10/6/15 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Liz Spring for all the support she offers the specialists every day with ideas and resources. In addition, Liz is always available and willing to speak informally and on the fly. We appreciate your help in assuring that we can best educate our students with Autism. Thanks Liz!

Win Block

Just a reminder that we are no longer calling this period intervention it is further called WIN (What I Need). Intervention has a negative connotation to it and students may be receiving an accelerated opportunity. They key is that all students are getting what they need. Below is some information from Eileen Cronin that will guide the work for the remainder of the week.
Just a reminder, this week begins our “soft” launch of the Curley’s WIN block. Last week Olivia and I met with grade level teams to review student intervention assignments and make adjustments based on teacher input. Information regarding final student assignments can be found on the “WIN” spreadsheet. To access the latest updated version of the spreadsheet, please use the link below: link to the WIN Block Data Entry form
This week, be sure to review logistics for student transitions, as well as any space, technology or materials support you may need. Once all these details have been worked out, and each staff member is clear about their roles and responsibilities, schedule an actual practice for students so they are clear about how to get to their designated intervention room, as well as understand the expectations during the WIN block. Finally, remember to select a team name for your WIN block. Please contact me or Olivia if you have any questions or need help with this work. Together we can make the Curley WIN block a “win-win” for students and staff!

School Climate

The School Climate Team meeting will take place on Wednesday from 3pm-4:15pm in Room 212 (Ms. Hins). All are welcome and teams are encouraged to send a representative.

Health and Wellness

Just a reminder that our first Health and Wellness meeting will take place tomorrow (Tuesday at 7:30am in the Upper School Library. Please email Sue Trotz with questions.

Student Technology Resources

The Office of Special Education has recently secured licenses for the new Google Read and Writeextension. This is a Google Chrome extension that incorporates numerous accessibility features into the browser when signed into your BPS student gmail account. The many features include:

• text to speech
• speech to text
• dictionary
• picture dictionary
• highlighting feature
• notes feature

​These features can be used when browsing the internet, reading a document, or writing in google docs. This opens up a world of possibilities for students struggling with reading and writing. Here is a link to a video showing the features Google Read and Write https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwC_hJ7KmAg​.
Representatives from OSESS and OIIT will be available on October 8, 2015 from 12-1pm on the second floor to provide information and answer questions regarding Google Read and Write and setting up your BPS student gmail accounts. Jessica Burque will attend this session and be sure to communicate information with us.

Internet

We have heard from concerns about the internet throughout the building (Upper School) OIIT has been here and will be returning to install more access points. It most likely will not be done for at least two weeks. However we reminded them about our online testing in one week so cross your fingers! 

Goals & Actions Steps

We want to apologize to staff that you were unable to submit goals and action step separately on Friday. After inquiring with the Office of Human Capital we were informed that this process was changed this year. We are sorry for any confusion this caused and we will be changing this moving forward on the timeline.

ANet

ANet testing is fast approaching. This school year all ANet testing will be done online.The A1 window for ELA will be from October 13 - 17 and Math from October 19 - 23. We would like to conduct a practice session with grades 3 and 4 on Wednesday. On the drive, you will find a folder entitled ANet 2015 - 2016.This folder contains the testing schedule for A1, a document with a URL for a sample online ELA and Math assessment, and other ANet information. If you have any comments or concerns, please contact Adrian Ward-Jackson.

10/5/15 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to all staff for hosting a fabulous Open House event for families on Thursday, October 1st. There were many families present all sharing how happy they are to be a part of the Curley community and how much their child enjoys their teachers. Thank you for making the Curley a place that is welcoming for families and that our students enjoy attending!

Raffle Ticket Sale

We need your help selling raffle tickets for the Fall Fling! There are three large prizes that can be won: iPad Mini, Xbox, $300 Bike from Ferris Wheels. Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20. If you are willing to buy or sell tickets please contact Kristin Jurkoic at kjurkoic@yahoo.com. All proceeds go directly toward funding arts programming at the Curley such as Community Music Center and BalletRox.

DIBELS/BAS

The DIBELS/BAS deadline has been extended to Friday, October 9th.

Music Donation

Ann DeGeorge, Curley Parent, has secured a large music grant to fund supplies and materials to support our new music teacher Melanie Bourgeault. The Ernie Boch Foundation will be here on Thursday at noon to present Ms. Bourgeault with the materials and to meet students. Thanks to Ann for caring about our students and music education!

Open House Sign In Sheets

On Thursday parents dropped off sign in sheets as a way to gather emails from families. If you have this list please place it in Katie Grassa's mailbox in either main office on Monday.

Lunch

Please be sure that all students are brought to lunch on time. We know that we are teaching and reteaching routines but lunch is only 20 minutes long and students need this time to each and socialize.

New Staff

Please welcome two new paras to the Curley Team, Emily Surratt and Adelbowale Awogboro, we are exited to have your on our PACE Team!

Health and Wellness

Please join us for our first Health and Wellness Committee meeting on Tuesday, October 6^th from 7:30am-8:15am in Room 208 (Upper School).

Teaching Policy Fellowship:  Connect. Learn. Make Impact. The Massachusetts Teaching Policy Fellowship is a highly selective leadership opportunity for solutions-oriented teachers interested in elevating teacher voice at both district and state levels to bring about key policy changes that support teaching and learning. Massachusetts Fellows continue to publish policy briefs, author op-eds, and provide testimony on key issues such as college and career-ready assessments, equitable access to highly-effective teachers, and more.

Start your application today!

10/2/15 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Ms. Fleming for checking in on classes for colleagues in their absence. She is always supportive and quick to adjust so our classes are successful. Thank you for being a great teammate!

International Week

Please join us on  Wednesday, October 7, at 7:30 AM in the Teachers Room to help plan this year's International Week. For those of you new to our staff, International Week is the Curley K-8 School’s annual celebration of countries and cultures around the world.

In the past, each homeroom has chosen a country to study and then hosts/visits other classes (passports in hand) to exchange what they've learned. This year, teachers and students will spend time during the week of November 16 learning about a country and class exchanges will take place the following week in the days before Thanksgiving (the week ofNovember 23). City Year representatives will be helping with planning and support again this year. All staff are invited to attend  this initial planning meeting and we encourage each grade level to send a representative. 

MCAS ALT Training

A series of half-day training sessions will be conducted for teachers and administrators regarding the 2016 MCAS-Alt for students with significant disabilities.  New requirements for the 2016 MCAS-Alt include a mandatory ELA-Writing component for all students completing an MCAS-Alt portfolio. 

Morning sessions for teachers will include the following presentations:

• “Introduction to MCAS-Alt” for first time teachers conducting the MCAS-Alt (8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.)
• “Updates for 2016 MCAS-Alt” for teachers with experience conducting MCAS-Alt (8:30 a.m.–noon), including sessions on:
• “What’s New and Notable for 2016 MCAS-Alt?”
• “How to Submit a Complete Portfolio”

AND concurrent sessions on:

• “New ELA-Writing Requirements and How It Will Be Scored” for teachers of students at all levels (i.e., entry points and access skills)
• “Grade-Level (grades 3-8) and High School Competency Portfolios” for teachers working with students working at grade-level expectations

Click on Registration for MCAS-Alt Events to see training session dates, locations, and to register online.

Nurse Announcement

We have delivered a list of k-8 students who have Life Threatening Allergies to both offices and the cafeteria manager.  The list is 11 pages long and has 75 students!  We are working on lists for individual teachers. In the meantime teachers can check in at either office or the nurse's office if they have concerns about children with allergies.  Also, if any staff has not completed the mandatory training on Life Threatening Allergies and Blood Bourne Pathogens they should do so now.

Passes

All students should be given a written pass when the visit the nurse. It should include the students first and last name, the time they were sent to the nurse and why they need to see the nurse. The nurses office is a busy place and we want to assure that accurate record keeping is happening.

Friday

Tomorrow is Friday! Don't forget to show your school pride and wear your Curley gear or colors!