April 2022 Lighthouse

Welcome to the April edition of the PL Lighthouse!

This monthly email blast and webpage has been designed to serve much like a lighthouse, to serve as a way forward and help in navigating through the busy school year. Nothing else speaks of safety in the face of adversity and challenge quite like the lighthouse. ​

Design Studio | Wednesday, April 27th 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM

Our final design studio of the year is Wednesday, April 27th from 8:30AM-4:00 PM and will be held IN-PERSON at Dallas Hybrid Preparatory at 3801 Herschel Avenue (Thanks to Dr. Romero's team for hosting!). This workshop is required for Principals + PL Quarterbacks at existing and year 1 schools. We strongly suggest that you bring others on your leadership team to help ensure that PL implementation is distributed across all leaders on campus. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Lily at [email protected] as soon as possible. 

• [ACTION ITEM]: Please submit team members attending no later than Monday, April 11th at 5PM by adding names + contact information to the spreadsheet here. We'll use this list to order lunch and send out final communication to attendees Thursday, April 21st. If you have any questions about who should attend from your campus, please reach out or join the PL monthly office hours to ask. 
• [ACTION ITEM]: Forward the design studio calendar invite to team members attending. 

Preview of the day:​

• Benchmarking, Self-assessment, and 2022-2023 prioritization using the PL Readiness Continuum.
• Design Excursion Exhibition
• New Learning + Partner Workshops
• 2022-2023 Menu of Supports Selection

PL Defense Preparation

We are preparing for PL Defenses in May. The PL team will send internal and external audience invitations later this month! Campuses who opted to send their own invitation, keep an eye out in the next two weeks for an email from Lily with the RSVP form and sample email you can send to your invitees.
[ACTION ITEM]: Submit your PL Defense team members on this form by Monday, April 11th.   

Pitch for Good Competition
Informational Sessions and Sign Up

Join us for our first annual Pitch for Good Competition in Dallas ISD! Every elementary and middle school campus is eligible to nominate a team of three to five rising entrepreneurs for this opportunity. 
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Students participating in the Pitch for Good Competition will experience the entrepreneurship process firsthand and receive coaching to solve a problem they identify in their own community. Teams will pitch their proposed solution at the competition, and the top three teams will compete at the culminating event, the Big Ideas Festival, on Saturday, May 21st.

Interested in sponsoring a team of students to participate in the Pitch for Good Competition? A representative from your campus must attend a virtual informational meeting in April. During this meeting, you will gain access to register your team to participate. To register for an informational session and learn more about the opportunity visit: bit.ly/dallaspitchforgood. Reach out to Vanessa at [email protected] if you have any questions!

We are excited to announce the Innovation in Teaching Fellowship, a professional learning opportunity to expand personalized learning instructional practices across Dallas ISD, is beginning to recruit teachers for our seventh cohort of fellows, and since you work closely with teachers, we’re hoping you might be able to help with the recruitment process.

The Innovation in Teaching Fellowship equips Dallas ISD educators to grow in their understanding of and pilot Next Generation models in their classrooms. Over the 2022-2023 school year, fellows will draw from research, best practices, and their own ingenuity to design and test personalized learning in their classrooms. Fellows will have access to virtual workshops, pop-up (i.e., on-demand) professional development sessions,  and coaching from the Dallas ISD central personalized learning team. At the conclusion of the fellowship, fellows will have an opportunity to share their learnings and ideas with the education community through our Innovation Showcase.

Please feel free to pass along to other schools within your network or nominate 3-5 teachers on your campus who might be ready for the challenge. Please click here to access a quick nomination form or to share use, bit.ly/nominatefellows. Once a teacher has been nominated, he/she will receive an email regarding the opportunity, application, and deadline. 

For additional information about the Innovation in Teaching Fellowship and the application process, check out www.thepltoolbox.com/fellowship. Applications are due Monday, May 3rd by 11:59PM CST.  ​