Early Childhood Peek at the Week
Week of 9/11/17
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Big Day for PreK Login
Calendar
September 2017
Wednesday, 9/13/17, 10th Day Count
Friday, 9/22/17, Non-student day/ Home Visits/Staff In-Service Day
Monday - Friday 9/25/17 - 9/29/17, Policy Council Vote
Thursday, 9/28/17, Associate Principal Meeting at DuValle
Friday, 9/29/17, Family Engagement Day
Message from the Director
Dear Early Childhood Team Member:
The safety and security of our children is a sacred trust that we must vehemently uphold. It is my expectation that every member of the Early Childhood Program team will communicate this strong message to all staff, and will follow through with reiterating expectations, monitoring, and holding staff accountable.
Let me remind you of the Head Start regulations regarding employee Standards of Conduct:
(c) Standards of conduct.
(1) A program must ensure all staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers abide by the program’s standards of conduct that:
(i) Ensure staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers implement positive strategies to support children’s well-being and prevent and address challenging behavior;
(ii) Ensure staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers do not maltreat or endanger the health or safety of children, including, at a minimum, that staff must not:
(A) Use corporal punishment;
(B) Use isolation to discipline a child;
(C) Bind or tie a child to restrict movement or tape a child’s mouth;
(D) Use or withhold food as a punishment or reward;
(E) Use toilet learning/training methods that punish, demean, or humiliate a child;
(F) Use any form of emotional abuse, including public or private humiliation, rejecting, terrorizing, extended ignoring, or corrupting a child;
(G) Physically abuse a child;
(H) Use any form of verbal abuse, including profane, sarcastic language, threats, or derogatory remarks about the child or child’s family; or,
(I) Use physical activity or outdoor time as a punishment or reward;
(iii) Ensure staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers respect and promote the unique identity of each child and family and do not stereotype on any basis, including gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or family composition;
(iv) Require staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers to comply with program confidentiality policies concerning personally identifiable information about children, families, and other staff members in accordance with subpart C of part 1303 of this chapter and applicable federal, state, local, and tribal laws; and,
(v) Ensure no child is left alone or unsupervised by staff, consultants, contractors, or volunteers while under their care.
(2) Personnel policies and procedures must include appropriate penalties for staff, consultants, and volunteers who violate the standards of conduct.
Fundamental to our education mission is the health and safety of our students. Early Childhood will continue to build on its current strengths, while learning from new evidenced- based practices to improve security and capacity. This will mean change, and increased training of staff and continuous feedback.
If you have any questions regarding the Standards of Conduct please speak with your immediate supervisor or contact my office.
Sincerely,
Rina Gratz
New Attendance Requirement
This is a reminder of the new attendance requirement for all Early Childhood classrooms:
1302.16 New Head Start Requirement for Attendance.
(a) Promoting regular attendance. A program must track attendance for each child.
(1) A program must implement a process to ensure children are safe when they do not arrive at school. If a child is unexpectedly absent and a parent has not contacted the program within one hour of program start time, the program must attempt to contact the parent to ensure the child’s well-being.
Teachers must have attendance completed in Infinite Campus by 10:15am. You will no longer have to contact families if the child is not present. An automatic dialer will call them at 11AM.
Please work with your attendance clerk or contact our office if you have questions.
Please remind parents: Transportation Procedure
Please remind the parents that if no one is at the stop to receive a student, the student will be taken to the Emergency Drop Off Center (EDOC) at Dawson Orman – 900 S. Floyd Street.
Anyone on the Student Release Form (aged sixteen or older with a valid photo id) can pick up the student.
Monday, September 11, 2017, we will start to count EDOC visits. A third visit will result in Transportation being temporarily suspended, and will not be reinstated until a meeting is held with the parent/guardian.
Health Conditions and Administering Medication
Keeping our students safe at all times is our number one priority. Therefore it is important that all instructional staff and school personnel must observe the guidelines below:
- If you have a student on your roster that has a health condition flag next to their name in Infinite Campus, familiarize yourself with this information. Check with your school office to make sure that the health care trained personnel are aware of necessary health services prescribed on a Primary Care Physician (PCP) Authorization form for this child. If you are made aware, verbally or in writing, of a medical/health condition of a student but do not have a PCP form, let the office know so that they can follow up with the parent.
- If the parent/guardian submits to you any health documentation or a Primary Care Physician (PCP) Authorization form, you must turn this in to the health care trained office personnel immediately.
- If the parent/guardian provides you with the child's medication, you must turn this in to the health care trained office personnel immediately.
- The health care trained office personnel will immediately provide copies of PCP forms and any health documents to JCPS Health Services, who will then provide this information to JCPS Nutrition Services as necessary for food allergies and dietary restrictions.
- All health care trained personnel in the school will be informed of and trained on the health care needs of each child. The classroom staff serving a student with a documented health condition will also be trained on the health care needs of their student. Each school has a designated Nurse Practitioner who will provide training and consultation to health care trained personnel and staff.
- Only trained personnel are allowed to administer medication. Any medication administered must be documented in the appropriate medication log.
- If an emergency medical situation arises (e.g. food allergy, seizures), follow the Emergency Plan of Action on the PCP Authorization form for administration of emergency medication (e.g. Epipen, Diastat), contacting parents and/or calling 911.
Child Development and Education
Big Day for Pre-K Family Space
Big Day for Pre-K, the required curriculum for our 3 and 4 year old classrooms comes with a wealth of resources to help with school readiness at home. One of these resources is the online Family Space. Family Space is free to all JCPS families with children enrolled in our 3 and 4 year old classrooms.
Families can log into Big Day Family Space to see what the class is learning and stay informed about their child’s progress. Family Space is a place just for families. Parents and caregivers can log into Family Space from any computer with an internet connection and view the site in English or Spanish.
From the Home Page, they can learn about what their children are learning in the classroom. Then they can visit Big Day BookFlix to read theme-related stories and play literacy games to support their children’s learning.
Families can also anticipate developmental milestones with the help of the Kindergarten Readiness Indicators and explore the links to downloadable books and resources to support their child’s growth.
The About Family Space family letter has been revised. The letter found on Teacher Space has an old URL. Therefore, we are providing you with the most updated letter to send home to your families with instructions on how they may access Big Day Family Space. You should also consider sharing this information at the upcoming Family Fun Friday on September 29. Click here to access the revised About Family Space family letter: REVISED FAMILY SPACE LETTER which is on our Ready4K website. You will need to have created a username and password for your individual Family Space.
Instructions on creating Family Space accounts can be found on your Big Day for Pre-K Teacher Space account page. If further assistance is needed with your Family Space page please contact Big Day customer service representatives at: 888-326-6546 or email gosupport@scholasticlibrary.com
Toileting/Diapering/Sanitizing Procedure Updates
The toileting, diapering, and classroom sanitizing procedures have been revised and can be accessed by clicking here or by visiting our Ready4K website. Please continue to use the approved procedures and district approved chemicals for sanitizing or disinfecting the classroom environment. Note: Clorox Wipes have been removed from the district Early Childhood purchasing forms and will no longer be approved for purchasing from this point forward. Click here: for revised toileting/diapering/sanitizing procedures
Child Developmental and Social Emotional Screening
All children must be administered a Brigance Screening within 45 days of enrollment into the program. All information regarding procedures for administering the Brigance can be found on our Ready4K SharePoint site or by clicking here: Brigance Procedures. If you are not sure if a child was administered the Brigance last year you should check Infinite Campus.
Focus Words for the Week of September 11: friends, help, play
Home Visit and In-service Training Day Information
September 22nd is a non-student day (excludes Tuition Based). This day is set aside for mandatory training and home visits. Instructional staff will be assigned to a 2 hour training block at one of 7 locations in Jefferson County. The assignments will be sent next week so that you can schedule your home visits around your training time.
Tuition Based Program; Home Visit Expectation
The purpose of conducting home visits is to establish a relationship with parents/guardians and their children while, simultaneously, providing important information about the pre-kindergarten program. Home visits also provide a great opportunity to collect valuable information regarding the health and wellness of our students. Tuition Based teachers are expected to conduct home visits for students receiving special services. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways:
1.Secure a sub through the sub center to cover the classroom, allowing the teacher to conduct home visits during the day. To request a sub, the school secretary may call 485-3110 or create an absence using the Absence Management System.
2.Providing extra service pay to any teacher conducting home visits before or after their paid contractual day.
3.Providing extra service pay to any teacher conducting home visits during their planning period.
4.Any combination of the previously listed strategies.
Technology
If you have a computer that is not working, please call the JCPS IT Help Desk at 485-3552 or 400-3552 OR submit a ticket online at http://jcps.me/help
If you have surplus items, please work with your plant operator to have them included in a school surplus pickup request. These requests are generated at the school level, not by the Early Childhood office.
Professional Development
All employees are encouraged to visit PDCentral and search for professional development sessions that will support their professional growth.
https://apps3.jefferson.kyschools.us/pdCentralProd/UserLogin.aspx
Staff Health and Wellness
Discrimination and Harassment Video
Employee Video – This is required for EVERY EMPLOYEE. There is a quiz required after viewing the 11 minute video. EVERY EMPLOYEE will need to log into any JCPS computer, have their employee ID number available, access the link below, then complete the quiz. Their employee ID number can be found in the user’s PD Central profile or on a pay stub. Employees will enter their email address so they will receive a confirmation email.
Employee video: https://youtu.be/o8RB57qXBrU
Employee quiz: 2017-18 JCPS Discrimination & Harassment Quiz
Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer Offering Equal Educational Opportunities
The Jefferson County Public School District shall not discriminate in recruitment or employment on the basis of age, color, disability, marital or parental status, national origin, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, religion, or political affiliations or beliefs. The District shall promote equal opportunities through a vigorous affirmative action program as an integral part of personnel policy and practice in the employment, development, advancement, and treatment of employees of Jefferson County Public Schools.