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