Week of March 20, 2023 Staff Newsletter

Week of March 20, 2023

Dates 3/20 PreK-1st Author Candelaria Norma Silva Visit 2-3 pm 3/21 Math and Literacy Night 5-6 pm 3/22 Governing Board Meeting 3/23 Room 203 Field Trip to MIT ILT 3/24 Winter Grading Window Closes 3/24 3rd Grade Frog Festival 3/27 Principal Mentor Site Visit/Walkthrough 3/28 Fire Drill @ 9:55 4/3-4/6 ELA MCAS (Grade 3) 4/5 Professional Development: Choose your own adventure: Please email Mr. Chery evidence of the two hours fulfilled 4/7 No School 4/14 2nd-3rdAuthor Djofa Tavares Vist 9:45-10:45

Updates Report Cards and Conferences Winter report cards are due this Friday! Grades should be submitted in SIS between now and March 24th. Please plan to schedule conferences with families during the week of March 27th or April 3rd. Report cards should be distributed at the conference or before. Some families wished they had received the report cards before the meeting with the teachers. My goal is to run the term grade reports on Sunday and finalize them to email out the report card next Monday, March 27. Field Trip: We currently have just under $3,000 in our budget for field trips/transportation. The funds will only be used for buses at this time. Fees for programs should be covered by grants or ask families to cover the cost. If this is a major concern, please set up a meeting with me. Stipends: The second round of Family Home Visits payment has been processed and going through the approval “chain.”  Supply Closet Wish List Supplies should we have in the closet Not specific for you but for school (so we would buy a bulk of the material) Focus on column b and share you are suggestions From Ms. Hamilton/Culture and Environment Team: Hello Team! The sunshine committee is excited to bring back the "Hive Leader of the Week." Each time Mr. Chery posts the bulletin we will randomly select one staff member to be the "Hive Leader."  The hive leader will receive scratch tickets as a reward and get to display the hive leader emblem on their classroom door. A chance to win big AND bragging rights! Make sure to shout out other staff members in the bulletin so they can earn a chance to win. PD Opportunity for non-teaching staff: The Division of Student Support has collaborated with DESE and Walker Therapeutic and Educational Programs to offer Youth Mental Health First Aid Training on Saturday 4/1/23 (9am-3pm) at the Bolling Building in the School Committee Room. This session will be for non-teaching staff which includes Family Liaisons, staff that support school Culture and Climate, school-based operational staff, athletic coaches, and Paraprofessionals. We have 50 available slots so first come first serve.  Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.  Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders. To sign up please fill out this form. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING PDs for next year: Professional Learning Catalog for SY23-24 is expected to be released on Vector on April 3rd. When they are released, I strongly encourage grade-level teams to begin searching for PDs/courses they may be interested in taking. Teachers have expressed interest in more hours being allocated for them to choose and I wish to do my best to honor that as we begin to plan for next year.  Early Childhood-Tiered Literacy Instruction Learning Site 3.30 and 4.3:  Join the Telescope Network for a Learning Site hosted by educators at Curtis Guild Elementary and Haynes EEC that addresses the question “How do we align tiered instruction to strengthen the foundational literacy skills of our students?”  After the observation educators have a chance to think through and debrief with the host teachers about the hows and whys of their teaching practice and participate in follow up coaching sessions for an ALC/PDPs. Spaces are limited. (Flyer / RSVP) Focus on PreK is Being Updated The Early Childhood Department is revising the Focus on PreK curriculum for SY23-24. Please see the following information for details, and stay tuned for updates through the spring. Contact Melissa Tonachel, mtonachel@bostonpublicschools.org

Data Attendance: Many students are coming up positive so attendance will continue to take a hit.

Literacy

Math If your student is earning minutes but not puzzles, read this. 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 Copied and Pasted from Last Week: IEP Meetings: DUE TO STAFFING SHORTAGES, I CANNOT GUARANTEE COVERAGE AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, PLEASE REACH OUT IF IT IS URGENT AND I CAN TRY TO FIGURE SOMETHING OUT. Below is the list of students who have IEP meetings that are scheduled or will be scheduled between now through the month of April. These meetings cannot be postponed or changed because we have a covering COSE who is now responsible for up to 12 schools. Please be patient with Bonnie. She is trying to get to all our cases and balances our school with many others. It is important to get all documents, assessments, and forms uploaded in a timely manner. There have been several emails to staff members due to missing items. Coverage is very tight at the moment, but I am trying to get substitutes in the building to support teachers for coverage to get these items and other things done. It is possible we may have a substitute here all next but staff attendance will determine how the substitute is utilized. If support is needed, please reach out.

Operation COVID Protocol Clarifiaction: Per district, principals are no longer allowed to ask for PCR results and the antigen tests are sufficient when reporting. Please immediately inform the Nurse of a positive case to report it to Health Services.

Shoutouts Mr. Lee: Thank you for your support in and out of the class! -Ms. Centeio Jasmin: Thanks for giving me a quiet space for lunch and the delicious cookies!  Ms. Centeio Govi: Thanks for the Starbucks last week! Ms. Centeio Ms. Shaq: Thank you so much! One less thing I have to worry about!- Chery Ms. Centeio: Thank you for helping me with my son’s surprise. He loved it! -Chery Staff stepping up: Team, I appreciate all the help during this difficult time as we have many teachers out. -Chery

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Later/Reminders April PD Clarification: The two hours do not need to be completed during the same week/day the April 5th PD would have taken place. Just need to fulfill the hours by before the week of June and show proof. Many of you have been taking PDs outside of school hours already and those hours will qualify.

Links/Forms Incident Report IEP Acknowledgement ShoutOuts Child Care Weather Watch How we will determine indoor recess. Staff Handbook 22-23