November 3rd Edition

Powerful Practices Highlighted Through National Tour

As President of NASSP this year, Wisconsin's Gregg Wieczorek is touring schools in every state to highlight powerful practices that we can all learn and benefit from.  This is Gregg's blog post from his recent Northeast segment of the tour.  Gregg will present on these powerful practices at this year's Middle and High School Principals' Convention in February.  

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CDC Approves Pfizer Vaccine for Children Ages 5 to 11

On October 2, the CDC approved the Pfizer vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old.  Children in this age band are expected to begin getting vaccinated as early as today.

DHS Invites Schools to Host an On-Site Vaccination Clinic!

Schools that want to hold an on-site clinic for a group of individuals ready to be vaccinated can communicate their interest to DHS by filling out the vaccination clinic matching survey and learn more on the DHS COVID-19 vaccine partner resources webpage. Employers can also hold an on-site clinic for their employees and their families, visit our COVID-19: Businesses, Employers, and Workers webpage to sign up.


Data Protection and Access Controls, Beth Tomev

The mantra all school leaders should be repeating when protecting their school’s data is, “Back up, back up, back up.” Data privacy is an ever-growing concern and most of the data collected is part of a regulatory requirement. If that data, such as student social security numbers, Individualized Education Plans (IEP) with medical information, or teacher personally identifiable information, is stolen, lost, or accidentally released, the data breach most often needs to be publicly reported. By protecting data upfront and limiting any infrastructure vulnerabilities, a school or district will save itself from the high costs of data retrieval, reparations, and possible legal ramifications.

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 The School Ambassador Fellowship is Accepting Applications for the 2022-2023 Cycle

The application window for the 2022-2023 cohort of U.S. Department of Education’s School Ambassador Fellowship opened Friday, October 15, 2021.  The application portal will be open for application submissions through Friday, January 14, 2022. 

The School Ambassador Fellowship is designed to improve educational outcomes for students by leveraging the expertise of school-based practitioners in the creation, dissemination, and evaluation of national education policy. 

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Statewide DAP Virtual Summit Materials

In April 2020, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) released their updated Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) position statement. DAP is woven into the values and practices that are core to how DPI believes educators should approach learning for young children, and, they are foundational to the WI Model Early Learning Standards and its guiding principles.

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November 17th Edition

Don’t Push the Panic Button! (But Rather… Take Proactive Steps to Protect Yourself, Your Students, and Your Community)

This article discusses the proactive steps we can all take to protect ourselves and the data we secure and how your district can minimize the impact of a cyber-attack. The key to remember is that we aren’t preparing for if a cyber attack occurs, we are preparing for when a cyber-attack occurs. 

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Communicating in a Time of Changes

The final month and a half of the calendar year has always been a busy time for public schools. This was true long before the global pandemic and the political turbulence many school leaders have been experiencing as of late. Beyond those things, all of the pre-holiday business of our work causes ample stress this time of the year. This article covers four key concepts to keep in mind as you work through some of the more difficult days of the school year.  

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Joint Webinar for Public Health and School Stakeholders

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) will be holding a Joint Webinar for Public Health and School Stakeholders on November 18 at 4 - 5 p.m. This webinar is an opportunity to hear from State experts regarding CDC and DHS guidance for schools and updated information on COVID-19 vaccination for school-aged children. Other subject matter experts from DHS will also be available to answer your questions. 

Please register in advance of the webinar. A Zoom link and call-in information will be provided upon registration.


2021 SLATE Convention 

SLATE is a comprehensive educational technology convention designed to meet the needs of all schools and districts. This convention is designed for a wide variety of educators including Teachers, Principals, Associate Principals, District Administrators, Library Media Specialists, IT Coordinators, Directors of Curriculum and Instruction, and other school leaders.

Over the course of three days, hundreds of educators of all backgrounds and expertise levels gather to learn about the newest in education technology, as well as practical tips and tricks to implement in their schools and districts. 

Click to Learn More or Register