Come join the Dallas Mavericks for Teacher Appreciation Night on Wednesday, Jan. 8. All educators, friends, and family can enjoy a special discount on tickets for the game by going to www.mavsgroup.com/mavsteach1920 to purchase the tickets. In addition all attendees can shoot a free throw on the Mavs’ court after the game.
For more information, contact Breanna Kellogg at (214) 658-7643 or Breanna.kellogg@dallasmavs.com.
The district’s Leader Excellence, Advancement and Development program wants teachers and instructional coaches to know that the district has three university principal prep program partnerships, of which two are currently accepting applications. The district offers partial tuition reimbursement for participants who are selected into one of these programs. One of the goals of the LEAD program is to grow high-potential teachers and instructional coaches as rising leaders for the district, ensuring that year after year, each school has an effective leader.
Winter break is the perfect time to apply for the two master’s degree principal prep programs whose deadlines are approaching.
University of Texas at Austin—Texas Principal Leadership Academy
Application deadline: Wednesday, Jan. 15
Program Highlights:
For more information and to apply, visit education.utexas.edu/principal
Southern Methodist University—Aspiring Leaders Program
Application deadline: Monday, Feb. 17
Program Highlights:
For more information and to apply, visit smu.edu/urbanleader
University of North Texas at Dallas—Future Leaders Academy
The application window is not yet available.
Program Highlights:
For more information, email LEAD@dallasisd.org
While the district may be closed, if you need assistance with your benefits, a number of resources are available.
District schools and administrative offices will be closed for winter break from Monday, Dec. 23, through Friday, Jan. 3, but the benefits call center will be open regular hours during that time to provide assistance, with the following exceptions:
For those non-emergency health concerns such as cold and flu, TRS Aetna ActiveCare participants can utilize Teladoc at a reduced cost. Call 1-855-Teladoc (835-2362) or visit their main page.
If you have questions regarding your FSA, you can contact Connect Your Care at 877-528-9876 or visit www.connectyourcare.com. Connect Your Care is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
You may reach the benefits call center at 972-925-4000 or email benefits@dallasisd.org. For questions regarding leaves of absence, email benefitsleaves@dallasisd.org. During the periods in which the district is closed, the email boxes will be monitored periodically to ensure any critical issues are resolved in a timely manner.
The last thing the Class of 2020 of Thomas Jefferson High School expected was to go back to middle school before graduating this spring—something they had to do when a tornado severely damaged their campus. They also did not expect to each get a $100 gift from JCPenney to make their stay at the temporary campus at Thomas Edison Learning Center a little less difficult.
JCPenney this week surprised and delighted the Thomas Jefferson Class of 2020 by donating $50,000 so that each senior could get a $100 gift card to spend at will. The rest of the 500 gift cards will be distributed to students who might need the extra help. Several seniors said they would be giving their gift cards to their parents so the whole family could share in their good fortune.
“We think it’s really important to give back to communities where our associates and our customers live and work and shop, and Thomas Jefferson was right in our backyard,” said Aubrey DeZego, Sr. Manager, Philanthropy and Community Relations at JCPenney.
While the community has been very generous with Thomas Jefferson, the JCPenney donation was the first one to go directly to students for their use, said Principal Sandi Massey, who got emotional as she spoke to students about the importance of striving to succeed in the face of the current circumstances.
The Oracle multifactor authentication protocols are now in effect and employees are being prompted to provide a secondary security code to access the system. This secondary identification code is not unlike those used by banks and other sites to increase cybersecurity.
Oracle is used not only by district departments and schools to prepare payroll, purchase goods and services from approved vendors, and conduct other district business. It is also used by employees to access iExpense for mileage and travel expense submission, to check PTO balances, download statements of earnings and perform other activities.
Multifactor authentication is a two-step verification process that usually uses a username and password and an additional way to identify the user, such as a code sent via text message or email or provided through an app. Only one is necessary for verification, but IT recommends employees set up more than one.
Instructions and manuals to help employees with the process of accessing Oracle are available here. If you need help with setting up the multifactor authentication, you can download this helpful quick guide that is available in English and Spanish.
Employees can get their financial questions answered through individual appointments with TCG Advisors next week.
TCG Advisors, the district’s third-party investment plan administrator, will offer individual appointments onsite for financial planning. A representative will be available to assist you with general information on planning for the future. Some of the topics that can be covered during these sessions include understanding, starting, or reviewing 403(b) and 457(b) retirement accounts; understanding the retirement income gap; the effect of TRS on Social Security benefits; and rolling over a retirement account from a previous employer.
Sessions will be available Monday, Dec. 16, and Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit Cornerstone Learning System to schedule a 30-minute appointment with a financial advisor.
Michael’s offers educators an additional 15% discount on their entire purchase, including sale items. Whether by showing a district-issued ID at the store or registering online for the discount, it’s extra help all year long. Educators can sync their teacher status to a Michael’s Rewards account and the discount will be automatically applied to in store and online purchases. Discounts are limited to one per day to stock on hand. Some exclusions apply.
To get the discount online and in store, just sign into the account or provide your Michael’s Rewards phone number at checkout, and your discount will be applied to all eligible items. If you do not have a Michael’s Rewards account, you can still show your valid educator ID to receive the discount in store at the time of purchase.
It’s late at night and you feel like you are coming down with the flu. You need a doctor. Fortunately, if you are a Dallas ISD TRS Aetna ActiveCare participant, you have access to board-certified doctors 24/7, 365 days a year.
Using a phone, tablet or computer, you can access one of the more than 3,000 licensed healthcare professionals nationwide. Teladoc allows TRS Aetna ActiveCare participants to contact these physicians for non-emergency health concerns such as cold and flu at a reduced cost:
A dependent age 18 or older who is not covered under your plan can use Teladoc for medical concerns at only $45 per visit.
Teladoc can treat:
Mental health visits through Teladoc are now available to covered members. Note that mental health visits are offered at a different rate than general medicine visits depending on the provider seen. For more information on how to access Teladoc and set up an account, call Teladoc at 1-855-Teladoc (835-2362) or click here.
Starting Friday, Dec. 6, in addition to using their EAD credential to sign in to Oracle, district staff will be prompted to provide a secondary security code. This secondary identification code is not unlike those used by banks and other sites to increase cybersecurity.
“We wanted to increase security, and provide users a single log-in experience,” said Marlon Shears, deputy chief of Information Technology for Dallas ISD.
Oracle is used not only by district departments and schools to prepare payroll, purchase goods and services from approved vendors, and conduct other district business. It is also used by employees to access iExpense for mileage and travel expense submission, to check PTO balances, download statements of earnings and perform other activities.
Multifactor authentication is a two-step verification process that usually uses a username and password and an additional way to identify the user, such as a code sent via text message or email or provided through an app.
Starting Dec. 6, employees who access Oracle will be prompted to set up the multifactor verification for their account. Only one is necessary for verification, but IT recommends employees set up more than one:
“The simplest would be a text message, but if you are good with remembering questions, that is another option,” Shears said.
This process of providing a second verification will have to be repeated every 90 days, but will not be necessary every time Oracle is accessed within that window using a device connected to the district’s network that has already been registered. The multifactor verification will have to be done every time Oracle is accessed from a device outside the district’s network even if it has been registered.
Instructions and manuals to help employees with the process of accessing Oracle will be available in the next few weeks.
Dallas ISD has added several languages to the list for which students are able to receive required Language Other Than English graduation credits, LOTE 4 Endorsements and “Seals of Biliteracy.”
The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees recently approved new assessments for credit by examination for World Languages. Until now, only students who were fluent in Spanish had been able to take advantage of the opportunity to receive credit by taking the assessment. The additional languages are:
Until now, only 222 students have taken advantage of this new exam, but hundreds more are expected to take advantage of the opportunity to earn these credits for graduation by the end of the school year. For more information about this new opportunity, contact Amy Anderton, director of World Languages, at aanderton@dallasisd.org.