This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• Arts Showcase: Thank you to all the families who supported the Arts Showcase on April 10th. The event was a huge success thanks to your added efforts. The evening was filled with artwork and performance across K-8 and our arts teachers were able to transform the gymnasium into a gallery for the evening.
• MCAS: Mark your calendars and remember that you can help your child prepare for MCAS by having them get a good nights sleep, eat a healthy breakfast and arrive to school on time for testing. Grades 3-8 will be taking the math MCAS on Thursday, May 8th and Friday, May 9th and grades 5 & 8 will be taking the science MCAS on Monday, May 12th and Tuesday, May 13th.
• Grades 6-8 Marks Close: The 3rd quarter grades close for all students in grades 6-8 on Thursday, April 17th. Report cards will be sent out following the school vacation
• April Vacation: April vacation begins this week. There will be no school on Friday, April 18th through Friday, April 25th. All students will return to school on Monday, April 28th.
• Families Notice: We are please to have so many families bring their child to and from school however, there has been a lot of families staying in the building after arrival and reentering the building before dismissal starts. We are asking all families to escort their child to class and promptly leave the building by the time announcements begin and in the afternoon families can enter the building at 2:25pm when walkers are called for dismissal. Thank you for your support.

Please help us welcome new families that will be coming to the Curley in September. There are two sessions April 15th and May 1st from 9:30 to 10:30.

If you can help answer questions, or tour new families around the classrooms please sign up on the doodle poll below:

http://doodle.com/h2ez2uq5ps5rpanx

If you are new to this and want to help but don’t feel ready to tour on your own, no worries, we’ll pair you up with another parent who has led these sessions.

If you have any  questions, please email Kristin Jurkoic at kjurkoic@yahoo.com.

The 7th Annual Curley Arts Showcase is this Thursday, April 10, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm in the Upper School Gym. Please use the Pershing Street Bridge Entrance. In addition to every student’s artwork, there will also be a special Curley Ambassadors of Dance (CAD) performance, as well as art-making activities, and refreshments.

A huge thanks to the Anna Youman, Cathy Drake, Jesse Cardoso, Kim Taylor Knight, the many other teachers, staff, and parents on the Arts team for organizing this annual favorite once again. We are very, very lucky to have such a great community. Download and share the excellent poster designed by Curley parent Dave Hamilton here.

If you are able to help with the setup, please contact Anna Youman, Maria Monteiro-Roby, or Betty Alvarado.

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• SSC: Please join us on Tuesday, April 8th from 5:30pm-7:00pm in the Upper School Library for the School Site Council Meeting.
• Health and Wellness Committee: Please join us on Tuesday, April 8th from 3:00pm-4:15pm in the Upper School Guidance Office for the Health and Wellness Committee.
• SPC: Please join us on Wednesday, April 9th from 6pm-8pm in the Upper School Library for the School Parent Council.
• Arts Showcase: This will be held from 5:30pm-7:30pm on Thursday April 10th, 2014 in the upper school gym. Artwork from all students in K-5 and students who have had art with Mr. Cardoso this year in 6-8 will also have work on display. There will be artwork from CASP, dance performances by the Curley Ambassadors of Dance and art making activities. Food and drink will be available for sale and the Health and Wellness Committee will be making fresh fruit smoothies! Come celebrate Spring and the Arts at the Curley with us!
• ANet: All students in grades 2-8 will be taking the 4th ANet assessment on Wednesday, April 9th. We will only be taking the math assessment as a way to prepare leading up to the MCAS in May.
• MCAS: Grades 3-8 will be taking the math MCAS and grades 5 & 8 will be taking the science MCAS in May. Actual dates will follow next week.
• Principal’s Breakfast: Please join us on Friday, April 11th from 8:45am-9:45am for the Principal’s Breakfast. We will meet in the Upper School Library.

Nope! But we are at a stage where it makes sense to assemble a Leadership Team for Circle practices at the Curley and it’s not too late to get involved. Here is a recap of what has happened and how you can help shape our community.

A small but committed parent group has now gotten feedback from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade teachers and school guidance counselor, Sue Trotz on past Circle practices at the Curley. We’ve heard from a recent Curley graduate about his transformative experience with Circles as a student and we’ve also heard from a number of community partners who are interested in supporting our efforts including Northeastern University and Suffolk Law. At our last meeting, we were joined by Saroeum Phoung, once a Cambodian gangster living in Revere and current CEO of PointOneNorth Consulting who is interested in sharing his extensive knowledge of peacekeeping circles with the Curley.

If you are committed to bringing a genuine restorative discipline practice to our school, looking honestly at what divides our community, and creating a sustainable network of community partners interested in the social and emotional wellbeing of our entire Curley family then join us for a three day peacekeeping circle training on April 11th-13th. The training has the potential to change your own life, our school, and wider community.

A brief bio for Saroeum Phoung can be found here:

http://ethicalleadership.org/publications/newsletters/introducing-new-center-affiliate-saroeum-phoung

As well as a longer Boston Phoenix article from 2000 describing Phoung’s work with Roca Revere:

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/archive/features/00/07/06/saroeum_phoung.html

Contact Curley teacher, Linda Solomon (lsolomonkey@bostonpublicschools.org) or parent, Dana Willeke (dwilleke@gmail.com) for more information about the upcoming training and becoming part of the parents, staff, teachers, and students working to bring Circle practices back into our school.

Introductory Circle Training
April 11th, 12th, 13th (Fri-Sun)
9 AM – 5 PM

Location:
Julia Martin House (right of Stop & Shop on Centre St. near Jackston Sq. T station)
90 Bickford Street,
Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130

Details:

Peacemaking Circles workshop, learn about a process that celebrates our individual and collective experiences as a means to learn and create solutions. It has been used in several communities and companies to create an open, safe environment for making decisions, managing conflict, working through disagreements and creating a healthy work culture. Get training from an expert in the Circle Process, Saroeum Phoung. Saroeum has extensive experience in training and facilitating group dialogue on a national level for over 14 years. He has worked with the faith community, nonprofits, large corporations, criminal justice system, law enforcement and the Native American community. In doing this work, Saroeum honors the Tagish Tlingit people.

Last week, we had more than 100 people join us at Canary Square for the 7th Annual Curley Silent Auction. With nearly 80 donated items for auction and a new, open layout at Canary Square, we are thrilled to have raised even more than last year. This event generates nearly 30% of the SPC budget, and funds will be used to support the music program as well as class field trips, art and gym supplies, technology support, and more! We hope to have our final tally to share at the next SPC meeting.

Many thanks to the Curley community and our friends and supporters who all helped to make this event a success. Special thanks to Mike Moxley, owner of Canary Square, who graciously hosted us again (and provided some great new auction items), and to our volunteer committee.

If you would like to help plan next year’s auction or other fundraising events, please email Molly Mariano or Heidi Brooks

Sincerely,
Heidi Brooks and Molly Mariano
Curley Silent Auction Co-Chairs

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• PARCC Pilot: The Curley K-8 has been chosen to pilot the new PARCC assessments online. Six middle school classes will be taking the test From April 1st-3rd. We will not receive information about the results but the state is using the info to help plan for the full implementation in the future.
• 7th Annual Silent Auction: Thank you to all the families that coordinated and participated in this event. It was a wonderful evening for all who attended! The most exciting moment of the night was when City Councilor Matt O’Malley announced that Mayor Marty Walsh has agreed to contribute $30,000 in city funds to help build our playing field!
• K-5 Report Cards: Grades have been submitted to all students in grades K-5. Report cards will be coming home this week.
• Thank you: A special thank you to all the families who have volunteered to help with the hiring process. Your participation and insight has been beneficial throughout this process!
• Summer Resource Fair: Join us for Summer Resource fair on Friday, April 4th from 9-11am in the upper school gym. We will have representatives YMCA, Eliot School, Nature Center, Museum of Science, Bikes Not Bombs, Franklin Park Tennis Association, CASP and many more. The event is opened to parents and students. Please see Ms. Alvarado or Ms. Monteiro-Roby for more information.
• AWC and General Education Integration: Please join us on Thursday, April 3rd from 3:00pm-4:00pm as we continue our discussion around grades 4-6. We will meet in Room 109 in the Upper School and daycare is available. Please speak with Maria Monteiro-Roby if you are interested in daycare.

The Curley is organizing an after school soccer team through CASP, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and America Scores Boston!

The team will be 15 to 30 players (2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade boys and girls).

The team meets three days each week for 1.5 hour sessions.

Weekly schedule:
Tuesday 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Thursday 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Friday 3:15 to 4:45 p.m.

The first day of practice will be Thursday, April 3rd.

Ask Ms. Canada, Ms. Markaki or Ms. Monteiro-Roby for a registration if you would like to play, or click here to print it and then give it to any of them.

Registration forms should be passed as soon as possible!

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¡Únete a nuestro equipo de fútbol en la Curley!

El Curley está organizando un equipo de fútbol después de la escuela a través de CASP, U.S. Soccer Foundation y America Scores Boston!

Un equipo de 15 a 30 jugadores (niños y niñas del secundo al quinto grados).

El equipo práctica tres días a la semana durante una hora y medias de sesiones.

Horario semanal:
Miércoles 4:00- 5:30 p.m.
Jueves: 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Viernes: 3:15-4:45 p.m.

El primer día del la temporada es el jueves el 3 de abril

Por favor, pregunte Sra. Canadá por un registro si te gusta jugar, o hacer clic aquí.

Los registros deben pasar lo más pronto posible!

This week’s Paw Prints from Principal Katie Grassa:

• MCAS: We have completed testing sessions for ELA MCAS. This week we will hold make up sessions for any students who were absent. We ask all families to assure that their student arrives to school on time, gets a good night sleep the night before, and eats a healthy breakfast.
• PARCC Pilot: The Curley K-8 has been chosen to pilot the new PARCC assessments online. Six middle school classes will be taking the test from April 1st-3rd. We will not receive information about the results but they state is using the info to help plan for the full implementation in the future.
• 7th Annual Silent Auction: Please join us on Tuesday, March 25th from 6pm-9pm at Canary Square. This is one of the largest fundraisers that the SPC plans and all proceeds go to support the arts and music programs at the school. Your participation and support is greatly appreciated.
• K-5 Report Cards: Grades have been submitted to all students in grades K-5. Report cards will be coming home by the end of this week.
• Thank you: A special thank you to all the families who have volunteered to help with the hiring process. Your participation and insight has been beneficial throughout this process!
• K1 and K2: The district has reinstated a K1 and K2 classroom for next year, which was cut from the budget in January. Both of these classrooms will be for general education students.