Family Notes: April 3, 2015

As I wrote to you a few weeks ago, we are seeking a pre-K to Grade 8 School Principal to begin July 2015. We have been fortunate to receive a good number of resumes from very qualified candidates and the interview committee has narrowed the group down to three finalists. We are inviting valuable input from you, our parents, in this process. We have set up an opportunity for you to meet and ask questions of these candidates. You will find the dates and times for each in a section below.

This new School Principal will not only support us during the transition into a new building, but will also be integral to a transition of leadership, as I look ahead to my eventual retirement and the search for my successor.

I am confident that this change in our organizational structure will serve us well and ensure as smooth a transition as possible for us all - staff, parents, and children.

I hope that you are able to come and share in this very important process.

Have a splendid week end!

Warmly,

Diana

Parents Invited to Meet Principal Finalists

All parents are invited to attend the meetings this Monday and Wednesday from 4-5 pm at 2120 Dorchester Ave. to interview the finalists for the new school principal.

Mirko Chardin - Monday, April 6

Mirko Chardin is a seasoned urban school administrator, with experience as a founding principal of a middle school, a principal of an alternative school program, a community youth program director and a classroom teacher. Mr. Chardin has a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University, a DOE Principalship Certification from Northeastern University and is presently in a doctoral program at Walden University.

Presently at Putnam Avenue Upper School in Cambridge where he is the Founding Principal, Mr. Chardin hired the founding faculty, developed the vision and core values as well as all policies, programs, partnerships and procedures for the school. He supervises and evaluate 55 staff members. Prior to this role, Mr Chardin was the Principal of Multiple Pathways at Randolph High School and before that was, for four years, the Instructional and Operational Leader of Academy One at the Lilla G. Fredrick Pilot Middle School in Boston.

At Putnam Avenue Upper School, Mr. Chardin, in addition to his duties as instructional and operational leader, developed and managed community and corporate partnerships, supported the process of communication with staff, parents, students, community members and partners, encouraged, educated and encouraged parental and familial active participation in the teaching and learning process and coordinated and facilitated ongoing professional development in modeling and learning outcomes.

Mr. Chardin has been a summer school principal and has taught 7th and 8th grade history at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School. Also, as Founder/ Director of the New Hope Youth Coalition in Boston, he managed all aspects of the operation, creating and managing youth programs in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Boston.

He states that his life and career are committed to the advancement of youth, and believes in the sustainable growth and development structures that serve youth.

Tom Morris - Wednesday, April 8

Mr. Morris is an experienced school leader as well as a seasoned music educator. With both a Master's of Music Education from Holy Names University in Oakland, CA and a Master's of Science for Wheelock College in Boston, Mr. Morris can speak with authority and passion on how to create high quality programs for students in which they will achieve deep levels of understanding and creativity.

Mr. Morris has been Principal at the Parmenter School, in Franklin, MA, a K-5 school with 410 students, since 2010. While there he has established the culture of a learning community for all stakeholders, along with that he created a School Culture Committee, that includes a strong parent voice. He introduced the Responsive Classroom approach at Parmenter and established a co-teaching model to allow for inclusive services within the classroom setting. In addition he has implemented successful programs in reading, writing, phonics and math and created a new master schedule to enhance student learning opportunities.

Before going to Parmenter, Mr. Morris was a music teacher for sixteen years in the Newton Public Schools. While there, he developed, planned curriculum and taught elementary vocal music classes, focusing on singing skills and musical literacy through the Kodaly music education philosophy; conducted weekly, all-inclusive choral rehearsals for fourth and fifth grade students; presented choral music and family sharing concerts and served as a mentor for new music teachers in the district providing feedback on curriculum development, instruction and classroom management.

Mr. Morris was also the Director of Boston Singers Youth Chorus from 2004 to 2010. He founded the Jamaica Plain Division of Boston City Singers Youth Chorus: growing the organization to over 60 singers, in three, age-based performing ensembles.

He believes that it takes an entire school community to positively impact student achievement and that every adult, including parents, are responsible for the well-being and growth of every child. He ascribes to the "all hands on deck" philosophy and believes that, as a learning community, everyone must help one another create success for each and every student in the school.

Nicole Bradeen - time for her meeting is TBA

Nicole Michna Bradeen is a well versed teacher, educational coach and administrator whose experiences have helped form the belief that all students can succeed if they are provided with a student-centered, multi-modal, and collaborative learning environment that uses data to drive results.

With a Master's Degree in Education from Lesley College in Cambridge, and a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Columbia University, in New York, Ms. Bradeen has come to believe that: teaching and learning is a continuous process and that students should have opportunities to reflect on their own growth to problem-solve with their peers; teachers should have time to share best practices and use a variety of data/assessments to drive results; and administrators should set high standards and goals, giving and receiving constructive feedback and making data-driven decisions.

Ms. Bradeen has been, since 2010, the Academic Program Manager, 2nd -10th Grades at the Esther B. Clark Nonpublic School in Palo Alto, CA. In this role, she has hired, trained and supervised 15 teachers, teaching assistants and educational specialists on curriculum development, differentiated instruction, learning disabilities, diversity and classroom culture. She has also lead professional development workshops, parent and district communications and parent workshops and had oversight of curriculum, IEP goals, reports, state assessments and school-wide outcomes data.

In previous positions, Ms. Bradeen has been Dean of Instruction for 6th thru 9th grades at Coliseum College Preparatory Academy in Oakland, CA.; Director and Teacher for 4th thru 8th grade at Breakthrough Collaborative, a summer and after-school program in San Francisco CA; and a middle school teacher and coach at Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland, CA., at Thayer Academy in Braintree, MA and at Buckingham Browne & Nichols Middle and Upper School in Cambridge, MA.

Also, as a former clarinetist and pianist she understands the power of discipline, creativity and teamwork that comes from making music.

K1 Getting in Touch with Art

K1 is deeply immersed in their Portrait of An Artist expedition. Over the past few weeks they have been on fieldwork at both the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art and welcomed a visiting artist into our classroom. At both museums students were able to engage with various pieces and styles of artwork, as well as create their own clay self-portraits and paper collages. These experiences gave students the opportunity to make connections between color theory, shape, styles of artwork, and what it takes to create a masterpiece.

Their visiting artist, Michael Willhoite, shared with them what it takes to become an artist and what it took for him to develop his own craft as an illustrator. Students were excited to share all their knowledge of art and share their inspirations about becoming artists themselves.

At the MFA, K1 created a shape and color quilt modeled after the artist Josef Albers. After learning about Albers, his artwork and his work with color theory students wanted to explore those concepts as well. Students planned out what colors the wanted to use based on the color wheel and their knowledge of how colors interact, they mixed the colors together, and painted the squares. After cutting out and creating each square, they arranged the squares in different patterns according to the shape in the middle and sewed the squares together.

"First we think about the colors we wanted to use. We mixed paint to make the colors and then we cut the shapes. Then we made it so it could be a pattern. We used yarn to stick all the pieces together."

- Alex Cortes

"We made different shapes. I made a star and other friends also made starts. Some people made rectangles. We did the x with the yarn and a line to stick together. That is sewing. Then we put it outside so people could see it."
- Isaac Nobles

4th Grade Presents Original Writing on the Revolutionary War

What does it take to Stand Up, and Speak Out? Fourth grade set out to explore this question in this winter's expedition on the American Revolution. They conducted research, visited historic sites, worked with experts in the field, and read, listened to, and sang stories, ballads, and songs about colonial America.

Their culminating project was a historical narrative in the form of a journal. Students imagined themselves as young apprentices and tradespeople from colonial Dorchester and Boston.

They then placed themselves in the midst of the 18^thcentury conflict with Great Britain, choosing a time between the Siege of Boston in 1768 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. They wrote a story from that character's perspective, exploring how he or she would have reacted to the greater circumstances around them.

8th Graders Making Tough Decisions

Our 8th graders are in the process of making a most momentous decision: where to go to high school! Unlike many other communities where students must attend their local high school, in Boston we have different schools to meet the needs of all our students. This week several of our students attended accepted student open houses at various schools. José Fuentes, Brandon Volel, Chavez Singletary, Rayne Lipscomb, Annie Williams, and Janahasia Coston attended the open house for the Boston Arts Academy. Rayne Lipscomb, Vivian Tang and Zakiya Lomax attended the open house at the John D. O'Bryant High School for Math and Science, one of Boston's prestigious exam schools and liked what they learned. Current students warned them that there will be a lot of homework but said the relationships between teachers and students were strong and that the school had lots of opportunities they wouldn't find elsewhere. The open houses particularly stressed how the schools would prepare the students for the future.

Spring Fling! 2015 Reminders

Buy tickets online or at school before the day of the event! bit.ly/springfling_2015

Make sure to tell your friends, family, and neighbors about the event.

At 11:00, grades K1-3 will perform

At 2:30, grades 4-8 will perform

Drop-off will be at the stage door on Stuart Street around the corner from 180 Berkeley Street. After dropping students off, parents are encouraged to explore the sights in Copley Square and then return half an hour before the performance. Parents will not be allowed to come into the theater until half an hour before the performance.

No cameras or iPads will be permitted to be used during the concerts. The concerts will be videotaped and made available on YouTube and Vimeo.

There will be a specific dismissal process after each concert, which will be announced from the stage and which must be followed.

Take Note:

Parents are invited to attend interview sessions with each of the finalists for Conservatory Lab Charter School Principal. These will take place on Monday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 8 between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. at 2120 Dorchester Ave. One finalist will be interviewed per night. Child care will be provided for those requesting it. We are asking all parents to please let us know when they are attending. This will assist our planning for these meetings. Please email csoriano@conservatorylab.org if you are attending and on which day(s). Be sure to let her know if you will require child care.

Summer Academy at Longy Is Now Accepting Applications!

Click here for more information!