1/20/17 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Caroline Braun for all her hard work at the Curley K-8 School for the last 8 weeks! Thank you for your enthusiasm and willingness to jump right in to the work here. We wish you the best of luck at your future internship site in Brookline. Please know that you are always welcome here in our community! Thanks for being such a caring individual!

Introducing

My name is Lindsey Morgan and I will be interning under Ms. Grassa this semester. I’m excited to meet all of you and help out wherever I can! I’m currently getting my Masters degree at Harvard in the School Leadership program. Prior to my move to Boston, I taught 7th/8th grade Science for 3 years in Mississippi then 7th grade Math for 3 years in Nashville, TN. My passion lies in working in culture and instruction in public middle schools.
Fun fact: I majored in Meteorology in undergrad at Georgia Tech so I am a HUGE math/science nerd.

End of 1st Semester Electives

First semester electives end on January 27, 2017. We will host elective preview days on February 2nd and 3rd. We will have the students choose on February 7th. Second semester electives will begin on February 10th. If you have any questions, please email Adrian. awardjackson@bostonpublicschools.org

Dear K-5 Teachers,

I am pleased to inform you that World Vision, in partnership with Yoobi a school supply company, will be providing free school supplies to all our K-5th grade students. Students in K-5 classrooms will receive pencil cases filled with markers, rulers, glue sticks, and other brightly colored items. They do request teachers to fill out an information form which I have attached but the only specific information needed is how many students are in your class. Please fill out the form and return it to the lower or upper school main office. I will leave a folder labeled, "Free School Supplies." I know that this is short-notice, but I think it's a great opportunity to motivate students to continue to work hard and to take away any worry about not having enough supplies to last until June.

The World Vision representative will drop off the items on Monday, January 23rd at 11:30am. Additional information about Monday's delivery will be sent to staff on Friday. If you have additional questions, please let me know. Thank you!

Bulletin Boards

We are looking for staff to update bulletin boards by Wednesday, February 1st. Just a reminder that this should align with out School Wide Instructional Focus and every board should be accompanied by the following completed sign.

Inauguration Support

BPS has a site with supports for staff around the inauguration later on this week. Check it out.

https://sites.google.com/a/bostonpublicschools.org/history/curriculum-spotlights/presidential-inauguration

Middle School ACCESS

ACCESS testing begins in Grades 6-8 tomorrow. Tickets are available in Mr. Diaz's office for all testers. Please make sure to let Waverly know if you need headphones. Instructions are included with your tickets.

Please stop testing if you experience any of the following issues.

• Freezing while navigating or loading a new page
• Spinning loading symbol
• "Internet Connection" error message
• Log-in challenges (although it is important to verify that log-in issues are not the result of a typo)

We do not want students or teachers to stress about getting on to the test so please reach out if you are experiencing any of aforementioned and call or text Waverly at 617- 905-4311. ACCESS Grades 1-5 speaking continues tomorrow thru February 3rd. Please check the ACCESS speaking list for who is testing whom as we may continue to make adjustments. Finally please let Waverly know of any new students that have arrived to your classroom who are ELLs prior to February 3rd as we are required to test any new ELL students during this window. Thanks in advance.

NAEP Testing Grades 4th and 8th

The Curley K-8 School will participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on 3/8/2017 (8th grade) and 3/9/2017 (4th grade). Your students will take a mathematics or reading assessment. I will send a list of all students taking the assessment once we input all the accommodations for ELL and Special Education Students. The assessment also asks students questions about their daily routine and their educational experiences. Student responses are anonymous, and they provide context and meaning to the assessment results. You will also receive an email for NAEP with a Teacher Questionnaire to help them gather information on teacher training and instructional practices. Please visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/booklets.asp to review sample questions.

The assessment takes about 90 to 120 minutes for most students. This year, students might take a computer based or paper test and the Department Of Education sends their own staff to administer the test. A letter notifying parents about the NAEP Assessment and other helpful information will go out no later than February 17, 2017. It is important to note that the information collected is used for statistical purposes only. Students may be excused for any reason, are not required to complete the assessment, and may skip any question. While the assessment is voluntary, NAEP depends on student participation to help policymakers improve education. If parents do not want their children to participate, they are able to opt out. However, parents need to notify the school in writing by 2/28/2017.

ACCESS Testing 

ACCESS Testing will resume on with the speaking portion for Grades 1-5. Grades 6-8 will begin Wednesday with Listening & Reading and Writing on Thursday.

Grades 1-3: One teacher in each grade level will have the box of tests for the entire grade level. Please see the ACCESS Speaking list for who is testing whom in each grade level.

ACCESS 2017 Speaking

Teachers responsible for tests:

• Grade 1 Kidd 
• Grade 2 DaSilva 
• Grade 3 Petmezis 
• Grades 4-5: Tickets for speaking will be available for pick up if you have not already done so. 
• Grades 6-8: Tickets for testing will be available on Wednesday morning. Prior to then please make sure that all laptops have been rebooted so the application is present. If possible please have them take the practice session so they get a feel for the test as well as to ensure the app is present prior to Wednesday. Please make sure that the list of students needing to be tested is accurate and up to date.

Any questions feel free to reach out to Waverly wkidd@bostonpublicschools.org

Upper School Winter Concert

Date: January 20th, 2017

Time: 9:00AM

Location: Upper School Auditorium

Performers: 3rd-5th grade choirs, Ms. Rand's Class, Ms Maiden's Class, Ms. Quarterson's Class, Middle School Elective Band and Middle School Band (Small Ensemble).

Middle School Dance

Valentine's Dance on Friday, February 17, 2017 from 1:05 to 2:10 pm in the gym. Price: $3.00 and the proceeds will be used for the end of year field trip to Canobie Lake. Bottled water will be sold for $1.00 in the gym and again the proceeds will be used for the trip to Canobie Lake. Wrist bands will be available on Wednesday, February 15, 2017 from your homeroom teachers. Active chaperones are welcomed. Each team will send at least one adult chaperone who will actively supervise and help at the event. A cleaning crew will be ready after the dance. For more information please ask Maria Amy-Moreno in room 210, Upper School.

Stars Math

Our next math STARS assessment will be conducted Feb. 13-17th. Please make sure that students that are absent when you give the test make it up when they show up. This round we will be asking why students have not taken math STARS assessment.

If you have not already done so make sure you are analyzing the STARS data from the last assessment to help inform your teaching in order to increase SGPs. We will be looking closely at SGPs to ensure we are conducting the best instructional practices to ensure an increase in student achievement this year. If you need any help getting STARS data or analyzing it to think of next steps please email Sean Guthrie at sguthrie@bostonpublicschools.org to set up a time to meet.  

Middle School Special Education Progress Reports

2nd term Middle School progress reports will open Wednesday, January 11th and close Monday, January 30th. Please let Jessica know if you need any assistance completing these.

K2, First and Second Grade Teachers

The BAS and Dibels windows are open from January 23rd to March 3rd. Teachers should find an independent, instructional and hard level for students not meeting the current benchmark according to your most recent running records. The current benchmarks are: K2 - C, 1st - H, 2nd - L.

P&D and Class Coverage Payments

Madeline and Kathy are collecting staff missed P&D and Class Coverage hours, it is due no later then Jan. 27th. Also BPS does not pay for missed lunch times.

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 final preview date will take place on Monday, January 23rd from 3pm-4pm. Please email Arusha Hollister (arusha_h@yahoo.com) if you Doodle Poll: Doodle: Curley Preview Tours

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