Welcome Back!
We would like to welcome back all students, families and staff for SY 2016-2017. We look forward to a great start to school and just want to remind you that 1st-8th grade students will start on Thursday, September 8th and Kindergarten students on Monday, September 12th.

Arrival and Dismissal
Please keep in mind that the doors open at 8:15am and the official school day begins promptly at 8:30am. Please make sure to have your child arrive on time for the start of the day. Dismissal begins at 2:25pm. We are asking all families to remain outside at dismissal and not to release their child from school after 1:45pm. All arrival and dismissal information is found here.

Kindergarten Welcome Picnic
All Kindergarten (K0, K1 & K2) are welcome to join us on Wednesday, September 7th for a potluck picnic. From 3-4pm teachers will be in their classrooms to welcome families and show your child his or her new learning space. From 4-6pm there will be a potluck picnic outside by the play structures for all families.

Summer Reading Challenge
As a reminder students should bring the appropriate Summer Reading Challenge materials on day one. Click on the links to access summer readings for grades 4-8 and a reading bingo game for grades K-3. We look forward to hearing about your favorite books when you return to school on September 8th.

Open House
Our Open House for all families will take place on Thursday, September 22nd from 5pm-7pm. We hope all families can come out, meet the teachers and hear about what your child will learn this year!

Red Jacket Weekend
Join us for a family field day with City Year Boston on Saturday, September 17th from 1-4PM! Activities will include face painting, games, a food demonstration by Fresh Truck, and more. All ages are welcome to attend, but children under 18 should be accompanied by an adult. Register Online!

Paw Prints
Each Sunday I will send out the Paw Prints to the website. It is an opportunity to share information with our entire community.

Curley Before and After School Program Welcome
Torri Canada, the Director of the Curley Before and After School Program (CASP). For more information, please visit CASP’s webpage. CASP Before and After School begins the first day of school, Thursday, September 8th. Before school begin at 7:00am. A CASP before school application must be on file on the first day of school for your child to attend. If you have not yet submitted a before school application you will be required to do so upon arrival with your child. Students attending CASP afterschool on the first day must have an application on file. Please let your child’s teacher know if they plan to attend CASP.

Social Media
For up to date information about the Curley K-8 School please sign up for email alerts by joining the Mailing List. You can also follow Principal Grassa on Twitter @principalgrassa and be sure to always use the hashtag #curleycares when sharing/posting/tweeting information about our school.

Boy in science class with microscope

Our students currently sit at individual desks with inclined desktops — not an ideal surface for conducting fluid experiments. As you can imagine, proper lab tables are more conducive to collaborative student work and much safer than these individual seats. Our students really need tables!

There is still time to support this effort! The Go Fund Me Campaign is live through the end of the day. Check it out here:

https://www.gofundme.com/labtables4curley

Dear Families,

We hope that you are enjoying your summer. As a reminder we wanted to reshare the summer reading challenge information that was sent home with students in June. It is important that students continue to read over the summer and reinforce what they learned throughout the school year. We encourage students to read books of their choosing, reread books they’ve enjoyed previously, read to younger siblings, be read aloud to, and/or listen to books on tape. Click on the links to access summer readings for grades 4-8 and a reading bingo game for grades K-3. Be sure to visit your local Boston Public Library for access to a variety of reading material.

We look forward to hearing about your favorite books when you return to school on September 8th.

Thanks,

Katie Grassa
Principal
Curley K-8 School

Hello Curley Families,

Please see this important message from our upper school science teachers:

My name is Rose Rodriguez, and I will be teaching 6th grade science in our Upper School. Nina Wesson will be our middle school SEI science and math teacher, and Paige Stokes will be teaching 7th and 8th grade science.

We are trying to raise funds in order to purchase lab tables. Our students currently sit at individual desks with inclined desktops. As you can imagine, tables are not only more conducive to collaborative student work, but are also much safer than these individual seats. Our students really need tables.

Our project can be found at the following site: Labtables4curley

We would appreciate any support.

Thank you

Please read this important message from Principal Katie Grassa:

Curley Families,

We hope that you have had an enjoyable summer!
We wanted to share with you some information regarding transportation that we thought would be of help. The Administrative Team will return to work next week and be busy with trainings and assuring all paperwork is accurate to be distributed to families. The week of August 22nd you should receive a Welcome Letter with information regarding your child’s homeroom teacher. We look forward to seeing you all in September.

1) If your child is eligible for transportation but will NOT be taking the BPS yellow bus to school or home from school, please email Sean Guthrie, Curley K-8 Principal Fellow sguthrie@bostonpublicschools.org. Removing these extra stops from the routes helps the drivers be on time, particularly at the start of the year when they don’t know the kids yet.

Opt-Out Form (opting out of yellow school bus and any other transportion including MBTA pass)

2) If you are applying for an alternate drop off or pick up and you haven’t submitted the form yet, there is no guarantee that you can have it in place for the start of the year. Please fill out the form ASAP!

Alternative Transportation Request Form

3) All grade 7 and 8 students eligible for transportation will be assigned a T pass. If you have concerns about your child riding the T, please let me know so I can find out about the waiver process this year. *please note, this does not apply to gr 7 and 8 students with door to door transportation on their IEP.

MBTA 7th and 8th Grade Waiver

4) For families that would like to have their 6th graders ride the MBTA instead of a yellow bus, please have them fill out this form.

MBTA 6TH Grade OPT IN

5) BUS STOP POLICY

Bus stops for Elementary Students are assigned up to 1/2 mile away and Middle School students are assigned a bus stop up to 1 mile away from the registered home address

Bus Stop Change Form

6) Last but not least. BPS DoT and the Homeless Initiative are working on streamlining and making the process of assigning transportation more effectively and in a timely manner. As such, we have Kristin Dearden, Student Support Services Transportation Project Manager, sharing space in our department. Please feel free to send her an email kdearden@bostonpublicschools.org or call her ( 617-635-8739) with any questions with regards to support services for our students.

Katie Grassa
Principal
Curley K-8 | Boston Public Schools
493 Centre Street, Boston MA 02130
kgrassa@bostonpublicschools.org | 617-635-8239

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Top 10 Highlights of SY 2016-2017:
  1. We have 5 staff moving on to retirement this year, Sue Trotz, Florine Cooper, Lucy Torrejon, Layla Hijab Cable and Elizabeth Delgado Prieto. These women have worked incredibly hard to support our students and community for many years. We wish you all a long and healthy retirement!
  2. We began the school year with a full time music teacher and budgeted for two full time music teachers next year. This was a successful first year of music because of a large donation to our music program from Ernie Boch Jr. and the Music Drives Us Foundation.
  3. Back in October we had a visit from Chelsea Clinton who worked with our middle school students and talked with them around the importance of service learning.
  4. The Climate Team led an initiative to transform our hallways. Bulletin Boards were purchased for each teacher and student worked filled our hallways and celebrated student success.
  5. Thanks to the SPC we were able to increased Technology throughout our building. We have a total of 16 Chromebook carts that are used daily by our students!
  6. Our PACE team helped us to revive the use of our auditorium by hosting Movie Nights! Students loved eating popcorn, sipping water and watching a favorite film after hours with friends and family.
  7. This spring we hosted our 1st Annual LGBTQA Picnic on the playing field. It was a beautiful evening filled with fun and friends. We look forward to more opportunities to celebrate the diversity of our community.
  8. We were chosen to participate in the Excellence For All (EFA) initiative next year as part of Dr. Chang’s 100-Day Plan. We created a collaborative process between families and teachers to assure that our students will all have opportunities to learn about complex ideas.
  9. As a way to make our large school feel more like a K-8 the School Climate Team presented a plan to have upper grade teachers “buddy” with a lower grade teacher. These Big/Little Buddies attended Curley Shares together monthly and found ways to build relationships across the school this year.
  10. And the number one highlight of SY 2015-2016 was our participation in the Wake Up The Earth Parade. It was a beautiful moment to march down Centre Street with approximately 100 Curley staff, students and families. We are thankful to have a strong arts program and the support of families who helped our students create the Flying Lion float! Thank you to all who made this possible!
      
• Curley After School Program (CASP): The last day of CASP will be Wednesday, June 22nd.
• 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony: The 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, June 22nd at 10:30am in the auditorium. Due to limited seating all students will receive three tickets to invite guests.
• Last Day of School: As per tradition the last two days of school will be half days Thursday, June 23rd and the last day of school will be Friday, June 24th. On Thursday, June 24th we are asking families to not use the outdoor area after dismissal. We are hosting a fun event to thank our teachers that will take place outside. Thank you for your understanding.
• SY 2016-2017: Mark your calendars because the first day of school will be Thursday, September 8th for 1st-8th grade students and Monday, September 12th for K0/K1/K2. This is a change from the traditional start to school. See you soon!
• Book Swap Thanks: Thank you to all the families who donated books and/or their time to support our Summer Book Swap on Friday. All students took home two books that were “new to them.”
• Summer Reading: TAKE THE PLEDGE! All young people experience learning losses when they don’t engage in educational activities during the summer. Reading is one of the best ways to minimize summer slide. This year we’re asking all students at the Curley to take a pledge to read over the summer. We are partnering with the Boston Public Library (BPL) to assure that you are aware of activities that promote reading as an important part of summer fun. Students who keep the pledge to read over the summer will be recognized as a “Reader Leader” in the fall, if they provide a short summary of a favorite book selection. In addition to our “Take the Pledge” initiative, students entering grades 4 through 8 will be required to read one book over the summer, in conjunction with the Boston Public Library. Please contact Caitlyn Gable (Grade K-2) cmcsheffrey@bostonpublicschools.org or Eileen Cronin (Grades 3-8) ecronin@bostonpublicschools.org if you have any questions regarding the Curley’s summer reading initiative.
• Free Summer Opportunity: The ReadBoston summer Storymobile is coming to a location near you! From July 11 to August 19 audiences will be treated to an interactive storytelling experience and every child gets a new book to take home. The program is best suited for kids ages 3-8 years old. View the 2016 Storymobile schedule!
• Upcoming End of Year Events: SAVE THE DATE:
  • Grade 5 Moving On Ceremony & Field Day on Monday, June 20th
  • K2 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st 8:45am-9:30am
  • K1 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st from 1pm-2pm
  • Grade 8 Moving on Ceremony on Wednesday, June 22nd at 10:30am attendees must have a ticket to attend, limited seating
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Thursday, June 23rd
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Friday, June 24th LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
• Thank you: I would like to thank all the families for helping me during my 3rd year as principal. The support of the Curley families and JP community makes my job as a principal more enjoyable. Our students all benefit from your generosity and your time is greatly appreciated. I look forward to strengthening our collaboration next year.

  HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!

Tonight 5 self-proclaimed web hero parents, some of whom described themselves as “a bit nervous,” sat down together and learned how to publish on the Curley site.

This story was our first exercise in learning how to publish a story.

“Yes, it’s as easy as it looks,” said Noreen “the pixel artist” Power.

We learned:

• How to do a simple bullet
• How to do a second simple bullet

Then, we insert a picture of ourselves, which is our selfie pic at the top of this story. Dave had the (as usual) brilliant artistic eye to say, “we should let the code flow over us!” So we stood in front of the projector.

So, if you want to join other parents in updating our website, or post to our Twitter or Facebook account, email Heshan at heshanbw@gmail.com or Noreen at ncpower1@gmail.com.

Oh, and by the way, we learned how to link to our Twitter and Facebook accounts, and to an email address. Very exciting.

“See, it really is very simple!” said Noreen.

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• K-4 Field Day: The K-4 Field Day will take place on Thursday, June 16th with a rain date of Friday, June 17th. Please email Mark Righini with and questions mrighini@bostonpublicschools.org. 
  • Grades 1 & PACE 1, 2, 3: 9:00am-10:30am
  • Grades 2-3: 10:30am-12:00pm
  • Grades 4 & PACE 4, 5, 6: 12:30pm-2:00pm
• Volunteers: We need your help with the Book Swap on Friday, June 17th. Please contact Caitlyn Gable (cmcsheffrey@bostonpublicschools.org) or Eileen Cronin (ecronin@bostonpublicschools.org) with any questions. If you want to help sign-up to help sort the books before the swap click here: http://goo.gl/forms/P98tU458gDgHVjLp2
  If you want to help sign-up to helps students choose books at the swap on June 17 http://goo.gl/forms/crZPu0VBvIh2kThs2
• School Site Council: Please join us for our final School Site Council Meeting on Tuesday, June 14th from 5:30pm-7:00pm in room 101 (Upper School).
• Summer Reading: TAKE THE PLEDGE! All young people experience learning losses when they don’t engage in educational activities during the summer. Some students can lose more than two months in reading achievement and math computational skills! Reading is one of the best ways to minimize summer slide. This year we’re asking all students at the Curley to take a pledge to read over the summer. We are partnering with the Boston Public Library (BPL) to assure that you are aware of activities that promote reading as an important part of summer fun. As part of this initiative, we are helping all students obtain a library card before the end of school. In addition, a “Summer Book Swap” will be conducted this Friday, June 17th, with the hopes that all Curley kids leave school with at least two books to enjoy over the summer months.

  Students who keep the pledge to read over the summer will be recognized as a “Reader Leader” in the fall, if they provide a short summary of a favorite book selection. In addition to our “Take the Pledge” initiative, students entering grades 4 through 8 will be required to read one book over the summer, in conjunction with the Boston Public Library’s “One Book – One Grade” campaign. The book can be read by the student independently, read with or to the student, or listened to as an audio book. Students will receive a packet this week detailing the title of the required book for their grade level and specific assignment expectations.

  The BPL neighborhood branches will have multiple copies of the identified books on their shelves, and can provide access to audio versions of these texts. With our combined efforts, we can assure that students keep their reading skills sharp throughout the summer months, build a love of reading, and return to school, ready to pick up where they left off in June! Please contact Caitlyn Gable (Grade K-2) cmcsheffrey@bostonpublicschools.org or Eileen Cronin (Grades 3-8) ecronin@bostonpublicschools.org if you have any questions regarding the Curley’s summer reading initiative.

• Upcoming End of Year Events: SAVE THE DATE:
  • Field Day for K-4 June 16th (Rain Date June 17th)
  • K2 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st 8:45am-9:30am
  • K1 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st from 1pm-2pm
  • Grade 8 Moving on Ceremony on Wednesday, June 22nd at 10:30am attendees must have a ticket to attend, limited seating
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Thursday, June 23rd
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Friday, June 24th LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
• Social Media: For up to date information about the Curley K-8 School please sign up for email alerts by joining the Mailing List. You can also follow Principal Grassa on Twitter @principalgrassa and be sure to always use the hashtag #curleycares when sharing/posting/tweeting information about our school.

The School Parent Council and The Curley After School Program (CASP) would like to invite you TONIGHT, Wednesday 6/8 to the Curley School’s 2nd Annual Summer Send Off Festival!

It will take place on the Playing Field (or Lower School Cafeteria if raining) from 6-8pm.

Feel free to bring a dish or drink to share and bring your whole family! rainy day activities like face painting, photobooth, games, arts and crafts, chess corner, 4 square competition, and prizes for all. We will end the night with a special celebration for all students!

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Boston Herald: The Curley was featured twice in the Boston Herald on Friday. 
Check out the article about our monthly Curley Shares!
  Here are some added photos the photographer took as well. 
Ms. Moran’s 5th grade also made the Herald for their participation in the UNICEF Gala on Thursday evening.
  We feel lucky that the Boston Herald choose to feature the great work happening at the Curley K-8. Thank you to our teachers who lead this each and everyday!
• Health and Wellness: Please join us for our final Health and Wellness Committee meeting this year. We will meet on Tuesday, June 7th at 7:30am in room 208 (Upper School).
• Volunteers: We need your help with the Book Swap on Friday, June 17th. Please contact Caitlyn Gable (cmcsheffrey@bostonpublicschools.org) or Eileen Cronin (ecronin@bostonpublicschools.org) with any questions. If you want to help sign-up to help sort the books before the swap click here: http://goo.gl/forms/P98tU458gDgHVjLp2
  If you want to help sign-up to helps students choose books at the swap on June 17 http://goo.gl/forms/crZPu0VBvIh2kThs2
• Summer Send Off: The School Parent Council and The Curley After School Program (CASP) would like to invite you this Wednesday 6/8 to the Curley School’s 2nd Annual Summer Send Off Festival!
  It will take place on the Playing Field (or Lower School Cafeteria if raining) from 6-8pm. Feel free to bring a dish or drink to share and bring your whole family! There will fun games, a photo booth… and we will end the night with a special celebration for all students!
• Thank you: Thank you to all the parents who helped with the New Student Welcome Session on Friday. New families enjoy hearing for current families and feel more comfortable about the start of school thanks to you all.
• Bring a Book – Take a Book: A Summer Reading Book Swap is scheduled for Friday, June 17th! Students will be able to choose a “new to you” book or two from the donated collection, as part of Field Day activities. Over the next few weeks, a visit schedule will be developed, with teacher input. Look for notices in your mailboxes to send home with students, in both English and Spanish.

  WE NEED BOOKS!

  Flower-covered donation boxes will be located in the upper and lower school lobbies. This is a great opportunity to review classroom libraries and donate gently used books that you no longer need. The deadline for donating books for the book swap is Thursday, June 15th.

• Excellence for All (EFA): Our next EFA meeting will be Thursday, June 9th from 3pm -4pm in room 111 (Upper School). If you haven’t been able to attend a meeting please check out our work on the website www.curleyk8.com and click on the School Info tab and then Excellence for All.
• Excellence for All (EFA): Our next EFA meeting will be Thursday, June 9th from 3pm-4pm in room 111 (Upper School). If you haven’t been able to attend a meeting please check out our work on the website www.curleyk8.com and click on the School Info tab and then Excellence for All.
• Upcoming End of Year Events: SAVE THE DATE:
  • CMCB Spring Music Concert K1, K2, 1st grade Tuesday, June 7th 9am-10am
  • Summer Send Off Wednesday, June 8th
  • BalletROX Performance Grades 6-8 Friday, June 10th 1:30pm
  • Field Day for K-4 June 16th (Rain Date June 17th)
  • K2 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st 8:45am-9:30am
  • K1 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st from 1pm-2pm
  • Grade 8 Moving on Ceremony on Wednesday, June 22nd at 10:30am attendees must have a ticket to attend, limited seating
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Thursday, June 23rd
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Friday, June 24th LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
• Playing Field: The field will be open for public use from 2:30-3:00pm and then will be used by Curley teams from 3pm – 5pm. We are offering many extra curricular activities during that time such as girls soccer, boys soccer, Girls on the Run, Track, CASP, and Tenacity. This is a wonderful space and we want to make sure that many students have access to this. Thanks!
• Social Media: For up to date information about the Curley K-8 School please sign up for email alerts by joining the Mailing List. You can also follow Principal Grassa on Twitter @principalgrassa and be sure to always use the hashtag #curleycares when sharing/posting/tweeting information about our school.

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• District Water Meeting: We will host a water meeting on Thursday, June 2nd from 6:00pm-7:00pm in the auditorium. There will be a team here to present from the district regarding the issues with lead in the water and our water fountains. All are welcome to attend!
• Bring a Book – Take a Book: A Summer Reading Book Swap is scheduled for Friday, June 17th! Students will be able to choose a “new to you” book or two from the donated collection, as part of Field Day activities. Over the next few weeks, a visit schedule will be developed, with teacher input. Look for notices in your mailboxes to send home with students, in both English and Spanish.

  WE NEED BOOKS!

  Flower-covered donation boxes will be located in the upper and lower school lobbies. This is a great opportunity to review classroom libraries and donate gently used books that you no longer need. The deadline for donating books for the book swap is Thursday, June 15th. Please contact Caitlyn Gable (lower school) or Eileen Cronin (upper school) with any questions. If you want to help sign-up to help sort the books before the swap click here: http://goo.gl/forms/P98tU458gDgHVjLp2
  If you want to help sign-up to helps students choose books at the swap on June 17 http://goo.gl/forms/crZPu0VBvIh2kThs2.

• 2016 Summer Send Off Festival: The School Parent Council and the Curley After School Program bring you… 2016 Summer Send Off Festival!
  June 8th from 6-8pm on the Playing Field at the Curley K-8
  Potluck picnic, bring a dish or drink to share!
  Photo booth! Fun! Games!
• Excellence for All (EFA): Our next EFA meeting will be Thursday, June 9th from 3pm-4pm in room 111 (Upper School). If you haven’t been able to attend a meeting please check out our work on the website www.curleyk8.com and click on the School Info tab and then Excellence for All.
• Upcoming End of Year Events: SAVE THE DATE:
  • Music Performance grades 2-6, SAR & PACE Friday, June 3rd 9am-11am
  • CMCB Spring Music Concert K1, K2, 1st grade Tuesday, June 7th 9am-10am
  • BalletROX Performance Grades 6-8 Friday, June 10th 1:30pm
  • Field Day for K-4 June 16th (Rain Date June 17th)
  • K2 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st 8:45am-9:30am
  • K1 Moving On Ceremony on Tuesday, June 21st from 1pm-2pm
  • Grade 8 Moving on Ceremony on Wednesday, June 22nd at 10:30am attendees must have a ticket to attend, limited seating
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Thursday, June 23rd
  • Half Day (12:30 Dismissal) on Friday, June 24th LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
• Playing Field: The field will be open for public use from 2:30-3:00pm and then will be used by Curley teams from 3pm – 5pm. We are offering many extra curricular activities during that time such as girls soccer, boys soccer, Girls on the Run, Track, CASP, and Tenacity. This is a wonderful space and we want to make sure that many students have access to this. Thanks!
• Social Media: For up to date information about the Curley K-8 School please sign up for email alerts by joining the Mailing List. You can also follow Principal Grassa on Twitter @principalgrassa and be sure to always use the hashtag #curleycares when sharing/posting/tweeting information about our school.

We need volunteers to help lead tours at a Welcome Session for incoming K1 and K2 families, Friday, June 3rd from 9am – 10am.

We will have “cheat” sheets available to help you lead the tours and Principal Grassa and teachers will also be there to answer questions.

Just your willingness to share a little of your own experience at the Curley is necessary!

Please contact Arusha Hollister arusha_h@yahoo.com if you can help out.

Our next outing is on Thu May 26 at http://thefrogmore.com/ in JP.

For the newer mamas, the Curley has a tradition of MFABS meet ups on the last Thursday of each month, and meets at various establishments in the Jamaica Plain/Rosi area from 7:30pm on, and the tradition began in 2011. Arrive when you can and leave when it suits you.

It’s a great way to meet other Moms from the Curley K8 community and beyond. There is no agenda other than to relax, share, vent and otherwise take a load off our busy minds and souls.
PLEASE SHARE THIS INVITE with any moms who might enjoy a night out! For more information, contact Jess Curran jessicacurran@ymail.com or Kristin Jurkoic kjurkoic@yahoo.com.