New: School Safety Five Minute Drill
As discussed at last week’s Principals meeting, our office recommends that each school spend five minutes each month with faculty and staff on safety issues. The suggested area of focus for August is training, particularly in-depth training (which will take longer than five minutes). The following are suggested areas:
- CPR training for all staff (this should include cafeteria, maintenance, and front office staff)
- Reviewing all safety plans with staff
- AED training for all staff
- First Aid training
New: Principal Institute with Jodee Blanco
All principals are invited and strongly encouraged to attend When Parents Bully the School: Rebuilding Relationships and the Trajectory Back to Normalcy, led by New York Times bestselling author, Jodee Blanco. Please read the description below to understand the value of this half-day training and complete the RSVP by Sept. 1.
Date: Friday, Sept. 9
Time: 9:00-12:00 or 12:30-3:30 (choose one)
Location: Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Learn more | RSVP
New: Roster Information for Renaissance
Schools utilizing the FACTS SIS will not need to create a manual .csv file for the Star Renaissance roster as in years past. Instead, simply follow the steps from FACTS, then skip to section “B” in the steps provided by Star to upload your roster to Renaissance.
Schools that are not currently using the FACTS SIS will need to follow all the instructions in the Star Self-Service Import document.
New: Communications Resources
Holly Fournier, Associate Director of Communications shared two very important documents during last week’s principal meeting. Holly explained the guidelines for relating with media and when to contact the Archdiocese of Detroit regarding media situations. Please save these linked documents for future reference.
Updated: Religion Assessment
As indicated previously, we had taken a pause from the Religion Assessment during COVID. During the pause, a Religion Assessment Review Committee was formed to edit and revise the assessment. The committee met over the course of the past year and concluded their work. As such, K-8 schools are expected to administer the Religion Assessment this school year (2022-2023) to grade 1-8 students.
Please see further detail about the Religion Assessment here.
Reminder: Teacher PLCs
Dr. Bluestein will facilitate Teacher PLCs this year beginning in September. Six meetings are scheduled for the year and 25 SCECHs will be available for those who attend all six meetings. These meetings will not be recorded and full attendance at each meeting is necessary to earn SCECHs.
Please see the schedule below and share with teachers; the zoom link will be shared soon. All meetings will run from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
PK-2 (Tuesdays): September 27, October 25, November 15, January 17, February 21, March 28
Grades 3-5 (Wednesdays): September 28, October 26, November 16, January 18, February 22, March 29
Grades 6-8 (Thursdays): September 29, October 27, November 17, January 19, February 23, March 30
New Event: Together in Holiness Conference
The AOD is co-hosting a marriage conference—Together in Holiness—on Saturday October 15 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Plymouth. The conference is for married (and engaged) couples seeking to enrich their marriage and family life.
Please see the bulletin graphics and sample community announcements to let your parent community know of this marriage conference opportunity in support of building strong and holy marriages and family life.
Amanda Abi-Samra, Conference Coordinator, is available to assist with any questions or promotional materials. She can be reached at amanda@forfamilyandlife.org or 832-779-1070.
Reminder: 2022-2023 AOD Uniform PD Framework
Please see this letter from Dr. May Bluestein regarding the 2022-2023 AOD Uniform Professional Development Days. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Bluestein.
Reminder: Detroit Lions Exclusive Ticket Offer
Our friends with the Detroit Lions are again offering special savings for Catholic School teachers, administrators, faculty, and staff as the Lions open the season at home vs The Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday September 11 at 1:00pm. Each ticket will include a Detroit Lions Journal.
Click here to access the offer and please feel free to share this offer with your staff. They will be able to purchase the discounted tickets directly from the link.
Reminder: 2022-2023 Administrator Calendar
Please see the Department of Catholic Schools Administrator Calendar for the 2022-2023 school year.
Reminder: Upcoming MANS PD Opportunity
School Safety
If your school needs financial assistance to enhance safety and security measures at your school, please contact the Department of Catholic Schools. As a reminder, each school should work with local law enforcement officers to ensure that adequate safety plans are in place.
Newton Applicant Tracking System Job Posting and Closing Instructions
The Applicant Tracking System job posting, and approval process instructions can be found here. Please know that is the responsibility of the school to either remove the job or to reach out to Roberta Robson, (robsonmcglone.roberta@aod.org), or Erin Taft, (taft.erin@aod.org) to request removal of the position. Unfortunately, Paycor Recruiting does not offer the option of putting an end date on the job posting so unless HR is made aware that the job has been filled and should be removed, the job will remain posted. Please see these instructions for how to close your open position in the ATS.
Federal Programs and EANS Presentations from FACTS Education Solutions
Please see resources from Dr. Susan Abelein and Jeremy Beck of FACTS Education Solutions presentations below:
Jeremy Beck’s Presentation:
Dr. Abelein’s Presentations:
Principal Performance Evaluations
The Principal Performance Evaluation template is available on Box. Please complete your self-reflection and then ask your pastor to complete his portion. Once the evaluations are completed, reviewed, and signed, please email a copy to Erin McNally.
