We are Back! It's been a great summer break and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again next month. We have SO MUCH work to do to get prepared for your return and I only have 6 DAY in the office to get it all done... but it will happen. I can't wait to hear about your summer breaks, how many days you spent at the pool, watching movies, Netflixing it, or other ways you've been relaxing.
This special edition of the ENews is our Back-to-School Edition designed to help make transition as smooth as possible. Please don't hesitate to call/text/email questions about the information in this posting.
RL Conference
The Revolutionizing Learning (RLChat.com) conference is next week (July 27 & 28) and I hope to see several of you guys there. This year will feature TWO Keynote Speakers:
These are some amazing educators and I'm so looking forward to spending the day with each of them.
Also the Conference Schedule looks to different from previous years and it's product other large conferences use to organize the sessions. Now you have the option to CUSTOMIZE your schedule Use your Facebook account to login and create a profile for others to see. You can easiest share your schedule with friends and see what sessions are interesting to other attendees too.
If you have questions about using this website, locate me at the conference I will help you out!
New Teacher Orientation
The dates for New Teacher Orientation are Monday, August 8th - Wednesday, August 10th. All new staff members required to attend and it will count toward your FLEX days we're using for later this school year. Here's our schedule for that week:
New staff members will begin new teacher orientation at the Central Office. This training will include topics on Curriculum, Human Resources and Special Services, Technology, and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Monday afternoon will be on campus with the office staff and we'll be reviewing some campus procedures and logistics.
Staff Development Week Schedule
This year, we will be starting two day earlier than usual - even though we're coming back to work two day earlier, we'll be getting out of school before Memorial Day!
All staff members will be reporting Back-to-School on Thursday, August 11.
Our District Convocation will be Thursday, August 18 @ 8:00am held at the Royse City High School. The speaker is Doug Lipp (@douglipp) who has worked at Disney for several years written a book about Disney University (which I'm reading now). Here's a great SHORT video were Doug is speaking about the magic of Disney (I wonder how YOU can use these ideas in your classroom):
Our Meet the Teacher Date will be Thursday, August 18 @ 5:00-6:30pm.
First Day of School will be on Monday, August 22. Our Central Administration team will be providing donuts for all staff members @ 7:00am that day.
More details about what we'll be doing/learning will be coming out very soon!
Professional Development & Flex Days
I just want to remind you that you about your compliance courses for the 2016-2017 school year. As many of you have already discovered, we are using a new website (Safe Schools) for most of the compliance courses. Each of you should have received an email from Mr. Blaine (and Safe Schools) that lists the courses that are found on that website. If you have any trouble with accessing these courses, please email Mr. Lloyd Blaine at blainel@rcisd.org. For your convenience, we have placed a link on the iACT website for each of the required courses. You will also notice when you log in that their are courses that are "suggested". If you complete these courses, they can count toward the RCISD Professional Development Recognition Levels (Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond) in the fall.
Required Courses are:
Bloodborne Pathogens (refresher) - 13 minutes (New Teachers must do the Original Course)
FERPA - 14 minutes
Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting - 26 minutes
Online Safety: What Every Educator Needs to Know - 29 minutes
Youth Suicide: Awareness and Prevention - 29 minutes
Classroom Safety - 16 minutes
This part of the compliance course requirements equals 2 hours and 7 minutes. As you can see these classes are shorter than the courses in the past. As a reminder, every course has a short quiz (passing is 70%) that is required.
In addition to those courses there are two (2) additional training with links that are found on the iACT website. Both of these courses will require you to create a login if you have not used them before.
Required Courses on the iACT website
1. Sexual Abuse Prevention: Stewards of Children, Darkness to Light - This is listed as a 2 hour course
2. Autism 101 - This is listed as a 2 thirty minutes modules.
Once you have completed the courses listed above (from Safe Schools and the iACT website), your compliance training will be complete! Please make sure your print and/or save your certificates for the 2 courses on the the iACT website. You will need to provide those to your campus administrator. The Safe Schools website will generate a list for your principal of those staff who have completed training.
Thanks again for completing these courses. We will all enjoy the "flex days" in the fall and spring! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Back to School Principal Newsletter
I've created a digital newsletter for all our Back-to-School information for parents & students. Please share the link to this newsletter via our Social Media and Remind accounts.
Again, I'm looking forward to seeing you all very soon. Don't forget that the Bingo game is still going on & to share your pictures with the #scottsummerselfie hashtag. I can't wait see you all next month!
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