MASSP is dedicated to keeping our members informed as the situation with COVID-19 develops. This week you will receive the COVID-19 updates you have come to expect on Wednesday and Friday only. As you begin to implement your Continuous Learning Plans and engage with teachers, students and parents we will honor your time and reduce the amount of communication we are sending. If you have resources or information you think should be included in an upcoming update or on the MASSP COVID-19 resource center, please send them to Alicia Pilmore for consideration. Teacher Appreciation Month Officially Teacher Appreciation runs the week of May 4-8, but MDE has coined May Teacher Appreciation Month. Celebrate all the hard work your teachers are doing to help keep their students engaged and learning throughout the Stay At Home order. Click the link below for quick tips on how to recognize teachers throughout the month of May. College Decision Week Many high schools have programs in place for students to announce and celebrate where they plan to attend college in the fall as part of establishing a college going culture. College Decision Week typically runs April 27- May 8. We encourage all MI schools to use the hashtags #IDecided and #CollegeBoundMI in social media posts to bring more attention to these efforts Leader2Leader, Round 6 We look forward to engaging with leaders again on Thursday, April 30 beginning at 1 p.m. to explore the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned from initial implementation of district Continuity of Learning Plans and implications for the 2020-21 school year. Panelists will share thinking related to their planning and reflections about how the initial implementation of their Continuity of Learning Plan is going. From Me to You: Weekly Learning Opportunities, Week of May 4 To connect building leaders with their students and families, advance learning through educational leadership, and assist students in maintaining a healthy routine during the extended school closure, MASSP has created a weekly learning opportunity roadmap that principals may choose to distribute to their students and families through established local communication systems (e.g., email, school messenger, blog, social media etc). Each week you will receive this ready to distribute resource to encourage students and families to stay sharp, collaborate and have fun. To view past editions, click here. MASC/MAHS Student Leadership Town Hall with Governor Whitmer MASC/MAHS was able to host a virtual Town Hall with Governor Whitmer and her ed policy adviser, Brandy Johnson, exclusively for MASC/MAHS students last Thursday, April 23. To help organize this opportunity and to ensure student voice was the main contributing force we created a student question submission form for Governor Whitmer. In four days we received over 450 student centered questions for Governor Whitmer and her team. From that list the most pressing and most frequently asked questions were selected to be addressed during our student Town Hall. We asked those students that submitted questions to sit on a student panel and address Governor Whitmer directly. They did not disappoint! Check out the entire student Town Hall with Governor Whitmer and our question guide below - make sure to share this information with your young leaders. Power to the students! State Starts Process to Draw Down Federal K-12 Relief Funding Late last week, the Michigan Department of Education announced that it would be applying to the US Department of Education for Michigan's $390 million share of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, the K-12 portion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The distribution of these funds will be based upon the 2019-20 Title I, Part A funding formula and districts have until September 30, 2022 to spend the money. As part of their announcement, MDE shared preliminary federal guidance on ways the money can be spent. The short story is that it looks like districts are likely to be allowed huge latitude in determining how best to allocate this money, though the funds are ONE-TIME ONLY and – as MDE phrases it in their memo – districts would be wise to "reflect carefully about the best uses of these funds, particularly given their technological needs and efforts to preserve their staffing and services to children in a challenging financial environment." The announcement comes at a time when most state officials are projecting state revenue losses severe enough to result in a cut to school funding for next school year and possibly deep enough to even require some current year reductions. MDE Memo: Temporary Certification Guidance Provided to Traditional Michigan Educator Preparation Institutions to Assist Teacher and School Counselor Candidates During the COVID-19 Crisis The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has issued guidance to the state’s traditional educator preparation institutions to implement Sections VIII(A) and VIII (C) of Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order 2020-35. Section VIII(A) authorizes the Michigan Department of Education to issue temporary one-year teaching certificates and school counselor licenses to Michigan candidates seeking certification who have been unable to take the Michigan Tests for Teacher Certification due to test center closure. Section VIII(C) temporarily waives the requirements for CPR/First Aid for initial certification. To view all MDE Memos, click here. News Items and Resources Schools spending millions to deal with coronavirus 'There's A Huge Disparity': What Teaching Looks Like During Coronavirus Interesting national perspective on K-12 funding: Students in the Class of 2020 "have spent most of their K-12 careers in schools either facing budget cuts or struggling to recover from them... Resist the urge to grade students during the coronavirus closures Engaging Families in Remote Learning University of Michigan planning all-day online celebration for 2020 graduates Share this with your AP Teachers & Students: Here is a link for an Advanced Placement (AP) testing demo. It allows students to practice in the testing environment before the test goes live For Your Staff Maintaining Connections, Reducing Anxiety While School Is Closed - Educational Leadership Staff and Student Engagement |