MCPS IT Wire

April 2025

Division of Technology Services

Professional Development

Spring Instructional Technology Professional Development

There are many sessions available this spring on technology topics like:

ParentSquare
Canva
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Lightspeed
Canvas

Check the flier for dates and registration information!

Spring Instructional Technology Professional Development Flyer

Join the Instructional Technology Insights Communication Group

The Department of Digital Innovation is launching a communication space dedicated to sharing the latest in instructional and innovative technologies.

In this group, you'll receive:

Bi-weekly updates featuring tips, tricks, and tools to help you integrate technology seamlessly into your teaching.
Insightful strategies to enhance student engagement.

Stay tuned for actionable content that will inspire new ways to use technology effectively in your classroom. Let’s work together to make learning more impactful and innovative!

Department of Digital Innovation Instructional Technology Insights Group

Tools and Resources

MCPS Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidelines Input

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform various industries, its role in education is rapidly expanding. AI presents significant opportunities for improving student outcomes and creating efficiencies for staff. With these advancements come challenges that require thoughtful consideration, including ethical use, data privacy, and equitable access. Given AI’s growing presence in classrooms and administrative processes, MCPS is developing AI usage guidelines and we are asking for stakeholder input.

Please watch the short videos and provide input through the provided form. We look forward to your valuable participation and feedback on this important topic!

Enhanced Synergy Reports

U-ATT506: Secondary Student Tardy and Absence Counts by Class New

This report provides a student’s total number of absences and a tardy count by reason type for each period and class section for the selected school year. It was recently enhanced to also include student interventions (MTSS).

U-SCD505: Middle School Well-Rounded Curriculum

This report supports middle schools with the implementation of well-rounded curriculum requirements established by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). It allows schools to monitor student completion of well-rounded requirements and will help them identify students who are missing computational thinking or fine arts courses.

U-SCD507: Student EOC Schedule and Exam Marks

This report provides a list of students scheduled with or without sections into BX courses for the second semester and highlights those with incorrect course IDs. It will also include results from the MCAP Assessment once they are available.

U-STU511: Gifted and Talented (GT) Decision Grid

This report provides a list of students who participated in the current GT screening process. It includes GT decisions along with related student performance data and parent/staff survey data.

K-9 Monitoring Dashboard

This dashboard provides interactive real-time literacy and math data for the current (2024-2025) and prior (2023-2024) school years. It was enhanced to also include Grade 9 MAP-R, MAP-M, and MCAP data (for assessments taken in Grade 8) along with Grade 8 pathway details.

Now this dashboard supports elementary school, middle school and Grade 9 administrators and instructional leadership teams for planning and delivery of targeted instruction.

It may be filtered by school, teacher, class, race, special services, and gender. It also displays DIBELS, MAP, and MCPS Pathway result data. Student lists are also available and able to be exported.

New Hub+ Process to Add Life Insurance Beneficiaries

All MCPS employees should add and designate life insurance beneficiaries in Hub+. Click here for further information.

Dates, Tips, and Reminders

Cybersecurity Awareness Tip: Online Safety Basics for Educators

In today’s digital learning environment, maintaining strong cybersecurity practices is essential for protecting student data and ensuring a safe online experience.

The National Cybersecurity Alliance highlights key online safety basics every educator should follow:

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Add an extra layer of security to your accounts.
Use Strong, Unique Passwords: Avoid reusing passwords and consider using a password manager.
Recognize and Report Phishing: Be cautious of unexpected emails or messages asking for personal information.
Update Devices & Software: Regular updates help protect against security vulnerabilities.
Limit Personal Information Sharing: Be mindful of what you post online to safeguard privacy.

By following these best practices, educators can help create a more secure digital environment for themselves and their students.

For more cybersecurity tips, check out the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s Stay Safe Online webpage.

Report Card Schedule and Marking Period 4 (MP4) Interim Deadlines

The interim posting window for MP4 begins Friday, April 25 through Friday, May 9, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
The MP4 report card schedule was revised to reflect changes based on the recent extension of the school year to Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
Senior interims are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 2, 2025.

2024-2025 Interim and Report Card Dates- REVISED

Synergy Updates & Reminders

SGGCR and Transcript Timeline

A SGGCR and Transcript Timeline is now available for the 2024-2025 school year. View the timeline here.

Spring/Summer Synergy Dates and Deadlines

We’ve compiled a complete list of Synergy Spring and Summer Dates and Deadlines to help you stay informed. The list reflects changes based on the recent extension of the school year to Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Check it out here!

GT/SIPPI Instructional Recommendations

Grade 2 literacy and math instructional recommendations data entry is available now in Synergy. Elementary SIPPI Committees must enter Grade 2 literacy and math instructional recommendations
no later than Friday, May 9, 2025. View the 2024-2025 Student Instructional Program Planning and Implementation Process principal memorandum here.

Dashboard Updates & Reminders

The 2024-2025 School Leadership Resources document includes links to many of the new MCPS dashboards. All dashboard links are also available in the MCPS Resources folder of your Chrome browser.

High School Graduation Validation Dashboard and Checklist

This dashboard was enhanced to enable:
- - - - Graduation Warning and Graduation Status Summary Letters to appear in all seven MCPS correspondence languages (in addition to English).
      - A brand new Print Page option which allows users to view student graduation information in a printable format and print.
      - The ability to display student next school year schedule requests, graduation courses, and elective credits.
High School principals and Graduation Validation Teams must complete all Graduation Validation Checklist tasks and submit the Checklist Completion Attestation Form by Monday, June 2, 2025.
These tasks are critical to verifying that all eligible students meet the necessary graduation requirements. Please contact Theresa Dethlefsen, Donna Kleffman or Donna Blaney with any questions or for assistance.
Additional Resources:

First Year 9th Grade MSDE COHORT Update

U-GRD503: MSDE COHORT Changes

This report provides a list of students whose First Year 9th Grade (FYNG) year was changed based on Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) data.

Student’s COHORT was also updated on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 in Synergy.

For more details, view the March 27 principal memorandum.

Elementary Sectioning and Articulation Training Reminders

Elementary sectioning training sessions have started; both in-person and virtual sessions are available for ES sectioning teams. In-person open lab support sessions are also available. See the linked training schedule for details.

Elementary Articulation Training sessions have also started. Please refer to the Elementary Sectioning Timeline for details about training sessions and resources.