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A message from the
Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education

November 16, 2020
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News from Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Contents:

  1. Serving English Learners with Disabilities
  2. Picture of the Week: Carlisle Public School
  3. LearnLaunch Workshops
  4. Professional Learning through Kaleidoscope
  5. Reminder of Edgenuity PD for Partnering Districts
  6. Holiday Reminders
  7. New College Housing Scholarship for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
  8. For Your Information:

1. Serving English Learners with Disabilities:


The Department is providing supplemental guidance and recommendations to help schools and districts provide equitable access to learning for English learners (ELs) with disabilities during in-person, hybrid, and remote learning. The guidance, Serving English Learners with Disabilities During In-Person, Hybrid, and Remote Learning, can be downloaded from the English Learners section of DESE’s COVID-19 pages.

2. Picture of the Week:

On Thursday, November 12, Governor Baker, Secretary Peyser, and Commissioner Riley visited Carlisle Public School, a pre-K through 8 school, to highlight the in-person learning that takes place there five days a week.
Adults and children in classroom

3. LearnLaunch Workshops:


LearnLaunch is offering the last session of its Support Parents workshops and is offering Student Data Privacy and Security and Crisis Communication. Each of these workshops is sponsored by DESE, facilitated by a national expert, and gives time for participants to collaborate to solve pressing problems. Registration is open online.
  • Crisis Communication is a 90-minute workshop that will help school and district leaders practice scenario building as a way to ensure stakeholders are aligned and informed during complicated and difficult moments in schools or districts. The workshops will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, November 16 and at noon on Monday, November 23Register here and explore the Communicate Clearly Building Block tool here.
  • Student Data Privacy and Security is a 90-minute workshop written for technology and information education leaders to equip them with the information they need to maintain student data privacy at all times. The workshops will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 18 and at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 19. Register here and explore the Select Aligned Tools Building Blocks tool here.
  • Support Parents is a 90-minute workshop in which participants will use specific templates and tools to leverage increased parent engagement in remote/hybrid learning environments in order to create more positive, personal connections that will last past digital learning. The last session will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 20. Register here and explore the Support Parents Building Block tool here.

4. Professional Learning through Kaleidoscope:


The Department’s Kaleidoscope Collective for Learning is pleased to announce two professional learning opportunities—Transforming Instruction Through the Lens of Authentic Work (3:45-5:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 18) and Engaging Students as Complex Thinkers (3:45-5:00 p.m. offered twice: Tuesday, December 15 and Thursday, January 14). In these sessions, teachers will explore practices that ask students to apply disciplinary thinking and skills, such as those of scientists, mathematicians, sociologists, writers, and researchers, to real-world problems in ways that build student engagement in remote, hybrid, and in-person learning. Educators will have time to collaborate with colleagues from across the Commonwealth to strategize ways to apply these practices and mindsets in their own virtual or in-person classrooms. Please register online.

5. Reminder of Edgenuity PD for Partnering Districts:


Districts and schools interested in receiving free professional development through Edgenuity must complete this registration form by Wednesday, November 18. The professional development offering includes a three-hour customized webinar (which must be delivered prior to Wednesday, December 30) for each participating district based on the particular needs of its educators, students, and families. Districts and schools must have a current contract with Edgenuity in order to participate.

6. Holiday Reminders:


The Department recognizes that the upcoming Thanksgiving and winter holidays may pose a challenge to districts in their efforts to limit students’ and staff’s exposure to COVID-19. The Department encourages district and school leaders to remind staff and students about the best practices that the Department of Public Health has outlined:
  • Limit gathering size: Indoor gatherings at private residences are limited to 10 people, and outdoor gatherings at private residences are limited to 25 people.
  • Individuals should stay within their household: For a lower-risk celebration, people should limit in-person holiday gatherings to only people they live with or limit the gathering to a small group of individuals with whom they are regularly in contact.
  • Avoid travel: Anyone considering travel should review and abide by Massachusetts travel orders, and people who want to travel to another state that is not a lower-risk state should be aware of the quarantine requirements involved with such travel.
The holidays will necessarily look different this year, and DESE appreciates all that educators, students, and families are doing to limit their risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

7. New College Housing Scholarship for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth:


The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is partnering with the Department of Higher Education, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Governor’s Commission on Unaccompanied Homeless Youth to offer college housing scholarships for homeless students. The new Moving to College Housing Scholarship, funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, will provide year-round, on-campus housing, as well as a meal plan funded by campuses. Applicants must be accepted and plan to register at either a participating community college or a state university; those attending a community college would live at the nearest participating state university campus and commute to classes and/or take classes online. School counselors and McKinney-Vento liaisons are encouraged to help students complete the application, which is due Monday, March 1.

8. For your info:

  • Mental Wellness During Virtual Learning Grant: The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is offering rapid response Prioritizing Mental Wellness Amidst Virtual Learning grants to fund short-term projects led by districts, schools, or community-based organizations that serve youth in the K-12 public schools in vulnerable communities. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and funds will be distributed until they are exhausted or until Friday, December 4, whichever comes first.
  • Poetry Out Loud for High Schools: High schools are invited to sign up by Friday, December 18 for this year’s Poetry Out Loud contests, which will be virtual at both the state and national levels. Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest, is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and is run in Massachusetts by the Mass Cultural Council and the Huntington Theatre Company’s Education Department. The state champion wins a $200 cash prize, an opportunity to compete in the national finals, and $500 for their school to purchase poetry materials. For more information, visit www.huntingtontheatre.org/pol or email poetryoutloud@huntingtontheatre.org.
     
  • Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest: NASA’s Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest, open until Thursday, December 17, challenges K-12 students to imagine leading a one-week expedition to the Moon’s South Pole. Essays will be divided into three groups for judging by grade level -- K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Every student who submits an essay will receive a certificate and be invited to a NASA virtual event featuring an astronaut. Semifinalists will be invited to represent their state in a series of Artemis Explorer sessions with experts. Nine finalists will have the opportunity to travel with a parent to NASA’s Johnson Space Center next summer to learn about lunar exploration. The national winner in each group will win a family trip to see the first Artemis flight test launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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