Volume 16, Issue 36

September 7, 2022

Agency of Education, State of Vermont and Federal Updates
Courtesy Posts

Agency of Education, State of Vermont and Federal Updates

This section of the Weekly Field Memo contains posts from the Agency of Education, other State of Vermont agencies, federal agencies or Vermont's congressional delegation.

Vermont Golden Dome and Red Clover Book Award Virtual Conference

Audience: Teachers, School Librarians and Public Librarians
The Vermont Golden Dome and Red Clover Book Award virtual conference will take place Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This is an opportunity to learn more about the books on the 2022-2023 nomination lists, get inspired by authors of winning titles and discuss ways to promote book award participation in your communities. You can find the full agenda and registration/meeting links on the Vermont Department of Libraries Continuing Education page. All sessions will be recorded and made available after the conference.
Contact: Jonathan Clark at jonathan.l.clark@vermont.gov

Ban on Suspension and Expulsion of Students Under Age Eight Enrolled in Prequalified Private Universal Prekindergarten Education Programs

Audience: Public and Private Prequalified PreK Administrators, Directors, and Early Childhood Coordinators
The joint agency memo is intended to inform prequalified public and private Universal Prekindergarten Education (UPK) programs of the updated requirements that must be adhered to, effective June 1, 2022, as required by Act 35 of 2021 and Act 166 of 2022. The new laws disallow suspension and/or expulsion of any child under the age of eight in prequalified public and private UPK programs. More details on UPK Suspension and Expulsion can be found online.
Contact: Leslie Freedman at leslie.freedman@vermont.gov

Input Needed: Asthma Management in Schools Survey

Audience: Superintendents, Principals, School Nurses
In anticipation for “back-to-school”, the Vermont Department of Health’s Asthma Program is sending a brief survey to better understand barriers to implementing asthma self-management education (AS-ME) curriculum in schools and to identify opportunities for improvement. This survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and will provide valuable information to inform the development of a brief AS-ME curriculum for schools. Even if you are not familiar with AS-ME curriculum, but you work with students who have asthma, your input is appreciated. Respond to the Asthma Management in Schools Survey by Sept. 30, 2022.
Survey Contact: Emily Groebner at egroebner@pdastats.com; Asthma Program Contact: Karen Casper at karen.casper@vermont.gov

Governor’s School Safety Conference Save the Date

Audience: Principals, Superintendents and School Safety Teams
Vermont’s Agency of Education, Department of Public Safety and the Vermont School Safety Center are pleased to announce that registration will soon be open for the Governor’s School Safety Conference. This free event will take place on Nov. 2nd, 2022, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hilton in Burlington. Dr. Marisa Randazzo will be the keynote speaker and will be discussing the background and history of active shooter incidents and the tools and strategies that have been developed to mitigate the risks of these events in the future. More details will be forthcoming on this event.
Contact: Rob Evans, VT School Safety Liaison Officer, 802-839-0448, revans@margolishealy.com

Peer Review Panelists Wanted

Audience: Currently Licensed Vermont Educators
The Agency of Education’s Peer Review Program needs licensed educators to serve as panelists. Panelists receive $175 per interview. The work of a panelist involves evaluating a candidate’s portfolio (approximately 2-4 hours) and participating in the interview process (approximately 1-2 hours). Interviews are online and scheduled based on your convenience. If you are interested, complete the online Small Scale Education Contract Survey by Sept.15, 2022. The areas of greatest need for panelists are Early Childhood Education, Art, Theatre Arts, English, Music and Driver’s Education, but all are welcome to submit if interested.
Contact: Ryan McCormick at Ryan.McCormick@vermont.gov

Special Education Monitoring – General Questions and Answers

Audience: Special Ed Administrators, Superintendents, Designees, and any members of the Special Education field seeking support with monitoring activities
The Special Education team at the AOE is offering an opportunity for members of the field to join an optional group discussion for questions and answers about cyclic and selective monitoring activities. Please see the Special Education Program Monitoring System Guide for more details about monitoring activities. This weekly session will occur every Friday from Sept. 9, 2022 – May 26, 2023, from 9-10 a.m. View the calendar event for meeting details. If you have any questions, please contact the Special Education Program Monitoring Team at AOE.SpecialEdMonitoringGroup@vermont.gov.
Contact: Tristan McNamara at AOE.SpecialEdMonitoringGroup@vermont.gov

Special Education Monitoring – Office Hours by Appointment

Audience: Special Ed Administrators, Superintendents, Designees, and any members of the Special Education field seeking support with monitoring activities
The Special Education team at the AOE is making it easier for members of the field to schedule individual meetings to meet with special education program monitoring for support around various monitoring activities through private meetings between the LEA and the monitoring team. You can schedule to meet with the monitoring team by making an appointment through our office hours appointment scheduling system.
Contact: Tristan McNamara at AOE.SpecialEdMonitoringGroup@vermont.gov

Vermont Public: September Resources for Back to School

Audience: Curriculum Directors, Principals, PreK-12 Teachers
The Vermont Agency of Education and Vermont Public continue our partnership to meet the anywhere, anytime, educational, social and emotional needs of Vermont students. As the new school year begins, visit the Vermont Public Kids and Education page to find recommendations for high-quality media and resource collections, including the Teach Your Way collection for PreK-2. For K-2, check out But Why Podcast’s new collection as well as PBS Kids’ new C3 Standards connected series, Rosie’s Rules. For older students, check out the Election Collection and the new U.S. History Collection. For a Vermont connection, listen to Brave Little State Podcast’s Remembering Vermont’s 19th Century Black Communities. Also, don’t forget to visit the Education Ambassadors page to learn more about how Vermont educators are involved in our partnership.
Contacts: Emily Leute at emily.leute@vermont.gov or Heather Duhamel at hduhamel@vermontpbs.org

Courtesy Posts

The views, opinions and resources shared in this section of the WFM are solely those of the original contributors. The Agency of Education does not endorse the views expressed by these contributors and reserves the right to refuse submissions. Questions related to any of these resources should be directed to the organizations, people and opportunities as shared. Please refer to the Weekly Field Memo submission guidelines for additional information.

Vermont Rural Education Collaborative Conference: Leading Their Own Learning

The Vermont Rural Education Collaborative Conference's featured keynote presenter will be with Ron Berger. Educator and author, Ron is highly regarded for his work around interdisciplinary, project-based learning and authentic assessment of student work. He co-founded the Center for High Quality Student Work at Harvard. Educators will have multiple workshops to attend during the day. The conference takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, at Northern Vermont University-Lyndon Campus. Please visit the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative website for more information and registration.
Contact: John A. Castle, VREC Executive Director, vrecdirector@gmail.com

Vermont Science Olympiad - New Coaches Meetings

Science Olympiad is designed to help youth build STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills and understanding through inquiry-based challenges. It touches every letter in STEM and aligns with Next Generation Science Standards, allowing educators to extend their science curriculum with engaged learners. University of Vermont will be hosting the Vermont Science Olympiad on Saturday, April 1, 2023, and we are looking for teams to join us for this exciting day of science competition! While April is a long way off, you need to start building your team now. Learn more by attending the upcoming new coaches meeting.
Contact: Lauren Traister at Lauren.Traister@uvm.edu or (802) 888-4972 x 402

New Online Math Class Available for Vermont High School Students

The Essential Math for College and Careers (EMC2) course is now available online through Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative. EMC2 is a year-long, one-credit, high school math course taught by a highly qualified Vermont high school math teacher trained through the EMC2 Teacher Professional Development program. Through the support of Vermont Student Assistance Corporation’s GEAR UP grant, enrollment is free to any Vermont high school student who is appropriate for the course. Register online now using course code 02003AFY23 Essential Math for College and Careers.
Contact: Anita Long at long@vsac.org

Vermont Family Network Free Workshop: Implementing Dr. Ross Greene's "Collaborative Proactive Solutions Model at Home"

The workshop, Implementing Dr. Ross Greene's "Collaborative Proactive Solutions Model at Home", will be held on Sept. 14, 2022, from 10-11 a.m. It will focus on the Collaborative Proactive Solutions Model and look at the work of Dr. Ross Greene, which examines how concerning behaviors that arise in a family are simply saying that there are expectations that the children (or caregivers!) are having difficulty meeting. Learn how to shift lenses to one of lagging skills/unsolved problems and move towards collaboratively solving problems in a way that benefits both caregivers and kids. Presenter: Sara Wilkins, Vermont Lead Advocator for Lives in the Balance program.
Contact: Rachel Boyers at rachel.boyers@vtfn.org

September Umatter Suicide Prevention Awareness Training

Join the Center for Health and Learning for a no-cost suicide awareness training on Sept. 13, 2022, from 10-11:30 a.m. Enhance knowledge, comfort and skills to identify those at risk for suicide in your organization or community, including resources. Register online today on the Umatter Suicide Prevention Awareness and Skills Training webpage.
Contact: Karen Carreira at karen@healthandlearning.org

Partnerships for Literacy and Learning - NEXIS: “Secondary Literacy Partnerships”

Students in secondary schools often arrive with a complex literacy background and differentiating instruction to meet the needs of these students is essential. Join this Networks for Excellence in Schools (NEXIS) series with Audrey Richardson and work together to support the needs of your learners. Come as a team or literacy partners (interventionist and universal-level partners)! This process always works best with different perspectives and a focus on strong universal level instruction through collaborative practices! Find more details and registration on the NEXIS: Secondary Literacy Partnerships webpage.
Contact: Mary Grace at info@pllvt.org or (802) 828-0521

Last Call for Learning Lab Vermont

Learning Lab helps educators to identify and pursue-with the help of their students and each other-personalized inquiry questions, ones in sync with each educator’s particular setting and students. Throughout the school year and in flexible formats, Learning Lab-bers share with each other their stories, questions and wisdom. In the spring, they share their findings with an audience of their choosing. Have an easy time starting the year with a shift in practice, but a hard time sustaining your focus? Give Learning Lab a look. Applications close Sept. 28, 2022.
Contact: Bill Rich at redhouselearning@gmail.com

Vermont Destination Imagination

Come visit Vermont Destination Imagination at Plainfield’s Old Home Day in Plainfield on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. Twinfield Destination Imagination team members will be in the parade which begins at 11 a.m. Following the parade, come to the recreation field for food and entertainment, and visit our Vermont Destination Imagination information booth. Visit the Destination Imagination webpage to learn more.
Contact: Jane Youngbaer at vtdicreativity@gmail.com or (802) 272-2766

Professional Learning: Wilson Just Words Virtual Launch Workshop

Registration is now open for the Just Words Workshop on Oct. 6, 2022. Just Words is a highly explicit, multisensory decoding and spelling program for students in grades 4–12 and adults who have mild to moderate gaps in their decoding and spelling proficiency but do not require intensive intervention. The program is designed for students with below-average decoding and spelling scores and should be combined with other literature-rich programs. Visit the Just Words Launch Workshop page to register. Grant funding is available. Apply for a grant through the Grant Funding form.
Contact: Peter McDonald at pmcdonald@sterncenter.org

All Learners Network Math Professional Development

Introduction to Launch/Number Sense Routines is a three-hour workshop offered in person on Sept. 20, 2022, from noon-3 p.m., at the All Learners Network Learning Center in Burlington, and virtually, on Zoom, on Sept. 22 from noon-3 p.m. Launch is the first component of the All Learners Network lesson structure. This workshop introduces you to this routine so you can use it in your classroom, school or district. This is a great workshop to take to get to know Launch and interact with the Launch Library in the All Learners Online platform.
Contact: TJ Jemison at communicationsdirector@alllearnersnetwork.com