 Important Bird Flu Update for School Leaders (reminder)
Bird flu (H5N1) has been found in wild birds and poultry in the DC region, but no cases have been reported in DC. The risk to people is low, but staff and students who handle birds or contaminated surfaces should take precautions. This H5N1 bird flu virus has the potential to affect students and school staff that come in close contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces. Currently, human transmission is rare, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not identified any human-to-human transmission in the US.
- Share guidance with staff handling birds, nests, or contaminated areas (e.g., custodial, maintenance, and chicken program staff).
- Remind students and staff to avoid handling wild birds or their nests without proper personal protective equipment (PPE), including while on school grounds and environmental field trips.
- Promote hygiene—encourage frequent handwashing and avoid touching wild birds.
- Report concerns—notify DC Health if you see three or more sick or dead birds on school grounds.
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Monitor health—staff with possible exposure and flu-like symptoms should isolate and contact DC Health. See more here: symptoms of bird flu.
Please review and share this guidance with school staff who may encounter birds or contaminated surfaces, including maintenance, groundskeeping or custodial staff who may encounter nesting or dead wild birds (including bird feathers and bird droppings) and school staff who manage an approved school chicken program used for educational purposes (see here how bird flu can spread via a chicken program). As a reminder, if your school has a school chicken program, it must be approved annually by DC Health (see more information here).
Immediately report any signs of sick or dead wild birds (three or more) or chickens on school grounds to DC Health.
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*New* 2025-26 School Year Enrollment Forms Now Available
E has posted updated English language Residency Verification Forms and an updated SY2025-26 Office of Enrollment and Residency (OER) Handbook are now available on OSSE's OER webpage. Please make sure to mark these web pages so that you are using the correct forms for this upcoming enrollment season.
We will hold SY2025-26 Residency Verification trainings virtually on March 5 at 11 a.m. Registration information for this online session has been sent to LEA Heads of School and LEA Enrollment Audit POCs. If you have not received it, or you have had changes in staff, please be sure to update your contacts via the All Staff Collection in Faculty & Staff (F&S) application to ensure the appropriate staff members are receiving enrollment communications. For aemail OSSE.EnrollmentAudit@dc.gov.
*New* Share Your Discipline Data Collection Feedback
OSSE appreciates the time and effort LEAs put into the annual discipline collection and is looking for ways to improve our processes while maintaining compliance with local and federal legislation. To assist with this effort, OSSE has created an LEA survey to learn more about how LEAs -- prior to submitting data to OSSE for validation -- collect and store discipline data.
Multiple people from each LEA are invited to participate, as OSSE is interested in gaining insights from multiple perspectives. To participate, follow this link: Discipline Data Collection Feedback SY 24-25. The survey will remain open until April 4.
Additionally, OSSE will offer the opportunity to share feedback 1-on-1 or in a focus group. Please use the survey link above to indicate your interest in participation. We can't wait to hear from you.
The DC Survey About Your School (DC SAYS) is Live! (reminder)
The first District-wide survey of students, staff and families – DC SAYS – is live! The window will run now-March 28. If you have not yet signed up a survey liaison for each campus – it's not too late - you can do so on this form.
School-based staff received an email from Panorama with a confidential link to the survey on the morning of Feb. 24; an anonymous version of the survey (with the same questions) is available here.
The first week has been great! We appreciate your participation. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Ben.Peisch@dc.gov.
Sign up for the OSSE Data Discovery Newsletter (reminder)
Did you know that the Data, Assessment and Research (DAR) team at OSSE has a blog about data? We are starting a newsletter to share new blog posts. Sign up here to receive the monthly newsletter. Our goal is for data to be accessible to everyone, so the team has written concise and inviting posts about important topics. Here are a few recent posts:
There's more to come! If you have any feedback or suggestions for topics, please reach out to Ben Peisch at Ben.Peisch@dc.gov.
The District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) and Mayor’s Scholars Undergraduate Program Applications are open! (reminder)
The DCTAG and Mayor’s Scholars applications opened on Feb. 3 and will close on Aug. 15 3 p.m. DCTAG pays the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for DC students. Students can receive up to $10,000 toward tuition annually at public colleges nationwide and up to $2,500 toward tuition at private colleges in DC and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Interested students can apply for DCTAG through the DC OneApp at dconeapp.dc.gov.
DCTAG pays the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for DC students. Students can receive up to $10,000 toward tuition annually at public colleges nationwide and up to $2,500 toward tuition at private colleges in DC and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Interested students can apply for DCTAG through the DC OneApp at dconeapp.dc.gov.
The Mayor’s Scholars Undergraduate Program is a locally funded program that provides need-based assistance for eligible students earning their first associate or bachelor’s degree. Both incoming and current college students are eligible for this award program. Applicants must re-apply to the Mayor’s Scholars program each year. The 2025-26 application is available in OSSE’s Application for Postsecondary Studies (APS).
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Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Week 2025 (reminder)
OSSE is thrilled to promote National Social Emotional Learning Week, March 3-7. Become a part of the transformative movement highlighting the importance of social-emotional skills by attending one of our professional learning sessions and using the SEL Week Promotion Kit!
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’SELebrating’ Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Day
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Using Restorative Practices to Develop Adult SEL Skills (Virtual)
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Weaving the Implementation of Social Emotional Learning Practices with Educator Wellness (Virtual)
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Leveraging Student Voice to Drive Culture and Improvement (Virtual)
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Using Mindfulness to Support SEL (Virtual)
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Understanding Trauma in Children and How to Develop Healing-Centered Practices (Virtual)
By participating in SEL Week, you’ll contribute to the larger movement aimed at improving social and emotional learning practices. For more information and to download the Promotion Kit, visit OSSE's SEL website. For more information, please contact Marcus Hughes, School Climate Specialist, at Marcus.Hughes@dc.gov.
Dual Language Research, Policy, and Practice Series (Session 2, March 12) (reminder)
Dual language leaders, please join us Wednesday, March 12 for a virtual learning series focused on building connections across schools and sectors in the Washington, DC dual language community. This series will feature presentations from local research, policy, and practice leaders focused on fostering equitable and high-quality dual language education.
The second session's guest will be Mayra Canizales Cruz, a dual language and English language learner expert, a national award-winning instructional leader, a founding partner of the Canizales Group, and former Principal of Oyster-Adams Bilingual School. Sra. Cruz will share takeaways from her experiences as an equity-driven Latina school leader of a National Blue Ribbon bilingual school within a monolingual system. Participants will be invited to reflect on takeaways related to their own work as well as action steps for the broader DC dual language community.
A variety of dual language leaders are welcome to attend, including LEA leaders, principals, assistant principals, instructional leaders, and operations leaders. The session will take place virtually on Wednesday, March 12 from 12-1 p.m. Register here.
For more information, contact Francesca Smith, Multilingual Specialist, at Francesca.Smith@dc.gov.
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*New* Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act Formula Consolidated Post-Award Webinar
OSSE will host a post-award webinar for public charter LEAs that have been awarded one or more fiscal year 2025 (FY25) SOAR Formula grants (i.e., Academic Quality and Early Childhood). This webinar will cover expectations and requirements of the grants, including: reimbursement request submission, maintaining the Central Data application, semi-annual narrative reporting requirements, and budget amendments. Webinar attendance is optional for all grantees though highly recommended for new LEA staff.
The webinar will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 6. Please register to attend here.
For any questions, please reach out to your LEA’s SOAR program contact or OPCSFS.funding@dc.gov.
Local and Values-Based Purchasing Pilot Grant (LVPP) Applications - Deadline March 18 (reminder)
The competitive grant application for the fiscal year 2025 (FY25) Local and Values-Based Purchasing Pilot Grant (LVPP) was made available on Jan. 31 in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS). The overall goal of the LVPP grant is to build the capacity of child nutrition programs (CNP) to increase the quantity, variety and/or frequency of local foods served and increase the use of values-based procurement methods in purchasing locally sourced and unprocessed foods. The deadline to submit applications is Tuesday, March 18. The award period for these grants is March 31 through Sept. 30. Please visit this link for more information about the grant opportunity.
For questions or additional information about the LVPP grant application, contact Melissa Gurevitch, Farm to School Program Specialist, at Melissa.Gurevitch@dc.gov.
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