12/21/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Caridad (aka, Cari) Lopez, who took over the recording of time/student numbers for the Pershing Bus arrivals in the 18 degree temperatures. It's not her normal duty, but she picked up the burden and demonstrated how much she practices "We Care About Each Other" and "We Care About Our School." We sure appreciated her being there!

Staff Breakfast

The Admin Team will host a staff breakfast for everyone on Wednesday, December 21st from 7:30am-8:15am in the Teacher's Room. ALL Staff are invited to attend and wish one another a Happy New Year!

SAVE THE DATE

2nd Annual Smile and Say Cheers New Year's Party

January 13, 2017 at 4:30pm Bella Luna
$25 dollars if DUE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22nd!!!!!! DON'T FORGET!!!!

Gift Drive

We are holding a gift drive for a few of our Curley Students. Anyone can pick a tag with a gift idea in either the upper school teacher room or in the lower school lobby. Unwrapped gifts can be dropped off with the tag attached in Ms. Mitchell's room 110 in the lower school. Thank you for your support. 

ACCESS Testing

Staff It is that time of year again to prepare for ACCESS: For people who were certified in grades K-3 last year for the paper-based test, kindergarten, and/or alternate ACCESS, only need to re-certify for the Speaking since we are administering the paper-based test again. All teachers in Grades 4-8 need to take the online training module.

New Staff or those who did not takes the training last year. 

You will need to create an account on www.wida.us using username Massachusetts, password patriot. Create an account and follow the steps below.
Teachers in Kindergarten: sign into www.wida.us your account and take the kindergarten training module and quiz.

• Teachers in Grades 1-3: sign into www.wida.us and take the speaking grades 1-6 and paper administration modules and quizzes.
• All Teacher in grades 4-8: Sign into www.wida.us and take the online administration test.
• All teachers that have or service students that are ACCESS ALT will need to sign into their account and take the testing listed above as well as the Alternate ACCESS quiz.
• Any new non-teaching staff and administrators need to take kindergarten, speaking 1-6, paper and online. Once you have taken and passed the quizzes please bring in the completed certification to Kathy or Madeline by Friday January 6th 2017.

If you have any questions feel free to ask Waverly.

New Health and Wellness Policy

Starting January 2017, the Curley K-8 Community is implementing a Celebration and Reward Policy focused on the health and wellness of our community.  This policy uses tools for academic success to recognize important events, exceptional behavior and teamwork in place of food and candy. At the Curley K-8 the majority of celebrations (holidays, birthdays, end of school year etc.) will be recognized without food/candy in the classroom.  At the Curley K-8 exceptional behavior and/or teamwork will also be recognized without food/candy.  This policy will be followed in after-school, school spots/clubs etc., the one exception to this is the PACE program.  Please communicate this policy with students and families when we return from winter break and at the beginning of each academic year.  The policy has been mentioned to families in the Paw Prints and a memo about it will go home in backpacks.  The detailed policy is attached which includes ideas to recognize these events without food/candy and what to do in the event a family brings in treats for a classroom birthday celebration.  We are also asking teachers to develop a way to recognize these events that is uniform across each grade level. Thank you for your support to help take care of our community.

Wanted – Samples of Student Work That Address Instructional Focus

STOP!  Before you send home all that work from the last four months, please see if you have any samples of student work that address our instructional focus and put them aside for the new year.  We will be creating a bulletin board to showcase how Curley students are able to “express a clear and organized idea”.  Cross-content examples of student work are particularly welcomed!  More details will be forthcoming after winter break.  Please contact Eileen Cronin with any questions.

Special Education Report Update

To all Staff,

In order to maintain compliance with DESE and Boston Public Schools requirements, As of January 4th ,2017, Jessica and I will be requiring all reports by 8AM two days before the IEP meeting. We sincerely appreciate all your hard work and we understand sometimes deadlines are difficult however  reports must, by law, be available to parents and other TEAM members by that two day deadline. Thank you in advance. This is necessary to adhere to state guidelines and for coordinators to ensure that the necessary paperwork is complete and services are in place before the meetings. This also helps us prepare for OR/RE/URs.

For example:

• Monday meetings -- by 8AM the Thursday before
• Tuesday meetings -- by 8AM the Friday before
• Wednesday meetings -- by 8 AM Monday
• Thursday meetings -- by 8AM Tuesday 
• Friday meetings -- by 8 AM Wednesday

Thank you - Karen and Jessica

SPC Fundraiser

The School Parent Council (SPC) is starting a fundraiser for our school this week. The money raised will go towards opening a new school library as well as increasing the technology K-8. Fliers will be in mailboxes for you to send home, information has been posted on the website, a robo call will go out to families, a campaign sign will be placed in the school yard and you are welcome to spread the word to your friends and family as well as post on social media. Here you will find the letter that will go out via email as well as the printed version that will be placed in your mailbox to send home. 

Preference Sheets

It is that time of year again! We are planning for next year and want to know your thoughts and preferences. Please be sure to complete the Curley K-8 2017-2018 School Year Staff Preference Sheet by Tuesday, December 20th. 

School Previews

We are looking for family volunteers to support our upcoming School Previews. These are building tours for perspective families and Curley families help to lead and share information from a parent’s point of view. All families are welcome to participate and no prior experience is necessary (we will partner you up with others). The preview dates will take place on Friday, January 13th from 9am-1pm and Monday, January 23rd from 3pm-4pm. Please email Arusha Hollister (arusha_h@yahoo.com) if you Doodle Poll: Doodle: Curley Preview Tours

$1500 Early Retirement Incentive Out; Deadline January 13, 2017

In order to assist hiring for the 2017 - 2018 school year, the Boston Public Schools is offering a one-time incentive for early notification of termination to members of the BTU Teachers’ Unit.
1. An individual must be a permanent BTU Teacher, have a minimum of ten (10) years of continuous service in the Boston Public Schools, and must meet the minimum age requirement of fifty-five (55) years. 

2. Eligible employees presently on paid or unpaid leave of absence can apply.
3. The application, once accepted by the Office of Human Capital by execution of the Separation Agreement, is binding on both parties and irrevocable.
4. Applicants understand that the termination must be effective between June 30, 2017 and August 31, 2017.
http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20161107/dd/1a/e8/c9/8eeabebfe1475e91be2b1c93/HRS-PP08_Incentive_for_Early_Notification_of_Termination_for_BTU_vF-3.pdf

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

• 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