Dear Families,

Please see below for this week’s announcements.

COVID Testing
Opportunity to participate in the Executive Director Interview Committee
Opportunity to participate in DESE Focus Group
Yondr and Uniform Reminder
Intent to Return to Boston Prep Survey
BPS Exam School Admissions Test
Middle School Semi-Formal Dance
Middle School MCAS Exams
SEPAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) meeting
Upcoming Family Town Hall
PEBT Benefits
Boston Prep Events/Announcements
Community Events/Announcements

Stay safe and be well!

Sincerely,

Madelyn Ruizdeporras
Family Operations Manager

I. COVID Testing

At Boston Prep, health and safety is our number one priority. We ask for your help, as families, in a few ways.

Keep your child home if they are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19. If you believe your child is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or has been exposed to someone with COVID-19, please immediately contact our nurses, Ms. Golafaie and Ms. Etheart, at nurses@bostonprep.org. Our nurses will partner with you to determine whether your child must remain home from school and for how long. You will be notified by Boston Prep’s Nursing Team if your student tests positive for COVID. If you do not receive notification from our Nurses, you should assume that your child has not tested positive.

If you have not yet registered your child for our FREE COVID testing program, please do so now!

Register for COVID Testing here

Thank you for continuing to be our partners in ensuring the health and safety of the Boston Prep community.

II. Opportunity to participate in the Executive Director Interview Committee:

As you know, Boston Prep is looking to hire a new Executive Director for the 2022-2023 school year. We would love members of the Boston Prep community involved in the process and have created an opportunity to participate in the Executive Director Interview Committee. This is an opportunity to participate in interviews with 2-3 top Executive Director candidates, and to share your feedback on these candidates with our Board of Trustees. If you are interested in participating in this Interview Committee, please complete this brief form.

III. Opportunity to participate in DESE Focus Group: The state education agency that oversees all public schools in Massachusetts will be visiting Boston Prep on Wednesday, 6/1/22. They are planning to conduct focus groups with faculty members, students, family members/caregivers, and other members of the Boston Prep community. If you would like to participate in the student focus group, please enter your information here. Thank you!

IV. Yondr and Uniform Reminder:

While we expect all students to be living into the Boston Prep cell phone policy, there are students who need additional support meeting these expectations. We look forward to your continued support for the remainder of the school year on making Boston Prep phone free. Please continue to remind your child that they must bring their Yondr pouch to school every day.

All students must also adhere to our school uniform policy. They must arrive at school on time and in full uniform on a daily basis. If they participate in a school sport, not being in full uniform will prevent them from participating in a game or practice. Any student without a uniform will receive detention.

V. Intent to Return to Boston Prep Survey

All Boston Prep families are asked to take some time to fill out this brief Intent to Return survey.

This will let us know if you plan to send your child back to Boston Prep for the upcoming school year. It is important that we receive 100% of families participating. You may reach out to: Madelyn Ruizdeporras (Family Operations Manager) if you have any questions.

VI. BPS Exam School Admissions Test

Registration deadline for the BPS exam school admissions test is this Friday, May 13th.

Admissions for the 2023-2024 school year will include the MAP Growth assessment and student GPA. Students will have two opportunities to take the test (June 2022 & Fall 2022) and use the higher score for the application. The first test administration will be held Saturday June 4, 2022 across five testing locations.

Please encourage your families with students in grades 5, 7, and 8 to register for the June 4th test by submitting an online test registration form or paper registration form by Friday, May 13, 2022.

VII. Middle School Semi-Formal Dance

The Middle School will be having a Semi-Formal Dance on Friday, May 13. The purpose of this Dance is to create a greater sense of community within the school which will allow students to develop social skills that will be valuable to their life. Students are expected to depart school campus at regular dismissal time at 2pm and return for the Dance at 4:30pm. The dance will end by 7:30pm. Students will receive permission slips in-person and directly sent to you by email. Please fill out the information and return back to the school by Wednesday, May 11 2022.

If this form has not been received by: Wednesday, May 11 2022, your child will not be able to attend the Dance.

The cost of the dance is $5 per student.
Students must be eligible to attend.
A signed copy of the permission slip must be returned
Please fill out this survey if you wish to donate food items for the dance.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to: Ms. Nora, Ms. Larson, or Ms. Perez.

VIII. Middle School MCAS Exams

MCAS exams for Math, and Science are scheduled to begin Thursday, May 19th.

Testing dates for middle school students are scheduled on the following dates.

We ask for your support in ensuring that all middle school students are present and on time to school every day by no later than 8:00am. Please make sure your child goes to bed early so they are well rested for exam day. We will be sure to send additional information and a reminder in advance of the May Math and Science MCAS testing window.

We thank you for continuing to partner with us in service to your child’s continued success.

IX. SEPAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) Announcement:

ALL are invited to join the next SEPAC Meeting on Tuesday, May 24th at 5:30pm. This will be a meeting co-facilitated by the SEPAC Leadership team on the topic of parent advocacy and building best practices/strategies to support your child’s learning.

Zoom details to follow.

X. Upcoming Family Town Hall

Please take some time to register now for our next Family Town Hall scheduled on Wednesday, May 25th, 6:00 PM. Topic to be discussed will be: Planning for the next school year. If you haven’t registered yet, you still have time to click on this link and Register. Visit our website to view our other upcoming Town Halls.

We are eager to have as many families as possible join us for this Town Hall so that we can continue to partner together to ensure Boston Prep is an excellent, equitable school for all.

XI. PEBT Benefits

Families will now be getting P-EBT payments again!

Eligible students will receive a bulk retroactive P-EBT payment on May 25, 2022, for total months they were eligible from September 2021 to April 2022
A student is eligible if they had COVID-related excused absences during the school year. These absences can be due to any reason related to COVID.
After the 5/25/2022 bulk retroactive payment, ongoing P-EBT will be issued on the 25th of each month to students who met P-EBT eligibility in the direct prior month.
Each student will receive 1 of 3 P-EBT benefit amounts per month based on their number of COVID-related absences for each month

Each eligible student will be mailed a notice of their SY 2021-22 P-EBT eligibility.
Notices will be catered to each child. DTA households will be mailed a separate notice for each eligible child in the HH.
Notices will display the 3-tiered benefit amount table and a table of the student’s school-reported COVID-related absence data for each month they are P-EBT eligible.
Families will receive their P-EBT benefits on the same card they received P-EBT in the past
If families need a replacement card, they can request one online: DTA Connect - Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance
Families who are new to P-EBT will receive a new card in the mail

XII. Boston Prep Events/Announcements

School Closed: Boston Prep will be CLOSED on Friday, May 27, 2022
Take some time to enjoy the long Holiday weekend with your friends and family.
Junior College Prep Sessions: The College Counseling Office is kicking off our work with juniors in the Class of 2023! Every Tuesday from May 10-June 14, from 3:15-4:15pm, we will be hosting Junior College Prep sessions after school. These sessions will allow us to introduce the college process & timeline, begin making college lists, and even start filling out the Common Application, which your student will use to apply to their colleges in the fall. If your student is a junior, please encourage them to attend!
Senior End of Year Events: Graduation and the end of the school year is right around the corner. The College Counseling Office is excited to host two senior family events in the coming weeks. More details to come, but for now, we wanted to make sure some events were on everyone’s radar.

We kindly ask that all senior families RSVP for the event by Monday, May 30th. Seniors and their families can RSVP for the dinner by clicking this link. At this time, we are asking for each senior to only bring up to 2 guests. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Aaron Canto, Director of the Persistence Project.

XIII. Community Events/Announcements

Free COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics: Mass Department of Public Health is parting with local businesses to host free COVID-19 vaccination clinics. There are several clinics over the break, all at really cool locations (amusement parks, bowling alleys, zoos, etc.). Attending and getting a shot will include some fun giveaways to these locations (READ: free tickets and swag).
The clinics will be offering boosters and you do not need ID or proof of health insurance.
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/school-vacation-week-covid-19-vaccination-clinics

APPENDIX: FAMILY QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Upcoming Dates

Friday, May 13: Middle School Semi-Formal Dance
Monday, May 23: senior Signing Day
Tuesday, May 24: SEPAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) meeting
Wednesday, May 25: Family Town Hall: Meeting Registration - Zoom
Friday, May 27: School Closed
Monday, May 30th: Memorial Day - No School
Friday, June 3: Junior/Senior Prom
Tuesday, June 7: Senior Dinner
Friday, June 10: Class of 2022 Graduation
Monday: June 20: Celebrate Juneteenth - No School
Friday, June 24: Last Day of 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 email addresses below.

For questions about yellow school buses, MBTA passes, and transportation: transportation@bostonprep.org
To report an absence or tardiness: 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