Shout Out
Shout out to Sean Guthrie on being named the new principal of Young Achievers Math & Science K-8 School! We are proud of all you have accomplished in your short time with us. We look forward to continuing to learn with you till June and wish you the best of luck in your new role!Shout out to Amika Kemmler-Ernst and Marietje Halbertsma for organizing a meeting with the Boston Symphony Orchestra yesterday. It is a potential partnership for our school community and their support showed the BSO how we value performing arts here at the Curley!
Shout out to David Diaz for leading MCAS for our school. So many hours have gone into planning this and today there were minimal issues. Thank you for sorting through the thousands of page of planning materials and helping to simplify the plan for us all!
MCAS Update
Overall things went very smoothly and there were minimal issues. There are a few things we would like to clarify:
MCAS testing begins on Tuesday 4/4/17. It is important that ALL TEACHERS check the schedule everyday for changes that may effect them. CPT will takes place for all grades and specialists unless noted on the schedule. K1-3, & 6-8 will meet regularly and 4-5 will not meet on the days they are testing. Any questions or concerns please let us know ASAP. Please contact David with any thoughts or questions.- Proctors should only be using their cell phones to contact administrators with issues.
- Students must sign out of the test once they are done. To do so click on the person in the top right corner, click sign out of TestNav, then click save and return later. Once that is done students should restart the Chromebook.
- At the end of the session lock the test DO NOT click stop. The session will show students in progress until the final session when it will turn blue once the whole test is completed.
- Students should only complete one session per day. It is the proctors responsibility to monitor each session and make sure that students do not go ahead.
- Proctors that have been issued a proctor ticket (only for students who receive a nonstandard accommodation and are assessed one to one) should remember that students MUST sign in as themselves as well as the proctor signing in on separate devices to read aloud.
MCAS 2.0 Quick Check
MCAS 2.0 Roles and Responsibilities
MCAS Schedule - Overall schedule & daily schedules please be sure to click on each sheet and check daily
MCAS Noise
Please do not use turf field before 12pm on testing days. The noise from students playing is a distraction to students testing. Also we will be testing inside all the offices in the Lower School. Lets help students care about each other by quietly traveling in the hallway as well. Thank you!School Climate
Please join us for the School Climate meeting on Wednesday, April 5th from 3pm-4:15pm in Room 003.
Staff Social
Please join us for the April Staff Social on Friday, April 7th from 3pm-6pm at Costello's on Centre Street.Professional Learning By Teachers, For Teachers
Click here to learn more and register now!The Collaborative is a set of free teacher-led professional learning courses that connect you with fellow teachers from district, charter, and Catholic schools throughout the City of Boston. Together, you will share best practices and refine your instructional practice over five weeks.
What course will you take?
Courses at Codman Academy in Dorchester
Literature Circles 101: Teaching Students to Read Like Adults (Grades 6-12)
Culturally Responsive Teaching: How Does Culture Play a Role in Learning? (Grades K -12)
Courses at the Mission Grammar School in Mission Hill
Every Behavior Tells a Story: Modeling Social Emotional Skills in Academic Contexts (Grades Pre-K - 6)
Anything but Standard: Creative Ways to Engage Students in CCSS Writing (Grades 3-6)
Courses at the Curley School in Jamaica Plain
How to Read like a Historian: Using Document Based Analysis in the Classroom (Grades 5-12)
How to Use Student Talk and Differentiated Checks for Understanding to Elevate Mathematical Thinking for All (Grades 1-5)
Questions? Contact Sasha Zuflacht at szuflacht@teachplus.org
Nurse Passes
Please give students passes to the nurse. We have seen a lot of students coming to the nurse without a pass. The pass serves as a way to keep students accountable and let other staff in the building know students are where they are suppose to be. Thank you.
Front Door
Please do not let students in before 8:15 unless it is very cold, raining, or you are willing to stay in the front lobby with them. Students can not be left in the building unsupervised because this creates a safety issue. Thank you.
Artifacts
Artifacts are due April 15th. Please reread over your formative evaluation. If your evaluator has indicated that you are missing an artifact please add that artifact and update any data that is connected to your goals.
Street Cleaning
April 1st street cleaning will begin. Please check this link to find out when street cleaning will be taken place. http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/sweeping/
Substitute Teacher Folders
Please make sure that your sub folders are up to date and have explicit instructions about what duties they have to cover and what procedures they should be following. There have been miscommunications with substitutes where duties have not been covered and students have been unsupervised. This has created safety issues.Library
We are excited to open our library in SY 2017-2018. Please refrain from taking books from this space or using it during the day or afternoon. We will need this time to prepare for our opening next year. Thank you!Bulletin Board Reminder
Teachers please update your bulletin boards by Friday April 7th. Use this link to see bulletin board expectations. Use this link to print bulletin board template which should be posted on the bulletin board. Thank you.Lion King Performances
The Lion King performance dates have been announced:
Evening Shows
*****April 6 Shubert Theatre Doors open at 5 pm & Show starts at 5:30. (This is an amazing opportunity for all of our students!!!!!)
Families are welcome to come to either performance and all students will attend one of the daytime performances.
We Care About Our Community!
The Curley Community is excited to announce that we are launching a Community Caring Project this spring. We will kick off the project by hosting a school-wide Caring March on April 12th at 1:30pm. All staff and students will participate and families will be invited to march with us.
Many of our students have participated in marches for various causes over the past few months and there have been discussions in many classrooms about the rights of different groups of people in our community. There is some inspiring work already happening at the Curley. Ms. Strait’s 4th grade class is doing a Hunger Project, Ms. Mylett and Ms. Moran’s class is spreading kindness by making kindness rocks, and Ms. Merdkhanian’s K1 class had their own march after several students attended the Women’s March in February.
We would like for all classes to gather with their buddy classrooms to collaborate on this project. Students should think about what they care about, and work with their buddies to create signs and posters for the Caring March. There are lots of things that we care about in our community. The possibilities are endless!
Here are some things that students may care about and want to put on signs:
- Animal rights
- Illnesses
- Hunger
- Access to school
- The environment
- Immigrant rights
- LGBQ rights
Timeline for the Curley Community Caring Project
- March: prepare for the Caring March by talking to your students about what they care about and creating signs and posters with your buddy class
- April: March with your buddy class on April 12th at 1:30.
- May and June: Create and complete a community service project. Ideas, lesson plans, resources and support will be provided.
Save the Date
Please reserve Friday, June 2nd for our End-of-the-Year and Retirement Party.
Place: Florian Hall
Time: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Appetizers, Buffet, Music, Dance, Celebrations!Field Trips
Are you going on a field trip soon? Have you shared this information with the nurses and the cafeteria? This is a friendly reminder that the nurse's and cafe should be notified 2 weeks in advance of scheduled field trips. Teachers should also be carefully checking the returned permission slips. They should notify the nurse's office when a parent checks the "yes" box stating that their child requires medication while on the field trip.
Using ESS
If you wish to request a day off (medical appointments, religious holidays, professional day, bereavement, personal day etc...), sign on to Boston Employees Self Service (ESS, Please bookmark this page). When possible, request a personal day at least two weeks in advance. Staff members will request sub coverage through SubCentral (https://subcentral.bostonpublicschools.org/logOnInitAction.do). Please do not decide whether you think a sub is needed and submit the request as soon as you know a day you will be absent. We have many unexpected coverage needs that might need sub help. We are attaching a list of subs who usually work at the Curley upon request.
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
- If it is after 6:30am, also send an email to Katie Grassa, David Diaz and the secretary.
If you wish to request a day off (medical appointments, religious holidays, professional day, bereavement, personal day etc...), sign on to Boston Employees Self Service (ESS, Please bookmark this page). When possible, request a personal day at least two weeks in advance. Staff members will request sub coverage through SubCentral (https://subcentral.bostonpublicschools.org/logOnInitAction.do). Please do not decide whether you think a sub is needed and submit the request as soon as you know a day you will be absent. We have many unexpected coverage needs that might need sub help. We are attaching a list of subs who usually work at the Curley upon request.
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
- If it is after 6:30am, also send an email to Katie Grassa, David Diaz and the secretary.
SPED PD Options
Below are some PD options being offered at the Curley during our contractual PD dates. Staff may want to include one or more of these into their team PD plan. Here is the link to sign up https://goo.gl/forms/
- April 27th --- Understanding Disabilities and Services available
- May 18th --- Middle School Transition/Life Skills
- June 1st --- Inclusion
Below are some PD options being offered at the Curley during our contractual PD dates. Staff may want to include one or more of these into their team PD plan. Here is the link to sign up https://goo.gl/forms/
- April 27th --- Understanding Disabilities and Services available
- May 18th --- Middle School Transition/Life Skills
- June 1st --- Inclusion