10/14/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Leida Arroyo for connecting us with the Office of Equity and helping us to seeking the Welcoming School certification through two years of PD. Our school is a more welcoming place thanks to your efforts!

PD

Here are some supplementary documents to support you all from PD today that Steven mentioned.

Halloween

The Curley K-8 will not have a Halloween celebration during the school day. As a community we are focused on health and wellness and therefore we ask that all candy remain at home. We are also asking that students leave all costumes, masks and face painting at home as well. Thank you in advance for your support around this matter.

PARCC Data

Here is a link to all grade levels individual PARCC Data. At ILT this week we will complete a protocol for how to review this data but teams may begin to look and process the information.

October 2016, Student Curley Shares Awards

Please use this form to recognize up to three of the students you work with who exhibit consistent or improved understanding of the Curley Cares rules as demonstrated by a specific deed, general conduct, overall academic perseverance and/or improvement, or some other form of participation. 

Awards will be presented to students during our October 20, 2016 Curley Shares assemblies. 

All submissions are  due by 4:00pm on Tuesday October 18, 2016

Please contact your climate team representative with general questions about the student awards; if you have any problems accessing the form, please contact Kate Davis.

Friday is Buddy Day! 

This Friday, October 14th, is our first annual Buddy Day. Buddy Day is when paired buddy classes meet for the first time to get to know one another. The Climate Team is continuing to strengthen the Buddy Class tradition (started last year) as a way for older Curley students to meet with and mentor younger Curley students, teaching them about Curley Cares and engaging in activities that support caring about ourselves, each other, and our school. Please click here for a detailed Buddy Day "To Do" list, the gist of which is listed below:

BEFORE FRIDAY: 

• Find your Buddy Class(es) on this list  and get in touch with your coordinating teacher(s) to determine a time and place for students to meet on Friday the 14th for approximately 20 minutes. 
• Create student pairs/groups (in 1:1 or 2:1 ratios) across buddy classrooms, with plan B if student(s) are absent.
• Review and download the "getting to know you" activity linked here. Adapt the activity as need for your individual students.
• Contact your grade-level Climate Team representative with any questions

ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14th

• Prepare meeting space for groups.
• Get together with your Buddy Class(es) during the time you determined with your colleagues
• Place students in predetermined pairs/groups and have them complete the "getting to know you" activity. Adapt as needed for your individual students 

AFTER BUDDY DAY

• Reflect with your buddy teacher on the buddy pairings
• Create a plan for meeting and sitting together during Curley Shares assemblies

Walkthrough Feedback

The district conducted a walkthrough at the Curley last Thursday. This was done at 7 other schools and will happen at most schools throughout the year as part of principal professional development. Instructional Superintendent, Alex Montes McNeil has previously looked at our PARCC Data with the admin team and we all identified achievement gaps between our Black and Latino students and their White or Asian peers. Therefore the principals were tasked with collecting data regarding the engagement of our Black and Brown Boys*. The purpose of this walk through was provide the school with information to help improve our instructional outcomes for these students.

Observation Trends

• Students across all grade levels were compliant and following adult directions
• In classrooms where students were seated in groups there were more opportunities provided for student discourse
• In multiple classrooms black or brown boys were seated separately and identified to the visitor that the teacher thinks they learn better sitting there
• In classrooms where there were less adult enforced structures and more student choice all males of color were engaged in the task and seated with peers
• Some classrooms had clear UDL practices that were part of the lesson plan and in these classrooms students were given more opportunities for choice, movement and sharing their thinking than in classrooms that UDL practices were not observed

* This is the language the district is using to further include our males who are not White or Asian. 

Positive Highlight Trends Shared*

• The school is clean - They complimented the signage and seeing students pick up trash and throw it away
• EFA has increased diversity across classrooms compared to the former AWC model
• Students exhibited positive behaviors both in the classroom and hallway
• Some use of UDL and choice in pockets around the school

* Just to note the purpose of the walkthrough was not to highlight the positives of the school but rather to help us address our achievement gaps.

Questions

• How can we leverage our areas of strengths to further support our areas of improvement?
• How can we begin to release control from the teacher and allow more student choice?
• How can we assure that are calling on our black and brown boys as often as their white peers?
• How can we make sure that our black and brown boys are seated as part of the group and not being separated?

Open Circle

We'd love all of you, especially those new to the building, to join us in Ms. Burke's room (017) before school for a meet and greet breakfast Friday Oct. 21st. We hope everyone has already received a teacher resource guide for their grade level. If we missed you, please let Christina Burke (cburke4@bostonpublicschools.org) and Eva Banks (epromponas@bostonpublicschools.org) know ASAP and we will provide one. We would love to know how teaching Open Circle is going for you so far and discuss anything that has been a challenge for you up to this point. 

STAR Math Assessment  Window(Gr. 3-8 Only)

The fall screening window for the STAR Math Assessment is 

October 11 – 21.   The STAR website can be accessed by all students using the STAR bookmark on Chromebooks. Student user names and passwords are the same as STAR Reading. Students can use blank scratch paper and a pencil while testing, but no calculators or reference materials are allowed.

Just a reminder, students must sign into Chromebooks using their email address and password – not as “guest”.  The math test is similar in format to the reading assessment taken last month. Grade level teams should arrange to share access to Chromecarts so that all students are tested during the screening window.  Please contact Sean Guthrie if you have any questions.

Curley Cares

We care about our STAFF!  CURLEY CARES FUNDS 2016-2017  We hope that we can recruit ALL the CURLEY K-8 staff for this academic year. This is a humble opportunity to care for our colleagues in moments of happiness, worries, and grief. PLEASE MAKE A CHECK PAYABLE TO THE CURLEY CARES FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $20.00 or submit cash to Ms. Mundo,  Ms. Kidd, Ms. Iatrou, Ms. Davis. WE WILL COLLECT DONATIONS during our next week's whole-school PD on October 13th from 3:00-4:15.

Pathway Programs, October 2016 - June 2017

Many staff have asked when Pathways will begin. Below is the information. Please let Katie Grassa know if you are applying so she can follow up with OHC and recommend you.

Hosted by: Human Capital
Target Audience: BPS Staff, including Central Office, School Leaders, Teachers, and Paraprofessionals
Upcoming Pathway Programs for Moderate Disabilities, Severe Disabilities and ESL are now posted on My Learning Plan, including program information and application procedure. Application Deadline: Wednesday, October 17th
ESL Pathway - click here
Severe Disability - click here
Moderate Disability - click here

Picture Day for grades K-8

Picture Day this year for grades K-4th will take place Tuesday, October 25 from 8:15 am to 2:20 pm. On Thursday, October 27th, grades 5th-8th will take their pictures from 8:15 to 2:20 pm. Picture Day is rain or shine. If it’s raining photos will be in the the auditorium. Mrs. Powers and Mrs. Vasquez will place the picture forms in your mailbox by Friday, October 7, 2016. Please go the link Picture Day for more detailed instructions. We will also have a schedule by the end of the week. Please see Mrs. Powers or Mr. Diaz if you have any questions.

SSC

The first SSC meeting will be on Tuesday, October 18th from 5:30pm-7:00pm.

Sole Train

The Sole Train 5K walk/run that takes place on October 15th at Jamaica Pond. This will be the first race that many of your participating students and staff have ever been a part of and we would love to have you there. Additionally, anything you can do to spread the word, as we're hoping to get many friends, family and folks from the community out there, would be appreciated. We are partnering with the Boston Police Department and Police Activity League and there will be free breakfast, ice cream, a kids fun run and music. It's a fabulous morning and we encourage you all to come out. I've attached our postcard and the website is: www.SoleTrain5k.com

WIN Block Update (Grades 3-8 Only)

WIN Block will begin next week for Grades 3-5 and the following week (October 10th) for Grades 6-8.  Resource Room teachers should check in with grade level teams.  Please contact Eileen Cronin or Olivia Peters with any questions.

Professional Development Plans 

Teams, either content or grade level, should be collaborating to create a PD plan which aligns with the instructional focus and is an extension of the work being completed during CPT. If teams need support in completing their plans please ask an administrator.  Professional development plans (everyone except K2-grade 2 teachers) should be submitted to your evaluator by October 14th. Teams may submit earlier if they are ready (thanks to several teams who already have). 

• Goals/Action Steps are now due October 7, 2016 (this can be a draft but must be submitted).
• Your Student Learning Goal will be school-wide and will be shared Sunday night in the Blog.
• Your Professional Practice Goal should directly align with this PD plan and be created by grade level or content teams. 
• At this time, TeachPlus has had to change their plans. We are hopeful that they will be able to offer courses in the spring but teams should not rely on them as part of their grade level plans.  Grade level/ content professional development should take place on the PD dates scheduled.

SPED PD Options

Below are some PD options being offered at the Curley during our contractual PD dates. Staff may want to include one or more of these into their team PD plan. Here is the link to sign up   https://goo.gl/forms/BwtGbumLgXBfLUMF2

• Oct 20th --- Goal Writing for Special Education Teachers 
• Nov 17th --- The IEP Process/Meeting Expectations 
• Jan 19th --- Paperwork/IEP Progress Reports 
• Feb 16th --- Tier 1 and Tier 2 Interventions/curriculum modification 
• March 16th --- Behavior Supports 
• April 27th --- Understanding Disabilities and Services available 
• May 18th --- Middle School Transition/Life Skills 
• June 1st --- Inclusion 

Build BPS

BPS is looking to hear from various communities regarding the 10-Year Educational and Facilities Master Plan. There will be a Open House for communities on October 29^th-30^th from 9am-5pm at the Bruce C. Bolling Building. For more information go to http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/buildbps

BPS Assessment Calendar

Click This link to access the BPS Assessment Calendar.