Foundation for Rural Education Excellence

Supporting Academic Achievement in Rural Northeast Florida Communities

June 2018 Newsletter

The Foundation for Rural Education Excellence, a registered 501 (C)(3) organization, was founded in 1998 to facilitate philanthropic support for rural school districts of the   North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC): Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Suwannee and Union Counties as well as Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and PK Yonge Developmental Research School. Working collaboratively, our mission is to enhance academic success and career opportunities for rural students in northeast Florida.

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Bradford Hosts Standards Institute

Educators representing all Bradford County Schools gathered the week of June 11th at Bradford High School to learn, collaborate, and deepen their knowledge of the Florida Standards. English Language Arts teachers unpacked and discussed the instructional implications of the standards, analyzed texts for complexity, learned strategies to help all students access those texts, and built engaging lessons together. Math teachers explored the Florida Standards for mathematics and collaboratively planned lessons that help students develop math fluency, build conceptual knowledge, and understand the amazing language of math. View Training Calendar

School Safety/Mental Health Get Regional Focus

Rural school districts in northeast Florida are combining their efforts to address new school safety and mental health requirements passed by the Florida Legislature earlier this year. NEFEC will facilitate a networking meeting for School Safety Specialists and Mental Health Leads on June 28th in Palatka. As with many state mandates, rural districts must look for ways to collaborate through their Consortium to reduce costs and increase efficiency. We are better together.

Regional Literacy Initiative June 25-28

The NEFEC Regional Literacy Initiative will be held June 25-28 at Palatka High School. This professional learning event is designed for K-5 educators in the NEFEC districts. 300 teachers from the northeast Florida region have been invited to attend. This event will focus on the following desired outcomes:   Describe equitable instructional practices that occur with the implementation of standards and shifts-aligned instruction. Identify opportunities to incorporate equity moves that amplify language and learning for all students. Define the most significant shifts or “Foundational Ideas” in English Language Arts. Apply an understanding of the demands of the standards and shifts to instructional practices. Describe the need for students to have practice with complex text using quality scaffolds. Begin to apply some characteristics of text-dependent questions to evaluate and improve the quality of questions written.    At the completion of the professional learning event, teachers will receive additional support in the 2018-19 school year through feedback in lesson plans and instructional walk-throughs.

Upcoming Events

Summer Leadership Conference NEFEC's Annual Summer Leadership Conference is scheduled for July 10-11, 2018, at the Sawgrass Marriott in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. For more information or to register, click on the link below: 2018 NEFEC SLC

Foundation for Rural Education Excellence (352) 317-0621 foundationruraled@gmail.com freeneedsyou.org

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