ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE ASSEMBLY
MONDAY, MAY 1, 2023
HS Math PARCC
AP US Gov’t
AP Spanish Literature
TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2023
HS Math PARCC
AP Psychology
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2023
AP English Literature – AM
AP Computer Science
THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2023
MS ELA PARCC
AP Capstone Seminar
Faculty Meeting 3:30 pm
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2023
MS ELA PARCC
AP US History
Principal: Maria Tukeva
MAY 1, 2023:
This week’s focus is on the following phrase from the CHEC Mission:
”Our scholars are self-motivated, intellectually curious critical thinkers who value multilingualism and diversity.”
ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH
Last week we kicked off this Heritage Month with another student run and student driven assembly. It is always powerful to see students embrace a vision of multiculturalism, and strive for greater learning and understanding of the many cultures that make up our school. It is also inspiring to see staff members sharing their thoughts and feelings about their identitites, and what it means to be a teacher in a multicultural school.
As we continue to celebrate throughout the month, please take the opportunity to increase your own knowledge and awareness, by taking advantage of the many resources and materials available through our school libraries. Make conscious connections to Asian Pacific Islander history and heritage in your classes, and provide opportunity and time for discussion.
AP TESTING KICKS OFF – PARCC CONTINUES
The testing season continues this week, and we will kick of Advanced Placement Testing. Over the next two weeks, we will administer over 600 tests, and students will demonstrate their learning in English language, English Literature, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, French, Italian, Computer Science, Calculus, US History, AP Capstone, US Government, Psychology, Studio Art, Art and Design, Biology, and Physics. Our students are passionate learners who have the opportunity to pursue college level curriculum in this wide variety of subjects. The tests offer an opportunity not just to get college credit, if passed, but more importantly, students are exposed to rigor and challenge, which prepares them to be successful in college. Please let students know how proud of them you are, and help them be resilient and confident as they take these tests. Thank you and shout out to all of our AP teachers for all you do to provide this rigorous college aligned curriculum to our students!
PARCC continues this week for High School Math and Middle School ELA. These scholars and teachers have also been working hard all year to prepare for this assessment. Shout out to our BLA, ELA, Math and Science teachers for preparing our students to rock the PARCC!
CULTURE AND CLIMATE
Our norms are more important than ever during the last advisory of the year. We must continue to improve in making sure students arrive to, and remain engaged in, all classes, every period. When students leave the classroom, it should only be for clear and approved purposes, such as going to the restroom, to get water, for an approved and written appointment for the nurse, tech, mental health services or counseling. All of these purposes require a written appointment slip for that purpose. In other words, if a student says, “ I need to see someone for technology”, if they do not have a written appointment slip, they should not be permitted to go. All of our professionals have schedules and appointments, and cannot accommodate walk ins.
Passes should be uniform, and have all of the important information on them – where the student is going, why, who the teacher is, and when they left. You have received information from the Climate team on our new color coded pass system. This has been made necessary since many students have misplaced their agendas, and we do not have a consistent hall pass system. However, for any system to work, it must be implemented consistently by ALL staff members. Please support our new revised system of passes, so that we can eliminate unnecessary lost instructional time, and ensure that all students are moving safely and with purpose during the entire school day. To make sure students can own their learning through full and active participation in class, continue emphasizing on time arrival to class, a strong opening and close to class, and minimizing time out of class. Please make your focus on engaging students with ideas and activities that are interesting, aligned to standards, and relevant to their lives and cultures. Our project based approach to instruction is a great vehicle, especially when we design the projects with students in mind.
XQ REDESIGN UPDATE
“How might we reinvent how we do school using Design Thinking?”
Ultimately our goal is for design thinking and learning to change the way we “do” school.
In this week’s faculty meeting, we want to provide an opportunity through an open space technology, for staff to see the connections between the different sprints that are occurring, and how they all align to our redesign pillars (CHEC is a hug of innovation designing for the needs of the school and community, Students re designers of rigorous, relevant and multicultural learning experiences, Students are designers of their wellness journey). We will also have presentations by students on some of the innovative learning experiences they have been involved in, such as the Cat Island Exchange Group and the Food Equity Group. For the faculty meeting, each sprint leader/learning experience leader is asked to please:
- Identify two to three people from your sprint who will staff your station, provide an overview of your sprint, and gather feedback from those who visit.
- Clearly identify where you are in the sprint, and what you want feedback on. For example, if you are at the research stage, be prepared to share the research plan or findings, and have a focus question for those who visit your station.
The goal for the faculty meeting is to draw together the threads of the different design sprints, and to provide more coherence to the whole process. Our Admin team is receiving leadership training in how to facilitate or host conversations on design, and will be documenting our journey to design thinking using an app called the “Small Wins Dashboard.” Each small step we take towards changing how we approach school, is a success, and it is important to tell our story.
There are two new professional development opportunities aligned to the Redesign, and we have 10-15 slots to send staff members. Please contact M. Tukeva and K. Penn if you are interested.
All of our learning experiences and increased capacity for redesign will be documented for the next step in the XQ application process. We have received information on the next steps in applying to be a part of the next XQ Cohort. We are to prepare a proposal with artifacts responding to the XQ design criteria, providing documentation of our progress toward meeting the XQ design principles in our new design. The proposal and artifacts are due on May 5th, and a presentation will be made to XQ and Central Office staff on May 19th. Based on that presentation, we will be notified if we are accepted to the next cohort. Regardless of the outcome of that presentation, we will continue on our journey to designing our learning. “We trust one another to continually improve our practices.”
NEW FIELD TRIP PROTOCOLS
Field Trip Office Hours for Trip Sponsor Role (Week of 1/23 and ongoing)
All field trips taking place after January 3, 2023, must be entered via the new Field Trip QuickBase app. The Field Trip QB User Guide and additional resources are available in the DCPS Way Field Trip Folder. Trip Sponsors to attend upcoming office hours for support with the new app:
Before loading the trip onto the App, please still fill out the CHEC Internal Field Trip Form and get it signed before proceeding.
Thank you!
SHOUT OUTS
- Shout out to all who came in to support Enrollment on Saturday – Pankaj, Mr. Galvan, Mr. Molina, Mr Best, Ms. Archibold, Ms. Scott, Mr. Swinton, Ms. C. Lora, Ms. DelCid!
- Kudos to Ms. Ramirez for coordinating our Saturday PARCC ELA prep, supported by Mr. Bujan, Mr. Villafane, Mr. Escobar, Mr. Rahman!
- Shout out to Ms. Belton for coordinating high school Saturday school!
- Shout out to all who supported the AAPI Assemblies – Ms. Yamashita, Dr. Barnett, Mr. Whitney, Ops Team, Mr. Bellido, Mr. Jones, Ms. West, Mr. Smith! The students were amazing!
- Shout out to Mr. Magee for continuing with test coordination for PARCC!
- Shout out to Mr. Jones and Mr. Pyram for AP Coordination!
- Shout out to Mr. Smith and Ms. Avila for a great Padres Poderosos meeting last week!
- Shout out to all who supported the Pep Rally – Mr. Whitney, Mr. Molina, Mr. Jones!
- Shout out to all for coordinating and following up on interviews!
- Shout out to Ms. Ferguson for facilitating MSB during Ms. Thweatt’s Absence!
INSTRUCTION
MR. BAMEZAI'S BIOLOGY CLASS
Week 13 of Semester 2 and Week 3 of Advisory 4
It is the third week of the Fourth Advisory! The next two weeks have a lot of students testing, and some modifications to the bell schedule. It will be important to maintain the focus in your classes by maintaining student interest and involvement in their GRASPS. Especially at this time of year, students need to continue to set goals, have work time, and get feedback on their GRASPS, in order to experience success.
In kicking off the fourth advisory, be creative with your new GRASPS. Get student input and ideas on how to improve the GRASPS! If you need assistance or support, please see your Department Chair or SLC administrator.
The Whole Child
As a teacher, understanding that sometimes a break from the building is good. It is also a key to knowing that the whole child needs their community for survival. A field trip to walk around the community to get to know their surroundings always helps with the learning process of the whole child. I took my students to the zoo, and here are some pictures that helped with the oxytocin, the brain development of the whole child. I hope the students received their oxytocin as they received a well deserved break from the school environment to the zoo.
Sincerely,
Ms. Planter
Angenette Planter
Whole Child Teacher Lead
Environmental Science Teacher
To Live, To Learn, To Love!
Instructional Calendar
Please view the 22-23 CHEC Instructional Calendar here.
Assessment Corner
The next two week will see our biggest testing pushes yet. In addition to the PARCC dates listed below, Mr. Jones and Mr. Pyram will be coordinating with many of you regarding AP exams. As several staffers have commented, there are A LOT of moving parts to these next two weeks. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone on the testing team with questions or concerns. All team members being aware of plans and logistics is exactly what’s needed for this time to run smoothly for all parties.
GRADE | CONTENT | DATES |
High School | MathMath | May 1st - 2nd |
Middle School | ELA | May 4th - 5th, 8th |
Middle School | Math | May 10th – 12th |
High School | Science | May 15th - -16th |
Middle School | Science | May 15th - 16th |
Pete Magee
Testing Coordinator
Love & Empathy Page
If you know of students and families in need of assistance, please send the information to our Bulletin, where we will publish opportunities to show love and empathy. Please share these with your networks.
Professional Develoment / Record Keeping Day
There are multiple conference professional development opportunities, please see the XQ Redesign Section.
We will be publishing soon a survey regarding professional development interests for the summer, designed to support our redesign, including retreats, curriculum development and design thinking professional development. Be on the lookout for a survey from Instructional Coaches.
ALT TEAM
The ALT Team met on April 25 to further clarify the role of the ALT team in our Redesign process. We developed criteria for new design sprints and also Professional development opportunities for the summer.Please
see the notes here.. All
are invited to the ALT Team meetings!
OPPORTUNITIES
MENTEES AND MENTORS IN "MENTORING CHEC" PROGRAM
ON COLLEGE VISIT TO GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
RECRUITING 2023 BELL SCHOLARSHIP PANELISTS
We are now actively seeking volunteers to serve on the Bell Gala Scholarship panel to select the scholars for our June 15, 2023 Scholarship Awards at the Kennedy Center. The Selection Committee is responsible for all aspects of the process to select our scholars. This includes reviewing applications, interviewing candidates and ranking the candidates based on merit. If intreested, please send email to mcipoffice@gmail.com no later than May 12, 2023.
NOW OPEN THROUGH JUNE 30TH:
EVERYDAY DC PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT
“Everyday DC,” a photography exhibition that visualizes daily life in Washington, D.C., through the eyes of D.C. middle school students citywide, opened on March 30, 2023. The exhibition is open to the public every Monday to Friday, through June 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Please come by to see the exhibition and support our middle school artists:
- Angel Garcia-Giron
- Zuri Smith
- Jesus Hernandez
- Jakelin Salmeron-Sorto
- Summer Anderson
- Jason Lopez-Valladares
- Tyevontay Blackman
PROJECTS FUNDED
MS. NUNEZ’S NEW CLASSROOM FUNDED PROJECT IS: “SNACKS SNACKS”
My Project
My students need healthy snacks to remain focused and energized in class. Snacks like those included in the snack boxes I am asking for will ensure students will be successful in the class because they will have brain food which will give them a bigger boost during their school day. It will also ensure that my students can solely focus on school and not their hunger.
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MS. ZUCCARELLO’S NEW CLASSROOM FUNDED PROJECT IS: “NUTRITION FIRST!”
My Project
Standardized testing is a continuous struggle for students across the country - and if you are at all engaged with K-12 education, you know there is a ton of controversy around the discrimination and unfairness of these exams. As a Title 1 DC public school, our students are already walking in to their testing rooms with a ton of these hurdles. However - there are some things we can control with your help! To make it through the next 3 weeks of testing season, we are hoping to set them up for success in the most basic way - with the nutrients they need to demonstrate their brilliance. While they cannot even be comfortable and with their ACTUAL teacher during the test, we can provide them ~goodie bags~ each day with a letter from us, a coloring page to use after the test when they must stay seated and silent, and a snack - especially for morning testing when so many of our students don't have breakfast before arriving.
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THE DEAN TEAM
Message from Deans:
Good-bye April, Hello May!!!!
We are less than two months away from the last day of school. This week we have the pressure of testing and will need all hands-on deck to support the student culture. Continue to utilize the new laminated pass system and hold students accountable. Remember to document student infractions with a referral and contact a parent to notify them.
As a reminder, WE ARE DESIGN THINKERS and must be creative with how we keep students engaged. START CLASSES STRONG AND END STRONG.
Think of one thing you can change or improve in your classroom management to keep students engaged and excited to come to your classes and remain there until the end. The goal is to help remind students the importance of being on time and that every moment counts!
School Culture Updates, Reminders and Shoutouts
- All passes have been placed on your desk and/or board in your classroom. If you are unable to locate the pass, please reach out to a Culture Team member.
- NOTE: Each class will have ONE pass. If the pass comes us missing, you should contact a Culture Team Member on your floor for a replacement.
- Students should not be in the hallways outside of transition without this pass. They will be sent back to your classes. Hand-written passes will no longer be permissible.
HS Side
- 4th Floor: White
- 3rd Floor: Green
- 2nd Floor: Lavender
- 1st Floor: Yellow
MS Side
- 3rd Floor: Purple
- 2nd Floor: Blue
- 1st Floor: Red
Best Practices
- Please make sure you give passes at all times
- Always write students’ Time Out and Return Time
- Only one student should be out of class at a time
- The 15-15 Rule
Reminder: Hall sweeps that will be conducted during PLT, 2nd, and 4th Period during the first 15 and last 15 minutes.
Thank you in advance for your support and partnership as we work to build a rich culture of high expectations of students.
UPCOMING PBIS INCENTIVES
(Please note that this schedule is tentative and is subject to change at the discretion of Culture Team Leaders.)
On Friday, students who are on time before 8:45 am will be able to keep their cell phones.
PBIS Reminders and Celebrations
Teacher All-Stars (500+ Highest Interactions from 04/24-04/30)
- Maria Borrego (1.028)
- Latrice Quickley (822)
- Desepe De Vargas (746)
- Dwight Simon (628)
- Keegan Brush (538)
- Shaun Loria (510)
Kickboard norms reminder
Currently, we have less than 50% participation in staff rewarding students with Kickboard points. Remember, Kickboard helps to build positive classroom culture and should be integrated in your classroom incentives, norms and strategies to manage your classroom.
- 15 interactions per class and 45 interactions per day (minimum)
- DO NOT deduct student dollars
- Do not attempt to inflate the day of the incentive
- Use the first 15 and last 15 of class to give dollars
- Create in-class incentives (Do not deduct dollars)
STAFF RESOURCES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Restorative DC Professional Development Opportunities:
Student Support Forms:
Reminder: Please bookmark this link for future behavioral referrals:
Use this form to recognize students for Student of the Week and Month:
WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE
Athletics are an integral part of the educational program and a means to accomplish the goals of education. Our athletic program exists for the welfare of students and the contributions it makes to their educational experience. Athletic participation builds self-esteem and confidence and provides the necessary tools for success. The interaction between individuals on the fields of sport teaches students the value of teamwork, while developing the proper competitive spirit, combined with a sense of fairness.
SY 2022-23 BELL SOFTBALL TEAM
TEAM STANDINGS
LINCOLN
SOFTBALL: 0 - 1
BELL
BOYS BASKETBALL: 5 - 6
FLAG FOOTBALL: 4 - 6
SOFTBALL: 5 - 4
TENNIS: 2 - 7
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Congratulations to the HS softball team on a great season. The HS softball team defeated Cardozo and lost to Banneker. The HS baseball team lost to Jackson-Reed and McKinley Tech. The middle school softball team lost to Eliot-Hine. The HS flag football team lost to Eastern and Banneker. The HS tennis team defeated Anacostia and lost to McKinley Tech. Tennis playoffs will take place this week.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
MONDAY:
HS BB vs. HD Woodson at Turkey Thicket @ 4:00
MS SB vs. Deal at Deal @ 4:00
TUESDAY
Tennis Playoffs at Ft. Lincoln Park @ 2:00
WEDNESDAY
HS BB vs. Cardozo at Taft @ 4:00
HS Flag FB vs. HD Woodson at Coolidge @ 5:00
THURSDAY:
HS Outdoor Track at DCIAA Developmental Meet at Spingarn @ 1:00
MS & HS golf at Potomac Golf Course @ 2:00
FRIDAY:
MS SB vs. Jefferson at CHEC @ 4:00
SATURDAY:
No Games
To participate in sports, including tryouts, students must complete participation paperwork and upload their physical via https://www.thedciaa.com/participation-forms. Anyone with questions, should contact the CHEC athletic director, Coach A in room D236, or via email at desmond.alexander@k12.dc.gov. Spring sports practice have begun.
Desmond Alexander, CAA
Athletic Directo.
Columbia Heights Educational Campus
Bell/Lincoln Multicultural Schools
(202) 939-7700 Ext: 5207 (office)
(202) 576-9147 (fax)