This is a reminder that the Reading Public Schools will be holding budget meetings to present the FY17 budget.  The dates and times of these meetings are as follows:

Reading School Committee Budget Meetings (All Meetings Begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices)

• Monday, January 11th-Overview of FY17 Budget, Administration and Regular Day Cost Centers
• Thursday, January 14th-Special Education, District Wide Services
• Thursday, January 21st-Public Hearing, Town and School Facilities
• Monday, January 25-Final School Committee Vote

In addition to the meetings above, the Superintendent of Schools will be holding two budget presentations for parents on Tuesday, January 12th (6:30 p.m., Coolidge) and Wednesday, January 13th (6:30 p.m., Parker).  Both presentations will be the same.  Child care will be provided.

There will also be a Financial Forum of the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, and Finance Committee on Wednesday January 20th at 7:30 p.m. at the Reading Senior Center.  The topic will be the FY17 budget and future budget discussions.  This meeting is a public meeting.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Reading Public Schools administration offices at 781-944-5800.

Good Afternoon and Happy New Year!

During the month of January, there will be several School Committee and Community presentations on the Superintendent’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget.  The School Committee meetings will begin this week and will be televised live on RCTV.

The dates of the meetings are listed below.  All meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices, 82 Oakland Road.

• Thursday, January 7 (Overview of FY17 Budget)
• Monday, January 11 (Administration, Regular Day Cost Centers)
• Thursday, January 14 (Special Education, District Wide Services Cost Centers)
  
• Thursday, January 21 (Public Hearing, Town/School Facilities Cost Center)
• Monday, January 25 (Questions, School Committee Vote)

​In addition to the above meetings, Superintendent of Schools John Doherty will be making two Community presentations on the FY17 Superintendent’s Recommended Budget.  The dates and times of the meetings are below.  Child care services will be available at each meeting.

If you have any questions, please contact the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices at 781-944-5800.

Good Morning and Happy New Year!

The link below is to this week’s edition of the Reading Public Schools Community Newsletter, Pathways.  In this week’s edition, we have articles about the upcoming Community Budget Meetings,  a teacher who shadows a high school student to understand the student more, a special message from a teacher about how she tries to create connections for students, and examples of high schools that combine academic and social/emotional learning.  There are also photos from the RMHS Girls Hockey Team raising their state championship banner, the retirement of Police Chief James Cormier and the swearing in of our new Police Chief, Mark Segalla.

Have a great rest of the weekend and week ahead!

Pathways Newsletter V2N17

It is with great sadness that we share with you that Joshua Eaton Teacher Jody Carregal passed away this morning after her long courageous struggle with cancer.

Jody was a caring and compassionate teacher who touched the lives of hundreds of students during her 11 year Reading Public School teaching career.  She was strong teacher leader in the district serving in several roles, including as an Elementary Assistant Principal, School Council Member, and a member of the TAP Committee.  In addition, Jody received two teacher tribute awards from the Reading Education Foundation for her outstanding work with students.  Her positive attitude, compassion towards her students, and dedication to her profession will be fondly remembered and sorely missed.  Her commitment to the students and love for learning has touched us all.

We will update you regarding funeral arrangements as more information becomes available.

Please keep the Carregal Family and the Joshua Eaton Community in your thoughts and prayers during this time of sadness.  May she rest in peace.

Coolidge Middle School Science Team Reunion to Remember and Honor John McCarthy on January 9^th

The Coolidge Middle School Science Olympiad Team will be having a reunion of past and current team members, parents, and coaches on Saturday, January 9^th, beginning at 2:00 p.m., in the Coolidge Middle School Multipurpose Room.  The Reunion welcomes anyone who has been involved in the Coolidge Science Olympiad Team over the past 23 years and will remember and honor long time Coolidge Science Teacher and Science Olympiad Coach John McCarthy who passed away on October 19th following a courageous battle with cancer. Participants are encouraged to bring any stories or memories that you would like to share about John McCarthy or Science Team in general.  Food will be served and it will provide us with the opportunity to reminisce about the Coolidge Science Team experience.  Dress is casual and you are welcome to wear any Science Team shirts/hats/pins/etc. from your time on the team.

A google survey form has been created (see link below) so that the organizers can get an accurate count on who is attending.  If you have been involved in the Coolidge Science Team in any capacity since 1992, please complete the Google Doc below, even if you are not able to attend.

http://bit.ly/1U1NdXP

Please share this information with as many alumni that you know through every means that you know so that we can try to get everyone the message.  We hope to see you at this event.  If you have any questions, please contact John Doherty at john.doherty@reading.k12.ma.us.

Good Morning,

We hope all is well and you are enjoying your weekend.  Attached to the link below, please find this week’s edition of the Journey Newsletter.  This week’s edition contains a letter to Santa, an article about designing lessons with desirable difficulties, and what your children will remember about the holidays.  We also have several photos from the RMHS Band and Chorus Concerts.

As we enter the last few days prior to the holiday break, we would like to thank you for your support of our schools.  Your effort and collaboration is extraordinary, particularly during this stressful and anxious time of year.  On behalf of the Reading Public Schools, we want to wish each of you a very happy and healthy holiday season and a restful vacation.

Have a great rest of the weekend and week ahead!

Take care.

Pathways Newsletter V2N16

Good Morning, Reading Public School Community,

Beginning in early January, the Reading Public Schools will be conducting a principal search for Parker Middle School. This weekend, the position is being advertised with an application deadline of January 22^nd.  Our plan is to have a principal selected by early March with a start date of July 1, 2016.   The timeline established for this search has been developed in a way to maximize the largest number of qualified candidates.  As we have with previous administrative searches, we use an extensive process to find the best candidate possible, consisting of multiple interviews with different groups, reference checks, and site visits by the candidates.  As part of the search process, a Screening Committee, consisting of parents, teachers, and administrators participates during the beginning of the process to recommend a set of candidates to the Superintendent as potential finalists.  The chosen finalists will go through a public process with the school community that will lead to a final selection by the Superintendent of Schools.

We will be looking for a few parents and teachers to serve on the Parker Screening Committee.  Members who are on the screening committee would need to commit to two afternoon meetings, as well as, up to two full days of interviews.   If you are interested in being considered to be on the Parker Middle School Screening Committee, please send an email to Human Resources Administrator Michaela Saunders at Micheala.Saunders@reading.k12.ma.us  with a detailed explanation of why you are interested in being on the Screening Committee.  The deadline to submit your interest is Wednesday, December 23^rd.

For those of you who may be interested, we will be moving forward with a Principal for the Joshua Eaton Elementary School in mid to late January.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Micheala Saunders.

Have a great rest of the weekend and week ahead.

Good Morning,

We hope all is well and you are enjoying your weekend.  Below please find the link to this week’s edition of the Reading Public Schools Pathways Newsletter.  This week’s edition contains articles that focus on Creating Safe and Supportive Environments for Our Transgender Students, Information about our School Accountability Ratings and what it means, how resilient we are, and how to get students to talk about math.  In addition, we have photos from the Hour of Code Activities this week, the Elementary Chorus Concert, Makerspaces, and Social and Emotional Learning in Action.

I want to give a special shout out to our Library Media Specialists and Technology Integration Specialists for all of their efforts in coordinating the hour of code activities this week.  Hundreds of Reading Public School students were involved in this worthwhile activity to promote computer science in our schools.

Have a great rest of the weekend and week ahead!

Take care.

Pathways Newsletter V2N15

The Office of Student Services, which supports all students, especially students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, and students who need accommodations, is pleased to announce that there will be two meetings this week that may be of interest to you.  The first meeting is an informational meeting on special education transportation as described below and will be held on Thursday, December 10th at 6:00 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Conference Room.

The second meeting will be immediately after the transportation meeting and will be the monthly Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) meeting, which will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Superintendent’s Conference Room.  The SEPAC is an advisory group that gives guidance to the Student Services Department and the School Committee on issues related to special education.  All parents are welcome to attend.

If you have any questions about either meeting, please contact Director of Student Services Carolyn Wilson at 781-942-9129.

The Reading Public Schools students and teachers will participate in Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 7-13).  Under the direction of the Reading Technology Integration Specialists and Library Media Specialists students and staff will take part in an Hour of Code. The Hour of Code is an introduction to computer science designed to demystify computing code and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, and an innovator. In addition, students from the high school will visit and mentor middle school students and students from middle schools will work and mentor the elementary school students.

Computer Science Education Week is dedicated to showing students of all ages the importance of computer science and to introducing them to computational thinking. It is organized by the Computing in the Core Coalition and Code.org in early December each year to recognize the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper,born on Dec. 9, 1906. This year, the Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) and the MassTLC Education Foundation have provided buttons and posters to encourage schools and organizations in Massachusetts to participate and engage as many students as possible in computer science and coding activities.