September 14 update

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Dear Families,

Please see below for the announcements for this week’s family newsletter!

1. Mask Guidance

2. Input on school day start and end times for the SY23-24

3. ELD (English Language Development) and Access Testing

4. Martin Luther King Day: NO SCHOOL

5. Family Town Hall

6. End of Quarter 2

7. SY24 Enrollment Application Open NOW!

8. Semester Final Exams (SFE) Schedule & Information for Students in Grades 6-12

9. Achieve Program for Grade 6

10. College Counseling Updates for the Class of 2023

11. Breakthrough of Greater Boston Application

Stay safe and be well!

Sincerely,

Madelyn Ruizdeporras
Family Operations Manager

BPS has announced a temporary masking policy upon their return from winter break for two weeks.

As such, Boston Prep will be asking community members and students to wear a mask from Tuesday, January 3-January 13, 2023 for a two-week period. We believe this will help prevent the spread of disease, including COVID, the flu and other respiratory diseases.

Similar to BPS, this is an “ask and expectation,” but not a mandate. Boston Prep will provide disposable face masks to anyone who needs one.

We are asking for your input on school day start and end times for the 23-24 school year. We are also asking for input on which day of the week is preferable for a half day for students and preference from families who have students in both the middle school and high school.

This information will only be used to help our school plan for next year. Please reach out with any questions.

· English: https://forms.gle/eGR3LitdvgLyWNGV6

· Haitian Creole: https://forms.gle/QvQN8Qcfc2VzfgR3A

· Spanish: https://forms.gle/V87Q3GbfwuxJhUqP7

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: ACCESS testing for Boston Prep students will start on Tuesday, January 10th through Friday, January 20th 2022.

ALL students who participate in Boston Prep’s ELD program or are identified as English Language Learners will be taking the national ACCESS assessment this month. This is a required assessment across the state of Massachusetts.

Our ELD students have been working hard each day in class to practice and improve their English and academic language skills to ensure each student demonstrates growth on the assessment. We ask all parents to help:

1. Make sure your child gets a good night sleep

2. Make sure arrival to school is on time or early to have breakfast

3. Please help with encouraging your child to show 100% effort during testing days. (Teachers are also doing the same)

4. Make-up sessions, due to absence, will be provided as needed.

In observance of Martin Luther King Day, Boston Prep will be closed on Monday, January 16th, 2023. Classes will resume the following day on Tuesday, January 17th.

What is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day? Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a holiday in the United States honoring the achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolent resistance against racial segregation.

King's birthday was finally approved as a federal holiday in 1983, and all 50 states made it a state government holiday by 2000. King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta; but the King holiday is marked every year on the third Monday in January.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 18th from 6pm-7pm at our first 2023 Family Town Hall of the year! This Town Hall will be through zoom. Please take some time to Register Here.

Topics to be discussed: Semester Final Exams, High School Credit Recovery program and sharing out our academic goals for the remainder of the year.

We hope to see you then!

Quarter 2 ends on January 27th and marks the end of Semester 1.

All Middle School and High School students will take Semester Final Exams during the week of Monday January 23, 2023 - Friday January 27, 2023. Reports cards and Parent Teacher Conferences can be expected in early February - more information to come.

Quarter 3 will begin on Monday, January 30th.

Applications for the 2023-2024 school year are now open!

All students in Boston Public Schools and Chelsea - including English language learners, limited English-proficient students, and students with special educational needs - are encouraged to apply through the lottery.

Siblings of current Boston Prep students receive preference for admission to Boston Prep. Families can submit applications for any other children in grades 6-10 and submit proof of sibling status to the front office by February 28, 2023.

• Families can apply here until February 28.

• If families are currently on the waitlist, they still need to apply again for next year - their application will not roll over.

• Lottery will be held on March 8th, 2023.

• For your reference we will continue making offers to fill any spots for the current school year.

• Application is still open for grade 6th ONLY for this current school year: 2022-2023: bostonprep.org/enroll

We encourage families to visit our website www.bostonprep.org to learn more about our school or if you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to our Family Operations Manager, Madelyn Ruizdeporras at: mruizdeporras@bostonprep.org

SPREAD THE WORD!

The Achieve Program is looking for 6th grade students in BPS, METCO & Charter Schools who are motivated to improve their academic skills to apply to their academic program.

Achieve will be hosting an information session for families to learn about the program on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 6pm at Fenway High School (67 Alleghany St, Boston, MA 02120). Register here.

Attending an information session is a required component of their application process.

Click this short video here to watch and learn about The Achieve Program and how they support students through academic support, test prep, workshops and field trips. You can also read about the program here.

If you have any questions, email achieve@nobles.edu, or reach out to Ms. Fontes.

In preparation for semester final exams, teachers have provided students with a study guide and have included extra practice for students to complete in class independently. Each student will receive an individual schedule with their testing times and rooms. These will be shared out with students next week. Middle School students will arrive and be dismissed at regular time.

High School Students ONLY:

• High school students with only one morning exam can arrive at 9:00am (with the exception of AP testing starting at 8:15am—these students should arrive no later than 7:45am) and will be dismissed at the conclusion of the testing window at 11:30am

• High school students with only one afternoon exam can arrive at 11:30am and will be dismissed at the conclusion of the testing window at 2pm (with the exception of AP testing ending at 3:15pm)

• High school students with two exams in one day must stay for the entirety of the day to complete both exams.

• All high school students will have access to breakfast and a “grab and go” meal from 11:30am to 12pm. (Given the special schedule, students earning senior privilege for off campus lunch will be canceled on these days.)

• HS Office Hours will run Wednesday and Thursday only. No office hours on Friday.

• High school students who take the yellow bus will receive regular morning and afternoon transportation.

Testing Environment:

Semester final exam rooms are a productive and silent space. The testing period is 2 hours long (3 hours and 15 minutes for AP testing). Students are expected to stay for the duration of the test regardless of whether they are finished early. If a student disrupts the testing environment the student will be excused from the testing room and earn a 55 on the exam without the opportunity to make up the exam.

• All personal belongings, including phones, must be stored in their lockers prior to students entering the testing room.

• Phones are not allowed in the testing space. If needed, phones will be labeled and stored by the proctor and returned at the end of the testing block. If a phone goes off during the testing block or is seen during the testing block, the student will receive a 55 without possibility of making up the exam (this includes visits to the bathroom, hallway, and/or student has finished a test but testing is still in progress).

• Cheating of any form is strictly prohibited. If a student is found to have an incident of academic integrity a student will receive a 55 for the exam without possibility of making up the exam.

• There will be no remote exams. Students must take the exam in person. Any student who is in quarantine during these dates will be able to make up the exam upon return.

With the start of the new year, the CCO wanted to share a couple important reminders about the post-secondary process:

• Please continue to talk with your seniors about their college applications and decisions. A majority of seniors are now finished with submitting their applications, and now is the time to remain on top of emails to ensure everything is set. Most colleges/universities will utilize portals to share admission decisions. Please be sure to have your senior create the accounts to gain portal access.

• With the arrival of January, many colleges/institutions will start to send financial aid award letters. These aid letters are crucial to understanding the cost of each specific school. The CCO will not receive these aid letters, so please share them with the CCO so that we can best support you and your senior with making an informed and affordable decision.

• Scholarship season is quickly approaching! Many local scholarships are due in February/March. While we have yet to update our internal scholarship database with 2023 deadlines, the CCO wanted to share that resource with you all now. Click here to review some of the scholarships that we recommend applying to.

The Breakthrough Greater Boston application is now LIVE! This is a free six-year program!

About Breakthrough Greater Boston

Breakthrough (BTGB) is a free, six-year intensive academic after-school and summer program for middle and high school students. Current 6th graders are eligible to apply in the winter and start in the six week summer 2023 program. The application deadline to apply to Breakthrough is February 3, 2023. Student and Family interviews will be conducted in February 2023 and admission decisions will be released in late March 2023. You can learn more about middle school program at Breakthrough here.

If you have questions, you can reach BTGB at admissions@btgbmail.org or contact Ms. Fontes.

Upcoming Dates

• Monday, January 16 - Martin Luther King Day: No School
• Wednesday, January 18 - Family Town Hall - please register
• Friday, January 27 - End of Quarter 2
• Wednesday, February 15- Family Town Hall - please register
• Monday, February 20 - Friday, February 24 - February Break - No School

Have questions?

Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out with questions! You can contact your child’s advisor or utilize any of the emails/websites below.

• For questions about buses, MBTA passes, and transportation: transportation@bostonprep.org

• To report an absence or tardiness or any attendance related matters: attendance@bostonprep.org

• To submit a physical exam record or to discuss health-related topics: nurses@bostonprep.org

• For information about resources, please familiarize yourselves with our Boston Prep resource page: https://www.bostonprep.org/resources
  

• For other questions: info@bostonprep.org