BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Lee Academy Pilot School
25 Dunbar Avenue Boston, MA 02124
Alexandre Chery, Principal
The Beehive
8/30 - 8/31 Summer Institute/PDs (@ 9:05)
9/6-9/7 All teachers and paras report (except Nurse on the 7th)
9/6 Popsicles with Principal (5:00-6:00)
9/8 First Day of School (1-3)
9/12 First Day of School (K0/K1-K2)
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude,
to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education,
than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think,
say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a
company... a church... a home [+ a school]. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change t
he fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we
can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10%
what happens to me and 90% how I react to itAnd so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes”
-Charles Swindoll
Greetings Team,
I am very aware people are getting anxious and worried about the classroom being set up in time for
day 1. I assure you, we got this. It always works out.
New Staff
Ms. Sandra Centeio
LAPS Grade 2 Co-Educator. Ms. Centeio was most recently at the Mason Elementary School.
Mr. Simon Lopez
LAPS Coordinator of Special Education. Mr. Lopez will be serving our school as well as the Sarah
Greenwood Community.
Interviews/Positions
Secretary:
Ms. Zoraida will be moving on and her anticipated last day is August 29. Please be sure to give your
well wishes.
The position has been posted since last Thursday but it is a very completed process with the Guild union.
The position has to be posted until next Monday and from there it will go through a seniority process.
As of now, I do not believe we need a hiring/committee. If that changes, I will get a team together for an
in-person interview.
Kitchen:
We need a full-time SafeServ certified cook in the kitchen. There is a district wide-shortage of kitchen
staff. Please reach out to your network. In order for us to bring back “My Way Cafe,” this position
needs to be filled.
State of School Update
Most of the rooms have been plastered and painted. A crew has been working since last week and
through the weekend and everyone has been mum about the August 29 date. As of right now, I will
be opening the school on Wednesday-Friday at 9 for all staff members unless my Operational Leader/Supervisor says otherwise. Staff will have to leave here by 2:00-2:30 because the hallways will be going through the “diamond cut” process. Unfortunately, due to the delay
in the diamond cut process, all of my office items are still in rooms 104 and 105 and should be out of
there by Friday evening. If you come by before Friday, I will have the stuff moved to the front of the class
and items in the bathroom on the first floor as long as it doesn't block access to the custodian closet.
For staff members who feel like they need more time, I can open the building on Saturday as well and
possibly on Sunday (TBD).
Ms. Zoraida, Ms. Jean and Mr. Athony have been working hard at receiving all the school supplies that have been ordered and delivered to their appropriate destination within the school. Most of 104 and 105 have been cleared of boxes but still more to go. I am confident if you come on Wednesday or later, you will be able to work around us.
Room 201: has significant damage to the closet and I have raised it to my supervisor.
Mice: there have been significantly fewer droppings seen. However, you can smell it. In the process of
setting up, if you see a dead mouse, please contact Mr. Bill or me.
Capstones: I have elevated the concern and families have been reaching out to the district and I will be
getting in touch with Councilor Brian Worrell
Literacy:
All of the Fundations kits and materials have arrived for K2-2nd grade. They are currently being stored
in the supply closet in the cafeteria.
Grade 3: The materials should have arrived but there has been no sight of them yet. I have reached
out to the district and hope to hear from them soon.
Family Visits/Funds of Knowledge:
As it has been traditionally done here at LAPS, we will be conducting home visits. As we all know, f
amilies have a wealth of information and insight they can offer us that can be leveraged on how we
interact and teach their child(ren) this year. I encourage you all to (re)read Chapter 3 of Powerful Partnerships:
A Teacher's Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success. Great read on the importance of home visits
and why schools are strongly encouraged to do so. FYI: in the section that addresses giving out your cell
phone number, please use your own discretion. I know many teachers share Google numbers with families
in order to maintain a work/life balance. Family engagement and partnership have always been a strong
pillar and hope that will continue this year. Questions and topics to consider when visiting and speaking to
families (not all questions are necessary but definitely the first two):
Name your child wants/likes to be called?
What are your hopes and dreams for your child?
Family members who live with child?
What is the origin of your child’s family?
What languages are spoken at home?
Can you recommend any books, music, games etc to our class that represent your family, cultural
background, or country?
What was the most important thing your child accomplished in school last year?
What are your child’s favorite parts of school?
What are your child’s strengths?
What are your child’s biggest challenges at school?
What else would you like for us to know about your child?
Guardrails:
-Call families and introduce yourself and your team and schedule visits and remember to call the day of or
night before to confirm. Reiterate, it is together knowledge about the family and student and how we can
build a stronger partnership this year.
-keep visits to 15-20 minutes if possible.
-Do not take notes during the visit. All eyes and ears
-Log the visit using this Google form and on Panorama as well (I anticipate the payout to be in October) Try to complete the form immediately
after the visit.
-Home visits should be completed in pairs and in person
- Should be done outside of school/classroom; preferably home of the student, if not, community, parents’
workplace, local park etc. Let parents dictate location if they are uncomfortable with a home visit
-Deadline: September 30, 2022 (try to conduct before school starts or during the first 3 weeks). I will close
the form and begin to tally the responses.
-If the para is unavailable, please reply all with the student's name and date/time of visit in hopes another
staff member can support such as Govi, Jasmin, Jen, LoBue. Wilcox, Morgado, Maud, Nurse Marthe,
Purple, and Chery etc.
-Please coordinate home visits with other grade level teachers if a student has a sibling in another grade
-Reply all if you are in need of a faculty member who speaks Spanish or Haitian-Creole for you visit. If another language is needed, please let me know and I will try to get you access to LionBridge for an interpreter on the phone.
Letters to families:
Please share your letters to families with me and place them in this folder. My goal is to mail out the letters and email them this Friday along with my letter I will be emailing to
families. Here is an example (not an exemplar) of a letter when I was teaching if you do not have one.
Bee Hive Installation
Mr. Abelson has been working diligently in order to get the Bee Hive installed in his classroom. At the
moment, the central office is pushing hard against it as I have received calls now from my operational
leader and academic superintendent. As of now, we will continue on with the project and may need to rally
the support of staff and community members and petition if it calls for it. I have notified the central office
that the project will continue. We will keep everyone updated.
Special Education
ED Plan Access/Change (link)
If you need access to ED Plan in order to obtain and read students’ IEP, please click on the link
above and fill out the Google form.
If you serve students with an IEP, this year staff will need to sign off stating that you have read the
IEP fully. As far as training and/or concerns, please reach out to me and let me know. Teachers will
have until September 23 to read and sign off the IEPs. Sign off sheet will be sent/shared at a later
date.
Later:
Cafeteria:
Every child will be receiving a lunch card in October:
"After a successful pilot program at the end of the 2021-2022 school year we will continue to implement
the new system throughout the district. Our new register software allows us to track meal participation,
track popular food items, and alert staff of student food allergies with each transaction. Your school is
scheduled to implement this system during the week of October 25, 2022."
Need to confirm if this means breakfast as well. In the past, I have seen teachers line up their students alphabetically or by another system and hand the cards to students as they walk into the cafeteria/food line. Use whatever systems works best for you whe the time comes.
