Transition Plus
Wake up with Determination. Go to bed with Satisfaction.
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Graduation Requirements
There has been a change in legislation regarding testing requirements for graduation which applies to any students who were first enrolled in grade 8 in 2012-2013 and later. Students who qualify for the new rule may still choose to take the Accuplacer test to meet graduation requirements but the change means that they do not have to take the test to meet the requirement. IEP teams must decide what is appropriate for each individual student. Confused? Need more information? Please talk to Britt and/or see the attached document for more detail.
January Accuplacer Date
We will be offering the Accuplacer on Wednesday, January 31st during periods 1, 3, and 5 in the mac lab. The sign up is outside Britt's office. If signing a student up for graduation purposes, please be sure to review the attached document about the new testing requirements for graduation and/or discuss with Britt before signing the student up. If your student is in Accuplacer Prep with Patricia, please check with Patricia before signing the student up.
Scan Lab
If you have students who are interested in Scan Lab for semester 2, please see Matt Hentges. Students will no longer be scheduled in the Scan Lab work site through the TPlus course selection sheet.
Got questions about your MN Defererred Compensation Plan?
David Wrightsmith from MN State Retirement System will be at TPlus
Tuesday, February 6th
to discuss your 457 plan.
A sign up sheet is located in the staff lounge.
ESY Services
There has been a change in the location of ESY services for the 18-21- Transition age students. We are again going to have the 18-21 year old students ESY cluster site services located at South High School. Combining locations of our programs to fewer sites will cut down on some of the over-all programming costs such as transportation, nursing etc. and it will allow again for collaboration between the two programs. Attached is the final document of service locations for all of our ESY summer services.
Guidelines for Requesting Special Education Interpretation and Translation:
Due to a vacancy for a bilingual Spanish interpreter on the SPED/EL team, contracted service providers may be used for interpreting meetings.
Please Follow these Guidelines:
The Special Education/English Learners Team (SPED/EL) provides interpretation and translation for ALL students in Federal Settings III & IV. Schools are required to provide their own interpretation and translation in Hmong, Somali and Spanish for students in Federal Settings I & II (i.e., Resource, Speech only students).
The SPED/EL team provides interpretation and translation for all students in special education whose home language is a language other than Hmong, Somali and Spanish.
To request an interpreter for a meeting, you must submit an online request.
Confirmation of the interpreter will be made once an interpreter is assigned to the case.
Please submit online interpreter requests at least two weeks in advance and PWN translation requests at least one week in advance. Use the link below to access the online forms. Thank you!
https://staff.mpls.k12.mn.us/Depts/speced/Pages/Interpreter-request-.aspx
2017-18 Observer Feedback Survey
Teachers, please take a moment to complete the Observer Feedback Survey. The information you provide is confidential, but will be reviewed so you may want to generalize your responses to avoid identifying yourself. Only survey per observation please!
The 2017-18 version of the survey is open – here’s a link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SOEI-Observer-Feedback-17-18
Leadership Class
We are starting a Student Leadership class for second semester. The description is as follows:
Course Description:
This course is designed to promote students’ skills needed to become active participants, leaders, and voices within the school community and within their own community. Students will participate in individual and group project based learning activities.
Goals/Competencies:
Recognize Postsecondary Possibilities and Choices
Recognize Employment Possibilities and Choices
Demonstrate Understanding of a Variety of Relationships
Exhibit Responsible Citizenship
All programming at Transition Plus includes social/emotional instruction, guidance and/or support in order for students to successfully transition to adulthood.
CASEL- SEL Competencies
Please identify 1-2 students in your advisory that would be interested in Leadership opportunities.
The course will be offered on M/W during 6th hour.
Contact Greg with any questions.
Mental Health Team Tip of the Week:
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a common type of depression that's related to changes in seasons. To learn more, check out the following link:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/seasonal-affective-disorder/index.shtml
Here are some mood-boosting strategies to get through these long, winter months!
· Make your environment sunnier and brighter. Open blinds and trim tree branches that block sunlight from your home. Sit closer to bright windows while at home or in the office.
· Get outside. Take a brisk walk (bundled up!). Even on cold or cloudy days, outdoor light can help — especially if you spend some time outside within two hours of getting up in the morning.
· Exercise regularly. Exercise and other types of physical activity help relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase SAD symptoms. Being more fit can make you feel better about yourself, too, which can lift your mood.
Wednesday, Jan 24 -we will have a speaker from Step up present at 12:45 in Sue Nodler's room. She will present information on how to apply for Step Up PAID summer internships and the opportunities Step Up has to offer. Students can apply on-line now for Step Up positions. The deadline to apply is Feb 16.
Monday, Feb 12 -Peggy and Dana will be taking interested students to attend a major job fair at the Central Library. Employers include Walgreens, Wells Fargo, Swissport, Best Buy, etc. Students must have a current resume to participate. Please see Peggy or Dana to sign up for this event.
Scholarship Opportunity for Students with ASD
Values/ Budget Meetings
We are scheduled to get our budget on February 23, if anyone is interested in being on a budget committee I will consider selecting a small group. I would like to have the group work on several scenarios prior to us even receiving the budget. When the group is finished in creating a budget, we will schedule a budget meeting for anyone who is interested in attending.
Project Search Information Nights 2018
Important CBI Updates!
Looking ahead to February 2nd, I realize that we need to make a few changes. For the safety of our students, district safety and security is asking that all MPS schools remain onsite during the time that Minneapolis will have such an increase in activity due to the Superbowl.
This means that we will not have the option of taking the city bus or school bus on any trips on February 2nd. The bottom line is that we will need to add and change a couple of our CBI plans.
Please log onto Google Drive and add some activities for February 2nd that will allow our students to remain on campus. We can still invite speakers to come to us, and we can get creative with in-house activities that align with the city-wide festivities.
We have recently developed a significant mouse problem. Going forward, please eat only in the staff lounge and the cafeteria, and please place food trash in the hallway trashcans. We don't want to share our building with these critters!
Who you gonna call??? Traci!!!
Staff Updates
Professional Development Days
It is an option for the administrator to substitute the ESP PD day on January 26th for Site PD on January 26th. Because we value our staff as being a whole and getting all of the same information together we have created this opportunity for our ESP staff to join in with the licensed staff.
The morning will include a keynote with Dr. Keith Mayes and the afternoon will involve Social Emotional Learning 101 and team time between ESPs and Licensed staff.
Plan on being here to start promptly at 8:30 in the cafeteria. The day will go until 3:30, with opportunities for staff to collaborate. We will be sending out a full schedule later this week and post it outside the cafeteria on Thursday. Lunch will be provided.
ESP Meeting
This Week at T- Plus
Monday--------- Values Meeting 3:30
Tuesday -------- Transportation Meeting- 4:00
Thursday------- No School for Students/ All Staff PD
Friday ----------- No School for Students- Teacher grading day