Friday Flyer - March 12, 2021

Words from Grace

I was feeling good with about the plan to roll in K-3 March 1 and 4-8 on March 15. We were doing it!  I thought, wow, we have more students back in school! I thought - now we can establish our routine... our groove.... I did not anticipate the demand that we return five days/week at three foot social distancing. I'm trying to wrap my head around it... and as the news sinks in... I know it's the right thing as long as our most needy students come back. 

Our more privileged families will advocate for their student to return. Meanwhile, we have students we need to return - we need to do extra outreach for those who need to be with us. 

Overall Data on District vs Region 6 Remote, Attendance, Academics

Regional Chronic Absenteeism vs Attendance Success Plans in Panorama 

Do you have students who are disconnected and/or chronically absent? Now that we are working towards offering five days in-person at three feet social distancing, extra effort should be put into these children attending school every day. Why? 

• Students are not accessing learning remotely

• Students have not be in the habit of being in school for a year - a huge percentage of time in a child's life

• Returning five days is an opportunity to get reconnected and to build our muscles to come to school

• Students will have a more structured environment and access to caring adults, even if some of their day is learning on Zoom

If a student is chronically absent and/or disconnected, insist they come back! If we do a good job connecting, they more likely will engage in school and be connected to summer opportunities.

Family Preferences 

On Monday, the district will send a survey asking families to indicate their preference between 5 days of in-person learning and 5 days of remote learning. The district will provide a School Leader Guide to outline how to access the results and support families with completing the form -- it will be the same as the forms from August and September for their initial learning model choices.

Mayor Walsh Visit at Everett

Yesterday Mayor Walsh visited the Everett where he attended kindergarten. Karen and her staff did a great job welcoming and seeing off the mayor.

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I know you have a lot on your plates - it is the time of year when you are setting the stage for next year... but that is awfully hard when you are also planning yet another reopening. 

Please know, I appreciate all you do to stay the course. Thank you!

Important Dates

April 2 - Good Friday - No School

April 19 - Patriot’s Day - No School

April 20 - 23 - Spring Recess - No School

May 31 - Memorial Day - No School

Division of Academics

March History/Social Studies PD Announcements

Focus Curriculum Materials List Updated for Schools Replenishment 

If your school is planning to replenish supplies, consumables and curriculum materials, please use the Focus on K0/K1, K2, 1st & 2nd Materials list with updated pricing. 

Please contact Abdifatah Sahal (asahal@bostonpublicschools.org) if you have questions regarding materials and procurement for Focus Curriculum.

STE Curriculum Information

The STE department invites School Leaders to join us for a 30-45  minute information session regarding district science adoption of OpenSciEd (OSE) for grades 6-8 (MS) and how that informs adoption of science curriculum at ES and HS.

Goals & Objectives: 

• Update school leaders about K-12 science curricula: What district supported curricula are available? 

• Share key elements about OSE that impact other curriculum adoption: Why choose OSE for your school? 

• Raise awareness about making curriculum decisions for your school: What are the key priorities for schools to consider when selecting curriculum and their connection to assessment?

Dates/Times for STE curriculum information (30 min info/30 min Q&A)

• Wednesday, March 17th 1:30-2:30

• Thursday, March 18th, 9:30-10:30 

• Wednesday, March 24th, 4:00-5:00 

• Join Zoom Meeting: https://k12-bostonpublicschools.zoom.us/j/9073845706

Simultaneous Teaching Virtual Edcamp 3/31 

Teaching students at home and in-person is hard, and we are doing our best to make it work. Let's join together as a BPS community, ask questions, share ideas, and learn from each other. EdCamps are a unique "unconference" form of PD where those in attendance lead learning for one another. On March 31st, the Telescope Network is co-hosting an Edcamp from 4:00p to 6:00p around the theme of simultaneous teaching. Registering in advance enters you into a raffle. Prizes will be awarded throughout the event (attendance required to win). Register and help spread the word! (Register / website / flyer).

Division of Accountability

BPS Interims Feedback Survey (Due April 1st)

We are seeking feedback on this year's Interim Assessments. Please consider taking a few minutes to complete this survey. Your insight will help improve the Interims for next school year and beyond! Questions? Contact Dana Pulda-Acone at formatives@bostonpublicschools.org

Student Support/Success Teams (SSTs) 

The purpose of the survey linked below is to engage various school-based stakeholders about their perceptions of Student Support/Success Teams (SSTs). We hope to learn more about practices that are happening throughout BPS:

• SST Quick Survey - Spring 2021

Panorama Weekly Update -  New Feature: Filter by Classroom 

Panorama Student Success now includes an option to filter by classroom!  At the top of the “Students” page, users can select a particular course section. Clicking into the dropdown opens a list of courses to choose from, sorted by teacher. Selecting a course will narrow data to the list of students that are enrolled in that course:

Helpful Details: 

• The dropdown list includes section number, to distinguish between similar course names. For example, teachers have multiple courses named “Algebra 1,” and section number differentiates. 

• The course names also include the term, indicating which courses are active vs. upcoming. Educators can dive deeper into their current courses, and can plan ahead for courses starting later in the year. 

• To make it easier to find a particular course, users can search by course name OR by teacher. Searching by a teacher’s name will display all of the courses for that teacher.

What Will Different Users See in this Dropdown?

• Users with access to all students in their schools (i.e. school administrators) will see all courses available at the school, organized by teacher.

• Users with access to only their enrolled students (i.e. teachers) will see only their own courses. 

Key Panorama Student Success Resources

Recent Friday Fliers of note: March 5: Details on updated assessment data (MAP & Interims)  February 3: How to access new SAT data on Panorama. Guide to updating progress in student plans.  The BPS Student Success Help Site includes key resources including: FAQ, asynchronous training materials, a platform data guide and more. There is also a new page with training materials. Questions: mtssdata@bostonpublicschools.org

Division of Equity, Strategy, & Opportunity Gaps

Office of Recruitment, Cultivation and Diversity Programs (RCD)

Recruitment & Cultivation Team Updates & Events

• Reminder: our second Demo Day is TOMORROW Saturday, March 13, 8:45am-12pm.  Please see your email and the calendar invite for details.

• DIVERSITY FAIR FOR TEACHERS, Friday, March 26, 5:00-8:00pm Want a chance to meet with talented and diverse teacher candidates via Zoom?  RSVP here

• Looking for Diverse Teacher candidates?  Please complete this request form for leads to candidates for your open and difficult to fill positions.  We will respond within 48 hours!

• Signing Bonuses:  Through a grant with DESE, there are 50 $1000 Hiring Bonuses available for the hiring of new to BPS Latinx teacher candidates and BPS MTEL prep program completers. Complete this referral form for candidates you want to recommend to receive the bonus.  Priority given to Latinx candidates (to close our largest teacher/student diversity gap), and our BPS MTEL prep completers.

• Emergency Licenses: DESE has extended Emergency licenses validity from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022. Any teachers you currently would like to retain on Emergency Licenses should apply in the Educator Licensure and Renewal (ELAR) system. Additionally teachers who do not have a current license, may apply for the Emergency License.  See: Update on DESE Emergency Licensure - February 12, 2021 for additional information.

• Affinity Recruitment Advisories: The RCD team is excited to launch the development of Affinity Recruitment Advisories to increase recruitment in diverse populations including from HBCU’s and Latinx, Asian and Deaf & Hard of Hearing teachers.  If you would like to join an advisory to support this work, we will be meeting monthly...please see flyer for more info.

• Accelerated Community to Teacher (ACTT): seeking a provisional license in Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary in 2022? RCD’s Teacher Pipeline Programs will soon open applications for the 2022 ACTT Cohort. ACTT is BPS’s community-based program and it is open to paraprofessionals, Bolling staff and career-changers who have a passion for teaching our students in our schools. This is a great, no-cost opportunity to be mentored by expert BPS teachers and receive MTEL support. In 2022, BE ACTT, our bilingual educators’ program will be launched. Our students’ need culturally and linguistically diverse teachers. Bachelor’s degree required; see flyer for more information. Link to apply coming soon to TalentEd.

Retention Updates

• Join us for our March ALANA event on Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 5:30p sponsored by the BU Wheelock College of Education. Register here.

• Boston College is offering a NSF Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship Program to support secondary mathematics teachers in content, equity and leadership. The program is organized by Boston College faculty in Education and Mathematics, and in partnership with the Education Development Center.  This 5-year program offers teachers a chance to participate in a unique professional learning community to support development as a teacher and a leader, with explicit focus on content and equity pedagogy.  Benefits include $13,500/year stipend and no-cost coursework at Boston College. The attached file contains information about the application process, a description of program benefits and a brief description of the program components. The website bc.edu/noyce has complete details.  We are especially interested in working with Boston Public Schools secondary mathematics teachers, given the fruitful partnerships in the past and the wide reach of the district! NOTE: Teachers with initial licensures will be considered provided that they plan to obtain their professional license by the end of the program. Furthermore, this may be earned using  graduate credit obtained through the no-cost one course/year provided by the program. Applications are due March 31st, 2021 and should be sent to Prof. Albert at albertli@bc.edu

Division of Human Capital

Substitute Education Requirement

As clarified in Tuesday's All School Leader Call, the educational requirement for substitutes is a Bachelor's degree. Unfortunately, this is not a requirement that can be waived. We apologize for any confusion!

Hiring Approvals:

Hiring approvals for submitted teacher (includes guidance counselors, nurses, BTU specialists, etc.) candidates will begin next week! Here are some tips to help the process move quickly:

1. Fill out interview competencies in TalentEd for each candidate you submit, guide here. 

2. If your candidate needs a waiver, make sure you have interviewed the licensed candidates who applied, and use this waiver guidance to help you submit the waiver properly.

3. Interview and consider hiring excessed teachers. These teachers have experience, licensure, and are important to consider in your hiring process! As shared in OHC's hiring guidance, every school will be provided a target number of excessed teacher interviews and hires. Making progress toward these goals will help preserve mutual consent hiring and ensure your school is staffing with strong educators!

Hiring Guidance, Policies, and Resources:

• Hiring season officially kicked off on Monday, March 1st! Please take some time to review OHC's updated hiring guidance, policies, and resources to review key changes and process updates.

• Please note, as we have done in previous years, we may need to close external hiring in certain subject areas when the number of effective, excessed educators greatly outnumbers the available and projected vacancies. We will endeavor to give schools a two week notice before closing. Please note that closings by subject area may occur before May 28 and may mean schools do not have the full six weeks to hire for the position.

Paraprofessional Seniority Process

• Paraprofessional Layoff/Excess notifications will go out on March 22 at the latest. 

• Paraprofessional Transfer Pool (3/26-4/9): Positions that are subject to the seniority process will be posted on TalentEd from 3/26-4/9 for the Paraprofessional Transfer Process. Review this process overview for more information. Specific information regarding your school will be shared in the coming weeks.

End of Year Evaluation Prep Memo

The End of Year Evaluation Preparation Memo from the OHC Performance Management Team with important guidance on upcoming Eval deadlines, Provisional to Permanent appointments, next plan determinations, required observations, and resources for the remote classroom environment is linked here: "EoY Eval Prep for Educators and School Staff (March 2021)". 

Division of Finance

The school spending deadline memo for FY21 can be found HERE. 

Key dates:

Funding Source	Schools Budget Transfer Deadline	Schools Requisition Deadline
General Fund (Fund 100)	Friday, April 2, 2021	Friday, April 16, 2021
Grant Funds (Fund 200) with a grant end date of June 30, 2021	Friday, April 2, 2021	Friday, April 16, 2021
Grant Funds (Fund 200) with a grant end date of August 31, 2021, or later	The Grants department will follow up with schools/ departments that have a grant falling under this category.	The Grants department will follow up with schools/ departments that have a grant falling under this category.

Friday Flyer - March 5, 2021

Words from Grace

Congratulations on getting through K0-3 return! It was great seeing more children and staff back in school along with the accompanying sounds of life in the building. Thank you for all that you have done to make it safe, ensure you have enough staff to meet student, safety, and operational needs, planning and scheduling adult and student testing, communicating with families, managing cohorts and transportation, beginning to launch the hiring process, finishing ordering, attending meetings and PD, becoming a diversity focus school, transformation work, assessment and data, MCAS, ACCESS, NWEA MAP, Interims, Panorama, thinking about summer learning, getting organized for next year's partnerships, keeping up with multiple communications such as these - most importantly, working hard to keep your eyes on student learning in-person and remotely. We are doing everything we used to do, plus figuring out how to do education during a pandemic... it's a lot.... thank you for all you do! 

Concurrent Teaching Resource

Mary Driscoll shared this resource on concurrent teaching that Region 2 found helpful. It is from the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching and is called: Concurrent Teaching Considerations: Supporting instruction in multiple modalities. This tool is designed to help teachers plan for and then deliver concurrent lessons to ensure that learning is maximized regardless of student modality. Concurrent instruction can include:

• Teaching virtual and in-person learners simultaneously
• Teaching virtual and in-person learners in different class periods but within the same day

Preference for Partnerships

The Partnerships Office uses the information on these forms to ensure you are able to have your first choice for organizations and people to work with in SY 21-22. Directions to submit the Partnership Preference Form are here. For additional information, including login information for PartnerBPS.org, or how to learn more about potential partners, please refer to the Partnership Fund School Support Guide. As always, the partnerships office is here to assist you, please feel free to reach out to mfarmer2@bostonpublicschools.org

Important Dates

April 2 - Good Friday - No School

    April 19 - Patriot’s Day - No School

    April 20 - 23 - Spring Recess - No School

May 31 - Memorial Day - No School

Division of Academics

Return, Recover, Reimagine Task Force

Building from our successful collaborative efforts from last summer, this Taskforce will be an opportunity to engage BPS stakeholders in the design, improvement, and implementation of planning for our return to school in fall 2021. The Task Force will be composed of 7-10 subcommittees each with key stakeholder representation including educators, caregivers, and students. Subcommittees will meet regularly through the spring and summer. Task Forces will include: Assessments (already appointed through a previous process), Curriculum, Grading, Learning Management Systems/Digital Learning, Intervention/MTSS, Out of School Time Intervention, Transformative SEL, Multilingual Learners, Special Education. We are hoping to have five school leaders on each subcommittee.  Read each subcommittee’s tentative guiding question, and apply here.

CRIOP PD Series #2

The Division of Academics and Office of Opportunity Gaps will be offering its second series of PD to support the use of the CRIOP. Please refer to this flyer for more information.

Physical Activity Series for Students and Families!

BPS Moves Together has launched their Spring Physical Activity Series! Virtual sessions are free to the BPS community. Please share the schedule with students and families for some physically active fun led by PE teachers! Next week's sessions are Yoga, HIIT, Fitness Challenges, and Dance.

Contact: Sravanthy Gumidyala, Physical Activity Program Coordinator

March SEL Signature Practices Calendar resource is now available!

Please check out the updated SEL Signature Practices Calendar on the SEL Instruction website! The purpose of the calendar is to provide a menu of SEL practices that can be modified and integrated into instructional planning each month for students to practice SEL skills while engaging in learning. Using these practices regularly provides opportunities for consistency, predictability, and relationship building.  Contact: Carla Burley, Director of SEL Instruction

Guidance for Singing in School Buildings

On 3/1/21, DESE updated the guidance.  Further information is below and in this document. Please reach out to Anthony Beatrice at abeatrice2@bostonpublicschools.org with any questions. 

Updated Guidance: 

• Individuals singing indoors must wear masks. These masks should be tight and well-fitting. Consider what mask types may be most comfortable for singing and whether these masks can be provided to students. 

• When indoors, singing should be limited to 30 minutes at one time. 

• When indoors, schools should prioritize the use of large, well-ventilated spaces for singing, such as auditoriums or gymnasiums. 

• When indoors, students should sing at lower volumes. The lower the volume, the less projection required. Consider, also, the volume of any background music. The higher the volume of background music, the more vocalists will need to project to be heard. 

• When outdoors, staff should monitor student volume to prevent harm to students’ vocal cords. 

• All students should face in one direction instead of facing one another. Avoid singing in a circle or semicircular formation. 

Educator Voice Opportunities for Summer Learning and Fall Return

The BTU and BPS are collaborating on several opportunities for educators to give input and feedback on this summer’s learning opportunities, and our return to school in the fall and beyond. Opportunities range from one-time online engagement to ongoing subcommittee work through the summer.

WikiWisdom Forum

This is a forum open to all BPS staff to share your best ideas in response to the overarching question: 

Based on your experience with BPS, and especially this past year, we are looking for your ideas for reimagining what school could be. If there were no bounds, what would the ideal learning experience be like for our students?

Share your responses. You can respond to previously posted ideas or start a new thread of your own. All ideas will be used to produce a summary report in late March

Summer Learning Feedback Groups

Planning for summer learning experiences for students is well underway. We will be convening groups of teachers, paraprofessionals, and other educators to review plans to date and give input going forward.  We are in search of those with experience in any of the following:

• 5th Quarter Summer Learning Academies (K-12)

• 5th Quarter High School Credit Recovery (6-12)

• Extended School Year (ESY)

• Summer Early Focus (K1-2)

• EL Summer Academies (3-12)

Meetings will be held on Wednesday afternoons (3/17, 3/31, 4/7, and 5/5).  Apply here.   

Division of Accountability

Please Join - Performance Assessment Development

We are recruiting teacher teams to pilot the development of performance assessment tasks at the district level. Virtual meetings will occur on 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 5/3, 5/17, 6/21, and 6/28. There is a $1,500 stipend per participant. Detailed information and the application can be found here.  For more information, please contact Sarah Jay at sjay@bostonpublicschools.org

School Social Work Week 2021

Join us in celebrating School Social Work Week 2021, on March 7th-13th! The theme this year is Beacon of Hope: Social Workers Lighting the Way. During a pandemic that included racial unrest, economic uncertainty, and political divisiveness, social workers have been fierce advocates and offered hope to students and families. They are vital members of the educational team and play a central role in creating a positive environment in a school community. Learn more about their work in this video. 

In this flyer, you will find suggestions on how you can acknowledge their work! Regardless of how you decide to show thanks to your School Social Worker, the effort and sentiment will be deeply appreciated.

Alternate Entry to the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program

See this document for further details.

Panorama Weekly Update -  Assessments Updated

ODA Continues to update the assessments data in Panorama Student Success. For a reminder of the update cadence across all assessments, see the data guide. New updates include: 

 

• MAP Fluency (middle of year): These assessments are now available! (An update this week supplemented the initial upload of results earlier this winter.) 

• Interim 2: The first upload will be complete no later than Wednesday 3/10, with data through Friday 3/5 (may become available earlier). ODA will re-update the data again by Wednesday 3/17, with results through Friday 3/12 (this is the final planned upload of the current window). In other words, starting on 3/10: by Wednesday of each week, the platform will reflect all results through prior Friday.

• Panorama only displays the result for the most  recent interim taken. 

• If the student took both sections (A + B) for the most recent interim, Panorama displays the average of the sections. 

• If the most recent interim taken is not interim 2 (for example, interim 1 taken during the interim 2 testing window) then the platform will display interim 1 because it is the assessment taken most recently.  

• Please email mtssdata@bostonpublicschools.org if you do not see your interim data displayed. ODA manually uploads interim results to Panorama. Thus, assessments taken outside of interim windows may not be uploaded.  

The screenshots below are examples from a student profile. The top-right image illustrates positive growth on MAP Fluency. The bottom-left screenshot shows the most recent available interim result, with the date; there will only ever be one interim result shown, and it will always be the most recent one. 

Key Panorama Student Success Resources

Recent Friday Fliers of note: February 26: How to keep student plans up-to-date February 3: How to access new SAT data on Panorama. January 8: How to access an export of Panorama Support Notes. Guide to updating progress in student plans.  The BPS Student Success Help Site includes key resources including: FAQ, asynchronous training materials, a platform data guide and more.  Questions: mtssdata@bostonpublicschools.org

Division of Equity, Strategy, & Opportunity Gaps

Paid Opportunity: Academic Mentoring and Tutoring  

See link Academic Mentoring and Tutoring Call for Applications for more information.

Office of Recruitment, Cultivation and Diversity Programs (RCD)

Recruitment & Cultivation Team Updates & Events

• Diversity Fair For Teachers: Friday, March 26, 5p - 8p. Want a chance to meet with talented and diverse candidates via Zoom?  RSVP here

• A SECOND Demo Day is being added on Saturday, March 13, 9am-12pm.  Due to the overwhelming interest by candidates, we are adding another Demo Day.  We have several more talented candidates in all grade levels. Please RSVP by Friday, March 5 if you would like to join us. 

• Looking for Diverse Teacher candidates?  Please complete this request form for leads to candidates for your open and difficult to fill positions.  We will respond within 48 hours!

• Signing Bonuses:  Through a grant with DESE, there are fifty $1000 Hiring Bonuses available for the hiring of new to BPS Latinx teacher candidates and BPS MTEL prep program completers. Complete this referral form for candidates you want to recommend to receive the bonus.  Priority given to Latinx candidates (to close our largest teacher/student diversity gap), and our BPS MTEL prep completers.

• Emergency Licenses: DESE has extended Emergency licenses validity from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022. Any teachers you currently would like to retain on Emergency Licenses should apply in the Educator Licensure and Renewal (ELAR) system. Additionally teachers who do not have a current license, may apply for the Emergency License.  See: Update on DESE Emergency Licensure - February 12, 2021 for additional information.

Affinity Recruitment Advisories: The RCD team is excited to launch the development of Affinity Recruitment Advisories to increase recruitment in diverse populations including from HBCU’s and Latinx, Asian and Deaf & Hard of Hearing teachers.  If you would like to join an advisory to support this work, we will be meeting monthly...please see flyer for more info.

Division of Operations

Fire Drill/Evacuation Requirements (updated 3/2/21)

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 March Fire Drill Requirement:

• If you completed a drill in December please complete your documentation and submit as soon as possible.

• 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.

This link  will take you to circular FSE#2 if you need any further guidance: 

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. This link will take you to the memorandum from State Fire Marshal, School Emergency Planning and COVID-19, dated July 29, 2020. 

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 were DUE no later than January 29, 2021. If you have not completed this drill, please complete WITH STAFF ONLY not later than March 31, 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

Division of Student, Family, and Community Advancement

Department of Opportunity Youth 

Supporting Chronically Absent English Learner (EL) Students

Data show that our English Learner (EL) students have lower attendance than their peers on average. As part of the overall effort to ensure all chronically absent students have an Attendance Success Plan in Panorama, school student success teams (SST) and/or attendance teams should use Panorama to identify and monitor ELs who need additional support through an Attendance Success Plan. See EL Panorama Guide for schools. Contact: Brian Marques (bmarques@bostonpublicschools.org)

Grade-Level Assignment Circular

The updated version of the grade level circular can be found here.