What’s Good in the Neighborhood, Summer 2020, August 12, 2020

“Antiracist Baby is bred, not born. Antiracist Baby is raised to make society transform,” Is the text on the first page of this book that my daughter, Aruna, is reading.

I intentionally stock Aruna’s library with books that tell true stories of women who have impacted the world in positive ways, picture books that illustrate people of differing races, cultures, and family structures, and stories about kindness, bravery, love, and acceptance. My parenting choices remind me of City Neighbors’ foundational belief that every student is Known, Loved, and Inspired. I’ve always thought that to be known is for others to really see and hear you, to make choices that support your individual growth, and to have rich and meaningful relationships. It has always been clear to me that being loved is being accepted for everything that makes you who you are. Where I used to be confused was the Inspired part. What are they inspired to do? After having thought about this for quite some time, it dawned on me — If you are TRULY known and loved, you then feel safe and supported to take risks, speak out, expand your worldview, impact the world around you, be fully yourself.

This school year, with all of the uncertainty that surrounds us, it is more important than ever that we are intentionally and explicitly supporting our students so that they feel connected (known), accepted (loved), and able to make great strides in their own development (inspired). Our teachers have worked over the summer to develop school wide experiences that foster social-emotional learning, engaging academic experiences, small group instruction for remediation and extension activities, and community. Although we will still be online, it will look, feel, and be very different than it was in the Spring. I look forward to your continued partnership this year!

Warmly,

–Shyla.

Important Dates:

• • Mon. Aug. 17 – Thur. Aug. 20 — The next Family Workgroup meetings are on these dates (See below for more specific information)
  • Fri. Aug. 21 — Deadline to complete all forms for the school year

• Aug. 31-Sep. 4 — During this week, CNH Staff will hold a Back-to-School Online Summit with resources, workshops, and information to help caregivers support their students while learning from home. The exact days and times will be finalized in the Family and Teacher Family Engagement workgroups. Stay tuned for more information!

 

• Thur. Sep. 3 and Fri. Sep. 4 — Materials and Chromebook pick-ups — Here is the link to a Sign-Up Genius for you to select a time for picking up your students’ classroom materials and Chromebook (if one is issued to them). All students will have materials for pick-up.
• Tues. Sep. 8 — First Day of School! We will send a schedule with appropriate links for classes to all students (and their families) the week before school begins.
• PLEASE NOTE: The FINAL School Calendar will be shared in the next What’s Good, one week before school begins. It will reflect all of the changes from the school district with our delayed start and new trimester dates, report card dates, professional development days, etc.

Forms to Complete by Friday, August 21, 2020
Materials and Chromebook Pick-Up	Sign-up for a timeslot to pick up your students’ classroom materials on September 3rd or 4th. Chromebooks will be provided at this time for students who are issued a Chromebook.
Permissions	In this Google Form, you can identify your permissions for photos/media of your child(ren) as well as for Walking Fieldwork around the school (when we are physically back in the building)
Emergency Contact Information	In this form, you will identify who we should call, and in what order, if we need to contact an adult urgently.
Family Directory	This is the space to update/add your information for the Family Directory and identify which information you would like to have shared with other families.
Technology Request Form	Please complete this form even if you do not think you need to borrow technology from the school. We want to inventory what supports are out there and identify ways in which we can support each family in different ways.

 

Donations to the School

Some families reached out to the school over the summer mentioning that they would like to donate the money they didn’t spend on groceries this summer due to receiving the P-EBT card for their children. Other families reached out to me wanting to donate money to support our acquisition of technology to support families this fall.

 

If you would like to donate money to the school (for any reason), the easiest ways are through our CashApp or PayPal accounts. Checks mailed to the school will also be accepted. Please add a note, no matter how you might donate, with how you would like it used (general educational expenses, technology, arts, etc).

• CashApp: $CNH346
• PayPal Donate Button on Website: https://cityneighborshamilton.org/If you aren’t able to donate funds to the school, we would also appreciate your donation of time supporting the general programming needs at our school (all virtual, of course). If you would like to volunteer for the school, please email our Family Participation Board Director Elisabeth Hyleck at ehyleck@cityneighborshamilton.org.  Resources

• Meal Sites
  • This Spring, Baltimore City Schools opened meal sites at any school location that offered. We were one of them. This upcoming school year, the school district is carefully selecting meal sites so that they are spread out evenly throughout the city and in areas of highest need. Here is the link to the school district’s Meal Sites page. It provides information for meal sites as well as other resources for accessing food. Bookmark the link so that you can visit it again closer to the start of the school year to see which schools will serve as meal sites near you.

• Immunizations
  • Baltimore City Health Department’s Immunization program is open by appointment (no walk-ins) Tuesday through Thursday 10AM-2PM. Call 410-396-4454 to schedule an appointment.
  • KIPP Baltimore is serving as a site to provide immunizations by appointment only (no walk-ins). Call 410-793-7263 8AM-5PM to schedule an appointment.
  • All students are required to be fully immunized before school begins. Find the required immunizations here.
  • Stephanie has been working with families this summer to ensure everyone is in full compliance before September 8. Please look for and respond to emails from her, and reach out to her with any immunization questions: sking@cityneighborshamilton.org
  • 

 

Get to Know Ms. Bridget!

Hi all, I am the new 4th and 5th grade Math/Science teacher at CNH. I have been a teacher for the past 6 years in The Bronx and I am so excited to continue my experience here in Baltimore! So far, my career has been centered around teaching mathematics and math intervention, but I also have a Master’s in Literacy and Reading from SUNY Geneseo, where I did both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I am really excited to teach Science this year! In my free time, I love to cook (because I love to eat!), do yoga, go hiking, and spend time with friends and family. I am also a huge fan of reading, especially fiction and fantasy series! I am really looking forward to meeting everyone, virtually, and eventually in person and getting to know more about you and the CNH community.

 Family Work Groups

Some CNH families have met in four different workgroups this summer. Each workgroup has had one meeting so far, with two more left this month. If you are interested in joining a workgroup, the dates and times are below. You can join each workgroup using the same link (https://meet.google.com/ttk-weyr-jhh)

• Monday — Family Engagement, Training, and Collaboration — Help us think through sessions we can have for parents and guardians to help you with supporting your students with their classwork. We are planning a Back-to-School Summit with workshops to help caregivers support student work.
  • Meetings: Aug 3, 17, 31 — 6:00-7:00
• Tuesday — Social Emotional Learning — Brainstorm ways in which we can explicitly teach social-emotional skills with our young people in the classroom, through workshops, as electives, and other ideas you might have that we haven’t considered.
  • Meetings: Aug 4, 18, Sep1 — 6:00-7:00
• Wednesday — Additional Experiences for Students — Let’s consider some extracurricular offerings, electives, and choice-based classes that students can select through online learning platforms.
  • Meetings: Aug 4, 19, Sep 2 — 6:00-7:00
• Thursday — Race, Equity, and Inclusion — Share your expertise with workshops, curricular considerations, book groups, and electives we could offer that engages our students with race and culture through an anti-racism lens.
  • Meetings: Aug 6, 20, Sep 3 — 6:00-7:00 One of the most commonly heard feedback from families after this Spring was that it was hard to navigate different formats with each class, especially for families with multiple children in school. We listened and focused much of our attention on streamlining as much as possible. Google Classroom Template — All learning will be guided and held on Google Classroom, and all teachers are going to use the same template for their Google Classrooms. This way, students and their families will know where to access what form class to class. Below is a screenshot of the Google Classroom template. The current week will always be moved to the top of the list with all other weeks (past and future) in order on the side of the screen. Resources and information that students will need to access throughout the trimester will be posted at the top of the screen.   Online Schedule Overview — Below is an overview for online learning this fall. We have all classes beginning at the same time for all grades in order to provide consistency for families. In order to conduct classes in developmentally-appropriate ways, to minimize screentime overload, and to target instruction effectively, there are some specifics to note:
  • Jupiter Ed is going to serve as the location for all grades, report cards, behavioral communications, and attendance this year for families. Returning families will use the same login that they used during the last school year. New families will receive their initial login information by Friday, August 21st from Kachaelar Jones, our school Receptionist, and Administrative Assistant.
  • Platforms
  • The different workgroups have taken notes that have been and will be saved in this Google folder.

• The length of classes will be shorter for younger grades so they will not necessarily take the entire 45-minute block
• Half of the students in grades K-2 will meet for Literacy Block during Class 1 and the other half will meet during Class 2. The time is scheduled for asynchronous work for students not in class at each time block.
• Our teachers are planning to utilize the Workshop Model as much as possible during classes. This means that there will be a mini-lesson at the start of the class period, and students will be actively engaged with learning the rest of the time. They might be in small break-out groups in the same Google Meet, or they might be working with materials in front of the computer while the teacher works with them.
• Time after 2:35 will be for asynchronous work and supports from Special Educators and Related Service Providers.
• Some of the Class Sessions will be broken into smaller groups with multiple teachers so that students are able to get more 1:1 attention and work on skills and concepts most appropriate to them.
• Students will have Language Arts, Math, Social Studies/Humanities, Science, Arts/PE, Small Group Interventions, Project Study, and Morning/Closing Meetings.