- School Safety Electronic Needs Assessment - Deadline Extended
- Memo: Compliance with Vermont’s Immunization Law and Regulations
- What-if Wednesday: School Emergency Preparedness
- Peer Review Panelists Wanted
- Vermont Education-related Transportation Challenges Survey
- 2018-2019 Multi-tiered System of Supports Survey Closes Monday, June 3
- Grant Applications for Technical Assistance
- Courtesy Posts
School Safety Electronic Needs Assessment - Deadline Extended
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, Independent School Headmasters
Earlier this month, superintendents, principals and independent school heads received the Vermont School Safety Initiative Electronic Needs Assessment. Data collected in this survey will identify schools that will benefit from training and support in developing and exercising emergency operations plans (EOPs), and will help customize delivery of training to the needs of Vermont schools. Due to challenges in the initial distribution of the survey, we are extending the deadline for completion by one week. Please now complete one survey per school by Friday, June 7, 2019, at 4:30 p.m.
Contact: Dee Barbic at DBarbic@margolishealy.com
Memo: Compliance with Vermont’s Immunization Law and Regulations
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, Independent School Headmasters
The Department of Health recently distributed a hard copy memo regarding compliance with Vermont’s Immunization Law and Regulations, enclosing a document with each school’s immunization coverage rate. The data is also posted on the Health Department’s vaccination coverage web page. Please review the memo and information provided, and visit the Health Department’s web page for child care and school providers for more information about immunizations for pre-kindergarten and K-12 students.
Contact: Karen Halverson at AHS.VDHImmunizationProgram@vermont.gov
What-if Wednesday: School Emergency Preparedness
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, School Crisis Planning Team Members
The What-if Wednesday for May 29, 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
Peer Review Panelists Wanted
The AOE’s Peer Review Program needs licensed, level 2 educators to serve as panelists. Areas of greatest need: Art, Theatre, Music, Early Childhood, Science and all Middle Grades endorsements. Panelists receive $125 per interview plus (58 cents per mile) roundtrip mileage. The work of a panelist involves evaluating a candidate’s portfolio (2-4 hours) and participating in the interview process (2 hours). Interviews are from 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. weekdays and are held at the Vt. Agency of Education in Barre (Montpelier beginning Fall 2019). Interested educators please complete the online Small Scale Education Contract Survey.
Contact: Wendy Scott at wendy.scott@vermont.gov
Vermont Education-related Transportation Challenges Survey
Audience: Principals, School Counselors, Special Education Directors, Flexible Pathway Coordinators, 21C Directors/Coordinators, Work-based Learning Providers, Voc Rehab Transition Counselors, CTE Directors
A long-standing challenge in Vermont is access to transportation. The Vt. Agency of Education (AOE) worked with the Vt. Agency of Transportation (AOT) to create a survey that delves into the challenges we face around transportation in VT, particularly as it relates to flexible learning opportunities for students such as work-based learning, dual enrollment or project-based learning. This survey hopes to further identify transportation gaps that the AOE and AOT can then use to further inform potential problem-solving strategies. This is a critical opportunity for both AOE and AOT in particular as they plan to incorporate this feedback into their forthcoming Public Transit Policy Plan (and Human Service Coordination Plan). Thank you very much for taking the time to fill out this survey as we work to improve and expand opportunities for all students. This survey should take about 10 minutes and will be live until June 23, 2019.
Contact: John Spinney (AOE) at john.spinney@vermont.gov or Ross MacDonald (AOT) at ross.macdonald@vermont.gov
2018-2019 Multi-tiered System of Supports Survey Closes June 3
Audience: Superintendents and Principals
As required by Act 117 - VSA Title 16, Section 2904, each superintendent shall annually provide to the Vermont Secretary of Education the status of the tiered system of supports in each school in the supervisory union or school district. Please complete the 2018-2019 Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Survey online before the June 3, 2019, deadline. Thank you to the 61 principals that have already submitted their survey online. In our efforts to continuously improve, we will actively pursue a 100% response rate this year. Please contact us if you are in need of support to complete this survey on time.
Contact: Nancy Hellen at (802) 479-1399 or nancy.hellen@vermont.gov
Grant Applications for Technical Assistance
Audience: Individuals or agencies who provide technical assistance in support of students who are blind or visually impaired, hard of hearing or deaf-blind or have low incidence disabilities
The Vermont Agency of Education is taking grant applications for services related to the technical assistance and professional development of educational teams and families of individuals who are blind or visually impaired, hard of hearing or deaf-blind, or have low incidence disabilities. The grant application for low incidence disabilities is due June 12, 2019.
Contact: Chris Kane at christopher.kane@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.
Summer Learning Opportunities through VT-HEC
Registration is open for summer courses and workshops through the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative. Dig into Elementary Math Progressions strategies and tools, (additive, multiplicative and fractional reasoning) with both workshop and graduate course options. Develop or improve your MTSS plan with our Roadmap for Improvement and Continuous Success, a 4-day workshop series that includes team planning time, observation of successful MTSS systems in action and coaching/feedback from the instructors. Bring a team to our 3-day intensive Structured Teaching training in comprehensive, effective programming for students with ASD and other similar learners. Also offering a variety of Special Education and Early Childhood endorsement graduate courses.
Contact: Julie Medose at (802) 498-3350 or info@vthec.org
Create Make Learn Summer Institute
Join us for the 7th annual Create Make Learn Summer Institute July 22-26, 2019. Can't make it the whole week? Try the two day bootcamp. Register by May 31, 2019, and receive a Maker Classroom Toolbox filled with supplies. We have strands for both newbies and advanced makers. Pick the strand that is right for you: Getting Started with Maker Centered Learning; Grow a Maker Mindset; Advance My Maker Skills; or Making with Young Leaners PreK- Gr2. Grad credit and housing are available. Register at www.CreateMakeLearn.org.
Contact: Lucie deLaBruere at admin@techsavvysolution.com or (802) 557-0013
School Equity and Ethnic Studies Community Forum
The Vermont Coalition for Ethnic and Social Equity in Schools will hold a Community Forum on Saturday, June 8, 2019, from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. at Montpelier High School. Come learn about moving Act 1 from passage to implementation. The forum will include several workshops that focus on opportunities to implement Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and anti-racist practices. Childcare and food are provided in addition to a certificate for professional development hours.
Contact: Amanda Garcés at (520) 333-8864 or vtethnicstudies@gmail.com
Phoenix Burning: Case Study of a Lake Champlain Shipwreck
July 1-3, 2019, take an in-depth look at the earliest steamboat shipwreck in North America, the steamboat Phoenix (1815-1819), on the 200th anniversary of its epic demise. Review first-hand accounts and archaeological data and artifacts collected from the wreck site and piece together the details. Do we have the full story? Does the archaeological evidence confirm the published conclusions? Would your students like to know this story? More information and registration online. Graduate credit available through Castleton University.
Contact: Chris Sabick at chriss@lcmm.org or (802) 475-2022 x110
Transforming School Culture Through Restorative Practices
Youth-adult teams partner in creating a school culture that realizes greater equity in education, nurtures relationships in learning and decision-making, builds empathy, bridges differences and strengthens means to work through, resolve and transform conflicts. Visit the Up for Learning website for more information about this yearlong course/professional learning community.
Contact: Lindsey Halman at lindsey@upforlearning.org or (802) 598-3445
Complex Trauma in our Schools
The Center for Health and Learning is offering a Complex Trauma in Our Schools: Using Non-verbal Communication and Intervention for Improved Classroom Outcomes workshop/course beginning August 14, 2019. Non-verbal Interventions that target self-regulation and executive function skill building from early childhood through high school will be examined and practiced through experiential methods including using art media and movement. Three options available: 1-day workshop, full course with graduate credits or full course without graduate credits
Contact: Catherine Diduk at info@healthandlearning.org or (802) 254-6590
Professional Development: Orton-Gillingham in Rutland
Registration is open for the Stern Center for Language and Learning’s Introduction to the Orton-Gillingham Approach course in Rutland, VT. The Orton-Gillingham (OG) Approach is the underlying foundation of all multisensory, structured literacy instruction. In this 5-day course, participants will gain an understanding of the OG Approach and how to develop an OG lesson. Participants will learn about the reading brain and dyslexia, phonology, spelling patterns, the history of the English language and morphology. Registration due by June 24, 2019. Grant funding towards tuition is available.
Contact: SJ White at swhite@sterncenter.org or (802) 878-2332 x320
Professional Learning: 2 Learning Framework Designs Courses for K12 Educators
Registration is open for two courses by instructor Michael Martin, Ed.D. Proficiency-Based Learning: A Framework for Clarity and Equity will provide structures and strategies that help clarify next steps for teachers engaged in this work and examine habits of learning, growth mindset and how feedback practices can either help or hinder future growth. August 5-9, 2019 in SBSD. Universal Design for Learning: A Framework for Inclusion (UDL) will unify important initiatives, including proficiency-based learning (PBL), social emotional learning (SEL) and a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). It will include actionable strategies for making your classroom more inclusive. August 12-16, 2019 in SBSD.
Contact: Lauren Wooden at lauren@cvedcvt.org or (802) 497-1642
Performing Arts Summer Camps
The Flynn Center offers summer camps for students ages 4-19. Kids play, create, discover and build social, emotional and problem-solving skills. Still open for younger set: Under the Big Top, Frozen (ballet), Moana (ballet), Broadway Kids, Magic Toy Box and Tap Dance; and for teens: Silent Filmmaking, Narrative Filmmaking, Broadway Showstoppers, Music Video Creation and Latin Jazz Intensive with guest artist Ray Vega. Registration is $185-$350 per camp; scholarships and payment plans are available to make them accessible to all students who wish to participate.
Contact: Sarah Caliendo at flynnarts@flynncenter.org or (802) 652-4537
Come and Support Youth Artists
The Youth Art Fair of Vermont will be held Saturday, June 8, 2019, at Norwich University, Plumley Gym from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be over 30 youth artists ages 6-19 presenting from all over the state. Please come walk around and support these hard working artists. This event is free for everyone.
Contact: Jerry Cassels at youthartfairvt@gmail.com
Sexual Health Education Needs Survey
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) would like to learn more about the status of sexual health education in Vermont’s middle and high schools, and how PPNNE can support Vermont schools in meeting the sexual and reproductive health care needs of youth. This survey is to be completed by health teachers, teachers, administrators and nurses who work with grades 6 through 12. Multiple people from the same school/supervisory union are welcome to respond. If you work at multiple schools, please complete this survey for each school separately. The survey will take 2- 5 minutes to complete. Responses requested by June 21, 2019.
Contact: Planned Parenthood of Northern New England at education@ppnnee.org or (802) 448-9726