Superintendent Update
February 9, 2024
Cliff's Notes
Dear Bedford Public Schools Community,
We passed the 100 days of school mark this week! At Davis, one of the ways this occasion was celebrated was by the creation of cereal box reading house in which students will spend time reading in the house and recording 100 words. At Lane school, students are writing about their future 100-year old selves, with the inspiration of images of their potential older selves (accompanied by much joyous laughter in a 5th grade classroom I visited).
Also, last night, we celebrated 50 years of METCO in Bedford and dedicated the Irene Parker Foyer at BHS during the annual Black History Month celebration put together by BHS alum, current Bedford METCO Director and DEI Coordinator Akil Mondesir. BHS alum and our Lane METCO Coordinator Chauncey Williams with brothers from the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity performed step dance. The entire evening feature culinary and artistic talent from Bedford alum.
Next week, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 15th, we will be responding to additional questions from the Finance Committee about the FY25 School Budget request as members consider the overall budget for next year. I will continue to keep you updated on the budget process.
And 新 年 快 乐! Xīn nián kuài lè! Happy Lunar New Year!
Cliff Chuang 莊 宏 毅
Superintendent, Bedford Public Schools
Chauncey Williams (front) with Phi Beta Sigma brothers stepping.
Upcoming Events
- February: Black History Month
- February 10: 7:00 pm - Dollars for Scholars Trivia Night at the Bedford American Legion
- February 10: Lunar New Year - Year of the Dragon
- February 12: 6:30 pm at BHS - Presentation by Catherine Steiner-Adair, author of The Big Disconnect
- February 13: 7:00pm - School Committee Meeting
- February 16: National No One Eats Alone Day
- February 19 - 24: President's Day (19th) and School Vacation Week
- February 27: 7:00pm - School Committee Meeting
- March 5: Massachusetts Presidential Primary Election
- March 9: Annual Town Election
- March 9: 7:00pm - BEF Denim & Diamonds Bash (Cafe Escadrille, Burlington, MA)
February 10th: Lunar New Year - Year of the Dragon
Presented by Sylvia Martins, 2nd grader at Davis school
Chinese New Year is an important celebration. It starts on the first day of the lunar calendar which is the first day of a new moon between January 20th and February 20th. This year is the Year of the Dragon. The symbol of the dragon has special meaning as it stands for strength and good luck. The dragon is strong because it's made of the parts from many animals: eyes of the rabbit, mouth of a camel, horns of a deer, scales of a fish, whiskers of a catfish, claws of a hawk, legs of a tiger, ears of an ox, and the body of a snake. Since the Dragon symbolizes change and adaptability, everyone is predicted to experience both opportunities and challenges in the new year, brining growth and renewal.
February 12th - Catherine Steiner-Adair presents The Big Disconnect
Clinical psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair is the author of The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age and will share her work with the Bedford community on Monday, February 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the BHS auditorium. The presentation with Q&A will run approximately 90 minutes. As Steiner-Adair explains, families are in crisis as they face this issue, and even more so than they realize. Not only do chronic tech distractions have deep and lasting effects but children also desperately need parents to provide what tech cannot: close, significant interactions with the adults in their lives. Drawing on real-life stories from her clinical work with children and parents and her consulting work with educators and experts across the country, Steiner-Adair offers insights and advice that can help parents achieve greater understanding, authority, and confidence as they engage with the tech revolution unfolding in their living rooms.
The next School Committee meeting is Tuesday, February 13th at 7:00pm at TBD and via Zoom Webinar. The district's Student Opportunity Act plan (focused on literacy) will be presented and potentially approved, among other business items. Full supporting materials can be found here: School Committee - Meeting Schedule & Supporting Documents. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan reached out to share about National No One Eats Alone Day on February 16, 2024. This movement, which was started by an organization called Beyond Differences, aims to combat the loneliness which students may experience during the school day, particularly at lunch. The mission of National No One Eats Alone Day is to encourage students to include everyone at lunch so that not even one student is left alone to eat. Beyond Differences was founded by two parents in memory of their daughter, who faced social isolation in middle school. Their mission is to inspire students nationwide to end social isolation and create cultures of belonging for everyone. They hope to build a future where all youth are accepted, valued and included, and all differences are celebrated.
Carnival Reflection by Susan Bairos, Davis School Teacher
Carnival is a public festival which takes place in many cities and towns in many countries around the world. It is in February or March each year. Carnival can sometimes last for several weeks. In some places there is only one day of celebration. There are often street parades, bands/music, costumes and many people wear masks. Carnival is linked to religious traditions in the Catholic Churches, and it is also linked to local customs from all over the world. In South America, especially Brazil, Carnaval is one of the most important holidays of the year and one of the biggest celebration in the world. It is considered the biggest carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets. The first Carnival festival in Rio de Janeiro occurred in 1723. Haitian Carnival (Haitian Creole: Kanaval, French: Carnaval) is a celebration held over several weeks each year leading up to Mardi Gras. Haitian Defile Kanaval is the Haitian Creole name of the main annual Mardi Gras carnival held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The parade is known as "Kye Marn". My family immigrated from the Azores, Portugal and I grew up within a strong Portuguese community in Massachusetts. I have had the pleasure of celebrating carnaval yearly at the Portuguese club with masquerade dances, special group performance, lively music and delicious food, malasada, a fried dough special dessert that is made. I’m so excited to share the celebration of carnaval with the newcomers at Davis as many of them and their families celebrate the holiday. It is something that we have in common and with so many new experiences for the newcomers it is a wonderful opportunity for them to share their culture with their classmates and new school. Learn more via this interactive infographic.
by George Lee, Davis School Parent and Bedford Finance Committee Member
2024 is the Year of the Dragon, the fifth animal in the 12-year cycle of Asian Zodiac signs. Growing up, I often hear from my Asian elders that those born in the year of a dragon is destined for good fortune and greatness, and a reason for why in many Asian nations more babies are born during Dragon years than any other [1,2]. The dragon is also the only mythical creature of all twelve zodiacs!
This year’s Bedford annual lunar new year celebration, hosted by the Bedford Library and the Parents Diversity Council, was held at Lane Elementary School as the event had outgrown the prior year’s space in the library. Or I like to think the prominence of the dragon year had something to do with bringing out the extraordinarily large community showing this year! Nevertheless, like all years it was a fun filled event with many amazing Asian cultural arts and crafts and performances enjoyed by all ages. In one moment, I observed my Davis School age son work diligently on a dragon arts and crafts project with his grandmother, and another moment where he was sitting quietly next to his friends from school, several whom are of different ethnicities watching the Korean drum performance and the Chinese musical instrument orchestra. Superintendent Chuang himself of Chinese/Taiwanese descent mingled and chatted with parents throughout the venue. The Lane School Stage was a nice, upgraded venue for the performers that put on a great show every year.
I was impressed by not just at the large attendance of the community but also by the diversity of the crowd, not only of various Asian nationalities but non-Asians as well. This is one of many events at Bedford that highlights the diversity and unity of our community, where everyone can enjoy and support one another during Asian’s biggest holiday, Lunar New Year (LNY). I hope in the years to come, Bedford’s LNY celebration will continue to grow and have even broader attendance and participation by all to enjoy, and perhaps additional activities and performances by other Asian nationalities that also celebrate LNY, but not yet represented before at Bedford’s celebratory event.
My sincere appreciation to all the volunteers, performers, and organizers of the LNY event and to our amazing Bedford community, and I wish everyone 新 年 快 乐! Xīn nián kuài lè! Happy New Year!
Dr. Nicholas Vance - Class of 2009
Note: This is part of an ongoing series of pieces highlighting the stories of BPS alums, taking us into and out of Black History Month in February, highlighted on this BPS Black Excellence Site put together by Lisa Morrison, JGMS STEM teacher.
My name is Dr. Nicholas Vance, and I am a 2009 alumni of the Bedford METCO program. I was born and raised in Mattapan and I am a proud member of the Cape Verdean community. After my time at Bedford, I went on to an HBCU to further my education in political studies. During that time I served as President of NAACP on campus and did work for US Congressman Clyburn of South Carolina. After graduation I worked for The Yawkey Boys and Girls Club and then City Year before I moved on to corporate recruitment and DEI work. I have been a part of the creation of Encore Boston Harbor leading DEI hiring initiatives to now leading a team on DEI recruitment and retention at National Grid.
I have also worked in politics. I worked for Hillary Clinton in Florida as a key strategist in Lakeland, FL for her presidential run. During this time I also served as a Governor Baker appointee on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and served as a youth advisory/ board of trustee member on the Huntington & Dorchester YMCA boards. I also served as the Boston NAACP Political Action Co-Chair where we successfully enforced the use of body cameras for the Boston Police Department to create more transparency in law enforcement. During this time I also continued my education at Northeastern University and received a Masters degree and a Doctoral degree.
I hope to leave you with the idea that anything is possible in life. I wasn't the greatest student while in high school but I fought through adversity and kept my eyes on my goals and dreams. Never allow others to limit your potential! Also, take risks and try new things and find what you are passionate about!
I am a husband to my wife Monee and the father of a beautiful daughter named Myra.
Dr Alex Hirshberg of Behavioral Health Services hosted a discussion with Principal Beth Benoit at Davis Elementary on February 6th on Social-Emotional Challenges in the Inclusion Setting. In case you missed it, you may watch the Bedford TV recording of the event here and review the presentation slides here. (This presentation built off of Dr. Hirshberg presentation in September entitled, Prepare the Child for the Road, Not the Road for the Child: Building Resilience to Emotional Distress; that recording can be found here).
The BEF Denim and Diamonds Bash will be held at 7 p.m. on March 9th at Cafe Escadrille in Burlington. There will be music, dancing, delicious bites, a cash bar, our amazing silent auction, and more. All proceeds from this event - the biggest party of the year for Bedford's schools - go towards funding creative and innovative grant programs at all four schools. Individual tickets are $55 through Thursday, 3/7 and will go up at the door to $65. You can also choose to be a "Deep Pocket Donor" for $250. This ticket level includes two individual tickets, a special memento, and entry into a raffle for one prize exclusive to these donors. The deadline to be a Deep Pocket Donor is Sunday, 3/3. It pays to plan ahead, so get your tickets today! Names for tickets are automatically sent to the BEF, just check in at the door on 3/9!
School Newsletter Links
In an effort to support communication, here are the links the most recent newsletters from our schools and our special education department.
- Lt. Eleazer Davis Elementary School - Scribbles - February 6, 2024
- Lt. Job Lane Elementary School - Lane Notes - Week of February 5, 2024
- John Glenn Middle School - Buccaneer News Vol. #23 - February 5, 2024
- Bedford High School - The Bedford Buccaneer - February 5, 2024
- Special Education Director's Update - February 2024
- JGMS Student Newspaper: The John Glenn Journal - Winter Edition 2024
- BHS Student Newsletter: The Lookout - January 2024