CWCS 2007 October ES Agenda

Please read the agenda, along with each of its links (all links available in ES Manual for future reference).

Complete the October Agenda Quiz  in WEBfiles BEFORE 3:00 pm the work day before your ES meeting.

 

CWCS Goals:

Improve student achievement in reading and writing

Improve student achievement in mathematics

Improve STAR attendance to 100 %

 

1) Dates to Remember and Dated Duties

a) September 15- October 15, 2007: Hispanic Heritage Month

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b) October 10, 2007: Fund Raising Opportunity: Invite your parents to come and learn how to support the school with the Gold Canyon Fundraiser Kickoff. Help us reach our goal to fund the World Strides DC trip, the High School Prom, and STAR Test Incentives. Please let Sherri Nelson snelson@connecingwaters.org know if you or some of your families would like to participate. They can participate even if they can’t make it to the kick off meeting.

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c) October 26, 2007: 4th and 7th Grad Writing Workshop: ESes, Parents, and Students are all invited to the Writing Workshop for 4th and 7th Graders, free at the Ceres Learning Center. ESs be sure to invite all families with 4th and 7th graders to this workshop.

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d) November 5, 2007: 1st Semester Portfolios- Begin assembly of 1st semester portfolios so that you can collect any missing 1st semester samples at your next learning record meeting. All 1st semester portfolios will be reviewed and checked for completion at your December ES meeting.

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e) November 9th: ES Evaluation Goals for the 2008 school year-Enter into WEBfiles, on the ES Detail Screen, by this date for your Advisor to review, a brief written progress report on how you have met your ES 2008 goals to date and what you expect to do next semester. If you are a new ES this year, this will not apply to you.

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f) November 13-16, 2007: 2nd Quarter Benchmark Exams and Writing Prompts- Provide and explain to parents during this week or at the learning record closest to these dates, and collect at the following learning record meeting. 2nd Quarter Benchmark Exams and Writing Prompts.

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g) November 15, 2007: EOC (End of Course) entry deadline for STAR (see Assessment info below)

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h) November 16, 2007: 2nd Semester Student Agreements- Plan early!

-The 2nd Semester Student Agreements will need to be postmarked to IEM Student Records by November 16th. -Another Assessment Confirmation form is NOT required for the second semester, just the student agreement.

-Note the addition of NCLB Teacher of Record on the high school report card (see below in “things to do”)

-Please remember to staple the two pages together to help the records department. Thank you!

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i) November 16, 2007: December Potential Grads Report Cards- Complete report cards with estimated 1st semester grades and credits due for all potential December graduates.

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j) November 30, 2007: Grad Packets will be due! If you have a potential graduate that does not yet have a copy of their final and complete transcript in WEBfiles, please be sure to ask your advisor for assistance in how to obtain a transcript from a previous school.

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j) December 13: Graduation Ceremony Participation- Graduation participation forms are posted on the Guidance Page.(8th Grade, Senior/Cap and Gown.). Please give these to your potential December and May graduates now, as they are due no later than December 13th. (Remember to mark in WEBfiles if they are participating or not when you collect the forms.)

Note: (8th grade graduates must be in 8th grade according to birth date).

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k) February 5 & 6, 2008: CAHSEE

-All 10th graders MUST attend the February 5 and 6th CAHSEE administration.

-All 10th graders must have CAHSEE prep materials.

-It is the ES's responsibility to remind their parents of these dates! Please review this with all 10th graders this month if you haven’t already done so.

Our goal is to have 80% of our 10 graders pass the CAHSEE this year. Additional CAHSEE prep options will soon be available.

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l) February 25 & 26, 2008: All ES Meeting

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m)  March 4 , 2008: Science Fair- New this year! CWCS will have it's first science fair scheduled for open house, March 4, 2008. Any ESs who are interested in being judges please contact Sofia Oldmark soldmark@connectingwaters.org

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n)  April 22, 2008: WASC Visitation. This is a one day visit only

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2) Things to Do

a) New HQT Report Card info: When creating a Report Card for second semester student agreements, please do the following for your high school students:

To the right of Work Level, there is a box called “NCLB Teacher of Record”. Choose from one of the following and the wording will automatically be placed in any learning records for 2nd semester.:

1) HQT ES is Certified (only if you are certified as the HQT for this course)

2) HQT Online Course: HQT Elluminate course and approved online courses (pending approval)

3) HQT CP Course

4) Community College.

5) HQT Tutor Vendor

6) HQT Parent Denied (note this info in LR- see HQT Learning Record Documentation for Parent Denied definitions)

7) Parent is HQT (note in first learning record how parent qualifies)

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b) CWCS Revised Action Plan: Please read through the CWCS Revised Action Plan.Discussions and Feedback will be part of next month's ES agenda networking. We wanted you to have plenty of time to read through it and prepare! (Remember to use the term ESLRs and/or Growth Area when conducting your learning record meetings.Thank you Rebecca Duncan, MLC Intake Clerk, for the additional posters for ESLR #1)

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c) STAR Goal Sheet: Use the STAR Goal Sheet to encourage all students to participate in setting their STAR Goal. When students return their STAR goal sheet to the Executive Director, their name will be entered in a drawing to win either two Great America or two Six Flag Marine World Tickets. The drawing will take place on Friday, November 9th, and awards will be given out in November. Approximately 300 students were recognized for their progression on their spring STAR scores this September. Each of these students received either a gold, silver, or bronze certificate for their achievement. Bronze certificates were given to students who progressed to the basic level or increased their score by 20 points, silver certificates were given to students who progressed from basic to the proficient level, and gold certificates were given to students who progressed from proficient to the advanced level. We also recognized the students who ESes noted were their most improved student in English and math, the most improved student in English and math per grade level, the overall best scores in English and math, and the overall most improved student in English and Math. In addition to the certificates the following gifts were given to our students: John’s Incredible Pizza certificates, Fun Works certificates, Boomers certificates, Baskin Robbin certificates, Jamba Juice certificates, bowling passes, Regal movie passes, Brenden Movie Passes, Gilroy Garden passes, Best Buy gift cards, Wal-Mart gift cards, Target gift cards, and MP3 players!
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d) September ES Agenda Compilation

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e) CWCS October Newsletter

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f) CWCS 2007/2008 Yearbook: Send all yearbook activity photos to cwyearbook@connectingwaters.org. You must include student name, student grade, and student activity. Let your students know about the Yearbook Class! Janie Severin, the clerk at the Ceres Learning Center, is our yearbook advisor this year! She is very enthusiastic and is looking forward to having a great yearbook and a lot of fun! Activity pictures can also be mailed to the Ceres Learning Center, Attn; Yearbook. These pictures will not be returned. The full color yearbooks will cost $25.00 and orders are due October 26th. They can pay by check or money order for a yearbook at either learning center or by sending it to the Waterford Office. Make checks or money orders payable to Connecting Waters Charter School.

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g) Notice regarding GEAs: Please remind your parents about the parent listserve sent regarding GEAs.

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3) Training Items

a) ES Communication When Unable to Meet Job Obligations: An addition has been made to the ES Communication Protocol.

“When an ES is unable to meet their job obligations, they must communicate to both the party expecting them, and the Waterford Office. (The Waterford Office will then notify the ES Advisor).For instance, if an ES is expected to attend an Elluminate online class, but must miss it or will arrive late due to an urgent situation or illness, they must contact the Elluminate teacher and cc the Waterford Office. Or, if an ES has to miss a learning record appointment, but has an emergency and cannot reach the parent to reschedule before the appointed time, they should leave a message for the parent and also contact the Waterford Office. The Office will notify the advisor in all situations in case the parent attempts to call the advisor for more information.”

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b) Dual Enrollment: An addition to the ES manual/ Attendance has been made regarding Dual Enrollment. Please note: Juvenile Hall or other Court Mandated detention centers, have their own state funded education systems, and it is considered “dual enrollment” if one of our active students is placed in a facility.
1) The student must be dropped from CWCS on a date prior to their entry to Juvenile Hall.
2) The ES should notify stuassign@connectingwaters.org and their advisor of the situation by email.
3) The ES should indicate in the email if they would like another student to replace this student on their student list, or if they would like to wait until the student's release. The ES should state in the email the student's current academic performance and attendance performance standings so as to determine their eligibility for re-enrollment.
4) Prior to re-enrollment the student must give the document verifying the drop date at juvenile hall to the Waterford Office, and must inform stuassign@connectingwaters.org of the correct re-enrollment date.
5) If eligible to re-enroll, Student Records will re-enroll them without a new enrollment application. The ES will need to complete a new Student Agreement, and if applicable AESS contract.

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c) CAHSEE Intensive Plan Missed Appointments: An email was sent to all ESs that have students enrolled in CAHSEE Intensive Plan Options, explaining procedures for CAHSEE Intensive Plan Missed Appointments. The ES should contact the parent (or if AESS, the tutor) of the student each week to verify that their student is attending and progressing.

(The missed appointment information is linked within the options.)

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d) What is Basic?

-The Basic category on the STAR does not mean that a student can take Basic courses. The Course Placement Checklist states that a student may be placed in Basic Courses only if their STAR scores are "far below basic" or if they are reading below a 5th grade level.

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e) 2nd Grade Scantron

ESes have reported many cases of 2nd graders have been having melt downs during the reading portion of the Scantron test. It has been suggested that these students test in the home instead of at a proctor test site. Home tested 2nd grade students have done well with the ESes help. These students and parents need to be aware of what they need to know for the STAR and what is expected as a 2nd grader. This is also an indicator that your 2nd grader may  need a PLIP. Here is a Flowchart for Scantron/Language Arts that is posted on the Assessment page under Scantron Special Situations.

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f) Work Permit Email: The Work Permit Email has been changed to workpermits@connectingwaters.org.

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g) Rollsheet Corrections: A new database feature in WEBfiles has been created. For “Blank” or Rollsheets with Problems: Go to WEBfiles and click View All Students. You will see a column titled “Rollsheets Overdue”. There will be a red link to the right in this column titled “BadRS” or "Blank" that when you click on it, it will tell you if you have any Rollsheets that have problems and what the problems are. Please correct the problems as indicated in Rollsheet Corrections.

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h) Portfolio Labels: An addition has been made to the Portfolio Information regarding ES typed portfolio labels. The labels must include the same information, in the same order, using Times New Roman 12 pt. font.

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i) Doing a search on the ES Manual: Here's another way to do a find on the ES manual that will result in more up-to-date information.

Open the ES manual outline http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/cwmanoutln.htm

Go to “edit/find in this page” and type in the word that you need. The outline will be made more extensive to include subtopics.

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j) Learning Center Returns: Some parents may have misunderstood what the clerks at the center have told them about returning material.  Some parents were trying to bring back items that were checked out from their ES to the learning centers. The parents must return materials to the ES that they checked out from the ES.  Items checked from the center should be returned to the center. Please see the Learning Center Book Return procedure for parents for more information. PLEASE NOTE THAT BOOK RETURNS TO THE CENTERS IN OCTOBER ARE ONLY FOR PARENTS, NO EXCEPTIONS. (Bar coded items from the learning center library may be returned at any time.)

We will have an ES return soon. ESes may begin separating and cleaning material for when returns will be accepted. Pack all materials that have the copyright of 1998 and older in boxes and mark them “obsolete”. ESes have returned dirty boxes of books that contained bugs to the center. This is unacceptable. We will let the ESes know when materials can be returned. Please be patient the learning centers are still learning the new library system and want to maintain a neat and profession atmosphere for our parents and students

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k) Non-Sectarian Materials: Just a reminder about the Non-Sectarian Materials Policy and what to do if something is accidentally ordered. Even with all of our checks and balances, and the ES's careful scrutiny of the catalog, some items might be ordered that should not be given to families. Please email vendorrelations@ieminc.org to make arrangements for immediate return. Thank you!

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4) Messages from School Departments

a) ASSESSMENT: Assessment news from Leita Barlow and Jodi Leonardo
* Missed Scantron Appointments: The Scantron in a Nutshell has further clarification regarding Missed Scantron Appointments. “If an appointment is made with a proctor, and the appointment is missed without giving 24 hour notice or explanation of an emergency, a $50 deduction per student will be made from the instructional funds. Please forewarn your parents. If a student misses a Scantron appointment, please complete the Missed Appointment form and fax or mail it to Sherri Nelson in the Waterford Office to have the funding removed from their IF. When you schedule these appointments, be sure to tell the parent that if they miss the appointment without giving the proctor/teacher prior notification (within 24 hours), they will have the funding removed from their IF. The second time Scantron is missed, it will be considered a truancy.”
*CAHSEE Note: New update for 12th graders who have not yet passed the CAHSEE: We expect the all 12th graders who have not passed the CAHSEE to take the test in October and again in February (if they don't pass in October). If they have an emergency and can not take the test in February, then they may take it in March. March testing will only be used as a make up. We should have results in time for the May administration. If you have a 12th grade student, be sure to call them with a reminder to be at their test site on Oct 2 and/or 3 (dependent upon which test/s they need) to attempt their CAHSEE.
* ES Assessment Work Assignments: The hold up on the ES assessment work assignments are confirmations for test site dates for the Los Banos, Oakland, and Livermore area. I should have the information on Los Banos and Livermore next week and will then post the chart (Oakland confirmation will not be available until Jan, but I will put a question mark with our tentative dates-which have always worked out in the past). All those ES’s working at the OCT CAHSEE have been notified already.
*EOCs- (End of Course Tests): Guidelines are posted on the Assessment page under STAR for EOC Science, EOC Math, and EOC History/Social Sci. These are the additional math, science, and history tests that are not in the regular test booklet for students in grades 7-11(dependent on subject). You, as the ES, are responsible for choosing which EOC test/s your student should take. There is criteria set by the State that is to be used when choosing the correct test for your student. Please use the “EOC” charts to choose the correct test for your students, and then go into Citrix to your student’s assessment detail layout and select those tests from the drop down lists in Filemaker. All of last year’s data regarding STAR testing has been cleared in this layout. Please select your student’s EOC’s and also enter any other details that relate to your student’s needs regarding behavior, transportation, religious concerns, etc. The deadline to have all of this information entered needs to be November 15th so the correct tests can be ordered.
(Grades 2-11 take the STAR tests. All 11th graders will take US History which is included in their regular test booklets World History is available for students in grades 9-11 to take as an EOC test. 7th grade students that qualify to take the Algebra 1 “EOC” test will not take the CST math portion in the regular test booklet, BUT WILL take the CAT6 tests in the regular test booklet. The “EOC” tests give our school an opportunity to raise our API , so please review the charts and sign your student up as appropriate.)
*Tests Per Grade: CDE does not have the specific test subjects per grade available yet, we will post this information as soon as we get it. There should be no major changes from last year that affect our regular ed students. Our EL students and students with IEP’s will have some changes in test types but we will have to wait for that information from CDE.
*CELDT: CELDT is a state mandated test that school districts are required to administer to students whose home language is not English. The parent/guardian or adult student identifies their home language in the Language Survey section of the Student Enrollment Application. If any of the three questions are answered with a language other than English, the CELDT test must be administered. If a student is assessed and classified as an English Learner, the CELDT is administered once a year until he or she is reclassified as English Proficient.
Scantron: Helpful Scantron Information about comparing Scantron scores to CST, and Networking tasks (see ES Networking) to do before your ES meeting.

 

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b) CURRICULUM: Curriculum News from Lori Freeman

*Test Prep Materials: Test Prep Materials should have already been ordered for all students grade 2-11. Please be sure that all of your families have their materials by their November learning record meetings. Please send an email by the end of November, to your advisor, indicating that you have ordered and delivered test prep materials to all of your families. (10th grade students must have CAHSEE prep materials, if the student is a 10th grader, include this in the email along with a note that the materials were CAHSEE prep.)
* State Adopted Curriculum link: Reminder: All state-adopted curriculum programs for all subjects in grades K-8 can be found at this handy CDE website: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/ap1/plsearch.asp
Just plug in the subject, publisher, and grade and you will get all the CA ISBN numbers, titles, and prices.
* Student projects to showcase: Do you have any cool student projects that demonstrate grade level standards for Math, Language Arts, History, or Science? I would love to showcase student work on learning center bulletin boards! Please get permission of parent and student to display, and send any work to me....
Modesto Learning Center
4713 Greenleaf Ct Suite A
Modesto, CA 95356
Attn: Lori Freeman
*New CWCS 9th Grade Academic Core Learning Center Class. Do you have a 9th grade student who lives near Modesto and struggles with Math and Language Arts? The 9th grade Academic Core is now open to enroll interested students.
*Approved HQT CAHSEE Tutors/Courses
*Online HQT Resources
*Mad Science Class: Let your parents know about the Mad Science Class for grades K-6 at the Modesto Learning Center on November 2, 2007. These classes are free to the instructional budget. However, students who sign up, but do not attend and do not call the Waterford office, may be charged.

*Prospective Vendor Letter: Thank you ES Shoni Johnson for submitting the Prospective Vendor Letter as an optional tool for ESs. It is posted on the curriculum page under Vendor Approval Procedure.

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c) GUIDANCE

*Guidance News from Mary Halter and Melissa Cripe: For your Seniors, Class of 2008…please click on the “Guidance News” for a checklist preparing them for next year!
*AP Exams: If you have a student wanting to take an AP Exam in May, please have the student contact Mary Halter as soon as possible to find a testing site. If you have NOT heard from Mary via email to verify student participation, please contact her ASAP.

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d) HUMAN RESOURCES:

Effective Nov 1st Delta Dental is raising their premiums 4.88%. Our Medical premium’s will be increasing Jan 1st 08. This increase depends on the Carrier you have and the County you live in and can be viewed on this attachment. The VSP and Chiropractic premiums remain the same.Please e-mail our benefits Department at personnelbenefit@ieminc.org or csharp@ieminc.org with any questions you may have.

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e) IT

*Student Dell Laptop: A Dell Laptop quote has been added to the Computer page in the ES manual.
*Obsolete Computers: An addition has been added to the Computer Repair/Refresh policy regarding obsolete school owned computers.
"ESes may take obsolete school owned computers to an official electronic recycler.A receipt must be obtained for their student files, and the information about the recycling must be entered into their materials list in WEBfiles. “Obsolete” is defined as any non-working computer over 5 years old, or any non-working computer over 3 years old in which the repair cost (determined by a school computer vendor) is over half the cost of a new computer." ( IT reported that Goodwill Stores will take any electronic waste received at Goodwill locations throughout the Central Valley and ship it to Electronic Recyclers for end of life recycling.)
*Computer Repair/Refresh: A addition has been added to the Computer Repair/Refresh policy regarding computers dropped off at the Learning Center.
“When bringing a computer to the Learning Center to drop off for refresh or repair please follow the procedures below:
  1. Bring only the tower, not the keyboard, monitor or mouse.
  2. Bring a copy of the PO with you so we can tape a copy on the computer and keep a copy in our files for tracking purposes
  3. Sign the Computer refresh drop off log at the front desk.
  4. Please make sure that the vendor knows the computer is at the Learning Center ready for pickup.  
  5. When the computer is returned to the center, you will have 5 days to pick it up. The Learning Center will not accept any computer without a PO.  If you forget to bring one, you can use the ES computer in the lab to print one out and give to the clerk.” 
*Citrix Printing Issues: Some have reported that they are still having issues with printing in Citrix. Here is the response from IT:
"The Apple Macs have been a continuing issue and I have even purchase a Macs to try diagnose some of the problem being experience by the users.We are also upgrading the Citrix Server to a newer version that has better compatiability with Apple equipment. We expect to have the first round of testing done by end of October and with partial rollout during the November and fully completed by January.Users should not use the latest version of Citrix as it is causing unpredictable printing problem. Finally, if anyone is still having an issue, please send an email to support@iemsupport.com."

*CWCS ES Laptop Batteries: If your ES laptop battery needs to be replaced, please email cwcs@connectingwaters.org requesting a replacement.

 

f) MATH DEPARTMENT: Math News from Debbie Kutz

*Math Tutoring Info
*A new tutor, Breanna Lull, is now available through Contract Program set-up.
Breanna specializes in Math (grades 3-12), but is also able to tutor other subjects, including science and English. 
Geographic areas include Lodi, Stockton, Manteca, and Modesto. 
Fee is $20-$30 per hour, depending on location.
Contact Breanna at 916-204-3738 or Debbie Kutz, dkutz@connectingwaters.org for more information
*Family Math night was awesome! Debbie and our staff did an excellent job making this a night to remember for our students!

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g) LANGUAGE ARTS NEWS: Language Arts News from Terry Souza

Join us for a year of "A Celebration of Young Writers." Creative communications is offering a Poetry and Essay contest for the 2007-2008 school year.Highlights of the contest are Three Poetry Contests and three Essay Contestss, Four Poetry Contest Division with 10 top winners in each division. Three Essay contests with 10 topy winners in each division. Over $3,000 in prized and awards. Teachers can receive a FREE copy of the anthology that features their students writing. Schools can receive a Writing Achievement Award and possibly $250 in Language Arts Grants and their school name published in the front of the book.Check out the web site if you are interested.
http://www.poeticpower.com

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5) ES Networking

a) Using the Scantron Networking Information (Thank you Jodi Leonardo!) Before your ES meeting, please print the Suggested Learning Objectives (SLOs) from Performance Series (Scantron) for one student. Discuss the following in your group:
• How will you use the Suggested Learning Objectives to focus on student’s areas of need?
• What other targeted instruction tools (study guides/sample test questions) would you use for this particular student based on this information?
• How would you share the SLOs with your parents and suggest specific instruction/curriculum?

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b) Using your laptops (for those groups that meet in places that have access to Citrix), please demonstrate to the ES next to you that you know how to select an EOC test. Do this when instructed by your AF. For those that cannot access Citrix, print Assessment Page in Citrix and verbally describe how to find the page and demonstrate to the ES next to you the place on the page that is used to select EOCs.

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