...NewsLinks
A Web-based newsletter for the staff of Everett Public Schools
Oct. 23, 2009 (
NewsLinks
articles are now archived on Docushare)
NEW!!!
Scan the topics listed below and “click” to jump to those that grab your
interest. Then “click”
back to the top
for the rest of the stories.
IN THIS ISSUE:
•
H1N1 immunization information – just announced “express” clinics just for pregnant
women and children from six months to four years old
•
Annual benefits enrollment information
•
Wellness message
•
Message from the Superintendent about district wide
Educational Effectiveness
Survey
•
News from the Foundation
•
Your school board at work – Joint resolution with EEA, honoring staff, a trip down
technology memory lane
•
News from around the district
•
Opportunities for students and staff
H1N1 IMMUNIZATION INFO
Late on Thursday afternoon, the Health District announced “express” vaccination clinics
just for pregnant women and children from six months to four years old on Saturday,
Oct. 14. That is a week earlier than previously announced. Three of the clinics are in
Everett and are listed on the district’s home page
. The Everett Clinic is dispensing
vaccinations at Evergreen Middle School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Consent forms and locations and times of other clinics in the county are at
www.snocoflu.com. The Health District advises everyone to check their Web site
frequently because information and clinic dates are updated regularly.
Fever free for a day
then
back to school – a message for staff and students
Remember that anyone sick with a temperature of 100 degrees or more must be fever
free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medications) before returning to
normal routines like attending school or after school activities. Additional time at home
may be a hardship for families, but it is necessary to help keep our schools healthy.
BENEFITS OPEN ENROLLMENT Oct. 20 – Nov. 16. New plan year begins January.
Information packets were sent to all work locations this week for all employees. If you
did not receive a copy, the document is on the
District Web site
. Call or e-mail Arlene
Vollema-Rich (4115) or René Boswell
(4116) for an electronic copy.
Unless you change medical plans or add or delete dependents, your cost for benefits
will remain the same through Nov. 30, 2010.
For the first time, employees have the option to make changes to their medical plans
using
Employee Online
. The instructions are online.
Employees who wish to access
employee online
from their home computers can do so
by setting up their home computers with remote access to their district computers. Here
is the link with instructions for setting up remote access
. Email the Help Desk if you
need assistance with this process.
WELLNESS MESSAGE – year round breast cancer information on the Web
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
, but the NBCAM Web site is a
year round resource for breast cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and the general
public. Visit the site regularly for updated breast cancer information and resources. Like
many organizations, Everett Public Schools has been deeply affected by breast cancer.
Be sure to read this month’s issue of the
Hope Health Column
, written by one of our
own breast cancer survivors.
Ladies, let’s remember that mammography screening
remains the best available method to detect breast cancer early.
Annual
mammograms are a
covered benefit
with all EPS insurance plans.
MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT – Educational
Effectiveness Survey
for staff,
parents and students
Starting next week, we’ll be launching a district wide effort to gather perceptual data about
our district and schools. Conducted by the Center for Educational Effectiveness, the
surveys will be confidential. Survey handling, compilation, and tabulation will all be done
by the professionals at CEE.
CEE is the same organization that now co-sponsors the
Great Schools
recognition
program with Phi Delta Kappa. This fall Gateway Middle School earned this award,
previously known as
Schools of Distinction.
Over 64,000 Washington school staff have
taken these CEE surveys in hundreds of schools in Washington state. They are familiar
with best practices and research-based programs that make a difference in student
learning. This
Educational Effectiveness Survey
(EES) will
replace
the Nine Characteristics
Survey that Everett staff has used in past years. The staff survey is designed to include
everyone in a school, and there is a version for district staff as well.
Results will be available shortly after the first of the year to help all of us make better-
informed decisions and support school improvement. As the accountability
requirements we face together continue to increase, and as we face increasing budget
challenges, the survey data will be even more important to ensure that our time and
resources are used most effectively to improve student achievement.
The Educational Effectiveness Survey:
•
Is a formative tool,
not
an evaluative tool
•
Allows every voice in the organization to be heard
•
Graphically displays characteristics of high performing schools
•
Identifies strengths and opportunities within our organization
•
Provides reliable data to stimulate conversations about improving student learning
•
Supports data-driven decision making by providing perceptual and contextual
domains of data
•
Is in a friendly format that is easy to understand
•
Provides a baseline of diversity perceptual data that we do not have today
•
Meets requirements for special education parent input that we need for planning
and compliance
•
Comes in multiple languages to enable the majority of our non-English speaking
families to participate
School principals have information about the timeline and administration of the survey for
students, staff and parents and about the confidentiality that helps ensure the validity of
the results and the value of the information we will have in January.
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey, for helping your students voice their
thoughts about their educational experiences and needs and for encouraging parents to do
the same. This tool can make a significant difference in the success of our work together
for student learning improvements for every student.
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NEWS FROM THE FOUNDATION – Flood of grant requests is great!
Write-In for Kids
going well
Thanks
to all of the individuals and teams who submitted 85 classroom grant
applications last week! Our board members will review and score each of the
submissions over the next two weeks. Final decisions will come in time for funding
before the Thanksgiving break. You turned in so many creative and worthwhile
submissions, and we will do our best to honor funding for each school that submitted an
entry. Best of luck!!
The Fall Campaign for Kids continues with our
Write-In for Kids
efforts through United
Way presentations. We have completed well over half of the meetings and extend a
sincere thank you to all staff who have attended. Your support of our community
through United Way and the Foundation is wonderful and most appreciated. Each
school and department is creating their own deadline for submission, but please know
that the ultimate deadline for turning in your pledge forms is Dec. 4, 2009. We are
eagerly awaiting them in the Foundation office at Hawthorne Elementary.
back to the top
YOUR SCHOOL BOARD AT WORK – Board and teachers oppose 1033
1.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
that the Board of Directors of Everett
Public Schools and the Executive Board of the Everett Education Association/United
Teachers of Everett do hereby oppose Initiative 1033.
That is the ending statement of a joint resolution approved and signed by the
executive board of the Everett Education Association and the school district board of
directors.
Board member Karen Madsen applauded the collaborative effort to oppose an
initiative “that is not good for kids and not good for staff. This board rarely signs
resolutions,” Madsen noted. “We save resolutions for big items. This is a big item,
and it is a wonderful thing that board and staff are signing it together on behalf of
students.”
2. The board shook hands with and commended:
•
Rick Wigre for the accomplishments of his student team at last summer’s
technology competition, for his “Advisor of the Year” award and for having a
student’s work selected for display in Washington, D.C.
•
Diane Kinch for having earned the GLADS teacher of the year award last
summer
•
Debbie Webber and other nutrition staff for having earned a Gold Star rating
from Children’s Alliance.
•
Cynthia Gaub, art teacher at North Middle School, was not available for the
board meeting, but the board also congratulated her for having been selected
as the state’s Art Educator of the Year.
•
Lillian Ortiz-Self, counselor at Everett high, also was not available at the
board meeting. However, the board thanked her for the time she has served
on the State Commission of Hispanic Affairs and congratulated her for being
selected as Chair of the commission.
3. The board approved the design specifications for modernizations of View Ridge and
Monroe Elementary schools – projects approved by voters in the 2006 construction
bond. Monroe is slated for completion by the fall of 2011, and View Ridge a year
later.
4. Ken Toyn introduced Scott Jenkins and Jeanne Willard, who presented the draft of
the district’s 2010-13
Curriculum & Technology Plan for Student Learning
to the
board by taking a walk down memory lane to illustrate how far we’ve come and how
important technology is for teaching and learning today.
How much do you know about the district’s technology history?
Check the
online answers
to the questions below:
1. 1992 was a significant year in the district’s technology history. Why?
2. When did the district launch its first e-mail system, and what was it called?
3. How many years ago did the district begin installing Pentamation and Cognos
to start tracking student learning data?
4. What is the name of the district’s online document management system, and
how long has it been in existence in the district?
5. In what year were special education staff able to write IEP’s online for the first
time?
6. When was it possible for district job applicants to apply for positions online?
7. What are COWS, and when did the herds begin to appear in schools?
8. Bar codes are familiar on grocery store products. Why do we have them on
high school textbooks, and how long has that been going on?
9. Those who have worked in the district for three to five years will notice how
much faster the system operates now. Why is that?
10. What’s next?
NEWS FROM AROUND THE DISTRICT – extraordinary work happening everywhere
1. National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) Linda Adams from Whittier
was one of
only 100 teachers statewide to meet with 100 legislators last week in the state’s
first
NBCT Policy Symposium
to discuss the state’s recent overhaul of its
education financing system.
2. Rivals Cascade and Everett team up against cancer. The two schools' volleyball
squads unite to raise money for a cure. Born of a former Cascade student-
athlete's desire to spread breast cancer awareness and honor head coach
Wendy Close, a breast cancer survivor, Cascade's third annual Dig for the Cure
event and match against rival Everett High took place Tuesday night at Cascade
High. More…
3. Everett girls clinch division soccer title. Seagulls’ 4-0 victory over crosstown rival
Cascade secures Wesco North championship. Thanks to a 4-0 victory over
Cascade Tuesday night, Everett remained perfect on the season and more
importantly secured their second straight Wesco North title with three games
remaining in the regular season. More…
4. Please congratulate Eric Bush as he accepts the position of interim assistant
principal at Everett High School. Eric came to Everett Public Schools from the
Tumwater school district as an English teacher at Sequoia High School in 2002.
In the fall of 2004 he joined the team at HM Jackson and in 2007 became an
Instructional Facilitator for Literacy. Eric’s background in literacy, his experience
at the high school level and his commitment to student achievement will be an
asset in his interim position at Everett High.
back to the top
OPPORTUNITIES – for staff and students
1. Save Thursday, Nov. 5, 4:30 p.m. at Evergreen Middle School as a time to say
“thank you” to board member Sue Cooper who is stepping down after a quarter
century as an educational leader on the board of directors. Sue was appointed to the
board in August of 1984 and re-elected in 1985, 1991, 1997 and 2003.
2.
Kids at the Rink
Program, sponsored by: Everett Silvertips, Everett Rotary, Everett-
Port Gardner Rotary
Thanks to generous donations of the Rotary groups from Everett and Everett Port-
Gardner this season, the Everett Silvertips are proud to present the Kids at the Rink
Program. Students in grades 2-8 will be eligible to win two tickets to a Silvertips
hockey game. The Silvertips will take nominations from teachers and educators at
elementary and middle schools throughout the Everett School District. Nomination
form online.
Briefly, OPPORTUNITIES from past issues
(for details see
NewsLinks
archives)
5.
Annual Student Technology and Learning Celebration
is a demonstration and
“thanks” to the community. Jan. 20, 2010. Send questions and your presentation ideas
to Tracy Manspeaker by Oct. 30, 2009.
6.
In a hurry for your volunteers to be cleared?
Have them register online! Save the
paper trail time and the time it takes to hand enter the data before background checks
can be completed.
7. Follow district news on Twitter
8. VOTE Nov. 3
9.
Math is Cool championships
are held throughout the state for students in grades four
through twelve. If you are a teacher or coach, register online.
10.
WSU Wallace River Hatchery field trips, Nov. 2-6
Click for details
POLICY & PROCEDURE CHANGES – links to all policies and procedures are online
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Everett Public Schools complies with all federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color,
national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, or disability. This holds true for all students who are interested in
participating in educational programs and/or extracurricular school activities. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may
be directed to the school district's Affirmative Action Officer, Title IX Officer, ADA District Coordinator, or Section 504 Coordinator. Affirmative
Action Officer, Carol Stolz, 3715 Oakes Ave., Everett WA 98201, 425-385-4106, Title IX Officer, Randi Seaberg, 3715 Oakes Ave., Everett
WA 98201, 425-385-4104, ADA Coordinator, Kristine McDowell, 202 Alder St., Everett WA 98203, 425-385-5250, Section 504 Coordinator,
Becky Ballbach, 4730 Colby Ave., Everett WA 98203, 425-385-4086.