Staff Newsletter: Week of January 30, 2023

The Hive

Breaking down barriers and building bridges.

“The best school in Boston”

“I'd like to be remembered as someone who made a difference in the lives of young people - that I nurtured

someone and taught them to pursue their dreams and their careers, to leave a legacy.”

-Andre Leon Talley

This week marks the halfway mark of the school year. One thing I am reminded of about this work is, how

difficult it truly is! However, on Friday, Ms. Casna walked into my office with a smile on her face telling me

how CJ identified patterns and shapes on ST Math and how she wished Mr. LoBue was there to witness it.

That brief interaction also reminded me of the joy in what we do as well. It is those moments we must

remember and hold on to that remind us of our WHY; Why we decide to do this work. At the end of the

day, we do not HAVE to; we CHOOSE to do so. We have the next 90 days (or so) to choose to make an

impact on the 200 students that will come through the doors, into the hallways, and into our classrooms

/offices. Every moment matters and every minute counts as an opportunity to nurture these brilliant minds!

This week, take a moment to share your WHY with someone else as a chance to inspire a colleague but to

also remind yourself. I sincerely look forward to continuing this work with you all for the next 90 days. 

Week of Jannuary 30, 2023

Dates 2/1 PD- ST Math 2/6 Central Office Site Visit (9:45-11:15) and In-school dentist 2/7 Huddle @ 8:40 in Cafeteria B 2/13 In-school dentist 2/13-2/17 WIDA Screener K1 2/20 President’s Day 2/21-2/24 February Vacation 2/27-3/3 WIDA Screener K0

Updates Subfolders There are only 3 folders/binders out of 13 classrooms thus far currently present in the main office.  I only received grade 1 and Ms. Anderson.  Home Visit Stipends: Home visit stipends have been processed. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s patience. We have about $6, 000 left on that budget. We will be forwarding names to teachers to conduct home visits as a tier 2 strategy given the number of absences we have. Tier 3 strategy will be Mr. Chery will be calling families into the school for an attendance meeting to formulate a plan.  Central Office Visit On February 6th from 9:45-11:15. Looks like it will just be my supervisor here and not the other central office personnel. The potential schedule below but subject to change as it appears he may spend the majority of the time in a meeting with me during the visit.  9:15-9:35 Check-in with Principal 9:35-9:40 Morning Announcements 9:40-9:55 Room 103 K0/K1 9:55-10:10 Room 105 K2 10:10-10:25 Room 202 Grade 3 10:25-10:40 Room 205 Grade 2 10:40-10:55 Room 108 Grade 1 10:55-11:15 Debrief with Principal

Data Starting in February, we will be sending monthly attendance reports home for all students that will be expected to signed and returned to Ms. Govi.

Math Week of 01/23 - 01/27 Grade Average # of minutes played per student  Average # of puzzles completed per student # of students with unresolved “High-Tries” Alerts Average % completion K0/K1 30 24             8 37% K2 70           58             1           41%  1st 72 39             8           42 % 2nd 79 33             7           23%    3rd 92 40             8           24%  ST Math PD on Wednesday, February 1st will focus on puzzle talks. Here  is a Puzzle Talk Teacher Overview if you want a preview 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 (IEP meeting)/Support/CBHM COSE Coverage: Please continue to reach out to Bonnie Paton with any questions or concerns regarding IEPs and meetings through March 6th.  February Incentive: Classrooms will choose their own adventure. Please be sure to share ideas with me to share over the intercom.  Focus for this Week: Being responsible In the bathroom:  I use one pump of soap to wash my hands.   I use one paper towel to dry my hands.  I throw paper towels away in the trash. I go back to class right after I’m done.

Shoutouts Mr. Chery: Thanks for playing good music in the morning! -Sandra  Mr. LoBue, Ms. Wilcox, Ms. Govi, Nurse Marthe: Thanks for your flexibility on Friday! -Chery Mr. Bill and Team: A lot of work has been done in the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms in the basement. It looks great. Thank you! -Chery

Photos

Later/Reminders Subfolders OVERDUE. Please hand them to Ms. Zoraida.  Enable 2-Step Verification on your Google Account Fall is our favorite time of year but nobody likes it when they fall for a phishing scam! Protect yourself against phishing scams (and stop these terrible puns) by enabling 2-step verification today! The link below will take you to the instructions and we recommend downloading the Gmail app for iPhone or Android ahead of time. The Gmail app saves you time by turning the 2-step verification into a simple yes or no, instead of using text-message codes. 2-Step Verification Instructions All staff - Feb 1, 2023 Thank you for helping to protect the BPS! Process does not take too long. Please complete it as soon as possible.

Links/Forms Incident Report IEP Acknowledgement ShoutOuts Child Care Weather Watch How we will determine indoor recess.

Staff Newsletter: Week of January 23, 2023

The Hive

Breaking down barriers and building bridges.

“The best school in Boston”

“You don’t get results by focusing on the results, you get results  by focusing on the actions that

produce results.” -Mike Hawkins

Week of January 22-27

Dates 1/25 Wellness Team Meeting 1/27 Updated subfolders in the main office and Hat Day 2/1 PD 2/6 Central Office Site Visit (9:45-11:15) and In-school dentist 2/13 In-school dentist

Updates Central Office Visit On February 6th from 9:45-11:15, we will have a visit by Efrain Toledano (Academic Superintendent), Drew Echelon (Chief of Schools and Accountability), and possibly Mike or JJ from the Transformation Office. The same morning, they will also be visiting the Lee K-8 and the BTU school. They will be visiting classrooms and conducting a learning walk. This is what they will be looking for: Foundational Literacy: Tier 1 explicit phonemic awareness and phonics instruction for all students across K0-Grade 2 and tier 2 and tier 3 phonics instruction across the PreK-12. Additional guidance in the reference document for specific indicators. Engaging with Culturally Relevant, Grade Level, Complex Texts: Students, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities, must be expected to write, read, and discuss and listen from grade-level, complex and culturally-affirming text every day in every classroom and across every content area. Additional guidance in the reference document for specific indicators.    Grade Level Standards: Is the task aligned to grade-level standards and differentiated for \MLs ELD levels using WIDA Standards Framework.  Cognitive Demand: Who is doing the “heavy lifting” -- the teacher or the students?  In particular, I have a hunch they will be focusing on indicator 2 and working with complex text: Students write in response to text-dependent questions daily. Students apply knowledge of text, sentence, and word-level structures in order to compose texts that clearly articulate their ideas and evidence.  Students refer to mentor texts as they collaboratively and independently compose. School leaders have had 4-5 opportunities to visit schools and observe lessons, and work with complex text has consistently been the lowest category this year. Obviously, depending on the lesson/subject matter,  when we go into a classroom, we are not going to observe. But I believe I believe the concern is they have been to so many school communities and have not seen a lot of writing. Or very little evidence on the walls (posted student work) and/or learning targets.  I usually swap the grade level classrooms/schedules between visits but this time, I believe they may want to see horizontal alignment. Any questions or concerns, I will do my best to answer/address them.  MAP Family Reports Winter 2023: By February 1st Families will receive their students' Winter MAP results by Feb. 1. Copies of reports will be shared with school leaders in school data folders by Jan. 27. See MAP toolkit for more information. Contact Dana Pulda-Acone; dpuldaacone@bostonpublicschools.org

Data SY22-23 Equitable Literacy Progress Monitoring Report - Lee Academy Definition for Chronic Absenteeism: Percent of students absent greater than or equal to 10% of days in membership. We are currently at 50% of our students missing 9 days of school or more so far this year. Granted, RSV, COVID, common, and the flu were valid concerns, but how do we get students and families back into school and into the classroom? FST will be meeting tomorrow to discuss attendance, all suggestions and ideas are welcomed.  Definition for Course Passing Rate: Grades 1-5: Percent of students passing all courses. For a student in grades 1-5, passing a course means they met at least 40% of the standards in that course. A student met a standard if they received a mark of “3” or “4”. The last day of the winter semester is March 17th: How are we ensuring that students are meeting grade-level standards? Evidence of students demonstrating content knowledge? Looking at Student Work to shift lessons and/or reteach? From grades 1-5: only 16% of students are passing all courses.

Math Need a quick reminder of how ST Math games are structured. Here is a short article that explains the anatomy of an objective. 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 (IEP meeting)/Support/CBHM IEP Meetings Invitations: If you are wrongly being sent IEP meeting invitations, please let me know as soon as possible. For whatever reason, several staff members are being listed as Special Education for students when they do not have a homeroom/classroom.

Operations Fire Drill: The next fire drill has to be unannounced. It will not occur until about the spring.

Shoutouts Maude: Thank you for your support when we were the low staff! You are appreciated! -Shaq Ms.Jackie, Ms.Jen & Mr.Abelson: "You guys noticed I was ignoring a behavior and also ignored the behavior. The student was able to get back on track and finish his work!  That's how you support Room 206!  Thank you!" -Shaq Mr.Chery: I appreciate you covering my class during my PD. Although, I'm sure Mr. Darius feels different (lol). -Shaq All of room 205: I appreciate your patience with my students that like to disrupt your class (I'm Sorry). -Shaq Ms. Purple: Thank you for staying with the students on the late bus(es)! -Chery Mr. LoBue: Willingness to support the late buses. -Chery ALL STAFF: THANK YOU for a wonderful day/event on Friday! Lots of compliments and praises for Lee Academy! -Chery

Photos

Later/Reminders Enable 2-Step Verification on your Google Account Fall is our favorite time of year but nobody likes it when they fall for a phishing scam! Protect yourself against phishing scams (and stop these terrible puns) by enabling 2-step verification today! The link below will take you to the instructions and we recommend downloading the Gmail app for iPhone or Android ahead of time. The Gmail app saves you time by turning the 2-step verification into a simple yes or no, instead of using text-message codes. 2-Step Verification Instructions All staff - Feb 1, 2023 Thank you for helping to protect the BPS! The process does not take too long. Please complete it as soon as possible.

Links/Forms Incident Report IEP Acknowledgement ShoutOuts Child Care Weather Watch How we will determine indoor recess.