1/6/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to the educators in Kristen Clark's classroom (Mary Ryan, Monica Crawley, Lindsey Weygand, Jeanette Ellis, and Ena Daniels) for running over 2500 ACE programs and entering the sessions on the ACE over the past 3 months.

Happy New Year

We hope your first day back to school went well. It was great to check in with most of you and hear about your vacation adventures. For those of you I was unable to catch in person today, I apologize,  I attempted to visit each class wearing 2016 glasses. Here is the selfie I posted on Twitter before I greeted students this morning. :) #curleycares #nerdyprincipal My hope was to give everyone a laugh today at my expense. 

Welcome New Staff

Today we welcomed two new staff members to our team, Christina Santos and Andria Butler. Christina will be a SPED provider in grades 3 & 4 and is coming to us from the Manning and perviously the Dearborn. Andria will be a para professional in K2 Inclusion and has worked with students with Autism in her previous experience. We are excited to add both of these staff members to our team. Please stop by and introduce yourself to them.

Curley Shares

We will hold our January Curley Shares on Thursday, January 7th. Below is a reminder of the schedule for the day:

• 2nd/7th 8:45-9:30 - Redden, Silverstein, Higginbottom, Burke, Mountain, DaSilva, Clark, Mylett, 7A, 7B, 7F, 8F
• K0&K1/4th 10:10-10:40 - Cullen, Goldstein, Merdkhanian, Maiden, Mitchell, Chisholm, Guzman, Pradas, Tefera, Wright, Javaloyes
• 1st/6th 11:15-12:00 - Ciardi, Banks, Craman, Kidd, 6A, 6B, 6C, Quarterson
• K2/5th 12:00-12:40 - Solimini, Cronin, Smith, Shea, Rand, Daly, Moran, Quatrale, Davis, Iatrou, Mundo
• 3rd/8th 1:25-2:10 - Ferguson, Petmezis, Signes, Rivera, 8A, 8B, 6G, 7G, 8G

ILT

ILT will meet this Wednesday from 3-4:15. We look forward to continuing our work in understanding cognitively demanding tasks. Please remember to bring 5 copies of a grade level writing task (can be ELA, math, science, social studies) that is either teacher created or from a specific curriculum. We will meet in Room 111 (Upper School).

ACCESS Testing

ACCESS materials will be arriving tomorrow we are tentatively starting testing on Tuesday, January 19th. All K0/K1 students should begin WAPT testing this week and will continue through 1/14/16. A schedule of testing will follow later this week for all other grades.. Please contact Waverly Kidd with any questions. Do not forget to submit your certificates from the WIDA test to Madeline and Kathy.

WIAT

WIAT testing will be used staring 1/2016 for all IEP determination meetings. Email Jessica or Joyce with further questions and stay tuned for scoring directions that will be emailed to teachers tomorrow.

Book Swap

Please note that the books swap has been postponed until January. Students K-5 will choose books during their lunch period on a date TBD in January. Please wait until that time to choose books to ensure all students K-5 receive a book. In the meantime, please place all book swap donations in the large blue boxes by each main office. Thank you.

Auditorium Sound System

Do you ever use the sound system?
Can you spare 15 minutes of your time?
If you do use the sound for any events, there will be trainings in January to know how to properly work with the system. It is important to have one member from each team, so that we can make best use of our equipment. Kim will send out a Doodle on Sunday to find out which times work best for the most staff. Please let Kim Taylor Knight know of any questions or concerns you might have, as well. Please fill out your preference here http://doodle.com/poll/ifevk5atzbvuqdue

School Showcase

We have one more showcase session Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm.

ELT Planning Meeting

Today 4 staff volunteered to attend the ELT Planning Meeting. We met at the BTU from 8:30am-3:30pm with 7 other schools that will be adding 40 extra minutes to their day in SY2016-2017. We want to be sure to communicate with staff after each meeting to assure that this process is transparent.
Here are some key messages we would like to share from today's learning:

• Our Extended Learning Time initiative is about building a better school day for our students, teachers and families. 
• With more time, our school will have more opportunities to provide targeted learning time for students, increase small group instruction, provide enrichment opportunities in order to increase student engagement and academic outcomes. At our first session we identified these urgent needs: 
• African American and Hispanic males do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their White and Asian peers. 
• ELL and SPED students do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their general education peers. 
• Overall as a school we struggle with reading and writing skills according to standardized tests. 
• We are just at the beginning and we need you to play an active role in the process of developing a new school experience for our community. 
• Between January and June the ELT Team will implement a community engagement process moving forward, stay tuned for meeting dates and other pertinent updates. 
• In the coming weeks you can get involved by reaching out to a member of the ELT team with questions and ideas (Ciardi, Grassa, Kidd, Peters, Wright). Click Here and you can submit your ideas and questions anonymously. 

1/5/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Kristen Haws on the birth of her son Jackson Bruno Haws born on New Years Eve weighing 8 pounds - 10 ounces and is 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well and looking forward to a great new year!

Happy New Year

Welcome back to all staff! We hope that you had a restful and enjoyable vacation! A new year marks the start of new beginnings. Please be sure to practice routines with students as a reminder of the expectations. We look forward to starting this year with Curley Shares and recognize how busy we will be administering the ACCESS test across the school. Please makes sure that Madeline and Kathy have your training certificates.  Here's to a great 2016!!!!

Curley Shares

The following is the link for the next Curley Shares on January 7, 2016. Your submissions need to be in by Tuesday, January 5, 2016 by 4:00pm. Thanks! If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out in Google Forms.

Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness will meet on Tuesday, January 5th from 7:15am-8:15am in room 208.

SSC

SSC will meet from 5pm-7pm on Tuesday, January 5th in room 101. A budget will be presented for SY 2016-2017 at this time and all are welcome.

ILT

ILT will meet this Wednesday from 3-4:15. We look forward to continuing our work in understanding cognitively demanding tasks. Please remember to bring 5 copies of a grade level writing task (can be ELA, math, science, social studies) that is either teacher created or from a specific curriculum. We will meet in Room 111 (Upper School).

ACCESS Testing

ACCESS materials will be arriving tomorrow we are tentatively starting testing on Tuesday, January 19th. All K0/K1 students should begin WAPT testing this week and will continue through 1/14/16. A schedule of testing will follow later this week for all other grades.. Please contact Waverly Kidd with any questions. Do not forget to submit your certificates from the WIDA test to Madeline and Kathy.

WIAT

WIAT testing will be used staring 1/2016 for all IEP determination meetings. Email Jessica or Joyce with further questions and stay tuned for scoring directions that will be emailed to teachers tomorrow.

Book Swap

Please note that the books swap has been postponed until January. Students K-5 will choose books during their lunch period on a date TBD in January. Please wait until that time to choose books to ensure all students K-5 receive a book. In the meantime, please place all book swap donations in the large blue boxes by each main office. Thank you.

Auditorium Sound System

Do you ever use the sound system?
Can you spare 15 minutes of your time?
If you do use the sound for any events, there will be trainings in January to know how to properly work with the system. It is important to have one member from each team, so that we can make best use of our equipment. Kim will send out a Doodle on Sunday to find out which times work best for the most staff. Please let Kim Taylor Knight know of any questions or concerns you might have, as well. Please fill out your preference here http://doodle.com/poll/ifevk5atzbvuqdue

School Showcase

We have one more showcase session Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm.

ELT Planning Meeting

Today 4 staff volunteered to attend the ELT Planning Meeting. We met at the BTU from 8:30am-3:30pm with 7 other schools that will be adding 40 extra minutes to their day in SY2016-2017. We want to be sure to communicate with staff after each meeting to assure that this process is transparent.
Here are some key messages we would like to share from today's learning:

• Our Extended Learning Time initiative is about building a better school day for our students, teachers and families. 
• With more time, our school will have more opportunities to provide targeted learning time for students, increase small group instruction, provide enrichment opportunities in order to increase student engagement and academic outcomes. At our first session we identified these urgent needs: 
• African American and Hispanic males do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their White and Asian peers. 
• ELL and SPED students do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their general education peers. 
• Overall as a school we struggle with reading and writing skills according to standardized tests. 
• We are just at the beginning and we need you to play an active role in the process of developing a new school experience for our community. 
• Between January and June the ELT Team will implement a community engagement process moving forward, stay tuned for meeting dates and other pertinent updates. 
• In the coming weeks you can get involved by reaching out to a member of the ELT team with questions and ideas (Ciardi, Grassa, Kidd, Peters, Wright). Click Here and you can submit your ideas and questions anonymously. 

12/23/15 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Dr. Lee for her years of service to Boston Public Schools. Tomorrow is her last day before retirement and we want to thank her for her hard work at the Curley over the last 4 months. I know that our students enjoyed learning from her. We want her to know that she is always welcome at the Curley. Here's to a long and healthy retirement!

Shout out to CASP and Mr. Robinson for teaching students how to play soccer and taking them on the field trip to play against other schools. There are many important life skills our students learn through being a part of a team and learning a sport. Thanks!

 

Staff Breakfast

Please join the Admin Team in the Teachers Room on Wednesday, December 23rd at 7:30am for some breakfast treats before we all head off on vacation. We will provide the food and drinks and request only your presence.

Curley Shares

The following is the link for the next Curley Shares on January 7, 2016. Your submissions need to be in by Tuesday, January 5, 2016 by 4:00pm. Thanks! If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out in Google Forms.

Book Swap

Please note that the books swap has been postponed until January. Students K-5 will choose books during their lunch period on a date TBD in January. Please wait until that time to choose books to ensure all students K-5 receive a book. In the meantime, please place all book swap donations in the large blue boxes by each main office. Thank you.

Auditorium Sound System

Do you ever use the sound system?
Can you spare 15 minutes of your time?
If you do use the sound for any events, there will be trainings in January to know how to properly work with the system. It is important to have one member from each team, so that we can make best use of our equipment. Kim will send out a Doodle on Sunday to find out which times work best for the most staff. Please let Kim Taylor Knight know of any questions or concerns you might have, as well. Please fill out your preference here http://doodle.com/poll/ifevk5atzbvuqdue

ACCESS Certification

Training for ACCESS needs to be re-completed by the entire staff by Monday, December 21, 2015. To complete the training go to the wida website: https://www.wida.us Log on (if you can't remember your password remember that your email may have been yourname@boston.k12.ma.us ) all accounts previously created are still active. To create a new account: Type in username: massachusetts, password:patriot and create a new account. Once you log on you need to go to the paper-based Grades 1-12 training. Make sure you are under the Test Administrator tab (not coordinator). You will find a checklist that needs to be completed as well as the link for the tests you have to take. Once the test is completed please turn your training certificate to Kathy or Madeline. Kindergarten teachers need to take the Kindergarten training and test. All SAR and PACE teachers need to take the Alternate Access Training and test. If you have questions please contact Waverly.

Writing Rubric Tracking

Please see the email from Katie on 12/9/15 regarding the tracking of writing data. We realize how long it has taken us to get this to you all and we apologize. I lot of thought and debate went into how to organize this document. Please check your grade level CPT folder on the drive and you will find your spreadsheet. Teach teams need to complete this for each write task students are completing as part of the writing curriculum map. Staff can have an extension on adding this as an artifact due to the late timing. Everyone should be adding a completed spreadsheet to EDFS by 12/23/15. If you submit it before you head on vacation you won't have to think about it! :) Please direct all questions and feedback to Eileen Cronin.

School Showcase

We have one more showcase session Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm.

ELT Planning Meeting

Today 4 staff volunteered to attend the ELT Planning Meeting. We met at the BTU from 8:30am-3:30pm with 7 other schools that will be adding 40 extra minutes to their day in SY2016-2017. We want to be sure to communicate with staff after each meeting to assure that this process is transparent.
Here are some key messages we would like to share from today's learning:

• Our Extended Learning Time initiative is about building a better school day for our students, teachers and families. 
• With more time, our school will have more opportunities to provide targeted learning time for students, increase small group instruction, provide enrichment opportunities in order to increase student engagement and academic outcomes. At our first session we identified these urgent needs: 
• African American and Hispanic males do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their White and Asian peers. 
• ELL and SPED students do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their general education peers. 
• Overall as a school we struggle with reading and writing skills according to standardized tests. 
• We are just at the beginning and we need you to play an active role in the process of developing a new school experience for our community. 
• Between January and June the ELT Team will implement a community engagement process moving forward, stay tuned for meeting dates and other pertinent updates. 
• In the coming weeks you can get involved by reaching out to a member of the ELT team with questions and ideas (Ciardi, Grassa, Kidd, Peters, Wright). Click Here and you can submit your ideas and questions anonymously.