This Week
Fahari's Weekly Staff Memo: 3/23/2015 - 3/29/2015
A Message from Fahari's Principal: Stephanie Clagnaz, Ed.D.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What makes Fahari a ‘home away from home’?
At recent faculty and family meetings, Fahari has been referred to as a ‘home away from home’. Families have discussed the importance of the care and nurturing that their children receive here. Their experiences have not always been the same at other schools that their children have attended. Faculty and staff have also identified the collaborative nature of our school as one reason that Fahari is special. They’ve identified the relationships that they have with colleagues and students as being deeper than they’ve experienced in other places.
Families talk with deep appreciation about our teachers. One mother commented on the accessibility of our faculty through phone calls, meetings, emails and text messages. Another family discussed the frequent updates they receive from their child’s team of teachers. According to our families, their experiences at Fahari far outweigh those of other schools. Our faculty are not the only adults making an impact on the children. It seems like each and every day, our counseling team is recognized for their work with our students’ social and emotional needs. Operations staff, culture team members and school leaders also invest their time in our children. We take care of the whole child.
Faculty and staff shout one another out regularly. Part of ‘the way we do business around here’ is to celebrate one another during our daily staff meeting on Fridays. It is commonplace for us to hear things like, “I’d like to shout out my colleague for pushing me to think about different ways I can change my practice to increase student achievement” or “My teammate is always positive and tries to help our team move forward.” Authentic collaboration is a hallmark of our school culture.
We extend a sense of welcome to our Flatbush neighborhood. We have become a true community school whose core beliefs include the sentiment that all of our students have a home at Fahari. Each and every day, I witness our faculty and staff reaching out to our students in new ways; establishing true relationships that foster and nurture care and compassion for our children and their families.
Why is Fahari known as our ‘home away from home’? Because we are a special place; a place where people feel like they belong.
REFLECTION:
- How have you extended yourself to create a warm, nurturing environment for students and colleagues?
- How have others created a sense of belonging at Fahari for you?
Culture News
Over a week ago one of our students suffered a traumatic event. The student lost a member of his immediate family. The news of the loss quickly spread throughout the school at the end of the previous week, as his family member was friends with several of our students. Heading into the week we were not sure when he would return to school, but began preparing a plan to support his re entry to school.
One of the unique aspects of Fahari is the level of support we provide for students' social/emotional needs. Thankfully we had these supports in place for the student and his family when they arrived unexpectedly Wednesday morning. We weren’t expecting him for another few days, and yet there he was on Wednesday with his father, ready to return to school. What can you do in that situation but give the child and his family whatever they need? Our Counseling and Family Engagement teams came together around the student and his father. Amazingly, the young man was able to articulate his own plan for re entry to the community. After meeting with one of the counselors, he asked to meet with his closest friends to discuss with them his needs and request their support. Beyond the resources that we provide at Fahari, in times of need there is nothing that beats having some good friends. In the meeting, the young man's friends--one of whom was grieving the loss himself-- were ready to support him as needed. These young people took on not only supporting their friend, but also communicating with other students what he would need as he returned to class.
After his return to class, we closed the day with a restorative circle. In the circle, the students and teachers of his homeroom offered their love, support, and condolences. As we talked more, other students shared stories of their own experiences with loss, and offered those stories to the group to deepen our understanding of what a person feels and needs while grieving. For the remainder the week, you saw counselors and teachers checking in with the student to make sure he had everything he needed. One teacher on the 7th grade team took the care to look after his close friend who is also grieving the loss. Especially encouraging was the way students took ownership over making sure he was okay, and the courage they showed in making themselves vulnerable for him and each other. Truly heartbreaking to watch but nevertheless a reminder of the love that characterizes our community.
Thanks for all that you do,
Jared Roebuck
Assistant Principal for Administration and Culture
Family Engagement Updates
THANK YOU to ALL staff members for supporting our families at the rally on Wednesday!
Our Fahari families and supporters MADE THEIR VOICES HEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Several news stations and media contacts are becoming interested in our story! Our local politicians are
starting to take notice! Our families are keeping the momentum going by continuing to make their voices heard!
Also, please "like" the following Facebook page Keep Fahari Academy Open created by a Fahari parent to generate more publicity about our school's fight.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/KEEP-Fahari-Academy-OPEN/1631701513716896
Thank you for continuing to focus our student’s attention on their academic progress including the upcoming State exams. Our families are fully committed to fighting on behalf of our school community!
Have an excellent week!
Ms. Clarke
Director of Family Engagement
Technology/Data/Testing Updates
2015 Common Core ELA and Math Test Administration
Test security responsibilities of proctors:
It is imperative that proctors follow all security protocols when supervising the test administration.
Proctors must:
Circulate periodically around the room during the administration of each session of the test to ensure that students are recording their responses to test questions in the proper manner and in the proper place.
Make sure that students are recording their responses to the multiple-choice questions on their answer sheets and their constructed-response questions in their test books. Students are not to record their multiple-choice responses in their test books.
Point out to students if they have left one or more answers blank or have darkened more than one circle for the same multiple-choice question.
Not comment to the student on the correctness or sufficiency of any answer.
Not use cell phones or other photographic devices to duplicate test materials, and keep their own communication devices put away during testing, using them only in emergency situations.
Unapproved student materials:
Students are not permitted to have any communications device, including a cell phone, with them during test administration times or during any breaks (such as a restroom visit). Such devices include, but are not limited to:
Cell phones
Blackberry devices and other PDAs
iPods and MP3 players
iPads, tablets, and other eReaders
Laptops, notebooks, or any other personal computing devices
Cameras or other photographic equipment
Headphones, headsets, or in-ear headphones such as earbuds
Any other devices capable of recording audio, photographic or video content, or capable of viewing or playing back such content
Aid to Students
There are absolutely no circumstances when proctors can interpret or explain test questions to students, nor may proctors review or comment to students about the correctness or sufficiency of their responses while the tests are in progress. In response to inquiries by students concerning the meaning or interpretation of test questions, proctors should advise students to use their own best judgment.
Proctors may give students assistance only in the mechanics of taking the tests, such as understanding that their multiple-choice responses must be recorded on the answer sheets and their constructed responses must be recorded in the test books.
Did You Know?
No additional time is to be provided to students to transfer answers from test books to answer sheets at the end of the test session, and no one other than the student may transfer multiple-choice answers marked in their test book to the answer sheets. (The latter does not apply to students whose IEP or 504 Plan allows scribes to transfer answers from the test book to an answer sheet.)
2015 State Testing Dates
NYS ELA Exam – Tuesday April 14 through Thursday April 16
NYS Math Exam – Wednesday Aprill 22 through Friday April 24
Grade 8 Written Science Exam – Monday June 1
Algebra I Common Core Regents – June 17
Living Environment Regents – June 16
Thank you,
Jonathan Destine
Director of Data, Technology and Testing
Powerful footage from our PTO meeting on March 14th, 2015
This week's schedule updates
Will it be an A or B week?
We will be following a B schedule this week.
Who Will Be Out?
Monday, March 23th, 2015
Justin Tyler
Tuesday, March 24th, 2015
Stephanie Clagnaz (PD)
Justin Tyler
Brandon Oberkrieser
Wednesday, March 25th, 2015
Kim Hunter (PM OUT)
Thursday, March 26th, 2015
Edwin Mera
Matthew Zuckerman
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Deneen Yomba
Upcoming Events
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Spring Dance
Thursday, April 2nd, 2015
End of Quarter 3
Early Dismissal - 1:15 pm
Friday, April 3rd to Monday April 13th, 2015
No Students in Attendance - Spring Recess
Tuesday, April 14th, 2015
ELA Exams
Tuesday, April 15th, 2015
Board Meeting @ Fahari Academy - 6:30pm