Hello,

Just sharing the video of the GHS Greenhouse Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with you!

Thanks!

Becky Tober
Production Coordinator
Cape Ann TV
www.capeanntv.org

Dear Joey,

Thank you if you’d share this news about this Tower Foundation grant for work in all 10 Gloucester and Beverly public elementary schools.   Please let me know if you need anything more, or if I can help connect you with someone from either district, or the Bay State Reading Institute, whose co-founder Ed Moscovitch lives in Gloucester, as you may know.

Many thanks,

Michaela

TOWER FOUNDATION GRANT WILL ACCELERATE SUCCESS OF

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN BEVERLY AND GLOUCESTER SCHOOLS

The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation has awarded the Bay State Reading Institute (BSRI) a three-year, $90,000 grant to fund staff coaching and professional development at BSRI’s ten partner schools in Beverly and Gloucester for three years.  Created in 1990, The Tower Foundation is a family foundation dedicated to improving the lives of young children.  One of its goals is to fund organizations that help children with learning disabilities to be identified early, diagnosed, and given services that meet their individual needs.

“The Tower Foundation has been an ardent and reliable supporter of the work of the Gloucester Public Schools,” says Gloucester Superintendent Rich Safier.  “They have provided funding so that we could organize our approach to using data and the decision making that comes from the data and they have supported our work with elementary literacy.  We can now add to those initiatives a greater focus on understanding the needs of students with learning disabilities and the ways in which we can maximize their experiences in the classroom.”

According to a 2002 Presidential Commission report, 40% of elementary-school children identified as learning-disabled are given that designation because they struggle to read.  Many schools fail to assess or address these students until reading failure has occurred—often in third grade.  As a result, these students fall behind in school and must be referred to special-education services, often outside their classrooms.

At BSRI’s partner schools, the assessment methods put in place identify and address students’ learning disabilities early on, increasing student success and reducing Special-Ed referrals in many of its partner schools by about half.

BSRI’s partner schools also shift most classroom instruction to small groups and match the work in those groups to the abilities of each student, challenging every student regardless of their ability.  This generally leads to an increase in students with disabilities being fully or partially included in mainstream classrooms.  In Gloucester, for instance, 71.2% of students with disabilities are fully included, which is 20 percent above the state average of 59.2%.

Started in 2005, BSRI is a non-profit that currently teams with over 40 elementary schools across Massachusetts. BSRIfirst partnered with the Ayers Elementary School in Beverly in 2006, and is now also working with all of the Beverly elementary schools:  Ayers/Ryal Side, Centerville, Cove, Hannah, and North Beverly schools.  BSRI partnered with Beeman Memorial Elementary in Gloucester in 2010, and is now also working with all of the elementary schools in Gloucester: Beeman, Veterans, East Gloucester, Plum Cover, and West Parish schools. BSRI provides embedded training, coaching, and support to teachers and principals. Using BSRI’s model, each school institutes a variety of modern, science-backed instructional methods which allow teachers to teach to each student’s ability, beginning in kindergarten.

“We’ve found that when each student of every ability is challenged at her or his own level, all day long,” says Ed Moscovitch, BSRI’s co-founder and Chairman, “classroom behavior is improved, kids love coming to school, teachers love their jobs, and scores go up.”

Over the last two years at BSRI’s highest-implementing schools, English Language Arts MCAS scores rose at nearly four times the rate of the state average. BSRI is achieving these results with some of the state’s most disadvantaged populations, including Massachusetts Gateway Cities of Taunton, Revere, Malden, Fitchburg and others.  Whereas statewide the achievement gap on MCAS gap is widening, in two years BSRI narrowed the proficiency gap for English-language learners at its highest-implementing schools by 35 percent.

Hi Joey, the Friends of the Manchester Library will hold their annual, giant book sale this weekend, in conjunction with the Arts Festival. Rick Roth of Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team will be there on Saturday with snakes of New England. Saturday 9-5, Sunday 10-1. If it rains we’ll be inside. (I don’t know about the snakes.) Thanks for your time.

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Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library

Good Morning!
My name is Carolyn McDonald, and I am currently a yoga teacher in training at Stil Studio in Dedham, MA.  We have to complete a “Compassion in Action” project for the training, and Paula of Yoga Joy is  being so kind to me in letting me use her studio for a free class.
I was raised in Lynnfield, but spent so many summers in Gloucester loving life!  My parents moved to the corner of Witham and Thatcher in 1998 and my father restored a perfect little house for the two of them two live in. He was passionate about the ocean, and he absolutely loved Gloucester.  I am there so often that I decided to dedicate my project to the Gloucester community.  I love the people for many reasons, but mainly because they are “real” to me.  They accept me just the way I am, and this is exactly what yoga is all about.  My father passed away 4 years ago, but people still continue to walk by my mother’s house on their way to Good Harbor and comment on how precious it is, and she continues to brighten the corner with her windowboxes overflowing with flowers.  Gloucester holds a special place in my heart!
The community yoga class is free to all levels and will be held at 9am on Sunday, Aug. 17.  Donations are going to benefit the Gloucester Fund and “Get Fit Gloucester.”  I was hoping to post something on the Good Morning Gloucester blog if that is possible.  Thank you so very much for your consideration.  I have attached a copy of the flyer.
Let me know if you have any advice or suggestions!

NEW   Gloucester Stroke Club will be meeting on Thursday, August 7th at 2 pm at Addison Gilbert Hospital, Women’s Conference Room.
Street Entrance, also handicapped accessible by Fisher Lobby and elevator to First Floor. New Members, family and caretakers are welcome.
There is no fee or pre-registration. Refreshments. For more information please call Virginia McKinnon 978-283-3968

Here is the Sawyer Free Library July Artist of the Month video!

The July artist if Chris Wood. The gallery features mostly brilliant watercolors and a wonderful abstract latex painting.

Thanks!

Becky Tober
Production Coordinator
Cape Ann TV
www.capeanntv.org

www.thacherartdays.com

Thacher Island Art & Photo Days

The Thacher Island Association will hold its Annual Art and Photography Days on August 2^nd, 9^th and 13^th this year, with launches from T Wharf.

Artists are invited to create on Thacher Island during the annual Thacher Island Art & Photo Days.  It is the one time of year that artists can go out on a pre-dawn launch to experience SUNRISE on Thacher Island! This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy Thacher Island with its twin lighthouses and restored structures, visit the museum, and wander the trails, to draw, paint, and photograph as you wish.

Reserve your spot as soon as possible to avoid disappointment! There are very limited spots and they will fill up fast!

WHEN:
Saturday, August 2
– 4am Launch, returns at 7:30am

Saturday August 9th
– 8am Launch, returns at 1pm
– 9am Launch, returns at 2pm
– 10am Launch, returns at 3pm

Wednesday August 13
– 4am Launch, returns at 9:00am
– 9:30am Launch, returns at 2:30pm
– 10:30am Launch, returns at 3:30pm
– 11:30am Launch, returns at 4:30pm

Boats leave T-Wharf near the Sandy Bay Yacht Club

WHAT TO BRING:

Bring your art supplies, lunch, and whatever you need (sunscreen, bug spray, etc) to be comfortable outdoors. Transportation and beverages will be provided by the Thacher Island Town Committee and the Thacher Island Association.  Box lunches will be available at Hula Moon for an additional charge. Contact Angela atifo@thacherartdays.com for details.

COST:

A $25 donation is requested. This is a fundraiser by the Thacher Island Association for the restoration and maintenance of Thacher Island and its facilities.

To make reservations, go to www.thacherartdays.com or email info@thacherartdays.com.

(A thank you from Rita Teele…)
The Flower Table was one of the familiar sights at the Annisquam Sea Fair 2014.
Flower arrangers gathered the day before to make more than 100 arrangements from flowers and greens provided by local gardeners. With the help of local businesses that donated flowers, plants, and gift certificates, the Flower Table earned over $900 in support of Annisquam village buildings and the church.
The organizers would like to thank all contributors, including Goose Cove Nursery, Russell’s Florist, Wolf Hill Nursery, Corliss Brothers’ Nursery, Sea Meadows Gifts of Essex, and Shaw’s market on Eastern Avenue, for their generous support.

Annisquam Sea Fair 2014 Flower Table VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL