Fwd: Special One Northside Message

--- Forwarded message ---------

From: ONE NORTHSIDE

A Special One Northside Message Dear Northside Residents, It is with a heavy heart that we send this message. As many of you know, a young man lost his life yesterday, January 19, outside of Oliver City-wide Academy during school dismissal. We are all saddened by the unnecessary loss of 15-year old Marquis Campbell. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and the staff at Oliver City-wide. In a show of unity around this tragedy, newly elected Mayor Ed Gainey and Pittsburgh Public Schools Interim Superintendent Wayne Walters held a joint press conference. This sincere response shows a level of leadership in our city and the public school system that brings hope. Hope, even in the darkest of times, is what keeps us moving forward. We remain hopeful that by working together as One Northside and with Mayor Gainey and Interim Superintendent Walters we can support the change needed to stop the violence, reduce crime and ensure safe and welcoming communities in all 18 neighborhoods of the Northside. We are strongest when we work together and support each other. Support & Be Supported In every community, there is a give and take. Sometimes you are the one offering support and other times you need to receive it. It's all part of our work together. Click to learn more.

ONE NORTHSIDE
Centre City Tower, Suite 2300 650 Smithfield Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tony Norman, of the P-G wrote, in part:

There is an alternative to this depressing cycle of carnage, but it requires a willingness to intervene early and often in the lives of troubled young men in the community. These boys and young men are easy to identify at school and in the neighborhood. What’s needed is radical empathy and creativity from the community.

A young man who can’t read at grade level is at risk, especially if his aspirations go no farther than securing his next meal. The boy who exhibits bullying behavior on the playground is crying out for both love and intervention. It would be better if the community responded instead of the police.

Children with no positive parental guidance are almost guaranteed to lash out “at the village” if that village is indifferent to their alienation. If they don’t develop meaningful social connections when they’re young, they will become oppressors within that community — and they will be merciless.

PPS School Board PAC

https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/new-pac-focused-on-racial-equality-in-education-endorses-pps-school-board-candidates/Content

Not sure what this means?

Wondering if there are people who run for school board as a stepping stone? 

Fwd: Nurture, Invest, Lead: Dr. Hamlet Reflects on the 2018-2019 School Year

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Superintendent Hamlet
Date: Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 6:15 PM
Subject: Nurture, Invest, Lead: Dr. Hamlet Reflects on the 2018-2019 School Year

As our students and staff begin summer break, I'd like to take this opportunity to update you on work accomplished by staff and teachers and share more efforts underway this summer to continually raise the bar on student outcomes.

For the start of the 2018-19 school year, we rolled out new curricula in Algebra and K-5 Mathematics, building off recent curriculum updates in English Language Arts. Our 60 academic coaches continued to help teachers adapt and learn new, proven techniques to improve achievement. We launched programs that reduced out of school suspensions significantly and invested in education technology to help us track student achievement in real time and guide students as they navigate the college admission process.

Already, students are responding. The percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced on the 2018 PSSA increased on all three exams. Performance of our African American students also increased on all three PSSA exams. Graduation rates improved for all students by 10.4 percent to 80.8 percent in 2017. Additionally, students of both genders and African American students saw increases.  In fact, the graduation rate for African American students in PPS surpassed the state by 3.7 percent.

We're not going to turn around achievement overnight, but these gains provide evidence that our strategic plan is guiding us in the right direction. 

Nurture

Implementation of our strategic plan focused on the most vulnerable students.

We had to go back to basics and make sure our students are nurtured, so they are ready to learn. When I became superintendent, I learned that schools in many disadvantaged neighborhoods didn't have nurses or librarians. Graduation rates needed improvement, especially among our African American males and the out of school suspension rate was one of the highest in the state. ESL students, one of our District's fastest growing populations, were underserved. We increased translation supports and moved students out of sheltered ESL classrooms and into spaces where they can find a balance of support and challenge.

Now, in addition to eight community schools, all campuses have access to nurses and at least half-day librarians. This school year, we completed the implementation of Positive Behavior and Intervention Support (PBIS) and Restorative Practices to all 54 school buildings. Instead of the first line of defense being suspension, students now have trained staff focused on coping skills and conflict resolution. 

The state didn't think we could roll PBIS out to all schools this quickly, but having successfully done so with colleges in my former district, I was confident in our ability to accomplish this goal. More importantly, we couldn't wait because for every year we waited, we risk another student leaving school and potentially winding up perpetuating the poverty cycle or worse. School-age children belong in school, focused on learning not on the streets, where they must focus on survival. As a result, the number of days students have missed school due to suspension has declined by more than 1,500 days. 

Invest

This school year, in addition to investing in new curricula, we also invested in educational technology. We know that technology has the potential to become the great equalizer in bridging the achievement gap among students from underserved populations. In a world where students will be expected to use technology to find unfamiliar locations, look up information, or work with other people, we must prepare them accordingly.

Through the use of technology, we are able to engage students in their learning, provide much-needed intervention and enrichment, assess academic progress, and provide teachers valuable data to identify areas of need while cultivating innovative ways to improve teaching and learning. 

One of these investments, called Naviance, offers college and career planning for middle and high school students. The software helps guidance counselors walk students through the process of identifying their strengths and interests and exploring careers and colleges to create personalized plans for life beyond high school. Our District now joins a growing number of large public-school systems across the country, including some of the largest urban districts which have embraced this platform as a proven career readiness tool.

Lead

Our quest to improve student achievement was laid with a strong foundation. You may remember that in 2016, I ordered the most in-depth third-party analysis of the Pittsburgh Public Schools system. I was hearing from stakeholders like you, including foundation leaders and parents, that the District was stuck. And the numbers reinforced what I was hearing. So, we had to do a deep dive. This analysis included 137 recommendations. It's overwhelming. But we took this analysis, and we met with thousands of parents, staff, and community members to form our strategic plan, Expect Great Things. So far, 72 of the recommendations have been fully implemented.

I'd like you to know that my staff and I are committed to working tirelessly toward completing more recommendations. Here are some efforts on our summer agenda:

• The rollout of On Track to Equity, a robust plan that details intentional efforts underway to eliminate racial disparity in achievement levels of African American students. Equity is one of four strategic themes in our strategic plan. The plan meets a requirement of our MOU with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to deliver, in writing to the Equity Advisory Panel (EAP), an implementation plan that details, "the action steps which the District will take in order to accomplish the terms of the MOU." We view the completion of the plan as an opportunity to move beyond compliance to demonstrate for all stakeholders our commitment to reaching our desired outcomes for students.  We continue to finalize the plan with the EAP and expect to release a final plan to the public this summer. 
• Implementation of Let's Talk! This interactive platform will streamline our Parent Hotline, Call Center calls and emails as well as all PPS social media chatter into one cohesive Dashboard. K12 Insight will provide onsite training of the 'Let's Talk!' platform and professional development on best practices in customer service. The platform will automatically assign ownership of all cases and issue alerts to the assigned staff, as well as alerting leadership with any significant concerns that may be arising. By housing all stakeholder communications in one centralized dashboard this will allow the District to enhance our customer service and to engage our community as a whole.
• The 2^nd Annual Summer Leadership Academy's theme is Removing Barriers to Advance Teaching and Learning. The goal of the Summer Leadership Academy is to utilize district talent as an intentional capacity building strategy to strengthen systemic implementation of research-based pedagogical practices all aimed at advancing teaching, learning, and student outcomes. The Leadership Academy will provide School Leadership teams with the opportunity to participate in an intense professional growth experience. 

While we're moving full steam ahead, we must recognize that we can't always rush progress. Consistent nurturing, investment and leadership are the key ingredients that will get our students where we know they can be, reaching their highest and greatest potential.

Dr. Anthony D. Hamlet

Superintendent of Schools

Pittsburgh Public Schools

341 South Bellefield Avenue. Pittsburgh, PA  15213

412-529-3600 (W)  |   412-622-3604 (F)  |superintendenthamlet@pghschools.org

Fwd: Superintendent Hamlet's Year in Review

----- Forwarded message ---------
From: Pittsburgh Public Schools <superintendentsoffice@pghschools.org>
Subject: Superintendent Hamlet's Year in Review

Season's greetings to you and yours! As the calendar year closes and the academic calendar nears its midpoint, I'd like to share with you some reflections on some of the milestones Pittsburgh Public Schools achieved in 2018.  We are now in Phase Two of our Strategic Plan, "Expect Great Things." We continue our quest for transformational improvement through several key initiatives: Innovation in Early Childhood: Thanks to a partnership with the Carnegie Science Center and the support of the Heinz Foundation, we expanded STEM opportunities for students with the opening of the first early childhood classroom located in a science center. Additionally, all early childhood classrooms in the district use technology.  Achievement gaps: We have made progress in the achievement gap for African-American students, more of whom are graduating from high school (77.4 percent up from 64.3 percent). More third-grade students (45.5 percent) are reading at grade level today compared to three years ago.   Improved access: We have implemented a pilot program at six schools to screen all second-grade students for eligibility in gifted programming, and all 11th graders will take the SAT for free on March 6. All sophomores and juniors took the PSAT for free on Oct. 10.   New Corporate Partners: Corporate donations have enhanced educational opportunities for PPS students, such as an $11,000 donation of bicycle desks to elementary-age children at Pittsburgh Weil by United Healthcare in October and Sprint's 1Million Project, which gave 630 high school students a free mobile device and free WiFi service.  Reduction in Suspensions: With the introduction of PBIS, restorative practices, and second grade suspension ban, suspension rates are down 35 percent compared to three years ago.  Greater transparency: The State of the District report marks the first time PPS has shared a report that not only includes district-level results, but also graduation rates, detailed suspension information, and budget information. New District Data Dashboards with School-level results can be viewed at www.pghschools.org/dashboards.   In addition to publishing the State of the District report online, I also shared this presentation around the city with many of you. My hope was to share some of our milestones while also soliciting your input on how to best enhance our efforts. Over a six-month period, we convened a working group that included District staff, representatives from the University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University, The Heinz Endowments, and the Grable Foundation. In partnership with the National Institute of School Leadership, members of this working group studied high-performing educational systems in the United States and abroad. The group then learned the nine building blocks for a world class education system. We've used the knowledge and skills of the working group to conduct research and planning to explore five key areas. Three of the areas are required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education's District Improvement Planning process, these include:  Early Childhood Education Gifted Education Aligned Instructional Systems New Teacher Induction and  Job-Embedded Professional Development. It is important to acknowledge that 2018 also brought its share of challenges to our District, particularly the tragedy at the Tree of Life synagogue in October. We felt these losses keenly and continue to work in support of one another as we seek to heal and find a path forward, both for our District and our city.  As we close the book on this year, we embrace the promise of what lies ahead: a strong foundation for the future of our District and our students; a contract with the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers that allows us to partner together in forging meaningful change; and ultimately, better outcomes for all our students and a brighter future for our city.  On behalf of Pittsburgh Public Schools, I wish you all a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year. Dr. Anthony Hamlet  Pittsburgh Public Schools 341 S. Bellefield Ave. | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (412) 529- HELP ‌ ‌ ‌

Pittsburgh Public Schools | 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by superintendentsoffice@pghschools.org in collaboration with

Fwd: Deadline extended for the Education Public Policy and Leadership Certificate Program: Apply by Dec. 14!

---- Forwarded message -------

View this email in your browser Interested in education public policy? Want to be a leader and advocate for your profession? This graduate-level 12-month online certificate program is for you! Ohio University's Patton College of Education and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs have partnered to offer the Education Public Policy and Leadership Certificate (EPPLC) program, an engaging yearlong online program that begins January 2019. The EPPLC was created to facilitate greater understanding of educational public policymaking and provide professionals experience in real-world theory and practice. The program will also foster leadership and advocacy in the education public policy arena. To accomplish this, your online coursework will culminate in a three-day networking and capstone experience in Washington, D.C. Students in the program will represent various vocations, such as K-12 school districts, national and international government agencies, legislative offices, professional associations, civic and private organizations, non-governmental organizations, foundations, organizations that interface with educational entities, philanthropic organizations, and embassies. This will result in a thorough exploration of the topic from different vantage points and experience, leaving you with a strong command of education public policy development, analysis, implementation, evaluation, and advocacy.   The EPPLC program is a dynamic 12-month experience that will forever connect you with a network of peers and increase your employability in the education public policy arena. Click here for further information, or contact Dr. Dwan V. Robinson at robinsd3@ohio.edu. The application deadline has been extended to Dec. 14, 2018!   ©2018 OHIO Alumni Association. All rights reserved. 52 University Terrace, Athens, OH 45701. Questions? E-mail alumni@ohio.edu. Your OHIO Alumni Association connects you! Shop The Bobcat Store. Unsubscribe | Update my email preferences

nonprofit software

UPREP's vision, October 23 at 6:30 pm

Woodland Hills School District's new leader

Godspeed.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/new-woodland-hills-superintendent-already-making-big-changes/824856398

Feature about the new superintendent at Woodland Hills on WPXI.com. 

Fwd: New Principal Named

------ Forwarded message ---------

From: Bishop Canevin High School 

Community News New Principal Named The Bishop Canevin Board of Directors announced recently that Michael Joyce has been selected as the new Principal of Bishop Canevin High School. Joyce will succeed Kenneth Sinagra who will retire on June 30, 2018, after serving in the role since 2002. "Michael is a thoughtful, strategic leader committed to Catholic education and we are thrilled to have him join our Bishop Canevin community," said Mary Lou Gegick, board chair. "And, he will focus on implementing innovative programs to ensure that our students acquire the knowledge, skills and moral character they need for success." For 11 years, Joyce has worked at Seton LaSalle High School. For the past four years, he was the school's Assistant Principal and previously served as Dean of Students, and as a member of the social studies department. Active in the school community Mr. Joyce also previously served in the role of assistant basketball, baseball, and soccer coach and as member of the school SAP team. In 2017, he received the coveted James A. Palmer Award given in recognition of Christian values, servant leadership, and love of students, and was a nominee for the Golden Apple Award in 2015. "I look forward to helping Bishop Canevin continue to excel in offering our students a strong academic experience anchored in faith, with an emphasis on social justice, and excellent extra-curricular opportunities," said Michael Joyce, principal. "Catholic education is rooted in my family and I am excited to join a community with such a dedicated faculty, outstanding core values, strong tradition, and bright future." Joyce earned a Bachelor's degree from the Pennsylvania State University in Secondary Education, a Master's in School Counseling from Duquesne University and a Principal's Certification from California University of Pennsylvania. A resident of Pleasant Hills, and member of Prince of Peace Parish in the South Side, Michael and his wife Stephanie, who serves as a teacher at St. Louise de Marillac Catholic Elementary School, have a two-year-old son, Benjamin.  ‌ ‌ ‌ Visit Our Website

Bishop Canevin High School | 2700 Morange Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15205