Professional Overview

Staff Development Days o Staff Development Days can be used as a refresher, to set clear objectives and goals, an opportunity to learn something new, and/or a reminder of why you chose to be an Educator. o Professional development training can help teachers to become better at planning and collaborating within their department, grade level, and school. o Staff Development Days can benefit all teachers, whether the focus is on refinement of teaching skills, family engagement, or implementing new strategies and tools. o If you are going to be absent on a Staff Development Day, you must still enter your absence, regardless of needing a substitute or not. Attendance is verified by each building administrator and the district office (Danielson Domain 4).

Staff Development Days are professional development days that occur four times a year. For the 2023-2024 school year, they are on September 25, November 10, February 15 and April 19. At EC-5, there are no students all day. At UMS, students attend until 1:15 and the staff development day occurs after. At UHS, students attend until 12:26 and staff development occurs after.

Why is staff development important?

The Professional Day: your daily work hours

• The teacher’s professional day shall consist of the student’s school day plus the amount of time deemed necessary by the teacher and principal to complete their professional duties (13.01 CBA)

Black Out Days for Personal Leave per Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

• Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement(teacher’s contract), you may not take personal leave on the first or last day of school, the day before and the day after Winter Break and the day before and the day after Spring Break. (CBA 8.02) For 20232024 those dates are: August 14, December 20, January 4, March 8, March 18 and May 29 (if no snow days are used).

Information Regarding Your First and Subsequent Paychecks

You will receive your first paycheck (that includes pay for New Teacher Orientation, Curriculum, and Illustrative Math Trainings you may have attended on August 25, 2023). The first bi-weekly pay cycle will begin with the payday on Friday, September 8th, 2023, and continue every other Friday after that. If a regular payday falls on a national holiday on which banks are closed, the payday will be on the banking business day immediately prior.

A paycheck schedule is provided for you. If you filled out the direct deposit information in Talent Ed, you should receive your first check in your banking account. Please make sure that you have changed your address in Talent Ed/Skyward so that we have accurate mailing information for you as well!

Absences: How to Request Days Off

You will need to request time off in two places: Skyward and Frontline (AESOP). If you have issues with Frontline, please contact Niki Baker (nbaker@usd116.org).

Skyward Employee Access vs. Skyward Educator Access

Skyward has two sections. They are accessible via a toggle (see screenshot below). Skyward Employee Access houses all your personal information: sick leave, pay, professional development and board credit. Skyward Educator Access contains all the information you need for your classroom: student info, attendance and gradebook.

How do I take a day off and get a sub?

First step: Go to Skyward Employee Access:

-Employee Information

-Time Off

-My Requests

-Top Right Corner: Use the button that says ADD

After you have added your day, you will be automatically directed to Frontline (AESOP) to add your info. This is important! If you don’t, you will not have a sub.

For step by step instructions (with pictures) see below:

Skyward Educator Access

This is the side of Skyward in which your teaching tools live: student rosters and alerts, student attendance, gradebook. There will be differences in terms of appearance and use between different buildings. PLEASE see your mentor, a grade/course level team member or an instructional coach for assistance in learning this part.