PELSB: Flexibilities for science teachers will remain in place for the next school year March 21, 2023 | On March 12, 2021, the Board adopted a resolution to help support teachers and schools navigating changes to the K-12 science standards and benchmarks. This resolution will remain in effect for the next school year (2023-24). Read the full update here. This has also been posted in the Members Only section of the website under "Educational Resources."
MASA Master Class: ChatGPT in Your Schools Thank you for everyone who attended “What is ChatGPT and where is AI Headed? ChatGPT in Your Schools." You can find the session recording and materials online here!
MASA Master Class: Building and Sustaining Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems MASA Members are invited to attend the next MASA Master Class: Building and Sustaining Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems. Brienne LaHaye will lead a session reviewing the work of MDE’s Project Aware. She will also provide information about the Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems framework and local implementation examples. View the information flyer here!
Session Details Date: Wednesday, March 29 Time: 9 - 10 am Location: Zoom Topic: Building and Sustaining Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems There is no cost to attend.
Full information and registration about the session and speaker can be found online here!
Toolkit for Educators on Medicaid PHE Unwinding (March 1, 2023) AASA is excited to announce that they have released a toolkit designed for school/district leaders use to spread the word about the Medicaid PHE unwinding. AASA knows everyone in the Medicaid world is well aware of how children will lose coverage as a result of the unwinding, but AASA feels this is such an important issue for educators and education advocates to become familiar with and to work towards increasing awareness about in their districts/communities. If you’re not familiar with this issue, you can learn more in this EducationWeek article.
This toolkit is totally customizable and has the following templates:
An email any educator can send to parents
A sample robo call script
Sample social media posts about the unwinding for schools, districts, & organizations to use/customize
A one pager in English and in Spanish explaining what the unwinding is and what parents needs to do to keep kids covered
A sample website banner, blogpost and newsletter insert for schools/districts/orgs to use
2023 MASA Spring Award Recipients Announced! Each year, MASA provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding members and colleagues who are dedicated leaders and advocates for children and Minnesota education. We are pleased to announce this year’s spring award recipients!
MASA Instructional Leadership Network The kickoff meeting of the MASA Instructional Leadership Network was held on Monday, December 19. Forty-five people participated in this initial conversation to share ideas, resources and challenges of the work. Future meeting dates/topics include:
2023 MASA Legislative Platform The Board of Directors met December 7, and approved the 2023 MASA Legislative Platform. We are grateful for member input and the work of the Legislative Committee under the leadership of Superintendents Kim Hiel and Jason Berg.
The platform will serve as the basis of our advocacy efforts. MASA Lobbyist, Valerie Dosland, and Deb Henton will share the platform with legislators and key opinion leaders as we work hard to advance solutions to meet our E-12 needs!
Professional Dialogue Sessions with Dr. Brenda Cassellius If you haven’t already heard the big news, Willie Jett was recently selected as the next Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Education by Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Due to his new position, Commissioner Jett will not be able to continue hosting the monthly sessions. We at MASA extend a warm congratulations to Commissioner Jett!
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Brenda Cassellius will be our new facilitator for the MASA Professional Dialogue Sessions! Dr. Cassellius will lead the remaining six professional dialogue sessions exploring topics of interest to our currently practicing school administrators. While the topics may be general in nature, the group will specifically address issues of race and culture pertinent to the conversation. Thank you, Dr. Cassellius, for joining and leading our dialogue sessions!
The topics for the sessions were created based on responses to a recent survey sent to all MASA members.
Remaining Session Dates & Topics All sessions are held 9 - 10 am virtually on Zoom! *NEW*Session participants are invited to join Dr. Cassellius after each session from 10-10:30 am for a free coaching session. Attendees are free to discuss questions and topics they face in their leadership practices!
All sessions are held 9 - 10 am virtually on Zoom!
April 11: Building Coalitions: Capturing Student and Staff Voice to Leverage Change | Register
Note: Sessions will not be recorded. Please plan to attend virtually on the day of the session!
Cost Due to the generous support of the MASA Foundation, these sessions are offered to MASA members at no cost.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) Participants of all eight sessions will receive 8 clock hours of CEUs issued by the MN Board of School Administrators (BOSA). If you are unable to attend all of the sessions, the number of clock hours will be adjusted on your final issued CEU certificate based on the number of sessions that you attended.
Dr. Matthew Hillmann is the 2023 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year The Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) has named Dr. Matthew Hillmann, Superintendent of Northfield Public Schools, the 2023 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year. As the Minnesota honoree, Dr. Hillmann is a candidate among other state recipients for National Superintendent of the Year, to be announced during the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Conference on Education on February 16-18, 2023, in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Hillmann was selected for this honor by a panel of representatives from a variety of Minnesota education organizations. Nominees are evaluated on how each candidate demonstrates leadership for learning, communication skills, professionalism, and community involvement. Read the full news release here!
2022-23 MASA BIPOC Affinity Group Dates Announced! The Minnesota Association of School Administrators extends a warm invitation to the BIPOC Affinity Group.
MASA members who identify asBIPOC are invited to join the MASA BIPOC Affinity Group and gather with your colleagues for collegiality, discussion, and ideation, focusing on issues of particular interest to BIPOC leaders.
We are grateful to Dr. Bernadeia Johnson for facilitating this group.
Below are the remaining dates for the 2022-23 BIPOC Affinity group and the registration links. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We are asking you to register so we can keep the group’s contact list current.
All meetings will be virtual and take place from 7:30 - 8:30 am. April 11 | Registration | Speaker: Dr. Stephanie Burrage, Deputy Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Education May 9 | Registration | Speaker: Dr. Brenda Cassellius, Founder & CEO, LeaderProof LLC, Former Commissioner of Education and Superintendent June 13 | Registration
There is no cost to participate.
2022-23 MASA Women’s Leadership Network You are invited to join the 2022-23 MASA Women’s Leadership Network and gather with your colleagues (virtually) for collegiality, discussion, and ideation focusing on issues of particular interest to leaders who are women.
The sessions will each be focused on one topic with time for discussion and Q & A. They are independent sessions and participants can join any number of the sessions. Leaders who attended similar sessions last year shared how pleased they were with this opportunity!
There is no cost to participate. We are grateful to Dr. Karen Orcutt for once again facilitating our sessions!
Last session of 2023! April 13, 2023 | Topic: Staying in our Jobs in Difficult Times | Registration All sessions will be held 9-10 am!
MSHSL News Update: March 22, 2023 Topics: Winter into Spring Together We Make a Difference 23-24 MSHSL Foundation Form B1 and Form B2 Competitive Section Placement Update National High School Hall of Fame’s class of 2023
Call for Proposals MASA is inviting proposals for future Master Classes!
We know our members are busier than ever. We also know that our members are learners, and value the opportunity to enhance personal and professional skills. MASA is offering a number of shorter workshops that we are calling our Master Classes. A master class is an opportunity offered by an expert presenter to learners of advanced skill in a particular profession or discipline. MASA’s master classes will be held virtually every few weeks or so and will feature presentations that address the expressed needs and interests of our members.
Anyone who is interested in presenting a master class is invited to submit a proposal by clicking here. This brief proposal form takes only a few minutes to complete. This is an ongoing invitation, so there is no deadline for submissions. Some things to note:
Topics can be any subject that would interest educational leaders.
Sessions are short, 90 minutes at most.
Because we offer the sessions at no charge to our members, presenters are not compensated.
Sessions are presented virtually using Zoom.
Thank you for considering a presentation. Your willingness to share your work is a great gift to your colleagues!