FOR the RECORD
December 2016
Transitional Transfers Closed
A special thank you goes to the Springfield Scholars Program administrators who worked to align their selection processes with the transitional transfer timelines. Having all timelines similar will assist all children and their families hoping to have options for 6th and 9th grade.
Deadlines for Transitional Transfer Requests
- Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, 7:30 a.m. - Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, 4 p.m. Transitional Transfer Requests are open and available.
- Friday, Dec. 16, 2016 by 4 p.m.- Submitted request approved or denied by site building principal. The sooner the better because the secretary at the student's current school of attendance must code the next year in eSchool for 2017-2018 scheduling.
- Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 by 4 p.m.-Families who requested and were approved for transfer by multiple schools must notify schools of acceptance/decline of transfer offer.
2016-2017 Immediate Transfers and Warning Letters
Students on this type of transfer is expected to be a good citizen and have 95% or above attendance. Their parent/guardian have agreed to be punctual getting their child to and picked up from school. If a student's behavior gets them an In-School-Suspension or Out-of School Suspension, or their attendance percentage falls below 95% or punctuality is remiss, then a warning letter is sent to the parent reminding them of their agreements to the guidelines.
Since August 16, 2016 we have had a number of warning letters sent to parents. Warning letters are generated from eSchool and make the transfer warning process easy. If you need more information about this process, please review this link Transfer Warning Letters in Eschool.
Immediate Transfer Information: Elementary Capacity Numbers
Dr. Bret Range provided the information below for elementary sites. Title and Non-Title buildings have a slight variance on grade level capacities.
Grade Level Capacity Numbers for Elementary Sites
Title school
K-2= 21
3-4= 23
5= 26
Non-Title School
K-2= 23
3-4= 25
5= 28
Questions about secondary school capacity should be directed to Dr. Shelia Wynn.
Bits, Bytes and Nibbles: A Word for the SIS Team
A Friendly Reminder
As secretaries receive accepted Transitional Transfer(TT) Requests, remember to code the TT appropriately in eSchool, and make sure the next year building is updated appropriately and upload the TT request into the paperclip folder marked transfer application forms
Burning Question: Senior Option and Transfer Requests
Senior Option is available for a student who attended their junior year at a SPS high school and then the family moved during the summer prior to or sometime during the student's senior year into a different SPS high school attendance area. The student desires to stay at the high school that they spent their junior year or a portion of their senior year. So long as the student resides in the SPS attendance area, they can complete an Immediate Transfer Request and in the parent request section put senior option. The key ingredient for senior option is the student spent their junior year in the high school they want to remain a senior in .To review more information about the senior option portion of the transfer guidelines, look for #9 on the Guidelines for Immediate Student Transfers at the link below.
We do not list senior option on the Immediate Transfer Request form because it could cause much consternation and confusion for our stakeholders. Once the principal approves this request, the current high school secretary codes it Senior Option (SO) in the student's eSchool screen and uploads the Immediate Transfer form into the student paperclip .
For more information on Immediate Transfer Guidelines follow the hyperlink
Impact of Homelessness on Children and Youth
- Higher incidences of acute and chronic illnesses, depression, and anxiety.
- Homelessness in early childhood is associated with poor classroom engagement and poor social skills in early elementary school.
- The achievement gaps between homeless and low-income elementary students tend to persist, and may even worsen, over time.
- A youth who experiences homelessness is 87% more likely to drop out of school.
- 75% of youth on the street experience trauma within 24 hours of being on the street (Rare Breed stat).
McKinney-Vento services help youth experiencing homeless have increased stability, continuity of education, and a better chance at academic success.
Be sure to assess your students for McKinney-Vento eligibility (youth qualify if they lack a fixed, adequate, or regular nighttime residence), code them properly in eSchool, and connect them with Lynn Schirk, 523-7587, if additional services are needed (transportation, housing, immediate shelter, additional resources, etc.).
SPS Volunteer Program: VIP Volunteer Recognition
The SPS Volunteer Program is an important asset to the Springfield Public School District. We have 1000s of individuals who have completed volunteer applications, have approved background checks, and are providing much needed assistance to our staff and students.
This year we have provided SVCs a way to recognize volunteers who go above and beyond in their volunteerism with our building. After 10 volunteer hours logged, a volunteer receives a VIP Volunteer lanyard with a VIP Badge that has their name on it. After 20+ volunteer hours, the volunteer will have their own VIP picture ID given to them.
Feedback from volunteers who have the lanyards and picture IDs are thrilled and feel very honored, happy and proud to be a part of the school family where they volunteer.
By now all the Site Volunteer Coordinators should have received the VIP lanyards, generic ID badges, and thank you cards to provide you some nice tools for recognition for your most dedicated volunteers. If you have not received these, please contact Linda Lemmon at 523-0007 or at llemmon@spsmail.org.
Remember, volunteers with 10+ hours should receive a VIP lanyard and the generic VIP Volunteer badge that you write their names on. After 20 hours of service, the volunteer can have a new badge with their name and picture on it. Just snap a picture with a smart phone or other electronic device, and attach the photo in an email to jcmichel@spsmail.org. Jason Michel, a Parkview High School administrator, has been very gracious in helping us with this. He will create this special VIP badge and send it back through school mail to the site SVC for this very important volunteer. Kudos to Mr. Michel for assisting the SPS Volunteer Program by providing these badges for us.
The table below identifies the buildings and the number of volunteer hours their volunteers have logged to date. Fifty percent of the buildings have some volunteers logging their hours. We need your help to increase that percent so all buildings and volunteers are recognized.
If your building is listed in the table below, the SVC will receive an email with individual volunteer names and hours they have volunteered as of November 30, 2016. It would be a great way to keep track of your VIP volunteers.
The Volunteer Log: Getting volunteers to use it?
How to get a volunteer to use the volunteer log could be a tricky. Some volunteers feel very confident about using and accessing technology. Other volunteers feel unsure about technology and prefer a paper log or notebook.
Whatever is the case, SVCs share the following ideas for gathering hours.
1. Provide a computer for volunteers to log hours in the main office or library or other location
2. Send an email with the volunteer hour link to the volunteer.
3. Provide a notebook where volunteers write their names with hour in and hour out. (That SVC said they tabulate the hours and input into the SPS volunteer hour log themselves because they have older volunteers and it is a service they provide for their volunteers)
4. Link for Volunteer Page under "Find it Fast" from the SPS main webpage.
5. Any smart phone or other device that can access the internet can be used to log volunteer hours.
6. Some SVCs are not always available to greet and meet the building volunteers. Why not partner with your school secretary to enlist their help providing information about the log for your volunteers.
Thank you for encouraging your volunteers to log their hours. The District covers the $17.50 for each and every background check so far, and we still have funds for more volunteers to have free background checks.
At Your Service: Trying to Support our SVCs:
Ann White and Linda Lemmon are working on helping SVCs by checking for new volunteer applications daily and processing whether or not those individuals need a background check.
There are no gremlins in the system.
It is us trying to reduce the amount of time it takes for a SVC to work with new volunteers applications. We value your time, and what you do for your volunteers. It is something we cannot do during July/Aug/September due to the large volume of applications at that time.
We will continue this through the end of the school year to make your work easier.
Help Us, Help You
Please take some time to provide any thoughts, suggestions or other ideas that could help us help you with your work as a Site Volunteer Coordinator. Click on the link below which will take you to a feedback board. If you have never used this type of feedback system prior, you will look in the lower right hand corner for the circle with the + sign in it. Click on that and it will put an electronic note on the wall for you to use. Thank you in advance for any feedback. What is going well or what could use some fixin.