We're going virtual! The fall Computer-Using Educators (CUE) Conference brings together the brightest edtech minds in education to share best practices, innovation, and engaging sessions with actionable takeaways you may immediately put to practice in your classroom, school, or district!

Dates: October 22-26

For info: Visit the event's website for details and registration

Fee: $79 for all-access pass (volunteer passes offered)

ELRISE (English Learner Roadmap Implementation for Systemic Excellence) is offering a useful webinar series titled: Meeting the Needs of English Learners in a Distance Learning Environment. In response to calls for support from the field, ELRISE is offering a series of three workshops addressing some of the major challenges administrators are facing in reopening schools and structuring supports for English Learners. Intended audience for this series includes all K-6 grade educators – coaches, administrators, and others are welcome.

For info: Visit their website for upcoming webinars

Fee: Free

In partnership with the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE), the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators (CAAASA) and the University of California Los Angeles Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS) offered this free online series. These virtual seminars provide families and educators with the tools and strategies they need to ensure greater equity for students who continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 school closures.

For info: Visit their website for numerous recent webinars

Fee: Free

ASCD's free webinar series brings experts in the field of education to a screen near you. These webinars address timely and relevant topics like student engagement, classroom technology, and instructional strategies. Webinars are archived and available as professional development on demand.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

Join NCTM as they celebrate their Centennial with 100 Days of Professional Learning with live 60-minute webinars presented by selected speakers from the NCTM Centennial Annual Meeting & Exposition program that was to take place in Chicago.

Each webinar will be held at 4 p.m. Pacific time on 100 selected days from April 1 leading up to the October NCTM 2020 Annual Meeting & Exposition in St. Louis. A variety of speakers and topics are geared to meet all grade bands and interests. Webinars will be recorded and made available until the St. Louis Annual Meeting.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

This webinar recording is part of the 100 Days Professional Learning, featuring Beth Kobett, Jeff Shih, Sarah Bush, Dan Teague, and David Barns.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Common Sense can help you prepare with remote teaching resources, family education materials, and research-backed strategies to ease stress and encourage learning.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

During these challenging times, many institutions have transitioned to virtual instruction. This series of webinars will cover the many ways that Infobase online resources can be used to support your distance learning programs, from the variety of tools and features that make it easy for students to continue their studies and research remotely.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

These short sessions provide online STEAM instructional resources and tangible tools teachers can immediately use. Along with their live webinars, previously recorded sessions are also available to review.

Dates: Live webinars, Thursdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

Nature journaling can be a powerful tool for scientific observations, questions, and develop gratitude, reverence, and the skills of a naturalist. These online lessons are for adults and students alike.

Dates: Online lessons are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

Californians Together has witnessed, through various hosted Zoom webinars and meetings, the need for people to be connected and wanting to share and learn from each other. With that in mind, they are offering various opportunities to uplift each other and at the same time make a difference for our students.

Dates: Tuesdays, 4:00–5:30 p.m.

For info: Visit their web page

Fee: Free

Nicole Steward, MSW is a social worker, homeless/foster youth education liaison, and certified yoga instructor with a focus on community engagement, public education, and trauma-informed yoga. Join us for a Zoom conversation where she will discuss the need for radical self-care to discharge the toxic stress we absorb through our work and how self-care and mindfulness can keep us engaged and renewed to thrive in our personal and professional lives. This event is open to school district and charter school foster and homeless liaisons.

Date: September 17, 1:00-3:00 p.m.

For info: Contact Denise Clarke at 925-942-3322, register at this link

Fee: Free

Join us for a Zoom conversation about supporting students experiencing homelessness, with a particular focus on practices to improve identification, attendance, and high school graduation (via AB 1806). National expert Patricia Julianelle of SchoolHouse Connection will share effective practices from around the country. There will be time for discussion and problem-solving, as well as for creating plans to address one or more of those issues in your district. On-going assistance will be available to support schools as they implement their action plans. This event is open to school district and charter school homeless liaisons. We also encourage liaisons to bring a small team from your school or district – particularly colleagues who work on attendance/chronic absenteeism, such as school counselors, a registrar, and/or a principal or assistant principal.

Date: October 16, 9:30-11:15 a.m.

For info: Contact Denise Clarke at 925-942-3322 or visit this Eventbrite link

Fee: Free

The Contra Costa County Office of Education and Solano County Office of Education have partnered with the Sacramento County Office of Education and the California Department of Education to support training needs for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)and English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC). The virtual ELPAC training is for coordinators who have been in their roles for less than 12 months

Dates and location: November 9; virtual attendance

For info: Contact Jason Murphy at [email protected] or Tracey Rodgers at [email protected] – to register, visit their Eventbrite link

Fee: Free

What is the Administrative Leadership Program (ALP)?

CCCOE-ALP is approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing as a Professional Preparation Program for the Clear Administrative Services Credential. In partnership with the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), CCCOE-ALP provides high-quality, researched-based professional learning and development for new leaders. Credential candidates expand and deepen their leadership knowledge, skills, and behaviors through individualized, job-embedded induction.

Program highlights include:

For info: Contact Julie Dooley at (925) 942-3357, or visit the program's web page

Dates : Two cohorts will be available for the 2019-2020 school year. The remaining cohort begins in fall with enrollment is currently open.

A 2005 act of Congress states that all educational institutions receiving federal funding must observe September 17 as Constitution Day, which celebrates the 1787 signing of our founding document. According to the guidelines put forth by the Department of Education, teachers and schools are free to design Constitution Day programming that best addresses the needs of their students.

Date: September 17

For info: Visit their website

On July 26, 2010, the U. S. House of Representatives passed a resolution designating the second week of September as Arts in Education Week to promote and showcase the immense role arts education has in producing engaged, successful, and college- and career-ready students. The National Education Association offers numerous resources, tools, and teaching ideas on their website to assist educators present the week's curriculum.

Date: September 13-19

For info: Visit their website

Future college students can learn about their college options from schools that are located throughout the US and from around the globe. More than 600 college representatives will be online to talk with students about their programs.

Dates: September 13, October 12, October 18, November 8

For info: Visit their website for additional info and registration

Fee: Free

Every year, on the third Saturday in September, people join together at sites all over California to take part in the State's largest volunteer event, California Coastal Cleanup Day. In 2019, 71,760 volunteers removed more than 800,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from California's waterways and coastlines! Families, friends, coworkers, scout troops, school groups, service clubs, and individuals come together to celebrate and share their appreciation of California's fabulous coast and waterways. The event is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by the Ocean Conservancy, which is the largest volunteer event on the planet!

Date and locations: September 26, 9:00 a.m.-noon; various water sites

For info: Contact The California Coastal Commission at (800) COAST-4U or visit the event's webpage

Sadly due to COVID-19 we won’t be able to gather at larger events like Discovery Day at Oracle Park. However, we remain committed to the importance of science and technology and are preparing for a virtual Bay Area Science Festival!

Date and locations: October 16-25

For info: Visit the event's webpage

Middle School Foundation Academies Planning Grant will be funded at $250,000 as start-up funds for 10 middle school career academies ($25,000 per Academy). The funding resources for this grant are from Proposition 98 - Career Technical Education Initiative that was included in the 2020-21 State Budget. The program aims to establish Middle School Foundation Academies to prepare students for acceptance into a California Partnership Academies at the local high school.

For info: Contact Teri Alves at 916-322-0374; to learn more, visit their website

Deadline: September 30

The Contra Costa County Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) provides up to $2,500 grants to improve the preparedness of Contra Costa County schools and agencies in responding effectively to shelter-in-place emergencies. The proposed drills and exercises must have a stated list of objectives and goals that must be addressed.

For info: Contact Lori McDonald at (925) 313-9296 or visit CAER's website

Deadline: February 12

The Coca-Cola Scholars Program scholarship is an achievement-based $20,000 scholarship awarded to 150 qualifying high school seniors who will pursue a degree at a post-secondary institution in the U.S. Students are recognized for their capacity to lead and serve, as well as their commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities.

For info: Visit their website

Deadline: October 31

The California State Library has launched a new website that streamlines all available state agency grants for education, small businesses, nonprofits, individuals, tribal governments, and more!

For info: Visit their website

These general scholarships are offered to all students who identify as LGBT. Some are limited to students who reside in specific regions of the country, while others are available at the national level.

For info: Visit their website for scholarship listings

Safeway funds grant applications for communities where stores are located. Grants should focus on Safeway's priorities, including education. The Safeway Foundation's Grants are accepted throughout the year. Typical grants are between $2,500 - $10,000

For info: Visit their website

ecoSolution™ Grants (previously called "Small Grants") have been the defining basis of Captain Planet Foundation's work over the last 25 years. In that time, they've funded more than 2,100 projects that have impacted 1.2 million youth around the world - actively fulfilling their mission to build the next generation of environmental stewards and change-agents. The grants range from $500-$2,500 and are intended to support solution-oriented, youth-led projects that result in real environmental outcomes. They are available to educators working with youth in the United States (international projects are by invitation only).

For info: Visit their website

Deadlines: Cycle 1: Opens September 15-Closes January 15 * Cycle 2: Opens March 15-Closes July 15

ecoTech™ Grants were created to combat the notion that students needed to choose between "the screen" or "the green" and to encourage educators and students to explore the role technology can play in designing and implementing solutions to some of our most pressing environmental challenges. We believe that technology can present innovative ways to address environmental challenges - and that when dealing with digital natives, we do ourselves a disservice by asking them to unplug. ecoTech™ Grants are specifically offered to engage children in inquiry-based, STEM-related projects that leverage technology and/or use nature-based design to address environmental problems in local communities.

For info: Visit their website

Deadlines: Cycle 1: Opens September 15-Closes January 15 * Cycle 2: Opens March 15-Closes July 15

The Contra Costa County Office of Education is working closely with Contra Costa Health Services to keep our communities informed regarding the Coronavirus emergency. The CCCOE is providing updated information and resources to schools and school districts in our county so they can offer accurate news to their communities.

The CCCOE Coronavirus web page features:

For info: Visit our web page at cocoschools.org/coronavirus

East Bay Regional Park District is committed to the idea of lifelong learning and helping people make their own discoveries about our parks. These resources are designed to be used at home, in a classroom, or part of any online education. Use these resources to build your own learning opportunities.

For info: Visit their website

Fee: Free

CASEL CARES is a new initiative that connects each of you in our global community with experts to address how Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) be most helpful in response to today’s circumstances. The program is filled with free resources and a weekly webinar.

For info: Visit their website

KidsGardening.org is a website that has plenty of ideas about plants and gardens, teacher resources, and grant opportunities.

The 2019-20 Contra Costa County Public Schools Directory is available on our website – in a very attractive and usable format.

For info: Visit www.cocoschools.org/directory

For info: Here is the Took Kit pdf

The FBI's Safe Online Surfing program promotes digital citizenship by educating students in grades 3 to 8 on the essentials of online security. Students play interactive, grade-level games that teach them about online safety. For teachers, the program provides a ready-made curriculum that meets state and federal internet-safety mandates, including online testing, and a competition at the national level to encourage learning and participation.

For info: Visit their website

Looking for ideas to engage your students across the curriculum? Check out Creative Educator for project-based learning, professional development, and other resources. Articles include Five Hallmarks of a Creative Project and The Power of Play.

For info: Visit their website

Looking for some additional quality Monday-Friday educational programming at home or in the classroom? Check out the latest edTV broadcasts here.

Programs scheduled include (times are approximate):

edTV can be found on Contra Costa County cable channels 32 (Comcast) or 99 (AT&T U-Verse)

For info: Daily schedule can be found here

All Contra Costa County Libraries remain closed until further notice, but we are hard at work creating new content and finding ways to serve students and their families during the stay-home order.

NO LIBRARY CARD, NO PROBLEM You don’t need a physical library card to access many of the online resources available through the Library website. You can sign up for an eCard at any time. An eCard includes access to resources like ABC Mouse, Britannica, Explora, and many more. Signing up for an eCard is easy and fast, visit ccclib.org/get-a-library-card.

eBOOKS AND eAUDIOBOOKS The Library has a large selection of eBooks and eAudiobooks for all ages. Since the closure, we have added 15,000 new titles to OverDrive and will continue to add new options each week. As part of the OverDrive collection, we offer unlimited access to the Harry Potter series in multiple languages. Head to ccclib.org to search for your favorites.

FREE ONLINE TUTORING Brainfuse is a free online tutoring service designed to support many learning needs and styles for people of all ages. Live tutoring is available every day from 1:00 to 10:00 p.m., plus there is a 24-hour help center where you can submit questions. The service includes many other tools to support learning needs including: resume building, foreign language lessons, writing, and more. Spanish speaking tutors are also available.

FRONT DOOR SERVICE Front Door Service is available for pick-up and drop-off of library materials. Mask and social distancing protocols will be in place and materials will be quarantined between uses.

Need help signing up for a Library card or using an online resource? You can chat with a member of the library staff, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at ccclib.org.

For info: Contact the CWS Staff at (925) 313-9622 or visit their website