HCPS 411 Update

The Office of Communications and Family Outreach, together with the Office of Technology, redesigned our school system's website, www.hcps.org. The new and improved website will go live TOMORROW, Friday, August 30! We are excited to share this user-friendly, modernized resource to assist students, parents/guardians, staff, and our community.

We appreciate your patience as we navigate through this transition, and we encourage your feedback! Questions, concerns, or suggestions for further improvement may be sent to communications@hcps.org for consideration.

The HCPS Office of Communications and Family Outreach is excited to announce the launch of Parent Academy – a resource for all HCPS families!

Parent Academy will connect families, school system staff, and community stakeholders in meaningful partnerships that will help increase student achievement.

Each and every HCPS student needs a variety of resources to be successful. From early education through high school, Parent Academy will offer programs and initiatives designed to help families support their children’s academic and social-emotional wellbeing.

The first of a series of FREE Parent Academy workshops will be held in September - mark your calendar! Please share this information with parents/guardians in your school community. Details on the flier below.

• Kudos to Jackie Tarbert, coordinator of Leadership and Professional Development, for all the time, work, and attention to detail in helping plan the Superintendent's Back to School Kick Off Event on August 23!
• Hats off to Donoven Brooks, coordinator of Safety and Security; the Office of Professional Development; and our team of trainers for their time and efforts in training nearly all HCPS staff on ACRT over the summer.
• Many thanks to Human Resources for tirelessly working to find candidates to ensure our students have the very best people possible as teachers, bus drivers, custodians, and other support personnel.
  

Nominations for the Support Services Superstar Award are being accepted now until September 30, 2019. APG Federal Credit Union (APGFCU) is the proud sponsor of the HCPS Support Services Superstar Awards. All Harford County Public Schools regular support staff employees are eligible for the award. Program information and nomination forms may be downloaded at www.hcps.org or by clicking here. Questions regarding this information should be directed to Jean Mantegna, in Human Resources, at Jean.Mantegna@hcps.org or x5226.

• Harford Community College (HCC) is offering a number of courses for provisionally certified teachers this fall. Please see the linked flier. Note: Teaching Methods courses are typically only offered in the fall. For information about registration, please click here. Questions may be directed to Laura Hutton at lhutton@harford.edu or 443-412-2093.
• Goucher College is offering an online suicide prevention course for Maryland school counselors in fall 2019. This course meets the requirements for Lauryn's Law for school counselor MSDE certification renewal. For more details and how to enroll, click here. Questions regarding this information may be directed to Kay Malone, in School Counseling, at 410-588-5251.

Technology updates for teachers can be found by clicking here. Questions regarding this information should be directed to Martha Barwick, in Technology, at Martha.Barwick@hcps.org.

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, then Towson University (TU) and the Educational Testing Service need your help in contributing to their research project on how teachers with expertise in teaching science and engineering to elementary students conduct engineering discussions.

Compensation is $250 for about 3.25-4.25 hours of participation time. Research takes place at the TU in Northeastern Maryland (TUNE) building on the Harford Community College Campus on Friday, October 11 (afternoon/evening) and Saturday, October 12 (morning/afternoon). Participation is voluntary, and there is no penalty for choosing not to participate. Click here to read the full recruitment flier. Included is a link to the Consent and Application survey, which is due September 13, 2019, and will take about one hour to complete. To access this Consent and Application survey directly, click here.

For more information, contact the Principal Investigator of the study, Dr. Pamela Lottero-Perdue, professor of Science and Engineering Education (plottero@towson.edu).

Do you have a balance on your cafeteria account from last year? We are asking everyone to start the year off with a zero balance! Talk to your cafeteria manager TODAY or check your www.MySchoolBucks.com account for balance and payments. The Business Services Office will be sending out reminder emails in mid-September to all staff who are carrying a balance at that time. Thank you!

To submit an HCPS Shout Out or recognize a colleague in the Spotlight on Customer Service, please email the information and photo (if available) to HCPS.411@hcps.org.

Email: HCPS.411@hcps.org
Website: www.hcps.org
Location: 102 South Hickory Avenue, Bel Air, MD, USA
Phone: 410-588-5213