ACE Updates
March 29, 2020
ACE Family,
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
We can't thank you enough for all of the texts, emails, phone calls, and special touches of love that you have shown your students and our Dallas ISD community. This has been a tough time for us all and has presented us with a challenge that you have met with resounding strength, joy and support for your community.
We want everyone to stay safe and prioritize your health during this time. It is so important to do our part for the overall safety of everyone. You and your families are always on our hearts and minds.
We are in uncertain times and know how unsettling it can be to live with the unknown. It has made us all reflect and find solace in the fact that while we may not have all the answers right now, we do have each other. We find hope in the certainty of the bonds we share, the relationships we have built, and the love and support we have for each other. No matter what is happening in our world, we will meet it together and overcome it as one.
These are also times of new learnings! We are pushing ourselves into new territories of digital learning and are picking up new technology skills that will forever change us and our field of education. We are so proud of the way you have embraced this new learning and are being so creative with how you are keeping your students' learning going. It is amazing to see the resilience of everyone to remain connected and to create exciting new ways to engage with students through video messages, Google Classroom, SeeSaw, Class Dojo, virtual fieldtrips and so much more!
Your responses have been a rainbow that has shined bright in the sky. In times as these, it is so important to remember to share hope and light. Your light has shown through and brightened the spirits of students and families everywhere. We are receiving so many messages of appreciation from parents and students about all you've done to support them during this time and showing how much you care. You are making a difference that is bigger than you know...please keep shining bright as beacons of hope. You are an inspiration to us all!
-ACE Core Team
Attendance
Attendance Procedures:
· Teachers are required to enter and submit student attendance every Tuesday and Friday.
· Attendance will NOT be submitted on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. CRCs and Registrars do NOT submit attendance on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
· Teachers have until 4:30 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays to enter and submit student attendance.
· Unexcused absences during District Closure and implementation of at-home learning will NOT count against a school’s attendance percentage.
· Student attendance corrections due to teacher error must be submitted via email to the school CRC/Registrar and principal (or designee) within 5 school days. Attendance corrections require:
o Teacher Name, Course.section, Date that must be corrected, Student Name, Student ID, Reason for the correction
Elementary:
· Attendance is taken for Homeroom only on Tuesdays and Fridays.
· “Specials” teachers do not take attendance.
All Teachers are required to confirm participation in at-home learning for each student.
· Confirmation of participation at-home learning will be used to enter student attendance as “present”.
· Confirmation of participation in at-home learning can be determined using electronic login by student (Google Classroom, Zoom, Teams, or other learning applications or platforms)
· Confirmation of participation can be used for any of the three days prior to official attendance accounting on Tuesday and Friday.
Click here to see example!
AT Home Learning Lessons
The District is providing standard At Home Learning Plans for all campuses to use. This is important as a standardized approach is the best to way serve our parents and students. Campuses and teachers must use these assignments to decide on grading.
Campuses may provide enrichment and supplemental activities based on principal approval. However, these activities cannot be used as grades. Please speak with your principal regarding any additional activities you are providing or would like to provide.
Beginning Monday, March 30, 2020, PK – 6th Grade Elementary At-Home Learning Plans will have a new format that includes:
Grade specific Day by Day recommended activities in Spanish and English for Reading Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Health/Physical Education and Visual/Performing Arts
Activities are identified by 3 category options to meet the needs of various households
Requires technology
Requires a consumable student text
Requires NO technology and NO consumable ✎
Recommended Time Allotments to complete each activity (Most days will require approximately 2 hours total to complete)
Checkpoints for Understanding for most content areas that teachers may use as options for grades by requesting the student to submit their responses via technology or phone verbal response on the phone
Digital viewing and options for PDF downloads of the preferred plan at: www.tiny.cc/studentathomelearning
Required Teacher PD
ALL TEACHERS will be REQUIRED to complete a professional development module in Cornerstone regarding the expectations and requirements of the at-home learning environment. At this time, the training is ready for elementary and secondary teachers.
A separate training is being developed for any teachers who are Special Education teachers. We will send you that link when it is ready.
At-Home Learning Expectations for Teachers PK-6
At-Home Learning Expectations for Teachers 6-12
Grading
Grades must be submitted using the District At Home Learning Assignments only.
Counseling
Dallas ISD has two platforms to help connect students and parents with their school counselors (Let's Talk and Request for Counseling Services Link in English & Spanish).
We ask that all counselors check their emails and follow-up within 24 hours or less.
Let's Talk Link: https://www.dallasisd.org/letstalk
Request for Counseling Services: https://www.dallasisd.org/Domain/3068
While working remotely it is important that we track the great work that you are doing for accountability purposes. Counseling Services is requesting for Dallas ISD counselors to document their work by filling the link below. The link can be used to document a service provided or a task completed (i.e. reviewed transcripts for 30 students in my alpha, phone conference, etc...). Once you submit the form you will receive an email receipt with the information you included. This is to ensure that we are documenting the work and services we are providing remotely.
*Please note that this is not a form that you will have to submit on an hourly basis. The focus is not to track what you are doing hour by hour but to provide a snapshot of the tasks completed while working remotely. It is advised that at the minimum counselors submit one daily.
Link: https://forms.gle/desk2WjeJsjykwYD6
See the latest news for counseling services here!
Special Education
These are the guidelines that will be shared with teachers that serve students receiving Advanced Academics, Bilingual/ESL, Section 504/Dyslexia, and Special Education services as each of these groups has compliance requirements that remain in place during the district closure. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional information as it becomes available.
Link to: Special Populations: Guidelines during COVID-19 School Closures
Import to note, all ARD and Section 504 committee meetings will be conducted virtually through Microsoft Teams. Principals in collaboration with Special Education Case Managers will coordinate these meetings where applicable.
The Table of Contents is organized to allow you to click on a title and It will direct you that section. All department contact information is included as all staff will be available during work hours.
District Grab-N-Go Meals
Our District is offering meal service at no cost while Dallas ISD remains closed.
Meals will be distributed twice a week, on Monday and Thursday bewteen 10 AM and 1 PM.
On Monday you will receive Breakfast, Lunch, And Supper for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday will have Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper for the rest of the week, including Saturday.
Meals will be served at strategic locations throughout the district.
Click here to for sites and more information!