| NY Times 1619 Project: Coming to STL!
The Pulitzer Center is bringing Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times 1619 Project—which challenges participants to consider the year 1619, the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil, as our nation's founding date — to St. Louis, and District students are encouraged to participate! The project will be in St. Louis on April 1 for middle school students and April 2 for high school students. Prior to attending, participating schools must utilize the 1619 Project Curriculum, which is available online for free! Space is extremely limited, so please make your reservations as soon as possible. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Glenn Barnes, K-12 Social Studies Specialist, at glenn.barnes@slps.org by Monday, Feb. 10, 2020.
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| Staff Phone Number Update
Periodically, the District sends auto dial messages to the contact information in SAP. If you have a change in your contact data, please complete the document at this link to update your information. Once it is completed by HR and a new file is extracted, your updated information will be available for the next communication.
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| Get Your Teaching Certification Through SLPS!
Are you a non-certificated SLPS employee who wants to get your teaching certification? We are recruiting candidates into a new cohort that will certify you, so you can teach in an SLPS classroom next year!
The UMSL-SLPS Teacher Certification Pathway Recruitment event is coming soon. Contact Dr. Latisha Smith at Latisha.Smith@slps.org with any questions. - Date: Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020
- Time: 4:30-6pm
- Location: Central Office, 801 N. 11th Street, PD Loft
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| CGCS-Bernard Harris Math and Science Scholarships
The Council of the Great City Schools and The Harris Institute are awarding four scholarships, with a value of $5,000 each, to two African American and two Hispanic students currently completing their senior year of high school in a member district of the Council of the Great City Schools.
Applicants must be accepted for full‐time enrollment at a four-year college or university in the next academic year, and pursuing a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM). The deadline to apply is April 6, 2020.
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| MOASPA - $1,000 Scholarship
The Missouri Association of School Personnel Administrators - St. Louis Chapter is sponsoring a $1,000 scholarship for a graduating senior who plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in education. Please encourage your students to apply before the deadline on Feb. 29. The money can be used for tuition or books. Click HERE for a flyer.
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| Online and PDF-Format PD Courses
Click HERE for a catalogue of professional development courses for 2020 from the University of La Verne, which is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Courses are designed for educators who are working to renew a license, certificate, or advance on the salary scale.
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| Unpaid Catering Bills
Food and Nutrition Services is asking all schools and departments to double check to make sure you don't have any outstanding catering invoices. Email reminders went out earlier this week regarding past-due bills. If you have an outstanding invoice, please contact Althea.Albert-Santiago@slps.org immediately to arrange payment. Thank you!
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| Step Into the Story on MLK Jr. Day!
Join the St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature at the Missouri History Museum, as they bring Taye Diggs’s picture book, “Chocolate Me,” to life.
This lively story encourages children to see their own beauty and love themselves. Together, families will explore and celebrate ways to embrace diversity and choose love and acceptance. This is a free event!
- Saturday, Jan. 18: 11:30am to noon and 12:15 to 12:45pm
- Monday, Jan. 20: 11:30am to noon and 12:15 to 12:45pm
BOOK GIVEAWAYS: While supplies last! Thanks to the generous support of Ready Readers, children who attend one of the Step Into the Story sessions will receive a FREE copy of “Chocolate Me” by Taye Diggs.
FEATURED LOCAL AUTHORS: Julius B. Anthony, Kelly Byrd, Rebecca Clark, Dytania Harris, Pamela Hornsby-Irvin, Rodgers Howard, Aja La'Starr Owens, Pancho Rucker, Andrea Scott, Courtnae Zawadi Smith, Bree Wash and Mikey Wren.
Click HERE for a flyer you can share with students!
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| Upcoming Events from Gateway Greening!
Gateway Greening is planning a few spring events that might interest SLPS teachers!
Spring School Gardener and Outdoor Educator Meet-ups: Hosted at different schools throughout the region to share ideas, activities and resources: Thursday, Feb. 13, Hancock High School. Register at this link. // FLYER
Community Agriculture Conference: Resources and workshops for community and school gardeners. Sunday, Feb. 23rd, International Institute in St. Louis. // FLYER
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| Pupil Accounting Timeline
♦ Jan. 17, 2020: Professional Development (NO students)
♦ Jan. 20, 2020: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. HOLIDAY – DISTRICT CLOSED
♦ Jan. 22, 2020: Instructions distributed; Special January Enrollment Collection
♦ Jan. 29, 2020: Last Wednesday in January Special Enrollment Collection
♦ Jan. 31, 2020: Progress 3 grading cycle OPENS
♦ Feb. 7, 2020: Progress 3 grading cycle CLOSES
♦ Feb. 13, 2020: Progress 3 report cards distributed
♦ Feb. 14, 2020: Professional Development (NO students)
♦ Feb. 17, 2020: Presidents' Day HOLIDAY – DISTRICT CLOSED
Click HERE to download this information in a PDF.
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| Good, Bad & Ugly
Young women are invited to attend the upcoming program titled The Relationship Spectrum: Good, Bad & Ugly featuring a keynote address by Kemba Smith Pradia.
- When: Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, registration and continental breakfast: 8:30-9am, program: 9am to noon
- Where: Harris-Stowe State University, Emerson Theatre (program moved to new location so please ignore venue listed on the flyer)
- Cost: Free with registration: LINK
- Hosted by: Gateway (IL) Chapter, Archway (MO) Chapter and St Louis (MO) Chapter of The Links, Inc.
The three St. Louis Chapters (Gateway (IL), St. Louis (MO) and Archway (MO) Chapters) of The Links, Incorporated have collaborated to bring nationally acclaimed speaker Kemba Smith Pradia to Harris-Stowe State University.
While in attendance at Hampton University, Kemba met a man who turned her life into a nightmare, and led to a 24.5-year sentence in a federal prison. Drawing from this experience, Kemba now shares her story as an educational tool to prevent other youth from going down a similar path.
Kemba has been featured on CNN, Nightline, Court TV, The Early Morning Show, Donahue, Judge Hatchett, and a host of other television programs, Kemba’s story has also been written about in several national publications including The Washington Post, New York Times, Glamour, People, JET, Emerge, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and Essence magazines.
The program will also feature a panel discussion on the topic of human trafficking. Speakers include a survivor and a victim counselor and former human trafficking investigator.
Click HERE for a flyer to share.
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| Updates from Ricoh
1) Welcome back from break! Ricoh wants to thank everyone for their increased use of the online submission tool Ricoh TRAC.
Using the TRAC Solution Copy Module, you can easily submit copy jobs by electronically sending all the details with your documents to be copied. TRAC is beneficial to all, as it allows the user to check on the status of their job at all stages from “In progress,” “Finishing stage,” “Waiting on Customer Instruction,” “Pending Supervisor Approval” and “Complete.”
Being able to check on the status of one’s job without contacting the copy center allows the work to flow continually. Frequent phone calls and email inquiries for job statuses bring production to a halt. The less the Ricoh team is pulled away from the production floor, the quicker you will get your orders.
Only 53% of all copy jobs sent during the 2018-19 academic year was submitted via Ricoh TRAC. This past summer, Ricoh received nearly 1,300 orders in just one month’s time! However, there are still users that are unaware or unsure of how to access the TRAC system.
You can access Ricoh TRAC at https://slps.ricohtrac.com. The welcome page contains helpful links such as the hours, phone number and current wait time for the Copy Center. If you do not already have an account, you may request one there. Ricoh looks forward to working with you. 2) The Ricoh Mail Room handles the pick-up, sorting, processing, metering and delivering of all incoming mail addressed to the Board of Education Building. This includes all US Mail, overnight packages (UPS, FedEx, etc.), hand deliveries, and interoffice mail. All accountable mail will be scanned within the TRAC system and an email alert will be sent to the recipient. Interoffice mail will be delivered to the departments during the scheduled daily mail runs at 11am and 2pm.
Ricoh has a designated drop off spot inside the mail room for outgoing accountable mail. Senders are responsible for contacting and scheduling the pick-up with the vendor. They must also provide their own shipping label and account number.
Ricoh couriers pick-up and deliver all Pony Mail throughout the District once per day. (Note: this does not include textbooks or furniture).
Ricoh posts outgoing US mail for all locations, including schools. Outgoing US mail must already be inserted into envelopes and include a return address. All outgoing mail must be received at the BOE Building by 3:30pm for same-day processing.
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| GOOD NEWS: Mason Wins Award at Robotics Fair
Congratulations to Mason Elementary for taking home the Core Values Award at the Eastern Missouri FIRST LEGO League Competition last weekend! Hodgen Elementary also performed well in this exciting annual event.
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| PD Booster Sessions Schedule
Click HERE for a full calendar of upcoming booster sessions from the Curriculum Team!
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| Standards-Based Learning CORNER
Many people ask, what’s the difference between a standards-based grading system vs. a traditional grading system?
When embarking upon standards-based grading, it’s crucial that you don’t only seek to reimagine the way “grades” and report cards work. You must be prepared for the pedagogical shifts that are necessary to completely adopt a standards-based approach. That’s where the term “mindset” comes into play. According to Tom Schimmer in Grading from the Inside Out, it might be more beneficial for educators to think in terms of a standards-based mindset instead of standards-based grading. Like any mindset work, that subtle shift in language helps keep the focus off of the grading process while highlighting the cultural and paradigm shift. (Schoology)
Come back to the Academic Newsletter each week for updated information about the SLPS journey from TEACHING to LEARNING in a Standards-Based Learning System.
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| CURRICULUM CORNER: Visual Arts
It is expected that all schools be represented at our annual Art Fair at the Zoo. This year’s theme is “Animal and Plant Relationships.”
All 2-D entries must be 12” x 18”. Entries are due to John Grapperhaus at the Living World (in the zoo) on Thursday, Feb. 27.
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| CURRICULUM CORNER: Elementary ELA
Update on Engage Workbooks for the 3rd Modules: Since there is only an allotment for five workbooks per building for Engage per module, the response has been that it hasn't been beneficial because not all of the students have a copy. Since students in grades 3-5 now have a one-on-one access to iPads, everyone has the ability to download the workbooks onto the iPads. Click here for the directions.
STAR Data: According to Schoolzilla, comparing the STAR Fall 2019 screening and Winter 2019-2020 screening, the District has increased "Reading on Grade Level" from 21.8% to 23.0%. Due to the overwhelming number of teachers in buildings with a class averaging five months or higher when comparing the Fall 2019 Benchmark and the Winter Benchmark, the celebration will be in two newsletters. Click on the school link to show those teachers who had a class average growth of at least five months.
More links to come next week! Congratulations to both the teacher and students for showing great growth!
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| CURRICULUM CORNER: Science
Elementary Science Fair Timeline:
Monday, March 2, 2020: Building must register all projects that will be sent to the district fair.
Friday, March 13 - Monday March 16, 2020: Project drop off at SLPS BOE Building
Tuesday, March 17, 2020: Projects judged
Wednesday, March 18 and Thursday, March 19, 2020: public viewing
Friday, March 19, 2020 and Monday March 23, 2020: project pick-up
Any projects not picked up will be discarded on March 24, 2020
Building Guidelines:
Every school will be able to send up to five projects. Grades PK-4 are able to complete class projects, individual projects or in groups and grade 5 can do individual or group projects.
To promote science in our earliest years, we will allow ALL building to send ALL PK and kindergarten class projects. These projects will be in a separate place in the PD loft for viewing.
Please note and share with your schools the public viewing dates!
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| Guest WiFi Password
- January: snowy
- February: heart
- March: windy
- April: rainy
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| DISTRICT CALENDARJAN 17
♦ PD Day (no students)
JAN 20
♦ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service (district closed)
JAN 28
♦ Education Week Getting Reading Right online summit: REGISTER
JAN 30
♦ ACT Workshop for Educators: REGISTER
JAN 31
♦ Multicultural Children's Book Day: LINK
FEB 1
♦ Black Child Book Fair: LINK
FEB 7
♦ Interim progress reports for Q3
FEB 8
♦ Harris-Stowe "Take a Kid to the Game" Day
FEB 14
♦ PD Day (no students)
FEB 17
♦ Presidents' Day holiday (district closed)
♦ Deadline to apply for the Princeton Summer Journalism Program: LINK / FLYER
FEB 29
♦ EdCamp: REGISTER
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| Did You Miss an Issue?
There is now an archive of all issues of the Academic Office Newsletter. Yay! Click HERE or visit slps.org/AONArchive.
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