C & I Update
Explore. Learn. Thrive. 5.22.20
End of the Year Announcement PUSD/PCOE
May 18, 2020
Good afternoon,
As we have moved through our educational response to the COVID crisis, we have held out hope that we would be able to return to our school sites in some way this school year. Unfortunately, we are not able to safely make this happen for all students and staff. Like so many things over the last nine weeks, we understand that this is disappointing for all of us. Despite our circumstances, successes we have experienced over the last nine weeks include teachers and students rapidly adapting to online teaching and learning, an outpouring of support from our community for our seniors and new ways to provide for school meals.
Our last day of the school year will be Friday, May 29th. Between June 1st and June 12th, our teachers and staff will be engaged in training and planning for the 20-21 school year. What our return to school looks like is still unknown, but we are committed to planning for options for students to have an excellent educational experience, although that will most likely look different than it has in the past. Sites are formulating plans for student pick up of personal items and return of school materials (computers, instruments, books, etc…) the first week in June. Your site will be in touch soon about what this will look like.
Our high schools are busy meeting with stakeholders and discussing options for graduation. Graduation ceremonies will be planned in alignment with guidelines from the Public and Environmental Health Agencies. We will keep you informed of the plans and next steps as they unfold.
We have established four committees that, over the next four weeks, are examining our return to school options including:
- Budget
- Student Services
- Return to School
- Learning Reimagined
If you have comments, suggestions, or ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your site Principal, or read the full document on our website www.pcoe.k12.ca.us. After our committees complete their reports and recommendations are shared with our board on June 17th, we commit to keeping you updated and informed about our next steps throughout the summer.
To all parents, teachers, staff, community members, and our partners in education- thank you for all that you have done during this time to care for our students, both academically and socially/emotionally. The strength of our communities is reflected in our schools and you are the foundation of the educational experience. Thank you.
This announcement included a file attachment. Click the link below to view.
Outdoor Core Mountain Kid at Home YouTube Playlist
Congratulations to PUSD/PCOE Outdoor Core Coordinator Rob Wade for receiving the 2020 National Wetlands Award in the Promoting Awareness category!
Read more about the award here:
Plumas Performing Arts competitions!
We are very excited to host a 6-8th grade drama competition! Submissions will be online and there are cash prizes. Record yourself performing a 3-8 minute monologue. Open to all 6-8th grade students in Plumas County. Thank you to Bread for the Journey for co-sponsoring this contest.
Please help us spread the word!
Exciting News! We’ve received additional funding from a generous sponsor in memory of Glenna Owens and will be holding a junior high instrumental competition as well! Deadline to submit your entry is May 27. Open to all 6-8th graders in Plumas County. Details on our website: PlumasPerformingArts.org
Self Care for Educators
Rural COVID19 Story Series- Sierra Institute
The Objective: Capture stories about the resiliency and challenges facing people in our rural area. Now more than ever people want and need to stay connected and have information about what is going on. Our rural area has a unique story to tell about our time in quarantine. Sierra Institute wants to record and share Plumas County stories during this pandemic, in order to capture this time in history and keep us connected as a community. “If we don’t tell our story someone else will.”
It’s important we are the authors and narrators of our own history. Whether you are struggling to juggle multiple hats, keep toilet paper stocked, and enough produce in the fridge or perhaps staying at home has opened up new or different opportunities for you – we want to hear about it!
The Need: Looking for Parents and Students that are willing to be remotely audio and video recorded via Zoom for a 1-hour interview regarding your time in quarantine. Questions will be about how parents are managing their children’s education at home and how students are dealing with virtual learning…?
Sharing the Content: The Interviews will be edited into short videos and or audio podcasts – weaved together with interviews with teachers, parents, students, and school administrators. The sole focus of the first few set of stories is on education/virtual learning during the shelter in place order.
The content will be shared on Sierra Institutes Website, Social Media Platforms, and shared with Plumas Arts to support their creative storytelling project as well.
Structured Literacy Feedback From Glean Education
Driver Education
The Driver Education Online Course is now available and offered free of charge by PCOE/PUSD to current students.
- This is a 30 hour DMV approved online driver’s education course. After course completion, a Certificate of Completion for Driver Education will be sent to the student. Students will then be ready to take the written test for the California Provisional Instruction Permit at the DMV.
- Please allow a few days for course registration approval. Students will receive a confirmation email once their course has been activated.
https://www.pcoe.k12.ca.us/apps/pages/DriverEducationOnlineCourse
Distance Learning Plan-April 21, 2020
Good afternoon!
As we collectively navigate our transition to required distance learning beginning April 27th, we are pleased to share our Plumas Unified School District and County Office of Education Distance Learning Plan. The plan is representative of numerous conversations over the last four weeks and is in alignment with the recently signed PCTA/PUSD MOU.
This document is divided into three areas:
Family Portal
Student Portal
Staff Portal
Included in this plan are a number of resources and guiding documents. Please begin with the staff portal for the documents most applicable to you. If you have questions or need clarification, please reach out to your site Principal.
Thank you for your patience in getting to this place. We understand that the transition to distance learning has been a huge undertaking and we sincerely appreciate all of your efforts to support students and families.
Sincerely,
Plumas Unified Leadership Team and PCTA Negotiating Team
Elementary Grading Decision
What was the decision regarding elementary grading?
At our Special Board meeting on April 28th, our board approved the following elementary grading option:
Approved option
1a: Participation (P); Limited Participation(LP); No Participation (NP)
DescriptionStudents receive Participation (P)/Limited Participation(LP)/No Participation (NP) in lieu of letter grades for Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Science; exemplary work addressed in comment section
TK/K:
Approved option
1: Participation (P); Limited Participation(LP); No Participation (NP)
DescriptionStudents receive Participation (P)/Limited Participation(LP)/No Participation (NP) for overall Language Arts and Math grades; no grades for individual standards
Our grade level leads will be facilitating discussions with their grade level teams to determine consistency with Participation, Limited Participation and No Participation.
The complete document with options and PCTA survey results can be found here.
Thank you to our Instructional Coach, Yvonne Casalnuovo, for putting together these options, facilitating the PCTA survey and compiling the results.
7-12 Grading Decision
May 1st- High School Gradebook update for required distance learning:
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High school Principals and Directors met to review how to best handle grade books for the remainder of the year. Moving forward, we will honor the fact that prior to COVID teachers had the flexibility to determine their own grading system and we will continue to do so now. We will support a teacher’s decision to use n/a or 0s in their gradebook for the rest of the year, as they see appropriate for their grading system. This, combined with the hold harmless policy approved by our board, will allow flexibility to meet student needs, and help to address equity/access issues that many of our students are facing.
*****
Last night, April 20th, 2020, our Governing Board took action on the grading policy for 7th-12th grade students. After considering a number of options, stakeholder input from administration and Plumas County Teacher’s Association, the following was approved for the spring semester of 2020:
Letter grades, A-F, will be used on the report card and transcript, with a hold harmless provision. With the hold harmless, a student’s grade can only be improved, it can not go down from March 13 to the end of the semester.
Some examples of possible grading scenarios, all based on a teacher’s grading system, include:
Grade on March 13, as reflected in the third-quarter grade , available in Aeries Portal:
A
Cannot drop to B, C, D, F
Will receive A at semester
B
Can improve to A
Cannot drop to C, D, F
C
Can improve to A, B
Cannot drop to D, F
D
Can improve to A, B, C
Cannot drop to F
F
Can improve to A, B, C, D
Can receive F at semester
This was not an easy decision to make and each possibility had pros and cons. The full document outlining the options considered and pros/cons can be found here. Grading options for TK-6th grade students are still being considered and have not yet been determined.
As we move into the next phase of distance learning, required and graded instruction beginning Monday, April 27th, we encourage all students to #OwnYourLearning and #FinishStrong. Teachers and staff are here for students and families and are working diligently to continue high-quality teaching and instruction during this pandemic.
Further details can be found in the Distance Learning Plan that was released to staff today, April 21st
Welcome Class of 2033!!!
Zoom security tips from Mary Juska, CES Library/Media Specialist
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oTYbomYnjH_5SYqpagR5j87EALcjZWS_
Curriculum & Instruction-COVID 19 Related
COVID 19 Educator and Staff Resources on the PCOE/PUSD Website
Educator and Staff Resources (Main page) includes links to COVID 19 Updates, Access to Books and Audiobooks, Instructional Resources (see below) and Virtual Meeting Tools.
Instructional Resources for planning for supplemental, enrichment and intervention education. This page includes an extensive list of links for Educator Resources broken down by grade level (TK-6, 7-12) and subject matter.
Link to Daily FAQs from C & I
Link to School Closure FAQs
PCOE/PUSD End of Year Timelines Update April 16, 2020
Shared Google Drive for Elementary Distance Learning
Assessment
Update on COVID-19 and the Suspension of Statewide Testing
From the California Department of Education Assessment Spotlight:
If your school is closed due to the unprecedented circumstances surrounding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), you should not worry about any statewide testing this school year. The California Department of Education (CDE) is doing the following:
- Suspending all CAASPP testing
- Suspending Summative ELPAC testing
- Placing the Physical Fitness Test on hold until students return to school
- Canceling the California High School Proficiency Examination test administration for the weekend of March 21st. All March test takers have been reregistered for June or provided information on how to request a refund. Additional locations and space within current locations will be increased to accommodate this change.
- Placing high school equivalency testing on hold until testing centers are reopened
In addition, if a school is back in session, the expectation is that the Initial ELPAC will be administered to students for initial identification, as required by California Education Code Section 313(a). However, Senate Bill 117 extended the timeline to conduct the Initial ELPAC by 45 days. Local educational agencies should continue to assess newly enrolled students whose primary language is not English when they return to school. This will ensure that new students who are English learners can receive the appropriate instruction and services. The CDE will continue to make available the following resources to support teaching and learning:
- Practice tests, training tests, interim assessments, and Digital Library formative assessment tools and resources for CAASPP
- Practice tests and training tests for ELPAC
The CDE is working with the California State Board of Education to seek waiver authority afforded by the US Department of Education to waive federal testing requirements. We will keep you updated as we have more information.
COVID-19 and A-G Course Descriptions
From UC High School Articulation, News & Updates
Featured FAQ of the month:
My campus is transitioning to online instruction as a temporary measure due to public health precautions related to COVID-19. Does this situation require me to re-submit my A-G course descriptions, and will it in any way affect the status of A-G approved courses?
No. Existing A-G approvals stand (including for area D courses and lab activities) and are not affected by any temporary changes to mode of delivery due to this emergency.
Please note that specific questions about transcripts and course/grade validation should be directed to Admissions at askuc@ucop.edu.
Human Resources-COVID 19 Related
Technology Help Ticket
1. Visit the link above:.
2. Select "Submit a ticket"
3. Click on your site: Example PHS or CES, depending on which site you need us to assist you in.
4. Fill in ticket details and confirm the 5 digit code before submitting your work request.
Mileage Reimbursement Policy for District Meetings (including VT/CAIS)
Upcoming Dates
Help us share the great things going on around our district!
Useful information
Instructional Coaches
Our Instructional Coaches are here to help!
Yvonne: ycasalnuovo@pcoe.k12.ca.us
Susan: sfrediani@pcoe.k12.ca.us
Vertical and Grade Level Teams
2019-2020 Grading Period Calendars
PUSD Employee Handbook 2019-2020
Useful Links
1. Visit the link above: (This has been updated on our websites as well.)
2. Select "Submit a ticket"
3. Click on your site: Example PHS or CES, depending on which site you need us to assist you in.
4. Fill in ticket details and confirm the 5 digit code before submitting your work request.
Please Note: Previous work orders did not migrate over to the new system, so we ask that you please create new tickets moving forward so that our Team can assist you in a timely manner, as we revisit your sites in the coming weeks.
TK/K- 6th Grade ELA
Curriculum and Instructional Services
Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction
@kristymwarren on Twitter
@PlumasUSD on Twitter
Email: kwarren@pcoe.k12.ca.us
Website: http://www.pcoe.k12.ca.us/pages/Plumas_Unified/District/PUSD_Departments/Student_Performance
Location: 50 Church Street, Quincy, CA, United States
Phone: (530)283-6500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Plumas-Unified-School-District-451388284901916/
Twitter: @PlumasUSD