Wednesday, October 18, 2023 | |
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Dear Carlos Rosario School Community,
Our hearts are with our students, staff, and families impacted by the horrific events in Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East. This is a scary and emotional time, especially for our Carlos Rosario School community that is connected to this part of the world.
As a community, we are called on to offer compassion and support for one another, especially all of our faculty, staff and students who are impacted directly and those for whom this brings up experiences of trauma in their own lives. Our hearts are heavy as we continue to watch the events unfold and their human impact, and we remain hopeful for the return of peace.
We may be thousands of miles and a continent removed, and yet our community has family, friends, and loved ones deeply impacted. I encourage you to take good care of yourselves and be sensitive to your colleagues in how this news may impact us all.
Sincerely,
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Allison R. Kokkoros
Chief Executive Officer
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Action Items and Important Dates | |
October 24th is Carlos Rosario School Founders’ Day! | |
Tuesday, October 24th is Manuel Rosario’s birthday and the Carlos Rosario School Founders' Day. We recognize Carlos Manuel Rosario and Sonia Gutiérrez for their efforts to better the lives of adult immigrants through education and to take pride in their achievements. Our School’s founders embodied the imagination and courage of our city’s immigrant community. | |
OCTO Listening Session at Harvard Street Campus | |
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The District’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer is developing a digital plan for the District along with other states in the nation. This plan will guide the allocation of federal funds in the coming years to address inequities in high-speed internet, digital education, and for affordable devices. HollyAnn and Allison met with Director Mims, who oversees this process. We are actively supporting the District to hear from affected language learners.
On October 23rd from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm our School will be hosting a DC Government Listening Session on site at the Harvard Street Campus which will help shape the district’s plan on digital equity. For more information, please contact Olianka Wingate at [email protected].
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Lunch with Executive Leadership Team | |
For the remainder of this semester, every Tuesday from 12 pm to 1 pm, there will be at least one ELT team member available at each campus cafeteria to answer questions, have conversations and engage with our School Community. Join us for lunch and to share anything that may be on your mind! | |
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As we embark on this new academic year, we will soon be launching recruitment for 2023/24 school working groups including our DEIB advocacy committee which will shepherd the work of our DEIB Plan; the faculty working group which will provide recommendations on teaching and curriculum-related priorities; a compensation working group as part of School-wide engagement on compensation; and an interdisciplinary task force to explore ways to build relationships between our School’s Board and staff. The collective work of the volunteers in these groups will play a crucial role in shaping the future of our School this year.
Stay tuned for more details, and in the meantime, feel free to reach out to the groups sponsors:
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1:1 Office Hours with the CEO | |
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Please remember that Allison Kokkoros, CEO, is holding office hours for one-on-one, 20-minute chats with employees. The one-on-one chats are opportunities to informally talk about anything that’s on your mind and for Allison to hear directly from you.
Upcoming Office Hours are:
- November 6 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm virtual or in-person at Harvard Street Campus.
- November 8 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm virtual or in-person at Sonia Gutierrez Campus.
- November 14 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm virtual or in-person at Harvard Street Campus.
- November 15 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm virtual or in-person at Sonia Gutierrez Campus.
Contact Karla Vasconez, Executive Assistant at [email protected] to reserve your spot!
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401(k) Informational Sessions | |
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Our Financial Advisor, Equitable will be visiting our School to offer informational sessions regarding the retirement plan. If you have questions regarding your retirement strategy and financial planning, these are great sessions to attend.
Equitable will also discuss:
- The plan’s provider, Voya Financial®.
- Reasons to contribute to your 401(k).
- Account Access.
- Retirement planning options .
- Voya’s website tools and resources.
The dates and times for the sessions are listed below.
- Harvard Street Campus
- Date and Time: Thursday, October 19th, 12 pm -1 pm
- Sonia Gutierrez Campus
- Friday, October 20th12 pm - 1 pm
If you cannot attend either session, you can contact Daniel McNulty directly at (703) 205-0394 or by email [email protected].
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Happy National Principals Month! | |
We are shining a spotlight on the incredible leaders guiding our two campuses, Harvard Street Campus and Sonia Gutierrez Campus. We want to recognize Chelsea Bradford, Harvard Street Campus Principal and Elani Lawrence, Sonia Gutierrez Campus Principal. Thank you for your leadership, passion, and commitment to our students! | |
Faculty and staff at both the Harvard Street and Sonia Gutiérrez campuses threw a surprise celebration for their principals. | |
NEW Knowledge Management Page Soft Launch in Intranet | |
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As supported in our SY25 Strategic Plan Goal 2.2*, we’ve put together here CR standardized Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) templates, guidance and a reference example for our community to leverage.
When should you create a SOP?
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Any time you have a process that requires specific step-by-step instructions to ensure the process is completed with consistency.
- To document institutional knowledge
- To minimize errors or changes
Although there’s more work to be done on the page and to further develop our approach to Knowledge Management, we felt that our community could use some of these templates to serve you immediately.
Also, you’ll find Project Management Tools such as a Project Status Report Template, Project and Change Management Training, and a Project Charter Template.
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Remember, under Empower our people and culture section, 2.2 By SY24-25, all departments will define and cross-train on roles, responsibilities, procedures, and systems, and will implement an annual cycle to revisit and refine to ensure operational continuity and support institutional knowledge retention. | |
Updated Central Office Points of Contact | |
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Have questions about who you should contact in the Finance Department or the Front Desk and Transportation Team? Please see here on the Intranet for key points of contact on these teams. This link will be updated periodically as our staffing evolves to strategically meet the needs of the school!.
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Student Information and Learning Systems (SILS) Update | |
The Student Information and Learning Systems team is pleased to share that they have begun a Tableau Optimization project. The purpose of this project is to enhance the performance, accessibility, and scalability of the Tableau Environment for our faculty and staff at the Carlos Rosario School. As things progress, you will receive updates in the CR Bulletin. | Carlos Rosario School Staffing Updates: Welcome Nancy! | |
We are pleased to announce that Nancy Villalba has joined our team as Steward at the Sonia Gutierrez Campus. Please give her all a warm welcome when you see her around the School! | |
Communications Resource of the Week | |
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A friendly reminder to access the School’s Communications and Branding page on the Intranet to support your work.
You can find useful information, including:
- Archive of bi-weekly bulletins.
- Communications and Development Department Guidelines.
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CR School logos including for email signatures (External use of the logo needs prior authorization).
- CR School official letterhead (external usage of the letterhead needs. approval from Development and Communications Department).
- CR School Fact Sheet.
- Photo tips.
You can access the Intranet by navigating to www.carlosrosario.org and clicking on the “Employee Intranet” tab at the top of the page (see below image for reference). When accessing the Intranet homepage, click on the “Central Resources” tab at the top and then click “Communications & Branding” to access helpful branding resources.
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Make sure to visit the below pages and share the resources with your team.
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NEW Knowledge Management Page here.
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Homepage here.
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Employee Resources here.
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DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) here.
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October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month | |
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As we continue to recognize Cybersecurity Awareness Month, just a friendly reminder to complete the mandatory cybersecurity training by November 30, 2023. Thank you to the 40% of team members that completed the Week 1 training! On October 16th, you should have received your Week 2 training on Credential Harvesting. As mentioned, the email with the link to the training sessions will be coming from the [email protected] email address. Along with the reminder I would also like to include some interesting cybersecurity facts:
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Globally, 3 billion phishing emails are sent every day (Click HERE for full article).
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Between 75% and 90% of targeted cyber-attacks start with an email (Click HERE for full article).
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"Millennials (44%) and Gen Z (51%) are more likely to say they have experienced a cyber threat than baby boomers (21%). Additionally, 25% of millennials and 24% of Gen Zers said they had their identities stolen once as opposed to only 14% of baby boomers." (Click HERE for full article).
Cybersecurity Awareness Training Topics:
- Week 3 (10/23/2023)
- Telephone Scams
- Week 4 (10/30/2023)
- Social Engineering Intro
- Week 5 (11/06/2023)
- Cybersecurity Culture
You may take the training in either English or Spanish. Remember, each week, you will receive 1 video of 7 minutes or less.
At the end of the training videos, you'll receive a quiz with a few simple questions. You can take the quizzes as often as needed until you receive a passing score of 80% or higher. The training session links will be emailed to you from [email protected].
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COVID Tests: Still Available | |
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COVID cases in DC and around the country continue to increase, and we strongly encourage everyone to pick up a FREE antigen test at the security desks at both campuses. Please take a test if you are not feeling well or have been exposed to COVID.
Do not come to school if you test positive for COVID. STUDENTS should notify their teacher or principal, and EMPLOYEES should notify HR and their supervisor if they test positive for COVID.
We also strongly encourage everyone to wear a MASK if they are immunocompromised or have any condition that puts them at risk. We support anyone who wants to wear a mask for any reason!
Questions? Contact Carmen Ramirez, at [email protected].
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External Career Training Information Session: November 29th, 30th & December 7th | |
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Our Career Training Programs are holding information sessions on November 29th at 10:00 am and November 30th at 7:00 pm and December 7th at 11:00 am. Share with anyone who may be interested in pursuing a career in Culinary Arts, Bilingual Education, Nursing, or Technology. Interested individuals can still put their name on the interest list for future registrations or will receive a call back for the Spring based on class availability. Learn more about the programs here.
Information for the November and December information session is below:
In Person Session - Sonia Gutierrez Campus
- Wednesday, November 29th, 10:00 AM
Virtual Session through Zoom
- Thursday, November 30th, 7:00 PM
- Thursday, December 7th, 11:00 AM
- Meeting ID: 822 0177 2329
- Passcode: Crosario
| In addition, our Career Coaches at the Sonia Gutierrez Campus, Ana Pernia and Ana Trujillo created a video demonstrating how to access internal resources for the Career Training programs, watch the video here. | |
Arts Integration and Culture | |
In Case You Missed It: Hispanic Heritage Month Online Video Celebration | |
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The 2023 Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration video is now up on the Carlos
Rosario School YouTube page. Be sure to check it out if you missed it!
Following this year’s national Hispanic Heritage Month theme of “Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power and Progress in America," this virtual celebration features music, artwork, poetry, culinary arts, remarks, and other contributions from Carlos Rosario students, staff, and community. Watch it here!
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Around Our School and Community | |
ESL Level 3 students made a "paragraph sandwich" after the break. These students practiced their skills and how to write a paragraph. | |
Our School hosted its annual Fall Health Fair at our Harvard Street Campus in collaboration with HOYA Clinic, MedStar Health and Georgetown University School of Medicine to promote healthy living among our students. Our students had the opportunity to get flu shots and had access to health information about blood pressure, blood sugar screenings, education about diabetes, dermatology, first aid, skin cancer, women’s health, and more. | |
Breast Cancer Awareness Month | |
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Our students, faculty and staff at our Sonia Gutiérrez Campus wore PINK to raise awareness about breast cancer. Today, Nueva Vida, an organization that informs, supports, and empowers women whose lives are affected by cancer, had an information table in the Sonia Gutierrez Campus atrium, with resources related to breast cancer. | |
Board and Staff Members Recognized | |
Thank you to DC Mayor Bowser, who honored three members of the Carlos Rosario School Community through the DC Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. We are proud and grateful for the outstanding and continued contributions of CR School staff Jay Haddock-Ortiz, instructor Maria Llanos, and Board Member Larry Villegas-Perez. | |
CR School at Digital Equity Panel Discussion | |
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Aracelly Watts, Vice-Principal/Technology Program Director at the Sonia Gutierrez Campus, participated in a panel discussion about a variety of initiatives to make the DC region more digitally equitable. She shared about the Carlos Rosario School's robust programming on digital skills and workforce development, and programs led by our School that are helping to expand digital literacy and inclusion among underserved populations, especially immigrant populations.
Fellow panelists also included Joe Paul, CEO of Byte Back and Marta Urguilla, President of Centri Tech Foundation.
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CR Bi-Weekly Bulletin Reminder | |
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We will continue to bring important updates to you via this internal bulletin on a bi-weekly basis. Please expect to receive our CR Bulletin every other Wednesday. The next bulletin will come out on Wednesday, November 1st. Remember, you can submit information and/or feature your class activities to [email protected].
Our bulletin is not possible without the contributions, support and ideas from our team members. Please consider what you’d like to share with our staff community, and encourage your team to do so. Thank you for reading the bulletin and helping to create an impactful and informative communication channel for our team.
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