Here’s what’s happening at CIESC in May

In an effort to better inform our member schools or others who use our services, this monthly newsletter will highlight all of the amazing things we're doing in each department of CIESC.

Since moving our CIESC offices up north to the Pyramids in January of 2018, it’s accurate to say that our program offerings for our district members have also moved upward in terms of improved service and increased growth. Here are some examples from individual departments of that "upward" movement as we continue to work to make improving member services our top priority.

Food Service Update | The Food Service consortium of service center districts continues to grow and has increased savings and services to those participating districts for the 2018-19 school year.
New Vendors | K12Indiana is adding new vendors, including Lowes, B&H Photo, Burke Playground Equipment, KI Furniture, ServiceWear.
Bus Bids and CIESC Software | Bus bid and sales from our state-wide program are up again from last year and our own CIESC software program has been sold for use in 3 other states. That number is growing for 2019-20. We're now working on our 24th bid with $578 million dollars of buses purchased, representing over 6,300 buses.

Please let us show you how we can help you streamline your purchasing.

Driver Education Program | We're improving our student information system for our Driver Education Online program and should be completed to a significantly-improved, user-friendly version before the end of the summer.
Enrollment Increase | Online and traditional enrollments for this summer are up over 8% from this same time last year.
Additional Staff | Due to the increase in enrollments, we are anticipating the addition of another staff member by August of 2019.
Summer Classes | Summer classes held at local public schools start June 3. Online classes are also available.

Summer School | Summer school runs from June 3 to July 18. Registration for over 100 courses is still open until the end of May for most schools. In Summer of 2018, we had 21,518 enrollments, 254 teachers, partnered with 140 schools, and had a 91.6% pass rate.
National Standards | We contributed to the New National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and Programs as part of Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) and are listed as a supporting organization. These standards are used to guide our professional learning opportunities and course design.
New Hires | We've added two instructional designers to our staff, Dr. Tauyna Kline and Matt Schreiber. They will work with Laura Garmire, Instructional Design & Curriculum Coordinator, to develop, revise, and update courses. We are adding more interactive elements using Articulate 360, Rise, Daylight Elements and H5P.

National Awards | The Media team received 2 National Telly Awards for their productions and provided over 350 hours of free hours of production service to our district members.
Live Streaming | Media Services will be live streaming graduation of Hamilton Heights High School May 30th from the Palladium. We are proud to offer this premium service and celebrate with the class of 2019.
Featured Work | Featured video: Speedway Alumni Profile. Dr. Zeph, Class of 1971, is a highly skilled facial plastic surgeon in Carmel, Indiana. But, his high school dream was to be an Indy 500 driver.
Upcoming Presentation | Paul Weller has been selected to present "Low Budget Video Tips & Tricks" at the 2019 National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) Annual Conference July 16th in Washington D.C.

Sign up for PLConnect Briefings | Stay focused on your professional learning with PLConnect / CIESC experts. Look to us to keep you updated and on the cutting edge of what's going on in education today! Sign up to receive instructional strategies, tools, and tips each week from our in-house experts.

Become a STEM-Certified School | Are you Interested in becoming an IDOE STEM-certified school or program? Spend the day and connect with Dr. Andrew Melin, IDOE Chief Innovation Officer and other Certified STEM Schools in a panel discussion and sessions on September 19. Register at plconnect.info today!
New Leadership Cadre | Join our new Professional Learning Community (PLC) Leadership Cadre!

This year, CIESC was also able to provide two monetary grants to each of our member districts. One was specifically designated for cyber-protection and the second was an open use grant which many districts used to reduce their annual member costs.

The addition of 2 personnel in 2019 has almost brought us to full office capacity, and with the anticipation of 2-3 more staff members in the upcoming year, office expansion may be needed. While this need to expand may present growth problems, it is a good sign that CIESC is still moving upward in our continued mission to meet the growing needs of our 24 school districts in the Indianapolis area.

Sincerely,
Dr. Kevin Caress
Executive Director

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