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School Zone
Chalk Board
FCAT
2007/2008 Testing Schedule
If you are interested in getting a head start and view
the FCAT testing schedule for 2007/2008,
click here.
Character
Education's March 2007 Newsletter
Character education is responsible for
teaching students how to take responsibility for their
actions and to treat others with respect; showing
students that there are specific payoffs in life for
doing those things; modeling that behavior for students
every second that they are with us during the day, and
expecting them to do the same; and creating an
atmosphere at school where students can safely practice
those behaviors until such behavior becomes the norm.
To read the March 2007 character education newsletter,
please
click here. To read an article that focuses on
truthfulness,
click here.
National
School Breakfast Week
School cafeterias across Florida will celebrate 2007
National School Breakfast Week from March 5 – 9. This
year’s theme, “A World of School Breakfasts,” will focus
on dishes from around the world and the importance of
starting each day with a nutritious breakfast.
National School Breakfast Week also will focus on the
availability of breakfast for students and the strong
link between eating a nutritious breakfast and improved
academic achievement. Food and Nutrition
Management, an office within the Florida Department of
Education, would like to narrow the gap between the
numbers of Florida students who do not eat breakfast at
school in comparison with those students who eat school
lunch. In Florida, more than 488,000 school
breakfast meals are served each day to students,
accounting for only 28 percent of the 1.77 million meals
served each day.
The School Nutrition
Association launched National School Breakfast Week in
1989 to raise awareness about the importance of
breakfast for students and to highlight the link between
eating a good breakfast and cognitive growth.
School breakfast provides at least one-fourth of the
nutrients needed by a growing child. According to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, school breakfast
program participation is associated with higher intakes
of food energy, calcium, phosphorous and vitamin C.
State
Board of Education Approves 2007 Legislative Priorities
The Florida State Board of Education approved its 2007
legislative priorities. In January, the State Board
discussed the proposed priorities that address key
issues facing education in Florida. Educator bonus
programs, teacher mentoring incentives, stronger
standards revision processes and reading initiatives are
among the top priorities.
"The State Board is committed
to working with the Florida Legislature to see these
priorities become law and strengthen our state education
system," said State Board of Education Chairman T.
Willard Fair. "Florida has been successful in creating
reforms that help students achieve academic success.
Now is not the time to sit idle, but to take action and
take our students to the highest level of achievement we
know they are capable of accomplishing."
The State Board approved the
following legislative priorities for 2007:
- Educator Bonus Program —
Establish a statewide bonus program in law to
recognize and reward outstanding educators and
instructional personnel for improving student
achievement. The State Board recommends
increasing the bonus to 10 percent of the educator’s
salary to at least 25 percent of our outstanding
educators. This aligns the State Board’s
recommendation with Governor Charlie Crist’s recent
budget recommendation.
- Teacher Mentoring Programs
– Mentoring is critical to helping new teachers stay
committed to teaching. The State Board
recommends strengthening the mentoring component of
the Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program and
developing an incentive-based mentoring program to
encourage more teachers to participate. The
State Board also recommends amending the William Cecil
Golden Program in law to statutorily establish a
public recognition program for high-performing school
leaders.
- Strengthen the Standards
Revision Process — The State Board recommends that the
process for revising and adopting Sunshine State
Standards be strengthened in law. To ensure
Florida’s students are prepared to compete globally,
teacher professional development, changes to
instructional materials and assessment revisions must
occur more efficiently.
- Reading Initiatives –
Florida’s students are making significant gains in
reading. To further literacy achievements for
students, the State Board supports Governor Crist’s
goal to have a reading coach in every Florida school.
- Continuing Secondary
School Reform – To encourage students to take more
rigorous coursework that prepares them for
postsecondary education and the workforce, the State
Board recommends expanding weighted funding for middle
school students who pass certain high school courses.
This will give school districts more incentive to
offer certain high school courses to middle school
students.
To view the 2007 legislative
priorities, visit
www.fldoe.org.
“Your
Child, Your Public Schools” DVD
DCPS has been distributing free copies of a Florida
Department of Education DVD entitled, “Your Child, Your
Public Schools,” to parents and students. The DVD
covers topics, such as FCAT Essentials, Inside School
Grades, Success Adds Up, and more. Every child in
grades Pre-K, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are receiving a
copy of the DVD. If parents or students receive
multiple copies, please encourage them to share the
extra copies with persons whom they think would be
interested in learning more about public
education—neighbors, friends, family members, business
partners, etc. DCPS wants to share this useful
information with as many Duval County families as
possible.
Florida
Virtual School — an Online Resource for AP Students
Florida Virtual School (FLVS) provides virtual K-12
education solutions to students throughout the country.
FLVS now offers test reviews to prepare students for the
spring AP exams.
The reviews arm students
with:
- Test taking strategies
specific to the AP exams;
- Real student work samples
with explanations for graded entries; and
- Grading rubrics, along
with opportunities to apply them to student work.
In addition, students have
access to:
- Practice tests;
- Essay prompts;
- Multiple-choice
assessments; and
- Study resources.
AP test reviews are available
for the following AP courses:
- United States History
- Calculus AB
- English Language and
Composition
- English Literature and
Composition
- European History
- Spanish Language
- Biology
- Macroeconomics
- Art History
- US Government and Politics
Duval County Public Schools’
students may access this web site from any computer with
internet service and receive help in preparing for the
spring AP exams. Please share this information
with your students. Also remind your students that when
registering on the web site, they must indicate that
they live in Florida. The service is free to
students who reside in Florida. To access the
site,
click here.
March 2007
DCPS Health and Wellness Newsletter
To read the latest issue of DCPS’ Health and Wellness
Newsletter,
click here.
New
Episode of
REAL School
Sports play an important role in our nation’s economy,
and Duval County Public Schools strives to provide its
students with both a rigorous athletic program and a
variety of sports from which to choose. On this
month’s episode of REAL School, we meet the
coaches, players and teams that represent the best of
Duval County athletics. The program originally aired on
Sunday, March 4 on WJCT. However, if you missed
it, you’ll have additional opportunities to watch it all
this week. REAL School
will air every other hour during the week of March 5 — 9
on Comcast Channel 14.
Professional Exchange Program for Secondary Teachers
The U.S. Department of State and the International
Research & Exchanges Board are looking for secondary
school teachers who would like to participate in a
professional exchange program in the following
countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh,
Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, or Ukraine. For more information,
click here to visit the program’s web site, or
contact Tova Pertman at (202) 628-8188 ext. 135, or by
sending an e-mail.
For an application,
click here. The application deadline is Monday,
April 2.
Underage
Drinking Teen Summit
Duval County is holding its 2nd Annual
Underage Drinking Teen Summit for high school students
on Thursday, March 29 at the Fraternal Order of Police
from 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Since it is very important
that students are a part of this process, teachers and
administrators are encouraged to identify up to ten
students from a school to participate in the meeting.
The students who are identified should feel comfortable
verbalizing the issues related to underage drinking, and
they should be individuals who will positively
contribute to the discussion. They should also be
willing to share the information with other students.
Parents of the identified students are also invited to
participate.
Please contact your school’s
student activities director for a copy of this
reservation form and any other applicable school
field trip forms. After completing and signing the
form, fax it to 390-2585. You must also have the
students’ parents sign a
permission form. If you have any questions,
please call the safe and healthy schools office at
390-2131.
Work and
Family Benefits Sandwich Generation Spotlight
When it’s time to retire, what road
will you follow? Retirement is far from a “one
size fits all” time of life. For some, it’s a time
to kick back and relax. While for others, it may be a
time to “rev up” for new adventures. To read more
of this article from Work and Family Benefits,
click here.
12th
Annual St. Johns River Celebration Cleanup Event
This event is sponsored by the City of Jacksonville’s
Clean it Up, Green it Up Initiative and will take place
on Saturday, March 17 at 8 a.m. Approximately
1,000 volunteers work at more than 20 sites to collect
litter and debris from the banks of the St. Johns River
during this annual event. If you are interested in
joining the effort, contact Vivian Harrell at 630-3420
or
e-mail Vivian.
Barnes &
Noble Donates to Jacksonville Public Library
Barnes & Noble Booksellers of Mandarin will donate 20
percent of its proceeds from book sales during the first
weekend in April to the Jacksonville Public Library
(JPL) Foundation. Present this
voucher at any Barnes & Noble store on April 6, 7,
or 8, and JPL’s Foundation will receive up to 20 percent
of the proceeds of all voucher sales to help support
various reading programs and literacy initiatives.
Jacksonville Public Library’s 2007 Jazz Festival
Programs
The Jacksonville Public Library (JPL) is planning many
special programs to accompany the Jacksonville Jazz
Festival. Starting on March 7 and continuing
through April 14, JPL will present programs such as New
Orleans Jazz, The Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance,
Jazz Vocalists, Musicians and Composers, The Jazz Swing
Era, and many more. All events are free and open
to the public. To see a complete list of programs
and events,
click here to view the event flyer.
Keep
Jacksonville Beautiful Award
If anyone at your school has performed any of the
following efforts: beautification projects, litter
prevention, or litter clean up in Duval County, consider
applying for this award. To download an
application,
click here. The deadline for submitting an
application for the award is Monday, April 30.
Kids
Speak Out National Writing Contest
The National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights has
launched a national writing contest, Kids Speak Out,
in which students from across the country are asked to
provide answers to the following question: Why is
diversity important in our public schools? Contest
information can be found
by clicking here. The deadline for entries is
Friday, March 30. Winners will be announced by April 16.
Students under 12 years of age may participate in a
quote contest (100 words or less) with a first place
prize of $250. Students who are 12—17 years of age
may participate in an essay contest (500 words or less)
with a first place prize of $500.
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