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Please join with the Office of Charter Schools in congratulating Sally B Howard School, of Wilson County, recognized by The US Department of Education as a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School!
Sally B Howard School of Arts and Science was the sole charter school in North Carolina to receive this year's award and 1 of 15 charter schools nationwide. 7 other non-charter schools from North Carolina were also recognized. This is the 3rd school in Wilson County history to receive the award, the others being James B Hunt HS in 2000 and Rock Ridge Elementary in 2015.
The National Blue Ribbon School Award recognizes those schools, public and private, who successfully close the student achievement gap, igniting the innate potential of all children to succeed.
Please read the SBHS Press Release
Check out their website
Learn from their success!
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Teammate in the Spotlight
With the new school year, each month we are putting a face to the name of one of the amazing staff at the Office of Charter Schools. For October we are featuring Ms. Lakisha Robbins!
"I joined OCS with the NC ACCESS Program as Finance Administrator in August 2020. Previously, I have worked in the non-profit field for over 10 years serving in many different positions to include Finance Manager. During my time with non-profits, both organizations worked with public schools and other community organizations to provide better opportunities for youth. I look forward to continuing to learn the charter school world and seeing all the great work from charter schools and the ACCESS Program. I am most proud of my two boys, who keep me busy. In my personal time I enjoy roller skating and hosting family gatherings. I graduated from NC Wesleyan with a degree in Accounting and Business. "
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School Business Division
RLIS Update: The planning allotments for RLIS have triggered the RLIS section to open in CCIP in the consolidated application and are ready to be completed by qualifying PSUs. Please reach out to Alex Charles (alex.charles@dpi.nc.gov) or James Popp (james.popp@dpi.nc.gov) if you have any questions.
The Federal Programs Monitoring and Support (FPMS) division in collaboration with School Nutrition and the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration hosted a technical assistance webinar on ESSER II PRC 174 and 176-177 applications in CCIP 9/23/21. Please utilize the link below to access the recording of the webinar and find attached a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation as resources to complete these two applications. Please contact Dr. Lynn Harvey at Lynn.Harvey@dpi.nc.gov with questions in regards to PRC 174 and Lynne Barbour at Lynne.Barbour@dpi.nc.gov for PRC 176-177. FPMS will be processing the applications.
ESSER II PRC 174 and PRC 176/177 CCIP Technical Assistance Webinar
https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/ldr.php?RCID=9bbd13c4b3874d352031e42443ed1c04
Password: eKfweJA7
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Extension of School Immunization and Health Assessment Requirements
Superintendents and Public Information Officers,
To ensure that children are not excluded from school because of increased demands on health care providers amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Roy Cooper issued a new Executive Order and State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson issued a State Health Director Memo that suspends, but does not waive, documentation deadlines for proof-of-immunization and health assessment requirements for school and child-care facilities.
The Executive Order is needed because increased case rates and viral transmission caused by the Delta variant have limited providers’ ability to schedule immunization and health assessment visits. According to the North Carolina Pediatric Society, pediatricians are experiencing record levels of demand for sick visits due to viral illnesses.
In typical years, proof of required immunizations and health assessments are required within 30 days of the first date of attendance of school. After the 30 days, children are to be excluded from school until the family provides documentation of requirements. This year, the 30-day "grace period" for all students will begin on November 1, 2021. Extending these deadlines by will allow more time for families, schools and providers to facilitate access to needed immunizations and health assessments.
Families are required to provide the school or child care facility proof of an upcoming appointment (which could include a written statement from a parent or guardian) by October 8, 2021, and are strongly encouraged to obtain the required immunizations for their children on a timely basis.
The Executive Order and State Health Director Memo will apply to students enrolled in public, private, or religious educational institutions, including child care facilities and K-12 schools. The Order also extends the deadline for each child entering a North Carolina public school for the first time to submit proof of a health assessment with that proof of an upcoming appointment.
Whether children are home-schooled, attend school in-person or by remote learning, they are required by state law to be immunized based on their age for certain vaccinations as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More information on North Carolina’s requirements for vaccines can be found on the NCDHHS website.
Charter Leaders call with DPI Senior Leadership
Procedures for the Transfer of Local Payments to Charter Schools
Superintendents, Charter School Leaders, and Finance Officers,
Please see the attached memo, Procedures for the Transfer of Local Payments to Charter Schools, from state Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
Recent Memos and Need to Know
ESSR Reminder
Dear Charter Directors,
This is a reminder that the 2021-2022 Eligible Schools Summary Report (ESSR) must be submitted in PowerSchool for all local education agencies (LEAs) and charter schools in North Carolina. All charter schools are required to report these data regardless of whether they accept any federal funds and the report is used to meet several requirements, such as School Report Card, CEDARS and Teacher Loan Forgiveness. Thank you in advance for your support.
Information regarding the data collection can be found at https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/federal-program-monitoring/federal-program-data-collection
Announcing Learning Innovations: Fall Webinar Sessions for Educators
Best Practices for Implementing Successful HyFlex Learning
October 21st, 11:00 am EST
Presented by Joyce Ventimiglia, NCSSM Instructional Design Specialist
Registration link: https://bit.ly/bestHyFlex
10 Tips to Make Canvas Work for You
November 18th, 11:00 am EST
Presented by Rob Caldwell, NCSSM Instructional and Information Designer
Registration link: https://bit.ly/10canvastips
New Cybersecurity Standards: Why You Should Care
December 9th, 11:00 am EST
Presented by Charlotte Dungan, NCSSM AI Program Architect
Registration link: https://bit.ly/3loMu8G
Principal with NCEES District Administrator Rights Update
NCDPI worked with PS Support to allow Principals that must be assigned as the NCEES District Administrator (DA) to retain evaluator rights to all staff in the district. PowerSchool ran a script Sunday, Sept. 15, for Principals when assigned as a DA to retain Evaluator Rights to all staff in their location.
This mainly affects Charter Schools that need the principal to manage NCEES. Previously when assigning DA to a Principal role the DA Re-Open Rights replaced the Evaluator rights. The Evaluator rights could then be manually added back the next day.
NOTE: This update applies only to staff with budget code 114 (Principal Role). It does not affect assistant principals or others manually assigned as Site Administrators).
NCEES Webinars 2021-2022
NCEES Webinars are held most Tuesdays from 4-5PM. Please click on the Titles to Register. A certificate to turn into your PSU for approval of .1 CEU will be provided to participants that complete feedback at the end of the live session. For descriptions and links to past recorded webinars please navigate to NCEES Webinars 2021-2022.
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CEUs - My PD, My Transcript Tues. Sept. 21, 4-5PM
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NCEES Do you know tips Tues. Oct. 12, 4-5PM
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Utilizing Staff Groups and PD Playlists Tues., Oct. 26, 4-5PM
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Middle of Year Processes for Principals Tues., Nov. 30, 4-5PM
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Middle of Year Teachers/Support Staff Tues., Dec. 7, 4-5PM
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Admin Reporting in NCEES Tues. Dec. 14, 4-5PM
OCR/CRDC - SY2021 Getting Started Information - PowerSchool Setup
Note: PSUs that were not open in the school year 2020-2021 are not required to participate in this collection.
Thank you for submitting your contact information in EDDIE for the CRDC collection. EDDIE will continue to be the authoritative source for CRDC contacts moving forward. Please remember to update the system if the collection process has been assigned to another staff member. Contact information recorded in EDDIE as of September 24, 202, for this collection will be sent to the federal partner support team for the first log ins to the CRDC Federal Submission Tool.
SY20-21 CRDC Screens in PowerSchool are Ready for Update
All PSUs must perform specific functional tasks within the PowerSchool system prior to running the PowerSchool CRDC Preview report. These tasks can be performed by a single staff member with access to all entities within the PowerSchool instance or some school level tasks can be delegated. Update these screens before the PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report opens in October.
Download the ‘Setting Up PowerSchool for the CRDC’ on the NCDPI CRDC Documentation and Webinars page under the North Carolina Specific Process and Procedures tab. On this page you will also see NCDPI's timeline the collection process, links to federal resources, and NC specific documentation. Webinar events are still pending.
The OCR will Open the Federal Submission Tool in December 2021
For those of you who may not be aware, the OCR sent a communication on August 13, 2021, stating they will open the Federal Submission Tool to the nation December 13, 2021. Users across the nation will have 75 days to make corrections and must Certify the data in the tool by February 28, 2022. The OCR also announced there will be back-to-back submissions. The official OMB package has yet to be published for the school year 2021-2022 collection. You can read this message and others on the NCDPI CRDC Communication and Support page.
PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report Opens October 25, 2021
To provide all PSUs as much time as possible to review data in the Federal Submission Tool, NCDPI will open the PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report Monday October 25, 2021. The PowerSchool report will close midnight of Friday December 1, 2021.
NCDPI has also been working with the PowerSchool vendor on improvements to the PowerSchool CRDC report. Most noticeably this year is that all views reside in one report. Also included are views at the LEA level that allow you as the data collector a more global view of the CRDC setup process within your schools. In addition, the student detail reports at the school level have been grouped by data set and the logic has been improved.
Thank you again for submitting your information. NCDPI wishes you a smooth collection year!
Please contact Terra Dominguez at any time with questions.
Career Technical Education Contacts
Charter school leaders, here is an updated list of CTE Coordinators and the regions they serve. Please see the list below; names are hyper-linked to email addresses. These individuals can assist with any CTE related needs/questions that Charter School staff members have.
District 1 - Northeast Region - Pamela Lewis
District 2 - Southeast Region - Lee O'Neal
District 3 - North Central Region - Bob Gantt
District 4 - Sandhills Region - Ann Callicutt
District 5 - Piedmont-Triad Region - Lynn Hartley
District 6 - Southwest Region - Robert Filter
District 7 - Northwest Region - Lisa Conger
District 8 - Western Region - Anna Hair
EC Division
Please see the attached parent newsletters.
Also, we would like to share with you a Save the Date for the 70th Conference on Exceptional Children, November 17-18, 2021 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro NC. Registration information will be available on our website: EC Annual Conference | NC DPI
Learning Opportunities for Charter School Homeless Liaisons
Are you a charter school homeless liaison and have questions about McKinney-Vento responsibilities? Join NCHEP staff each Tuesday from 10:30AM – 11:30 AM for an informal discussion on the challenges and successes of identifying and serving McKinney-Vento students in charter schools. All sessions use the same recurring access information, which can be obtained from Tricia Lentz or 336-681-7561. 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM – Weekly on Tuesday
“411” Support for New Charter School Homeless Liaisons
New charter school homeless liaisons are invited to join NCHEP staff the third Wednesday of each month, beginning on October 20, 2021, to learn more about their role of liaison, compliance activities, as well as seek guidance from NCHEP on immediate homeless education needs. Each monthly “411” Support session will build upon training content provided in the annual September new homeless liaison training and will allow new liaisons to share program questions on protocol, best practices and related homeless education collaboration. Session times will be 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Attendance is optional, and no registration is required to attend. The recurring access information can be obtained from Tricia Lentz or 336-681-7561. 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Monthly on Third Wednesday
Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
Charter school leaders, please note that the Youth Risk Behavior Survey being sent by DPI on behalf of the CDC is completely optional and voluntary. Reach out to OCS if you have any questions. Thank you!
2021 A.I.M. Conference Registration Reminder
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is hosting the A.I.M. Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center November 29-December 1, 2021. The Office of Charter Schools would like for all NC Charter Schools to send some representation the conference. There is no registration cost for attending conference, however schools will be responsible for hotel fares, transportation, and meals. The conference is requesting that each charter school select a working team of only three (3) persons to attend the conference. The registration for each school team will take place through the Office of Charter Schools. You will email the names of the three attendees to anita.holbrook@dpi.nc.gov. Please designate one person as the team lead in your email and make sure there is an email address for the team lead person. When you arrive at the conference the team lead person will have received an email to tell them where to go and pick up the conference packets for the entire team. If you have any questions about registration, please contact anita.holbrook@dpi.nc.gov. If you have general questions about the conference, contact barbaraoneal@dpi.nc.gov or dave.machado@dpi.nc.gov.
Important Weighted Lottery Guidance
ARE YOU PLANNING A WEIGHTED LOTTERY IN 2021-2022? If you do not currently have a weighted lottery approval from the State Board of Education, you must seek it through an amendment. This process takes a minimum of three months and must be aligned to the CSAB and SBE meeting calendars. For example, if you plan a lottery in March 2022, you must have approval by that time which means it must be approved by OCS and sent to CSAB by its December meeting (SBE would consider in February). If you have questions or need guidance on the process, please contact Ashley Baquero at ashley.baquero@dpi.nc.gov. There are several outstanding weighted lottery requests, so please make sure you are communicating with our office and seeking guidance to make sure you meeting deadlines. Our office does not “create” the deadlines and they are not flexible.
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Planning Year Calendar 2021-2022
The Office of Charter Schools is pleased to release the dates for the 2021-2022 Planning Year Professional Development calendar. All schools (boards and school leaders) in the Ready to Open process are required to attend five (5) planning year sessions as well as the New Charter Leaders Institute in June, 2022, as part of the successful completion of the Ready to Open and Planning Year process. While these sessions are mandatory for brand new charter schools, we invite those who may new to a leadership role at an established charter school to join the virtual sessions, or access the materials online, under the Planning Year tab of the Office of Charter School's website.
Planning Year Session II: Charter School Finance October 27, 2021
OCS Consultant Sites:
The Scoop With Coop-All Things Renewals
Ready to Open/Planning Year
Performance Framework Companion Site
Professional Learning 101
NC ACCESS ASPIRING MINORITY SCHOOL LEADERS PROGRAM
SEEKING INTERESTED PARTICIPANTS FOR A FALL 2022 COHORT
The NC ACCESS Program is looking to potentially offer two cohorts of the Aspiring Minority School Leaders Program with only 20 slots available! One track for applicants WITH a master’s degree to complete a MSA Add-on Licensure program AND one track for applicants WITHOUT a master’s degree to complete a Masters in School Administration program. Learn more about the Add-on Licensure Program here. The full MSA program would be a new offering.
PLEASE SEND THE NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES OF POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR THE PROGRAM TO:
DR. BARBARA O’NEAL (barbara.oneal@dpi.nc.gov)
OFFICE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS
NC ACCESS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2021-2022
Session 1 - Creating a Culture of Collaboration: Professional development from the teacher next door - September 14, 2021, 4-5pm
Session 2 - Digging the Data: Assessing students abilities in a way that cultivates and motivates growth - September 28, 2021, 4-5pm
Session 3 - Teaching the Whole Child: Addressing the needs of each child in the classroom - October 19, 2021, 4-5pm
This session examines ways to address the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs of students. This session is geared toward any educator or staff member that works with students.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckduysrTkqG92utcZyxSO4JKg4duIlaH9b
Session 4 - Embrace Your Space: Digital tools for the virtual, in-person, and hybrid classroom - November 16, 2021, 4-5pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kde2uqToiHtyLiyO5lHXo9oisrCkfQ85q
The past year educators spent countless hours learning digital tools to make their lessons dynamic and engaging. In this session we will dive into how to use different digital tools, no matter what your classroom space looks like. Come ready to share with and learn from other participants. This session is geared toward any educator who delivers instruction.
Session 5 - Teaching Through a Literacy Lens - December 7, 2021, 4-5pm
We will dive into tips and tricks for teaching content area literacy. This session is for teachers of all grade levels and subjects.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYld-2vrjouH9KkCjP6Ng5xEi2UOVkvxBJK
Sharing News About Our Charter Schools:
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NEAAAT Named Texas Instruments Pilot School
ELIZABETH CITY -- Texas Instruments (TI) is committed to improving student learning with their math tools. Research and experience show that student learning improves when combined with professional learning. In order to support that commitment, Texas Instruments has announced that Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies (NEAAAT) is now a Pilot School.
To equip and inspire learning innovations, TI is providing NEAAAT in-kind licenses of the TI-Nspire CX Premium software, TI-Nspire CX-II Handhelds for students and staff, and specialized, ongoing educator training. NEAAAT will provide school access to Texas Instruments (TI) Marketing and Product Development leaders who will be studying NEAAAT’s Python coding activities to help TI better understand student learning.
NEAAAT CEO, Dr. Andrew Harris, shared his enthusiasm for the work ahead. “We’re thrilled to begin this partnership with Texas Instruments. The cutting edge tools and training we will receive through this national partnership will help our educators enhance and extend the curriculum through hands-on, real world learning. We greatly appreciate the resources and look forward to learning alongside our partners at TI.”
NEAAAT is a public charter STEM school located in Elizabeth City. With interdisciplinary project-based learning at its core, NEAAAT emphasizes the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills through highly engaging, real-world problems and projects. The learning environment emphasizes work and accountability in small teams, hands-on construction of real products and prototypes, and pervasive use of technologies to support learning both within the school and flexibly anywhere. NEAAAT currently educates 744 students from 9 counties in northeastern NC, grades 5-12.
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Resources Galore:
25th Anniversary Art Contest
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the charter school law, which was passed in June 1996, the NC Association for Public Charter School hosted an art contest, sponsored by Insight Architects of Charlotte, NC. Each student receiving recognition was awarded a $25 prize with the school art department receiving a $250 donation. The framed art pieces will be displayed at the NC Department of Public Instruction. The school communities that received recognition were:
Grades K-2: Classical Charter Schools of Leland (Leland, NC)
Grades 3-5: The Expedition School (Hillsborough, NC)
Grades 6-8: INVEST COLLEGIATE: Transform (Charlotte, NC)
Grades 9-12: Piedmont Community Charter School (Gastonia, NC)
Best,
Wendy Dunn
Assistant to the Executive Director
NCAPCS
Leadership Opportunities:
Whom Should I Contact at the Office of Charter Schools?
Please note that response times to voicemails left on our phones will be much slower than usual due to the COVID-19 response efforts. Sending us an email is ideal. Clicking the link on our names will bring up an automatic email prompt. Thank you!
OCS Main Number: (984) 236-2700 / Email: ocs@dpi.nc.gov
Dave Machado 984 236 2702
Director of the Office of Charter Schools
Shaunda Cooper 984 236 2712
Consultant, Renewals & Stakeholder Support
Claire Porter 984 236 2707
Consultant, Planning Year & Ready to Open Process
Ashley Baquero 984 236 2708
Consultant, Amendments & Compliance
Joseph Letterio 984 236 2703
Consultant, Epicenter Tech Support & Performance Framework
Darian Jones 984 236 2705
Consultant, Professional Development
Melanie Rackley 984 236 2712
Consultant, Charter Applications
Jay Whalen 984 236 2711
Program Administrator, NC ACCESS Program
Barbara O'Neal 984 236 2706
Program Coordinator, NC ACCESS Program
Davida Robinson 984 236 2878
NC ACCESS Subgrant Program Manager
Lakisha Robbins 984 236 2704
NC ACCESS Finance Administrator
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