Jan 4, 2024
Updates on EdAdvance’s program activities during October and November 2023 relating to our member districts.
ADULT EDUCATION
The Adult Education school counselor kicked off a series of meetings with the school counseling departments of our area’s high schools to provide information on our various programs and an update on Public Act No. 21-199 that amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-184 to raise, from seventeen to eighteen, the age when a student may withdraw from high school, beginning July 1, 2023. It also requires that 17-year-olds withdraw from public high school to transfer to adult education.
Adult Education started Digital Literacy classes for all enrolled in our classes. Students are able to take proctored assessments to earn certificates that demonstrate a variety of computer skills. About 30 students have enrolled.
Participated in the DEEP Community Roundtable on High-Speed Internet.
Adult Education students earned 121 digital literacy certificates through the Northstar Digital Literacy assessment program on topics ranging from computer basics to software and operating systems to technology in daily living. This was funded by the Program Enhancement Project Workforce Readiness grant.
BASES (Before & After School Extended Services)
On October 26, BASES celebrated Lights on Afterschool. This is a nationwide afternoon of recognition of the importance of Out of School Time Programs and “keeping the lights on afterschool.” Each BASES Program Site had a special afternoon open house with STEM activities, food, and fun. Parents, school personnel, and elected officials were all invited to join the afterschool program and find out more about what happens every day in afterschool programs.
In October, BASES staff participated in a Mandated Reporter Training presented by CT Department of Children and Families.
National Speaker, Eric Rowles from Leading to Change, came to the BASES November staff meeting to lead a PD entitled “Oxygen & Code-Switching Strategies.” This PD focused on self-regulation and behavior management.
The Torrington PAL food drive was held on November 4. As part of the National PAL Mentoring Grant, EdAdvance BASES CAP21 Program students from Torrington Middle School volunteered to help collect food donations to be distributed to local families.
COMMUNITY SERVICES
The Day Support Option program has accepted 2 new referrals and hired 1 new full-time staff.
Community Services attended a pumpkin picking event at Ruwett farm in Torrington, CT. Individuals were treated to a hot dog lunch, entrance into the not so scary haunted house and the corn maze, and a small pumpkin to take home with them.
EARLY CHILDHOOD & FAMILY PROGRAMS – Michelle Anderson
Anne Giordano and Michelle Anderson from Early Childhood were part of a statewide webinar with the CT Office of Early Childhood where they were presenters on the impact of homelessness in the early years. The webinar was attended by 240 people statewide.
Early Childhood hosted a successful Infant and Toddler Institute where over 80 early care and education providers came together for a day of learning.
Our Parents as Teacher early childhood home visiting program reached its service capacity of 75 families. Families are from Torrington, Winsted, and other parts of northwest CT.
The Early Childhood Division hosted 2 Roundtables on the New Kindergarten Entry Age Legislation. The Roundtables were held at Workspace and in Litchfield and included most of our districts in our RESC region.
The Early Childhood Division hosted 2 School Social Work Networks this past month. Social Workers from Watertown, Newtown, Brookfield, Region 15, Torrington, New Milford, Region 1, Colebrook, Region 7, Sherman, Plymouth, and Canton attended.
The Early Childhood Division was busy in schools on Election Day. We dedicated the day to Torrington Public Schools with a staff development for the preschool teachers on the CT DOTS (Preschool assessment tool) and we also hosted their school social workers at EdAdvance in Litchfield. In addition, we spent the day in Danbury doing professional development on the CT Early Learning Development Standards.
FOOD SERVICES
Prepared for the Winchester Summer Administrative Review.
Attended School Nutrition Association of Connecticut Training and Food show.
GRANTS
Funding Received:
Workers Compensation Trust for SPED safety sleeves & desk movers - $3,207
Neag Foundation - $149,000 for Expanding Work-Based Learning in Manufacturing Engineering in NW CT
Main Street Community Foundation - $1,500 for Plymouth FRC for 5th Grade Girls Lunch Bunch (SEL Group)
M&T Bank Foundation - Litchfield County Family Child Care Network- PD - $2,500
ARPA Right to Read - $10,000 (CSDE)
ARP Small Town Right to Read - $7,000 (CSDE)
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Assisted with training of Special Education teachers on use of new Promethean boards.
Worked with HR to develop better processes for updating staff information in our identity system.
Assisted Washington Fire department with equipment upgrades and began work on deploying Google Suite.
Helped the town of Warren with the installation of a new server.
Assisted with training of Special Education teachers on classroom management on Chromebooks via GoGuardian.
Assisted school clients, Colebrook and The Gilbert School, in preparation of their IT budgets.
Assisted The Gilbert School with a firewall upgrade.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Developed editable “New Entry Age for Kindergarten Info” flyer for school districts.
Redesigned Early Childhood Services flyer.
Addition of photos to Regional Learning Center’s Google Business profile.
Provided Veterans Appreciation Gathering photo and video coverage.
Developed Early Childhood Center webpage to provide information and track construction progress.
Attended “Key Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Educators of Color” webinar.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
General Staff Development/Other:
Facilitated an orientation on EdAdvance’s ROP educator evaluation model for 16 school-based mental health providers from EdAdvance and provided ongoing ROP model implementation support to EdAdvance SBMH grant coordinators.
Facilitated the Math Coaches’ Professional Learning Community with fifteen participants from Barkhamsted, EdAdvance, Hartland, Region 7, Sherman, Thomaston, Torrington, Watertown, and Waterbury.
Hosted Math Council with presentation from Jen Michalek, CSDE Math Consultant, to eighteen participants from Barkhamsted, EdAdvance, Hartland, Region 7, Region 20, Sherman, Thomaston, Torrington, Watertown, Winchester, and Waterbury.
Hosted Digital Council at EdAdvance with participants from Danbury, EdAdvance, Fairfield, New Milford, Region 14, Region 15, Ridgefield, and Wethersfield.
Designed and facilitated AI professional learning sessions entitled Partnering with AI for Planning and Instructional Design.
Facilitated Session 1 Data Informed Decision Making through Implementation of the Formative Assessment, with New Milford administrators and middle school teachers.
Completed a book study with a team of staff developers to inform planning for our new administrative coaching and leader aspirants.
Planned for a set of elementary principals network sessions.
Provided support for strategic coherence planning for the Wallingford Public Schools.
Participated in a panel discussion at the annual CSDE Performance Forum regarding the impact of artificial intelligence.
Facilitated meetings of the newly formed Connecticut Educator Certification Council.
Provided support for the redesign of educator and leader evaluation for the South Windsor and Wethersfield Public Schools.
Hosted a one-day conference on the impact of artificial intelligence on public education.
Led professional learning sessions for instructional coaching in Brookfield and North Haven.
Continued state training development for the new teacher/leader development guidelines for educators, administrators and PDEC’s.
Conducted several sessions across the state for state training for PDEC and evaluation of educators training.
Facilitated a 2-day PDEC session for Danbury Public Schools in district.
Facilitated a half-day professional learning session on the implementation of the Illustrative Mathematics resource for teachers in grades 3-5 in Brookfield.
Participated and presented in the NCSM (National Council for Supervisors of Mathematics) Annual conference in Washington, D.C.
Attended the annual Connecticut Council for the Social Studies conference.
Hosted the Fall Social Studies Council for 20+ educators.
Hosted English/Language Arts Council, with CT State Department of Education consultant, for 10 educators from EdAdvance, Litchfield, Region 6, Region 14, Thomaston, Torrington, and Winchester.
Facilitated professional learning on high leverage instructional practices for deep learning to 5 instructional coaches in Plymouth.
Provided support for 8 Professional Development and Evaluation Committee (PDEC) members from Wethersfield in planning to customize and implement EdAdvance’s ROP educator evaluation model.
Provided support to Barkhamsted in planning to implement EdAdvance’s Professional Educator Review of Practice (ROP) growth and evaluation model.
Hosted a virtual Science Council with science representatives from the CT State Dept. of Education and participants from Region 14, Region 20, and Winchester.
Participated in an all RESC Math Meeting to plan support for the Mathematics Equity Position Statement endorsed by the State Board of Education.
Attended regional educational laboratory meeting for the Math and EL partnership.
Attended Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) meeting for the Math and EL partnership.
Facilitated PL for Brookfield K-12 instructional coaches and administrators on the district's vision for designing, defining and leading coaching.
Facilitated PL for North Haven 9-12 instructional coaches and administrators on the district’s vision for designing, defining and leading coaching.
Facilitated Professional Development and Evaluation Committee Guidance, day 1 training for Wolcott.
Finalized a book study on supporting administrators in practice with a group of professional learning specialists at EdAdvance.
Participated in the staff developers workgroup to help design the model plans and supportive documents for PDEC district support of the educator and leader state guidelines
Presented 2-day PDEC state training at CAS with colleagues from CAS and Eastconn.
Presented 2 out of 3 days of state training for the Evaluation of Administrators at CAS with colleagues from CAS and EASTCONN.
Developed the Evaluation of Teachers and the Evaluation of Leaders training with colleagues from CAS and EASTCONN.
Provided PDEC training/support to administrators in Danbury Public Schools
Presented on the topic of the revised teacher evaluation guidelines in Connecticut for the West Hartford Public Schools.
Provided support for Strategic Coherence Planning for the Wallingford Public Schools.
Co-facilitated a meeting with interested districts on the new kindergarten age legislation with Early Childhood
Provided 1-day PD for Newtown middle school science teachers on project-based assessments.
Teacher Education and Mentoring Program (TEAM):
Chief reviewed reflection papers/projects for 15 beginning teachers in Connecticut.
Facilitated 3-part Initial Support Teacher Training to 40 educators from Barkhamsted, Brookfield, Bethel, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Norfolk, Region 1, Winchester, Bristol, Capital Preparatory Harbor School, CT Technical Education and Career System, East Haddam, Farmington, Hartford, Manchester, Norwich Free Academy, Region 10, Stamford, Westport, Weston, and Wolcott.
Co-hosted EdAdvance’s fall TEAM District Facilitator meeting for 32 TEAM district facilitators from Barkhamsted, Bethel, Brookfield, Colebrook, Danbury, Litchfield, New Fairfield, New Hartford, Region 7, Region 12, Region 14, Sherman, The Gilbert School, Achievement First, Bristol, Canton, Derby, Portland, Seymour, Suffield, Thompson, and Wallingford.
Facilitated a TEAM Coordinating Committee meeting for 10 educators and a TEAM Review of Practice orientation for 25 educators in New Milford.
Provided co-planning and co-facilitation support to EASTCONN’s new TEAM field staff during a 3-part Initial Support Teacher training with 20 educators from Region 6, Region 15, Bloomfield, Bristol, Coventry, East Haven, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, North Haven, Salem, Stamford, Stratford, Waterbury, and Weston.
Attendance & Engagement/Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP):
Presented to 60+ participants on Talk Tuesday about CSDE, EdAdvance & O’Donnell Company’s collaborative Attendance Awareness Media Campaign and facilitated related conversations.
Designed and facilitated a half day of professional development for 35+ Windham Public School administrators, faculty, and staff.
Designed and facilitated a presentation about the Learner Engagement & Attendance Program (LEAP) for 30+ participants at a Performance Matters Forum breakout session alongside Torrington Public School leadership and home visitors.
Collaborated with EdAdvance staff charged with career pathways and social emotional-focused work to discuss overlap and intersectionality with attendance and engagement.
Planned and facilitated a half day of PD for 25+ Lebanon School District administrators, faculty, and staff. (Session 2 of 3)
Planned and facilitated a LEAP District Coordinator Meeting for 15+ colleagues.
Collaborated with a Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS) colleague to co-present at the annual Family and Community Engagement Conference to a group of 60+ participants.
Participated in the press event representing the agency and LEAP in 1-1 conversations with the Commissioner, Governor, East Hartford School District leadership, and Dalio Foundation leadership; was interviewed by state media outlet resulting in positive televised and web-based coverage.
Facilitated attendance and engagement work with approximately 30 administrators in Middletown Public Schools.
Provided ongoing attendance and engagement support to Lebanon School District’s Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent.
Provided ongoing support to CSDE for the Attendance Awareness Campaign including spearheading a branded merchandise pop-up store.
Facilitated attendance and engagement work with approximately 15 of EdAdvance’s Head Start leadership and team members.
Presented to approximately 10 members of a CSDE/SERC High School Affinity Group.
Data Division/Evaluation and Support/Administrative Support:
Completed a contract with Bethel which provided important information to help the high school and superintendent make an informed decision regarding potential schedule changes and their impact.
Continued work and support in Region 1 with PowerSchool training/scheduling support at the high school level.
English Learners:
Hosted Multilingual Learner Curriculum Council with a presentation from Megan Alubicki Flick and the assessment team at CSDE.
Facilitated a ½ day PD on using assessment data to plan for growth for ML Learners and a ½ day of ML coaching on LAS Links Assessment in New Milford.
Planned and attended Conn TESOL annual conference as board member for Adult Education.
Planned and facilitated lead teacher meeting for Adult Ed.
Co-facilitated ESL day for adult education learners
Facilitated full day of ML PD for Plymouth’s Pk-2 and 3-5 elementary schools.
Collaborated with CAPELL members to complete a document to support administrators in looking for best practices when observing teachers with English learners. Document will be used as a resource for state teachers.
Attended a two-day professional workshop on students with limited and interrupted formal education.
Attended LAS Links ELAC training for EdAdvance’s English learners.
SKILLS21 – Matt Mervis
Matt Mervis provided AI professional development for Region 12, Seymour, New Canaan, PA Intermediate Unit Directors, CREC, and Montville.
Launched Personal Interest Projects at Helen Keller MS, High School for Public Service – NYC, and Portland MS.
Launched Capstone at Portland HS.
Launched Social Balance at Lee Kellogg School, Salisbury Central School, and Torrington Middle School.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Blue Science:
Approximately 325 students completed their fall field days at Milford Point to study Long Island Sound. They also continued to work with teachers in their classrooms to extend watershed and environmental education.
Mental Health Awareness Training in Western CT (MHAT-WCT):
We provided QPR Suicide Prevention Training for 12 adults and Mental Health First Aid Training to 49 adults in October and 74 adults in November.
TRANSPORTATION
In October, completed training for six new drivers.
Six new Ford Transit Connect vans were put into service in October.
We presented our new Transportation Information Management System to members of our Regional Transportation Cohort and it was well received.
Vehicle inspections began with the DMV, and we have been able to rent a garage bay from Zeller Tire to conduct our inspections. This allows us to complete inspections despite cold or stormy weather.
We will take delivery of two Honda Odyssey vans soon. We are replacing many of our high mileage vehicles or those where the repair costs exceed the vehicle value