Accreditation Workshop/Team Visit/Action Plan 1:00 PM-2:00 PM
June 30 Meemic Foundation Grants due
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Draft: Guidelines for 2021-22 School Year |
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Dear Presidents, Superintendents, & Principals,
The DASA Executive committee has met and put together the guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year. Thank you to Renee Cowart, Steve Thiele, Drew Mulloy, Dave Mikesell, Vickie Dassler and Mike Cattani for your help in preparing these guidelines. Please click on the link below to access the document. If you have questions or feedback, please contact Lori Paul.
On Tuesday, May 25th there will be a Diocese webinar to present changes to the parish policy as well as notifying the parishes of the new policies for the 2021-2022 school year. A formal press release will be sent out on May 26th to all media outlets. A copy of the press release (below) is also included for you to use in your community.
Sincerely,
Todd A. Blahnik
Superintendent of Catholic Schools
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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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BROADBAND AND INTERNET CONNECTIVITY PROGRAMS |
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This week we had two big announcements out of Washington regarding new federal aid to address broadband and connectivity. There are two separate programs– one for families and one for schools. Both are through the Federal Communications Commission, not the US Department of Education.
Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB)
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to necessitate distance learning, telework, and reliance on telehealth, broadband connectivity is essential. For those in low-income households, maintaining an Internet connection means choosing between other necessities. Congress created the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to address affordability, one of the main barriers to adoption.
This program, run by the Federal Communications Commission, offers a monthly discount to offset the cost of broadband Internet subscriptions, helping those that are struggling with connectivity, pathways to stay connected. In addition, the program provides a one-time discount on a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer.
The FCC announced that enrollment for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program begins May 12, 2021.
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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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June 1 Schools with applications that have been determined ineligible through the application verification process should notify the parent of each WPCP applicant via mail or email that the application is ineligible and will not be included in the random drawing after the last day of the WPCP open application period (April 15, 2021) but no later than the first weekday in June (June 1, 2021). If the school denies a student’s application, the notice of non-acceptance must include the reason the student was not accepted. Ineligible WPCP applications will have a status of Parent No Show, Ineligible per DOR, or Ineligible in Both Semesters in OAS.
June 3 Schools Complete the Intent to Attend portion in OAS. Failure to complete the report will result in the loss of the Voucher for schools.
June 30 Schools must prepare their annual budget for the 2021-22 school year by June 30. The budget does not have to be submitted to DPI.
This date also marks the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year for purposes of the 2020-21 financial audit that is due to the DPI by October 15, 2021
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School Choice EANS Webinar |
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Recently, School Choice Wisconsin held a EANS webinar. If you missed the webinar you can watch it at:
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Bishop Ricken has recorded two end of year videos for you to use in your school. These can be shared with your staff, or on social media or played at your graduation ceremony. The links can be found at:
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Parish Life Line:
Wednesday Mornings @ 9:30; via Zoom
May 26: no meeting
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Does your school participate in Battle of the Books? There are a few schools across the diocese that would be interested in setting up Battle of the Books for next year. If you are interested in starting, continuing or adding teams for a Catholic Schools Battle of the Books, please email Jane Schueller
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Catholic Social Teaching resource |
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Over the past weeks people have inquired about resources for Catholic Social Teachings. RCL Benzinger had a webinar last week. Their website contains resources you may find helpful.-www.rclbenziger.com/catholicresources
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Pentecost Sunday May 23, 2021marks the end of the Easter Season, 10 days after Jesus ascended into Heaven. On this day we remember that God kept His promise and He sent the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Five great resources for this celebration of the birthday of the Church and the Church's mission to share with your family and students;
• Pentecost Word Search: for grades 4-5, in English
• Pentecost Word Scramble: for grades 6-8, in English
• Pentecost Kite Activity: in English
• Pentecost Word Jumble: in English
• Pentecost Crossword: for grades 2-3, in English
Thanks for your assistance. Blessings,
Cindy St. Aubin
World Mission Director
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Updated CDC Guidelines for those Vaccinated |
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On April 27, 2021, the CDC updated its guidelines for those that have been vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people can now:
- Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Visit with unvaccinated people (including children) from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Participate in outdoor activities and recreation without a mask, except in certain crowded settings and venues
- Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel
- Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States
- Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
- Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic (staff that are fully vaccinated may continue to come to work if they have had close contact with someone who has tested positive).
- Refrain from routine screening testing if asymptomatic and feasible.
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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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Retiring Teachers and Administrators |
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Please fill out the form if you have teachers (and principals) who are retiring. The form requires home address and number of years of service to our schools.
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Ahrens Educational Resources |
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Ahrens Educational Resources is a CESA partner and has created the following documents with curricular materials in which you may be interested especially in the area of literacy. If you are working on updating or adding to a “book room” there are several resources available. Resources Resources Overview
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Curriculum Resources
Health and Theology of the Body
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At this time of the year, we have requests and conversations about talk to children about their bodies. The Diocese of Green Bay www.gbresources.org has compiled some great resources to use with your parents and students in which the focus is on how God created us. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or need anything additional. The vendor www.ruahwoods.org has some great resources for Theology of the Body across the grade levels.
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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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2021-22 Contract Information |
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On the teacher contract this year the main change is on line item 14 the additional sentence, “Administration will determine how instruction will be taught, whether virtually or in person, due to illness, school closure, snow days or any other type of emergency that may require the school to close.”
When looking at the total informational packet, you will see that the Diocesan Code of Personal and Ethical Conduct for Employees is taken from the Parish/School Employee Handbook of August 2019.
Contract forms, directions, and information are found on the diocesan school Google site ( http://bit.ly/3bftdSp), under "Governance and Leadership" then “Administrators” heading.
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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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