December 2024 Newsletter

"One kind word can warm three winter months."

~ A Japanese Proverb

Wishing you all the joys of the season and happiness throughout the coming year.

As we approach winter, daylight shortens, temperatures drop, and deciduous trees shed their leaves. Nature seems to become barren and dry; some animals hibernate or migrate; and things seem to be dormant on the surface. However, there is much happening underground. Regardless of these changes, there is expectation and assurance of spring on the horizon. This gives much hope for a great future.

Northampton Public Schools School Committee recently approved the District Improvement Plan (DIP). This plan focuses on the academic component of the larger strategic plan and will guide our efforts to ensure that all students are successful. The plan covers the next three years.

 

In this plan, evidence based practices are identified to help the district achieve the goals in ELA, mathematics and Social Emotional Learning along with metrics and timeframes. You will see in the plan specific activities identified with timelines. Improvement targets will be determined by the number of students who are not meeting grade level standards by using district assessments to monitor progress throughout the year. Each school will identify these specific targets in their School Improvement Plans.

 

Under State law, every school district is required to create annual school improvement plans to highlight its work, set and achieve goals and objectives, and ensure the schools continue to move toward improvement and success for all students.

Throughout the DIP – there is an emphasis on effective instruction and the implementation of the adopted curriculum for ELA and math. Using student data to inform instruction and to better plan professional development that supports the classroom teacher.

 

 

Strategic Plan:

Here are December's updates in meeting the objectives of our Strategic Planning (Spanish):

For opportunities to volunteer for some of the work groups, please submit your name to npscomments@northampton-k12.us expressing your interest with:

1) Grade level of your child or staff position

2) School which your child attends or staff works

3) Reason of interest

4) Dates and times of availability.

Work groups are meant to be small to allow collaboration on design, development, output and or recommendation towards a specific objective.  We seek parent and staff representatives from elementary, middle and high school levels. 

Times of these work groups will vary depending on the facilitator's schedule.

Northampton Public Schools is forming a work group to develop plans for expanding programming for children with intensive special education needs (primarily arising from autism and complex intellectual and physical disabilities) at its four elementary schools.

This working group would meet on the first Friday of every month at 10:00 a.m., primarily via Google Meet. We are seeking one parent representative from each elementary school and two parents "at large," as well as members of the SEPAC Executive Board, teachers, paraeducators, students, and administrators.

If there are more interested parties than slots for any given role, NPS holds the discretion to make the role assignment. There will be multiple other opportunities to provide input into this planning process. 

Please complete this form if you are interested in being considered for the working group:

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

All the best, 

Matt Holloway

December 23-January 1 - Winter Vacation

January 20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 24 - Teacher Work Day

February 3 - Professional Development

Schools dismiss according to the following schedule:

The Superintendent's Office will be closed from Monday December 23,-Wednesday, January 1 for the holiday season.

B-I-N-G-O! Families enjoyed BINGO recently.

Ryan Road will be celebrating Winter Solstice on December 20, 2024. This school-wide celebration means coming together singing songs and enjoying maple syrup on shaved ice.

Since 2023, NPS has shifted to Science of Reading. Elementary staff had the opportunity to learn about and be trained on this method and on the research behind Science of Reading. Training is ongoing.

Phonological awareness is an umbrella term that refers to the awareness of ALL levels of the speech sound system, including word boundaries, stress patterns, syllables, onset-rime units, and phonemes (individual sounds in our language).

Phonemic awareness refers specifically to the awareness of the individual speech sounds (consonants and vowels) in spoken syllables and the ability to consciously manipulate these sounds.

NPS's Literacy Coach Rachel Nicholas and Math Coach Diana Smith will hold a Literacy and Math event on Wednesday, January 8, from 5:30-7:00PM, at JFK Middle School. This event will focus on grades PreK - grade 5 and is open to all NPS families.

The Literacy event will share an understanding of the NPS literacy curriculum and resource webpage to families.

The Math event will answer the questions: How does benchmarking inform math instruction? What are the key features of the math materials used in NPS?

Do you have a child turning 5 on or before August 31, 2025? Join our Information Session and Tours (for parents/guardians only) on Wednesday, January 15, from 5:15-6:30 p.m. and plan for Kindergarten Registration Day on Saturday, February 1, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

More "Transition to Kindergarten" events below.

NPS Early Childhood Presents - Free to You!

Click the link to learn more about our free family programs and to register. Check out these programs, which are geared to families with children ages 0-8:

Family Game Time each month at the Forbes Library hosted by NPS Family Engagement Specialists, Ashley Miller. 

Monthly evening workshops for parents and educators with NPS Inclusion Specialist Chrissy D'Agostino.

Monthly Caregiver/Family Cafes with pizza, supervised playtime for children while parents/caregivers have time in conversation in another room - wow! Mandy Gerry, NPS Parent Child+ Coordinator and Ashley Miller host this program. 

There are even more programs here: NPS Family Engagement Programs

Do you have any questions for us? Contact us at: EarlyChildhood@Northampton-k12.us or 413-587-1471

Help us spread the good news about the Northampton Public Schools! Like and follow us on social media at:

Facebook: Northampton/Hadley Family Connection

Instagram: NorthamptonHadley Families

BSS Parent Leigh Graham, who was recently a Guest Columnist in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, shared how caregivers in support of students with disabilities can advocate for their child. The article focuses on the importance of partnerships between school districts and caregivers in supporting students with disabilities, specifically focusing on the role of Special Education Parent Advisory Councils (SEPAC) in Massachusetts.

Check out the Hampshire Gazette article.

For over forty years, hundreds of Northampton community members have been volunteering their time supporting education in city public schools through Volunteers in Northampton Schools (VINS). These volunteers are active in each of the schools helping out in many different ways. They read and play math games with elementary students, join classes for field trips or weekly outdoor nature studies, decorate hallways with student art, and visit classes to share a particular interest, expertise, or cultural background.

The program is managed by Coordinator, Andres Cucalon, who recruits, interviews, and places volunteers to match requests from teachers and school staff.

You are invited to join this effort in any of the following ways:

Become a VINS Volunteer or encourage a friend, neighbor or family member. Contact Andres Cucalon to fill out a form indicating your own interests and availability. Some volunteers contribute weekly or even daily while others come in once a year.

If you expect to join a class for a field trip, classroom activity, or field day, plan ahead by completing the state required CORI check. You can obtain a form from the VINS Coordinator or through your school office. The CORI is in effect for three years, and each school office maintains a list of eligible volunteers.

Support VINS through a donation. VINS is a non-profit organization separate from the school district with a modest yearly budget that covers coordination. Donations of any amount are welcome with a check to

Volunteers in Northampton Schools, Inc.

c/o RK Finn Ryan Road School

498 Ryan Road, Florence, MA 01062

Volunteer to join the VINS Board of Directors.

The Board meets once a month to advise and plan fund-raising like the ever-popular fun, free and not entirely serious Dog Show the first Saturday in March. Your ideas are always welcome.

Contact VINS at vinsvolunteer@gmail.com

Andres Cucalon

Northampton Public Schools is currently hiring for the following positions:

These positions are available on School Spring or through the northamptonma.gov website.

“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”

"Approach the new year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day."