The 53
WINTER 2017 Edition of the Academic Services Newsletter
Inspire Invest Innovate
The focus of "The 53" is to highlight monthly updates from the Academic Services Team. Please visit Inside Liberty or Liberty for Staff for additional document links throughout the month, and give the team a call as questions, comments or concerns arise. Our goal is to serve the LPS staff through improvements and innovations!
Congratulations!
@the53DAS
Well Done!
MLP Procedures
This is a friendly reminder regarding MLP.
MLP classes/events have a closing date for enrollment seven days prior to the event date so that MLP and AESOP can secure subs for each in-district PD event. If staff have prearranged for a sub and try to enroll after the deadline, they must contact Melanie Bowlin at x7097 to be enrolled.
Elementary and Secondary Education
Academic Services is pleased to announce that three PEAK student teams in Liberty Public Schools and one team from Liberty North High School were selected as top twenty finalists for the Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains Competition, which was held on Thursday, November 30th at Union Station. Each of these teams brought back $2,500 for their schools. There were two Alexander Doniphan Elementary teams which included students from Epic, Liberty Oaks, and Manor Hill; and one Ridgeview Elementary team which consisted of students from Franklin and Lewis & Clark. Of all twenty finalists, one of the PEAK teams at Alexander Doniphan was the 5th place winner of The Guardian Award. This came with a $10,000 prize for the team's Math Mania design concept.
Congratulations to PEAK teachers, Jenn Mann and Kim Turner, as well as PEAK Coordinator, Tammy Hammen, for their extraordinary efforts in stretching the imaginations of our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students from Epic, Liberty Oaks, and Manor Hill Elementary Schools!
What an awesome STEM achievement for Liberty Public Schools!
Curriculum, Instruction and Staff Development
The Learning Management System Pilot
It’s not too late to join the LMS pilot this year. Any teachers in the district are eligible to pilot the Schoology and Canvas Learning Management Systems (LMS) from November 1, 2017 through March 2, 2018. If you are interested in piloting both systems, sign up on the form LINKED HERE. You will receive log-in instructions for both platforms immediately upon completing the registration form. There are also numerous resources to guide your implementation.
There will be additional professional learning opportunities offered for each platform on January 2nd. Below are the times the optional training is offered at DAC (AM is 8-11/PM is 12-3):
Schoology Elementary Training – AM
Schoology Secondary Training – PM
Canvas Elementary Training – PM
Canvas Secondary Training - AM
You are not required to attend either training sessions during the pilot.
Reminder: The current LMS - Blackboard - will expire on June 30, 2018. If you have any questions about piloting, please contact Jeanette Westfall or Trey Katzer.
State Reporting and NOVAtime
State Reporting:
The Administrative Services Dept. works diligently throughout the year with staff in each building to ensure that data is accurate and consistent. We work with counseling staff to provide monthly attendance reporting. We work with Administrative Assistants monthly to ensure that student enrollment data has been entered correctly using the ADA/ADM reports from PowerSchool. Special Program Coordinators are involved regularly to insure their program data is accurate for each reporting cycle. The most recent reporting cycle is the December Student Core File. This file requires a single record for each student that is enrolled on December 1 and has an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This file collects student enrollment and school of attendance data in order to complete the Special Education December 1 Child Count. All students, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, are reported in this file. The data is also used to populate Core Data Screen 11 – Special Education Student Counts by Age.
NOVAtime:
NOVAtime has already had updates since our implementation in July. These enhancements were implemented by the vendor. The most obvious were the changes to the employee dashboard. Use the link provided to access a PDF dashboard tutorial. NOVAtime Employee Dashboard Navigation This will review general navigation. Please call ext 6782 or email kay.cox@lps53.org if you have questions about the system.
The link below will take you to the NOVAtime Employee log on screen.
Health Services
The flu is avoidable, so don’t leave it to luck – act on
the facts and stay well.
· Vaccination each year is the best protection against flu.
· Avoid spreading the flu – stay home when you are sick.
· It takes at least 15 seconds to wash your hands properly.
· Use a tissue or the inside of your arm when you cough or sneeze.
· The flu virus can live outside the human body for a number of hours.
Dispose of used tissues immediately and wash your hands.
For More Information visit: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/
Fine Arts
Thank you for supporting the Fine Arts Department at all of the amazing performances and art galleries throughout the district this semester. We are excited to share more performances and opportunities with students for the remainder of the school year.
Arts Integration is off to a great start with our Kennedy Center Partners in Education collaboration. We have had four successful professional development sessions, and there are more to sign up for if you are interested. Please review the digital brochure here for more information.
During the months of December and January, some of our visual artists in grades K-12 will have art on display at three galleries around the community--the Mid-Continent Public Library, City Hall and the Liberty Community Center. This wonderful opportunity is made possible through our partnership with the Liberty Arts Commission and the City of Liberty. Click here for the document that will have the highlights of locations and schools.
ACADEMIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Assistant Superintendent
Dr. Beth Heide
Executive Directors
Dr. Julie Moore, Secondary Education
Andrea Dixon-Seahorn, Elementary Education
Becky Gossett, Special Programs
Directors
Bob Citro, Administrative Services
Christopher Hand, Assessment, Evaluation and Testing
Dr. Jeanette Westfall, Curriculum, Instruction and Staff Development
Colleen Jones, College/Career Readiness and Community Partnerships
Dr. Kelly Saluri, Data Services
Aaron Money, Fine Arts
Debbie Ervay, Kids Zone
Andrea Sumy, Library Media Services
Kathy Ellermeier, Nursing Health Services
Dr. Kris Martin, Special Education
Dr. Jim Hammen, Student Services