Summer # 4: Updates

The "Wonder" Precept of the Day

If you want to go quickly go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African Proverb

Gratitude 

Thank you to everyone for two great days of working together and learning. I am looking forward to growing with you this year. We covered a lot of ground in the past few days and I am appreciative of how everyone stuck with it and your active learning. I heard some great insights into the work ahead. Thank you for your commitment. 

Book Recommendation 

I am currently listening to "Between the World and Me" written and read by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is a 2015 book written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and published by Spiegel & Grau. It is written as a letter to the author's teenage son about the feelings, symbolism, and realities associated with being Black in the United States. (Wikipedia). It is an incredibly powerful read. There are excerpts on the institution of school that we will listen to as a staff and think about what it means for our learners. If you have not yet had a chance to read it, I highly recommend it. 

Social Media

Keri and I are trying to increase Lee Academy Pilot's presence on social media. Keri is taking charge of our Facebook page and I am working on our Twitter presence. My personal Twitter which I use for everything is @JLFortuna_EdD and our Lee Academy twitter handle is @LeeAcademyPilot. No one has tweeted from our account since December 2016. Does anyone know who "owns" the @leeAcademyPilot Twitter account? I think this will be a great way to communicate with both families and the community about the terrific work our community of learners is doing!

View from the District 

If you follow me on Twitter you may frequently see the #JUICE. The new superintendent brought the 5 Core Values, this acronym represents, to Boston. The letters represent the following:

• J=Joy
• U=Unity
• I= Inclusion
• C= Collaboration
• E=Equity

In addition to these values, Dr. Cassellius has identified the following 5 goals to guide the work of the district:

1. All Hands on Deck: End conditions of childhood poverty

2. Raise the Bar — Close Gaps: 1st in nation to close gaps

3. High-Quality Schools, Every Neighborhood: Parents’ 1st choice

4. Every Student Ready: 100% graduated & launched successfully

5. BPS in Top 10 Best Places to Work in Boston

Swap Meet 

Unwanted yet usable classroom items will be left outside of the Teacher's Room on the second floor. Please stop by to browse for anything you need. Unclaimed items will be removed from the school on Tuesday by 12:00 pm (noon).  Please bring all unwanted classroom items to this location so that they can be easily removed from the building.  

Mice 

There seems to be a slight uptick in the number of mouse sightings in the school.  Truly I would think they were cute if it was not for the tail (ick).  Please keep all food in your classroom in tightly sealed containers. I would recommend glass but I understand if you do not want to have glass around young children. The plastic should still be a deterrent though be mindful that mice can chew through the plastic as well. 

Hiring Update 

I believe that all staff members have met Zoraida Camacho our new school secretary. Zoraida brings a wealth of experience with her to this position. She has worked on the transportation customer service team and most recently in City Hall collecting taxes.  Zoraida is fluent in Spanish which will be a huge asset for us! Please be patient with the two of us as we learn the ropes from you. I can imagine it is a bit unsettling having two newbies in our positions but we promise we will learn fast. You know the routines and structures that are in place and we will learn from you. 

Samantha Betti will be our new nurse starting on 9/23/19. We will have a coverage nurse to start the year. Samantha is a nurse practitioner who has experience in both the pediatric ICU setting and hospital administration. She most recently has served as an early intervention case manager. Her experience working in people's homes fits in with our vision of engaging families as partners. Samantha is committed to holistic wellness and will be a great asset to our community. 

Ordering Update 

Keri is in the process of delivering the items from the spring supply order that you submitted. Given the office transition nothing else has been ordered, yet. Zoraida is at training today and will be ready to go but the transition in the office has put us a bit behind. The good news is that WB Mason delivers in almost 24 hours. We will get you what you need but I want to be as transparent as possible with you regarding where things stand and why there may be a delay. 

Blueprint for Learning 

You received a copy of the Blueprint for Learning via email on 8/27. I am pleased with the connections between the items on the plan and our focus priorities that this document will illustrate for us. The expectation is that each grade level will have completed the objective and tasks through January on their document by 9/16. I understand that a few of you have questions and ideas after looking at the document during planning time today. I am looking forward to discussing these and thinking through them with you. 

Nothing is carved in stone. You can update and refine to better reflect your growth towards our goals throughout the school year. As a school community, we will revisit and refine this structure around the midpoint of the year.  

Due Dates 

9/16:  Grade Level Blueprint for Learning

 

Summer #3: Updates

Appreciation

Thank you to all of you that have come in to meet with me over the past few weeks. I have learned so much and am even more excited to be here. My heart is full when I reflect on the way that you speak about children, families and each other!

I also want to thank Lindsey, Danielle, Sarah, Denise, and Jennifer who gave up large chunks of time to help me interview candidates for our open positions. Their help was invaluable in finding the right person. 

Hiring Update

We have completed all of our interviews and I am happy to say that we have sent a great candidate for each position along to the Office of Human Capital. I will provide more information as the hires become "official" and the individuals have had an opportunity to notify their current employers.

Reminders

I will not be back in the building from 8/8 to 8/20. I will be available by phone, text, and email. Bill is also out on vacation through the 19th. Teachers' key cards are not working. Construction crews are working on the kitchen downstairs and they leave the building around 2:00 each day. 

The Family Council and I are hosting a Popsicles in the Park event on 8/24 from 2-4. Please join us if you can. I would also appreciate it if you would mention it to families when you speak with them. Here is the flyer. I will be doing a SchoolMessenger Message as soon as the sign-in is fixed (hopefully before the 24th).

 

Important Home Visits Update

Home Visits

Thank you all for your patience as we worked to crunch the numbers for our home visits. Our current account balance is $11,113. Last year we paid staff  $13,190 for conducting home visits. 

This year financial support for home visits will be capped at $370 per staff member with the assumption that 30 staff members will participate. This works out to at least 9 home visits per staff member. This link represents the staff members that I am assuming will participate in home visits based on the records from last year. 

When scheduling your visits please prioritize students that are new to our community and families that may feel uncomfortable in the school environment because of past experiences. 

One last reminder please invite me to join you on some visits so that I have an opportunity to meet families as well. 

Summer #2 July

Appreciation 

Thank you to everyone that has taken time to schedule an appointment to come in and chat with me. I am really enjoying getting a chance to meet and know people better. My plan is to outline some of the common themes that I have heard during our first days together as a full staff. 

Something Fun

A principal candidate shared an awesome idea during an interview that I am borrowing for our work together. In order for the idea to work, I need 100% of you to share some information about yourself with me. Please take two minutes to complete this survey. Here are my answers:

• Jodi Fortuna
• Jodi
• Dr. Jodi
• Doritos
• Iced Tea with extra lemon (this would change if I were not working)
• 12/29

MCAS 

The Office of Data and Accountability recently uploaded data workbooks for preliminary 2019  Round 2 MCAS CBT and PBT results for grades 3-8 in ELA, Math and Science and Technology/Engineering. These data compare average points/percent correct earned for our school compared to the district and state for all items. Each workbook includes data for all students who tested online and on paper. 

Please remember that the results included in the 2019 workbooks are preliminary and strictly embargoed. This means that these data are NOT to be shared with anyone outside of our school staff. These data may not be shared, copied, published, or announced, either in written form or verbally, in whole or in part. Please keep these data secure and confidential. Preliminary data should be referenced for instructional planning purposes, not for speculative accountability or performance analysis, or for evaluation purposes of any kind.

The 2019 preliminary data only include raw scores and have not yet been filtered; all students who answered at least one question are included. The following results will not be included in the official data release: First year ELs, students who participated in one session, voided tests, and students who moved schools during testing. 

Grade 3 ELA

Grade 3 Math

Professional Learning 

I am looking forward to seeing everyone for our professional learning days prior to the opening of school. Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve some confusion! Our dates are August 27th and 28th. I look forward to getting to know everyone better over the two days.

Getting in Touch with Me 

Please never to hesitate to contact me whenever you need something. Even if it is a thought partner. The best way to get me is my cell. The number is 978-906-5170.  I love both phone calls and text messages. A fun fact is if I am responding to an email on my phone I generally sign it with my initials JF. 

I am generally at the school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. I will be out of town the week of August 13th moving my son into college. You can call and text but there is a 3 hour time difference and the chance of hearing me sniffle on the other end of the phone is pretty high. 

Hiring  

We are starting the hiring process for our new school secretary and our new school nurse. We are fortunate that we will have a full-time nurse joining our team moving forward. I am hoping to hold interviews for these positions the week of August 5th which is coming even faster than I imagined that it would. 

Introduction

Dear Team,

My name is Jodi Fortuna and I am the Assistant Superintendent assigned to lead the Lee Academy Pilot School for the 2019-2020 school year. I am privileged to have been chosen for this important position.

My professional background is comprised of a variety of experiences. I have been an elementary special education teacher in both pull out and inclusionary settings. My administrative experience began with the opportunity to work as an elementary school assistant principal with approximately 800 students. I have had the privilege to be an elementary principal in rural and suburban schools. I have been the superintendent of a suburban school district, which taught me the importance of being close to and part of the work that happens schools. For the past two years, I have been in Boston serving as Director of the Academic Response Teams and Academic Superintendent overseeing 29 unique schools. Each of these experiences has taught me more about whom I am as a leader and the importance of education in helping to shape the future of a child.

I believe that an education is the greatest gift we can bestow on our children. Education will open doors for children that may have remained shut otherwise. With an exceptional education, children will be able to soar to heights previously unimagined and create a better future. Education is a great equalizer, knocking down barriers and crafting new vistas. I am thrilled that you and I will be teammates in providing an incomparable educational experience for our children.

I would like to get to know each of you better over the course of the summer. I want to know what your hopes, fears, and dreams are for your students. I want to ask you what is working well and where I need to focus my attention on for the upcoming year. I am hoping that you can find 45 minutes to stop by the school and chat.  Please feel free to select a time from this calendar to stop in. If you cannot come in before school starts, we will find a time shortly after the school year starts.

I am starting a staff blog called “The Hive” so that you will have up to date information about what is happening at school. I will update the Hive on most Sunday nights. I will be starting this practice over the summer with updates as they happen.

One of the things that excites me the most about this assignment is that I will be able to be in classrooms, with children, every day. I am looking forward to getting to know each of you over the course of the year. My door will always be open please be sure to stop by.  Let’s talk soon!