NCDPI Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
A Message from the Desk of Mr. Dave Machado, Director, NCDPI Office of Charter Schools
Many charter schools in the eastern part of the state are just now reopening and determining their school's damage. I appreciate all the school
leaders that contacted our office to offer assistance and support. If any of your charter schools are in need of supplies, furniture, or even labor to clean up from Hurricane Matthew, please contact Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith at deanna.townsend-smith@dpi.nc.gov and we will communicate your needs to the charter school community.
We will not be rescheduling our Leadership Conference, but we do plan to
participate in other NCDPI professional development offerings which will be communicated through our weekly Newsletter and look forward to seeing you in attendance. Regarding the OCS Newsletter, please read it
closely each week and forward it to your leadership team and board members. This is the
primary way we communicate all the information from OCS and other divisions within NCDPI.
Finally, in our effort
to better serve our schools, we are asking you to complete the survey included in today’s newsletter (See above action items). Your response will help us see where we are meeting your needs and outline areas where we need to improve.
Do you know these facts about NC Charter Schools?
- 59.7%....the number of charter schools at or above 60%
with students scoring levels 3 or above on EOG and EOC assessments
- 76.9%...percentage of charter schools meeting or exceeding
all financial and operational goals
- 11 schools scheduled to open in 2017/2018
- 38 application proposals seeking to open in 2018-2019
Keep striving for excellence!!
 US Department of Education Reporting Deadline
The
US Department of Education initiated a data collection for all public
charter schools for 2016-17 which the Office of Charter Schools (OCS) is tasked with conducting. OCS will collect the requested data using the SharePoint database. Please go to: https://leadpincgov.sharepoint.com/sites/lea/Pages/Essa.aspx to submit your information. Your login credentials are the same username and password used for the 2016 Charter School Performance Framework. For your reference, step-by-step instructions are attached. All charter schools are required to submit the information into the collection system on November 1, 2016 by 5:00 pm.
The information each school will enter includes:
-
Indication of your school’s partnership with an EMO or CMO
-
The EIN number for the EMO/CMO
- The mailing address of the EMO/CMO
- The physical address of the EMO/CMO
For technical assistance regarding your username and
password, please contact Marianne Latham at Marianne.latham@dpi.nc.gov or
(919)807-3256. Please contact Cande Honeycutt at
cande.honeycutt@dpi.nc.gov or
(919)807-3493 with any other questions or concerns regarding this reporting requirement.
Attachment: NCDPI
Charter School Reporting for US Dept of Education Submission Instructions
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Low-Performing and Continually Low-Performing Charter Schools Required to Submit Strategic Plans using NCStar
Per
G.S. 115C-218.94 (HB 242), charter schools are classified as Low-Performing and
Continually Low-Performing. All low-performing and continually low-performing schools must develop an improvement plan to
specifically address the goals and strategies the school will use to improve
its School Performance Grade and Growth.
These final plans (submitted through
NCStar) are shared with the public, including parents, guardians, and staff and
are made available through the school’s website and the NC Department of Public
Instruction (NCDPI) website. The NCDPI District and School Transformation
Division will contact you on the specific requirements of your school
improvement plan submission in a separate communication.
To get access to NCStar you must attend training. Information for the NCStar training can be found at www.ncstar.weebly.com.
If you or a designee has not attended NCStar training, you must register for
the training on this site. Attached below is the NCStar draft agenda.
Please contact Alessandro Montanari at Alessandro.Montanari@dpi.nc.gov with questions or concerns.
Attachment: NCStar Draft Agenda.
NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Updates
English Learner
(EL)/ESL Steps to Success
Ivanna Mann Thrower Anderson
works with all NC Charter Schools in regards to English Learners (ELs). This
includes English as a Second Language (ESL) services, Title III funding,
professional development (PD) and much more.
In order to better serve you
and help you remain in compliance, we need to know your plan for serving the
ELs in your charter. Please take a few moments to review the supports
offered by clicking the below hyperlinks. If you have even one EL, begin
developing a Language Instructional Education Plan (LIEP). Plans are
due Friday, November 18, 2016.
- The ESL wiki Charter page – A one stop shopping
site for all things EL! 11 Steps to success. Contact information.
Important dates.
-
English Learner Coordinator listserv -
Click the hyperlink, then click the "Sign Up for Updates" Icon
on the left side of the screen. Enter your email and look for “English
Learner Coordinators” under "Newsletters."
- FREE Professional Development – Register
today and join us for topics that will help you serve your ELs. Fall
offerings include: Demystifying Writing, SIOP, LinguaFolio, ExC-ELL, WIDA,
Technology for ELs and more.
- Additional PD Support – If you need EL
related PD specifically for your charter, consider using the EL Support
Team, a cadre of trainers and coaches who can come to you!
Please contact Ms. Ivanna
Mann Thrower Anderson @ Ivanna.anderson@dpi.nc.gov with questions or
concerns.
 Children's Books from Wyoming Library Available for Interested School(s)
NCDPI Communications received an offer of
about two dozen children’s books from a librarian in Wyoming. The books are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Any charter school interested should contact Todd SIlberman at todd.silberman@dpi.nc.gov or 919-807-3458.
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Enrollment and Grade Expansion Requests using the Charter Schools ADM Projection System
The Charter
Schools ADM Projection System (CSADM) will collect data for Phase 0, Material Increase in ADM or
Grade Expansion for FY 2017-18 beginning November
1, 2016 and ending November 15, 2016.
The CSADM, Phase 0 data collection, is a key
component for meeting the requirements of the
NC General
Statute 115C-218.5(e-f), a school must
request approval from the State Board of Education if the school is planning to
grow student membership more than 20%, unless this growth is approved in the
planned growth in their charter. A
school must also request approval from the State Board if the school is
planning to add more than one grade than is approved in their charter.
Advance
preparations to access the CSADM system on November 1, 2016 should begin now.
The Charter
School administrator or Charter School Board Chair will need an active
North Carolina Identity Management identification (NCID) login. If you do not
have an active NCID, you must contact your Charter Schools’ NCID
administrator to set up an account for you.
A directory of charter school NCID administrators is available at https://www.ncid.its.state.nc.us/LEAListing.asp .
DPI cannot assign an NCID or reset NCID passwords.
If you have any questions about your school’s
eligibility for grade expansion or enrollment increase, please contact the Office
of Charter Schools, 919.807.3491.
If you have questions about
navigating the Charter School ADM Projection System, please contact Angela
Harrison, School Business Division, angela.harrison@dpi.nc.gov, 919-807-3734.
 Summer Reading Camp (PRC 016) Update
The carryover funds for the Summer Reading Camp allotment will revert based on
expenditures posted by October 31, 2016. Remember the carryover funds
were provided to liquidate expenditures from the 2016 Summer Camps.
If
you have any questions, please contact School Allotments at 919-807-3739.
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State Board of Education Schedules Oct. 24 Conference Call
The North Carolina State Board of Education will meet via conference call on Monday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. The conference call will be hosted from the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh.
The meeting’s opening will be audio streamed as the chairman calls the meeting to order then asks for a roll call. A motion will then be made to go to closed session to address a personnel matter. The audio stream will end at that time. The Board will return to open session and then immediately adjourn.
Allotment Revision #015 Notification
The School Allotment Section completed Allotment
Revision#015 on 10/20/2016. In this Revision has allocation adjustments for
PRC#026, PRC#029, PRC#036, PRC#042, PRC#043, PRC#049, PRC#051, PRC#053,
PRC#058, PRC#063, PRC#069, PRC#073, PRC#101, PRC#110.
You can view the revision amounts for each PRC by:
Step 1: login to the School Allotment System https://schools.nc.gov/allotment
with your NCID and Password.
Step 2: Select 'General_Reports' tab
Step 3: For State PRCs, in the 'Site Map' page, under
State Allotment, select the '10 Revision Amount for One Year and PRC - Dollar'
to view revision amounts by LEA# and Revision#.
Or Step 3: For Federal PRCs, in the 'Site Map' page,
under Federal Allotment, select the '10 Revision Amount for One Year and PRC'
to view revision amounts by LEA# and Revision#.
Step 4: You can view the purpose of each revision by
'Click the + sign for Revision Note' below the select year box.
Step 5: You can export the report to Excel file by
clicking the link 'Export to CSV' above the rows count in the report.
If this is your first time logging into the School
Allotment System, it will prompt you to subscribe. Please follow the steps to
subscribe.
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North Carolina Governor’s School Board of Governors Meets
Oct. 26
The North Carolina Governor’s School Board of Governors will hold its
regular business meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. –
4 p.m., in Room 144, Martin Hall, Meredith College, Raleigh.
Agenda items include 2016 Session reports from site directors, Alumni
Association and Foundation reports, budget issues and 2017 nomination
preparations.
 Self-Assessment
of MTSS Implementation
In August 2016, the Exceptional Children Division
sent a memo regarding Intent to Implement
and the Policy change for Specific Learning Disabilities. For those
charters considering implementation of the policy prior to the July 2020 date,
the memo suggested use of the Self-Assessment
of Implementation(SAM) as an implementation fidelity measure.
Charters in MTSS Cohorts 1 and 2 have already
been introduced to this tool which provides ratings for schools across all six
critical components of MTSS installation. In the spring, MTSS Coordinators in
these cohorts were provided training in facilitation of this tool. As Charters
in Cohorts 3 and 4 are beginning engagement in the online course, they will
become more familiar with these six critical components, as well as use of the
SAM. Deeper understanding of where your school falls within the critical components
will allow for identification and prioritization of implementation steps. For
information on charters participating in the MTSS Cohorts and additional
information on the SAM, please see our wiki.
If you have any questions, please contact Amy Jablonski at
amy.jablonski@dpi.nc.gov
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NC Committee of Practitioners Meets Nov. 3
The North Carolina Committee of Practitioners (COP) will meet Thursday, Nov. 3, from 1:30-3:30 p.m., in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh.
The draft agenda includes a review of the rough draft of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan, updates on the progress of the timeline, and additional updates regarding programs authorized under ESSA.
COP members serve as advisors to the State Board of Education on rules or regulations related to ESSA, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).
The meeting will be audio streamed for those who cannot attend.
 Retention/Promotion Reporting
The Retention/Promotion (RP) report's deadline is October 27, 2016. If you have not run the report in PowerSchool during the collection time-frame
of 9/23/2016 - 10/27/2016 please run the report and verify the accuracy of the
data.
If your LEA is
responsible for running and reporting the RP data for a closed school, please
verify that the closed school's data is ready for reporting needs also.
For schools with
difficulties due to hurricane Matthew or other RP questions, please
contact Sandra Johnson at Sandra.johnson@dpi.nc.gov
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Other News
Community School of Davidson Fresh Take Conference
The
annual education conference Fresh Take: Strategies for Student Success will
be held on January 27, 2017 in Davidson,
NC. This year's conference will have many insightful and applicable
workshops from which to choose and will welcome Barbara Coloroso as the keynote
speaker.
Early
bird registration is now open and saves attendees $10 off the $75
registration price. Schools and businesses bringing multiple attendees
save even more with the 5 attendees for $300. Registration includes the
keynote, seven workshops (50 to choose from), breakfast, lunch, snack,
conference t-shirt, and CPU certificate.
More
information can be found on the Community School of Davidson website.
NC Homeless Education Program (NCHEP) Updates
Northeast Regional Compliance Forum –
Rescheduled Date and Location
The
rescheduled date and location of the Northeast Regional Compliance Forum is
listed below.
Date: November
15, 2016
Location: Beaufort
County Schools - Map Link
321 Smaw Road
Washington, NC
(252) 946-6593
Registration:
https://uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Ag51LrXoLLy7o9
If your LEA or charter is located within the Northeast Region, or if you have not been able to attend
any of the compliance forums held so far this year, you should register for
this event at the following URL: https://uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Ag51LrXoLLy7o9.
PLEASE
NOTE:
All prior registrations have been discarded. Anyone wishing to attend
needs to register at the link provided above.
Data Collection: Opening Date Announced
The data collection
pages in PowerSchool will open on November 11, 2016.
Please visit
the NCHEP Data Collection web page for resources related to collecting homeless
data. Updated training resources will be forthcoming later in
November.
Contact Patricia Lentz
(336-574-8724) regarding questions not addressed on the Data Collection web
page.
Professional Development Opportunities
NAEHCY
Conference
The
NAEHCY Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida October
30 – November 1, with a pre-conference on October 29. The registration rate
includes conference materials, CEUs, membership in NAEHCY, training, and
networking opportunities.
The
pre-conference workshops delve into topics on special populations and relevant
issues. This conference will equip you with the knowledge, skills and
inspiration to remove barriers and ensure students experiencing homelessness
are successful academically, personally, and socially. Help shape the
future and promote access to education for all students by joining NCHEP in Orlando.
Visit www.naehcy.org for more information or to
register.
NCHE
Webinars:
Paving the Way to College for
Students Experiencing Homelessness
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 | 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM EST (please
adjust for your time zone)
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8704627226714374147
Description: In this interactive
webinar, presenters will review important information about supports available
to homeless youth as they seek to attend college. Attendees can hope to gain a
better understanding of:
- Fee
waiver options for college entrance exam and college application fees
- The
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) process for both
accompanied and unaccompanied homeless youth, including the U.S.
Department of Education's new early FAFSA submission timeframe and
"prior-prior year tax information" practice
- College
Cost Reduction and Access Act provisions pertaining to unaccompanied
homeless youth and the FAFSA
- Options
for seeking financial assistance beyond federal financial aid
- Options
for undocumented youth wishing to attend college
Determining McKinney-Vento Eligibility: Changes under ESSA
Thursday, November 10, 2016 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET (please adjust for
your time zone)
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1841546014880994307
Description: In
this interactive webinar, presenters will review changes to the McKinney-Vento
definition of homeless children and youth, as amended by the Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESSA). Presenters will cover:
- ESSA
basics, including key implementation dates
- The
amended McKinney-Vento definition of homeless, including the removal of
"awaiting foster care placement" and new guidance on substandard
housing
- New
ESSA provisions on McKinney-Vento dispute resolution, including disputes
related to eligibility
McKinney-Vento School Selection Rights: Changes Under ESSA
Monday, November 21, 2016 | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET (please adjust for
your time zone)
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7890072728974722051
Description: In this interactive webinar, presenters will review
important changes related to school selection for homeless children and youth
under the McKinney-Vento Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA). Presenters will review:
- ESSA
basics, including key implementation dates
- Changes
to the definition of "school of origin"
- Changes
related to determining the best interest of the child or youth in terms of
school selection
- Changes
related to the provision of transportation to currently homeless students
and formerly homeless students who have become permanently housed
- Changes
to the McKinney-Vento dispute resolution process, including disputes about
school enrollment and selection
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