Shout Out
Shout out to our Occupational Therapists April Ricciardone, Kelly Van Clief and Maja Smedemark-Marguiles for regularly supporting our students within the classroom. All your little gadgets, tricks and tips help each students access learning at a higher level. Thank you for your willingness to collaborate and support us all!
K-2 Teachers
Teachers should move their students on the Lower School data wall by May 26th. There will be one more final move in June. The EOY BAS window is May 16th - June 16th. Teachers need to find instructional and hard levels for all students. The EOY Dibels window is May 23rd - June 10th.
Staff Share (PD for ALL Teachers & Paras)
Our next staff share will take place on Thursday, April 28th from 3pm-4pm in the auditorium. ALL paras and teachers are required to attend per BTU contract and need to bring a marker with them. We will be reflecting as a staff on this school year and seeking your feedback in order to help us further plan for next school year. Some topics we would like you to think about in advance are:
- Communication (from admin, from teams)
- Staff Shares
- Student Shares
- Big/Little Buddies
- Climate Initiatives (Smile and Say Hello, Go-Flush-Wash-Leave, Bulletin Boards)
- Lunch
- Recess
- CPT
- Instructional Focus
- Cognitively Demanding Tasks
- WIN Block
- Professional Development Topics
- Technology
- One thing you love about working at this school?
- What is one thing that could make your experience working at the Curley even better?
Teach Next Year Interns
Next year we will partner with Teach Next Year (TNY) which is a one year masters program from UMASS Boston. The interns do an internship for 180 days and take summer and night courses. We will have students across K-8 in classrooms where teachers volunteer to mentor a new teacher. We will host an afternoon of interviews for potential interns on Friday, May 13th from 3pm-5pm. If you are interested in attending please let Jessica Burque know. Thanks!Curley Shares
Due to PARCC testing on Thursday May 5th we will be moving our Curley Shares till Friday, May 6th. They will all happen at the regularly scheduled time (see below). If this is during specialty time the specialist teacher will bring the students to the assembly. We know that this is different than other months but we did not want to completely cancel. If you say any glaring issues with this please notify your Climate Team Rep.
2nd/7th
8:45-9:30
KO&K1/4th
10:10-10:40
1st/6th
11:15-12:00
K2/5th
12:00-12:40
3rd/8th
1:25-2:10
PARCC
It is important that ALL teachers check the PARCC schedule for all testing days, regardless of whether or not their students are testing. We made many changes to the K-5 schedule to accommodate the students who are testing, so your specialty time may have changed.Here is the PARCC Draft Schedule for May as well as the small groups including the adults and location for grades 3-5 & grades 6-8. Please review ASAP. We will need "All Hands On Deck" during this testing window. All PARCC questions/comments should be sent to David Diaz & Laurie Ciardi.Here are the Rules & Suggestions for the testing window. Each teacher should read this ASAP and reach out to Mr. Diaz with questions.
Here are some videos created by Alissa Ferro to support her students in taking PARCC. Please use if you think it is helpful! Thanks for sharing Alissa.
Here is a Tech Trick graphic organizer created by Craig Melzer to support students in navigating an online test. Please use if you find this helpful for your students. Thanks for sharing Craig!
Here is the mobile cart schedule for this week.
Here is the mobile cart schedule for this week.
PARCC Update Teacher grades 3-5
As we are moving closer to the testing date, I am going to start sharing more information with you regarding PARCC. I know that there is a lot of information out there but I am checking with Mark Racine the District's Director of Technology regularly to make sure that you have all the necessary information. Please take time to revise the following documents :
5 Steps to Preparing you School for the PARCC Assessments
- Familiarize yourself with the changes from paper-based to online assessments. Compare traditional question types to online assessments using this question mapping tool for elementary students and middle-school students.
- Give staff & students a practice test in the testing platform. Visit the PARCC Practice Test site to take samples for ELA or Math
- Familiarize staff & students with accessibility and accommodation features. View the full accessibility manual here or take a practice test using large print, TTS, accommodated screen reader, ASL, or Braille versions by visiting the practice test page.
- Prepare students by walking them through the PARCC tutorial prior to the actual assessment. Visit TestNav tutorial page to practice in the TestNav app.
- Encourage students to practice typing at home and at school. Visit the Typing page to find free typing resources for elementary or middle grades.
- Please note for step 4, students should be able to log on the TestNav app (located on the lower side corner) using the Chrome books. Students do not need a password and they are able to see their scores when they complete the practice test. The links work best with Safari and Firefox.
Middle School Quarter 3 Grades
Just a reminder that 3rd term grading window closes on 4/27/16 at 11:59 pm. Please do not forget to click Post Grades and if you need any assistance please see Ms. Jackson.
Curley Cares
If you know about a staff member who is out on a leave of absence, lost a family member, had a baby or recently got married please contact Candida Mundo. We want to make sure all staff know that we are supportive of them in times of happiness or sadness.
Field Trips
Spring is here and many classes are signed up for field trips in the coming weeks. Please do not forget to give the nurse's office and cafeteria staff 2 weeks notice for any field trips.Parking Lot
Today several staff were blocking in cars in the Lower School Parking Lot. This is a friendly reminder that we should never block in others in the lot. Also some cars have parked along the driveway entrance at the Lower School Lot and this is also not allowed. Last week an emergency vehicle was unable to pull into the parking lot. We need make every effort to clear spaces for cars to enter and exit. Also it is now April and street cleaning has begun! Here is the link the see which weeks our abutting streets get cleaned http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/sweeping/?streetname=MORAINEDental Hygienist
The dental hygienists will be here starting Wed. April 27th to see the students with signed permission slips. Please contact Marilynn Regan with any questions.
Plant Sale
Don’t let the snow get you down. Spring is just around the corner: The 16th Annual Curley Plant and Bake Sale is April 30th! This much loved event is the Curley’s longest running fundraiser. If you are interested in helping, please email Kristin Jurkoic at kjurkoic@yahoo.com. Green thumbs are not necessary.
Doors Propped Open
Twice this week doors were found propped open. Staff immediately reported this to the main office. We would like to remind everyone that no doors should be propped open and if you find a door propped please closes it and then report to the main office. ThanksLGBTQ Picnic
The Curley K-8 School will be hosting our first LGBTQ Picnic for families, faculty and allies. Please join us, bring your friends, spread the word, open to all BPS. More information to follow. Please contact Leida Arroyo (LARROYO@BOSTONPUBLICSCHOOLS.ORG) or Sue Trotz for more information
> Date: Thursday May 19, Place: Curley Play area. Rain date:Thursday May 26 : Time 6:00 pm. Members of City Year will help with activities for the children. (BRING YOUR OWN PICNIC).
SAVE THE DATE!!!!
Reserve the date, Mark your Calendar, Let's Celebrate - End-of-the-year celebration and retirement party
Thursday, June 9, 2016
5:00-10:00 p.m.
The Florian Hall
55 Hallet Street, Dorchester, MA 02124
Buffet, Music, Surprises
More information in the coming weeks
Curley Cares Funds Committee
