 Tutorials
for the New Phone System
Provided with this article are some
helpful tutorials and guides that you can use to learn the new Verizon Voice
Polycom SIP phones. During the summer months, Irving ISD will be
installing a new telephone system in all schools and support facilities, and
creating a common exchange of 600. All of the new school phone numbers
will be effective by August 24, 2009.
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 Irving
ISD to Implement New Phone System
During
the summer months, Irving ISD will be installing a new telephone system
in all schools and support facilities, and creating a common exchange of
600. The new IISD Administration Building main phone number will be
972-600-5000, and will be effective on July 3, 2009, as will new numbers
for all other support buildings. New school phone numbers will be
effective by August 24, 2009. |
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 New Administrative Appointments
Irving ISD
Interim Superintendent Dr. Neil Dugger has announced new administrative
appointments for the 2009-2010 school year: Brenda Bingham, Jane Lampton, Maria Elena Coronado, Wendi Vaughn, Erin Yacho, Steven Wurtz,
and Stephanie Lee. (read more)
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Administration Sets Summer Hours
 In an effort to conserve
energy and reduce operating costs, the Administration Building and
schools are planning to observe four day work weeks with summer office
hours beginning June 15th, 2009. Offices will be closed on Fridays
starting the week of June 15th and will continue four day work weeks
until the week of August 10th. Hours during four day work weeks will be
7:30 am to 5:30 pm (with 30 minutes for lunch.) Since Friday, July
3rd is a holiday (for July 4th), that one week in the summer office
hours will revert to normal business hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (with 1
hour for lunch).
(see schedule) |
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 Tracks
and Athletic Fields Closed to the Public for Renovation
All Irving ISD high school tracks and athletic fields
will be closed to the public from June 8th through July 31st to
facilitate track surface renovations. For questions or concerns, please
contact the Irving ISD Athletic Department at (972) 215-5215. |
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Click here for Video |
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Singley Academy Ceremony
This event was held to celebrate and recognized the career
of Mr. Jack Singley, a distinguished educator. In his
44 years of dedicated service to the students of Irving ISD,
Mr. Singley has had immeasurable impact on students, staff
and community members. His love for this district and
this community have lead to many long days, but he always
did it with a servants heart. Mr. Singley, thank you
for your years of dedication. |
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Instructional Center Closed for the Summer
 Due
to construction at The Ratteree, the Instructional Center will be CLOSED
for the summer months. The last day for help at The Instructional Center
will be Friday, June 5, 2009. We’ll reopen sometime in August. Watch for
the announcement of an opening date. In the meantime, staff can be
contacted via email—Betsy Johnson (bejohnson@irvingisd.net
or Lea Bailey (lbailey@irvingisd.net) |
OpenOffice Training for Teachers in August
OpenOffice sessions
will be offered on August 14 (morning or afternoon) for teachers to
learn the new application suite. OpenOffice is now the standard
office software on IISD student laptops. OpenOffice is easy to learn,
especially if you are already familiar with other office software
applications. This session will provide an overview of the OpenOffice
suite as well as answer questions about the difference between
OpenOffice and Microsoft Office. |
OpenOffice will
Replace Microsoft Office on Irving ISD Student Laptops
 In
an effort to familiarize our students with emerging standards and to
extend our bond funds, all student laptops will now come with
OpenOffice as the productivity suite. So OpenOffice 3.0
will replace Microsoft Office 2003 on student laptops. Teacher
laptops will also have OpenOffice, but will continue to have Microsoft
Office 2003 for one more year. For the 2010-2011 school year, the
district will have to move to Microsoft Office 2007 for teachers and
staff. All desktops will continue to have Microsoft Office and
OpenOffice. Teachers and students may familiarize themselves with
OpenOffice by using the Tutorials
& Guides link provided. |
 Board Approves New Salary
Schedules
The
Irving ISD Board of Trustees adopted new administrator salary schedules
at the May 18th board meeting. These schedules are
effective for the 2009-2010 school year only. These salary
schedules are now posted on the Human Resources site at
www.irvingisd.net/schedules.htm. |
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 Fingerprinting
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is required to be fingerprinted?
SB9 requires all
certified educators, substitute teachers and classroom aides to be
fingerprinted for the national criminal history review by the FBI.
Other school support staff hired BEFORE January 1, 2008, are
subject only to a background check of state criminal records, which does
not require fingerprinting. However, support staff hired in 2008 or
later will be subject to the fingerprinting requirements, as will
contractors who perform work in public schools. Irving ISD will send
SBEC a list of all employees. SBEC will determine those who need
fingerprinting and will then return the list and notify the District as
to who will need fingerprinting. (read more) |
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Keynote Speaker: Marco Torres
 We
are excited to announce that Marco Torres is going to be our
keynote speaker for our technology sessions this summer. Marco
Torres is an educator and media artist focusing on classroom innovation,
the power of digital media in the classroom, and how we can empower
students and teachers to add value to learning by using today's
technology and resources. As a classroom teacher, Marco communicates a
practical perspective on how we, as a learning community, can adapt and
change to best accommodate today's needs (while having fun along the
way, too!). His keynote
presentation will
be on Thursday, August 13, 10:00. Marco will also have a
workshop Thursday afternoon (1:00-4:00) on
integrating digital photography with curriculum in meaningful ways and
creatively telling stories through photography to provoke, inspire, and
celebrate.
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Technology Keynote Session: Marco Torres
●
Meaningful Digital Photography with Marco Torres
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List of ALL Summer Technology Sessions |
 Insurance
ID Cards
Just as an FYI,
new insurance ID cards will NOT be generated for employees that
are currently enrolled. Cards only will be sent when someone is new to the plan,
changes from one plan to another, or requests a new card online (or by
calling customer care). The Humana Specialty Benefits logo will be
printed on the ID Card. Members will still need to access provider
search, claims information, plan information by accessing the
www.mycompbenefits.com
website. |
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Click here for Video |
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Professional Development
2009-2010
Dianna Hopper,
division director of staff development in Irving ISD, talks
about the staff development that we will have for this
year. She explains the vocabulary that we use and about the
professional growth that we expect here in Irving ISD.
Stream
Video |
Download Video |
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Online Workshops for District Distributed Learning Credit
 Some
teachers have not had the opportunity to attend after school
workshops for District Distributed Learning Credits. Staff
development has now approved the Department of Education
Teacher-2-Teacher online workshops for this. They must be done in
the content area of the teacher or general education (example of
general education workshop: “No Child Left Behind Basics”).
These must be done outside of school hours and must be turned in to
our office
before
June 1st.
Each of these workshops is worth 2 credits. |
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Grant for Candidates Seeking Alternative Teacher
Certification
 Irving
ISD has entered into a grant partnership with Quality ACT
Alternative Certification Program. If a recommended candidate for a
position in Irving ISD is enrolled in the Quality ACT program for
certification, they may qualify for a $1300 grant to offset
the cost of their certification program. The teachers must be
seeking certification in selected fields. |
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 Application
for College Coursework Reimbursements
Irving ISD does NOT have a reimbursement program to receive a
Masters. However, there are certain college/university courses
(graduate and undergraduate) that are reimbursable under the conditions
listed. (1) Critical Shortage Teaching Areas, (2) Hours in
Specific Teaching Field Beyond Master's Degree, and (3) Gifted and
Talented Certification. |
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 Take
your Health Risk Assessment Today
Take your Health Risk Assessment Today by registering for your Personal
Health Manager website at
www.bcbstx.com. Did you know that one in three Americans have
one or more types of heart disease? When you take your online Health
Risk Assessment (HRA) in Blue Access® for Members, you’ll learn about
potential health risks, including heart disease and you’ll get tips on
how to improve your health. And, when you take your Health Risk
Assessment by February 20, 2009, BlueCross-BlueShield will donate
$5 to the American Heart Association. By completing your HRA you
can help the American Heart Association build healthier lives, free of
heart diseases and stroke. |
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BlueCross BlueShield Mailing Address
If
you haven’t noticed, our insurance card does not have an
address to mail in claims. We checked BlueCross
Blueshield’s website and they don’t have that
information posted there either, but their customer
service provided us with the following:
BlueCross BlueShield of Texas
P.O. Box 660044
Dallas, TX 75266-0044
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 Irving
ISD Status of Highly Qualified Teachers
The No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 (NCLB) requires each local education agency (LEA) to
publicly report progress of the LEA toward meeting the highly
qualified (HQ) teacher requirements. To be HQ, a teacher
must have... |
Employee Discount List
Updated
 (Updated
Spring '09)
As an employee of Irving ISD, the following businesses are extending
a discount exclusively to you. Discounts are listed for
LASIK eye care, home improvement, travel, restaurants,
retail and entertainment. Discounted services can be found for
telephone services, banking services, medical services, legal
services, apartment leasing, real estate and more. |
 Free Food for Your
Students?
(ATTN:
Principals) Through the After School Snack Program, the IISD Food Service
Department can provide free snacks (in nearly all cases) to your
students who are involved in after school academic programs. To qualify, your after school
program must meet these criteria ... |
View Past Year
Campus STaR Chart Data
 Yes,
you can view the past campus data from the state STaR Chart survey.
Coming up in October we will be asking teachers and principals to
re-visit the Texas STaR Chart survey and give us new data for this
school year. |
Outstanding Teacher or Employee of
the Month Nominations
Administrators and Staff: It is never too late to nominate
outstanding teachers and employees for the Outstanding Teacher or
Employee of the Month Award. Committees select one from each
category to honor at a school board meeting each month and we are
always in need of new nominations! Thank you for your input!
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Got a Project That You Would Like to Get
Funded?
Have you looked at the Grant Services Web site
lately? A variety of grant announcements has been posted
to the Grant Services website. Take a look at
www.irvingisd.net/devfedfunds. |
 Free Online Training
Videos for School Districts
Free, online training at your convenience! You can watch these tutorial videos from any computer connected to the
internet that has the free QuickTime plug-in installed.
Their library contains hundreds
of tutorial videos for multiple software applications. Their
content is created by certified teachers, for teachers and students.
They are continuously adding tutorials, so check back with them often
to see new content. |
