Dear MSAA Leaders,
I hope everyone enjoyed this past Friday's snow day. One educator described it to me as Mother Nature sending everyone a life line! I hope that each of you was able to get some extra rest, and check off some of the items on your to do list.
PreK-8 MSAA/DESE/CEI Spring Conference at Devens Commons Center
Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th Register here
I am getting very excited about the upcoming PreK-8 Spring Conference. I wanted to include the flyer and the link to register in this edition of MSAA Matters. (Flyer directly below)
We will kick off the event with Dr. Henry Turner as our opening keynote speaker Thursday at 1:00 PM, (Registration begins at noon) followed by one Breakout Session and then some fun late afternoon and evening activities. On Friday, a keynote presentation will be provided by Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite along with a mother-daughter team, Heather Haq and her daughter, Iris Haq Lukolyo, to talk about the impact of racism on family, student engagement and social-emotional well-being. The keynote on Friday begins at 8:30 AM followed by a breakout session, lunch and a one last Breakout session beginning at 12:45 PM. The Conference ends Friday at 2:00 PM.
I also am including an article about Iris Haq Lukolyo which highlights an essay that she wrote in the fall of 2020. The essay appeared in the multicultural literary magazine, Skipping Stones, designed for readers from 8-16. In this essay Iris shares her thoughts and feelings after a virtual social studies lesson. It is very impactful. Click here for the essay. Click here for the article from the Washington Post. This is truly going to be an outstanding conference!
We have some fabulous breakout sessions by active administrators as well so be on the lookout for our program listing out the sessions as well the names of the presenters and descriptions of their sessions.
DESE/MSAA/CEI Early Learning Team
2021-2022 DESE/MSAA/CEI Elementary School Principals Networking & Professional Development Series
Matthew Rodriguez from Equity Imperative and his team will deliver 3 professional development sessions (each 2 hours in length) on anti-racist leadership in the early grades. These sessions will be interactive and include whole group and small group discussions. The last session will take place from 3:00-5:00pm on: Tuesday, February 8, 2022
MSAA Leadership Licensure Program (LLP)
The MSAA Leadership Licensure Program (LLP) is a one year DESE approved program that fulfills all the requirements for an educator to obtain the Principal/Assistant Principal certification. It has been in existence for 15 years. Our graduates, ranging in numbers of 20-40 per year, tell us it has a powerful impact on their ability to be effective leaders in the various schools throughout the Commonwealth.
The instructors of LLP courses are retired or practicing superintendents and principals. All are or have been long time successful leaders in their districts. The course of studies is delivered in the summer and on weekends (1 per month) beginning in June and ending in May the following year. Instructors come from our partnerTeachers21.
Our state also requires the successful completion of the Massachusetts Performance of Leaders (MAPAL) prior to granting the initial certification for the principalship. LLP has imbedded the requirements of MAPAL in the content of the courses as much as possible. In addition, LLP provides training in the completion of MAPAL and one-to-one advisory about this process. Our graduates far exceed the passing rate of the state average on MAPAL.
LLP is provided by MSAA as an alternative to a formal graduate program. We provided PDPS.
We also partner with Fitchburg University to offer both a Master’s Degree and a CAGS.
We are proud of LLP because our graduates inform us how inspirational the experience was to them, and how LLP impacted their effective leadership in actual practice. We depend primarily on current leaders encouraging the teacher-leaders to learn more about the LLP and apply for admission. LLP has a web section on its home page. Please reach out to perspective candidates who are interested in administration!
For more information, please visit our LLP website at www.msaa.net/llp.
Massachusetts Partnership for Youth
Massachusetts Partnership continually offers high quality webinars Click here to see all of the upcoming webinars. Below are the February offerings.
Structuring Time for Positive Impact on Student Success
February 9, 2022 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Ted Hall, M.Ed., Senior Associate at Great Schools Partnership, Portland, ME, AthenaK12 Speaker
Register
Mindful Fridays: Mindful Listening - Building a Foundation for Productive Conversations
February 11, 2022 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speakers: Tara Healey, M.Ed. and Zeenat Potia, M.A.
Register
Cultivating Success with Staff and Students
February 14, 2022 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Rob Smith, Ph.D., Certified Mental Performance Consultant, HealthPoint
Register
Project Based Learning and Social Justice
February 15, 2022 | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speaker: LaTrice Lyle, M.Ed., Harvard Graduate School of Education; Founder and Principal Consultant, EDQuity Consulting
Register
Horace Mann
There is important information below on Horace Mann's Loan forgiveness program.
Current Articles/Videos/Podcasts/Resources
I have maintained the Black History Month resources that I shared last month and have included three new resources from Learning For Justice, eschool news and the National Education Association. They are high quality and excellent resources.
Closing Message from Bob Baldwin
Thank you for making a difference in the lives of ALL children. You are making a difference!
Warm Regards,
Beth
Beth Wittcoff
MSAA Assistant Executive Director
MSAA Matters Newsletter
Middle Level and Elementary Committee Liaison
Ring Central Gatherings
