The Digital Dragon




Student, Family & Community

Happy Holidays!

We hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving Holiday Break! We welcome you back to the last days of November as we approach the last month of the year. December is home to some of our most special holidays. If you celebrate any of these holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, please email Ms. White (mwhite8@bostonpublicschools.org) your holiday photos so we can share on the Digital Dragon.

Have you heard about Friends of the Arts?

Lots of opportunities to offer support to our talented young musicians, actors, dancers, singers, and artists, in addition to our dedicated arts educators! Get connected! Join our Friends of the Arts Google group Listserv HERE

Friends of the Arts Committee Meeting via Zoom

Wednesday, Dec. 1st, and Wednesday, Jan 5th at 7:30pm

RSVP to receive Zoom link: https://forms.gle/vdW6KfRAfD84JxkW8

School Site Council December Meeting

The next meeting of the BLA School Site Council is Tuesday, December 7th. All are welcome to attend council meetings. The council generally meets on the first Tuesday of the month. If you need translation services, or reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this meeting please contact Marsha White, mwhite8@bostonpublicschools.org by Tuesday, November 30th.


Parent Council Meeting

To all Parents and Guardians,


The next Parent Council meeting is right around the corner. Everyone should be refreshed (and maybe still full) by December 7 of next week. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 and will end at 7:45, although you will hardly know any time has passed.


We will be sending more information, e.g., the agenda and how to join (zoom) before December 7. We can tell you that a portion of the meeting will be dedicated to a Q and A with Head of School Gavin Smith, so come prepared with your questions. In the meantime, you can find the minutes from the November 9, 2021 meeting here SPC Minutes 11-9-2021


Also, there will be a Spanish interpreter in attendance.


Thank you and we look forward to seeing you next week.


Karen Melkonian and Kelsey Vasquez, your SPC Co-Chairs

BLA Operations

BPS DAILY HOME HEALTH CHECKLIST

Please use the BPS daily checklist everyday. The checklist is available in many languages and found HERE


MORNING SAFETY

Please watch your speed during school arrival times. For the safety of our students, no U-turns.

HAPGOOD LIBRARY NEWSLETTER

Please check out this month's newsletter HERE

Student Support

Academic Mentoring: Now Accepting Applications


The BPS Academic Mentoring Program is accepting applications and nominations for interested BPS students in grades 6 to 12. Please see the website for details.


For more information, email:

Brian Marques, bmarques@bostonpublicschools.org

COLLEGE PLANNING

Stay up-to-date with college admissions information, scholarships, P/SAT/ACT testing and more college planning resources: https://www.collegevigorbla.com/


Upcoming Events

MONDAY

  • Knitting Club

TUESDAY

  • Period 2: New Start of Round 2 Support Block Selections

  • Virtual Information Session for Prospective Students (Elvira DeLuca) 3:00pm

WEDNESDAY

  • Friends of the Arts (FOTA) Committee Meeting 7:30pm


THURSDAY

  • Period 6: New Start of Round 2 Activity Block Selections

BLA Spotlight of the Week

This weeks spotlight goes to Mr. Cardoso's Art class. This class has been showcasing beautiful art around BLA discussing the topic of representational art and what ideas need more representation in society. After learning about artist Diego Rivera's attempts to raise awareness on historical, cultural and political themes, students were asked to do the same. The students first came up with an idea that using references and grids, picked from watercolor, oil pastel or color pencils were ideal to put these topics into view. These images are some examples of what they came up with.


To learn more about how to create art in BLA, talk to Mr. Cardoso (jcardosa@bostonpublicschools.org).

Talent of the Week

This week our communications and media assistant, Rebecca, interviewed student, Oliver Lapollo, an amazing skater with wonderful skateboarding skills. Oliver originally started skating with his cousin and has been skating for five years. Rebecca asked him if he would like to go professional and he told her "yes".

You might find Oliver skating around Copley square with his friends, including his best friend from BLA! He says the coolest trick is a back tail. His advice for new skaters is, "Don't compare yourself to other skaters, have your own style."

Check out his instagram @oliverlapollo

ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you would like to be featured or would like to have a student, student group, teacher, or staff member featured in the next Digital Dragon, please email Ms. White (mwhite8@bostonpublicschools.org) by Thursday of the week.

If you would like to make any announcements on the Digital Dragon fill out this form

Spirit Week Pictures: Culture, Color War and School Spirit Day

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES


Invest in Girls

We love working with your students to help them learn the basics of personal money management in preparation for their eventual financial independence! We’ve noticed that many students express interest in a more imminent concern: How do they approach paying for college? We think that looking at college through a financial lens is tremendously important, and so we have organized a webinar in two parts with Julie Shields-Rutyna, the Director of College Planning, Education, and Training at MEFA (Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority), to provide her expertise. (yes, young men are allowed to attend this one!)

Fall Workshop: (December 2nd, 7 pm EST via Zoom) registration link for the Fall Workshop.

  • What can I be doing now to get ready for college, no matter what grade I’m in?

    • Career Research: What might this mean for my college search?

  • Diversifying Your College List

    • Creating a list of schools making sure that in addition to a range of academic options there is a range of financial affordability

  • Applying for Financial Aid and/or Scholarship

Spring Workshop: (Scheduled for March 24th at 7 pm EST via Zoom – Registration will open in late February.)

  • Comparing financial packages: Once you have your offers, how do you compare them?

  • Understanding Educational Loans: What types of loans exist? What are the requirements? What are the advantages/disadvantages of different kinds?


CALLING ALL 10th GRADERS- Apply for SUMMER SEARCH!

Summer Search Boston – a student centered organization on a mission to help young people expand what they believe is possible for themselves.

Summer Search’s overarching goal has long been to help young people graduate from high school, matriculate to a post-secondary education and successfully earn a 4-year college degree within six years. Their services include:

1) Year-round mentoring by full-time, professional staff who encourage students to reflect on their experiences to better understand themselves and to prepare for their futures.

2) Two summer enrichment experiences for high schoolers (wilderness experience, international service trips, pre-college academic programs, or internships) that put students into highly challenging, unfamiliar environments.

3) Support and advice for high school seniors as they plan for and transition to college or another post-secondary pathway.

4) Continued mentoring as needed, connections to internships and career coaching for up to six years after high school.

  • You can view our updated student video here: https://bit.ly/3k1etcN

    • With subtitles in 3 languages

  • Online application is open: https://www.summersearch.org/apply

    • Note: There are two parts to the application. Students have a section they will need to fill out, sign and submit. Once their part of the application is complete, a link will automatically be sent to the parent/guardian whose contact information they provided. Parent(s)/guardian(s) will need to fill out the second half of the application, upload income documentation then sign and submit.

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) Teacher Cadet Program develops strategic partnerships to identify, cultivate, and support middle school and high school, students. These high school students reflect the cultural, linguistic, and racial diversity of BPS to successfully navigate high school, graduate from college, and return as teachers in BPS. If you're interested in making a change in your community, working with children as a career, and/or have a passion for education, fill out the Teacher Cadet Application. BLA teachers and staff: If you'd like to nominate students into the Teacher Cadet program, please fill out Nominate form.

Applications for SMASH Northeastern are officially open and we will be IN PERSON this Summer (conditions permitting). APPLY here www.smash.org/apply. The deadline to apply will be March 1st, 2022. If you want more information, please contact Ms. White, mwhite8@bostonpublicschools.org