5. U.S. Senate Youth Scholarship Program:
The U.S. Senate Youth Scholarship Program is a nationwide college scholarship program designed to promote student leaders' awareness of and participation and interest in government. The program is open to students currently enrolled as high school juniors or seniors in a Massachusetts public, charter, or private school and who are currently serving in an elected or appointed position in student government or in a civic or educational organization where they are representing the entire student body. Eligible students must submit a completed application with essay by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 31. The application and more information are available at the above link.
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6. High School Senior Internship Education Project:
The Department’s Connecting Activities initiative and the Commonwealth Corporation’s YouthWorks program have developed the High School Senior Internship Education Project, an educator internship project for spring 2021 that is open to high school seniors in good academic standing in all districts. Districts will be able to place high school seniors in paid education internships within their district. To learn more about the project, please review the information at http://www.massconnecting.org/default.asp?entity_id=516 and consider attending one of three information sessions. They will be offered at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23, at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, January 4, and at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 5. More information about the sessions is posted at the link above.
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7. P-EBT Benefits Extended:
The Baker-Polito Administration recently became the first state to receive federal approval to issue Pandemic EBT benefits (P-EBT) for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year. P-EBT promotes increased food security for families whose children are in hybrid or remote learning environments and who would normally receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program.
Eligible households will receive the next round of P-EBT benefits by the end of December. The benefits cover school meals missed during the months of October and November, and households will receive benefits monthly through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. On Friday, December 18, the Office for Food and Nutrition Programs sent school business managers and nutrition directors guidance clarifying free and reduced-price eligibility as it pertains to P-EBT eligibility (download).
Based on federal rules, families with children in a fully remote learning environment will receive $117 a month per child, and families with children in a hybrid learning environment will receive $58 a month per child. These funds are intended to supplement free school meals that are still available at hundreds of school meal locations and which do not require registration or ID.
Families can check their P-EBT balance by calling the number on the back of the card. P-EBT benefits can be used anywhere Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are accepted, including online from Walmart and Amazon. Learn more about P-EBT at MAp-ebt.org.
P-EBT is jointly administered by the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and DESE, in collaboration with local school districts.
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8. “After Dark” Designation Applications Opening Soon:
The next round of Chapter 74 Partnership Program (“After Dark”) designation applications will be open from Monday, January 4 through 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 12. Chapter 74 Partnership “After Dark” designation allows school districts offering Chapter 74 vocational technical education programs to partner with other school districts or with other schools within a single school district to provide Chapter 74 vocational technical education opportunities during times outside the typical school day.
Designation allows sending school districts, or sending schools within a single district, to report students as Chapter 74-enrolled and to receive any increases to Chapter 70 state aid that may result from such reporting.
Visit the DESE After Dark webpage for more information, a link to the application portal, and other related documents.
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9. Elementary Principals Book Group Discussion:
The Department’s Early Learning Team and the Massachusetts School Administrators’ Association is hosting a series of networking and professional development opportunities for elementary principals (download) (preschool-third grade) during the 2020-2021 school year. The theme for this year’s series is Creating a Caring Community: Caring for Ourselves and Our Staff Using a Trauma-Informed Lens. As part of this year’s series, DESE and MSAA will host a two-part book discussion from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20 and Wednesday January 27 on “Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism,” by Sarah Fiarman and Tracey A. Benson. To register for one or both of the book discussions, please complete the registration form by Wednesday, January 13.
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10. Fact Sheet on Cyber Threats:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) recently released a joint advisory on malicious cyber actors targeting K-12 educational institutions to cause disruptions and steal data. In connection with the advisory, CISA has also released a fact sheet: Cyber Threats to K-12 Remote Learning Education.
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Note: This is the last Commissioner’s Weekly Update for 2020. Have a wonderful winter break! The next update will not be until at least Monday, January 4.
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