2/13/20 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to 8th graders Angel, Rubeiny, Jessica, Brianna , Janeleza  for their contributions to the Black History Month door decorating contest!

Shout out and huge appreciation to Katie, Cara, Nubea, Laurie, Vishaka and Liz for attending a behavior meeting before school hours! Your contributions and participation is going to greatly benefit our student!

Shout out to Katie Pulsifer and Tori Canada for being amazing team members during a challenging situation.

Shout out to Ms Moreno for your help with translating a letter and your amazingly quick response to my request for help. 

Shout out to the 1st grade team for a fantastic publishing party. It was so wonderful to watch the pride on the faces of our 1st grade students as they shared their hard work with their friends and families.  

 Due Dates 

This Week:   2/14 Middle School Dance

Next Week:  2/17-2/21 VACATION 2/27 Back History Month Performance 2/28 Class Coverage Forms Due

Looking Ahead: 3/9-3/13 24/7 Respect Program 3/23-3/27 Curley Musical & Interim 3 ELA 3/27 Class Coverage Forms Due 4/1 Teacher Leadership Fund Application Due

[UPDATE]Teacher Leadership Fund: What challenge do you want to solve?

We are excited to announce the call for proposals for year three of the Teacher Leadership Fund a feature of our contract which grants teams of educators up to $15,000 to create and share solutions which improve the learning and well-being of our most marginalized students.  This year, we have two types of grants available:

• Action Grants will support teams interested in designing and implementing an intervention to address a challenge impacting marginalized students.
• Study Grants will support teams interested in learning more about the various dimensions of an identified challenge impacting marginalized students and developing an action plan based on that learning.

 For complete information about the program see here. Contact  tlf@bostonpublicschools.org with questions. Writing supports are available. Applications are due April 1st.

Inclusion Leadership Team Update

The Inclusion Leadership Team, made up of one representative from each grade level, ABA teachers, and SAR teachers, has been brainstorming and strategizing how the Curley can calibrate our inclusion mindset across the entire school, recognizing the wonderful and effortful work that the entire Curley community has already completed in the past years. 

The two main goals of the Inclusion Leadership Team for the year include:

1. We will redefine inclusion at the Curley so that it embodies a mindset and not a strand. 
2. We will use self assessment tools and other resources to plan actionable steps to increase the inclusive mindset at the Curley.    

To share some of our work and insights, here is a brief summary of what we have been discussing and planning:

• Definition of “inclusion” for the Curley. These are some key themes we brainstormed for what inclusion means at the Curley K-8: 
• ALL students belong here 
• All students are welcome across all physical or mental ability, language, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or national origin.
• All students are offered equitable access to the school environment, community, and all activities.  
• Inclusion is not a program, it is a mindset 

• Self assessment of our inclusive practices

• Learning Walks: A nonjudgmental practice of teachers going in pairs to observe inclusive practices being done in classrooms, so that we can build upon commonalities and integrate best practices universally in the Curley.
• “Understanding our Differences” curriculum: The program teaches students by grade level about different disabilities and allows them to understand the learning process of their peers through activities. 

To see any of our meeting notes or slides, you can access them in the Curley Drive here. We want to increase our communication of our meetings with the Curley community so that all can be a part of continuing our inclusive mindset. 

Black History Month Activities

Monica Johnson (mjohnson4@bostonpublicschools.org) is helping to organize many events to celebrate Black History Month. The performance has changed from Friday, February 13th at 9am to Thursday, February 27th, last period. 

Please reach out to her if you are interested in any of the following activities.

• Decorate your door to honor an African American in history. There would be a prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, to be determined. The door would need to be up by Feb. 14th and judging would be on Feb. 29th by a committee of people made up of administrators, parents, staff and other school partners. 
• "I Have a Dream" Honoring Black History Essay, Rap and Poem Contest. Essay Requirements: 300 - 500 words, typed, 12 point font, double spaced. Connect your dreams to MLK, Jr.'s visions/goals or a submission that honors Black History Month.  Rap Requirements: Submit a written and video recording of your rap to the Google Form provided. The length of rap must be no less or more than two minutes. Poem Requirements: The poem must have three stanzas, four max. Submissions are due February 19th by 5:00 PM. Winners will be notified on February 26th. It would be nice if the winners could read/perform their piece at the Black History Month Performance or over the PA system on the day of the performance or if over the PA on February 28th.

Middle School Dance

Please announce in the blog that there will be a middle school dance in the gym on Friday, February 14, 2020 from 1:30 pm to 2:50 pm. The cost of the wrist band is $4.00. Other goodies will be sold at the dance. Pretty soon the middle school teachers will receive a link for their homeroom students to use and write the titles of the songs they would like to listen/dance at this event. Those students that are interested in helping out must come to my room this Wednesday, January 29, 2020 after school (3:10-3:30 pm) in room 210.

Class Coverage

We are working on a new system for class coverage. Teachers and paras will be responsible for submitting coverage in this form and they will be paid out monthly. We can only pay out one month at a time, we cannot back pay if the time is not submitted and we cannot pay in advance for time. The time submitted will be crossed checked with the IEP meeting schedule as well as our staff absence list on ESS. There should be direct correlation between information sources before coverage is approved and entered to payroll. All forms are due by 5pm on the last day of the month. Also this form was co-created by the School Leadership Team in consultation with our BTU reps as well as the BTU elected officials centrally.

What can Teachers be paid for?
* Missed P&Ds
* Missed SEIMS blocks (max 90 min per week only for SPED teachers with a majority secondary 6-8 caseload)

What can't Teachers be paid for?
* Missed lunches

What are Paraprofessionals paid for?
* Covering when a teacher is absent, late or leaving early. (If there is more than one para in the room the paras need to divide the time up amongst themselves; they can not all be paid the full time and the total cannot exceed 6 hours in one day.)
* Covering their classroom during an IEP meeting. (1 to 1 Paraprofessionals can only receive payment for class coverage if their student is absent.)

What can't Paraprofessionals be paid for?
* Testing students as part of their IEP accommodations.
* Working through their lunch break.
* Coming in early or staying late.
* If a sub is assigned to the classroom.

If either Teachers or Paraprofessionals have questions or need support submitting this documentation they should speak to either Madeline or Kathy. 

Welcome

Welcome to Rebekah Bromley our new Occupational Therapist. She will be taking over for Christine Fry who recently retired. She is excited to meet you and her new students. Thank you!

BPS 24/7 Respect Program

BPS will be implementing the 24/7 respect program in all 6th-grade classrooms during the week of March 9 through 13 of 2020. In an effort to address bias-based conduct and sexual misconduct at school and beyond, the Office of Equity has created a curriculum to help you discuss this topic with your students. Attached you will find the following items for the 24/7 Respect program.

• The 24/7 Respect Lesson Plan and Supplementary Materials

• Guidance for English Learners produced by the Office of English Learners and the Office of Opportunity Gaps

• Guidance for working with diverse learners from the Office of Special Education

 Please note, all 6th grade classrooms are required to do the lesson plan and show the video. For more information regarding the history, access to the video, and resources please check out the 24/7 Respect web page here.  

SST

In order to submit a referral, please complete the google form. All materials can be found in the drive. Once a referral form is submitted, you will hear from a member of the SST team regarding next steps. 

Middle School Detention

Middle School Detention is every Tuesday from 3:15 - 4:15. Please use this link to record students assigned to detention. Students will earn detention for the following reasons:

· Refusal to turn in their cellphone

· Being in the hallways without a pass

· Arriving late to class without a pass

If there are any questions, please email awardjackson@bostonpublicshools.org

CPT this Week

Please review the Work Plan Calendar weekly for CPT topics and information to cover. 

SY 19-20 Interim Calendar

Below is a list of ELA and Math interim assessment dates for your planning purposes:

Assessment	ELA	Math
Interim 1	Week of Oct 21	Week of Nov 4
Interim 2	Week of Dec 9	Week of Jan 27
Interim 3	Week of March 2	Week of March 23
Interim 4 (EOY Assessment)	Week of June 8	Week of June 15

PD Dates for SY 2019-2020

Next year we will hold 30 hours of professional development for teachers and 6 hours for para professionals. Below are the dates and times for the year. You can also find info on next years Draft Work Plan Calendar. The PD are not a draft but other information will be added throughout the summer and school year.

Teacher PD Dates

• Thursday, 3/12 3:45pm-5:45pm
• Thursday, 4/2 3:45pm-5:45pm* make up date in case of school cancellation & (6-8 Math)

Field Trip Request Procedure

All field trips requests should be submitted in the following way, check out this powerpoint for additional information on the steps.

• Fill out electronic form at least 2 weeks in advance. This link will be available in the blog daily. Field Trip Request Form
• Print your form submission. 
• Email list of students attending to nurses. 
• Get nurse and cafeteria signature at least 2 weeks in advance. They can sign anywhere at the bottom of your page. 
• Turn in to either main office. 
• Pass out permission slips and have students return. (English p.12, Other Languages)
• The SPC has allotted each grade level $500 to put towards field trips; any questions should be send to treasurer@curleyk8.com.

Sick Day Procedure (teachers and paraprofessionals)

• Call/text Katie Grassa at 857-265-4954 immediately, no matter how late/early Enter the absence in SubCentral (teachers only). Link: https://bostonps.eschoolsolutions.com/logOnInitAction.do
• Enter absence on Boston Employees Self Service
• If it is after 6:30am, also send an email to Katie Grassa, David Diaz and the secretary.