Dear Friends, 

Happy Summer!  Happy Pride!  Happy (almost) Juneteenth!  I sense a collective lifting of spirits as our fortunate community becomes vaccinated and the days become longer. 

This month’s newsletter is more of a photo update, rather than a written reflection.  That’s because you can read my latest thinking on this exceptional term in the Cambridge Chronicle.

Click on this image or here to read the OpEd.

No doubt, part of the reason my own spirits are lifting is because I’ve been able to connect with more of you in person in recent months.  Here are some recent highlights:

A few weeks ago, we held our last Down with Design gathering.  These Mental Health Awareness Month t-shirts were donated by Mayor Siddiqui - and the beautiful logo was designed by CRLS student Lisa Jones!

City Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler,  Councilor Zondervan, School Committee Member Ayesha Wilson and I were honored to support the CRLS students kicking off the Cambridge chapter of the Sunrise Movement.

Vice Mayor Mallon, Mayor Siddiqui, and I were delighted to connect with many CPSD families and community partners at the district’s and Mayor’s Resource Fair last weekend.

Last but not least, a big CongRatuLationS to the CRLS and High School Extension Program seniors who graduated this week!  Completing high school is always a milestone, but this class has overcome more obstacles than most.  My hat is off to them, their families, and their educators.

In closing, this month marks the end of Dr. Kenneth Salim’s five year tenure leading the Cambridge Public Schools.  I am thankful to the Superintendent for his dedication to our district, round-the-clock service through COVID-19, and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.  

As always, I welcome your questions and ideas.

In collaboration,

Rachel

Dear Friends,

Flowers are blooming, vaccines are going in arms, and we have a new Interim Superintendent of Schools!  Last night, the School Committee voted to appoint Dr. Victoria Greer to lead our district for a year beginning July 1.  I look forward to working with Dr. Greer, particularly because I’ve heard that she consistently prioritizes student needs in each of her decisions.  In speaking with her references, Mayor Siddiqui and I heard that, even when they disagreed with her, Dr. Greer’s determinations centered students.

The students who interviewed Interim Supt candidates gave us all insight into the three finalists.

In addition to enabling a good interim appointment, I believe the selection process our community and School Committee used will help shape the search for a permanent superintendent.  After conducting separate interviews with panels of students, family members, and staff, we posted the forums on the CPSD website with subtitles in multiple languages.  We also invited community members to share their reflections and questions in a form that was public.  I’m proud to have played a central role in this process, working closely with Mayor Siddiqui and Member Rojas.

The Committee’s conversation Tuesday night about providing remote learners social opportunities can be found here at the 1:27 mark.

In other news, while most of our students have returned to in-person learning (and more high school students will return Monday), I continue to be concerned about the roughly 30% of students who are staying remote until September.  If you have read this newsletter for a few months, you know that I put my policy-making hat aside to work with students and partners on monthly gatherings for CRLS students.  I remain frustrated that our district has not done more to offer all remote students chances to connect with peers and adults outside and safely.  Having unsuccessfully advocated for school-formed pods in the spring of 2020, outdoor learning and walking tours (an idea from parents) last summer, and supervised recess for remote learners (an idea from a teacher) last fall, I brought a policy motion forward this week requiring schools to invite remote learners to gather with in-person learners and school teams at least twice before the next school year.  Members Weinstein and Wilson co-sponsored this motion, which leaves the specifics about when and where outside to schools.  Our intent was to ensure that students who have been remote for close to 15 months are able to see friends and reconnect with their schools before the end of this school year.  We believe that this will help their mental health over the summer and reduce anxiety about returning to in-person learning in the fall.

Elijah gives instructions during the scavenger hunt at last week’s Down with Design.

In closing, I have truly enjoyed recent visits with a Civics class, the Young People’s Project, and a workshop convened by the Intersectional Feminist Club.  I’m looking forward to being allowed back inside schools to visit students and teachers in the same room!

As always, I welcome your ideas and questions.

In collaboration,

Rachel

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well and your spirits lifting with the arrival of spring and vaccines.  

Last month, this newsletter noted the passing by suicide of a CRLS scholar.  This month, my heart aches to share the news of the murder of Xavier Louis-Jacques, a recent CRLS graduate, artist and athlete.  Xavier’s friends and educators remember his warmth, kindness and humor.  The media often talks about gun violence in mass shootings, which are beyond horrific.  According to Vox (3.23.21), mass shootings make up less than two percent of gun deaths in this country. We need real gun control. 

We should hold one another in community.   

On an upbeat note, next week, many more of our children will return to in-person learning, marking another pandemic milestone.  It’s notable to me that this month’s newsletter is focused on our search for an Interim Superintendent and next year’s budget, topics that we would address in non-Covid years, too.  

When Dr. Salim submitted his resignation in January, my colleagues and I decided to launch a search for an Interim Superintendent.  The requirements for an interim search are different than for a permanent search.  The School Committee has the authority to simply appoint an Interim Superintendent.  Because we are committed to antiracism and closing opportunity gaps of all sorts, we wanted to incorporate some community engagement where possible, despite the quick timeline.  

As a member of the ad hoc search committee, I have worked closely with Mayor Siddiqui, Member Rojas, and our Chief Talent Officer, Lisa Richardson, to design an abbreviated calendar that centers student, caregiver and staff voices.  We have invited finalists to meet with these three groups of stakeholders for interviews that the stakeholders design and lead.  On April 8th, the candidates will rotate through 45-minute sessions with each of these groups.

(Here is the link to watch the Committee discuss this process)

We know that the panelists in these stakeholder groups will ask critical questions of interim superintendent candidates.  It’s also worth noting that, while we are observing how finalists interact with community members, we are also giving them an impression of what it would be like to work for our district and how we walk our antiracist talk.

To view these interviews, please visit the Interim Superintendent Search page for links.  In the coming days, a new form will be added through which you can submit feedback on the candidates as well as suggest questions for the School Committee to ask when candidates come before us.  

In other news, I am pleased to see the following items in the Superintendent’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022: 

• The expansion of the Early College program, which provides high school students with rigorous learning and college credits before they graduate from CRLS.  I’m also glad to see we are seeking the state’s “Early College Designation,” as I expect that will require a larger program with proven results, especially for students who are the first in their families to attend college.

• Expanded funding for a full-time social worker at every elementary school.  Our children deserve the social emotional support and case work social workers can provide, now more than ever.

• Increased capacity to provide language access to all families.  In addition to addressing a clear access issue, we all will benefit from more caregivers participating in public forums (with interpretation services).

The additions to the budget that I’m seeking include:

• Increasing Family Liaisons to 40-hours per week at every school.  The Family Liaisons do critical work to close opportunity gaps for students.  Among other things, families routinely turn to them for help navigating food, housing, and after school care, all challenges that impact well-being and learning.

• Allocating more funding for intensive tutoring, enhanced after school programming, and/or another strategy to augment our existing academic supports as we emerge from remote learning.  

Apropos of which, I am advocating for a process this year through which the School Committee will approve the use of federal recovery and rescue funds.  In typical times, we approve such grants through a consent agenda.  Since we anticipate upwards of $13m coming to the district, I believe the Committee should have more oversight of these significant resources dedicated to building back stronger.  

Just as this Tobin Montessori poster encourages a growth mindset in students, we too must be persistent learning to close opportunity and achievement gaps. 

We are fortunate to live in a city that has increased the School Department’s budget by an astounding 22% in the last four fiscal years.  Now we must ensure that our academic and wellbeing outcomes reflect and go beyond that investment.

As always, I welcome your questions and suggestions.

In collaboration,

Rachel

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones well.

I’m pained to start by sharing tragic news: We lost a young woman last week to suicide.  Sina Ball was a sophomore at CRLS.  Her family, friends, educators, and community are carrying profound grief while showing up for one another, learning and working.  Sina’s death underscores the urgency of ensuring we have the relationships with students to know who is struggling and the adequate mental health resources they need.

This week, many students returned part-time to in-person learning for the first time in almost a year.  And, many students continue to learn remotely.  We must redouble our efforts to support the mental health of each and every child, regardless of where they are sitting.

With Principal Cook outside the Baldwin School

Concerned about the impacts isolation was having on our students, in late 2020 I stepped outside my policy-making role to see what a coalition might be able to provide for students who were struggling.  A trusted Youth Resource Officer who had worked with My Brother’s Keeper Cambridge on outdoor programming last summer suggested offering safe, social opportunities.  Building on this idea, I convened a small group of CPS educators, community partners, and parents* to consider how we could help children connect with peers and caring adults during this time. The group decided to focus on tenth and eleventh graders, believing they were less likely to be returning to in-person learning soon.  We also knew that the most effective opportunities would be designed and led by the young people we wanted to reach.  Those who worked directly with students (including School Committee colleague Ayesha Wilson, wearing her Work Force hat) recruited a small team of student designers.  In a few short weeks, we were ready for an initial gathering.  We were delighted that the staff of Starlight Square** was eager to collaborate with us.  Working within the state guidelines for outdoors, on January 17 we welcomed 22 CRLS students to Starlight Square. 

CRLS scholars at Starlight Square, writing reflections on their experiences during COVID.

At Starlight, students greeted friends, listened to music mixed by one of their peers, and responded to prompts about how they were feeling and what supports they wanted, both in writing and through art. The youth designers led a walk through the neighborhood and around Sennott Park, during which students reflected on the concepts of connection and caring. As the event came to a close, Mayor Siddiqui addressed the group, and each student shared their hopes for future gatherings. While some students suggested particular activities, others were explicit that it was the opportunity to be together safely that mattered to them most; the content of the event was mostly irrelevant.  

The young designers are now planning monthly gatherings throughout the spring.   All will be outdoors -- and participation limited to enable social distancing.  Some will focus on the arts, and others group games or movement.  The February gathering included a personal check-in, rounds of Pictionary and Heads Up!, and sharing reflections and requests with the Student School Committee Members and CRLS Principal Smith.  My heart was truly warmed to see young people playing, laughing, and connecting.   

Closing circle at Down with Design 

While monthly gatherings are a small innovation, the students and adults in this emerging Cambridge Collaborative hope that we are creating a model for future youth-led, coalition-supported efforts in our school district and city.  Transforming our children’s educational experiences will require us to break silos, risk failure, and work in different ways.  In the meantime, we are grateful to be providing social connection for some of our wonderful students.

Coming soon: reflections on the search for an Interim Superintendent, which is just getting underway.  Stay tuned!

As always, I welcome your ideas and questions.

In collaboration,

Rachel

* Extra thanks to Youth Designers Amarah, Elijah, Henry, Jaden, Rosie, Sara, Yossan, STARs teacher Sharon Lozada, district Design and Innovation Coach Angie UyHam, Co-Director of the Agenda for Children Khari Milner, Debbie Bonilla in her Friday Night Hype capacity, parent innovator Jeff Goldenson, CPD Youth Resource Officer Daniliuk, Tony Clark and Ty Bellitti from My Brother’s Keeper Cambridge, as well as B Kim in the Mayor’s office, Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and School Committee Member Ayesha Wilson.

** Starlight Square itself is the brainchild of a CPS graduate, Nina Berg, and the community coalition which is the Central Square BID.  We are very grateful for their generous partnership.

Student School Committee Members Killian and Vera DeGraff with Member Wilson and myself at February’s gathering.

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones well and safe.  

The scenes at all levels of society are tangled.  Globally, we hold the hope of vaccines soon to be administered simultaneously with concern about the dramatic surge of new cases.  In our school district, we are planning to expand opportunities for in-person learning, while temporarily going fully remote because of the number of people who have tested Covid positive recently.  Within this context, I want to share a few School Committee, Cambridge Public Schools, and campaign developments.

(FMA Scholars reading together)

Last month, the School Committee sent a letter that I wrote to Governor Baker and our state delegation urging them to close other venues prior to closing schools (you can read the correspondence at this link, just below the related motion 20-283).  We felt that, if students are truly our priority, we should be managing community spread by limiting indoor gatherings elsewhere.  We also encouraged colleagues in other jurisdictions to send similar letters.  In the absence of federal leadership, such critical decision-making has been left to individual states, and our children are paying the price.

(A talented teacher shows us amazing insect art by Baldwin scholars!)

My sense of urgency to offer students opportunities for in-person learning, or at least occasional wellness activities, has grown stronger.  This is a result of hearing from children and families suffering from isolation, as well as of hearing from those who have witnessed how the return to school in October dramatically improved their children’s wellbeing.  I was fortunate to visit in-person classrooms at the Fletcher-Maynard Academy, Baldwin, and Tobin Montessori schools last month.  It truly warmed my heart to see young scholars learning to read, working on art projects, and connecting with their peers and teachers.  (Our teachers, both in-person and remote, are working incredibly hard!)  After brainstorming with a number of CPSD caregivers, including a School Resource Officer, a psychologist at Children’s Hospital, and a parent with a track record of supporting student-led innovations, I drafted motion 20-300 to explore use of the Field House at the high school for academic, wellness and/or social opportunities.  I believe that, when safe, even weekly time with peers would benefit our children’s mental health and increase their ability to engage with academics.

(Tobin Montessori scholars working on art projects.)

In closing, working for our children, families and staff this year has been a privilege.  Of course, I would welcome the opportunity to serve when we are not in the midst of a pandemic, too!  That, however, requires a successful re-election campaign in 2021, and I have not had time to fundraise this year.  So, as I turn 46 this week and we welcome our 46th President soon, I ask you to contribute $4.60, $46, or $460 to the campaign before the end of the calendar year.  Here is the link!  I am deeply grateful to be in community with you and appreciate your support.

In collaboration,

Rachel

Dear Friends,

Yellow school buses are rolling down our streets again!  We welcomed our youngest scholars and those with special needs back into Cambridge Public Schools for four days of in-person learning per week (Wednesdays are virtual for everyone), with many more scholars continuing remotely.  Given that my colleagues and I spent the last seven months taking crash courses in pandemic management and school building health, I was relieved to hear reports from elementary school students that their first days were, in the words of one second grader, “amazing, amazing, amazing!”

I have learned a great deal about the physical challenges Covid-19 brings by participating in Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee meetings, talking with local scientists, absorbing public comments, and reading articles.  In all candor, at first I was unsure we would be able to provide sufficient protections to meet the level of safety standards needed to send children and staff into buildings.  I am grateful to feel confident that the physical spaces are safe.  Every room being used has at least four air exchanges per hour, teachers participate in surveillance testing, scholars are physically spaced six feet apart, and CPSD has a plethora of personal protective equipment (PPE).  The evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, is that these layers of protection work. (I recently heard from a friend who teaches outside of Cambridge.  Her co-teacher tested positive after an exposure outside of school, but neither she nor anyone else at the school contracted Covid-19, presumably because they had protections like these in place.)   

(I participated in walkthroughs of four of our oldest school buildings before they reopened.  Pictured here is signage, PPE, and an air scrubber at the Tobin Montessori School.)

While attaining physical safety in our schools represents a sort of pandemic milestone, it by no means signifies a return to easier work.  In fact, my experience working with schools has shown me that it is often easier to address operational challenges than cultural ones.  We must persist in grappling with the more difficult challenges.  For example, what does it mean that white families chose in-person learning disproportionately over Black and Latinx families?  What is the district doing to better understand the concerns of families of color?  What adjustments can be made so that in-person enrollment mirrors the demographics of our student population?  I continue to push our Superintendent and administration to connect with families of color in order to address inequities.  

Becoming an antiracist district will take all of us excavating, examining, and unlearning biases we have absorbed from society.  I am pleased that my colleagues unanimously passed resolution 20-255, to protect Asian American students from the racial bullying and abuse the President has inspired.  Mayor Siddiqui brought this resolution forward and invited me to co-sponsor it.  We also passed motion 20-250, which I introduced and Members Rojas and Wilson co-sponsored.  The three of us were moved to bring this motion forward as a way for the School Committee to officially acknowledge multiplecomplaints of racial harm done by Members.  After witnessing a process that I felt went off-the-rails last year, and then seeing the variety of ways we responded to the Educators of Color Coalition this year, I felt it critical that we develop a transparent, predictable process for responding to future incidents.  Member Rojas’ Governance Subcommittee will bring a proposal back to the full Committee in the weeks ahead.  

There is always more to share - and I’m told my newsletters are text heavy already!  With so much in flux, at last week’s School Committee meeting I rattled off a dozen questions about staffing, such as:

• How many teacher and paraprofessional positions are currently vacant?
• How many children are being assigned new teachers when in-person learning starts?
• How many second and third grade in-person classrooms are being staffed primarily by paraprofessionals rather than lead teachers?  

There was not time for the Superintendent to respond to each of my questions, so I am waiting on written responses.  (I will request that the written answers be posted with the meeting summary online.)  I also co-sponsored Member Wilson’s motion 20-251 to convene a roundtable with elementary school principals to hear directly from our school leaders about what is working this year and what challenges remain.  Principals have critical information and perspective on how to support our children.

Finally, but most importantly, please VOTE!  Every registered Cambridge voter can vote early in-person, starting this Saturday and running through October 30th, at the Longfellow School, the Water Department, or the Valente Library.  Street addresses and hours are linked here.

In collaboration,

Rachel

Dear Friends,

Today is the first day of school in Cambridge.  Like every parent - and policy maker - I have a larger range of questions and emotions than in most years.  How will our children engage, learn, and connect with peers?  When can everyone safely return to in-person learning?  Can we meet the growing mental health and social needs of our young people?  How will we sustain our educators and staff?  Despite a spring and summer full of School Committee work, there are many unknowns, most of which are the result of the broader uncertainties in the world, but some of which are of our own district’s making.

Here are a few key developments since I last wrote:

• We are preventing the spread of Covid-19.  In early August, the School Committee passed the Superintendent’s reopening plan with seven contingencies.  In short, we said that no one would return to learning inside of school buildings until it was safe.  CPSD has more sophisticated health metrics than most districts and a much stronger surveillance testing plan, thanks to Mayor Siddiqui’s months of pushing for it.  The School Committee will soon take up air ventilation thresholds and mitigation measures.

Just last night, we heard updates from the Superintendent on planning for substantially separate special education classrooms, supervised remote learning spaces, and social emotional learning, which we required be collaboratively designed with scholars, families and community partners.  To get a taste of the wisdom of our young people, check out their recommendations in the series of School Climate Subcommittee meetings I facilitated on supporting the mental health of our youth.

[Hear these CRLS scholars and others here.]

• The School Committee also completed its annual performance review of Superintendent Salim.  You can view our conversation here.  I am eager to see the Superintendent (and all his successors) benefit from feedback from cabinet members, principals, and teachers, as well as caregivers and community partners with whom he works closely, rather than only from Committee Members.  The Vice Chair will be appointing an ad hoc committee to put together such a “360 degree” process.

• We had the pleasure of hearing from Educator Collaboratives earlier this month.  The Collaboratives are teams of teachers in a particular elementary grade or subject area working across the city’s schools to develop standards-aligned curricula and lessons that are rigorous, joyful and culturally responsive.  These teachers have created documents that will help families understand what their children are supposed to be learning at each grade level.  As someone whose other job is supporting collaboration between district, charter and Catholic school educators in Boston, I believe that these collaboratives exemplify the best of using this crisis as an opportunity; we will do a better job supporting and retaining teachers simply by giving them time to learn from one another, and our children will benefit. 

[‘Some of the Cambridge educators participating in Educator Collaboratives.]

The challenges ahead are plentiful.  And, tired as every caregiver, educator, administrator and elected official is, I remain deeply committed to helping our young scholars learn and connect.  Knowing that growth is rarely linear, I expect there will be further bumps as our administrators try new scheduling techniques, educators refine their remote practices, and school staff start routine check-ins with families.  Our School Committee has additional work to do, too, in healing racial harm to CRLS students from last year and to the Educators of Color Coalition last month.  As I think about the organizational culture changes I want to see in our district, I remain interested in having the Committee, administration and schools adopt more restorative practices.

Much has been said about how the Covid-19 pandemic and the era of racial reckoning have exposed our interconnectedness. Let us use these crises to build the relationships that support our young scholars, the adults who guide them, and the community which we collectively comprise.  Time to build back our district better!

In collaboration,

Rachel

(From left: Mayor Siddiqui, myself, and Member Wilson at a Back to School Resource Fair)

Dear Friends,

Where should we start?  The School Committee is considering many important policy items, the most timely among them being the forthcoming recommendation from Superintendent Salim for how our young scholars and educators return to school next month.  Will they spend some of their days at school and some at home?  Will we begin all instruction remotely? 

The Superintendent’s proposals have evolved in recent days in response to critical feedback from the Educators of Color Coalition, the Cambridge Families of Color Coalition, scientists on the COVID-19 Taskforce, and countless others.  This slide outlines options his team is evaluating.  They are likely to be revised further before the School Committee meets tomorrow.

You may be wondering how I think we should return to school.  As with all of my colleagues, my priorities are to keep our loved ones safe and healthy and to build the relationships and learning communities that will help our young people grow.  Having followed the scientific news and had the privilege of conversing with local epidemiologists in recent months, I understand that we need to create layers of protective measures so that, if one fails, the others will still protect members of our community.  The district has been working tirelessly and has some of these protective measures in place.  For example, the Chief Operating Officer has secured upwards of 27,000 masks.  His team also has installed hand washing stations and sanitizer dispensers all over each of our schools.  

[Image from “What Back to School Might Look Like in the Age of Covid-19,” illustrated by Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, NYT July 29, 2020]

Two other protective measures that would increase my own confidence in in-person learning are Covid-19 testing and the improvement of air ventilation.  We are incredibly lucky that the Broad Institute is part of our community and stands ready to help us with surveillance testing.  We should take advantage of this resource.  Knowing that the virus can remain afloat in a room that is not well ventilated, we also need to ensure each classroom, common space (including bathrooms) and work space has adequate air flow before we send our children and dedicated staff into buildings.

[Image from “What Back to School Might Look Like in the Age of Covid-19,” illustrated by Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, NYT July 29, 2020]

I agree with Dr. Salim that we probably will not want to remain in remote learning mode until we have a vaccine, as that could mean another 18-24 months of learning from home.  While I am not ready to send our loved ones into buildings in early September, I do believe we can return them there when we have the above safety measures in place, assuming local transmission remains at its current level or lower.  In the meantime, I will continue pushing for students who are not well served by remote learning to convene in schools in small groups (outside of buildings as much as possible), and for all families and teachers to connect individually.

That is my current thinking.  I reserve the right to revise my recommendations as we all learn more about how this virus works.

Tomorrow night’s School Committee meeting (agenda item 9) includes two policies I’ve drafted that flow from what I’ve outlined above:

• Motion 20-207 calls upon the district to engage an HVAC and respiratory pathogen expert to review our school ventilation systems.  It also requires the district to provide public school-by-school data on air quality in each room as well as plans for mitigations.  Mayor Siddiqui co-sponsored this motion.

• Motion 20-206 updates district policy so that programs like First Work that provide stipends will give priority to young people who qualify for free or reduced lunch and other income-based supports.  If adopted, this motion also would encourage CPSD, City and non-profit partners to generate additional opportunities for stipending young people whose families have low incomes.  Possibilities include paying high school scholars for mentoring younger children, stipending student members of boards and commissions, and underwriting training costs for Red Cross babysitting.  Mayor Siddiqui and Member Wilson co-sponsored this motion.

[Committee via Zoom]

Working collaboratively with my colleagues, I’ve co-sponsored additional motions to:

• Engage the Broad Institute in surveillance testing.
• Coordinate childcare during remote learning days.
• Inventory spaces outside of CPSD that could be used for teaching and learning.
• Extend the MCAS (standardized testing) moratorium another year.
• Define a set of “power standards” that teachers use for instruction this year.

There is much more that caregivers, scholars, educators, scientists, administrators, and elected officials are discussing.  Many of us have been pushing to make shifts to anti-racist teaching as we grapple with Covid-19.  We were dedicated to dismantling the district’s white supremacy culture prior to the pandemic, and the pandemic may help this work, since we have to rethink school from top to bottom now. 

In closing, while local community leaders have taken a crash course in public health, I believe we would not be in this predicament if we had reliable federal leadership.  I encourage you to VOTE in the primary on September 1st -- and to do so safely by mail.  The deadline to register for a mail ballot is August 26th.  You can reach the Cambridge Election Commission at (617) 349-4361 with any questions. Vote in memory of Representative John Lewis. Vote like our lives depend on it, because they do.

In collaboration,

Rachel