This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Happy New Year: We hope you all had an enjoyable break and Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing all the students return to school on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
• Technology Appeal: We want to thank everyone in the Curley K-8 community for your generous donations to help us increase technology at our school! We have met our goal in just one month! Thank you to the SPC for their leadership in taking on this project and helping us to give technology access to more students each and every day! More details will follow about when the materials will be purchased and next steps for usage. We feel very lucky to be a part of such a caring community! Thanks!
• ELT Planning Meeting: At the end of last year, Curley staff volunteered to attend the ELT Planning Meeting. We met at the BTU from 8:30am-3:30pm with 7 other schools that will be adding 40 extra minutes to their day in SY 2016-2017. We want to be sure to communicate with staff/families after each meeting to assure that this process is transparent.

  Here are some key messages we would like to share from the session:

  • Our Extended Learning Time initiative is about building a better school day for our students, teachers and families.
  • With more time, our school will have more opportunities to provide targeted learning time for students, increase small group instruction, provide enrichment opportunities in order to increase student engagement and academic outcomes. At our first session we identified these urgent needs:
  • African American and Hispanic males do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their White and Asian peers.
  • ELL and SPED students do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their general education peers.
  • Overall as a school we struggle with reading and writing skills according to standardized tests.
  • We are just at the beginning and we need you to play an active role in the process of developing a new school experience for our community.
  • Between January and June the ELT Team will implement a community engagement process moving forward, stay tuned for meeting dates and other pertinent updates.
  • In the coming weeks you can get involved by reaching out to a member of the ELT team with questions and ideas (Ms. Ciardi, Ms. Grassa, Ms. Kidd, Ms. Peters, Ms.Wright). Click Here and you can submit your ideas and questions anonymously. We are asking families to do so by Monday, January 4, 2016.
• Health and Wellness: The next Health and Wellness meeting is on Tuesday, January 5th at 7:30am in room 208 (Upper School).
• School Site Council: The next SSC meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 5th from 5pm-7pm in room 101 (Upper School). We will review the proposed budget for SY 2016-2017. Please use the CASP entrance to enter the building.
• Principal Breakfast: The principal breakfast will take place on Friday, January 8th from 8:45am-9:45am in room 221 (Upper School). We will discuss the school’s instructional focus as well as gather some ideas and updates regarding the extended school day for next year.
• SPC Meeting: The first SPC meeting of 2016 will take place on Wednesday, January 13th from 8:45am-10:45am in room 221 (Upper School). We encourage all families to attend and we will be discussing the extended school day at this meeting. We look forward to hearing from families about their ideas.
• Labeling Coats: We are asking families to label their child’s coat on the inside tag. This way if the coat gets lost we can return it to the rightful owner. We have had many winter coats end up in the lost & found and we want to prevent this from continuing.
• School Showcase: Thank you to the families who volunteered time last year to help prospective families make informed choices about schools for their child next year. We have one more showcase session on Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm. Please email Arusha Hollister if you are interested in helping out or sign up here.
• Arrival: 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. Families are welcome to accompany their child to the class each morning between 8:15-8:35. After 8:35am all students will be marked tardy and cannot be escorted by families members to class.
• Dismissal: Dismissal begins at 2:25pm. We are asking all families to remain outside at dismissal. We are also asking families to not release students after 1:45pm. It makes for a hectic dismissal and is disruptive to classroom learning. Also to assure the safety of the 300+ students who participate in afterschool activities we will not be able to allow families back into the building to use the facilities after dismissal. There are not staff on duty to supervise this past 2:45pm.
• 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.

Dear Families and Friends of the Curley,

Thank you – Thank you – Thank you!!! For all of the love and support our school and kids receive by our faculty, families and friends each day, and certainly for this Technology Fundraiser! …Thanks to YOU (and you know who you are) we are down to the home stretch at this point and are looking to finish strong with just $3,000 remaining to reach our goal by year-end. That’s 60 gifts of $50 -or- 30 gifts of $100 … WE’VE GOT THIS!

–

For those who are unaware… We are in need of technology for the 900+ kids in our school.

–

Computers are critical to preparing students for a successful future in the 21st century. The majority of students at our school do not have reliable access to computers at home, and mobile phones do not replace computers. With continued budget cuts, we must still find ways to provide adequate access and experience on computers in our schools . Our students need Technology.

As 2015 comes to an end, we ask that you please consider a tax-deductible donation for more student laptops in our school. We currently have 11 carts with 28 laptops on each cart – that’s only 308 laptops for 915 students to share. We need more technology.

Our current goal is to raise funds for four (4) new laptop computer carts. Each cart of 28 laptops costs $4,000.  Please help reach our goal of $16,000 with a small (or large) gift of *Any* amount.  Please forward this request to family & friends, and any other potential supporters who may be interested.  Thank You for helping achieve this goal.

Click Here To Support Technology In Our School

With Appreciation and Gratitude,
Curley K8 School Parent Council and Principal Grassa

• BiddingForGood.com/CurleyK8 is an online tool the Curley uses for fundraising and Event Ticket Sales
• Send in cash or check delivered to your child’s teacher or Principal Grassa or you may mail to:  40 Pershing Rd. JP, MA 02130   Attn: Curley SPC.    Please make checks payable to: Friends of the Curley
• Donate using PayPal by clicking here: PayPal.me/CurleyK8
• Don’t forget to ask if your company “matches” charitable donations – Friends of the Curley is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization
• Please contact Ann DeGeorge for any special arrangements or to become a sponsor: 617.251.6777 ann.c.degeorge@gmail.com

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Vacation: We hope that you all have an enjoyable holiday season and a happy new year! Our school will be closed from Thursday, December 24th-Monday, January 4th. We look forward to welcoming your children back to school on Tuesday, January 5th. See you next year!
• Book Swap: Bring a Book, Take a Book, K-5 Book Swap. Bring in 2 or more lightly used books from home and choose a ‘new to you’ book from school. Students can still bring in books this week.
• K-5 Report Cards: These will go home with students this week. Please sign and return the report card to your child’s teacher.
• Technology Appeal: Technology and experience using computers are critical to our students. Unfortunately, most of our students do not have dependable access to computers at home, and mobile phones are not a substitute. We must prepare our children with a strong education, positive experience and the tools they will use for the rest of their lives. Students need time and practice. Students need technology. Please consider a gift to the Curley K-8 as you make your final selections for your 2015 charitable giving. *All gifts are Tax deductible as Friends of the Curley is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization.

  For your convenience, we created an online fundraising page on BiddingForGood (BFG) to receive donations. If you can, we ask that Curley families please forward the link on BFG to extended family members, friends (in and out of state), socially conscious businesses and anyone else you think may be interested in supporting our cause.

  Ways to donate:

  1. Give online at: www.biddingforgood.com/curleyk8 **Preferred option (Curley runs various fundraisers on BFG)
  2. Send in cash or check payable to: Friends of the Curley delivered to your child’s teacher
  3. Donate on this page by clicking on the big red button at the top right hand of this page of curleyk8.com to pay online with PayPal or credit card (December gifts will go to technology)
  4. Contact Ann DeGeorge with questions or special arrangements: ann.c.degeorge@gmail.com or (617) 251-6777
• ELT Planning Meeting: Last week Curley staff volunteered to attend the ELT Planning Meeting. We met at the BTU from 8:30am-3:30pm with 7 other schools that will be adding 40 extra minutes to their day in SY 2016-2017. We want to be sure to communicate with staff/families after each meeting to assure that this process is transparent.

  Here are some key messages we would like to share from today’s learning:

  • Our Extended Learning Time initiative is about building a better school day for our students, teachers and families.
  • With more time, our school will have more opportunities to provide targeted learning time for students, increase small group instruction, provide enrichment opportunities in order to increase student engagement and academic outcomes. At our first session we identified these urgent needs:
  • African American and Hispanic males do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their White and Asian peers.
  • ELL and SPED students do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their general education peers.
  • Overall as a school we struggle with reading and writing skills according to standardized tests.
  • We are just at the beginning and we need you to play an active role in the process of developing a new school experience for our community.
  • Between January and June the ELT Team will implement a community engagement process moving forward, stay tuned for meeting dates and other pertinent updates.
  • In the coming weeks you can get involved by reaching out to a member of the ELT team with questions and ideas (Ms. Ciardi, Ms. Grassa, Ms. Kidd, Ms. Peters, Ms.Wright). Click Here and you can submit your ideas and questions anonymously. We are asking families to do so by Monday, January 4, 2016.
• Health and Wellness: The next Health and Wellness meeting is on Tuesday, January 5th at 7:30am in room 208 (Upper School).
• School Site Council: The next SSC meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 5th from 5pm-7pm in room 101 (Upper School). We will review the proposed budget for SY 2016-2017. Please use the CASP entrance to enter the building.
• Labeling Coats: We are asking families to label their child’s coat on the inside tag. This way if the coat gets lost we can return it to the rightful owner. We have had many winter coats end up in the lost & found and we want to prevent this from continuing.
• School Showcase: Thank you to the families who volunteered time on Friday to help perspective families make informed choices about schools for their child next year. We have one more showcase session on Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm. Please email Arusha Hollister if you are interested in helping out or sign up here.
• Arrival: 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. Families are welcome to accompany their child to the class each morning between 8:15-8:35. After 8:35am all students will be marked tardy and cannot be escorted by families members to class.
• Dismissal: Dismissal begins at 2:25pm. We are asking all families to remain outside at dismissal. We are also asking families to not release students after 1:45pm. It makes for a hectic dismissal and is disruptive to classroom learning. Also to assure the safety of the 300+ students who participate in afterschool activities we will not be able to allow families back into the building to use the facilities after dismissal. There are not staff on duty to supervise this past 2:45pm.
• 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, please be on the lookout for a school survey related to the Curley After School Program (CASP) in your child’s backpack. We’re soliciting feedback from families about their perceptions of the program, what’s working well, and what could be done to make it even stronger. And for families who aren’t part of CASP, we’d love to hear  what might inspire you to enroll your children.

Surveys are completely anonymous, and the results will help us evaluate and improve the program. So please take a moment to complete the survey. It can be returned to school via student backpack, or dropped off to the Lower or Upper School office. A printable pdf version of the survey is included below.

Feel free to contact Dave Demerjian or Torri Canada  if you have any questions, and thanks for participating.

casp survey FNL (PDF)

Dear Families and Friends of the Curley,

We are in need of technology at the Curley K-8 school in Jamaica Plain/Boston for the 900+ kids in our school.

Computers are critical to preparing students for a successful future in the 21st century. The majority of students at our school do not have reliable access to computers at home and mobile phones do not replace computers. With continued budget cuts, we must still find ways to provide adequate access and experience on computers in our schools.  Our students need Technology.

As 2015 comes to an end, we ask that you please consider a tax-deductible donation for laptop carts. Please click on the link below (or see attached letter to Curley parents on 12/8: 201516AppealFINAL) to learn more about it, and ways you can help.

Our current goal is to raise funds for four (4) new laptop computer carts (each containing 29 laptops with a price tag of $4k per cart) – – Thanks to the generous support of folks like you, we are off to a great start! Please help us reach our goal of $16,000! A gift in any amount will help. Please forward to family & friends, and any other potential supporters. Don’t forget to ask if your company “matches” charitable donations – we are a 501(c)(3) non profit organization. Click Here To Support Technology In Our School

We sincerely Thank You for your support.

Gratefully,
School Parent Council and Principal Grassa

• BiddingForGood.com is an online tool the Curley uses for fundraising.
• Send in cash or check to your child’s teacher or mail to: 40 Pershing Rd. JP, MA 02130 Attn: Curley SPC. Please make checks payable to: Friends of the Curley.
• Donate using PayPal by clicking here: PayPal.me/CurleyK8.

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Curley Holiday Shopping Night: Thank you to the families who came out to support this community event! We appreciate your help!
• Book Swap: Bring a Book, Take a Book, K-5 Book Swap. Bring in 2 or more lightly used books from home and choose 2 ‘new to you’ books from school. The deadline for bringing 2 or more books from home is Friday, December 18th.
• K-5 Report Cards: These will go home with students this week. Please sign and return the report card to your child’s teacher.
• School Safety: We will have our first SAFE MODE drill this week. We are asking families to reflect with their children after the drill and talk about how to stay safe. Families may choose to tell their child in advance of the drill if they choose. The drill will take place on Wednesday, December 16th. While the drill is going on no staff or families will be able to enter or exit the building. We hope that when we practice this we will be able to work out any kinks in our plan. Some families have asked for the language that teachers will use when practicing with their students. Here is a script specifically directed at early childhood aged students, “We are practicing for an emergency outside the school. Just like a fire drill is practice for an emergency, like a fire, inside, the school, this is practice for an emergency outside. An example of an outside emergency I’ve given is if a truck spills something dangerous, like a chemical, into the street. It is not real and we have to show Ms. Grassa (principal) that we can be safe inside and stay quiet if we need to be.” We hope this language helps to support the conversation you have at home with your children. We will do a call out to all families on Wednesday evening as well.
• Technology Appeal: Technology and experience using computers are critical to our students. Unfortunately, most of our students do not have dependable access to computers at home, and mobile phones are not a substitute. We must prepare our children with a strong education, positive experience and the tools they will use for the rest of their lives. Students need time and practice. Students need technology. Please consider a gift to the Curley K-8 as you make your final selections for your 2015 charitable giving. *All gifts are Tax deductible as Friends of the Curley is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization.

  For your convenience, we created an online fundraising page on BiddingForGood (BFG) to receive donations. If you can, we ask that Curley families please forward the link on BFG to extended family members, friends (in and out of state), socially conscious businesses and anyone else you think may be interested in supporting our cause.

  Ways to donate:

  1. Give online at: www.biddingforgood.com/curleyk8 **Preferred option (Curley runs various fundraisers on BFG)
  2. Send in cash or check payable to: Friends of the Curley delivered to your child’s teacher
  3. Donate on this page by clicking on the big red button at the top right hand of this page of curleyk8.com to pay online with PayPal or credit card (December gifts will go to technology)
  4. Contact Ann DeGeorge with questions or special arrangements: ann.c.degeorge@gmail.com or (617) 251-6777
• ELT Planning Meeting: On Monday 5 staff volunteered to attend the ELT Planning Meeting. We met at the BTU from 8:30am-3:30pm with 7 other schools that will be adding 40 extra minutes to their day in SY2016-2017. We want to be sure to communicate with staff/families after each meeting to assure that this process is transparent.

  Here are some key messages we would like to share from today’s learning:

  • Our Extended Learning Time initiative is about building a better school day for our students, teachers and families.
  • With more time, our school will have more opportunities to provide targeted learning time for students, increase small group instruction, provide enrichment opportunities in order to increase student engagement and academic outcomes. At our first session we identified these urgent needs:
  • African American and Hispanic males do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their White and Asian peers.
  • ELL and SPED students do not perform on standardized tests at the same level as their general education peers.
  • Overall as a school we struggle with reading and writing skills according to standardized tests.
  • We are just at the beginning and we need you to play an active role in the process of developing a new school experience for our community.
  • Between January and June the ELT Team will implement a community engagement process moving forward, stay tuned for meeting dates and other pertinent updates.
  • In the coming weeks you can get involved by reaching out to a member of the ELT team with questions and ideas (Ms. Ciardi, Ms. Grassa, Ms. Kidd, Ms. Peters, Ms.Wright). Click Here and you can submit your ideas and questions anonymously.
• Labeling Coats: We are asking families to label their child’s coat on the inside tag. This way if the coat gets lost we can return it to the rightful owner. We have had many winter coats end up in the lost & found and we want to prevent this from continuing.
• School Site Council: The SSC was changed this month to better align with the release of the budget for SY 2015-2016. We will meet on Tuesday, December 15th from 5:30-7:00pm in Room 101 Upper School. You can enter through the CASP doors until 6pm and all are welcome to attend.
• School Showcase: Thank you to the families who volunteered time on Friday to help perspective families make informed choices about schools for their child next year. We have two more showcase sessions Friday, December 18th from 9-10am and Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm. Please email Arusha Hollister if you are interested in helping out or sign up here.
• Arrival: 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. Families are welcome to accompany their child to the class each morning between 8:15-8:35. After 8:35am all students will be marked tardy and cannot be escorted by families members to class.
• Dismissal: Dismissal begins at 2:25pm. We are asking all families to remain outside at dismissal. We are also asking families to not release students after 1:45pm. It makes for a hectic dismissal and is disruptive to classroom learning. Also to assure the safety of the 300+ students who participate in afterschool activities we will not be able to allow families back into the building to use the facilities after dismissal. There are not staff on duty to supervise this past 2:45pm.
• 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.

DonorsChoose.org, a fundraising site teachers use to raise resources for specific classroom projects, has been used by many Curley teachers to improve instruction for our students.

There are FIVE Curley projects currently in need of funding:

If you donate today, any donation will be doubled up to $500!

Mr. Bertoni would like to fund materials for health class including CPR training materials, and replica muscle and fat models.

Ms. Ferro would like to raise funding for iPod touch devices to meet the diverse learning needs for her 7th and 8th graders.

Ms. Griffiths needs books, a projectors to view videos, and a document camera for her Wild About Science class for her 3rd-5th graders.

Ms. Ryan seeks funding for 2 Apple iPad Minis and 2 Apple Smart Covers for her K-2 students with autism.

Ms. Silverstein would like to fund the cost of 9 more Chromebooks to add to the 3 she has now to help her pre-k through 2nd graders practice reading and math skills, and to learn to type so they can practice their writing as well.

Please help if you are able, the link is below:

http://www.donorschoose.org/school/curley-k-8-school/62879/?active=true

The general DonorsChoose page that lists all our teachers is also here (a number next to their name shows an active project):
http://www.donorschoose.org/school/curley-k-8-school/62879/?teachers=true

Many thanks to you all for helping our teachers help our kids.

Just a reminder that today, between 4pm and 8pm the following stores will be donating 10% of their sales to the Curley: JP Knit and Stitch. Streetcar, Boing, On Centre, Kitchenwitch and Stella and Dot (4 Park Place, #2). See the websites below to check out what they have:

http://jpknitandstitch.com

http://streetcarwines.com

http://www.boingtoys.com

http://www.oncentrejp.com

http://kitchenwitchjp.tumblr.com

http://www.stelladot.com

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Curley Holiday Shopping Night: Buy your presents on Thursday, December 10th from 4pm-8pm and our wonderful local businesses will donate 10% of their sales during that time period. So far, businesses include Streetcar, On Centre, Kitchen Witch, Boing, and Stella and Dot.
• School Site Council: The SSC was changed this month to better align with the release of the budget for SY 2015-2016. We will meet on Tuesday, December 15th from 5:30-7:00pm in Room 101 Upper School. You can enter through the CASP doors until 6pm and all are welcome to attend.
• School Showcase: Thank you to the families who volunteered time on Saturday to help perspective families make informed choices about schools for their child next year. We have three more showcase sessions Friday, December 11th from 9-10am, Friday, December 18th from 9-10am and Thursday, January 14th from 3-4pm. Please email Arusha Hollister if you are interested in helping out or sign up here.
• Health and Wellness: Please join us for our January Health and Wellness meeting, Tuesday, January 5th, from 7:30am-8:30am in the library. All families are welcome to attend.
• SY2016-2017: Our school is one of several schools selected to implement Expanded Learning Time (ELT) as a part of a commitment the district, in partnership with the Mayor and the Boston Teachers Union, has made to extend the school day by forty (40) minutes. The school day will be expanded to 6 hours and 40 minutes, providing more time for students to learn and participate in enrichment and intervention programs. Our new school day will begin at 8:30am and end at 3:10pm. There are many benefits for students and families including:
  • More time for students to learn
  • Increased opportunities for enrichment
  • More time for small group interventions or accelerations
  • More time for teachers to collaborate and improve the quality of instruction

  Families are critical to the success of Expanded Learning Time at our school. We will keep you informed about Expanded Learning Time through community meetings, calls and letters home, school website, and social media.

• Lost and Found: A lost and found bin has been established outside of the nurse’s office. If your child has lost or misplaced an item please have them check the bin. Starting in November the bin will be emptied on the first of the month. Unclaimed items will be donated to Good Will or washed and kept in the Nurse’s Office as extra clothing for Curley students. Thanks in advance for your support!
• Arrival: 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. Families are welcome to accompany their child to the class each morning between 8:15-8:35. After 8:35am all students will be marked tardy and cannot be escorted by families members to class.
• Dismissal: Dismissal begins at 2:25pm. We are asking all families to remain outside at dismissal. We are also asking families to not release students after 1:45pm. It makes for a hectic dismissal and is disruptive to classroom learning. Also to assure the safety of the 300+ students who participate in afterschool activities we will not be able to allow families back into the building to use the facilities after dismissal. There are not staff on duty to supervise this past 2:45pm.
• 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.

As we approach the end of the calendar year, the Curley School Parent Council (SPC) on behalf of Principal Grassa would like to reach out to the families of our 900 students for an Annual Appeal donation to increase access to technology for our students.

Be on the lookout for more information coming home in your student’s backpacks.  Or, see the full details here: 2015/16 Appeal Letter.

Thank you!!