Snow Day Self-Paced Professional Development

During the 2024-2025 school year, we implemented a virtual professional development day on one of the snow days in order to fulfill contract days for staff.  We reviewed the data, collected feedback, and we are prepared to implement this model again, if needed, for the 2025-2026 school year.  

In the event a full day of school is cancelled, certified staff will shift to "Snow Day Self-Paced PD".  This model will be implemented for up to 2 potential snow days.  The design of each day will be decided by building leadership and tailored to district goals, your building needs, or individual professional development goals.

In the event of a full snow day, communication will be sent to all certified staff to implement "Snow Day Self-Paced PD." Your building administrator will provide specific details on the content. Think good weather thoughts, and enjoy the season!

Scaffolds and Interventions/December Teaching and Learning Newsletter

Today's blog looks at comparisons between scaffolds and interventions with additional resources and information from December's edition of the Teaching and Learning Newsletter. 

As teams are engaging in pre-unit planning to provide access to core instructional for ALL students, there have been some discussions around the use of scaffolds and interventions.  Below is a table that compares the two. 

Scaffolds	Interventions
Proactive Anticipation of challenges Designed prior to the unit	Reactive In response to student performance Designed as part of daily lesson planning
A component of Tier 1/core instruction that make grade-level learning accessible to all students.	Targeted, Tier 2 supports provided in addition to core instruction  when data indicates more support and practice is needed.
If it can be planned before instruction using knowledge of students’ needs, it’s a scaffold.	If it’s added after data shows a learning gap, it’s an intervention.

So why is this important?? Can't some instructional strategies be used as scaffolds AND interventions?

Yes, that is true.  The difference comes not with the strategy itself, but with the intention of how it is used. When collaborative teams intentionally plan for scaffolds in Tier 1 instruction, fewer students require intervention later.

For a graphic on scaffolds and interventions as well as a resource with multiple ideas for scaffolds, check out the December edition of the Teaching and Learning Newsletter. 

Scaffolding and Interventions

College and Career Opportunities

Writing to Learn

Science for All

K-6 Mathematics: Sample Schedules

Elementary Collaboration: November 12th

We are looking forward to our upcoming Elementary Collaboration on Wednesday, November 12th. Today's blog has information on the content and location for this collaboration.  

K-2 Classroom Teachers

Focus: High Quality Literacy Instructional Materials for grades K-2.

Location: District Office Board Room

Time: 2:45 PM-4:00 PM

We will have limited space, so please do not bring computers.  You may bring paper/pen if you would like to take notes. 

3-5 Classroom Teachers
Special Education Teachers
Reading Specialists
ESOL Teachers
Instructional Coaches
TAG Teachers

Focus: Enhancing Planning for Grades 3–5 Teachers: Deepen your understanding of your next unit by engaging in a step-by-step unit- and lesson-planning protocol. Leave prepared to implement your next unit with a completed unit plan and internalized lessons.

Location: Willowbrook Elementary

• Grade 3 and support: Library

• Grade 4 and support: Art Room

• Grade 5 and support: Cafeteria

Support teams: please plan on dividing up so all grade levels have representation.

Time: 2:00 PM-4:00 PM*
*Optional hour (paid) from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM. See information below for details.

This session will be facilitated by Amplify presenters. Please bring your Chromebook and something to write with. Grade level teachers, please also bring:

• Teacher materials for Unit 4

• A student reader and activity book for Unit 4

The time from 2:00 PM-4:00 PM will be the planned training.

*An additional hour from 4:00 PM-5:00 PM will be provided. This time is optional, and will address the ideas listed below based on feedback from teams.

• Vocabulary Routines
• Timing and Lesson Pacing
• Teacher Talk vs. Student Talk

If you choose to stay from 4:00–5:00, you will be paid for one hour of additional time at the additional hours rate of $35. Again, this is optional, and you may want to work with your team to see if at least one person is able to participate in the final hour of learning and collaboration.

We’re excited for this opportunity to deepen our understanding of Amplify CKLA and to collaborate on effective planning and instruction!

Preschool Teachers

Focus: Preschool Standards Work

Location: Curriculum Workshop, District Office

Time: 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Core Plus Teachers

Focus: Continued work on your collaborative focus areas. 

Location: Each team please identify and share the location for meeting.

Time: 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Teacher Librarians--please report to Clay Elementary for collaborative work around digital citizenship. 

Art Teachers: Please report to Clay Elementary. 

Please reach out if you have questions about the afternoon. We are looking forward to learning and collaborating together!

Secondary Collaboration

Our secondary collaboration is scheduled for tomorrow, (Wednesday, October 22) from 7:30 AM-8:50 AM.  The focus of our work will be providing scaffolding and interventions during core instruction.  If you have a copy of the book All Means All, please bring it tomorrow for reference. 

Please report to the locations listed below:

Collaboration Team	Location
PE/Health 6-12	High School - S140 (MP Room)
CTE (PLTW) & Business	High School - N169 (1st floor)
Science- 6-12	High School - N323 Science (3rd Floor)
Math: 6-12	JH Multi-purpose Room (old Choir room)
World Language, 8th World Language	HS N148
Fine Arts	High School - S108 (Art Hallway)
Social Studies 6-12	JH Rm 146 (N. Morrill)
ELA 6-12, ESOL 6-12, TAG 6/7, Teacher Librarians	JH Auditorium
Counselors	Tour of Eyerly Ball Access Center, 1319 Pennsylvania Ave, Des Moines
SpEd 6-12, ID and BD*	Middle School Library
SpEd Level I and Level II--attend with the content area that you co-teach

Attendance Data on Panorama: Zoom Meeting This Week

Thanks to the hard work of school teams and the community, our attendance data has improved tremendously over the past two years.  While we are still working to maintain these gains, more attention may now be given to Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.

If you are interested in learning more on how to navigate Panorama (the site has been updated) and/or how to select and monitor interventions, we will have a Zoom meeting  on Wednesday of this week.  Information on this webinar may be found below.  

Zoom Link

September 29th Professional Learning

We are looking forward to our next districtwide professional learning on September 29th. The focus of our district work will be a continued follow up from the "All Means All" Institute.  

Below are the scheduled times and locations for the district portion of the day.

For Elementary buildings, Special Education teachers, EL teachers, Title teachers, Preschool teachers, Reading specialists, TAG teachers and Teacher Librarians will report to the building they support on Monday. All other Core+ teachers will report to the building listed.

Altoona, Four Mile, and Elementary Music Teachers: Report to Altoona Elementary at 8:00 AM. 

Centennial, Delaware, and Elementary Art Teachers: Report to Centennial Elementary at 8:00 AM.

Clay, Willowbrook, and Elementary PE Teachers: Report to Clay Elementary at 8:00 AM

Mitchellville, Runnells, and Elementary Counselors: Report to Mitchellville Elementary at 8:00 AM.

All Middle School and Jr. High teachers: Report to the Jr. High Auditorium at 7:30 AM.

All High School teachers: Report to the HS Auditorium at 7:30 AM.

School Nurses will report to the Connect Alternative Program Room at District Office at 8:00 AM.

All Staff: Please bring something to write with and perhaps a hard surface to write on. Laptops might be needed for collaboration towards the end of the PD, so at least 1 laptop per collaborative team is recommended.  Please sit with your collaborative teams when you arrive at PD. 

The remainder of the day will be spent at your buildings working on building-developed goals.  

Keep Calm and Aim High

Due to the holiday weekend, the order for 'Keep Calm and Aim High' apparel has been extended to Thursday, September 4th. 

The store will close at 11:59 pm on Thursday, September 4th. All orders will be complete on or before September 18th.  The orders will then be distributed to buildings and will not be shipped to individuals. 

Keep Calm and Aim High Order Form

* Some firewalls prevent you from getting to the credit card section.  If this occurs, please use cellular or hotspot alternatives.

This design is available in unisex and ladies t-shirts and unisex hoodies and crewnecks. (Click on the apparel tab).