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Superintendent's
Advisory Bulletin
Volume 4, Issue 6 - August 17, 2009
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Priority Key
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U
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Urgent
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A
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Action
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Information
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ACTION ITEMS
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Priority
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Subject
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Department
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Attachment(s)
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A
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Division Meeting Calendar
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Supt's Office
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Yes -1
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and Holiday Observances
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On Friday, members of the Leadership Team should have received Outlook Appointments for the division-level meetings they have been invited to attend. By accepting the meeting, it is placed in your Outlook Calendar. Should a meeting be cancelled, rescheduled or relocated, you will automatically receive the update via your Outlook appointment. Using Outlook will help you keep your calendar up-to-date as events are added or changed throughout the year.
We will no longer be maintaining the SAB Calendar in SchoolCenter. As of Monday, August 24, the SAB Calendar link will no longer appear on the site.
The Division-level meeting calendar can be viewed inside Outlook through the Shared Calendar feature. CLICK HERE for an instruction sheet on how to access this calendar, located under "Superintendent Pam Moran."
Division directors who are in charge of one of the meetings listed on the Division-level calendar should notify Kathy Halvorsen if there are any changes to a meeting's date, location, or time so updates can be made.
Beginning tomorrow, we will send reminders of important cultural and education holidays and observances through Outlook. Please simply accept the appointment for a friendly reminder of events such as Yom Kippur and American Education Week, etc. These should help leaders recognize events that impact their students and staff.
You may print the month-by-month division meeting shared calendar from within Outlook if you wish, although we would discourage that option as it will soon be outdated and is not in keeping with our environmental initiatives.
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A
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Connect-ED Training
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Supt's Office
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Yes-2
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And Use of System Attach. 1 Attach- 2
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The Division is now using BlackBoard Connect (Connect-ED) as its Parent Outreach Communications tool. If you were unable to attend training last week, please follow the instructions in the "Welcome to Connect-ED" email you received from support@blackboardconnect.com to login to your account and to take the online training for the system.
Every principal received this email with their account information. For your convenience, another email to all principals from support@blackboardconnect.com will arrive today at 4:30 p.m. If you do not get the email or need additional assistance, please contact BlackBoard Connect's 24 Hour Customer Support at 866-435-7684.
We would like all principals to use the system by next Monday to send a Welcome Back message to families . Sample scripts for this message are available to users by clicking on the down arrow next to "Available Scripts" from the Create Message screen. There is a sample script for Welcome Back in both English and in Spanish, and a sample for announcing your Open House.
This is a powerful tool to reach out to our families and regular use will improve school-community relations as parents are more informed and engaged about what is happening at their child's school.
For more information, please download and review the Connect-ED Quick Start Guide and the Reference Guide .
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A
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H1N1 Flu Update and
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Operations
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Attach - 1
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Letter To be Included in First Day Packets
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& Planning
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Attach - 2
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In preparation for flu season, school division staff are working closely with the Health Department and other regional authorities to plan and coordinate our efforts. Principals received a copy of the Draft Pandemic Flu Plan in June, and were asked to make it part of their school-based crisis planning.
Until instructed otherwise, we will be treating H1N1 as we do seasonal influenza - exclude students and staff with fevers until 24 hours after resolution of fever without the use of fever suppressing medications; teach, encourage and practice good respiratory etiquette; teach, encourage and practice good and frequent hand washing; encourage and obtain information about influenza vaccines when available. We may consider other measures as recommended by the health department and CDC if warranted by the number and severity of cases.
CLICK HERE for the letter to be sent home with all students in their first day packets. This version is signed by Dr. Bruce Benson, but principals may elect to change the signature to their own if that fits their school community better.
Click HERE for the FAQ (double-sided) to be sent accompanying the letter. Spanish translations will be available in the next few days. We plan to use the Electronic Notification System to remind families to look for the letter in their packets.
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A
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New Race & Ethnicity
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Accountability
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Yes - 1
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Forms to be Included in First Day Packets
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Research &
Technology
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New Race and Ethnicity Forms will be sent to you in the next couple of days. Please be sure they go home to each student in first day packets. The cover letter and form are written in English and Spanish. The Frequently Asked Question document included with the letter and form is written in English with an explanation that parents can get a translated version from their child's school. Copies of the translated version will be sent to schools in the next week.
CLICK HERE for the FAQ that will be included with the letter, which is a good reference for front office staff and/or counselors who may have to field questions from parents regarding the new federal guidelines. If you have any questions, please contact Bonnie Pendleton.
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INFORMATION
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Priority
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Subject
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Department
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Attachment(s)
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SAB Changes for 8/24
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Supt's Office
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No
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Beginning Monday, August 24, the Superintendent's Advisory Bulletin will be housed in SchoolNet Outreach and will no longer be located in SchoolCenter.
An email indicating the SAB has been updated will still be distributed, with a link to the SAB in Outreach. You will need to log in to SchoolNet to view the SAB. Only members of the SAB distribution list will have account permissions to view the SAB, which appears in your Outreach tab in SchooNet, and is available 24/7.
Other communications resources, such as newsletter articles and graphics, Division logos and communications guidelines, etc. are also located in the Communications section of Outreach.
If you have questions about using Outreach, please contact Chris Gilman.
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Audited VGLA Collections
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DART
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No
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Audited VGLA Collections will be returned to schools this week. They are secure materials and should be treated as such. Please be sure collections for students who have moved up to a new school are delivered to that school. GOOD NEWS - there is a new policy regarding the destruction of old collections. A copy of the policy will be included in next week's SAB.
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Division Guidelines
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Operations &
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Yes - 1
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regarding Political Candidates Materials
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Planning
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Fall elections are right around the corner Click here to review and follow division guidelines regarding distribution of materials by political candidates.
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I
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Want to Integrate
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DART
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No
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Technology in Your Classroom(s)?
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ACPS and the Curry School are partners in the Technology Infusion Program (TIP). The goal of TIP is twofold: while both the students and teachers of Albemarle County are exposed to the latest in educational technology as tools for learning and instruction, the Curry School students benefit as well. Each of the Curry School students are pre-service education majors who will have the opportunity to design technology-enriched lesson plans and be able to teach them in an actual K-12 setting under the guidance of a veteran teacher. For more information about TIP, visit http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/class/edlf/545/tip.html. To express interest in a TIP placement for the Fall semester, please visit http://bit.ly/tip0910 to answer a few questions by September 2 at the latest! Sooner is better as the TIP course begins August 26. Contact Becky Fisher via E-Mail with any questions!
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Digital Learning Resources
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Instruction
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Yes - 1
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Principals: Each school librarian has Information and access to (Click here)Digital Learning Resources, Online Database Subscriptions and Electronic Professional Journal Subscriptions. Descriptions and access to these resources will be linked from each librarian's homepage and through SchoolNet. Maury Brown has passwords for staff located in COB.
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iPhone Training Available
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DART
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No
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Are you having trouble maximizing your experience with your new iPhone? Not able to get your contacts and e-mails synced? Don't know which apps to load? DART staff are here to help.. We will start with the most novice tasks: understanding the phone, setting a password, and navigating the phone. We will also be ready to help more experienced and advanced users realize the extensive functionality possible: syncing contacts, calendar, and e-mail; downloading useful apps, and integrating your iPhone into your instructional lead experience.
If you are interested, contact either Becky Fisher or Chris Gilman for more information about training.
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Discipline Form Changes
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Instruction
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Yes - 4
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for 2009-10
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Attach. #1
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Attach. #2
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Attach. #3
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Attach. #4
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In the Restorative Practices workshops this summer, administrators requested a way to have the practices noted on the discipline referral and recorded in SASI. Attached(Click here for Elementary School; Click here for Middle School; Click here for High School) is the new template for the discipline referral with the check boxes. Schools will receive a "starter pack" of these new forms in NCR format as happened last year. SASI contacts will be given instruction on the fields to use when entering the answers to the questions. Also note there is now an option to record if a threat assessment was done. This will be put on SASI as well.
Also click here to find the restorative questions formatted in a letter size that you could post in your office. Thanks to Greg Domecq for this.
Please contact Steele Howen at 974-8070 if you have questions about the form or the practices.
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Keeping Student School
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Supt.s
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Yes - 2
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Fees Low
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Office
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Attach. #1
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Attach. #2
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Click here to review requests from the Legal Aid Justice Center and click here for a letter from the Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Society, Inc. requesting the schools to keep school fees as low as possible and keep school supply lists small to minimize the cost of school of attendance for low-income families.
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Priority
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Deadline
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Subject
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Department
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8/21/09
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Dept. of Instruction Directors
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Instruction
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2 to 4 p.m., COB, Rm. 320
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8/25/09
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First Day of Class for
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Instruction
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2009-10 |
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9/4/09
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Dept. of Instruction Directors
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Instruction
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2 to 4 p.m., COB, Rm. 320
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9/7/09
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Labor Day - School
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Instruction
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Holiday All County Offices & Schools Closed
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9/8/09
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Culturally Responsive
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Community
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Through
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Teaching Best Practice Tools ARC,
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Engagement
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9/11/09
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8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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9/10/09
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PMOC Meeting, 8 to 10 a.m.
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Supt.'s Office
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COB, Rm. 320
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9/10/09
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School Board Meeting,
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Supt.'s Office
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6:30 p.m. COB, Lane Auditorium
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RESOURCES
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Subject
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Department
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Professional Development Opportunities
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Click here to go to ARC's homepage that is updated DAILY with current professional development opportunities.
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Click here to learn about Successful Innovations, Inc. (partner of Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals) which is excited to offer a Response to Intervention Seminar with a trained RTI consultant!
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Click here for fall 2009 professional development plan for Instructional Coaches.
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Click here for Jay McTighe's resources from EduStat
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Minutes and Agendas
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Click here for the Fine & Performing Arts Agenda.
Click here for the Fine& Performing Arts "Meet and Greet" Sessions.
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8/14/09
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Dept. of Instruction Directors
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Instruction
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2 to 4 p.m., COB, Rm. 320
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8/21/09
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Dept. of Instruction Directors
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Instruction
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2 to 4 p.m., COB, Rm. 320
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8/25/09
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First Day of Class for 2009-10
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Instruction
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9/4/09
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Dept. of Instruction Directors
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Instruction
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2 to 4 p.m., COB, Rm. 320
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9/7/09
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Labor Day - School Holiday
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Instruction
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All County Offices & Schools Closed
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9/8/09
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Culturally Responsive Teaching
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Community
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Through
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Best Practice Tools
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Engagement
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9/11/09
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ARC, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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9/10/09
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PMOC Meeting, 8 to 10 a.m.
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Supt.'s Office
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COB, Rm. 320
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9/10/09
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School Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
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Supt.'s Office
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COB, Lane Auditorium
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9/11/09
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Directors of Instruction Directors
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Instruction
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2 to 4 p.m., COB, Rm. 320
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RESOURCES
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Subject
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Department
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Professional Development Opportunities
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Click here to go to ARC's homepage that is updated DAILY with current professional development opportunities.
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Click here to learn about Successful Innovations, Inc. (partner of Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals) which is excited to offer a Response to Intervention Seminar with a trained RTI consultant!
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Click here for fall 2009 professional development plan for Instructional Coaches.
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Click here for Jay McTighe's resources from EduStat
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Minutes and Agendas
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Click here for the Fine & Performing Arts Agenda.
Click here for the Fine& Performing Arts "Meet and Greet" Sessions.
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