Thanks for the Memories

What an amazing time we have had teaching, learning, and leading over the past years in Trussville City Schools.  It has truly been an honor and our pleasure.  We know that the dedicated leaders and teachers in our district will continue to grow, learn, and lead.  May God continuously guide and bless you as you shape the future for our students and our country. 

Beth and Jennifer

Scantron Analytics Training

TCS administrators and counselors learned about Scantron Analytics today.  This application that allows the user to carefully look at student and school data will be used during the 19-20 school year.  All school administrators, counselors, and central office staff will have access to the application.  Data will provide information about enrollment, attendance, grades, RtI, early warning, graduation, discipline, student watch list, and student profiles.  

Quotable Quote

“Wherever you turn, you can find someone who needs you. Even if it is a little thing, do something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember, you don’t live in the world all of your own.”

—Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)
Philosopher, Physician, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Dyslexia Training for TCS Teachers

The three elementary schools in TCS were chosen to participate in a state sponsored pilot program to train teachers to use specific materials for supporting struggling readers.  Master teacher Arlene Sonday created the Sonday System Reading Program based upon Orton-Gillingham methodology to teach reading from beginning letter and sound recognition through most phonograms. Selected teachers in grades K-6 will use the Sonday System for Tier II and Tier III intervention during the 19-20 school year.

The first day of training was facilitated by reading coaches Jenni Peters, Edra Perry, and Kelly McGough, and reading specialist Fran Box on June 11.  The day-long experience introduced teachers to the Sonday System program and materials, as well as an overview of dyslexia and Alabama law related to dyslexia.  Feedback from the teachers was exceptionally positive. 

Comments from teachers' feedback:

• Great job!  All presenters did an excellent job of teaching us!
• Today I learned that dyslexia is a challenge, not a disability.  It's an interference.
• I love having everything in one box that I can use to help students become better readers.
• Today I learned a great new program that is easy to follow, great to help Tier II intervention, and a very good resource to incorporate a multisensory approach to teaching phonics, fluency, comprehension, and spelling.  
• Today I learned so much about procedures and expectations to enhance the multisensory learning of all my students really, but especially the strugglers.  
• I feel like I have a better grasp on the program and am excited about seeing the results it will bring to our babies that need it.  
• I learned that 1 in every 5 students has dyslexia.  You need to repeat things 3 times for them to be in long term memory.  
• As a classroom teacher I am a dyslexia interventionist.  

Quotable Quote

To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. 

Douglas Adams

Elementary Teachers Revise and Review Curriculum Guides

Elementary teachers met to work on revisions to their math curriculum guides this morning.  This work has been going on since mid May.  This afternoon, additional math teachers came in to hear and see the new revisions, giving their stamps of approval.  Math coaches who are facilitating the work are Stephanie Rosetta and Monica Bramlett.

LeadChange: Daily Gratitude

I read a timely article about gratitude this morning from LeadChange. The highlights of the article are:

• Gratitude is a conscious choice.  It doesn't just happen.
• Gratitude not only makes us feel happier, it is a significant cause of positive outcomes.
• Gratitude makes us better leaders.
• Gratitude motivates us to work harder.
• Gratitude drives your purpose.  

Gratitude is a conscious and willful action. You have to be aware of what you have in life for which you should be grateful. Once you have identified all your blessings, then remember and renew your gratitude for each one daily. Thankfulness is the sun in the morning fog—gratitude will burn away any doubts you have about your purpose in life.

To read the entire article, click here.  

Showing someone gratitude is the same as showing them respect; this is highly regarded in business and in any relationship.  

Learning Forward: What Makes Curriculum Work

Trussville City Schools has a history of being committed to comprehensive, high-quality curriculum.  The Knowledge Matters Campaign, a coalition of education leaders who encourage schools to focus on developing students' foundation of content knowledge, toured elementary schools for the purpose of discovering what kinds of professional learning teachers found most helpful in successfully implementing a high-quality, content-rich curriculum. 

Here are four lessons for administrators and teachers:

Embrace a “we’re-in-this-together” school leadership stance.

Teachers and coaches stressed the vital role of school leaders in driving robust implementation. Most important to staff was the passion that leaders conveyed about the learning the school was undertaking.  Principals in the schools they visited were constantly in and out of classrooms, as much to learn and grow themselves as to observe how teachers were doing. Teachers expressed their deep appreciation for the presence in their classroom of leader learners, rather than leader evaluators.

Tend to the hearts and minds of teachers by sharing the philosophy and research behind the new curriculum.

It is monumentally important to ground teachers in the research behind new shifts and to build authentic faculty buy-in and enthusiasm, based on a shared understanding of the philosophical underpinnings and research base for the curriculum.

Make professional learning curriculum- specific.

What characterizes the professional learning opportunities described by teachers and coaches in the schools they visited is that they’re messy - experiential. The process is similar to the Japanese concept of lesson study.  Grade-level and cross grade-level teams are rolling up their sleeves and working together, engaging in the content of what they’re teaching in the classroom and figuring out the best way to deliver it, leaning heavily on the curriculum.

Invest in your teachers through yearlong professional learning systems.

Significant time is necessary for ongoing, sustained professional learning. Examples included time for teachers to plan lessons together with their grade level team every day, early release time for districtwide collaboration, faculty book studies, and multiple days for coaching to implement new curriculum, 

Successful implementation requires significant resources. But there is a payoff for such an investment: Researchers report that teachers who participated in sustained, discipline- specific professional learning that dealt concretely with what they were teaching in the classroom — professional learning that averaged 49 hours across nine separate studies — saw student achievement increases of about 21 percentile points.

This definitely makes me think about our Elementary Math Teachers Cohort and the roll out and implementation of Lucy Calkins Units of Reading.  Principals, assistant principals, and coaches have embraced and studied these new curricula, along with teachers.  And the most significant part of EMT (Elementary Math Teachers Cohort) is the study of the research behind student learning and understanding.  Teachers regularly plan and collaborate in grade level meetings and across the district.  This targeted, curriculum-specific professional learning continues to support the learning of teachers and students.  

To read the entire article, click here.

Dr. Jennifer Cardwell Receives Award

Dr. Jennifer Cardwell, Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction Program Coordinator of Secondary Programs for Trussville City Schools, was awarded ACCESS Administrator of the Year Award from Dr. Kevin Besnoy, Director of ACCESS Virtual Learning, at an awards ceremony at the Bryant Conference Center on the University of Alabama campus Friday.  Dr. Cardwell is the recipient of both the University of Alabama's ACCESS Administrator of the Year, as well as the State's ACCESS Administrator of the Year. 

Administrator Collaborative

For the past five years, TCS administrators and teacher leaders have met throughout the year as the TCS Administrator Collaborative.  We started the Administrator Collaborative so that administrators in our district would have the opportunity to learn together and from each other.  We wanted leaders throughout the district to have time to share their ideas with one another and to be able to ask questions of their colleagues.  It is important, actually critical, for leaders to continue to learn on a daily basis.  That learning doesn’t happen unless it is intentional and planned.  Leaders get busy and often put their own learning on a back burner. 

Five years ago, I don’t believe we had a common language or shared vision for high-quality instruction.  Walkthroughs with feedback that included evidence without judgement were not common.  Peer observations were rare.  Today, all of these things take place routinely in our schools and departments because we have discussed, read, practiced, and learned together.  Through our collaboration, we have instituted important expectations for teachers and administrators through our TCS Educator Effectiveness.  As we finish up our fifth year of Administrator Collaborative, take a look back at our learning.

Purpose of Administrator Collaborative
To improve student learning
To improve teacher practice
To implement an evaluation model that aligns with instructional focuses and guides stakeholders in shared understanding of a research based, K-12, Educator Effectiveness model

Year 1 Walkthroughs and Collaboration
To share data from each school
To share ways we are facilitating professional growth
To share walkthrough updates from each school
To read and discuss Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs
To discuss rationale for involving teachers as leaders in walkthroughs
To develop procedures and a protocol for walkthroughs
To discuss creating a school culture that supports walkthroughs

Year 2 Developing a Collaborative Culture
Read and discuss Cultures Built to Last, Systemic PLCs at Work
Create a collaborative culture in schools with a focus on learning
Understand why systemwide reform is most effective
Review and revise district Strategic Plan and Professional Development Plan
Share ways we are facilitating professional growth
Develop procedures and a protocol for walkthroughs
Share walkthrough updates and data from each school

Year 3 Implementing TCS Educator Effectiveness
Implement TCS Educator Effectiveness
Read and discuss Leading with Focus

Year 4 Looking Closely at Instruction
Read, discuss, and share strategies from Learning That Lasts by Ron Berger.
Develop a clear understanding of the TCS Educator Effectiveness Plan
Share ways we are facilitating professional growth and building expertise of the TCS Nine Indicators for Effective Educators
Participate in classroom walkthroughs with debriefing discussions to improve practice
Share walkthrough updates and data from each school

Year 5 Making the Most of Observations, Walkthroughs, and Feedback
Participants join colleagues in walkthroughs at various schools focusing on specific best practices (content knowledge, well-managed classroom, rigor and relevance, learning targets, positive classroom environment, formative assessments, academic discourse, active engagement, etc.)
After the walkthroughs, participants discuss their walkthrough data and compile appropriate feedback to be given to teachers.

Notice the purpose of the Administrator Collaborative.  Our goal was always the same - improve teaching and learning.  That must remain a priority for a school system.  Our purpose is to educate.  Improving teaching and learning is hard work, not for the faint of heart, nor for anyone afraid of getting down in the messy work of learning.  I am proud that together, this group worked and learned in order to achieve that goal.  Teaching and learning has improved, and it must continue to improve every year. 

My Thoughts by Beth Bruno

Another school year has come and gone, and what a remarkable year it has been.  The word that comes to my mind in describing this school year is growth.  Growth in students enrolling and families moving into the district.  Growth in student achievement.  Growth in student and staff learning.  Growth in relationships with students and with one another. 

Teachers, administrators, and academic coaches have worked collaboratively this year to support student growth.  In the process, adult learning has increased as well.  The result of all that growth was highlighted with the recognition as being the number 2 school district in the state, based on the State Report Card.  The life-giving blood for that growth is our teachers.  We have the best of the best who, year after year start fresh, striving to make learning and the school experience even better than the year before. TCS is fortunate to have hard working, intelligent, caring employees who have a growth mindset. 

Relationships between and among our staff members have grown.  Teachers regularly collaborate and depend on one another for support and constructive feedback.  That collaborative spirit has helped to transform our district into a true learning community.  We have all learned so much, not just from our reading, research, and professional development, but through our observations and conversations with colleagues.  Joy Tyner said it best, "Why would I send our teachers to observe in another district when we have experts right here in our own building?" 

Looking ahead to the future, I know that you will continue your work to support continuous growth of our students and staff.  You have the most important jobs in the world.  The children, this country, and the future of democracy depend on you.  I am confident that Trussville City Schools will continue to be the stellar schools we expect in our community, and that together you will help all of our students grow to become the people they were created to be.

Thank you for all the big things and the countless little things you have done daily to grow and support students and one another.  Have a great summer filled with relaxation, time with family, and continuous learning!  No doubt that 19-20 will be our best school year ever! 

Quotable Quote

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” —C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) Writer, Theologian, Scholar

Class of 2019 Scholarships

From Laura Stalls, HTHS Counselor

The Class of 2019 was offered $12,120,000 in academic and athletic scholarships from the following Institutions of Higher Education!

Auburn University, Auburn University at Montgomery, Baylor University, Belmont University, Berry College, Birmingham Southern College, Clemson University, Dartmouth College, Freed-Hardeman University, Huntingdon College, Jacksonville State University, Jefferson State University, Johnson & Wales University, LaGrange College, Lee University, Long Island University, Louisiana State University, Marquette University, Martin-Methodist College, Mercer University, Millsaps College, Mississippi College, Mississippi State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Pace University, Penn State University, Purdue University, Samford University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Shelton State Community College, Snead State Community College, Spring Hill College, St. Norbert College, Tennessee Tech University, The University of Mississippi, The University of Montevallo, The University of Southern Mississippi, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Troy University, Tuskegee University, Union University, United States Air Force, University of Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Alabama Huntsville, University of California Irvine, University of California San Diego, University of California San Francisco, University of Chicago, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Memphis, University of Mobile, University of New Mexico, University of North Alabama, University of South Alabama, University of West Alabama, Utah State University, Virginia Military Institute, Warren Wilson College, Western Kentucky University

HTHS is Proud of You!!

*Total includes all reported scholarship offers as of 5/15/19

eLearning Professional Development Courses Announced

eLearning will offer 40+ professional development (PD) courses beginning June 5th and running through July 23rd, 2019. Most of these courses are 6-weeks long and will award 30 clock hours to graduates.

All of the courses are completely online with no requirements to be online on any given day or at any given time. The courses are structured in weekly sessions with assignments due each week (readings, activities, discussion sessions). As long as you complete these weekly assignments during the assigned week, you will be fine. If you already have vacation plans, you can work with your instructor to get around the dates you will be without Internet access.

Due to across the board budget cuts, eLearning will have to restrict enrollment to most courses to the first 25 participants signing up - please do not wait until the start date or you might miss out and taking a course or two.

Please look over the COURSE LISTING webpage to see the course schedule and REGISTRATION webpage for directions on how to enroll using your Chalkable (STIPD) accounts.

eLearning will also offer seven (7) courses in the EDU55xx series that can earn ACLD-approved PLUs with additional work - the process is described on their PLU COURSES webpage.

To enroll:   elearning@alsde.edu  334-670-1884

http://elearning.alsde.edu
http://elearning.atim.cc 

Quotable Quote

“You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain.” —Tom Hiddleston (born 1981) Actor

Dr. Jennifer Cardwell Recipient of 2019 State ACCESS Administrator of the Year

Dr. Jennifer Cardwell, Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction Program Coordinator of Secondary Programs for Trussville City Schools, has been chosen as the recipient of both the University of Alabama's ACCESS Administrator of the Year, as well as the State's ACCESS Administrator of the Year. Dr. Kevin Besnoy, Director of ACCESS Virtual Learning, said, " Dr. Cardwell's history of work and commitment to excellence in merging ACCESS programming options with Trussville's existing curriculum is a model for other administrators across the state." She will be recognized at this year’s ACCESS Teacher Day, hosted on the University of Alabama’s campus on May 31, 2019.   

Steve Blair, the state program administrator for ACCESS Virtual Learning sent his congratulations, commending Dr. Cardwell on her accomplishments.  Dr. Cardwell will be honored at the State Awards Presentation Program on June 12, 2019, during the Opening Session of the Alabama Educational Technology Conference in Mobile at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center. 

We are very proud of Dr. Cardwell, and we are thankful to have her support and expertise in Trussville.  

Magnolia Art Show

Magnolia Elementary hosted a Spring Showcase on Thursday, May 2.  The Spring Showcase included a showing of the students' artwork.  Magnolia's art teacher is Callie Ward.