Teacher Update April

Important Links

Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment

● Content Resource Site

● HCISD Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Expectations

● HCISD Lesson Planning Guidelines

● District Assessment Calendar

● Academic Calendar

Teacher Resources

Grading Resources

● Grading Guidelines

● Grading Timeline - Elementary

● Grading Timeline - Secondary

● TEAMS Guide for Teachers

● TEAMS Update 2023-2024

● TEAMS Skillbook for PreK

● TEAMS Guide for Monitoring Grades

● Exchange Day Info and PD Options

Technology Schoology

● Technology Help Desk

● Parent Resource Site

● Student Resource Site

● Schoology District PLC Codes

● Schoology Parent Resources

SEND A HAYS HIGH FIVE HERE!

The Hays High Five program is a way for you to salute any Hays CISD employee who goes above and beyond what is expected. Whether you're a parent impressed with that special touch your child's teacher added to a moment, or you're a coworker who thinks the campus PEIMS clerk doesn't hear often enough about the great job she is doing - you can send a Hays High Five! Anyone can award any Hays CISD employee.

Table of Contents

Department Pages

Digital Learning

Professional Development

● INSPIRE New TeacherAcademy

Guidance and Counseling

● College, Career and Life Readiness

Human Resources

Intervention

Multilingual Department

Pre-K

Student Services

AdvancedAcademics

● Gifted and Talented

Athletics

Career and Technical Education (CTE)

FineArts

Literacy

● Elementary

● Secondary

Mathematics

● Elementary

● Secondary

Science

● Elementary

● Secondary

Social Studies K-12

Special Education

Content Pages

Student Health Services

Digital Learning

We are looking forward to growing our Hays CISD esports program as part of the 100% Hays initiative.

We are hosting an esports expo onThursday, May 9 from 6-8 at Hays High School!

If you are interested in hosting a club at your school, please let us know!

Apple Certified Educator Program

Last year, we had two teachers, Kate Curley (BES) andTiffany Fenton (GES) go through theApple Educator certification program through Region 13! We currently have two teachers, Michelle Zuniga (KES) and Patricia Segura (PES), completing that process with Keke Powell (SES) about to start! If you’re interested in this program, please reach out to Emily Herrin.

Professional Development

April

1st-StaffWorkday

● 8:00-9:30-CampusPD&Meeting

● 10:00-12:00-DistrictPLC*

● 12:00-1:00-Lunch

● 1:00-4:00- StaffWorkTime

● *DistrictPLCforgroupsbelow:

○ Specials,FineArts,CTE,LOTE,APandOnRamps, SpecializedSPEDPrograms, Interventionists,and Dyslexiateachers

○ PKwillNOTmeetforDistrictPLC(newdatecoming soon

Wearethrilledtoannouncethelaunchofour2024-25NEWProfessional DevelopmentCatalog.

Thiscatalogismorethanjustalistofcourses–it'saroadmaptosuccess,offering awidearrayofopportunitiestailoredtoyourindividualaspirationsandthe evolvingneedsofourschooldistrict.Whetheryou'reaimingtoenhanceyour leadershipskills,masterthelatesttechnologies,orexpandyourknowledgeina contentarea,ourcataloghassomethingforeveryone.

● Checkoutthisscreencastexplainingthenavigationofthecatalog

● RegistrationopensApril26inEduphoria

Together,we'llembarkonthisjourneyofgrowthanddevelopment,empowering ourselvesandeachothertoreachnewheightsofsuccess.Toaccessthecatalog andgetstartedwithyourprofessionallearningjourney,pleaseclickontheimage below.

INSPIRE New Teacher

We are lookin orward to our INSPIRE celebration dinner for current 23-24 INSPIRE participants, campus advisors, mentors, and campus administrators comin up in May. Be on the lookout or an Outlook calendar invite comin soon!

INSPIRE New Teacher

Hays CISD offers an exceptional opportunity for novice educatorswith Texas State Teacher Fellows.

Teacher Fellows is a graduate program designed to support beginning teachers in developing a solid teaching foundation while completing a Master’s degree. Hays CISD is looking for interested educators for the 2024-2025 school year. If you would like to learn more, this slideshow will walk you through some basic information regarding the program:

https://bit.ly/TFCohort30

Cohort31applicationsarecurrentlyopen,andifselectedwill begingraduateclassesthissummerandteachthroughthe schoolyear2024-2025whilecontinuingcourses.

LinktoTXSTGraduateCollegeTeacherFellowsProgram informationandapplication:

https://www.gradcollege.txst.edu/pro.../teacher-fellows.html

ProgramExchangeTeachersStaciPerkinsandAmanda Rodriguezareavailabletoansweranyquestions.

Staci.Perkins@hayscisd.net

Amanda.Rodriguez3@hayscisd.net

Human Resources

Intervention

mCLASS Lectura: Did you know?

Zones of Growth for mCLASS has launched. Teachers will be able to set custom goals and view student growth, similar to what you are able to do with DIBELS.

Review how it currently works in Dibels 8!. This is written in the D8 context but explains the core principles and usage of ZoG, and is broadly applicable to Lectura as well.

Emergent Tree: Let’s Go Farming Instead of Fighting Fires

Why is Repetition Important?

EOYmCLASS window opens on May 1. At this time we will also assess Kinder students for at-risk dyslexia characteristics.

LearningAlly’s Great Reading Games:National Competition

Congratulations to Uhland Elementary School for placing 10th in this competition.The students at UES read 43,942 pages.

Congratulations to Barton Middle School for placing 6th in the national competition. The students read 151,663 pages. Two individual students are Barton MS were awarded National Student Winners. Together they read 34,204 pages.

Way to Go!

Multilingual Department

Bilingual/ESL Summer School Information:

Elementary: The State of Texas requires that districts offer bilingual and ESL summer school for PK & Kinder students. Please share the following Bilingual/ESL PK/K Summer School Interest form with your PK/K bilingual and ESL teachers so we can plan accordingly. Application to follow.

The multilingual department will also be offering a language acceleration summer school for students in their first 2 years of school in the US. Please share the following Language Acceleration Summer Academy interest form, Grades 1-5 link to the teachers of your recent arrival students so we can plan accordingly. Application to follow.

Site: Science Hall Elementary Dates: 6/3-6/28 (OFF 6/19) Hours: 7:30-2pm

Secondary: The multilingual department will be offering the Language Acceleration Summer School for students in their first 2 years of school in the US. Please share the following Language Acceleration Summer Academy interest form link to the teachers of your recent arrival students so we can plan accordingly. Application to follow.

Site: Lehman High School Dates: 6/3-6/21 (OFF 6/19) Hours: 8am-12pm

From the desk of Logan Stroud, World Languages District Lead: April 2024 Newsletter.

If you have not heard yet CommunityAction Inc. and Hays CISD Multilingual Department have partnered to offer FREE classes for Parents through a program called – Raising Highly Capable Kids!

For over 13 years, this program has helped parents raise children who become healthy, caring, and responsible adults and we will be facilitating our first round of classes (in Spanish) beginning upon return from Spring Break.These classes will be offered in Spanish. Please share this information in your newsletters.

1. @ Lehman High School: Wednesdays, March 27 - May 8, 6pm - 830pm

2. @ CommunityAction Kyle Learning Center: Fridays,April 5 - May 17, 9am - 12pm

Know someone who is a Language Learner Rock Star? Nominate them today for the Language Learner Rock StarAward. Language Learner Rock StarAward Nomination

Pre-K

Our Hays CISD Pre-K Team wears green and Pre-K shirts to send much love and support to our Tom Green Pre-K Family!!

#PREKSTRONG

Pre-K

Our Hays CISD Pre-K Team wears green and Pre-K shirts to send much love and support to our Tom Green Pre-K Family!!

#PREKSTRONG

Pre-K

Our Hays CISD Pre-K Team wears green and Pre-K shirts to send much love and support to our Tom Green Pre-K Family!!

#PREKSTRONG

Student Services

Pleasecontinuetoencourageyourstudentstoattendschooleveryday!

Every Day Matters isn’t just a slogan, it’s a fundamental truth about education. Every school day is a building block to the next.The absence of these building blocks creates holes in learning that may cause a student to fall behind and impact their readiness for the next grade level.The importance of attendance continues to be a priority all year…especially as we wrap up our year.

ENDINGSTRONG

KeyStrategiesforaSuccessfulEndingtotheYear:

● Maintainconsistencyintheclassroom.

● Incorporatemoremovementintoyourlessons.

● Introducenewactivitiesthatincorporateskillstheyhave alreadylearned.

● Addresstheirconcernsbyhavingaclassdiscussionaround concerns.

Special Education

● Upcoming events–please share with parents:

○ Unified Champions 5k–April 6

■ Register:

https://www.athleteguild.com/event/buda-tx/2024-u nified-champions-5k-for-all

■ Volunteer:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4AA5A62CA1 FC1-unified1#/

○ Special Olympics Track and Field Elementary Meet - Johnson High School - April 9 - 9:00am - 11:45am

○ Special Olympics track and field Region event (Middle and High School students)–April 13 - Leander - Bible Stadium

○ Special Ed Transition Fair–April 16 --CMS 6-8 pm

■ 2024 Transition Fair Flyer

■ 2024 Transition Fair Flyer-Spanish

April 1–Professional Development

All times are from 10-12

ECSE Teachers–Special Education kitchen

FLand FLS Teachers–all levels–Chapa Middle School Cafeteria

SBI, FOCUS, SLC Teachers–Hays High School RoomA226

18+ Teachers–Old Buda 18+ classroom

Resource/Inclusion teachers (all levels) and Paraprofessionals–remain on campus

Special Education

Congratulations to February’s top performing resource and foundational learning teachers who are rocking RAZ Plus with their students!!!

Student Usage Downloads

1. Stephanie Locke – BES

2. Brittney McCabe – NES

3. Katy Hagy – DMS

4. Gabriela Himede - SHES

5. Kirk Fenton - MMS

1. Katy Hagy – DMS

2. LaurenThapa - FES

3. Nickie Ehrig -TGES

4. Gothia’s class - DMS

5. Lori Lopez – CRES

Gifted and Talented (G/T)

CALLFOR NOMINATIONS!!

Know someone who is doing an awesome job supporting the needs of gifted and advanced students? One person from each campus will be recognized. Nominate someone for the G/TSpotlightAward by clicking on the link below.

G/TSpotlightAward Nomination

The district’s Spring G/TMagazine was shared with parent this week. The English version can be viewed at THIS LINK and the Spanish version at THIS LINK.

G/TAwareness Week happens the first full week ofApril every year and was created to increase awareness and encourage support of gifted education inTexas.Through online community discussions and social media posts, parents, educators, and advocates come together to celebrate giftedness.All throughout the week, theTexasAssociation for the Gifted andTalented (TAGT) will push out information and create conversations to dispel myths and provide a deeper understanding of the purpose of gifted education. Looking For Resources to Celebrate?

Spread the word! Check out these resourcesTAGTput together just forYOU!

Gifted and Talented (G/T)

Kasey and Veronica have been serving newly identified 1st - 5th grade students in small groups. During the month of March, the focus was on developing production of ideas as inventive thinkers. During the month ofApril, students will consider the importance of asking questions to gather information before making a decision.

Spring Gifted andTalented courses are now open and will close onApril 30. Alist of available courses can be found at THIS LINK.

Summer G/TPD: As a reminder, G/Tcluster teachers are required to complete an initial 30 hours of G/Ttraining that includes Nature and Needs and Identification andAssessment. After that, teachers should complete an annual 6 hour update. Please make plans to complete your training this summer. Online and in person sessions will be offered. Check out the Hays CISD Professional Development Catalog at THIS LINK (G/Tstarts on slide 70) for more information. There will be multiple options available at Hays Con as well. ContactTish Cawley at tish.cawley@hayscisd.net if you have any questions.

Summer Gifted and Talented Referral Period Open for Kindergarten - 11th Grade Students during the month ofApril

Note: Students can only be referred once per calendar year. If a student was assessed this school year, they cannot retest during this window. In addition, testing will occur the first week of June and parents must provide transportation. More information will be shared closer to the testing window.

District staff can refer students using THIS LINK

Parents/guardians can refer students using THIS LINK.

***Please note, the links for district staff and parent/guardians are different.

Gifted and Talented (G/T)

G/Tstudents in Mrs. Krause’s first grade class wrote rules for a Peeps Diorama Contest and evaluated the rules to make sure that the contest was fair for everyone.The students then created their own Peeps Diorama to be judged using their created contest rules. Mrs. Krause did an amazing job of extending the thinkLaw lesson- Peeps Diorama Contest with her students!

Denny Schulte, Sunfield's librarian, held their first G/T Challenge Showdown where groups of students worked together to complete challenges involving creativity, writing, and math skills.

Advanced Academics

No foolin’!

APand OnRamps Teachers meet one more time this year on April 1 at McCormick Middle School from 10 a.m.-Noon.

Summer Training forAPand OnRamps Teachers

○ APSI–Generally every other year for those interested; for 2024 limited to those new to theirAPcourse this year or those whose courses have had significant updates (Physics)

○ OnRamps PLI–dates below; will not open until Philpott submits our courses and teachers for 2024-25

■ New teachers

● June 24-28 OR

● July 22-26

■ Returning teachers

● June 11-12 OR

● June 17-18 OR

● July 16-17

Teachers–be on the lookout for more information regarding registration during the first week ofApril

Hays CISD Athletics

Congratulations to Crystal Martinez for winning her 4th individual state championship in a row in Girls State Powerlifting! She now holds state records in all 4 lifts and took home the Most Outstanding Heavyweight lifter at the meet! Lehman girls took 3rd place overall and have cemented themselves as a true dynasty of Girls Powerlifting in the State of Texas!

Congratulations to Nate Cavarrubio for winning the 132lb State Championship in Powerlifting and to the Johnson Boys Powerlifting team who took home team gold at Regionals!

Hays CISD Athletics

Congratulations to Johnson Jaguars Girls’ Soccer for a wonderful season that ended recently against state ranked Round Rock. They fought for the district title until the last week of the season and impressed everyone all year with great coaching and play by their student-athletes!

Spring is here! That means tennis, district baseball, district softball, post-season track, and post-season golf. Also, middle school district track, soccer, and tennis! Please go support all of our programs!

CTE (COOLEST TEACHERS EVER!)

Cole Sims from Johnson HS was “pugged!”

In March we pugged, Mr. Cole Sims at Johnson High School! He is “pretty unbelievably great.” He is leading the district with the most industry based certifications in the district right now with a whopping 80! His students have been working on the VITA(Volunteer IncomeTaxAssistance) Program and helping complete tax returns for individuals who make under $64,000 a year. We loved seeing Mr. Sims class in action, too. His warmup is a great way to get students thinking about the topic and started for the day!

Jeremy Burge from Simon MS was “pugged!”

We pugged one of our amazing middle school teachers before we left for spring break. Jeremy Burge at Simon MS is Pretty Unbelievably Great! Mr. Burge teaches both STEM and Printing & Imaging classes. When you see the shading his students are doing in Photoshop, it’s hard to believe they are middle school students! #youvebeenpugged

Crew Day is coming up soon!

April 11th!

Fine Arts

FineArtsTeachers: Look for an email regarding PLC instructions for 4/1.

Congratulations to all of the competing groups that are in the midst of competition or recently completed. So much to be proud of!!

Come check out the district art show that starts next week!

Elementary Literacy

Ms. Stinnett at HES conferencing with a small group on their extended constructed responses.

The 3rd grade students at BVES are working their way through STAAR Camp on a Jurassic Journey!

Ms. Bosquez at BVES did an amazing job during phonics with dictation!

The 4th grade students at TES are on tour with their ECRs! They graph and get feedback on each ECR as they tour through STAAR Camp.

Third graders at Negley are gearing up for a baseball-themed review!

Ms. Patrick’s 1st graders at UES partner up to read their decodable text:)

Mrs. Weedman’s 3rd graders at EGES practice writing a strong central idea during STAAR camp.

Elementary Literacy

Hays CISD ReadingAcademies

Our next and last ReadingAcademy session isApril 24th. This will be our last session for this year. Teachers should cancel their substitutes for the May 8th session. We were able to complete the modules in 9 sessions.

Our literacy team is working on completing the 4 required classroom visits for each participant.

Remember to put your Module 10 artifact in the Final submission space once you receive your feedback.

23-24 Upcoming ReadingAcademy Training Dates:

● 4/24, 5/8 (canceled- session not needed)

● Time: 8:00-3:30

● Location: Old Upper Buda Elementary Cafeteria- (300 N. San Marcos St. Buda, TX 78610)

● Teachers should sign up in Eduphoria

Secretaries can use this code to enter when creating the absences:

● 199-11-6112-RA-911-11-2-0

Do you still want access to the ReadingAcademy Content?

● Request forAlumni Course Link

Secondary Literacy

Benchmark

Thank you all for scoring as quickly as possible! There was a TON of scoring to be done at all levels, but I want to give a special shoutout to 8th grade and Eng I, as they had to score three constructed responses for each of their students. The time and energy you put into scoring and feedback has not gone unnoticed and is much appreciated!

I was SO impressed with your willingness to engage in mock-writing conferences at our “Just-in-Time” trainings. Almost all of you have facilitated writing conferences with your students over the last couple of weeks and continue to share your reflections with me. THANK YOU!

A reminder that our benchmark was the released 2023 STAAR test. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to compare your benchmark scores to your campus STAAR scores from last year.

STAAR/EOC Review

STAAR review recommendations have been updated. All materials are in this folder. The folder is also linked on the Content Resources Site and within "District Curriculum" in each Schoology group for easy access. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need an ECR prompt!

ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS

TEA Math Academies at Region 13 - sign up here for more information

FREE MATH PD FROM TEA!!!! Teachers receive $350 for attending.

K/1st grade: June 4-6

2nd grade: July 23-25

3rd grade: June 25-27

4th grade: June 11-13

5th grade: June 16-18

*all session are from 9:00-4:00 daily at Region 13

Best PD

Ever!

STAAR Review

Approved Supplemental Aids (for STAAR) Benchmark Resources

Ms.Turner’s 3rd graders at PES working with peers on problem solving.

6-12 MATHEMATICS

Resources for Planning STAAR Review

These Slides contain links toTeacher and Student DataTools, Region 13 data, Spiral Content Review for Grades 6-8, “Transferable skills” problem sets for all STAAR Courses and a chart to help guide goal setting with students

Using some of this information, CMS has already created and is sharing theseAWESOME activities:

7th grade - GPand Perez put together this packet that starts with the student data tool and focuses on working with proportions - make a copy here

Algebra 1 - Jimenez put the transferable skills problems into DesmosActivities that self-check every 10 questions! Use or make a copy here:

“Just Graph It” , “Vocabulary” (includes some graphing, etc), “Mix Tape”

8th grade - Gage,Atkins, Jimenez and Morales pulled together slides for practicing identifying and solving problems that use formulas or multiple representations (they turn it into a classkick for use, you could use as-is or create a desmos activity!) make your own copy here

6th and 7th at SMS are using the STAAR By Skill problems together with the student Data SkillAnalysis to individualize for each student.They split the large slides into separate files for each skill.These aren’t finished yet, but they will happily share when they are finished!After filling out the data sheet, students will identify their strongest category, work all of the practice problems and then move onto their next highest category.

Natalee Peterson - Secondary Mathematics

5th Grade STAAR Review Program

5th Grade Science STAAR- April 23, 2024

Just in Time Training- 5th Grade Science

Location- Upper Buda 401

Time- 12:30-3:15

- April 2, 2024 (UES, BVES, SHES, BES, CHES, NES, KES)

- April 3, 2024 (CRES, HES, GES, SFES, EGES, PES, FES, TES)

Curriculum Writing- Please join us to be a curriculum writer! See next page for more information!

Secondary Science

April 8th

Grades

6, 7, 8 & Biology

New Instructional Materials Training & 24-25 Pacing Calendar Units 1 & 2 District PLC & Planning/Resource Share

Two options are available for training on new instructional materials & PLC and Planning of Units 1 & 2 of the 24-25 Pacing Calendars.

Solar Eclipse

English-Spanish Flyer Please choose 1 date each for your appropriate grade level assignment(s).

Substitutes Paid (during school year) by C&I for May 6th-9th & Exchange Day Credit (start of summer) for May 28th-31st.

7th Science

8th Science

Eclipse Timeline Begins - 12:17pm Peak - 1:36PM Ends - 2:58 PM

Administration on your campus will distribute eclipse glasses to every Hays CISD student & employee before April 8.

Resources

● NASA 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

● Secondary Engage Eclipse Lesson (Connect to Prior Learning)

● Social Studies Cross-Curricular Eclipse Lesson

● Eclipse Safety Lesson

**NEW Eclipse Lessons linked above!

Elementary Social Studies

PD Opportunities!

Each year our district participates with a Colonial Williamsburg grant for a week long PD over Colonial America and the Revolution. If you are interested in this opportunity please complete this form.

We will have many HaysCon opportunities for Social Studies contents for all grade levels from one hour session to three hour sessions. Please reach out to Kim Peña if you have any questions.

Elementary Social Studies

Curriculum Writing

We are starting to plan for our curriculum writing that will take place in the first few weeks of summer. If you are interested in being a part of our team please submit this form!

Need Help?

Know a Teacher doing great things with Social Studies?

Nominate a teacher for our monthly gift card! Send Kimberly Pena an email about great things you are seeing!

Could you use some Active Classroom training? Interested in doing a large Social Studies project? Not sure how to teach certain district lessons? Reach out! Kim is here to help!

Elementary Request Form for More Social Studies Support

Are you receiving the HaysCISD Social Studies monthly newsletter? If not sign up here!

Secondary Social Studies

Social Studies

Curriculum Writing

We are starting to plan for our curriculum writing that will take place in the first few weeks of summer. We need your feedback to improve our content sites and resources. If you are interested in being a part of our team or just want to provide feedback please submit this form! Our team slots are limited and filling up quickly. Please reach out to Kim Peña if you have any questions.

PD Opportunity

Each year our district participates with a Colonial Williamsburg grant for a week long PD over Colonial America and the Revolution. If you are interested in this opportunity please complete this form.

We will have many HaysCon opportunities for Social Studies contents for all grade levels from one hour session to three hour sessions. Please reach out to Kim Peña if you have any questions.

TEA Opportunity

Each year the Texas Education Agency (TEA) invites Texas educators to provide feedback on the development of state assessments (STAAR, STAAR Alternate 2, and TELPAS) through educator committees across all assessed grades and content areas. Developing high-quality, aligned questions relies on the expertise and experience of Texas educators. Participants collaborate with other educators from across the state to review, edit, and approve each potential question for state assessments. TEA is specifically looking for educators from your region!

The commitment is generally two to three days in Austin with all travel, accommodations, and substitute coverage paid for by TEA. All participants will earn Continuing Professional Education credits. If you are interested or know other educators who would like to participate in a committee, fill out the application form here: https://www.texasassessment.gov/educator-co mmittees.html

Are you seeing great things on your campus? Nominate a teacher for a monthly recognition and gift card!

Email Kim Peña