Weekly Update #16

Inspirational Quote:
“Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.” -Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni

                                                                 This Week                                                                           

Monday, December 16, 2019                          Observations

Tuesday, December 17, 2019                          IEP (Beddia) @10:00
                                                                        Observations
                                                                        Clinic Meeting - Sabourin (coverage needed)

Wednesday, December 18, 2019                    Visit from Dr. Tutwiler (Book Giveaway)
                                                                        Pajama Day
                                                                        IEP (Higgins) @10:00

Thursday, December 19, 2019                       Glenda - Admin Meeting
                                                                       Concert Dress Rehearsal 3,4, and 5 @9
                                                                       Concert Dress Rehearsal PreK, K,1, and 2 @1
                                                                        Holiday Staff Party

Friday, December 20, 2019                           Ugly Sweater Day
                                                                       Winter Concert 3,4, and 5 @9
                                                                       Winter Concert PreK, K,1, and 2 @1

                                       Things to Be Aware of and Keep in Mind                                                

• Grades - If I contact you about grades or your were out on Friday, please follow up on verifying grades.  I will not request for them to get printed until I have confirmation from these teachers.
• Report Card Follow Up - There are lots classrooms that had students that were Failing in all subject areas.  I look at this as an opportunity to check in with our support staff and school-wide services.  
• Things to Consider:
• Have these students been presented to Student Study?
• Are they ELs, and have I connected with our ESL teachers to see if I can do more to accommodate their learning?
• Are they Special Ed students, and have I connected with the Special Education teachers to see if I can do more to accommodate their learning?
• Holiday Events - As before, holiday events will be left for the last day of school prior to vacation.  If you have a special event planned, please let Liz and Glenda know.
• Remember, the learning does not stop.  However, feel free to be creative and include winter and holiday activities within your general curriculum.  
• District Handbook- From now on only a few handbooks will be printed each year.  The handbooks will now be available to families online.  Here is a communication about this.
• Handbook Letter
• Winter Concert - Please look for an email from Mr. Waldron and Mr. Hudson about the Winter Concert and Dress Rehearsal.
• LCHC - Ms. Moreno is out next week.
• ACCESS Information - 
• ACCESS testing will run from January 6th- February 7th.
•  ESL teachers will not return to regularly scheduled classes until testing ends.  
• Please plan to have an additional rotation, or include your ESL students into your rotations for small group ELA.  DO NOT expect sub plans for this. 
• Recess will not be the responsibility of the ESL teachers.  If the building sub is available, we will give students their recess at the end of the day.
• Dress Rehearsal on Thursday -   9 A.M. (3rd,4th,5^th&rm. #202, chorus)   1 P.M. (PreK/K, 1^st& rm. #100, 2^nd, chorus)
• ACCESS - ACCESS Test Coordinator Training Powerpoint Posted
• The Powerpoint used for this fall’s ACCESS Test Coordinator Training for New Test Coordinators webinar is now available on the MA State Page of the WIDA website in the Manuals, Guides, and Test Materials section. The Powerpoint is titled “ACCESS for ELLs Test Coordinator Workshop PowerPoint.” Please note that minor revisions have been made since the webinars were presented in November. WIDA AMS User Guide . For detailed instructions on Test Setup, please refer to the WIDA AMS Guide and Videos section of the WIDA Secure Portal
• Concerns to Address - This year, there has been an increase in the use of the word gay by our students in an offensive manner toward others.  I think it is extremely important that we address this issue with our students immediately.  We are a safe and welcoming school, and as such, will not tolerate the use of offensive language toward others.  Please ensure to address this immediately if you see or hear it, and feel free to use the resources below in SEL lessons as you see fit and appropriate for your age group.
• Using Gender Inclusive Language with Students
• This handout, developed by Gender Spectrum, provides helpful language for talking about gender with students.
• Diverse Book for Classrooms & Libraries 
• This list is complied by Welcome Schools, a project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. A simple way to let students and families know that your school welcomes everyone is to integrate books into your curriculum that reflect the diversity of your classroom and the world.
• LGBTQ Definitions for Adults
• This glossary was written to give adults the words and meanings to help make conversations easier and more comfortable.
• LGBTQ Definitions for Children
• The following list can serve as a starting place for educators to respond to questions about LGBTQ words. 
• Massachusetts Guidance on Gender Identity
• This document is created by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to support schools in creating a safe and supportive school environments on the basis of gender identity. 
• Red: A Crayon’s Story - Lesson Plan
• This activity is designed for lower grade levels to provide students with an opportunity to share some of their identities with classmates and teachers. In addition, this lesson explores the concept of identity with students and embraces differences within the classroom community.
• Pajama Day and Book GiveAway - Pajama Day will be on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. We are looking for classrooms that our guest can visit and read to at 9:00 on Wednesday morning.  Ideally, we would like 1 from each grade level.  If you are interested in having a visit from a guest reader, please let Glenda and Liz know as soon as possible, and CC our CITs.
• Guided Reading - In January, these will increase to 2 lessons per week, 3 in February, and all groups should receive at least 1 Guided Reading Lesson per week in March.
• Calling out Sick - Call Glenda directly (781-686-6354). 
• Laptops - Please sign these in and out daily.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• School Improvement Plan Dates
• 12/16 - 7:30-8:00
• 1/3 - 7:30-8:00
• 1/6 -2:30-3:30
• Next Round - For observations, we are doing rounds on Criteria for Success of a task, and giving feedback on Lesson Plans.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• Recess - recess resource
• Connery School Year Calendar
• Food Pantry Flyer
• LPS CORE VALUES - Inclusiveness, Shared Responsibility, High Expectations, and Inspiring Life Long Learning.

                                                        Reminders from the Office                                                           

• Please do your attendance on time each morning.
• There are still some that are not getting completed by 9:00.
• Folders - Please check your mailboxes each day.  Some yellow folders were not picked up this week.
• All notices (including parent's notes) need to be sent to the office.

                                                     Updates from our Nurse                                                                 

• Don't forget to use your nurse passes when sending students to the office.

                                                           Looking Ahead                                                                         

December 17 - Student Study Team (SST)

December 18 Book Share and Pajama Day

December 19 - Winter Concert Dress Rehearsal, Christmas Party at RF Sullivan @4:00 (Save the Date)

December 20 - Ugly Sweater Day and Winter Concert

December 23-January 1 - School Closed for Winter Break

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Weekly Update #15

Inspirational Quote:

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”  -Nelson Mandela

                                                                 This Week                                                                           

Monday, December 9, 2019                           Glenda - ATSR
                                                                        IEP (Miller) @ 11:30

Tuesday, December 10, 2019                          IEP (Beddia) @9:30
                                                                        Data Meeting @ 10:30
                                                                        IEP (Speech) @10:30
                                                                        CIT Meeting @11:30
                                                                        IEP (McIntyre) @12:00
                                                                        LCHC Meeting @1:00
                                                                        KTL - Model Lesson Grades 2 and 3
                                                                        SIP Meeting @7:30
                                                                        Staff Meeting - anyone willing to host?
                                                                        Parent Conferences - K-2 @ 6-8

Wednesday, December 11, 2019                     IEP (Papageorgiou) @8:30

Thursday, December 12, 2019                        IEP (Papageorgiou) @8:30
                                                                        Parent Conferences - PreK, 3-5 @ 6-8

Friday, December 13, 2019                            Staff Breakfast - Library @7:45            
                                                                       IEP (Buckley) @ 12
                                                                       Data Meetings  
                                                                          Grade 1
                                                                          Grade 2
                                                                          Grade 4
                                                                          Grade 5
                                                                          SIP Meeting @2:30-3:30

                                       Things to Be Aware of and Keep in Mind                                                

• Sick Day - Moving forward all sick days will require a direct phone call to Glenda (781-686-6354). Those calls can be made the night before from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm or the morning of from 6:00 am-7:30 am. If you have a scheduled doctors appointment, you may communicate that to Liz and Glenda prior to your day out. Thank you for your cooperation to this matter. 
• Please continue to post all absences on Aesop.
• Laptops - Please make sure that everyone is signing in and out laptops using the log posted on top of that laptop. This should be done during the 8:00-8:15 window of time that is available prior to students coming in, or at a time that has been prearrange with the hosting teacher.  Laptops should not be out of their cases without doing this protocol.  This is extremely important when testing is happening, and now that testing will occur for more content areas in Grade 3.
• Additionally, please report your online assessments dates a week prior to delivery to Liz, Glenda, Nicole, and Rita so that those dates are posted on the update and shared with teachers.  This will help support laptop management for your classes.
• Polar Express - Friday, December 13, 2019 with Mrs. Chruniak
• Inclement Weather Staff Support - Ms. Hagerty and Mrs. Beddia
• First Book Giveaway - Dr. Tutwilier will come to read a book to a grade or class and will announce that each student will receive 2 free books to take home on 12/18/19.
• Pajama Day - Pajama Day will be on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. 
• Guided Reading - There are still staff members who have not invited Glenda and Liz to see a first Guided Reading lesson.  Please do so the first week that we return from break, and schedule it prior to our break.
• ESL Meeting - Colleen Flick will be attending an ACCESS Webinar from 10-11:30 on December 13th.
• Keys to Literacy - Nicole and Rita will be at a KTL Meeting in the morning on December 13th.
• Reading Teachers -Will be at a meeting on December 13th at the end of the day.
• Science Assessment Reminder - Should've been scanned into TestWiz .
• Grade 3 - Please send Nicole, Liz, and Glenda a grade level report on your work with Edcite.
• Classroom Walk-through - Liz and Glenda will be reviewing the paper that is up on walls, please check your walls and make sure that you don't have too many things up.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• School Site Council - We still need at least 3 members of our school community (teachers or paras) to serve on our School Site Council. This is a state mandated team for our school, so anyone that is willing to serve for the 5 days listed in the previous email, please let Glenda and Liz know.
• School Improvement Plan Dates
• 12/10 - 7:30-8:00
• 12/13 -2:30-3:30
• 12/16 - 7:30-8:00
• 1/3 - 7:30-8:00
• 1/6 -2:30-3:30
• Next Round - For observations, we are doing rounds on Criteria for Success of a task, and giving feedback on Lesson Plans.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• Recess - recess resource
• Connery School Year Calendar
• Food Pantry Flyer
• LPS CORE VALUES - Inclusiveness, Shared Responsibility, High Expectations, and Inspiring Life Long Learning.

                                                        Reminders from the Office                                                           

• Please do your attendance on time each morning.
• There are still some that are not getting completed by 9:00.
• Folders - Please check your mailboxes each day.  Some yellow folders were not picked up this week.
• All notices (including parent's notes) need to be sent to the office.

                                                     Updates from our Nurse                                                                 

• Don't forget to use your nurse passes when sending students to the office.
• If you are interested in being CPR certified, please let Danielle know!
• 5.2 Healthy Classroom Parties and Celebrations
• If you are concerned about how to share the message to families, let admin know.  There is support available to you. 

                                                           Looking Ahead                                                                         

December 9-17 Parent Conferences
December 10 - Staff Meeting
December 13 - Staff Breakfast (Office Hosts)
December 17 - Student Study Team (SST)
December 19 - Christmas Party at RF Sullivan @4:00 (Save the Date)
December 23-January 1 - School Closed for Winter Break

Weekly Update #14

Inspirational Quote:

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton

                                                                 This Week                                                                           

Monday, December 2, 2019                         Glenda - Mentor Meeting @1

Tuesday, December 3, 2019                            IEP (Papageorio @8:30)
                                                                        Data Meeting @ 10:30
                                                                        IEP (McIntyre) @11
                                                                        CIT Meeting @11:30
                                                                        IEP (Billias) @12:30
                                                                        Clinic Meeting @1:00
                                                                        School Support Team (Mentor)

Wednesday, December 4, 2019                      Glenda - ATRS

Thursday, December 5, 2019                         Glenda - Powers Meeting @9
                                                                       CPR Class

Friday, December 6, 2019                             Dr. Parker or Data Meeting (TBD)
                                                                       Grade 3
                                                                       Grade 4
                                                                       Grade 5
                                                                      ****Library Book Sales****

                                       Things to Be Aware of and Keep in Mind                                                

• Polar Express - Friday, December 13, 2019 with Mrs. Chruniak
• Inclement Weather Staff Support - Dr. Tutwiler is predicting that Lynn may have more delayed starts, and would like each school to invite two teachers to come at the regular scheduled time for a stipend.  If you are interested in this role, please email Glenda.
• First Book Giveaway - Dr. Tutwilier will come to read a book to a grade or class and will announce that each student will receive 2 free books to take home on 12/18/19.
• Pajama Day - Pajama Day will be on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. 
• Guided Reading - Continue to invite Liz and Glenda to Guided Reading lessons.
• Remember students should be reading during most of your GR lesson aim for 10 minutes!
• ELE Meeting - The ELE office will be rescheduling the December 4th ESL Elementary meeting in order to accommodate ELLevation software training on December 16th OR 17th.
• Science Assessment Reminder - Please remind your Grades 1-5 teachers that students’ EOU Assessment results for their current science units are scheduled to be scanned into TestWiz during the week of December 2nd.
• Grade 3 - Moving forward you should use Edcite to do your assessments online.  Most teachers are using their unit 2 assessment to allow students to practice entering grades prior to the Unit 3.  Please connect with Jay for this information.
• Classroom Walkthrough - Liz and Glenda will be reviewing the paper that is up on walls, please check your walls and make sure that you don't have too many things up.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• School Site Council - We still need at least 3 members of our school community (teachers or paras) to serve on our School Site Council. This is a state mandated team for our school, so anyone that is willing to serve for the 5 days listed in the previous email, please let Glenda and Liz know.
• School Improvement Plan - 3 people have shared an interest in joining the team.  There is still more room.  Please let us know if you are interested in joining.
• We have been charged by Dr. Tutwiler to determine an equity challenge in our school and create a goal to improving this.  I am super excited about this work!
• See schedule of planning and meeting dates.  I took into consideration the availability of members that shared an interest:
• 12/2 - 7:30-8:00
• 12/6 -7:30-8:00
• 12/10 - 7:30-8:00
• 12/13 -2:30-3:30
• 12/16 - 7:30-8:00
• 1/3 - 7:30-8:00
• 1/6 -2:30-3:30
• Please confirm your interest to Liz and Glenda in an email if you plan to be a part of this team.
• Guided Reading - Continue to invite Liz and Glenda to Guided Reading lessons.
• Things we've noticed - Everyone is launching with important vocab and an intro.  In addition, all students are reading independently and teachers are listening in.
• Feedback - One thing to note, the intro should be short and sweet.  It should be 2-3 minutes, and the bulk of the time should be on student reading.  Let's increase students reading.
• Next Round - For observations, we are doing rounds on Criteria for Success of a task, and giving feedback on Lesson Plans.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• School Improvement Plan - 4 people have shared an interest in joining the team.  There is still more room.  Please let us know if you are interested in joining.
• TB Testing - Thank you Danielle, Lee-Anne, and Carolina for helping us during this process.
• Thanksgiving Break - Wednesday, 11/27/19 school is out at 11:15 am for Thanksgiving break.
• Technology Update
• All laptop carts needs to be in rooms that can accommodate them and be plugged in during the day.
• Let us know if this is a problem so that we can find a new room or a power strip to ensure that they are charged.
• Transition - Nicole and Brianna will be back on Wednesday.  Please help me in thanking Margarita and Meghan for all that they have done to support our school during our transition.

• Recess - recess resource
• Connery School Year Calendar
• Food Pantry Flyer
• LPS CORE VALUES - Inclusiveness, Shared Responsibility, High Expectations, and Inspiring Life Long Learning.

                                                        Reminders from the Office                                                           

• Please do your attendance on time each morning.
• There are still some that are not getting completed by 9:00.
• Folders - Please check your mailboxes each day.  Some yellow folders were not picked up this week.
• All notices (including parent's notes) need to be sent to the office.

                                                     Updates from our Nurse                                                                 

• Don't forget to use your nurse passes when sending students to the office.
• If you are interested in being CPR certified, please let Danielle know!
• 5.2 Healthy Classroom Parties and Celebrations
• If you are concerned about how to share the message to families, let admin know.  There is support available to you. 

                                                           Looking Ahead                                                                         

November 26 - Student Study Team
November 28 and 28 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
December 3 - School Support Team (Mentor)
December 4 - ILT
December 5 - CPR
December 9-17 Parent Conferences
December 10 - Staff Meeting
December 17 - Student Study Team (SST)
December 19 - Christmas Party at RF Sullivan @4:00 (Save the Date)
December 23-January 1 - School Closed for Winter Break

Weekly Update #13

Inspirational Quote:

“ Childhood means simplicity. Look at the world with the child's eye - it is very beautiful.”        

- Kailash Satyarthi

                                                                 This Week                                                                           

Monday, November 25, 2019                         First Response Team Meeting @ 9
                                                                        Glenda - Mentor Meeting @1

Tuesday, November 26, 2019                         Data Meeting @ 10:30
                                                                        IEP (Buckley) @11
                                                                        CIT Meeting @11:30
                                                                        IEP (Palange) @12:00
                                                                        Clinic Meeting)@1:00
                                                                        Student Study Team

Wednesday, November 27, 2019                     Half Day Schedule - Dismiss at 11:15

Thursday, November 28, 2019                        No School - Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Friday, November 29, 2019                             No School

***No ELT.  There should be no after school programs on the half day.  Please send reminders out to families.***

                                       Things to Be Aware of and Keep in Mind                                                

• Follow Up from the Fire Drill - There are a few things that the fire department shared with us, and asked us to relay with you.
• Rugs in classrooms need to be fire retardant.  They are labeled as such on their tags. All school rugs are.  Please check rugs that were not purchased by the school, and make sure that they follow these guidelines.
• Paper - In schools that do not have sprinklers in the classroom, there is only paper allowed on 20% of the wall space.
• Since this is a safety concern, I ask that you review your walls.
• Class rules and jobs should be posted.
• Current lessons and skills should be posted.  However, if you have old posters or materials from previous years, this is a good opportunity to purge them.
• Some of the walls in our classroom have lots of paper on them, and this can be over stimulating to our students, as well as unsafe.  Please clean up by Wednesday.
• Hall doors - We would love to designate an adult to close the interior brown doors in the hallways.  If your classroom or office is near an interior door, please reach out to Liz and we will update our Fire Drill plan.
• School Site Council - We need at least 3 members of our school community (teachers or paras) to serve on our School Site Council.  This team votes on important decisions for our whole school.  It is also an opportunity to engage with families and learn their perspective and needs.
• The dates, times, and topics are as follows:  

#	Meeting Date	Proposed Meeting Topics
1	December 9, 2019	Overview of SSC, By-Laws, School-wide Goals
2	January 13, 2019	Review Family Engagement Plan and Discuss Ways to Re-establish a PTO.
3	February 10, 2019	Budget Update
4	March 9, 2019	Family Communication / Policies
5	April 13, 2019	Hiring subcommittee - Roles

• Dr. Parker - will be a remote session in Glenda's office on Tuesday.  Look out for an email from Liz with more information
• Guided Reading - Continue to invite Liz and Glenda to Guided Reading lessons.
• Things we've noticed - Everyone is launching with important vocab and an intro.  In addition, all students are reading independently and teachers are listening in.
• Feedback - One thing to note, the intro should be short and sweet.  It should be 2-3 minutes, and the bulk of the time should be on student reading.  Let's increase students reading.
• Next Round - For observations, we are doing rounds on Criteria for Success of a task, and giving feedback on Lesson Plans.
• Coaching - January will be the goal for starting 1 to 1 coaching.  
• School Improvement Plan - 4 people have shared an interest in joining the team.  There is still more room.  Please let us know if you are interested in joining.
• TB Testing - Thank you Danielle, Lee-Anne, and Carolina for helping us during this process.
• Thanksgiving Break - Wednesday, 11/27/19 school is out at 11:15 am for Thanksgiving break.

• Technology Update
• All laptop carts needs to be in rooms that can accommodate them and be plugged in during the day.
• Let us know if this is a problem so that we can find a new room or a power strip to ensure that they are charged.
• Transition - Nicole and Brianna will be back on Wednesday.  Please help me in thanking Margarita and Meghan for all that they have done to support our school during our transition.
• Elementary All-City Instrumental Concert Dates - Reserved and confirmed with Lynn English.
• Dates: Tuesday 6/9/2020 - Callahan, Connery, Drewicz, Lincoln Thomson, Sewell Anderson, Tracy
• Recess - recess resource
• Connery School Year Calendar
• Food Pantry Flyer
• LPS CORE VALUES - Inclusiveness, Shared Responsibility, High Expectations, and Inspiring Life Long Learning.

                                                        Reminders from the Office                                                           

• Please do your attendance on time each morning.
• There are still some that are not getting completed by 9:00.
• Folders - Please check your mailboxes each day.  Some yellow folders were not picked up this week.
• All notices (including parent's notes) need to be sent to the office.

                                                     Updates from our Nurse                                                                 

• Don't forget to use your nurse passes when sending students to the office.
• If you are interested in being CPR certified, please let Danielle know!
• If a student returns after multiple days out, feel free to send them to the nurse's office for a quick check-in.
• Our nurse has a 12:30 lunch time.  Please do not send students down during this time, unless there is a medical emergency.

                                                           Looking Ahead                                                                         

November 26 - Student Study Team
November 28 and 28 - No School (Thanksgiving Break)
December 3 - School Support Team (Mentor)
December 4 - ILT
December 9-17 Parent Conferences
December 10 - Staff Meeting
December 17 - Student Study Team (SST)
December 19 - Christmas Party at RF Sullivan @4:00 (Save the Date)
December 23-January 1 - School Closed for Winter Break