Restorative Justice Leadership Roundtable 2022: The Role of Restorative Practices in Recovery (reminder)
In collaboration with OSSE, SchoolTalk’s RestorativeDCwill host the Restorative Justice Leadership Roundtable on Wednesday, May 25, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. This virtual convening will allow school leaders to hear directly from peers who have applied restorative practices using a Whole School model. The roundtable features a panel of DC school leaders, restorative justice practitioners, and community partners. Participants can also participate in facilitated deep-dive topic sessions on specific pandemic recovery needs and challenges.
The space will promote citywide dialogue about school communities, needed supports and the challenges and successes of school communities that have implemented restorative justice over the past six years. Following the Roundtable, DC schools will have access to planning support, coaching and technical assistance in using restorative practices to address school priorities for the 2022-23 school year. Register now on WHOVA.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Assessment Opportunity for Local Education Agencies and Schools (reminder) OSSE has received additional ESSER funding to support the continuation of the partnership withSoil and Land Use Technology, Inc. (SaLUT) to conduct indoor air quality assessments for LEAs on an as-needed basis.
The assessment will be provided at no cost to the school, on a first-come, first-served basis, until available funding is exhausted. Services include up to five hours of technical assistance with the contactor to review any findings. The contractor is responsible for arranging this meeting with each school.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine Requirements for Students in the 2022-23 School Year (reminder) In accordance with the Coronavirus Immunization of School Students and Early Childhood Workers Amendment Act of 2021, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the COVID-19 vaccine is required for all students who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination that is fully approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their age. As of May 4, 2022, the FDA has fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 16 and older and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 18 and older. If additional approvals occur, OSSE will communicate those updates as soon as possible.
Any student age 16 or older at the start of the 2022-23 school year must have received their primary COVID-19 vaccination series—or be proceeding in accordance with the series—or they will risk being removed from school. OSSE has revised the Immunization Attendance Policy for the 2022-23 school year to support schools and families with understanding and implementing this new requirement. Additionally, schools may refer to the OSSE website for new resources on this requirement, includingCOVID-19 Vaccine Requirements for DC Schools and COVID-19 Vaccination Compliance Steps. Facts about the COVID-19 vaccine are also available on the OSSE website, and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and at coronavirus.dc.gov/vaccine.
Revised Immunization Attendance Policy and Resources for the 2022-23 School Year (reminder) Take action now to ensure all students are fully immunized before the next school year! In order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, all students must be up to date on their required pediatric immunizations before the start of the 2022-23 school year. Schools should begin identifying non-compliant students now and informing families that they need to be up to date on their immunizations or risk being removed from school next year. In accordance with District law and regulation, beginning next school year,students who are not up to date with their required immunizations will risk being removed from school until they come into compliance.
The OSSE Immunization Attendance Policy has been revised for the 2022-23 school year. Schools may access training, frequently asked questions, flow charts, sample letters, best practices and resources on the OSSE website. This page also includes resources for families, including flyers, frequently asked questions and facts about immunizations.
Schools are strongly encouraged to review the immunization attendance policy and supporting materials now to get a head start on planning and notifying non-compliant families. It’s important for families to schedule their immunization and well-child appointments before the back-to-school rush.
School Health and Safety Guidance Technical Assistance (reminder)
OSSE's Health and Wellness Division offers the following technical assistance:
The next School Health and Safety Technical Assistance call is at 1 p.m. on Monday, June 6, and will focus on decision-making for COVID-19 prevention protocols.Join the June 6 call here. Advance registration is not required. The audience for these calls includes LEA leaders, principals and other administrators, and school health points of contact. For any school or LEA leader unable to attend the upcoming call or if you have questions that you wish to ask, please submit questions to the Division of Health and Wellness at OSSE.HealthandSafety@dc.gov.
Biweekly Test Kit Distribution for Pre-K, Kindergarten and Staff (reminder)
The District will continue distributing antigen test kits to schools for all staff and registered pre-K and kindergarten students in DCPS and public charter schools.
Test kits should be distributed to staff and students on Fridays.
Staff and students should take the test on Sunday (or the day before school resumes if a long weekend), report all results online here, and notify their school directly of a positive test result.
Upcoming pick-up date: May 26. Please note that May 26 is the final test kit distribution of this school year.
Please ensure your testing POCs are prepared to pick up the supply on these dates. OSSE will not provide alternative pick-up days.
Please contact Dana Carr at Dana.Carr@dc.gov with any questions.
Virtual Youth Health Summit
The DC Department of Health (DC Health) Youth Advisory Council (YAC), working in collaboration with the DC Department of Behavioral Health and Metropolitan Police Department, is inviting youth aged 14-21 to attend a virtual Youth Health Summit on Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The summit will focus on youth mental health, violence and healthy behaviors.
All District of Columbia adolescents interested in improving the health and well-being of youth in their local communities are invited to participate. Learn more and register at app.brazenconnect.com/a/dc-health/e/j3bNp.
Bridge to College Success student application deadline extended to Friday, May 27, 2022 (reminder) The Bridge to College Success program supports newly graduated DC public and public charter school students as they transition to their postsecondary education. This year it will be hosted through a partnership with Trinity Washington University from June 27 – Aug. 25, 2022.
The student applicationdeadline has been extended toFriday, May 27, 2022. You can share this flyer with potential participants.
We are looking for students who are college-bound, but perhaps not yet “college-ready.” These students need boosts in the academic areas of math and English and guidance as they transition to a college environment. All participating students will receive one college credit for FREE for taking the College Success course and the program is always registered as a Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) worksite – so students can get paid and earn college credit at the same time! For more assistance or information, please contact Marquita Hardy at Marquita.Hardy@dc.gov.
Discipline Data Collection Survey: We Want Your Feedback! (reminder) OSSE is gathering feedback on recent changes to the discipline data collection process. Your responses will inform our guidance and general approach to collecting your discipline data. We are interested in hearing multiple perspectives, so there is no limit to the number of people from each LEA who can provide feedback.
Please note that the survey is not anonymous. We want to ensure participation across a variety of LEAs, and when appropriate, follow up to troubleshoot challenges, seek clarification and offer opportunities to further inform improvements to discipline data collection. Complete the survey here before it closes on June 10, 2022. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful candor!
The DC Title I Committee of Practitioners is Looking for New Members for the 2022-23 School Year (reminder) The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires each state education agency to maintain a State Title I Committee of Practitioners (Title I COP). In the District of Columbia, this committee meets quarterly to serve as an advisory body and supports OSSE in carrying out its responsibilities under ESSA.
The Title I COP seeks to maintain a diverse and comprehensive committee membership that includes principals, teachers, and specialized instructional support personnel from DC public schools, public charter schools, and private schools.
The Title I COP currently has the following openings for the 2022-23 school year:
DC Public Schools
Teacher
Parent
Paraprofessional
DC Public Charter Schools
Paraprofessional
School Leader (Principal, Assistant Principal, Head of School)
Member of the DC State Board of Education
A representative from a private school participating in Title I-A equitable services
Interested parties can apply by submitting a completed application and current resume to OSSE.COP@dc.gov by Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. Please share this announcement amongst your networks to help build a Title I COP that represents a variety of stakeholders.
For questions or additional information about the Title I Committee of Practitioners, please contact Bonnie Bacon at Bonnie.Bacon@dc.gov.
2022 Health and Physical Education Assessment (HPEA): Halfway Point We are more than halfway into the testing window, and many LEAs in the District have already successfully administered the 2021-22 Health and Physical Education Assessment (HPEA). Thank you for your partnership in administering this important assessment.
If your LEA has not yet administered HPEA, please review a few reminders below. The assessment must be completed by June 24, 2022.
Assessment tickets: Before the start of the assessment, download, print, cut out, and distribute the assessment tickets to your school(s). Tickets are available in the “Health and Physical Education Assessment” subfolder in Box.
Sexual Health Exemption Letters: Ask your school(s) to distribute the exemption letter to parents in advance of the assessment. This letter provides guardians the option to exempt their students from completing the sexual health questions in the assessment.
Completion Rates: Login to the HPEA Qlik application regularly during your testing window to review completion rates, which are updated once daily. Follow up with schools to ensure 100 percent assessment completion, and review HPEA scores by school, grade level, and student.
If you missed the deadline to share your student accommodation plan using the Excel template found on the OSSE website, please upload the completed file to the HPEA Boxfolder as soon as possible.
As always, we are committed to your success. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or comments about the assessment: OSSE.SchoolHealth@dc.gov.
Mini-Professional Development Institute Summer 2022
Help Students Succeed and Get the Outcomes You Need: Managing the Learning Environment for Student Persistence in Education, Training and Workforce Programs
OSSE Adult and Family Education (OSSE AFE), in collaboration with the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), will host a Mini-Professional Development Institute for adult education providers, training providers, workforce development providers, partner agencies and other stakeholders from Monday, June 6 to Wednesday, June 8, 2022. There are two one-hour sessions scheduled each day. All sessions will be hosted online.
Registration is not required. To participate, click on the link provided for each session in the Schedule of Events. For additional information, contact osse.afeta@dc.gov.
New PD Series: Engaging English Learners in Instruction Through Social-Emotional Learning (reminder)
OSSE invites all teachers and school leaders who support English learners (ELs) in grades K-12 to participate in a two-part professional development series facilitated by Sands Educational Consulting. This series will support educators in laying the groundwork for student success by recognizing that social-emotional needs directly impact students’ potential for academic success. All teachers and school leaders who support ELs from grades K-12 are invited to attend. Participants will be eligible to earn up to four professional learning units (PLUs) upon completing the series. A separate registration is required to participate in each part; both parts take place on Wednesdays from 9-10:30 a.m. Register for part I on June 1 here. Register for part II on June 15 here.
Upcoming Virtual Professional Learning for DC Educators
OSSE's Division of Teaching and Learning (TAL) offers a robust menu of virtual professional learning opportunities, including live virtual sessions, multi-session series, and asynchronous modules. Find more details and registration links in the OSSE Training Registration application. For questions, please contact therelevant member of the TAL Professional Learning Team.
Monitoring of FY21 Grants: Evidence due June 30, 2022 (reminder) Given the significant, additional number of grants awarded this year, OSSE is taking a more focused approach to monitoring for FY21 grants. All LEAs received their monitoring notifications on May 6 which informed LEAs of what type of monitoring they will be receiving this year.
All LEAs are required to upload the mandatory evidence to Box by June 30, 2022. To do this successfully, LEAs should:
Review and begin collecting the mandatory evidence listed in the monitoring report templates attached to the email your LEA received on May 6, 2022.
Ensure that the staff responsible for uploading monitoring documents have access to Box. LEAs can request access by submitting an OSSE Support Tool ticket.
Name files.
Additionally, you received an email from your monitoring lead on May 6 which includes the FY21 sample expenditures request and the documents your LEAs will need to provide in relation to those expenditures, also by June 30, 2022.
OSSE will continue to update and redistribute these resources quarterly. If you have a question not addressed in these resources, please contact OSSE Communications at OSSE.Communications@dc.gov.
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To subscribe to OSSE's LEA Look Forward, please contact OSSE Communications at OSSE.Communications@dc.gov and provide your first name, last name, and email address.
