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Dear Friends of Our Sisters' School,
Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year at Our Sisters' School. We are pleased to bring you updates on an exciting season of activities at the school. Please review the articles below to learn more about what is on the horizon for OSS - and how you can be involved!
In the classroom: Welcome to 2010-2011 and a full school "It's a lot of work here at OSS," 8th grader Terrie tells incoming 5th and 6th graders, "but you can do it if you give your best effort every day and ask for help when you need it."
Throughout the whaling era, our school's namesakes - "sister sailors" - would return from extraordinary voyages with journals documenting their adventures, and advice for those intrepid young wives who would follow in their wakes. So too, do the returning upperclassmen at OSS, as our very first 8th grade class welcomed our new students at the orientation in late August and set the tone for their years at Our Sisters' School - along with giving them the inside scoop on success in their early days: "Don't wear silly bands or leave your uniform shirt untucked; do all of your homework every day and raise your hand a lot in class; work out issues with other students right away; and say yes to all of the new opportunities you will have at OSS to attend events in the community or to volunteer." The most important message of all, as the 8th graders modeled through their own leadership at the orientation, is that every crewmember on our voyage has a critical role to play. We are all part of the OSS team who work together to make sure that each girl has the very best education and experiences possible during her time at OSS, and that she is prepared for high school and beyond.
As we have once again expanded for our first academic year as a full 5th-8th grade middle school, our crew has grown this year to include a total of 8 AmeriCorps teachers. We welcome 53 students to our classrooms this fall, and look forward to watching our first 8th grade class graduate this coming June. We have also expanded our program offerings to continue our efforts toward academic excellence in all areas. We have added the full 8th grade core curriculum, expanded our world language and musical instrument programs, and established team-based athletics for the 7th and 8th grades. Our student community service program is growing as well, and we hope to be out and about in the community even more during this school year. While our preliminary student achievement data shows growth and promise throughout our academic program, we will continue to refine our curriculum and student support strategies to ensure academic excellence for each OSS student and highly effective instruction in every class.
This year we have also expanded the big sister/little sister tradition among our student body. Students are paired 8th & 6th or 7th & 5th graders together as big sister/little sister duos. Big sisters welcome the younger students with back-to-school letters of encouragement and support and homemade bookmarks for all of the reading they will do at OSS, and they build relationships with each other at social activities throughout the fall. They also provide tutoring or extra help to their protégées, and teach them how to conduct a tour of OSS when visitors come to the school. We hope that you will visit soon and give them an excuse to see each other!
On the horizon: Secondary School program launches at OSS With our first graduating 8th grade class this year, Our Sisters' School is preparing to launch our girls into their next voyage: high school. An important aspect of OSS's commitment to middle school girls from low-income families in the greater New Bedford area is to prepare them to enter and succeed in competitive coursework at high schools and colleges. By succeeding in these programs and graduating college or advanced certification and training programs, these girls will be helping to change the cycle of poverty - for their families, and for our community. OSS hopes to ensure that our alums are fully supported after their time at OSS.
As we continue to build upon the school's successful educational strategies and to plan for the final growth of OSS, we are implementing our first year of a Secondary School program. The goal of the Secondary School program is to fully support the girls and their families during the transition to high school. OSS has hired a Secondary School program coordinator whose primary responsibility is to work with the girls and their families to insure that the right path, based on each girl's interests, aptitude, and family's goals will be met with the best secondary school option. OSS graduates should be highly competitive for independent school financial aid, and, as a school, we will be diligent with each girl and her family to make sure that all options are identified and communicated with the goal of making the best choice for each of our students.
Schools have begun visiting OSS, and staff, students and families have also begun visiting schools. The girls have participated in several secondary school fairs and are enthusiastic about what may lie on the horizon. SSAT prep is well underway with the goal of better preparation. Options are being considered, evaluated and assessed. Time will tell, but OSS is committed to assisting our students and families through this process and has put the necessary people in place to insure that each girl has the opportunity and support to achieve in the best possible environment based on her academic, cultural and social interests and family needs.
Through their experiences in our academic program and the support providing during and beyond the transition to high school, we are confident that our graduates will be ready to thrive in high school, will be on track for advanced coursework, and will have the skills, motivation and support to succeed in their future educational experiences.
For additional information about the OSS secondary school program, please contact Jill Howard, Secondary School Program Coordinator, at 508-994-1255 x308 or jhoward@oursistersschool.org.
OSS Advancement News - 50% MATCH for 2010 While we have made many strides over the past year and summer month, the 4th quarter is always are busiest and most exciting time. The school is a-buzz, the girls are back, and there is certainly a renewed spirit in the air. We can all feel it - now we are full - we have made it as a four-year middle school, and we will have our first graduating class in the Spring of 2011. It will be here before we know it, but...we and the girls have a lot of work to do before we get there and we welcome your support.
OSS is fortunate to have so many friends who believe in the mission of the school and understand the importance of supporting our growth and commitment to the girls and their families in New Bedford. This past summer, many friends joined us for our second annual Boat Cruise aboard the Cuttyhunk Ferry, where 80 of us cruised out of the New Bedford Harbor on a beautiful summer night thanks to the generosity of Jono & Sue Billings who offered their ferry and crew for a summer fundraiser to benefit the school.
In addition, several wonderful people opened their homes and allowed us to spread the word about OSS to their friends. A special thank you to Wendy & Ken Joblon, Susan & Keith Watson, Cindy Martin and Alice Flint for supporting OSS in this special way. OSS was also the proud recipient as the "selected charity" at the Kittansett Trunk Show in late August - over $1,000 was raised for the school. Many thanks to all who purchased on OSS's behalf.
Please think of us this early November when you receive our annual appeal and remember no gift is too large or too small and every gift is special, because every girl is special. It is also important to remember that OSS has a very special individual who will be matching every dollar we raise by the end of December by 50% which makes your gift even that much more valuable to OSS! If you have any questions regarding learning about and supporting OSS, please contact Barbara Hickey at bhickey@oursistersschool.org or 508-994-1255 x305.
Introducing our new crew members OSS thanks our returning "crew" members for a wonderful 2009-2010 school year, and welcomes 6 new AmeriCorps teachers and 2 new performing arts teachers on board for the new school year.
Our Sisters’ School AmeriCorps Volunteer Classroom Teachers 2010-2011
Andrew Bradley, is originally from the town of Wellesley, MA and graduated from Boston College as a double major in Biology and Human Development in 2010. He has worked with children in a variety of educational settings, including the Museum of Science and a charter school in Jamaica Plain, Boston. His favorite time in college was spent volunteering at a homeless shelter. Andrew is the new 5th grade math and science teacher, as well as the 8th grade advanced math teacher.
Stephanie Cosantino (returning for second year), is from Hamilton Square, NJ. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2009 with a double major in English and Studio Art. Stephanie brings her experiences as captain of her university’s ultimate Frisbee team and as a summer camp instructor in Istanbul, Turkey to OSS as the new 8th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher.
Heather Cyr is a native of New Bedford and a graduate of NBHS in 2006. She received a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biological Sciences from the University of Rhode Island. She has an innate love for the ocean and the surrounding community. While she hopes to serve all of the girls well in any way possible, she will be teaching math & science to the 6th grade and advanced math in 7th grade.
Krissy Dolce is from New Milford, CT. She graduated from UConn in 2010 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Women’s Studies. Krissy served her university as a Women’s Studies librarian specialist, a Violence Against Women Prevention Program peer educator, and a feminist activist. Krissy brings her passion for social justice to OSS, where she is the new 7th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher.
Elise Edmonson is from Crystal Lake, Illinois. She graduated with a B.A. in history and a minor in education from Bates College in 2010. Elise played volleyball at Bates, is a member of the College Key, and loves to bake and cook. She will be teaching 7th grade math and science.
Marla Feldman (returning for second year), is originally from Woodcliff Lake, NJ, graduated from Union College in 2009 where she majored in English and minored in Spanish. She has served as a volunteer in a variety of areas, including the Face AIDS campaign, the ROAR literacy program, Project Sunshine and Prevent Child Abuse America. Marla is the 6th grade English and social studies teacher.
Courtney Hendrick is from Newton, MA. She went to Newton North High School and then to St. Lawrence University, from which she graduated in 2010. She has a B.A. in English with a focus on writing and a minor in Educational Studies. Courtney was a dual-sport athlete in school and loves to be active and outside. She is extremely excited to begin teaching 5th grade ELA and Social Studies this year at OSS!
Caroline Sullivan is from Norwell, MA. She graduated from Boston College in 2010 where she majored in biology and minored in studio art. Caroline is very interested in environmental science and ceramics and enthusiastically joins OSS as the new 8th grade math and science teacher and 6th grade advanced math this year.
Our Sisters’ School Performing Arts Teachers 2010-2011
Music Teacher: Marcus Monteiro - In the year 1991, saxophonist Marcus began his quest by experimenting and improvising. This led him to spend four years studying performance and composition at UMass Dartmouth. Since then, he has played professionally with various groups all along the east coast, mid-west, and the southern United States. In 2006, Marcus Monteiro’s debut album with his quartet was titled Mm4. Marcus now teaches individual lessons as well as Music together classes.
Drama Teacher: Diana Puccio – Diana holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Theatre and Education from Salve Regina University. She recently completed an internship in the Education department at Trinity Repertory Company and is currently freelancing as a theatre teaching artist. She has worked with other organizations such as Triboro Youth Theatre, and Drama Kids International, Inc.
We send a special thank you to the crew - staff, families, students, volunteers and community partners - who once again join this voyage of learning and discovery by our sides for the 2010-2011 school year. Welcome to year three of Our Sisters' School. Cast off and anchors aweigh!
Making Waves Read highlights from the 2009-2010 school year and view a slideshow of images of an incredible second year for OSS!
Highlights from Year II Thank you all for an amazing second year for our new school. It is astonishing to see how far our school community has brought us in such a short period of time, and a testament to the effort, energy and dedication of our students, families, staff, volunteers, Board and community partners in helping OSS on this incredible voyage. Below is a summary of our past year:
Summer 2009: The beginning of the summer focused on the last of the “unpacking” as we dove into the “storage” spaces that would be needed as our school grew to include another grade and new programs in year two. Summer also brought Hillary, our new Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator to Our Sisters’ School, and allowed us to build a volunteer program in year two that provided meaningful and important resources to our school program. Administrative staff worked on the development of our database, our first annual Boat Cruise, and hosting a “get-to-know-OSS” party with good friends. Hot summer days were filled ordering curriculum and materials and equipment for the 7th grade, planning for the music program, preparing for teacher professional development, filling last few spots for students, and working with the academic advisory committee to complete the OSS educational philosophy. As August began, our new AmeriCorps Teachers - Marla Feldman and Steph Cosantino - arrived, followed by the four returning AmeriCorps Teachers to hold professional development sessions with Nativity and on our own. Our family picnic brought our growing school community together on the last Friday before school started.
Fall 2009: Our first day back for year two was Tuesday, September 1st and we welcomed new 5th and 6th graders and their families to our school community. The year began with a bang as the first few weeks included community service for the Buttonwood Park Zoo’s rain garden, presidential fitness testing, our first administration of the GRADE and GMADE, school picture day, back-to-school night and presenting syllabi for the year, a board & staff dinner, the Stanford 10 for the 6th graders to catch up from year one, the beginning of regular staff meetings (faculty, lead teachers, all staff, grade level teams, subject area teams), an EnviroLab boat trip for new students, morning speakers three days per week and current events presentations by the students, and starting the “big sister-little-sister program” with the 5th and 7th graders. As the leaves changed colors around our athletic field moving farther into the fall, we (finally) got the Rosetta Stone program and the typing software to work in the computer lab and figured out what to do for clubs for the first year running them. Our 7th graders joined the Nativity community for their secondary school fair, and we hosted a presentation here by Milton Academy on choosing a secondary school. Powers of 10 Day brought math to life, and Mix-It-Up Day brought us closer together. We continued our community-based learning experiences through Operation Clean Sweep, storytelling at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and checking out the bees, and once again joining Trips for Kids for bicycling and on some Saturdays for special programs. The students started to learn to play instruments, to read and notate music and to sing more songs, and hosted our first ever social studies fair. We also held our first Open House to bring friends of OSS into the school.
Winter 2009-2010: By the beginning of winter, our brand new family committees were already hard at work and making things happen for the school from potluck dinners to chocolate fundraisers to family fun nights to roller-skating. Our newly expanded music program had also prepared us to participate in the Zeiterion’s Downtown Holiday Stroll, the holiday concert at Quinn, and singing carols at Coastline. Andy Rodin & Ron Teachman joined our Board to help chart our course. We volunteered with the whole city at Gifts to Give on MLK Jr. Day, and recorded videos about what social justice meant to us with the Women’s Fund. Due to popular demand, we partnered with Trips For Kids for a cooking program and great meals at Sid Wainer’s and Café Belena. We also worked with the Ocean Explorium and the Women’s Fund for the Women In Science and Engineering series again this year. We started holding monthly grade level assemblies and reading together as a school for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Read Across America Day, and National Poetry Month. We saw Shakespeare, professional theater, singing, dancing and the Symphony performing in public theaters with “real” audiences. We also began introducing the next group of potential students to OSS at open houses and at the Boys & Girls Club. The highlight our winter was winning the MaBaCh (Math, Basketball & Chess) Spirit Award at the Nativity Network tournament. Who has spirit? We do! We do!
Spring 2010: Fresh green shoots outside turned our gaze to the future as our families who have navigated the high school transition process at Nativity spoke to the rest of our families about their journeys and as we heard from high schools about the different types of programs they offer at two panel presentations. Our families learned about cyber safety and went bowling and washed cars together to raise money for our school. Our weekends were busy with these events, and with Trips for Kids and Cuttyhunk Trips on Saturdays, the NB Half Marathon, and the New Bedford Ballet performance of Cinderella. We held a collection drive for Harbour House homeless shelter, and volunteered for Operation Clean Sweep, the Jewish Convalescent Home and the Humane Society. Our fourth round of Presidential Fitness Testing found us watching the scores go up, up, up over the course of the year, thanks in part to our great volunteer coaches and to a school-wide commitment to physical fitness and nutrition in our home by Buttonwood Park. We continued to teach the community about OSS with another party with friends, our attendance at a Paw Sox game and with another amazing art show. Our students wrote, directed and performed in their final plays for the year. We hosted candidates for teaching and staff positions on many days and tried to show them what OSS is made of. Jill Howard agreed to return next year to help lead our secondary school program, and Laurie Barrett joined our Board. Our families again took the lead for our final picnic and gave our departing AmeriCorps members special gifts as a way of saying goodbye to teachers whom we will never forget who helped to turn OSS from a dream into a school. Our rising 8th grade class led the way, as always, in turning our gaze toward the future as they took our very first SSAT’s on the last weekend of the school year.
Team OSS is a community working together to make learning for middle school girls joyful and important. From the classroom to the computer lab to the dinner table to the art room to the basketball court to the Board room, our students are surrounded by peers and adults who share a common vision of their futures, and a common sense of adventure in building this new school together. We thank you for all you have done to keep OSS going and growing in year two, and we look forward to our future together. With warmest wishes for a wonderful summer, and with many thanks, always, to departing AmeriCorps Volunteers Joseph Accardi, Mallory Cohn, Jill Howard and Margaret McSweeny and departing Board members Joan O’Brien and Joel Alvord for launching us on this voyage, and for all of the OSS staff, Board members, students, families, volunteers, partners and friends who will remain and who will join us next year to crew our ship and to “make waves” together. You are the wind in our sails!
Join the Crew – Volunteer at OSS! OSS seeks volunteers to support our program for the 2010-2011 school year.
For additional opportunities and full descriptions, visit our volunteer page or contact Hillary Parker at hparker@oursistersschool.org or 508-994-1255 x306.
Class Names Contest: Help OSS Establish a Naming Tradition! As we reach our capacity as a four-year middle school for the very first time during the 2010-2011 school year, Our Sisters' School would like to establish a naming system to identify each class of students as they attend and graduate from OSS. We are looking for a central theme or category (some proposals thus far include constellations, ship names or personal virtues) that will accommodate 10 or more individual class names, and we need your help! Entries must include your category/theme, at least 10 examples for specific class names, and your name and contact information. Final decisions will be made by members of the OSS school community, and the winning proposal, along with the second and third place runners-up, will receive a special prize as a thank you from the school. Naming systems with a nautical or women-oriented theme will be given priority. If you have a suggestion for a class naming system, or a question about the contest, please send your idea to Lisa Yates at lyates@oursistersschool.org or by postal mail no later than December 1, 2010.
Sincerely,
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145 Brownell Avenue, New Bedford, MA 02740 Phone: 508.994.1255 Fax: 508.994.1355 info@oursistersschool.org |
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