Early Childhood Peek at the Week

October 2017

10/2 - 10/31 ITERS Observations

10/5 Onboarding

10/5 Bus Monitor Training

10/5 Developmental Screening Data Entry Deadline

10/6 Flexible PD Day-No School for Early Childhood Students

10/9 District PD Day

10/10 Parent/Teacher Conference Day

10/12 Onboarding

10/13 Policy Council New Member Training and Officer Elections

10/13 45 Day Screening Deadline

10/16 Policy Council Meeting

10/19 Onboarding

10/19 Bus Monitor Training

10/19 1st Policy Council Meeting of 2017-2018/Seating New Members

10/26 Associate Principal Meeting

10/26 Bus Monitor Training

10/27 Home Visit/ Staff In-Service Day

10/27 No School for Early Childhood Students

10/27 Fall Work Sampling/Fall Developmental Writing Assessment Due in Assessment Folders/Ounce Scale Due

10/28 60 Day Physical Exam Deadline

10/30-11/3 Family Report of Progress Sent Home/Fall Assessment Audit Completed by Teacher (Self)

10/31- 1/6/18 Kindergarten Application Period

Dear Early Childhood Team,

Your leadership team is always finding ways to improve what we are doing by using data to meet programmatic needs. At the beginning of our school year, we conducted 5th-day and 10th-day enrollment counts to give us an accurate picture of how many students who were slated to begin their preschool with us actually showed up, or whose parents/guardians have indicated that they were planning to attend. For example, some students could not begin because we were waiting for their immunization forms. In other instances, families who originally signed up to attend JCPS had since moved out of county but did not let us know.

We used the 5th- and 10-day counts to let us know where we could move students into classrooms that had empty seats and to close other classrooms. It is important to note that not a single staff member lost employment due to this reason. As a matter of fact, employees were given the opportunity to choose a new placement based on seniority. We collaborated with the unions to ensure we were abiding by contractual procedures.

An important by-product of this process was that most of the vacancies we had at the beginning of the school year have now been filled. That means we now have permanent employees serving in those positions, and our pool of early childhood substitutes can truly be beneficial for covering absences or professional development leaves instead of vacancies. This is a win-win-win strategy -- to maximize and improve the efficiency of our systems, to mitigate our substitute shortage issues, and most of all, for the stability, consistency and safety of the learning environment for our students.

A special thanks to the Early Childhood ERSEA Team (Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance Team), our Human Resources, Operations , Special Services and Education Teams, the JCPS Transportation, Health Services and Nutrition Departments, our Family Advocates and Comprehensive Services Teams, and all our staff who pulled out all the stops to make this happen. We also want to thank the sending and receiving schools, their administrators and staff for their cooperation and patience through this process. We are especially grateful to our staff and families who had to make the move. While this process was challenging, it will ultimately result in what is best for our children, and that is the bottomline! We will continue to seek ways to make this process more efficient and effective if we ever have to do it in the future.

Have a great week!

Rina Gratz

Active Supervision Spotlight: Zoning

Zoning is a strategy used in classrooms to organize teachers and the classroom environment. It helps classrooms to run smoothly and allows teachers to be responsive to children at all times.

Create a daily classroom schedule for the children to follow. This helps keep the day predictable for all members of the classroom community.

Create a chart that specifies which teacher is in charge of which area/activity, as well as what individual duties are during the transitions before and after the activity. Zoning allows every member of the team to be accountable and informed.

Position your body so you are always able to see the children. If you are on your knees in the classroom, be sure you can see over the shelving units so that you are aware of the children’s whereabouts at all times.

Scan your assigned area and the rest of the classroom at all times. This allows staff members to be constantly aware of what is happening in the classroom.

Talk to the other staff members in the classroom throughout the day. Be sure to highlight positive behaviors you see the children engaging in.

For more information about zoning and a short video on what zoning looks like in an early childhood classroom visit: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/video/zoning-maximize-learning

Here is a neat website where teachers can create a virtual map of their classroom. You can also print a copy of the map you have created that indicates staff zoning areas. http://classroom.4teachers.org/

Screening Deadline!

The deadline to screen students using the Brigance is Thursday, October 5. All scores must be entered into the Early Childhood Health Tab on Infinite Campus by the end of the day on October 5. For questions or assistance please reach out to your assigned Instructional Coach.

Individual Student Goals

Each week, every child must have an individual written goal. This is not optional. These goals must be documented and evidence shown as to how the goals are being addressed. Procedures for writing student goals can be found in the Procedures button our Ready4K website or by clicking here: PROCEDURES

Family Fun Day Forms

All sign in sheets and parent surveys are to be sent to the Early Childhood Office 037-D via the pony. Sign in sheets must be sent regardless of the level of attendance. So if you had no parents show up then you should indicate this on the sign in sheet. Remember to fill out the form indicating your name and school location.

Upcoming Events

October 5 – Deadline to Enter Brigance Developmental and Social Emotional Screenings into Infinite Campus

October 6 – Flexible Professional Development Day (12 hours needed to take off) No school for students.

October 9 – District PD (Gold) Day: All Early Childhood staff will spend a half day in training and the other half participating in school based team planning or other activities set by the principal.

October 10- Parent-Teacher Conference Day- Share screening results with parents/guardians

1.) Hello Teachers,

Please make sure that you have entered all of your students growth assessments in Infinite Campus, and remember, as new students enroll, their growth assessments need to be completed as well.

1.) How to Submit a Student Referral

1. Student referrals are made directly to the Early Childhood referral e-mail box jcps.echreferrals@jefferson.kyschools.us using the Early Childhood Referral for Services form (see link).

2. The referral e-mail box is checked daily and an automatic response is sent. The e-mails are then disbursed to the appropriate staff for follow up.

3. Staff assigned to follow up on a referral e-mail should follow up within 3 working days of receipt of the referral. When the referral has been completed, the staff person assigned will send a closed e-mail with the disposition included to the referral e-mail box.

4. Teachers will receive a response from the referral e-mail box once the referral has been closed.

5. Referrals are not to be made by phone. All referrals must go through the referral e-mail box using the Referral for Services form.

6. If an interpreter is required:

a. Include in the e-mail an exact or estimated date and time that you would like to have the interpreter and the language that you are requesting.

b. Give the reason you are requesting an interpreter (i.e., home visit, phone call, meeting, assessment, screenings, etc.). If you only want the interpreter to make a phone call, then note only a call is necessary. If you want the interpreter to meet with you and the parent, then provide the location, date, time and address.

c. Once the referral has been received, someone from ESL or our department will contact the person who submitted the referral for more details.

We have two Bus Monitor Training sessions for Friday, October 6 at Dawson Orman Education Center – 900 South Floyd Street, Louisville, KY 40203. The first meeting will be held from 8 am to 11 am, and the second will be held from Noon to 3 pm. Principals are encouraged to send non-instructional staff who do not regularly ride the bus to these trainings. To register, please search for Early Childhood Bus Monitoring Training on pdCentral. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Gunn.

Changes to a student’s transportation (i.e., transportation address, request for new service, change to parent transport, etc.) are processed through the Application Center at Edwards Education Complex. Parents are encouraged to call 502-485-7677. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Gunn.

Now that we have been back in school for a few weeks, it is a perfect time to log in to PD Central and check your credit history report. Be sure that all of your evaluations are complete. Sessions only show up as “earned credit” when you have been marked attended and your evaluation is done. Earned credit is what shows up on your school’s credit history report when they are checking to see who is eligible to be off on a flexible professional development day.

October 6 is approaching fast. You need 12 hours earned credit to be off that day. (If you were hired after August 14, 2017 you need six to be off that day). If you don’t have the required hours showing up on the report, you are expected to be signed up and attending PD sessions all day. Those offering should be showing up in PD central very soon.

The 2017 Early Childhood Institute attendance has been marked. The report came in from the Governor’s office this week and hours and attendance have been transferred in to PD central. If you have questions concerning the information recorded, please log into your TRIS account to verify.

· Login to the ECE-TRIS account by using the tips on this flyer https://tris.eku.edu/ece/resources/files/271.

· Once logged in, click on the button that says “View/Edit my Personal Information and update the exact school/site as well as any additional information that needs corrected

· Next, from the homepage, click on the button that says “View My Training Record” and download a copy of your professional learning portfolio!

On the “View My Training Record” page

§ Please enter the start date of 6/28/2017 and the end date of 06/30/2017 in order to narrow your results to the ECI 2017 conference

· If you want to download a copy of your entire record later, you can leave the dates blank

§ Click “Load Report”

§ Provide this report to Valerie Baker at JCPS Early Childhood to verify your attendance at ECI and participation in training sessions

o Technological requirements

§ Ensure your pop-up blockers are deactivated

§ Do not use internet explorer

§ Ensure you have a PDF reader installed on your device. Using a computer is best

If the participant is unable to login, they may not have a profile in ECE-TRIS , as each person on the GOEC registration list was entered to have one or updated on their existing ECE-TRIS profile. In that case, they will need to fill out a personal information form to register for an account: https://tris.eku.edu/ece/resources/files/117

For further assistance, please contact ECE-TRIS using the information found on the flyer: https://tris.eku.edu/ece/resources/files/271 or through the Contact Us tab on the ECE-TRIS website: https://tris.eku.edu/ece

The Jefferson County Public School District shall not discriminate in recruitment or employment on the basis of age, color, disability, marital or parental status, national origin, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, religion, or political affiliations or beliefs. The District shall promote equal opportunities through a vigorous affirmative action program as an integral part of personnel policy and practice in the employment, development, advancement, and treatment of employees of Jefferson County Public Schools.