board meeting – oct. 18, 2017 - seattle public schools · october is principal appreciation...

1 Deputy Superintendent Stephen Nielsen October 20, 2017

To: School Board From: Deputy Superintendent Stephen Nielsen Date: Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 RE: Deputy Superintendent Friday Update (based largely on Superintendent

Comments at the Oct. 18, 2017 Board meeting)

Board Meeting – Oct. 18, 2017: I noted that Dr. Nyland was attending the Council of the Great City Schools conference starting on Wednesday. This week, he and Director Geary presented our work on Eliminating Opportunity Gaps to a national audience. • October is Principal Appreciation Month: Families and staff continue to celebrate our incredible

principals this month! • Indigenous Peoples’ Day was on Monday, Oct. 9: On Oct. 9, we celebrated Indigenous

Peoples’ Day. Educators, community members and students celebrated the many contributions of Indigenous Peoples’ through lessons, art projects and assemblies.

• As mentioned at the last Board meeting October is also National Bullying Prevention Month. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is dedicated to the safety and security of all our students, including keeping them safe from harassment, intimidation and bullying. One area of focus is social media. During the 2017-2018 school year, SPS will be taking part in a pilot program with iCanHelpLine.org to try to stop cyberbullying on social media.

In this update I am sharing: 1. Recent highlights that support our Strategic Plan and related Superintendent SMART Goals 2. Good News 3. Topics of interest the community should be aware of

Strategic Plan - 2017-2018 Superintendent SMART Goals Update: The SPS Strategic Plan includes three major areas: Educational Excellence and Equity; Improving Systems; and School, Family and Community Engagement. 1. Educational Excellence and Equity: We are committed to building shared understanding across

schools and district silos, on how to eliminate opportunity gaps and accelerate learning for all students. The following updates support SMART Goal 2.

• At every other School Board meeting, we are inviting school leaders and staff to share their work to address racial justice AND accelerate learning for all students. On Wednesday, we were fortunate to have Sanislo Elementary join us. Helen Joung, Executive Director of Schools introduced Principal Erika Ayer to share the great work they are doing.

• The Eliminating Opportunity Gaps (EOG) Institute: “Schooling for Racial Justice” was held 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on Friday, October 13 at Chief Sealth International Baccalaureate (IB) High School. It was an awesome, sold out event. Teams of educators, principals and central office staff participated in workshops and made plans on how to center their work on racial justice. Thank you to the many people who helped make this first institute a great success including Keisha Scarlett and Brent Jones.

• The new English Language Arts (ELA) adoption is a key part of the district strategy to eliminate opportunity gaps and achieve our 3rd grade reading Key Performance Indicator in the Formula for Success. The reorganization of the Executive Directors of Schools (EDS)

October 20, 2017 Friday Memo, of 18


to assign three of them to elementary and K-8’s made it possible to create a close partnership with the Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction (CAI) Department to supervise the implementation at that level. The arrangement allows CAI leaders and the EDS’s to focus on assisting principals to better support the skills and knowledge of teachers in using the Center for the Collaborative Classroom instructional materials.

2. Improve Systems: The School District Budget development will continue to be a focus this

coming year and is one of our SMART Goals. • Budget Update: Budget continues to be a focus for us. While the 2018-2019 school year

looks good for the district under the new funding formula, primarily because we are getting both increased state revenue AND our local levy funding, the true impact on our students and families will be felt in subsequent years. Next week on October 24, the Supreme Court will hear testimony on McCleary, and we will be hosting another budget work session on October 25. Budget work sessions are open to the public.

3. School, Family and Community Engagement: Goal 3 of our Strategic Plan, and in Goal 4 of this year’s SMART Goals is a commitment to improve our community engagement including internal engagement and partnerships. Some of the efforts underway include:

• Input on High School Advanced Learning: More than 2,000 families have engaged. Engagement activities have included on an online conversation with open-ended questions. Home language focus groups in Chinese, Vietnamese, Somali and Spanish. The recommended changes will be introduced to the Board on October 25.

• Student Assignment Plan (SAP) and High School Boundary meetings: Enrollment services is trying out a new format for engaging the community on changes to the Student Assignment Plan and gathering input on future high school boundaries. Starting next week, all families are invited to participate in a SAP Open House. There will be 5 regional meetings. At the meetings, representatives from various departments will be on hand to answer questions and take comments. In addition, maps of the recommended high school boundaries (3 options) will be presented and the community will have an opportunity to ask questions of task force members. All families will be sent a survey to provide feedback on high school boundaries the week of October 30.

• DiscoverU: Seattle Public Schools is taking part in the DiscoverU campaign the week of October 23-27. DiscoverU is a week devoted to college and career exploration in our schools. SPS is asking teachers and staff to wear their college gear, share their college and career paths with students and lead fun college and career exploration activities. Special Assignment Counselor Krista Rillo has done a great job getting the word out on this. She made sure principals received their DiscoverU materials at last week’s Leadership Learning Day (LLD).

Good News: • Ballard Film students win national award from academy: On October 3, the National

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced Comeback, a dramatic short by Ballard film students, as winner of a National Student Production Award for best Audio/Sound. Congratulations to these talented students for being among the winners!

• Substitute Training: Several newly hired substitutes were invited to attend a paid, substitute-specific professional development opportunity at Roosevelt High School on October 13. The 4-hour session addressed skills and strategies a guest teacher needs to ensure continuity of



teaching and learning in the classrooms where they work. In addition to newly hired substitutes, a cadre of experienced certificated substitutes attended the training and subsequently participated in a train-the-trainers session.

• Interagency Graduation: Last week Interagency graduated 5 students! Interagency is one of the incredible service schools in SPS. Staff provide wrap around support and demonstrate every day their belief in students. Because each student's track to graduation is unique, there are multiple graduations a year. A special graduation ceremony will be held in November.

Topics of Community Interest • Potential Bus Driver Strike: We have a multi-year contract with First Student to provide service

to our families. First Student also has a collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters, Local 174 that ends in 2020. The current dispute is between FIRST STUDENT bus carrier and the Teamsters 174 and we are hopeful that they will resolve the outstanding issue of benefits. We are providing information to our families through the website, direct phone calls and emails, and social media to alert them to the potential of transportation disruption. At this time, if the drivers strike, schools will continue to maintain their current calendar with ongoing instruction. We will communicate additional information in the event of a strike.

• 24 Credits: The district continues to work on an implementation plan to meet the state graduation requirement of 24 credits. In 2014, the state Legislature passed a bill changing the state’s high school graduation requirements that included in increase from 20 to 24 credits. After delaying making changes to high school schedules for three years, we need to move forward with any adjustments in the 2018-19 school year. The goal is to ensure that our students have increased credit earning opportunities to meet this new graduation requirements, explore career pathways and other interests. This will be a big change for many of our high schools, students, educators and families. We are working with principals, senior leaders across departments in SPS, and the Seattle Education Association (SEA) to determine the plan for a successful launch next year.

Thank you, Stephen Associate Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Update: Included in this packet please find Associate Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Michael Tolley’s update for this week. Associate Superintendent for Capital, Facilities, Operations and Enrollment Update: Included in this packet please find Associate Superintendent for Capital, Facilities, Operations and Enrollment Dr. Flip Herndon’s update for this week. Assistant Superintendent for Operations Update: Included in this packet please find Assistant Superintendent for Operations Pegi McEvoy’s update for this week. Chief Engagement Officer Update: Included in this packet please find Chief Engagement Officer Carri Campbell's update for this week. Chief Information Officer Update: Included in this packet please find Chief Information Officer John Krull’s update for this week.


Submitted by Michael Tolley 10.19.2017 Page 1

Date: Thursday, October 19, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Michael F. Tolley, Associate Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Re: Friday Memo for October 20, 2017

TEACHING AND LEARNING:

Department of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction:

Testing Incidences Update:

The following is an update on our investigation into the testing irregularity that took place at Garfield High School regarding the Biology End of Course (EOC) exam.

After the findings of the investigation were presented to the Chief of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction and the Associate Superintendent, it was determined that the exams were not compromised and should be processed and scored if possible. Upon this determination, the Assessment department completed the appropriate report and sent it to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

After receiving the report, OSPI informed the district that the exams would not be scored for two reasons. First, the scoring vendor no longer contracts with scorers for the Biology End of Course exam, as the exam no longer exists. Secondly, passing the exam is no longer required for graduation.

In this case, these handling and chain of custody errors were unfortunate but unintentional. The Assessment department is working on developing supports and district protocols to avoid the possibility of future testing incidents.

While this recent testing incident has been disappointing, district staff have been incredibly impressed by the integrity with which building administrators and teachers are carrying out state assessments. We see this as an indication that our teachers and leaders continue to hold high standards for themselves and their peers when it comes to carrying out state assessments.

State legislation on “Level 1-below basic” 3rd grade readers

In support of SMART Goal 1A, Ensuring Educational Equity for Every Student, teachers and principals are asked to monitor and report on 3rd grade reading proficiency, given that 3rd grade reading success has a strong correlation to high school graduation. An important Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for the “Formula for Success” is having all 3rd grade students meet or exceed state standards. The following information appeared in the “School Leader



Communicator” for all K-5 and K-8 principals for required actions regarding below grade-level 3rd grade readers.

In order to increase high school graduation success rates and ensure that students are on track for college and career readiness by the end of 3rd grade, the Washington state legislature passed a requirement in 2015 changing how the Learning Assistance Program (LAP) was administered. The bill, titled “Strengthening Student Educational Outcomes (SSEO)” mandates actions that 3rd and 4th grade teachers and principals must take for students who receive a “Level 1-below basic” on the spring 3rd grade Smarter Balanced Assessment.

The requirements apply to all K-5 and K-8 schools in Seattle. SSEO is based on the worthy goal of supporting the success of 3rd grade readers as a precursor to future academic achievement. As SSEO is somewhat complicated, the Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction department (CAI) developed a summary of the requirements, a table indicating responsibilities, an assortment of materials to support teachers in complying with the law as well as communicating with parents.



QUARTERLY REPORT: POLICY #2200, EQUITABLE ACCESS TO PROGRAMS AND SERVICES OCTOBER

On a quarterly basis, the Department of School Operations provides an update to the School Board on decisions made during the previous quarter and a preview of upcoming decisions, if known. Below, please find the October 2017 Quarterly Report.

• “…delegates to the Superintendent the authority to make all program placement decisions.”

• “On a quarterly basis the Superintendent or designee shall provide an update to the School Board on decisions made during the previous quarter and a preview of upcoming decisions, if known. These quarterly updates should be provided to the School Board in April, July and October.”

• “The fourth quarterly update shall be an annual report that provides detail about all the decisions that were made in the prior year, and how those decisions relate to the eight decision making criteria outlined in this policy. The annual report should be provided to the School Board in January.”

Program Changes at Skills Center:

Course Total Staff Change

Reason Notes

Information Technology (Cisco)

(0.5) Low enrollment Will continue to offer courses in the summer

Maritime Operations

(0.5) Low enrollment Will continue to offer courses in the summer

Media Arts (0.5) Low enrollment Will continue to offer courses in the summer

Construction Trades

(0.5) Low enrollment; teacher resigned on September 1, 2017

May open course at semester; Will continue to offer courses in the summer

Net Change (2.0)

Service Changes:

The following Special Education Service changes were made since the July 2017 Quarterly Report in preparation for the 2017-18 school year. The changes were made in collaboration with Special Education, the Seattle Public Schools/Seattle Education Association Task Force, Special Education PTSA, Enrollment Planning, Capital Planning and Facilities, Human Resources and Budget departments, as well as with the principals. These services were assigned to locations based on:



• Building capacity and/or with respect to where students reside; • Compliance with the Seattle Public Schools/Seattle Education Association collective

bargaining agreement; and • The agreed upon full continuum of services model.

Information about Service Placements and the Continuum are on the District’s webpage.

School Name Type

of School

Region Total

Changes Summary

David T. Denny Middle SW 1 Add 1 SM2

Rainier Beach High SE 1

Add BRIDGES 4 Medically Fragile Service

University of WA

1 Add BRIDGES 1 Project Search for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Itinerant Services

3 BRIDGES U classes opened to serve students attending local community college campuses

Net Change

6

Additional Changes (Not Required by 2200SP):

BRIDGES Changes:

• All three BRIDGES classes at Lincoln in Wallingford classes moved. o BRIDGES 2 at Lincoln moved to Middle College at Northgate Mall o BRIDGES 3 at Lincoln moved to Ingraham High School. o BRIDGES 4 med-frag at Lincoln moved to Ingraham High School.

• All three BRIDGES classes at Original Van Asselt (OVA) merged into two classes and moved to Rainier Beach High School.

In Tandem did not move to Meany Middle School. It remains at OVA for one more year.


http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=8546348


ANNUAL REPORT per Superintendent Procedure 2110, Department of English Language Learning and International Programs

Annually, the Department of English Language Learning and International Programs reports report on the status of the district's Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program per Superintendent Procedure 2110. Below, please find the annual report. Placement and Services: On August 15, 2017 we launched the new state requirement of using a revised version of the English Language Proficiency Assessment 21 (ELPA21). The revised version is being used as a screener to determine the eligibility and placement of new students for English Language Learning services. We will continue to monitor the effects of the use of the new screener. Enrollment: This year, we have surpassed our projected English Language Learner (ELL) enrollment of 6,020 ELL students. Our ELL enrollment numbers are strong and as of today we have a total of 6,416 ELL students who speak 140 different languages. We continue to be the largest ELL program in the state. An interesting data point is that Washington State is one of eight states in the nation that combined make up more than two-thirds of the nation’s ELL student enrollment in public schools. (Migration Policy Institute, Soto, R. Hooker, S. Batalova, J. and Ariel, G., 2015). Below are ELL enrollment numbers by region for ELL enrolled students. The last two columns identify the number of families who have chosen to waive ELL services. 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 ELL Enrollment (October 1st Counts)

Region ELL 15-16

ELL 16-17

ELL 17-18

Waived 15-16

Waived 16-17

Waived 17-18

Central 882 1005 1297 72 67 96

NE 634 686 751 78 73 110

NW 654 803 814 70 73 53

SE 2808 2734 2352 77 82 68

West 1078 1141 1126 85 72 79

Other Programs

9 3 16 13 17 1

Grand Total

6065 6372 6356 395 384 407



Cross Department Professional Development: The demands on English Language Learners (ELLs), coupled with the language-rich performance expectations in Common Core State Standards and English Language Proficiency Standards are daunting for all students but particularly for ELLs. It is understood that it is critical that our departments work collaboratively to understand the numerous and specific language demands for all students, but particularly for ELLs, so that they are able to appropriately prepare academic leaders and teachers who serve ELLs. The ELL staff co-developed and co-lead professional development that infused language acquisition and language development into core content. The ELL team participated in the Third Annual Summer Summit that included all of Seattle School District’s student support services programs. Teachers learned research-based high-leverage practices for effective language learning and teaching, such as Using the Target Language and Comprehensible Input and Empowering Students to Use the Target Language, there were also classes offered in conjunction with Special Education to teach staff about appropriate measures for identification and better support of dual identified students. We have successful collaborative partnerships with several more co-led professional development opportunities coming through-out the academic school year. We look forward to many more opportunities to work with our colleagues across departments. As a result of the increase of ELL schools, the ELL Department is still currently working to revise and update our current ELL Support Service Model. Last year we worked on making sure supports were staffed at all the schools and now we are reviewing what personalized service supports can we offer based on the student population. Translation and Interpretation Policy: On October 4, 2017 the School Board approved a policy for Seattle School District, Policy No. 4218, Speakers of Diverse Languages. This policy is in compliance with State and Federal law to fulfill the rights of parents/guardian of district-enrolled students to access information about the education of their child in a language they can understand. The district will provide translation and interpretation in the top four languages for vital documents and with advanced notice can provide interpretation and translation for the top nine languages.


Subject: Friday Memo to the Board Date: Friday, October 20, 2017 From: Flip Herndon, Associate Superintendent of Capital, Facilities and Operations To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent Capital Projects, Facilities and Operations, and Enrollment Planning Enrollment Planning 20171020: Student Assignment Plan and High School Boundary Open Houses

Five open house meetings are scheduled for families, students and staff about changes to the Student Assignment Plan (SAP) and high school boundaries.

District office staff will be available to discuss the 2018-19 SAP, including related updates to special education, school choice, and advanced learning opportunities in high schools. Visitors will also be able to review the proposed high school boundary scenarios.

Open House Schedule:

• Mon., Oct. 23, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Eckstein Middle School, lunchroom, 3003 NE 75th St. Interpreters: Spanish, Somali, Chinese and Amharic

• Thurs., Oct. 26, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Ballard High School, commons, 1418 NW 65th St., Interpreters: Spanish, Somali, Chinese and Amharic.

• Mon., Oct. 30, 6:30 to 8 p.m., McClure Middle School, gym, 1915 1st Ave. W. Interpreters: Spanish, Somali, Chinese and Vietnamese.

• Wed., Nov. 8, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Cleveland High School, lunchroom, 5511 15th Ave. S. Interpreters: Spanish, Somali, Chinese and Vietnamese.

• Thurs., Nov. 9, 6:30 to 8 p.m., West Seattle High School, lunchroom, 3000 California Ave. SW Interpreters: Spanish, Somali, Chinese and Vietnamese.

At the end of the month, families and staff will receive an email invitation and survey to provide feedback on the three proposed high school boundary options. New high school boundaries will be implemented in 2019-20. The top three potential scenarios can be found on the High School Boundary Task Force Recommendations webpage. For more background information including a timeline for decisions, visit our High School Boundary Changes webpage.

Submitted by: Flip Herndon 10-19-17 Page 1


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Submitted by Pegi McEvoy on October 19, 2017 Page 1

Date: Thursday, October 19, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Pegi McEvoy, Assistant Superintendent for Operations Re: Friday Memo for October 20, 2017 As the schools settle into more routine operations, several items are worthy of note.ad Logistics:

Transportation – Potential Interruption in First Student Service

Approximately 20% of our students use our First Student providers. We continue to be optimistic that First Student and the Teamsters will find a resolution and they are continuing to talk. However, in the event of a strike disrupts service, schools and families will need to be prepared to minimize disruptions. We are communicating with families and are helping schools prepare in case a strike should happen. At this time, schools are anticipated to be open with normal schedules if a strike should occur. Transportation - Stop Paddle Program This is School Bus Safety Week and we continue to work with our partners to implement the Stop Paddle Program. The goal is to reduce the number of vehicles that violate the law by ignoring the stop paddles and thereby increasing the risk of student injury while going to and from school. With 120 of the 379 First Student buses outfitted with cameras in the last several weeks, we have had approximately 3000 violations. We will continue our safety campaign in hopes of reducing these numbers. Safety and Security Today was the Great Washington Shake Out and we held a district wide emergency communications drill. Additionally, the majority of our schools participating in a “drop, cover and hold” drill. Thank you to Genesee Hill staff, students and families for hosting media so that the community can learn about the safety programs and drills at our schools.


Submitted by C.Campbell on 10/20/2017

Date: Oct. 20, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: Carri Campbell, Chief Engagement Officer James Bush, Director of Community and Family Partnerships Re: Friday Memo for Oct. 20, 2017

Strategic Plan Goal 3: School, Family and Community Engagement

SMART GOAL 2: Family Engagement Family Partnership Manager On Monday, Oct. 16, Anita Koyier-Mwamba started her new role with SPS as our newly created Family Partnerships Manager position. She will serve as critical support for our work supporting Welcoming Environments, Smart Goal #2, and help improve systems for family engagement, Smart Goal #4. Her first priority will be to lead the Landscape Analysis of SPS’s family engagement practices in collaboration with the Community Center for Educational Results and the Institute for Educational Leadership. Engaging Families in High School Success On Oct. 26 and 27, Engaging Families in High School Success (EFIHS) project (John Hopkins University (JHU) / US Department of Education grant) is hosting our annual institute. EFIHS is focused on improving 9th grade success and course passing, two indicators of successful high school graduation, by helping middle schools and high schools develop targeted family engagement transition strategies. The institute provides the 11 participating middle and 10 participating high schools with six hours of professional development, jointly led by SPS and JHU, to provide school staff with innovative strategies to improve family engagement and support district goals of creating Welcoming Environments. SMART GOAL 4: Engagement and Collaboration Community Engagement - Input on High School Advanced Learning: One aspect of Smart Goal 4 is identifying and supporting 3-4 high level engagements throughout the school year. One area of engagement is feedback on potential changes to Advanced Learning opportunities – what families want, what implications we need to consider and what questions they may have. The Communications and Engagement team, together with the Student Supports team, launched a two-way community engagement project using the newly implemented tool, ThoughtExchange. This is a new tool for the district, and it is different from a traditional survey. Staff used open-ended questions (What are the most important things for us to understand as we consider changes to our high school advanced learning services? What are some things we could put in place to increase high school advanced learning opportunities for more students? What questions do you have about these possible changes?) to get an understanding of values and priorities of our families. After the exchange closed on Oct. 4, 1,819 family members, students and staff had participated in the ThoughtExchange, provided 7,020 comments and scored others’ thoughts 169,720 times. An initial report was provided to Student Supports on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 18. Top themes from elementary school participates (just 5 grade) included supports for advanced learners, curriculum and programming and transportation. Top themes from middle school and high school related to question one included availability of advanced learning



opportunities, curriculum and programming, equal access, grandfathering – specific to Garfield HS, maintaining HCC (analyst is digging in further to determine if this is about 1-8 HCC or HC), supports for advanced learners, and the value of a cohort of students. For question 2, regarding how to increase access, the top themes were: availability, equal access, funding, testing, information and input, professional development and teachers and staff. Behind each theme are sub themes that describe what stakeholders are concerned about and will be presented to the Board on Oct. 25. In addition, Advanced Learning, ELL and the Engagement Departments have been hosting native language meetings. More than 100 family members and students have participated in the meetings run in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Somali. 85 percent of the meetings were conducted in native language and translated back for staff. Key themes included: a desire for increased availability of advanced learning opportunities across the district – with specific configuration recommendations, better communication about testing and opportunities in native language – they don’t have enough information, support in helping families identify giftedness – working as partners with families, an resources for families to support their children. Advanced Learning also met with Garfield HS families. Student Support Services will be introducing recommendations to the School Board on Oct. 25 in response to the community input. Additional engagement supports have included: home language emails, the launch of a new community engagement webpage and social media push. Community Engagement – High School Boundaries: Enrollment services is trying out a new format for engaging the community on changes to the Student Assignment Plan and gathering input on future high school boundaries. All families have been invited to participate in a SAP Open House. There will be five regional meetings. Information and details are on the district homepage. At the meetings representatives from various departments will be on hand to answer questions and take comments. In addition, maps of the recommended high school boundaries (3 options) will be presented and the community will have an opportunity to ask questions of task force members. Families have been invited through direct communication, social media, school webpage posts and a homepage post. We are also sharing this with key partners. High School Boundaries are a huge change for our families. We anticipate lots of interest. The week of Oct. 30, a survey will be provided to all families requesting input on the three high school boundary choices. This information will inform the final recommendation presented to the School Board. In addition, to provide additional support to families, a new webpage was launched that includes each option, considerations and guiding principles the representative task force used in development. The task force included principals, staff and family members. It has been meeting since April 2017. Training and Capacity Building: A commitment in SMART Goal 4 is to provide both central and school based staff capacity building opportunities focused on improved engagement and communication. On Tuesday we hosted a training for central office and school based staff on Community Engagement (Community Engagement: Why, What and How). Participants included school leadership, and Executive Director of Schools, Title IX, teachers and a counselor, capital staff,



career and college readiness and the new volunteer coordinator. The group used the SPS community engagement toolkit to select and plan for a real decision that needs to be made – one offered by a workshop participant. The next training in the series focuses on how to create an inclusive engagement plan. Upcoming Trainings: Community Engagement Training: Why, What and How  Learn about the new community engagement framework, tools and supports available to you. Participants will have the opportunity use the new tools and leave with a better understanding of why and when to engage stakeholders in decision making. Oct. 26, 8:30-10:30 a.m. in Room 2774 of the JSCEE Jan. 16, 4-6 p.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) Feb. 15, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) Community Engagement: Building an Effective and Inclusive Plan  Learn how to build an effective and inclusive engagement and communication plan. Participants will learn how to create a strategic engagement/communication plan, employ culturally responsive strategies and tools to support representative feedback, and will leave with a better understanding of how to integrate authentic community engagement principles into projects and initiatives. Note: This is the second workshop in a series. If you are new to community engagement, we encourage you to attend the Community Engagement: What, Why and How session before participating in this workshop. Nov. 16, 8:30-10:30 a.m. in Room 2778 of the JSCEE Jan. 23, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) March 20, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) Community Engagement: Evaluating Community Engagement and Closing the Loop In this workshop, you will learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of your engagement, make course corrections, and share back information with key stakeholders and the community. Note: This is the third workshop in a series. If you are new to community engagement, we encourage you to first attend the Community Engagement: What, Why and How and Community Engagement: Building and Effective and Inclusive Plan sessions before participating in this workshop. Dec. 12, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) Feb. 13, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) April 24, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) June 12, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) Community Engagement: Meeting Facilitation Techniques and Team Building Learn new ways to build a collaborative team culture and commitment to key departmental or school work. Join the Communications and Engagement team and other colleagues for a workshop focused innovation ways to structure meetings, strategies to engage multiple perspectives and bring more coherence and commitment to our collective work. May 8, 4:30 -6:30 p.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA) May 22, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. at JSCEE (Room TBA)



Register for training all trainings by emailing [email protected] at least one week in advance. Your registration will be confirmed and you will receive the agenda and additional instructions. Maximum 20 participants per session. Web Editing on the SchoolMessenger CMS and Effective Writing for Web This training offers school and department web editors practical techniques for using the website content management system and writing for the web tips that will boost positive user experience and engagement on SPS websites. The first half of the workshop will focus on:

• Creating new pages, news announcements and events • Using the web editor to update content • Structuring web content to make pages easy to scan and read

The second half of the program will be a hands-on demo to answer specific questions about school websites and department webpages. Bring your web editing questions! Oct. 30, 4-5:30 p.m., Louisa Boren STEM computer Room 159 Nov. 2, 4-5:30 p.m., Hazel Wolf Pinehurst room Nov. 6, 12:30-2 p.m., JSCEE Prof. Learning Center 2030 Nov. 6, 4-5:30 p.m., TOPS library loft/computer room Nov. 8, 5-7 p.m., Aki Kurose computer lab Nov. 16, 12:30 - 2 p.m., JSCEE Prof. Learning Center 2030 Sign up available in ESS. You can register for the afternoon-evening regional school locations (you do not need to be assigned to that specific school) or for the mid-day central office sessions. Contact: Pauline Amell Nash [email protected]. 2016-17 SMART GOAL 5 EXTENSION (improved communications/engagement) Editorial Calendar Website news

• Search Engine Optimization: We have established Google Brand Accounts for public district and school websites to help manage SPS online presence of official district websites across Google, including search and maps. It enables us to edit our organizational information and optimize search engine results. Since Sept. 1, 2017, approximately 400,000 visitors (23 percent of total web visit sessions) came to seattleschools.org from a Google search engine result. The second most utilized search engine accounted for 2 percent of total web visit sessions.

• Website Refresh Updates for Site Icons Mobile: Based on user experience feedback, we are working with our website vendor School Messenger to better utilize the top of the screen when district and school websites are viewed on small screens (i.e., portrait orientation on smart phones). We have reduced the size of the icon quick links at the top of the page and are working to make other improvements to economize this space.

• User survey: This Sunday evening we will close the website satisfaction survey. Thank you to the School Board members who participated! Feedback from our families, students and staff will help us continue to improve the site.

News clips of interest


mailto:[email protected]



• October is bullying prevention month, and Seattle Public Schools is piloting a service that helps intervene in cyberbullying. The district announced the partnership with iCanHelpline.org and Google to test the service in Seattle this school year. The district can act on student reports of cyberbullying by contacting iCanHelpline.org, which investigates social media terms of service to try to get the content deleted. National statistics indicate more than 90 percent of teens are online, and anywhere between seven to 31 percent report online harassment. The district will track use and success rates to evaluate the service’s effectiveness. Day-of news coverage included KOMO TV and Q13, with additional interviews scheduled.

• Thursday, Oct. 19, was the Great Shakeout, the statewide earthquake drill. Seattle Public Schools is participating districtwide, and Genesee Hill is one of four school locations across the state that will host media to show how schools prepare students and families.

State of the District Better Together: Nov. 14, Reception: 5-5:30 p.m., Program: 5:30-7 p.m. at West Seattle High School Theater at 3000 California Ave. S.W. You are invited to learn about the district’s vision for preparing students for success, our progress and our focus for the school year. Hear from our students, school leaders and community partners and leave inspired and committed to our collective work. RSVP to [email protected]. Transportation will be available to staff to and from the JSCEE. Invitations will go out to all staff, partners, etc. next week. If School Board members would like to invite specific people, please let us know at [email protected].


http://komonews.com/news/local/kids-and-corporations-work-to-stop-growing-problem-during-bullying-prevention-month

http://q13fox.com/2017/10/09/seattle-schools-get-help-fighting-cyberbullying/

https://mil.wa.gov/blog/news/post/drop-cover-hold-on-and-then-get-two-weeks-ready


Submitted by John Krull on October 20, 2017 Page 1

Date: Friday, October 20, 2017 To: Dr. Larry Nyland, Superintendent From: John Krull, Chief Information Officer Re: Friday Memo for October 20, 2017 Department of Technology Services: SharePoint Sites in Schools and Central Office Microsoft SharePoint, part of our Office 365 enterprise license allows for district-wide collaboration and knowledge management. Along with OneDrive, SharePoint provides a secure and compliant platform that integrates with Schoology, our learning management system. Our rollout of SharePoint sites for all Seattle Public Schools is 25% complete and support personnel are working hard to make it a successful and smooth deployment. We have 90 members including Instructional Technology (IT) team members and DoTS staff in the SharePoint course we built to provide self-paced instruction for school representatives. This allowed schools to have more control over the deployment timeline since the beginning of the year is very busy for the IT and Technical Support Specialist (TSS) teams. After a school member completes the course, the representative works with their IT and TSS to plan for the rollout, including a process for migrating content from the school-based network servers. District office administrative personnel have led the adoption centrally. Most meeting materials are no longer printed but are posted online in SharePoint. Staff can collaborate and have a single source for important documents. Our users are happy to have access to materials when away from the school, such as when they are meeting in other SPS locations. Through establishing SharePoint sites at every school, Goal 2 of our Strategic Plan is being addressed by ensuring technology and academic systems are aligned to allow for better collaboration and support of students and staff. We designed the school templates with state archiving requirements in mind, striking a balance between ease of use for staff and structures needed for archiving. Additional benefits of SharePoint include:

• Collaboration: project and work related data worked on by entire team from one location • Files stored in one location and easily shared • Access SharePoint content from any computer, anywhere, anytime • Secure: SPS data is secure and managed • Compliance: SharePoint is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

compliant


Submitted by John Krull on October 20, 2017 Page 2

Business Intelligence

School-At-A-Glance (SAAG) is a report designed to deliver a current view of key performance indicators, demographics, and summary information relevant to a single school, packaged in a compact document for easy consumption. The metrics refresh daily and are intended to support Superintendent SMART Goal 2: Eliminating the Opportunity Gap through supplying the necessary metrics to school leaders in order for them to make informed decisions and take actions towards closing opportunity gaps within the currently enrolled student population.

Improvements and updates are made to SAAG based on feedback from users. Since initial launch in February 2017, three updates have been released for SAAG. Since launch, roughly 70% of SAAG usage is from school-based leaders while 30% is from central office.

Staff get SAAG and other reports and dashboards from Atlas, formerly Academic Data Warehouse (ADW).

Meeting with Michael Fullan:

In an effort to support the district's mission of providing equitable access to education along with eliminating opportunity gaps, Michael Fullan, author of "Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, District's, and Systems" will meet with leadership on November 29.


board meeting – oct. 18, 2017 - seattle public schools · october is principal appreciation...

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