September 30, 2021 RCSD Educator Blog

General Information

RCSD Employee Wellness Program
The Employee Wellness program offered by our district is available to support all employees. As such we want to make sure what is being offered makes sense and is meeting the needs of those utilizing it. Please take a moment to provide your feedback on past program offerings and which programs were beneficial. This will assist us in determining future programming.
RCSD Employee Wellness Program Survey

Ed Services Update

Trimester 1 Report Card Information
We know report cards are not due for a few more weeks, but we are getting a lot of questions so we wanted to answer the most frequently asked now.

Information for TK-8

• We will have optional four report card training times: October 18 and October 25 at 2:30 pm and 3:15 pm on both days. This is completely optional. We will include Zoom links for these trainings as we get closer to the dates. If you are unable to attend, the trainings will be recorded and linked on the doc shared in the blog.
• Report Card prep is October 25
• Here is a 2-minute video showing how to enter comments on a report card. Parents do not see these comments ahead of time, only when the report card is sent out.  You must put the comment date as a date from the Trimester you want the comment to show in.  For example you would have a date of 10/29/21 if you want it to show on the Trimester 1 Report Card.
• RCSD Report Card Comment Bank- Optional Comment Bank teachers can copy and paste comments into Otus.
• Report cards are run at the site level other than TK. Your site admin will give you additional information about report card previews and dates.
• A student that comes in the middle of a Trimester receives a Domain score on anything that they have had: Sufficient Practice (practice aligned to the learning target), Feedback (timely, specific, aligned to the learning target), Opportunity to improve learning based on feedback from the teacher. If a student has received that for a domain then it is appropriate to give them a summative score on a specific domain.
• If a student is not going to receive any scores the teacher should contact the parent and put the comment below on the report card (or something similar): Student enrolled on (date) and there was not adequate time for the student to be assessed before the end of the Trimester.
• You can find previous PDF Report Cards in the Google Drive folder shared at your site. Or you can also find scores (not report cards) within 3rd Party data within Otus. Here is a 3-minute video showing how to find student iReady and previous report card scores in the student profile within Otus.
• A reminder that for Trimesters 1 and 2 you score the domains you have assessed. If you leave a domain blank on the rubric it will not show on the report card. In Trimester 3 all domains should be assessed and graded on the report card as they are year-long standards.
• We are working on having attendance show on the report card and will have more details about that in the next two weeks.
• If you have questions please reach out to the following people:
• Brandon Blom (bblom@rcsdk8.org)- TK, Sargeant, Diamond Creek, Crestmont, Orchard Ranch, Middle School
• Jennie Ruvalcalba (jRUVALCABA@rcsdk8.org)- Kaseberg, Woodbridge, Blue Oaks, Riego Creek
• Megan Spears (mspears@rcsdk8.org)- Spanger, Junction, Thomas Jefferson, Brown
• Kelly Yusim (KPaese@rcsdk8.org)- Cirby, Fiddy, Gates, Stoneridge
• Joe Clark (jclark01@rcsdk8.org)- RVA

Information for K-5 Only

• Teachers must use the Report Card rubrics to assign final grades. You can find the report card rubrics in your Assessment Shared With Me folder under Tri 1 Elementary Report Card.

• Report Card Rubric Guide - Here is the guide showing how to assign rubrics in Otus. This guide shows you how to enter comments for the report card, and how to assign the report card rubrics and grade the rubrics. When assigning the rubric please put 10/29/21 as the due date.
• Even if you used the grade book feature in Otus, we are still asking that you use the Rubric for a final grade.
• Once you enter the grade, parents and students are able to see that grade.
• A reminder to assign the rubric to the specific class. For example, the Math rubric should be assigned to your Math class.
• When you assign the report card, put the due date of 10/29/21. This is the same even if your site is printing it earlier than that date.
• Participation Scores for science and social studies are now comments, not rubrics (this is the same as we did in Trimesters 2 and 3 last year)
• You do not need to enter the comment 3 times just 1 time. You can add it in your "homeroom" class or under where you put comments for ABC Standard comments. Do not put the comment in Science, Social Studies just put the comment once. Please add one of the following comments:
• Your child participated in Science and Social Studies.
                                           OR
• Your child did NOT participate in Science and Social Studies.
• PE Teachers will enter PE grades.

Information for 6-8 Only

• Report cards will be emailed home on November 12th
• Report cards need to be completed by Tuesday, November 9th. That gives clerical time to run the report on the 10th (there is no school on the 11th) and then email home on the 12th.
• You can override a standard or domain grade in Otus (not an overall grade). At this moment any overridden domain would need to be reverted at the start of next Trimester (it does not start over for overridden grades). We have asked for it to reset each trimester but that is not available yet.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Below is information regarding parent-teacher conferences:

• Teachers must offer both in-person and Zoom as an option, parents/guardians make the choice.
• Zoom is preferred.
• If parents attend in person, both teachers and parents/guardians must mask and be at least 6 feet apart.
• Teachers can stop in-person conferences if a parent refuses to wear a mask.
• The district will be sending out general information to sites shortly that can be used when communicating with parents about the format options for parent-teacher conferences.

For more information or questions related to parent-teacher conferences please connect with your site principal.

Roseville Utility Exploration Center

Roseville Utility Exploration Center (UEC) is here to support you by offering fun and engaging educational experiences. The UEC is excited to offer their virtual field trips for 2nd and 4th graders this year!
2nd-Grade Virtual Field Trip
4th-Grade Virtual Field Trip
Click here to learn more about their free resources and activities.
Contact: Megan Spears

K/1 Foundational Skills
Please enter Trimester 1 Foundational Skills scores in Otus by October 29. For more information on assessments, rubrics, and scoring please see the attached document.
Foundational Skills Assessments and Resources
Contact: Kelly Paese Yusim

Ed Tech Update

Classwize Two-Way Chat

Classwize just released their two-way chat. This means teachers have the ability to chat with students and students can chat back with teachers when using Classwize once you have started a session. Students are not able to chat with other students. Below are more details from Classwize.
Using Classwize Chat
Contact: Brandon Blom

Email Subject Line in Otus Mailbox
There is now a subject line for emails sent through Otus Mailbox. Staff can now customize the subject of the email instead of it always saying “You have received an Otus Mailbox Message.” This has been a highly requested update from our staff.




If you forget to add a subject, Otus will give you a message letting you know you must enter one.


Contact: Brandon Blom