CALL
TO ACTION
● 4 DAYS LEFT IN THE FALL TERM
We are in the final days of the Fall term with 4 days
left of classes until Regents. Make sure
students understand where they stand in their classes before they receive their
final grades and that these grades will be seen by colleges and universities on
their transcripts.
● ATTEND A STAFF TOWN HALL THIS THURSDAY
Our next staff town halls will be
this Thursday, January 18 during Periods 3, 4, 6, 7 & 8 (sorry that I
cannot do Period 5) – please come by to speak with me about anything that is on
your mind about HSFI.
● BE AN ACTIVE PROCTOR / REMIND STUDENTS
ABOUT ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT POLICY FOR STATE EXAMS
As you well know,
Regents/RCT exams begin next Monday, January 22. These are high stakes
exams for our students so we need to be at the top of our game with our
proctoring – in the classrooms, on reserve and the hallways. It would be a HUGE help if you could
remind all students throughout the week about not having cell phone and
electronic equipment on them when they are taking their tests and to place
these devices in their lockers.
FIRST MONDAY REDESIGN FOR SPRING
TERM
Last June, staff and students engaged in “Genius Hour” where we
brainstormed responses to important questions facing our school such as “How
can we get students to feel more connected to the school?”, “How do we help
students develop their voices as citizens in a complex world?” and “How can we
make more cross-departmental curricular connections?” We compiled the
responses and found that there are many suggested activities that we could
engage our students in, but we are unable to implement them given the
constraints of our existing school day structure.
I am proposing that we redesign our 1st Monday structure so that
instead of having students rush between short class periods, we use that time
in a more meaningful way to engage in extended activities centered around areas
of student and staff shared interest. This was discussed at some of our
staff town halls throughout the Fall term.
I am hopeful that this opportunity will go a long way toward community
building and ensuring that all students feel connected and cared for. I
am encouraging all staff to consider hosting a student activity. There
are endless possibilities and areas for exploration and enrichment such as:
Museum visits, Social Issues exploration, Music study, Running
Club, Acting/Improv, College Trips, Sports/Physical Fitness, Community Service,
Art Projects, etc. This time could be used as an extension for existing
clubs or classes or for something entirely new. You could develop your
own activity or team up with another staff member.
This will take a lot of planning and coordination. The first
step is to find out what activities staff members may be interested in offering
students. Please click on the link below to submit a description for how
you might use the First Monday time.
After I have collected staff responses, I will reach out to
students in order to gauge of their interests. I will then look to match
up student and staff interests as closely as possible. Our goal is to
begin on Monday, February 5. Student/staff activity assignments would then last
for the duration of the school year on our First Mondays.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me with a questions or concerns.
MONDAY
|
TUESDAY
|
WEDNESDAY
|
THURSDAY
|
FRIDAY
|
JANUARY
15
NO SCHOOL
|
16
*Regular Bell Schedule
PM Supervisor:
B McGuinness (Rm. 329)
|
17
*Regular Bell Schedule
School Leadership Team
Meeting
Room 821 – 4:00pm
Parents Association
Meeting
Room 829 – 6:00pm
PM Supervisor:
A Rodrigues (Rm. 515)
|
18
*Regular Bell Schedule
STAFF TOWN HALLS
Periods 3, 4, 6, 7 &
8
PM Supervisor:
N Moore (Rm. 228)
|
19
*Regular Bell Schedule
PM Supervisor:
TBD
|
THE ANSWER IS IN THE ROOM
Here are some
highlights of the best practices shared by HSFI
Staff Members. This round focuses on the use of TWR in the classroom:
In the Science Department, Mr.
Stampone created a TWR task for use in his Honors Physics class regarding
energy conservation. The activity prompted students to identify a topic
sentence from a given list. Once students identified the topic sentence,
they continued to write a paragraph as a summary in their notes. This
activity allows students to connect supporting details to a main idea while
summarizing.
In the English Department, the E5
teachers – Ms. Adamczyk, Ms. Drabman, Ms. Heney,
Mr. Kearns, Mr. Wieda, Ms. Russell - created
a guide to writing introductions and conclusions using the TWR G-S-T, T-S-G
method. This will help prepare them for their argument essays on the
Regents.
If you would like to see
all of the activities compiled from last year, as well as the weekly additions,
you can check out the shared Google Folder via the link below.
*If any staff member
would like to share a lesson, activity, or best practice,
send it to Ms. Paz at spaz@hsfi.us or Mr. Kearns at kkearns@hsfi.us
REFLECTIONS FROM OUR LEARNING PARTNERS PROGRAM VISITS TO OTHER
HIGH SCHOOLS
As part of the Learning Partners Program, Mr. Blank,
Ms. Moore, Mr. Kearns and Ms. Paz recently visited Art and Design High School
and Brooklyn Bridges Academy. Here are
the reflections:
ART & DESIGN
HIGH SCHOOL
During our classroom visits we focused on and gave feedback on the use of texts in the classroom, academic vocabulary, questioning, and writing in the classroom. Here are some highlights of the visit.
(1) Most of the classes were reading content specific texts at some point during the lesson. In some classes, images and documents were used in place of written text. It was interesting to see the various ways teachers used texts in the classroom and how students were accessing the texts in different ways.
(2) Academic vocabulary was used in most of the classrooms. This came in several forms which include word walls, SAT terms of the day, as well as introduction of relevant academic vocabulary within the lesson.
(3) In several classes, students were asked to create their own questions (sometimes reaching level DOK
During our classroom visits we focused on and gave feedback on the use of texts in the classroom, academic vocabulary, questioning, and writing in the classroom. Here are some highlights of the visit.
(1) Most of the classes were reading content specific texts at some point during the lesson. In some classes, images and documents were used in place of written text. It was interesting to see the various ways teachers used texts in the classroom and how students were accessing the texts in different ways.
(2) Academic vocabulary was used in most of the classrooms. This came in several forms which include word walls, SAT terms of the day, as well as introduction of relevant academic vocabulary within the lesson.
(3) In several classes, students were asked to create their own questions (sometimes reaching level DOK
(4) In other classrooms, teachers were asking
clarifying questions to lead the conversation as well as to check for
understanding.
BROOKLYN BRIDGES ACADEMY
BROOKLYN BRIDGES ACADEMY
Brooklyn Bridge Academy is a small transfer high
school serving under-credited students ages 17-21, who for various reasons, did
not succeed at their original High Schools.
During our classroom visits we focused on and gave
feedback on the use of “elaboration”, and literacy initiatives in the
classroom. Here are some highlights of the visit.
(1) Despite the challenging population and their
struggles with attendance, Brooklyn Bridge Academy has created a very positive
environment for their students. All students and staff seemed very well
versed in the expectations and protocols of the school. In particular,
all students kept writers “notebooks” and often meet one on one with their
teachers to receive targeted feedback. On top of this, every student in
the school has independent reading time at the end of their extended 3rd
period, where students can choose from a very wide range of high interest
texts.
(2) Teachers were actively engaged
in helping students “elaborate” on their ideas both in whole class discussion
and in writing. In whole class discussion, students were often pushed to
build off of their own responses or their peers responses. Writing tasks
were always open ended and there was a push for revising and developing their
own work.
Feel free to reach out to Ms. Paz
or Mr. Kearns with any questions or for more information on these Learning
Partners visits.
IMPORTANT
INSTRUCTIONAL REMINDERS
● OUR INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS FOR 2017-18 & BEYOND
□ Every student feels cared
for
□ Every student feels
challenged
● FIRST MONDAY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES / STUDENT WORK
PLCs--Academic
Teachers: please make copies of student work before the term ends so you're
prepared for the Feb. 5 PLC!
● SPECIAL EDUCATION REMINDERS
We in
room 329 wanted to provide everyone with a reminder regarding students with
IEPs and SESIS as well as the sections of the IEP which you may find most
helpful when planning your instruction. While reviewing the IEP you may notice
your Teacher Form responses or information you shared during the meeting- this
is a great example of how your insight helps us to create an authentic, student
specific IEP. In addition to asking a special educator, you can easily
determine which students in your class have IEP's by reviewing your class
roster. If the first or last character of the students’ official is a letter,
the student has an IEP. Generally, but not in all cases, a letter at the end
means the student receives SETSS services, while an I, C, or T at the beginning
will signify an ICT placement.
There are exceptions where students have been moved from one placement to another based on their needs and this is why it is incredibly important to reference the IEP. Students within our D75 Inclusion Program will have an L as the first letter of their official class and at this time will not appear when you log-in to SESIS. This year we will continue to distribute an electronic standards-based Teachers Form. The information you are required to complete on this form is subject specific and your insight will better help us in determine the needs of our students with IEPs. The Teacher Form in conjunction with your participation at the IEP meeting (if you are invited) are two critical elements we need in order to best serve our students. We try to plan our IEP and Triennial meetings with teacher schedules in mind, however there are times when families are only available at specific times and a coverage will be requested for your class.
Our monthly SIT meeting addresses concerns surrounding Special Education (placement, initials, etc.) and is announced in advance in the Weekly Notes. All are welcome and encouraged to attend and if you are interested in becoming a regular member just let us know.
There are exceptions where students have been moved from one placement to another based on their needs and this is why it is incredibly important to reference the IEP. Students within our D75 Inclusion Program will have an L as the first letter of their official class and at this time will not appear when you log-in to SESIS. This year we will continue to distribute an electronic standards-based Teachers Form. The information you are required to complete on this form is subject specific and your insight will better help us in determine the needs of our students with IEPs. The Teacher Form in conjunction with your participation at the IEP meeting (if you are invited) are two critical elements we need in order to best serve our students. We try to plan our IEP and Triennial meetings with teacher schedules in mind, however there are times when families are only available at specific times and a coverage will be requested for your class.
Our monthly SIT meeting addresses concerns surrounding Special Education (placement, initials, etc.) and is announced in advance in the Weekly Notes. All are welcome and encouraged to attend and if you are interested in becoming a regular member just let us know.
● PARENT INFORMATION LISTING
Familiarize yourself with our student list with
all their Parent Contact information
If you get an updated phone number and/or email
of a student that is different from the information in this document, email AP
Danielle Silva at DSilva3@schools.nyc.gov – include Student Name & 9 Digit ID - with
the correct, updated contact information.
This list will also be added to the Staff Homepage
OPERATIONAL
NEED TO KNOW
● CHECK YOUR DOE & HSFI EMAILS EVERYDAY
● HSFI STAFF HOMEPAGE LINK - https://sites.google.com/a/hsfi.us/hsfi-staff-portal/
● ELEVATOR UPDATE
Great news on the elevator front –
the NYC Department of Education has just approved a full repair project of all
6 elevators – this project will include preventive maintenance of each elevator
- one elevator at a time will be shut down as work is being performed. Repairs
have begun already. We will be sending
updates daily on the status of the elevators.
Additionally, beginning at 4:30 pm
each day, we will only have 1 elevator on each side in operation in order to
minimize the work load on the elevators.
Thank you for your patience with
this situation – as you can see, the issues will be taken care of.
● FALCON HEALTH CENTER PHONE ISSUES /
CONTACT #
There is a glitch with the Falcon Health
Center phone system, so unfortunately the only way to get in touch with
the Falcon Health Center is to call directly using the number (646)
559-9351. Their phone system is being
serviced and we hope to get you a direct extension soon.
● TEACHERS’ CHOICE ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT DUE
THIS FRIDAY
January 14, 2018 was
the deadline for purchasing.
January 19, 2018 -
Accountability Report w/original receipts due. Please bring to the
Payroll Office.
● ELECTRONIC W-2 FORMS
To choose this option, log into your
NYCAPS Employee Self-Service account at nyc.gov/ess.
Select the Change W2 Print Status option.
● ATTENDANCE SHEETS ARE LEGAL DOCUMENTS
There continue to be issues with
staff filling out attendance sheets – absent students are being marked present
which could put the school in legal jeopardy.
Make sure your attendance sheets are accurate.
□
Please keep your attendance sheets for the week of January 15
□
All November Confirmation Sheets should have been returned by January
5.
□
You are responsible to keep attendance records for your classes.
□
Please make sure to return all December Attendance Sheets
□
Please make sure to take accurate attendance. We have several students out of
the country and some teachers are marking them present
● CANNOT LEAVE STUDENTS UNATTENDED
You cannot leave students
unattended anywhere in the building – a classroom or office, the Auditorium or
Cafeteria – if you have to leave a particular area, ask the students to leave
with you.
● PROTOCOLS FOR RESPONDING TO CLASSROOM
INCIDENTS
In the event of an incident in your classroom that creates
disruption (student is defiant and / or uncooperative) but is NOT A THREAT
to student and/or staff safety, the following protocol should be followed:
□ Classroom management,
i.e., using your skills as an educator to move on from the situation, followed
by
□ A phone call to your
Supervisor informing them of the incident and the steps you have taken to
address the matter, followed by
□ A referral to the
Peace Center and/or the Guidance Department via Google Docs., followed by
□ Outreach to parents,
informing them of their child’s misbehavior, and request for family support to
correct the matter.
In the event of an incident in your classroom that involves an immediate
THREAT to student and/or staff safety, the following protocol should be
followed:
□ A phone call to the Peace Center (x1491 or x1431) informing
available staff of the incident and requesting assistance, followed by
□ A phone call to School Safety (x1341) informing them of the
location and nature of the incident and requesting assistance, followed by
□ A call to your Supervisor informing them of the incident and the
steps you have taken to address it.
● KEEPING TRACK OF STUDENT ACTIVITY / COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS
ABOUT SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Tracking Activity
In our effort to understand how ALL our
students are doing, we need to know how much students are participating in
activities around the building – this includes:
TUTORING / CLUBS & ACTIVITIES / PSAL SPORTS
– PRACTICES & GAMES / ESL ACADEMY
MAKE-UP LABS / NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY PEER
TUTORING / USING THE COMPUTER LABS
Use this link to keep track of student
attendance in these activities - https://sites.google.com/a/hsfi.us/hsfi-staff-portal/attendance-for-student-activities
Doing this is mandatory if you oversee these activities and
needs to be done every time you meet with students. You must be signed in
to your own hsfi.us account when you do this. Contact Shannon Kohm with
questions at skohm@school.nyc.gov, or ext. 5311
Communication
Please make sure that you communicate with our
students about anything going on in the school – a club meeting, sports game or
program opportunity – you can do this by including it in our Daily
Announcements email / Jupiter message – here is the procedure for submitting
this information:
(1) Go to the HSFI Staff Home page - https://sites.google.com/a/hsfi.us/hsfi-staff-portal/home?pli=1
(2) From there use the Announcement
form link on the left hand side of the page - all announcements should be
requested by 3:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
WEEKLY
PARENT COMMUNICATION
● FASHIONABLE TIMES BLOG
Just like we maintain a blog for staff, we
maintain a weekly blog for HSFI Parents that includes a weekly message from
me. The link is:
STUDENT
INFORMATION RESOURCE
● NYC DOE STUDENT PROFILES
The NYC Department of Education has created a central
location to access key student information – www.nycenet.edu/studentprofile
You have been emailed a one page summary of this
resource. Here are the key categories of
the ‘Student Profile’:
● Grades
– current and historical report card grades
● Assessments
- previous Regents scores
● Attendance
- current and historical daily attendance including lateness
● Schedule
– students’ current schedule
● Details
– student biographical and demographic information including Special Education
and English Language Learner (ELL) status
● Enrollment
– enrollment history including all NYC schools attended
● Guardians
– all the adults on the students’ biographical record including contact
information and preferred language
STAFF MEMBERS WHO SOARR
The
SOARRing staff showcased below come from nominations from their supervisors and
their colleagues. You can nominate a
colleague by using the email: PBISDataTeam@hsfi.us
Please
include the reason why your colleague has SOARRed!
Thank
you to all the staff members who have contributed to our best practices sharing
- MR. STAMPONE, MS.
ADAMCZYK, MS. DRABMAN, MS. HENEY, MR. KEARNS, MR. WIEDA & MS. RUSSELL -
the sharing spirit at HSFI is alive and well!
Thank
you to MS. VEGA for her tremendous leadership of
SING – the performance was incredible and brought tremendous pride to the HSFI
community – you could see how passionate the cast and crew of SING were about
the production – it could not have taken place without the dedication of Ms.
Vega; Thank you to MS. PAZ & MS. FECSKO for
their incredible contributions to the SING production and giving up so much
time and energy to support this impressive production!
Thank
you to MS. McKEON for her efforts in organizing
such a successful College Awareness Day – the pennants on our classroom and
offices will generate student knowledge of a wide range of colleges and
universities.
Thank
you to MS. BATTS for making an outside connection
to support the development of our emerging Debate Team.
Thank
you to MS. SCHLEIN for being nominated and selected to attend Geometric Sculpture, an Academy for Teachers
master class. Participants like
Ms. Schlein become Fellows of The Academy for Teachers, joining a growing
number of the city's strongest educators.
Thank
you to all the staff members who were part of the Admissions team this past
Friday night to interview prospective applicants for next year’s freshman class
- MS. CHAVEZ, MS. KASS, MS. KLEPACKI, MR. STAMPONE, MS.
DAMIAN, MS. VACCARO, MS. BATTS, MS. STAMBOULY, MR. TALLONE & MS. SILVA.
Thank
you to MS. BAILEY, MS. CASTRO, MS. CUFFIE, MS. DAMIAN, MR.
DAWSON, MS. DYE, MS. DUCK, MR. LACHOK, MS. LaTANZA, MS. McCAULEY, MS. PINTO
& MS. SEVERINO-NORTMAN for welcoming in the ‘The Writing Revolution Team’ and for
working hard to make our students stronger writers.
Thank
you to MS. BALMIR & MS. CARTER for helping dress the mannequins in the lobby
to exhibit amazing student work and show off what our amazing students can
create.
Thank you to all the staff involved in the administration of our CTE NOCTI exams - Thank you to MS. RICCI & VACCARO for organizing the written NOCTI exams; Thank you to MS. HERZOG for for always helping to ensure our NOCTI exams have proper coverages; Thank you to MS. ALLEN, MS. BALMIR, MS. BATTS, MS. CHAVEZ, MS. CISSE, MS. DAVID, MS. KING, MS. PARISSE, MS. ROJAS, MS. SEIFERT, MS. YOUNGBLOOD & MS. WEINREB for serving as teacher proctors for the exams.
Thank
you to MS. ROJAS for her hard work with her Junior Draping students. These
students created interdisciplinary presentations (videos and PowerPoint) to
teach others technical draping skills AND the specific math strategies used to
create the various patterns.
Thank you to MS. STAMBOULY, MS. WEINREB & MR. JOCELYN for being nominated by their fellow CTE teachers & staff as CTE team members of the month.
Thank
you to MS. RUFF for engaging in an SEL conversation with a student and following
up on next steps.
Thank
you to MS. ROBINSON for writing a grant to support our PBIS program.
VTODs
FOR THE WEEK
January
16 Science Tuesday
Polarity: (n) 1. A state in which two ideas
or opinions, are completely opposite or very different. The polarity of the
candidates' views on the issue means that the voters have a clear choice to
make. 2. the condition of having opposite electrical charges. Due to the
unequal distribution of electrons in a water molecule, one part of the molecule
is more negatively charged than the other part.
January
17, CTE Wednesday
Gradation: (n) A gradual transition from one
color, tone, or surface to another. The
improved dyeing techniques meant more sharply delineated designs and color
gradations. “I see each petal distinguished from the next, with proper color
gradation from the subtle pink hues to the deeper reds.”
January
18, ELA Thursday
Articulate: 1. (v) to express ideas clearly
and effectively in speech or writing. Talking of her early years, Madonna said,
“I was aware of the power of music at that point, not that I could articulate
it to anyone.” As the term progressed, the students were better able to
articulate the effect of a poet’s
techniques on the meaning and tone of a poem.
January
19, SS Friday
Circumstance: (n) A condition or fact that
affects a situation, action or event. Let’s try to better understand your present
financial circumstances, so you can plan for the future. Feeling forced by circumstances, the Soviet
Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in
1939.
ADDITIONS
TO THE BLOG
If you are interested in adding
something to the Weekly Bulletin Blog, please email Angela Ianniello – AIanniello@schools.nyc.gov – by Wednesday of that week. Submissions emailed after this deadline will
be placed in the following week’s Blog.
