Author: David Mayer /

Early Learning Newsletter April 26th

Early Learning Update Week of April 26th 

Each week I will send out an Early Learning Update email.  These are meant to be quick updates on any relevant items for the week including resources, Professional Development, new health department info and more.

Items Covered:

  • All: May Professional Development Opportunities now listed
  • All: FREE Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference April 28th – May 4th
  • Licensed ONLY: DCYF Spring COVID-19 Grant Opportunity now open
  • Licensed ONLY: Office of Catholic School April Licensed Program Webinar Recording: MERIT Professional Record, Facility Tab and Staff Verification
  • Licensed ONLY: DCYF and UW Cultivate Learning Center FREE STARS Virtual conference May 13th – May 15th

Please see this week’s professional development opportunities and news: https://mycatholicschool.org/for-catholic-schools/catholic-identity/early-learning/

May Professional Development Opportunities now listed
New Professional Development opportunities for May are now listed on the Early Learning Landing page under the Professional Development “Upcoming Training” tile. Please click on the link below to see all the opportunities

Link: Early Learning Professional Development – My Catholic School


FREE Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference April 28th – May 4th
Jocelyn Manzanarez, who facilitated our “Circle Time Success” session during our Professional Development Day shared this free online conference opportunity with one of the staff at St. Joesph in Vancouver. The conference focuses on Transforming Challenging Behavior and it works like this:

  • You register for free at: Transform Challenging Behavior Online Conference (challengingbehaviorconference.com)
  • Each day of the conference from April 28 – May 4 a series of pre-recorded sessions are released. You have 24 hours to watch any of that day’s sessions at your convenience.  The next day new sessions are released.
  • Each session last about 1 hour and this conference is meant as a learning opportunity – not eligible for STARS/Clock Hours
  • The list of presenters and topics look great and I am sure there is at least one session that will interest everyone
  • To learn more check out the website and you will find a description of the conference, speaker and topic list and descriptions, registration info, daily schedule and FAQ
  • Licensed ONLY: DCYF Spring COVID-19 Grant Opportunity now open
    The Spring 2021 Covid-19 grant application is now open! Multiple schools have applied already and it takes one to three minutes to complete. Please look at the information they provided today.  The Grant will be open until 12pm on May 20th.  Please let me know if you have any questions or need any help.   As a reminder the staff that has access to the provider portal for your program is the staff that is listed on your license and the state expects to have grant dollars for ALL programs that apply!

Notes from DCYF:

The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is pleased to announce that the Spring 2021 Child Care COVID-19 Grant application is now available in the WA Compass Provider Portal. The application is open now through noon on May 20 to all licensed child care providers who are providing care to children.

For more information about this grant, including frequently asked questions and how to fill out the application, please visit https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/coronavirus-covid-19/early-learning/covid19-grant-spring21.

If you have questions about the application, the timeline of the grant, or other questions specific to the grant, email dcyf.covidgrantinfo@dcyf.wa.gov.

If you need help logging in to your Provider Portal account, email dcyf.providerportal@dcyf.wa.gov or call 866-627-8929.

Licensed ONLY: Office of Catholic School April Licensed Program Webinar Recording: MERIT Professional Record, Facility Tab and Staff Verification
Please see below for the April Licensed Program Webinar Recording.  This month we took a tour of MERIT and walked through the Professional Record tab, facility tab and Staff Verification.  This is a timely webinar as staff should update their MERIT accounts in advance of the website integrating to a new platform.  This will help you to complete your own information, help you guide your staff to make sure they are up to date and show you how to verify the trainings, work history and education your staff input.

Recording Link:

https://seattlearch-org.zoom.us/rec/share/-TTzKtfkK-nMGdwEjc6BQQ9Vt_kFMDKpN08b_A_7ztShLzDKBHC5Ez0uKtJksKu5.p22owZZl-55YBNOM


Licensed ONLY: DCYF and UW Cultivate Learning Center FREE STARS Virtual conference
DCYF and the UW Cultivate Learning Center are presenting a FREE Virtual conference called Nurturing the Nurturer: Cultivating Educator Resilience and Wellness Thursday, May 13th – Saturday May 15th.  This is a great opportunity for staff that are looking to complete their STARS hours for the year and also for staff that are looking for great topics about Nurturing the Individual and Nurturing the Educator.  Most sessions are about one hour in length and there is no limit on how many sessions a staff can participate.  Sessions focus on the following:

Have a great week!