Project INSTAR - K-12 Science Teacher Institute

Institute dates: June 4-15, 2007
Institute location: UM School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Virginia Key, FL.

Participants will receive three graduate credits from the University of Miami in lieu of a daily stipend. Teachers interested in attending this institute may also register to participate in a district sponsored Summer HEAT academy during the week of June 18-22, 2007.

Please click the title bar above for more information, as well as, an application.

For additional information regarding the Project INSTAR Institute, please contact Genevieve Healy at ghealy@coreocean.org.

Zelda Glazer Summer Writing Institute

Institute dates: June 4-15, 2007

Institute location: MAST Academy, 3979 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne, FL 33149

Participants will receive three graduate credits from the University of Miami in lieu of a daily stipend. Teachers interested in attending this institute may also register to participate in a district-sponsored Summer HEAT academy during the week of June 18-22, 2007.

Please click the title bar above for more information, as well as, an application.

For additional information regarding the Zelda Glazer Writing Institute, please contact Anna Humphrey at 305.995.1918.

Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day

Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day will take place on Thursday, April 26, 2007. This opportunity will be extended again to all M-DCPS students ages 9 through 15. As in previous years, parents of participating students must notify their schools prior to the day of the event. Provided that special instructions for participation are adhered to, the day will be recorded as an official field trip and will not be counted as an absence from school.

Ms. Rhonda McKinney

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Rhonda McKinney, former Principal of Oak Grove Elementary School. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

Viewing
Friday, March 30, 2007
New Birth Baptist Church
2300 NW 135 Street
Miami, Florida
4:00 – 9:00 pm

Funeral
Saturday, March 31, 2007
New Birth Baptist Church
2300 NW 135 Street
Miami, Florida
11:00 am

Hall Ferguson Hewitt Funeral Home
1900 NW 54 Street
Miami, Florida

Gifted: The Best is Yet to Come

We are happy to announce that we will have our own gifted unit at Parkway Elementary.

Each week, gifted students in grades K-2 will meet with Ms. Nolton on Monday & Thursday, while students in grades 3-5 will meet with Ms. Nolton on Tuesday & Friday. While we anticipate the program format to begin after Spring Break, we will inform you when we are in the full implementation mode.

We are still in the process of recruiting kindergarten students and will use the FCAT, NRT and SAT data for the other grade levels to screen students.
In addition, we will screen our grade 1 students through the NNAT Exam after Spring Break.

The best is yet to come in this area.

Health Coverage for Part-Time Employees

M-DCPS is now sponsoring a healthcare coverage program for its part-time employees. Please click on the title bar above for more information.

Summer Demonstration Schools

For the second year, the district will implement the Demonstration School Project. Teachers interested in employment at a designated demonstration school site, may access the application online, at http://summerschool.dadeschools.net/ or http://www.utofd.com/, by March 21, 2007.

All applications must be returned to Summer Services, Mail Code: 9048, by Thursday, March 29, 2007. Teachers will be notified of the interview date, site, and time for their selected school.
Interviews will be held April 9 - 17, 2007, from 2:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., at selected demonstration school sites.

Districts gain more say over STAR Program

Source: Miami Herald

TALLAHASSEE -- Calling it a big mess that needed to be cleaned up, Florida lawmakers on Thursday repealed a controversial merit pay plan for public school teachers and replaced it with a program that gives more power to local school boards.

The new merit pay program still requires districts to evaluate teachers based on how their students fare on tests, but it also says that another part of the evaluation must be based on how principals rate teachers at each school. Districts decide how many teachers will get the bonuses, which can range between five and 10 percent of their annual salary.

Miami-Dade officials said they plan to look at the new law and see whether they can revamp their merit pay plan, which has already been approved by the state Board of Education. Broward school officials and union leaders say they will meet to see if they can come up with a new plan in time for the May 1 deadline that allows the district to still receive money this

Retirement Information for ALL Employees

What is better for you, the Pension or the Investment plan?
What happens when you DROP?
Why does a young employee need to know about the retirement plans?
What do a new employee and a DROP retiree have in common?
What happens to your sick leave days?
Is there insurance after retirement?
What happens if you die before retiring?
Can Investment Plan members be re-employed if they withdraw funds?


A PRESENTATION BY THE RETIREMENT OFFICE STAFF ON THE FRS PENSION PLANS AND THE DISTRICT’S TERMINAL LEAVE PAY PRACTICES WILL BE HELD AT THESE SITES:

· Robert Morgan Educational Center – Auditorium –Monday, March 26 at 4:30 pm
18180 SW 122 Ave.

· Barbara Goleman Senior High – Media Center – Tuesday, April 10 at 4 pm
14100 NW 89 Ave.

· Regional Center 2 – Conference Room – Thursday – April 12 at 4 pm
1515 NW 167 St.

· H.D. McMillan Middle School – Auditorium – Monday, April 16 at 4 pm
13100 SW 59 St

· Regional Center 3 – Conference Room – Tuesday, April 17, at 4:15 pm
1080 La Baron Drive

· Miami Senior High – Theatre – Wednesday, April 18, at 4 pm.
2450 SW 1 St.

Summer School

Summer school for our eligible students will be held at Hibiscus Elementary from June 26 to July 24. More information will be forthcoming.

Attended Any Workshops Lately?

As a reminder, please complete the survey at http://parkwayelem.yoursurvey.sgizmo.com

if you attended any workshops or meetings outside of our building.

Thank you

Retirement Workshop

There will be a retirement workshop for all UTD members on Tuesday, April 10 at 6:00 p.m. at Miami Senior High School. The school is located at 2450 SW 1st St. For more information, please click the title bar above.

Dr. Crew's Town Hall Meeting

Dr. Rudy Crew will be at Highland Oaks Middle School (2375 NE 203 Street, Miami, FL. 33179) on Tuesday, March 20 as part of what is referred to as a "Town Hall" Meeting.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with Dr. Crew’s presentation followed by breakout sessions from 7-8:30 p.m. A resource center with information about District programs and initiatives also will be available from 5:30-6 p.m. and 8-8:45 p.m.

The theme of the meeting is “Student Futures: Real World Promises.” He will share strategies and address issues of importance to elementary, middle, and high school students and parents, which impact student academic performance and life after graduation. The meetings also will provide information about the District’s budget and legislative agenda.

UTD Run-Off Election Results

The four remaining UTD seats have been filled. Please click title bar above for the election results.

Lesson Plans for the Last Nine Weeks

Through the Riverdeep Learning Village, lesson plans are available for kindergarten through tenth grade in selected academic areas.

* The lessons include imbedded links to online textbooks and Internet resources.

* Instructional accommodations for Exceptional Student Education and Gifted Advanced Academics are located on the tab labeled Professional Growth Tools.

* All the materials are correlated to state and district standards.

* The lesson plans have been developed by M-DCPS teachers and textbook publishers.

The Riverdeep Learning Village can be accessed at: http:/village2.dadeschools.net/

Grade Level Chair Meeting

We will be having a Grade Level Chair Meeting on Friday, March 16 at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room. We ask that each chair appoint someone from her grade level in her place if she cannot attend.

Testing

As we recover from these past two weeks of testing, we still have a few assessments left this school year.

Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) (April 18-20).
This is a gifted screening test that will be given to all of our first grade students for the first time. High scoring students will participate in further examinations to see if they qualify for our gifted program.

Comprehensive English Language Learning Assessment (CELLA) (April)
This is an assessment for ALL ESOL students in the areas of reading, listening and speaking.

Interim Assessment Exam III (May 7 - 11)
This is last of a trilogy of district reading and math assessments for our students in grades 3, 4 and 5.

Science Post Assessment (May)
This is a test which we will be given to students in grade 5 to determine any learning gains in this area. The school will use the same instrument that was given for the Pre and Progress Tests.

Writing Post Assessment (May)
This is series of two writing assessments which we will be given to students in grade 4 to determine any learning gains in this area. Each student will complete an expository and narrative writing prompt. The school will use the same prompts that were given for the Pre and Progress Tests.

SAT-10

First & Second Grade Teachers,

When you receive your testing materials on Tuesday, please DO NOT BUBBLE anything. You will be asked to "print" certain student information on each answer sheet.

The second grade SAT merely asks for the student's name, teacher name and one other item and can easily be completed on Tuesday.

In addition to working with younger students, the first grade SAT exam requires a bit more information to be printed on each answer sheet. In order to eliminate this burden on Tuesday, first grade test administrators are welcome to see me on Monday, so you may get the student information completed in advance. As I learned with Ms. Sands on Friday, the whole process for one class should take approximately 15 min.

Regardless, I have designed user-friendly visual diagrams which I believe will clarify this task for you.

State website to name teachers in trouble

Source: Sun-Sentinel

Public can check any record of state disciplinary action

The state Department of Education is creating a web site that will allow anyone to check disciplinary actions that could affect an educator's teaching certificate. When the new school year begins in August, one can search http://www.myfloridateacher.com/, an online database which will track teacher misconduct.

The site won't contain records of local school district investigations or disciplinary actions against teachers that don't violate professional standards. However, districts must inform the state whenever they find teachers in violation of those standards.