Bulldog Weekly Update
January 3rd - January 7th
Culturally Responsive Teaching
― Zaretta L. Hammond, Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
Notes from the Principal's Desk
Welcome Back and Happy New Year! We hope that 2022 brings good health, happiness, and good fortune. May this year be brighter and more beautiful than ever, and may we all expand our social consciousness and be inspired to take bold actions that facilitate meaningful change.
As you prepare to return to school, please know there are several key actions you can take to help your team and ensure safety is being addressed. First, the school is open today until 6:00p for COVID-19 testing. Rapid tests give you results in 15-20 minutes. As noted in the district email, CDC revised quarantining periods are now for 5 days, not 10. Please look into the official emails sent out through central office, and ask our district health officials relevant questions as they relate to your specific needs and contexts. Butler Middle School administrators must report to the district by 8:00p tonight what are our staffing condition for Monday 1/3. If you happen to know in advance that you will not be in Monday or in the days that follow the return to school, please contact Jaime Moody immediately.
Welcome Ms. Dolan
We are lucky to welcome Mrs. Dolan, our new school clerk this Monday, January 3rd. Mrs. Dolan has experience working in a similar role at the high school. She is going to be a wonderful asset to our team, and at a critical time. Thank you to everyone for helping Mrs. Dolan out as she orients to the role, learns about our team, and gets to know our kids.
Better than Carrots or Sticks
If you haven't read it yet, Better Than Carrots or Sticks comes highly recommended. It's about 160 pages, a quick and accessible read about what truly motivates people--particularly children--and how we can tap into these resources to keep students invested in their own development. Better Than Carrots or Sticks addresses traditional versus progressive actions we adults take to mitigate undesirable and unexpected student behaviors. The central theme focuses on disciplinary measures that prioritize relationships and acknowledge the unintended consequences of disciplinary systems that disproportionately punish specific populations or which apply mitigation measures that are wholly disconnected from the violations or offenses. Consequences and discipline should be grounded by principles and values and should always have a learning component. Lastly, as students develop, we should look at this period in their lives as the right (and safe) time to make the mistakes and that we, their coaches and mentors, are in the prime position to help them learn from and overcome.
i-Ready--and Yes We Are!
i-ready testing will take place this month. This is our mid year benchmark and a diagnostic we use schoolwide to gauge student progress in ELA and MATH. Although iReady tests core subjects, growth in ELA and Math has a positive correlation with improvements in other disciplines. I-Ready testing for Math will start the week of 1/24. I-Ready for ELA will begin the week of 1/31. This will need to be communicated to families in the weeks to come, and students will need to bring their laptops every day leading up to and including our testing periods. It's important that students take the testing seriously and realize how it influences their placements in specific learning programs and what we communicate to parents about whether they are at, above or below grade-level.
Q2 Report Cards
1/24/22 Ends Quarter 2. Please conference with students about their grades and be sure to connect with parents about student progress. If there is material students can make up, offer this feedback to students and families as we approach the end of quarter two.
Professional Development Day
Next Wednesday, January 12th is a Professional Development Day. Students will release early from school. Please plan to be at the school until 3:00p.
Awesome work to all!
Great Job to everyone as we continue to empower, encourage and educate!
Please see a few notes from my desk below
Let's Stay Healthy- STUDENTS MUST WEAR MASKS AT ALL TIMES. WE HAVE AN INCREASED RATE OF COVID INFECTION IN THE COMMUNITY! Supply of masks is available at the mailboxes.
Please make sure all student desks are arranged in rows with each desk 3ft apart. Students need to sit and remain 3ft part at all times with masks on!!! You will need to continue to monitor the separation and keep a seating chart for close contact tracking. This will help us all stay healthy!
Hallway Presence - Please remember to be at your post in the hallway. We share a mutual responsibility to ensure student safety. If you hear something concerning, come out of your classroom, look, listen--and get involved.
Bathroom protocol: 10-minute expectation- Bathrooms will remain locked during the first and last 10 minutes of each period. Mr. Chhim and Mrs. Horm will be supporting classrooms and will not be providing additional supervision in hallways. Please make sure you have bathroom logs posted in your classroom for students to sign in and out of class when they leave your classroom. This expectation has been helpful when in place and when we need to follow up on hallway misconduct.
“Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That's the Law of Consistency. It doesn't matter how talented you are. It doesn't matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.”
― John C. Maxwell, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth
Week at a Glance
Monday 1/3
9:30 Operation Mtg. in the large conference room
Tuesday 1/4
- Pool Testing Day
- 8:30 Student Support
- 3:15 RJ
Wednesday 1/5
- All Day - Vision Van
- 3:30 ILT (zoom)
Thursday 1/6
- 3:10- PBIS Team Meeting (zoom)
Friday 1/7
- Fun FriYay! Please take a moment throughout your day to welcome each other back and check in on each other! Say hello bring a snack or just smile, we need each other as a community. Take care of self, each other, and our school community.
ILT Updates
Next Team meeting - January 5th
Check in with your grade level team representatives for more information.
RJLT
Next Team meeting - January 4th
PBIS
Next Team meeting - January 6th
As a team, we are exploring the importance of how our school is doing which is all around us; we will be intentional at our next few meetings about locating, analyzing, and leveraging our behavioral data for school improvement. We know data comes in two forms: quantitative (the hard data of numbers) and qualitative (the soft data of stories).
Monthly Motivation
It's always great to start on an inspiring note.
Staff Birthday Shoutouts ~ January
Butler Community
Email: jmoody@lowell.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.lowell.k12.ma.us/Domain/10
Location: 1140 Gorham Street, Lowell, MA, USA
Phone: 978-937-8973
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lpsdbutler/