August 6, 2026 RCSD Educator Digest

Educational Services

K-5 Benchmark Writing
Beginning this year, Benchmark Writing will be our district-focused writing curriculum for grades K–5. Benchmark writing resources have been added to grade-level folders linked on the Key Resources Hub. Within these folders, you will also find the rubrics for each writing unit (grades 1–5), as well as a Benchmark Writing Scoring Guide. I look forward to exploring Benchmark Writing further during our PD cycles this year. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Contact: Kelly Yusim

K-5 Professional Development Cycle
All K-5, SDC, ASD, FSP and RSP teachers will have District Cycle Professional Development this year. Please review this PD Cycle Schedule to see which date(s) your PLC will be attending Professional Development. Please let us know if you notice any discrepancies in grade level placements or PLC members listed. More information will be shared as your PD date approaches.
Contact: Kelly Yusim, Lisa Wegsteen, or Monique Homesley

6-8 Professional Development Cycle
6-8 Math, ELA, ELD, Science, History, SDC, ASD, FSP and RSP teachers will attend Professional Development this year. Please review this PD Cycle Schedule to see which date(s) your PLC will be attending. Please let us know if you notice any discrepancies in department placements or PLC members listed.
Contact: Kelly Yusim, Jennie Ruvalcaba, Lisa Wegsteen, or Monique Homesley

2nd-8th Grade i-Ready Inform Window 1
The i-Ready Diagnostic is now called i-Ready Inform. The i-Ready Inform Window 1 for Reading and Math will be open from August 10 through September 4. Assessments will be automatically assigned to students. Please work with your PLC to determine when the assessments will be administered within this window.

• i-Ready Inform FAQs
• Preparing Students for the i-Ready Inform - Grs. 2-5 (slide deck)

Contact: Kelly Yusim or Lisa Wegsteen

K-5 Benchmark Resource for Combo Teachers
Below are Benchmark resources to help support combo class teachers with planning and instruction across grade levels.
Combo Classes Guide for Benchmark Advance
Contact: Kelly Yusim

Preferred Languages for Family Communication
During registration, families selected their “Preferred Language" for receiving school/district communications. The language that was selected in this section is sent to ParentSquare to support the translation of written communication. In addition to families sharing their “Preferred Language,” for written communication, families were also prompted to share if they would like/need interpreters for phone or in-person communication. If there is a language listed in the “Interpreter Language” column within PowerSchool’s Contact Management, then the family has selected that they would like an interpreter for phone/in-person communication and have chosen which language best supports that request. To view any language(s) that families have requested for communication, please follow these steps in PowerSchool: Student Profile → Contacts → Contact Management → Review the language columns that are pictured here:
Contact: Jennie Ruvalcaba

6-8 enVision Math
SAVVAS updated its digital platform for the enVision Math curriculum over the summer. The Table of Contents is no longer a sidebar, but can be accessed by continuing to scroll down.


The ClassLink icon also got an update. To access the platform, select this icon in ClassLink:


Contact: Lisa Wegsteen

K-5 enVision+ Math
We will continue learning about the new math curriculum through PD Cycle days. One helpful planning resource the pilot team created is the RCSD K-5 Math SAVVAS enVision+ Pacing & Planning Guide. This includes enVision's pacing for each topic, and it highlights which lessons address RCSD essential standards. There are also links to PDFs of the topic assessments for quick printing. This resource is also available on the Key Resources Hub.
For a quick overview on how to download the student pages for each lesson as a PDF, please follow the link below. Once student workbooks are ready at your site, if you would like a teacher copy of the student edition, please ask your LMS.
Downloading enVision+ Math Student Pages
If you would like to learn more about what it looks like to teach the different components and lesson types, there are short overview videos of these linked in your digital platform. Scroll past the topics down to the “Program Resources” section. Then select “Classroom/Author Videos.”

Contact: Lisa Wegsteen

PBISapps SWIS
If you are unable to access SWIS as a staff member to enter referrals, please contact your administrator or PBIS lead to update the site SWIS staff list and your user role. Administrators and PBIS leads have the steps to be able to do this.
Contact: Lauren Ellison

Second Step Staff Access
We’re still working on getting staff correctly assigned to their current school in Second Step as many teachers are still assigned to their school from last year or not assigned to a site at all. We are aware of the issue and working to resolve it.
Once staff lists are correctly loaded in Second Step, teachers will need to create their class by clicking either “create class” button to create their digital program class.

Contact: Lauren Ellison

Personnel Services

Wellness Apps for Employees
The first day of school can be a doozy… so take a deep breath and check out the following Wellness apps: Calm Health, FitOn, and Supportlinc. New employees will have access in mid-October, returning RCSD employees have access now.

• Calm Health: mindfulness and meditation, sleep stories, guided meditations for kids/students and mental health support.
• FitOn : fitness, stretch, nutrition, and challenges for all levels
• Supportlinc: Virtual support for work or home stress, anxiety, grief and loss, relationships, depression, and more. Confidential assistance. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Educational Services