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Volume 3 - Issue
14 - December 13, 2004 |
This is the final Insider
prior to Winter Break. Best wishes to you for a
wonderful Winter Break and holiday season.
Governing
Board Reception and Meeting
A
reception honoring incoming and outgoing Board members
will be held on Tuesday, December 14, from 4:30 - 6:30
p.m. in Training Rooms 4 and 5 at the Ben Furlong
Education Center. The most recent teachers who have
received National Board Certification will also be
honored.
At
the Board meeting:
- The Board will vote on the Work Plan for revising the
Kyrene Strategic Plan
- Presentations on the Montessori program, National
Board Certified Teachers, the Kyrene Schools Community
Foundation, and the Compensation Study will take place
-
Representatives from the All-Day Kindergarten Enrollment
Revision Committee will present an overview of the
enrollment revision process and final plan
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K-8 Programming Study
The
K-8 Programming Study Committee met last week and
focused on examining the current elementary school
instructional models and programs. Keeping the
parameters provided by the Instructional Time Allocation
Solutions Team at a prior meeting in mind, Committee
members worked in small groups to develop ideas and
recommendations for the Current and Alternative
Elementary Models Solutions Team. The next meeting will
take place Tuesday, December 14 from 1:00-4:00 in
Conference Room B at the District Office. The main focus
will be on alternatives to the current models operating
in the elementary schools for the Committee’s
consideration. Information about the various ideas
shared will be provided in the next Insider.
The agenda and minutes from the meeting will
be available on the Web
site.
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Kyrene Accepting Tax Credit Donations on
New Year's Eve
The
District Office will open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on
December 31 to accept last-minute tax credit donations.
This first-time event will be publicized through Kyrene
publications, news releases, signage, and other means to
generate interest from individuals who may have waited
until the last minute to make a donation.
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Reminder to All Employees About Winter
Break Paychecks
Live
paychecks and direct deposit statements for the December
30, 2004, payday will be delivered to school sites and
departments on Monday, January 3, 2005. For those
employees with direct deposit, funds should be deposited
to accounts as usual on Thursday, December 30, 2004.
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Holiday Pay
Attention
all school-based classified staff, bus drivers, and
monitors. This
is a reminder that the January 13th paycheck will cover
holiday pay only for those who are employed for a
minimum of 20 hours per week. To calculate the value of
holiday pay for December 24th and December 31st, use
the attached chart. Time logs will not be needed for
the weeks ending December 24th and December 31st unless
the employee actually works during this two-week period.
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Voluntary
Deductions on January 13 Payday
This
is a notice to all school-based employees, excluding
building managers, custodians, and administrators
regarding voluntary deductions on the January 13, 2005,
payday. Insurance and annuity payroll deductions will NOT
be in effect for the January 13, 2005, pay; however, all
other voluntary payroll deductions will be in effect.
All deductions will resume on January 27, 2005. These
deductions for this pay period were suspended because
the majority of our school-based support staff will
receive only holiday pay on January 13th.
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Kyrene
to Adopt Reading Resource Materials
Kyrene is in
the process of adopting a comprehensive core reading
program that will serve as a foundation for reading
instruction at all grade levels beginning in the
2005-2006 school year. The Reading Steering Committee
has narrowed the resources to three K-6 companies and
three 6-8 companies. Click
here for additional information.
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Writing
Curriculum Revision
The Arizona
Department of Education adopted the new Arizona Writing
Standard in June 2004. In the 2004-2005 school year,
schools are expected to transition to the new standard
with mandatory use of the Arizona Writing Standard in
the 2005-2006 school year. Attached
is additional information about the Writing
Curriculum Revision Committee and process.
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Chapman
Administrative Coursework
The Curriculum
and Assessment Department is working in partnership with
Chapman University to provide administrative coursework
for individuals interested in pursuing their
administrative certificate. These courses are open to
any individual inside or outside of the Kyrene School
District who is interested in taking administrative
coursework. The next Chapman administrative class is
Educational Personnel Administration, taught by Vickie
Middleton. The dates are January 7th and 8th, 21st and
22nd, and the 28th and 29th. Friday classes are
scheduled from 4:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Saturday classes
are scheduled from 8 am - 4 p.m. This class will meet at
the District Office. Classes will be offered on a
monthly basis through June with no class in March.
Tuition ($310 per class) is due by December 16, 2004. To
see a list of classes for 2005 click
here.
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Highly
Qualified Classes in Science and Social Studies
The Curriculum
and Assessment Department has been working with the KEA
presidents and Human Resources regarding ways to help
educators become highly qualified in science and social
studies. If you are a teacher interested in creating and
delivering workshops to specifically address content
that applies to HQ requirements in science and social
studies, please contact Patty
Hineman in the Curriculum and Assessment Department
at x4115. Performance contracts will be provided to
teachers interested in creating or delivering these
classes.
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NAU
Masters in Elementary Education Cohort
Kyrene, in
conjunction with Northern Arizona University, will be
offering a Masters in Elementary Education Cohort
beginning Monday, January 3, 2005. Currently, there are
thirteen Kyrene educators enrolled in this cohort. If
you are interested, it is not too late to enroll.
Classes meet Monday evenings from 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. at
the District Office in Training Room 5. This two-year
program (six semesters) will run from January 2005
through December 2006. For more information, contact Patty
Hineman in the Curriculum and Assessment Department
(x4115).
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Grants
for Teachers
The NEA Foundation offers grants of up to $5,000/per
teacher project. If you apply by February 1st,
you will be notified by June 15th whether your grant
application was approved. Applications for both
Innovation Grants and Learning and Leadership Grants are
accepted on an ongoing, year-round basis, so it’s
never too late to apply.
The
NEA Foundation’s grants are available for all
subjects, including the arts, literacy, science, and
technology. All practicing K-12 public school teachers
in the United States, education support professionals,
and faculty and staff at public colleges and
universities are encouraged to apply.
Applying for a grant is easy, so why wait? Contact Karin
Crider for more information.
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Winter
Wonderland Event
This past Saturday the Kyrene Family Resource Center
hosted the 3rd annual Winter Wonderland
event. More than 250 families from throughout the
Kyrene community were provided food, clothing, toys and
household items. This event was made possible by
the generosity of many of our schools and local
businesses – along with dozens of volunteers. Thank
you to each school and individual that generously gave
of your time and made a donation to benefit the families
in our schools and community.
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National
Inclusive Schools Week
Thank
you to each of the schools that participated in the
celebration of National Inclusive Schools Week.
Information about the special activities and programs
coordinated by schools to celebrate the diversity of our
student population will be posted on the Kyrene Web site
in the coming days.
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New
Preschool Page
Parents inquiring about various preschool programs
offered in Kyrene can now be referred to the new
Preschool page on the Kyrene Web site, which will
provide information
about Special Programs Preschool, Montessori, Kyrene
Kids Club Early Learning Centers, and Headstart.
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Updating
Contact Information
Have you ever double-clicked or right-clicked on a person's
name to look at their Properties in Outlook (phone
number, location, etc.), and then found that some of the
information was either missing or incorrect? In order to
ensure that every staff member’s information is
correct, we have developed a new tool to allow you to
review and update personal information. To review/update
your information, please go to the attached
Web page and click on the link at the top of the
page. You will be prompted to fill in your user name and
password. You will then be presented with a screen that
lists the information that is on the Properties page in
your network account profile. You may change information
that is in white boxes. Please note that this will not
change any information on your official Human Resources
or Payroll records – this is merely the display
information in Outlook. If you need to request any
official changes in your name, address, phone, marital
status, etc., please contact Human Resources.
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Grant
Award
Congratulations to the Kyrene Athletic Program that
recently received a grant in the amount of $3,000 from
the Angels Care Foundation! This grant will be used
to support student scholarships.
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