Words from Grace
Transitions
First I want to thank Megan Webb for her service and dedication to the Orchard Gardens over the past eight years. Orchard Gardens was literally her home, so this unsolicited opportunity six minutes from her home was a difficult decision. I am working with her and the Board to determine next steps.
Graduation
I was proceeding as usual last week and did not anticipate how proud I was going to be until I stopped to take time to pay attention - taking the day for myself and for my family was hard, but really important. I realized her father and I needed to look her in the eye and say out loud how proud we are of her and the adult she has become. I was grateful the event was in-person in the UMASS Amherst stadium to mark the milestone. The keynote was from UMASS Amherst graduate "common person doing uncommon things" NCAA Champion hockey team Coach Gregory Carvel, who brought the decades long worst ranked team to the championship in five years. His whole speech resonated with me, so I wrote him to ask for a copy of his speech, and HE SENT IT TO ME! For now, I will share two quotes he referred to from Johan Wolfgang von Goethe:
Region Meetings
These thoughts lead me now to our region meetings. Our last three meetings were devoted to with the support of Christine Cronin:
- The Courage to Lead
- Narrowing your instructional focus and
- Mapping your year of professional development and continuous embedded learning through PD, ILT, and CPTs.
Raising student achievement significantly means large-scale changes in teaching practice at the classroom level and high-level teamwork at grade levels. Almost every improvement initiative (including common assessments, Beginning Teacher Academy, PD workshops, position of Instructional Specialist/Coach) aims directly or indirectly to improve classroom instruction.
High-level teamwork doesn't just happen. Schools must engage in the adaptive work of creating a strong adult culture as described below.
The courage to lead is to realize how your leadership is the decisive element; your personal approach creates the climate... the daily weather.
I understand that region meetings are really hard right now because of MCAS and everything else - I appreciate so much your being able to pause from the busy-ness to get on the balcony. During the next two weeks, we will dive into the Instructional Core in ELA and Math. I believe this content will be relevant for your teams as you set up expectations for the year to come.
Important Dates
May 31 - Memorial Day - No School
June 18 - Last Day of School
July 6 - August 6 - Summer School
August 16-18 - August Leadership Institute
September 9 - First Day of School - Grades 1-12
Division of Academics
Safety Care Training
The Behavioral Health Services department will be holding an initial 2 day Safety Care training on May 25th and 26th from 8:30am to 2:30 pm both days at the Dorchester Welcome Center. You must attend both days. This is for staff at non-strand schools who are not trained. Additionally, a final recertification training will take place on Friday, June 11, 2021 from 8:30am to 3:30pm. This is for staff who participated in a full training last year and need recertification. Staff can register on Teach Point.
SEL and Wellness for Educators - Community of Practice Series:
The Department and Walker Therapeutic & Educational Programs are pleased to announce a series of webinars for school administrators, leaders, and educators about why and how to develop a systemic approach to support adult social and emotional learning (SEL) and wellbeing during the pandemic, recovery, and beyond. While attendance at all sessions is optimal, participants are welcome to join individual sessions. This is a great opportunity for small teams from the same school or district to build on their SEL plans. Please register online. Contact: Carla Burley, Director of SEL Instruction.
Session 1: Catching Our Breath: Supporting and Modeling Our Own SEL and Wellbeing: 1:00-2:30 p.m., Thursday, May 20
Session 2: Strength in Numbers: Teams and Collaborative Practices to Support Adult SEL and Wellbeing: 1:00-2:30 p.m., Thursday, May 27
Session 3: Strength in Systems: Schoolwide Organizational Supports and Structures to Support Adult SEL and Wellbeing: 1:00-2:30 p.m., Thursday, June 3
Mental Health Literacy for Educators
In partnership with DESE, Lighthouse Health and Wellness Education is offering a participatory workshop designed to develop mental health literacy among educators and school staff. Content will include obtaining and maintaining positive mental health, understanding mental illness, help-seeking skills and behaviors, reducing stigma around mental health, and equity and justice in mental health. The training is two 4-hour sessions, and PDPs will be available. Register online by Friday, June 4 for the workshop that will be held June 7 and 14, or register by Friday, June 18 for the workshop that will be held June 21 and 23. Workshops are limited to 30 people and will be held via Zoom. Contact: Magdelena Carmona, Health Promotions Coordinator
Extended School Year (ESY)
It’s that time of year again, ESY!! Below is a link to our ESY Website. We are now hiring for all positions for the ESY 2021 summer program, and we would love to have you working with us this summer to ensure our students have the best experience after a tough year. Please apply in TalentEd to begin the application and hiring process. Extended School Year
Related Services News
Tracy Guan, bilingual speech-language pathologist, published Lunchtime with Samnang. It is a colorful and vibrant story about a young Cambodian-American boy who explores his Khmer culture and heritage through the love of food and travel. His family is getting ready for an upcoming trip to his motherland, Cambodia, where his grandparents are from, and he immerses in the stories that his father and grandparents tell him through his imagination!
Augmentative Alternative Communication Virtual Parent Support
Parent group facilitated by the AT Department for students using specific devices and strategies. Monthly family group focusing on alternating communication applications or devices.
As part of the Related Services Department CLSP plan, we have made donations to Prayers for Charlotte, which is a 100% volunteer organization that works to raise funds for neuroblastoma research and relief for families fighting cancer. We are in our second initiative to donate to Special Olympics. Each year Related Services hosts Special Games for students in BPS in collaboration with the Special Olympics. We are saddened that we have had to postpone Special Games due to the pandemic, so this is our way to honor our great athletes.
Panorama Weekly Update - “Digest” of Essential News
This week, we highlight the most important announcements from recent months. The essential news has included:
May 14: A new export of Support Notes is now available in school data folders
April 30: Course Attendance is Back & Window 2 Interims are Completely Uploaded
March 19: Overview of K1 & K2 grades
March 12: New feature supports filtering by classroom/section
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:
(NEW) High Priority & Priority Candidates: There are now 46 Highly Recommended (High Priority) candidates of color remaining in our Priority Pool (a few have been hired, but a couple of new ones have been added!). 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 applications in the 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 are 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: We are 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.
Here's the ACTT - Recommend a Candidate Form.
Questions and requests for additional information, please email: diversity-ACTT@bostonpublicschools.org
Retention Services Updates
Exit Interviews for Educators of Color
We continue to offer an Exit Survey to any school-based educator or central office staff of color who has or will be leaving the district at the end of the SY20-21 with an optional virtual interview. If you know any educators of color who would like to participate in our exit interview process, please have them contact Rashaun Martin, at rmartin2@bostonpublicschools.org. They can complete the survey here. In a recent interview, an ESL teacher who is departing the district due to a family move, had nothing but great things to say about the level of support she received from the school leadership at the EMK.
Teacher Leadership Opportunity (Public School Teachers Actively Being Sought)
Brandeis University’s Teacher Leadership Program, prepares experienced classroom teachers to work with administrators and colleagues to improve instruction and strengthen school culture. Now more than ever, our schools need teachers who can work collaboratively with their colleagues and lead initiatives to address instructional challenges in the classroom--whether virtual or in person.
In pre-COVID times, this hybrid program combined face-to-face coursework during two 3-week summer sessions at Brandeis, online coursework during the school year, and one-on-one coaching throughout the program to allow emerging teacher leaders to study and practice essential leadership skills while working full-time in their schools. Due to the pandemic, the Summer 2021 session will take place online over 4 weeks (July 5 - July 30), but Summer 2022 should be back in person.
The Teacher Leadership Program offers two courses of study: a thirteen-month (4-semester) Advanced Graduate Study (AGS) credential or a two-year (6-semester) EdM program. And, this year we are excited to announce that graduates of both the AGS and the EdM at Brandeis are now eligible to earn a CAGS and MA administrative certification from Salem State University with just one additional year of required courses and related activities.
Scholarships are available. All of the information about the application process can be found here. The application for Cohort 7 (beginning in summer 2021) is still open, but there are only a few spots left. If you have any additional questions about the program or the application process, please contact Margery Sokoloff at msokolof@brandeis.edu
$500 Grants for BPS Employees who enroll at Southern New Hampshire University with Duet this summer
Join your colleagues who have already taken advantage of our NEW partnership with the local non-profit Duet to gain exclusive access to project-based Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) degrees that are designed to be completed quickly while working full time. Duet Coaches will help you every step of the way - with enrollment, completing your coursework, and even achieving your career advancement goals. Tuition is ~50% less than any other college option in New England and financial aid applies. Learn more about pricing here.
Earning credits from SNHU with Duet will move you up the pay scale and is a pathway to becoming a classroom. Summer break is a great time to focus on your own goals and advance your career. That's why Duet is offering a $500 grant to any BPS employee who signs up to enroll in our term starting on June 28th. Interested? Have a family member or friend who might be? Fill out an interest form or join Duet's standing weekly Zoom info session Wednesdays from 6-7p: register here.
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.
NewSchools Venture Fund Summit 2021 - May 26, 2021 - This Event is Free
We look forward to gathering virtually with our community to re-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
Central Office Evaluations (EOY 2021)
The memo linked here outlines evaluation processes for Central Office staff for the close of the 2020-2021 year, listed by employee group.
SY21-22 Hiring Update (as of May 18.2021):
For all "teacher" (includes social workers, nurses, guidance counselors, etc.) positions, 43% (309) are filled and another 15% (109) have been submitted. There are 299 remaining vacancies. Within those hired, 66.34% identify as people of color.
We encourage school leaders to continue referencing your hiring dashboard for updated stats on hiring progress!
Background Checks for 21-22 Hires
If you hired externally for a role (meaning the hire is not a current BPS employee), don’t forget to note when you have received communication from OHC that they are cleared to start, pending their successful completion of the Welcome Session (see below). External hires must be cleared by OHC before they can begin working.
OHC Welcome Sessions
OHC has begun offering ‘Virtual Welcome Sessions’ this week to employees who are newly hired to BPS and those changing position types. These employees have received a new hire Checklist to complete which includes uploading identification documents through a secure site. When employees have filled out a majority of the paperwork in the checklist, they are invited to a Zoom Meeting with someone from the OHC Staffing Team, to complete the onboarding. Some documents require a signature that we are unable to obtain virtually. Our team is still working out details for how and when we will collect these signatures.
New employees will not receive their Employee ID until ~48 hours before their effective date. For new teachers, the effective date is August 28.
Wrapping Up SY20-21
In order for the Staffing Team to prioritize hiring for SY21-22, the last day to submit external hires for SY20-21 vacancies is May 28th. Please reach out to your Staffing team with questions or support.
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