Title I Newsletter

Black History Month

14th- Happy Valentine's Day

17th- Random Acts of Kindness Day- What is one thing you can do to be kind to yourself, your colleagues, or your students?

20th- President's Day

Each February, Florida recognizes the historical contributions of African Americans to our state. The theme for the 2023 essay contest is “Celebrating the Achievements of African American Floridians.” A few notable Floridians and their accomplishments are feature below as well as additional resources to highlight Black History Month.

• The Florida Highwaymen – A group of 26 African American landscape artists who painted from the 1950s to the 1980s. They became some of Florida’s most well-known painters and focused on images of the state’s natural treasures. Today, their work is displayed in prominent buildings throughout Florida, including the State Capitol and Governor’s Mansion.
• James Weldon Johnson – Writer, civil rights activist, and a leader of the NAACP. He wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is known as the black national anthem.
• John G. Riley – Born into slavery in 1857 and died a millionaire in 1954. Riley was a 49-year educator career at a school in Wakulla County and served as principal of the Lincoln Academy. He was one of the few African Americans to own property at the turn of the century.

http://www.floridablackhistory.com/

https://www.floridamemory.com/learn/classroom/history-months/blackhistory/

https://www.visitflorida.com/travel-ideas/articles/arts-history-african-american-celebrities-sites-florida/

February is I Love to Read Month- Connect the love of reading to the New Worlds Reading Initiative by inviting families to sign up for this free gift of reading!

New Worlds Reading Initiative provides free books to eligible students in Grades K-5. Families complete a brief application to begin this process. In addition, New Worlds Reading provides invaluable literacy resources such as videos, bookmarks, and book-specific guides that contain strategies and fun activites for families to support reading at home. Below is a link to the literacy resources as well as the 2022-bookmarks.

https://www.newworldsreading.com/fl/en/literacyresources.html

Shelli Payne from New Worlds Initiative is available to support school literacy events on a first-come first-served basis. Her contact information is shelli.payne@ufl.edu. We look forward to expanding literacy opportunities for Okaloosa students.

Parent Family Engagement Plan

Each school served under Title I, Part A shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement policy/plan, agreed on by such parents, that shall describe the means for carrying out the requirements of ESSA Section 1116(c-f). Parents shall be notified of the policy/plan in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. Such policy shall be made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school (ESSA Section 1116[b][1]).

If the school has a parent and family engagement policy/plan that applies to all parents and family members, such school may amend that policy, if necessary, to meet the requirements of the school and parent and family engagement policy (ESSA Section 1116[b][2]).

A Family Engagement Plan should be developed and implemented with the input and participation of a diverse group of stakeholders, including:

​Parents: Parents should be central to the development and implementation of a family engagement plan, as they are the primary stakeholders in their children's education.​

Teachers and school staff: Teachers and school staff should be involved in the development of the plan, as they have valuable insights and expertise about the needs and challenges of the school community.

School administration: School administrators should be involved in the development and implementation of the plan, as they have the authority and responsibility to implement policies and practices that support family engagement.

Community members: Community members, including local businesses, faith-based organizations, and other non-profit organizations, should be involved in the development and implementation of the plan, as they can provide valuable resources and support for families and schools.

Once a school's Parent Family Engagement Plan has been approved by SAC in September, the Title I Parent Family Engagement Plan is posted on the school's website.

Bob Sikes hosted a science night in collaboration with The Emerald Coast Science Center with over 300 people in attendance. The Science Center provided the materials for 15 science stations focusing on the human body. Students and their families rotated between the fifteen stations completing hands on experiments, art projects mimicking the brain, spine, lungs, and heart, and interactive movements to understand how our body works. Teachers and volunteers were assigned to each station to help the students. We also invited a food truck to our event which was a big hit with the families. The food truck owners appreciated being a part of our event, and they even made a donation back to our school. It was a wonderful event for all!

Parents, students, and teachers enjoyed Read-A-Rama Pajama Night at Elliott Point. Families traveled room-to-room and listened as teachers read their favorite books. The teachers and assistants dressed up as the book characters. Used books were free for the students to take home to add to their personal libraries.

The window for the FAST Progress Monitoring (PM) 2 closed on January 27th. Families can view information before and after the assessment through the FAST portal using the following links: https://flfast.org/fast.html

https://flfast.org/families.html

Before: Sample test materials (STMs) are aligned to the B.E.S.T. Standards and allow teachers, parents/guardians, and students to become familiar with the various item types that will be encountered on the assessments.

After: Families can access assessment results through the FAST Portal using a 6-character code. If you do not have access to the portal, request the code from your student’s teacher. There are also reports available to support the STAR Early Literacy, Reading, and Mathematics assessments for Grades K-2.

How do you use energy and focus to engage SES students who may be disconnected or "challenging"? We will be discussing Chapter 7: Engage for Energy and Focus.

Energizers generate oxygen and glucose which increase circulation leading to energy boost, positive mind-body state of being, and increased motivation and effort. We will learn some strategies to use at the elementary level to impact both energy and focus.

Four Actions to Elevate Energy and Focus:

1. Get students moving.

2. Energize students in their seats.

3. Lower energy to increase focus.

4. Influence energy levels with music.