Words from Grace
Today is Romaine's last day in Boston Public Schools. I am very sad to see her go, but also happy for her as she enters the next phase. Thank you, Romaine - you will be missed 💔. Please see this letter to the Hale community announcing Karen Loughran as the interim principal for the remainder of the year. Welcome, Karen!
I'm excited about hearing the sound of teaching and learning in schools next week! It has been a big lift having a district meeting daily, satisfying all of the central office/BTU/MOA demands to ensure health and safety, staffing, cohort changes, and transportation while also running remote learning school and everything that comes with it. Thank you.
Final Probable Org meetings are taking place next week - almost done in preparation for the February 3 School Committee meeting and upcoming budget hearings. This has been a big lift along with completing formative assessments. Again, thank you.
Instructional Core
Next Tuesday we will dive into analyzing tasks. Please bring a grade level task to our region meeting. In thinking about the instructional core, I did some research looking for recent works by Elmore. I found a 2018 video of him speaking about how advances in neuroscience - the vast knowledge base about how the brain works - clearly tells us that school as we know it today don't operate to maximize students' potential - to have agency, to create, to be able to identify errors and adjust. As we recover from the pandemic, what opportunities do we have to reimagine school?
MTSS
During Courtney's MTSS PLC yesterday, a school leader shared that she was told she better get on the ball using Panorama because there is a list of Panorama usage by school. Yes, it is true this data exist, but it's not meant to be used to judge - it's a mechanism to determine how we are doing with using the tool to improve our systems and structures to support students. The lack of plans does not mean schools are not addressing concerns because plans/documentation could be taking place elsewhere. Meaningful adoption and use of Panorama is more important the the number of plans and/or support notes that are counted.
Attendance is one measure that we all have in common. Please see our region's chronic absenteeism and plans in Panorama below. The number of plans is not the goal - decreasing or slowing our chronic absenteeism is. Plans that are active and being tracked is more important than the actual number. Trying out Panorama and planning for how your school might use it for the second half of the year is progress.
Important Dates
February 15 - President’s Day - No School
February 16-19 - Winter Recess - No School
April 2 - Good Friday - No School
April 19 - Patriot’s Day - No School
April 20 - 23 - Spring Recess - No School
Division of Academics
UPCOMING DEADLINE - Teacher Leadership Fund Mid-Year Grants - Open Until 2/26
The Teacher Leadership Fund is happy to announce a new midyear grant opportunity for this year only. We know that now more than ever educators are innovating and creating to address the immense challenges that our students and schools are facing, especially those that have been created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until February 26. Email tlf@bostonpublicschools.org with questions.
Spring Home Kits for K - 5th Grade
The Early Childhood and STEM departments partnered to provide home kits for students in grades K-5th for spring 2021.
The materials included in the kits can be reused, so students and teachers can complete more than one challenge and use them for individual content area projects.
The kits are pre-assembled and will be shipped directly to schools in quantities corresponding to the school’s student capacity which in most cases is a lot higher than the actual enrollment numbers.
Delivery to schools is expected to start February 8th. Schools should designate a point person and location in the school to receive the home kits. Please review this list and make sure that your school’s information is correct and complete by Monday, February 1, 2021. For delivery information, please contact Kathleen Pauyo, kpauyo@bostonpublicschools.org.
Legos for K2 kits will be distributed separately by the department of Early Childhood the 2nd week of February. Details will be added as we get close to the delivery date.
K-2nd Focus on Early Learning - Curriculum Adoptions for FY22
Schools interested in adopting the Focus on Early Learning curriculum for K-2nd grade, please complete the interest form and submit by February 15th.
Move to Edmentum
As of January 2021, schools will no longer add students to Acellus since the district has fully transitioned to a new online credit recovery platform, Edmentum. (Please see the original memo.) All new students will NOW be added to Edmentum since Acellus has been discontinued. Students currently using Acellus can continue on the platform until June 30, 2021.
Office hours to support the use of the new platform are now available for the end of January and February. To register for office hours, please see Edmentum Office Hours. Once the registration form is complete, you will receive a confirmation email and have the option to add the invite to your calendar. During office hours, you will receive help directly from a staff member at Edmentum.
For past recordings of training, please view them here. For questions about the platform, please email Support@Edmentum.com or email both Susan.Yeomans@Edmentum.com and Kacy.mcclean@Edmentum.com.
For other questions, please reach out to Esther Eugene (eeugene@bostonpublicschoolsorg).
Attention Regarding Distribution of Early Reader Texts
Most schools organized pick-ups and distribution to ensure that 1st graders received their printed copies of the decodable readers that are part of Focus on First. Schools received all of the Unit 1 and Unit 2 texts, with a copy for each first grader in your building. We know print materials are a crucial component to early stages of learning to read. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the schools who got these texts to children and have been able to teach reading with both print and digital materials.
It has come to our attention that in a few cases, the boxes of books for children continue to sit in main offices. Please encourage teachers and staff to make a plan to distribute, so the texts can instead be in the hands of children. Please let us know if you need guidance on how to balance using the texts for remote and hybrid learning.
Unit 3 decodables for Focus on First as well as Focus on K2, will be delivered mid-February (exact date coming!).
If you would like to understand more about how these texts support young readers, see this webinar and slide deck. If you would like support around accelerating reading growth in grades K-2 and ensuring that your literacy framework is evidence-based and equitable, please reach out to Brooke Childs, bchilds@bostonpublicschools.org.
Boston Citywide/Region VI Science Fair
On Wednesday-Friday, March 3rd - 5th, 2021, Boston Public Schools will conduct the 75th annual BPS Citywide/Massachusetts State Region VI Science Fair. This year the event will be hosted virtually. We know the Science Fair provides an opportunity for our students to demonstrate and celebrate their accomplishments in the fields of science and engineering. Thus, your support of this event is essential. More information can be found in this memo.
Seesaw Professional Learning Opportunity for Administrators
Please join the Department of Early Childhood and principals Karla Jenkins, Min Jen-Tayor & Traci Griffeth Walker in a six-week professional learning community focused on using Seesaw to inform instruction and student learning, with a focus on the relationship between teacher assignment and related student output. In partnership with our longitudinal research partners, we will focus on the principal task tool, the CRIOP, and other tools to examine various teacher/student work dimensions. We will focus on task complexity, cultural relevance, standards/content appropriateness, and family engagement. Also, we will think about constructive formats for feedback for teachers and students.
Team members will meet weekly to help build a tool for administrators to explore school data (K-2nd), think of ways to improve tasks and activities (or how to give feedback to do so), think about school/district themes, and inform how to strengthen administration and use of Seesaw in remote and non-remote environments. This commitment would be separate from school leaders’ other PLC commitments. Our goal is to take the team’s learning and share it with other distinct leaders/teachers as we continue to strengthen our support for students and Seesaw for this year and next.
If you are interested in participating please send an email to jsachs@bostonpublicschools.org by February 1st.
MCAS Updates
Spring 2021 MCAS Grades 3-8 Testing Tentative schedule:
a. ELA April 5 – May 7
b. Mathematics April 26 – May 28
c. STE (Grades 5, 8) April 27 – May 28
Note: Test administration deadlines will be provided soon. The Default administration mode is computer-based testing. Paper-based tests will be available as an accommodation.
Shorter Testing Experience for Schools and Students:
- Schools will be administering only one test session for each subject area to students in 2021. Instead of taking two sessions each of English language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science and technology/engineering (STE), students will take only one session each.
- Each student will take only a portion of each MCAS assessment in each subject. This will significantly reduce testing time for students.
- There are no changes in the MCAS curriculum framework and no shifts in instruction are to be expected.
Training: District Office departments will provide training in the coming months to prepare testing coordinators for this unique administration.
Spring 2021 MCAS High School Testing schedule and details are still yet to be released.
MCAS-Alt Teacher Training
Please encourage teachers who are conducting the MCAS-Alt to sign-up for a virtual portfolio review session in January. Educators may sign up for a single one-hour session between 8:30 am and 1:00 pm on any of the available dates. Refer to this flyer for the dates of the reviews, including sessions for educators completing Competency and Grade-Level portfolios. The 2021 MCAS Service Center passwords for schools are located in the MCAS 2021 Data folder in DropBox Central, which is located in the Department’s Security Portal.
Office of Leadership Development
Please join us or share with others who may be interested in joining us at a School Leadership Information Session on February 24th at 5:30pm. Registrations for this event can be found here.
In partnership with the Perrone Sizer Institute (PSI), the BPS-PSI fellowship is now accepting applications for SY21-22! This is a pipeline designed to prepare teacher leaders to become Assistant Principals. There are upcoming information sessions on:
Tuesday, February 2 - 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Tuesday, February 23 - 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Sunday, March 7 - 8:30 am - 9:30 am
Register for an upcoming information session here. The application deadline is April 26, 2021 and can be found here. Please share this information with your networks. If you have questions about this opportunity, please contact Monica Hall, mhall4@bostonpublicschools.org.
Applications for School Leaders and School Administrators (Assistant Principal and similar roles) Hiring Pools (2021-2022) are now open. If you are interested, the school leader application can be found here, and the school administrator application can be found here. Additional information about the hiring process is available on the Lead in BPS website. For questions, please feel free to contact Megan Reed (mreed@bostonpublicschools.org) or Monica Hall (mhall4@bostonpublicschools.org).
Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL)
The Office of Leadership Development is seeking feedback from BPS educators who either have completed their Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) or desire to complete the PAL within the next few years. Please fill out the linked survey to provide your reflections and suggestions relative to your experiences completing (or perhaps not completing) the PALs. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes of your time and will remain open until January 31, 2021. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences as we work to develop a new program for PAL support in BPS. To learn more about our induction programming for first and second year leaders, take a look at our website here.
MAP Fluency and Growth Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning
Synchronous Learning: For either MAP Growth or MAP Fluency, participants will learn how to access and analyze major reports and apply them to planning for instruction. Overview of session here, registration form here.
MAP Fluency:
Tuesday, February 2nd, 7:30-9:00 AM
Monday, February 8th, 3:00-4:30 PM
MAP Growth:
Monday, February 1st, 4:00-5:30 PM
Thursday, February 4th, 7:30-9:00 AM
Wednesday, February 10th, 3:00-4:30 PM
Asynchronous Learning: MAP Fluency and Growth webinars and data analysis materials can be found here.
Division of Equity, Strategy, & Opportunity Gaps
School-Based Equity Roundtable PD for School Teams
Equity Roundtables are conversations amongst a group of stakeholders that reflect the racial, ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic diversity of the school community to push our thinking about who we are as a school. The goal of the School-based Equity Roundtable is to eliminate opportunity, achievement gaps, and barriers for BPS students as we work to expand opportunities for the most marginalized. The roundtables also serve as a project monitoring tool for the Whole School Improvement Plan to expand opportunities for the most marginalized population of students at the school.
The ESOG Team will offer support every Wednesday starting February 10 from 1p to 3p. If you need more information or have questions, please contact Velecia Saunders @ VSaunders@bostonpublicschools.org.
24/7 Respect Week
The 3rd annual rollout of 24/7 Respect will occur February 8-12, 2021! 24/7 Respect is a groundbreaking program to educate students on how to prevent and address bias-based and sexual misconduct in person, by text, and/or online. Thank you to the point people at each middle and high school, who will ensure all 6th through 12th grade students discuss our new Telly Award-winning video. If you have questions, please contact the Director of 24/7 Respect, Jonathan Zielke, at jzielke@bostonpublicschools.org.
Office of Recruitment, Cultivation and Diversity Programs (RCD)
Recruitment & Cultivation Team Updates & Events
Support BPS Recruitment
JOIN US FOR DEMO DAY!!! Demo Day (flyer) will be on Saturday, February 27 from 7:45a -1p for all grade levels (deadline to RSVP is 2/12). Please come and support aspiring educators by giving feedback to demo lessons they will present. Also, get a preview of candidates for next year. We encourage you to invite members of your hiring committees to join as well. School Leaders and designees may RSVP here. Note there will be an orientation session for Demo Day on 2/11 from 5-6pm where we would also love to get your input on what would be helpful for us to provide to you from candidates.
The Early Hiring Pool is now open, and we would love your help in encouraging highly qualified and diverse candidates to apply! For prospective teachers only. We are excited to share that so far, our pool is more diverse than ever before!
Retention Services
Down Payment and Financial Support – Suitable when you’re ready to purchase in the near future
Shared Equity Down Payment Program
Landed's down payment program helps you reach at least a 20% down payment through a shared equity investment, up to $120,000 per household. Investing alongside homebuyers, Landed shares in a portion of the gain (or loss, if any) in the value of the home once the partnership is ended—typically by sale or refinance. See the full process here.
Vetted Agents & Lenders
Connect with experienced agents and lenders that get results.
Landed Home Program – Suitable for all stages of the homebuying process (including preparation)
Free homebuying support and education to help you navigate your options and prepare for homeownership. Landed’s homebuying team will provide educational resources and guidance to help you make homeownership a reality.
Interested in learning more about either option? Landed is hosting two information sessions for employees in education in the Boston area next month. These sessions are for those interested in either homebuying education or financial support:
Wednesday, February 10th
12:00 PM – RSVP here to receive event login information
*Information sessions are approximately 1 hour. You will receive the login link via email confirmation. We recommend downloading the zoom mobile app or using a desktop. If you are unable to attend the sessions above, get in touch with Landed here.
Celebrating Diasporic African and African-American Blackness All Year 2021
The Division of Academics in collaboration with the Division of Equity, Strategy, and Opportunity Gaps is proud to announce a year-long celebration of Blackness. We are creating a calendar of events occurring in February and beyond, celebrating the rich histories of people of the African diaspora. We invite you to submit any events taking place in your school, central office department, or the Boston community that celebrate and uplift Blackness. Please complete this form to submit an event.
Calendar submissions must meet the following criteria:
1. promotes/encourages culturally and linguistically sustaining practices
2. aligns with BPS Strategic Vision
3. sponsored by a BPS school or central office department (BPS community partners are encouraged to connect with a school or BPS central office department)
Feel free to share this with your networks. Questions contact: diversityprograms@bostonpublicschools.org
Diversity Programs & Retention Services
Central Office and School Leader Affinity Groups: Weekly or monthly gatherings to share questions and concerns, celebrate cultural diversity and to support each other’s work in a safe and inclusive environment working towards an anti-racist workplace. For more information: rmartin2@bostonpublicschools.org. If you’d like support in establishing school-based or department based affinity groups or to participate, please email eoccultivation@bostonpublicschools.org. Click the link below to sign up.
Central Office convened:
RCD Convened:
ABA (Applied Behavior Specialists) of Color School-Based staff
School Leaders of Color Network (SLOC) - designated
School leader convened:
APIDA School Leaders
Black School Leaders
Latinx School Leaders
Do you need a degree?
RCD has several degree completion programs through our higher education partners for Associates, Bachelors, Masters, CAGS and Doctoral degrees from the Boston University Wheelock College of Education, DUET-Southern New Hampshire University, Northeastern University and Regis College. To receive information, click here.
Division of Human Capital
Formative Assessment Deadline
Due to some misunderstandings around the deadlines for Formative Assessments (FAs), OHC has amended the deadlines to the following:
- Complete FAs for educators for whom there are performance concerns by the original 1/15 deadline.
- Complete FAs for ALL provisional educators by 2/1
- Complete FAs for remaining permanent educators by 2/15
For any formative assessment whose date is being moved from 1/15 to 2/1 or 2/15, advance written notice to the educator, including the new deadline (2 weeks prior) for Artifacts, is required and should be delivered prior to the Winter Recess.
Excess Deadline
Permanent teachers who do not have a future year position in your school will be marked “excessed,” and they will receive notification from the district prior to March 1st (February 1st for autonomous schools). For those that you excess, please ensure you have conversations with them regarding their statuses prior to that date.
If a position opens up that the excessed teacher is eligible for in your building, their excess will be rescinded and they will be returned to your school.
If an excessed teacher earns their license for the role they were excessed from prior to the position being filled, their excess will be rescinded and they will be returned to their role.
Division of Operations
Bus Assignment Notification for Feb.1 Return
Individual bus assignments were distributed to families of all students returning in-person next week via School Messenger email on Thursday, January 28. Physical mailers were sent out to families without an email address on file in Aspen.
In addition, a robocall was sent to families of all students returning in-person next week the morning of Friday, January 29, letting them know that bus assignments have been finalized and sent out. Families were provided the transportation hotline # (617-635-9520) to call with any questions.
ODA generated bus rosters for next week by school. These spreadsheets are available in each school’s Data Folder with Feb 1-2 bus assignments. Feb 4-5 bus assignments will be added to the spreadsheet today (Friday, January 29).
For any other questions or issues, you can refer to the SY20-21 Transportation Guide for BPS School Leaders or you can reach out to your Transportation Liaison and/or Dan Rosengard (BPSDOT Customer Service Manager, drosengard@bostonpublicschools.org).
Medify Air Purifiers
Directions on use of Units.
School Leaders can access directions on operating units through this document.
Requesting Additional Units.
School Leaders confirm with custodians that site inventory has been deployed.
School Leaders connect with Operational Leaders
School Leader requests must specify exact room names and numbers.
Operational Leaders will complete the request in the distribution tracker.
Once confirmed by the COO office Facilities will deliver and notate the delivery date in the tracker
Fire Drill/Evacuation Requirements (updated 1/19/21)
During these challenging times we are still required to conduct mandatory drills. As we return to school buildings, all occupants will need to familiarize themselves with their evacuation plans. This includes all phases of reentry into school buildings: All students must engage in four fire drills per year; this may translate to eight drills total to ensure that students in both A and B cohorts have four opportunities to practice evacuation.
IMPORTANT DEADLINE INFORMATION December and March Fire Drill Requirement:
If you had students in your building in December please complete your drill requirement if you have not done so already by Friday, January 29, 2021.
Your next Fire Drill is DUE no later than March 31, 2021. Per the current reopening plan, please note that you will need to complete more than one drill to accommodate cohort A and B within the month of March.
Below is a link to circular FSE#2 if you need any further guidance:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16VWQL-Ec27uN7lGcu4wN_-cZY6w-p4m-/view?usp=sharing
During evacuation drills all students and staff will need to wear their PPE and move through the building as quickly as possible (without running). Exiting the building in a timely fashion is the highest priority to ensure that each school community has practiced the proper response in the event of an actual emergency. While exiting, individuals should attempt to maintain a reasonable distance from each other. When they arrive at their designated meeting spots all students and staff should socially distance themselves in compliance with current state guidelines. Please see link below to memorandum from State Fire Marshal, School Emergency Planning and COVID-19, dated July 29, 2020, for further guidance: https://www.mass.gov/doc/school-emergency-planning-and-covid-19/download
Safe Mode Requirements
During these difficult times we should still be prepared for any type of emergency that might occur. In order to be prepared to respond to an emergency, teachers and staff should practice Safe Mode drills WITHOUT their students to support current COVID19 protocol. Staff should identify the safe place in their rooms that they would move to should an emergency occur and be able to articulate this to their students during a real event. All staff and teachers should plan and be prepared to go into Safe Mode if it is required.
IMPORTANT DEADLINE INFORMATION for current requirement:
Safe Mode drills are DUE no later than January 29, 2021.
If at anytime you feel you need support to develop a plan or conduct a drill please do not hesitate to reach out to Rick Deraney at rderaney@bostonpublicschools.org or 617-212-2397
FSE#8 Link https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3uV5Tndvx1zWjFQRmMtMENkSlE
Aspen Training Sessions: Schedule Building and Gradebook
We are officially in the SY21-22 Schedule Building season. The Aspen Team would like to invite you and your scheduler(s) to attend the training sessions listed below.
Scheduling
Initial Steps of Scheduling and Course Catalog Maintenance 1/25/2021 12:00 pm (2 hours) Zoom Meeting
Student Course Requests with Academic Track Setup (Online Course Requests) 2/1/2021 9:00 am Zoom Meeting
Creating Scenarios and Scheduling Preferences 2/3/2021 9:00 am Zoom Meeting
Patterns and Patterns Sets 2/8/2021 9:00 am Zoom Meeting
Schedule Attributes: Courses 2/9/2021 9:00 am Zoom Meeting
Schedule Attributes: Students, Staff, and Rooms 2/10/2021 9:00 am Zoom Meeting
Gradebook Extras: Planner and Tools (Using the Planner, Creating Your Own Grade Scales, Special Codes, Footnotes, and Question Bank) 2/2/2021 2:00 pm Zoom Meeting
All sessions are scheduled for 1 hour unless otherwise noted.
Complete list of Aspen Training Sessions and Descriptions
Contact: aspen@bostonpublicschools.org
School Leader Communication Hub
Please see this informative website that has current and historical memos, 'tasks/asks', and other information important for school leaders. The most current information will be on the homepage (the site is updated daily). If you have questions or feedback please contact Todd @ tfishburn@bostonpublicschools.org or Geoff @ grose@bostonpublicschools.org. As always, thanks for your unwavering leadership!
Division of Student, Family, and Community Advancement
Partner Connector Events
The Partnerships Office will be holding a series of "Partner Connector Events" to assist school leaders in learning about partner opportunities on Wednesdays through February 3rd. These events are in lieu of our Annual Partnership Event. This is an opportunity for schools to rethink their partnership strategy, and review options both in person and online partnerships while considering the needs of your school community.
The events will be on Zoom each week and will have 2 focus areas. The events will be broken down by grade level to ensure school leaders meet with partners that are a potential match. The full schedule is available on www.PartnerBPS.org and registration is on Eventbrite.