Calling all future Thomas Edisons, Steve Jobs, and George Washington Carvers! The Curley After School (CASP) program is holding its first Maker’s February Vacation camp for budding inventors to hone their electronics and computer skills.

All 5th-8th graders are welcome. Sign up for the 4 day camp (9 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily Tuesday 19th February to Friday 22nd February) where you can learn about soldering, assembling a microcontroller LED project, and how to program the device.

The microcontroller is an amazingly adaptive device so let your imagination run wild. We will also be creating a community light and sound project which we will donate to the school at the end of the program. There will be 30 minutes of physical activity each day as well as some time to compose a video or notebook journal. It is going to be a lot of fun.

If you are interested please see the CASP Maker’s Club Application Form and a CASP registration if that is necessary. This is a pilot class and is going to be limited to 12 students so please sign up early if you want to attend.

Below is the transcript of the automated call from Principal Jeff Slater that was sent out today. The message addresses safety issues at the Curley and within the wider BPS system in light of the tragic Newtown shootings in Connecticut on Friday morning.
__________________

Good afternoon Curley School families and staff.

This is Principal Slater. All of our hearts and thoughts are with those in Connecticut during this difficult and challenging time.

I am calling today to make sure you know the Curley School is a safe place and our safety procedures are solid. In light of this event, over the next few days, we will review and reinforce these procedures and make any adjustments we might need. We are also working with our teachers, staff and counselors to make ourselves available should students have questions about this tragedy and school safety in general.

The safety of our students is of the utmost importance to all of us, as we know it is to you.

We look forward to seeing you at school tomorrow morning.

Thank you.
__________________

Buenas tardes Curley familias de la Escuela y el personal.

Esto es director Slater. Todos nuestros corazones y pensamientos están con las personas en Connecticut durante este tiempo difícil y desafiante.

Estoy llamando hoy para asegurarse de que conoce la Escuela Curley es un lugar seguro y nuestros procedimientos de seguridad son sólidos. A la luz de este hecho, a lo largo de los próximos días, vamos a revisar y reforzar los procedimientos y hacer los ajustes que pueda necesitar. También estamos trabajando con nuestros maestros, personal y consejeros para hacernos disponibles deben los estudiantes tiene preguntas sobre esta tragedia y la seguridad de la escuela en general.

La seguridad de nuestros estudiantes es de suma importancia para todos nosotros, ya que sabemos que es para ti.

Esperamos contar con su presencia en la escuela mañana.<

Gracias.
__________________

Principal Slater has also asked that we post the following guides to talking with our children about incidents of violence:

• Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers
• Conversando con Niños Sobre la Violencia: Sugerencias para Padres y Maestros

BPS has provided the following additional resources:

• Fact sheet for parents in Vietnamese
• Fact sheet for families of students with special needs
• Tips to help children cope

The next Principal’s Breakfast will include a presentation on Reducing Test Anxiety.

The presenters will be Kida Ejesi and Jadig Garcia, doctoral students in the Clinical Psychology Program of Suffolk University.

Thursday, December 20, 2012
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
The Upper School Library

For more information, please call Betty Alvarado at 617-304-67-71 or Maria Monteiro-Roby 617-756-3667.

Please bring your favorite dish to share!

_______________

ESCUELA CURLEY K-8 DESAYUNO MENSUAL CON EL PRINCIPAL
Reduzca su Ansiedad al Tomar los Exámenes
Jueves 20 de Diciembre, 2012
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
En la Biblioteca de la escuela Intermedia

Para mas informacion, por favor pongase en contacto con Betty Alvarado al 617-304-6771 o Maria Monteiro-Roby al 617-756-3667.

This week’s Paw Prints from principal Jeff Slater:

• Our teachers are currently learning an instructional practice known as “close reading.” This practice supports students’ learning of complex texts, particularly in content areas like Science and Social Studies. You can learn more about the practice of “close reading” by checking out this article: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yl2p79xszvxqzzg/Fisher%20and%20Frey%20-%20Text%20Complexity%20-%20January%202012%5B1%5D.pdf
• At our Instructional Leadership Team meeting on Tuesday, we began the process of analyzing school wide trends in the grades 3-8 ELA Predictive data. We’ll be using this information to support teachers at the classroom level and to make adjustments to our practice across all grade levels to better meet the needs of our students.
• Parents from all over the world gathered for a special gathering on Thursday. The focus was to introduce our growing Somali population to our Latino parent ESL class to promote a sense of unity for our whole community.
• Hopefully, you’ve noticed an increase in Curley Pride via the number of students wearing the uniform over the past week! Our raffle ticket incentive has been extremely popular in motivating students to wear their uniforms. This raffle ticket incentive is part of a larger push positively incentivize our mandatory uniform policy. Keep an eye out for more fun things to come as we work to have students internalize their desire to wear the school uniform (and logo gear!) with pride!

As many of you know, one of our wonderful art teachers, Anna Youman, has had her first baby. Adeline Youman was born on December 3rd. If you would like to contribute towards a gift for Anna and her family at this special time, please contact Genevieve at genevieveday@mac.com

Shop today at four JP stores and help the Curley.

Boing! JP’s Toy Stop, Kitchenwitch, On Centre, and Streetcar Wine and Beer will generously donate 15% of their sales to help fund the Curley’s music, arts and science program today!

How can you help? It’s easy: simply click on the flyer below, then print it and bring it to any of these fantastic JP merchants:

• Boing! JP’s Toy Stop, 667 Centre Street, donating from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Kitchenwitch, 671 Centre Street, donating from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• On Centre Gift Shop, 636 Centre Street, donating from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Street Car Wine and Beer, 488 Centre Street, donating from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Streetcar will also be hosting a wine tasting that evening for shoppers 21+.

We look forward to seeing you tonight, and a big thank you to all of these businesses for giving back to the community and supporting Boston’s public schools.

This week’s Paw Prints from principal Jeff Slater:

• I am pleased to announce that Alissa Ferro will taking on the role of our Grades 6-8 Literacy Facilitator! As part of our Customized Instructional Support Team, the Literacy Facilitator’s role is to model and co-teach lessons and support curriculum development; communicate information about formative assessment and lead school based PD on ELA/Literacy shifts; and, assist teachers in the use of data to inform instructional practices in literacy core instruction and interventions.
• On Thursday, in conjunction with Boston Police and the BPS Transportation Department, we hosted a bus safety presentation for a few groups of Curley bus students. We’ll be hosting additional bus safety sessions throughout the school year.
• Starting on Wednesday, we began giving raffle tickets to students we see that are in uniform. We will enter these students into a daily raffle for prizes. Tickets will be given out at random locations throughout the school to catch different kids at different times. This is part of our plan to positively incentivize students for wearing the uniform and Curley logo gear. Daily prizes will be announced over the PA system and all students who get a ticket will be entered into a monthly drawing.
• Connie Redden, our 2nd grade teacher and Data/Technology Facilitator, attended training this week to be able to provide support to staff with navigating and analyzing the data on our BPS assessment web site. She also gained valuable experience in learning how to support teachers in thinking about how they can best use data to support their students’ learning.
• I had the opportunity to attend a Superintendent’s Information Session where principals received information on how to support our school community in dealing with domestic violence. The session presenters were from Casa Myrna Vasquez and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

Curley parent and Red Sox employee Marcita Thompson has a special invitation for Curley families to tour Fenway Park for free this Sunday! She writes:

Hello Curley Families,

Are you in the holiday spirit and looking for a unique activity for the family to partake? This Sunday, December 9th at 4 p.m. Curley School families are invited for a free tour and winter light show display at Fenway Park.

To reserve your space, please RSVP via email to tours@redsox.com by Saturday, December 8th and be sure to include the number of people in your group (4 people maximum). The Tour takes place rain, snow or shine so dress accordingly.

Fenway Park is handicap accessible.

Please see the attached flier for information on the Fenway Park Winter Light Show.

Thanks Marcita!

Please sign up online to participate in our second School Preview Tour this Friday (12/7) at 9:00 a.m., where prospective Curley families get a chance to learn about our school.  We still need volunteers, especially parents who have been at the Curley for a few years.  Join us for Q&A with principal Jeff Slater, and then help show off our school!  It’s easy (and fun!) to lead the tours – we’ll spell everything out for you – and it’s a great way to support the Curley.  Questions?  Email Carrie Fletcher.

Holiday shopping…UGH! Congested parking lots. Crowded malls. Finding a decent gift for Aunt Phyllis.

This year, why not take some of the anxiety out of gift giving by making a date to shop in the heart of Jamaica Plain? On Tuesday, December 11, some of Centre Street’s most popular and generous businesses will be donating 15 percent of their sales to the Curley School to help us fund our art and music programs.

It’s easy: simply download and print the flyer at the bottom of this message and bring it to any of these fantastic JP merchants:

• Boing! Toy Shop, 667 Centre Street, donating from 10am to 7pm
• Kitchenwitch, 671 Centre Street, donating from 10am to 7pm
• On Centre Gift Shop, 636 Centre Street, donating from 5pm to 7pm
• Street Car Wine and Beer, 488 Centre Street, donating from 5pm to 7pm. Streetcar will also be hosting a wine tasting that evening for shoppers 21+.

We look forward to seeing you on the 11th, and a big thank you to all of these businesses for giving back to the community and supporting Boston’s public schools.

Photo: Alice Harold/Flickr – Creative Commons 2.0

This week’s Paw Prints from principal Jeff Slater:

• Assistant Principal, David Diaz, led this month’s Principal’s Breakfast. Carl Allen, Director of BPS Transportation, joined the Principal’s Breakfast this week to field questions from Curley parents and staff.
• In her new supplemental role as Educator Effectiveness Facilitator, Jaime Staraitis (SEI/Social Studies teacher/former literacy coach), has been working with teachers in refining their student learning and professional practice goals. She’s also working with teachers as they develop specific action steps to meet these goals.
• Our 2nd BPS English Language Arts Predictive Assessment for grades 3-8 will take place next Wednesday with a make-up day on Thursday. We plan to turn in the assessments on Friday, and the BPS Research and Assessment Office will have the results available for teachers on Monday morning so they can begin planning their targeted instructional support for students.
• I have the pleasure of being the secret guest reader in Ms. Silverstein’s class on Friday! I’m planning on doing a read aloud from one of my favorite authors, Mem Fox (Koala Lou, Possum Magic, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge).
• Our Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) met on Tuesday. Teacher representatives from each grade level and members of the administrative team met to discuss curriculum gaps that we’re noticing from grade to grade. Kim Daly did a presentation on the “First in Math” computer-based program. Our new Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Coach (PBIS), Martha Starr, talked about how she can support us as we move forward with our PBIS work.