Hello,

I hope that this first edition of our newsletter finds you having enjoyed your summer and also excited for the beginning of a new school year! 

As a new school year approaches, I encourage you to take some time to think about a recent moment when you were excited about something that you accomplished. How did you feel before, during, and after your accomplishment? Allow yourself to experience that feeling again. Who you were in that moment and who you are in this moment is shaping your future. Don't underestimate the value of these moments and how they shape your life. The person you are today can make a difference in the lives of others! 

The ACROSS NH team has been hard at work planning an incredible year ahead for you! We are here to support your work with trainings and technical assistance (think of this like calling a “help desk”) so you can continue to accomplish great things in your life and the lives of others. Stay connected with us on our Facebook and Instagram pages, our weekly ACROSS Your Desk Newsletter, and our website www.ACROSSNH.com and know about all of our upcoming trainings, offerings, and events! 

As you begin your transition from summer into fall and plan for your upcoming school year, I encourage you to take one more moment to reflect… “may you be proud of the work you do, the person you are, and the difference you make.”

Best,

Jamie Nadeau

ACROSS NH Director

2023 Annual Back to School Conference

Saturday, October 14th

Please add Saturday, October 14th to your calendars! We are planning a day of professional development and inspiration designed specifically for the out of school time professional. The conference will be held at NHTI, Concord, NH.

Choose from over 15 trainings- bring your staff, meet other OST staff from across New Hampshire, bring home resources, lesson plans, and new ideas to ignite your OST program. All participants will bring home a gift for their program! Your professional development hours will be awarded in your NH Connections Information System training transcript.

Trainings will include STEM, art, mindfulness, leadership, igniting your spark, directors sessions, earning your afterschool credential, and much more!

Registration and conference details will be announced in this newsletter and on our website... stay tuned!

2023-2024

Evenings on Zoom

Spaces are limited for each training and registration is required. These interactive virtual trainings can provide a foundational framework or refresh the OST lens of anyone who works with children and youth in out of school time.

Click here or on the flyer image to download the schedule of trainings for the upcoming school year.

SEL in OST Cohort:

October 3, 17, 31 & November 14, 28 & December 12

9:30 - 11:30am on Zoom

At the heart of the OST field are the values of building positive relationships, creating quality learning opportunities, and making contributions to lifelong thriving outcomes for our youth. The profound way these values connect to SEL is the driving influence underlying this six-session cohort.  

Each participating program will have access to an ACROSS NH consultant to provide support for the completion of SEL implementation assignments. Participation in the cohort will require attendance of all six sessions. Click here or on the flyer image for details.

Registration and PD: Register for the first session in the NH Connections Information System (NHCIS). Participants must complete all six sessions to receive PD credit. Upon completing the cohort, participants will receive 12 hours of PD in their NHCIS training transcript.

The last day to register in NHCIS is September 25th!

Questions: Please email Cathy Hazelton, ACROSS NH Assistant Director, at chazelton@acrossnh.org.

October 5, 19 & November 2, 16, 30 & December 14

In-Person and on Zoom

You are developing your own leadership style and now you are looking to focus on the tools and foundations of effective leadership. This 6-session hybrid series is designed to provide you with the practices and principles that will motivate and empower those around you to develop an environment that inspires everyone. During the institute you will design and complete a leadership development opportunity that will positively impact your program. *This institute is for those who have completed Leadership Institute 1.

Session Info: This series is hybrid and bi-weekly on Thursdays Sessions 1 & 6 will meet in person (location TBD) 9:30am-12:30pm. Sessions 2-5 will meet on Zoom from 9:30am-12:00pm. Click here or on the flyer image for details.

Registration and PD: Register for the first session in the NH Connections Information System (NHCIS). Participants must complete all six sessions to receive PD credit. Upon completing the institute, participants will receive 16 hours of PD in their NHCIS training transcript.

The last day to register in NHCIS is September 25th!

Questions: Please email Cathy Hazelton, ACROSS NH Assistant Director, at chazelton@acrossnh.org.

Social and Emotional Learning Corner

Greetings Social-Emotional and Mindful Learning in OST Colleagues, 

Welcome back to the SEL Corner in our ACROSS Your Desk weekly informational letter. We are very pleased to begin a series of announcements of SEL and Mindful Learning opportunities that will be available to you this year! Keep an eye out for our annual trainings and cohorts that have been offered with great acclaim by participants, and for NEW offerings to come!

First up, registration is open for our Annual Fall SEL in OST Cohort! Register for the first session in the NH Connections Information System (NHCIS). Click here for the downloadable flyer.

Secondly, join us for the very first SEL offering of the year, a guided resource walk through the two downloadable guides “A Guide to Social and Emotional Learning for the Afterschool Professional” and “A Suspension and Expulsion Prevention Policy Guide for NH Afterschool Programs” on Wednesday, September 6, 10:30am-12pm on Zoom. Register in the NH Connections Information System (NHCIS).

We are excited to see you at our great SEL and Mindfulness Learning opportunities in the year to come!

Warmly,

Abigail Blodgett,

ACROSS NH SEL Coordinator

ablodgett@acrossnh.org

Back-to-School Food Allergy Guidance for Teachers, Nurses, Administrators, and School Staff: Webinar

Wednesday, August 30

12:00pm - 1:00pm

Calling all K-12 teachers, school nurses, school administrators, coaches, and staff members! If you’d like to start the school year with a refresher on food allergies, this webinar is for you. You’ll come away with a vital understanding of food allergies and allergic reactions, prepared to act on food allergy care plans in case of emergency, ready to implement safe practices for in-school dining and nutrition, and empowered to create a safer and more inclusive environment for students with food allergies.

FARE works on behalf of more than 85 million Americans living with life-threatening food allergies and intolerances.

Public Comments to OCC CCDF Plan Preprint

and Proposed Rulemaking Changes 

Dear Colleagues;

The Federal Office for Child Care has released two documents for your review and opened them for public comment until August 27 and 28 respectively. They are the 2025-2027 Child Care Development Fund Plan PrePrint and the Proposed Rulemaking Changes. These links and information below will connect you to the online version of the documents and instructions for providing public comment along with an overview of OCC’s request.

Instructions for Submitting a Comment(s) for Regulations:

• Date: To be considered, written comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before August 28, 2023.
• Address: You may submit comments, identified by docket number ACF-2023-0003 and/or Regulation ID number (RIN) 0970-AD02, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Please carefully follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name (ACF) and docket number (ACF-2023-0003) and/or RIN (0970-AD02) for this rulemaking. To ensure that we can effectively respond to your comment(s), please do the following:
• Clearly identify the issue(s) on which you are commenting.
• Provide the page number, identify the column, and cite the relevant paragraph/section from the Federal Register document (e.g., on page 10999, second column, §98.20(a)(1)(i)).
• All comments received are a part of the public record and will be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without any changes or redactions. That means all personally identifiable information (such as name or address) will be publicly accessible. Please do not submit confidential information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. We will accept anonymous comments. If you wish to remain anonymous, enter “N/A” in the required fields.

CCDF PLAN PREPRINT

The Plan Preprint is the draft version of the actual Q & A CCDF Plan the Department must submit every three years to receive the funding that supports the NH Child Care Scholarship Program and the quality initiatives provided by the Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration and their contractors and partners. After the comments are reviewed and integrated, as OCC deems appropriate, a final plan will come out around late December or early January (hopefully). We have been told the Plan will have significant changes between the Preprint and the final version (likely to reflect whatever rulemaking changes are to be implemented). We hope you can take some time to review the plan and provide public comments.

PROPOSED RULEMAKING CHANGES

In addition, are the documents related to the Proposed Rulemaking Changes and it is a heady piece of business. I would suggest reading the proposed changes before you read the Preprint because those changes (if approved) will be incorporated into the final 2025-2027 CCDF Plan. As you read the changes, keep in mind that what they call co-payments (parents share of the child care cost charged by the provider) we call cost share.

We know this is a big ask, but OCC has made it very clear that public comment will weigh heavily in their revision.

Much appreciate your help,

NH DHHS/DES Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration Team