November 29, 2023 edition

Shout Outs

Share appreciation and gratitude for a fellow CIS employee. Giving a shout out is a great way to recognize an individual or group for their extra effort and talent, and to contribute to a culture of appreciation, community, and kindness.  

• Thank you, Jackie for supporting my team and supporting me with pending tasks while out of office. 
• Thank you Tracy Cohen for improving our Authorizations system in place. Always so so helpful!
• An ASPIRE Program shout out to Jim Thompson for providing us with an immediate solution to our IT needs. This will have a significant positive impact in providing quality education for our students.
• Hannah R. and Ella F. - a huge thank you for delaying your fall break and helping with Wooten's Fishing Derby event. What a joy to watch you teach kids to fish! You are amazing! A million thanks!
• Shoutout to Chante'l Bailey and Kayla Walker at Crockett High School! Thank you for opening the doors to your school and community; your thoughtfulness in showing up for your students is inspiring!

Nominate someone for Employee Excellence. Click here for the form and here to learn about employee recognition & appreciation at CIS of Central Texas. 

Have you ever wondered who’s who at CIS or wished you had access to a staff directory to easily connect with your coworkers? We are happy to introduce you to a new feature in TEAMS. The Team Organization Chart is a searchable directory of the names, job titles, sites, phone numbers, email addresses, and other helpful information about the people you work with. Watch this short video to see where you can find the org chart and search for someone in the directory. Questions? Contact [email protected]  

At Communities In Schools, integrated student supports is a coordinated approach to ensuring schools and students are connected to the resources they need when they need them. It is about helping students navigate what is available in their communities and ensuring greater and easier access to those basic needs, mental health, tutoring, mentoring, job readiness, and other much-needed resources. It is what Communities In Schools has done for almost 50 years in partnership with schools and communities nationwide.

UPDATES IN APOLLO

We made a few tweaks to page layouts over the fall break that should hopefully help with clarity and accessing information.

• Contact Record: Information is now grouped by REQUIRED and OPTIONAL info (we heard ya!)
• Program Engagement Record: Service Plan & Targeted Needs can now easily be seen directly under the Goal Setting widget (on the right-hand side of the screen).
• Program Managers, AMC, & Interns should now be able to see MSAP, MH&W, and Care Coordination Program Engagements & Service Deliveries for students at their campus.
• Click Here for a quick video walkthrough of what's changed!

ALTERNATIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS IN PRINCIPAL REPORTS

The Programming Highlights section of Principal Reports is not working as intended -- it is only showing the first 2 lines of text in the box. Here are two possible workarounds for this issue (we are planning to switch to Option #2 for Principal Reports moving forward and will provided more detailed instructions ahead of that due date):

1. Keep your Programming Highlights in Apollo very brief and include more detailed highlights in the body of the email you send to your campus administration.
2. Follow the instructions in this video here to save a copy of your Principal Report, remove the Programming Highlights section and add a Text Widget to your Dashboard instead (similar to the instructions for removing the optional layered support widgets). 

2022-2023 CAMPUS OUTCOME REPORTS

• Campus-level Outcome Reports for the 2022-2023 school year are now available! They are linked at the top of the Principal Report page in Apollo, along with a Conversation Guide that defines each metric for you and your campus administration. Please remember to send these to your campus administration!

REGISTER FOR APOLLO 201: REPORTS & DASHBOARDS TRAINING

There's still time to register! Visit the Auzmor Events page to see if there's a session that works for your schedule. Additional sessions will be available after Winter Break as well.

RESOURCES & SUPPORTS AVAILABLE

• PMD Office Hours are Mondays 3-4pm and Fridays 8-9am via Teams.
• Email [email protected] if you need support, have questions, or have a feature request/suggestion.
• Apollo FAQs.docx is a document that contains answers to commonly asked questions. PMD updates this on a weekly basis.
• Video Walkthrough Links.docx of common Apollo functions (everything covered in 101/102 and then some!)

CISCT Job Openings



Click here for a list of available positions!

Social Committee wants to hear from YOU! What social events do YOU want next? Give us your feedback and enter to win 2 tickets to a glass bottom boat tour in San Marcos https://forms.office.com/r/4aa2EGAff7

RESOURCES

Help students and families in Central Texas afford college through our Annual Financial Aid Campaign. 

Trainings will cover key changes to prepare volunteers/staff to facilitate successful FAFSA filings across area school districts.

FAFSA trainings will offer in-person and virtual options as follows:

• In Person
• December 5^th (11-1PM) ACC Round Rock rm 8202
• December 6^th (12-3PM) ACC Highland rm 2.1550
• December 8^th (11-1PM) ACC South Austin rm 1140
• Virtual
• December 13^th (11-1PM)
• December 14^th (11-1PM)

• Please register for your preferred training option here: https://share.hsforms.com/1TsZvQ5tKTfieFw8XtpT1Lgnumiu

Inspire, Engage, Connect & Reflect Workshop with Jen Stanchfield • Hosted by the Sustainable Food Center in East Austin December 5th

Join this interactive workshop and fill your teaching, counseling, or group facilitation or training toolbox with brain-based techniques to promote engagement, buy-in, social-emotional learning, and meaningful reflection. Empower participants of all ages to take ownership of learning and create a positive and supportive community. Enliven academic or training content, meetings, and group circles with active, learner-centered methods to enhance involvement and retention. Take away practical-user friendly group development, engagement, reflection and dialogue techniques to enhance involvement and deepen learning. Workshop tuition includes lunch and one of Jen Stanchfield's books or engagement and reflection tools.

Registration Link:(20% off code: INSPIRED20)

https://experientialtools.com/collections/workshops/products/inspire-group-facilitation-and-reflection-strategies

Anyone lose a water bottle? It was left at Food for Thought and is now at Central!

Congrats this weeks Winners of a Starbucks Gift Card: Sierra Perez

Cynthia Cruz- Ramirez hosting Donuts with Dad event at Elgin Middle School!

Communities In Schools of Central Texas surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.