Stafford School Buzz - January 2017 by Stafford County Public Schools

Stafford School Buzz January 2017

Google it Gmail Comes to SCPS

In This Issue 2

Upcoming Events

Department News

IRS Warns of Tax Scams

Nominate Your Rappahannock Region 2017 Librarian of the Year

Schools Begin Gmail Migration

• • •

News & Events

upcoming events S

17 Special Called Meeting – Presentation of Superintendent’s FY18

Recommended Budgets to the School Board Alvin York Bandy Admin. Complex, School Board Chambers, 6 p.m.

Capital Improvement Planning Advisory Committee Meeting Alvin York Bandy Admin. Complex, Planning and Construction Conference Room, 6:30 p.m.

Special Education Advisory Committee Meeting Professional Development Center, 7 p.m.

18 Finance and Budget Committee Meeting

Alvin York Bandy Admin. Complex, Executive Session Room, 6 p.m.

7 PRAXIS Workshop

Technology Advisory Committee Meeting Professional Development Center, Computer Lab, 6 p.m.

9 Fine & Performing Arts Advisory Committee Meeting

School Board Meeting – Public Budget Hearing Alvin York Bandy Admin. Complex, School Board Chambers, 7 p.m.

Towson University, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Attend a workshop for the PRAXIS SLLA Education Leadership, 19 Discipline Committee Meeting ESL/ESOL, and Special Education Exam. A teacher with Virginia Alvin York Bandy Administrative Complex, 3 p.m. Certification can add ESL/ESOL - English as a Second Language Certification by successfully passing the PRAXIS Certification Exam. 22-28 Virginia School Principals Appreciation Week Dr. Brent Daigle’s workshop provides an in-depth review of all the This week is an opportunity to recognize the hard work of Virginia content, standards, constructed-response, and performance modules school principals and to recognize the importance of principals in that are currently targeted on the PRAXIS certification exam. Space ensuring that every child has access to a quality education. in the workshop fills up quickly. Contact Dr. Daigle at brentdaigle@ edcertification.org or (470) 331-9413 to register. In your email, please 23 Joint School Working Committee Meeting specify which session you would like to attend: North Stafford High School, 6 p.m. • SLLA Educational Leadership Exam Workshop: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. • ESL/ESOL Exam Workshop: 12 - 3 p.m. 24 School Board Work Session – FY18 Budget • Special Education Exam Workshop: 3 - 6 p.m. Alvin York Bandy Admin. Complex, Exec. Session Room, 5:30 p.m.

Professional Development Center, Room 13, 6 p.m.

Gifted Advisory Committee Meeting Professional Development Center, Room 16, 6 p.m.

10 Substitute Workshop

Alvin York Bandy Administrative Complex, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. To attend the Substitute Workshop, you must have an application online and all paperwork submitted to Human Resources. Paperwork is not accepted on the day of the workshop.

School Board Meeting Alvin York Bandy Admin. Complex, School Board Chambers, 7 p.m.

12-16 CANstruction: Driving Out Hunger

Spotsylvania Towne Centre CANstruction is a unique competition showcasing colossal structures made entirely of full cans of food. Judging takes place on Monday, January 16. The public can vote for the People’s Choice Award on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15 by donating $1 or one canned good item. All proceeds benefit the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank. Winners are announced at an official awards ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, January 16.

16 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – All Schools & Offices Closed 2

26-27 Early Release – Middle & High Schools 30 Early Release – All Grades 31 No School for Students – Professional Day Save the Date - February 25 FredTech STEM Summit

Massaponax High School Planning is underway for the annual STEM Summit, organized by members of the STEM16 Committee of the FredTech Council of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce. This event brings together STEM educators at every level, students, families, businesses and organizations who are allied in developing interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics study and careers. You and your students (ALL GRADE LEVELS) are invited to participate by offering a booth which demonstrates your student’s STEM educational experience. Hands-on activities are welcome and service projects are encouraged. Please save the date and ask your students to do the same. For more information, please contact Ann Emerson at aemerson@staffordschools.net or (540) 658-6753.

January 2017 • Stafford School Buzz

News & events

•••

department news Payroll & Benefits

Is Retirement on Your Mind for this Coming Year? As we begin 2017, retirement for the end of the 2016-2017 school year may be on your mind. To ensure a smooth transition from employee to retiree, the Payroll & Benefits Office suggests you follow these steps: 1.

2. 3.

Visit https://goo.gl/MCIpUI to complete the Request for Voluntary Termination of Employment. Once completed, print and sign. Scan it or print it, then forward it on to your building level administrator, the Human Resources Department and the Director of Payroll and Benefits. Retirement date must be first day of the month (i.e. July 1, 2017 for the end of the 2016/2017 school year). Once your intent letter is received, you will receive a retirement package. Upon completion of your retirement package, make an email request to the Payroll & Benefits Office at fortincm@staffordschools.net or call (540) 658-6000 for an appointment to review and finalize your forms and have them submitted to Virginia Retirement System for processing. Note: VRS requires 90 days processing time from submission to first retirement payment.

To view your 2016 VRS Member Benefit Profile (MBP) log onto myVRS by visiting www.varetire.org. It is preferable that all retirement paperwork is submitted no later than March 24, 2017.

Substitute Teachers and Paraprofessionals Needed We are in need of substitute teachers and paraprofessionals for the current school year. To apply, visit https://apps2.winocular.com/staffordva/workspace/. In addition to completing the online substitute application, the accompanying paperwork must be submitted to the Human Resources Office in person as a complete packet, preferably no later than the day before the substitute workshop you wish to attend. Upcoming Substitute Workshops: • January 10, 2017 • March 7, 2017 (last orientation of the 2016-2017 school year) Educational Supplements This is a reminder that February 1, 2017 is the deadline for requests and official transcripts/documentation to add an educational supplement to your contract. We must have completed request form and sent official transcripts to our office no later than February 1. Processing of any requests received after February 1 will occur at the next deadline listed on the Educational Supplement Request form. Visit https://goo.gl/46hbuR for instructions and the Educational Supplement Request form.

Reminder: A copy of your (and any survivor annuitant’s) Birth Certificate and/or a valid Passport and voided check must be submitted with your retirement paperwork.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Melanie Kabban at kabbanmj@staffordschools.net or (540) 658-6565.

Human Resources

Strategic Communication & Community Engagement

Complete Your Intent Survey Today! All Stafford County Public Schools employees are required to complete the Intent Survey by January 13, 2017. It is important that you read all instructions before you begin the survey. General instructions are as follows: • If you would like to request a conference before making the decision to return for the 2017-2018 school year, please meet with your principal or supervisor before you begin the survey. • Once you begin the survey, you must complete it by entering all responses and click the ‘SUBMIT’ button at the end. Enter your information only ONE time. • By clicking the ‘SUBMIT’ button, you have submitted your intent. You may print a copy of the confirmation page by clicking CTRL + P. • If you do not plan to return to Stafford County Public Schools for the 2017-2018 school year, you must complete the Voluntary Termination Form at https://goo.gl/MCIpUI as soon as you complete the survey.

Peachjar Electronic Flyer Delivery Begins January 11, 2017 Our division will launch Peachjar, a new electronic communication tool, on Wednesday, January 11. Parents and guardians can view schoolapproved eflyers by simply clicking the Peachjar button on the division and school webpages. Parents and guardians are not required to take any action. They will receive a welcome email from Peachjar that includes a username and password, and can use that to manage their account and flyer delivery preferences. Department leaders should submit their flyers to scpscommunications@ staffordschools.net. Flyers for specific schools are addressed at the school level. Outside organizations will submit their flyers directly to Peachjar. If you have any questions regarding the transition to Peachjar eflyers, please contact Sherrie Johnson at johnsonsa@staffordschools.net.

To complete the Intent Survey, please visit https://goo.gl/E0vpid. For Directors/Principals: If you have personnel that do NOT have a Groupwise email address, please provide a computer and the above link in order to complete the survey.

Stafford School Buzz • January 2017

IRS Warns Taxpayers of Numerous Tax Scams Nationwide; Provides Summary of Most Recent Schemes From the Internal Revenue Service, December 8 WASHINGTON — As tax season approaches, the Internal Revenue Service, the states and the tax industry reminded taxpayers to be on the lookout for an array of evolving tax scams related to identity theft and refund fraud. Every tax season, there is an increase in schemes that target innocent taxpayers by email, by phone and on-line. The IRS and Security Summit partners remind taxpayers and tax professionals to be on the lookout for these deceptive schemes. “Whether it’s during the holidays or the approach of tax season, scam artists look for ways to use tax agencies and the tax industry to trick and confuse people,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “There are warning signs to these scams people should watch out for, and simple steps to avoid being duped into giving these criminals money, sensitive financial information or access to computers.” This marks the fourth reminder to taxpayers during the “National Tax Security Awareness Week.” This week, the IRS, the states and the tax community are sending out a series of reminders to taxpayers and tax professionals as part of the ongoing Security Summit effort. Some of the most prevalent IRS impersonation scams include: • Requesting fake tax payments: The IRS has seen automated calls where scammers leave urgent callback requests telling taxpayers to call back to settle their “tax bill.” These fake calls generally claim to be the last warning before legal action is taken. Taxpayers may also receive live calls from IRS impersonators. They may demand payments on prepaid debit cards, iTunes and other gift cards or wire transfer. The IRS reminds taxpayers that any request to settle a tax bill using any of these payment methods is a clear indication of a scam. • Targeting students and parents and demanding payment for a fake “Federal Student Tax”: Telephone scammers are targeting students and parents demanding payments for fictitious taxes, such as the “Federal Student Tax.” If the person does not comply, the scammer

becomes aggressive and threatens to report the student to the police. • Sending a fraudulent IRS bill for tax year 2015 related to the Affordable Care Act: The IRS has received numerous reports around the country of scammers sending a fraudulent version of CP2000 notices for tax year 2015. Generally, the scam involves an email or letter that includes the fake CP2000. The fraudulent notice includes a payment request that taxpayers mail a check made out to “I.R.S.” to the “Austin Processing Center” at a Post Office Box address. • Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals: Payroll and human resources professionals should be aware of phishing email schemes that pretend to be from company executives and request personal information on employees. The email contains the actual name of the company chief executive officer. In this scam, the “CEO” sends an email to a company payroll office employee and requests a list of employees and financial and personal information including Social Security numbers (SSN). • Imitating software providers to trick tax professionals: Tax professionals may receive emails pretending to be from tax software companies. The email scheme requests the recipient download and install an important software update via a link included in the e-mail. Upon completion, tax professionals believe they have downloaded a software update when in fact they have loaded a program designed to track the tax professional’s key strokes, which is a common tactic used by cyber thieves to steal login information, passwords and other sensitive data. • “Verifying” tax return information over the phone: Scam artists call saying they have your tax return, and they just need to verify a few details to process your return. The scam tries to get you to give up personal information such as a SSN or personal financial information, including bank numbers or credit cards. • Pretending to be from the tax preparation industry: The emails are designed to trick taxpayers into thinking these are official communications from the IRS or others in the tax industry, including tax software companies. The phishing schemes can ask taxpayers about a wide range of topics. E-mails or text messages can seek information related to refunds, filing status, confirming personal information, ordering transcripts and verifying PIN information.

January 2017 • Stafford School Buzz

If you receive an unexpected call, unsolicited email, letter or text message from someone claiming to be from the IRS, here are some of the tell-tale signs to help protect yourself. The IRS Will Never: • Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer or initiate contact by e-mail or text message. Generally, the IRS will first mail you a bill if you owe any taxes. • Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying. • Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe. • Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone. If you get a suspicious phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and asking for money, here’s what you should do: • Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately. • Search the web for telephone numbers scammers leave in your voicemail asking you to call back. Some of the phone numbers may be published online and linked to criminal activity. • Contact TIGTA to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page or call (800) 366-4484. • Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes. • If you think you might owe taxes, call the IRS at (800) 829-1040. If you receive an unsolicited email that appears to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), report it by sending it to phishing@irs.gov.

Nominate Your Rappahannock Region 2017 Librarian of the Year From Tricia Branscome, Rappahannock Regional Director of the Virginia Association of School Librarians The New Year is here and there is still time to nominate an outstanding candidate to be the Rappahannock Region Librarian for 2017. This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize fellow colleagues who you think define what it truly means to be a librarian. There are two steps to the nomination/application process. All steps must be completed by January 15. 1. A colleague or supervisor of the outstanding librarian should complete the online nomination form and upload a recommendation letter by visiting https://goo.gl/iy35lj. Please consider completing this part of the process immediately to allow the nominated librarian time to collect the required materials prior to the January 15 deadline. 2. Upon notification of their nomination, the librarian must complete an online application form, to include a narrative piece and additional references. Deadline is January 15, 2017. This is a prestigious award in the field of school librarianship. Nominees must be members in good standing of the Virginia Association of School Librarians to be considered. The winner is announced at the Rappahannock Spring Regional on Thursday, March 23, 2017.

Stafford School Buzz • January 2017

Schools Begin Gmail Migration In November, a team of Technology staff set up camp in the computer lab and library of Hartwood Elementary School. Their arrival marked the beginning of a division-wide initiative to transition from GroupWise to Gmail as the official email platform.

staff during their migration day,” said Wolfenbarger. “In addition, the ITRTs have developed an outstanding online video training through Google Sites.” Training videos are available at bitly.com/SCPSGSUITE.

Schools have responded positively to the migration. “The efforts that so The team worked diligently creating Gmail accounts for staff members, many wonderful people in our school system put forth really ensured and migrating GroupWise content to the new Gmail accounts. In the that the roll-out was successful,” shared Scott Elchenko, Hartwood afternoon, the team hosted training sessions in the library. Elementary School principal. “We are so grateful to Leslie Martin, all of the ITRTs, and the Technology Department for their efforts with training Hartwood, Ferry Farm, and Stafford elementary schools are the first in and providing close support throughout our migration. We are moving the division to move to Gmail. Migration efforts will continue through the full STEAM ahead with Google at Hartwood!” Mary Foreman, principal school year, with the goal of full staff migration before May’s Standards of at Stafford Elementary School called the migration “a huge success with Learning tests. the support of our Technology Department and our talented ITRT, Mr. “So far, the technical aspects of bringing over all GroupWise email, groups, Ucciardi. Our staff is excited to move forward!” Ferry Farm Elementary and calendar events into Google are going extremely well,” said Andy School principal Robert Freeman echoed these sentiments, “FFES has had Wolfenbarger, supervisor of Technology. “We anticipate this to continue as its own Google domain for the last four years. The migration to the Stafford County domain has been seamless for our staff. We are enjoying having the we move on from school to school through May.” capability to now use Google instead of GroupWise for our email. We’d like ITRTs play a pivotal part in the success each location’s email migration. to thank the G Suite training team for all of their pre-planning and support “The ITRTs have formed small training teams to help train each school’s with this transition.”

January 2017 • Stafford School Buzz

The division’s email migration is just the first step in a larger transition to G Suite for Education. “Plans for utilizing the other aspects of G Suite in full force for both staff and students in time for the 2017-2018 school year are currently in development,” shares Wolfenbarger. G Suite provides communication and collaboration services hosted by Google and available to users via any internet-connected computer or mobile device. G Suite applications include the following services, all free of advertisements: • Classroom - Allows teachers to distribute assignments without paper, receive student work, and share information with an entire classroom online. • Gmail - Provides email storage, spam filtering, and calendar integration. Email accounts are available for staff members and secondary-level students only. • Drive - Unlimited storage of files accessed by many types of devices (computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.). • Calendar - Allows coordination of work or class schedules, meetings, and events online, accessible from many types of devices. • Vault - Allows SCPS to retain and search for documents to meet record compliance regulations. • Docs - Users can create and collaborate on word processing documents (similar to Microsoft Word). • Sheets - Users can create and collaborate on spreadsheet documents (similar to Microsoft Excel). • Slides - Users can create and collaborate on presentations (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint). • Sites - Users can create multimedia websites and embed Google Docs, Google Calendars, videos, and other media. • Hangouts - Allows for voice communications, group video meetings, and other collaborative meeting tools. Follow the G Suite Team Twitter: @scpsgsuite Facebook: SCPS GSuite for Education

Virginia School Principals Appreciation Week January 22-28, 2017

We Value Your Input Let us know what’s happening in your department or school. Share your events, recognitions, and suggestions with us at SCPScommunications@staffordschools.net.

Stay Connected Stafford County Public Schools

February’s deadline is January 23.

stafford school buzz

January 2017