Principal's Weekly
Dr. Beth N. Choquette
Bridge Street School
2 Parsons Street
Northampton, Massachusetts 01060
413-587-1460 (phone) 413-587-1484 (fax)
Beth N. Choquette, Principal bchoquette@northamtpon-k12.us
Elizabeth Peterson, Administrative Assistant epeterson@northampton-k12.us
Jordan Celino, Secretary jcelino@northampton-k12.us
Nora DeJasu, Head Teacher ndejasu@northampton-k12.us
Translation of the Principal's Weekly
At the top of the weekly email, there's a link that reads "View it in your browser," click that and it takes you to the post on a webpage.
Scroll to the bottom where there's a black menu bar and pick the option that says "Translate."
Select the language you would like it translated in and it will then translate it on the webpage.
Traducción del semanario del director
Le gustaría traducir esta carta de noticias? Aquí están los pasos para traducirlo:
En la parte superior del correo electrónico semanal, hay un enlace que dice "Verlo en su navegador", haga clic en eso y lo llevará a la publicación en una página web.
Desplázate hacia la parte inferior donde hay una barra de menú negra y elige la opción que dice "Traducir".
Seleccione el idioma en el que desea traducirlo y luego lo traducirá en la página web.
A Message From Principal Choquette
I'd like to welcome Jordan Celino to the Bridge Street School family, Jordan has been hired to replace Nicole Soutra as our secretary. Ms. Celino's first day with us will be October 14th and we are looking forward to working with her. Welcome Ms. Celino!
Superintendent Provost has asked us to share the link to a survey about moving from remote to hybrid learning. The school committee will be considering whether the district should move from the remote to the hybrid learning model at an upcoming public meeting. Several members of the school committee have asked for input from families and teachers to help them make their decision. Your answers will be completely anonymous. If you prefer not to answer any question, you can skip it. Thank you for taking the time to share your views on this important issue. Here is the link in English and in Spanish: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ecpyJRkcY-RCUqOgPQ5-Eq0l0PDnjInd-RuaQfPycUU/edit?ts=5f763248&gxids=7757
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EvNkWTSxIV4G3QbNmMjtrtxSMVgr-mj7n6kTYhBbC0w/edit?usp=sharing
I have been so impressed with all of our students and how good they are with following the protocols around health and safety. We offer gentle reminders to our students when they forget to wear their mask over their nose or when they get a little too close to their peers. They have all been amazing and I am so proud of them.
As a reminder, the school playground is not open to the public during school hours (8:45-3:00). This also holds true for BSS students who are not in person at the school. I know this is difficult to understand, but it is really important that we keep the same cohort of students together during the day and that they are not mixing with other students or adults who are not in school with them. If you are in need of getting some outdoor play, please feel free to use Lampron Park and the equipment there. Thank you for your cooperation with this and helping to keep everyone safe and healthy.
Some of you have asked about having the specials teachers (art, music, PE, and library) zooming into the classroom teachers zoom link rather than having students go to a separate link for specials. We are going to continue to have students use a separate link for specials. The specials teachers teach in more than one building and have 30+ classrooms they teach. If they had to keep track of over 30 zoom links it just wouldn't be an efficient use of time. Additionally, the specials teachers have many files already uploaded into their own zoom links. If they were to use a teacher's zoom link, they would not have any of their uploaded materials available to them. The zoom links should be easy to access from your classroom teacher's google classroom or class dojo page. If you arrive late to class, and a specials teacher is sharing their screen, they will not be able to see the waiting room. It is important for students to arrive to their specials classes on time in order to avoid that. Teachers can also assign a student to be in charge of the waiting room and letting students into the class from the waitlist as a classroom job where appropriate and depending on the grade level. Remote teaching is challenging just as remote learning is. I know I speak for all of our teachers in thanking you for your patience and understanding as we become more familiar with the technology.
We are no longer able to exchange computers at the school. If you are in need of a replacement computer or hotspot, please do not bring them to the school. There are two immediate options for caregivers:
- Create a ticket for someone on IT to get back to them, the portal is at http://nps-support.northamptonit.info/support/tickets
- Schedule a drop off for replacement, they can schedule a time to come to James House for that. The appointments can get scheduled here, https://calendly.com/npschromebookrepair/chromebook-repair
I know this is not ideal, but it is extremely important to streamline the process in order for the technology department to keep up with the numerous technology needs. There is new information below under the Technology heading.
Forbes Library has many great supports for students and families. Please check out the two links below to access their flyers in English and Spanish.
http://www.libraryaware.com/1229/Posts/View/e1f125dd-e616-47a6-966c-5e5972fe83f9?SID=
http://www.libraryaware.com/1229/Posts/View/3c5b2bec-7890-4d8e-b07e-2551ebdaf62d?SID=
Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday, October 9th, as it is a professional development day for teachers.
Finally, I know how challenging remote learning has been for so many of you. I am truly sorry that we are in this situation and want more than ever to have us all back together. Until we can do that, I hope you know how much the teachers and I support you. I hope that you will not hesitate to reach out if there is anything you need. We truly are a family, and we need to support and help each other through this time.
Thank you and have a wonderful night.
Important Information from Nurse Jessica
New Flu Vaccine Mandate
Code of Conduct, Character, and Support
Social Justice Corner
Hopes
My second example of being hopeful, was when the news came out about our president and many others around him, having Covid-19. I was not hoping that he or anyone else would get it, rather I was hopeful and remain hopeful that by getting this horrific virus, that it will make him realize that this virus is real and is not and should not be political. This virus does not care who you are, your gender, your color, your religion, or your power. No matter what you feel, what your political beliefs are, nobody deserves to get this virus. Too many people have lost their lives. So, I hope that all of us can find it in our hearts to wish the president and those around him a speedy recovery and remain hopeful that somehow by contracting this virus that he and others will see the importance of wearing a mask and taking the proper measures to ensure the safety and well-being of the American people.
Forbes Library
Forbes Library has two great anti-racism webinars coming in October hosted by the #1 New York Times best-selling author Tiffany Jewell, one for youth ages 11-16 and one for adults (including parents, teachers and caregivers). All registrants get a free copy of Tiffany's book,This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on how to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work.
REAL
REAL (Racial Equity & Learning) is an NEF–funded project that brings together Northampton public school teachers, staff, students & caregivers to fulfill the project’s mission: support & strengthen our school community by developing an intentionally anti-racist culture. Check out our website at https://realnorthampton.com and follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/REALNoho) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/real_noho).
REAL will be hosting an open meeting via zoom on Tuesday, October 27 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. This will be an opportunity for new members to learn more about REAL and for current members to (re)connect in a less structured/more social environment than our current subcommittee meetings.
And REAL’s NPS Community Resource Network Subcommittee (formerly named “NPS Equitable Reopening”) will meet again on Tuesday, October 6 from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.
If you would like to learn more about REAL and/or receive the zoom link for either of the above meetings, please contact REAL’s Bridge Street School parent representative, Annie Salsich, at salsichannie@gmail.com. Or one of the REAL co-leaders: Jenny Bender at jennybinhbender@gmail.com, Kristen Elde at elde.kristen@gmail.com, or Deborah Keisch at deborahmdk2@gmail.com.
Technology
In response to caregiver concerns on increased access to chromebooks at home without the same level filtering as on campus, the district is extending the use of a program called Securly to the elementary chromebooks. While a similar program Go Guardian was used at NHS/JFK last year, we are expanding it to include the elementary students now that they are bringing chromebooks home as well. This program can provide additional filtering to sites in the same way that our school network filters appropriate/not appropriate sites while on campus. It also monitors flagged activity however, this is only reviewed if a student is suspected of being in violation of the district's Acceptable Use Policy.
This program also enables teachers who use Google Classroom to see the students screens, if they are using chromebooks, and push out websites and help redirect focus by closing ones that the students might be exploring while in class. For more information about this please visit the district website under Tech: Chromebook program: Account Monitoring. This program is set to only work if students are using chromebooks.
Second Step
What is Second Step?
In the elementary schools, Second Step is a universal, classroom-based, social-emotional learning curriculum for Kindergarten–Grade 5 that nurtures children’s social-emotional competence and foundational learning skills. Classroom teachers use Second Step lessons during their morning meetings and I use school-wide second step lessons to help students with their SEL skills throughout the year. Because I can not hold my weekly celebrations, I will be posting information here around school-wide second step lessons.
The five themes of the program from the Principal's Guide are: Skills for Learning, Empathy, How to Calm Down, Problem Solving, and Fair Ways to Play.
Next week, I will be sharing information on Skills for Learning.