The Hugh Roe O’Donnell Elementary School in East Boston occupies a two-story brick building with no elevator, no parking lot, and a playground under construction. It serves approximately 250 students in grades K1-6, most of whom walk to school. Nearly 90% of students speak Spanish at home, and close to 70% are English Language Learners.
Jen Lando’s K1 children are learning how to use a “calm space” in their classroom, while K2 and first grade students are working on Fundations activities with letters and words. Third grade students are in WIN Block, working in small groups with teachers and support staff, while fourth graders are reading independently or in small groups with a teacher.
Students in Diane Arciero’s second grade class are comparing and contrasting Cinderella stories from China and Egypt, while “HELLO” postcards are displayed in many languages on the door. Later in the morning Adeline Ciccarello’s lively class is outside with science teacher Ellen Link learning that “water makes a moving puddle” that carries dirt away.
Art teacher Jennifer Kabiako’s fifth graders’ hand lettered and illustrated inspirational quotes are on display in the hallway. Sixth grade classes are held in a mobile classroom, where Alma Antonio-Aquino’s math students are working on division problems and Humanities teacher Stephanie Leon helps her class revise their personal essays.
The O’Donnell’s instructional focus is building English language acquisition with culturally responsive texts. It is a small school that works with families to provide a joyful learning experience for students. Please invite me to visit YOUR school this year!
Amika Kemmler-Ernst, Ed.D.
amika45@gmail.com
We are listening to Ms. Lando tell us about the different toys in our calm center. Everybody got a turn playing with them and learning about how they can help us feel calm and happy when we are feeling sad or upset. We are also learning our ABCs and how each letter sounds.
~ Jen Lando’s K1 students
In this picture we are making letters. We’re learning letter names and numbers. We learned how to count and add, like 2+9=11. We like art, too, where we are learning about colors and how to paint.
~ Jose Perez Rodriguez & Myles St. Louis, K2
I was reading and circling sight words and Ms. Senier was helping me. I’m learning about glue sounds like “nk”. In math we are learning how to do add and take away problems. I love using watercolor paints in art!
~ Amy Manilla, Grade 1
We are working with Ms. Joseph on a graphic organizer about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, a book we’re reading,. In math we’re learning how to multiply with 3-digit numbers and making models to help figure out the area of rectangles.
~ Axel Romero, Samuel Perdomo & Camila Ramos, Grade 4
We are reading a new chapter of El pan de la guerra (The Breadwinner) by Debra Ellis. It’s about a girl living in Kabul, Afghanistan. We learned that the Talipan took away many rights of women and girls. We’re also learning English and sign language!
~ Angel Castillo’s Grade 5e SEI class
Sanai and I were working on an assignment in STEM class with Ms. Muhammed. We were measuring how high a ball bounces when dropped from a certain height. Now we are building houses out of different materials such as paper, sticks and Legos to learn how to make them stronger.
~ Tristin James-Dunham, Grade 7
We are reading a story with Ms. Kabiako and drawing pictures about it. This year in math we’re learning to count by 2s, 5s and 10s. We are also making a book of stories about our lives.
~ Jose, Jeronimo, Samantha & Alison in Art Teacher Jennifer Kabiako’s WIN Block Group, Gr. 3
This is in math with Ms. Antonio. We are working on a division problem and Meibelin is getting help from her friends. In this class we have been learning about exponents, multiplying and dividing decimals, and how to find the area and perimeter of all kinds of shapes.
~ Adriana Gutierrez, Meibelin Dubon & Valerie Sanchez, Grade 6
We are working outside with our science teacher, Ms. Link. We are doing an experiment to find out if dirt or rock can be moved by water. We learned that there’s a lot of dirt, the water makes a moving puddle that goes a long way.
~ Adeline Ciccarello’s Grade 2 class