Woodridge teacher Wendi Rae Putzke honored with Exceptional Excellence Award | |
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Wendi Rae Putzke, a first grade teacher at Woodridge Elementary, got a surprise this week when she was honored with this month's Exceptional Excellence Award for certificated staff. The entire Woodridge student body joined Wendi's family in the celebration, and Wendi's former students got together for a group photo.
You can nominate a staff member, student and volunteer for an award here.
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Top Five For Friday, October 28, 2022 | |
SEBB Open Enrollment is Oct. 31 - Nov. 21
Enrollments, changes, and premiums are effective January 1, 2023. The SEBB is hosting an in-person benefits fair at Spokane Community College on Nov. 1, from 4 - 7 p.m. Information can be found on the SEBB Open Enrollment site or on the SPS Payroll & Benefits website.
In addition, VEBA Funding Ballots Due are due Oct. 28. VEBA Funding Election forms were sent to eligible employees via email on Monday, Oct. 17. Be sure to submit your votes no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.
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Future Peperzak Middle School students meet Carla Peperzak
Carla Peperzak, the namesake of Peperzak Middle School and Holocaust survivor, met future Peperzak students last week for a forum hosted at Ferris High School. Carla talked about her experience fighting Nazis as a member of the Dutch underground. Video of the event can be found here, and student questions begin at the 35:25 mark.
Please feel free to share with your age-appropriate students.
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Proof of COVID vaccine no longer needed for volunteers or new hires beginning Nov. 1
As the state's COVID-19 emergency mandates end after Oct. 31, that means volunteers and new hires do not need to show proof of COVID vaccination or an exemption beginning Nov. 1. Volunteers still must fill out a volunteer application.
We will share additional guidance once it is available, including guidance on COVID case reporting.
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PD opportunity for middle school teachers
The Gonzaga University Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment is hosting Integrating Climate Literacy into the Middle School Classroom via Zoom on Nov. 18 and Dec. 2 for middle school teachers. Registration is free and teachers are eligible for a $125 stipend, free Grubhub credit, and 6 STEM continuing education clock hours for full participation. Space is limited, so register today.
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Friday 5: Early Childhood Education participants Desmond & Gianna
Throughout the month of October, we’ve talked to a range of experts about early learning: How important it is, what parents can do to set their little ones up for success, and more. But one group of experts we haven’t spoken with much is the kids themselves.
Meet Desmond and Gianna, who are in preschool and first grade, respectively. They share what they're learning now and what they're excited to know next.
Listen
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Employee Guidelines for
Emergency School Closures
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Human Resources put together these instructions* for employee expectations in the event of an emergency school closure. The instructions include information on work expectations, use of leave, work schedule and more.
*The instructions have been slightly modified to avoid some expressed confusion.
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Technology News and Updates | |
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EdTech Teacher Tip
The Foundation of Forms: Create surveys, quizzes, and polls. Invite students or others to respond to Forms, see real-time results as they are submitted, use built-in analytics to evaluate responses, embed in Teams as a quiz assignment, and export results to Excel for additional analysis and grading.
Learn more in our Forms Quick Guide. Need support using Forms? Reach out to your library information specialist with questions.
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Do you use your phone or personal device to access district applications? Read this.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness month and with our ongoing efforts to improve district information security, we are implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all staff wanting sign in to their Office365 account from a personal device. This includes applications such as:
- Office 365 (Outlook/Sharepoint/Teams, etc)
- Performance Matters/Unified Talent
- Qualtrics
- Ava Camera Security
- Any application that uses your Office 365 credentials
All staff who wish to use their Office365 account to connect to district systems from a personal device are required to register for MFA to ensure their accounts are not accessed by unauthorized individuals outside the network. Here are instructions for completing MFA registration.
MFA registration must be completed by October 31, 2022. After that date, staff who are not set up for MFA will not be able to access their accounts from their personal device until they complete the MFA registration. MFA registration must be completed from a district computer while on the district network.
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Third-party websites blocked by new internet filter beginning Nov. 1
As a reminder: To improve district system security, Lightspeed is replacing Content Keeper as Spokane Public Schools' internet filter. This impacts staff websites currently hosted on third-party platforms like Wix, WordPress, Weebly, etc.
Those third-party platforms present security issues. Teachers using those third-party platforms that are blocked need to submit a Help Ticket that includes the full URL of their website to get it temporarily unblocked through Oct. 31, and start the process to transfer the content to their school pages.
IT and SPS communications will assist in the content migration. On Nov. 1, those sites will be permanently blocked by the Lightspeed filter.
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Your Weekly Roundup of Benefit Resources and News | |
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October is National Retirement Security Month. WA DRS offers these resources:
More information can be found at www.drs.wa.gov.
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SPS Social Media Highlights | |
Watch the First SPS Family Webinar | |
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SPS, in partnership with the Mead School District and ESD 101, hosted Avoid the Overshare: Social Media Effects on Student Health & Safety on Tuesday, Oct. 25 for interested families.
Panelists included David Crump, SPS Director of Mental Health Services; Staci Cornwell, Mead School District Mental Health Coordinator, Threat Assessment Coordinator, Crisis Team; and Steve Schreiner, NEWESD 101 Technology and Learning Coordinator.
Please share with your families, and stay tuned for future monthly webinars.
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SPS newsletters ending up in your junk folder? Follow these steps in Outlook:
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In Outlook, go to the Home tab.
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Click Junk > Junk Email Options.
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Select the Safe Senders tab and click Add.
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In the Add address or domain box, enter the email address or the domain name you want to safelist. – [email protected]
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Click OK and close the window.
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Some icons by Freepik from flaticon.com. | | | | |
