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...

Communications Beginning of School Year Communications Reminders Please review our Communications 101 document at your earliest convenience. Please review our CPRA Overview document at your earliest convenience. For all ParentSquare questions or needs, please do not submit a Tech Ticket - please contact Jessica Hull at jhull@rcsdk8.org . RCSD Weather Protocol In response to updates to Education Code, RCSD has developed a comprehensive Weather Protocol for responding to weather conditions such as high heat, poor air quality, lightning, flooding, etc. Administrators will be discussing this briefly during their first staff meetings of the year, but please review for staff responsibilities in all weather conditions. Contact: Jessica Hull Accessibility Tip: Test Your PDFs Is your PDF accessible to people with visual impairments? Find out by using Adobe Acrobat Pro’s Accessibility Checker, which will identify mistakes and help you create a fully compliant document that can be easily read ...

Communications Canva Integration in Newsletter Creation ParentSquare is introducing a direct Canva integration into Studio Editor’s image management workflow. This new integration provides a direct path from Canva into Studio Editor. Here's what you can expect: Users can easily connect their Canva accounts to Studio Editor. A new "Select from Canva" option will be available to browse projects without leaving the platform. Users can preview designs to see how they will read in the newsletter before importing. Imported designs will support post-import editing controls, including cropping, auto-resizing, adding alt text, and adjusting layouts. Contact: Jessica Hull Update to ParentSquare Texting Starting on July 24, ParentSquare text messages will be sent from dedicated 10-digit phone numbers instead of a shared short code. For example, a direct message from a teacher will arrive from a different number than a post sent by the school office. This change helps recipients bett...

Educational Services Elementary Report Card Information Report cards must be sent home by Thursday, May 28th. Please work with your principal on if report cards will be emailed or printed and by when. Teachers will have the ability to print their own report card in PTP. Resources: Elementary PTP- Entering Report Card Grades and Comments Running PowerSchool Report Cards- Teachers: This page includes steps on how to run a report card, as well as an instructional video. If you have any questions about who is running report cards, including Spanish report cards, your site admin will give you additional information. If you are having any issues with entering grades or questions regarding PowerTeacher Pro, please submit a Zendesk ticket. Middle School Report Card Information Final grades are due by Tuesday, May 26th at 11:59pm. Report cards will be emailed home on May 28th. A reminder to please make sure you are running your own preview to check final grades. If you need any assistance ple...

Educational Services K-5 Science: Mystery Science Starting June 13 there will be a few changes to the Mystery Science lessons and units. You can expect to see stronger standards alignment, easier prep and improved activities, and updated assessments and vocabulary. You can preview those changes below. June 2026 Mystery Science Updates Our science materials list by grade level will be updated to reflect these changes. Contact: Lisa Wegsteen K–1 Teachers — We Need Your Feedback! Each year, we gather input on our foundational skills assessments and the ESGI data platform to help guide next steps. If you teach K–1, please take a few minutes to complete the feedback form by May 14th. Thank you! Contact: Kelly Yusim and Lisa Wegsteen Summer Student Access - Lexia/Starfall/i-Ready/IXL Students will have summer access to their current subscriptions through Clever until the following dates: Lexia: 6/30/26 TK Starfall 6/30/26 i-Ready and IXL: 7/16/26 Teachers can assign a Summer Boost Skill Pla...

Business Services Open Enrollment Open Enrollment for medical benefits has begun and will run through May 31st. Communications Employee Recognition Ceremony Photos Congratulations to everyone who was honored at the Employee Recognition Ceremony on Tuesday, which celebrates staff for their service milestones and other employee recognitions. View and download photos from the event. Contact: Sydney Roll Educational Services K–1 Teachers — We Need Your Feedback! Each year, we gather input on our foundational skills assessments and the ESGI data platform to help guide next steps. If you teach K–1, please take a few minutes to complete the feedback form by May 14th. Thank you! Contact: Kelly Yusim and Lisa Wegsteen K-5 Math: Curriculum Adoption Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, we will move forward with using SAVVAS enVision+ as our K-5 math curriculum. Classroom teachers will get access to all digital and print resources starting in August. Linked below are some resources that may be...

Educational Services K-5th Teachers: Feedback on Writing Curriculum We’re collecting your input on the Benchmark and Lucy Calkins writing curriculum. Your feedback will help determine which district writing curriculum will be used beginning in the 2026–27 school year. The form will remain open through May 1st. Thank you for taking a few minutes to share your feedback! Writing Curriculum Feedback Form Contact: Kelly Yusim K-8: Resources to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the USA The 250th anniversary of the USA (Semiquincentennial) will be commemorated on July 4, 2026, marking 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Below are some lessons, activities, and resources that build civic understanding. Discovery Education: Resources for Educators TCI: Teach the 250 America 250: Our Voices, Our History: What America Means to Me (Grs. 3-8) K–1 Teachers — We Need Your Feedback! Each year, we gather input on our foundational skills assessments and the ESGI data platfor...

Communications Tommy Apostolos Fund - 36th Annual Dinner and Dance On behalf of the Tommy Apostolos Fund, please see information in the flyer below for the 36th Annual Dinner and Dance on Saturday, April 25th. Discounted tickets for RCSD staff are available. You can visit this link to purchase tickets . Contact: Jessica Hull Educational Services K-8 Science Materials: Ordering from the Media Center If you need materials for a science lab you are planning, you can order materials from the Media Center through your site’s Library Media Specialist. List of Science Materials To place an order, please follow the steps provided at the top of the first tab called “Complete List/Order Form”. Be sure to rename your copy of the spreadsheet with your last name and school site. Any science materials orders for the end of the year need to be submitted by Friday, April 24. Contact: Lisa Wegsteen K-8 Science: Bank of NGSS-Aligned Performance Tasks The state has released a free bank of science perform...

Communications Growing and Changing Permission Form Now on ParentSquare Thank you to those who brought to our attention the Growing and Changing Permission form for 4th and 5th grades was not available on ParentSquare. The form is now available to all elementary sites as “GROWING AND CHANGING PERMISSION FORM" in the General Forms section of the permission slips. To add to a post, click the “Forms/Permissions” tab on the left-hand side of a post and scroll down to add. Contact: Jessica Hull Educational Services Progress Reports A reminder, Elementary Progress Reports need to go home by Friday, April 24th. Please see the documents below for additional information: Progress Report Communication - This document includes information regarding what is required regarding Progress Reports and an explanation on how to use the Progress Reports. RCSD Elementary Progress Reports - This document has linked to all progress reports. Contact: Angela Garcia Middle School Mid-Trimester Progress C...

Communications Tommy Apostolos Fund - 36th Annual Dinner and Dance On behalf of the Tommy Apostolos Fund, please see information in the flyer below for the 36th Annual Dinner and Dance on Saturday, April 25th. Discounted tickets for RCSD staff are available. You can visit this link to purchase tickets . Contact: Jessica Hull Educational Services Progress Reports A reminder, Elementary Progress Reports need to go home by Friday, April 24th. Progress Report PLC prep day is April 15th. Please see the documents below for additional information: Progress Report Communication - This document includes information regarding what is required regarding Progress Reports and an explanation on how to use the Progress Reports. RCSD Elementary Progress Reports - This document has linked to all progress reports. Contact: Angela Garcia Middle School Mid-Trimester Progress Check Middle School Teachers: An email from the school site will go home on Friday, April 24th to remind parents they can check g...

Educational Services K-8 Science Materials: Ordering from the Media Center If you need materials for a science lab you are planning, you can order materials from the Media Center through your site’s Library Media Specialist. List of Science Materials To place an order, please follow the steps provided at the top of the first tab called “Complete List/Order Form”. Be sure to rename your copy of the spreadsheet with your last name and school site. Any science materials orders for the end of the year need to be submitted by Friday, April 24. Contact: Lisa Wegsteen K-2: Amira Reading Screener As a reminder, any new students will need to be assigned the Amira assessment. Please assign the Amira BOY Benchmark assessment by following these steps: How to Assign an Assessment . Any new student has 45 days from enrollment to take the Amira screener. You can administer the assessment at any point within that 45-day window. Please send home parent notification ( Site Sample Amira Letter ) at least...

Educational Services K-5th Teachers: Feedback on Writing Curriculum We’re collecting your input on the Benchmark and Lucy Calkins writing curriculum. Your feedback will help determine which district writing curriculum will be used beginning in the 2026–27 school year. The form will remain open through May 1st. Thank you for taking a few minutes to share your feedback! Writing Curriculum Feedback Form Contact: Kelly Yusim Second Step Posters We have a large supply of Second Step full size posters and 8.5x11 cardstock posters. If you would like any posters to be sent to you to use in your classroom/school, please complete this Second Step Poster google form . We will distribute these extra materials on a first come first served basis. This form will be shut off on Friday April 10th and extra materials will be disposed of. Contact: Lauren Ellison PBIS Conference 2026 Call for Speakers PBIS is accepting applications for speakers for the PBIS conference October 7th-9th. Check out the confe...

Educational Services Performance Task Support for CAASPP Testing Access hundreds of student samples for the ELA CAASPP Performance Task through the Smarter Annotated Response Tool (SmART). This public site requires no login and includes non-secure materials that are available for instructional use. SmART allows educators to review a range of student responses, explore scoring rationales and rubrics, and practice scoring to better understand how writing is evaluated on Smarter Balanced assessments and support writing instruction. Contact: Angela Garcia  K-5 Math: Math Expressions Dry Erase Boards We have a large stock of the Math Expressions dry erase boards in the Media Center. If you are interested in replacing your current student whiteboards or having some extras, please ask your Library Media Specialist to put in a materials request for them. Contact: Lisa Wegsteen K-5 Social Studies: Planning Lessons in TCI Just a reminder that each lesson in TCI includes an “orange box” desig...

Communications CSUS Computer Science Supplementary Authorization Program Sacramento State’s College of Continuing Education (CCE) is currently offering a fully online Computer Science Supplementary Authorization program specifically designed for working educators. No prior knowledge or experience with computer science is necessary, but if you’re interested, this program is for those with their single or multiple subject teaching credential only. California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) offers a Supplementary Authorization for credentialed teachers, which allows you to teach computer science in K-12 settings even if your degree was not in computer science. Have questions? Contact the College of Continuing Education today! Educational Services RCSD Digital Citizenship Reminder A reminder that in RCSD, we teach Digital Citizenship to all students K-8. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires all students K-12 receive Internet Safety lessons to learn about a...