- Special Education Rules Update
- VTPBIS Annual Report Released
- Understanding Trauma within a PBIS Framework Workshop
- School Bus Rebate Application Period is Now Open
- Closing Soon: 2019 Farm to School Grant Requests for Proposals
- Courtesy Posts
Special Education Rules Update
Audience: Special Education Administrators, Superintendents, Principals, Headmasters, Special Educators
During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly passed Act 156, Sec. 4, which authorized the Agency of Education to make a special, corrective filing of the special education rules with the text that includes all of the 2012/2013 Board-approved changes (the “pink book” version of the rules). These rules, as well as the Supplemental Rules pertinent to special education, are posted on the AOE website. For more details, please refer to the Vermont Special Education Rules Update Memo.
Contact: Cindy Moran at cindy.moran@vermont.gov
VTPBIS Annual Report Released
Audience: All
The Vermont Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (VTPBIS) Annual Report for 2017-18 is now available. Highlights of this year’s report include increased number of VTPBIS Schools, high satisfaction rates for 27 professional learning events, high average PBIS fidelity scores with higher fidelity among VTPBIS Exemplar Schools and decreased office discipline referrals.
Contact Sherry Schoenberg at sherry.schoenberg@uvm.edu or (802) 656-9656.
Understanding Trauma within a PBIS Framework Workshop
Audience: Teachers, Paraeducators, Administrators, Specialists, Behavior Interventionists and School/Mental Health Clinicians
On November 13, 2018, at the Commodores Inn in Stowe, the VTPBIS State Team will be hosting a workshop on Understanding Trauma within a PBIS Framework. This training will provide an overview of the impact developmental trauma has on childhood development across multiple domains including learning and cognition. Strategies for identifying and supporting children who have experienced developmental trauma at all three tiers of support will be presented. Participants will improve their understanding of how to create a learning environment that is trauma-informed and how to align these efforts within a multi-tiered framework.
Contact: Sherry Schoenberg at sherry.schoenberg@uvm.edu or (802) 656-9656
School Bus Rebate Application Period is Now Open
Audience: Facility and Transportation Directors, Maintenance Directors, Superintendents, Business Managers, School Board Chairs
School buses travel over four billion miles each year, providing the safest transportation to and from school for more than 25 million American children every day. However, diesel exhaust from these buses has a negative impact on human health, especially for children, who have a faster breathing rate than adults and whose lungs are not yet fully developed. The U.S. EPA’s 2018 School Bus Rebate Program will offer over $9 million to public and private fleet owners for the replacement of old diesel school buses with new buses certified to EPA’s cleanest emission standards. EPA will award selected applicants $15,000-$20,000 per bus for scrapping and replacing old buses. Applications are due Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Visit the EPA’s 2018 School Bus Rebate Program website.
Contact: the Environmental Protection Agency at cleandiesel@epa.gov
Closing Soon: 2019 Farm to School Grant Requests for Proposals
Audience: Administrators, School Foodservice Directors
The Requests for Applications for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets Farm to School Grant Program are available on the program website. Applications for this grant program will be open until November 14, 2018. The AAFM Farm to School team is seeking applications from eligible Vermont-based schools and early care providers to expand and improve food programs and/or to create or expand farm to school programs by integrating the classroom, cafeteria, and community (the 3 C’s of farm to school). Grantees best achieve this when they take a holistic approach to incorporating the 3 C’s of farm to school into their program. Together, the 3 C’s support healthy children, healthy agriculture, and healthy communities. Up to seven Farm to School Child Nutrition applications will be awarded at $15,000 each, to be spent during a 2-year grant period, with additional comprehensive technical assistance, professional development and coaching, offered at no charge to grantees. Additionally, up to $32,000 will be available in $1,000 Infrastructure Grants to help schools and early care providers improve local food use. Learn more on the AAFM program webpage.
Contact: Ali Zipparo at (802) 505-1822 or alexandra.zipparo@vermont.gov
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.
Professional Learning: Proficiency in Curriculum-Based Writing
The Vermont Writing Collaborative is delighted to announce Opinion/Argument Benchmarks: Recognizing Proficiency in Curriculum-Based Writing, a 2-day workshop in opinion /argument writing on November 12 and 13, 2018, at Lake Morey in Fairlee. All writing comes from a text-based curriculum. Each session will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On the first day, participants will work closely with benchmarks, both at individual grade levels and system-wide. On the second day, educators are invited to actively use these benchmarks to analyze student work for instructional needs. Participants can attend for one or both days. The cost is $250 for the first day; $425 for both days. Additional information and registration can be found on the Vermont Writing Collaborative webpage.
Contact: Joey Hawkins at info@vermontwritingcollaborative.org or (802) 765-4040
Professional Development: Autism Spectrum Disorder Course
Registration is open for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Stimulating Language, Social Communication and Social Emotional Learning from Birth through Third Grade. This professional development course by the Stern Center for Language and Learning focuses on assessment, intervention and clinical application of evidence-based practices for children who are living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Registration is due by January 3, 2019.
Contact: SJ White at swhite@sterncenter.org or (802)-878-2332, ext. 320
Professional Learning: Youth Voice Partnerships
Registration is open for Youth Voice and Youth-Adult Partnership Professional Development Series. This series facilitated by Helen Beattie and Harry Frank is run in tandem to the Russ Quaglia workshop and brings Middle and High School Teachers together. Topics include day pause, practice techniques to develop equanimity and compassionate curiosity and how these transform behavior management. Hosted at the Hampton Event Center in Colchester on December 5, 2018, includes meals and a resource binder.
Contact: Lauren Wooden at lauren@cvedcvt.org or (802) 497-1642