Principal Grassa’s Pawprints 5/31/20

May 31, 2020

BPS Family Survey

We hope you are safe and well during these current times. BPS sent out a family survey and many families completed it; thank you! There are still many families that need to complete this survey and were notified this week by teachers.

We are asking parents or guardians to fill out the survey for each child in the home. The survey is available in a variety of languages. Families can reach out to the school nurse to complete the survey over the phone or the link can be emailed as well. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

School Nurse Line 617-397-8951 (Keilah Santana)

Follow this link to the survey: https://surveys.panoramaed.com/bps/family2020/surveys/v2/79750464?language=en

EBT Card for BPS Families

Beginning this month, every BPS family will receive financial assistance for food due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds are available under a new federal program called Pandemic EBT or P-EBT. Families will receive $5.70 each eligible child each day for every day school is closed due to the pandemic, which comes to $28.50 a week. If they do not currently have an EBT card, they will receive a P-EBT card in the mail. Each enrolled BPS child in the household will receive a unique P-EBT card. If they currently have an EBT card, funds will be added to their account. The money can be used to buy food items at stores where SNAP benefits (food stamps) are accepted (look for signs that say, “We accept EBT here”). Click here f or more information or email . The card is valid for one year.

Fondos EBT para todas las familias de BPS

A partir de este mes, todas las familias de BPS recibirán asistencia financiera para alimentos debido a la pandemia de COVID-19. Estos fondos están disponibles bajo un nuevo programa federal llamado Pandemic EBT o P-EBT-Tarjeta para comprar comida en supermercados. Las familias recibirán $ 5.70 por cada niño elegible cada día por cada día que la escuela cierre debido a la pandemia. Esto asciende a $28.50 por semana por cada niño en las escuelas.Si actualmente no tiene una tarjeta EBT, recibirá una tarjeta P-EBT por correo. Cada niño BPS inscrito en el hogar recibirá una tarjeta P-EBT única. Si actualmente tiene una tarjeta EBT, se agregarán fondos a su cuenta. El dinero se puede usar para comprar alimentos en las tiendas donde se aceptan los beneficios de SNAP (cupones de alimentos) (busque carteles que digan: “Aceptamos EBT aquí”). La tarjeta es válida por un año.

Families Wishing to Donate Their EBT Cards

We are very excited about P-EBT cards and the potential of this card to address food access for so many of our students. Because the card has been sent to all BPS families, we are beginning to hear from families who would like to donate their cards. Because access to the card is non-transferable, it is not transferable and is unique to each child in the household. However, if you do not have a use for the card, you can use the card to purchase food and donate the food to a local food bank. For more information on donating food, please contact the Greater Boston Food Bank at 617-427-5200 or by visiting gbfb.org.

SPC Virtual Meeting Minutes

The minutes from both our May 27th and April 29th meetings are now available in English and Spanish. Stayed tuned for information about our June meeting.

2019-2020 SPC Meeting Minutes

A Note From Curley Specialist Teachers

As a way to showcase our vibrant Curley community, the Specialist’s Department is asking families, students, teachers, administration, and friends, to show that talent or skill in a video we are compiling. This can be individuals or groups. Please fill out this form to receive more details. Photo/video release forms will be emailed separately. For inspiration look at TikTok, Instragram and YouTube. All of Curley’s got talent!!! Come on Curley! Show us what you’ve got!

Como una forma de mostrar nuestra vibrante comunidad Curley, el Departamento de Especialistas está pidiendo a las familias, estudiantes, maestros, administración y otros que muestren su talento / habilidad en un video que estamos compilando. Esto puede ser individuos o grupos. Complete el formulario y para recibir más detalles. Los formularios de liberación de foto / video se enviarán por correo electrónico por separado. Para inspirarte, mira TikTok, Instragram y YouTube. ¡Todo Curley tiene talento!

For more information, contact Ms. Taylor Knight: storyinabox@gmail.com

Curley Cares Challenge

The School Climate Team is sharing a challenge for all students to help us start some new Curley traditions! Check out the information on the site below. And email Kristen Mitchell if you have any questions at kmitchell@bostonpublicschools.org. https://sites.google.com/bostonpublicschools.org/curleycares/home

Support for our Curley Community

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our fundraising campaign to purchase supermarket gift cards to help feed Curley families in need. To date we have raised over $12,000. Principal Grassa and our school counselors are connecting Curley families with Catie’s Closet, a local nonprofit, who are distributing the cards along with other essentials.

How You Can Help

We believe access to healthy food will be an ongoing and growing need for many Curley families in the weeks and months ahead. To help address this need, the SPC is committed to matching donations up to $2,000 each month through June. Donations can be made via Paypal at:

paypal.me/curleyk8

If you are able, please consider making a donation each month.

We ask that you donate cash instead of purchasing and donating physical gift cards so we can streamline the process to allow the administration to purchase gift cards from stores that are most convenient for the families in need and to ensure equitable distribution of resources. Reach out to the SPC leadership team at chair@curleyk8.com with any questions.

If You NEED Help

If you need support or know someone who does, please contact our guidance team:

Contact	Email	Phone	Languages
Sugeily Santos	ssantos2@bostonpublicschools.org	617-230-2661	Spanish & English
Cristina Silva	csilva4@bostonpublicschools.org	857-308-7889	Spanish, English & Portugese

Thank you in advance to our amazing community for pulling together to support one another.
I Care, We Care, Curley Cares!

Free Financial Counseling Available

You don’t have to navigate this time of financial uncertainty alone. Thanks to the generosity of Wells Fargo, and in partnership with the Yellow Ribbon Network, the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE) is offering free, unbiased virtual financial counseling and coaching sessions for families in need.

Visit: https://www.yellowribbonnetwork.org/afcpecovid19 to learn more.

Curley School Nurses’ Site

Our school nurses have created a site for families so we can continue to support students during this time. Please go to www.curleyk8.com, click Learn From Home, click Health Resources and then the link for the virtual nursing page.

Check In: Let Us Know What Support You Need

We hope that all Curley K-8 community members are safe, practicing social distancing, hand washing, and encourage their child to participate in virtual learning.

We recognize that as time goes on the level of support families need can change and we want you to know we are here to help all Boston families. Please know we want to help and support families and all information shared is confidential. If you, or someone you know has needs please reach out for support:

Learn From Home

The Curley’s Learn From Home virtual learning website is live. You can link to learning activities for students and contact information for teachers by visiting www.curleyk8.com. (Look for Red Learn From Home link at the very top of each page.) We want students to have access to internet, technology, and other resources necessary to support their learning. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you need any support with this or visit https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/laptop for more information.

Here are some helpful tips to support families at home.

On the homepage of our website www.curleyk8.com you can link to grade level work for all students. This link on the site was created to give families one spot to access information for multiple grade levels and resources.
Your student’s learning materials can also be accessed at www.bostonpublicschools.org/backpack using their BPS Google account.
Your child’s teachers are the best resource for support with technology and academics. Their emails are also linked on this site.

Internet and Computer Access

If you need computer or internet access please go to this page https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/Page/8131 and fill out the form.

Meal Locations

BPS will continue to provide free breakfast and lunch meals to all Boston students. We are proud that the Curley K-8 is one of those sites in the JP community. BPS will distribute the meals at several dozen locations throughout the City of Boston. A variety of packaged meal options will be available for pick-up Monday – Friday from 8:30am – 11:30am. Visit www.bostonpublicschools.org/coronavirus for the full list. No child will be turned away.

Additionally, the City of Boston in partnership with Project Bread, YMCA of Greater Boston, Boston Centers for Youth and Families, and other community organizations will also be providing free meals to school-aged children at various locations and times across the city. Click here to view all the current meal locations and times. More locations will become available over the coming week.

BPS Coronavirus Website

BPS launched a website outlining key questions families may have, prevention tips, and tips for educators. Our goal is to keep you as informed as possible and make sure you have the tools and resources you need in order to both talk with your students, staff, and families and keep your school community safe and healthy. We will be updating the website weekly. https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/coronavirus If parents or community members are asking questions about coronavirus that cannot be answered on the BPS Coronavirus Website, please have them email coronavirus@bostonpublicschools.org and they will receive an answer within 48 hours.

Amazon Smile

Do you shop on Amazon? If so, did you know that you can give back to the Curley K-8 with your shopping? Amazon Smile is an easy way to give money to the Curley via the Student Parent Council (SPC) (no fees, no extra charges- nada). If you shop amazon.com just change to amazonsmile.com choose the charity Friends of the Curley K8 School and that is it. Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchase to the Curley. The funds raised by the SPC can be used to support many of the initiatives and resources we currently use in or classroom or those we wish to deploy in the future. Please note that the SPC is not able to see the items that you purchase on Amazon; they are only able to see the dollar amount donated.

Social Media

For up to date information about the Curley K-8 School please sign up for email alerts by joining the Mailing List. You can also follow Principal Grassa on Twitter @principalgrassa and be sure to always use the hashtag #curleycares when sharing/posting/tweeting information about our school.