Dear NBPS families,

The following items or activities are just some of the latest happenings taking place at North Brookfield Public Schools over the past few months:

On Friday, January 13th and again on Tuesday, January 17th, the district held professional development opportunities for members of the NBPS faculty and staff. Friday’s half day focused on our curriculum alignment and introduced a common template for all teachers to utilize when developing their unit plans. Tuesday’s full day training had a focus on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training. For this professional development we teamed up with consultants from Initiatives for Developing Equity and Achievement for Students (IDEAS). These two initiatives are our two major focal points for the 2022-2023 school year and beyond.

Per the discussion and presentation from our December school committee meeting, the district welcomed members from DESE for our Tiered Focus Monitoring (TFM) site visit on January 10th and 11th. This visit monitors compliance; reviews processes and procedures specific to Special Education and Civil Rights, and looks at universal standards (Groups A and Group B). These visits happen every three years and we should expect our report by early spring at which time it will be made public.

NBHS counselors presented to all faculty and staff in early January about its advisory curriculum. The NBHS advisory block will begin weekly starting in February. This curriculum focuses on College and Career Readiness through a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lens. The first advisory lesson will be rolled out for all students in grades 7-12 on Friday, February 3rd.

NBPS math teachers are currently piloting two new math curricula: BRIDGEs (K-5) and Illustrative (6-12) with grades 6-9 being piloted right now. Input from teachers; building Principals, and the NBPS district math coach along with recent MCAS and MAP testing data, have narrowed our focus to these two programs.

In late December, North Brookfield Public Schools was awarded a $100,000 IVAQ grant that will be used to perform a technology refresh for both schools in order to make our energy use safer; more reliable, and more efficient. This work will begin in June of 2023.

In late January through early February, both NBES and NBHS students will be participating in their second round of MAP testing. These benchmark assessments are given three times throughout the school year to help monitor student academic growth and to inform classroom instruction. MCAS retakes have also begun for some of our NBHS students.

Members of our NBES Positive Behavioral Intervention System (PBIS) continue to work on their action plan goals. At the Tier 1 level, we are beginning to develop a family and community engagement plan. At the Tier 2 level, we are beginning to develop a Check In, Check out intervention for students who need additional support. The work of these two teams is brought together through our participation in DESE's SEB (Social-Emotional-Behavioral) Academy.

Camp Read a lot will happen on Friday February 17th at NBES. Each classroom has the opportunity to sign up for various stations around reading, creativity, and well-being. This event helps build a sense of community while promoting a love of literacy. A big thank you to Mr. Shelburne for organizing the event and the staff and community members that have volunteered to run a station.

As we have already seen this winter, the New England weather can be challenging to forecast. In the event that the District has to delay or cancel school, the following protocol will be followed:

• If possible, we will make a decision regarding a delayed opening or cancellation the night before. If not, a decision will be made by 5:30am that morning.

• Families will receive a phone call and email from me.

• Delay or cancelation notice will also be posted on the District's website and all District social media accounts. Local news outlets will also be notified of our delays and cancellations.

Our winter season is in full swing and our student-athletes have been quite successful on our . basketball and cheerleading teams. Please use Arbiter Live page to access the remaining fall schedules.

We hope to see you in the stands supporting our basketball and cheering programs! . For any athletic questions, please email our Athletic Director, Mr. Garrett Kinnen, at gkinnen@nbschools.org.