The Hive: Week of March 3, 2023

Dates

3/6-3/10 Interims and CORE Phonics

3/6 School Site Council

3/7 Huddle: just for paras to discuss new dismissal process @ 8:45 cafe B

3/9 Year 2 New Leader Induction PD (Mr. Chery @ Bolling)

3/10 ILT/SST Meeting @ 8 (first hybrid meeting)

3/10 Health and Wellness Committee @ 8am

3/13 Mentor Learning Walk (Principal from the Roosevelt; not definite)

3/15: Professional Development

3/16 Room 202 Field Trip to MIT

3/17 Winter Semester Closes

3/17 Progress Reports Due and Uploaded

3/21 Math and Literacy Night 5-6 pm

3/22 Governing Board Meeting

3/24 Winter Grading Window Closes

3/24 3rd Grade Frog Festival

4/5 Professional Development: Choose your own adventure: Please email Mr. Chery evidence of the two

hours fulfilled

4/6 No School

Updates

Staff Attendance and Punctuality

First, I sincerely want to thank everyone for their commitment to students here at Lee Academy Pilot School.

Furthermore, I want to thank the staff who have been very flexible as we had a number of absences that

requires shifts in schedules and roles. Regarding the absences so far this school year, these educator

trends are not new. I am very aware this is a very sensitive topic. I am cognizant that life simply happens;

illnesses, COVID, doctor appointments, children getting sick, jury duty, bereavement, leaves, and other

emergencies etc. However, just like we have been giving out letters to families about students’ absences

so they know where their child stands, it is just as important we know where staff stands as well. I hesitate

to write this because I know staff culture and environment are a strength of ours and my intention is not to

damage that but that we can at least acknowledge and own the staff absenteeism, regardless of the reasons, including myself. So far, I have been absent for 5 days; 1 day in October due to children being sick

on a Friday, 3 days in November due to COVID (when I came back I did test negative via a rapid test) and,

3 hours on the day of the Winter Showcase because I had to bring my children in order to attend the Pot Luck

and just last week I had to miss a day due to the fake “snow day”. I share this to be fully transparent and

acknowledge and own my own absences and own them. Many of you have expressed your own

frustrations and apologies for your own absences especially when it comes to child and/or family care,

which is greatly appreciated. The superintendent’s circular on attendance monitoring states, “Regardless of

the duration of the time off due to illness, managers may request medical documentation from the employee

to substantiate his/her absence.” About 30% of our staff are considered at risk for being considered

chronically absent (10% absences or more) as of now. Just like our students, this includes days staff

members are not in school. Despite the narrative shared about our data, I have trusted teachers and staff

to be responsible with their sick days and personal days (need to know at least two days in advance) and I

have adhered to the aforementioned policy/practice to this point.

As a school, we cannot function appropriately when we are not fully staffed. Our students may not be

receiving the education they so deserve and parents are noticing. Last week, when discussing with a

parent about their child’s absences, the parent said, “[The teacher] has been out as much as the kids.”

Once again, we cannot control life from happening, but let’s try to control the things we can, if possible.

For example, setting doctor’s appointments outside of school hours or closer to the end of the day,

postponing jury duty to the summer (most of them usually get canceled), scheduling virtual meetings,

etc.

I will be sending separate emails to everyone with a screenshot of your requested absences so far this

school year and/or possible trends in absences, if applicable.

Academic Superintendent Walkthrough:

The walkthrough took place last Thursday. We visited 5 classes and he felt really good about this

walk-through. In particular, he discussed the delivery of phonics and foundational reading lessons observed

in K0/K1 and K2. Throughout the classrooms, there was clear evidence of planning and the continuation of

the implementation of the district curriculum. It appears this will mandatory for schools to use district-approved

currila such as Focus and EL.

Hiring for Extended School Year Site Coordinators

The OSE is hiring for ESY Site Coordinators. These positions offer great opportunities for educators

seeking to advance into administrative roles. See flier here, Large Site Coordinator description and Small Site Coordinator description To learn more email esy-hiring@bostonpublicschools.org or Kayla Lambright, klambright@bostonpublicschools.org

Stipends:

Sincerely apologize for the stipends being extremely late. Please be aware Ms. Zoraida and I have been

working behind the scenes to get them processed as seen below. We are not the only ones going

through this issue. It is a concern across the district.

ESL Position Posted:

We have a .4 ESL FTE posted on TalentEd. It’s only through the end of this school year. The ideal candidate is someone who can come in on a daily

basis for a couple of hours. Maybe you know of someone who is a .5 or .6 at another school with an ESL

license and is looking for a bump in pay!? Maybe a retired teacher looking for a part-time job? Or a friend

who wants to come back into teaching after taking some time off?

Home visits

Please see Govi if you have any questions or concerns regarding chronically absent students. We

encourage teachers to continue to conduct Home Visits as needed and raise any concerns to Ms. Govi

or me if you believe further assistance is needed. The monthly attendance reports went home, any

complaints, just direct them to the main office and/or Ms. Govi.

Afternoon Bus Dismissal Change

As discussed during the Professional Development on Wednesday, we will be making a change in the

dismissal process. Instead of calling bus numbers down over the intercom, starting at 3:20 we will be

calling floors to begin filling out and bringing to students to the bus. At 3:20 we will call the first-floor

bus students to be dismissed and filed outside (this includes room 206) and then at 3:25, second-floor

bus students will be called to be filed outside.

The expectation is that classroom paraprofessionals will students down to the front of the building using the

main entrance. Once out the doors, go down the stairs on the right and drop off students at their assigned

bus. Here is the diagram to further assist you.

The hope of the plan is to make the bus dismissal process more efficient. Most of the buses arrived by

3:20 pm. Paraprofessionals will be responsible for ensuring students are getting on the correct bus.

Each bus will be assigned a point person to further assist with students get on the proper bus.

The point person will tell the bus driver when to leave. Each classroom will be given its bus list of students.

It is important that we continue with the morning routine of passing the bus list around; this will serve as the

master list for the bus point person.

Late Dismissal Students

At 3:35, if you still have a student that has not been picked up, please bring them to the main office. There,

teachers will be expected to “sign in” students so the office is aware of who is here and waiting to be picked

up. When signing the student in, please be sure to write the student’s(s’) first and last name, check yes or

no if the family member/parent has been contacted, and if so, indicate who will be picking the student up.

The sheet will be on a clipboard on the table outside the main office. We are looking to get student

seating/couches in the hallway for students while they wait. If you happen to have one you no longer need,

please let me know.

DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT:

As I write this, please know that I am also speaking to myself. It is important to document the parent

communications into Panorama. Especially, phone calls and face-to-face conversations you believe may be

important (ie., absences, sickness, tense moments with parents, parents accusing teachers or another

student of something, etc.). I will give leeway to text messages and Talkingpoints so long as those

messages are not deleted and you can always go back to them. There has been an increase in

communications with parents and a lack of evidence of when these communications are happening and

when. The purpose of this ask is to ensure we are protecting ourselves. Parents are making concerning

accusations that I know not to be true and/or reflective of our staff. Let’s start today moving forward to be

as diligent as possible with this ask. I will see if paras have access to Panorama and if not, we may need to

consider giving paras a communication log/notebook.

New Position and Model Changes (23-24)

The Governing Board voted last Tuesday to make some changes to positions here at Lee Academy that

would allow us to create an extra full-time position. These changes will enable us to provide students with

increased direct services to meet their educational needs and better support teachers. With the addition of

this new 1.0 FTE, teachers also put forward a new model change that would allocate a Learning

Specialist from grade K2-Grade 3. Here is a description and expectation of the role thus far.

Support Needed?

Team, do not be shy to ask for help and/or coverage. I am willing to do what I can to support you as several

things are coming down the pipeline; IEP meetings, progress reports, report cards, etc. If coverage is

needed for an hour or two to get things done, I will do my best to fulfill that wish.

New Para Joing LAPS Team:

Ms. Janiris will serve as the 1 to 1 paraeducator to Peytonm who is the student in room 107 and is visually

impaired. Mr. Lee, I cannot thank you enough for all your help and support in room 107 and with Peyton!

Ms. Janiris Introduction

I am so excited to be part of this beautiful community and can't wait to meet everyone. My name is Janiris.

I enjoy meditation and yoga. I am Dominican raised in Boston. I am a mom of a 21-year-old, 7 yr old and

4-year-old. A wife to my husband of 11 years. My family is my everyday motivation. I believe in teamwork

and love to help people. I have a psychology background which makes patience and listening my

superpower.

Data

School Attendance from last week:

Student attendance remains a concern. Unfortunately, last week, we did have a virus going around,

especially on the first floor. Many students experienced gastrointestinal-like symptoms. Over the weekend,

facilities did come to sanitize several rooms and common areas such as the bathrooms, handles, and

railings. Please be sure to emphasize proper hygiene. Especially before lunch. Remind students not to

have their hands in their mouths or eyes.

Literacy

BPS Early Childhood Resources

Third grade, take a look at this link to take a look at second-grade Focus decodable texts to give students opportunities to practice skills being learned in Fundations.

PD: Equitable Literacy: Grab and Go Phonics

Thursday, March 9th at 4:10pm
Click here to register

Participants will discover teaching and learning phonics with Nearpod while experiencing interactive

activities. They will explore the Nearpod Library of lessons where they will find ready-to-go lessons to

enhance their reading instruction.

Math

This article shares information about the difference between a student’s Journey, Assignments and History.

ST Math Resources:

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