5. VOCAL Webinar:
The Department will offer an hour-long webinar on what schools and districts need to know to appropriately analyze the Views of Climate and Learning (VOCAL) survey data that will be available on October 25. The webinar is planned for 2:30 p.m. on November 7. Registration for the webinar is available online, and anyone with questions about the webinar can email Shelagh Peoples at speoples@doe.mass.edu.
|
|
6. Fall Healthy Schools Wellness Webinar Series:
All districts are invited to join a free Healthy Schools Wellness Webinar Series offered by the John C. Stalker Institute on Food and Nutrition at Framingham State University. Participants will learn how to build buy-in to improve the school health environment using evidence-based tools derived from the Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community Framework that the CDC Healthy Schools Program uses. District and school-based wellness teams are particularly encouraged to participate, as are student, family, and community partners who support school wellness initiatives.
Registration is open online for the November 13 webinar on “Moving Wellness Initiatives into Action” and for the December 4 webinar on “Translating Nutrition Policy into Action”. Anyone with questions can email Lenore Maniaci at lenore.maniaci@doe.mass.edu.
|
|
7. Grants for Breakfast After the Bell:
Project Bread is offering three grant opportunities for the 2019-2020 academic year to schools or districts looking to launch or improve a Breakfast After the Bell program. The grants are timely, given that the state budget now mandates that schools serve Breakfast After the Bell if 60 percent or more of their students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Grants are available for:
- Schools or districts mandated by the state budget to serve Breakfast After the Bell;
- Schools or districts currently offering Breakfast After the Bell and looking to serve healthier menu items; and
- Schools or districts that want to start serving Breakfast After the Bell and that have at least 30 percent of their students eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Funding awards range from $2,500 per school to $12,500 per district. Districts may apply for more than one grant. Applications are due by November 15, and funding announcements will be made by December 20. Visit www.meals4kids.org/breakfastgrants for more information.
|
|
8. Bilingual Education Endorsement:
The Department recently published a memo on the requirements for educators to receive a Bilingual Education Endorsement (download), and the memo also contains other information that may be helpful to school districts that are offering or planning to offer a bilingual education program. Topics in the memo include pathways for obtaining the Bilingual Education Endorsement, information on waiver applications, the endorsement’s relationship to previous Transitional Bilingual Educator credentials, and where to go for more information.
|
|
- Puerto Rican diaspora summit: Enlace de Familias/Holyoke Family Network and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York will host the Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans New England Diaspora Summit 2019 to explore the impact of Hurricane Maria evacuees on the Puerto Rican population in New England. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, in the Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College, 303 Homestead Ave., Holyoke.
|
- Nominations Open for Presidential Cybersecurity Education Award: The U.S. Department of Education recently announced the call for nominations for a new Presidential Cybersecurity Education Award that is designed to recognize teachers who help prepare students to fill cybersecurity jobs. Beginning in the spring, the award will be presented each year to two educators, one elementary and one secondary. Anyone may nominate an educator for this honor, and educators can also nominate themselves. Nominations close January 31.
|
|
|
|