- Registration Open for Annually Required Summer Meals Sponsor Trainings
- AOE Peer Review Program Seeks Panelists
- Child Count Final Verification Reports Available
- Universal Prekindergarten Education Memo - Allowable Use of Publicly Funded PreK Education Dollars
- VTmtss Office Hour March 4, 2020
- Registration Now Open: Mathematics EdCamp Series March Training
- Virtual Coffee and Conversation: Continuous Improvement and Comprehensive Needs Assessment
- Free National Summer Transportation Institute Camps for Middle and High School Students
- International Adolescent Health Week
- Courtesy Posts
Registration Open for Annually Required Summer Meals Sponsor Trainings
Audience: Summer Meal Sponsors
Sponsors must send at least one representative to Summer Meals Sponsor Training. They are then responsible for ensuring that everyone else involved in the program receives appropriate training prior to undertaking their duties. Register for the Summer Meals Sponsor Trainings online.
Contact: Jamie Curley at Jamie.curley@vermont.gov or (802) 828-2010
AOE Peer Review Program Seeks Panelists
Audience: Licensed, Level 2 Educators
The AOE’s Peer Review Program needs licensed, level 2 educators to serve as panelists. Areas of greatest need: Art, CTE, PE, ELL, School Librarian, Theatre, Music, Math, Science and all Middle Grades endorsements. Panelists receive $125 per interview plus roundtrip mileage ($0.58 per mile). 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 Montpelier. Interested educators please complete the online Small Scale Education Contract Survey.
Contact: Andrew Prowten at andrew.prowten@vermont.gov
Child Count Final Verification Reports Available
Audience: Superintendents, Special Education Data Personnel
Final Verification Reports are now available for the School Year 2019-2020 December Child Count. District and Supervisory Union personnel in charge of special education data, please review the report and clarify any questions with the AOE. To accept the data reflected in the report, the Special Education Director for each district must sign and return these forms by March 6, 2020. Special education data personnel can find the Final Verification Reports by logging into the secure AOE file transfer website.
Contact: Cassidy Canzani at 802-828-0515 or at cassidy.canzani@vermont.gov
Universal Prekindergarten Education Memo - Allowable Use of Publicly Funded PreK Education Dollars
Audience: Superintendents, PreK Coordinators, Directors of Special Education, Principals, Private and Public PreK Providers
Act 166 requires school districts to establish contracts with community-based private childcare programs that have been approved by the state as prequalified prekindergarten education (PreK) programs. For each child that is enrolled in a prequalified PreK education program, the school district of residence is obligated to pay tuition at the current (2019-2020) rate of $3,356.00 per academic year per child. All PreK publicly funded tuition received by the private prequalified PreK program is to fully cover 10 hours of PreK education per week for each student enrolled for 35 weeks following the school district academic year. Public PreK dollars may not be stretched out over 52 weeks a year. Publicly funded PreK dollars must offset a family’s tuition cost and must be transparent on the family’s invoice. Please see Allowable UPK Funding Guidance memo for additional funding guidelines.
Contact: Kate Rogers at kate.rogers@vermont.gov
VTmtss Office Hour March 4, 2020
Audience: Superintendents, Principals
Register for the VTmtss Team's March Office Hour on March 4, 2020 at 3 p.m., where we will be interviewing AOE colleagues about the Flexible Pathways Implementation Toolkit. Learn about the value of Flexible Pathways under Act 77, how these initiatives intersect with the VTmtss Framework and how the Toolkit can support your school system.
Contact: Julia Scheier at julia.scheier@vermont.gov or (802) 828-5041
Registration Now Open: Mathematics EdCamp Series March Training
Audience: Principals, Teachers, Special Educators, Special Education Administrators, Curriculum Directors
This EdCamp focuses on the integration of social, emotional, and academic development and inclusive pedagogy and practices for all mathematics. How do schools create the highest quality mathematics instruction that is differentiated and responsive to the needs of diverse learners? This session will be held March 23, 2020, at Eastside Restaurant, 47 Landing Street, Newport, VT 05855 and March 25, 2020, at NewsBank Conference Center, 352 Main Street, Chester, VT 05143. Register for Mathematics EdCamp Series March Training. The registration deadline is March 13, 2020.
Contact: Betty Roy at betty.roy@vermont.gov
Virtual Coffee and Conversation: Continuous Improvement and Comprehensive Needs Assessment
Audience: Superintendents, Curriculum Directors, Principals, CFP/Grants Managers
The Education Quality Assurance team will be hosting our second of three virtual conversations exploring the continuous improvement process in advance of the submission of Continuous Improvement Plans, including support in conducting a comprehensive needs assessment. Session Two will explore problems of practice and be held from 1-2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Session Three will aid in planning and testing change ideas and be held from 2-3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Follow the links to register. Each session will begin with a brief overview of the content, but will be largely dedicated to answering questions from the field. Each session will be recorded and made available on the AOE's YouTube channel after airing. Session One is available now.
Contact: Patrick Halladay at patrick.halladay@vermont.gov
Free National Summer Transportation Institute Camps for Middle and High School Students
Audience: Middle School, High School and Career Technical Education Educators and Administrators
The National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) is a free summer camp on a Vermont Technical College Campus for high school and middle school students. This amazing program provides students with a hands-on exploration of future careers in transportation through awareness of the complex transportation system we’ve come to rely on. Interactive labs, field trips and guest speakers will engage the students as they drive a big rig in the CDL simulator, visit mass transit systems, and learn how bridges are designed and created. Exploring energy, the environment and eco-friendly transportation systems gives focus to how Math, Science and English all relate to transportation careers. The NSTI is sponsored by the Vermont Agency of Transportation and funded through a grant from the Federal Highway Administration.
Contact: And Morse at and.morse@vermont.gov
International Adolescent Health Week
March 8-15, 2020 is International Adolescent Health Week. This is a unique opportunity for us all to celebrate young people and highlight how much they make a difference in our communities.
Contact: Sara Chesbrough at sara.chesbrough@vermont.gov or (802)863-7268
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.
Accepting Applications: University of Vermont Master of Arts in Teaching Program
If you have bachelor’s degree and are interested in Grade 7-12 teaching, UVM is currently recruiting for the 2020 MAT cohort in Secondary Education. Licensure areas include English, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics and Foreign Languages. Deadline for applications is March 16, 2020.
Contact: Regina Toolin at secondary.mat@uvm.edu or (802) 656-1411
“Self-Poisoning Suicide Attempts in Vermont” podcast from the Northern New England Poison Center
In the latest episode of the Northern New England Poison Center’s Poison Ed podcast, Vermont educator Gayle Finkelstein sits down with Dr. Thomas Delaney and Dr. Rebecca Bell of the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine to talk about trends in self-poisoning among Vermont youth.
Contact: Gayle Finkelstein at (802) 338-2762 or gayle.finkelstein@uvmhealth.org
Vermont Family Network’s Annual Conference in 4 Locations - The Power of Play for ALL Ages!
Are you ready to get your brain on board for more flexible, light-hearted parenting? Want to learn a few tricks for staying focused and calm in the midst of the storm? Please join us for The Power of Play for All Ages! with presenter Sara Forward, LICSW, who is a mental health consultant, clinician, classroom teacher, and professional coach and trainer. The cost is $10 for parents (scholarships available) and $25 for professionals. A light meal is included. Details and registration online.
Contact: Janice Sabett at Janice.Sabett@vtfn.org or (802) 876-5315 x218
Professional Development: Social-Emotional Workshops
Join the Stern Center for a Social-Emotional Learning workshop series on March 9, March 11 and/or April 3, 2020. Each 1-day workshop is designed for parents, teachers and administrators interested in supporting children's engagement, communication, symbolic language and social-emotional regulation. Dive into social communication, social-emotional learning and perspective taking aligned with the CASEL framework in these three 1-day workshops. Discounts are available for participants who take more than one workshop or who bring a friend.
Contact: SJ Larkspur at slarkspur@sterncenter.org
Statistics in Schools Week: Everyone Counts
March 2-6, 2020, is Statistics in Schools Week (SIS). Use new SIS resources in your classroom to support efforts to make sure every child is counted in the 2020 Census. This count impacts the federal funds that communities receive for special education, classroom technology, teacher training, after-school programs, school lunch assistance and more. SIS brings school subjects to life using real-world Census Bureau statistics to create materials for use year after year at all grade levels. SIS resources are teacher-designed and easy to use. SIS enhances learning, boosts statistical literacy and prepares students for a data-driven world.
Contact: Michael Moser at michael.moser@uvm.edu
Friday Institute with The Daily J.A.M.
The Amazing Race - Making Sure Youth & Families Win! Adrian McLemore, Jamole Callahan and Michael Sanders will encourage us to rethink, redesign and recommit to serving children and families. Participants will learn how to harness youth voice and how to maximize authentic engagement and help address challenges associated with being a ‘youth in care’ with solution focused approaches. For all professional who work with Vermont youth. March 27, 2020, Doubletree by Hilton, South Burlington, VT from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. For more information and to register visit our website. Please register by March 20, 2020. Join us as we create a vision for Vermont youth with commitment, courage and compassion.
Contact: Jesilyn Bashaw at vfafacoordinator@gmail.com