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A LETTER FROM ASBCS
"To improve public education in Arizona by sponsoring charter schools that provide quality educational choices"
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The ASBCS February Board Meeting was held Monday, February 14, 2022.
Ombudsman Educational Services gave a presentation on the charter's Implementation of NAEA Exemplary Practice. Thank you to Ombudsman leadership for joining us!
See all Board action taken at the February 2022 meeting here.
The next Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 14, 2022 at 9 am.
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Dear Charter Community,
In October 2021, the Board was made aware that the Arizona Attorney General's Office dismissed the case against Incito Schools. Though it is the Board's duty to ensure the schools under the portfolio are high-quality academically, financially, and operationally, it is also important to recognize a development such as the dismissal of the aforementioned case. The Board takes allegations against its charters very seriously, and is pleased to know that the aforementioned claims were dismissed. Thank you for your understanding, and as always, please feel free to reach out to Board staff with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Ashley Berg
Executive Director
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FY23 Grant Funding – Opening March 1, 2022 |
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From the Arizona Department of Education
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is providing this important reminder regarding FY23 grant timelines and requirements. It is hard to believe that we are already moving into the 2022 fiscal year! The following reminders are important to note as we move into this new fiscal year.
- FY23 General Statement of Assurances (GSAs) are due March 1, 2022. The submission and acceptance of your GSA prior to the deadline ensures your organization will not be affected by a global hold (which prevents any fiscal action and approval of funding applications).
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Grant funding applications and budgets are due May 2, 2022. The timely submission of funding applications within GME and the above-mentioned GSA, followed by the appropriate approvals, will allow your organization to draw down funds as early as July 1, 2022.
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Funding applications must be in Director Approved status before an LEA can begin to draw down funds; this includes the approval of all required documentation, as well as the completion of the Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA), Integrated Action Plan (IAP) within the GME Planning tool. Please be reminded that these items will need to be completed prior to Director Approved status and the ability to draw down funds.
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ADE has provided guidance regarding the use of vendors/consultants when applying for grant funds. This guidance is also included within assurances in the GSA section "Grants Management Enterprise (GME) System User Assurances". LEAs may use third-party vendors but must remain the responsible sub-grantee and involved in the application process. The guidance can be found here.
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User roles may need to be updated in Grants Management Enterprise (GME) system based on this new guidance. Information regarding user role access can be found here.
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By April 2022 the federal government will stop using the DUNS number to uniquely identify entities. The "SAM.gov Registration" section of the GSA provides basic information on the new Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number which will be used going forward. The GSA will allow for both the DUNS and the UEI to be entered, however it is critical that all organizations review the information provided by the U.S. General Services Administration here.
We understand that receiving grant funding is more important than ever. As a critical partner in the success of Arizona’s schools, ADE is here to support you in this process.
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Four Arizona Charter Schools
Earn Arizona Educational Foundation
A+ School of Excellence® Award
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“The A+ School of Excellence program celebrates outstanding schools throughout Arizona, calling attention to the positive stories and successes occurring in public schools,” said AEF Executive Director, Kim Graham. “The application and evaluation process for this program is comprehensive and rigorous. We applaud these schools for exceeding expectations to meet their students’ needs and for achieving overall success despite the many challenges that face the education community statewide.”
Applicant schools are evaluated in the areas of student focus and support, school culture, active teaching and learning, curriculum, leadership, community and parent involvement and assessment data.
Applications are made available to Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade public schools statewide. Evaluation of schools is based on a lengthy written application submitted by the school and a rigorous site visit conducted by a team of trained judges. In the application, each school provides demographic information, a description of current programs and practices, documentation of parent and community involvement, and a profile of the school’s principal and the school community’s commitment to excellence, equity, service and sustained high achievement. Preparation of each school’s application involves collaboration among all stakeholders including students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members.
Schools receive $500 and a banner designating them as an A+ School of Excellence® winner. Schools keep the award for four years and then must reapply at the end of that term to be considered for renewal status. Recognition through the A+ School of Excellence® program can help increase confidence in Arizona’s public schools and create greater parent and community support.
Congratulations to the following Arizona charter schools for their recognition!
- EDUPRIZE SCHOOLS - Gilbert, Eduprize Schools, LLC
- EDUPRIZE SCHOOLS - Queen Creek, Eduprize Schools, LLC
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George Washington Academy, Edkey, Inc. dba Sequoia Village School
- Pioneer Preparatory School: A Challenge Foundation Academy
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2022 Be SunWise & Play Sun Smart Poster Contest Signup
The beautiful Arizona weather and diverse landscape offer opportunities to enjoy the outdoors year-round. Arizona has more sunny days than any other state in the U.S., and exercising sun-safe practices is essential. Help your students become aware of the importance of sun safety by participating in The SunWise Program’s Annual Poster Contest for students in pre-K through 12th grade.
Participants are encouraged to illustrate how they will “Be SunWise & Play Smart.”
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2022 School Continuity of Operations (COOP) Workshops
The Arizona School Safety Consortium and the Arizona Department of Education are hosting Regional Consortia Continuity of Operations (COOP) Workshops in March and April in conjunction with the regularly scheduled Spring 2022 Regional Consortia meetings. The workshop curriculum will be tailored by region to match the level of COOP/EOP planning experience within each group.
The goal of the Workshops is to familiarize participants with the ADE 2020 COOP Template and Essential Function Tracker Spreadsheet, and to utilize these tools to develop or update sections of your organization's COOP.
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss region-specific emergency scenarios using their COOP plan as a guide.
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A for Arizona Launches $6M Grant Opportunity for Innovative Public Schools |
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From A for Arizona
A for Arizona launched a $6 million grant opportunity today to help Arizona public schools replicate programs that provide meaningful results for students and develop innovative solutions focused on student excellence. This new $6 million effort is supported by federal relief dollars provided by Governor Doug Ducey to increase high quality education options and invest in bold ideas by Arizona’s entrepreneurial educators. A for Arizona will distribute the dollars through its Expansion & Innovation Fund to eligible public school teachers, principals, or system leaders who are reimagining education models, accelerating best practices, and innovating around community-based solutions.
“Arizona school leaders, educators and families go above and beyond to serve K-12 students and our local communities," said Governor Doug Ducey. "When equipped with resources, regulatory runway and school choice opportunities, public school leaders will create programs and learning models that result in quality outcomes and learning experiences for students — no matter the challenge. I thank A for Arizona for their continued partnership to support kids and empower schools with resources and technical support to bring their innovative education ideas to life."
A for Arizona’s Expansion & Innovation Fund provides seed funding to launch community-driven solutions, develop innovative learning models aimed to redefine teaching and learning, and scale best practices to better support Arizona’s most vulnerable student populations.
“Arizona is full of edupreneurs with thoughtful plans to redesign their school model and implement new solutions to better serve their students no matter the classroom set-up,” said Emily Anne Gullickson, Founder and CEO of A for Arizona. “Through our Expansion & Innovation Fund, we’ve seen incredible models, small learning communities, creative collaborative partnerships and out-of-the-box technology solutions come to life that have directly and immediately addressed the needs of Arizona students and families. It has never been more critical to reimagine education and the ways we can best serve students and accelerate learning. We look forward to empowering more educators with seed funding to bring their bold ideas into action.”
Since its launch, A for Arizona has awarded over $21 million in seed funding through its Expansion & Innovation Fund forming a diverse portfolio of school replications, solutions to modernizing K-12 transportation, innovative learning models aimed to boldly reimagine education, and identify best practices to better support Arizona’s most vulnerable student populations.
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Alternative School Application Window Now Open |
From the Arizona Department of Education
The Alternative School Application window is now open. It will close on March 31, 2022. Individuals who submitted an application within the last two years may have received an email on Monday, please accept this email as an additional reminder.
All schools serving Grades 6-12 that would like to be considered for Alternative School status for the 2022-2023 school year must complete and submit the Alternative School Application. Schools operating a Dropout Recovery Program (DRP) must apply for Alternative School status.
The following information will be required in the application:
- The mission statement as of October 1, 2021, that clearly identifies its purpose is to serve a specific student population that will benefit from an alternative school setting
- Supporting documentation of the mission statement such as the school improvement plan, a student-parent handbook, marketing materials, etc.
- Quantitative data regarding the number of students who would meet required alternative student criterion (i.e., those who have a documented history of disruptive behavior issues, the number of students who have dropped out and are now returning, etc.)
- The total number of students enrolled as of October 1, 2021
- School information such as the entity ID, school address, and superintendent’s name
More information about Alternative Schools and requirements can be found on the Accountability Alternative Schools page.
Please keep in mind that schools must apply each year to be considered for alternative school status even if they have been previously approved.
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No-Cost Gifted Assessment for all Arizona 2nd Graders in SY21-22 |
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From the Arizona Department of Education
Dear School Leaders,
The Arizona legislature appropriated $850,000 to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to procure an assessment that Arizona public schools could choose to use to evaluate all their 2nd Grade students for Gifted Education programs at no cost during this school year (SY21-22). Participation in this new universal screening opportunity is available, and optional, for all Arizona public schools.
Following a competitive procurement process, ADE has identified the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®), from Riverside Insights as the 2nd grade screening tool for this program.
Schools can choose to test their students using traditional paper/pencil versions of the assessment or an online testing option. Given that this program is funded through a one-year appropriation, all testing activities will need to be completed within this fiscal year, or by June 2022.
“We are excited to provide this opportunity that will help our schools more equitably identify our state’s Gifted learners,” said Superintendent Hoffman. “Universal screening removes barriers to access and is a proven strategy to help identify students that have been traditionally underrepresented in Gifted Education programs – especially students who may be culturally, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse.”
Starting this year (SY21-22), students that score at or above the 97th percentile, based on national norms (age or grade norms), on a test adopted by the State Board of Education (which includes the CogAT® test for this program) will generate a new Group B add-on per-pupil funding weight – a new “G” weight. Qualifying pupils will generate the new 0.007 Group B add-on funding in FY 2022 and the corresponding funding will appear in payments and on payment reports later this year. More details about the new “G” weight may be found on our School Finance website.
Interested in administering this assessment? Complete the survey.
A very brief survey has been created to help gather information regarding LEAs interested in taking advantage of this unique opportunity. One representative per LEA should complete the following survey by February 25, 2022.
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The program website hosted by Riverside Insights for LEAs to order testing materials and access comprehensive training and technical assistance and support resources will launch by March 1st. A link to this site will also be posted on ADE’s Gifted Education website.
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National Alliance for Public Charter Schools -
Rising Leaders Initiative
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From the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
All too often in education policy, the voices of students—the next generation of leaders—are drowned out by special interests. We're looking to help change that, starting with 10 charter high school students who want to improve education policy that directly affects them and their classmates.
The Rising Leaders Initiative is a one-year advocacy training program for charter high school students who want to become active participants in education policy decisions in their local community and state and develop skills to guide their educational and professional pathways.
Here's who we're looking for:
- High school students enrolled at a U.S. charter school in the 2022-2023 academic year
- Good academic standing
- Demonstrated commitment to others through volunteering and service to their school/community.
- An interest in advocacy, leadership, and government
For accepted students, the program will run from September 2022 to June 2023. Students will be eligible for a $3,000 stipend and additional club operating funds
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We ask that you share with potentially interested students and help them apply for this special opportunity. Questions? Call Sindy Pierre-Noel at (202) 521-2828 or email risingleaders@publiccharters.org.
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ARP Homeless Children and Youth II Grant
This is a formal notification of your Local Education Agency’s (LEA’s) ability to apply for the American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth II (ARP-HCY II) grant for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022.
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 included additional monies within the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund to support the specific and urgent needs of homeless children and youth due to the impact of the Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19).
Arizona received a total allocation of $16,914,124 for ARP Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY II) funds, with $9,520,398.00 set aside for grant allocation for the ARP-HCY II. One of the purposes of the ARP-HCY II program is to provide wrap-around services. Therefore, ARP-HCY II funds may be used for pre-award costs dating back to March 13, 2020, when the national emergency was declared. The ARP-HCY II Project is set to end on September 30, 2023. However, carryover will be allowed until September 30, 2024, with a final drawdown date of January 31, 2025. The ARP-HCY II application is currently open in the Grants Management Enterprise (GME) and has an application close date of May 1, 2022. Please refer to the ARP Homeless II Allocations per LEA to determine your ARP-HCY II allocation amount.
To support increasing awareness, understanding, and completion of the ARP-HCY II grant application, we invite you to attend the ADE Informational and Support Meeting. Please register for the meeting via the link below:
For questions regarding your ARP-HCY II allocation or your fiscal application in the GME System, please email Homeless Education Inbox or contact Silvia Chavez, the State Homeless Education Program Specialist, at 602-542-4963.
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AZ Educator Job Fair
Greetings, school leaders!
On Saturday, February 26th, the Arizona Department of Education will host a job fair at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel for public districts and charters to recruit new teachers, administrators, and staff.
If your district or charter school is already registered, our Educator Recruitment and Retention team invite you to help promote the job fair to encourage participation from potential employees in your community. Below are some ideas and resources to get you started:
- Include job fair information and registration in your newsletters to families
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Share this graphic or one of your own on your school’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn
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Create an event on Facebook or LinkedIn – or share this Facebook event from the Arizona Department of Education
We are excited to support your efforts in recruiting new talent to your districts and charters. Our Educator Recruitment and Retention Specialist Carrie Brown can help with registration and ensure successful participation in our job fair if you need additional support. You can reach her directly at: Carrie.Brown@azed.gov.
Best,
ADE Educator Recruitment and Retention
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Move On When Reading - Reading Apprenticeship |
From the Arizona Department of Education
Reading Apprenticeship is an evidence-based professional learning experience focused on disciplinary literacy. Educators are engaged in a process to discover the tools and perspective to “apprentice” their students in any subject area, including secondary ELA and other subjects. This assets-based approach helps teachers develop students’ comprehension skills while also building subject-area knowledge, reader-identity, collaboration, and persistence. As part of a federal SEED grant, WestEd will be offering the opportunity for Arizona teachers to participate in a summer Reading Apprenticeship essentials course with little to no cost.
You can read a little more about Reading Apprenticeship here.
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Resources for Administering Statewide Assessments |
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From the Arizona Department of Education
The following resources have been provided by the Arizona Department of Education to assist in the process of administering the Statewide Assessment:
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Reminders
Next Regular Board Meeting
Date: Monday, March 14, 2022
Time: 9:00 AM
Location: Virtual & In-Person
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