 Upcoming Virtual Epinephrine Administration Training
OSSE Allergy Management Team within the Division of Health and Wellness is holding a live virtual Epinephrine Administration Training on Thursday, July 11 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. Certification is valid for one calendar year. Share this training sign-up form with staff members at your school who need to get certified this school year. School staff may also choose to receive certification at their convenience via a recorded Online Certification Course. Contact OSSE.Epi@dc.gov to coordinate a live virtual training session if you want to have more than the required certified staff at your school.
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Bowser Administration Names Antoinette S. Mitchell, Ph.D. Interim State Superintendent
Last week, Mayor Muriel Bowser named Antoinette S. Mitchell, Ph.D. interim state superintendent to lead the OSSE while the administration continues its search for a permanent state superintendent.
With more than 20 years' experience in education, Dr. Mitchell brings diverse perspectives and experiences from having worked as a teacher, researcher, dean and accreditation officer in various educational settings. For the past 10 years, she has served as Assistant Superintendent for Postsecondary and Career Education at OSSE, overseeing college readiness and financial assistance, adult literacy and youth reengagement, and career and technical education.
What You Need to Prepare for the 2024-25 School Year
As we continue to celebrate the finish of a tremendous school year, OSSE is deep into preparations for next year. We proudly share with you our priorities for the start of the 2024-25 school year.
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Our Start of School priorities center on three focus areas:
Serving All Students: Student Transportation, Special Education Guidance, School Safety/Emergency Response Plans.
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Academics: Standards Implementation (Financial Literacy, Social and Emotional Learning, Social Studies), Literacy Implementation, High-Impact Tutoring.
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Operations & Data: Modernizing Data Connections with Automated Data Transfer (ADT) including Course Data Collection, ESSER Closeout, Attendance, Immunizations.
To help us prepare for a great start to the 2024-25 school year, we ask that you take the following steps this summer:
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Review and Share Our Start of School Hub: Our website for start-of-school resources is a centralized place designed for leaders, administrators, educators and school staff to access essential information. Each individual priority subpage features a priority overview, key dates and deadlines, and key resources to ensure a successful beginning of the academic year.
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Reach Out with Any Questions: We are here to support you. Each priority has a dedicated staff member with contact information listed on the website.
OSSE will continue to update the website with more information. Please also look for more information about the priorities in future LEA Look Forward updates.
FCC Adopts $200 Million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program
On June 6, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a three-year, $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. This program will allow the FCC to obtain actionable data about which cybersecurity services and equipment would best help K-12 schools and libraries address the growing cyber threats and attacks against their broadband networks.
From this program, the FCC aims to learn how to improve school and library defenses against sophisticated ransomware and cyberattacks that put students at risk and impede their learning. The pilot program will allow the FCC to gather the data needed to better understand whether and how universal service funds could be used to support the cybersecurity needs of schools and libraries and to share lessons learned with our federal partners to jointly combat this growing problem.
Click here to learn more about eligibility and how to apply. The FCC expects to initiate this process by opening a pilot program application window this fall.
2023–24 Metric Calculation Confirmation (MCC) Policy and 2024 DC School Report Card Technical Guide are Live (reminder)
Every year, OSSE works with LEA Data Managers through a process called Metric Calculation Confirmation (MCC) to certify the accuracy of all DC School Report Card metrics. The business rules for each metric are detailed in the DC School Report Card Technical Guide. The MCC Policy details how LEAs review, appeal and certify these metrics.
Both documents are now available on our website:
We encourage all LEAs to use the MCC process to review and refresh school profile information such as the school photo and message from the school.
OSSE will provide MCC updates to LEA Data Managers via email and during the monthly LEA Data Manager meetings. We look forward to working with LEAs over the summer in this important work! If you have any questions, please email DCSchoolReportCard@dc.gov.
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Save the Date – Discipline Collection Training Coming Aug. 14 and Aug. 21! (reminder)
OSSE is pleased to announce that the Division of Data, Assessment and Research (DAR) will host two training sessions focused on the annual discipline collection for those who are new to the discipline collection or would just like a refresher. These sessions are ideal for new LEA Data Managers, school leaders and discipline points of contact. However, anyone who works with the OSSE discipline collection is welcome to attend. The same content will be presented both in-person and virtually so you can choose the format that works best for you. The virtual session will be recorded for future use. The following sessions will be offered:
In-person
Wednesday, Aug. 14 | 10–11:30 a.m.
OSSE Main
Eleanor Holmes Norton I
1050 First St. NE, Washington, DC 20002
Online
Wednesday, Aug. 21 | 1-2:30 p.m.
Registration will open in mid-July. For questions, contact Jenni Russell Ziarnik at Jennifer.RussellZiarnik@dc.gov.
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High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) LEA Grant - Request for Applications (RFA) Release on July 17
OSSE is releasing funding for approximately five to 15 grants to DC LEAs to launch, strengthen and expand evidence-based tutoring programs in schools for DC students, with a focus on those who are designated as economically disadvantaged. The funding period will run from the date the grants are awarded, estimated to be in late October 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. Please see OSSE’s HIT webpage or the 2024-25 grants forecast for more detailed information on the award opportunity and applicant eligibility.
The RFA will be available on OSSE’s HIT webpage on Wednesday, July 17 at 12 p.m. EST. The deadline to submit a Notice of Intent to Apply form, which can be found in the RFA, is Friday, Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. EST, and the deadline to submit an application will be Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 3 p.m. EST. Applications will be accepted only through OSSE’s Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) at grants.osse.dc.gov.
A pre-application webinar will be held following the release of the RFA. Please see the RFA for information on the date, time and how to register for this webinar. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers via a public FAQ document.
If you have any questions about the grant, please email the HIT grants team at HIT.Grants@dc.gov
SOAR Act Educator Pipeline Competition Applications Due by 3 p.m. on Monday, July 1
The SOAR Act Educator Pipeline grant competition is now open. Public charter LEAs and third-party nonprofit charter support organizations are eligible to apply and should submit applications with project proposals that will impact the quality and quantity of the educator supply for DC charter schools.
The RFA for the SOAR Act Educator Pipeline grant competition was published on May 15. Applications must be submitted online in EGMS no later than 3 p.m. EST on Monday, July 1.
This year’s application, scoring rubric and award process include key updates. Applicants can view a recording of the pre-application webinar and a copy of the slides here. For questions or additional information, please contact Brianna Griffin at Brianna.Griffin@dc.gov.
SOAR Act Third Party Competition Now Open – Applications due at 3 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5
OSSE published the request for applications (RFA) for the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act Third Party grant competition on June 14. Nonprofit charter support organizations proposing projects that will improve student outcomes in charter LEAs are eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted online in EGMS no later than 3 p.m. EST on Monday, Aug. 5.
OSSE hosted two optional pre-application webinars to review updates to the application, scoring rubric and award process for this grant competition as well as other important competition information. A recording as well as an FAQ document will be shared in the coming days on the SOAR Third Party webpage. For questions or additional information, please contact Brianna Griffin at Brianna.Griffin@dc.gov.
FY25 IDEA Part B Phase II Application
The fiscal year 2025 (FY25) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant application will be available on July 24 in EGMS. Allocations are available on OSSE’s website.
Please note that the correct release date for the IDEA application is July 24. Kindly disregard the previously mentioned date of July 1 that was included in the K12 grants newsletter.
The application deadline for the grant is Sept. 30 by 3 p.m. EST. Resources to support your grant application and grant program are available on OSSE’s IDEA website.
For questions or additional information about IDEA, please contact Megan Williams at Megan.Williams@dc.gov.
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June 2024
July 2024
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