September 21, 2019

What's Happening in Chappaqua's Schools. September 21, 2019

Student advocates raise voices for T1D research

Sophie Rinzler and delegates with U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).Every two years, more than 160 children living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) gather in Washington, D.C. to meet face-to-face with some of the top decision-makers in the United States. Delegates in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Children's Congress enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help members of the U.S. Congress understand what life with T1D is like and why research to fund life-changing therapies, until a cure can be found, is so critical. These children advocate on behalf of the millions of people living with T1D and the families and friends who love them.

After a rigorous application process, Sophie Rinzler, now a 7th-grader at Bell, was selected to be a part of this past summer's 10-member delegation from New York. Diagnosed with T1D at age 4, Sophie lobbied Congress for the renewal of the Special Diabetes Program, as well as a few other matters such as making insulin more affordable, covering preexisting conditions and continuing to provide strong funding for the NIH and FDA.

Learn More about Sophie's story. . .in her own words (and video).

 

Elementary students make their mark on the world

International Dot Day (September 15ish) is a worldwide celebration of creativity, courage, and collaboration inspired by the book, "The Dot," by Peter Reynolds.

The Dot tells the story of a caring teacher who reaches a reluctant student in a remarkably creative way. In Reynolds' book, the teacher dares a very resistant Vashti to "make her mark." Vashti's breakthrough begins with a simple dot on a piece of paper. Encouraged by her teacher, she sets off on a journey of self-discovery, letting her creativity bloom and, ultimately, inspiring others.

Grafflin students putting dots on windows i will make my mark by being nice to others no matter what. - Cami. Elementary kids watching a Dot Day movie.
 

The Socratic Seminar

Middle school students engaged in a Socratic Seminar.It was East meets West at Seven Bridges when Grade 8 English students from both teams participated in a Socratic Seminar.

During this activity, students helped one another understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in a text through a group discussion format. Students were responsible for facilitating the entire discussion, using ideas in the text to guide their conversations.

This time, up for discussion were the concepts of archetypes and power found Kij Johnson's dystopian short story, "Ponies," winner of a 2010 Nebula AwardWithin the context of the discussions and profound insights, students listened closely to the comments of others, provided feedback, thought critically for themselves, and articulated their thoughts as well as their responses to the thoughts of others.

 

The versatility of upper L Building

To ensure that students have access to inspiring, rigorous, and active learning experiences, curriculum writing teams worked hard in anticipation of the new Instructional Center located in upper L Building at Horace Greeley High School.

This 20,000+ square-foot progressive instructional space was teacher-developed to create learning communities that foster innovation, critical thinking, and collaboration among students, educators, and entire departments. Smaller and larger conference rooms and workspaces, breakout symposium areas, and advanced mobile technologies provide ideal locations for in-depth research and collaboration, both face-to-face and virtually.

The Instructional Center is equipped with flexible furniture and technology giving teachers the ability to facilitate instruction across a wide range of modalities. Emerging technologies and communication tools for individual and online collaborative work, large LED screens for public display of work, writing walls and movable whiteboards are also an integral part of the instructional design. Empowering students to use design thinking and apply their content knowledge to authentic, real-world problems, the Instructional Center also offers comfortable environments where teachers can provide individual and small group coaching in an effort to support students regardless of their readiness levels.

Only three weeks into the school year and we are just starting to tap into the incredible potential of this innovative space! We cannot wait to see how students further adapt to this new learning environment and come up with additional uses that we have yet to imagine.

Picture collage from upper L Building.

 

Got Duplicates?
     How to update your calendar subscription(s) to remove
     duplicate entries and events for other schools

Over the summer, the District changed its protocol for entering events into the online school and District calendars. Without going too much into the tedious details, the new way in which events were categorized may have resulted in duplicate entries and/or non-related events appearing on your calendar feeds.

To clear up and streamline your device calendar(s), please do the following:

  1. Delete any of the CCSD-associated calendars from the District and/or school website(s) homepage(s) that you have.

Then. . .

  1. Click HERE and individually subscribe to each calendar that you would like to have.
     
    1. IGNORE the first option -- "All Public calendars on this page"
       
    2. Hover over each green "iCal" button to reveal the calendar subscription options that differ depending on your brand of device.
       
    3. First, you will want to subscribe to "CCSD Holidays/BoE/Groups/NYS Testing" -- This will give you vacation days, BOE mtgs, BoE committee mtgs, and community group events (CSF, HGSF, PTA) but only the ones that are relevant district-wide. (Note: School-specific community group events are part of each school's calendar.)
       
    4. Then also subscribe to any of the school calendar(s) that you wish to have.

      NOTE: If you would like to subscribe to ALL six school calendars as well as "CCSD Holidays/BoE/Groups/NYS Testing", only then you should use the "All Public calendars on this page" option.

       
    5. Optional: A separate "Cycle Day" calendar feed is available and can also be subscribed to HERE. (Again, IGNORE the first option -- "All Public calendars on this page")

Once you have your new subscription(s) set, it may take some time for the device to sync and update. If you have any questions, please visit Instructions on how to subscribe to one or more calendars or email David Hayes, the District's Public Information Officer.

 

Middle School Speaker Series #1

Dr. Mark Bertin.Tuesday, September 24 • 7:00 PM • Seven Bridges Middle School

Join us at the first Middle School Speaker Series evening of the 2019-2020 school year, which will feature Dr. Mark Bertin. This event is open to all CCSD K-12 parents and faculty.

The focus of his presentation will be "Executive Functioning" and how parents and teachers can best support adolescent learners at school and at home.

Dr. Bertin will be available for a Q&A after his presentation in the 7B Upper Commons.

See you then! 

 

In Case You Missed It. . .

Upcoming Events

  • Sept. 21:  Fundraiser - Senior Class Car Wash, 10am-1pm (Bell)
  • Sept. 23-24:  Board of Education Retreat
  • Sept. 23:  DG/RB/WO Grades K-1 Phonics First Parent Night, 7pm (SB)
  • Sept. 24:  Speaker's Series - Executive Functioning, 7pm (SB)
  • Sept. 25:  Board of Education Meeting, 7:30pm (HG Academic Commons)
  • Sept. 26:  HG Grade 9 Parent Meeting, 6pm (Aud)
  • Sept. 26:  HG Open House Night, 7pm
  • Sept. 30-Oct 1: Holiday - Schools Are Closed
  • Oct. 2-4:  CCSD Spirit Week
  • Oct. 2:  BS/SB Grades 7/8 Open House Nights, 7pm
  • Oct. 3:  ENL Parent Night, 7pm (Bell)
  • Oct. 4-5:  HG Homecoming Weekend
  • Oct. 5:  Chappaqua Children's Book Festival, 10am-4pm (Bell)

Full Calendar