Good morning Bengals-

I hope you're all enjoying a restful weekend.  Last week, we started to experience some challenging student behaviors, and as we head into October, I want to thank you all- the discipline team, school police, and all staff- for handling emergent situations with professionalism and teamwork.  Every member of this team is critical, and the more we can rely on one another, the more we'll accomplish for our students. Consistency is crucial.  Please be sure to attend all administrative duties, and to communicate areas where systems can be improved.

This Week:

- There will be a practice fire drill this week.  The date and time of this drill are to be announced.  Please carefully read the attached information on our emergency procedures.  All classroom clipboards have been updated and include procedures, lists of classes that meet in the room, attendance sheets, and a group identification card.  Please note the location of the emergency clipboard in all rooms in which you work.  During any evacuation, you are expected to take the clipboard with you when you exit the room.  Please review exit procedures and outside location sites with your classes starting Monday.  

Please note: Teachers are expected to update class lists on the clipboard to reflect new/withdrawn students.  New printed list will be placed on the clipboards after each marking period is completed.

- Mandatory Emergency Procedure Training for all new staff members will be held in the Conference Room next to the Main Office during all three lunches on Monday, September 28.  

- ILT will meet this Tuesday afternoon from 2:20-3:20 in the Library.

- Case Management meetings will take place this Wednesday afternoon from 2-2:45 in their usual locations, which will be posted at the sign in sheet in the Main Office.  At 2:45 we will convene briefly in the Library as a whole school community.

- School Site Council will meet for the first time this year on Thursday, October 1 from 4:30-5:30 in the Library.  Please see the attached overview for information on the role and importance of SSC.

- Updated Sub Folders were due to the Main Office last Friday, September 25.  Thank you to those of you who met this important deadline.  If you have not yet submitted your sub folders, please do so no later than the end of day Monday, September 28.  

- At this point, all students should have a locker assignment.  Starting tomorrow, Monday September 28 please do not allow backpacks in classes, except for last period. Any student without a locker assignment should be instructed to give backpacks to a discipline coordinator and see Colonel Fife in the JROTC office at lunchtime or after school.

- Attention Coaches/Club Sponsors/Teachers planning field trips: only students who have paid the $5 Student Activity Fee are eligible for extracurricular participation.  Please continue to encourage all students to pay their $5, which funds resources, transportation and staffing needed to offer enriching opportunities.  Please see an Administrator to discuss students unable to afford this fee and we will work them.  Please consult the up-to-date binder in the Main Office of all students who have paid the student activity fee to date. 

- Evaluation Update: All evaluators and educators have been assigned in EDFS. Please communicate any technical challenges you may experience in the EDFS system. Additionally, BPS & BTU have reached a one-time agreement to extend the contractual deadline from October 1 to October 15, 2015 for the submission of self-assessment, goals and action steps.  This extension will allow educators on one and two year plans to submit draft goals and action steps that are thoughtfully aligned to the school-wide Instructional Focus.  Evaluators will be reaching out to all educators in the coming days and weeks for support. The annual November 1 Goal Approval Deadline will not change.

- Attention Senior Teachers: College Essay Boot Camp: Get involved! 

826 Boston is gearing up for its 6th annual College Essay Boot Camp, which will be held at Northeastern University on Saturday, October 17th. They're aiming to match 100 BPS students with 100 trained tutors, and are hoping that you can help us promote the free opportunity!

BHS Pic of the Week:

Our own Dan Cuddy recruited about 20 awesome BHS student activists to volunteer at the Brighton Congregational Church last Wednesday to unload food donations for their community pantry.  Thank you to Mr. Cuddy and all our volunteers for your generosity of spirit and your commitment to community!

With Gratitude-

Emily

Good afternoon BHS Community-

Thank you all for another outstanding week of powerful teaching and learning both in your classrooms and in our time together in professional development & ILT.  It was exciting to see such universal readiness for the work we are doing to meet the challenge of our instructional focus this year.  We believe by focusing instruction on explicit strategies to improve student comprehension and interpretation of complex texts across all content areas we can improve student outcomes in many ways. As you plan instruction with the strengths and needs of your students in mind, consider also the rigor and demands of the texts you're using and how you're building your students' capacity to meet those challenges. I love the idea of deepening our understanding of this learning challenge by interviewing our students...asking them what it feels like to navigate and struggle with complex text. They are the richest data source we have. I'd love to hear what kids have to say: please email me noteworthy student interview questions and responses related to the experience of a complex text throughout the week. Onward!

This Week:

Classroom visits:

- This week the Admin Team will be coming in to classrooms individually and in pairs to calibrate observations and instructional trends school wide. Thank you for unlocking classrooms whenever possible to minimize disruptions to learning the arrival and departure of observers can cause.

- This Thursday morning beginning at 8:00am, Jonathan Landman (Principal Leader to BHS) & Tommy Chang (Superintendent of BPS) will be visiting BHS classrooms with me to observe instruction in a variety of classroom settings. Classrooms will be chosen at random. Thank you in advance for your flexibility in accommodating this unique visit.

Monday: 

The SEI Department will have its start of year assembly on Monday at 12:10. All SEI teachers are asked to listen for an announcement and to file to the Auditorium with their classes. Thank you to everyone who participated in last week's grade level assemblies.

Tuesday:

 

- Let's get connected! Advisory begins this Tuesday, September 22! Resources to support your first session can be found in the opening day PPT and a calendar of Advisory sessions by topic can be found here. Please see the email from Karen Coyle for full details and support.

- The PBIS team will meet for this first time this year Tuesday in the Library from 2:15-3pm and every other Tuesday opposite of ILT meetings.

This team helps manage, plan and implement the many wonderful things happening at Brighton High to maintain a positive school climate & learning environment for our students.  All are welcome!  No prior experience needed!  Email Laura Schachmut with any questions!

- There will be a meeting of all staff working on the Prieto Retirement Party on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 2:10 in Room 112. Please note the change of location, and see Margaret Judges with questions.

Wednesday: 

- Wednesday is our first Early Release schedule of the year! Dismissal is at 12:53, and Department meetings convene from 1-3pm.

- Departments will meet from 1-3pm this Wednesday in order to finalize Student Learning goals and to articulate instructional next steps toward eroding the challenges of complex texts for our students.

Thursday:

- This Thursday morning beginning at 8:00am, Jonathan Landman (Principal Leader to BHS) & Tommy Chang (Superintendent of BPS) will be visiting BHS classrooms with me to observe instruction in a variety of classroom settings. Classrooms will be chosen at random. Thank you in advance for your flexibility in accommodating this unique visit.

- An open call for Restorative Practices in Action! As we work to ingrain Restorative practices into the very fabric of our school culture, please share examples of successes you've had or witnessed of Restorative practices in action. We can also learn a lot from what not to do! Examples of pitfalls to avoid are also welcome.

Finally, BHS, I want you to know that I get asked a lot how I'm doing. Or how it's going. I have developed any number of deflective go-to responses for a question I feel generally ill-equipped to answer just yet...but on my way out of the building last Friday I saw this sketch. If you've never seen it (as I had not), it is in the hallway outside Ms. Kent's classroom leading to the back parking lot. For me, this image embodies the truest, clearest, most honest response I have for these questions right now. I just love it. How am I doing? How is it going? I'm beginning to see it, all of it, emerging day by day, challenge by challenge, and solution by solution. I see it in the work you're doing everyday with kids, in the conversations you're having with me and with one another, and in our students as they rise to meet new challenges everyday. Thank you all for your help and persistence in taking responsibility for answering these questions with me everyday and fully articulating our vision for BHS together.

With Gratitude-

Emily Bozeman

Interim Headmaster

Brighton High School

Good afternoon BHS Community-
Our first week back was an incredible success!  We overcame the heat to start the new year, and with the arrival of our students, the school truly came alive.  Classrooms were abuzz with activity and new ideas and our school-wide commitment to Rigor, Respect and Inclusivity was evident all around the school.  

First some Thanks You's:

- Thank you all for your patience and assistance as we give a final fine tuning to the schedule.  Big shout outs to our Scheduling and Guidance teams for their perseverance and teamwork in creating a schedule that works for all our students.  This year's opening days for students with scheduling issues ran efficiently, enabling even more students to transition smoothly in the year.  We will continue to triage students arriving for the first time this year in the Library tomorrow.  Please direct students with missing classes or schedules to the Library to meet with the team.

- Thank you to all our tremendous teachers for welcoming our students into a new school year with rich and engaging learning opportunities from the very first day.  My goal is to get into every classroom within the first month of school.  Thank you to those whose rooms I've seen for creating welcoming environments, and establishing routines and procedures to support powerful learning.   Please continue to post clear, student-friendly content and language objectives for all classes.  

- Thank you to all staff for your powerful participation throughout the school day assisting students with transitions and establishing a positive and supportive tone in all areas of the building together.  This week Administrative duties begin.  Assignments were sent out earlier today by Mr. Prieto.  Please be sure to report to all duties on time and to actively assist students in understanding and meeting our school-wide expectations.

This week:

- With the return of more moderate climates, we will be enforcing the dress code for students.  Please encourage students to dress appropriately for school, and to make adjustments to their wardrobe as necessary during the school day.  You can also support appropriate attire for students by your example.  All BHS community members are encouraged to dress professionally everyday.

- Homerooms teachers will begin collecting a $5 Student Activity Fee tomorrow during first period.  This money is critical as it is used throughout the year to support activities, initiatives and resources for our students.  Please enthusiastically encourage all students to contribute their $5.  Envelopes with collection procedures are in your mailboxes.  Deans and Administrators will come around to collect money and envelopes at 8:15am tomorrow.

- Our new tardiness policy, passed by the School Site Council last year, will go into effect tomorrow.  Students arriving to school after 9am will not be allowed to enter.  Please support all students' timely arrival to school and class everyday.

- Aspen Attendance support sessions will run during all three lunch periods tomorrow.  Teachers experiencing difficulties taking accurate class or school attendance are encouraged to attend to receive support on technical procedures and best practices to make this daily responsibility manageable.  Support sessions will run on the following schedule:

First Lunch (second floor):Shalini Malik, Room 201

Second Lunch (first floor): Christine Baumgarten, Room 118

Third Lunch (third floor):Danielle Murray, Room 318

- The Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) will meet for the first time this school year Tuesday afternoon from 2:20-3:20 in the Library.  All are welcome and encouraged to participate in this team, which determines and guides the instructional work of the school.

- Whole-School PD will take place this Wednesday from 2-3pm in the Library.  We will begin to unpack the challenge of equipping all students to make meaning from complex texts.

- Grade level assemblies will take place on the following schedule this week:
  
  Grade 10: Thursday, September 17- 8:30-9:30am
  Grade 11: Friday, September 18- 11am-12 noon
  Grade 12: Friday, September 18- 1pm- dismissal

Please plan your week accordingly.  Teachers are asked to accompany students to the Auditorium and to remain with them throughout the assembly.  


I can hardly believe the first week is over.  Please let me know how we can work together to make this week even better.  Congratulations, everyone.  And welcome back.

With Sincere Gratitude-

Emily Bozeman
Interim Headmaster
Brighton High School

Pic is Worth a Thousand Words...

Team,

See visual representation of the huge success of the ninth grade science fair...  It was a force!  (I couldn't resist).

Enjoy!

!