Staff Newsletter: Week October 31, 2022

The Hive

Breaking down barriers and building bridges.

“The best school in Boston”

Week of 10/31/22

Dates 10/24-11/10 BIMAS Window 10/31 Halloween: No Costumes 11/2 PD in Cafe B @ 3:45 11/3 Field trip to Arnold Arboretum: Grade 3: 203 202 11/8 Huddle Cafe B @ 8:40 11/9-11/10 Picture Day 11/14  11/14 Grade 3 Room 203 to MIT 11/16 PD 11/17 Grade 3 Room 202 to MIT 11/23 Half Day 11/24-11/25 Thanksgiving Break: No School  12/2 Deena Day @ Chez Vous (6-9pm)

Updates PD this Wednesday: Paraeducators are expected to attend as well. In preparation for the PD: Please read this excerpt from the text "Assignment Matters." Recess/Outdoor Activities We have been getting several concerns from families regarding students being outside in the cold and various infections that have been going around. Please be sure that all students have coats and jackets on before they go outside.  Close Windows: Remember to close all windows before leaving the school. Especially the windows in the adult bathrooms. Let’s get in the habit now to prevent pipes from freezing during the winter.  Stipends Ms. Zoraida is working on the budget transfers in order to payout stipends from the home visits and soccer camp. Below is what I have tallied for staff. Any questions or concerns, please reach out. I will let you know once it has been processed.  Danielle Hamilton 14 Jackie Stroud 12 Kathryn Wilcox 13 Cassandra Rousseau 15 Chris Wade 8 Rose Frank 11 David Hampton 11 Sandra Centeio 11 Amy Gebo 1 Rakeea Gardner 5 Brian LoBue 5 Esther Jean 11 Tanera Martin 13 Sylvia Mendez 11 Paula Morgado 10 Noreen Kelley 8 Meghan Lawlor 12 Giovanna Tovar 0 Shandolyn Anderson 7 Stephanie Lividini 7 Alexa Holloway 7 Lindsay Aviles 12 Anthony Nicholson 12 Priscilla Casna 19 Denise Devaney 19 Melissa Henderson 19 Amelia Chase 8 Evelyn Cortes 9

Data BIMAS Please be sure to complete the BIMAS by November 10. If you have any questions or concerns, please see Ms. Jen. Interims Grades 2-3 should administer the interims next week starting on or after November 7. Interims are designed to take no more than an hour. My hope is that the assessment is administered on the computers. Core Phonics: Grades K2-1. Please let administration know what support is needed.

Literacy

Math

Special Education/Support/CBHM COSE Is out: Please be advised that Mr. Lopez will be out for the foreseeable future. I will be working with the Assistant Director to either get the current meeting booked covered by a compliance COSE or simply cancel and reschedule at a later date. I hope to have an update sometime by the end of the week. In the meantime, please make sure reports and evaluations are still being uploaded to EdPLan in a timely manner. EdPlan Dash Board/Support  Please check your EdPlan dashboard every week for any new messages, updates, or upcoming meetings. As some of you may know, at the beginning of the school last year, our compliance numbers were ranked toward the bottom of the whole district. At one point, we were about 51% of caseloads were out of compliance. However, we are in a much better place this year and need to continue the current trend. Our aim is to have to coverage/support every second and fourth Monday to have a substitute in the building for teachers to work on testing and evaluations.

Operations Attendance: Please be sure to post attendance by 9:50 in order for us to get the lunch count in on time.  Bus List Must list must be back in the office by 10:15, please. Any changes that need t be made during the day to the list must be made in the office. This will minimize confusion and maximize communication and the safety of students.

Shoutouts Mr. Chery: Thank you for giving a student a safe place to do ST math when he was having a hard time. -Ms. Hamilton Ms. Jackie: Thank you for encouraging all of our first graders to love writing! -Ms. Hamilton Ms. Aviles: Thank you for supporting first grade with the new fundations curriculum. -Ms. Hamilton Ms. Shaq and Ms. Jeszie: For helping me out during dismissal last week! Thanks ladies. -Ms. Centeio Ms. Martin-Williams: Thanks for bringing joy every Friday morning to your classroom with a unique song and dance. -Mr. Chery Mr. Abelson: the picnic tables look amazing! Hopefully, students and staff will find time this week to enjoy them. -Mr. Chery Ms. Anderson: I appreciate how you bring joy and laughter to those around you. When I walk by in the morning, I can hear/see a staff member enjoying your presence. -Mr. Chery Ms. Frank: Being able to have a difficult conversation with a parent with grace! -Mr. Chery Ms. Centeio: Thank you for your willingness to step up for your class and students. -Mr. Chery

Photos

Later 12/6- Start looking ahead to fall report cards and parent conferences. More information to come.

Links/Forms Incident Report IEP Acknowledgement ShoutOuts

Staff Newsletter Week of October 24, 2022

The Hive

Breaking down barriers and building bridges.

“The best school in Boston”

Dates   10/24 Jumpstart Observation 10/24-11/10 BIMAS Window 10/25 Grade 2 Room 205 to MIT 10/27 ILT 10/28 Pajama Day 10/31 Halloween: No Costumes 11/2 PD 11/3 Field trip to Arnold Arboretum: Grade 3: 203 202 11/9-11/10 Picture Day 11/14 Grade 3 Room 203 to MIT 11/16 PD 11/17 Grade 3 Room 202 to MIT 11/23 Half Day 11/24-11/25 Thanksgiving Break: No School

Updates Lunch Cards Starting Ocotber 25th, students will be expected to have a lunch card that will be scanned in order to get lunch. The lunch cards will stay in the kitchen. Currently, the lunch cards are organized in alphabetical order by last name. This is new to our school and Mr. Juan. Therefore, please be patient and please inform the students if this shift. The expectation is that staff have the cards in their hands and scan the cards as students go through the lunch line. Please be aware that students with allergies will automatically be flagged by the system to ensure they have the proper meal which will delay the process because Mr. Juan will have to certify on the computer.   Teachers Pay Teachers At the beginning of the year, we purchased a Teachers Pay Teachers package so that staff would have access to resources to augment their curricula and/or complement their subfolders. We purchased a package with 225 licenses to share. Licenses are used when a staff member selects a product that says “Access Now.” So far, 73 licenses have been used. Please be cognizant of the number of licenses you are using as it is shared by the whole school. One way to help is when searching for a product filter the search on the left side of the screen by clicking “Flex Catalog.” No licenses are used for “Flex Catalog” resources , and thousands of resources are available. Furthermore, please be sure to share resources and materials with team members and colleagues.   Report Cards Due December 9, 2022 We are a little more than halfway through the fall semester. Grading for the fall semester is based on student's performance on the expectations and standards taught for the fall semester and not where they are expected to be by the end of the school year.  (For a student in Gr. 1-5, passing a course means he/she met at least 40% of the standards in that course. And a student has to receive a mark of either “3” or “4” to meet a standard.)  Whole School PD Snack Sign-Up If you’re interested in helping with snacks for a PD session, please sign up here. Telescope Network We’re reaching out to school administrators to ask for your help. Each year, we survey educators across BPS to find out what they want and need to learn next. We use the responses to help build professional development programs for the year.    Administrators can help us in two ways: Share the survey with your staff. It takes about 7-10 minutes to complete. Anyone who completes the survey is entered to win a raffle prize (we’re raffling off twenty $20 gift cards to local bookstores). See below for a blurb you can share with staff.   Take the survey yourself.  We’d love to hear your needs as well as any recommendations you have for effective educators and practices in your building.   Summary Report: If we hear from at least 10 of your staff members, we will create a customized “’Needs Assessment Report” to summarize the responses from your school.

Data BIMAS BIMAS “is  a measure of behavioral functioning and social, emotional skills in children and adolescents ages pre-k to 18 years.” Ms. Jen will be sending the letters to go home in case families want to opt-out. If you have not received an email or are unable to sign in, please see Ms. Jen. When completing the questionnaire, please remember it is based on what you have observed within 2-3 days when you are completing the BIMAS for a student and not since the beginning of the year.

Math ST Math Don’t forget about the amazing resources that ST Math Provided, including the ST Math Puzzle Talks. This is a great way to encourage students to think critically about math and incorporate academic discourse! ST Math Goals For the Week Goal for the Year K0/K1 30 mins 20 puzzles   80% Progress completion  K2-Grade 1 60 minutes 40 puzzles Grade 2-Grade 3 90 minutes 60 puzzles

Special Education/Support/CBHM IEP Meetings This Week 10/25 EMA-439809 Room 105 10/25 IDV-431072 Room-105 10/28 JLS-425652 Room108 10/28 STG-425296 HR- 105 Uplodaing Documents on EdPlan “Unfortunately, often times teachers and related services providers complete the evaluations and upload their written reports EdPlan under documents "UPLOAD EXTERNAL DOCUMENTS". When they do that, the evaluations continue to show incomplete, overdue, and out-of-compliance in EdPlan."    This memo provides step-by-step directions and hyperlinks that provide appropriate guidance in this process.    Once again, I will be more than happy to meet with and/or any staff still needing assistance to complete this task correctly. Our school district, and the OSE if reflecting a large number of assessments overdue, and out of compliance just because the reports are not uploaded correctly in EdPlan.  Meetings can be canceled up to three times…teachers need to remind parents of meetings (2 days before the meeting to remind families of meeting and or talking points)

Operations Card/Building Access If you are in need of a new ID card or if your card is not work, please let Mr. Chery know.

Shoutouts Ms. Jackie: Ms. Jackie, thank you for sharing with us your story and journey as a breast cancer survivor caregiver, and for raising awareness in our community and beyond. -Keri Purple   Ms. Aviles: Thanks for providing me with a medium ice coffee, with cream and three pumps of caramel. Very thoughtful and refreshing. -Chery Thank you Ms. Linda for being a calm, welcoming, and helpful presence in the lunchroom -Ms. Lawlor   Kerri - thanks for the snacks! -Ms. Kelley   S/O my para’s they have been amazing and patient with me! -Ms. Shaq   Thank you Mr. Anthony for supporting a first grade friend when he was having a hard day -Ms. Hamilton    Thanks Keri and Brian for the snacks! -Ms. Paula   S/O to Keri and Rose for a productive clt and pd session :) Ms. Martin S/O to 3rd grade :) -Ms. Martin   S/O to Ms.Morgardo for helping with our lovely group of 6 :) -Ms. Martin   K1 for lending us mats to keep friends safe in K2 :) -Ms. Chase   Thank you Ms. Centeio for keeping the classroom together while I was away!! It was good to see pictures and videos of the kids working while I was gone. -Ms. Cassie

Photos

Links/Forms Incident Report IEP Acknowledgement ShoutOuts