NCDPI Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
The
2018 Charter School Leadership Institute is coming!
What is it?
The
Charter School Leadership Institute is an annual gathering of charter leaders,
staff, and board members from across the state. Join us for informational
sessions, hands on workshops, and panel discussions on a wide range of topics
including specific tracks for finance and serving special populations. Sign me up!
When is it?
Great question! Thursday,
October 18 (8am-4:30pm) and Friday, October 19 (8am-1pm)
Where is it?
Even
better question! This year’s Institute will be at Pine Springs Preparatory
Academy at 220 Rosewood Centre Drive, Holly Springs, NC 27540. Huge thanks to
Pine Springs for hosting!
How much does it cost?
Less fun, but extremely
relevant question. The registration fee is $55 per participant.
Where should I stay?
There
are a few options in the immediate vicinity. Here are some recommendations: Hampton Inn
and Suites Holly Springs (3.3mi); Comfort Inn Apex (2.7mi); Holiday Inn
Express Apex-Raleigh (3.2mi)
What else should I know?
Lunch will be provided both days. Agendas, speakers, logistics, and more
coming soon!
EPICENTER
To ALL Charter School Leaders and Staff
The Office of Charter Schools is very excited to announce that we are implementing a "software tool" called
EPICENTER
which will assist with automating and streamlining our compliance and performance processes.
More exciting information to follow! Stay tuned!
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Charter School Leaders and Board Members
Board
members from charter schools that are opening in 2019 are required to
attend 5 face-to-face Planning Year Sessions from September to January.
The school leader and some of the board members are also required to attend
the New Charter School Leaders Institute in June.
As a customer service,
the Office of Charter Schools continues to open up these sessions to all
charter schools.
If you have a new school leader and/or a new board
member interested in attending any of the sessions, he or she must register to
attend. Please note the schedule below:
Date
Time
Location
Topic
September 26, 2018
8:00 - 4:15
DPI: Room 150
Charter School Governance
October 31, 2018
8:00 - 4:15
DPI: Room 150
Charter School Finance
November 14, 2018
8:00 - 4:15
DPI: Room 150
Charter School Operations & Accountability
December 12, 2018
8:00 - 4:30
DPI: Room 150
Meeting the Needs of All Students
January 30, 2019
8:00 - 4:15
DPI: Room 150
Our School Opens in 7 Months! Now What?
June 11 - 12, 2019
8:00 - 5:00
DPI: Rooms 150, 224, 564
New Charter School Leaders Institute
Registration is now open for the September session.
Registration ends on Sunday, September 16th. Please use this
link to register: https://goo.gl/forms/XxEYWeciq3V8SfAp2
For questions, please
contact Shaunda Cooper at shaunda.cooper@dpi.nc.gov
and Stephenie Clark at stephenie.clark@dpi.nc.gov.
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SAVE the DATE!
Wednesday, September 5th 3:30 – 4:30
Please register for AIG Program Development for Charter
School Leaders on Sep 5, 2018 3:30 PM EDT at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2721709485959999233
This webinar is designed to support charter school leaders who
are interested in offering gifted programming at the local charter school(s).
We will focus our time on the benefits of charter school AIG programs, the
development of the program - according to state guidelines and legislation, and
ensuring that programming offered meets the needs of gifted learners.
There
will be an opportunity for questions and answers during the session.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email
containing information about joining the webinar.
Brought to you by GoToWebinar®
Webinars Made Easy®
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NewSchools Venture Fund grants
NewSchools Invent
- The application is now live for teams planning
to launch a new, innovative school (district or charter) that will open in
Fall 2020.
-
Selected teams will receive a planning grant of $200,000
(with opportunity to apply for an investment that would support the first
three years of operation) with additional support provided through our
Communities of Practice and our management assistance. To learn more about
our eligibility requirements and our investment criteria, please go here. Applications are due
on November 26, 2018.
Diverse Leaders
-
The application is now live for teams planning
to advance Black and Latino leadership in education. Selected
teams will receive a one-year grant of $100,000 - $200,000 (depending on
the stage of organization or idea) with additional support provided
through our Communities of Practice and our management assistant. To learn
more about our eligibility requirements and our investment criteria,
please go here. Applications
are due on September 7, 2018.
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OCS Monthly Webinar Series
September 27,
2018 | 10:00-11:00am EDT | Register Here
Join us for the
September edition of the OCS Monthly Webinar Series. Rebecca Belcastro, DPI K-3
Literacy Consultant, will lead a conversation and answer questions about Read
to Achieve and what it means for charters including legislative updates,
implementation, and training.
NCStar Regional Trainings
Federal Program Monitoring & Support will be conducting
regional NCStar Trainings. These regional opportunities will contain both
beginner trainings and Q&A sessions for experienced users. From 8:30am –
1:00pm at each location, beginner training will be conducted and then from
2pm-4pm Q&A sessions for experienced users will be held.
Registration is
open at www.ncstar.weebly.com. Space
is limited and registration for each site will close once site capacity is
reached. Please remember that any school identified in a federal or state
list will be required to use NCStar to create and manage their school
improvement plan. Any school that wishes to use the tool, must attend a
beginner training at least once. These are the eight dates and sites:
-
September 26th
– Sampson County Schools Boardroom
at 437 Rowan Road
in Clinton
-
September 28th – Olive Hill
Resource Center
at 509 West Concord Street in Morganton
-
October 2nd –
Asheville City Schools
at 85 Mountain Street in Asheville
-
October 3rd – Linda Rader Staff
Development Center
at 240 Eighth
Avenue in Cramerton
at 110 Corning
Road in Cary
-
October 11th – New Hanover
County Schools Board of Education Center
at 1805 South 13th Street in Wilmington
-
October 19th – Sadie
Saulter Educational Center
at 400 Spruce Street in Greenville
-
October 23rd
– Workforce Development & Continuing Education Building
at 629 Industrial
Park Avenue in Asheboro
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2018 Performance
Framework: Final
Review
The
deadline for charter schools to resubmit documents was Thursday, August 30,
2018. All evidence(s) properly uploaded into SharePoint will be reviewed
again for a final rating of either compliant or not compliant.
OCS
Consultants will review resubmitted documents on an on-going basis during the
month of September. After the closing of
reviews on September 30, 2018, there will be one final correspondence shared with the school leader and board chair listed in
EDDIE noting any measures that will be marked as Not Compliant.
Thank
you for your hard work and diligence in making necessary corrections to
evidence documents and policies.
If
there are any further questions regarding the 2018 Performance Framework
collection and timeline, please contact Stephenie Clark at stephenie.clark@dpi.nc.gov or (919) 807-3492.
NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Updates
FLANC Scholarships and Mini-Grants for 2018
Let FLANC fund your professional growth with a scholarship or mini-grant!
Here is what's available:
-
Beginning
Teacher Scholarship - Apply by September 15
Up to 20 beginning teachers in their first, second or third year of K-12
teaching can be awarded a scholarship to cover the cost of the FLANC Fall
Conference registration plus one Saturday afternoon workshop on October 19
- 20 in Durham. Details are posted on FLANC's
Scholarships page, including the online
application.
-
Future
Teacher Scholarship - Apply by September 15
This $1000 scholarship honors Jane Mitchell and Manolita Buck, two
language educators who were instrumental in shaping a vision for World
Language Education in our state. It is awarded to one student
entering his or her final year of study in a program leading to teacher
licensure in a World Language in North Carolina. This scholarship is
open to all students of any North Carolina institute of higher learning.
Additional details are posted on FLANC's
Scholarships page, along with the online
application that includes information about submitting a resume and
transcripts, as well as scheduling an interview.
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FLANC
Mini-Grant - Apply by November 15
Any FLANC member, K-20, can apply for a mini-grant of up to $500 toward
their project to promote World Language education. The grants are
available on a competitive basis, and applicants are urged to use these
grants to leverage additional funding from their schools or other sources for
the development of their grant project. Details are posted on FLANC's
Mini-Grants page, including the downloadable application form.
Please see the flyer below and direct questions
to Laura Sexton, FLANC Scholarship and Mini-Grant Chair, at scholarship.minigrant@flanc.org
FLANC+Scholarship+and+Mini-Grant+Ad.pdf
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Letter from the State Superintendent
Educators:
I hope your
start to the school year has been great. We have visited schools and seen the
photos you have shared. (Thanks for tagging us.) The excitement of educators
and students across the state has been fantastic.
As the State
Superintendent and father of a public school student, I want to personally
thank you for everything you do and for your service to our state.
As you know,
one of my top priorities is to reduce the time you must spend assessing and
testing students.
Thank you for the valuable feedback you gave us through the
assessment survey we sent out in May. Three-quarters
of you said your students are tested too much, and your input guides our
work. We want to give you time back to do what you entered the profession to
do: teach.
I will keep
you updated this school year on our efforts to change past guidance that has
intensified high-stakes testing.
The tests are too long, the testing environment
is too high-stress, and the rules placed on students, teachers, and volunteer
proctors are unreasonably strict. Last year, I saw it for myself when I
proctored a test in a fourth grade classroom.
We will be
revising the testing protocols to remove as many of these guidelines as
possible to alleviate at least some of the stress and disruption that testing
causes.
K-3
educators are noticing these efforts first. For the start of this school year,
we changed how teachers can use the mCLASS reading diagnostic tool. Past
guidance from DPI resulted in strict requirements for how often K-3 teachers
had to assess students, but the new guidance for this school year allows for
more teacher discretion.
For all K-5
educators, I am urging the State Board of Education to eliminate certain tests
in grades K-5 caused by board policies rather than federal law.
As the
school year continues, we will have more updates for all K-12 educators and
parents on our work to reduce high-stakes testing. We hope these changes help
reduce the time you must spend assessing students as well as how much your
students feel like they are being tested.
Have a great
holiday weekend. North Carolina is fortunate to have you.
Sincerely,
Mark Johnson
State Superintendent
@MarkRJohnsonNC
Testing and Accountability Updates
2018-19
Superintendents and Charter School Administrators,
Please see the attached memo: Testing and Accountability Updates
2018-19, from Deputy Superintendent Eric Hall and Accountability Director
Tammy Howard.
Testing+Updates+Fall+2018-19_EH_TH_082918%5B1%5D.pdf
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2018-2019 World Language Webinar Series
The 2018-2019 World Language
Webinar Series details are below and posted on the Webinar Series Information page on the
World Languages wiki.
As in the past, all of the broadcasts will be on Wednesdays
from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. and the materials from each webinar (slides, handouts,
links, etc.), along with a recording of the broadcast, will be posted
approximately 1 week later so that they can be used in local professional
development.
Educators who
participate in a live broadcast of a World Language webinar from this series
will receive an email receipt with 1 contact hour or 0.1 CEU, which could be
used for licensure renewal. Note: Local Education Agencies (LEAs) or
districts and charter schools must approve professional development offerings.
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Adherence to the 10/20 Day Rule
State Board of Education
policy TEST-003 states that, "public school students may drop a course
with a required end-of-course (EOC) assessment within the first 10 days of
enrollment in a semester schedule or within the first 20 days of enrollment in
a year-long schedule. Students who are enrolled for a credit after the 10/20
days, regardless of course delivery, shall not drop a course with a required EOC
assessment and shall participate in the appropriate EOC assessment at the
completion of the course."
Please click here to view the memo on the
Adherence to the 10/20 Day Rule from Deputy Superintendent Eric Hall and
Accountability Director Tammy Howard.
2018-2019 Class Size/Caseload Waivers
Please see the attached Memorandum regarding Class Size/Caseload waivers.
For technical assistance or questions please contact your assigned monitoring
consultant for related services. https://ec.ncpublicsthools.gove/report-data/cipp-monitoring/find-monitor-2018-19.pdf
K-3
Literacy: Read to Achieve
The K-3 Literacy Division welcomes you back to school and wishes
you a great start to the 2018-2019 school year.
Information and updates regarding Read to Achieve can be found on
the Read to Achieve LiveBinder. This includes updates to mClass:Reading 3D.
NC Read to Achieve LiveBinder: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/850102
NEW!!! Enrollment and Classing (mClass:Reading 3D)
In an effort to better support LEAs with mCLASS Reading 3D
enrollment responsibilities, Amplify and NC DPI have created classes in mCLASS
for this school year.
We recognize there have been a variety of enrollment challenges
due to this new process and hope to resolve all open items before BOY starts on
Tuesday, September 4th.
Please make sure that your students are placed in appropriate
courses in Powerschool in order to ensure seamless information transfer (1050,
1051,1052, and 1053). DPI has submitted a ‘student to class’ file on Tuesday
August 28th, which should populate students into the empty classes in mCLASS.
It is DPI’s goal to provide a daily refresh of classes for the first 15 days of
school and then weekly throughout the school year.
If you have missing student information or students who are not in
classes, please work with your Data Manager to ensure that the students are
scheduled in the appropriate course codes under the correct teacher in
PowerSchool. If the student data is not coded correctly, please fix it in your
Student Information System. The updated data will be pulled during the next
file transfer from DPI to mCLASS.
If you are still experiencing issues with classes, student and
staff rosters, please contact Amplify Help at help@amplify.com.
We do not recommend that you create groups to replace classes in
order to see mCLASS student data. Our suggestion is to wait until NC DPI
submits the ‘student to class file’ in order for those classes to populate and
see student data. If students are in mCLASS and you don’t see them in classes,
it may be that they are not assigned to classes yet in Powerschool.
In addition, if teachers have multiples ELA sections and are not
seeing all of their classes, we ask that you remain patient as we work through
the details in the file in order to support multiple classes.
If you have purchased licenses for grades 4 and 5, please be sure
that your PowerSchool course codes are up to date for the daily refresh.
Rebecca Belcastro
K-3 Literacy Consultant, Piedmont-Triad
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
919-789-1036
rebecca.belcastro@dpi.nc.gov
2018 Exceptional Children Educator of Excellence Recognition
The Exceptional Children Division will recognize educators of excellence at
the 68th Conference on Exceptional Children.
Local schools systems are
asked to identify one teacher or related service provider of exceptional from
the school under its oversight.
Please see the attached Memorandum for
details. You may direct questions to Melissa Towery, Melissa.towery@dpi.nc.gov, Jenny
Stroupe, jenny.stroupe@dpi.nc.gov,
or Tish Bynum, tish.bynum@dpi.nc.gov.
Memo-Educator+of+Excellence+2018.pdf
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Southern Conference on Language
Teaching (SCOLT)
This message is being shared on behalf of the Southern Conference on Language
Teaching (SCOLT), the World Language education professional organization
serving over a dozen southeastern states, including North Carolina.
Details about upcoming deadlines for the SCOLT Conference are listed below with
links, and all information can be found on the SCOLT
website.
This information, along with other reminders, contests, grants, and
scholarships are also posted on the K-20
Opportunities for Teachers & Students page of the NC World Languages
wiki.
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August 31, 2018
School Financial
Reporting
SCHOOL BUSINESS DIVISION
FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES
This is a reminder that August
2018 (FY2018) Financial and MFR data files need to be built and available
to DPI no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, September 5, 2018
For LEAs using the LINQ software,
once the month is closed your data will be created and sent to LINQ for
submission to DPI. Should any LINQ LEA encounter problems with the
monthly closing, please contact the LINQ HELP Desk.
DPI will begin processing data
files first thing on September 6 , 2018. Please make
every effort to create the data files on the due date. We also ask that you
please make certain there is someone on site September 6, 2018 to
answer any data-related questions DPI may have.
If this reminder needs to be
sent to others at your district, please forward this message to them and amanda.cruz@dpi.nc.gov.
Other News
2018/2019SY New Homeless Liaison Compliance Training
NCHEP will be conducting annual New
Homeless Liaison Compliance Training sessions during September 2018. This year
separate training sessions will be held for new liaisons from regular LEAs and
charter schools as noted below.
Those who are new homeless liaison with 2 years
or less experience for their LEA or charter school and who did not attend the new
homeless liaison training held for LEAs or charter schools during the 2017-18SY
should participate in this all-day professional development.
Local Educational Agencies
September 6, 2018
The SERVE Center at UNCG
5900 Summit Ave., Dixon Bldg.
Browns Summit, NC 27214
Register for the LEA NHLCT
Charter Schools
September 13, 2018
The SERVE Center at UNCG
5900 Summit Ave., Dixon Bldg.
Browns Summit, NC 27214
Register for the Charter Schools NHLCT
The topics for training will include:
-
Compliance with the
McKinney-Vento Act
-
Transportation
-
Early Education
-
Higher Education (RDS)
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Immunization
and Health Assessment Compliance Reporting
Each year, all
schools are required to report the immunization status of their kindergarten
and 7th grade students, according to G.S. 130A-155(c) and G.S. 130A-440. The
purpose of these reports is to ensure that all
children enrolled in North Carolina schools are protected against
vaccine-preventable diseases and to determine the number of children who meet
state immunization requirements.
Additionally, all North Carolina public
and public charter schools are required annually to report on the status of
Health Assessments for those students who are enrolling for the first time in a
North Carolina public or public charter school (G.S. 130A-441(c)).
Report submission
can take place after the 30th calendar day from the school’s
official first day. A combined compliance report is available this year,
by school name, and must be completed on-line at this link: Annual Health Assessment and Immunization Report. You
may use the link to access instructions as well as worksheets to gather your
responses prior to entering the online report.
Compliance reports
are due no later than November 1, 2018 but may be completed at
any time prior to that date.
Communication
From The Consultant
The Technical
Assistance Summary provides valuable school health information.
School Health Coordinators and/or School Nurses are encouraged to review this
quarterly circular so you can stay up-to-date with news and announcements from
the Charter School Health Nurse Consultant.
Do
You Have a School Nurse or School Health Coordinator?
In order to
ensure proper delivery of School Health Services information, please use this
link to provide contact information. The contact information provided
will be used to ensure receipt of important school health
requirements and continuing education opportunities. Please have your
school nurse or school health coordinator fill out this quick survey so they
may be included on our distribution list.
Kristin
Wike, MSN, RN, NCSN
Charter
School Health Nurse Consultant
NC
Division of Public Health - Children and Youth Branch
NC
Department of Health and Human Services
828
230 7148 office
828
230 7148 mobile
kristin.wike@dhhs.nc.gov
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