March 26, 2021

Honey-Do List

March 16: Read the Hive. Remind your friends to read the Hive.

March 31: Asynchronous Wednesday

April 2: Report Cards and Progress Reports finished

April 2: Good Friday

April 6: Bulletin Board Pictures due to Jodi 

April 26: Return to in-person learning

Reopening V.5 

• Well, at least we finally have a date.
• The big day will be April 26. (My parents' 41st Anniversary!)
• Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make this day a reality. 
• I am convinced that we could open our doors safely tomorrow to welcome our friends back because of all of your hard work.
• You may want to bookmark this page as there is a ton of info here!

Parent Response Rate

• We have had a 99.9% response rate thanks to your outreach. 
• Our response rate was faster and more complete than 97% of BPS Schools go team!

Learning Model

• Thank you all for your thoughtfulness in proposing learning models that make sense for our remote families and our in-person families.
• Thanks to the incredible amount of teamwork that this entire staff exhibits every day we do not have to do any concurrent teaching!
• We do have some teachers that will continue to provide a mix of in-person and online instruction
• Here is a link to the learning model that each team will be using
• Prior to 4/26, we will change homeroom assignments in SIS. 
• Next week, we will notify remote families that their child's teacher(s) will change 
• Kristen, Keri, Danielle, Brian, Sarah will be responsible for the final report cards and progress reports of students that are remaining remote

Schedules

• Keri has reworked our specialist schedule so that students that are in person will have the opportunity to have live-streamed or in-person specials based on the comfort level of the provider.
• The exception to the above is Art. 
• Remote students will continue to have asynchronous specials
• We do not have the 6th special to cover for grade-level CLTs.
• Paras who cover the CLT/Art time will be provided with a 1/2 day G.O.O.S.E card (Get OUT of School Early) for every 4 CLT/Art blocks they cover. 
• Here is the link to the PD schedule. 

Space Allocations

• Space will be at a premium when we return. 
• There have been some changes to space assignments to accommodate people who need to teach remotely during the day and take small groups
• Thank you everyone for your flexibility!
• Here is where we will be able to find our colleagues when we return to daily in-person learning

Furniture

• Many of you have asked if the furniture requests are real. Are they really going to be placed in classrooms?
• Given that this is not completely in my control my answer is a very strong maybe. 
• I put in the order for the plexiglass yesterday. 
• During the district calls that I have 2xs a week, the district seems to be backing away from plexiglass because the CDC guidance seems to have backed away from it. 
• I have asked for the additional desks that people have requested
• Bill has an inventory of what is in 207 and other storage nooks. If you need something immediately ask him!

Bulletin Board Pictures

• I started the welcome back bulletin Boards in September. 
• They were in a very undone state until this week. 
• I need your pictures for the second bulletin board by 4/6
• This bulletin board will get us through next year's opening too which means no nagging next year!
• Keri, Danielle, Ben, Kathryn, Taydavia you all look marvelous up there!

New Extended Day Partner

• Our families rely heavily on our before and after school programs to support their families. We ran our own before-school program and contracted with Imajine That for after-school programming. 
• Last year, before our school closure, Imajine That informed me that our K0/K1 students would no longer be able to attend their program. I had not made any moves on this because we have been unable to offer these services this year.
• In planning for next year it was time to determine how we would continue to support families with high-quality before and after school programming. 
• Given factors including the cost and the ability to serve our youngest learners, I have decided to partner with Boston's Bridge to Excellence (BBTE) to facilitate both our before-school and after school programs. 
• They are fully licensed by Massachusetts and will be able to accept vouchers for both the before school and after school program. 
• The before-school program will begin at 7:30 and the after school program will end at 6.  
• Before school will cost $70/week and the after-school program will cost $160. 
• BBTE leverages its own partnerships and resources to bring in enrichment programming and opportunities for children and families at no additional cost. I am looking forward to this partnership to help provide a truly extended day learning experience for our students. 
• Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this change. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences

• I have tried to lead by demonstrating my trust in your judgment, professionalism, and all-around awesomeness.
• Given my complete faith in you and the fact that you are amazing communicators with families, I have made the decision that we will not hold formal parent conference days this Spring. 
• I feel that in the best interest of students to not have any further disruptions or changes in their learning schedule. 
• I trust that if you have concerns or praise for students that you will reach out directly to parents and schedule a meeting time and we do not need to schedule formal days. 

March 19, 2021

Honey-Do List

March 19: Read the Hive. Remind your friends to read the Hive.

March 24: Meet with Jodi during regular CLT Time

March 24 and 31: Asynchronous Wednesdays

April 2: Report Cards and Progress Reports finished

April 2: Good Friday 

April 12?: Return to in-person learning

Report Cards and Progress Reports

• It is that time again. This one snuck up on me. The report card window is now open in Aspen. 
• The district report card window is from 3/15-3/28. 
• I will extend that for Lee Academy since we lost a week because of my inattention all grades must be entered by 4/2.
• All grades K0-3 will be using Aspen to enter grades. 
• Here are the directions to complete a variety of grading tasks in Aspen.
• How to Enter and Post Elementary Grades in Aspen
• Elementary Comment Codes Handout
• How to verify that your grades are posted
• As a reminder whenever we do report cards w are also legally required to do IEP Progress Reports. Therefore both report cards and progress reports must be completed by 4/2.  

Concurrent Teaching

Concurrent Teaching

Lee Academy Resident Expert:

• A shout out to Meghan for her technology set up in her classroom that allows her to do concurrent teaching and bring her friends together. 
• Meghan has offered to host an office hour on Wednesday to show you her setup and discuss ideas for tips and tricks!

Instructional Resources gathered from Jess Madden Fuoco:

• Concurrent Lesson Structures - created by Instructional Transformation Coaches - you can adapt any of these to work with the concurrent set up at your school, and we will be adding lesson templates to this document that include space for teachers to plan for their in-person and online students

• Concurrent Tech Norms and Setup - created by the Digital Learning Team and Instructional Transformation Coaches - for this one, you could start by thinking about which tech you have access to, and if you have access to multiple devices, you can think about what you hope to make possible for your students in-person and online.

Additional Resources:

• Concurrent Teaching Choice Board - created by Belzie Mont-Louis and Meghan Harrington

• Concurrent Teaching Wakelet - created by the Instructional Transformation Coach Cohort 2021, Karen White, Sharon Abraham, and Christine Cronin

More District Resources:

• The District heard our call for more resources and models of best practice to address the challenges of hybrid learning and simultaneous teaching. 
• OIIT, Academics, and Transformation have collaborated to create this one-stop splash page with links to resources, ideas, professional learning opportunities, and other supports.
• In addition, The Telescope Network invites all BPS educators to join us for three upcoming teacher-led professional learning sessions. Come learn from and with your BPS colleagues and leave with new ideas and resources to bring back to your own classroom.
• 03.25.21 Connect & Share Panel Discussions: Join us Thursday 3/25 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. for a panel discussion on the topic of “Meeting Diverse Needs & Hybrid Instruction.” Hear from your BPS colleagues about what’s working in their own classrooms and schools. Connect with peers from across BPS, get new ideas, and earn PD hours as well. (RSVP | More info | Flyer)
• 03.31.21 Simultaneous Teaching Virtual Edcamp: Bring your questions and your ideas about simultaneous teaching to this virtual “unconference” on Wednesday 3/31 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Register in advance to be entered in a prize raffle (must be present to win). (RSVP | More info | Flyer)
• 04.07.21 Connect & Share Math Spotlight: Join us Wednesday 4/7 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. for panel discussions on how to bring joy and deep understanding to hybrid math instruction in the hybrid learning classroom. Hear from your colleagues about what’s working in their own classrooms and schools. Connect with peers from across BPS, get new ideas, and earn PD hours as well. (RSVP | More info)
• AND BY THE WAY, they’re always on the lookout for “bright spot” teachers and educators who might be interested in presenting as part of these panels. If you have any teachers that you’d recommend as a “bright spot,” please let us know and we’re happy to reach out to them with details. There’s a small stipend for presenters. Upcoming sessions include  “Effective Hybrid Practices” (4/29). (Email us at  telescope@bostonpublicschools.org or use this form).

Reopening #5-April 

A colleague used this image in her newsletter and I found it very appropriate!

Waiver

• It is looking more and more like the district will apply for a waiver to delay the return of all students until April 12, 2021
• This will not result in additional days being added at the end of the year (at this time)

 

Parent Survey

• Thank you so much for making the outreach efforts that you have made because of you we know the preferences of 68% of Lee Academy Families
• Please continue to reach out to those families who have not yet responded. 
• We would like to be at a 100% response rate when we discuss teaching and learning models on Wednesday. 

In Class Sharing and Spacing

• You do not have to make 20 individual sets of materials.
• 2-3 students may share the same set of manipulatives etc.
• The new guidance from CDC is as follows:
•  Removes recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between desks. “We don't have a lot of evidence of their effectiveness” in preventing transmission, Massetti said.
• Advises at least 3 feet of space between desks in elementary schools, even in towns and cities where community spread is high, so long as students and teachers wear masks and take other precautions.
• Says spacing can also be 3 feet in middle and high schools, so long as there's not a high level of spread in the community. If there is, spacing should be at least 6 feet.
• The CDC said 6 feet of distance should still be maintained in common areas, such as school lobbies, and when masks can't be worn, such as when eating.
• Also, students should continue to be spaced 6 feet apart in situations where there are a lot of people talking, cheering or singing, all of which can spread droplets containing the coronavirus. That includes chorus practice, assemblies and sports events.
• The CDC said teachers and other adults should stay 6 feet from one another and from students.
• The World Health Organization suggested 1 meter — a little over 3 feet — was sufficient in schools. 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/19/metro/cdc-changes-school-guidance-allowing-desks-be-closer/

Devices

• You may ask students to transport their devices OR to bring them and leave them in the school once we have returned to 5-day in school learning
• I have asked the district for charging stations

Specials

• The amazing Ms. Purple is redoing our special schedule again
• Our goal is to increase "live" specials once students return. 
• We are balancing this goal with the desire to limit exposure for our specialists
• I will be working with our specialist team to determine their comfort levels
• Specials will either be live-streamed into your classroom or held in person

Eating

• We will be opening the second cafeteria once we find the furniture to do so
• Both tents should be erected over the weekend as well
• We are revamping the lunch schedule to accommodate for the number of students 
• Breakfast will be eaten outside under the tents starting April 5th

Family Literacy

• Lee Academy will be hosting another set of Family Literacy Nights focused on supporting students as a writer.  
• Families will be taking a look at grade-level writing standards, sharing tips with each other, and getting ideas for how to support writing at home.  T
• The sessions will be organized by grade level and facilitated by Sarah and Govi.
• Classroom teachers - if you could send a reminder the Monday or Tuesday of the week of your session, that would be super helpful! 
• Sarah will also post the link on Seesaw or Google classroom the morning of the session if she has access (or you can give me access and I'll post). She'll also send reminders out to you the week of.  Also - and totally optional - but please let me know if there's anything specific you'd like Sarah to cover.

The sessions are on the following dates:

- Grades K2/1st Grade: Thursday, March 11th, 5:30pm

- Grades 2 and 3: Thursday, March 18th, 5:30pm

- Grades K0/K1: Thursday, March 25th, 5:30pm

Zoom link for all sessions:

https://k12-bostonpublicschools.zoom.us/j/85810624230

March 12, 2021

Honey-Do List- March

March 8- Read the Hive. Remind your friends to read the Hive.

March 15: Post link and information about pooled testing consent on classroom pages

English Link

Spanish Link

March 17: 3:00-4:30 Staff Meeting (Including Paras) 

Buzzing in my Brain

Concurrent Teaching

• The early childhood department shared this resource on concurrent teaching. 
• Mary Driscoll shared this resource on concurrent teaching that Region 2 found helpful. 
• It is from the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching and is called: Concurrent Teaching Considerations: Supporting instruction in multiple modalities. 
• This tool is designed to help teachers plan for and then deliver concurrent lessons to ensure that learning is maximized regardless of student modality. Concurrent instruction can include:
• Teaching virtual and in-person learners simultaneously
• Teaching virtual and in-person learners in different class periods but within the same day

Preparing to Welcome Students Back

What We Know

Parent Survey

• Families will get their survey on Monday, they have until 3/22 to complete it
• Jodi with support from Sam will call families and walk them through the survey
• I actually started with room 101 today. :) 
• We may reach out to teachers for support with families that we are not able to reach
• A family can opt to switch to in-person learning at any time. This is in the new regulations. The District may ask for a reasonable amount of time to make it happen (i.e the time it takes to route transportation)

Sharing

• You do not have to make 20 individual sets of materials.
• 2-3 students may share the same set of manipulatives etc.

Materials

• We have reordered everything that we were unable to get into your hands this fall. Hopefully, we will start to see those arriving soon. 

Devices

• You may ask students to transport their devices OR to bring them and leave them in the school once we have returned to 5-day in school learning

Specials

• The amazing Ms. Purple is redoing our special schedule again
• Our goal is to increase "live" specials once students return. 
• We are balancing this goal with the desire to limit exposure for our specialists
• I will be working with our specialist team to determine their comfort levels
• Specials will either be live-streamed into your classroom or held in person

Eating

• We will be opening the second cafeteria once we find the furniture to do so
• Both tents should be erected over the weekend as well
• We are revamping the lunch schedule to accommodate for the number of students 
• Breakfast will be eaten outside under the tents starting April 5th

Getting us to the Goal

Time

• You will have time to prepare your classrooms on 3/24 and 3/31(This may change based on any agreements reached between the BTU and BPS)
• The building will be open until 5 on each of those days

Rescheduled PD

•  Our final 2 PD sessions will be scheduled to 4/28 and 5/5

Questions and Concerns

• Please continue to enter your questions and concerns into this document

Adjusted Procedures

• We continue to live and learn in this new reality. Here are some new/tweaked procedures that we will use moving forward. 

Breakfast Procedures

• Beginning at 9:05 Jackie/David will deliver breakfasts to a central location in each hallway

• At 9:10 each classroom can send an adult to gather the breakfasts needed for your classroom.

• Breakfast bags will be brought back to the cafeteria at 10:00 am by the breakfast captain

• This will only be in place until April 5.

Student Pooled Testing

Consent

• This is a key mitigation strategy
• This type of surveillance testing is designed to test large groups of asymptomatic people as an additional mitigation strategy that will help us to monitor infection rates within our community and to be able to quickly prevent transmission if a positive case is identified.  
• This program will be most successful if the majority of in-person students participate in testing. 
• Please post a link to the google consent form on your classroom pages (for your hybrid students only) in an effort to get as many students as possible enrolled in the pooled testing program. 
• If families have specific questions, please direct them to Sam and she can talk them through the process. 
• If you have other ideas to boost education and consent or if you want Sam to come to speak to a group of your parents in order to explain the program and answer questions, please let me know. 
• Pooled surveillance testing is an important way that we can ensure a safe school environment.

In-School Procedure

• Please read this updated linked document, Student Pooled PCR Testing DRAFT Process, so that you know what to expect when pooled testing begins this upcoming week. 
• We do not have flexibility with when the testing occurs because the support team is assigned centrally. 

Family Literacy

• Lee Academy will be hosting another set of Family Literacy Nights focused on supporting students as a writer.  
• Families will be taking a look at grade-level writing standards, sharing tips with each other, and getting ideas for how to support writing at home.  T
• The sessions will be organized by grade level and facilitated by Sarah and Govi.
• Classroom teachers - if you could send a reminder the Monday or Tuesday of the week of your session, that would be super helpful! 
• Sarah will also post the link on Seesaw or Google classroom the morning of the session if she has access (or you can give me access and I'll post). She'll also send reminders out to you the week of.  Also - and totally optional - but please let me know if there's anything specific you'd like Sarah to cover.

The sessions are on the following dates:

- Grades K2/1st Grade: Thursday, March 11th, 5:30pm

- Grades 2 and 3: Thursday, March 18th, 5:30pm

- Grades K0/K1: Thursday, March 25th, 5:30pm

Zoom link for all sessions:

https://k12-bostonpublicschools.zoom.us/j/85810624230

Stipend Opportunity

Please Join - Performance Assessment Development

We are recruiting teacher teams to pilot the development of performance assessment tasks at the district level. Virtual meetings will occur on 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 5/3, 5/17, 6/21, and 6/28. There is a $1,500 stipend per participant. Detailed information and the application can be found here.  For more information, please contact Sarah Jay at sjay@bostonpublicschools.org

March 5, 2021

Honey-Do List- March

March 5- Read the Hive. Remind your friends to read the Hive.

March 8: Post link and information about pooled testing consent for on classroom pages

English Link

Spanish Link

New Procedures

• We continue to live and learn in this new reality. Here are some new/tweaked procedures that we will use moving forward. 

Breakfast Procedures

• Beginning at 9:10 Jackie/David will deliver breakfasts to the classroom based on the number of children expected that day.

• We will provide a list of classrooms and #of students

• Once breakfasts have been distributed by Jackie/David they will return the carriers back to the cafeteria.

• This will happen no later than 10:00 am

General Dismissal Procedures:

Preparation:

• We will be doing a living bus binder.

• Jodi will walk the building at 10:15 and ask each individual classroom who is absent and present that day

• This will allow teachers to post their full attendance later in the day to account for online learners. 

• This information will be used both for the lunch count needed in the cafeteria by 10:20 and identifying who to expect riding on the bus. 

• At this time Jodi will also ask if any students scheduled to ride the bus are being picked up that day. 

• If you find out later in the day that a student is changing their departure please text Jodi

• This information will help us to avoid looking for students at the end of the day. 

Walkers/Pick-ups

• Walkers will be dismissed at 3:10. The classroom teacher will walk the students to the back of the school where they will meet the students’ families. 

• Any student not picked up by 3:35 will be returned to the office and the teacher will contact the family. 

Bus Students

• Keri will bring the students to the bus. 

• Keri will wait by the double doors at the entrance with a sign stating the number of the bus that is boarding

• Zoraida will call the bus number. Paras will get the students ready in the classroom.

• There will be 3 staff members assigned to gather students from the classrooms. 

• 2 on the first floor and 1 on the second floor

• Each gathering staff member will bring their line of students to Keri who will then bring the students to the bus.

Monday and Tuesday

Boarding Staff:

Keri

Gathering Staff

101, 102, 103,104 Sam

105,108         Jodi

202, 205         Kathryn

Thursday and Friday

Boarding Staff:

Keri

Gathering Staff:

106, 107 Jodi

101, 103 Sam

203, 204 Sarah

Back-up: Monday/Tuesday Govi

Thursday/Friday Nee

Student Pooled Testing

Consent

• We will begin to offer student pooled COVID next week. 
• This type of surveillance testing is designed to test large groups of asymptomatic people as an additional mitigation strategy that will help us to monitor infection rates within our community and to be able to quickly prevent transmission if a positive case is identified.  
• This program will be most successful if the majority of hybrid students participate in testing. 
• So far, we have only 7 students with completed consent forms.  
• Please post a link to the google consent form on your classroom pages (for your hybrid students only) in an effort to get as many students as possible enrolled in the pooled testing program. 
• If families have specific questions, please direct them to Sam and she can talk them through the process. 
• If you have other ideas to boost education and consent or if you want Sam to come speak to a group of your parents in order to explain the program and answer questions, please let me know. 
• Pooled surveillance testing is an important way that we can ensure a safe school environment.

In-School Procedure

• Please read this linked document, Student Pooled PCR Testing DRAFT Process, so that you know what to expect when pooled testing begins this upcoming week. 
• We do not have flexibility with when the testing occurs because the support team is assigned centrally.
• We currently only have 9 students that have consented.  

Talking Points

• By tomorrow afternoon I should have finished adding in Hybrid and Remote classes for each grade level to Talking Points so that you can easily text the families of students that are in your groups something that is only relevant to that group.

Family Literacy

• Lee Academy will be hosting another set of Family Literacy Nights focused on supporting students as a writer.  
• Families will be taking a look at grade-level writing standards, sharing tips with each other, and getting ideas for how to support writing at home.  T
• The sessions will be organized by grade level and facilitated by Sarah and Govi.
• Classroom teachers - if you could send a reminder the Monday or Tuesday of the week of your session, that would be super helpful! 
• Sarah will also post the link on Seesaw or Google classroom the morning of the session if she has access (or you can give me access and I'll post). She'll also send reminders out to you the week of.  Also - and totally optional - but please let me know if there's anything specific you'd like Sarah to cover.

The sessions are on the following dates:

- Grades K2/1st Grade: Thursday, March 11th, 5:30pm

- Grades 2 and 3: Thursday, March 18th, 5:30pm

- Grades K0/K1: Thursday, March 25th, 5:30pm

Zoom link for all sessions:

https://k12-bostonpublicschools.zoom.us/j/85810624230

Safety Drills

Mandated safety drills including active shooter and fire drills will be held next week on Monday and Thursday. 

Stipend Opportunity

Please Join - Performance Assessment Development

We are recruiting teacher teams to pilot the development of performance assessment tasks at the district level. Virtual meetings will occur on 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 5/3, 5/17, 6/21, and 6/28. There is a $1,500 stipend per participant. Detailed information and the application can be found here.  For more information, please contact Sarah Jay at sjay@bostonpublicschools.org

February 26, 2021

Monday and Thursday

• Please remember that Monday and Thursday are de facto first days of school this year and as such we will need an all-hands-on-deck approach to making sure everything runs smoothly.
• While there are sure to be challenges, please remember to have fun and take 30 seconds to soak in the fact that we are finally back in the building educating our small humans. 

Staffing Plan and Duty

• As I stated in our Wednesday meeting there have been a few changes to duty assignments these are listed in our Lee Academy Staffing Plan
• I have also added some scenario tables to the contingency staffing plans so that everyone knows what to expect in a variety of situations that can arise
  
  

Safety Care Recertification Training

• Safety Care is the de-escalation and physical management training used in BPS. The Behavioral Health Services (BHS) department will begin holding Safety Care Recertification trainings for staff. 
• These trainings are only for staff who attended a full 2-day training in SY19-20 by the BHS department. 
• Staff who were trained last year will have until May 2021 to attend a recertification; otherwise, they must attend a full training if their certification lapses beyond that time. 
• It will be critical that those who sign-up for the training actually attend on their scheduled date. Historically, we have had multiple no-shows for trainings. 
• Given the limited seats/trainings, it is important that we maximize each session to ensure access for staff across our district. 
• Here is a link to the Safety Care Recertification Training Schedule for 2020-2021. 
• Please register for training through TeachPoint. 
• If you have questions, please contact Lucinda Mills at lmills@bostonpublicschools.org.

February 5 2021

Honey-Do List- February

February 5- Read the Hive. Tell your friends to read the Hive.

February 5 (Noon)- Complete shout out trackers

February 26- Last day for teacher leadership grants

Buzzing in my Brain

• Do you ever get questions stuck in your head? This week I have two that are buzzing around in there:
• How/When do we give students an opportunity to redo work so that it meets the quality of the standard?
• How do we acknowledge and respect that we are in people's homes every day and that may or may not be uncomfortable for people?

K-6 After School Program

• BPS will be working with Out-of-School-Time (OST) partners and agencies to provide direct support to students' academic experiences and instruction outside the traditional school day. The programming will take place online or in-person in the neighborhoods of our students, especially those with the greatest need.
• Student criteria for program eligibility are based on students who need intensive support as signified by  ELA and math grades from the 1st  quarter in SY20-21. 
• For more information about the program please click here
• We have 82 students that will be invited to attend

BPS Moves Together Movement Break Cards

• The Office of Health and Wellness is excited to share a movement break card deck for classroom teachers and school leaders. 
• They have adapted all activities for virtual and distance learning settings. 
• Check it out here! 

Most Things Reopening

• The staffing template found here has multiple tabs including duty assignment, lunch schedule, and contingency staffing plan
• Please familiarize yourself with this document. The information in it is important

Contingency Staffing Plan:

• Last week there was some confusion over the role of partner teachers. 
• The K0/K1 team asked if we could meet to discuss the plan and try to come up with an action for many possible scenarios
• You may find this helpful to do with your grade level team and partner teacher. 
• I think this was a productive meeting though we do not have all of the answers yet 
• Here is where we left it:

	Scenario	Plan A	Plan B
Scenario 1	The teacher needs to stay home due to covid protocol but is well enough to work remotely	- Teacher covers remote kids.  - Para cover in-person kids.
Scenario 2	Para needs to stay home due to covid protocol but is well enough to work remotely.	- Para covers remote kids.  - Teacher covers in-person kids.
Scenario 3	The teacher is too sick to work from home.	- Para covers in-person kids. - Remote kids log onto partner teachers zoom	If the partner teacher is out, remote students will learn asynchronously
Scenario 4	Para is too sick to work from home.	- Teacher covers in-person kids.  - Remote kids log onto partner teacher's zoom.	If the partner teacher is out, remote students will learn asynchronously
Scenario 5	The teacher and Para need to stay home due to covid protocol but are well enough to work from home.	- Teacher and para cover remote kids.  In person kids are equally distributed among the other 3 classrooms. Possibly find another staff member to cover in-person kids
Scenario 6	The teacher and Para are both home and too sick to work.	- Remote kids log into partner teachers zoom. In person kids are equally distributed among the other 2 classrooms. Possibly find another staff member to cover in-person kids	If the partner teacher is out, remote students will learn asynchronously

January 29, 2021

Honey-Do List- February

January 29- Read the Hive. Tell your friends to read the Hive.

January 29 (Noon)- Complete shout out trackers

January 28- Provide Jodi a copy of your most recent schedule

February 1- Small humans return to the building

February 1-5 -Black Lives Matter at School Week

February 5- Let Jodi know if you are interested in riles-based reading training

February 26- Last day for teacher leadership grants

Data Meeting Reflection-

• I have really enjoyed the data meetings that have happened 1:1 so far.
• Having time to connect and focus with individuals is so wonderful it helps to feed my soul
• I get to learn about your successes and challenges and think of how to best support you
• We will be holding these meetings every 6 weeks as a way to connect.

Daily Cleaning Procedure Student Surfaces

• The following is the procedure that we will use for cleaning the surfaces that students are using.
• This procedure should be done at the beginning of the day and the end of the day
• Student or teacher wipes surface with soap and water at end of the day 
• Teacher sprays surface with disinfectant (10 minutes minimum dwell time but can be left on longer or overnight).
• Student or teacher wipes surface with soap and water in the morning to remove chemical residue

Most Things Reopening

• The staffing template found here has multiple tabs including duty assignment, lunch schedule, and contingency staffing plan
• Please familiarize yourself with this document. The information in it is important
• The contingency staffing plan is not great but it is what we have. I welcome any suggestions to make it better

Specialist Schedules

From our remarkable and brilliant scheduling genius Ms. Purple

• Jodi and I talked this afternoon and it seems to make more sense for specials to continue when the whole class is remote. 
• This would allow for some consistency in the specials time for the kids and would avoid us trying to learn a new schedule with twice the amount of synchronous specials (one for the remote group and one for the hybrid group). 
• When I originally made that extended schedule, I think I didn't anticipate it would take us until March to roll out the full hybrid model. It feels late in the year to launch into a completely new schedule. 
• Instead, I'm proposing a few swaps to the music and science schedules (for the 3/1 start, NOT next week) so that music and science would be live on the day the class would not have hybrid students in the school (aka the day when the whole class is remote). 
• For the February HIPP period, we would continue with the specials schedule as they have been the last months. 
• The very few kids who are in school in February can zoom in to the sessions from the classroom, either on their own Chromebooks if they're bringing them to school, or the teacher/para could project the zoom. 
• This would be the 3/1 full hybrid start. Next week and throughout February the schedule would remain the same as you've been doing. 

Documenting in Panorama

• Everyone is doing such great family outreach and support work. It is such a strength for this team
• Please remember to document any outreach and response to student/family challenges in Panorama
• The district checks this frequently as one of its data points and we should get the "credit" for all of the great work that we do. 
• Prioritize documenting those things that you do as family/student support For example:
• "I send R a text every morning reminding him that it is time to attend school" 
• "I spoke with J's mother today about the benefits of having her return to school in person."
• "I started taking P in a small group 2xs week to support foundational reading skills"
• Thank you to those of you that have kept this up during the year. 

Rules-Based Reading

• We need to increase our capacity to offer rules-based reading instruction to our students. 
• I am looking for volunteers to be trained in rules-based reading
• Please let me know by 2/5 if you would be willing to go through training
• When I was teaching it was transformational professional learning for me and I highly reccomend it

COVID Testing

• Our COVID testing site will be Tech Boston which means that we can walk to our testing location. 
• I am grateful to the district for moving our site so that it will be more convenient for all of you. 
• Sam will be sharing more information about scheduling etc. as it becomes available.

Black Lives Matter @ School: 

Black Lives Matter @ School Week is Next Week!

• List of demands for the nationwide BLM @ School Week of Action are: 
• End zero tolerance
• Mandate Black history and ethnic studies, 
• Hire more black teachers 
• Fund counselors, not cops
• More information can be found here: BLM @ School
• Age-appropriate activity ideas for next week are: 
• Listen to "Glory" by John Legend and Common
• Read "Black is a Rainbow Color"  by Angela Joy
• Have a virtual poetry slam
• Write and draw about what makes each of us special
• All the resources for the above activities are located in this PowerPoint

 Teacher Leadership Fund Mid-Year Grants  

• The Teacher Leadership Fund is happy to announce a new midyear grant opportunity for this year only.
• We know that now more than ever educators are innovating and creating to address the immense challenges that our students and schools are facing, especially those that have been created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until February 26. Email tlf@bostonpublicschools.org with questions.

EL Stipend

• For those of you that are teaching students with ELD levels 4 and 5 in your classrooms please send me an email that you agree to accept the stipend for this school year 2020- 2021 and next 2021-2022
• As a reminder, you have the choice to accept the stipend or we have to hire an ESL teacher
• We ask you to accept the stipend as our budget cannot withstand the addition of another FTE. 

Material Kits

• The Early Childhood and STEM departments partnered to provide home kits for students in grades K-5th for spring 2021.
• The materials included in the kits can be reused, so students and teachers can complete more than one challenge and use them for individual content area projects.
• The kits are pre-assembled and will be shipped directly to schools in quantities corresponding to the school’s student capacity which in most cases is a lot higher than the actual enrollment numbers.
• Delivery to schools is expected to start on February 8th.
• Legos for K2 kits will be distributed separately by the Department of Early Childhood the 2nd week of February. Details will be added as we get close to the delivery date.

January 22, 2021

Honey-Do List- January

January 11-MAP Assessment Window Opens

January 22- Read the Hive. Tell your friends to read the Hive.

January 22 (Noon)- Complete shout out trackers

January 27- Book 1:1 Data Meeting

January 28- Provide Jodi a copy of your most recent schedule

January 29- MAP Assessment window closes

Data Meetings

• Please use this link to schedule a 1:1 meeting with me to discuss student progress and data in your classroom. 
• Please book your appointment by Wednesday, January 27th. 
• I want to get a better picture of what is working, what is not, and what interventions we have tried
• We will be using the student data that is in Panorama and Lexia to frame our conversations. 
• These meetings will take approximately 45 minutes. 

Schedules

• The district has asked that school leaders be prepared to provide information for a teaching time audit.
• This is in response to the new teaching time regulations that were put in place by the State.  
• In order to do this effectively, please provide me with a copy of your most recent teaching schedule by Thursday, January 28th. 
• In addition to meeting the State regulations, the district would like to see that every student, every day has an opportunity to interact live with a teacher. 
• As always I trust and believe that you will continue to do what is in the best interests of your students and families. 

School Building Reopening

Where we are at Lee Academy:

• Our air purifiers are here Bill is placing them in classrooms and common spaces
• Here is the Lee Academy cleaning log so you know what to expect in regards to cleaning when you return to the building
• Here are our staffing plans for 2/1 and 3/1. 
• Please review it and let me know of any changes by Tuesday, January 26th
• The leadership team and I are working on contingency plans for when people are out. We welcome ANY ideas that you may have. 
• 4 Day-HIPP learners will not come 4 days until 3/1

Information from the District:

• If a student is scheduled to be hybrid and has not come to in-person learning for two weeks we must contact them to be sure that their absence is not related to a COVID quarantine.
• If we determine that the absence is not COVOD related we can inform the family that we are returning them to a remote model and offer the seat to the next student. 

Budget Update:

I wanted to give everyone a summary of the final budget update that I will be providing to our Governing Board on Wednesday:

• We are adding 1.5 positions a .5 social worker and 1.0 Family Liason
• We are receiving $41,000 in partnership funding. This is something that we have never received before. We will use this to fund our partnerships with Treehouse Yoga, Eliot School, Swabby Tae Kwan Do, and Urbanity Dance
• We are moving from actual to average salary. In a typical year, this would mean that we would have some additional funding to spend on things we need. Unfortunately, this is not a typical year.
• The change-in salary structure is allowing us to not have to make $20,000 in budget cuts.
• There is a long story behind why and how this works and if you are curious please join our governing board meeting Wednesday at 6:00  immediately following PD (Sorry Lindsay, Rose, Brian, Meredith)
• This is good news just not as good as I had thought/hoped 

Reminder: Shout Outs

• There are two tabs on the tracker one for students of the week and one for the content area of the week
• We are asking classroom teachers to shout out two students each week by filling in the appropriate place on the tracker with the student's name and a sentence about how they earned the shout out. Please complete this by 12:00 noon on Fridays
•  We are shouting out the writer of the week for the week 1/18/21.