- What-if Wednesday: School Emergency Preparedness
- Equity Literacy Grant Application
- Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Survey Available May 1, 2019
- Vermont State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Report
- Register for the Transition and Career Conference Sponsored by VSAC GEAR UP
- Courtesy Posts
What-if Wednesday: School Emergency Preparedness
Audience: Superintendent's, Principals, School Crisis Planning Team Members
The What if Wednesday for April 10, 2019, is designed for Superintendents, Principals and School Crisis Planning Team Members to facilitate a conversation about school emergency preparedness. Please complete the exercise and share with your faculty and staff as appropriate.
Contact: Robert L. Evans at revans@margolishealy.com or (802) 839-0448
Equity Literacy Grant Application
Audience: Superintendents, Curriculum Directors, Principals
The Agency of Education has engaged in multiple initiatives to develop an equity framework for education at the state level. One of those initiatives, Supporting Educational Equity (SEE), recommends that Vermont’s PK-12 educators have increased opportunities for professional learning as it relates to equity literacy. To support our schools and educators in this collective effort, the agency is providing competitive grants to support professional learning opportunities that will lay the foundation for educators to develop and implement strategies to improve equity literacy in their systems. Competitive awards will be granted to SU/SDs that show the greatest promise for positive change. Those that create partnerships regionally and through collaboration with other organizations will be prioritized.
Contact: Pat Fitzsimmons at pat.fitzsimmons@vermont.gov or (802) 479-1425
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Survey Available May 1, 2019
Audience: Superintendents, Principals
Each superintendent shall annually provide to the Vermont Secretary of Education the status of a tiered system of supports in each school in the supervisory union or school district; how it is funded and how building the capacity of the educational support system is addressed in the School's Continuous Improvement Plan, according to Act 117 - VSA Title 16, Section 2904. Included in the report will be a description and justification of how funds received due to Medicaid reimbursement under section 2959a are used. A link to the MTSS Survey for 2019 will be available on May 1, 2019. The deadline for completing the survey will be June 3, 2019.
Contact: Nancy Hellen at nancy.hellen@vermont.gov
Vermont State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Report
Audience: Special Education Administrators, Special Educators
The Vermont Agency of Education Special Education team is pleased to share Vermont’s 2019 Part B SSIP Report as submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). This report may be found on the AOE website under special education reports.
Contact: Tonya Rutkowski at tonya.rutkowski@vermont.gov or (802) 479-1245
Register for the Transition and Career Conference Sponsored by VSAC GEAR UP
Audience: Everyone
Registration is now open for the Transition and Career Conference. This year's conference, Learn, Adapt, Change: A Model for Readiness will feature Greg Evans from SEEDS Training as our keynote speaker. The conference will be held at Lake Morey, Fairlee, VT on May 23, 2019, from 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Contact: Toni Marra at toni.marra@vermont.gov or (802) 479-1302
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.
Curriculum Opportunity for Middle School Health
Planned Parenthood of Norther New England has funding in 2019 to support middle schools interested in implementing Get Real, an evidence-based sex education curriculum for 6th-8th and 9th grades. The second edition has just been released and includes nine 45-minute lessons per grade level, aligned with national standards and modifiable for proficiency-based requirements. This is a great opportunity for teachers looking to improve sex ed curricula, for schools newly implementing or expanding health education or where an SD/SU has multiple people teaching at the middle school level and wants to ensure all high schoolers enter 9th grade with the same information. Get Real is currently being taught in two Vermont SUs. PPNNE would love to support additional schools to teach Get Real in the 2019-2020 school year.
Contact: Planned Parenthood of Northern New England at education@ppnne.org or (802) 448-9726
Discovering Community Summer Institute for Educators
The Vermont Folklife Center Discovering Community Summer Institute brings together educators from across the state for a four-day intensive at The Fairbanks Museum in August. Discovering Community provides an introduction to field work and digital storytelling for the classroom, offering hands-on experience for methods of community-based research and documentary media making. Visit the Vermont Folklife Center website for registration, tuition or purchase order information.
Contact: Trisha Denton at education@vermontfolklifecenter.org
Professional Learning: Planning for Standards-Based Learning
Registration is open for Facilitated Team Work Sessions: A Personalized Approach to SBL facilitated/coached by Stan Williams and Emily Rinkema. School teams interested in creating a strong standards-based learning environment will choose from one or more targets to improve learning for student or adult learners. Coaches will support teams over the two days, and communicate ahead with your team to ensure that resources and support can be highly personalized based on team goals. Hampton Event Center, Colchester, VT June 24 and 25, 2019, with an online follow up in August prior to August 8, 2019. Lunches included.
Contact: Lauren Wooden at lauren@cvedcvt.org or (802) 479-1642
Register by April 15, 2019 to Save 20% on Professional Development Courses
Registration is open for summer professional development courses in Literacy and Social Learning at the Stern Center for Language and Learning. Registrations received on or before April 15, 2019, qualify for a reduced tuition cost, thanks to a generous grant from the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute for Excellence. This offer does not apply to workshops or Orton-Gillingham courses.
Contact: SJ White at swhite@sterncenter.org or (802) 878-2332 ext. 320
Bully No More! Anti-Bullying Musical by Elaine Davida Sklar and Jon Gailmor with Danielle Davis
Bully No More! is appropriate for middle school and middle/high musical productions. The same show is performed, scene by scene, in elementary schools by different classes/groups during weekly meetings, which keeps the anti-bullying theme active in elementary schools for several months. Visit the Tams-Witmark website to hear songs, read the story and license the program. Free discussion guides, written by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, to use in conjunction with Bully No More! are available. Contact Elaine Davida Sklar for free discussion guides, information not found on the Tams-Witmark site and to apply for free royalties if you do not have an anti-bullying budget.
Contact: Elaine Davida Sklar at bullynomore.musical@gmail.com
John Dewey Kitchen Institute
The University of Vermont offers a three-day, on-campus workshop--the John Dewey Kitchen Institute--applying John Dewey's philosophy into our kitchen lab as a way to emphasize experiential education as an important pedagogical approach for teaching any subject. The in-kitchen workshop includes hands-on cooking, enjoying three meals together and beer and wine tasting.
Contact: Katie Albee at learn@uvm.edu or (802) 656-2085