Some offerings include:

• AccessAbility for All: Equity and Access with Technology (asynchronous)

• The Automated Classroom (asynchronous)

• Culturally Responsive Planning: Inclusive Curriculum & Assessment (Register: 12/7 at 3:30pm)

• Developing Age-Appropriate Social Skills Post COVID with our Early Childhood Students in Grades PreK-2 (Register: 12/8 at 9:30am)

• Elevating Student voice through Increased Levels of Collaboration with Adults and Peers: Exploring the Student Voice Continuum: Session 4 (Register: 12/15 at 1pm)

• Don't Worry, Be Happy: Everything's going to be alright for our students (Register: 1/11/23 at 9:30am)

http://www.nysed.gov/accountability/professional-learning

Two Transportation updates:

1) We continue to have ongoing meetings with CDTA in regards to expanding our High School transportation. Our long-term goal is to have all of our qualified regular educated students transported by CDTA. CDTA provides service to and from school, and after school events to include weekend travel; and,

2) We have been involved in meetings with a company called Bus Patrol. This company has electronic video equipment that has the ability to give us recorded and live bus feed of onboard events. It's main service is an exterior stop arm camera that can identify vehicles illegally passing a bus while the safety arm and lights are on for the student boarding process. This service would need City and District Leadership approval before moving forward.

More to come...

We are starting to pilot Online registration!! This is being tested now. More to come...

Please, when withdrawing any student with an IEP or 504, send the withdrawal form or email to Michele Zielinski so that she can inactivate them in Frontline.

Registration has been doing so well with our Spanish speaking population with the addition of Bianca Rivera to Registration/Transportation.

Right now our Pre-k slots are full; however, please tell parents to go to our website for Central Registration and click on Pre-K registration and then complete the online application

Staff: If you have a Professional Teaching Certificate, please be sure to print all CTLE certificates for events that occur during your five year window for re-certification.

Contact Theresa Shanahan at shanahant@schenectady.k12.ny.us with questions.

Home School/Instruction continues to grow! If you have interested families looking for information, please provide them with the following:

Questions regarding home instruction should be directed to Connie Miller at 518-464-3982 and/or homeschooling@neric.org.

When submitting home school/instruction documents, please be sure to include the following information:

• Student's Name

• DOB

• Grade Level

• Parent/Guardian's Names(s)

• District: SCSD

Documents may be submitted via email to homeschooling@neric.org or hard copies mailed to the address below:

Attn: Connie Miller

Capital Region BOCES

900 Watervliet Shaker Road

Albany, NY 12205

All CSI and TSI schools have access to their SCEP budgets for 22-23.

Additionally, ALL schools have designated dollars within the Consolidated Application for Title Funding that is open and available. Each building Principal will receive an email from OPA about this funding availability - in supplies and might be a best source for Participatory Budget items for 22-23.

Please contact Tracy Angelini at angelinit@schenectady.k12.ny.us if you have any questions.

Each school year, all Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools must implement a Participatory Budgeting process or select from an approved list of alternatives to Participatory Budgeting designed to increase student and family participation in decision making.

Participatory Budgeting

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a process that allows community members to decide together how to spend part of a public budget. The process is intended to strengthen public input and deepen public engagement in the civic organizations designed to service the public. Often decision-making rests in the hands of leaders identified to represent their constituencies. The PB model supports direct democracy, allowing parents and students to vote for the projects to be funded.

PB allows schools to engage students, parents, teachers, and community members in choosing a school program or improvement to fund. The process builds understanding of stakeholder perspectives, directs funds to pressing needs and innovative ideas, and helps students and other community members learn democracy and active citizenship.

How Participatory Budgeting Works in Schools- PB often follows a defined model that consists of multiple stages:

1. First, the school identifies the amount of money to be set aside for PB. CSI schools have available funding in their SCEP budgets and/or Title I Funding (depending on what is being purchased).

2. Next, parents, students, and teachers brainstorm ideas and develop proposals on how they money may be spent to improve the school.

3. Then, a Steering Committee reviews the proposals and identifies the final proposals that will appear on the school ballot.

4. Finally, the student body and the parents of the school vote on the proposals. The proposal(s) with the most votes are funded.

Approved Alternatives

CSI schools have the opportunity to implement any of the approved alternatives to Participatory Budgeting. The alternatives build on essential components of Participatory Budgeting: expanding stakeholder voice, providing opportunities to practice democracy, and promoting civic engagement. A current list of approved alternatives can be found here: Approved Alternatives for Participatory Budgeting

Start the process (if you have not already) TODAY!

Please contact Tracy Angelini at angelinit@schenectady.k12.ny.us if you have any questions.