Words from Grace
Congratulations on completing three weeks of five-day in-person learning!
Last weekend, my husband and I visited Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. If you have little ones or love nature, this is a place to visit! Here are some pictures we took from our day:
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| Birds eat out of your hands |
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| Barred owl |
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| Great Egret |
Preparation for Tuesday's Region Meeting: Please come prepared with slides 2-3 from your school's deck in this folder. Christine will push us to map out ILT/PD/CPT focus. The assessment calendar will be available within the next few weeks (I'm on that task force) and can help inform the district and school cycles of inquiry. Bring a team with you if you can! I understand that you are administering MCAS and that is a challenge.
The Courage to Lead: Two weeks ago we discussed this blog from Jon Saphier. For next year, let's keep our aim on grade level content; there will be no teachers going back to third grade content in fourth grade (for example). In spite of the pandemic and the narrative of "lost learning" or students being behind, we will insist on bringing students to grade level no matter where they are. Please plant these seeds of thought now so that upon return, these words will not be a surprise. We will have to study the progression of standards in ELA and Mathematics - we won't need to start all over for everyone!
Principal Evaluation Artifacts: I know you are working on the May 15 and June 1 evaluation deadlines. Your artifacts are due on or before June 2. Use this template (Make a copy and delete the third column to enter links to your artifacts - Please remember to give me access to the documents). You do not need to upload anything into TeachPoint. Keep in mind that I will have data from the items in the third column.
Summer Learning Prioritization
Please ensure that you have prioritized students in your school for summer learning. This was due on Wednesday, May 12. Please go into your
ODA folder named: "<School Name> <School#> ODA Data" and
find the spreadsheet named "Summer 2021 Student Prioritization and Plans: <School Name>"
Your teams will need to complete drop down menu for column H to indicate yes or no and column I for the program. The program will be the student's summer learning plan.
Important Dates
May 31 - Memorial Day - No School
June 18 - Last Day of School
August 16-18 - August Leadership Institute
September 9 - First Day of School - Grades 1-12
Division of Academics
Heggerty Phonological Awareness Curriculum - Pre-K
The BPS Department of Early Childhood will be adopting The Heggerty Pre-kindergarten Phonemic Awareness Curriculum in all Pre K classrooms this upcoming school year, SY21-22. Heggerty is a phonological awareness curriculum that provides students with opportunities to listen to and play with sounds in words. The goal is to build our youngest students’ capacity to hear and manipulate sounds in words to set them up for reading success in the upcoming grades. Research shows that having strong phonological skills and letter-sound correspondence leads to better literacy outcomes in the future.
In order to achieve a successful roll out, we are creating a support structure for both educators and school leaders, providing resources for smooth implementation, and working with Heggerty staff developers to provide meaningful professional development opportunities that will build the capacity of all stakeholders. This school year, we implemented a pilot of the curriculum with several schools and engaged pilot teachers to help develop necessary alignments with the Focus Curriculum. We have also begun working with Heggerty to ensure that professional development opportunities meet our needs in BPS. We are in the process of procuring Heggerty classroom materials for all schools in BPS who use the Focus on K0/K1 Curriculum.
Please be on the lookout for professional development dates that will be scheduled in August and September. You can also feel free to connect with Dwayne Nunez (dnunez@bostonpublicschools.org) if you have any questions about this transition or would like to know more about the curriculum.
We're Inviting Students to Star in the YRBS Student Instructional Video!
Do you know a student who loves to be center stage? The Office of Health & Wellness is seeking middle and high school student volunteers to appear in a student instructional video for the Fall 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Filming is expected to take place after school hours in May and early June at the Bolling Building. Please share the flyer with interested students! Contact: Pamela Acero, Data and Evaluation Manager.
Annual BPS Wellness Summit: Registration Open
Join members of the BPS community as we come together to share resources, success stories and inspire one another to create safe, healthy, and sustaining learning environments. We are excited to welcome Dr. Brian Culp for a keynote address on Space, Place, and Justice: An exciting new frontier for health and physical education as well as the School Wellness Awards Ceremony. More information and the link to register can be found here! Contact: Alexandra Ettis, Assistant Director of Operations, Office of Health & Wellness.
Middle Grade Math and Science Curriculum Opportunities
OpenSciEd Curriculum Adoption for Middle School
It has been over 15 years since BPS Science has adopted and implemented high-quality standards-aligned middle school science instructional materials. We are excited to announce that we will be adopting and implementing OpenSciEd (OSE) units in 6th, 7th, & 8th grade beginning in the fall of 2021. The adoption will take 2 years. There will be two 4-day trainings offered this summer, June 22 - 25 and Aug. 17 - 20. Teachers new to OSE will need to register for one of the 4-day sessions.
Stipends will be provided. We are working on the logistics with regard to the specific times each day and if the PL will be hybrid or all remote. We are very excited for your students (and you) to increase their science understanding with the OSE instructional approach and materials!
Below are links for teacher registration, school commitment, and an FAQ document & informational slide deck.
Teacher registration for June or August Foundational Training
School Commitment form to implement OpenSciEd
OpenSci Ed FAQs Document & Informational Slide Deck
Request a 30-min presentation for your MS teachers, click here.
DESMOS Math Pilot for Middle School Grades
The district is offering schools the opportunity to pilot the DESMOS Middle School math curriculum for grades 6th-8th. Please find information about this technology-based curriculum below, including feedback from BPS SY20-21 pilot users. The cost of materials and stipends for professional development will be covered by Academics and Professional Learning. If you would like more information, click on the links below and reach out to Stacey Solomon, K-8 Math Program Director.
A new export of Panorama Support Notes is now available in your school data folder. This export includes all notes year-to-date through 5/2/21.
Current View in Panorama Student Success
On the left side of a student profile, team members can enter a support note. Staff may also filter by students, to see which students have support notes, as shown in the screenshot at right (example data, not an actual student). However, the platform cannot display all support notes at the same time, nor can it provide additional filtering of the support notes.
New View Available as Excel File
The excel sheet includes all of your school’s Support Notes through 5/2/21, with the following columns:
Student Name
Student ID
School Name
Action Type
Comments
Creation Date
Creator Name
How to Access this Data:
ODA has loaded the export into your school data folder on Google Drive.
To find your school data folder, search for: “[School Name] [School Number] ODA Data” (example: “Adams Elementary 4361 ODA DATA”)
In your school data folder, navigate to: “Student Success Indicators, Plans & Notes” → “Support Notes Exports (Panorama)”
Other Important Details:
Find details about Support Notes in our platform training module, with further details in our FAQ.
ODA is not currently able to make this data available on a regular cycle, but will provide at least one additional export this school year (exact timing to be determined).
ODA distributed the last update in January.
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 School Based Equity Roundtable Handbook is a helpful tool however, the ESOG Team will offer support every Wednesday starting February 10 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. If you need more information or have questions, please contact Velecia Saunders at VSaunders@bostonpublicschools.org.
Office of Recruitment, Cultivation and Diversity Programs (RCD)
Recruitment & Cultivation Team Updates & Events:
High Priority & Priority Candidates, there are just 44 Highly Recommended (High Priority) candidates of color remaining in our Priority Pool. These candidates have been vetted and assessed as the most talented candidates available. Please be sure to scan the list for potential candidates for your positions. Link to High Priority & Priority Candidates of Color. View Resumes and Talent Ed application in last column. You can find all of these candidates in Talent Ed (go to Closed jobs, and click on Early Hiring Pool 21-22) NEW: added the Priority candidates of color - those who are recommended in 2nd tab.
Support Meeting your Diversity Hiring Goals We are very excited to see the results of your commitment to diverse hiring thus far. Preliminary numbers are showing a significant increase over last year!! Many of you committed to using available RCD supports to help you reach your goals. As a reminder, here they are. If you have not yet been able to meet your goals, please be sure to refer back to this sheet to access the tools and supports available to help you to find diverse candidates (see row 3 for links).
BPS Teaching Fellowship (BPSTF) Candidates This is an incredible opportunity to hire highly vetted candidates who will be fellows in our BPSTF and will receive coaching and professional development throughout the whole school year next year. Please see these candidates who are graduates of our ACTT and MTEL programs! View BPSTF Candidates and the benefits of hiring these candidates.
Promising Candidates of Color Have a great teacher of color you can’t retain? Met a great candidate you didn’t hire, but think someone else should? Share their info using this form. See your colleagues’ recommendations on this sheet.
(FYI) The BPS Asian Affinity Recruitment Advisory Council is planning an event for candidates to meet Asian BPS professionals in various professional capacities on Tuesday, May 25 from 5:00-6:30pm to learn more about working in BPS. RSVP here.
Reminder: Signing Bonuses for Latinx (new to BPS) Teachers Through a grant with DESE, there are 40 $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. More information here.
Reminder: Searching 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! Or search the Early Hiring Pool accessible through TalentEd, or this spreadsheet: Early Hiring Pool.
Reminder: 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.
BPS Teacher Pipeline Programs
New deadline to apply to the Accelerated Community to Teacher (ACTT) Program: The Accelerated Community to Teacher (ACTT) program application deadline is now extended to June 1, 2021. This is our exciting and transformational community-based teacher preparation program (97% candidates of color during SY20-21) for paraprofessionals, career-changers and community workers who are seeking a no-cost MTEL prep support for Provisional Licenses, bilingual educator preparation, and coaching to become a critically conscious teacher in the Boston Public Schools. Impassioned and expert BPS teachers coach and mentor our ACTT candidates. ACTT's pre-practicum is a requirement for selection into the BPS Teaching Fellowship (BPSTF). Upon successfully completing the ACTT program, candidates are recommended for the BPS Teaching Fellowship for Initial Licensure. In 2022, BE ACTT, our bilingual educators’ program will be launched. BE ACTT has been awarded a DESE grant to launch in July 2021. Applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree by June 2021; see flyer and apply now. Extended deadline for ACTT is now June 1, 2021. TalentEd link to the application is here.
Retired BP teacher and a friend to ACTT, Dr. Amika Kemmler-Ernst writes about one of our current candidates, Ayesha James, who is realizing a life-long dream of becoming a teacher.
Here's the ACTT - Recommend a Candidate Form.
Questions and requests for additional information, please email: diversity-ACTT@bostonpublicschools.org.
Retention Services Updates
Northeastern’s MacFarland Fellows Scholarships: Becoming an elementary or secondary school teacher requires passion, energy, and drive to positively impact Boston schools. We see those qualities in teachers across the Boston Public School system, especially as educators step up to the challenges of today’s ever-changing educational landscape. Dedicated educators are invaluable, and Northeastern wants to help you achieve your educational goals. If you want to earn your initial teaching license—and are committed to teaching in urban areas—you may be eligible for Northeastern’s MacFarland Fellows Scholarship and receive up to $20,000 to help you earn your graduate degree and endorsement for a Massachusetts' Initial Teaching license. For more information, click here.
Regis College is pleased to offer two unique opportunities exclusively for Boston Public School employees who are seeking to complete their bachelor’s degree. Through an exclusive partnership between BPS and Regis College, employees like you are eligible for substantial discounts toward the following degree completion programs:
Bachelor of Arts in Education (non-licensure) and Bachelor of Arts in Humanities
MEd in Teaching Special Education and MEd in Student Success
Master of Science in Social Work and Master of Arts in Counseling
EdD in Higher Education Leadership
To register for the BA Information Session on May 12th at 5:30pm, click here.
To register for the Graduate Degree Information Session on May 12th at 5:30pm, click here.
To set up a one-on-one session to learn more about BA programs, please contact Laura Bertonazzi, Dean of Undergraduate Enrollment at Regis College.
To set up a one-on-one session to learn more about Graduate programs, please contact Kathi Jenkins at Kathi.jenkins@regiscollege.ed
PSi Application Deadline - Extended to May 17th
Now more than ever after this year of turbulence and uncertainty, we need innovative leaders to influence the direction of education. We won’t go back to business as usual. Our young people, families, and communities need school leaders to guide us forward.
Learn more at PSi's website and find the application here. We are hosting a final one-hour Info Session, May 11th, 7:30-8:30pm. To learn more about the PSi, Sign up here to receive the Zoom link.
NewSchools Venture Fund Summit 2021 - May 26, 2021 - This Event is Free
We look forward to gathering virtually with our community to connect. Collectively, we have learned so much from the experiences of the past year and there is a lot of opportunity as we explore how we can redesign education to work better for all students in the future.
This year’s Summit will look different, but the conversations are more urgent than they’ve ever been. We are excited to make this Summit open to more innovators, leaders, educators and parents than ever before.
Our Summit sessions will tackle a range of questions:
- What will the future of learning look like in the wake of so much change?
- How are funders approaching racial equity to meet this moment?
- How are parents and community leaders using their voices in new ways?
We will hear from students, parents, practitioners and leaders as we focus not on broad theory, but on plans and specifics that can inform practice in the months and years ahead. Join us!
Division of Human Capital
SY21-SY22 Excessed Educator Cost-Sharing Program: For the SY21-22 hiring season, OHC will accept applications from schools to pair qualifying part-time vacancies with Suitable Professional Capacity (SPC) positions, provided the school hires an excessed educator. More information can be found here.
Division of Student, Family, and Community Advancement
SY21-SY22 Excessed Educator Cost-Sharing Program: For the SY21-22 hiring season, OHC will accept applications from schools to pair qualifying part-time vacancies with Suitable Professional Capacity (SPC) positions, provided the school hires an excessed educator. More information can be found here.
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