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BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF LOUISIANA FOUNDATION DONATE LAPTOPS TO THE SENIOR U-ACT AMBASSADORS

5/29/2020

All of our senior U-ACT Ambassadors are grateful and appreciative of the generous donation of laptops from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation.

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LOUISIANA TEACHER LEADER SUMMIT GOES VIRTUAL, DRAWS 6,000 PARTICIPANTS

5/28/2020

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The Louisiana Department of Education today virtually convened more than 6,000 Louisiana educators for the 8th annual Louisiana Teacher Leader Summit, which is being held online instead of in-person as a result of the ongoing public health crisis.
The Teacher Leader Summit: The Virtual Series, which will take place through June 5, invites educators to attend and deliver professional development trainings, collaborate with their peers, and learn how they can play an active role in shaping the future of education in Louisiana.
"This year's event focuses on how schools can ensure meaningful growth for every child, every day," said Acting State Superintendent Beth Scioneaux. "This theme is critical now more than ever, as school systems adapt their academic and operational plans to ensure high quality learning and to adhere to the latest health and safety guidelines."
The event kicked off today with an address from 2020 Louisiana Teacher of the Year Chris Dier, a history teacher at Chalmette High School in St. Bernard Parish. Dier, who was one of four finalists for national Teacher of the Year, shared an encouraging message about the critical role teachers play in the lives of their students, always and especially now.
Watch 2020 Louisiana Teacher of the Year Chris Dier's address.
Throughout the week, participants will be introduced to professional development tailored to their unique role and provided high-quality resources that can be adopted and scaled in schools and school systems across Louisiana. They will also have ample opportunity to collaborate and share best practices with their peers and, in turn, foster a culture among educators that is engaging and empowering.
They will do this by participating in a series of virtual sessions. This year, more than 40 sessions will be offered, on topics ranging from how to ensure a strong start to the new school year amid the public health crisis, to how to better serve historically disadvantaged student populations, to how to support students who experience trauma.
The sessions have size limits to ensure they remain interactive. Waiting lists were established for sessions that reached capacity, and in an effort to accommodate as many Louisiana educators as possible, the Department is broadcasting live on YouTube many of the most popular sessions.
Moreover, one week following the full event, all recorded sessions, along with their supporting materials, will be posted to the Department's Teacher Leader Library.
The Teacher Leader Summit was created at the urging of teachers who believed classroom educators needed a greater voice in statewide academic decisions. Louisiana's Teacher Leaders held their first statewide summit in April 2013 with 2,000 educators in attendance. Since that time, the number of Teacher Leaders has grown to more than 6,000, with the Department expanding the opportunities available to educators by offering a blend of year-round in-person and online trainings. These professional development opportunities cover a variety of topics related to English language arts, math, social studies, science, early childhood education and special education.

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EVERY CHILD CARE PROVIDER IN LOUISIANA TO RECEIVE SUPPLIES TO ENSURE HEALTHY REOPENING

5/27/2020

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The Louisiana Department of Education today announced all 1,649 child care providers in Louisiana will soon receive supplies to help them ensure the health and safety of staff and children as the state navigates reopening following the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

"Childcare is the profession that enables all other professions. It is the backbone of our economy, and the child care market must recover in order for our economy to recover," said Assistant Superintendent Jessica Baghian, who oversees early childhood education. "By equipping every provider with these high-demand supplies, we are taking an important step toward sustaining this critical educational and economic service, while maintaining the health and safety of our staff, children and families."

Louisiana has 1,649 licensed child care providers who will receive supplies. These providers offer services through Head Start, licensed child care centers, as well as in in-home and family-based settings certified to offer the Child Care Assistance Program.

Among the supplies, providers will receive:

No-touch thermometers;
Masks;
Gloves;
Hand sanitizer and pumps;
Hand soap;
Paper towels;
Facial tissue; and
Cleaning products, including bleach.

The supplies, which were purchased with federal emergency relief funds, will help providers implement protective measures set by the Office of Public Health, such as assessing the health of staff and children upon arrival and boosting cleaning regimens.

The supplies have started to arrive, and local resource and referral agencies will distribute supplies to qualified providers within their communities by the close of next week.

"On behalf of the Child Care Association of Louisiana and the licensed early childhood education and care profession, I would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Louisiana Department of Education for its work in providing much-needed personal protective equipment during this pandemic," said Alan Young, who owns Southland Park Learning Center in Shreveport and who is an active early childhood education advocate. "As we strive to serve our essential workforce and loyal families, these vital resources are helping us to continue to provide a healthy and safe environment for our children and communities."

The delivery comes as the state continues to navigate the Roadmap to a Resilient Louisiana, the Governor's plan for safely reopening the state. Though early childhood education sites were not required to close under the stay-at-home order, more than 70 percent of providers closed their doors. Those that remained open primarily served the children of workers on the frontlines of the response effort.

With the stay-at-home order lifted, providers that previously closed are beginning to reopen. Nearly 50 percent of providers are now offering services, compared to 30 percent in April.

In addition to equipping providers with supplies to help them carry out protective measures set by the Office of Public Health, the Department has provided supplemental guidance related to day-to-day operations as they reopen.

The Department has also outlined planning priorities to ensure a strong start for every early childhood community and provided funding opportunities and resources to help providers realize those goals.

Roadmap to Resilient Louisiana

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CURBSIDE ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE

5/22/2020

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We remain committed to serving children and families, and will continue to follow state and CDC guidelines.

Limited support will be available via curbside assistance, and you must call ahead. Please remember, we are unable to do fingerprint scans. We are able to assist with paper applications and we will continue to host trainings, classes and meetings virtually. This is not a comprehensive list of services, so please reach out to us if you need support!

As things change we will continue to update you. Thank you for helping us serve our community!

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3 INGREDIENT CLAY ACTIVITY TO DO WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY

5/22/2020

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CONTACT TRACING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

5/19/2020

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LOUISIANA ALLOCATES $41.9 MILLION TO OVER 500 STRUGGLING SCHOOLS

5/19/2020

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A committee of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) today approved $41.9 million in allocations to improve over 500 struggling schools across the state. The competitive allocations, which are expected to receive final approval by the full board at its Wednesday meeting, will support these schools as they implement their state-approved, evidence-based strategies for improvement during the 2020-2021 school year.

School systems' improvement plans were submitted and reviewed earlier in the school year, before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak shuttered school facilities for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. The plans for improvement remain the same, though school systems have been asked to expand academic and operational plans to ensure students can access high-quality learning regardless of setting or future disruptions.

"Long before COVID-19 closed school facilities to students, school systems were planning for the 2020-2021 school year. The evidence-based plans for improvement they submitted in February remain crucial," said Acting State Superintendent Beth Scioneaux. "Today's action shows our schools remain committed to improving and ensuring every child, every day, has access to high quality learning. Louisiana believes in its school improvement strategy, and we are moving forward with it, despite the obstacles we face."

Louisiana's Process for Improving Struggling Schools
As required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Louisiana annually identifies struggling schools, awards additional dollars to school systems that have strong evidence-based plans for improvement, and supports the implementation of those plans.

Louisiana identifies and labels struggling schools in three ways:

Comprehensive Intervention Required: consistently low overall performance and/or graduation rates;
Urgent Intervention Required-Academics: consistently low performance among certain groups of students; and
Urgent Intervention Required-Discipline: chronic issues with student behavior.

Schools that meet these criteria are required to identify strategies for improvement as part of the state's annual school system planning process. The Louisiana Department of Education reviews the improvement strategies submitted by school systems, and ultimately approves them if they meet the state's criteria.

Over time, the Department supports the implementation of each approved plan and monitors its progress.

School Improvement in 2020-2021
In 2019, 537 schools were identified as academically struggling and 33 were identified for discipline. Of those, 270 schools were identified as in need of comprehensive improvement; 467 schools were identified as in need of urgent intervention due to challenges with specific groups of students; and 164 were identified as in need of urgent intervention due to higher than average discipline rates. Schools can have multiple labels.

Among the highlights of the plans for 2020-2021, approved plans:

Boost science instruction. More than 100 school systems received a total of $10.9 million in competitive funding to adopt and implement high-quality science curriculum, as well as provide professional development to educators, including science content leaders, on how to use the lessons and tools in their classrooms;
Provide specialized support to students with disabilities. Seventy school systems received a total of $800,000 in competitive funding to provide educators with training on specialized supports for students with disabilities;
Support the expansion of high-quality early childhood care and education.Nearly 40 lead agencies, which act as liaisons between the state education department and their local networks of early childhood education providers, will receive a total of $3.6 million in competitive funding to adopt and implement high-quality curriculum, as well train educators on how to properly use it in their classrooms; and
Increase school-based capacity by growing local Content Leader, Intervention Content Leader, and Mentor Teacher cadres. Content Leaders provide content- and curriculum-specific professional development to new and current teachers in their school system. Intervention Content Leaders collaborate with all teachers to support core instruction for students who need additional support. Mentor Teachers coach and support new teachers and aspiring teachers who are completing their yearlong, classroom-based residencies. All roles are an important step in the leadership pipeline for talented local educators and require specialized training. A BESE committee also today approved new entities to provide this training.

The Department will support school systems and schools with implementation of their plans starting at the 2020 Teacher Leader Summit: The Virtual Series where various sessions will be closely aligned to the key strategies outlined in the approved plans. The Summit will take place May 28 through June 5. To date, more than 6,000 educators have registered to attend.

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ORIGIN BANK PARTNERS WITH THE CHILDREN'S COALITION

5/18/2020

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Origin Bank is now the sponsor of the Origin Bank Family Garden at the Children’s Coalition.

The garden, opened in 2018, is located in Downtown Monroe at the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana headquarters at 117 Hall Street. This space is a 32 raised-bed family garden and outdoor learning center to promote healthy eating, positive family interactions and garden-based learning and play.

The garden and outdoor learning center support Children’s Coalition programs and the community by growing fresh food for Early Head Start centers, training early childhood educators in garden-based learning and providing a space for families to grow, play and learn together.

Traditionally the gates to the garden would open to the public and volunteers every third Saturday of the month for Super Saturday. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the staff of the Children’s Coalition have decided to proceed with a drive-through version on May 16. Parents and families received a gardening pack that included everything needed to begin an at-home garden.

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DRIVE-THRU SUPER SATURDAY A SUCCESS

5/16/2020

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Saturday was supposed to be our monthly Super Saturday celebration where friends and families gather for fun activities in our parking lot and family garden. Although we could not celebrate together, our team made it possible for families to garden together at home by including parenting tips to support your child through this pandemic and kits to grow zinnias together.

Evan & his mom, Heather, enjoyed our Drive-Thru Super Saturday! He was excited to plant his zinnia seeds, and learn about the parts of a plant.

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DRAX BIOMASS SUPPORTS EFFORTS WITH DONATION

5/15/2020

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Thanks to Drax Biomass for supporting our mission! They are committed to supporting Northeast Louisiana and have made a generous donation to help support our COVID-19 response.

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BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF LOUISIANA FOUNDATION DONATE LAPTOPS TO THE SENIOR U-ACT AMBASSADORS

LOUISIANA TEACHER LEADER SUMMIT GOES VIRTUAL, DRAWS 6,000 PARTICIPANTS

EVERY CHILD CARE PROVIDER IN LOUISIANA TO RECEIVE SUPPLIES TO ENSURE HEALTHY REOPENING

CURBSIDE ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE

3 INGREDIENT CLAY ACTIVITY TO DO WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY

CONTACT TRACING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

LOUISIANA ALLOCATES $41.9 MILLION TO OVER 500 STRUGGLING SCHOOLS

ORIGIN BANK PARTNERS WITH THE CHILDREN'S COALITION

DRIVE-THRU SUPER SATURDAY A SUCCESS

DRAX BIOMASS SUPPORTS EFFORTS WITH DONATION

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