The November and December newsletters are combined due to the Thanksgiving break and the December recess. It is hard to believe we are looking toward the winter season and New Year's Day when it feels like September was a moment ago. Have a joyous holiday season and restful winter recess (week of 12/27).
In this issue:
Winter Weather
Interim Principals at Burbank and Butler
Looking for Qualified Staff to Join the BPS Community
Belmont Integrated Preschool Program|
Registration for School Year 2022-2023
BPS Covid-19 Testing Update
School Committee
School News
Visual and Performing Arts
Athletics
SEPAC
Useful Information
WINTER WEATHER
Winter weather is here, and we want to remind you of the various ways you can find out about school delays and closings. As always, Belmont Public Schools will put out an automated call and email to parents and staff.
School closing or delay decisions are made with the support of the other town departments as we consider the safety of our staff and students traveling to school.
As usual, any snow days are made up at the end of the school year.
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the various ways you can find out about an unexpected school closing or delay due to weather:
WBZ Radio (1030 AM) and TV (Channel 4) http://boston.cbslocal.com/closings/
WRKO Radio (680 AM) and WHDH TV (Channel 7) http://whdh.com/storm-closings-delays/
WCVB TV (Channel 5) http://www.wcvb.com/weather/closings
The BPS Website School Closing Delayed Opening
INTERIM PRINCIPALS AT BURBANK AND BUTLER
We are pleased to welcome Ms. Brenda Maurao, Interim Principal of Burbank, and Ms. Julie Babson, Interim Principal of Butler. The positions are effective as of January 3, and Ms. Maurao and Ms. Babson will remain in these positions until June 30, 2023. The 1.5 year appointments helped us attract qualified candidates as well as helps us add leadership stability for our students and staff. Ms. Maurao and Ms. Babson were selected from a pool of 19 highly-qualified applicants which then yielded seven first-round interviewees and then two finalists per school. The finalists were interviewed remotely by the community and staff for the Burbank (on 11/22) and Butler (on 11/18). Feedback forms were provided to all school community members who were on the remote meetings, and the input was reviewed by the school department. We were pleased to see great representation from staff and families for those moderated forums. These interim positions replace Butler Principal Danielle Betancourt and Burbank Principal Seeley Okie.
We have all seen news reports of staff shortages and hiring challenges in the nation and Belmont is also facing challenges to fill staff positions. If any Belmont community members are interested in applying for open positions or know of any qualified candidates, please look at the Human Resources page on the BPS website and/or email BPS Director of Human Capital Mike McAllister at MMcAllister@belmont.k12.ma.us.
BELMONT INTEGRATED PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Belmont Integrated Preschool Program, located at the Wellington School, currently has availability for three year olds as well as young four year olds. Please go to the BPS website for more information or email BSP Early Childhood Director Patricia Toohig Nardon at ptoohignardone@belmont.k12.ma.us. To apply, please go to the preschool application page.
REGISTRATION FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2022-2023 OPENS JANUARY 28
Registration for incoming kindergartners and grades 1-12 who are new to Belmont opens online January 28. Please look for more information on our registration pages (K-4 and 5-12) on the BPS website closer to the date. Please note, you do not have to register an existing BPS student.
BPS COVID-19 TESTING UPDATE
On November 29 all Routine COVID-19 Safety Checks (pooled testing) switched over to the take-home nasal swab collection. To date, 890 pools have been done with six positive pools reported with no in-school transmission. The Test and Stay program continues in all schools as an alternative to quarantining at home for identified close contacts in the school setting for asymptomatic students and staff only. As of this writing, there are no positive cases identified through the Test and Stay program. Belmont's vaccination rate remains high. Students in grades K-3 with at least one dose are in the lower 60 percent range, grades 4-6 students with at lease one does are in the high 60 to mid 70 percent range, and grades 7-12 fully vaccinated students in the high 80 to low 90 percent range. Please see the December 14 BPS COVID-19 Health and Safety Update for more detailed information on testing and vaccination rates.
Although we are glad to see the positive vaccination rates in our schools, we encourage families to remain in the pooled testing, as 21 percent of our positive cases have been vaccinated. This testing is an important mitigation strategy that can help identify any asymptomatic positive cases and allow us to isolate them sooner rather than later and keep the transmission in schools to a minimum. We want to thank everyone for all the time and effort put into the everyday priority of keeping our students safe. Please know that the Belmont Health Department is planning a Pfizer booster clinic for children ages 16 and 17 on December 28. A communication will go out to families from the health department in the near future.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
School Committee meetings can be viewed live on Belmont Media and OnDemand at a later date. The next School Committee meeting is on Tuesday, January 4 at 6:30 p.m.
Budget Visioning and Strategic Planning: We are continually looking at our budget whether in the current year or projecting a few years out. We presented the FY22 BPS Building-Based Needs at several School Committee Finance Subcommittee meetings and then at the December 14 School Committee meeting for a vote. We discussed the reallocation of unused federal grant money (ESSER) and also general budget funds to address the more day-to-day needs in each school building. Please see the prioritized list provided by our principals and supported by the Central Office team allowing reallocation of resources to meet the needs of our learners and schools for the remainder of this school year. We will post new positions and changes in allocation before the school break.
The Belmont Public Schools is also in the process of preparing a three-year budget. At the November 23 School Committee meeting, we presented a Budget Visioning and Strategic Planning working document for student needs and solutions for FY23, FY24, and FY25. Community input is important in this process to align district and community needs and solutions, and identify priorities after federal money and town free cash diminish. We are planning to hold the first of several community forums beginning with the regularly scheduled School Committee meeting on Tuesday, January 18. These forums will give the community an opportunity to listen and give input before the FY23 budget is presented at Town Meeting in the spring. We continue to discuss budget during the School Committee Finance Subcommittee meetings with updates at our full School Committee meetings. Please see the School Committee Notices and Agenda page on the BPS website for upcoming School Committee Finance Subcommittee and full School Committee meetings.
English Language Education (ELE) Update: ELE Director Lindsey Rinder gave her annual report on the ELE program at the December 14 School Committee meeting. She shared an overview of the ELE students in the district, a progress report, and updates to the program.
Butler School: Every year, we ask principals to present to the School Committee and the public a look into what is happening at their schools. We are happy to have had Butler Principal Danielle Betancourt present all the good things happening at the Butler School on December 14 before she relocates to the United Kingdom in the New Year. We want to take this opportunity to thank her for her years of service at the Butler School, and we wish her well in her next endeavors.
Chenery Update: At the November 23 School Committee meeting, Principal Karla Koza presented a Chenery update. Principal Koza talked about how students start their day keeping with the core values of the school, building connections with community service and SEL activities. Principal Koza also spoke about the new efforts to support every child through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.
Equity Audit Special Education: Director of Student Services Ken Kramer and Assistant Director Jonathan Libby presented on Special Education Disproportionality at the November 23 School Committee meeting. The presentation framed the Disproportionality Working Group steps to date looking at educational equity and an action plan. The special education department also asked the equity and access auditors, Elizabeth Borneman and Belicia Smith, external education consultants from M.I.T. Teaching Systems Lab, to look at the Special Education Procedural Manual. The auditors presented their Special Education Manual Audit Findings at the November 23 meeting. This audit is ongoing, involving student/staff interviews and surveys, family focus groups, and meetings with BPS leadership. Ms. Borneman and Ms. Smith are also conducting the district equity audit, which is a comprehensive evaluation of schools in the district in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI Director Chon'tel Washington is helping to organize this work. The findings of this audit will also be available to the public at a future School Committee meeting.
New School Committee Member: We welcome our new School Committee member, Ralph Jones. Mr. Jones will serve on the School Committee until April 2022, the remaining months of Andrea Prestwich's term. The Select Board and the School Committee interviewed the candidates on November 10 and voted on the new appointment. Mr. Jones' past service to the community includes a seat on the Select Board and the School and Warrant committees. We welcome Mr. Jones to this returning role, and we look forward to working with him.
SCHOOL NEWS
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Butler held a Vocabulary Day Parade on October 29. At this annual event, children are invited to wear or bring in costumes to illustrate or demonstrate a vocabulary word. Principal Danielle Betancourt says it was wonderful to see the children displaying their word power creatively with clever words and costumes that showed the words.
- All of the elementary school PTA/PTO co-sponsored a virtual visit on October 26 from author Art Coulson who wrote Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi!. Mr. Coulson is Cherokee from Oklahoma and comes from a family of storytellers. He spoke about American Indian culture and the inclusion of Indigenous voices.
- Burbank held a virtual Library Night on November 10. They encouraged children to cuddle with their favorite stuffed animal and wear their favorite pajamas while they listened to some teachers read their favorite stories.
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Wellington held their fourth annual Fun Run on October 29. The PTO run was a huge success, raising almost $17,000 to support school enrichment.
- Winn Brook third graders launched their mystery unit in reading. To create the mood, some teachers dressed as spies in trench coats and played music from the Pink Panther movies as a fun way to be inspired to learn to look for clues as they read their mysteries.
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Burbank Reading Teacher Vicky O'Regan, Burbank Art Teacher Nicole Pond, Burbank Grade 2 Teacher Patrick Mongeau were among the BPS educators who attended the 36th Annual Educators Conference organized and led by the METCO Directors’ Association. This year’s conference theme was “Dismantling Systemic Racism: Starting in Schools.” The conference included keynote speaker Dr. Tricia Rose and many engaging and informative sessions for educators from across Massachusetts. The district supported twenty educators who wanted to attend the conference. They returned energized and inspired and look forward to bringing back best practices to the district.
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CMS sixth graders learned about the interrelationship of the body systems from Health Teacher Monica Frender. The students were learning about the Nervous sytem and making paper brain hats to understand the parts of the brain.
- CMS Principal Karla Koza created a weekly positive recognition for staff and students called "Marvelous Moments". Anyone in the school community can nominate a student, teacher/staff person for doing something positive that week. The amount of nominations has been increasing each week, which demonstrates the good work of culture building at the middle school. In addition, CMS began a series of Community Days to be held on at least five Wednesdays between now and the end of the school year. These 45-minute connection opportunities are led by 8th grade volunteer leaders with support from faculty in small groups. The Community Days provide an opportunty for students to connect and think about what it means to be a good citizen of our school, community, and world by promoting the necessity of respect for differences and find the common ground that binds us all. These are both wonderful and creative ways to celebrate the CMS community.
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CMS Science Teacher Ben Ligon's students were learning about the cause of seasons by measuring the length of shadows at a designated time (over several months) to gather data about the angle of the sun and the temperature.
- BHS Marauder of the Week for December 10 is Katie Shea and Colin Shea, December 3 is Chiara Curtin and Shanta Pai, for November 19 is Henry Min and Olivia Hurtubise, November 5 is Cormac Minarovich, for November 12 is Ensi Kamberi and Viktor Insanic. Please read more about these seniors on the BHS website
VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
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On December 2 at 7:00 p.m. the BHS Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band performed with Boston Brass, one of the premiere brass ensembles in the world. This concert was the first concert in the new auditorium, and was met with much excitement from the students, staff, and families. Please see more pictures in the Belmont Citizen Herald.
Chenery musicians held their first in-person concert since pre-COVID, and we all were very excited for those performances. For more performance dates, please see the BHS/CMS Visual and Performing Arts calendar.
- BHS Music students have the opportunity to attend the Holiday Pops at Symphony Hall the evening of December 21 to hear BHS Chorus Director Kaitlin Donovan sing in the Festival Chorus.
- Thirty-six BHS students were accepted to participate in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Senior District Band, Chorus Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble.
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The BHS fall play, The Servant of Two Masters, was a great success. Held just before Thanksgiving break, the play was the first large-scale production in the Black Box Theater. Theater Director Ezra Flam says, "it was such a joy to fill the Black Box for four performances over three days for a play that was all about fun and joy. The Black Box was the perfect venue for this show: the set was immersive, the audience was no more than five rows from the stage and our new tech/work spaces allowed students to excel." The next PAC Performances are Improv (February 4 and 5 in the Black Box) and The SpongeBob Musical (March 17-19 in the Main Auditorium).
ATHLETICS
- Interim Athletic Director Adam Prichard presented a fall athletic report to the School Committee at the November 23 meeting. This fall, BHS athletics returned to their first post-pandemic full schedule of games and state tournament play.
SEPAC
Belmont Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) invites you to their next remote Parent Information Session (PIS) on "Evaluation and Eligibility", presented by the Federation for Children with Special Needs (FCSN) on December 16 at 6:00 p.m. to 9:00p.m. Please see the SEPAC page on the BPS website for more information and how to register for this event.
USEFUL INFORMATION
For your convenience, below are links to useful information.
Belmont Public Schools:
Town and State: