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SubscribeJefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens announced today that the District is holding a series of feedback sessions as it begins the process of updating the Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook for the 2017-18 school year.
Feedback Session Dates and Locations:
- Saturday, February 25, 2017, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
- Waggener High School
- Marion C. Moore School
- Central High School
- Pleasure Ridge Park High School
- Tuesday, February 28, 2017, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
- Waggener High School
- Marion C. Moore School
- Central High School
- Pleasure Ridge Park High School
Those wishing to provide feedback, but are unable to attend a meeting, may also do so in one of three ways:
- Feedback forms may be filled out during normal business hours at the VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Rd.
- Interested parties may download the stakeholder handbook review feedback form and email it to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Katy Zeitz.
- Feedback will also be taken by phone at (502) 485-6266.
Feedback should be submitted to the District by March 7. The data and comments will be collected and reviewed by both internal and external role groups before final recommendations are made to the Jefferson County Board of Education in late March.
On Saturday, February 25th, Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith (D-4) and Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5) will join the family, friends and others touched by the late Michael T. White and unveil an honorary sign at 22nd and Jefferson Streets to commemorate his life and legacy in Metro Louisville.
“Michael White had a significant impact on many people here through his businesses and community service. He took a personal struggle, turned his life around and in doing so helped many people deal with their addiction and start new lives,” says Sexton Smith. “He was a businessman, community advocate, and philanthropist who received numerous honors and awards. He was also a family man and friend to many.”
This Saturday, Michael White’s life and service to Louisville Metro will be honored and memorialized at 22nd and Jefferson Street going west to 24th and Jefferson Street will be designated as “Michael T. White Street.”
Mr. White was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied business at Lindsey Wilson College and Yarmuth University.
However there was a low point in his life when addictions nearly destroyed him and his family. He made a fateful decision to enter recovery, follow through with rehab, take it one day at a time and recover.
It was that recovery that led to his founding of America’s Finest Filter which today employees 21 people in Louisville.
The honorary sign will be displayed in the area where he had a major impact on the lives of others. He was Co-Founder of Our Father’s House, which today is a rehab and recovery program located in the 2300 block of Jefferson Street.
He was also Co-Founder of The Token Club, Co-Founder of Reno and White, Co-Founder of Divine Steps, and Founder of WF Development and the Kentucky Recovery Resource Center.
“He left us too soon but his work in our community is an example we need now more than ever as we deal with a drug problem that is affecting our families and safety,” says Hamilton. “Let Michael White’s example show all of us that people need and deserve a second chance and something to believe in.”
The formal unveiling will take place at the corner of 24th and Jefferson Streets beginning at 1:00pm.
Fern Creek High School has been awarded a $14,000 grant from American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, to further theater instruction at the school. The Classroom Resource Grant was made possible by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative.
The grant will allow students in the school’s theater program to formalize learning in scenic, costume, light, sound, hair/makeup and props for design and construction.
“Technical instruction is critical to prepare students for careers in the theater,” Alexander MacPhail-Fausey, theater director and teacher at Fern Creek. “By concentrating on the connections between design and construction in all disciplines connected to production, students will be able to start building portfolios before they graduate, giving them better chances of entering a theater program in college, or pursuing a career or apprenticeship in a theater immediately out of high school.”
Fern Creek is one of only three high schools in the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District offering the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Communication and Media Arts program, which includes instrumental/vocal music and theater, among other concentrations.
With the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation’s help, the American Theatre Wing is investing in public schools to help drama teachers get more of the resources they need to provide quality drama instruction in their schools. This project is an expansion of the work that the multi-Tony Award winning composer and producer has been doing to promote and fund arts education through his Foundation in the United Kingdom.
More than 600 students from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) and area private schools will gather Friday for the JCPS IdeaFestival, to be held from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at Spalding University, 901 S. Fourth St.
With a theme of ‘connectivity,’ the student-centered conference will feature six presentations, highlighting discussion of current and forward-looking ideas and issues from a diverse group of speakers.
Student-planned and executed, the event provides young people with an outlet to express opinions and delve into timely issues, and encourage their peers to see the connection between these issue and their lives.
Presentations include:
- 9:25 a.m.: “From the Memoirs of Society” (Shan’Taya Cowan of Fairdale High School)
- 9:40 a.m.: “Connecting to Classical Music” (Alison Addie of duPont Manual High School)
- 10:20 a.m.: Education Panel presentations (Jack Bradley of duPont Manual High School; Pearl Morttey of Fern Creek High School; Seth Pardieu of duPont Manual High School; Brittany Jewell of Central High School; and Naudia Green of Central High School)
- 10:40 a.m.: “Students Connecting to Education” (Moderators: Sydney Blocker and Anjali Chadha of duPont Manual High School) Followed by an audience Q&A
- 12:05 p.m.: “A Word with Kris Kimel, founder of IdeaFestival”
- 12:15 p.m.: “Decriminalizing Debate” (Carter Squires of duPont Manual High School)
In 2014, the JCPS IdeaFestival evolved from the IF Manual event, a festival held at duPont Manual High School and inspired by the official IdeaFestival. The JCPS IdeaFestival has expanded to deliver thought-provoking presentations and festivals to the entire JCPS District and private schools.
Yesterday, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens announced a $65,000 grant from GE Appliances, a Haier company, to support a project manager that will work to accelerate the Talent Development Academy initiative already underway at JCPS and facilitate alignment between high schools, higher education, workforce development, and industry.
JCPS Talent Development Academies are small learning communities organized around career themes that show students links between their academic subjects and real-world applications and career experience. The academies involve employers and higher education institutions in preparing students for college and careers.
“These academies will offer career pathways from healthcare to manufacturing and engineering, and students will be able to see what they are learning in English, math and science come alive in ways that apply to their career themes,” Dr. Hargens said. “This is exciting, and I appreciate GE Appliances’ generous gift through the Jefferson County Public Education Foundation to help kick start this project.”
The academies differ from traditional academic and vocational education models because they prepare high school students for both college and careers. The JCPS Talent Development Academies will align with the identified industry clusters for our region – healthcare, advanced manufacturing/engineering, business services, information technology, hospitality & tourism, and skilled trades. The integrated curriculum will provide broad information about a field and weave this theme into an academic curriculum that prepares students for postsecondary enrollment. Many students will also graduate from high school with career certifications and/or college credit. Studies have found that students in college and career academies perform better in high school and are more likely to continue into postsecondary education.
The project manager position will focus on supporting the execution of a comprehensive project plan that aligns industry focus with school curriculums. In partnership with KentuckianaWorks, Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI), and JCPS, the project manager will work to develop career roadmaps that detail education, skills, and training for progression in careers across the six identified industries. The project manager will also work to develop and coordinate an approach, processes, tools and systems that will facilitate the ongoing engagement of employers in the JCPS Talent Development Academies.
The academies are created with input from local business and economic development leaders. The idea is to create a workforce with skills currently needed by local employers and to align resources with growing career opportunities for students.
“The JCPS Talent Development Academies will inspire, engage and educate students in a way that helps them better prepare for relevant careers in today’s economy,” said GE Appliances President & CEO Chip Blankenship. “We’re thrilled to provide this grant to help accelerate the initiative for the benefit of students, their parents, employers and our community. This is another step in the journey GE Appliances is on with our great partners at JCPS to educate and excite students about careers in manufacturing. Education is not one size fits all. This is a program that will encourage every student to follow a track that will best apply their talents so they can enter college or the workplace ready for the opportunities that await them.”
Supported by the Ford Next Generation Learning Network, which has more than 35 partner communities across the United States, JCPS is leveraging best practices to implement the academy model. All 23 comprehensive and magnet high schools in JCPS were eligible to submit a proposal to join the initiative. After a review process, 11 JCPS high schools will begin transformation to the academy model in the fall of 2017, pending a $2.7 million budget request and approval from the JCPS Board of Education. The transformation would occur over a three-year period. By 2020, the goal is that 100 percent of JCPS graduates are college or career ready.
Through a partnership of KentuckianaWorks, GLI, and Jefferson County Public Schools, community engagement in this process is being driven by a local launch team and a guiding team comprised of business/industry, community, and education leaders. The launch team, convened by Tom Quick of GE Appliances, a Haier company, focuses on aligning the transitions between education and workforce, as well as ensuring curriculum aligns with skills desired by employers. The guiding team sets the overall community engagement objectives for the work and is setting up a structure to ensure that all programs have business/industry partners advising them and providing experiential learning opportunities for students, such as field trips, job shadowing, real-world projects, and internships.
JCPS envisions that all graduates of Talent Development Academies will be prepared, empowered, and inspired, as stated in the JCPS strategic plan, Vision 2020.
“They will be prepared by graduating with a high school diploma, an industry recognized credential, and six to nine hours of college credit,” said Dr. Hargens. “They will be empowered because they will have built workplace skills through team projects and experiential learning. They will be inspired because they know what their next steps are and are passionate about future educational and career opportunities.”
With the impending arrival of street sweeping season, Mayor Greg Fischer today reminded Louisville residents to sign up to receive an automatic notice, via text or email, when their street is scheduled to be swept by Metro Public Works.
The alerts system was introduced last year as a way to notify residents in advance that they must find alternate parking on street sweeping day. No parking is allowed on affected streets during street sweeping, and violators are subject to citation and/or towing.
About 6,000 people signed up for the alerts last year. As a result, the number of parking tickets issued for street sweeping violations dropped from 12,938 in 2015, to 7,493 in 2016. “This year, we want to build on that success and get even more people to sign up for electronic street sweeping alerts,” the Mayor said.
“The people of Louisville deserve clean streets. And we want to work with citizens to make sure they know when sweeping is happening so our streets get cleaned, and nobody has to get towed or ticketed.”
Residents can subscribe to the alerts by going to 
https://louisvilleky.gov/city-services/mylouisville and entering their address in the MyLouisville box and following the brief instructions for choosing email and/or text alerts (Note: You must at least enter an email address). They are also able to subscribe to reminders for Project Pickup junk collection dates.
Subscribers are alerted one week in advance that street sweeping is scheduled for their general area. A second alert goes out the day before street sweeping to tell residents that their particular block is to be swept. The alerts are in addition to signs that are posted on affected streets on the business day preceding street sweeping.
Street cleaning is scheduled from March through November. During that time, curbed neighborhood streets are generally cleaned three times.
- Street cleaning signs are posted prior to 5 p.m. on the business day before sweeping occurs. They alert residents that there is No Parking between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on sweeping day.
- Sweeping is conducted each day on east/west streets only, or north/south streets only, to make it easier for residents to find alternate parking.
- Vehicles parked in No Parking areas are subject to citation and/or towing.
- Residents should not park in affected areas until after 5 p.m., even if it appears an area has been swept, as sweepers may return before that time.
- The No Parking zone covers both sides of the street, though signs may only be posted on one side.
The MyLouisville online tool also provides information on garbage and recycling collection dates, emergency services and political representation, in addition to the alerts.
WWE’s SmackDown Live is coming to Louisville. The event will be held at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday, April 18 and marks the return of live, televised professional wrestling events in the Commonwealth.
SmackDown will be the first major televised combat sporting event in Kentucky since Governor Bevin streamlined the state’s boxing and wrestling regulations last November as part of the Red Tape Reduction Initiative. Prior to these changes, WWE had not scheduled a televised event in Kentucky since 2010 because of the state’s antiquated regulations.
Under the Governor’s leadership, unnecessary regulations such as the “cut rule” were eliminated. The rule required an athlete to leave a match if he or she bled, which deterred promoters from hosting live events in the state. Other regulations were amended to remove duplicative licensing processes for athletes and promoters, signaling to the industry that Kentucky is open for business.
“The Governor’s Red Tape Reduction Initiative continues to provide new economic opportunities for the Commonwealth,” said Public Protection Cabinet Secretary David Dickerson. “The Governor has proven that he is committed to making our state business-friendly, and the boxing and wrestling industry has responded.”
“We are excited to have WWE do a live taping in Louisville, and we hope that this is the first of many major events that Kentucky will host,” said Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Commission Chairman Chad Miller. “Our state is home to many enthusiastic professional wrestling fans, and this event provides an exciting new opportunity for Kentuckians.”
The Red Tape Reduction Initiative targets excessive and complex regulatory burdens that stifle economic development in the Commonwealth. To date, approximately 117 regulations have been repealed, and over 400 regulations have been amended or targeted for amendment. To learn more about the Red Tape Reduction Initiative, visit: redtapereduction.com.