Monday Mission Memo
April 1, 2019
Superintendent's Message
School Leaders of the Diocese of Cleveland,
A big part of leadership is seeking and being responsive to feedback. In the weeks since I have been announced in this role, I have heard many pieces of feedback of a wide variety, mostly unsolicited, and sometimes from surprising people who have sought me out in surprising places. It is amazing what having one’s name in the paper associated with Catholic schools will do! Of course, I am happy to listen and speak with anyone about Catholic education and, where necessary, extend a conversation with others. But it is also a reminder to me about the importance of gathering feedback for us as institutional leaders. How often do we give stakeholders the opportunity to provide feedback? To tell us what they think? Not just the people who take the time to write or call (of course those lines are always open), but those who are dissatisfied or thrilled, who have something to say, though are not so much moved to to take the extra step. What avenues do we provide?
At the last elementary school meeting, we spoke of the idea of “3D data” - a more nuanced ability to measure the qualities of our schools that matter most - based on things beyond the ELA and Math test scores, important as we know those are. What can we do to capture stakeholder perceptions? A few ideas:
The OCSAA surveys are all available as Google Forms that can be customized for your own use, focusing on all or just those items that you deem most important. If these are the only surveys your school does, once every 6 years may not be enough.
While not required, the surveys created by MyStudentSurvey that we utilized last year could be made available for school use if you are interested. Email me for details if you are interested.
For those who use SurveyMonkey, you know there are a series of templates available through the site, including some for school satisfaction. These can be utilized or customized to send surveys to parents and other stakeholders.
Events are a terrific place to gather feedback, so long as you take the time to ask - donuts with dad or muffins with mom can be primarily a feel good event, but a simple exit ticket or short survey after will go a long way to getting your finger on the pulse of those whom you serve.
Follow up calls/conversations after open house/admissions are a tremendous opportunity to hear individual stories of choices - especially those who do not choose you. Any family that came to an open house, toured, or otherwise expressed interest spent enough time invested in your school that they will almost certainly give you 3-5 minutes more if you make a brief phone call and ask some quick follow up questions about where they chose, what factors were important, and what they wished to see from your school.
These are just a few ideas. Certainly there are many ways that we can keep our ears to the ground. What is most important as we strive to educate in partnership with parents, the primary educators of their children, is that we continue to find ways to dialogue about the needs of their children and how well our schools are meeting their needs.
Thank you for all that you do in partnership with the parents and guardians of our young people.
Yours in Christ,
Frank
School Choice Marketing Push
These next few weeks you may notice School Choice Ohio making a big advertising push to educate everyone about the availability of EdChoice and Cleveland scholarships. School Choice Ohio is doing radio ads, direct mailings, and online advertising targeted to the zones that are new to school choice due to the expansion of the EdCHoice list.
For our part, the Diocese is reaching out to pastors of non-Catholic, Christian churches in voucher territories, asking them to post this flyer in the month of April as the spring voucher window comes to a close and inviting them to a further conversation about education.
There may be some additional resources for local marketing efforts, especially for EdChoice. If you are in an EdChoice zone and wish to talk further about how to grow the EdChoice scholarship representation in your school, contact me at folinn@dioceseofcleveland.org.
School Spotlight - Holy Name Elementary School
"Be Nice or Go Home!"
Lorenzo Jones and Msgr. Richard Antall stand near a sign that brightly states the school theme of Holy Name Elementary School.
A blast from the past!
"We must all learn to live together as brothers."
School Spotlight - St. Joseph School, Avon Lake
Mr. Stipek and Mrs. Goodwin with the SJS Classroom of Champions team
The St. Joseph Design-Build Studio
The St. Joseph Design-Build Studio, established in the fall of 2016 in collaboration with RGI corporation is a space where students collaborate to explore, create, design and develop their learning into real-life experiences, products or presentations.
The studio has increased the students' focus and joy of learning through hands on, curriculum-based projects in the Studio. Learn more about projects, see photos and learn what is new by visiting our blog at https://www.stjosephstudio.org/news/.
Happy students at St. Joseph School, Avon Lake!
End of Year Elementary Principal Luncheon - Please RSVP by April 19th
Elementary Principal Meetings in 2019-20
Hosting dates needed for the upcoming school year: Sept. 18th, Oct. 23rd, Jan. 15th, Feb. 19th, and March 18th. If you would like to host a meeting, please contact Sue Biggs at sbiggs@dioceseofcleveland.org for more details.
New Teacher Orientation-August 9, 2019
Preparing for NCEA in Chicago this April
TOB Institute Comes to Cleveland
On March 8, Bishop Perez and a small team from the Diocese revealed to all the grade school teachers the vision for Catholic Education known as “The Heart of the Mission.” Bishop Perez let everyone know he supports this new initiative and all the hard work teachers do. Ms. Eileen Updegrove, a principal, shared that a week-long course at the Theology of the Body Institute brought her freedom, peace, and a new fervor as a Catholic Educator. That course is being offered in our own backyard. While the dates are not the most convenient for teachers, the opportunity was too good for us to pass up as a diocese. Below is a link to register for the course as well as a flyer to plan how to get your school on the fast track for formation in the vision from God for each human person. Any questions can be directed to Mrs. Jennifer Ricard. JenRicard@roadrunner.com
Attention all schools in the Group IV Accreditation Cycle!
Please upload the following documents to your OCSAA portal and email to Tracey Arnone at tarnone@dioceseofcleveland.org by Wednesday, April 10th:
1. Preliminary School Improvement Plan
2. Revised School Improvement Plan
3. EVT Team Suggested Actions
4. Response to Suggested Actions
Update on Accessing BCI/FBI in CORE-Missy Hokanson
Jon Peterson & Autism Scholarship School Mentorship
We are looking to provide support to schools that are currently going through the Jon Peterson Special Needs and/or Autism Scholarship provider process and will be first time providers in the 2019-2020 school year. These scholarships greatly assist our schools in putting in place special education services, but also they come with many new policies and procedures. If you have experience in being a JPSN or Autism Scholarship provider and would be willing to mentor a new provider school – give guidance and answer questions in the coming year – please send an email to Molly Bullock (mbullock@dioceseofcleveland.org). Currently, there are a couple of individuals who have indicated that they are willing to be mentors, but we are seeking additional participants. A list of the mentor schools will be compiled to distribute to those schools looking for help.
Teacher Created Materials is offering a special discount for schools
Scholarships Offered for African-American High School Students
Acting as a catalyst for inclusion, The Presidents’ Council Supports, Develops, and Advocates for our region’s current and future generations of African American entrepreneurs and leaders for sustainable wealth creation through The Presidents’ Council Investor’s Group, The Presidents’ Council Foundation, The Presidents’ Council Business Chamber, and The Presidents’ Council Political Action Committee; affecting influence and accountability at ALL levels that directly impact African American businesses and the communities we serve.
The Presidents' Council Business Chamber offers scholarships to African-American students in high school. Please share the application below with students in your school who may qualify.
Upcoming Dates:
April 6th - X-STREAM Games at Holy Name High School 8:--
April 9th - CAPP Field Trip, RSVP to mkeating@dioceseofcleveland.org by April 5th.
April 11th - Secondary All Principal Meeting
April 21st - Happy Easter!
April 23rd-25th - NCEA Conference in Chicago
May 3rd - Elementary Principals' End of Year Luncheon at Holiday Inn, Independence, 9:00 - 1:00 p.m.
May 10th - Group VI OCCSA Meeting 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at St. Christopher School
- Group V OCSAA Meeting 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. at St. Christopher School
The Group V OCSAA meeting on April 12th has been rescheduled for May 10th from 12:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.
2019 NCEA Institute for Catholic School Leaders (ICSL 2019) July 14-17, Indianapolis
TOGETHER WE ARE ONE: Special Education for High School Classroom Teachers (June 3–7)
Upcoming Ed Tech PD Opportunities
Digital Tools for Formative Assessment: Formative Assessment….who has time for that? You will after this! Spend some time learning the basics of some EdTech tools like Padlet, Peardeck, Google Forms and Write Surge which will give you fast, accurate, and reliable data to move your lesson in the right direction for all your students. You will create assessment which you can use in your class the next day!
- Date: April 10, 2019
- Location: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cuyahoga Falls
- Time: 4:00-6:30 p.m.
Google Slides: What your mother never told you... Referred to as “The Swiss Army Knife” of EdTech tools -Google Teacher Tribe, Google Slides has all your students need to be creators in your classroom. In this session we will explore how Google Slides can engage your students and have them begging for “more time please” to explore learning in your classroom. We will explore, digital work space for students, “app smashing” and accessing predesigned templates your students can use to start creating! You will leave with ideas you can use in your classroom the next day!
- Date: April 17, 2019
- Location: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cuyahoga Falls
- Time: 4:00-6:30 p.m.
Tech Toolbox: fill your toolbox with digital tools that will engage your students! Where is your “go to bag” of ideas when you need it? In your file cabinet, on a post-it in your teacher’s edition, or lost….. Let’s create a Tech Toolbox for you to organize as your “go to” place for digital tools to integrate into your lesson . Buncee, Padlet, Screencastify, Google Slides and Google Drawing are just a few tools we will explore in this session. Please come with ideas and lessons you are currently using in your classroom. Incorporating the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), we will explore how to integrate those tools redesign a lesson for you!
- Date: May 1, 2019
- Location: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cuyahoga Falls
- Time: 4:00-6:30 p.m.
Register for all courses in the Digital Academy: doc.digitalacademy.org