Welcome New and Returning Staff!

Welcome to what is sure to be a year filled with challenging opportunities, stretching us to communicate, collaborate and rely on one another more than ever. As with any challenge, success can be found through creative problem solving, perseverance and a unified spirit. I am confident that, despite the challenges presented by a difficult financial environment, we will embrace the year with vigor, enthusiasm and optimism.  My commitment continues to be that of providing strong leadership and support as we continue the important work of educating our most struggling learners.

Essential to the success of any organization is the environment in which we work. As such, fostering an atmosphere in which everyone is eager to “do the work” and excited about learning is vital. I want our Title I Coordinator group to be a valuable resource to one another fostering a spirit of support, encouragement and appreciation for the hard work we do. When one member of our team succeeds, we all succeed. To this end, please be sure and let me know how I can support you as we work together to make this our best year, yet!

As you may know, we have had several changes in personnel this past spring. Sadly, these changes mean a loss of valued staff that we will deeply miss. Still, I am excited by the caliber of people who will be joining our Title community, the experiences they will bring to our group and the promise of new relationships.  Please join me in extending a warm welcome to our newest Coordinators:
River Road: Aline Baissaic
McCornack: Luann Rogers
Howard: Robin Vaughan (moved from Camas Ridge)
Holt: Jennifer Potter
Family: Rhonda Lawson
Twin Oaks: Terri Weston
Spring Creek: Dayna Mitchell (moved from Willa-g)
Willa-g: Cassidy Temple (moved from Twin Oaks)
Eugene Waldorf: Laura Blake

We have two Title schools that will be joining the “School Wide” ranks. Following a year-long process that included working with various shareholder groups to provide input/guidance on the comprehensive examination the school’s needs, priorities, goals, action plans and so much more, I’d like to congratulate both ATA and Spring Creek on a job well done! Beginning this school year, ATA and Spring Creek will operate as a SWP, bringing our total SWP count to 10.

Title I Resource Materials Give-Away: With the recent closing of Title I programs at Camas Ridge, YG, Corridor and ATA (elementary) there are extra resource materials available to interested Title I schools. These items are being temporarily stored at Howard Elementary (room 12). Materials are boxed and should be labeled with contents for easy identification. I will be at Howard (room 12), on 9/6 from 2:00-4:00 and on 9/9 from 9:00-11:30 should you want to stop by and check out the materials. As a reminder, any items you have selected will need to be included on your inventory and identified as coming from school “X”. On a related note, Monica is working on the re-distribution of technology collected through these closures; this equipment will NOT be at  Howard.

Title I Monitoring Notebooks: On September 3, I would like to drop by for a quick hello and welcome each of you back to what is sure to be an outstanding year! I will also be delivering your 2013-2014 Monitoring Notebook and look forward to answering any questions you may have as you get the year underway! I have not created a visitation schedule. Instead, I will begin my visits at the North end of the district (in the morning) and make my way to all the Title I schools following the most efficient path possible. The visit will be short and very informal; it is important to me that I not interrupt your valuable planning time. If you are unavailable when I arrive, I will simply leave your notebook at your desk and we can say hello another time!

Title Webpage Has a New Look: With the “new look” to the district website, I have taken the opportunity to refresh the Title and Federal Programs portion of the site. This update includes a section entitled, Coordinator Resources, which houses compliance documents, forms, templates and samples used to meet State requirements. To navigate the 4j website to locate Title and Federal Programs and Coordinator Resources sections, click on the links below. I would recommend bookmarking these pages.

Title & Federal Programs link: http://www.4j.lane.edu/instruction/title/

Coordinator Resources link: http://www.curriculum.4j.lane.edu/title/

CHECK IT OUT ~ I think you will like it! You will notice that individual school compacts and parent involvement policies will be posted, upon completion. This way, parents will have access to this information via the Internet. Schools will be able to direct families to this information, as well, if they like.

Need Help – Have a Question??? Please reference the attached resource page to use as a guide when you have questions regarding Federal Programs. Title Contacts 2013-2014

Title I Coordinator Professional Development ~ based on feedback you provided in a May, 2013 survey, professional development will be scheduled four times over the course of the year. In addition, PD will take place in the afternoon, prior to Coordinator/Principal meetings. Specifically,

11:15-11:45 lunch will be provided
11:45-2:30 professional development
2:30-3:30  principal/coordinator meeting

Half day substitutes may be request for the afternoon; 10:45-2:45, for example (if that works with your schedule). I am hopeful this will provide you with transition/travel time. On one occasion, principal/coordinator meetings will consist of principals, only. This way, we will reduce your meetings thus easing the demands on your time…at least a little! Attached is the principal/coordinator meeting schedule and the coordinator PD schedule. Please mark your calendar as attendance at each meeting/PD is expected. Thank you!
Title Princ_Coord Mtgs (2013-2014)
Title Coord_PD_Series (2013-2014)

Additional PD Opportunities: I anticipate scheduling two additional PD days (one, 1/2 day and one, full day) to provide (1) a refresher for Fastt Math, Fraction Nation and Go Solve and (2) a Scholastic training on a new purchase to support math interventions in grades 3-5. The curriculum is entitled, Do the Math – more details to come! I will likely couple the 1/2 day PD with an existing Coordinator PD and add one more day, depending on consultant availability. Stay tuned!!

Compliance Documents to be Completed in September:
(1) Both SWP and TAS schools are required to notify parents when their child is taught or assigned, for four or more consecutive weeks, by a teacher who does not meet federal highly qualified requirements. The attached notification letter (English)  ((Spanish)) meets this requirement and should be sent home with all students (SWP), or targeted students (TAS), in September.  Here is the website link to Letters and Notifications where this information can be found, as well.

(2) Title schools are required to include a message, in their September newsletter, notifying families of their Title I status and the services they provide. Please review the September Newsletter Announcement and fill in with specifics relative to your school’s Title services.

(3) The Parent Involvement Policy (both SWP and TAS) and the Family and Community Involvement Questions (SWP) and (TAS) are also due early in the year. As such, you will want to be sure and get on the Site Council agenda as soon as possible. Here is the website link to Parent and Family Involvement where this information can be found.

(4) All Title schools are required to hold a Title I Annual Meeting (what to cover) for parents. For compliance purposes, be sure and include the meeting announcement (this can be a flier or in your school newsletter), agenda and attendee sign in sheet. Here is the link to the website for Annual Meeting Sample Resources (i.e. sample powerpoint, invitation letter/flier and agenda). Under the Parent Involvement section of your notebook, you will also include a list of planned Title-sponsored events/activities (announcements, event description, agendas and sign-in sheets to be added as the events take place); keeping this in mind as the year unfolds will be helpful.

Hard copies of these documents should be sent to Penny in the Instruction Department. OR, you are welcome to bring your documents to our PD on September 30!

Family Engineering Event at Willa-g: As a reminder, Willa-g won the free Family Engineering event (facilitated by Mia Jackson). Coordinators are invited to “work” the event as a part of an extended training opportunity to learn more about how to host an event. Extended contract will be offered ($34.50 per hour) as you work with Mia to set up and run the event! Willa-g has scheduled October 16 for their Family Engineering night. Please let me know, as soon as you can, if you would like to be a part of this training/work; I can take the first six volunteers!

Mentor/Mentee Program ~ once again, we will be offering a mentoring program for Coordinators new to their position OR have been in their position a short while and feel they would benefit from a regular “go to” person to answer questions, help with planning, problem solve, etc. Time to meet will be compensated through both sub release time and extended contract ($34.50 per hour). The time commitment is approximately two hours a month. Please let me know if you are interested in serving as a mentor and/or feel you would benefit from having a mentor.

Title I Schools for 2013-2014:
Here are the Title I schools for the upcoming year, as well as principal contacts. Title Schools (2013-2014)

Title I Coordinators for 2013-2014: Title Coord_list (2013-2014)
Here is a list of Title I Coordinators and their contact information. As information is updated, we will revised this list! Don’t hesitate to contact one another for support, questions and encouragement.

easyCBM Testing Windows for 2013-2014:
Fall Sept. 10th – Sept. 24th
Winter Jan. 7th – Jan. 21st
Spring May 20th – June 6th

DATES TO REMEMBER:
September
30         Coordinator PD; 11:15-2:30 followed by the Principal/Coordinator meeting; 2:30-3:30

Compliance documents DUE to Penny no later than September 30. Please print a hard copy and bring to our 9/30 meeting OR send a hard copy to Penny through inter-district mail. Penny will be available from 11:15-11:45 to accept paperwork on this day.

• Parent notification letter (notifying parents of their right to know about HQ staff)
• Copy of your newsletter containing the required article describing Title services; highlight the article
• Title I Annual meeting announcement (your flier and/or newsletter announcement)
• Agenda and sign in sheets for your Title I Annual meeting
• Completed Family and Community Involvement questions
• Completed Parent Involvement Policy
• A list of Title I parent involvement activities the school has planned for the year (add flyers, agendas and sign in sheets as the events take place)

October: details and links to October documents will be included in the October Coordinator Communication blog. In the meantime, documents can be found on the district website, under Coordinator Resources.

Compliance documents DUE to Penny no later than November 8. There are no Title PD’s or meetings in November, so paperwork will need to be printed and sent to Penny via inner-district mail. You are welcome to drop by the Instruction Department or give the documents to me during my November visit to your school; whichever is most convenient.

Targeted Schools (TAS)

• Copy of Targeting Sheets, by grade level
• Priority list of identified students
• Copy of parent notification of services, including a copy of the “exit of services” letter

School Wide Schools (SWP)

• Copy of parent notification of services

Both TAS and SWP

• Criteria for Services
• Student Profile form (sample from Quickbase – redact student name)
• Copy of both the school’s master instructional schedule and intervention schedule
• Copy of both the EA’s and Title teacher schedules
• Copy of the school Compact
• Copy of your Data Team/IIPM annual meeting schedule
• Copy of one set of meeting minutes, including an agenda

As a Side – IMPORTANT INFORMATION About iPod Touches & Apps (cut/pasted from Monica’s email, sent earlier this week as another reminder):
“Starting this year I will be doing the iOS upgrades and purchased installs on the Touches. Last year many of you told me that you’d get confused with what account to use with what device and that doing the updates/upgrades took WAY too much time. This is one of the reasons for the new system. Also, I discovered while I was doing updates, that personal accounts were being used on the Touches and purchased apps were installed on more than one device under these accounts.  Remember, any purchased app needs to go through me, because we need to use the VPP program to purchase multiple licenses.  Under the new system, any app that isn’t purchased and/or downloaded with your site’s shared accounts will be automatically removed when I sync them to the Mothership (my syncing machine).  Using the Apple Configurator program on the Mothership laptop will allow me to upgrade and sync up to 20 iPods at a time. Instead of taking 40 minutes per iPod, it will do all of them in about 10-15 minutes!

Even if your site purchases apps for you, I will need the code (you don’t need to purchase an extra license) sent to me for the Mothership shared account. Otherwise the app will be wiped from your iPods when I sync them for upgrades.  You’ll need to purchase the correct amount of licenses, but only one code needs to be input to the “shared” account (I will do this).  You will no longer need a code (but you will still need a licenses for each device), as I will be redeeming the code in the site’s “shared purchased” account. You will just need to go out to the account and download it to you iPod Student Acct on your laptop and then sync your iPods to install it. Or make an appointment for me to do so.

Like the iT3 project, we are going to the two-account system for each site.  Your site will have a Title 1 account for purchased apps and another for free apps.  No app should be downloaded/redeemed using the purchased account without contacting me first, for the reasons stated above. Any free apps you want to use, need to be installed under the free account.

I will be changing the passwords on your old iTunes Account in a few weeks, so no one inadvertently use the wrong account, so please take time to look over the apps you have under those accounts. Make notes of which apps you are actually using and will want back on your iPods. I know many of you tried out a lot of apps and decided you didn’t like some of them.  I will compile a list of the apps that the users at your site want to keep and install them under the shared “free” account (if they are free apps).

If you have apps that were purchased through your site Title monies, or from another group, I will need an install code for the Mothership. Coordinators, please contact the person (TSS?) that distributed these codes to you and have them email me one for each app purchased. I will also need to know how many licenses you have for each app and who were assigned those licenses.

Before you can use the iPod Touches this year, I will be meeting with each site and going over the new system.  Suzy mentioned that there are funds available to pay for ½ days subs for you to do so.  I may do more than one site at a time, so we can get these out and being used again as soon as possible. I’ll put a schedule together soon and let you know.

 I know this is a lot of information, but when we do the meeting I will go over it all with you again. If you have questions in the meantime, please let me know. There may be things I overlooked and need to work out ahead of time.”