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Dear Colleagues,
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you for all of the tremendously hard work you are doing every day to help your students through this challenging time. Even though teaching changed completely overnight as a result of COVID-19, you have persevered. I am inspired by the resilience you have shown and your determination to ensure your students do not fall behind, despite the many challenges we are facing. We are so lucky to have you all as educators here in New York State.
NYSED is highlighting the exceptional dedication of New York’s educators with inspiring examples of emotional support, equitable solutions, and instructional practices that are being used to stay connected with students while schools are closed. You can visit our Staying Connected web page to see some of the stories or to share your own. In addition to posting the stories on our website, we are spotlighting the stories with the hashtags #StayingConnected and #EducatorsAreHeroes on our social media channels ( Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn). You can also sign up for our Staying Connected newsletter. All of your efforts are recognized and appreciated, and we are here to support you. We continue to add new resources to our Continuity of Learning web page featuring resources (technology- or non-technology-based) to provide educators with increased remote learning options. We are also posting high-quality resources, guidance, tips, and activities that can all be used to help facilitate learning at home as part of our #NYLearnsRemotely campaign on social media. We post new remote learning ideas every day on our social media channels, so be sure to follow us for new ideas.
It is also National Nurses Week, and we recently celebrated School Nurse Day! Thank you to all of our school nurses who care for students and promote learning by helping to keep children healthy. School nurses play an integral role in our schools, and we are grateful for their knowledge, care, and professionalism.
Working in partnership with Chancellor Rosa and the Board of Regents, the dedicated staff here at NYSED have been hard at work maintaining crucial services for students, P-12 schools, colleges and universities, professional licensees, adult education programs, cultural institutions, and the people of New York State. At this week’s Board of Regents meeting, I gave an update on NYSED’s response to the COVID-19 situation. Below, you can find details on the major announcements and resources that we have released over the last month:
Thank you again for being there for your students. I hope you all continue to stay safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Shannon Tahoe
Interim Commissioner
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 Statewide Task Force to Guide the Reopening of Schools
Chancellor Rosa and Interim Commissioner Tahoe recently announced that in the coming weeks, the Board of Regents and NYSED will form a statewide task force to guide the reopening of our schools. The task force will be made up of educational leaders, including superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, school board members, and other stakeholders. Although New York State schools will be closed for the remainder of the academic year, we will work together with these partners to ensure that our children’s educational, developmental, and overall wellbeing is considered during the important discussion about the future reopening.
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| Emergency Regulations to Ease the Burdens on Educators, Students, and Professionals
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Story Time with Interim Commissioner Tahoe
Join Interim Commissioner Shannon Tahoe for story time! Encourage your elementary students to watch this video to hear the book What Do You Do With an Idea? written by Kobi Yamada and illustrated by Mae Besom. Reading with children has many cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. When children read to themselves or when they are read to, they develop a stronger vocabulary and a range of knowledge and skills that lead to reading success. Reading also strengthens social emotional development by providing children with a greater range of words to use to describe their feelings and a stronger emotional toolkit.
Let’s keep kids reading each day while they are at home.
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COVID-19 Guidance and Resources
NYSED has developed many comprehensive guidance documents and resources based on 28 Executive Orders to date; opened lines of communication with the field and stakeholders; and developed a system to accept and review continuity of learning, child nutrition plans, and childcare plans from school districts statewide.
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Graduation Requirements and State Assessments
Over the last two months, NYSED has announced the cancellation of the following exams:
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My Brother’s Keeper Village Meeting
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NYSED recently collaborated with the Partnership for After School Education (PASE) to present a virtual My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Village Meeting. 405 people were in attendance. Participants included Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa, Regent Lester W. Young, Jr., Interim Commissioner Shannon Tahoe, NYSED staff, New York City Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza, along with his leadership team, and district administrators and staff from our 25 MBK communities. The meeting’s focus was on the Needs, Deeds and Impact of the 2018, 2019, and incoming 2020 MBK Fellows.
The event, hosted by Dr. Anael Alston, began with remarks from Chancellor Rosa and Regent Young. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt delivered a keynote entitled “From Adversity to Advantage.” Many of our talented MBK Fellows shared selected stories of their trials and triumphs during the COVID-19 crisis. Dr. Edwin Quezada, superintendent of Yonkers City School District, delivered closing remarks.
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NYSED Identifies 582 Recognition Schools
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NYSED recently identified 582 schools that are high achieving and high progress as Recognition Schools. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan, Recognition Schools are those with high academic achievement and strong progress, that also perform acceptably for all subgroups for which they are accountable. This year’s designees represent 13 percent of New York State public schools. 232 Recognition Schools are New York City public schools; 313 are public schools in the rest of the state; and 37 are public charter schools, of which 35 are located in New York City.
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Commissioner of Education Search
The New York State Board of Regents invites applications and nominations for the position of Commissioner of Education and President of the University of the State of New York. The search is being assisted by AGB Search and the overview with the nomination and application information are located here. Applications and nominations should be received by June 8, 2020.
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Resources from the New York State Museum
Join the New York State Museum for Virtual Field Trips every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 1:00 p.m. (EDT). Visit with Museum educators, scientists, and historians as they take you behind the scenes of some of the Museum’s exhibits and collections to highlight cool finds and facts from New York State!
The New York State Museum is temporarily closed to the public, but the Museum has created an Online Resources and Activities Portal. The web page includes the Museum’s virtual field trips in addition to digital collections, online resources, and fun activities for kids based on the Museum’s research and collections. The web page is updated often, so be sure to check back frequently for new resources! |
New York State Library COVID-19 Personal History Initiative
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The experience of New Yorkers, from Long Island to Plattsburgh and from Albany to Buffalo, make up the foundation of our state’s history, and each of us is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic in unique ways. The New York State Library is recording and preserving this unprecedented, historical event unfolding around us, and to help us, we’re encouraging New Yorkers to document what their daily lives are like. At a later date, the Manuscripts and Special Collections unit will work to collect this information and preserve it. Read more about this project and get some ideas to document your experience.
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NYSED Appoints Albert Chase as Fiscal Monitor for the Wyandanch Union Free School District
NYSED recently announced the appointment of Albert Chase as the State Fiscal Monitor for the Wyandanch Union Free School District. Mr. Chase has vast experience in school district finance and operations that makes him uniquely qualified to advise Wyandanch UFSD’s administrators and school board on the district’s dire fiscal issues. As required by recently enacted legislation, the State Monitor provides oversight, guidance and technical assistance related to the fiscal policies, practices and decisions of the district, the board and the superintendent. |
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