School Board Agenda

Click here for this month's school board agenda for August 4.

2008-2009 Budget Public Hearing

Click here for the 2008-2009 Budget Public Hearing Agenda.

Schools get tough on bullies

Source: Miami Herald


Broward has become the first Florida school district to put in place a new anti-bullying policy Starting this week, Broward schools are rolling out a new computerized system for reporting and tracking bullying. State lawmakers passed a measure earlier this year requiring all districts adopt comprehensive anti-bullying policies by December.

In Miami-Dade County, a 2006 anti-bullying and violence program requires schools to offer a comprehensive curriculum for all grades, widespread training for administrators and counselors, and working to make it clear that bullying won't be tolerated.

To meet the new state standards, Miami-Dade officials said that they also are working on a clear, uniform definition of bullying and standards for dealing with the problem. The new definition and standards will be included in updated school manuals.

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IPEGS Training Update

On August 11th and 12th we will be participating in the IPEGS training through the district's Department of Leadership Development.

I will notify you via email when the course is listed in the employee portal for you to register and have the opportunity to receive Master Plan Points (MPP).  Please contact me with any other questions or concerns. 

Thank you.‬‪ ‬‬ ‪

Cisely Scott
Mathematics/Science Coach

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Master Schedule Update

We have had no changes since the last update. Our documentation was submitted to the region and made available to school operations.

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Fins Friday Update

Bad News: Jason Taylor was traded to the Redskins

Good News: TD (Dolphins Mascot) and other staff are coming to Parkway Elementary on Friday, October 17 from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. for grades K-2 and 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. for grades 3-5.

Details To Come.

July Grants Information

Click here to view this month's grant newsletter from the district.

Connecting to District Email Using Smartphones and PDAs

The district has released the following instructions on how to properly synchronize your device with your Dadeschools email account.

To connect your new Smartphone/PDAs with your Dadeschools e-mail, please do the following:◦

Configure your device to utilize the Microsoft Exchange Server service or our Outlook Web Access.

You will need to input your user-id (Network ID is your employee number) and dadeschools password.◦ When prompted for a server name, enter MD.DADESCHOOLS.NET◦

When asked if a secure connection is required, select "Yes".◦ The domain name is DADESCHOOLS. • Once completed, you will now be able to sync your mobile device with your Dadeschools mailbox.

Please submit any questions via Self Service at:◦ http://selfservice.dadeschools.net/◦ Select "Ask ITS A Question" from the drop-down list.

*** Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

Poll: Use taxes for schools, not a stadium, voters say

Source: Miami Herald

Miami-Dade voters strongly oppose spending tax dollars on a baseball stadium and other projects in a $3 billion public works plan, but would back spending on local schools, a new poll shows.

The survey of 800 Miami-Dade registered voters suggests the public is reluctant to spend local tax dollars for ''luxury items'' during an economic slowdown. It found that 57 percent of respondents viewed a new baseball stadium as a ''bad investment for Miami Dade taxpayers,'' while 37 percent viewed it as a ``good investment.''

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Florida may investigate fewer child abuse calls

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Florida is trying to figure out how to handle the growing number of calls to the child abuse hot line with fewer people available to investigate them.

The Department of Children & Families says one solution is to have workers better screen the calls to the hot line before assigning an investigator. The hot line averaged around 31,000 calls per month during the last fiscal year. About 80 percent of the calls resulted in an investigation.

FCAT third-grade reading law questioned

7/13/2008; Source: Miami Herald

Five years after a state law required school districts to make third-graders who fail the reading FCAT repeat the year, questions remain about whether the strict rule that has affected tens of thousands of students is effective.

See Full Article:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/603073.html

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Technology Grant

Samsung Electronics will provide technology, software, cash grants and educational television programming to K-12 schools.

Students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members can enter the contest on behalf of their school, by going to the program's Web site and submitting a 100-word essay about their school, answering the question: "How has technology educated you on helping the enviornment, and how or why has it changed your behavior to be more enviornmentally friendly?"

Schools that submit 100 word essays are entered for the opportunity to win the grand prize of over $200,000 in Samsung technology, Microsoft software, a cash grant from DIRECT TV, as well as the School Choice educational television programming package.
URL Link to the website: http://pages.samsung.com/us/hopeforeducation/index.html

Contact:
Melissa Latus ( 305-995-1706 )

School Grades Released

On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Education released the schools' grades for the 2007-08 school year, and say whether students' scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test show progress required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Cick here.

Technology reshapes America's classrooms

Reuters - From online courses to kid-friendly laptops and virtual teachers, technology is spreading in America's classrooms, reducing the need for textbooks, notepads, paper and in some cases even the schools themselves.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mostviewed/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080707/us_nm/usa_education_technology_dc

School Grade

We are expecting to receive information about our school grade by the middle of next week. Details To Come.

National Board Teacher Certification

Our area has its own site with contains local and national information related to National Board Teaching Certification. Click here to access the site.

A Great Model for Differentiation

The Teacher.Net Gazette provided an interesting, easy-to-read article on differentiated instruction. Click here to access this article and please feel free to send any links that you feel may be worthwhile on this topic.

Miami Art Museum Free To Public Schools

The Miami Art Museum is giving South Florida schools a helping hand with Miami-Dade public schools' impending $272 billion budget shortfall, by eliminating the cost to bring public school student groups to the museum next year.

See Miami Herald Article on this topic.