May 3, 2016

5/4/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to Rose Rodriguez and Genet Mehari for supporting us with science interviews this afternoon. Thank you for your time and expertise!

Shout out to Katie Belifore for hitting the ground running as a long term sub in PACE.  She's been very invested in working with the team to develop behavior support plans and communication systems for students!

Sorry

I am sorry that some of you did not get to the cookies this morning before they were gone. Please know that I have learned from this mistake and have communicated with the SPC to assure this does not happen on Friday for the luncheon. Everyone who is in that last lunch slot will still have food and they parents will serve you all!

360 Survey

Teachers be on the lookout for a 360 survey regarding my leadership. You all filled this out last spring and I used the results with my coach from the Lynch Leadership Academy to support me in my leadership growth. This is the post survey that will help me and my coach rate the effectiviness of my growth as a school leader. I know there have been a million surveys and I am sorry but I would appreciate if you would fill it out. I take everyone's feedback seriously and will use it to further improve my leadership skills. Thanks!

TERC Information

On Friday, May 6th at 11 am Kurt Whited from Pearson will be hosting an informational webinar on Investigations 3. It is scheduled for 45 minutes but I understand there will also be time for questions. We know some of your schools are interested in an opportunity to learn more about these curriculum materials. Please let your principals and any interested colleagues know about this offering. The webinar will be recorded and can be accessed after it airs for anyone who is not available to participate in the 11am session. Below is all the information you should need in order to participate.
Boston Investigations 3rd Edition
Friday, May 6, 2016
11:00 am   |  45 mins

Meeting number:
801 444 090
Meeting password:
pearson
Join by phone
Call-in toll-free number: 1-877-554-0877  (US)
Call-in number: 1-706-643-4875  (US)
Conference Code: 207 767 0114

Autism Awareness


To celebrate Autism Awareness Month, students on the spectrum were asked to draw a self-portrait using crayons, markers, or colored pencils.  These images were then scanned and used to create a mosaic of Boston's city skyline.  The final product was presented as a gift to Dr. Tommy Chang, our Superintendent at the First Annual Autism Awareness Luncheon.  Postcards of this mosaic are available for purchase: $1 each or 6 for $5.  If you would like to order postcards, please fill out this form by Friday, May 13th.  Money collected from postcard sales will contribute to funding future Autism Awareness Events.

Staff Social

Please join us Friday, May 6th at 3pm at Costello's on Centre St for our staff social! All staff are welcome!

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.
Florian Hall
Please pay $45 if you plan on attending by Friday, May 27th. (You can pay Ms. Mundo, Ms. Iatrou, Ms. Kidd, Ms Davis)


PARCC

PARCC is starting back up and we want to remind everyone that teaching should be happening leading up to the test and after the test as well.  We understand that some students may need time to decompress but this should not last all day long.
Here are some important documents that will be updated daily for PARCC.
PARCC Schedule for May as well as the small groups including the adults and location for 
Small Groups Grades 3-5
Small Groups Grades 6-8
Mobile Cart Schedule

Make Up List 
Logging into the PARCC Test
Starting, Pausing, Resuming and Stopping the Test 

Here are the Rules & Suggestions for the testing window. Each teacher should read this ASAP and reach out to Mr. Diaz with questions. 
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 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.

Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher and Nurse Appreciation Week to all of our staff! Throughout this week we will show you all appreciation and have some "surprises" planned. Save time on Wednesday afternoon to have free tennis lessons lead by our 6th-8th grade students on the playing field (Thanks Tenacity). Also the SPC will host a luncheon for all staff on Friday from 11:30-1:30 in the Teacher's Room.

Curley Cares Student Awards

Please fill out this to recognize the students we work with who exhibit consistent or improved understanding of the Curley Cares rules as demonstrated by a specific deed, general conduct, overall academic perseverance and/or improvement, or some other form of participation. Awards will be presented during the next Curley Shares assemblies scheduled for FRIDAY, May 6, 2016. Submissions are due by 5:00pm Wednesday, May 4, 2016. If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out in Google Forms.

Outside Use

Secretaries, counselors, and others need to know where students are for various reasons. With the continuing good weather we need to remind teachers that if they leave their classroom to go outside or to another classroom they need let the front office know and put a sign on your door. Also, if teachers are interested in going outside, they have to wait until all recesses are over at 1:20pm.  If you would like to request field use go to the blog (www.curleyk8.blogspot.com) and under the Helpful Links tab click Book Playing Field.

School Climate Team

Our next Climate meeting will be on Wednesday, May 4th from 3:00pm-4:15pm in room 212.

AWC for ALL

Our next AWC for ALL meeting will take place Thursday, May 5th from 3:00pm-4:00pm in room 111. All staff are welcome to attend. We will be transitioning to call this Excellence for ALL (EFA).

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.

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 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=MORAINE

LGBTQ 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).

May 2, 2016

5/3/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to all of our teachers on Teacher Appreciation Day! We are lucky to have so many incredibly dedicated staff members who come to work each day to support our students. The Admin Team has a sweet treat that we will deliver to you all. "Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be." -Rita Pierson (https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en) 

PARCC

PARCC is starting back up and we want to remind everyone that teaching should be happening leading up to the test and after the test as well.  We understand that some students may need time to decompress but this should not last all day long.
Here are some important documents that will be updated daily for PARCC.
PARCC Schedule for May as well as the small groups including the adults and location for 
Small Groups Grades 3-5
Small Groups Grades 6-8
Mobile Cart Schedule

Make Up List 
Logging into the PARCC Test
Starting, Pausing, Resuming and Stopping the Test 

Here are the Rules & Suggestions for the testing window. Each teacher should read this ASAP and reach out to Mr. Diaz with questions. 
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 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.

Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher and Nurse Appreciation Week to all of our staff! Throughout this week we will show you all appreciation and have some "surprises" planned. Save time on Wednesday afternoon to have free tennis lessons lead by our 6th-8th grade students on the playing field (Thanks Tenacity). Also the SPC will host a luncheon for all staff on Friday from 11:30-1:30 in the Teacher's Room.

Curley Cares Student Awards

Please fill out this to recognize the students we work with who exhibit consistent or improved understanding of the Curley Cares rules as demonstrated by a specific deed, general conduct, overall academic perseverance and/or improvement, or some other form of participation. Awards will be presented during the next Curley Shares assemblies scheduled for FRIDAY, May 6, 2016. Submissions are due by 5:00pm Wednesday, May 4, 2016. If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out in Google Forms.

Outside Use

Secretaries, counselors, and others need to know where students are for various reasons. With the continuing good weather we need to remind teachers that if they leave their classroom to go outside or to another classroom they need let the front office know and put a sign on your door. Also, if teachers are interested in going outside, they have to wait until all recesses are over at 1:20pm.  If you would like to request field use go to the blog (www.curleyk8.blogspot.com) and under the Helpful Links tab click Book Playing Field.

Health and  Wellness

Our May Health and Wellness Meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 3rd from 7:30am-8:15am in room 208. All staff are welcome to attend. Also we are looking for a co-chair for next year. If you are interested please speak to Katie Grassa or Sue Trotz.

School Climate Team

Our next Climate meeting will be on Wednesday, May 4th from 3:00pm-4:15pm in room 212.

AWC for ALL

Our next AWC for ALL meeting will take place Thursday, May 5th from 3:00pm-4:00pm in room 111. All staff are welcome to attend. We will be transitioning to call this Excellence for ALL (EFA).

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.

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 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=MORAINE

LGBTQ 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

May 1, 2016

5/2/16 Daily Bulletin

Shout Out

Shout out to our Vanessa Buckley, Substitute Psychologist for all her hard work with counseling students and assessing them for IEP meetings. She is new to this role and has learned so much in the last few weeks. Thanks!

Shout out to Deb Aviles, Teacher of the Deaf for all her hard work supporting our deaf students. Deb is on top of every detail and assures that students feel comfortable in class, have the appropriate acoustical treatments and that they can become leaders and role models for other students. Thanks!

Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher and Nurse Appreciation Week to all of our staff! Throughout this week we will show you all appreciation and have some "surprises" planned. Save time on Wednesday afternoon to have free tennis lessons lead by our 6th-8th grade students on the playing field (Thanks Tenacity). Also the SPC will host a luncheon for all staff on Friday from 11:30-1:30 in the Teacher's Room.

Curley Cares Student Awards

Please fill out this to recognize the students we work with who exhibit consistent or improved understanding of the Curley Cares rules as demonstrated by a specific deed, general conduct, overall academic perseverance and/or improvement, or some other form of participation. Awards will be presented during the next Curley Shares assemblies scheduled for FRIDAY, May 6, 2016. Submissions are due by 5:00pm Wednesday, May 4, 2016. If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out in Google Forms.

Outside Use

Secretaries, counselors, and others need to know where students are for various reasons. With the continuing good weather we need to remind teachers that if they leave their classroom to go outside or to another classroom they need let the front office know and put a sign on your door. Also, if teachers are interested in going outside, they have to wait until all recesses are over at 1:20pm.  If you would like to request field use go to the blog (www.curleyk8.blogspot.com) and under the Helpful Links tab click Book Playing Field.

Health and  Wellness

Our May Health and Wellness Meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 3rd from 7:30am-8:15am in room 208. All staff are welcome to attend. Also we are looking for a co-chair for next year. If you are interested please speak to Katie Grassa or Sue Trotz.

School Climate Team

Our next Climate meeting will be on Wednesday, May 4th from 3:00pm-4:15pm in room 212.

AWC for ALL

Our next AWC for ALL meeting will take place Thursday, May 5 from 3:00pm-4:00pm in room 111. All staff are welcome to attend.

PARCC

Here are some important documents that will be updated daily for PARCC.
PARCC Schedule for May as well as the small groups including the adults and location for 
Small Groups Grades 3-5
Small Groups Grades 6-8
Mobile Cart Schedule
Make Up List 
Logging into the PARCC Test
Starting, Pausing, Resuming and Stopping the Test (Coming Soon!)

Here are the Rules & Suggestions for the testing window. Each teacher should read this ASAP and reach out to Mr. Diaz with questions. 
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 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.

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.

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!

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. 

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=MORAINE

LGBTQ 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