Sunday, September 24, 2017

NewsNotes 9/24/2017



Horace Mann Values - As a staff we spent the early part of the year reviewing our overarching school values and made changes that we felt would be a better reflection of our priorities and our work. I have outlined the values below and provided some examples of what those values look like in action here at school. We shared these with students at last Friday’s All School Assembly. Feel free to have a conversation about what these same values might look like at home.

Be Proud of Who You Are and Accepting of Others
  • Be open to new things (like foods or traditions).
  • Share something you are good at or proud of.
  • Show compassion for a friend who seems upset.
  • Invite a new friend to play.
Be Safe
  • Walk in the halls.
  • Climb ladders instead of slides.
  • Look both ways before you cross the street.
Be Responsible for Your Actions and Words
  • Listen to teacher directions.
  • Apologize when you hurt someone’s feelings.
  • Admit when you make a mistake.
  • Do your assigned classroom job.
Be Respectful of One Another and Our School
  • Use kind words.
  • Clean up after you play a game.
  • Hold the door for someone.
  • Say please and thank you.
Be a Lifelong Learner
  • Be curious and ask questions.
  • Work hard.
  • Try new things.
  • Ask for help when you get stuck.

Early Release Day Professional Development

This Wednesday, September 27th is an early release day for all students. Students will be dismissed at 12:30. Staff will stay and take part in our first professional development of the year, and I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of what we will be working on...

First, a quick summary of our work from last year: Our focus last year was to begin to think about how we could become a more culturally responsive and welcoming school for all. We offered staff opportunities to learn and reflect on what it means to be culturally responsive and we also geared several of our other initiatives with the same thought in mind. These activities included: family engagement opportunities (ELL literacy morning, Title 1 discussion night, Family Buddies, etc.), examination of our book collections and expanding our libraries (classroom and school), and the creation of lessons on prejudice reduction.

This summer, a group of staff continued this effort and looked at the works of James and Cherry McGee Banks (leaders in multicultural education) as the basis for our efforts to truly become a school that reflects our student population and welcomes everyone. Below are four areas were we will continue to focus our work.
  • Content Integration/Knowledge Construction: In this domain, staff will look more closely at how the curriculum can be shaped to include a wider variety of perspectives in meaningful ways. This might mean looking at a wider range of explorers or inventors, or looking at a historical event from multiple viewpoints. Often this topic is referred to as curriculum transformation.
  • Equity Pedagogy: In this area, staff will explore how to teach using methods that take into account the diverse population of students that we serve.This will happen through early year community building activities, classroom structures and practices, and most importantly, different ways to approach instruction. Often this topic is referred to as culturally responsive teaching.
  • Prejudice Reduction: Staff members in this group will continue the work we started last year with our K-5 lesson sequence aimed exposing students to stereotypes, bias, and prejudice reduction. 
  • Empowering School Culture and Social Structure: In this domain, teachers will look at broader school issues that could include designing family workshops, assessing school appearance, looking at special ed referral rates, looking at behavior referrals and responses, and more.
Back to School/Curriculum Night

This Thursday, September 28th, we will host our annual Back to School/Curriculum Night which offers caregivers a chance to hear from the principal, the PTO and classroom teachers about our work this year. We are again offering two info sessions with classroom teachers: a K-2 session and a 3-5 session.

Importantly, this event includes childcare and pizza for all who wish to take part. Childcare will begin at 5:35 and run until 7:30. Please register using the link below to let us know about your plans: https://goo.gl/forms/RTgnLE0iMSXc4eAa2

Below is the schedule of events for the evening:

5:00pm Meeting with families in Metco program
5:15pm Pizza available for all families
5:35-6:10pm K-2 Presentations (childcare begins)
6:15-6:45pm PTO/Principal Presentations
6:50-7:25pm 3-5 Presentations (and childcare pickup for K-2)
7:30 Childcare Pickup




From the PTO










“Mixed Bag” Gift Fundraiser—starts next week!
Our first official fundraiser kicks off next week and we hope everyone will participate! Mixed Bag Designs (www.mixedbagdesigns.com) offers a wide range of great gift items just in time for the holidays. Check out samples on display at Curriculum Night. Order forms will go home next week in your child’s backpack. And the best part: almost 50% of the proceeds go to the Horace Mann PTO for programming that directly benefits our kids. Mixed Bag offers bags, accessories, gift wrap, kitchen items, and more to sell to (or buy for) family and friends. This year's sale runs from October 2-18. Out-of-town family and friends will be able to order online—HM account info to come soon— so please share with all for the holiday season. We will receive the products before Hanukkah (Dec. 12). Please email gakara@aol.com with questions.



Curriculum Night—Thursday, September 28
Our next big school event is Curriculum Night. This is a great opportunity to hear from principal Mark Nardelli on the Horace Mann school philosophy, meet teachers and hear more about their classroom environment/curriculum. You will also hear from the PTO Board on programs and events for you to participate in throughout the year. Please come prepared to pay dues that night if not before to be entered into the raffle!

International Night – Friday, October 13, 6-7:30PM
Help celebrate the wonderful diversity of the Horace Mann community! Get out your cookbooks and prepare your taste buds for a treat. One of the most popular events of the school calendar is around the corner.
• International potluck dinner
• Country tables with food, photos and cultural items
• Multicultural music, activities and prizes
If you would like to host a country table, bring a dish, or help with the event in some other way, please contact Manisha trivedi (mtrivedi036@gmail.com).





PTO Dues
Dues are an important line item in the HM budget to fund many of the programs integral to the school’s curriculum (Creative Arts & Sciences, e.g.). We ask that each family contribute $50 per child at HM as your annual contribution to PTO dues. There are many ways to do this easily—website (horacemannpto.com—click on ‘support’ button), personal check, or any PTO Board Member can take credit cards. You will hear more about this on Curriculum Night – we will be raffling off an Apple Watch as well as tickets to our HM Auction or Mystery Dinner—your choice— for anyone who has contributed their dues up through the end of Curriculum Night!





School photo day is
Monday, September 25th.
Photos must be ordered online or with a form On or BEFORE September 25th in order for Horace Mann to earn a commission. Visit www.coffeepond.com, and order now!