FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
John L. Winn
Commissioner of Education
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
March 13, 2006
M E M O R A N D U M
TO:
District School Superintendents
FROM:
Mary Laura Openshaw, Director, Just Read, Florida!
SUBJECT:
Just Read, Florida! K-12 Leadership Conference
We are pleased to extend an invitation to the fifth annual Just Read, Florida! K-12 Leadership
Conference. Each year we host this conference for superintendents and principals, and this
summer promises to be the most exciting event ever with the addition of reading/literacy
coaches. There will be over 300 concurrent sessions ~ all geared toward providing essential
information to school leadership in the area of reading. Furthermore, this conference will
feature numerous sessions presented by fellow principals, reading coaches, and district
leaders, giving you the opportunity to hear about the great literacy initiatives taking place in
schools throughout our state. This year we are strongly encouraging all K-12 principals to
attend with their reading/literacy coach. The agenda and the call for proposals are posted at
www.justreadflorida.com/conference.
The conference will convene July 10-12, 2006, at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
Resort located in Orlando. The opening general session will begin at 1:00 PM on July 10
th
and the closing general session will end at 12:15 PM on July 12th. There is a $100
nonrefundable registration fee for all participants. We are asking that districts support the
participation of principals and coaches by paying the registration fee, as well as reimbursing
for travel and per diem. The Just Read, Florida! Office is paying lodging for all conference
participants who live outside a 50-mile radius for the nights of Monday, July 10, and
MARY LAURA OPENSHAW
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DIRECTOR, JUST READ, FLORIDA!
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325 W. GAINES STREET, ROOM 1548 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0503 • www.fldoe.org
Memo to District School Superintendents
Page 2
Tuesday, July 11 (you may choose to absorb the cost of lodging for educators who live inside
the 50-mile radius, but you will be responsible for making these lodging arrangements at other
hotels). Participants from Bay, Broward, Calhoun, Collier, Dade, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes,
Jackson, Monroe, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington Counties will have the
option of arriving on Sunday, July 9
th
, and this night of lodging will be paid for by Just Read,
Florida!
Lodging will be arranged at the Disney World Dolphin, Swan, or Port Orleans Riverside
resorts. Billing will be handled on a master account, but a credit card will need to be
submitted when checking in at the hotel for any incidentals
.
Location for lodging is based on
a first-come first-serve basis and cannot be requested.
Registration will be available online March 15
that www.justreadflorida.com under the
conference link. Registration must be completed no later than April 30
th
. Upon accessing
the website, each registrant will be prompted to choose a form of payment. The $100
nonrefundable registration fee may be paid by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover,
or district purchase order. If paying by purchase order, a purchase order number will be required
at the time of registration. All purchase order invoices must be returned with payment by July
22, 2006. In order to assist you with setting up the district purchase order, attached to this
memorandum is the W-9 form for SMS, Inc., our conference registration vendor. For assistance
with the registration process, please contact SMS, Inc. at info@justreadfloridareg.com.
The capacity for our conference is approximately 3,600. In order to accommodate the greatest
number of teams consisting of a principal and a reading/literacy coach, we will prioritize
registration based on the following criteria
(This conference is mandatory for
Reading First
coaches.):
First Priority Team:
Reading First
Principal and Reading Coach
Second Priority Team:
Reading First
Assistant Principal and Reading Coach
Third Priority:
Individual
Reading First
Coach
Fourth Priority Team:
Non-
Reading First
Principal and Reading Coach
Fifth Priority Team:
Non-
Reading First
Assistant Principal and Reading Coach
Sixth Priority:
Individual Principal or Assistant Principal (
Reading First
or Non-
Reading First
)
Seventh Priority:
Non-
Reading First
Individual Reading Coach
Schools that have multiple reading/literacy coaches may only send
one
coach to the conference.
The exception is a second
Reading First
coach at a
Reading First
school serving grades K-3.
Each district will also be able to send a district team which will be identified by the district. The
number of district office personnel who may attend will be based upon your district’s size.
Memo to District School Superintendents
Page 3
Please see the attached chart that lists the number of district level administrators who may attend.
Once the maximum number of district level administrators have been registered, no additional
district level participants will be able to register. The district point of contact for registration
related issues will be the K-12 Reading Plan Contact and/or the
Reading First
Contact. If you
attend as Superintendent, you will not count towards the district allotment; however, if you
cannot attend, a designee need not be appointed. The team allotment will stand. We hope that
you will be able to join us.
Registration for the conference is open until April 30, 2006, and participants will be guaranteed
based on the registration priority criteria listed above. Participants confirmed to attend the
conference will be notified via email by May 15, with registration packets and hotel
confirmations mailed to their home address on this date. Registration payments will be held until
May 15 and, if confirmed to attend, will be processed at that time. Payments for registrations
that are not confirmed will not be processed. If you do not receive an email confirming or
declining your attendance by this date, please contact SMS, Inc. at info@justreadfloridareg.com.
While the $100 registration fee is nonrefundable, changes may be made to the registration until
June 9, 2006. Please contact SMS, Inc. at info@justreadfloridareg.com to make changes.
Best wishes and we look forward to seeing you in Orlando!
MLO/vdp
Attachments
CC:
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Principals
Reading Supervisors
Assistant Superintendents for Curriculum
Staff Development Contacts
ESE Contacts
ESOL Contacts
