BOARD OF EDUCATION FRIDAY REPORT
Jan 8, 2016 - Park Hill School District
Upcoming Events
Jan 11 - 7:15 am - Board Officers' Agenda Review
Jan 12 - 4:15 pm - Policy Committee (Rm 230)
Jan 14 - 6:30 pm - MQA Award Celebration (Rm 230)
Jan 14 - 7:00 pm - Regular Board Meeting
Jan 19 - 5:00 pm - Candidate Filing Ends
Jan 23 - 9:00 am - GKC Legislator-Educator Brunch (MO NEA Event)
Jan 25 - 7:15 am - Board Officers' Agenda Review
Jan 25 - 6:00 pm - Hall of Fame (KCI Hilton)
UPDATE FROM DR. COWHERD
School-Community-Professional Events (Week of Jan 4-8)
Executive Cabinet Retreat
Park Hill South - Cocoa and Donuts with the Panther Nation
Park Hill Star Recognitions
Parkville Economic Development Council
KCI Rotary
Every Student Succeeds Act
Missouri Learning Standards
Questions continue to arise around the use of Common Core and the Missouri Learning Standards. For the current year, classroom instruction across the state will continue to be based on the current Missouri Learning Standards, which are closely aligned to the Common Core Standards. In 2014, Missouri Lawmakers passed legislation (HB 1490) that directed changes to the Missouri Learning Standards. As required by HB 1490, eight standards work groups are completing their work reviewing, revising and developing recommendations for academic standards for Missouri. The results of these work groups was presented to the State Board of Education on October 1, 2015. The General Assembly’s joint committee on education and academic researchers will review and comment on the standards and provide feedback to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education is expected to approve the new standards in March 2016. At that time, we will be required to make revisions to our curriculum based on changes made to the standards, with implementation taking effect in the 2016-2017 school year. New assessments aligned to the new standards will be developed and deployed beginning in spring 2018. Please click here to access more information regarding public hearings, surveys, work group process, timelines and comments on the Missouri Learning Standards Update page provided by DESE.
Carnegie Foundation Summit of Improvement in Education
Stephanie Amaya, Director of Professional Studies, and I will be attending the Carnegie Foundation Summit of Improvement in Education March 22-24. We will be learning about design thinking through a one-day, rapid-cycle, immersive design challenge. This challenge will make us work through all parts of design thinking process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. The remainder of the conference focuses on improvement science methods and tools, applying improvement science, leadership and culture, and initiating and sustaining networked improvement communities. The Carnegie Foundation advocates for the use of improvement science, also referred to as continuous improvement to accelerate learning by doing. Carnegie’s approach to improvement science is based on the Baldrige Framework for Excellence and strongly supports our commitment to systematic continuous improvement.
ACADEMIC SERVICES
Professional Studies Update
42 students Park Hill students have begun the 2nd semester pilot in our Professional Studies Internship class. These students are currently participating in four weeks of professional skill building activities in the classroom. Students will start his/her internship in the community on February 1st.
Our first Professional Studies off site class has begun at Platte Valley Bank. This location houses Park Hill and Park Hill South students participating in the Professional Studies Internship course. Students attending this site will participate in a community service project to benefit the bank.
Park Hill’second teacher externship experience will be located at the Sprint Accelerator on Tuesday, January 13th. Approximately 15 teachers and 40 students will be participating in the MECA Challenge in partnership with the KC Start Up Village and CEED (Center of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development). Teachers and students will learn how to develop an innovative mind set while working with several Kansas City start up partners.
High School Teachers Observations in 1:1 Classrooms
High school teachers will soon be participating in 1:1 classroom observations as part of their 21st century professional development. In response to teacher feedback, five observation opportunities were spread over several weeks to meet the needs of various schedules. Three of the observation days will take place right in our district at Congress and Lakeview. Teachers will spend a half day at both middle schools and participate in facilitated discussion at the end of the day. The other two days will take place within the North Kansas City School District. One full day will be at Staley High School. This experience will conclude with collaborative discussion time with Staley teachers. The second NKCSD day will be split between Oak Park and Winnetonka High Schools and will include a teacher panel. The dates at our middle schools are January 26th , February 3rd, and March 31st. The Oak Park and Winnetonka day will be March 1st and the Staley day will take place on March 3rd. These planned observations will help teachers observe practices, tools and methods that are utilized in a 1:1 setting. Facilitated collaborative discussions lead by the Park Hill Instructional Technology Team provides overarching context that helps teachers understand important components related to what they observed. Previous Park Hill 1:1 teachers have reported that the observation experience was extremely beneficial in preparing them for implementing 1:1 the following year.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Support Staff Update
The following listing of support personnel has occurred since 12-18-15:
NEW HIRES
- Chase, Jennifer - AVID Tutor (Park Hill South) 1-6-16
- Duncan, Lauren - Teacher Assistant (Hawthorn) 1-11-16
- Heath, Meredith - AVID Tutor (Park Hill South) 1-6-16
- Heavener, Kristin - Grade Level Aide (Hawthorn) 1-7-16
- Hiller, Jessica - Associate Teacher (Prairie Point) 1-7-16
- Lineberry, Tracy - LR/PG Supervisor (English Landing) 1-5-16
- Osburn, Timothy - Teacher Assistant (Park Hill South) 1-5-16
- Parnacott, Joe - Associate Teacher (Southeast) 1-7-16
- Van Dierendonck, Yuri - Tech Support Specialist I (Technology) 1-6-16
- West, Kaitlyn - Associate Teacher (Prairie Point) 1-6-16
- Willis, Morgan - ELL Aide, LR/PG Supervisor (Chinn) 1-18-16
RESIGNATIONS
- Carlson, Matthew - Technology Comm. & Training Mgr (Technology) 1-7-16
- Jackson, Tyler - LR/PG Supervisor & ELL Aide (Chinn) 1-4-16
- McCraney, Robin - Computer Support Tech (Technology) 12-31-16
- Moyer, Jennifer - LR/PG Supervisor (Chinn) 1-9-16