Thursday, October 29, 2020

Post #15 Thursday Memo - October 29 (on Friday!!!)

 Words from Grace


I hope you take a moment to view the You Can Be ABCs! I also hope you had an opportunity to recenter upon the inspiration and purpose of our anti-racist work in BPS from Thursday's district professional development session. The White Supremacist reading was new for me and was a lot to digest in the time allotted. Thank you for being focused and present in the work.

Megan Webb and I had an opportunity to observe remote instruction in a few classrooms this week by projecting on the large displays at Bolling. It was great to be in the same room while becoming familiar with the CRIOP tool. I also observed a couple of fifth grade classrooms with Andrew Rollins remotely - we joined the classroom zoom with our cameras off. Both ways of observing worked. It was nice to be able to chat with Megan during and after the observation - something you wouldn't normally be able to do when visiting live. In coming weeks, we can observe in whichever way works best for you and your school.

Holding QSP Office Hours was a great learning opportunity for leaders to share their thinking around their plans. I canceled yesterday's when I realized you all already had a full PD day. I will add more opportunities in weeks to come.

Important Dates

October 29 – All School Leader Meeting - 9a to 2p (one hour lunch included)

November 3 - Election Day - remote learning for all students

November 4 - School Committee Meeting @ 5p

November 11 – Veterans Day – no school

November 25 - half-day of school

November 26-27 - Thanksgiving - no school


Office of the Superintendent

Survey to BTU Members

The district, BTU, and stakeholders aim to continue to provide in-person services to our highest priority children. We are working to create a limited phase-in for students with the highest need from across the district. This form was sent to all BTU members to indicate if there was a willingness to support our very highest needs students as a first step to safely re-initiating services for students across the district. The deadline to complete the form is Friday, October 30.

BTU staff surveys were sent to all BTU staff using their primary email address on file in ESS. Staff must be logged into their BPS email account to complete. Here, employees can find more information on how to change their primary email address.


Division of Academics

UPK Updates

The UPK K1 Community-Based/Boston Public Schools K2 Connector System was approved by the Boston School Committee on September 16th. 

Updated information regarding public communication to come.  Please contact Jason Sachs, BPS Early Childhood Executive Director with questions.  


Telescope Network

We’re reaching out to school administrators to ask for your help. Each year, we survey educators across BPS to find out what they want and need to learn next. We’ll use the responses to help build professional development programs for the year. 


Administrators can help in two ways:

  1. Share the survey with your staff. It takes about 6 minutes to complete. Anyone who completes the survey is entered to win a raffle prize ($25 Amazon gift cards).
  2. Take the survey yourself. We’d love to hear from you as well--and we’d love to hear about any bright spots or humble experts on your staff.


Summary Report: If we hear from at least 10 of your staff members, we will create a “’Needs Assessment Report” to summarize the responses from your school. 


Any questions? Check out our website at bostonpublicschool.org/telescope

Alison Mosher and Mark Lonergan, BPS/BTU Telescope Networkers


OEL's RETELL SEI Endorsement Courses - Free!

Registration for OEL's RETELL SEI Endorsement Admin and Teacher courses is now open on TeachPoint. Courses start Nov/Dec.  The course is open to all BPS educators at no cost; priority enrollment will be given to current teachers of ELs and administrators who need the SEI endorsement for their role.


Provisionally Screened ELs - Guidance

In response to questions from school leaders and LATFs, OEL has issued guidance regarding Provisionally Screened English Learners (ELs) who have been remotely screened by the Newcomers Assessment and Counseling Center (NACC) due to COVID-19 closure since March 17, 2020. To date, about 800 such students have been provisionally screened. We thank school teams for their patience as we continue to work diligently to be able to safely resume in-person formal assessments of English Language Proficiency.  If you have any questions about how best to support these students, please contact your OEL liaison or sign up for OEL office hours.


Edmentum Transition 

This is a reminder that the district will transition to the Edmentum platform used for online learning and credit recovery at the end of December. This means that no new students may be added to Acellus after December 31, 2020.  Existing students on Acellus will have until June 30, 2021 to complete their coursework.  Please see the September 21 memo for reference. 


Edmentum training will be available throughout November and December for your convenience. Training will be conducted by school.  If your school desires a training, we ask that the school leader determine which date works for staff and ensures all credit recovery staff and other relevant roles attend the training.  Please choose a date for your school's training here: Edmentum School Sign-Up.  Once you choose a date, you will be contacted by a member of the Credit Recovery Working Group with additional details. For questions about the training, please contact Esther Eugene, the Program Manager for the group (eeugene@bostonpublicschools.org). Also, see the BPS Tech Edmentum Help Doc for more information on Edmentum. 


Arts and ELA November Challenge!

The Arts and English Language Arts content areas of the Academics and Professional Learning Department are teaming up for a November challenge for all students to create a 100-word essay with adjoining visual or media art depicting everyday life in the City of Boston. Selected stories with accompanying artwork will be made into a virtual mosaic and a printed banner. Media files such as video or music mp3's will be posted as QR codes. All submissions must be uploaded by November 30th, 2020.  The submission form is located at:   https://form.jotform.com/202997388020158 

Please reach out to Anthony Beatrice at abeatrice2@bostonpublicschools.org with any questions.


ELA

The ELA team is pleased to announce the following office hours for content support and informal check-ins:

Personal Office Hours


Math

The Math team is pleased to announce the following office hours for content support and informal check-ins:

  • Grades K-8 with Stacey Solomon - Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30. Please sign up with this Calendly link.
  • Grades 9-12 with Armando Segura - Fridays from 9:00-10:00 am. Please sign-up with this Calendly link. 
  • Educators can also find 3-12 Math resources for remote learning here. 


Science, Technology & Engineering Update 

Schools contemplating sending home science materials to engage students in at-home hands on learning must read the Science Safety memo for Remote and Hybrid Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom (1-pager). The STE team has gathered resources and highlighted critical legal and safety considerations for teachers and schools to be aware of to ensure student safety and teacher/school legal protections. 


Division of Accountability

Balanced Assessment System PD:  MAP Data Dive #1

There are multiple opportunities to explore MAP data via synchronous and asynchronous learning.  Session information and resources can be found here.


Expectations for Use of Feedback & Coaching Tracker

ODA has developed an (optional) Feedback & Coaching tracker, aligned to the Universal Expectations. Schools may use the tracker to monitor and inform feedback and coaching cycles with teachers (link includes sample data). The tracker highlights the rates of coaching for individual teachers and helps to organize observation data to highlight trends in standards-aligned instruction and which CRIOP pillars and indicators are prioritized for feedback. If you would like to begin using this tracker at your school, please email James Likis (jlikis@bostonpublicschools.org), and he will get you set up. 


Panorama Weekly Update - Attendance Data & Students Trending Up:

  • Panorama Student Success provides many ways to see attendance data, including students who are trending upward.

  • The “Trending” filter identifies students who crossed an attendance threshold in the past 7 days (red to yellow, yellow to light green, or light green to dark green). 

  • Student Success Teams and teachers can use this filter to quickly identify successes, and partner with students to build on their growth.

 

Key Panorama Student Success Resources


Appreciation

Megan Reed, Monica Hall and Shahara Jackson in the Office of Leadership Development would like to offer sincere thanks to the collaborative team of school leaders and central office staff who made All School Leader PD and PLCs come to life this week.  Each of the planning team members committed time, energy and passion in service of building leaders and we are deeply grateful for each individual!


Leadership Development, Pipeline Programs and School Leadership Referrals

The Office of Leadership Development (OLD) wants to support our leaders of today and develop, cultivate and hire our leaders of tomorrow.  Are you or someone you know interested in leadership development, pipeline program or school leadership opportunities?  Please fill out the Leadership Opportunities Recommendations form. The OLD Team will follow up with recommended educators with additional information. If you have any questions, please contact Megan Reed, mreed@bostonpublicschools or Monica Hall, mhall4@bostonpublicschools.org.


Lynch Leadership Academy Fellowship 

The Lynch Leadership Fellowship is an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge through coursework while also gaining on the ground experience leading in a school.  Applications are now open. Click here to start your application. Please email the Lynch team  lynchacademy@bc.edu or contact Megan Reed mreed@bostonpublicschools with any questions.


Development for Aspiring Leaders 

In partnership with New Leaders, we are offering a bridge program, Foundations for Breakthrough Leadership, for aspiring school leaders. To learn more about this opportunity, consider attending one of the three upcoming information sessions. 


Since 2001, New Leaders has supported school districts by strengthening the skills and capacity of aspiring school leaders to advance student achievement.  If you are interested in learning more and applying for this district-sponsored (at no cost to selected participants) program,  complete the Interest Form no later than Thursday, October 29th, 2020.  New Leaders will offer 3 virtual information sessions on October 29, 2020,  12:00 pm – 12:30 pm, October 29th, 2020, 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm, and October 30, 2020, 9:00 am - 9:30 am to answer any question you may have related to this unique opportunity.  


Once you complete the interest form, Donald Malone dmalone@newleaders.org, Senior Manager of Operations for New Leaders, will email you with a link to the application. The application window is from November 16 - 27, 2020. You will receive a decision letter no later than December 4, 2020. 


Lead in BPS Website

Please take an opportunity to check out the  Lead in BPS website. Our website provides information about recruitment, cultivation, pipelines, and induction programming. It highlights some of the great work of incredible leaders in the district as well! 


Leadership Recruitment Sessions

Do you or someone you know want to learn more about leading in our schools as a principal or assistant principal? Now is the time to register for one of the upcoming School Leadership Recruitment Information Sessions to hear about the hiring process, have questions answered, and speak with current school leaders about their leadership path. These Zoom sessions are scheduled for 10/28/20, 11/18/20, 12/9/20, 1/13/21, and 2/24/21 from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm. Register for an upcoming session here. Please spread the word!



Division of Equity, Strategy, and Opportunity

Call for High School Teacher Nominations! - $5000 stipend!

Open Opportunity–Massachusetts (OOMA) is leading a collaborative effort to create a Campus Without Walls in partnership with the Boston Public Schools. We are seeking nominations for talented, trailblazing Lead Teachers across the city.

Ready to get started or want to discover more?

  • Click here to complete our Lead Teacher Nomination Form to nominate yourself or a talented teacher you know; and

  • Join one of our upcoming Teacher Info Sessions on Fridays at 1:30 pm (from 10/23 through 11/6). To Register, or for questions, contact Pratima Patil at pratima.patil@bostonopportunityagenda.org.



Division of Finance

Modified Projections Timeline and Process

In a typical school year, the first version of projections would be shared with school leaders in the first week of November, which would mark the beginning of a thorough review and feedback process between school leaders and the district office. Given the unprecedented enrollment decline of roughly 2,300 students this year, the projections process will look significantly different. The first version of projections will not be released until later in November, and the feedback process will be altered. This will help us identify the impact of this decline on school budgets, and think through what we can do to minimize the negative impact wherever possible. We will be reaching out over the coming weeks with more information about the process for this year.



Division of Operations

Reminder: The Operations Links for School Leaders lives on the communications hub and contains links to items in the COVID materials folder.  

 

Athletics

Positive Coaching Alliance- Session #2- Leadership

Wednesday, October 28, 7pm

Registration

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvdeCsrTguGNKIXNjCmwixLX6cuTSccpp-


Athletics Sunday Conversation

Sunday, November 1 7pm - College Athletes for Respect and Equality (https://www.mimeh.org/care.html)

- Kellan Grady (Davidson/Catholic Memorial)  

 

Facilities

School Leaders, please complete the Building Occupancy During Remote Time tracker by 12 pm Friday, October 30th.

 

Safety Services 

Please review the following updated circulars.

FSE - 2 Fire Safety Practices

FSE -8 Safe Mode

SAF - 12 School Access Control


Transportation

If you have not as of yet, make sure you contact Rosalie West (rwest2@bostonpublicschools.org) to pick up your school's M7 Passes from the Bolling Building by appointment only. Thank you!  



Division of Student, Family, and Community Advancement

Schedule School Preview Dates

It's time to start looking ahead to school choice season and registration for SY 20-22.  School choice season generally starts in November as families start to research their school options in preparation for registration in January.  Obviously, this year’s school choice events will need to look different than in years past.  We have already begun planning on how we can support you with virtual school preview dates and what a virtual School Showcase event would look like.  


At this time, we are asking for your assistance in planning for the upcoming school choice season by Scheduling School Preview Sessions.  We are asking each school to schedule three virtual school preview sessions over the course of November to January.


In the past, school preview days have provided prospective families with the opportunity to visit your school, meet the principal and teachers, and learn more about your school community.  Unfortunately, in-person events will not be possible this year.  As a result, we are asking schools to schedule online sessions for prospective families to learn more about your school.  

 

We will follow up with more information and resources in the coming weeks to help you plan your online school preview sessions.  You can use these sessions to do a virtual tour of your school building, have a Q&A session with parents and teachers, and provide them with other information to help better inform their school choices for the 2021-2022 school year.


Please complete the attached Google form by Monday, November 2 to schedule your school preview days.  Schedule School Preview Sessions



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