Please come to the School Committee meeting tomorrow night – Wednesday, February 1 at 6:00pm at 26 Court St. As we did at the prior meeting, one Curley parent (this week it’s Heshan Weeramuni) will deliver a statement during the public comment period.  The rest of us (in our Curley shirts) will stand in solidarity behind him as he raises concerns about the impact of the proposed budget cuts on all of our children.  Please come – we really want to fill the room and demonstrate the strength of our parent community.

It’s fine you can’t arrive right at 6:00pm – the public comment period is one of the last items on the agenda.  It would be good to arrive by 7:30pm, just in case the meeting actually ends at 8:00pm as scheduled.

OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULE PARENTS’ COUNCIL MEETING IS CANCELLED SO THAT PEOPLE CAN  ATTEND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING INSTEAD.

Two quick reminders for this week: (a) we still have 2 Boston Marathon numbers, and (b) this Thursday’s MFABs evening, the first of 2012.

Boston Marathon Numbers

We still have two 2012 Boston Marathon numbers! Any runner who was unable to secure a starting number still can. We hope to receive a donation of $2,500 for each number. Runners are responsible for their own registration with the BAA. Remember, the amounts raised from both numbers directly fund our music and science programs. Please email Susan Elsbree.

MFABs is this Thursday

Curley moms, a reminder that the first MFABS evening of 2012 (Mamas, Friendship and Beverages for Survival) is this Thursday.

Join other Curley moms at Bella Luna/Milky Way at 7:30 pm for a casual evening of beverages and mama-ship. Arrive whenever you can (it’s a “soft” start-time), and leave whenever you need to. In case you need your memory jogged, MFABS is a chance for mamas in the Curley K-8 community — and beyond — to get together for a drink and a chat. It’s just for fun; there are no dads, kids, or agendas other than to relax, vent, share, and otherwise take a load off our far-too-busy minds and souls. PLEASE SHARE THIS INVITE with any moms who might enjoy a night out! For more information, contact Lindsey Weeramuni.

Dads, one of us should step up to plan something similar…

By the way… show up half and hour early at 7 pm instead, and you can help Jessica Ormsby and Molly Mariano plan the 5th Annual Canary Square Silent Auction too!

Curley parents Lindsey Weeramuni and Yasmina Alvarenga delivering our first message opposing the proposed budget cuts

The parents’ attendance at last week’s Boston School Committee meeting was a great start to our efforts at lobbying BPS to stop cutting our budget. One early but very positive outcome was an invitation to meet this week with the BPS Chief Financial Officer John McDonough.

Though last Wednesday’s School Committee meeting ran late into the night, parents waited patiently and respectfully until the public comment period when Lindsey Weeramuni and Yasmina Alvarenga delivered a bilingual statement. As Lindsey and Yasmina spoke, the large group of other Curley parents wearing Curley shirts stood silently behind them in solidarity. The committee was very impressed by the tone and conduct of our group and our command of data to tell our story.

Several parents from the Mather School also spoke after Lindsey and Yasmina as they are facing budget cuts themselves. During their testimony, our parents spontaneously rose in solidarity as well, as we understand that all parents need to advocate for all schools in the system. This show of support was later commended by members of the Committee.

Our work continues. This is only the beginning. Help keep the momentum going! Outreach packets for phone calls, emails and letters were distributed via email by class parents last week. If you need another packet, please click on the link below.

• Outreach Packet for calls, emails and letters (English and Spanish)
• Contact Information for Mayor, City Councillors, BPS Officials and School Committee
• January 18, 2012 statement to the Boston School Committee (English version)
• January 18, 2012 statement to the Boston School Committee (Spanish version)

The video of the Committee Meeting may be found here:
http://www.cityofboston.gov/cable/video_library.asp?id=2392
Lindsey and Yasmina’s statement appears at the 1:08 mark, but preliminary budget remarks from both BPS CFO John McDonough and Superintendent Carol Johnson, including their remarks on the Curley in particular, are found before that.

If you would like to speak at a future school committee meeting or have other questions, contact Lindsey Weeramuni.

SAVE THE DATE: TUESDAY, MARCH 13 for our 5th Annual Curley K-8 Silent Auction at Canary Square  in Jamaica Plain from 6-9pm.  Get your babysitters lined up now for this terrific grown-ups’ night out with new and old friends!

Suggested donation of $15 includes delicious hors d’oeuvres and a chance to bid on exciting items including food, wine, childcare, tickets to movies and shows, gift certificates to local restaurants and much more.  Also raffle tickets will be sold for amazing baskets.  The restaurant’s full menu and bar will be available to order a la carte.

All funds raised will support arts, music and science programming at our kids’ school!

WE NEED YOUR HELP FOR AUCTION ITEMS!!

Wait… your talents or expertise may make the Curley a lot of $$$:

• Do you, your parents or someone you know have a vacation home that you’d be willing to give away for a week or weekend?
• Do you have special talents to lend that could be bid out as services (i.e. babysitting, cooking, cleaning, handyman, interior decorating, architectural consult, etc.)?
• Do you have an expertise and would be willing to offer to teach a class to 2-6 people (e.g. bread making, cake decorating, ethnic cooking, knitting, jewelry making, gardening, etc.)
• Do you make anything that you could donate (e.g., anything homemade like jewelry, cakes, clothes, scarves, etc.)
• Do you work for an office that has something to donate (e.g., tickets, legal services, etc.)
• Do you have something (new and) amazing in your home that you’ll never use but someone else might think was worth bidding on?

Email your ideas to jessica.m.ormsby@gmail.com or mollymariano@gmail.com

DO YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS EVENT?!

Core Planning  Team Kick Off Meeting January 26 at 7pm at Bella Luna, if you can’t make the meeting but want to be involved, email jessica.m.ormsby@gmail.com to stay in the loop.

We have an energetic and enthusiastic committee of parent volunteers putting this special evening together.  We need people to help set up the auction and decorations, to help run the event, and to help solicit donations (but please coordinate with Jess that we don’t duplicate efforts.)  If you’d like to join in the fun, contact jessica.m.ormsby@gmail.com or mollymariano@gmail.com

Don’t forget March 13 at Canary Square… you’ll never forgive yourself if you miss this exciting Curley event!

Among the volunteers on Monday were (left to right) Julie Smith-Bartoloni (Curley parent), Alan Khazei (City Year founder), Elizabeth Warren (candidate for U.S. Senate), Mirabelle Khazei, Malcolm Coles (National & Community Service), Patrice Keegan (Boston Cares Executive Director), Jeffrey Slater (Curley K-8 Principal).

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday is a National Day of Service, and a time to re-commit ourselves to serving each other and our communities.  On Monday, January 16, 2012, the Curley K-8 was proud to partner with Boston Cares and the Corporation for National and Community Service to host the annual MLK Day of Service for the second year in a row.

Nearly 600 volunteers from all over the City showed up to celebrate “a day on, not a day off” in honor of Dr. King.  He challenged us to build a more perfect union and taught us that everyone has a role to play.  Participants worked at a dozen stations in the upper school cafeteria and classrooms, assembling projects to benefit a number of community organizations: decorating quilts for babies served by Room to Grow; making scarves for homeless men and women served by the Pine Street Inn; writing letters to servicemen and women via Guard Support; painting murals and building benches for the Curley School, to name but a few.

Everyone had a fun and meaningful time, and a bake sale was held to benefit the 8th grade trip to Washington DC.  Thanks to all of the Curley students, parents, teachers and staff who took the time to volunteer today and make a difference!

For the academic year 2012-13 the Boston School Committee has delivered a budget to our school that is 12% lower than what it was when our enrollment jumped by 16% this past fall. The resulting cuts to our staff will be devastating for our children.

Let’s try to stop it.

Parents, teachers and staff are planning to lobby the Boston School Committee to stop cutting our budget. We need your help to succeed.

Attend a communications planning meeting on Tuesday, January 17^th from 6:30 pm – 8:30 p.m. at the home of SPC co-chair Carrie Fletcher, 9 Park Lane, Jamaica Plain. Here we will plan our lobbying strategy to the School Committee and City Council that will include the following:

• Phone calls
• Emails
• Attendance at Boston School Committee meetings
• Attendance at City Council meetings

For more information, please contact the following:

• SSC Parent Representative Lindsey Weeramuni, 617-417-5575, lhbweeramuni@comcast.net
• SPC Co-chair Carrie Fletcher, 617-331-8373, carrie.fletcher@gmail.com
• Community Family Coordinator Betty Villalba-Alvarado, 617-304-6771, bvillalbaalvarado@boston.k12.ma.us
• Curley K8 Guidance Councilor Susan Trotz, 617-719-5236, strotz@boston.k12.ma.us

Can’t attend the meeting but you still want to be involved? Contact Lindsey Weeramuni above for ways to help.

COMUNIDAD DE LA CURLEY K8:
presupuesto para el próximo año será cortado … de nuevo.

El Comité Escolar de las escuelas Públicas de Boston ha entregado el presupuesto  a nuestra escuela el cual es  menor del 12%  de cuando la registración aumentó a un 16% el pasado otoňo.  Como resultado, la reducción de nuestro personal será desvastador para la educación de nuestros hijos.

Vamos a tratar de detenerlo.

Los padres, maestros y el personal quiere presionar al Comité Escolar de Boston para que paren los recortes de nuestro presupuesto. Necesitamos tu ayuda para tener éxito.

Asiste a una reunión de planificación sobre como la comunicación el martes,  de 17 de enero de 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm en la casa de SPC  co-chaire de Carrie Fletcher, 9 de la calle Park Lane, Jamaica Plain. Alli planearemos una estrategía de protesta  para  el Comité Escolar y el Concejo Municipal entre los planes se hará lo siguiente:

• Hacer llamadas por teléfono
• Enviar correos electrónicos
• Asistir a las reuniones del Comité Escolar de Boston
• Asistr a las reuniones del Concejo Municipal de Boston

Para obtener más información, póngase en contacto con los siguientes personas:

• Miembro del Concejo Escolar de Padres – Lindsey Weeramuni, 617-417-5575, lhbweeramuni@comcast.net
• SPC Co-chair – Carrie Fletcher, 617-331-8373, carrie.fletcher @ gmail.com
• Coordinador de Padres – Betty Villalba-Alvarado, 617-304-6771, bvillalbaalvarado@boston.k12.ma.us
• Curley K8 Consejera Escolar – Susan Trotz, 617-719-5236, Strotz @ boston.k12.ma.us

Si no puede asistir a la reunión, pero aún quiere participar? Por favor pongase en contacto con Lindsey Weeramuni y cómo Ud. puede ayudar.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'” Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities.

On Monday, January 16th, the Curley K-8 will be hosting Boston Cares’ Day of Service.  Please join us for a fun and memorable way to honor Dr. King and our Curley community.  All ages welcome!

Activities will include making scarves, decorating quilt squares, creating cards and much more, all to benefit service agencies in the Boston metro area… and we’ll have a few on-site projects that will help beautify the Curley.

Last year we had nearly 600 people attend.  This is a family friendly event, with two different shifts of service times to make volunteering flexible and fun.

If possible, volunteers are asked to RSVP on the Boston Cares website at http://www.bostoncares.org/special_events.

If you are interested in helping represent the Curley (e.g. welcoming volunteers, staffing a registration table, overseeing Curley-related projects), please email Curley parent Julie Smith-Bartoloni at jsbart@brandeis.edu or call her at 781.439.5641.

Ms. Selznick reviews a student's work at last year's Science Fair

Students from the 3rd grade all the way to the 8th grade will display their science smarts on Thursday, January 19th, at the annual Curley K8 Science Fair. This is the same evening the Parent/Teacher Open House will be held for the entire school. Judging will happen earlier in the day, and parents are invited to view the Fair from 5-7pm.

Deadlines for science projects vary. 3rd grade students will be submitting completed projects by January 11th so that they may share their work with the other 3rd grade classes. 4th through 8th graders will have until Tuesday, January 17th, (the day after Martin Luther King Day) to submit their work.

Below are links to Ms. Casapulla’s documents related to the Science Fair. Please note – submission dates for the 3rd grade are earlier than for the 4th-8th grades as noted above. However, the documents also contain information that is helpful for all 3rd though 8th grade students. Please look at the Science Fair Guide and the Science Fair Project Template in particular. Both these documents give students of all grades and their parents a comprehensive set of guidelines for completing projects for the Fair.

• Ms. Casapulla’s 3rd Grade Science Fair Letter
• 3rd Grade Science Fair Project Template (useful for all grades)
• Science Fair Guide – contains a timetable of steps for the 3rd grade only, but other materials are useful for all grades.

Need More Information?

For more information, please contact the following teachers:

• 3rd Grade non-SEI (Mrs. Burke and Ms. Signes) – Janine Casapulla
• 3rd Grade SEI, 4th/5th Grades – Stephanie Selznick
• 6th/7th Grade – Jennifer Felicetti
• 7th/8thGrade – Charity Murphy

• Please note also that Ms. Casapulla will also be at the Connelly Branch Library tomorrow from 11 am to 1 pm, Thursday, December 29th, if any students in Mrs. Burke’s or Ms. Signes’ 3rd grade classes need help with their Science Fair Project.