It is hard to believe we reached 100 days of school on February 14 that February recess is next week. A reminder at this time that all schools are closed from Monday, February 21 to Friday, February 25 for this recess. We hope you have a wonderful week, and we look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday, February 28.
In this issue:
School Committee
Teaching and Learning
Registration 2022-2023
BPS Staff Openings
Preschool Availability
School News
FBE News
Helpful Links
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Health and Mask Mandate Update: Please see the latest health update from the February 15 meeting with a mask mandate update and current vaccination rates. As you may be aware, we communicated to families on February 9 the DESE decision to rescind the state-wide school mask requirement when it expires on February 28. The DESE decision stated that "masking policies" will revert to "local control." Masking is still required on all school buses per federal order. Please see the DESE announcement.
Prior to the DESE decision, the Belmont Board of Health (BOH) on February 7 discussed possible updates to the town-wide mask mandate, jointly adopted with the Belmont Select Board, and also the separate mandate for Belmont Public Schools. The BOH will revisit these issues on March 7. Given the Board of Health's schedule, the School Committee plans to discuss this matter at their next meeting on March 8.
The School Committee and school administration are actively meeting with the Belmont Education Association to discuss health mitigation issues already agreed upon in a joint Memorandum of Agreement inclusive of mask wearing in schools. The School Committee Policy Subcommittee is scheduling a meeting over February break to discuss the masking mandate policy. As a reminder, per the BOH and School Committee policy, the mask mandate is still in place until further notice.
In order to gain as much data as possible when we return to school, the district is providing at-home test kits to all students and staff who signed up for them, ideally to be used on Sunday, February 27 and another test during the week of February 28.
Upon the return from February break, COVID Rapid Response (pooled testing) will be condensed from a five day rotation to a three day rotation (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) the week of February 28. This will allow the district to have all students and staff (who participate) tested twice in the first three days upon their return and will give helpful data to monitor any upticks in cases. In addition during the week of February 28, schools will receive and distribute at-home tests for staff and students to be used during the following weeks of March 7 and March 14. You will receive a communication regarding take-home tests and pooled testing this week from the nursing department.
As you know, we are participating in a statewide at-home testing program that will increase testing of our participating students and staff. We want to remind you at this is a voluntary testing opportunity only available to those who fill out an opt-in form. In addition to this new at-home program, we will continue with routine COVID safety checks (pooled testing). Please see the nursing department COVID Safety Check Update and Take-Home Antigen Test Information sent to families on February 8. As always, see the town and school COVID dashboards and the school Wednesday COVID communications for weekly updated information.
FY23 Budget Discussion: The School Committee held public forums on January 18, February 1, and February 15 to present and discuss initial and preliminary thinking for the FY23 budget. A first draft of the budget was originally discussed at the School Committee meetings on January 11 and January 18. At the February 15 meeting, the Budget Book Process and a look at the FY23 Budget was presented and discussed. This process of discussing draft budgets with the School Committee and the public is the beginning of constructing the formal budget presentation as we discuss what is needed to support students and staff for FY23 and for FY24.
The use of ARPA funds, along with ESSER and Free Cash, will get us through FY23. The challenge ahead is that we will fully expend our ESSER funding in FY23, which means we will only have the use of remaining ARPA funds and Free Cash in FY24. We will need to plan carefully for the 2023-2024 school year as we move our grades 7 and 8 students to the new school, which comes with additional expenses. We have asked our school Leadership Council to identify potential needs we have for next year not yet represented in our operating budget or our ESSER budget. We will continue to highlight budget discussions in the School Committee meetings as well as have district meetings with school leadership, the town administrator and committees leading up to Town Meeting in the spring. The Budget Book was presented at a joint meeting of Select Board and Warrant Committee on February 16 and will be available on the budget page of the BPS website this week..
School Calendar 2022-2023: The SC voted on the school calendar for 2022-2023 at the January 18 meeting. School will begin after Labor Day due to the needs of the Belmont Middle High School Building Project and construction work that needs to occur during the summer.
BHS Program of Studies: The School Committee voted on the BHS program of Studies for the 2022-2023 school year at the January 18 meeting. Originally presented to the School Committee at the January 4 meeting, the presentation outlines three new courses students can look forward to in the fall - AP World History: Modern, Chinese 5 Honors, and Statistics and Probability Honors.
YRBS Follow Up: The School Committee discussed the Belmont Wellness Coalition recommended follow up regarding the YRBS survey given this past fall to middle and high school students. Included in this discussion are recommended priorities for the coming school year. The Belmont Wellness Coalition held a meeting for families on January 25 to talk about their thoughts moving forward. Please see their monthly meeting page for more information.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Assistant Superintendent Janice Darias led a full day session for educators and administrators on February 2 on the topic of Universal Design in teaching and learning (UDL). UDL is an important instructional and curricular strategy that makes learning more accessible for all students. This widely regarded teaching tool supports the district SEL work, equity work, and acts in conjunction with project-based learning.
REGISTRATION FOR INCOMING KINDERGARTNERS AND FAMILIES NEW TO BELMONT 2022-2023
Online registration for incoming kindergartners and grades 1-12 who are new to Belmont is now open. For more information, please see our registration pages (K-4 and 5-12) on the BPS website. Please note, you do not have to register an existing BPS student.
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 AVAILABILTY
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.
SCHOOL NEWS
Belmont Elementary Schools:
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Wellington dedicated a day to the concept of peace on December 20. They began exploring the multiple aspect of peace between ourselves, others, and throughout large and small communities. The school held activities related to the concept of peace, and everyone participated in a school-wide art project. Butler Art Teacher Sofija Chroneos compiled the student's individual artwork into a school art display.
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Wellington had a visit from Acton Discovery Museum for in-school enrichment for kindergarten and grade 2 students. The second graders learned about the Physical Changes of Matter, and the kindergartners participated in Force and Motion.
- Butler Family Literacy Week was held January 31 to February 4. There was a different virtual activity every day including a read aloud with Principal Julie Babson, Reading BINGO, children submitting videos of themselves reading, and a special treat of five BHS students reading their favorite children's book.
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The Lexington Elks donated dictionaries to 375 third graders at all four elementary schools. Our students were thrilled to receive them, and wrote thank you notes. We thank the ELKs for making this donation possible.
- Elementary schools recognized the 100th day of school on February 14 by creating puzzles, charts, and engaging in other counting and fun activities. Winn Brook School held their annual food drive benefiting the Belmont Food Pantry with the goal of collecting 100 items per classroom. Students connected the Food Drive to math by counting and graphing the donations. Please see the picture gallery below.
Belmont High School:
- BHS Marauders of the Week for February 11 are Iyonna Henderson and Bianca Brezinsky, for January 28 is Megan Kornber, January 14 is Sami Awad, for January 10 are Sofia Bili Rossi and Lisa Bili Rossi. Please read more about these seniors on the BHS website.
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BHS Symphonic Band members perform for the entire school every Friday at the end of the school day. On the same day, band members have just a half hour to learn the music as an ensemble, which includes small group sectional rehearsals, before their performance. The band then heads up to the main foyer just before the bell and "plays the school out" for the weekend with funk, soul, rock, hop hop, and more. A great end to the week and start to the weekend!
Chenery Middle School:
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CMS 8th grade teams each participated in an assembly (organized by the CMS PTO Upper School Enrichment committee) this month to complement their ELA unit on the book Refugee by Alan Gratz. Representatives from the political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project, the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants, and the Immigrant Learning Center came to speak with students about the refugee experience and answer their questions. In addition, the 8th grade teams hosted a donation drive to assist refugees who are resettling in New England. The donations were delivered to the International Institute of New England prior to the winter break.
- CMS sixth grade students participated in a virtual field trip to the Peabody Museum, sponsored by the Chenery PTO, where they met archeologist Melina Seabrook. Students learned about what archeologists do and specifically focused on Melina's specialty - using ancient bones to help discover how people in our earliest civilizations lived.
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CMS Community Service Club held their annual food drive benefiting the Belmont Food Pantry. There were more than 3,000 items collected for the food pantry, delivered before the winter break. The Belmont Food Pantry says this annual drive is the biggest food drive for them to provide food and resources to Belmont residents.
- A regional team of four students won first place in the Arts and Technology category in the tenth annual 2021 NASA Space Apps Challenge. Three of them are from Belmont, Yuto Yashiro from CMS, siblings Takeshi and Misaki Assumi from BHS, and the fourth is a student from Bedford High School. The contest had over 28,000 registrants from 162 countries and territories. The team, named "Jimmy in the Box, is one of ten winning teams representing the top ten projects submitted from over 2,800 projects received.
- CMS students from Chinese class worked together to create a New Year Introduction video. Chinese Teacher Bei Zhang says the video was shared with Chenery students and the ELE department and families.
FBE NEWS
The Foundation for Belmont Education (FBE) awarded the Learning Excellence Grants, totaling $5,982, and the Innovative Teaching Initiative Grant, totaling $1,300. We thank the FBE and the community for supporting Belmont Public Schools.
HELPFUL LINKS
For your convenience, below are links to useful information.
Belmont Public Schools:
Town and State: