HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH PRODUCTION
“CHANO…….HE LIVES!”
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
CSP FOCUS THIS WEEK
This week we are focusing on our Socio-Emotional Learning Focus area of our CSP. SEL is also a part of the Chancellor’s Strategic Plan. The importance of Socio-Emotional learning is prominent in our school mission.
“We focus on socio-emotional learning as a key part of the instructional program, and our students demonstrate perseverance, ethics and character in the pursuit of excellence. Restorative practices are the foundation of our school climate, as we enhance relationships and build community”
Our school specific strategy to reach this part of the mission is:
“Promote student engagement in a safe and welcoming school environment through community building and restorative practices that increase student and family satisfaction.”
Three of our SMART goals related to this are:
- Student satisfaction will be at 84%+ by EOY, up from 82% – Social Emotional Learning will be at least 80%, and Interpersonal Relationships will be at least 84%
- Home Visits will increase from 34% of the school population to 50% of the school population
- The number of parents attending Portfolio presentations will increase to 25% of the parents in each SLC
We already have begun implementing our action steps, and so far five of the action steps are well underway:
- We are Implementing our Restorative Justice Schoolwide Plan, including the use of circles and other alternatives to suspension.
- We have trained all of our teachers in circles, and they are being utilized at least once/week in advisory sessions.
- The Empowering Young Men of Color program has begun working with our young men, and there will be a kick off event at 1:15 pm on Wednesday, November 1.
- Mr. Hernandez has surveyed our Spanish Language Learners in our Dual Language program to determine their satisfaction and comfort with current strategies; strategies will be adjusted to respond to student needs.
- All students in the high school currently have an early release day once a week to engage in service to the community; in the middle school students are engaging in in-school service and enrichment activities.
We are keeping track of the leading indicators (data) which will help us assess our progress towards our goals throughout the year. So far this advisory, we have had 152 parents at our portfolio presentations, which is about 12% of the parent population. We will continue to work on encouraging and motivating more parents to come to portfolio presentations. We have had 188 Home Visits conducted by 54 teachers, this is about 15% of our population.
We have some initial student feedback by means of the Climate Walk through, and there were significant positive comments showing growth. For example, all students in the focus group felt that they were known well by at least one staff member. This is a key area of student satisfaction. As we progress through the year, we look forward to the feedback and comments of all stakeholders on how we can utilize our Comprehensive School Plan as a tool to reach our school mission. If you would like to get involved with any of our CSP focus areas or goals, please contact any member of the school Leadership Team.
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3
This week’s Parent Teacher Conferences are an ideal opportunity to engage more parents in their child’s learning, by inviting them to the next Portfolio Presentation, and scheduling home visits. For example, if you share the current GRASPS or project with the parent, they will be motivated and interested to see how their child presents his or her knowledge in 9 weeks. This is also an important time to share both strengths and growth areas, and explore with parents how they can support their child’s learning. We also want to reach out about attendance and punctuality, and recognize those who have excellent attendance, and let parents know if their child’s attendance and punctuality needs to improve.
All teachers should have the following ready and available to share with parents:
- All student portfolios (paper or digital)
- Gradebook with grades for all tasks/assignments
- Attendance on Aspen
- Invitations for Portfolio Presentations and Sign up for Home Visits
THERE ARE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE....
- Shout out to all for great portfolio presentations last week and for inviting parents in. We had 152 parents attend!
- Shout out to the CHEC Arts Department for a great performance last week at the Hispanic Heritage Month Assembly!!!
- Kudos to Ms. Whitaker and Ms. Castro for the DCPS recognition that the CHEC Credit Recovery Team is exemplary for paying attention to the whole child and getting students on track for graduation! CHEC’s Credit Recovery Team will represent all of DCPS’s credit recovery programs at the Raise DC Summit at Gallaudet on November 6th!!
- Kudos to the Camp Horizons Chaperones for leading 40 scholars in an experiential activity in the Shenandoah Mountains!!! Ms. Weiss, Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Hinkson, Coach Pough, Mr. Alvarado, Mr. Broad, Mr. Caceres, Mr. Diaz, and Em Morrison (Restorative DC)!!
- Shout out to Mr. Bufford and the College Career Team for organizing the College Fair last Wednesday!
- Shout out to all counselors for getting schedules together and distributing for Term 2!
- Shout out to Mr. Hawkins for Capstone 11 Portfolio Presentations last week!!! There were many parents and students in attendance!!
| October 30 - November 3, 2017 |
IN THIS ISSUE Focus on Instruction Leadership Team and Other Updates Shout Outs Opportunities and Updates Ambiente, creating a climate for learning Sports Update! Weekly Calendar Upcoming Events and Activities |
| LAST WEEK'S RESULTS |
The Middle School Archery Team defeated Leckie and lost to Deal. The Middle School Volleyball Team defeated Kelly Miller and Johnson but lost to Brookland. The Middle School Girls Soccer Team lost to Oyster Adams. The Middle School Boys Soccer Team defeated West. The High School Girls Soccer Team defeated Banneker. The High School Boys Soccer Team defeated Roosevelt. The High School Volleyball Team defeated Cardozo and lost to Wilson. The High School Football Team defeated Phelps. Playoffs begin this week for Middle School Volleyball and High School Soccer and Volleyball. LINCOLN Archery - 4 - 4 Girls Soccer - 3 - 3 Boys Soccer - 5 - 0 Girls Volleyball - 5 - 7 BELL Girls Soccer - 8 - 2 Boys Soccer - 9 - 3 -1 Football – 6 - 3 Volleyball - 10 - 4 |
| THIS WEEK'S SPORTS SCHEDULE |
Monday Middle School Boys Soccer vs. Oyster Adams at CHEC @ 4:00 High School Girls Soccer vs. School Without Walls at Spingarn @ 4:00 (Playoff semifinals) High School Boys Soccer vs. Cardozo at Spingarn @ 6:00 (Playoff semifinals) Middle School Volleyball vs. Stuart Hobson at Stuart Hobson @ 6:00 (Playoff quarterfinals) Tuesday High School Volleyball vs. at @ 4:30 (Playoff quarterfinals) Wednesday Middle School Boys Soccer vs. Stuart Hobson at Randall @ 3:00 High School Boys Soccer Championship at Dunbar @ 5:00 Thursday High School Girls Soccer Championship at Dunbar @ 5:00 High School Volleyball semifinals at TBD @ 5:00 High School Football vs. Coolidge at Cardozo @ 6:00 (Homecoming) Friday No Games Saturday No Games |
| WEEKLY CALENDAR |
Monday Classroom Portfolio Presentations Tuesday AOHT Town Hall – 10:30 a.m. Wednesday Homecoming Game Early Release Day Thursday Term 1 Marks due in ASPEN Today Friday Parent Conferences (students not in school) Homecoming Dance 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m |
UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES |
November 7, 2017 CHEC Latin Jazz Ensemble Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) Crystal Gateway Marriott 1700 Jefferson Davis HWY Arlington, VA 22202 9:15am |
INSTRUCTION
CHEC TEACHERS REPRESENT AT VIL INSTITUTE IN PHOENIX
On October 18-21, Ms. Lakshmi Peddyreddy, Mr. Radames Gonzalez, and Mr. Kervin Smith attended a professional development institute sponsored by Verizon at the University of Arizona. The conference provided them a plan for project-based education on emerging technologies, including Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality with a view to increasing the use of emerging technology to enhance success for small businesses.
The goal is to educate students to utilize Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and other technologies and to provide them with opportunities to work directly with small businesses to improve their fiscal viability. The students would go to the businesses and use design thinking to interact with owners, discuss the challenges they face, and brainstorm about solutions. The outcome would be to increase advertising power and bring in more revenue.
In an experiential exercise, they saw how students could create 360 degree video business cards with augmented reality – to immediately introduce technology into their student-business relationships, and then proceed to have business owners fell more comfortable with technology, to become more tech-savvy, and to increase use of technology to have their businesses become more successful.
In the professional development sessions, our CHEC teachers had an exemplar business talking about the challenges they face, and then working through using technology and digital sources to find budget sources, enhance advertising, and connecting to other businesses to increase success.
The sessions taught our teachers about the Verizon Innovative Learning curriculum that would educate CHEC students throughout the process – with creative ways of merging core subject education with the Verizon curriculum. CHEC is entering the first year of a 3 year engagement with the Verizon Innovative Learning program and AR & VR are the technical concepts that we will cover initially but not the sum total of concepts.
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION ON TERM ONE GRADE REPORTING:
The Term 1 grade window in Aspen is open from October 23rd through November 4th. Term 1 grades are due in Aspen November 3rd and Term 1 GPAs will be run by Academic Planning and Support on November 7th.
Here is a checklist that may aid the process:
• Login to Aspen
• Select Gradebook
• Select the Class you would like to enter grades for
• Click on Scores
• Enter Term 1 grades
• To save – click on Post Grades
The goal is to make the process of releasing student marks (grades) as seamless as possible for students, and their families. This includes the timing of all marks entry by teachers and mailing of report cards and progress reports. It is imperative that all deadlines are met to ensure all students are fully aware of their academic status.
For assistance with entering information or running reports in ASPEN, please contact Deborah Johnson at ext. 5087. or email at deborah.johnson3@dc.gov
SAT TESTING – FROM THE DCPS NEWSLETTER
At Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC) in Ward 1, more than 90 percent of students participated in SAT Day, and the 9th grade participation rate increased by 20 percentage points from last year. School counselor Marianella Castro says that the entire school and district felt invested in SAT Day at CHEC: “The collective preparation and collaboration among the CHEC staff members who proctored the exam; the cafeteria staff who prepared a hot breakfast for students; the staff at DCPS headquarters; the administration at CHEC; and the DCPS volunteers, all helped give the SAT team at CHEC the confidence that encouraged our students to prepare for and partake in SAT Day. Every single person involved at every level helped make the test day processes go smoothly for the students at CHEC.”
OPPORTUNITIES:
UPDATES FROM: LEADERSHIP LOCAL SCHOOL ADVISORY TEAM FLAMBOYAN LIBRARIES
LEADERSHIP TEAM
The Leadership Team will continue to meet on Wednesdays this year. Last meeting, on Wednesday October 25, the team worked on determining our progress in our CSP in the area of English Language Arts. Team members looked at student work and ANET data in determining the progress made. The next meeting with be on Wednesday, November 8, and the ESL Department will present on the progress of English Language Learners, specifically in relation to the impact of our Avance after school program. The Leadership Team is a group of teachers, counsellors, and administrators who meet every week to discuss school needs, and plan for improvements. The Leadership Team designs the school’s comprehensive school plan, and helps in its implementation. Please consider joining the Leadership Team this year. It is open to all faculty and staff. We need the involvement and voices of all. Remember, Leadership team meetings are open to all who are interested in schoolwide decision-making and leadership. You can come once, or as many times as you like, but please make your voice heard!
LOCAL SCHOOL ADVISORY TEAM MEETING - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017
The first meeting of the LSAT for 2017 will take place on Wednesday, November 1, at 5:00 pm in the Cafeteria. The LSAT is a required advisory body for all DC Public Schools, and consists of four parents, four teachers elected by their peers, one community member, and four students. The LSAT advises the principal on the implementation of the Comprehensive School Plan. In this first meeting the LSAT will review the Comprehensive School Plan and discuss celebrations and areas of growth. The minutes of the LSAT Meeting are published on the CHEC website
FLAMBOYAN UPDATE
To date, we have 188 home visits completed by 54 teachers! Great job!!! Congrats to the 12th grade team for taking the lead from the 10th grade team!! 12th grade has visited 51 students which is 20% of the class of 2018!!! Kudos to 7th grade for leading on the middle school side!!!!!
Please remember that our SLC goal for this year is to visit 100% of the families in our PLTs, and the sooner we can accomplish this the better results we'll see in our classrooms.
*Helpful Hints*
Often times the school has tickets that are available free of charge for concerts and sporting events! Look for these opportunities to take students and their families for free! Engage them in conversation about their child's hopes and dreams and that will certainly count for a home visit!! If you know your student has a sibling in another grade at CHEC please partner up with teachers who teach the student. This will offer a richer engagement. You CAN NOT do a home visit for a sibling and you don't teach them! Please give that opportunity for a teacher who teaches that child!
Also...
Teachers! Have you been thinking about taking a World Language Class to better communicate and serve our students, families, and community all while earning CSC points!?!?!?! Sign up for a class on Edgenuity! All teachers should already have an account! Visit edgenuity.com, your username should be your email address and your password is teacher. If you have trouble, Contact the Edgenuity Support Team by phone at (877) 202-0338 ext. 3. Currently, they offer the following languages; Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish!
If you have any questions please reach out to Ms. Whitaker room A 166 ex 5062 or Ms. Gonzalez room C218 ex. 4061.
CHEC LIBRARIES
25 Books Campaign
Join your Columbia Heights Education Campus librarians, Christopher A. Stewart (Bell) and Angela Falkenberg (Lincoln), as we empower CHEC Scholars with the 25 Books Campaign initiative. Our mission is to develop students' momentum as passionate readers while continuing to maintain a high standard off engaged leaders within our culture of reading.
Students, parents, teachers and staff, WE NEED YOU! The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 *Early dismissal at 2:15 PM.
For more information or accommodation, please email Angela Falkenberg (angela.falkenberg@dc.gov) or Christopher A. Stewart (christopher.stewart2@dc.gov)
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BRUNCH WITH THE CHEC/BELL LIBRARIAN FOOD
FOOD, LIT. & BOOK DISCUSSION
Join us as we deepen the community bond through literary engagement and empowerment, we will discuss books, eat food and share stories that make us laugh, hope and dream.
Date: 1st Wednesdays of each Month
Time: 8 AM– 8:30 AM
Location: Corner of 15th Street and Irving
- Wednesday, November 1st, 2017
- Wednesday, December 6th, 2017
- Wednesday, January 3, 2018
- Wednesday, February 7, 2018
- Wednesday, March 7, 2018
- Wednesday, April 4, 2018
- Wednesday, May 2, 2018
- Wednesday, June 6, 2018
CHEC/ Bell High School Library | 3101 16th Street, NW | Washington, DC 20010 | (202) 939-7700 EXT. 5118
Christopher A. Stewart, CHEC/ Bell Multicultural High School Librarian
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FLAMBOYAN UPDATE
To date, we have 174 home visits completed by 54 teachers! Great job!!! Congrats to 12th and 10th grade for leading on the High school side and 7th grade for leading on the middle school. Please remember that our SLC goal for this year is to visit 100% of the families in our PLTs, and the sooner we can accomplish this the better results we'll see in our classrooms.
*Helpful Hints*
Portfolio presentation is a great opportunity to schedule home visits, create a sign in sheet and have parents confirm a time. If you know your student has a sibling in another grade at CHEC please partner up with teachers who teach the student. This will offer a richer engagement.
Also...
Teachers! Have you been thinking about taking a World Language Class to better communicate and serve our students, families, and community all while earning CSC points!?!?!?! Sign up for a class on Edgenuity! All teachers should already have an account! Visit edgenuity.com, your username should be your email address and your password is teacher. If you have trouble, Contact the Edgenuity Support Team by phone at (877) 202-0338 ext. 3. Currently, they offer the following languages; Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish!
If you have any questions please reach out to Ms. Whitaker room A 166 ex 5062 or Ms. Gonzalez room C218 ex. 4061.
Film Opportunity
You're Invited! Attend National Geographic Educators Screening of JANE on Wednesday, Nov. 8th. Reception starts at 5pm and the film begins at 5:45pm.
The film tells the story of Jane Goodall with never-before-seen footage. RSVP by November 6th.
INSTRUCTION
CREATING A CLIMATE FOR LEARNING
XIMENA HERNANDEZ PREPARING HER EMPATHY GRASP.
FOCUS ON UNIFORM (EVEN DURING HOMECOMING WEEK!)
We’ve done a nice job keeping high standards with our uniforms this year, but let’s not let that slip during Homecoming Week. Although we several designated days for student to dress out of uniform, please be sure to be extra vigilant and ensure students are still dressed appropriate. Thanks for ensuring our students have a blast this Homecoming Week, while also keep high standards for uniforms!
The School Climate and Culture Team is looking to implement a PBIS Reward system at CHEC that would allow staff to celebrate students for positive behavior through their smartphone devices/tablets. On November 1st at 1:45pm the team from PBSIS reward will be hosting a demo of their program in the middle school conference. If you are interested in participating in this demo please send Dean Aking or Dean Boone an email
Congratulations to everyone on our first School Culture Climate Walkthrough. As a school we’re well underway to having an excellent climate in the building. At this time, CHEC will begin at Phase 1; however, in collaboration with our school climate specialist, there will undoubtedly be phase progression this school year. We look forward to continuing to move this work here at CHEC becoming a standard of how a positive school culture can look at an education campus in DCPS!
Please view table below to see actionable feedback and next steps on how we can improve our school culture move on to phase 2.
| ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK AND NEXT STEPS | ||
Areas of Strength:
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Areas of Prioritized Concern:
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Suggested (finalization will occur during the debrief):
| ||
Steps for Implementation | Support Needed | Evidence of Success |
SC committee members, exemplar teachers, and SC/SEL Specialist will design and facilitate PD on non-contingent attention and specific positive feedback. | Identification of exemplar teacher to co-facilitate PD. | Increased positive adult-student interactions. Increased student achievement with exemplars by students with actionable feedback. |
SC/SEL Specialist will collaborate with SC committee members to share BOY school climate walkthrough findings and explain shift to restorative practices with stakeholders | Increased awareness of SCI among students, parents, and families | |
SC committee leads, SC committee members, and SC/SEL Specialist will collaborate to determine team member ownership/responsibility of Phase I indicators. | SC/SEL Specialist will attend committee meetings. | Progression to Phase 2. |
School leadership team and SC/SEL Specialist will conduct informal MOY school climate walkthrough. | Schedule possible dates for MOY walkthrough. | Progression to Phase 2. |
Areas of Emphasis this Week Detention: We still have students skipping detention in the afternoons. Detention is a first intervention we have for students to check and correct their behavior in your classrooms. Students being informed of this consequence is vital to the effectiveness of the consequence. Remember to use our 5 step process with fidelity so that our students will not earn a greater consequence of ISS and thus lose valuable class time Hallways: Scholars are expected to walk, to stay to the right, to be in full uniform, use Level 1 voices and to move with a purpose in our hallways. Adults should support these expectations by reiterating expectations frequently, with strong presence in the hallways, by addressing behavior in the hallways, by actively monitoring with teacher-voices and watchful eyes throughout transitions. Dismissal: We always need more support at dismissal from 3:15pm until 3:35pm (High School), 4:15pm until 4:35pm (Middle School). Please follow students all the way out to the front of the building. Students should be encouraged to move on toward their bus stops/metro quickly. Teachers and staff that can make themselves available to stay out front will be greatly appreciated. | ||
WELLNESS
Let’s Talk about Bullying Circle
• • • • • •
Yoga for bullying? Really? Yes. To overcome bullying and being bullied look within. Here are Three Yogic Principles to Combat Bullying:
INFLUENCE POWER
When you act on any of the many opportunities there are to be helpful, soothing, or in any way a positive influence in the lives of others…you’re shaping the world into something better. Be generous that way. Share the good you’ve got going on. Share a lot of it.
Yogic Principle of WISDOM: Be centered in your inner happiness and peace. That in turn influences others.
DO NOTHING
Do nothing means being able to say, “I give up trying to change this flaw. I may not be able to embrace it, but I’m not going to reject it either. Surrender to things just the way they are.
Yogic Principle of SIMPLICITY: A Yogi uses his energy not in outer actions, but lives so peaceful that it turns inward and cleanse his body from the inside.
BE YOU
It’s so simple. But, as straightforward as BE YOU sounds, it’s a very easy thing to get away from. That’s why it’s so impressive when being you happens. Being you happens when you’re doing the smallest, most ordinary, everyday things. But the smallest, most ordinary, everyday things are actually really big things. They’re acts of bravery. Ordinary acts of bravery.
Yogic Principle of CONTENTMENT: Satisfied with what one has.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Let’s Talk about Bullying Circle
• • • • • •
PURPOSE To increase our understanding of the impact of bullying behaviors; to increase the capacity to recognize bullying; to strengthen bystanders’ ability to support targets of bullying.
MATERIALS Talking piece, centerpiece items, bell or sound maker.
MINDFULNESS MOMENT Pause, breathe, and listen to the sound.
OPENING Create your own.
VALUES ROUND Please share a value that for you is connected to Respect. Write a list of those values as participants name them and place the list in the center of the Circle. Review the basic Circle guidelines.
INTRODUCE “ROUNDS” A round is a pass of the talking piece around the Circle.
CIRCLE AGREEMENTS
- Respect the Talking piece
- Listen and speak from the heart
- What is said here stays here, what is learned here leaves here
- You may pass if you have nothing to add
CHECKIN ROUND If you were a kind of weather today, what would the weather be?
MAIN ACTIVITY Reflecting on Bullying Behavior and Our Options for Responding
ROUND What does it feel like to be bullied?
ROUND What actions make you feel bullied?
ROUND Why do you think that a person bullies?
ROUND Remember a time when you saw someone else being bullied. How did that feel?
ROUND What could you do the next time you see someone being bullied?
CHECKOUT ROUND What are you taking away from this Circle that could help you or someone else in the future?
CLOSING Create your own. Thank everyone for participating in the Circle today!
CHEC CREDIT RECOVERY
The CHEC Credit Recovery Team has been selected to be a part of a panel discussion hosted by Raise DC and an initiative of the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor of Education. The Team is recognized by DCPS for leadership in paying close attention to the whole child and the impact they have on getting students on track for graduation. CHEC’s high quality supportive leadership and the innovative strategies that has made Credit Recovery so successful will be featured in a Raise DC Summit on November 6th at Gallaudet University.
CHEC Health and Physical Education
Last week, Erin Lumpkins, DC Public Schools Manager of Health Education, came for a visit and enjoyed what she saw. The visit was featured in the DCPS Health and Physical Education Newsletter!!
CHEC COLLEGE FAIR
CAMP HORIZONS DEPARTURE
CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO ARIANA REYES AND PRIMO FOGAM,
OUR MAXPREP SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
A huge congrats goes out to our High School Girls Soccer team that defeated School Without Walls yesterday in the DCIAA semifinals 3 – 2. The championship game will take place on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. at Dunbar against Wilson. On Tuesday the 31st, our High School Girls Volleyball Team will take on Dunbar in the quarterfinals of the DCIAA playoffs at 6:00 in OUR gym. Please come out and support your Lady Griffins!!!!!!
A special message from Ms. Shanice Abrams, Assistant Athletic Director, DCIAA:
Thank you to all coaches who nominated and voted players for this years’ first ever DCIAA High School Soccer All-League Awards. One behalf of the DCIAA, I would like to congratulate the following winners
Girls All League
Miamour Mesa - Bell
Boys All League
Ismael Lopez - Bell
Boys Player of the Year
Joseph Fogam Primo - Bell
Boys Coach of the Year
Victor Molina - Bell
These winners will receive their awards either at the Boys game on Wednesday or the Girls game on Thursday.
Thank You
Shanice M. Abrams
Assistant Athletic Director, DCIAA
Soccer, Cross Country, Indoor & Outdoor Track and Field