Staff Newsletter: Week of October 17, 2022

The Hive

Breaking down barriers and building bridges.

“The best school in Boston”

Week of October 17, 2022

Dates 10/17 Academic Superintendent Visit (10-12) 10/18 Grade 2 Room 204 to MIT 10/19 PD @ 3:45 10/19 Governing Board Meeting 10/20 Field trip to Arnold Arboretum:  K0/K1: 101 102 103 10/20 Mr. Chery at Bolling Building 10/21 PINK DAY 10/25 Grade 2 Room 205 to MIT 10/28 Pajama Day 10/31 Halloween: No Costumes 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 11/17 Grade 3 Room 202 to MIT

Updates Attendance from Last Week Since the beginning of the year, attendance has been on a steady decline. Regardless of grade or age, every student’s absence at Lee Academy has an impact on this figure. If there are any concerns or information to share, please make Ms. Govi and Ms. Jasmine aware of it.  We Were Kids Once! Can you guess who this staff member is? Staff members are encouraged to bring a picture or portrait of when they were elementary school-aged. This is an opportunity for joy and helps build community. The small bulletin board outside of the main office will be transformed by Ms. Zoraida and will host pictures of when the staff was young. You can bring a picture in or email Ms. Zoraida a picture and we will print them.  Invite Families to Come In: Encourage parents to come into the classroom and volunteer. Parents in the building and classroom were a major aspect of the school culture and climate pre-pandemic.  Shared with families: Ask your child’s teacher about opportunities to come into the classroom and volunteer. In order to volunteer, you must complete this CORI formand bring in an ID with you to the main office in order to be copied, and then administration/secretary will inform the teacher once the process has been completed.   There are many ways families can volunteer to support the classroom and school: reading a book, sharing information with students relevant to their content/learning (ie., culture or occupation), copying papers/homework, bulletin board, organizing classroom libraries, working with a small group, etc.  Adult SEL Have you put in for a personal day? There are several staff members who have not scheduled a personal day since the beginning of the year through December. If you have not taken a day off yet, I strongly encourage you to schedule a personal day and put it in the system. Be sure to take care of yourself! Calling out sick or taking a day off because your child is not a personal day. Be intentional about taking a day for yourself and your mental health.    Assistive Technology Website: Email from Ms. Harley (SLP) I wanted to share this resource with you all. This is the link to our Assistive Technology Website:    https://sites.google.com/bostonpublicschools.org/bps-assistive-technology/home?authuser=1   The website includes great information on assistive technology, adapted curriculum, core boards, core word strategies, resources for parents, and more!  PINK DAY on Friday My name is Jackie Stroud, and I am one of the many faces of a “Caregiver” for a Breast Cancer Survivor.   Why am I passionate about Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Unfortunately, breast cancer has stricken my family, NOT once but twice.  In 1996, my big sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy.  Then twenty-five years later, in 2021 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and part of her treatment plan required a double mastectomy.   In 2020, I became my mother’s caregiver due to Covid.   In 2021, I once again became an instant caregiver for my mother due to breast cancer and I panicked. Why? The sound of my mother having breast cancer scared me. I was not prepared to take on this huge challenge.  I was determined to provide my mother with the love and care she deserved.   Being a caregiver is a tough and exhausting job.   There was no training for watching my mother struggle to survive breast cancer. My journey as a caregiver has not been easy.   It has been a learning experience and I tried to learn everything I could about the disease.   I hope one-day others will not have to experience the journey of caregiving for a breast cancer survivor…because one day there will be a cure.  In 2022, I became aware that I am a high-risk candidate for the disease.  I guess you cannot escape from your genetics.   Why do I advocate for breast cancer? Thanks to research, Breast Cancer Treatment has come a long way.  It is no longer an instant death sentence.  I advocate for the disease to raise awareness in communities, and ensure research continues to find a cure, not just a treatment, and so all families are provided the support and education needed to understand the disease.   Breast Cancer is not discriminatory, and it does not ask for permission to enter your body. It affects both women and men, rich or poor and it crosses all racial lines.    I encourage both women and men to get annual breast screening and conduct monthly self-breast exams at home.   Learn and know your body and don’t be afraid to say something should you find a change in your breast.  Learn and know the risk factors for breast cancer.   Thank you all for participating in our first Breast Cancer Event.  I’m looking forward to this becoming an annual event.    “WEAR PINK” in the month of October!

Literacy Heggerty email was sent out expectation 7 minutes a day share data Most staff members and classroom teachers should have received an email for the Heggerty portal/online resource. If you did not, please let Mr. Chery know as soon as possible.  Early Childhood Literacy Liaison Jocelyn Lumley will be our Early Childhood Literacy Liaison this school year. Jocelyn has worked extensively for the district over many years. She has experience as a paraprofessional, a teacher, a literacy coach, and was also involved in the district’s rollout of some early childhood initiatives such as OWL and Building Blocks. She will be joining Keri on a learning walk through classrooms on the morning of Tuesday October 18th. Jocelyn is hoping to get a sense of the literacy structures and routines we have up and running and will collaborate with Keri to establish support and learning opportunities to put in place this year as we embrace the Focus and Fundations curricula.

Math ST Math Our weekly goal as a school is 8,500 puzzles. We have about 20 students that did not get on at all last week. Below we have the break up by grade level. Please be aware that Kindergarten (K) includes both K0/K1 and K2 combined. Please address the alerts this week. We strongly encourage productive struggle but we do not want students to get frustrated and discouraged.  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 Reinforce students are to ask for permission to give adults hug; Safe Bodies Unit Special Education iPads We recently received two additional iPads dedicated for special education assessments, such as the WIAT. All of the iPads are now housed in a tech tub in Ms. Zoraida’s office near the radiator and staff attendance board. Please use them as needed and return them in a timely manner for others. Thank you.

Operations New Staff: The new additions to Lee Academy has been cleared to start today. Paraeducators Ms. Serena and Mr. Pomare in the ABA classroom. Welcome! Field Trips: Many field trips on the calendars. If you are not a classroom teacher/staff and are interested in supporting a field trip as a chaperone, please let me know as soon as possible. We are in need of volunteers.

Shoutouts No Shoutouts ☹️Please click on the link above to shoutout a staff member.

Later Picture Days: Cafeteria B will be off-limits and students will eat in the classroom and dance will take place in the classroom.

What’s Happening At LAPS

Links/Forms Incident Report IEP Acknowledgement ShoutOuts

Reminders Food/Snack Remind students not to share food products SWARM:  When you are in need of support in the classroom due to behavioral challenges, please text the SWARM. The group message should include, the classroom teacher, paraeducator, Ms. Jen (617-775-8748), Ms. Jamsin (617-286-4081) Ms. Maude (857-829-1787) and Mr. Chery (857-308-8836).  SWARM may be used for bathroom support as well.