AWSP Blog

One popular app, TikTok, recently launched a number of enhancements to safety policies, controls, and educational resources that will help keep kids safe. The National PTA -- along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Family Online Safety Institute and ConnectSafely -- are partnering with TikTok to help inform parents of the new parental controls, like its Family Pairing feature, which gives parents the ability to guide their child's online experience while also educating them about online safety and digital citizenship.

In this edition of AWSP News, we discuss the OSPI Reopening Washington Schools 2020 Guidance, the University of Washington’s SMART Center “Hope and Cope” event, the Jostens Renaissance Virtual Conference, the AWSP/WASA Virtual Summer Conference, the AWSL camp staff coming to your campus this summer, resources for your equity journey, Microsoft US Education's incredible resources, our online change of status form, and a specific challenge issued by OSPI Superintendent Chris Reykdal.

As we proceed, let’s take a collective deep breath and ensure we do no harm in the present. Let’s avoid getting bogged down in the grading-during-a-pandemic question in order to create the bandwidth needed for everyone to focus on the future of school. Let’s ensure our decisions move past the problematic nature of pre-COVID grading. We have an opportunity to push the system towards evidence-based, student-centered, assessment practices, and creative ideas for returning to school in the fall.

I’ve been “out of the building” now as a recovering high school principal for about seven years. My trips to the grocery store are still filled with high fives and hellos from kids and families. As a principal, I always prioritized relationships above all else, and the evidence of that can be found in any aisle of the grocery store to this day. There is no way those relationships would have happened with sixteen little video squares on a computer screen

In this episode of AWSP News, we discuss our statement on the tragic death of George Floyd and our continued commitment to lead an equitable and bright future, new guidance coming soon from the Department of Health and OSPI, the “Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Vaccinated” campaign, a statewide survey to collect student voice and perceptions about distance learning, a shout out to the Elementary GLLC, the 2020 AWSP/WASA Virtual Summer Conference and a message from Joe Sanfelippo, our Friday morning Coffee Chats, our online change of status form, and a Why Try Webinar.