The Chittick Elementary School is officially in Hyde Park, only a few blocks from Mattapan Square. An old two-story brick building surrounded by one and two family houses, it serves around 300 students in grades K0-6.
I am warmly welcomed by K2 Inclusion teacher Julie Hutcheon, who is proud of the work teachers have done to make sure every student reaches high standards. In the K0/K1 ABA class, Laura Bello introduces the schedule for the day with picture cards and distributes a squirt of hand sanitizer to each student. Melissa Downey’s first graders are learning about “chopper” and “roller coaster” letters as they sound out words.
Students in Louis Bello’s third grade art class are learning to use perspective in drawing cityscapes, while science teacher Teresa Strong reads a story about worms to an ABA 3/4 class. Jelani Clark is teaching his fourth grade students how to code — they are designing games and learning how to make their characters move around the screen.
I like how hallway displays speak directly to students. A bulletin board outside one classroom encourages them to challenge, educate, dream, write, etc… like an array of inspirational Black leaders. A “Calming Corner” on a hallway wall displays feeling posters and a variety of illustrated strategies for dealing with stress such as Inhale/Exhale, Stretch, and Count Down from 10.
What do YOUR hallways say about the values of your school?
Amika Kemmler-Ernst, Ed.D.
amika45@gmail.com
We are getting ready for morning meeting. Ms. Bello is giving us hand sanitizer because it’s important to start the day with clean hands. We’re learning about the weather, the days of the week, the months, and the letters in our names.
~ K0/K1 students in Ms. Bello’s ABA class
We are listening to Ms. Downey and learning to read by sounding out words. “Choppers” and “roller coasters” help us. and that the “e” at the end of a word gives all the power to vowel to say its name. We’re also learning and writing about animals.
~ Ms. Downey’s Grade 1 students
We are working on coding in our computer class with Mr. Clark. We are creating games that would be fun to play. We’ve learned how to make the main character move around the screen by jumping, avoiding, and collecting objects.
~ Grade 4 students in Ms. Hyppolite’s class
We were working in groups on our math assignment and Ms. Haney was helping us. We’re learning how to add, subtract and multiply fractions. We’ve also learned about decimals, long division, and how to find the volume of 3-dimensional shapes.
~ Ms. Haney’s Grade 4 students
This is in art class with Mr. Bello. I am working on a drawing of a city street. I am learning how to draw in perspective, so the picture looks real. I have also learned how to sketch and use shading in drawings.
~ Avery Evans, Grade 3
I am reading a book and talking about it with Mr. McCann. We are learning that plants and trees grow in lots of places like pots, gardens, and even sidewalks.
~ Cristian Louis, K2 with Kevin McCann, ESL teacher
We are listening to Ms. Strong [Science Teacher] read a book about worms. We learned that worms live in dirt, need to be wet, and have no eyes! We also learned that caterpillars grow into butterflies.
~ Grade 3/4 students in Ms. Ayobiojo’s ABA class
We were reading a story called Froggy Gets Dressed with Ms. Amanda. We are learning how to follow directions and to answer WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW questions.
~ Elijah Lewis-Cox, Elijah Simmonds, & Mason Campbell,