Holyoke Public Schools Connections Holyoke Public Schools Volume 10, Issue 2 A Community Working Together Winter 2012 An Open Letter to the Holyoke School Community Educator Evaluation By David Dupont, Superintendent of Schools The state plan to overhaul educator evaluation is an (MTA), which is one of the DESE approved vendors ongoing process which is scheduled to be put into assisting districts in their work to implement the Inside this issue: effect for all school districts in Massachusetts for the evaluation model. Teachers, nurses, district adminis- 2012-2013 school year. There are, however, some trators, and all other DESE licensed personnel will all districts-those which have Level 4 schools and those be subject to the new system. We obviously intend School News 2-8 which volunteered to implement a year earlier-that to be in full compliance with this state-wide initiative, have been working on implementation for the 2011- however I feel very strongly that all of this will be 2012 school year. (The new system is for the indi- much more effective and meaningful if we can move vidual Level 4 schools and not the entire district this across the boundary that many times stands between School Briefs 9 school year.) The evaluation overhaul is a major compliance and ownership. change in how evaluations have been traditionally performed in the past. There is a great amount of Athletics 10 related information on the Massachusetts Depart- ment of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website http://www.doe.mass.edu/, and we will be providing the principals any updates that we receive from the department. Some of the major changes After School 11 involving evaluation include educator self-reflection, goal setting, and rubrics to be used to guide instruc- tional expectations. This effort by DESE is truly a work in progress. Even though all of the elements of Family Nights 12 the new system will not be in place by this coming September, the intent of the state is to get this off of the ground as soon as possible. What I believe will be of great help to our school district is our partner- Spanish 13-15 ship with the Massachusetts Teachers Association Master Teacher Awards Edition Highlights: ● Metcalf School’s 100 Year Congratulations to the following Holyoke Public Anniversary Schools math and science teachers for being se- lected as Master Teacher Fellows: Tom Wyse ● Three Kings Day Celebration (Donahue School), Yvonne Hilyard (Morgan ● Students Participate in the School), Phillip Cooper (Dean Technical High Inauguration School), Jeremiah Barrett (Peck School), and Lorie Banks (Morgan School). These teachers all have ● Cross-Generational Memoir master’s degrees and have demonstrated excel- Sharing lence in teaching. The School of Education at the ● Solar Learning Lab is Coming University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a six-year, $4.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a network that helps train and retain science and mathematics teachers for middle and high schools in Western Massachu- setts. Twenty teachers from the following school districts: Holyoke, Springfield, Greenfield and Donahue Master Teacher Fellow, Tom Mahar were selected to become Master Teacher Wyse demonstrates with students Luis Fellows. Otero and Keishantelle Burgos. Holyoke Public Schools—Visit us on the web at: http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us Page 2 Connections Sullivan SullivanAfter School Parents in the Pathways for Family Success Literacy program at Sulli‐ Build Our Kids Success—BOKS van are learning English during after‐school hours. They are also working with ENCHANTED CIRCLE THEATER and come eager for fresh tools and crea‐ By 8th grade reporters: Maggie Brady and Katelyn Leclerc tive ideas for building literacy at home. The parents in the program have children from age two to thirteen, and a few are active grandparents. We At Sullivan School kids shake off their morning slump by kick-starting teach and practice theater arts curriculum using children's poetry, early the day with the BOKS program sponsored by Reebok. The “Build Our education storybooks, and even upper elementary chapter books that span Kids Success” (BOKS) program is a free opportunity that promotes the developmental range of their children. healthy choices and exercise. At 7:30 am the students in grades K-5 arrive at the school and begin the warm-up with a dance and lunges. We are putting extra focus in modeling reading for young people, and They then move onto an obstacle course that involves running, which is parents are sent home with bright and colorful parenting magazines, chap‐ a big part of their morning routines. When asked by school reporters ter books, and magazines filled with positive stories of successful women, about the success rate, the head instructor, parent Martha Leamy re- including many women of color. veals, “We have 58 kids and we are still continuing to hear that more kids would love to join!” BOKS brings kids together and helps them One new aspect of our program is the build a bond. emphasis on visual arts with children in building literacy. As children are asked to Fourth grader Andrew Torres says, “It is a great program for kids visualize and infer meaning in a story‐ because it helps you exercise and become healthier.” Spreading the book, we take that literacy building to the word about BOKS is encouraged because it is beneficial to everyone. next level by engaging them in arts activi‐ Jennifer Lawrence, a Reebok representative who runs the program, ties including Artist Trading Cards with encourages the use of positive reinforcement on the kids. She said, “People in your school are doing great work. It’s one of the best Haiku, colorful collages with pictures and schools I’ve visited and I’ve seen a lot!” It’s clear that BOKS helps kids words, and origami. This isn't your typical get moving, which is important to their coloring book activity, but extensions of health and well-being. It gets their the literacy curriculum that connect text brains ready to work that day at school. to text, text to self, and text to creative Sullivan parent participating in a literacy sketch‐ Everyone agrees that BOKS rocks! expression! ing/storytelling and tableau activity while work‐ ing with the story Harold & the Purple Crayon Winter Carnival Students at Sullivan School enthusiastically answered the city’s call to participate in the Holyoke High “Elizur-the-Snowman” public Broadway in Holyoke art exhibition as part of the citywide Winter Carnival. Come and see Broadway in Holyoke as the Holyoke High Businesses, community organi- School Music Department stages its 13th annual musical – Le- zations, and residents were gally Blonde – from Thursday, March 22nd through Sunday, asked to design snowmen to be painted and put on display March 25th in the John Sears Auditorium at Holyoke High throughout the city. Sullivan’s School. Legally Blonde takes you from the sorority house to fourth graders created two the halls of justice with the blondest new student, that dare- original snowmen that will join devil in high heels Elle Woods who has the cutest sidekick in the other snowmen through- the world, her Chihuahua Bruiser. Along the way, the heroine out the city at Heritage State proves that being yourself and going after what you want never Park on February 4th. Lots of hard work went into this largeSnowman painted by goes out of style. Tickets for the production go on sale Mon- undertaking – students wereKim Beauregard's 4th day, March 5th and may be purchased at Holyoke High School fueled by the exciting opportu-grade homeroom, and at The Cottage at 1615 Northampton Street. Perform- nity to be part of a larger com-Sullivan School ances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are at 7:30 p.m., munity project! and the performance on Sunday afternoon is at 2:00 p.m. All seating is reserved. Golden Circle tickets for seats in the front three rows are $15. All other tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets for senior citizens and children under 12 are $6. So mark your calendars and come and enjoy this Snowmen painted by Kim Beauregard's high energy production. 4th grade homeroom Holyoke Public Schools—Visit us on the web at: http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us Volume 10, Issue 2 Page 3 Donahue Breakfast with Santa On December 10th, over 350 members of our learning commu- nity turned out for one of the largest events the school has ever hosted. The cafeteria was packed as parents and students helped themselves to french toast, sausages and assorted pastries. Mr. Scott, our music teacher, worked diligently to direct a fantastic musical performance by students of every grade level who sang holiday songs and spread cheer to all. Also, a special appearance was made by Mr. Claus, who graciously allowed many of our stu- dents to be photographed with him. Despite how hard things can be there are certain times where it is easy to feel the deep sense of family and common purpose in Holy- oke. Our Breakfast with Santa was one of those moments of con- nectedness. We here at Donahue would like to thank all the dedi- cated staff and volunteers who made this event a reality and the Santa Claus is posing with Denice Ortiz, Donahue’s Resident Office Elf. parents who took the time to bring their kids into our school that Far right: North Pole Production Coordinator, Principal Amy Fitzgerald Saturday. Go Dolphins! New Guidance Program with the Solar Learning Lab is Coming Help of UMASS Maurice A. Donahue is pleased to announce a partnership with UMASS and Hyperion Systems to bring a solar learning lab to Dona- After discussing the District’s Comprehensive School Counseling hue.