First in Math puts a BPS school in first place statewide

Ellen Latham’s (far right in photo) 8th grade Algebra 1 class at the Gavin Middle School is participating in the on-line First in Math program.  They are currently in First Place for the top team in the city of Boston and the top team in the state of Massachusetts.  First in Math is a math website offering practice on broad math content, with an open-ended, self-pacing design that is great for differential instruction.

The program includes a “competition” component that offers the students sustained, positive motivation.  Christine Hall, Senior Program Director for Secondary Math, provided First in Math accounts for every Boston Public School student in grades 3-8, allowing for hundreds of students throughout the district to correctly solve math problems, earning points that accrue to their personal and classroom score. The program includes math problems that address all Massachusetts state mathematics standards.

Latham says, "My Algebra 1 students yearn for the rigor and challenge of the problems on First in Math, and they love the excitement of competing against friends at other schools for the top ranking."  She adds, "This has been one of my most successful implementations, and I have received a significant amount of positive feedback from parents and families whose children are now using their home computers and Internet access to strengthen their math skills."

2011 BATEC College Fair: Our Future is High Tech!

On Friday, April 1 over 1000 BPS high school students attended the 8^th Annual BATEC College Fair. The event was sponsored by two National Science Foundation grants – BATEC (Boston area Advanced Technological Connections) and CAITE (Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education). These two NSF grants were created for under-represented students in Massachusetts to pursue post-secondary programs and careers in information technology.

Students who were enrolled in high tech courses were invited to attend the event. There were thirty-eight colleges offering IT-related majors in attendance. In addition, organizations such as TERI, Access, and Success Boston were also present.

During the event students had the opportunity to meet advisers for one-on-one college sessions and to set goals. There was also a 45-minute career-focused presentation by representatives from Microsoft, Cisco and ITA Software.

The students learned that opportunities in the high tech field are limitless!

Alliance for a Healthier Generation supports BPS nutrition efforts

Our friends at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation just sent this letter to members of the Boston City Council. We are so grateful for their support and for their wonderful work combating childhood obesity:

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation would like to acknowledge the tremendous efforts put forward by Boston Public Schools to support the health and well-being of its students and staff. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation was founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation in 2005. The Alliance’s goal is to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity by 2015 by fostering an environment that helps all kids pursue healthy and active lifestyles. Boston Public Schools has participated in our Healthy Schools Program since 2007 and has worked diligently to establish healthy schools as the norm and not the exception. 

Since joining the program, numerous schools in Boston have worked on assessing and improving in the areas of health education, competitive foods and beverages, school meals, staff wellness, before and afterschool programs, physical education and activity, and policy and systems. Innovative ideas and programs from Boston Public Schools (BPS) have inspired other schools across the country and served as a model for building school/community partnerships, increasing the quality of health education, finding time for more physical activity in a limited school day and getting high school students to participate in a school breakfast program. Success stories from Boston schools have been showcased in our national newsletter more than ten times.

Seven schools from BPS have received a National Recognition Award from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The National Recognition Award is an honor given nationally to showcase and acknowledge schools that have implemented changes in order to create healthier school environments. To earn an award, schools must meet best practice criteria established by the Healthy Schools Program Expert Panel and outlined in the Healthy Schools Program Framework.

Please feel free to reach out if you have questions about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the Healthy Schools Program or the progress of Boston Public Schools in the program.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Ginny Ehrlich, Executive Director
Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Boston Public School students answer the call for help

With the support of BPS staff, Boston Public School students are aiding Japan through various fundraisers. Below are some of the activities that have taken place and will take place in the future. BPS applauds the schools’ efforts and support.

• The Ohrenberger and Beethoven schools in West Roxbury held a “uniform free day” on Wednesday, March 16. Students were allowed to wear street clothes, rather than uniforms, once they made a donation to the American Red Cross. Last year, these two schools raised more than $5,000 for relief efforts in Haiti.
• Students at the Eliot K-8 School in the North End are collecting spare change through April 1, and will send donations to the Red Cross.
• Students at Snowden International School in the Back Bay are designing t-shirts and ribbons, with proceeds from the sale to go to the Red Cross.
• Timothy Nagaoka, a BPS foreign language teacher currently teaching Japanese, worked with students to make a thousand paper cranes at Bradley Elementary School, Taylor Elementary School, Dearborn Middle School, and Timilty Middle School. The Japanese Consulate in Boston also worked with students to dedicate the paper cranes to earthquake and tsunami victims.
• The Lee Academy Pilot School in Dorchester will host a representative from the Japanese Consulate for a “Japanese Awareness Day” on March 25.
• At Greater Egleston, staff made announcements regarding the status of Japan. The school also plans to raise money.
• The Hennigan School raffled four class parties. Students were able to buy raffle tickets to win: a pool party, a movie party, an ice cream party, and a pizza party
• On Friday March 18, 2011 Curtis Guild Elementary hosted “hats for Japan.” Students and Teachers wore silly hats and brought in donations to support students in Japan.
• The Quincy Elementary sold fruit smoothies during lunch. The fundraiser was a direct school-to-school effort, with money going directly to the Sendai school district.
• The Red Cross Club at Boston Latin Academy will be teaming up with local community agencies to support the victims of Japan.
• The Sarah Greenwood has planned four spirit days to raise money for Japan. There will be one spirit day per week for the next four weeks. To participate and be excused from uniform, students will pay $1 per day. The school has also planned a hat day, pajama day, wacky day, and favorite sport team day. The school hopes to raise at least $1000 for Japan, which will be sent to the Red Cross.
• The "La Fe Club" at Kennedy Academy is carrying out a "Spare a Dollar Campaign" for two weeks to help the victims in Japan. The fundraiser will be from March 21 - March 31. The "La Fe Club" is a group of high school students committed to educate their peers about social issues affecting teenagers. The group is also committed to help people in need. The funds collected will be donated to the Red Cross.

Monument High’s “Wellness Warriors” Encourage Healthy Eating and Physical Activity

On March 1, Monument High’s “wellness warriors” were recognized for their leadership in promoting a healthy lifestyle.The group was formed through the Fuel Up to Play 60 program, an in school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Dairy Council and the National Football League.

The morning activities were filled with speakers and a fun physical activity. James Arena-DeRosa from USDA Food and Nutrition Service and child nutrition expert and dietitian Elizabeth Ward spoke to the audience about the importance of establishing healthy eating and living habits. In addition, the “wellness warriors” talked about their efforts to improve lunches and breakfasts with the help of the student body. Currently, they are looking to purchase a salad bar with the $3,000 program grant they were awarded. After assembly, students played a game of flag football against members of the school staff and Brandon McGowan, safety for the New England Patriots.

BPS congratulates Monument High for all of its great work.

To learn more about the Fuel Up to Play 60 program check out: www.fueluptoplay60.com

USA Voice issue three examines rap music, the prom, and senioritis

The Urban Science Academy writers have settled into a demanding publication cycle for "USA Voice," and have just released Issue 3. Check out Osahh Aim's article on how students view the influence of rap music, Nathalie Myrthil's look at "senioritis" (complete with a GREAT photo and the diagnosis that "the only way to get rid of senioritis is to get a high school diploma), and Laurie Paris's profile of the Teens Lead at Work LEAPS program, which will be held over April vacation.
Read the full issue here!

Students produce 'USA Voice' issue two

Justin Milligan at Urban Science Academy has let us know that his journalism students have just put issue two of "USA Voice" to press. Once again, they tackle the issue of the future of their school now that the School Committee has voted to merge USA and Parkway Academy of Science and Health this fall. The issue includes voices from students, parents, and district officials as they work to create a combined school culture.
Check out the latest issue here!

More BPS teachers get National Board Certification

Seven more BPS teachers now wear the official "National Board for Professional Teaching Standards" pin! According to the organization, teachers who achieve National Board certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and a peer review.

This means we now have 45 national board-certified teachers in BPS.

The teachers who earned the certification on December 14 are: Cara Fenner at Excel High School; Kelly Garofalo, Karen McCarthy and Robert Remetti at Brighton High School; Carla McCormack at Edwards Middle School; Adam Moore, formerly of Perkins Elementary School; and Jeffrey Timberlake at Boston Teachers Union School. In addition, Whitney Weeder at the East Boston EEC renewed her certification.

Congratulations to all!

BPS family and student engagement gets kudos in new Harvard report

Our Office of Family and Student Engagement has just earned a spot in a nationally-recognized Harvard study! Heather Weiss, M. Elena Lopez and Heidi Rosenberg of the Harvard Family Research Project looked at how BPS helps parents develop the tools they need to become partners in the education of their children.
The report, called "Beyond Random Acts: Family, School and Community Engagement as an Integral Part of Education Reform," notes that BPS "promotes family engagement as a strategy to improve student outcomes through increased attendance, decreased suspension rates, and other indicators linked to student achievement."
One exciting element of the work BPS Assistant Superintendent Michele Brooks and her team have undertaken this year is the launch of a fleet of Family Learning Guides that help teachers and parents understand the expectations that are set for students in every grade and in every class.

'Teens in Print' tackles tough issues

The latest "Teens in Print" newspaper has hit the streets and it's full of powerful articles written by BPS students. This edition explores the history of (and recent obsession with) vampires. It also contains emotional accounts of the effect that violence can have on teenagers in our city -- and how our schools have helped students cope with the pain of losing a close friend. Another article covers the debate over school uniforms, and on page 9, readers will find stirring accounts of how our students and schools value equality and diversity.

T.i.P is a citywide paper written by -- and for -- high school students, in partnership with Artists for Humanity, WriteBoston, the National Scholastic Press Association, the High School Journalism Initiative and the Boston Globe.

This week, 850,000 copies of Teens In Print are being distributed throughout our city. If you see one, please pick it up and take a few minutes to read it -- or visit www.bostontip.com right now. You'll be glad you did!

Global study names BPS one of the 'most improved school systems in the world'

A new study from the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company has named BPS one of the 20 "most improved school systems" in the world -- and just two of these school systems were in the United States (the other was Long Beach Union School District in California).

How did they pick Boston? According to the authors, the study searched for school districts that had sustained, major improvements since 1980. The 1994 Education Reform legislation and the launch of the MCAS in 1998 helped identify Massachusetts as an innovator in public education, and Boston in particular was positioned for meaningful success. The study cites the creation of the MyBPS student data system as a particularly powerful tool that has helped link teachers with critical information that can help them target lessons around individual students. (Our new, next-generation student information system is in development right now and will launch next year).

The study applauds BPS for taking bold steps to lift the number of students passing state math exams from 23 percent in 1998 to 84 percent in 2008. In reading, the passing rate jumped from 43 percent in 1998 to 91 percent in 2008.

The challenge for us now, the report says, is that BPS risks reaching a plateau. To break through it, McKinsey suggests we look to Singapore, which has "moved from rigid prescription to greater flexibility as it embarked on its good to great improvement journey."

The full report provides an unusually crisp, long-term look at education reform across the entire planet. You can read it here.

Urban Science Academy students publish first school paper

by Justin Milligan
Humanities & Journalism
Urban Science Academy

Journalism students at Urban Science Academy in West Roxbury have just published their first issue of USA Voice, the school newspaper. Their first issue was a great success and the result of much hard work and dedication. Since September, students have been studying various aspects of journalism -- the role of free press in a democracy, the ideal for objectivity, ethical considerations, media literacy skills, and various forms of news writing. Then, they went out in the community as reporters to investigate issues they felt to be relevant to the school. The staff was responsible for researching topics, conducting interviews, verifying information, peer editing drafts, and assisting in the layout and binding process. They also collaborated with Digital Photography and Yearbook students to capture images for their articles.

The first issue of USA voice covers an array of topics. For the cover story, Laurie Paris explains "Redesign and Reinvest" and its potential repercussions for our complex. In a well-researched article, Gladys Cooper investigates the increasing rate of violent crime in Boston. Sade Love interviews students and faculty about whether teens should be provided condoms to promote safe sex. Dan Carpino reports on cyberbullying and the dangers of social networking. Veteran reporter Diana Maria Rodriguez discusses the challenges that confront teenage parents. Nathalie Myrthil explains the college application process, as well as the academic history of girls outperforming boys at USA. Chris Legrand investigates high dropout rates in Boston Public, and Anthony McGruder questions whether marijuana should remain illegal. The issue also contains entertainment reviews-- Chelsea Rush gives the film Red two thumbs up, and Akeema Charles gives a five-star recommendation for Drake's new album. Finally, Haajar Penn recounts the West Roxbury Raiders' impressive 2010 football season.

Blogging 'PFAD'

Our annual "Principal for a Day" (or "PFAD" for short) was a big success -- and a few of our guests have even blogged about their experiences! Please check 'em out:

Marjorie Arons-Barron: "To understand urban education, walk in the principal's shoes"

Linda Noonan: "Principal for a Day at the Bates"

If there are other blogs out there, please let us know in the comments! We would love to be able to share your experiences with the public.

Congratulations to our School on the Move winners

Our friends at EdVestors have named the Joseph Lee Elementary School in Dorchester as the recipient of the 5th annual $100,000 Thomas W. Payzant School on the Move Prize. The award names the school that has shown substantial progress toward closing achievement gaps for all students. runners up this year were the Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown and the Charles H. Taylor Elementary School in Mattapan, which each received $10,000!

EdVestors also released a report on the common practices that the group has found across all five schools that have won the School on the Move prize in the past. Here's what they found in each highly-successful school:

-Strong and collaborative leadership from principals with active involvement and support from teachers

-Collecting hard student data beyond district requirements and using that data to drive changes in curriculum and instruction on a continuous basis

-Balancing high academic and behavioral expectations of students with high levels of support beyond the classroom to address students’ academic, social and emotional needs

Here are some great links to read the full report and learn about why Lee Elementary was selected. Congratulations to principal Kimberly Curtis and all of our teachers and students!
(photo courtesy Don West)

It's time to register for School Site Council trainings

The Office of Family & Student Engagement, in collaboration with the BTU, will be offering a series of School Site Council Trainings for principals/headmasters, teachers, parents, and high school students beginning in mid-November.

These trainings are an opportunity to learn about the key responsibilities and authorities of the SSC, gain information about the budget process, and receive a copy of the newly revised SSC Manual.

Dates and times are as follows:

SSC Basics: 11/15, 5:30-7:30 pm or 11/29, 4-6 PM
SSC Budget Basics: 12/7, 5:30-7:30 pm or 12/21, 4-6 PM
These sessions can be attended by either SSC teams or individual SSC members.

SSC Team Training: 11/20, 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM
This session is for SSC teams only; a team consists of the principal/headmaster, at least one teacher, at least one parent, and a student (high schools only). This training will consist of team working sessions on SSC Basics, SSC Budget Basics, and Shared-Decision Making.

All trainings will take place at the BTU Hall, located at 180 Mt. Vernon St. in Dorchester.

Registration & Deadline: RSPV by November 12 to Jasmine Raynor (jraynor@boston.k12.ma.usThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / 617.635.9661)

October is College Month at BPS!

It's college month! All across BPS, guidance counselors are working with students to help them get ready for college. On October 22, staff will wear alumni apparel on "Represent your Alma Mater Day," and help lead classroom discussions about college choices, experience and careers. Volunteers and staff are also coordinating SAT prep workshops and through our partners at Success Boston, BPS is making sure that our juniors and seniors know about the many scholarships, financial aid packages, application assistance and testing support that are available to students. Please check out this flyer to learn more about how you can help, and visit our College Month website today!

What is 'Redesign and Reinvest?'

From BPS Superintendent Carol R. Johnson:

We are beginning the second year of our Acceleration Agenda, a five-year plan for rapidly improving every classroom in the Boston Public Schools. The Acceleration Agenda calls on us to develop personalized academic plans for every student; it pushes us to do a better job evaluating teachers and helping them strengthen their skills; and it demands we rapidly turn around schools that are not making the grade.

To help us achieve these ambitious goals, we are implementing a plan called “Redesign and Reinvest.” This will improve the options for students attending schools that are not performing as well as we would like. In conversations with families this summer, in an online survey, and in many other discussions over the past year, parents told us that academic quality should be the most important factor as we build great schools for our children.

We believe the best way to offer better academic options for all our families is to close programs that are not working well and use those resources to reinforce our stronger programs and create new ones. We cannot tolerate persistent under-achievement at any of our schools. We cannot offer schools to the families of Boston that we would not choose for our own children. This plan allows us to move students into schools and classrooms that get results.

If the School Committee approves our proposal, these changes would take place in the 2011-2012 school year. This month we will hold a series of public hearings and meetings to discuss these draft suggestions. We are asking the School Committee to vote on a final plan in early November.

We are committed to building a school district that works for all of our children and now we need your help to make this a reality. Doing nothing is not an option – but doing what’s right can require some very difficult choices. I believe that the steps outlined here will help BPS deliver on our promise to provide a great education for all of Boston's children. The “Redesign and Reinvest” changes will help ensure every BPS school is an inspiring place to learn. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and addressing your questions.

Please review the specifics of our plan at http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/redesign. We will update that page regularly with information on our public hearings, which we will hold throughout October to get your feedback on our proposal. Thank you for your interest, your understanding and your involvement in your child’s education!

Sincerely,
Carol R. Johnson
Superintendent

Marshall Library gets a makeover

Thanks to our friends at Target and the Heart of America Foundation for renovating yet another BPS library! This time, John Marshall Elementary School was picked for a top-to-bottom renovation and students received thousands of new books. More than a hundred volunteers donated their time Thursday and the result is a beautiful, inspiring new library for our students.
In addition, the Target volunteers spent hours sprucing up the school's outdoor areas, including a peace garden dedicated to the memory of Louis D. Brown, who lost his life to gun violence.

Malindi's Journey

New teacher developer Alicia Carroll and Odyssey High School history teacher Lucy Montgomery spent their summers traveling through Malaysia - and blogging about it along the way. Check out "Malindi's Journey" over at http://malindisjourney.blogspot.com/ This all started with a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship in 2001 and a Fund for Teachers grant in 2004. Below is their report from the trip - and please check out their blog, too!

Alicia Carroll, New Teacher Developer, and Lucy Montgomery, History Teacher, Odyssey High School, were invited to present their research on connections between Africa, China and Islam through the Silk Route trade, and their related children’s book entitled Malindi’s Journey, at the First International Conference on Zheng He, in Melaka, Malaysia from July 5-8, 2010. The theme of the conference was Zheng He and the Afro-Asian World. The conference was organized by the Melaka State Government, the Perbadanan Museum Melaka, Cheng Ho (Zheng He) Cultural Museum and International Zheng He Society (Singapore). Their presentation is a product of our research and writing since 2001, including research conducted in Kenya through a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship (Alicia Carroll) and Fund for Teachers grant in 2004.

Alicia and Lucy were two of 74 paper presenters, including scholars from Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Panama, Singapore, Taiwan, UK, and US. The conference had over 350 participants, and Alicia and Lucy’s presentation was attended by over 200 people. The conference papers will be published in a book by the International Zheng He Society in 2011.

While at the conference, Alicia and Lucy were interviewed for a newspaper article for the New Straits Times, the major newspaper for Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Sarawak, and Indonesia, by Dr. Rosey Wang Ma, a Research Fellow in the Department of Islamic History and Civilization at the University of Malaya. Dr. Ma asked Alicia and Lucy to speak about their work on African-Chinese connections, turning research into culturally grounded curriculum for global education.

Alicia and Lucy were given first-class treatment by the conference organizers; they were picked up at the airport and given a nice hotel room. At the Zheng He (Cheng Ho) Cultural Museum, they were treated like visiting scholars and dignitaries. Everyone wanted to know how they were affording the trip as teachers, and they were able to proudly say that they had received generous funding from the Fund for Teachers! People remarked that there need to be more organizations like Fund for Teachers to support teachers and their work.

In addition to attending the conference in Melaka, Malaysia, Alicia and Lucy traveled to Singapore and then to Nanjing, China to continue research on Zheng He’s influence in southeast Asia, and to visit the shipyard and other historical sites.

While they travelled, they began writing a blog for teachers and students at: http://malindisjourney.blogspot.com

Dr. Jackie Jenkins-Scott, the President of Wheelock College, invited Alicia, who is a graduate of Wheelock, to make a presentation to students and faculty of the Wheelock College Teacher Training Program at Ngee-Ann Polytechnic University in Singapore. The focus of Alicia’s talk was “Early Childhood Curriculum: and Cultural Competency and Achievement;” Lucy spoke about early childhood as the building block for achievement in the high school classroom.

In Nanjing, Alicia and Lucy were invited to visit the Treasure Boat Shipyard, where a life-size replica of the largest of Zheng He’s ships is currently under construction. They were given a tour of the shipyard by the Director of the shipyard, and invited to the inaugural launch of the ship into the Indian Ocean, anticipated in late 2011!

Honoring 9/11 at BPS

Students at the W.B. Rogers Middle School in Hyde Park paused Friday to honor the victims of 9/11. In an annual ceremony, students, faculty and staff dressed in red, white and blue and left their classrooms at 8:45am, carrying American flags. Ten minutes later, Principal Corbett Coutts described what happened on 9/11, reminding students of the historical importance before pausing for a two-minute moment of silence. Most middle school students were too young in 2001 to remember what happened on that day, which is one reason Coutts says he pauses to commemorate the anniversary with students every year. Genevieve Legros, an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher, sang the Star Spangled Banner. Students also heard the poem "One," written by Cheryl Sawyer just after 9/11:

As the soot and dirt and ash rained down,
We became one color.
As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building
We became one class.
As we lit candles of waiting and hope
We became one generation.
As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the inferno
We became one gender.
As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength,
We became one faith.
As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement,
We spoke one language.
As we gave our blood in lines a mile long,
We became one body.
As we mourned together the great loss
We became one family.
As we cried tears of grief and loss
We became one soul.
As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes
We become one people.

We are
One color
One class
One generation
One gender
One faith
One language
One body
One family
One soul
One people

We are The Power of One.
We are United.
We are America.