A shout out is in order for three St. Louis Public School (SLPS) high school seniors.
On April 22, 2022, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry will recognize 20 outstanding students from across the state as they sign letters of intent to study science, technology, engineering and math. Three of those students being honored are SLPS scholars.
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Alejandro Espinoza — Gateway STEM High School, attending St. Louis Community College Forest Park
- Leonia Konde — Gateway STEM High School, attending Saint Louis University or University of Missouri – St. Louis
- Nevin Ndonwi — Metro Academic and Classical High School, attending Washington University in St. Louis
STEM Signing Day puts the spotlight on brilliant Missouri high school seniors as they make the big decision on where to further their education, much in the same way athletes are celebrated as they choose a school.
This year’s signing day event will bring together 20 STEM students from across Missouri for a virtual program streamed live on Facebook, including remarks from Governor Mike Parson and additional state and business leaders. Each student participating in the event will receive a $1,000 scholarship. The event was created in 2019 by the Missouri Chamber Foundation’s Mathematics and Science Coalition in partnership with The Boeing Company.
To watch the ceremony, visit the Missouri Chamber’s Facebook page.
Missouri STEM Signing Day April 22, 2022 11 a.m. -12 p.m. CST
Congratulations to Alejandro, Leonia and Nevin! Your hard work does not go unrecognized.
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2022 SLPS STEM/Science Fair
The shout outs don't stop with our talented seniors.
The 2022 SLPS Elementary STEM/Science Fair winners were recently announced and we would like to shout out our future engineers and scientists. Scholars from eight SLPS elementary schools (Bryan Hill, Classical Junior Academy, Columbia, Humboldt, Mann, Mason, Stix and Wilkerson) participated in this years virtual fair that incorporated STEM for the first time. Join us in congratulating all of our participants!
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Subject Area Spotlight: Physical Education/Health
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Saint Louis Public School District (SLPS) scholars take steps to improve their health, be active, and spend time in nature.
The 8th Annual Let’s Move! STL Move Your Body Flash Mob will take place to help them along their journey. All SLPS schools are invited to join in the Move Your Body fun on Friday May 6, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
Scholars at all SLPS schools are encouraged to join together for a synchronized dance routine across the SLPS school district and at Forest Park. The event is sponsored by Let's Move! STL, the SLPS Healthy Schools Movement, in partnership with SLPS, BJC School Outreach and Youth Development, Forest Park Forever, Aetna, Saint Louis University’s Department of Nutrition and Dietetics and the City of St. Louis Department of Health.
On Friday, May 6th at 10:00am, take time out of the regular school-day routine, to spend time in the morning to engage in fun and physical activity. Scholars across the district have been dusting off their dancing shoes from the seven previous years and are ready to perform fun dance routines to Beyonce’s “Move Your Body”, and the “Gimme 5” dance to Kidz Bop’s “Uptown Funk, and more.
“Programs like Let's Move! STL and our AIM for Fitness Initiatives continue to help SLPS tackle the issue of childhood obesity with a focus on nutrition, physical activity and teaching students about the importance of embracing a healthy, active lifestyle. Each school year brings exciting new ideas and fresh opportunities, as we continue to make progress and encourage healthy behavior change,” M. Leanne White, Director of SLPS AIM Initiatives.
To register for the event scan the QR code on the Flash Mob flyer.
To access Flash Mob music and dances click this LINK
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Network Spotlight: Network 2
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The Student Leadership Team at Woerner Elementary has been busy sponsoring fun events for the staff and scholars this year. For Halloween, they filled bags with candy to pass out at Trunk-or-Treat. In February, they sold candy grams to scholars for Valentine’s Day to raise money for a local charity. Most recently they filled thousands of eggs with candy for Woerner’s first ever Easter Egg Hunt.
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Sigel Elementary School’s Career Day on Friday, April 8th, 2022 was a success! First, our 4th-6th grade scholars enjoyed an in-person visit from Mayor Tishaura Jones! Our younger scholars enjoyed a live stream where they heard Mayor Jones’ answers to scholar’s hard-hitting quesitons-- everything from “What’s your opinion on the war in Ukraine?” to “What’s your favorite pizza topping?” Next, all Sigel scholars were visited by professionals from a variety of careers to ask questions that helped them think more about what they might want to be when they grow up. Medicine, law, trades, faith-based, deaf advocacy, and creative jobs like hair and bridal styling were all represented. Smiles were everywhere and there were even some "Best Day Ever!" proclamations by the scholars. Shout out to Sigel DHH Teacher Lauren Brown for her leadership in organizing the event in partnership with Bryan Cave, Spire, St. Louis Public Library, St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, SLPS's own Ms. Kate Stewart, and more!
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Members of FOCUS St. Louis Leadership visited Columbia Elementary School on Friday, April 8, 2022. They toured Columbia and spoke to scholars in various grade levels about their careers, what they love about what they do, and their “favorite” things to do! Scholars and staff really enjoyed the experience. Thank you FOCUS St. Louis Leadership!
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Network Spotlight: Consortium Partnership Network (CPN)
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CPN’s Data Strategist led work with CPN school teams throughout the 2021-22 school year to conduct an in-depth analysis of the impact of student mobility (students changing schools) on achievement (STAR test scores).
The results above provide an estimate of the impact of student mobility on CPN scholars: scholars who withdrew during the school year scored, on average, 70 points lower than scholars who stayed during the 2020-21 and halfway through the 2021-22 school year. With a three-year average mobility rate of 42.3% for CPN schools, this highlights the importance of considering how mobility impacts overall school improvement. Additionally, CPN partnered with Skip to interview parents of CPN scholars. These interviews revealed that feeling connected with the school was a core driver of families staying, while unstable housing was a core driver of families leaving.
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Ashland Elementary School and Meramec Elementary School held combined leadership team meetings over the past last two months. In these meetings they reflected on their past successes and worked on goal setting for the next school year, and backwards planning PD (Professional Development) and resource allocation aligned to those goals. It is inspiring to see the work being done. Some (not all) of the goals the teams have are developing step-by-step strategic plans for goals around shared leadership, the portrait of an effective teacher and parent engagement. Shout out to each of the School Leadership Team Members for already demonstrating such a powerful sense of shared leadership in working through the goal setting process.
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In preparation for state MAP testing, Ashland, and Meramec’s tested grades each enthusiastically participated in a cycle of “Mini Map” assessments. These mini assessments were completed every other week from January through April to provide teachers small snapshots of scholar performance on targeted power standards using released MAP like items.
You can see an example of the reports where teachers could see the item analysis and then track the progress of each standard easily over time so they can plan the most effective intervention for scholars. Taking the short assessments in Microsoft Forms also allowed for the teachers to reflect on what we called the “habits” reports. Here teachers could assess how effectively scholars annotated their passages in reading, showed their work in math and even reflected on how long they took on each item. This enabled teachers to have more intentional conversations with scholars about the most effective habits to be successful on MAP.
For more guidance regarding the CPN, contact Jay Hartman, Consortium Partnership Network (CPN) Director - Jay.Hartman@slps.org
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Department Spotlight: School Culture & Climate
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SLPS School Culture & Climate
The Culture and Climate Department offers support to schools through school partnerships that includes staff professional development, teacher behavior management observations and coaching, school systems analysis, behavioral data support and more!
Our Mission
The Culture and Climate Division of the Academic Office, in partnership with the St. Louis Public School’s mission, will effectively collaborate and review districtwide data and procedures to inform and create a more positive school culture and climate by developing a common language with best practices and interventions that impacts and develops a system of excellent schools within Saint Louis Public Schools.
Our Vision
To be the division that informs, supports and shapes change within schools across the district to promote a more positive school culture and climate for scholars and ultimately, wellness within school-based staff and all stakeholders.
Our Practices
We leverage Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Social Justice and Restorative Practices, Social-Emotional Learning, and Empathy Lens, Trauma-Informed Practices and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy to support schools and students.
Our Terms and Beliefs
School Climaterefers to the school's effects on students, including teaching practices; diversity; and the relationships among administrators, teachers, parents, and students.
School Culturerefers to the way teachers and other staff members work together and the set of beliefs, values, and assumptions they share.
A positive school climate and school culture promote students' ability to learn.
Culture & Climate Support:
School Leaders, if you need culture and climate support for your school, please consider signing up for a Culture & Climate School Partnership for your team, review these best practices and interventions that promote a positive and safe school and classroom culture and environment: Culture and Climate Resource Toolkit and the Culture Camp Resource Toolkit, or reach out to Casetta Brown as she can assist you or connect you with our partners from Mizzou or EducationPlus.
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Wrapping Up the School Year
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Our scholars know that we are close to the end of the school year and they are ready… and so are you! It might be important and extremely beneficial to take the time to reset expectations often at this point! Resetting, repeating and role-playing the behaviors that are expected helps your scholars to be successful. It is not a waste of instructional time, it is a way to address behaviors while re-establishing trust and building stronger relationships within your classroom community. It is also beneficial for school staff as managing and maintaining control can sometimes feel like an uphill battle; resetting is a way to simply take the time to re-teach and refocus scholar attention. If you or members of your team need any support with a school or classroom reset, please reach out!
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Cardinals Tickets
Our Cardinals Community Representative has shared this link for all schools and central office departments that wish to treat staff to an event outing. The tickets are not to be given to scholars, but to be used for staff giveaways as a way to say, “thank you!” Please feel free to complete the Community Ticket Program Application for up to 100 tickets for one game this season for your school teams. If you have any questions, please email me and I will gladly assist you and/or connect you with our representative!
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You may or may not know, but I will be out on leave soon as my family is expanding! J I would like to proactively connect you with resources that might support your culture and climate needs in my absence. Please see the information below and connect with me within the next week if you have any specific questions. I will return in June!
Culture & Climate Work Stream Support List
The following teammates and resources will offer support during my absence in the following areas:
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General School Support & PD Support
Academics: Culture & Climate Documents & Resources
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School ISS Monitors & PBIS Coordinators
- School Coordinator Documents & Resources
- Middle & High ISS Monitors
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Culture & Climate Committee
- Academics: Professional Development
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Reporting in SIS / Technical Assistance
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For more guidance regarding School Culture & Climate, contact Casetta Brown,
School Culture & Climate Coordinator - Casetta.Brown@slps.org
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Department Spotlight: Professional Development
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Looking ahead to school year 2022-2023, Frontline Education: Professional Growth, formerly known as MyLearningPlan, will be required to be used by 100% (yes, all) school leaders and academic Instructional coaches (AIC) for imputing, tracking/monitoring, and submitting observation, coaching and evaluation notes.
Ongoing support and resources will be provided to address the different levels of Frontline knowledge and familiarity of SLPS leaders. More information to come.
Frontline Education: Professional Growth
Frontline Education supports the complete cycle of educator growth. Frontline gives the district clear visibility into the impact of professional learning opportunities in the classroom.
The system is also the platform for documenting and communicating the required elements for teacher certification upgrades, as well as the platform for completing, storing, and analyzing teacher observations, for the purposes of evaluation and retention.
There are on-going training sessions provided for support. These may be found by accessing Frontline and reviewing the calendar or doing a search for “Frontline Trainings.” Upcoming Frontline Training and Review sessions are available for April. Register through your Frontline account in the District Catalog. Teams link is provided below.
Tuesday April 26th 3:30 – 4:00pm Frontline Teams Link
4:30 – 5:00pm Frontline Teams Link
Wednesday April 27th 2:30 – 3:00pm Frontline Teams Link
Wait, there’s more!
The Frontline Training Teams page is a new resource for all users who are new to Frontline or for those who may need a review. Locate this resource by searching for Frontline Training in Teams. The channel includes step-by-step explanations on how to enter Independent Professional Development Plans and Mentor/Mentee Logs as well as guides for support with logging in, entering PD opportunities, and managing attendance.
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For more guidance regarding Frontline, please contact Kimberly Swenson, Professional Development Research and Data Specialist - Kimberly.Swenson@slps.org
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Updates Around The District
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Spring Into Fitness
The SLPS Parent Action Council and Go! St. Louis are proud to invite you to the inaugural Spring Into Fitness 5k & 1.5 mile Family Fun Run.
The family friendly event will be held on this Saturday, April 23 from 9 am. - noon and will begin at Ashland Elementary School.
Visit the Spring Into Fitness webpage by clicking here.
Any questions? Please e-mail Gloria.Nolan@slps.org or call 314-345-2485.
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Standards-Based Learning Corner
Click here to explore past topics related to Standards-Based Learning and Grading in SLPS.
For more guidance, please contact Elsie Krueger, MTSS Specialist, Elsie.Krueger@slps.org
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Curriculum Specialists:
- Dr. Esther Palsenberger, Elementary ELA, 314-779-5939
- Judine Keplar, Secondary ELA, 314-532-6427
- Zehra Khan, Secondary Math, 314-532-3574
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J. Carrie Launius, Elementary Science, 314-934-5258
- Dr. Valentina Bumbu, Secondary Science, 573-544-6835
- Dr. Glenn Barnes, Social Studies, 314-934-5267
- John Grapperhaus, Visual Arts, 314-934-5320
- Kaye Harrelson, Performing Arts, 314-934-5445
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Dr. Taresa Wright-Fraser, Elementary Math, 314-943-5266
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