 NCDPI Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
Charter Schools
Transportation Grant Opportunity - Reminder
2.5 million dollars was
provided to the NC Department of Public Instruction to establish a Charter
School Transportation Grant Program for the 2017-18 school year.
The purpose of the Charter
School Transportation Grant pilot program is to reimburse a charter school that
has a student enrollment of at least fifty percent (50%) of its students
residing in households with an income level not in excess of the amount
required for a student to qualify for the federal free or reduced price lunch
program.
The Letter of Intent was the
first step in the established process and was due September 1, 2017. Attached
is the Letter of Intent for any school who did not complete initially and the
Grant Application which is due December 31, 2017.
Contact ocs@dpi.nc.gov with questions or
concerns.
Attachments:
2017-18 Transportation Grant Letter of Intent
Charter Schools Transportation Grant Application
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Community School of Davidson to Host its Fresh
Take Conference - January 26
January 26, 2018 is
this year’s Fresh Take: Strategies for Student Success conference in Davidson,
NC. We are excited to present our 6th conference for teacher by teachers.
Each session, as you will see on the list below, honors and encourages those in
the honored profession of education.
The keynote address will be
presented by Dr. Lacretia Berry will address the fact that if we want
multi-ethnic communities where bias is not attached to skin tone and race does
not matter, we must get good at educating and engaging our children and
students. She will also speak about educator’s responsibly to normalize
conscious conversations about skin tone and race, and how to empower students
to be competent, comfortable, and courageous as they navigate our
hyper-racialized society and seek ways to bring healing and change.
Information
about Fresh Take and a link to register to attend the conference
can be found on the Fresh Take website.
Early bird rate is still available until December 15: individual registration
is $75 or $325 for a group of five attendees ($65pp). Registration includes
breakfast, lunch, a swag bag, t-shirt, and snack. CPU certificates will be
available at the end of the conference.
Join us to celebrate the
profession of education and learn from one another.
Fresh Take website: http://thefront5.wixsite.com/freshtake.
 State Employees Credit Union Foundation (SECU)
High School Scholarship Opportunity
Since the SECU Foundation was
established in August 2004, it has awarded annual $10,000 “People Helping
People” four-year scholarships – increasing from two to three in 2014 – to
graduating seniors attending North Carolina Charter Schools. These scholarships
will be awarded to students attending one of the 16 constituent campuses of the
University of North Carolina. These funds are made possible through the
contributions to the Foundation by members of State Employees' Credit Union.
Below are the steps for
applying for this scholarship opportunity:
- Review the ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA and share scholarship information with eligible
students and their parents. New for 2018: The SECU People Helping People
Scholarship is only available to graduating public high school seniors who
are either members of SECU or the child of a parent/guardian who is a
member of SECU.
- Develop a school-level
scholarship selection committee comprised of three or more members who
will make the final decision on the school-level nominee. The scholarship
selection committee must also identify an alternate (runner up) for each school-level
nominee in the event the named nominee becomes ineligible (i.e., receives
a full scholarship, declines the scholarship, chooses to attend a private
or out of state university, etc.).
- Submit the following
information for the school-level nominee:
-
Completed Student Application and Essay. Note: This document must be sent as a Word Document
only. The document is enabled to allow SECU Foundation to import student
data into our database directly. Please do not send this document as a
PDF or Google Doc.
- Copy of University Acceptance Letter
- Photo of Nominee (head shot only)
-
A Brief Bio Written by Nominee with Accomplishments
and Awards Noted. A guide
for writing them bio is provided HERE.
-
Written Scholarship Selection Committee Statement (signed by all committee members verifying the selection
of the nominee). In this letter, include the name of the selected
school-level alternate nominee.
-
Signed Consent Form. Each recipient of the scholarship and their
parent/guardian must sign the Consent Form to release their names and
images for press releases to the local news media as well as within State
Employee’s Credit Union and the SECU Foundation. In addition, the nominee
and their parents are asked to complete all the information on the
Consent Form which will be used to verify their eligibility as an SECU
member.
-
Scholarship recipient information from each school must
be received by the NCDPI
Office of Charter Schools by 5:00 pm EST on March 9, 2018.
Application information must be sent via email to Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith at ocs@dpi.nc.gov. Schools should only submit application
information for the school-level nominee. Application information should
be collected for the alternate nominee, but the information should not be
submitted until requested.
- Schools
should notify the Office of Charter Schools if the school-level nominee or
alternate are no longer eligible for the scholarship.
The Office of Charter Schools
appreciates the dedication and hard work by the members of each school’s Scholarship
Selection Committee. Please contact Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith @ ocs@dpi.nc.gov if
you have any questions or concerns about the scholarship opportunity.
Note:
SECU Foundation also provides each North Carolina Community College two (2)
$5,000 scholarships. Recipients are selected by the Scholarship Selection
Committee at the community college. If you have a student who will be attending
a community college and exemplifies the membership philosophy of credit unions,
“People Helping People”, please direct them to the Financial Aid office at the
community college.
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NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Updates
Testing
Exceptions Based on Significant Medical Emergencies
Please see attached regarding requests for Testing
Exceptions Based on Significant Medical Emergencies and/or Conditions.
If you have any questions, please contact Wendy
Wooten at 919 807-3801 or wendy.wooten@dpi.nc.gov.
Attachment: Memo-Testing+Exceptions+Medical+Emergencies+1217.pdf
 US Department of Education (USED) Response to NC Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan
The U.S. Department of Education responded this week to North Carolina’s
ESSA plan with a request that we address several items with clarifying or
additional information before final approval is granted. We expect to provide
those revisions to the plan within the next several weeks.
On the ESSA
page of DPI’s website, we have posted links to the letter that we received
from the Department of Education which includes the items they’ve asked us to
address as well as feedback from peer reviews of the state’s plan.
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Child Count Transfer System
The time has passed for requesting Child Count Transfers for FY 2017-18. There are some unprocessed requests that will be processed in January 2018. If
you have any questions, please contact School Allotments at 919-807-3739.
 Department of Transportation (DOT) Medical Card Updates
Attached
is very important information regarding the requirement for DOT medical cards
for drivers.
Please contact Mr. Kevin Harrison, Director, NCDPI Transportation Division with questions or concerns at kevin.harrison@dpi.nc.gov.
Attachment: Transportation
FAQ
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Request for Testing Exceptions Based on Significant Medical Emergencies and/or Conditions
Please
see the attached memo, Request for Testing Exceptions Based on Significant
Medical Emergencies and/or Conditions, from Dr. Stacey Wilson-Norman and Dr.
Tammy Howard to all Charter School Directors.
Attachment: MEMO
- Request for Testing Exceptions Based on Significant Medical Emergencies
and/or Conditions
 Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Updates
As you begin to implement an integrated academic and behavior system in your school, it is critical to have well functioning teams in place. Within the MTSS framework, teaming structures exist to support communication and sustainability of the work around defining and examining core instruction as well as supplemental and intensive supports. The School Leadership Team (School Improvement Team) will prioritize problem-solving core and supplemental instruction, the school curriculum and the existing environmental structures that impact school culture and the implementation of instructional practices.
Recommended team members include administration, grade level/common department level teachers with academic and behavioral expertise. The responsibility of the team includes:
- building common language around MTSS,
- problem solving school wide data,
- planning professional learning (professional development and coaching) based on staff needs, and
- communicating with the Grade Level/Content area Teams.
For more information on preparing for installation, see our Live Binder. The self-paced modules being released next month will also provide a significant amount of resources for successful implementation. For questions about NC Multi-Tiered System of Support, please contact Amy Jablonski.
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Exceptional Children Division Hosts Non-Violent Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Training Opportunity
The Exceptional
Children Division will be offering non-violent crisis prevention intervention
(CPI) training in January 2018.
The proposed dates are January 16-19 and
will take place in Greensboro. Details will be confirmed in early
January. There is no registration fee; however, travel and subsistence will not
be covered. There will be space available for Charter School
personnel.
Please identify attendees from your respective charter school. When identified, please provide the contact information for
potential attendees and they will be added to the database of participants.
Contact Mr. Joe Simmons at 919-807-3993 if you have questions.
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