State Employees Credit Union Foundation (SECU) High School Scholarship Opportunity - Reminder

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.

From the Desk of Mr. Dave Machado, Director, Office of Charter Schools (OCS)

National School Choice Week is January 21st through the 27th. I encourage all our schools to “tell your story” of the great impact your school is having on your community. Invite your local and state representatives to come visit along with the media to observe what makes our charter schools some of the most sought after schools in North Carolina. 

With all the challenges we face on a daily basis, it is encouraging to know that in 2017/2018 we are educating over 100,000 students in our 173 schools and have over 55,000 students on our waiting lists. I especially want to thank all the administrators, teachers, staffs, and non-profit school boards that work so hard to provide the best possible education to your students. Keep up the great work!

Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Updates - MTSS School Based Modules

As of early this week, there were 71 Charter School Cohort 5 educators enrolled in the School-Based MTSS Modules. Our team is thrilled that these additional schools are beginning to engage in the work of building a MTSS. The School Based Modules are designed for School MTSS Leadership Teams.

If your school is still determining who should be guiding this work, please carefully consider these recommendations. If you have a team but have not yet considered the use of this professional development option, a good next step is to discuss with your leadership team what the plan is for continual school improvement around academics, behavior and social emotional instruction for all students. The state level professional development supports were created to guide your team as they implement the critical components of a MTSS. To learn more about access to the modules, watch this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSrzhqIFaLQ&feature=youtu.be

If you have questions about MTSS please contact us at integratedsystems@dpi.nc.gov.

ENCORE Webinar: STEAM w/Kim Brooks 2/1 @ 3:30

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

When:  February 1, 2018

Time:  3:30 – 4:00

Title:  Full STEAM Ahead: Incorporating the NC Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) into a STEAM K Classroom – Part 2

Description:   We hope you had an opportunity to join us for the January 11 webinar entitled Full STEAM Ahead: Incorporating the NC Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) into a STEAM K Classroom. The feedback to this webinar was incredibly positive; in fact, a significant number of folks who responded were eager for a “Part 2” to follow the initial webinar. Kim Brooks, the facilitator of the initial webinar, has graciously agreed to host a second webinar to extend from the wonderful information presented on January 11. If you were able to attend the initial webinar, we hope you will also register for Part 2; if you were not able to attend the initial webinar, we welcome and encourage you to attend Part 2.  

Register HERE.

Curriculum Leaders Collaborative (CLC) Applications Now Open!

The Curriculum Leaders Collaborative (CLC) was a huge success in its first year and is coming back again this school year! Here's what the first year participants are saying about it: 

• "It is a chance for the school leaders to think systematically about their approaches, without interruption of day-to-day activities." 

• "If your district needs a high level of change, this professional development is essential." 

• "If you want to feel more effective and efficient in your efforts, and feel that you are making progress with the hours of work you are putting in, then CLC is an important step."

Additionally, over 96% of year one participants agreed that the CLC met its goals and will improve student outcomes. 

If you would like to benefit from learning how implementation science and evidence-based problem solving techniques can improve your school initiatives, then join the second cohort of the CLC taking place this school year (2017-18SY)! Below are some quick facts about this coming cohort:

• What: The purpose of this optional 3-day Curriculum Leaders Collaborative will be to provide those responsible for the school level implementation of content standards (NC Standard Course of Study) with a process for discussing how professional development, technical assistance/coaching, communication/visibility and research/evaluation support quality implementation that can be sustained and monitored for fidelity. Each day of training will run from 9am - 5pm with 90 minutes for lunch, which will be “on your own.” 

• Who: 3-4 Charter School leadership staff responsible for the implementation of content standards (Principal, Assistant Principal, etc.).

• Where: Raleigh, NC. 

• When: February 23rd, March 28th, and April 27th 2018.

• Additional Information: Please checkout the CLC website or follow #NCDPI_CLC on Twitter for additional information and updates. 

If you are interested in participating in the second cohort of the CLC taking place this school year (2017-18SY), then please click on the link below and complete the application by COB on Friday, February 9th. Please note that applications will not be accepted until a signed Partnership Agreement has been emailed to hunter.huffman@dpi.nc.gov.

<APPLICATION LINK>

NCDPI Newsletters 

Weekly Legislative Update - Sunday, January 14, 2018

January 2018 From the Board Room

January 2018 NC Public School Partners' Newsletter